We Will Be Together For Never

[15] Organizing a Meeting

Roger was silent for several seconds after I climbed into his car. Finally, he asked tentatively, "How was your day?"

I almost laughed at his obvious apprehension. Imagine - a centuries-old vampire, afraid of the wrath of a technically-eighteen-year-old. It was one of the funniest things I had thought of in a while.

Rather than tease my caretaker, however, I instead replied, "It was...difficult. Not school-wise - social-wise."

"The blood problem?" Roger asked worriedly, and I was sure that he would have been relieved beyond belief if it was, in fact, a typical teenage "social problem."

"Yup," I replied, dashing his hopes. He sighed. "Make any headway on how to avoid this particular loophole?"

"Yeah, but you're not going to like it," he replied slowly.

I glanced over at him with a mounting feeling of apprehension. "What?"

"You'd have to replace the animal blood with..." He squeezed his eyes shut, wincing and raised one hand from the steering wheel in an, "I don't know what to tell you," gesture.

"Oh, no," I replied, suddenly understanding his meaning. "No, no, no, no, no."

"It's the only way we can think of, Tamara - "

"I'm not drinking human blood! I'm not! I'm never drinking human blood again!" I clapped a hand over my mouth, but it was too late.

The "again" hung between us, an ugly word that spoke of dark memories.

Memories I had been repressing for the better part of a year.

"Someday, you're going to talk about it," Roger muttered quietly after several seconds as if he was talking only to himself. "Someday, you're going to talk about it, and I'm going to listen, and you're going to start getting better."

"My very first night, he made me drink it," I blurted out against my control. Pressing my lips together, I turned to face the window as tears blurred my vision.

Roger drove silently for a few more seconds before softly reminding me, "He's dead now. I killed him myself."

"It doesn't change the fact - " I took a deep breath and shook my head once, fiercely. I would never share that with Roger. I would tell him anything else about my year with my father vamp before telling him that.

"It's over now," I said instead, staring resolutely out of the window.

Roger didn't attempt to make conversation for the rest of the ride home.

*

Once I was home, I finished my homework immediately. Then, I pulled out my phone and debated texting Jordan. My evening was wide open, so there was the potential for us to get some good work done on our project, but...was it too soon? After all, it had only been a few hours since I had received his number...

Oh for god's sake, Tamara, he gave you his number for this project only. The rules of flirting don't apply.

I sighed, running a hand over my face. Remember, Tamara. Mortal + immortal = pain.

I opened a new message to Jordan and texted, "Are you free tonight?" and sent it before I could second-guess myself. Then I groaned, realizing how that sounded, and sent another text reading, "For the project."

Now it looked like I had assumed Jordan would want to go on a date with me and needed the clarification. I was an idiot!

This was certainly one part of teenagehood that I couldn't say I missed.

Within a minute (although it felt like much longer), I got my reply: "Sure. Library in thirty?"

I blinked. Well, that was fast. Were we seriously going to meet up? I was glad it was at the library rather than one of our houses - it felt less personal.

"Sounds good," I texted back.

"Roger!" I yelled as I tugged on my shoes and grabbed my backpack. "I'm going out!"

Roger was at my doorway in roughly 0.5 seconds. "You're what now?"

"I'm going out," I repeated patiently.

Roger moved so he was blocking me from leaving. "I don't think so. It's a school night!"

"So? I'm going to be working on school stuff." I tried to push past him, but he grabbed my wrists and shook his head firmly.

"Tamara, as your guardian - "

My eyes widened as I realized something that I could have used to avoid Roger's "parenting" for weeks, ever since my birthday. "I'm technically eighteen! You can't boss me around!"

"Damn," Roger muttered. "I was hoping you wouldn't figure that out quite so soon."

"Goodbye, Roger. I'll be back in a couple of hours. Maybe sooner." I moved past him, and this time, he let me.

"What if I didn't drive you?" Roger asked hopefully as if he could honestly use that to keep me from leaving.

"This city does have a bus system, Roger," I pointed out dryly. Never mind that I had no idea how to use it - I could Google it. It was what I had been planning on using, anyway.

Roger sighed. "Fine. I'll take you. Where are we going?"

"The library."

Roger nodded. "I'll grab my car keys."

*

We reached the library just about a half hour after we had left our apartment, after getting lost several times in winding neighborhoods and by taking wrong turns. I climbed out of the car and turned back to Roger. "Thanks, Roger."

"Who are you even meeting here?" Roger asked suspiciously, and I inwardly groaned. That exact question was what I had been hoping to avoid.

"A friend," I said vaguely, and started hurrying toward the library before Roger could ask anything else. "Bye!" I called over my shoulder.

I breathed a sigh of relief when the door closed behind me and pulled out my phone. I had one new text from Jordan: In conference room A.

I had no idea where that was.

As I walked further into the library, I had to pause for a moment, pushing the fact that I didn't know where I was going from my mind. This building was amazing. It was large and, to what I could see, had two floors. There were signs clearly labeling where everything was.

But best of all, it was quiet and relatively devoid of human life.

The strong scent of old and new books alike crowded my nose, driving out the faint whiffs of blood I got from the few visiting patrons. I could easily fight my vampiric urges here.

Note to self: visit the library more often.

Hesitantly, I walked up to the front desk. "Excuse me," I whispered apologetically.

The librarian, who had been typing at a computer, looked up at me, smiling in a friendly way.

"I'm new here and I was wondering if you could tell me where conference room A is?"

"Up the stairs and to the left," the librarian replied, already returning to her computer.

"Thank you," I murmured, stepping away and casting a glance around until I found the stairs. Then, I headed for them and bounded up, two by two, trying to control my nervousness.