Chapter 16
Billy walked around the city. He had nowhere in particular that he wanted to go, so he was just wondering aimlessly. The gentle breeze blew through his recently cut shoulder length hair.
It had been a few weeks since what happened in the music shop, and Billy was still feeling sick.
'Dark Magic, huh? I wonder who it was that used it on those poor people?' Billy thought.
He had asked his teacher, but his teacher told him what Kari had basically said. Dark Magic is evil and it shouldn't be used.
'Clearly if you tell people not to do something, they'll be more inclined to do it.' Billy sighed. 'How can I get more information about it?'
Billy kept walking. It was a nice warm fall day. Probably one of the last warm days before winter would kick in. Not that Billy would mind. He loved the winter.
"Billy!" He heard a voice call out to him. He turned to see none other than his crush, Deandra Williamson.
She was looking good in a pair of jeans and a yellow cardigan over a blue shirt. Her dark skin contrasted perfectly with her out fit. Her hair was put up on a long ponytail. Billy's favorite feature though, was her smile. She definitely could light up an entire room.
"Hey, Deandra! How's it going?" He tried to be cool around her. He usually fails at this.
"Nothing much, I'm just headed to Tom's place for lunch. You want to come?" She asked. Billy's heart almost stopped when she smiled at him.
"Yeah. Sure. Even though, you just invited me to my own house." He said. They laughed.
"Sorry! But Sam is going to make us lunch. I can't wait! His food is always so good!" They walked together to his house.
Even though he sees Deandra a lot at his house, he wishes to see her all the time.
'She was one of the few who survived that attack by Tom's old Alpha. She, her brother and her best friend all were changed forever. I can't imagine...' Billy looked over at Deandra. She gave him another smile. Billy was glad she was making the best out of a bad situation.
Billy had a thought. "Hey, Deandra." He said. They were still a ways away from his place.
"Yeah?" She stopped when she saw that he did.
"I was wondering..." Billy froze. 'What am I going to say??' He shook his head and started again. "I wanted to check out this coffee shop later today. I was thinking, maybe, you would want to come with me?" Deandra tilted her head. "If you don't want to, thats fine! I can go myself-"
"Oh, no, I'd like to come with you. You're talking about that cafe on 21st street right?"
"Ye-yeah." He said, a little shocked that she said yes.
"We could go after school."
"Ye-yeah." Billy nodded.
"Awesome. Lets hurry though, before Dre eats all of Sam's cooking." She began to walk. Billy followed suit after another moment of reflection.
'I just asked her out, and she said yes.' He thought. 'YES, TAKE THAT BITCHES. SHE SAID YES!'
Billy almost started to happy dance but thought twice once they got to the house.
They walked into the kitchen and sat down at the dinning room table. Deandra's older brother Deandre was sitting to the left of Billy and her best friend Shela was off to the right. 'With her feet on the table, as always.' Billy rolled his eyes.
Deandre was a big guy being the a year older than Billy and the age as Sam, he had his hair cut short and tattoos of words lining his left arm. Billy knew that the tattoos were of Deandre's dad's time of birth and death. His dad had died in a car accident a few years back. There was also a quote on his arm reading, 'Love has no bounds'.
Shela was tall, blond and bitchy. Her icy blue eyes could freeze anyones heart solid. Billy had to admit, he was scared of her, even before she could turn onto a huge angry Wolf.
Billy really wondered why his sweet Deandra was friends with such a she-beast. She has good days sometimes, but other times, everyone needs to clear a path for her destruction.
'It's not her fault though,' Billy thought. 'Sometimes, it's hard to control the Wolf inside. Shela is still getting used to it. And, unlike Deandra, Shela had been chronically depressed since she turned. She couldn't see the bright side. And her quick temper doesn't help at all.'
"Yo, wassup y'all!" Deandre, or Dre for short, said.
"Not much man. But its only been a day since I saw you last." Billy bumped his fist to Dre's and he laughed.
"Billy! What a pleasant surprise!" Shela said sarcastically.
"Nice to see you too. In my house. Where I live." Billy said relieved that she was having a good day.
Deandre tapped Billy's shoulder. "Hey, Billz. I have a question. There is a guy here with glasses. The Vampire, you've seen him before. Whatshisname- Milli?"
"Milo." Billy said.
"Yeah, him." Dre continued. "Is he and Sam... You know..."
"What gave you that idea?" Billy said trying to hold in his laughter.
"Milo was in the kitchen with Sam and, I could have sworn that I saw Sam blush. I don't know if I'm seeing things..."
"You're not! I saw him do that too yesterday while he was on his phone!" Shela said.
Billy chose that moment to burst out laughing.
"So it's true!" Deandra said. Billy nodded. "Awwww!!!!! That's so cute!!"
"Great. Another couple to remind me how horribly single I am." Shela said sighing.
"Hey baby, you don't have to be single! Come and be with Daddy." Dre said making kissy faces at her.
"If it wasn't clear, Daddy is Dre." Billy said laughing again. Shela just rolled her eyes.
"What is with all the ruckus?" Milo said coming into the dining room.
"Milli! Now we were just talking about you." Dre said. "Tell me, how did you snag Mr.Unattainable?"
"Unattainable?" Milo asked.
"He used to be asked out by a different bitch every week! Except on Valentine's, then he'd be asked out every hour." Shela said. Milo's eyebrows went up.
"Really? Damn." Milo sat down.
"Yep. That's my brother, the heartthrob." Billy said.
"I'm no heartthrob. Those girls were all crazy." Sam said coming into the dinning room with a tray full of food. It looked like he made chicken alfredo.
"Yes. That was definitely part of it." Deandra said. They laughed.
They all talked for a while longer and Billy was super content, that is until Sam mentioned the coffee shop that Billy and Deandra had wanted to go to.
"Yeah, Billy and I wanted to check it out after school. Do you guys want to tag along?" Deandra said.
Billy's heart sank. 'Wait a sec, did she just invite everyone to come on our date?'
"Sure! That sounds like fun." Milo responded.
'Yes. Yes she did.' Billy thought mentally face palming.
"Oh, like a triple date? Yeah, I'm in. As long as I get to go with Mama." Dre said.
"I'm not Mama, am I?" Shela asked. Dre nodded and she groaned. "I do want to come, but I'm having second thoughts now."
'Hold on, Dre just said triple date. So, although we won't be alone, we'd still be going on a date!' Billy thought happily.
"Okay then, it's settled! We'll meet here at 5." Deandra said. They all agreed to that.
*****
"Wow! Check this place out!" Dre said as the gang all headed to 21st street. The coffee shop was called Cleft Palate and looked busy.
"I personally dislike the name. Who names a cafe after a facial malformation? It's kind of gross." Milo said. Sam laughed and Shela agreed loudly.
"Maybe they didn't know what a cleft palate was. You know kids these days! They don't care about the meaning of words!" Dre said. They all laughed as they went into the cafe.
It was decorated with tons of glass and wood tables, chairs, and high ceilings with shiny chandeliers. Billy was impressed with how chic it looked. 'Wow I just said something was chic. What is wrong with me? It must be because of all the high class looking people here.'
There was very fashion forward and business savvy people all around. Billy was feeling very under dressed in his jeans and green graphic tee that said, 'Does You're Face Hurt, Cause It's Killin' Me!'
"Is it just me, or are we seriously underdressed?" Dre said in his gray hoodie and jeans.
"I'm okay." Milo said. He was wearing dress pants with one of those button down shirts. Milo was always dressed nicely. 'I guess cause his dad is famous, he always has to be dressed nice and be on his best behavior.' Billy thought.
"No one asked you, Lover-boy!" Shela said. Milo laughed.
"I don't care how underdressed we are! We're here right? Lets have a good time!" Deandra said. Billy smiled. He was definitely in love with this girl.
*****
The group was walking back to Tom's place after a long, but fun night at the cafe. Milo was enjoying the night as Sam's fingers locked with his.
"I seriously think that the name being different would have made for a better experience!" Milo said. They were arguing about the cafe's name and whether or not the name ruined the experience of eating there.
"Yeah, but shitty name or not, it was a good cafe. I mean, did you try the double chocolate chip frappe? It was heaven." Shela said.
"I beg to differ, although the food was astounding, having the name of the place circulating in your head as you ruminate over the food is not pleasant." Milo said.
"No one understands your fancy words Lover-boy!" Shela said laughing. "I don't think the name is a big deal."
"Yeah, you tell 'em Mama! 'A rose by any other name would smell as sweet', ain't that right Milli?" Dre said nudging him.
"You have a valid point Deandre, however, the question is, would you even smell the rose if it was called by a relatively repulsing name? 'Stink lily' for example or the like? No, you probably would stay away from it. As much as people are against judging a book by its cover, they always look at the back to see if they want to take the time to read it or not. That's just how it works." Milo said.
"Damn, Milli, you win." Dre said.
"Good, and for my prize, I would like it if you would stop calling me Milli. My name is Milos (Mill-os). Call me Milo, please. Milli reminds me of this one old lady that used to work at my elementary school. She would spit everywhere."
"Really! That's funny as shit, but I'm still calling you Milli." Dre laughed at that, but stopped suddenly.
Milo felt a familiar feeling wash over him.
Terror.
Only one person in the world made him feel such terror.
"You thought you could get rid of me?! Hah! Think again, Fledgling!"