"I WAS RIDING SHOT GUN WITH MY HAIR UNDONE IN THE FRONT SEAT OF HIS CAR! HE HAD A ONE HAND FEEL ON THE STEERING WHEEL, THE OTHER ON MY HE-EA-ART..."
"Ryan, will you shut up already?" I growl in annoyance. "Melissa can you make him shut up?" I call to the back seat where Ryan and Melissa are seated. Melissa pecks Ryan's lips to cut off the horrendous sound he's making. I see Melissa and Ryan exchange a flirtatious smirk.
"So much cuteness... I think I'm going to vomit," I groan.
"Are you cuteness intolerant or something?" Dominico asks me from the passenger seat.
"It took you this long to catch on? Haven't you seen how I dress?" I ask him. He laughs and nods his head to the side in agreement. I elbow his arm.
"What? I was agreeing with you! Gosh," he says, rolling his eyes dramatically. I laugh at his expression.
"So Faye are you going to vomit now because of the cuteness between you and Dominico?" Melissa asks. I scoff.
"What cuteness? I think we've already clarified that I'm not cute and one look at Dominico's face tells you he's not cute. I see no cuteness and he's being annoying so I don't hear any cuteness either."
"I was agreeing with you! How is that annoying? And do you honestly think I'm not cute?" he casts me his award-winning smile.
"Only you can make that annoying... or maybe you're just incapable of being not annoying when doing anything. And no, I don't think you're cute," I say evenly.
"Liar," Ryan coughs. I raise an eyebrow at him.
"Do you think he's cute? Be careful how you answer, Lincoln, because your girlfriend is sitting right next to you," I warn him with a grin.
"Hahahaha, no. I think that YOU think he's cute," Ryan clarifies.
"Hahahaha, no. I mean, sure in that so ugly you have to take pity on it sort of way," I say with a charming smile at Dominico. He gives me a mocking smile back.
"It could be worse," he tells me, "I could have your face." I shoot him an offended look and he just laughs.
"See? No cuteness. Only a heartless ugly corpse," I say back to Ryan and Melissa.
"Corpse? I'm alive," Dominico argues.
"Not long after we get out of this car you won't be," I say threateningly. Dominico looks worriedly at me.
"Nice knowing you, mate," Ryan says, patting Dominico's shoulder.
"We'll miss you," Melissa nods in agreement.
"No help?" Dominico asks, offended. Melissa looks from him to me and sighs.
"I don't think there's anything left for us to do," she says sadly as I pull up to her driveway. "Nice knowing you!" Ryan and her salute as they jump out of the car, bringing their bags with them.
"Don't leave me alone with her!" Dominico calls helplessly out to them. I laugh evilly as they shut their car doors and wave. "Well I'm terrified now," Dominico admits.
"You should be," I respond. I pull the car into drive and start heading to Dominico's house. I purse my lips and my eyebrows draw together in thought.
"What are you thinking about?" Dominico asks me.
"Where to hide your body..."
"I was kidding! You're very lovely. Now let me live," he says. I laugh. It's been two weeks since P decided to stop by and now Christmas is right around the corner. However, the clouds only make the air bitter cold without letting loose any precipitation. Dominico looks up at me with puppy dog eyes.
"Didn't we just cover that I don't think you're cute? Why would puppy dog eyes work on me?" I ask.
"You do have a heart, don't you?" he asks.
"Heart of stone," I say with a grin. I mutters something that sounds like 'figures.' I smile at him and he rolls his eyes.
"So many things I've never done...never seen. And you're cruel enough to take me out of this world. Shame on you, Faye Lightcaster. Shame," Dominico says, shaking his head. I laugh.
"Not my fault! And besides, name one thing off the top of your head that you haven't seen and you want to."
"Snow." He replies. I look at him incredulously.
"You've never seen snow? Ever?" I ask. He shakes his head.
"I lived on the beach. It doesn't typically snow there." I shiver at the word 'beach' involuntarily. "You've been to a beach, right?" he asks.
"Unfortunately so."
"What's wrong with the beach?" he asks.
"Nothing! It's just that every time I go there, I end up nearly dying so I personally don't really like it all too much." I explain.
"Almost dying? How?" he asks, unbelieving.
"Well when I was four we went to Florida and I got dragged under by a current. When I was six a shark almost attacked me, I mean, he left some gashes in my leg with his teeth as he was swimming by. When I was eight a surfer hit me over the head with a board when I was swimming and knocked me out, I almost drowned. And last time I went I tripped off a tourist boat when we were in the middle of a herd of jellyfish."
"Bloom."
"What?"
"A group of jellyfish is a bloom, not a herd. Or a swarm or smack."
"Are you really into jellyfish or something?"
"I used to have a summer job teaching at this marine life petting zoo place," he explains.
"Really? That's cool. But I still don't like falling on top of them," I say.
"You're lucky to be alive," he tells me.
"You're telling me!" Dominico chuckles. We pull up to the Redwind's driveway and as soon as I put the car into park we both jump out of the car. Dominico runs back behind the house and I race after him. I hear him laughing as I shout out threats behind him. I round the corner and I immediately stumble backwards when a hard, cold force hits my face. Dominico stands there, grinning, with the hose in his hands.
"Turn that off you idiot! It's freakin' December! STOP! It's freezing!" I yell at him.
"Say you won't kill me and that I'm amazing!" Dominico calls back.
"No! You're so immature! Turn the hose off!" I call back. He blasts me with the cold water some more. "Fine! I won't kill you and you're amazing! TURN IT OFF!" He laughs as he turns it off. I'm soaking wet from head to toe. I glare at him.
"Was that so hard?" he asks.
"No," I say, walking over to him, "In fact, I think I'll give you a hug." Dominico looks confused for a second before I wrap my arms around him and successfully get his clothes all wet.
"Ugh! You're mean!" Dominico accuses.
"I'm mean? You sprayed me with a hose in the middle of December!!!!"
"You said you'd kill me!" he argues.
"We'll now I'm going to catch pneumonia and die because of you. Hope you're happy," I say.
"Do you want me to hug you again to keep you warm?" he asks with a taunting smile.
"No, let me die," I say, crinkling my nose.
"Too bad," he says. I turn to run away from his hug but he catches me from behind and lifts me in the air.
"Put me down!" I tell him but can't help but laugh.
"What are you guys doing?" Alec's voice asks from the Redwind's back door. Dominico sets me down.
"She tried to kill me," he explains.
"He shot me with a hose," I tell him. Alec shakes his head.
"You guys are so weird. And you need to come inside before you freeze to death and because your mom wants to see you, Dominico." Alec says with a smile at us. We both hurry inside because it is very cold. Especially when you're wet. Rosaline is talking on the phone with someone in the living room when we come in and she takes a second to scowl at me as we walk by.
"Remind me why she hates me again?" I ask Dominico. He shrugs.
"Maybe you're just very despicable," he suggests. I roll my eyes.
"I only try to be despicable towards you and you still hang out with me," I say. He smiles.
"Aww, extra effort just for me? You shouldn't have."
"Yeah, you're right. I should just poison you and have it over with," I say.
"You wouldn't do that," he says confidently. I raise an eyebrow at him and he goes pale and looks nervous. I smile. Alec leads us into the kitchen where Mrs. Redwind is talking to another woman I don't recognize. When she sees us she gives us a weird look due to our wetness.
"What did you two-" Mrs. Redwind stops herself and holds out her hands, "I'm not even going to ask."
"Aunt Raya!" Dominico says and goes to give her a hug but she stops him.
"Why are you all wet?" she asks. Dominico's aunt looked to be in her early thirties, she had black hair that fell to her waist and she was taller than both me and Dominico. She had the same hard features as Dominico but also his soft eyes which glowed silver.
"Faye gave me a hug," he groans.
"He shot me with a hose," I say, glaring in Dominico's direction.
"In this weather? Dominico! It's December!" Dominico's aunt scolds him. I give him an I-told-you-so smirk and he rolls his eyes. "Oh, allow me to introduce myself," she says. "I'm Raya, Dominico's aunt." She holds out her hand and I shake it.
"I'm Faye, Izabella's friend."
"Not my friend?" Dominico asks.
"You shot me with a hose. No." I say. Raya laughs. Dominico rolls his eyes.
"Where are Jake and Chris?" he asks her.
"Oh they're around here somewhere," she says. Dominico looks terrified for a second and looks around frantically. "Jake and Chris are my two seven year old sons," Raya explains to me. As if on cue, Jake and Chris pop their heads around the corner.
They both have curly black hair and freckles dotting their noses and cheeks. They're pale but not as pale as their mother or Dominico. They both wear bright smiles and matching clothes. Identical twins. Dominico looks between them like they were tiny devils.
"Jake, Chris, this is Faye," their mother introduces me to them.
"Hi!" they both run up to me with gleaming smiles on. Dominico ducks behind me. They laugh.
"Um, hi! Dominico, what are you doing?" I ask him.
"They're evil, hide!" he warns me.
"Last time they were here they locked him out of the house at night and then Christ dressed up as a monster with laser pointer eyes and chased him around," Raya tells me. I hold out my hands to the twins.
"Nice job guys!" I tell them and they high five me with evil laughs.
"Traitor," Dominico grumbles to me.
"Since when was I ever on your side?" I ask him.
"She pranked me better," Dominico tells the twins, ignoring my question. "She made me think I killed her and then pushed me in a dumpster and locked me in there for three hours."
"You did?" One of the twins-not sure which- asks with new respect glowing in both their eyes.
"He won't let it go," I tell them.
"Dominico," his mom addresses him. "Raya and I are going to go out tonight with Uncle Don and your dad so could you babysit the twins tonight?"
"Wait!" Alec intervenes. "You have to go to that party after the game tonight, remember?" he asks him.
"Could Izzy do it?" Dominico suggests.
"I have a date with James tonight!" Izabella calls from her room.
"Who?" Dominico asks me.
"Gil Bill," I clarify. His mouth makes an 'O' with understanding. Alec looks confused but doesn't say anything.
"Could you call a sitter?" Alec suggests.
"I don't know anyone around!" Mrs. Redwind exclaims.
"I could do it if you want," I say. Raya looks elated.
"Really?"
"Sure, why not? I have no plans. They can go out," I say.
"Faye if you weren't all wet, I'd hug you!" Alec tells me.
"Maybe I should get shot by a hose more often," I think out loud.
"You should change before you really do get pneumonia," Dominico tells me, ignoring my comment to Alec.
"When are you leaving?" I ask Mrs. Redwind and Raya. Mrs. Redwind checks her watch.
"Um, two minutes ago." I guess that rules out going home to change clothes.
"When are you leaving?" I ask Dominico but at his confused expression, turn to Alec. Alec glances at his phone for the time.
"I'm leaving now. I don't know about these jokers," he says.
"Coming!" I hear Rosaline call from the other room.
"Mom! Bye! I'm leaving!" Izabella calls as she races down the stairs. Dominico seems to catch onto my problem when he stops her.
"Izzy, do you have an extra pair of clothes Faye can wear?" he asks.
"Uh, it'll have a slight complication," she says. Dominico looks confused. I lean my arm on Izabella's head to magnify our height difference.
"Oh." He says simply. "Rosaline could you-" Dominico doesn't even bother to finish his sentence because of Rosaline's intense glare in my direction. I cower slightly behind Izabella but she shrinks away too. "Never mind." He says and then motions for me to follow him upstairs.
Dominico leads me past Izabella's room and into what I'm assuming is his room. I've actually never been in his room before. The walls are a dark green with posters of multiple bands, some movies (Harry Potter included) and a tact board of old photos. My eyes skim over the ole photos mostly taken with Rosaline and Alec in California and land on one of me smiling widely, sitting on top of a dumpster. I point it out to him.
"You put that picture up?" I ask with a grin. He mutters something like 'of all the pictures up there,' but doesn't reply to me. His bedding is dark blue and I'm amazed at the lack of anything black in the room. He has a wooden desk in the corner, littered with papers, pencils and his laptop. He has one dresser against a side wall and a closet next to that with a Nerf basketball hoop on the back side. He also has a bookshelf stocked with different fantasy and horror series. His room is actually pretty neat, especially compared to mine.
"Here," he says, handing me a pair of grey sweatpants and a red t-shirt. "Try these on."
"Um... do you just have red?" I ask.
"Are you allergic to red?" he asks, grinning teasingly.
"No but I'm warning you, I look really freaky with red eyes," I say, accepting the sweatpants. He takes back the red shirt and tosses me a blue one. "Thanks." I quickly change in the bathroom. The sweat pants are really baggy on me but in a cozy sort of way. The shirt actually isn't that big but then I see it's a surfing competition shirt he got four years ago. Most likely it's way too small on him. I hang my clothes up into a neatly on the edge of the bathtub to dry before I exit the bathroom. I make sure to pull my phone out of the back pocket of my soaked jeans and text my mom that I'm babysitting also. She replies with a 'no problem. She already told me.'
I hear everyone leaving downstairs as I come down the stairs. Dominico changed out of his slightly damp clothes too into a black shirt and a pair of jeans. I see Dominico smirk when he sees me in his clothes although he quickly tries to hide it. I frown at him.
"What's that for?" I ask. He shrugs.
"Nothing. Have fun babysitting," he says, his smirk returning.
"'Kay. Have fun at the party. What time is everyone coming home?" I ask.
"My mom and dad should be home around ten thirty or so, maybe later if they decide to catch a movie. I'll be home at ten and Izzy's going to a show with Gil Bill that should last until eleven. I have no idea when Alec and Rosaline will be home but probably long after us."
I smile at Dominico's refrain from calling James anything other than Gil Bill. It's about five o'clock now, Ryan, Melissa, Dominico and I had gone Christmas shopping after school. He still has to get those presents out of Rusty...he can get them when he gets home.
"Well, have fun at the party, but not too much fun," I say with a wink. Dominico laughs.
"Wouldn't dream of it," he says.
"Is that girl going to be there tonight?" I ask him. He shakes his head.
"No, she doesn't go to parties," he tells me.
"You know, I think I'd get along with her really well. She sounds a lot like me, from what I hear," I say with a shrug. Dominico's eyes flash towards me with a nervous look before he tries to laugh to cover it up. What's that about?
"See you later," he says and quickly leaves.
"Yeah, see you," I say to his already turned back. Alec and Rosaline had already left so he follows them behind with his motorcycle. That was weird. Oh well. Babysitting time!
Chris and Jake pop their heads out around the corner again before skipping up to me.
"What are we going to do?" Jake (I think) asks.
"What do you guys want to do?" I ask them.
"FOOTBALL!" they both yell, looking up at me with smiles. I smile back at them.
"Tag or Tackle?" I ask.
"Tackle!" Chris exclaims. I open the door for them to go outside.
"We can really play it?" Jake asks.
"Free country, right? Why not? As long as no one dies," I say.
"That's a good rule," Jake says, looking for Chris to confirmation. He nods.
"Just don't ever have that as an excuse to your parents. Remember: Parent's words are law. It doesn't ever change... at least from what I know," I tell them. They groan in unison.
"That sucks," Chris says.
"Yes, yes it does," I agree. The boys put on their jackets to go outside and realizing I don't have one, I grab Dominico's coat off a hook by the front door. I'm sure he won't mind... as long as nothing happens to it.
"No one ever lets us play fun stuff like this!" Chris whispers to Jake.
"I like her," Jake whispers back, Chris nods. I smile but pretend not to have heard them.
"We have an odd number of people," Jake says, looking up at me and frowning.
"Wait a minute," I tell him. I call Gracie outside. "Gracie and me versus you and Chris?" I propose to him. They smile evilly at each other before nodding. I hide an evil smile of my own. Jake and Chris mark out the end zones across the Redwind's backyard. I kick it down to the other side for them. Chris goes to catch it but goes toppling over backwards from trying to see too far back. He scowls, daring us to laugh. I snicker but try to hide it. He glares at me but ends us trying to hide his smile. Jake gets the ball and hikes it to Chris.
"Go get him, Gracie!" I tell her. Gracie runs forward and starts making circles around Chris so he can't move. In the meantime Jake tries to run into me to tackle me but I tickle his stomach and he falls over, laughing.
"Stop! Stop!" he gasps between laughs, "I have to pee! Foul! Stop it!" I let him up and he runs inside to go to the bathroom. We play football for another two hours before all of us (except for Gracie) lie on the ground panting in exhaustion. The final score was 98 to 105. The boys won.
"Are you two hungry?" I ask, still on the ground, avoiding the soggy grass where Dominico sprayed.
"Yes," they both reply.
"What do you want to eat?"
"Cookies!"
"Cake!"
"Pudding!"
"For dinner, not for dessert."
"What can you make?" Jake asks. His left eye is more of a blue-silver while Chris has more of a green-silver. They'll lose their natural eye color tints as they get older.
"Macaroni and cheese," I say.
"What else?"
"Breakfast."
"What else?"
"Not much that's actually edible. It's dangerous gambling after that," I tell them. They both laugh.
"Macaroni and cheese!" Jake says at the same time Chris says,
"Eggs!"
"Macaroni and cheese in eggs!" they both agree.
"Your dinner. If you don't like it you have to eat it anyway," I warn. They nod and scramble off the ground and run inside. Gracie barks at me.
"I'll feed you too," I tell her and follow the boys inside. My phone buzzes and I get a text from Dominico.
'Hey, Raya wanted me to ask you to put the boys to bed by 9:30. How's it going?'
'OK, I will. Going great. Cute kids.' I reply.
'Lol.' Dominico texts back. I roll my eyes and put my phone in the pocket of my sweatpants. I take my coat off when I walk in and Chris comes up to me, holding a can of some sort.
"Faye, can you open this, please?" he asks innocently.
"Sure," I say. When I open the can, two giant multi colored worms burst out, whacking me in the face. I sigh at Chris with an unstartled expression. He looks expectantly for my reaction.
"I'm very disappointed in you, Chris," I tell him. He looks down at his shoes, guiltily and slightly disappointed in my reaction. "Next time, you have to use something slimy. That's what triggers a scream. And green. Dark green. Like something out of a pond. Or a fish." I tell him, patting his shoulder. He grins at my advice and I return the smile. We both go into the kitchen where Jake is already taking out the Easy Mac box and eggs. Not so surprisingly, he drops the egg carton which I stop before it hits the ground with magic. The boys' mouths drop open.
"You're a witch?" Jake asks wide-eyed.
"Why yes I am," I tell him with a shrug.
"Does everyone else know?" Chris asks, equally stunned. I nod.
"Yep. When Dominico found out he freaked out and got mad. That's why I locked him in the dumpster. Everyone else has been cool with it though," I explain, taking out a pan for the macaroni.
"That's awesome!" both the boys exclaim. I feel myself glow with pride and start to use magic to pour the ingredients into the bowl, just to show off. Chris and Jake watch the flying food in fascination. I sit back and watch they're awe with a smile before starting to get plates out. Jake helps set the table while Chris watches the food to make sure nothing goes wrong. When the scrambled eggs and macaroni and cheese are done I ask the boys one more time before dumping them together in a bowl which I set on the table. I wrinkle my nose but their eyes light up.
"After you," I say. They both shovel helpings onto their plates but are wary of their first bite.
"Cheers!" Jake says, raising his forkful to Chris'. They cheers before putting their forkfuls in their mouths. Their eyebrows knit suspiciously before they nod to each other and dig in. I shrug and make myself a serving too. It's actually not bad. They boys go in for seconds. I look at the clock. 8:09. An hour and a half until their bed time. Suddenly both of the boys freeze.
"What's up?" I ask them.
"Did you hear that?" Jake asks. I listen but don't hear anything.
"No, what?" I listen again. Nothing.
"That!" Chris stresses. I still don't hear anything. I shake my head. Both of the boys jump at the same time.
"There!" Jake points out the window into the darkness. I don't see anything but the boys look terrified.
"Uh, I'll check. I don't see anything out there though," I say, standing up and getting Dominico's coat on again along with my shoes. The boys stand, terrified, in the doorframe while I go out to investigate. I circle around the yard, looking into the surrounding trees but seeing nothing. When I reach the front door again, it's shut tight. I try the handle but it's locked. I bang loudly on the door to which I receive evil laughing on the other side. They locked me out! I glower at the door before walking back around the house. I look through the windows and see Chris putting on a big bunch of fake animal fur blankets. They're trying to scare me like they did to Dominico! I scowl at the window before getting an idea. I hide in the bushes away from the house and a little while later Chris exits through a side window. He begins looking for me, disguised as a monster. When he comes near the tree line I let loose a guttural growl. Chris freezes. I'm silent for a minute and make sure I'm hidden before growling again.
"Faye?" he asks, nervously. I wait for a minute. Then I yell a blood-curdling scream. Chris drops the disguise and takes off sprinting back to the house. I chuckle to myself before coming out of the hiding spot and stealing his disguise. Chris runs inside and I hear the lock click. I laugh quietly and evilly to myself before using the disguise like a hover board and lifting myself with magic up to the roof. Once I get up to the roof I put on the disguise myself and then head over to the chimney. If Santa can do it, how hard can it be? I use magic to slowly lower me down the chimney into the Redwind's living room. Don't get me started on all that soot. I'm just lucky to have contained it away from the inside of the house. I step into the room and I hear the boys whispering by the front door.
"I heard growling! And then a scream! I think there's actually something out there!" Chris exclaims to his brother.
"Do you think Faye's alright?" Jake asks, worriedly.
"I don't know!" Chris says hysterically. I lift my shoes off the ground with magic so I don't make footsteps. I growl in the living room before quickly hurrying into the kitchen and ducking behind the counter. The boys race into the living room, eyes wide. They look around, seeing nothing. They turn back around and come through the kitchen. I jump out of my hiding spot.
"BOO!" I shout, in full disguise. The boys scream and jump out of their skins. I laugh hysterically, with tears coming out of my eyes as I take off the disguise.
"Hey!" Chris shouts, still rather pale. "We were pranking you!"
"Gentlemen," I address them, "That is how it is done." The boys look at each other, then back at me, with their mouths hanging open in awe.
"THAT WAS AWESOME!!!" they both scream after a long pause.
"How did you do it?"
"How did you get in?"
"Were you the one who screamed and growled?" The boys ramble a thousand questions off at me as I laugh.
"I'll tell you exactly how I did it, when you get ready for bed," I compromise. They both nod enthusiastically and race upstairs. I laugh again. I'm such an awful person. I get so much joy out of scaring the living daylight out of seven year olds.
I meet the boys in the Redwind's guest room when they're finished changing and brushing their teeth. It's already 9:13 by the time they finish getting ready. They climb into bed and I explain to them how I got in and everything else they want to know while I tuck them in.
"Did you two have fun today?" I ask them. They nod with gleaming smiles on their faces. See, Dominico? They know how to take a joke!
"Can you tell us a story?" Jake asks.
"Sure," I say, sitting on the edge of the queen-sized bed. "What kind of story?" I ask them.
"Have twins!" Chris requests.
"Awesome twins! And pranks!" Jake adds.
"And magic!" Chris puts in. I think for a second.
"Huh. Have you two ever read or watched Harry Potter?" I ask them. They shake their heads.
"Well, these are the fantastic misadventures of Fred and George Weasly..."
****************************************************************
I'm just finishing washing and putting away all the dishes from dinner when I hear the door open and Gracie scramble to see who's there. It's only 10:02, I wasn't expecting anyone to be home so soon.
"Hey, Gracie," I hear Dominico say as he comes through the door.
"Hey," I say as he makes his way into the kitchen. I lean back against the cabinets and smile at him.
"Hey," he grins evilly at me, "How did it go?"
"Great, they're really cute kids. They're asleep now," I say to him. The twins begged me to say they were cute angels to everyone, just to confuse them.
"Sure they are," Dominico says, looking suspiciously at the stairs. I sigh and follow him as he goes upstairs to check on the kids, not trusting them to stay in bed. He opens the door to the guest room and two little forms are curled up in the bed. Chris was even sucking his thumb. I almost laugh. Nice touch.
"Wow," Dominico breaths, impressed. He slowly starts to shut the door but Jake's voice stops him.
"Cousin Dominico?" he asks.
"Hmm?"
"Can Faye babysit us again? She's the most awesome person ever!" he says. Dominico chuckles.
"Maybe. Go to sleep...Jake," he says, guessing the name right. Jake nods and lays back down. "How?" Dominico asks me when he shuts the door. I shrug.
"I like to babysit," I tell him simply. I tell him that we played football with Gracie and I made dinner and then they played flashlight tag (sort of, it's a cover story the boys made) before I told them a story and they went to bed. Dominico shakes his head, astounded. "I'd have thought you'd stay out a little later on a Friday night," I say to him as we both make our way to the door after I grab my now damp clothes from the bathroom. I offer to change into them but Dominico insists that I can give him back his t-shirt and sweatpants later. Dominico shrugs.
"I really don't like going out to parties, I just go because Alec and Rosaline think I'm depressed or something if I don't." he explains.
"Did you at least have fun?" I ask him. He shrugs again.
"It was alright. Lots of people drinking and making out and me awkwardly standing behind Alec, using magic to keep most people away from me," he admits.
"You didn't drink anything, did you?" I ask him, worriedly. I don't want to leave two little kids home only under the care of a drunk teenager who will probably just pass out. He shakes his head no, smiling at my concern.
"Thank you for doing that though, they would have terrorized me," he says.
"Anytime, it was fun," I tell him. He comes with me to Rusty to take out the Christmas presents he bought for his parents. I help him carry a bag back inside the house before turning around to leave.
"Goodnight," I say, turning to go back to Rusty. He catches my hand before I can walk down the front steps. I turn around to face him and he stutters nervously.
"Um, F-Faye. I've been wanting to tell you-" he starts. I feel myself blush even though I don't know why. Probably because he's still holding my hand. Our eyes lock for a second and I smile reassuringly at him. He calms down a bit but still looks nervous. "Oh, um, you...you..." he stutters.
"Dominico, it's just me," I remind him. He smiles at me.
"You do look cute in my clothes, you know," he says, not stuttering. I frown.
"I'm not cute," I say stiffly. He laughs, relaxing although I'm not sure that's what he was trying to say before.
"You're cute to me," he says. "Goodnight, Faye."
"Isn't saying you think someone's cute the same as saying you like them?" Chris asks from the top of the stairs. Dominico's face immediately goes pink with embarrassment. I laugh.
"Go to bed, Chris." I say to him. "That's just in Rudolf."
"So Dominico is like Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer?" Jake asks, appearing beside Chris. I laugh at the thought and Dominico turns and even deeper shade of red.
"Have fun with your cousins!" I sing to Dominico. "Goodnight!" Dominico blushes and shuts the door after me as I get into Ol' Rusty.
That was even more trouble than I bargained for. Not that those kids aren't really awesome. But they're like double trouble with a shot of sugar.