9. Strawberry Milkshakes
After the paint incident Emilee and I had to come back and do masks in detention. I just covered mine in black fabric and super-glued it. If it fell apart before Friday I would buy a new one. Apparently, making the mask yourself wasn’t compulsory.
Right now I was ditching school in favor of hanging out with my best friend Billy. We’d been together since we were toddlers- and we hadn’t been toddlers for a very long time- and had always been ‘inseparable’. He was also in charge of the royal guard back in the kingdom I come from, Astria.
“So, Ellen’s told me about your mate situation. Are the girls hot?”
I glared over at him, cursing my sister’s big mouth. “Yeah, I guess so. The blonde one more than the other.”
“Of course the blonde one’s hotter,” he chortled. “She’s probably your mate. Can I have a taste of the ‘other’, then?”
“NO!” Wincing at how loud my voice was, I repeated the word in a softer tone. “No.”
“Why not? You can’t keep them both to yourself, you know! That’s just not fair!”
“I can do whatever the hell I want! I’m the prince here, not you!”
“You can’t pull that shit on me, Chris! I know you better than anyone!” Billy glared at me. “Are you telling me that if the blonde one’s your mate you’ll take the other as your mistress? That’s low, even for you!”
“I don’t know what I’ll do but she can’t be with anyone else but me! I won’t allow it! Ever!” I shouted before thinking. Okay, now I just sound like a jealous mate.
Sadly, Billy agreed with me. “I don’t think the blonde one is your mate.”
“She has to be!”
“No she doesn’t,” he denied and rolled his eyes. “Your protective instincts are all pointing to the ‘other one’, whoever the hell she is.”
“That doesn’t mean anything, though! I might just be protective of her in a… in a brotherly way!” Okay now I just sound desperate. I should stop.
“That was not brotherly. That was jealous mate.”
“Shut up! I don’t want to talk to you anymore!” I think Emilee’s childishness had rubbed off on me. Billy rolled his eyes.
“Sooo…When can I meet her?”
“NEVER! SHE’S NOT MY MATE!”
“You’re in denial, Chris.” He rolled his eyes again. “Fine. If she’s not your mate, she’s going to be my snack.”
Without thinking, I launched myself at him and tackled him to the ground. I managed to get a good few punches in before he threw me off and into a tree.
“See? Protective!” he chortled.
“I’m not protective!” I shouted and stood up.
“Then I guess I’m free to-”
“SHUT UP!”
He started laughing again. “TOLD YOU SO! PROTEEECTIVE!”
“It’s just because she’s smaller than the average human,” I decided. “She’s not my mate. She can’t be. You haven’t even met her, but I have and she’s definitely not a princess in any way. She’s more like a… a gypsy!”
“Gypsies are a good fuck,” Billy said thoughtfully. “If she’s not your mate I want a go with her.”
“NO!”
“Aw come on, stop being all ‘big brother’.” Great, now he’s taunting me.
“I’m not her brother!”
“But, you did just say that it was probably just brotherly protective instincts,” he pointed out.
“IT’S NOT! SHE’S MINE!” I shouted instinctively before wincing. What the hell is happening to me? Friday could not come fast enough.
“There’s your inner animal!” Billy laughed again. I just love how he finds humor in my painful situation.
“SHUT UP!”
Suddenly, my phone beeped loudly and interrupted our staring match. I took it out and swiped it open, seeing a text from Dana.
Where are you, baby? You’ve missed two of our lessons already! I miss you :(
I groaned loudly. She was so clingy it wasn’t even funny!
“Is that the gypsy?” Billy asked with a grin and made a swipe for my phone. I was distracted with texting back so he stole it easily. “Dana, huh? She’s a bit creepy, especially in this text. Are you sure she’s a gypsy?”
“That’s the blonde one.”
“Why the hell is she calling you baby? Did you mate with her already? Ellen’s going to kill you if you chose the wrong one!”
“Dana is my mate! She has to be because Emilee is definitely not fit for the throne! She’d probably rather run through the forest chasing imaginary smurfs than rule a country!”
“She sounds like a ton of fun,” he laughed. I seem to be making him laugh a lot today.
“I don’t need fun! I need a queen! And Dana is one, by all rights!” I shouted at him. Billy sighed in defeat.
“Yeah, yeah. Believe what you want to believe. When it comes to Friday and Emilee’s your mate be prepared for a lot of ‘I told you so’s from me.” He turned to look out into the forest. “You might want to answer than blonde of yours before she hunts you down like a crazy llama. I’m going to go hunting.”
With that he ran off into the forest to pursue his favorite sport, leaving my phone lying at my feet. I picked it up and sent a quick reply to Dana.
I’m ditching today. School’s too boring for me.
Her reply was almost instant.
You’re missing out on the funniest presentation ever. Emilee’s such an idiot sometimes, lol!
What was Emilee doing now? I ran quickly over to the school and stood under the window of our classroom. Too my surprise, the little pixie was hanging from it and swinging herself back and forth like a monkey. Our teacher was shouting at her to remain calm, but she was too busy laughing her head off to pay attention.
“This is so fun!” I heard her shout. “Why don’t I do this more often?”
I took this as a sign that it was time for me to intervene. “Emilee, what the hell are you doing?”
“Christopher!” she giggled. “Catch me!”
Before I could blink she let go of the windowsill and plummeted to the ground. I caught her in my arms on instinct alone, her light body easily supported by my awesome strongness. Was strongness even a word?
I repeat: What the hell is happening to me?
“I got you, Milee,” I whispered to her to distract myself from my weird thoughts. She shivered slightly in my arms and I grinned triumphantly.
“EMILEE KATE WILLOWS!” someone shouted from the window and broke our moment. It was the principal of the school.
Fucking hell.
“Run, Smurf, RUN!” Emilee shouted and followed by a sharp pain in my ass.
“Did you just slap my butt?” I questioned, stunned.
“RUN!”
Reacting on instinct again, I took off away from the school at the fastest speed I could go without looking like a vampire. There were angry shouts behind us, one of them being Dana’s, and I could sense Billy running parallel to us in the woods.
“So this is the gypsy? I don’t know about you, but I personally think she’s hotter than the blonde one.”
I let out a growl and he took off in the opposite direction. Deciding to take Emilee to the coffee shop/diner that I had fed from, I ran inside and plopped her down into one of the booths. The waitress stared at us like we were aliens.
“What did you do?” I couldn’t help but ask after a few minutes of silence.
Emilee shrugged. “I broke the window.”
“I saw that.” It was obvious that she couldn’t be bothered elaborating.
“I’m pretty sure that the whole school did,” she sighed. “Want a coffee- my shout?”
I didn’t think she was rich enough to pay for my coffee, but I agreed nonetheless. “Latté.”
Emilee stood up and sashayed (not literally) over to the counter, her hips swaying naturally. I couldn’t help but think that she had to have some sort of ballet training. No human could move that gracefully without training.
I heard the waitress ask if I was single and couldn’t help but smirk. I just loved how humans were so attracted to us. Well, besides Emilee. She wasn’t attracted to me at all.
“He’s dating my best friend. A shame, really.” Maybe she is attracted to me? I tuned out as she ordered and contemplated this new idea. I hadn’t really noticed any forward signs of attraction from her, hence why I never considered her a candidate to be my mate. But if she was attracted to me, even in the slightest way, then she could be my mate.
Yet the other arguments still stood. She wasn’t a princess, and she definitely wasn’t a queen.
I decided to ask her if she thought I was hot anyway.
“I think even a straight guy would, Smurf, but that doesn’t mean they would act on it,” she replied vaguely.
“So… You’re saying that even though you think I’m hot, you wouldn’t date me?” I summarized.
“Basically.”
“Why not?”
“Christopher.” Emilee sighed like she was disappointed. “You’re dating one of my best friends.”
I wouldn’t say dating.
“We’re not dating,” I told her truthfully. “I just asked her to the dance.”
“To Dana that means you are her boyfriend. Anyways, she had dibs from the start. Why did you think none of the other girls made a move while she was around?” She had a point.
“Because she was all over me already so they didn’t get a chance?”
“That too,” she allowed. “But when Dana wants something she gets it. She can be very determined when she wants to be.”
“She sounds like a slut,” I said without feeling guilty at all. I shouldn’t say things like that about my mate, but it was true. “Not someone I’d pick you to be friends with.”
Emilee frowned at me and played with her fingers, looking slightly angry. “Dana was the first person to talk to me when I came here.”
I opened my mouth to say that that didn’t mean she had to be friends with her, but she continued.
“She was the first person I told when I had nightmares during the night. She was the one that comforted me and told me it was okay. She was the one who skipped school and watched chick flicks with me when I was sick. You don’t understand Christopher; even though we’re complete opposites Dana and I are as tight as sisters. The four of us are as tight as sisters.”
I blinked in surprise, amazed that she could be mature for once. “That’s probably the most serious thing I have ever heard you say.”
“I’m serious when it comes to my friends,” she laughed. “Everyone else though… Well, most people think I have ADHD.”
Her laughter instantly lightened the mood. The waitress, who brought our drinks over with a flirty expression on her face, interrupted our conversation.
“Latté?” she asked, her voice husky.
“Mine.” She placed the cup in front of me and slipped something under my napkin, though I pretended not to notice.
“Strawberry milkshake?”
“Mine!” Emilee cried with an excited expression on her face. The waitress laughed at her before putting it down in front of her. She instantly went to guzzle it down but I snatched it before she could. It looked a lot nicer than my latté.
When she was looking for where it went she accidently banged her head against the wall. It looked like it hurt.
“MOTHER OF FUNKY MONKEYS! WHY DO I KEEP DOING THAT?” It definitely hurt.
“Are you okay Milee?” I asked. She looked me over form her position before glaring at what was in my hands. Crap, I still have her milkshake.
“GIVE ME MY STRAWBERY MILKSHAKE CHRISTOPHER!” she shrieked before throwing herself at me. Laughing, I stretched my arms up so I held the cup just out of her reach. Emilee climbed onto my lap before I could stop her, instantly arousing me, and grabbed her drink out of my hands. Before I could react she dumped the whole thing on my head.
I closed my eyes as I felt the slimy liquid fall down my face. Something smooth flicked my cheek.
“Did you just lick me?”
“No,” Emilee lied. “Chrissie did.”
I doubt it was the bird. When I opened my eyes I found him, to my surprise, perched on Emilee’s shoulder. I guess it was the bird?
“I was hoping you had,” I whined. Some of the sweet milkshake went into my mouth.
“Are you asking me to lick you, Smurf?” she giggled.
“Maybe, it is tempting since you are sitting on my lap and I’m covered in strawberry milkshake,” I pointed out. A contemplating look crossed her face before she leaned forward.
Was she really going to lick me?
I closed my eyes, waiting patiently. The same sensation as before flicked over my other cheek.
“Now you owe me,” Emilee sang was I opened my eyes again.
“No I don’t, I saved you from falling out of a four story building.”
“That doesn’t count!”
“It does and you know it.” I smirked as she got up from my lap and walked over to order another milkshake. As she did, I began the tiresome task of wiping as much of the original drink I could off of my face and hair.
“I’m going to smell like sour milk,” I groaned to her.
“What’s that?” she asked and pointed to the piece of paper under my cup. I pulled it and read it, a cocky smile spreading across my face.
“The number of a girl named Michaela Bishop.
****
This is one of the last chapters of this spin off! I'm cutting it off pretty soon and you'll have to read the rest in Emilee's POV :)
Billy on the side >>