Chapter 7 THE PLAN WORKING
"Looked something up just to understand my world better," he said.
I felt warmth rise in my face. "It was not a big deal honestly."
"It was to me. Thank you so much, Miss Danvers." he said simply.
He reached over and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.
My heartbeat accelerated.
From across the table Alexander picked up his blood bag.
He put it down, picked it up, put it down and picked it up and actually drank from it this time like he was trying to give his hands something to do before they did something else.
He set it down and looked at Jake. Then he looked at me. Then he looked at the wall again.
I leaned toward him again.
"Three more faces made today," I whispered.
"Lily, leave me alone." he said very quietly.
"Alexander," I whispered back.
"If you say the word jealous one more time...."
"I was not going to say it," I said innocently.
He looked at me. I looked back.
"You were absolutely going to say it," he said.
"I was going to say that you look tense," I said. "And that you should relax. And that everything is going exactly according to plan." I paused. "And that Jake just tucked my hair behind my ear."
Something moved across his face, pained and unguarded bit it was gone before I could fully see it.
"Good," he said flatly. "That is good. That is the plan working."
"Yes," I said.
"Good," he said again.
"You said that already."
"Lily. Go away."
"Yes Alexander."
"Eat your pasta."
I looked at my lunchbox. The pasta was genuinely cold now. Completely and thoroughly cold in the way pasta got when it had been sitting out for forty minutes while its owner was busy handing people napkins and whispering at boys who were definitely not jealous.
I ate it cold. It was terrible but I was smiling the whole time.
After lunch Jake headed to class with a wave and that easy grin and I stood watching him go for exactly the appropriate amount of time before turning around.
Alexander was already standing, bag on his shoulder. Looking at me with an expression I was starting to recognise. The one that meant he had spent the last hour feeling something he had decided not to own.
"It is working," I said.
"I know," he said.
"He tucked my hair back," I said.
"I was there," he said.
"And he kissed my hand," I said.
"I was also there," he said.
I tilted my head. "You are happy about this?"
"Very thrilled," he said in a tone that suggested the opposite of thrilled.
I studied him for a moment.
He stood very still under me, looking the way people did when they were trying not to give something away.
"Thank you," I said. "For the plan. For letting me sit here."
"You do not have to thank me," he said quietly.
"I want to," I said.
He looked at me for a moment longer than normal. Then he turned and walked toward the exit.
"Practice is at four," he said over his shoulder. "Don't be late."
"I am never late," I called after him.
He did not respond but I saw his shoulders move like he was laughing and had decided not to let me hear it.
"I did not plan to make it a daily thing."
That was what I told myself on Monday when I climbed into Alexander's car after school and slid into the back seat next to Jake.
I told myself the same thing on Tuesday and Wednesday.
By Thursday I had stopped telling myself anything and just opened the back door like I owned it.
Jake always sat in the back with me. That had not been discussed or decided. It just happened.
Like most things with Jake, it was easy, natural, like the world rearranged itself slightly to make room for whatever he wanted.
Today he was in the middle of explaining why pineapple did not belong on pizza.
I had been surprised to know that some vampires could try food. It was a shock to me.
"It changes the entire texture and taste," he said. "You bite in expecting something and you get something completely different. It is a betrayal."
"It is a fruit," I said.
"Exactly," he said. "Fruit. On pizza? A savoury food."
"Tomato is also a fruit, remember." I said.
He stopped, opened his mouth and then closed it.
"That is different," he said.
"How?"
"It just is."
"Jake."
"Lily."
"Tomato is a fruit."
He turned to face me fully. "Are you seriously defending pineapple on pizza right now?"
"I am defending logic," I said.
"That is the most illogical thing anyone has ever said to me."
"You just said tomato being a fruit is different without giving a single reason why."
He pointed at me. "You are dangerous."
I laughed. "Because I know things?"
"Because you know dangerous things and you smile while you say them," he said. "It makes it very hard to argue back properly."
I laughed even though I didn't catch the humor.
From the front seat, Alexander turned the indicator on even though we were nowhere near a turn yet.
I glanced at the rearview mirror.
His eyes were on the road. Completely on the road. Infact, very focused on the road. The road had his full and undivided attention.
I looked back at Jake.
"So you think I have a nice smile?" I said.
Jake tilted his head. "I did not say that."
"You said my smile makes it hard to argue."
"That is not the same thing."
"It is close."
He looked at me for a moment. Then that cute grin spread across his face. "Fine. Yes. You have a nice smile."
"Thank you," I said, blushingly and looked out the window.
He laughed.
I felt the rearview mirror shift slightly but I refused to look up.
We stopped at a red light. Jake stretched his arms above his head and yawned.
I reached over and poked him in the side.
He yelped. He actually yelped.
So even vampires could get tickled?
"What was that?" he said, dropping his arms.
"You were yawning," I said.
"So?"
"It was very wide," I said. "I was concerned."
"You poked me because you were concerned?”