Chapter 16

Cousin. I wondered.

Yeah.

I want you to create a diversion… for Ben.

Will it work? He’ll see it coming.

That’s what I’m counting on, Rose.

Why?

Look, all you have to do is make a little decision. It’ll be enough to distract him. He’ll be so anxious and vexed by your actions, he’ll try to stop you. But you have to be convincing, and make it look like you’re not going to change your mind.

What?

Just attack someone. I know you won’t really hurt them, but he doesn’t. It’ll work, trust me.

I can’t believe you of all people would come up with such a ridiculous plan. And it’s cheating.

Nope. I’m gonna warn him. If he doesn’t listen, well, it’s not cheating.

Alright, I’ll do it.

Thanks.

I got to the trailhead half a second before them.

Ben was thinking that Rose is a neutral party and let her start the count. She thought the numbers before she said them, giving me a head start when she got to three.

I was leading for all of two seconds, when Ben passed me. Half way down the trail I set the plan in motion.

Now, Rose, now! You can do it.

Okay. I can smell someone nearby. I’m going. She took off through the trees. Ben saw where her new path was taking her.

Wow! She’s pretty convincing. Ben’s going to explode.

“Rose, what are you doing!?” Ben shrieked.

Rose didn’t answer.

Strix, what is she thinking?

Shortcut was her last thought. Why? I said being deceptive.

That’s not what I saw. It’s going to be a disaster.

She won’t do it. She’s not even thinking it.

You are irresponsible, allowing this to happen. I’m going to find her, and I’ll still beat you.

Whatever, she already knows you’re coming. She says not to bother. She’s not attacking anyone.

Right, like I’m supposed to trust her. She’s not like us, Strix. She relies completely on blood. It’s all she knows, granted she is family and lives off animal blood like the rest of us, but everyone slips up once in a while. Come on, think.

You’re over-reacting, but okay.

Rose, he’s headed your way. Be careful, we’ll be meeting our guests in less than twenty minutes.

I know.

With Ben otherwise engaged, I was on my way to victory. Against Ben, I rarely win. But I did warn him. His loss.

Five minutes later, I crossed the invisible finish line. I thought he said he was going to beat me. Pity.

Another two minutes later, Ben, dragging Rose, crossed it. I laughed.

Nice work Rose. He was really convinced.

Thanks. I was really thinking about it, until he was just close enough. I jumped out of his way and tried to tell him I wasn’t going to attack that poor boy. He didn’t believe me, so I told him he’d have to catch me. And no surprise, he did.

I owe you one.

Forget about it, it was fun.

“Are you going to let me go now?” Rose griped. He released his hold on her.

“Let’s go back. They’ll be here shortly.” Ben declared.

“Wanna race back?”

“Fine, but I’m going to win this time.”

“Of course you will.” We laughed.

We headed back to campus. Just as I started to run, I heard something in the trees. I looked around but didn’t see anything. I brushed it off as the wind and continued to our meeting spot.

We heard our guests arriving. They are ecstatic. Rose heard their thoughts first. She didn’t have to focus like me.

Awe. They think we’re eating here, that’s sweet.

I know, won’t they be shocked. I mused.

The boy, Mark, was the first to spot us. Hello. I’m Mark Cavenaugh, first year Pre-Med. No, that’s not good. Okay. Hello, I’m Mark. My sister said you were new here too. I was wondering—not good either. Damn it! How ‘bout this. Hi, I’m Mark. You must be Strix and Ben. Is she your sister too? This is crazy. Alright, alright! I’m just going to say Hi, I’m Mark.

His thoughts were amusing. I had to suppress a laugh. His sister would beat him to it.

“Hi. Ben, Strix. These are my brothers Mike, Mark, and Gordon, and my sister Cathy.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you all. This is our cousin Rose, Jason’s sister.” I introduced her.

“Nice to meet you, too.” They said in unison.

“So, the cafeteria is this way,” Mike was nervous.

“Oh, we can do better than that.” Rose said, teasing him. “We’ll drive. My cousins think highly of you already and well—“

“We wanted to take you out for dinner,” Ben interrupted.

“Is Italian okay?” I solicited.

“Sure it is,” Sissie said. “Where are we going?”

“Café Bello.” Ben said, adding a little too enthusiastically, “Who wants to ride with me?”

“Um, Ben, I think the girls should come with me and the guys with you.”

The Cavenaugh boys were having some trouble with coherency at the moment- thinking about Rose. And apparently, Rose liked Mike’s thoughts. She thought the other two were too young.

“That’s cool with us.” Cathy assumed. “Guys don’t much like girl talk anyway.”

We arrived at Café Bello at 6:45 and had fifteen minutes ‘til our reservation. We stood outside in the crisp night air and got to know each other a little better until it was time.

We sat at our table.

“I’m Candie and I’ll be your server this evening. Can I get you something to drink?”

“Sweet tea with lemon,” Rose replied. She wouldn’t be drinking it, but she loved the way it smelled.

“I’ll just have water,” Sissie said.

“Unsweet tea, please, thank you,” Mike requested.

“And for you?” Candie asked.

“Cream soda please, ma’am” Ben replied.

“Um. I think I’ll have a Mountain Dew,” Mark said.

“Unsweet tea with lemon,” said Cathy.

“Same for me,” said Gordon.

“I’ll have a cream soda with a hint of lime, please” I said.

The waitress left to get our drinks and we began discussing the menu. When she returned we were ready to order, I almost laughed aloud when I heard everyone’s thoughts. Rose was laughing to herself too. We shared a quick glance and nodded thanks to Candie for our drinks.

“Are you ready to order or do you still need a few minutes?”

“I think we’re ready,” I said. “I’ll have the chicken fettuccini.”

“Vegetarian lasagna,” Jordan stated.

“I’ll have a Caesar salad and Portobello soup,” Cathy said.

“Spinach Crusstini for me,” Mark said with a smile.

“Parmesan chicken, ma’am” Ben articulated.

“Three vegetable penne for me,” Mike said.

“Eggplant parmesan,” Sissie told her.

“Mockbraten rare with a baked potato please,” Rose finished.

“Thank you.” I told the waitress as she left. “So your family is vegetarian?”

“Yes, is that a problem? We’re not freaks, we just don’t eat meat.” Sissie expressed somewhat defensively.

“No, what my sister meant was, it’s nice. We don’t meet a lot of vegetarians. It’s refreshing.” Ben interceded on my behalf.

I don’t need you to defend me, Benjamin! I told him.

Right, what would you have said?

That I was curious and just wondered why.

Okay.

“Oh, okay. Sorry I got defensive about it.” She apologized. “So what classes are you guys taking, maybe I can give you some tips?”

“Well, I’m pre-med and Strix is double majoring in pre-law and psychology. Rose graduated law school last year. Most in our family are lawyers.”

“Oh, I see.”

“Why are you pre-med?” Mark asked.

“I just thought I’d be better at keeping people healthy than out of jail.”

“How did your parents feel about that?” Mike asked.

“They’re cool with it. They think it’s great I’m taking initiative and breaking tradition,” he said smugly.

You won’t be the first to go to med school. Remember that. I told him.

I know but they don’t or did you forget?

I didn’t forget. I just didn’t like your tone.

“That’s cool” Mike said at the same time Mark said “Awesome!”

We continued talking about classes and Sissie and Mike filled us in on professors and what to watch out for.

Our food arrived and we thanked our waitress.

While we ate, Rose did most of the talking, mostly about Ben and me. How we weren’t just geniuses when it came to school but that we were musical geniuses too. Ben shot her an angry look; he didn’t like her bragging even when it was about him or me. He thought my ego was big enough and didn’t want her fueling it. The Cavenaughs were fascinated, so she continued.