She didn�t look scared or disgusted, just curious.
�To be honest, I�m not big on the whole horse racing thing. I was getting bored and looking around during the first race. When you and your friends started jumping around, I just caught a glimpse of you and� well, you looked like someone I�d like to know.�
She looked at her hands that sat in her lap. I wasn�t sure if what I said had been a good thing for her to hear.
�Thank you.�
Did she just thank me? It was barely in a whisper, so I wasn�t sure.
�Can I be completely superficial for a minute?�
Baby, you can be whatever the hell you want.
�Sure.�
That smile. If I never saw her again, that smile would be engrained in my memory.
�I think you are the cutest guy I�ve ever seen.�
How many times have I heard that? But somehow this time seemed so much different. It didn�t seem like she was turning me into an object for which she�d lust after or that she was after something that I had. Combine it with that shy smile and I would give her whatever she wanted.
�So why me? There are some really pretty girls down there.�
Complete shock. She didn�t know?
�Because unlike those other girls, you�re beautiful without even trying. You aren�t coated in makeup and wearing tight clothes. You�re real and that makes you the most beautiful woman I�ve ever seen.�
Oh no. I said something wrong. Tears were pooling in her green eyes. Please don�t cry Kara. I�ll hate myself forever if I make you cry.
She blinked a few times and turned away. When she turned back towards me, she looked shy.
�I�ve known you for twenty minutes and you�re already the greatest guy I�ve ever met.�
Wow.
She liked me too?
�Um� do you know where a bathroom is up here?�
She�s looking for the bathroom? She wants to�?
��Cause you know, it�s kinda cold in here and I was gonna dry off� or something.�
OH!! Man�
�Oh� yeah. Hold on a second. Hey A.J.�
A.J. turned around from the group of guys he�d been talking to.
�Where are the bathrooms?�
Oh shit. Sometimes I need to pay a little more attention to whom I�m talking to and how I word things. He excused himself from the conversation and walked over to us with an evil grin.
�The bathroom, huh? I thought you just wanted to��
�She�s wanting to dry off some, but we don�t know where the bathroom is.�
Kara, please don�t understand the meaning of what A.J. was about to say. I�m really not that bad of a guy.
A.J. frowned in disappointment and pointed towards the far side of the room.
�Over there.�
She stood up and looked towards where he was pointing. Walking away, I heard her turn back around.
�Thanks.�
And now I�m left with A.J.
�Dude, for a second there, I thought you�d changed your mind. Kara, is it? Yeah, she�d be a nice little lay.�
I glared at him.
�Shut up man. I like her. She�s all sweet and shy.�
I�d caught sight of Kara�s tip sheet sitting on the table in front of me where she�d left it. Pulling out a wad of bills, I handed him thirty dollars.
�Hey, can you do something for me?�
�Depends. I don�t do male sexual favors.�
I looked up at him incredulously then shuddered. Gross.
�Make a bet on that Midnight Sky horse on race five for me.�
�Wow. Is little Nicky getting interested in the big, bad horsies? Kevin will be so pleased.�
Oh god. Just go away and make the freakin� bet. Thankfully he began to leave, but not before he got another stupid comment in.
�By the way Nick, you might care to know that you�re leaking.�
Huh?
I looked down at my shirt, realizing for the first time that areas of it had become damp from Kara�s clothes. A smile came to my face when I caught a whiff of the raspberry smell of her that must have rubbed off on me.
�Miss me?�
Absolutely.
Wait a second.
�You changed clothes!�
Kara sat down before glancing down at herself and then back up at me.
�Yes I did. Don�t sound so disappointed. My other clothes were wet. I watched the weather this morning before we left, and unlike those goobers down there, I brought extra clothes to change into just in case.�
So she was smart and practical.
Wait a second. Goobers? She called her friends �goobers�?
�Smart.�
�Here. A.J. told me to give this to you.�
Kevin handed me a tiny piece of paper with funky lines across it and the name of my horse. This was my bet?
�Thanks.�
�You do realize that the horse you picked is like 47 to 1, right?�
I looked up at his face. What?
�So? Long shots can win too.�
Well, at least Kara knew what the hell Kevin was talking about. He shrugged and agreed doubtfully before walking away. Wow, she�s magical. I can never disagree with Kevin without him arguing back, much less leaving me alone.
�So, who did you bet on?�
She leaned towards me to see the slip of paper in my hand.
�Just a horse.�
�Well, duh.�
I noticed she leaned closer into me before realizing I was pulling the piece of paper out of her reach unintentionally. When she looked up at me, she lost balance and placed her hand on my thigh to steady herself.
Oh boy.
In between her hand on my leg and the fact that, with her looking up at me, I could see straight down her shirt, this was about to become a very embarrassing situation for me.
Out of nowhere, she jumped from her chair, across me, and grabbed the paper from my other hand. No, no, no. Don�t do things like that when I�m unprepared and already about to� um� get friendly. Standing up next to my chair, she looked at the paper and then at me.
�You bet on my horse!�
I hadn�t realized how short she was. With me slouched in my chair with my terribly terrific posture, my eyes were level with� well, her chest. She couldn�t be over five feet tall.
�Yeah, you sound like you just might be my lucky charm.�
Kara smiled.
�Does that mean you want to keep me?�
I couldn�t breathe. In between her flirty tone and my sudden notice of her new clothing choices, I had to concentrate on something not so fantastic. Here was this tiny girl wearing nothing spectacular - a plain purple v-neck t-shirt and blue jean shorts - and I was about to ravish her body. It probably didn�t help that this t-shirt hugged her breasts more closely and didn�t quiet make it to her belly button or that her shorts were tight in all the right places and shorter than their predecessors.
�Can I?�
Why am I whispering? Probably because you can�t breathe and the smile lighting up her face isn�t helping matters.
She turned to the window unexpectedly and leaned towards it.
The race started and neither of us had noticed.
I don�t know what I was thinking, probably that I was incredibly turned on by this girl I�d just met and needed to do something about it, but I stood up behind her and, with one arm on either side, I leaned against her, watching the race over one of her shoulders. Or at least if I�d had an attention span longer than a crack-addicted child�s, I would have watched the race; I had more interest in studying her shoulder and neck, how her body felt against mine, the way I could feel her heart beat against my chest. Who cared about horses anyway?
My thoughts were broken when she turned her head and looked at me.
�You won.�
�Huh?�
Yes, ladies and gentlemen. Let me introduce you to Nick the genius Carter.
�You won.�
Pointing to the results board, I saw that the number eight horse had come in first. But I�m slow and forgot why that mattered. She turned around, forcing me to standup a little straighter, until we were staring into each other�s eyes, our faces barely five inches apart. Would she hate me if I kissed her right now?
�If you made a two dollar bet, you�re going to get fifteen dollars and eighty cents.�
�Two dollar bet?�
Let�s stop talking and make out.
�Yeah, that�s the smallest bet you can make.�
All I had to do was lean down a little farther.
�I didn�t make a two dollar bet.�
She turned and grabbed the betting slip that had been discarded at the start of the race, looked at it then turned back to me with her mouth opened in surprise.
�You bet thirty bucks?�
If she realized that my face had mysteriously gotten a few centimeters closer to hers, she wasn�t showing it.
�Yeah.�
�Nick, man! How did you know that horse was going to win??�
Shit! My head dropped in disappointment at the sound of Kevin�s voice, and I was caught by surprise when I felt it rub up against her chest.
I was soooo close.
What surprised me even more was the sensation of her fingers brushing over the short hairs on the back of my neck and hearing her giggle getting closer to my ear.
�Maybe next time.�
She knew! And she was going to let me kiss her! I�m so going to kill Kevin.
My head popped up as she slipped away from me, the hand that�d been on the back of my head coming around to brush against my cheek. She gave me a small smile as she sat back in her chair.
�So, how did you know?�
Groaning I turned to find all four of my friends behind me. I couldn�t help smiling when I answered them, nodding towards Kara.
�My lucky charm told me.�
�Nick, you just won like two hundred and fifty bucks.�
Kara was laughing as she told me. I so didn�t care. She could have it all if she wanted it.
�So how did she know?�
She turned to Howie and smiled. He was the only one of them who hadn�t completely embarrassed me when he first saw her with me.
�Complete guess.�
�You�re kidding?!�
Shaking her head at him, she grabbed her phone as that familiar song started playing again. Where had I heard that before?
��Scuse me.�
She walked a few feet away, but we purposely stopped talking to listen to her end of the conversation.
�Ha! Told ya I�m lucky.�
She�s my lucky charm. Leave her alone.
�Well, maybe I don�t want to be your lucky charm anymore. Maybe I�ve found somebody better.�
Here I go grinning like a complete idiot again.
�Okay okay. But you guys owe me dinner at least if not a day of shopping.�
Say the words and we�ll go.
She grabbed the tip sheet and sat on the table where it�d been.
�Hmm� numbers three and five.�
Kevin, Brian, and Howie pulled out their books of stats and looked at the two horses she�d said.
�No, I don�t know whose going to win. All my predictions are for show. Because it�s safer that way. I have three spots for the horses to come in. Uh huh. Right. Bye.�
I took the tip sheet from her hand and looked at the horses she�d been talking about.
�So let�s see� you picked three because� the rider�s jersey has white stars on a dark blue background like the sky?�
The grin told me I was right.
�And five because� hmm� it�s got to be the name. Angel in the Morning.�
A slight head nod, while the guys watched us in amazement.
�There�s got to be something else I�m missing. You had three reasons for picking that last horse� or are you becoming less lucky as the seconds pass?�
She blushed as I teased her.
�You wouldn�t care about the other reasons.�
I flopped back into my chair, ignoring the guys� presence, and nonchalantly ran my right hand up and down her lower leg.
�Come on. We�re friends. Tell me.�
God, she was as soft as I thought she�d be.
Reaching over, she grabbed the sheet out of my hand.
�First of all, thirty five was my older brother�s football number, which explains three and five. Misty happens to be a gray horse, and more often than not, they come in somewhere in the top three. As for Angel in the Morning, the name just rocks� and her rider is in sky blue.�
She paused. There had to be an explanation for sky blue.
�And well��
The paper returned to my hand. A slight blush rose to her cheeks as she quickly looked away from me.
��that�s the color of your eyes.�
�
�Woah.�
No A.J. I refuse to let you ruin this moment. Why didn�t you guys leave?
�Guys, we seem to be busting up on something here. Let�s go. Thanks for the recommendations Kara.�
Thanks Brian.
�You�re welcome.�
Turning back to me, she held up my bet slip.
�I�m gonna hold on to this since it won. When all the races are over, I�ll give it back for you to cash in.�
I nodded, realizing that my hand was still touching her leg. We descended into an awkward silence as I pulled it away.
�Do you know who Socrates is?�
Where did that come from Carter? Normal people don�t break up awkward silences with history questions. It didn�t surprise me when she looked at me in confusion.
�You mean �was�. Socrates died quiet a number of years ago. That is if you�re talking about the Greek philosopher.�
She knew. Most people said �some historical guy� or some other mundane sketchy phrase that showed they�d heard of him, but didn�t know of him.
�So you know who he is? Well, was?�
Her nose scrunched up in that cute way it did when she was studying something or thinking.
�I know a little about him. The entire �father of philosophy� bit with Plato and Aristotle. Why?�
Good enough for me. Not everyone had the amount of time or the interest to be obsessed with philosophy like I did. Despite popular opinion, I did take part in some sort of intellectual endeavors, although they were a little strange for someone like� well, me. It just happened to be something I�d picked up on over the Internet one night when sleep became impossible. Sleeping on tour buses could be considered in the fourth or fifth ring of hell.
�No real reason. I�m sort of interested in philosophy and ancient Greek and Roman ideology stuff.�
�So you were testing me?�
Why did that sound so much worse than being just curious?
�Well� maybe.�
Obviously she didn�t take offense because she smiled at me.
�Then let me ask you a question. Ever heard of Neil Gaiman?�
Neil Gaiman? Why did that name sound familiar? My brain immediately searched every nook of tissue in my head, but couldn�t come up with where I�d heard of the name.
�The name sounds familiar, but I can�t place it.�
She laughed a little, and then turned her eyes up towards the ceiling as if she were debating with herself.
�I�ll give you a hint. Do you know of the Endless?�
DUDE!
�Hell yeah. Sandman! That�s, like, the best comic series ever written!�
Kara smiled and nodded her head in consideration of my answer. She knew about comic books? And philosophy? Since when was my dream girl a little brunette from Texas?
�So this Gaiman dude? He wrote the Sandman series? Actually, you know what, the more important question here is� you read comic books?!�
Her melodic laughter intoxicated me.
�Yes, Neil Gaiman wrote the Sandman series, but he also writes some pretty kick ass novels too.�
Kevin interrupted our conversation by laying one of his hands heavily on my shoulder.
�Are you going to bet on this race? With your girl giving the predictions, it would only be expected for you to bet on them.�
Oh yea� I pulled the roll of money out of my front pocket and handed Kevin two twenties, while looking at him with puppy dog eyes.
�Please?�
He rolled his eyes and took the outstretched money.
�Twenty on each?�
I nodded. When he walked away from us, I began to stuff the cash back into my pocket.
�And here I was thinking you were just happy to see me.�
Kara�s grin looked down right evil� and I liked it. Images of not so typical sexual situations floated across my mind before I gained control and shook them out of my head. I returned the grin.
�Well, maybe you were right.�
She blushed. So she didn�t think I would shoot it right back at her? I�ll give her a break so she doesn�t think I�m some desperate pervert.
�So back to the entire comics thing��
�Oh yea! Yes, I do happen to read comic books. Not so much super hero stuff. More into things like The Books of Magic, Hellblazer, Ghost World, Tank Girl� stuff like that. Not so much the same story being told over and over again. Although I�m a closeted X-men fan.�
Wow, she even knew what she was talking about. Can I take her on tour with us?
�So do I pass your test?�
The cute nose scrunch came back.
�Depends. Did I pass yours?�
My face grew serious as I looked at her. I hate when I can�t control my facial expressions.
�The fact that you didn�t laugh at me for asking means you aced it. Most people look at me like I�m nuts for even bring something like that up. I�m supposed to be the dumb one.�
I watched her frown, but soon got distracted as Kevin stood in between us. He tried to hand me the betting slips, but I pointed at Kara.
�She�s the lucky one.�
Nodding, he handed them over to her and she tucked them safely into her back pocket. Looking back at me, her face showed concern.
�Why would anyone think you�re dumb? Oh wait! Do you suffer from foot-in-mouth syndrome?�
My eyebrows raised and I nodded carefully. I guess so. Never heard it put like that before.
�Yeah, me too. Sometimes I think my mouth gets messages before my conscious mind does. And other times, it�s like my mind works too fast, so everything gets mixed up and backwards.�
Okay, now this was just getting creepy. This girl had everything I wanted in a woman - a love for comic books and complete understanding of my flaws. I wonder if she liked videogames?
�Really?! That�s the exact same thing with me.�
Turning to the Plexiglas, she stuck her tongue out slightly.
�Arg� why does there have to be so much time in between races? You�d think they could do this a little bit faster. Anyway, you really should check out some of Neil�s books sometime, especially if you like fantasy. You obviously like his comics, so you should like his other stuff. Neverwhere should be required reading for everyone, but Stardust and American Gods kick ass too.�
Plastered on my face was a huge grin. Could this get any better? Kara was impatient, understanding, vivacious, interested in comic books, and passionate about things she truly liked.
�Marry me.�
I didn�t even catch what I had said until I caught the surprised look on her face. Here I go with the entire moron thing again. Sliding off the table, she sat with her legs folded under her in the chair next to me, a smile spreading slowly across her face as her eyes shined.
�Don�t you think you should take me out on a date once before you ask me that?�
I couldn�t stand looking at her when her face glowed like that. It was just too much. Crossing my arms across my chest as if I could disappear, I stared at my feet.
�Or I could just stop embarrassing myself by not talking.�
Her fingers brushed against my chin before raising my head to look at her as she leaned towards me.
�Don�t do that. You�re even cuter when you�re blushing.�
My heart began beating ten times faster than normal as she brushed her lips across my cheek and smiled at me. When she pulled away, I caught sight of a bashful blush on her face as well.
And then another race started.
This time around I didn�t attempt to stand. I knew my legs would shake like crazy, if not give up on me completely. So I just watched her, standing on her toes in excitement. Every now and again, she�d turn and smile at me shyly. I was so far gone.
At the race�s completion, she started hopping up and down while doing a cute little victory dance. I guess she suddenly remembered where she was because abruptly she stopped and turned back to me.
�You won again.�
�Can I see that little dance one more time?�
I liked how she reacted to my teasing. She�d quickly look away for a moment before turning her eyes back to me and smiling timidly. This time around, she added a snooty look, nose upturned and all.
�I�m sorry. The Happy Dance can not be done on command.�
I couldn�t help it. It was the funniest thing I�d ever seen. I had to catch myself from falling out of my chair I was laughing so hard. This girl was a dream. No one this perfect could exist. She was equal parts dork and goddess. It was great.
While I had my fit, all four of the fellas and Marcus ran over to us. Brian, never one to hide his enthusiasm, picked Kara up and swung her around.
�You�re a genius!�
�Who is going to win the next race?�
Just like Kevin to want only more statistics rather than thanking someone for their help. Obviously someone else felt the same way because her phone began to ring again.
��If I could, then I would. I�ll go wherever you will go. Way up high��
Why was Brian singing that? He knew I was crazy about that song. I�d been singing it ever since I heard it sung at one of those radio concerts I�d done with Aaron.
�Starlight Betting Services. Results guaranteed, porn stars not.�
All five of our heads swung in her direction to be met with a big toothy grin.
�This girl is something else, Nick. I like her.�
Wow, did Kevin just compliment a girl I picked up? He hates everyone I hang out with.
�Yeah me too.�
�You see the archway above the entryway? Look right above that at the glass wall then move left about six or eight feet.�
Huh? Oh, her friends were trying to figure out where she was. Leaning over the table, she waved at the guys. The guy who wasn�t afraid to get his hair wet was talking to her on the phone.
�No Zach. I like it up here. It�s all air conditioned and cozy. Plus I�ve met some really nice guys.�
With that comment, she turned and winked at me.
�How �bout I give you predictions on the next three races and you stop calling? You keep interrupting things. No, not those kinds of things! Just� stuff.�
She stuck her tongue out at the guys below and flicked them off.
�Oooh, she�s feisty. I like that.�
�Don�t even think about it A.J. She�s mine.�
He looked at me with surprise.
�You�re hooked on this girl, aren�t you? Eh. You�ve done much worse.�
�Shut up guys. She�s about to tell more!�
Ha! Brian thinks she�s some horse racing deity or something! Then again, maybe she was. She hadn�t predicted anything wrong yet.
�Blah blah� um� race seven horse nine. Oh shut up man! You pervert! It happens to be Madano�s jersey number, thank you very much.�
I glanced down at her friends who were looking up at us laughing. I kept listening. I liked how she bantered with her friends.
�Race eight horse� twelve? No, never mind. I got a vibe with one and six. Race nine��
Laughing hysterically, she suddenly jumped up on the table and sat down cross-legged with her forehead against the window.
�You so know which horse I�m picking. Just look��
The guy with the phone, Zach, grabbed a book from another one of the guys, turned to the ninth race, and fell over laughing.
�Definitely number thirteen. Hey, that�s even more perfect. It�s your birthday! Okay� that�s it for now. Call me back after the ninth race or when one of �em loses. Love ya. Bye babe.�
Love ya? She told me none of those guys were her boyfriend. When she turned back around to face us, all the guys were staring at me, while I felt like fainting. She caught the looks between the guys or maybe just the look on my face, and turned to me, tilting her head slightly.
�My best friend Zach says �Hi� and if you�re thinking of holding me for ransom, they don�t have any money. They�ve spent all their winnings on food.�
An uneasy silence floated over all of our heads, so she abruptly turned to Kevin, Brian, A.J., and Howie.
�Did you get all that or do you want me to say it again?�
�I�m curious why the thirteenth horse was so obvious.�
Yeah, me too. Good question Kevin.
She grinned.
�Ah yes. Well, eight is my lucky number and the name of the horse is Thunderous God. Um��
Uncontrollable laughter. A moment later, she sobered up.
�Sorry. Anyway, my best friend, Zach, carries the nickname �Thunder God� or �TG� for short. I don�t remember where it came from, except we were in a class together and I was making fun of him. Also, his birthday is July 13, so it just kinda fits.�
He�s just her best friend. So why am I jealous?
Kevin stuck his hand in front of my face.
�Give me some money and I�ll go make your bets for you.�
I handed him some unknown amount of money and trusted him to do something legal with it. Keeping my eyes adverted from Kara while the guys left us alone, unwarranted jealousy raged through my body. Returning to her chair, she brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.
�I didn�t lie to you. He is my best friend. Actually, to be completely honest, he�s more of a brother to me than anything. I would never date him. It�d be like dating family. Eww.�
Her face scrunched with her disgust at the idea. I laughed once and ran my hands over my face, through my hair, the irrational emotions slipping out of me.
�Why do you think I care?�
�Are you kidding me? One of the first things you ask me is which one of those guys is my boyfriend. Next thing I know, you�re asking me to marry you.�
One of her fingers began poking at my chest playfully.
�Admit it. You. Like. Me.�
I grabbed her hand and unthinkingly laced my fingers through hers.
�Yes, I like you.�
Leaning towards me, I could smell the raspberries coming from her hair. I followed suit, moving to meet her half way, a smile once again across my face.
�Good.�
�Hey Nick, here you go man.�
AAAHHHHH!!! Can�t you see I�m busy, Howie???
Kara turned away quickly, taking her hand with her as she stood up and took the tickets from him.
�Thanks.�
And he left. Why couldn�t he have waited five more minutes if that�s all he wanted? By turning around, I realized why he�d chosen that moment to drop in. All five of them - Marcus included - were standing around laughing at me. He�d done that on purpose! The jerks!
Standing behind me so I had to turn around, Kara bounced around on her toes while looking around the VIP room. Obviously finding what she was looking for, she turned back to me.
�Thirsty? Hungry?�
No, actually for once in my life, I felt food would be the least helpful thing for the nerves tearing up my stomach. I just wanted her to come back over here so I could kiss her.
�Nah, I�m fine.�
�Alright. I�ll be right back.�
Starting to walk away, I had to lean back in my chair to stop her, my finger latching through one of her back belt loops. The sudden resistances pulled her back a little, and she turned her head slightly.
�Yes?�
�Let me give you some money.�
Turning around completely so that my hand fell from her waist, she glared at me with her hands placed on her curvy hips.
Oh shit. I made her mad.
�Why do you think I need your money?�
Because everyone needs my money? Well, not exactly, but everyone wants my money. That�s why girls dated and spent time with me. Plus I�m cute.
�I just� um��
What do you say to someone who disregards an offer of money?
�You do realize I have about four hundred dollars of your money in my pocket, don�t you? I could easily cash that in and leave you here.�
The bets. I didn�t care about that. She could keep it. With out thinking, I jumped to my feet and grabbed her elbows, holding her close to me. My hair fell into my face. I�d forgotten that I needed a haircut.
�Go ahead. You can have all of it. It�s really your money anyway considering you�re the reason I made them. But just� just please don�t leave. Not yet.�
Her face softened. I must have looked and sounded pretty pathetic, but I didn�t care. I meant every word I�d said. A flirty smile came to her lips as she reached up and brushed my hair out of my face - never mind, I don�t need a haircut.
�Don�t worry. I�m not leaving and I�m not taking your winnings. Anyway, you better keep that roll of money in your pocket. It boosts my confidence tremendously.�
Kara pulled out of my grip and walked away; I swear she made her hips sway a little more than normal just because I was watching her go. Did she really like me? But why did she tell me to keep the money that was in my pocket?
Ooohhh� she thought� Ha ha. But, like I said, that�s not my money.
Sliding back down into my chair, I leaned forward, my elbows against my knees, and rested my chin against my hands. I liked her. Maybe I could make something last with her. She seemed like the type to be willing to work something out to maintain a relationship� But would she care to try something with me?
Wait a second. The girl doesn�t even know who I am. Why would she want to be with me when she finds out? I�m a teenybopper�s dream. Girls scream when someone says my name, and no matter how annoying, it was part of my job, which I enjoyed. Could she handle that? She seems like such a normal girl. She�d be willing to work through that, wouldn�t she?
I hate when my head spins like this. Who was I kidding? I�d met this girl not even three hours ago and now I�m planning our future together? Jeez, Carter, get it together and enjoy what�s going on right now. Be miserable tomorrow.
�What�cha thinking about?�
I turned to see Kara flop into a chair, sucking on a water bottle. When she saw my face, concern filled her eyes. She sat the bottle on the table and established a similar position as mine.
�Why do you look so sad?�
Her voice was quiet, calming. This is what I need after a miserable press junket or an interview where the reporter was dogging about my off-tour weight gain. But I can�t have this. I sighed against my will.
�Just thinking.�
�A moment of maudlin introverted introspection?�
I nodded.
�Yeah, I do that too. You can�t help but to think about what it�s going to feel like when a good thing is over. And good things always have an ending. But I�ve come to the conclusion that it�s just not worth it. You might as well enjoy a good thing while it�s going on and so when it is gone, you can claim that at least you took advantage of it.�
I had to look away from her. For some reason her understanding brought tears to my eyes. I don�t cry. Brian cries sometimes. Kevin and Howie cry at everything. Even A.J., lately, has become more emotional. But me, I don�t cry. Why did I feel like crying?
I felt her wrap her arms around my shoulders and rest her head against mine in a hug.
�So whatever you�re thinking about, stop it. Be happy. I refuse to allow you to feel anything else that isn�t.�
Her lips brushed across my temple and she let go of me.
And I smiled at her. She was right. I�m going to enjoy this. If I must cry, I�ll cry later. When I was definitely not in a public place.
�You never told me if I passed your test or not.�
Grinning, she jumped from her chair, sat on the table directly across from me, and for the first time, took her messenger bag from around her shoulders.
�Baby, you knew who the Endless were, so you had no chance of failing my test. But I got one more question - the bonus round question. You�re answer will determine whether I will fall madly in love with you or we�ll just be cool.�
Uh oh. I hadn�t read those comic books in forever. Please remember something for once. Wait a second. Did she just call me �baby�?
�Who�s your favorite Endless?�
That�s it? That was so easy. Wait a second. But is my answer the one she wants to hear?
�And be honest. I don�t want you to guess something completely different just because you think it�ll be my right answer.�
�Oh jeez� but I want you to fall madly in love with me.�
Kara smiled and began digging in her bag. Pulling out a lollipop, she put it into her mouth and sucked on it for a minute. Still while looking through her bag, she pulled the sucker out of her mouth letting her lips slowly slide across its surface.
Was she trying to kill me?
�You can talk this out if you must, but I have to tell you that there won�t be any lifelines.�
Grinning as if she�d found something important, she turned her attention fully back to me� and that lollipop.
�Well, let�s see� there�s Despair, Desire, Death, Destiny, the illusive Destruction, Delirium, and of course, the Sandman himself, Dream.�
She looked impressed. That had to count towards something.
�And your favorite is��
I grimaced as if physical pain were causing me to doubt myself.
�My favorite is� Deathbutyour�sisprobablyDelirium.�
I let the end of the sentence run together in hopes that either name would be the correct answer and she wouldn�t notice the words in between. The look of suspicion that covered her face was both comical and a little scary.
�Death?�
She was still playing with that lollipop, driving me slowly insane. Her lips changed from their soft pink to a purplish red, and from the sugar sweet smell, I could tell she was going to taste like raspberries after all.
�Yeah.�
A smile to end all smiles. I was now completely spoiled to all other females. If they didn�t have a smile like Kara�s, they had no chance.
�You do realize that I�m the human personification of death, don�t you?�
�Say what?�
Did she just say that she was Death?
Pulling out two sheets of paper, she handed me one of a girl. Leaning forward to study it, I felt her look over my shoulder to catch my reaction. It was hand drawn in pencil with color added. Of course most of it was black coloring, but it distinctively looked like a pencil drawing. The girl had long dark hair that hung down to her waist, sparkling green eyes that hid a secret, and a stunning smile.
�This is you.�
The look of pride on her face proved me right.
�Yeah. That was me back when my hair was longer and darker last winter. Zach drew it from a picture a friend took one day during a Christmas holiday. And now look at this one.�
She handed me the other picture, a panel from one of the comic books with Death talking to Delirium.
�See? We�re the same person.�
I smiled and looked up at her. They sure as hell looked like the same person.
�Does that mean you�re here to take me away?�
Her nose scrunched.
�Nope. Sorry. My powers have been revoked.�
�Damn.�
Curiosity filled her features.
�You want me to take you away?�
I felt my eyes well up again. Jesus. What the hell was wrong with me? The lump in my throat prevented me from responding, so I just nodded. She leaned down from where she sat on the table and caressed the side of my face, brushing her lips against the tip of my nose.
�Don�t think about it.�
I don�t know why, but I had to get her soft touch away from my face, so I took her hand and slid the pictures into it. Then I gave her a half grin just for her sake.
�If I keep thinking about it, will you keep kissing my face?�
For once I didn�t blush, but her cheeks turned red and she pulled away right as Kevin walked over to us.
Two