Authors: Nicole Bailey
“You did?” I asked, rather impressed by my man. We
laced our fingers together as we continued to walk around
the booths. He just shrugged like it was no big deal.
“Well, how did you do?” Nat turned to Jack.
“Meh,” he said. “I got them all down in three.”
“Hey, let’s do the photo booth,” I suggested as we came
to a stop. “I want at least one of our whole group together.”
“Yeah, but we have to get Rene. And do you really
think we’d all fit in that thing?” Dash asked.
“Then you go get him while we do couple ones,” I said.
“Fine,” Dash hung his head. “This sucks,” he added
under his breath as he walked away.
I pulled Nick into the booth first and closed the curtain.
“So, what should we do for the pictures?” I asked.
He pushed the button to start before I could stop him,
and he kissed me. The first flash went off. He pulled back
and smiled at me while the next flash went off. “Hey, we
have to at least look at the camera for one,” I said with a
frown as the third flash went off. “Damn it,” I grumbled.
Nick wrapped his arm around my waist, pressed his cheek
to mine and we both looked into the camera for the final
flash.
“See, we got one,” he grinned. I rolled my eyes.
“I’m a little sad we never had any pictures from our
ceremony. It would’ve been nice to have something to
remember it,” I frowned as I opened the curtain.
“Our turn,” Nat bounced on the balls of her feet
excitedly. Nick and I waited for our photos to print out
while Nat and Jack took theirs.
“I don’t need any pictures to remember how incredibly
beautiful you looked that night and how perfect the
ceremony was,” Nick said as he leaned in for a soft peck on
the mouth.
Dash was back with Rene. The blond girl was still on
his arm. Dash looked miserable. “This is Gia,” Rene
announced. To say she was beautiful was an
understatement. Her caramel blond hair flowed down to the
middle of her back, her lips were full and rosy and her
amber eyes looked almost copper in the low stadium
lighting. And Dash was right. There was no way she was a
newly graduated high school senior.
“Ciao,” she waved at us with the hand that wasn’t
holding Rene’s.
“You’re a witch,” I said before I could stop myself.
Nick elbowed me in the arm. “What? She is. Aren’t you?”
“Sὶ,” she said with a heavy Italian accent. “I am a
witch.”
“Where did you come from and how did you get in
tonight?” Nat asked as she stepped out of the booth.
“I came from Italy to visit Rosetta,” Gia answered.
“Why? That’s Ky’s aunt, how do you know her?” Nat
asked with wide eyes.
“She is my aunt as well. I came to visit,” she smiled a
contagious smile. She was so beautiful that it would be
easy to hate her, but there was also something warm about
her.
“How is she your aunt too?” Nat continued to grill her.
“My uncle was married to her before he died,” she
smiled sweetly.
“Did you know she was a witch?” I asked Rene.
“Now I do,” he looked at Gia. “Why didn’t you tell me?
You know what I am, right?”
“I thought I could sense it, but in Italy we don’t
associate with weres.”
“Haven’t you heard that we have united once again
with the weres? My nonna has talked to most of the coven I
thought. Our feud here has ended.” She looked at my hand
holding Nick’s tightly. I couldn’t tell for sure, but it looked
like a flicker of jealousy flashed in her eyes.
“I have heard, but not everyone accepts that. We really
have no reason to. But, I am glad to be here,” she smiled.
“You still didn’t tell us what you are doing here,” Nat
waved around us.
“Oh, Zia Rosetta told me the witches my age would all
be here. I thought it would be fun to meet some of you.”
“And they just let you in?” Nat looked a little peeved.
“Sὶ,” she smiled.
“But, you don’t look our age,” I said.
“Oh, well, I’m twenty.”
“What? Well, then why are you here? Rosetta should’ve
told you about the guys your age. There are several older
brothers that are witches. Why would you want to hang out
with high school kids?” Nat was getting more annoyed. I
could tell she felt a little threatened by Gia.
“Well, someone called Luca is working. And two
brothers are technically my cousins.”
“Luca is my brother,” I smiled. “You would have fun
with him.”
“Well, I am having fun here tonight. With mon cher,
Rene.” Gia turned to look at Rene and he practically melted
under her gaze.
“Uh, well, we were gonna take a picture of our group if
you can bear to let go of Rene for thirty seconds,” Nat
snipped.
“Of course,” Gia smiled.
“There’s no way we’re all gonna fit in here,” Jack
complained.
“Sure we will,” Dash said.
The six of us crammed inside the booth. We opted for
lap sitting. I sat on Nick, Nat sat on Jack, and grinning
widely, Dash sat on Rene’s lap. Nat and I looked at Dash
and nodded. For the first photo, those of us that were lap
sitting kissed our partner on the cheek, while draping our
arms around their necks.
“What the hell?” Rene pushed Dash after the flash. So
for the second flash, Dash was falling on the floor of the
booth. For our third pose, we decided to pretend like we
were all strangling one another, and lastly, we put our arms
all around each other and smiled.
When we were done, we set the machine to print out
four sets of the photos so Dash and Rene could each have
their own copies.
“This is definitely my favorite,” Gia laughed at the one
of Dash kissing Rene.
Rene punched Dash in the arm. “Yeah, thanks for the
warning on that one, bro.”
“This is so surreal,” I said as I looked at our group
photos. “Two months ago we were ready to kill each other.”
I eyed Jack who was the only witch in our group that had
been there the night Ky and his brothers tried to kill Nick. I
shuddered at the memory of it. “And now… we have this.”
I pointed to the picture of all of us smiling together. As if he
were reading my thoughts, Nick squeezed my hand a little
harder.
“Seriously,” Nick agreed out loud. “Actually, for a
while, I thought you really would kill Dash.”
I laughed. “Mademoiselle Sofia?” Dash asked with
mock surprise. “Nah, she loves me.”
We went back to the dance floor for the remainder of
the night. At one point, I spotted Ky watching me from
across the way. And not just watching, but staring. He
wouldn’t look away. It was really making me
uncomfortable.
“If that douchebag doesn’t stop staring at my wife, I’m
seriously gonna kick his—” Nick started.
“Dude, I’ll help,” Dash added.
“Calm down, Nick,” I put my hand on his chest to quiet
the rumble that had started. “You’re rumbling,” I whispered
in his ear. That pulled his gaze away from Ky and he
looked in my eyes.
“Sofia, I’m serious. He can’t keep this up. I’ve had to
deal with him watching you for over a month now. It’s
really pissing me off.”
“Then kiss me,” I smiled playfully. He raised his
eyebrow at me. “It will get him to stop looking.”
He leaned in and our lips met. It was meant to be an
innocent kiss, but quickly deepened. I could hear voices
around us, but the world disappeared. I could feel Nick’s
chest rumble against me and he pulled away from the kiss.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, my hands on his chest.
He turned to glare at Ky. “He called me a dirty name.”
“How on earth could you hear anything above this
music?” I wondered.
“Werewolf hearing,” he reminded me, still glaring at
Ky.
“Oh, yeah. Sometimes I forget about your superpowers.
Just ignore him,” I started, but before I realized what was
happening, Nick was across the floor in Ky’s face. Marco
was standing with Ky.
“Oh snap,” I heard Nat say as I ran to where Nick was
growling in Ky’s face.
“You need to keep your dog on a leash,” Ky said to me
while still staring Nick in the eye. I grabbed Nick’s arm as
hard as I could so he wouldn’t shift in front of the entire
senior class.
“You,” Nick spat in Ky’s face. “Need to keep your eyes
to yourself. If I catch you watching my wife again, I’ll tear
your throat out.”
“I’d like to see you try,” Ky sneered. Nick’s face was
mere inches from his. “She was mine long before you stole
her from me, and she’ll be mine again someday.”
Nick pulled his arm back and swung hard at Ky’s face.
Ky wasn’t expecting the blow and it hit him square in the
nose. Blood instantly began to pour down the front of his
shirt. Ky grabbed his nose and looked to me—like I was
supposed to do something about it.
Nick was done and walked away. I stopped and got in
Ky’s face. “You are completely delusional, Ky. I was
never
yours. And I never will be. Nick and I are bound. If you so
much as look at me again, he
will
tear your throat out. And
I will let him. And don’t even think of retaliating or I’ll
destroy you.”
I glared at Ky hard and he backed away. As I walked
away from him back to my friends, I felt only anger. Once
upon a time we were best friends, but he had ruined that
forever.
It was time to go. “I think I’ve had all the fun I can
stand for one night,” Jack said as we all gathered back
together.
“Are you trying to avoid talking about what just
happened?” Nat asked.
“Did it work?” he smiled.
“No,” Dash answered. “What was that all about, Nick?”
“He won’t stop staring at my wife like he’s undressing
her with his eyes. And then he called me a name. I’m sick
of it. I’ve held myself back for over a month. I had to make
sure he knew I won’t take his crap anymore,” Nick
answered. Dash nodded in understanding.
Gia was the only one confused and couldn’t resist
asking, “What is going on here? I thought you were all
friends now, no?” I was a little surprised she hadn’t heard
what happened from Rosetta yet.
“Long story,” Nat mumbled.
We started toward the parking lot and I gave Gia the
shortened version of our story. “Ky and I used to be close.
He wanted a relationship. I tried, but Nick and I were
drawn together and started seeing each other secretly.”
“And then Ky found them one night. That’s when the
crap hit the fan,” Nat added.
“After that, Ky and that other tool over there tried to
kill Nick and hurt Sofia before their binding ceremony,”
Dash added.
“You are bound?” Gia looked shocked. “To a
werewolf?”
“Yes, just the first week of April,” I answered.
“I see,” she said simply. She looked like she wanted to
say something more, but didn’t. I almost asked her what
she was thinking, but we were already at the cars. Dash and
Rene drove together, and Jack, Nat, Nick and I had taken
Nick’s car.
“Well, tomorrow is the first day of the rest of our lives,”
Dash said. “So, what are we gonna do?”
“I’m sure you can figure it out. You’re a big boy now,”
Nat grinned. We said our goodbyes for the night and Nick
dropped Jack and Nat off at her house.
“Good luck,” I whispered to Nat as she climbed out of
the car. Her parents left for the weekend again right after
our graduation lunch, and she had somehow convinced
Jack to stay with her. She told him she was afraid to be
alone, but even he knew that was a lie.
“Yeah, it will be hard, but you and Nick stayed
overnight together without doing the deed. Neither one of
us will let it happen after last time,” she said.
“Hey, after what I saw on the dance floor tonight…” I
teased. She blushed and grinned. As they walked to her
door, I yelled, “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!”
“That leaves it wide open,” she quoted me.
At home I asked Nick what he thought about Gia.
“That’s a trick question isn’t it?” he asked.
“No, I do not want to know that you think she’s
gorgeous. I just wanted to know what you thought about
her showing up out of nowhere and latching onto Rene.”
“First of all, I do not think she’s gorgeous.” I rolled my
eyes. “I’m serious. No one can begin to compare to my
Bella Sofia.” He kissed me softly on the mouth. “It was a
little strange, though. That she would happen to be a witch.
What are you thinking? It’s like us?”
“No, not that. I don’t know. She just acted funny when
she found out we were bound. And I swear she was gonna
say something else, but she didn’t.”
“Well, she just came from Europe. Things are still the
same over there. She was probably just surprised to hear it.
And as far as Rene goes, it’s about time he found someone
to date or whatever.”
“I couldn’t believe Ky tonight,” I said, climbing into
bed.
“When is that guy going to learn not to mess with us?
Either one of us could take him out,” Nick said.
“I know. I’m sorry, my love. At least we won’t have to
see him at school every day now.”
“Alright, let’s be done talking about him. Vieni qui,” he
reached out to me. I snuggled in close to him and quickly
fell asleep in his arms.
My phone rang at nine the next morning. “Nat, why are
you calling so early? It’s Saturday,” I whined as I answered
the phone.
“When are we getting tattoos?” she asked excitedly.
“What do you mean ‘we’? You’re not getting one.”
“Well, I still want to come,” she complained.
“Oh, sure. Uh, lemme ask Nick,” I said. “When are we
going this morning?” I asked him.
“Dunno. When do they even open? Why, does Nat want
to come?” he asked with his eyes still closed.
“Yeah.”
“That doesn’t answer my questions, but let’s go out to
breakfast together and then go,” he answered.
“Did you hear him, Nat?” I asked.
“Yep. K. Let’s all meet at the Denny’s by the mall and
then head downtown,” she decided.
“So, are you gonna tell me how it went last night?” I
asked.
“Uh, can’t talk right now. Maybe later,” she said. I
could hear the smile in her voice. We hung up and I got up
to shower.
Nick was shaking his head at me. “You girls are awful.
You’re as bad as a guy.”
“What are you talking about? I just wanna know if
anything happened. They’ve never spent the night
together,” I said.
“Yeah, but we spent a whole week alone in Mexico and
nothing happened. And with Jack, I have a feeling they’d
be bound for like a month before he would ever try
anything with her,” he laughed. I laughed with him, but
didn’t mention what had happened between Jack and Nat
after prom.
I walked in the bathroom and started to undress. “Are
you going to join me Nico Bartolini?”
“Sὶ, Sofia Bartolini,” he grinned as he came up behind
me in the bathroom.
Forty five minutes later, we were on our way to
breakfast. Nat was practically glowing as we slid into the
booth. I raised my eyebrows at her. She shook her head, but
said, “I need to go to the bathroom really quick. Order me
the Grand Slam.” Jack nodded and let her out.
“I forgot to go before we left, I’ll come with you,” I
lied. Nick shook his head at me.
When we got to the bathroom, I said, “So spill it. I want
details.”
“Nothing happened. We came close again though. Man
this is hard, but it’s almost time for the ceremony,” she said
excitedly.
“Yeah, try spending an entire week in bed alone. Now
that
was hard. You can do it. Maybe no more sleepovers
though,” I told her.
“Probably a good idea. After I kissed him at the party,
he was a little wound up. He’s never kissed me like that in
public. Could you believe that?”
“I know! That was insane. My jaw was practically on
the floor. I guess he’s no prude now, huh?” I smiled.
“Oh, Sof, I’m so excited! The day is almost here. We’re
going apartment shopping later today.”
“Shopping?”
“It sounds better than ‘hunting’. Hey, do you know if
that one place is still available in your building? How cool
would that be?”
“I’m not sure, but you should definitely go check today.
We could carpool to school together again!” I was excited
at the idea of Nat being so close. Of course we would still
see each other all the time, but it would be fun if she was
just downstairs or in the building next door. “We should
probably get back out there.” We left the bathroom and
went to the table. “Did you order for me?” I asked Nick.
He nodded, “French toast, bacon, eggs over medium.”
“How does he know that? You didn’t even tell him,”
Nat said.
“She always gets the same thing,” Nick smiled.
We talked excitedly during breakfast about our plans
now that school was done. Nat and I were going to start
working for my mom at her store for the summer. Nick was
going to work at his family’s restaurant and Jack was going
to work for his dad’s construction company. Nick and I
were taking a week off before going to work. He had
money—I finally discovered he had a trust fund—but I
needed something to do, and he felt a responsibility to help
his dad out.
After breakfast, we left for the tattoo parlor downtown.
“Sup?” Etienne asked as we walked in the door. Dash’s
twenty-five year old brother worked at the shop. He was
the one who was going to do our tattoos.
“Bonjour, Etienne,” I smiled. “Ҫa va bien?”
“Ouais,” he answered. “Good to see you guys. You
ready to do this?”
“Absolutely,” I grinned.
“Do you have an idea of what you want? Are we doing
full names or just initials?” he asked. “Or do you guys want
a band or something?”
“I think—” I started to say when the front door opened
and I heard Dash’s voice.
“You didn’t start without me, did you?”
“What are you doing here?” Nick asked.
“Dude, and miss my boy gettin’ a tat? No way.”
“Anyway,” I continued. “We want to do full names.
I’ve got a font here that we want to use. Can you copy it?”
“Sure, no prob,” Etienne said. “I’ll trace it onto paper,
put it on your skin, and then ink over it. Just black?”
“Yeah,” I answered, handing him the sheet I had printed
earlier.
“Ooh, I like,” Nat said, looking at the print of our
names: