Rock Bottom (Dragon Within #4) (15 page)

    
“I don’t
know.” He fiddled with his camcorder. “I guess it doesn’t feel much different
from fourteen. No big changes. Not like
your
last birthday.”

    
“You
should be happy. If I could go back and have a normal sixteenth birthday I’d do
it like that.” I snapped my fingers.

    
“Really?”
Curtis asked. “You’d give up your powers?”

    
“In a
heartbeat.” I stared at my hands resting on the table. “I miss my parents. My
home. My
life
. If it wasn’t for you and Brandy I could have never made
it this far. I hope you know that. You guys are my family. I’d give anything if
I could take us back and make this right again.”

    
“You
wouldn’t have met Zack.”

    
I let his
words roll over in my mind a few times before I replied. “I don’t care. I mean
Zack is... Well, I guess I’m in love with him. But so much bad has come from me
finding out I'm a dragon. Kyle is dead. We have no idea what’s happening with
Trudy and Steve. You and Brandy are in constant danger. Derek and Stephanie and
Zack have gone rouge. And I can’t even imagine what my parents must be going
through. No, I can’t say I wouldn’t change things if I could. Not for a guy. No
matter how much I feel for him. I’m not that self centered.”

    
“Yeah. I
guess I know what you mean.”

    
“Do you?”
I raised my head. “Because of Luka?”

    
A hint of
red crept into his cheeks, but he smiled. “Maybe.”

    
I shook
my head. “If you like him, why don’t you tell him so?”

    
“It’s too
soon. Besides, I don’t know if he likes me back.”

    
“You
would if you asked him.”

    
“You’re
one to talk. How long did it take you to get with Zack?”

    
Dang, he
made a good point there. And I couldn’t even tell him about my talk with Luka.
Not without spoiling the surprise. “Okay, I get it. Not my business. Come on.”
I got up from the table. “Let’s go eat. They’re probably waiting on us.”

    
We chatted
about nothing important on the way to the cafeteria. I will never forget the
look on Curtis’ face when we walked through the door to find one corner of the
room had been strung with streamers made of toilet paper rolls and blue
construction paper. All our friends (except for Zack, but I can’t say I was
surprised he wasn’t invited) stood around a table filled with food and drink,
and even a birthday cake complete with candles. Hastily cut out letters
spelling Happy Birthday Curtis were taped to the wall behind them.

    
“You guys
did all this for me?” Curtis asked.

    
“You
are
the birthday boy.” I nudged him with my elbow. “But it’s Luka you should
really thank. He’s the one who put this all together.”

    
Luka
shrugged. “It’s no big deal.”

   
 
“It’s a big deal to me,” Curtis said. “Thank
you.”

    
I put my
arm across his shoulders and started in with the birthday song. The others
quickly picked it up. Curtis covered his face with one hand. He cheeks were
flaming red, but he was grinning from ear to ear.

    
“All
right, birthday boy,” I steered him toward the table, “time to blow out the
candles.”

    
“Make a
wish, kid,” Hannah said. “A good one.”

    
Curtis
leaned over and blew out the candles. We all cheered, which only made him shake
his head.

    
“What did
you wish for?” Stephanie asked.

    
“He can’t
tell you that.” Derek slid his arm around her waist. “It interferes with the
birthday magic.”

    
Stephanie
laughed. “I guess I forgot.”

    
We
settled in to eat and Luka started up some pop tunes on his portable CD player.

    
“Oh, this
is heavenly,” Jonah said around a mouth full of chocolate cake. “We don’t often
get sweets down here.”

    
“Dude,
don’t talk with food in your mouth.” Hannah wadded up a napkin and threw it at
Jonah. It bounced off his forehead. “It’s rude.”

    
“And we
all know Hannah is little miss manners,” I said.

    
Which of
course got Hannah to flip me off.

    
“Classy,”
Brandy said drily.

    
I tensed,
afraid they were going to get into again. But Hannah just laughed it off and
Brandy even smiled a little. That’s how the night went for us. It’s kind of
magical, really, the way a birthday cake and some music changed us from a group
of fugitives with targets on our backs hiding out in a hole in the ground, to a
bunch of kids goofing off at a party. Even if it was only for a few a hours. It
was a break from reality we were all badly in need of.

    
When the
food was all gone and laughter died away, Luka put a slow song on the CD
player. He looked over at Curtis. “Do you want to dance?”

    
Silence
fell around the table. I don’t know if I mentioned this before, but I was the
only one in our group who knew Curtis was into guys. I think I might have been
the only person he’d ever told, period. I can understand why. You never know
how people will react to a thing like that.

    
All the
color had drained out of Curtis’s face and I could practically see him about to
say no, even though I was pretty sure he wanted to say yes. And I didn’t know how
to help him.

    
“Now
there’s an idea.” Hannah got up and held her hand out to Brandy. “What do you
say,
brainiac
? Want to bury the hatchet someplace
besides in each other’s backs for a change?”

    
Brandy
pursed his lips. “I suppose it couldn’t hurt this one time.” She took the
offered hand. “But don’t get any ideas.”

    
Hannah
grinned. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

    
“I want
to dance too.” Stephanie grabbed Derek’s arm and pulled him out of his seat.

    
He
groaned. “You know I have two left feet.”

    
“So long
as neither of them step on mine, we’ll be fine.”
  

    
I knew
what they were doing. So did Curtis. I could see it by how shiny his eyes had
gotten. I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from tearing up myself.
Did we have great friends, or what?

    
Luka was
still sitting there, waiting patiently on an answer. I kicked my cousin under
the table. He jumped a little. “Yeah. Okay,” he said. “I’d like to dance.”

    
I was
grinning so hard it made my cheeks hurt as I watched them step into each
other’s arms. I had never seen Curtis look so happy. And seeing
him
happy made
me
happy.

    
Jonah
leaned over to me. “Are we going to let them have all the fun?”

    
I smiled
at him. “No way. Though, I’m not much of a dancer.”

    
“Neither
am I.” He offered me his arm. “So we ought to make a good pair.”

    
How more
perfect could a night get? We were all there, together, happy and safe.
Everybody was having fun and nobody was biting each other’s heads off. If only
life could always be that way. But I guess if it weren’t for things getting
messed up all the time, we wouldn’t be able to appreciate the really good
moments.

    
We all
switched partners every time the song changed and I soon found myself dancing
with my cousin. “Are you having a good time?” As if I needed to ask, the answer
was already written all over his face.

    
“Yeah.”
He looked me in the eyes and smiled. “Thank you.”

    
“For
what?”

    
“Luka
told me about how you came to see him about my birthday. And what you said
about..." His color deepened. "You know... us."

    
I winced.
“I’m sorry. I know I shouldn't have said all that, but I...”

    
“No,”
Curtis said. “Don’t be sorry. If I was mad I wouldn’t be thanking you. I mean,
yeah, it’s kind of embarrassing to think about you talking to him about that,
but if you hadn’t said what you said Luka would never have asked me to dance.

    
“He was
worried, you know, about rushing me into something I wasn’t ready for. But you
were right. I needed the push.” He glanced over at Luka, who was dancing with
Hannah. The look in his eyes reminded me of the way I felt whenever I was
around Zack. “This is the best birthday I ever had.”

    
“I’m
glad. I hope the two of you will be so happy together.”

    
“Are you
happy?” Curtis’ gaze met mine again. “With Zack, I mean?”

    
A slow
smile spread across my lips. “Yeah, I am. When I don’t want to throttle him.”
We both laughed. “But seriously, it’s good with Zack. It really is. Nice to
know a couple of good things came out of this whole crazy mess.”

    
“How do
you think this going to end?”

    
I shook
my head. “I don’t know. But it’s not going to end tonight. Let’s just be happy.
Let the worrying wait for tomorrow.”
 

  
  
“Sounds like a plan.”
 

    
If only
the night could have gone on forever. But eventually the party, like all things
good and bad, had to come to an end.

    
“I guess
we better get this cleaned up.” Curtis said.

    
“No way,
birthday boy,” I said. “It’s your special day. You don’t have to clean.”

    
“Luka’s
off the hook too,” Hannah chimed in. “Since he set all this up, he’s done his
work for the day. You should walk him back to his room. Make sure he doesn’t get
lost.” She winked at him.

    
Curtis’
face turned a truly spectacular shade of red. I don’t think I’ve ever seen
anyone blush so much in one night.

    
“Sounds
good to me.” Luka took Curtis’ hand. “If you feel up to the walk.”

    
Everyone
has a special smile saved only for the person they love. That was the first
time I saw Curtis’. I watched him and Luka walk out of the room hand in hand
and all I could think about was Zack. It was such a perfect night, I didn’t
want to end it without making up with him for the fight we’d had.

    
“Do you
guys need my help?” I asked. “I’m kind of wiped and I do have to get up early
to train.”

    
“Go to
to
bed.” Derek started gathering up the dishes. “We got
this.”

    
“I, uh, I
might go for a walk. Wind down a little. So if I’m not in the room when you get
there, don’t send out a search party.” I laughed a little, but that doesn’t
mean I didn’t feel guilty for the lie. It wasn’t like I could tell them I was
going to see Zack. It was a lie meant to keep everybody happy. So that makes it
a good lie. Right?

    
On my way
to Zack’s room, this weird, nervous, little flutter started up in the pit of my
stomach. I’d only actually been to his room once, and even then I waited in the
hall while he ran in to get something. I knew it was crazy to feel nervous
about actually going inside his room, but that didn’t stop the feeling.

    
“This is
stupid,” I muttered, stopping in the middle of the hall. “He’s probably
asleep.” Yeah, of course he was. It would be stupid to wake him up to
apologize. It could wait until tomorrow

    
I turned
around, took two steps, stopped. “I won’t be able to sleep if I don’t go talk
to him. And he might even be awake.” It was slightly possible our argument was
bothering him as much as it was me.

    
“Okay.
I’m going.” I turned back around and continued on my way.

    
When I
came around the corner of the hall where Zack’s room was, I stopped again. What
if he wasn’t alone in there? It was a ridiculous thought. I had no reason to
believe Zack was messing around with another girl behind my back. But once the
thought was in my head it stuck like crazy glue. I couldn’t shake it loose.

    
If I
knocked and another girl was in there with him, (Dee maybe, or even Megara,
Hannah had said they were spending a lot of time together) I would die on the
spot. My heart couldn’t possibly stand that kind of pain.

    
I backed
up a step. Stopped. Balled my hands into fists. If he
did
have a girl in
there, didn’t I want to know about it? Better that than being played for a
fool.

    
I took a
step forward. Stopped again. Or maybe being a fool was the better choice. What
you don’t know can’t hurt you, right?

    
“Good
grief,” I muttered under my breath “Do it or don’t, but quit standing here acting
like a human yo-yo.” I took a deep breath, squared my shoulders, and marched
down the hall to his room.