Cherish

Standing in front of my mirror, I examine the fingerprint bruises Adam left on my arms on Saturday night, wincing at the horrible color.

"What the hell?" Ella exclaims when she sees me poke at one of the bruises.

I frown at her and shake my head. "It's a super long story, El. I'll tell you later. We're going to be late for school if we don't go now."

"Not until you tell me where you got those bruises!"

I grab a hoodie out of my closet to put on, so I can cover the bruises. Zipping it up halfway I look at Ella. “I’ll tell you later. I don’t want to talk about it right now.”

“You didn’t even leave the house yesterday,” she mutters, staring at my now covered arms. “I don’t get it.”

Of course not. I wore a long-sleeve shirt all day yesterday, and barely left my room.

“It’s nothing to be worried about. Come on, we need to get to school.” I walk past my sister and out the front door, grabbing my bag as I go. I’m vaguely aware of Ella trailing slowly behind me.

“Why are you so eager to get to school?” Ella asks.

“I want to have some quiet to draw for a while before class starts. I can’t do that when there are a bunch of people around.” I know I’m not a bad artist, I just don’t like drawing with an audience. It makes me feel extremely self-conscious.

Ella nods in understanding then starts playing with the radio for the rest of the drive to school.

Once we get to school, I quickly make my way to english class, avoiding any questions Ella throws my way. Settling in my seat, I pull my sketch pad and pencil out of my bag.

Plugging my headphones into my phone since I have at least forty-five minutes before people start coming into class, I start my music.

Opening my sketchpad to the drawing I started yesterday while confining myself in my room, I run my hand over the picture. Taking a deep breath I lean over and get to work, shading in the horned Pegasus I had outlined the night before. Putting in the details on the wings and horn.

I'm so lost in my sketch that I don't notice how quickly time has passed since I started. Lucy pats a hand on the desk in front of my pad to get my attention. I look up and take my headphones out, peeking at the time and groaning. Damn, time for class, when what I really want is to keep working on this.

"That looks seriously kickass," Lucy says, eyeing the page in front of me.

I smile. "It'll be even better once it's finished."

"Can you draw me something like that?" She asks.

I roll my eyes. "Dude, you have like a giant binder with pictures I draw for you."

"Well, yeah. Your drawings are the shit." She looks up and smiles. "Hey, Kade. How's it going?"

I turn my attention to the sexy guy that helped get me away from Adam the other night and give him a smile. "Hey."

His smile is a little forced. "Hey." His eyes flit down to the drawing in front of me. He tilts his chin towards it. "What's that?"

I bite my lip and push my pad over, so he can see better.

His eyes widen as he gazes at the drawing. Several minutes later he looks up at me, his gaze studying. "You drew this?"

I shrug. "Yeah. It's not done, though. Give it back," I say with a laugh when he doesn't hand it back right away.

"It's really good," he says softly, eyes roaming over me, as if he's seeing me in a new light.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I ask, suddenly feeling seriously self-conscious.

He shakes his head, "No reason. Hey, uh, I wanted to ask you something." His eyes flick to Lucy who's eavesdropping unrepentantly. When she shows no sign of moving he sighs and rolls his eyes. "Xander, Andrei, and I need to talk to you about something later today." My eyebrows fly up. "Any chance you can come over to our house for a little bit? It shouldn't take too long, it's just something that we need to talk about from the other night."

"Okay," I say slowly. "Any particular reason we can't just have this conversation at school?"

He nods once. "There is, but we'll explain the why later."

"Kade? Are you aware of how shifty that sounds?"

He runs his hand through his hair. "Yeah, I know. It's the best I’ve got, though."

I eye him carefully, studying the strain around his face and realize that from the circles under his eyes he hasn't been sleeping well. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything's fine. We just need to talk to you later." A pause. "Please."

I almost say no, but something in his eyes stops me. There's this worry and urgency in his gaze, like he's begging me to agree.

"Alright." I grab my notebook as the teacher walks in. Ripping a page out, I hand it to him. "Write down your address, and I'll meet you there after school."

Relief spreads across his face, and he gives me a small smile. "Awesome."

* * *

After dropping Ella off at home and dodging her questions again, I pull out the piece of paper that Kade wrote the address on and frown when I realize they’re practically right next door to us. Well, they’re a street away, but still.

“Okay,” I mutter to myself and drive to their house.

A minute later, I stop and frown as I stare at the house in front of me. The vague shimmer to the air that I’ve been seeing around people, Kade and his friends in particular, is surrounding the house.

What the hell? Maybe I just need glasses.

Shaking my head, I get out of my car and make my way to the front door. I lift my hand up to knock, but before my hand even makes contact with the door, it swings open.

Kade flashes me a smile. “Hey, thanks for coming.” He steps back and out of the way, so I can come in. “The others are in the living area. Just down the hall that way, I’m getting drinks for everyone.”

I grin. “Are you taking requests? I’d kill for a coffee.”

He chuckles. “Alright, coffee for you then. I’ll be in there in a few minutes. Go make yourself comfortable.”

He disappears down the other end of the hallway, so I head to the direction he pointed me towards. Walking into the living room I raise a brow when I see Xander and Andrei lounging lazily on the couch while watching something on the TV.

They look relaxed but there’s an underlying tension there that wasn’t there earlier when I saw them at school. Their eyes come to me simultaneously, and I give them a brief smile to hide my nerves.

“Hey, guys.”

“Cherish,” Andrei greets me simply before turning his attention back to whatever’s happening on the TV.

“Hey, Princess,” Xander says with a smirk twitching on his mouth.

“So, do I get any hints about what this is about?” I ask, moving to sit in the armchair they have off to the side of the couch.

“I just gave you one,” I barely hear Xander mutter. I shoot him a questioning look, and he just shakes his head. “Nothing, Princess. We need to wait until Kade’s in here anyways.”

The energy in the air is heavy with tension while we wait for Kade to return a few minutes later. He hands me my coffee. I thank him, and I inhale the delicious smelling aroma deeply before taking a sip.

I watch as the guys all exchange looks, as if they’re unsure who should talk. Andrei sighs heavily.

“Cherish, the other night . . .” he pauses, rethinking his words. “Did that hu– uh, Adam guy seem like himself to you?”

I narrow my eyes at him before answering, flicking my gaze to the other two before focusing back on Andrei. “No. He might have been an asshole on the best of days but he’s not really a violent person. He never hurt me before.”

Andrei nods his head once. He looks to Kade then back at me. “Kade told us that you draw? That you draw really well. Can I ask what made you draw a horned pegasus?”

I raise a brow at the random turn of the conversation. “Uh, I like to draw mythological creatures. I do draw other things, but they’re my favorite to draw. You are aware that that was a completely random question, right?”

He sighs and rubs his hand over his face. “Fuck, I know. I’m screwing this up already,” he mutters to himself. “Have you ever wondered why those kind of things are your favorite to draw?”

“Honestly? No. Many people have many different tastes, so no. I’ve never thought about it. I just draw what I like.”

“Jesus, Andrei, you’re butchering this,” Xander says with a roll of his eyes. He meets my gaze. “Let me ask you a question. Do you believe in the things that you draw?”

I shrug. “I mean, anything’s possible right? Most of the things I draw, I don’t actually believe exist, but it’s kind of fun to imagine they do.”

“Do you believe in magic?” Xander asks softly.

“No, I don’t,” I answer bluntly.

“Really?” Xander looks amused by my answer, though I can’t imagine why.

“Really, I don’t. It’s all fake, hollywood movie shit. Or stuff that you read in books. It’s not real.”

“What if we said that it was?” Kade asks quietly, not looking at me, his attention is outside the window on the other side of the room.

“I’d probably say that you guys are full of shit.” I sit up straight, getting annoyed. “If you guys are done, I have homework to do.”

I move to stand up but stop in my tracks when I see a shimmer in the air in front of me. It stays like that for a split second before it opens up into a large door-window thing, and on the other side of it I can see a large castle in the background, surrounded by a large forest with a small opening for a dirt road, big enough to be an actual street.

I blink at the image in front of me, slowly moving back into my seat as I stare the image in front of me. “What?” I don’t even know what I’m asking, shock has officially rendered me speechless.

The window disappears a second after the word leaves my lips, and I turn to face the three grim-faced guys on the couch.

“How? I don’t–” I cut myself off, not knowing where I’m going with the thoughts swirling around in my brain.

“Magic is real,” Andrei confirms. “Magic is what caused Adam to act the way he did the night of the dance.”

I raise a brow questioningly. “How do you know this?”

“I sensed it in him. I destroyed the spell, so he went back to normal shortly after.”

I shake my head, wanting the things he’s saying to be a lie, but I can’t deny what I just saw. “That doesn’t make sense. Why would anyone put a spell on Adam to act like that?”

They all shift uncomfortably instead of answering.

I narrow my eyes at them. “What?”

“He was spelled because he’s close to you, Cherish,” Xander finally says. I meet his eyes, and even though I want to laugh at the ludicrousy of that statement, the hard set of his lips and truth shines through his eyes.

“What? What does that mean? I’m not understanding.”

Kade sighs. “Cherish, you told me about your parents. Are they your biological parents?”

“Yes,” I answer automatically. They exchange another look, pissing me off. “Okay, enough of the talking with the eyes bullshit. Tell me what the hell you’re getting at.”

It’s Andrei who lets out a sigh this time. “Cherish, your father isn’t your biological father. Your father is King Leander and–” He cuts off when I laugh.

“I’m supposed to believe that my father is a king? That’d make me a princess wouldn’t it?” I shake my head. “You’ve got the wrong girl. It’s not me. I know my parents are my parents, and that’s enough for me.” I stand up and pause when Andrei says my name. I turn to look at them. “I’m not who you think I am. I’ll see you guys at school tomorrow.”

I don’t even bother to stop when Andrie says my name again, and I hear Kade murmur to just let me go for now.

I scoff inwardly. For now. Whatever.