Water and Fire

Chapter 8

"Brian!" Brian's mother walked in without knocking or ringing and wrapped her arms around her son. Enthusiastically she pressed two kisses on his cheeks.

It didn't need much explanation that Brian wasn't really enjoying her embrace. He didn't try to hide it at least and placed two hands on her shoulders to push her away from him.

Lena couldn't imagine ever doing something like that to her own parents. She was taught to be polite and thankful, to smile even though she didn't like something. She had to keep in mind that she didn't have to please his parents like she would please her own.

"Brian."

Lena looked up when a tall man entered the house. He could barely stand up straight while walking through the door and Lena held her breath for a short moment while staring at him.

If these were the kind of demons her parents had always been talking about, it wasn't that weird that they hard warned her over and over again.

"Dad!" Brian lifted up his hand and his father did the same thing. "Mom dad, this is Lena." Brian pointed at her.

Nervously Lena tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, immediately remembering that she shouldn't care that much about being perfect. "Hey." She almost tripped over that one word and she could barely swallow the nice to meet you she was about to say.

"Maria is in her room." Brian walked over to the door of their other friend and knocked on the wood. "Maria?" He screamed and knocked again before the door finally opened.

"I was coming already." Maria moaned and she looked sleepy.

Lena felt her heart breaking a little, but she had to keep herself in check. This was not the right moment to worry about the girl she was supposed to watch. But she couldn't help wondering how many parties a week she could allow.

"Sorry, I went to a party yesterday." Maria smiled and held out her hand.

Lena couldn't help feeling a little relieved. At least she had not been the one with the most polite introduction.

"We totally understand that, darling." Brian's mother wrapped one arm around Maria's shoulders, pressing the young girl against her chest. "We've been young once too!" She smiled before she let the girl go again.

Lena wasn't sure if the woman meant what she was saying. She couldn't help thinking that it was at least partly an act.

"Were you at the party too?" Brian's mother turned her head towards Lena. "I don't need to ask Brian. If there is a party, he's not going anywhere else." She winked at her son.

Lena's hands started sweating and she had to swallow a few times. In the back of her mind she repeated the words Brian had told her. She was allowed to lie. She had to lie. If she wouldn't lie, she could blow her cover and could end up dead before sunrise. "We had a lot of fun." Lena scratched the back of her neck, but she noticed how Brian was bending his head.

"Well, I'm glad to see that our son is having fun over here." Brian's father was clearly checking the two girls in front of him out.

Lena wasn't sure if she should look away. She wasn't even sure if normal people noticed things like this.

"And how are the study results?"

Not asking the question would have been weirder than asking it, but Lena couldn't help grinning for a short moment.

Normal parents would like to hear that their children were attending all their classes and were following the planners they were given. But Brian's parents were probably hoping that all three of them had forgotten about school by now.