Devil in the Details

SIX: Deal - Pt. 2

I ended up sleeping over at Taylor's. This was a little awkward to explain to her mother, as Taylor was hiding in her bedroom and I had to broach the topic alone. However, her mother had agreed without a fight, handing me a set of spare sheets from the linen closet without saying much.

Taylor had a trundle bed. Most of the time when we had sleepovers, that's where I slept: in that strange drawer under her bed like a little gremlin. This time, when I was sure the door was locked so that Doreen wouldn't be able to spy on us and get the wrong impression, I left the trundle to join her up top. As she slept, she pressed her face into the crook of my neck, and I stroked her long hair as she fell asleep.

The following morning, we walked to class together. I bought her a mocha iced latte and a chocolate muffin from her favorite café on Main Street and we talked about everything and anything that had nothing to do with her mom or the art forums or Clarissa. I could tell she needed to keep her mind off those subjects, so I did the best I could to distract her. I even texted her throughout morning classes—something I almost never did because of our school's strict no texting policy.

As the day went on, the Taylor I knew and loved slowly returned, perking up like a wilted flower reunited with the sun.

As we left Calculus, Taylor did a strange jig. "I need to pee so badly," she said, sipping on the remains of her iced mocha.

"Probably the coffee," I said, pointing at the plastic cup.

Taylor was nearly jogging down the hall at this point, weaving between backpacks. "I'll meet you in the cafeteria. Grab the seat by the windows!"

"Okay!"

I was by myself for less than ten seconds when "Miss me?" rang through my left ear.

I jumped, jerked my head to my left, and saw that the Devil was right beside me.

"You scared me," I said, heart pounding. "Where have you been?"

Lana raised an eyebrow. "I've been here all day. You've just been too buddy-buddy with Taylor to notice."

"Oh. Sorry," I apologized. "She had a rough few days." I hesitated, because I wasn't sure if this was something I could tell Lana, but then said, "Don't tell anyone, but she's gay."

"And?" Lana asked. She stared at me blankly for a moment before a look of realization crossed her face. "Ohhh. Sorry. I forgot humans are still in an era of strange moral superiority when it comes to sexual orientation." As we walked into the cafeteria and placed our jackets on the table by the window, she added, "Angels don't have sexes, you know. Or genders. Or anything like that. And neither do human souls. All that stuff is just an earthly construct."

"Well, I guess that's reassuring in the grand scheme of things, but it doesn't really help her right now," I said.

We ate our lunches in silence for a few minutes—wonderful, interrogation-free silence—and then Taylor returned from the bathroom and sat down with us.

"This is what I like to see," Taylor said, gesturing between Lana and I. "Two friends who actually remember each other." She winked at me. "Glad your memory came back."

"Yep," I lied with a grin. "You were right: just a weird brain fart."

"How are you doing, Taylor?" Lana asked, leaning forward curiously. "Jessa said you had a rough night."

For a moment Taylor looked surprised, clearly wondering what I had told Lana. "I'm okay, I guess," she said. "My mom and I got into a fight."

"I'm sorry about that," Lana said, taking a bite of her sandwich. "Fights are the worst. Did you sleep okay afterwards?"