Forbidden

Appearances

Van

"Does that work on anyone?" Van demanded, twirling back to face the bar. She told herself the fluttering in her stomach was from spinning and not the clean, woodsy scent emanating from the far too handsome boy on her right.

"Nope," Luca replied, his voice cheerful despite her less than pleasant response. "But my father has always encouraged persistence."

"That's just a nice way of saying you do the same thing repeatedly- which actually has a saying to go with it."

"No one will call me insane for trying to win the affections of a beautiful girl."

Van spied her reflection in the silver surface of a napkin holder. Makeup was smudged beneath her lashes. Her garish hair was a ratted nest, and her oversized hoodie made her look rather round. Once she'd have soaked up his words, confident enough to believe they could be true. Now, she just turned her head, put her chin in her hand, and dragged her finger through a spot of condensation on the countertop hoping he would catch a hint.

"Here you kids go," Wanda said, setting plates in front of them. She followed with the chocolate malts, topped with mounds of whipped cream and a cherry.

The savory scents teased a real appetite to the surface, and Van dug in. Hot grease slipped down her chin and turned her lips shiny. Such fat filled, carb loaded meals were not allowed in the Helsing household. Gabriella saw to that. She had to approve the cook's menu every week, and Van had eaten more green things she couldn't pronounce than she could count since moving in with the two of them. She would eat this and die happy.

"They don't feed you at home?"

She cut her eyes to the side, not amused by the teasing in his tone, but the concern in his gaze caught her off guard. It softened her reply- not by much, but some.

"They feed me, but I prefer to eat a cow sometimes rather than eating like one."

"Vegetarians?" His lips pursed and his nose wrinkled.

"Close enough," Van said, pulling her sweater over her hand and scrubbing it over her mouth to clean the mess from her face. She waited for Luca to recoil, but he winked before slurping on his malt. He seemed just as determined to be friendly as she was to be irritable.

Hailey Francis walked up to them, her heavily painted lips pushed out in a pout. With her straight blonde hair, big blue eyes, and round cheeks, she looked like a cherub. Van suspected that's why the girl wore so much makeup. Heavy contouring gave her a semblance of cheekbones and added a few years to a face that would be carded long after she turned twenty-one. But that's not what made her such a hit with the boys in school

"Luca! You said you couldn't come out tonight," she purred, pressing her hand on his shoulder and leaning forward to give him an excellent view of the cleavage she had on display. Where Hailey's face had retained its childlike features, her body had embraced puberty and never looked back. Van almost felt sorry for her.

"Plans changed," he said, straight white teeth snapping the end off of a fry. "Mom isn't feeling well, so that puts my pops in charge of cooking. I got out of there fast."

Hailey tittered while steadily walking her fingers up his neck. Luca didn't shrug her off, but nothing in his expression indicated he was deriving pleasure from her caress. Not that it matters, Van chided herself.

"And you decided to hang out with the new kid? You never fail to amaze me with your kindness." She turned her limpid blue eyes to Van and took her hands off of Luca. "You're a lucky girl."

Van didn't know if it was better or worse that Hailey spoke without malice. She sounded genuinely amazed by Luca's thoughtfulness, and when she smiled at Van, it was open and welcoming.