((Memory 28, Neutral/Trivial))

[demonick]

► How long does it usually take to get over a broken heart? (Inferno)

What Happened:

When he stopped at his locker, Caleb clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Cheer up, bud. I know it feels like you just had your stones handed to you, but you will survive it.”

Nick opened the door, not sure if he wanted to survive. “Have you ever had a woman betray you?”

“In ways you’re too young to know about, Nick. Believe me, on the grand scheme of pain, this isn’t so bad.”

Funny, it didn’t feel that way. Nick clenched his teeth as agony spread through him. He just wanted to go home, curl up in bed, and pretend this day hadn’t happened. “Is that how you ended up enslaved to my father?”

“No.”

Nick swapped out his books. “You’re never going to tell me how he got ahold of your leash, are you?”

“Nope.”

“Why?”

“Because one day, you will grow up and become a full-fledged Malachai. Your father will die, hopefully soon, and then I’ll be free. But if I trust you with that information, then you’ll know how to collar me. No offense, but I don’t trust the demon in you not to turn on me and find me after I’m gone, and I’ve spent enough time as a slave. I don’t want to live one day longer as one than I have to.”

Nick was even more offended. “I’d die before I did that to you. You have to know me better.”

“That’s your human heart speaking and I respect that. But I also know that sooner or later that heart will be devoured by the darkness inside you. Then we won’t be friends. I’ll be a tool and you won’t hesitate to throw me in a box and use me.”

Caleb sounded like Kody now, and truthfully, Nick was sick of it. “If you really believe I’m beyond hope, why are you here?”

“Because my master ordered it.”

“And if my father was dead?”

Caleb looked away. Emotions Nick couldn’t name flitted across his features. It looked like Caleb was debating with himself.

“Well?” Nick prompted him for an answer.

Caleb sighed. “The only thing I know for certain is that if your dad was dead, I definitely wouldn’t be in high school with you right now. I’d still be in bed asleep.”

Nick laughed. He couldn’t blame Caleb for that. He wouldn’t be here either if he could find another way out. But that wasn’t what concerned him. “Would you still be on my speed dial?”

Caleb narrowed those dark eyes on him. “I really want to hate you, Gautier.”
Nick grinned. “Yeah, I’m like kudzu. I look all nice and harmless and the next thing you know I’ve taken root and it’s too late … you like me.” His smile faded as he saw Kody in the hallway, coming toward them. It slammed into him like a fist. “So how long does it usually take to get over a broken heart?”

Caleb glanced in Kody’s direction before he answered. “You don’t even want to know.… My best advice?” He jerked his chin to the opposite end of the hallway. “Distraction.”

Scowling, Nick wasn’t sure what he meant until Casey Woods threw herself against him so hard that he stumbled back and hit the lockers behind him with a resounding crash. He would complain, but having his arms full of the most popular cheerleader in school squelched any desire to be negative about how this miracle had come into being.

She looked up at him and smiled. “You’re my hero, Nick!” She kissed him.

Stunned past any kind of rational thought, he didn’t move. He couldn’t. It wasn’t every day the captain of the cheerleaders shoved him into the wall against school policy and lip-locked him. Even more shocking was the sensation of her long dark ponytail brushing against the bare skin on his arm.

After a second, she pulled back and gave him a hot look that melted him on the spot. “Call me later, ’kay?”

He tried to speak, but nothing would come out. Instead, he stood there like some gulping catfish with his mouth opening and closing and making no sound whatsoever.

Yeah, I’m so slick, teen models call me for dating advice.

Luckily, Casey didn’t wait around for his brain to kick in and have him say something really stupid. She skipped back into the crowd after one of her friends. Still stunned, Nick pushed himself off the locker bank.

“I’m so glad I’m not you.”

He blinked at Brynna’s dire tone as she opened her locker beside him. “I didn’t do anything.”

“Yeah, but I caught the look on Kody’s face when she saw Casey molesting you, then reversed course and headed the other way. Oooo, Nick, it wasn’t pretty. Kody gonna have her some deep-fried Cajun mountain oysters for dinner … probably breakfast, too.”

Nick let out a tired breath as his pain returned … with friends. “Nah, she won’t. We broke up.”

“Since when?”

“Ten minutes ago,” Caleb answered for him.

“No!” Brynna gasped. “Say it ain’t so, Gautier. You two were perfect together.”

This wasn’t helping his mental state. What next? Would some sappy breakup song start playing over the intercom to torture him? “Not perfect enough.”

Brynna growled low in her throat. “What did you do?”

Her question offended him. “It wasn’t me. Why does it always have to be the guy’s fault?”

“’Cause it usually is.”

Well, that was insulting. “Thanks a lot, Brynna. And for the record, I’m the victim.”

“Then I’m sorry.”

Nick inclined his head to her, grateful that she’d at least tried to sound sincere. “I appreciate it.”

Rubbing his arm, she offered him a sympathetic smile. “For the record? I hope you two get back together.”

“For the record, we won’t.”

She shook her head sadly and closed her locker door. “Well, if you need a friend, you have my number. I haven’t forgotten what you did for me when I needed someone. You really are a great guy, Nick.”

“Thanks.”

“Any time.” Brynna headed off to class.

Nick turned away and walked toward his next period. Thankfully, it was with Caleb and not Kody.

Caleb picked up his pace to walk beside him. “You do know Brynna was hitting on you just now.”

Yeah, right. Caleb was shy a few bricks on his wall if he really believed that. “No, she wasn’t. She thinks of me like a brother.”

“You sure?”

“Positive. I tried to hold her hand once when I first started going here and she read me the riot act for it. I got the full we-are-just-friends-so-don’t-make-me-call-my-older-brother-out-on-you-to-beat-you-to-a-pulp speech from her years ago.”

Caleb laughed. “And that’s why I only hook up with women who have sisters or, even better, no siblings at all.”

“Got your butt whipped once, huh?”

“No.” Caleb sobered. “But I know what I’d do for my sister if some idiot broke her heart.”

That news floored him. Caleb never really talked about his family, and he’d never before made any kind of declaration of love toward them. “You have a sister?”

“Not full-blooded. But yeah, I have a number of them.”

“Are they around?”

Caleb shook his head. “Even though I’d kill for them if they needed me to, we’re not that close.” He opened the classroom door for Nick to enter first.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I’m not. I don’t like personal entanglements or obligations. Gets you into too much trouble. But blood is blood. End of the day, if one of them needed me, I’d be stupid for them.”

And that was why, even though Caleb was a demon, Nick respected him and called him friend. Caleb spent a lot of time denying his better nature, but Nick had seen it up close and personal enough to know that Caleb was cold-blooded decent. No matter how much the demon protested, you could always count on him in a fight.

Taking his seat, Nick pulled his book out and opened it to the day’s assignment. Still, he couldn’t get Kody out of his mind. Now that they were officially broken up, she would be coming for him for sure. The only question was, when?

Learned/Effects:
• [ PLACEHOLDER ]


(Game #197, Day 257)
Shareable: Yes (1/9 uses taken— Self.)
Taken: Yes.
Memory Format: Miniature macarons.