"Ara?" Vicki looked up from making the bed, then looked at David as I stormed out of the room and slumped on the settee in the hall.

Dad walked out after me and stopped by soon-to-be-Mike's door with a look of intense thought, then snickered and walked away. Vicki, with her arms folded around a spare blanket, followed him-after casting an accusatory glare at me.

I folded my arms, scoffed in her direction when her back was turned, and refolded my arms.

"Another one of Ara's infamous tantrums." David, with his towering height, stood in front of me.

"I'm not throwing a tantrum." I slid down in the chair, biting my teeth together.

"Hm." He turned and headed back into the spare room. "Coulda fooled me."

"Coulda? You mean...did!"

"Yes." He stopped and leaned on the doorframe. "I must admit, that was very clever of you-stuffing your purse with a lesser amount. But you can't read minds, mon amour-" he tapped his temple, "-so your plan was doomed from the start."

"Well, you assumed I was submissive, so yours was too."

"Submissive?" He dropped his arms and moved over to me. "Ara, is that what you think?"

"I don't know. You seem to know all my thoughts, so you tell me."

"Ara. Look at me." He knelt in front of me. "Please?"

With my movements as rigid as a frozen elastic band, I rolled my head upward, but kept my bottom lip in a completely tight pout.

"My love, I'm sorry. I never meant to offend you. I-" He took my hand; I let him, with only a little bit of a fight. "I was being playful, mostly. I truly did not think that my spending money on you would be considered rude or controlling."

"It's not that, David." My tone sung with reason. "It's that when I tried to decline, you got mad at me."

"Mad?" He doubled back a little. "You think I'm mad?"

"You've been ignoring me," I said quietly.

"Ara," he laughed my name out. "I'm not mad. Not at all. Jeeze, girl, sometimes you really can make a mountain out of a molehill, can't you?"

Tears coated the surprise behind my eyes. "I thought you'd yell at me."

"Yell?" His brow pulled low on one side, thought washing across his face. "Ara, what kind of man do you think I am?"

"One that likes to get his own way."

As if a rope had just pulled his soul out onto the carpet, his face went pale, his eyes draining of the smile. "I'm so terribly sorry if I've given you that impression. I-" He shook his head and dropped my hand. "I truly never meant for you to feel that way."

"Aw, David, now I just feel guilty."

He smiled. "Don't. Look, I'm sorry I was pushy, but if it means that much to you, I'm glad you bought your own dress, and I will be happy to see you wear it with pride."

"Really?" A half a smile crept onto my lips.

"Oui, jolie fille." He touched his hand to the hollow between his collarbones. "I am your eternal servant. You should never feel pressured to do something because I want you to..." He swallowed, his eyes becoming glassy. "And you should never be afraid of me-or my reaction."

"I wasn't really afraid-per se. Just anxious." My shoulders dropped. "I just don't like disappointing you."

"My love, nothing you want with your heart will ever be a disappointment to me. You must know that?"

"I do. Now." I shook my head, laughing softly. "I'm sorry, too, David. I-I mean, it's not that big a deal-buying my own dress. I guess, in some ways, I just wanted to prove that...that I could make a stand."

"You, my girl-" He rested his upturned palm along my jaw, "-don't ever need to prove that to me."

"David, you're a vampire-a part of me will always need to prove I'm not weak."

He looked down then, his eyes focusing on something far away while his lips turned up; my heart skipped at the sight of his dimples.

"What are you smiling at?" I asked.

"I hope you like scary movies."

An eerie feeling swept over me as my gaze followed his to the front door at the base of the stairs. "Why?"

"Come in, Emily," Sam said as he passed.

"Hello," Emily chimed in her high but elegant voice, opening the door.

"Hey, Em." I stood up.

"Hey," she said, then turned and waved to someone outside. "Bye, David."

David? Not surprisingly, when I looked back, my eyes fell upon the plain colours of the corridor walls and the rosewood floorboards below the rug David had been kneeling on. "Right on time, Em." I looked at the clock on the wall as I reached the base of the stairs.

"Yep, and I hope you like scary movies." She held up a USB stick. "It's based in Australia-some place called Wolf Creek?"

I shivered. That's what David meant. "Uh, wow. That'll be great," I lied, not really sure why I did that.

I could almost hear David laughing down the street. Well, I hoped he enjoyed his little joke, because he'd be paying for it when I called him at two in the morning, scared, unable to sleep because the bad man might get me-instead of calling Mike, like always.

My arms folded in smug gratification. Well, there you go, that was one thing I'd let him pay for.

Chapter Twenty-Two.

"I don't know." Emily grinned at Dad as he stood up. "I think Sam has a point."

"See, old man," Sam said. "If a senior agrees with me, I must be right."

Dad, with a humoured grunt, stacked a pile of plates in the sink and leaned against the counter. "Well, I happen to know that this particular senior is an A grade student because she doesn't play video games." He motioned a hand to Emily, who sat taller-bristling with pride.

"Dad." Sam smirked. "Emily's only an A grade student because she has a cru-"

"Good work ethic," I cut in, sure Sam was about to say "crush on her teacher."

Sam bit his lip, offering Emily an apologetic look; she just shook her head, picking the pineapple off her pizza.

"If only a good work ethic was addictive-like those video games you play, Samuel." Dad sat back down at the table. "The fact is, my boy, you have an example to set for the other students, being that you're a-"

"Teacher's kid. I know, I know." Sam rolled his eyes. "We've all heard the speech, Dad. But, you can't debate my argument with any profitable reasoning. I learned more about physics by playing Halo than I did from Mr Ester."

Dad let out a long breath, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"It's okay, Mr Thompson," Emily said in an encouraging tone. "Alana and I still believe in the importance of homework, isn't that right, Lani?"

Alana looked up from her plate and nodded.

"I'm sorry." I folded my arms. "I'm with Sam on this one. Burnout taught me the logistics of driving a car."

Dad jostled with a little chuckle. "Exactly."

"Hey. What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean-" he sat back, folding his arms, "-that there's a reason you don't have your licence yet."

"You don't have your licence?" Emily practically spat the words out.

"Um...no." I sank into myself.

"Why?"

"I uh, I'm not very good at driving," I lied. Truthfully, I just didn't see the need to be behind the wheel.

"Maybe Alana and I could teach you," Em offered.

"I think we'll leave the driving lessons to the experts," Dad chimed in.

"But, if your methods aren't working, Mr Thompson, maybe she could learn from those of us closer to her age," Emily said.

Sam stifled a giggle; Dad raised a brow at him. "When did I become the old guy?"

"Uh, about forty years ago, Dad." I laughed.

"Hm. Should've seen it coming. So-" he said with a change in tone, "what are you girls up to tonight?"

"Scary movie," Emily said.

"Yay." I waved an invisible flag, with mock enthusiasm.

"Yeah? Which one?" Sam sat up, suddenly more eager to be a part of the conversation again.

"No way, pest. Girl's night," I said.

"Aw. No fair."

"Life's not fair, son. Get used to it," Dad said distractedly-the common disease of resorting to philosophical one-liners taking the intelligence out of any point he may have been trying to make.

"Well, Sam, if you want to paint your nails and look at pictures of Ara's hunky BFF, then you can have a girl's night with us," Emily said.

"Yeah, I'll pass." He slumped back in his chair.

"All right, well-" Dad stood up and took the last of the plates, "-Sam and I will get the dishes, and you girls can go talk about boys."

Awkward. "Yeah, um, that's our cue to go." I stood and motioned the girls to follow.

Three pairs of feet dangled off one side of the bed, three heads off the other, while the sun slipped behind the house, bringing darkness down the walls, and the dancing rainbows around my room faded, but Emily and Alana's stories distracted me from the dying colours in my life, reminding me of a time when I once thought the world was normal.

"So, whose idea was it to hang the crystals over the window?" Alana asked. "It was so magic in here with all those rainbows."

"Oh, um, Pollyanna."

"Pollyanna?" She rolled onto her belly.

"Yeah. It's from an old movie my mom used to love."

"Hm. Never seen it." Alana looked at Emily, who shrugged, shaking her head.

"So, Ara, are you gonna show us these pics of Mike, or what?"

"Sure, Em, but, you're with Spence now, do you really need to be checking out other guys?"

"Who says I'm checking him out?" She sat up beside Alana. "I'm just curious as to why your eyes light up when you mention him."

"They so do not light up," I demanded.

"Um, actually, Ara, they kind of do," Alana said carefully.

"Yeah, you sparkle." Emily waved her fingers around. "So-" she shuffled to the edge of the bed, "-let's see them."

"Fine." I rolled up with a huff and wandered over to my desk. "I don't have many, though. I only grabbed one box when I moved-and it was the wrong one."

"Which box did you mean to grab?" Em asked.

"Just some old family ones." I shrugged as if it didn't matter. "I'd switched the boxes about a week before and just didn't realise until I was already here."

"Why not ask your mom to send them over for you?" Alana said.