© Copyright 2011 

All work is property of Leah Crichton, any duplication or reproduction of all or part of the work without explicit permission by the author is illegal.

Condolences: (kon-dol-en-suhs)

sympathy with a person who has experienced pain or grief

an expression or declaration of such sympathy

My morning classes were no more painful than usual. Thinking of all the drama earlier took my mind off the things I should have been thinking about, like school. Orion had a lot of nerve to even speak to me, let alone tell me it wasn’t too late. Those words were maybe the ones that bothered me the most out of everything he’d said. It was way too late for him and me. Way too late.

Damien picked me up for lunch and in the daylight I could see his car was a jet black Porsche Carerra.

“Holy crap. Is it like a requirement to live here?” I asked. “Must drive ridiculous car.” I felt a huge case of déjà vu, only I liked Orion’s car better.

“You like it? Grad present.”

“My parents could never afford something like this for a graduation present. I’ll probably get a necklace or something.”

“My mother has ensured we live a very comfortable life. She worked hard for it.”

“Still,” I said buckling the seat-belt. “I think I'll be stuck with a lemon as my first car. Hey, listen, would you mind just dropping me somewhere?” 

“No, I don’t mind, but I thought you wanted to have lunch with me,” he said.

I sensed that my request hurt him. Softening my voice, I said, “I do. Really. It’s just that something terrible happened to Alicia and Alex. Their cousin died, and I thought I would stop by and see if they were okay. I’d be a horrible friend if I didn’t go see them.  Could we postpone our lunch?”

He smiled. “Of course, that is completely understandable.  The best excuse I’ve ever heard for bailing on a date.” 

“Oh, Damien! I’m not trying to bail, I swear.  You’re not mad, are you?”

He looked at me, still grinning. “I’m just giving you a hard time, love. In fact, I think your concern for your friends is nothing less than adorable. I could go with you, if you’d like.”

I would have liked him to come, but Alex and Alicia were both good friends with Orion. Orion had some sort of problem with Damien. It would be inappropriate to ask him to come. “I think I should go alone. I hope you understand.”

“I understand completely, sweetheart,” Damien said as he drove. “Don’t worry a single bit about it. We can have lunch any day of the week.”

“Thanks.” I twisted my hands in my lap, worried about what I would say to them.  It wasn’t everyday someone died, especially at your birthday party.

Damien pulled over to the side of the road at the entrance to Alicia and Alex’s mile long driveway. “Probably better if I drop you off here.”  He leaned across and opened the door for me. “Shall I pick you up?”

 I didn’t know how long would take, and I didn’t want to keep him waiting. “No thanks, I can make my way back to school.”

“Can I call you?”

“Yeah, of course. I’d like it if you did.”

“Good luck. Pass along my condolences, will you?”

“Sure thing,” I told him, shutting the car door. Damien circled the car around and drove off, and I walked toward Alicia and Alex’s house. Mona was already inside with Kyle perched beside her. I panicked for a moment, but quickly realized Orion was nowhere to be seen.

Alex answered the door with Alicia at his side, her eyes rimmed red. “Hey guys,” I said, “How are you? Are you okay?”

“We’re fine,” Alex said. “So nice of you to come and check on us, though. Please come in.”

I went to the living room and set my bag down. “I just wanted to say sorry. Sorry for everything, for your cousin. Sorry for rushing out on your party. It was rude.”

Alicia’s voice grew quiet. “It’s okay. It’s for the better. Marianne was sick, you know?”

“Yeah, Mona said. What happened?” 

“If you didn’t run out you’d have seen the commotion for yourself,” Alex stated flatly. 

Alicia glanced at him, an angry look on her face. “Marianne had a heart defect her whole life. I guess her heart just couldn’t sustain her body anymore so it stopped beating and she stopped breathing. That’s what the doctor said. Really. We’re okay. She isn’t suffering anymore.”

“I’m thirsty,” Alex interrupted. “Anyone?”

A round of “yes, please” followed and Alex stood up to go into the kitchen. “I’ll help you,” I offered.

In the kitchen, he opened the massive stainless steel fridge and took out a carton of iced tea. He took out five glasses and started pouring. “You know Orion told me you left the party with Damien.”

His intentions were clear; he was trying to defend Orion, but I simply wasn't in the mood. “Yep. I did.”

“I know he upset you, Ireland. He didn’t mean to. He’s sorry you saw. Now if you would just listen to him.”

I cut him off, trying to control the venom in my voice, “Sorry I saw? Sorry I saw? What about sorry for being a cheating prick? What about sorry for leading me on, Alex? Is he sorry for any of that?”

Alex handed me a glass of iced tea. I took a long gulp. “It isn’t what you think, Ireland. Truly.”

I slammed my glass on the countertop, not caring that the liquid sloshed out of the glass.  . “People keep saying that, Alex. You, Mona, Orion. What is it then? If Orion is so deserving of my forgiveness, tell me why.”

Alex looked down. “I can’t tell you.”

My voice raised another octave. “Everyone keeps telling me that, too! That only Orion can explain. I’ve got news for you, though. Orion is the last person I want to talk to, so he’ll have to find another way to do it.”

Alicia must’ve heard us because she came into the kitchen. “Everything okay in here?”

“Yep. Fine,” Alex said. He gathered the other iced teas and headed for the sitting room.

“Hey.” Alicia stood beside me and put her hand on my back. “I heard what happened. Are you okay?”

Up until that point, everyone had done Orion’s bidding. They were all more concerned about him, about me giving him a chance to explain. Aside from Damien, no one asked me if I was okay. I loved her for it. I shook my head no and the tears I'd fought to keep inside came.

“Oh, Ireland! You poor girl!”

“I thought it was, you know, special. I thought—I don’t know what I thought,” I sobbed. “I thought he was different.”

Alicia wrapped me in a warm embrace. “Aww, sweetie, he is. He is different. You just need to give yourself a chance to find out why.” I knew this was her way of gently presenting Orion’s case, but it didn’t matter. She cared about me, too. “Orion saw Damien at the party,” she said.

“Yeah, well, he offered to drive me, and I wanted to get out,” I sniffed, wiping at tears with my sleeve.

“Those two have this sort of thing between them.”

“Yeah, I noticed. They met each other at school this morning.”

She looked at me, completely wide-eyed. “What did he do?”

“Who? Orion? He didn’t do anything really, just spewed a lot of threats.”

“Those aren't threats,” Alicia said. “He will hurt Damien. I know you don’t want to hear him out, and after what you saw at our party, I can’t blame you—but if you would just consider listening, it would be better for everyone involved. Orion is waiting for Damien to give him a reason to strike. Don't be that reason. Stay away from Damien.  They’re kind of mortal enemies, you know. They always have been. Orion is right, though. Damien is bad, like really bad, Ireland.”

“Look, Alicia.” I was firm, but tried to remain kind. She just lost someone, too, and even though it wasn’t the same way I had, we were both in pain. “No one is giving me any answers. They are all trying to tell me how to live my life, but nobody wants to tell the truth. Is the truth really that bad?”

“I’ve already told you too much.” she said. “I'm sorry.”

I headed to the sitting room and Alicia followed.  After apologizing again to both her and Alex, I said goodbye to everyone, leaving out Damien’s regards. The walk back to school took longer than I thought, and I didn’t make it there until the afternoon bell rang to signal dismissal.

I sat miserably in the parking lot waiting for Luke, who for once was late. Orion didn’t acknowledge me, a fact for which I was grateful. It was the least he could do. He was long gone before Damien drove up with his window down. “Hey love. Why so glum?”

“I’m fine,” I lied.

“Can I drive you home?”

“No, my brother’s coming.” 

“Want some company?” 

“Sure, if you want.” I told him. Today had been so terrible, I didn’t want to pretend to be happy.

Damien got out of his car and took a seat on the curb next to me. I shifted, continuing to toss little pebbles around with my fingertips. “Hey.” He poked my arm. “Tell me your troubles.”

I rolled my eyes at him. “I’ve known you for two days now. Surely you know all my troubles.”

“Sorry for acting like a child today."

I shrugged. “I didn't notice.” 

“Truly. I was dreadful.  Ignorant. I apologize.” 

“Whatever,” I said. It was true. It didn’t bother me that Damien wanted to drive Orion crazy.

Luke’s car pulled up and came to a tire-squealing stop. He opened the door, marched around to the pavement and, without saying a word, grabbed my arm. “Ow! What are you doing?”

Luke, still silent, shoved me into the car and slammed the door. I was barely able to wave to Damien before he threw the car into reverse and sped out of the parking lot. I couldn't take anymore and I erupted. “What the hell is your problem?” I screamed.

“One jackass isn’t good enough for you? You need to see two?”

I didn’t need this crap. “Well, Luke, according to you, it would seem no one is good enough for me, so yeah, I guess so.”

“Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome will never be good enough for you, Ireland, and that,” he nodded his head back toward the school, “that piece of work there isn’t even good enough to lick the dirt stuck to the bottom of your shoe!”

I clenched and unclenched my fists, ready to clock Luke myself. “So you know Damien now, huh?”

Luke looked at me and shook his head. “You have no idea what you are getting yourself into, you stupid little girl.”

My throat constricted and my eyes stung. I was hurt. Luke and I had fought before, but he never had been so mad at me. He’d never called me stupid, not even when he first saw me with Orion. I sat in silence, rubbing my arm, trying to hold back my well of tears.

When we got home, I ran to my room and let them go. I thought they would never end.