Chapter 15 - The Friends
1473 Words
“Hi, nice to meet you.” A manly hand offers a handshake.
I stand up to meet Emily’s friends, only to be taken aback by who it was.
It was the same man that stopped my furious rage episode by the street. There go those magnetic emerald eyes, drawing me closer. My chest ticks for a second as I stare away.
I must’ve been staring at his eyes a second longer as he shies away and rubs the back of his head, awkwardly.
Then the ticking stops. In its place was fast-paced breathing.
“Hi, I’m sorry. It’s just that you look…” How does he look? Charming? Familiar? Good? No, I can’t establish my plotting for revenge here on Earth if the single friend I made was friends with someone who knew I was evil. Besides, he might not remember me.
“You look like you could use a drink.” I smile and offer him the champagne glass on the table and proceed to pour him some.
“Awesome segue, but anyway, you kinda do look familiar. I’m not sure from where though.” He takes a sip of the champagne and rubs his chin.
I nervously chuckled, afraid to be recognized as the lady who killed someone by the sidewalk. Almost killed.
“I’m not sure what to tell you. I’m new in town.” Now let’s hope Emily hasn’t told them about why I was in jail with her.
“Cool conversation. Anyways, Santi, this is Emman. Emman, this is Santi.”
“It’s lovely to meet you, Santi.” He takes my hand from the handshake and places a soft peck on it.
These dumb humans and their excuses for human interaction. I immediately grab my hand away, estranged by the interaction rather than charmed. In Hell, you don’t greet others with a kiss. That’s pure human garbage. Get off my bubble.
“Emman, where’s Kiki and Peter?” Emily asks as Emman takes a seat beside me.
“Uhh, Peter’s probably parking the car. Kiki snuck a smoke out.” He answers, taking a look around the ocean view. “Man, this place never changed.”
“You were frequent here?” I ask to spark conversation.
It was unlike me to talk this much. But Earth had changed so much more than in me my appetite for socializing.
“I am. I used to take my, um, my sister here a lot. We were often by ourselves.” He explains. His eyes weren’t as shiny as when he arrived. If anything, they were a little glassy, dare I say, teary-eyed.
“Dude,” Emily calls him out. He snaps out of his sappy haze and smiles that charming smile of his again.
I look at Emily and find it weird she was calling him out for being sad. It was weird, wasn’t it? But I let it pass since I’m relatively new to human interaction.
“I’m going to get Kiki and Peter. You two get oriented, okay?” She says, standing up from her seat. “Emman, can you handle being with Santi for a minute?”
The way she said my name and that sentence was stressed. Does she really think I’m too much to handle? I grew up in Hell. I can handle myself just fine.
Just then, my stomach starts to growl. Not from hunger, but from rage.
“Sure, we’ll be fine here.” Emman answers.
Emily heads on out and we were left by ourselves. Tension grew in the air. I had nothing to say. My anger was growing inside.
“Don’t mind Emily. She’s naturally bossy and mean. It’s both a gift and a curse to her.”
“Alright.”
“You seem tense, though. I’m sorry if she upset you?”
I unclench my jaw and let my fists rest on my lap. His softness slowly drives my rage away. His voice was calming.
“I’m fine. I just need a moment to catch my feelings sometimes.”
“I know what you mean. Sometimes, I can get too passionate or hell-bent on doing or getting something. It can get overwhelming.”
“What do you do?” I asked, genuinely curious. What could he be so passionate about?
Painting? Painters were always at the top of the list of pretentious crappy artists who got shot down straight to Hell.
Drawing? Number 2 on that list.
Dancing? Might as well moonwalk your way to the chamber of torture.
Singing? Please no, they’re too precarious and honestly, humblebrags. Well, at least Hell doesn’t have a lot of professional singers yet.
“I’m a photographer.” Oh. I mentally ‘oh’ at that. Green-eyes is a photographer.
“Let me guess, you like nature and that stuff?” Pretentious scumbags.
“No.” Another mental ‘oh’ escapes me. “You know you’re doubting me a lot.” He chuckles.
“What?” I choke on the ice I kept in my mouth. Instantly, I cough my lungs out, surprised at his predicament.
He immediately rushes behind me and Heimlich the ice out of my throat. I have to admit, that momentarily scared me. I could’ve gone back to Hell in a flash, and I haven’t even started my master plan.
“Are you alright?” He looked awfully worried. Too awful that it flicked a conscience out of me.
“I am so sorry. I’m alright.” I answer, trying to compose myself.
Just then, Emily’s high-pitched voice shrieks.
“Oh my God, what happened?!”
“Dude, are you okay?”
“Emman! I told you to watch her for a minute. What the hell did you do?” Emily crossed her arms over her chest, with her eyebrows as high as the clouds.
“It wasn’t his fault, I swear,” I interject. This was already as embarrassing as it was. For the She-Devil to cause a scene by dying of choking. God, kill me already.
“What happened to you?” Emily’s arms were now at my shoulders, desperately trying to partake in some of the drama.
“She choked on ice.”
“I choked on ice.” I sheepishly smiled at her.
The other two teenage boys snicker as they take their seats. I assume they were Kiki and Peter.
“It’s not funny. It was quite serious.” Emman immediately came to my defense.
Both boys bowed down and apologize.
“We’re sorry. We’re glad you’re okay though.”
They were like dogs. And Emman was their master.
“That’s Kiki.” He introduces.
“And I’m Peter.” The other one speaks.
I smile at them as I introduce myself, as well.
“Anyways,” Emily calls, “the food is here. Shall we eat?”
“Damn, these look good. Can’t believe you went to jail then got out to this.” Peter comments.
“Shut up. You went to jail too, I know.”
“Yeah, but I’m not ashamed about that. You, however,” he chuckles.
Was this the current generation produced on Earth? What trash.
“So, you’re proud you went to jail?” I closed my eyes for that unintentional remark. It was an unconscious call.
Emily looked offended and her face showed it almost immediately. Kiki and Emman bow their head to avoid having an opinion.
Cowards.
“Well, I’m not. But I also don’t hide under the tree of perfectionism. It was a reckless call, but it happened.” Peter answers without any hint of smugness.
It was honest and unreal. Emily might have herself some decent friends, after all.
We continue to eat in silence for the rest of the meal with a few praises of the deliciousness of the food, now and then.
“This lobster never gets old. I hope they never have to close.” Kiki exclaims with his hand deep in the dipping sauce.
“Amen, brother,” Peter shouts, agreeing with Kiki.
“So, Santi, what brings you here?” It was a casual question. Casual for a human. But not for a demon who came to Earth for revenge.
I look away, unsure of how to answer Emman. Could I just pretend not to have heard the question at all?
“Yeah, I mean, you look like our age. Why haven’t I heard of you before?” Kiki seconds.
Now I can’t just ignore their questions.
“I’m just not from around here. I come from a neighboring town. Would you, guys, mind if we don’t talk about that? The story’s quite personal. Kinda brings the whole mood down, you know what I mean.”
“Oh, okay. Sorry if that made you uncomfortable.” Emman apologizes.
Then we ate in silence until we all finished.
- Writer
