First Day (01)

I feel my cheeks flush with heat when he mentions me having fun until he's free. It feels like a promise, and it's one I'm very willing to hold him to. I'm bashfully tucking a piece of hair behind my ear when he gives me the heads up about my uncle.

"Oh, they wanted a vampire working during the god party? Good to know. I mean, I guess that means he's fitting in on Dionysus' crew, so that's good, right? Or was it your call, Mr. Manager?"

He arches a brow imperiously, "My call. Big D has beefed up his Maenads, but I feel like Titus and I have an understanding, you know? Oh, do not eat before coming. There's going to be too much food. Way too much wine, of course." He leans in to kiss your cheek sweetly. "I need to go. Love you, spider." He steps out, then back into the closet and he's gone.

What do you do?

It's sort of fun, seeing Knox take charge of things, even if it is just who's on staff for a big party. It's sexy and makes me wonder what he might look like if he were raised knowing he was a god, with all the benefits and pitfalls that come with it.

"Love you," I return as he steps away and back to work. Left suddenly alone in the quiet of my room, the feeling of Knox filling me still there, but without all the payoff, makes me momentarily consider finishing myself, just to relieve the tension left behind. But then there's a big party coming, and I can assume what that means. I'll have plenty of tension relief there, I'm sure.

Instead, I go to my closet to pick out a dress. I got with this fluffy little sundress that I know really doesn't fit an evening event and looks more innocent than I am, but I think will stand out because of that, and standing out only means more eyes on me. Plus the innocence factor will help when I ask to stay out late.


Then, I head out of my room to go redo my makeup for the event in the bathroom.

You're finishing up your makeup when you hear your dad downstairs, calling up, "Girls! Supper's ready! I grilled some chicken with Soph's spices!"

"Coming!" I call down before I finish the last swipe of my blush then mist my face with a few spritzes of setting spray. I head downstairs with a light step, because it's harder for Dad to say no to me when I'm happy. "Need me to help with anything?" I ask as I turn into the kitchen.

He sees you as soon as you enter the kitchen - he's wearing oven mitts as he pulls some bread out of the oven. "Can you whip up some dressing for the salad? You look nice."

"You didn't use all my spices, did you, Mr. P?" Soph asks as she tromps down the stairs.

"There's some left, but we should get some more soon," he answers as he sets the pan on a few potholders. "You got it at that Mexican place, right? Acapulco?"

Soph grins, "That's the place!" Of course, you remember Acapulco - the place where "Kace" took you on a date.

"Thanks," I tell Dad when he compliments me, even throwing in a little half-twirl left and right to swish my skirt. "Big start of the year senior party tonight." I head to grab the ingredients for the dressing and a bowl to mix them in. I pour in olive oil, red wine vinegar and mustard, then start mixing before adding some salt and sugar. When Dad mentions Acapulco, I skip a beat in my mixing before I continue like nothing happened. It feels like that restaurant means so much to me. And not just because of Kace either. It's where we got food when mom was here pretending to be another teenager, and flirting with Dad which was...weird.

"I can swing over there sometime to get more," I offer. "I'm doing some drawing with a friend after school tomorrow, but maybe we can grab dinner there after or something. Kill two birds with one stone." I don't know why I call Kastor just "a friend" but...I do. It's no big deal.

"Big party, eh? Where?" your father asks, his tone casual. He moves over to the cutting board and starts dicing the grilled chicken - JS prefers it cut up for her.

Noticing how Dad cuts up chicken for JS reminds me just how young she actually is. Not that he knows that, but still. She's definitely not going to be ready for a "big god" party any time soon.

Dad asks where the party is and I try to think quickly of somewhere that would be open late. "Oh, the, uh, bowling alley. Crown Lanes?"

"Yeah, they're doing Cosmic Bowling and everything!" Soph agrees as she grabs utensils and plates to set the table. "We're going together, it's going to rock on toast, Mr. P."

Your dad finishes with JS's chicken and slices the bread, too. "Alright. It's a school night... so midnight curfew."

"Wow, midnight!" I exclaim, feigning surprise and happiness. "That's great, we can-" I stop suddenly as if only just now realizing something. I put down the whisk I was using for the dressing. "Oh, but Dad, they got the bowling alley to stay open extra late just for us and they're bringing in a bunch of food trucks at one. Can we stay at least to get some food and eat with everybody?"

"Yeah, the place closes at two, can we stay until then?" Soph asks when she comes back into the kitchen to pour some drinks. "It's only the second day, we don't have any homework," she adds.

"You don't need food trucks, we're having an excellent dinner," he counters, not quite convinced. "Listen, this is your senior year. You don't want to start off on the wrong foot, right? Midnight is plenty of time to party. And bowl."

Gods, it's not working. Even with Soph being the best supporter of the pitch ever. If I have to leave at midnight, I'm not going to be around long enough to end the night with Knox. He'll still be busy working at that point.

My shoulders droop and I half-roll my eyes. "Yeah, it's plenty of time if you're old. We can bounce back in the morning, no big deal. Everybody's going to be there, and it's going to be totally lame if we have to leave before the end. Besides, if we stay until midnight, we're going to come home and be hungry anyway. We're just going to stay up here getting snacks anyway."

You catch Soph's guilty look - she doesn't like seeing JS so sad and mopey. She isn't going to bring her along, you're sure of that, but she doesn't want her daughter to be depressed.