One more time (13)

PREVIOUSLY: They all start laughing, but I know Duke wasn’t kidding, he was very easily taken up by material possessions.

MONDAY, 7 SEPTEMBER: In the next moment, Hunter had exited his car, and was at the passenger side, holding the door open for me. As I step out, I can’t help but look over to the only occupied table, where Duke’s mouth hangs open. A look of panic flashes across Ian’s face when he sees Hunter, then his eyes fall on me, and he breaks into a smile. He stands up and waves to me. I smile at him and wave back.

I see Emma, my grade school friend sitting beside an empty seat that was next to Ian. She looks at me and gives me a shy smile, then her eyes fall on Hunter and I see a brilliant smile brighten up her face.

Emma is another one of the carbon copies. She and I had never been very close, she was Carolyn’s best friend. But when Carolyn and I became best friends, Emma had been ignored slightly. I could tell she still had a grudge against me for that. From what Carolyn had told me about her, she was one of those genuinely nice girls, slightly girl-next-door-ish for my taste, and yet I saw that she had a pretty aggressive side to her. Everywhere she went, laughter was sure to follow, she was one of those people I had envied ever since I was a child.

Hunter seemed to notice her smile brighten when her eyes landed on him, he seemed to like the attention.

‘I think I’m going to like meeting these island girls.’

He looks over at Emma and gives her one of his dazzling smiles and winks at her, and I hear her heart lurch. Ugh! How pathetic.

Hunter walks me over to an empty table at the other end of the cafe. He holds the seat for me, in the true gentlemanly manner. He walks over to the other side of the table and seats himself. We look over the menu and I order the most sinful dish on the entire menu, Hunter opts for a simple coffee.

I take off Hunter’s coat and drape it across the back of my seat.

‘Ian is staring at you, Era, and so is Duke. I don’t like the way they look at you, it’s almost hungry, and that’s saying something, for a human to look at a vampire with hunger.’

‘Well, let them look Hunter. I hope Ian realizes what he’s missed out on.’

‘Duke wants to know why the two of us don’t look like we actually went through last night. Hah! I bet he hates the fact that the split lip he gave you dissapeared, only thing he could be more angry about is the fact that my nose is perfectly straight! I do admit, it is incredibly obvious there’s something wrong with us. Can’t say I don’t enjoy staring at my handiwork though!’

‘Cute, Hunter! I don’t recognize the other two guys at the table. That’s odd, I thought I knew everyone on this island.’

‘Hmmm, they all look alike to me. Blond, dumb...seen one, seen them all. Now I know what you meant about this place being a bore fest.’

As we were talking, the bell above the entrance rings as the door opens. In walks Carolyn, who hasn’t changed a bit. Her appearance sends me back to the night I caught her making out with Ian, and I’m filled with hate once again. Hunter must have sensed my anger, his head immediately zeroes in on Carolyn and back to me. He reaches across the table and enfolds one of my hands in his, and he gives me a gentle, reassuring squeeze. All at once, I’m incredibly thankful that Hunter is with me, my pillar of strength and support.

Carolyn seems unusually haughty, she looks good, no doubt, as infuriating as it is to admit it. She is with a couple of old friends I recognized. She looks over at Ian, and gives him a flirtatious wave, and then gets pissed off that he didn’t seem to notice her entrance. She looks over in the direction Ian is staring, in my direction. Her eyes freeze on mine, and she seems to not be able to believe that it’s me. I give her a fake smile and a small half-hearted wave. She smiles brilliantly back at me, then is about to walk toward me when she seems to realize that Ian isn’t zoning out, he’s staring at me.

She turns to one of the guys I don’t recognize and starts whispering something to him. I perk up my ears and listen in on their conversation.

‘Why is Ian staring at Era?’

‘Era? Is that her name? I’m not sure, but looks to me that our little Ian has a crush.’

‘A crush?! He can’t have a crush on someone else, he’s my boyfriend!’

‘Hang on a second, is that Era Cavanaugh? I’ve heard that Ian has a thing for her...’

‘You can’t be serious! That scoundrel, she was my best friend, you know. I’ll show her that Ian is all mine. Ugh! Just look at the way she was looking at him when we stepped in...disgusting!’

Carolyn makes a detour and grabs Ian’s hands and pulls him up. Ian flinches, he must be in pain after yesterdays fight. Carolyn doesn’t even seem to notice that her boyfriend is in any pain at all.

‘Isn’t that Era Cavanaugh? We should go over and say hi! It’s been ages, and she doesn’t even know we’re going out with each other, does she? I’m sure she would be psyched for us.’

‘Umm, I don’t think that’s a good idea Carolyn. There’s no need to mention us being a couple.’

‘Nonsense! She’s our friend, we should totally tell her. Plus I want to get introduced to that hottie boyfriend of hers.’

‘He isn’t her boyfriend...’

Hunter seems extremely amused by the conversation, especially the way Ian said his last sentence, so weakly...

‘I knew today would be fun, Era!!’

TO BE CONTINUED
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