Wish Upon A Demon

33.

CHAPTER - THIRTY THREE

“So, what about your position?” I ask Zylen King.

Alexandria hadn’t come to school today, and without her, I would feel lonely sitting alone at a table in the noisy cafeteria. I spotted Zylen on the roof from the window in English class and decided I would spend lunch there, on the roof, next to him.

Zylen King nods. “My father is reconsidering. The twins – Zeus and Zachariah, neither of them want to take the throne. I’m the best choice my father has, and now, due to the possible war, we have to speed up the coronation.” Zylen says. The way he spoke was comical, really. He stuffed another chopped apple piece into his mouth, chewing on it as I watched him. “Did you just say war?” I ask, pausing.

“Yeah.” Zylen nods, getting back to the apple piece. I stop him. “As in war, like weapons, bloodshed...?” I ask. If he is saying the truth, then I don’t know why he’s so calm about it. It’s a freaking war! “Yeah.” Zylen rolls his eyes, grabbing another apple piece, popping it into his mouth. “We’ve had other wars before like The Arcane War, The Maine War…” He says. I stare at him, mouth open. “And I said there is a possible chance of war, not that there is going to be one.” Zylen clarifies.

“What is your opinion?” I question him, chewing on an apple piece. “Maybe, maybe not,” Zylen says. I roll my eyes at his response. Zylen King gets up. I crumble up the zip-lock bag as I stand up. “You know, -” Zylen starts, turning back. “What?” I ask, stepping closer. He straightens his jacket, moving his neck a bit before answering, “-if you’re nice this week, I might probably take you to the coronation.” He says. I scoff. “Forget about it, I don’t want to go.” I lie to him. In reality, I do want to see the coronation. “And also, I was going to offer something else, but since you refused, just forget it.” He says in a mocking tone and this has my attention again. “What else were you going to offer?” I ask, curiously.

“A trip to Friella, or in other words, your kingdom.”

Fredrick Martin and Cherry Alana Michaels were engaged as of yesterday.

Oddly, I was the last one to find out. It didn’t mean I wasn’t happy but disappointed that she was keeping such a big secret from my dad. But then again, I understood her. She couldn’t just tell the man she loved that she was a demon out of nowhere and maybe; she never found the right time. I was also disappointed that this would result in me spending lesser time with my dad. But again, I was also glad my father had someone when I was off to college. I’d already been accepted to Michigan State. Alexandria had been accepted to a college near Pilot Hill. Alexandria and I, we were going to be far away from each other, but we made promises to hang out during the vacations and she’d even promised to attend my dad’s wedding.

I felt close with Alexandria already in such a short time. Maybe it was because Alexandria Monroe was the first true friend I had or maybe because she was a demon as well, but somehow, we’d become good friends and I didn’t want distance to put a stop to that. Everything was fine if it wasn’t for the fact that my finals were coming up.

I was terrified, even though I had maintained acceptable grades. I was studying harder than usual and began concentrating better. Being a demon, in this case, came as an unexpected surprise because my memory power was stronger and it was like I could memorize almost the entire study material. I didn’t let that thought get the better of me, though. As the days flew by, some faster than the others, my contact with demon boy decreased. Maybe it was because there was an increasing chance of war, or because the kingdom was preparing for the coronation or because demon boy wanted me to concentrate on my studies, but as the days went by, we almost stopped talking.

That pull was there though. Sometimes, I would wake up in the middle of the night due to the low thrumming of power against my skin – the sensation I felt when demon boy was around – and find demon boy outside, sitting on the railing of the balcony, the doors separating us. And then in the blink of an eye, he would be gone. I decided not to be affected by it though because, with only a few days left for the exams, I couldn’t afford any distractions. It was a good thing that I didn’t give up on my studies from the very beginning even with the presence of demon boy or I wouldn’t be able to finish understanding concepts and practicing more and more questions by now.

Oddly enough, even though my father was newly engaged, he began to come home early from work and supporting me as I studied. Alana Michaels had also begun to come over frequently and help Alexandria and me with the tougher questions. I forced Alexandria to spend more and more time in my house until she’d practically moved into my room. She would often feel apologetic about it, thinking she was intruding but I’d comfort her with the reason that during exams, it was better she concentrated on books rather than working two-three shifts at the café.

I hadn’t seen demon boy for a week and a half now.

Like before, I didn’t let it affect me. I knew that I was accustomed to spending a lot of time with Zylen and it was now that I had realized that all that time had made me get closer to him to the point where it was becoming difficult to spend more time without him. Sometimes, I would feel uncomfortable about his lack of presence. But then, I would feel him at night. Some point in the nights I spent in my room, Alexandria deep asleep beside me - since all Alana’s stuff was being kept in the spare room – I would feel demon boy next to me, his fingers against my cheeks, softly skimming over my skin, inducing little sparks wherever he touched.

And then he would be gone before I opened my eyes.

It comforted me that even though I wasn’t able to see him, he was there beside at me during the day night. I didn’t stress about it though and soon enough, in the night when I would feel the little sparks igniting on my skin from his touch, my mind would be fast asleep. Cherry and my dad continued helping us for the exam preparation. They would provide little tips, teach us how to solve sums quickly, bring us breakfast in bed even though Alexandria had pleaded them not to while I urged them to continue, force us to not to stay up late at night and heed to my every command. Literally.

Today, after studying for four and a half hours straight, Alexandria and I had finally taken a break.

“So, what’s his name?” I ask Alexandria as we sit on the counter, a tub of ice cream with two spoons inside, in front of us. I take a bit of the chocolate goodness and pop it into my mouth. “What’s whose name?” Alexandria asks back, but the look in her eyes tells me that she knows whom I’m talking about. “You know, the werewolf who saved you?” I question. She’d been trailing him for a long time, maybe she had found out his name as well.

“I only heard two names clearly that night, one was Vincent and the other one was Judas. And I have a feeling that neither are the names of the wolf that saved me.” She says, avoiding my eyes, swallowing a spoonful of ice cream. I can sense her sour mood due to the subject being bought up, so I push the ice cream bucket towards her. “Well, I’m going to take a shower, simply because I feel like it and because I’m sweaty from sitting on my butt all day.” I tie my hair in a bun. Alexa smiles, and nods, “Go on, I’ll save a bit of this for you.” She taps the tub with her fingers, then takes another spoonful of chocolate ice cream and moans, “On the second thought, maybe not.” I hear her say. I laugh as I go up to my bedroom. Grabbing my clothes and undergarments, I step into the bathroom.

And after I’m done taking off my clothes and let them pool at my feet, I look at myself in the mirror. My hips are much more round than they were a few weeks ago, and my waist size has increased as well. My collar bones don’t pop as much as they did before, and neither do any of my bones. But surprisingly, I don’t feel bad at all. If this had happened a few months ago, I would have cursed or cried, but today, as I look at my slightly larger self, I smile. I only ever wanted to look pretty because I had always thought that boys would only notice the skinnier, prettier ones.

I had the illusion that if I became one of them, Michael Kingston would finally take a notice in me. Demon boy had granted my wish and made me into one of those girls. But today, if the wish was taken back and I was transformed into my old self, I wouldn’t feel bad. I would accept it. It could be because there was a part of me that knew that demon boy would stick wasn’t into me because of how I looked but because I was me. It could be because I’d finally learned to not let anybody’s comments make me feel inferior.

Or, it could also be because I had finally learned to accept and love myself.