ROUTINE REPRISE 6.1

[Saturday 30 January 2010]

A lot had happened since school started back up in the new year. The best thing was that my friends had returned to my side. Although I'd missed them and the festive season had been hell on earth for me, I was glad they'd made some memories they could cherish with their loved ones. Now, more than ever, I appreciate how little time we had and how important it was to surround yourself with people that filled your life with smiles.

Over the last few weeks, I'd quickly honed my skills in finding the tiniest slightest of silver linings. I hadn't been alone in spirit over Christmas. Even though my parent's death was anything but timely, and along with the travel restrictions that had been put in place while the new Mythical Registration Protols were carried out all over Europe, it meant that my father's side of the family couldn't make it to England for the funeral. They had reached out to me and offered their condolences. Several bouquets of flowers had been delivered on their behalf, so now my flat was full of beautiful blooms and their scents.

Another positive was that I'd proactively devised a temporary solution for disguising my pointy ears. Until I could visit my uncle in Germany over the spring holidays and have the concealment spell reactivated by someone skilled in Elven magik, I had to figure things out on my own.

On his recommendations regarding my ears, I got in touch with a warlock called Lucan, who supplied me with a salve and an easy enchantment to glamour their pointed ends and give the illusion that my ears were 'normal', or mortal rather. I was still struggling to adjust to the vocabulary that came with no longer being mortal.

My cousin Elia had pulled me up numerous times for saying mortal things were normal when in fact, something being mortal had nothing to do with it being normal. It was easy to sound ignorant when I'd lived my whole life as one species when I was actually another. Kindly, Elia had taken pity on me and had elected herself as my advisor. Having talked almost every day for a few weeks, I decided I liked her. She looked my age, but one of the things I learned about Elves was that their looks could be deceiving. She was eighty-four! When I went silent in shock, she explained that my father hadn't been fifty-four at all but nearing his two-hundredth birthday.

Adjusting to my new identity was proving to be a minefield, but a less significant change was causing the most frustration. I hadn't had a chance to talk to Cole for over a month. He had been actively avoiding me, and when I gave up trying to bump into him at the Omen, I tried calling his mobile to find that the number was no longer in service. I got the message loud and clear; 'stay away from me'. I couldn't fathom why he felt that way, though, when I'd told him that the age gap didn't phase me.

Saturday night coincided with Lindsay's twenty-first birthday. Her party had been planned for weeks, and I was looking forward to it - now that my routine was back, I felt my grief weighed less heavy on my shoulders. Some thirty people had gathered at her dad's posh, six-bedroomed barn conversion, where the dining room had become Lindsay's party venue for the night. It was almost twelve pm when she announced that she wanted to get out of there and go to the Omen instead. So after all of our other uni' mates had left her house, we'd called a taxi into town. Despite promising that there would be no hook-ups and that she would remain faithful to us girls, we all hit the dancefloor, where she immediately picked up a guy. Still, the liquor was flowing, and Lindsay was blowing the money her dad had given her towards the next term's textbooks on it.

With my fill of liquid courage topped up by the last round of drinks, I left T, Benjamin and his boyfriend, Lance, behind and made my way over the dance floor. Leaning on the bar, I glared at Cole while he worked. After twenty minutes, although it seemed a lot longer, he caved and walked the length of the bar to serve me specifically. He didn't ask what I wanted and made me a drink without shifting his dark eyes from mine.

When he slid the glass over to me, he made his request. "Will you stop staring at me now?"

"Why are you avoiding me?"

"Because being involved with you is so much more complicated than I first thought. You should forget about me."

"What about you? Are you going to forget about me? Am I not on your mind anymore?"

"That's my problem, not yours. Ana, please, avoid me like before."

"But I know you didn't lie to me now. Why would I avoid you?"

"'cause... I'll always have secrets. Go back to your friends." Cole nodded over at Lindsay, who had been watching me talk to him. "Enjoy the birthday party." He'd noticed her' birthday girl' sash.

Fine! If you want to play the 'Oh so mysterious guy I can't have; act, then I can definitely leave you alone.

I didn't have the patience to deal with a man with that sort of ego anyway. I had way too much going off in my life, but I had hoped that he might be my escape. Now, it sounded like he wanted drama.

Turning from the bar, I retreated back to the dancefloor; I didn't want to end up too distracted from Lindsay's birthday bash; I was a better friend than that.

That was how I ended up holding back her blonde locks as she threw up in my bathroom at three am.

"I saw you talking to that bartender earlier," Lindsay mumbled as she keeled over sideways and away from the toilet bowl. She wiped her vomit-stained lips on the back of her hand. Her eyeliner had run down her face. It was dramatic; she could have been the pin-up for reckless youth. "He's ridiculously hot, right? I'm sorry you got turned down..." She pouted over at me before pulling her face into a smug grin. "If I'd known you were going to try it on with him, I could've told you not to bother. You know I'll always look out for you, right?"

"I didn't get turned down, Lindsay." I scoffed.

"You can tell me. It's okay. You looked gutted when you came back to dance with us." She reached over and patted my knee with a forced sympathetic expression. "You didn't stand a chance with him, though, Ana."

I couldn't believe my ears.

Before I could say anything, she continued, "He's been eyeing me up for ages." She had picked up on my confused and astounded expression because she carried on explaining. "Every time we're at the Omen, he's always looking over, and every time I catch his eye, he looks away; it's so cute."

"How do you know he hasn't been looking at me?" I snapped. I was already disgusted with how conceited she was being, but I wanted to pump her; I wanted to know what she would say if she thought I was up against her for Cole's attention.

"Why would he be looking at you, babe?"

"Maybe he thinks I'm hot."

"He looks like the type of guy that likes someone more… confident, don't you think?"

"If you're so sure he's after you, why not try your luck next time we're out?"

"Don't be bitter, Ana. I just said I'm sorry you got turned down…"

"I didn't get turned down!" My temper was getting the better of me, so I decided to leave her to fend for herself. "But could you be less of a bitch?"

For now, I put what she had said down to the booze, but she had always been mean. She was half right, though; I had taken a chance on Cole, then stupidly teased him by playing hard to get, only for him to lose interest.

That's why I cried into my pillow that night until I eventually fell asleep. It was starting to feel like all I did when at home was cry.