Chapter 2

I heard the familiar honk and an orange Prius pulled up to the house. My best friend, Mona Edison, got out and hurried over to the yard. She was a stunning girl with long, golden brown hair, piercing green eyes, a fair complexion and a slim, yet healthy figure. She seemed to get prettier every day.

But she wasn’t in a hurry to get to me. She gave my brother a hug then kissed him. At first, it was weird that my best friend was dating my younger brother, but I warmed up to the idea after two years. I was happy that my two favorite people were together.

           “Happy birthday Lucas,” she said after she finished greeting Micah. “May you get so wasted you don’t remember anything about today.”

            “Thanks, Des. As long as you get wasted with me.”

“How did your date go last night? Did you lose your v card to Selena?” Mona said her name with an accent.

“No, I didn’t. Apparently I’m even a prude when I’m drunk.”

Micah laughed. “Don’t worry, bro. We still like you. Sort of.”

I yelled a goodbye into the house then the two of us got into the car. Mona and I had known each other since first grade. We weren’t the most conventional couple of friends, but our personalities complemented each other. Her real name was Desdemona, after the character in Othello but the name embarrassed her so she went by Mona. She didn’t have any friends besides me. Not many people liked her because they thought she was a snob, but I saw her for what she really was. She poured her heart into her academics and she was on the Dean’s list every year.

            “You didn’t get me a present right?” I asked her.

            “No, I most certainly did not get you a new record player adapter to replace the one that broke. You asked me not to and I listened. So what was it that you wanted instead of the gift that I do not have wrapped in my trunk?”

            What I wanted was not really a gift, but her support. She was the only one who understood my decisions concerning my future and I wanted her to be there to back me up when no one else would.

            “My family is going to Bella’s Italian tonight for dinner. You are invited of course. Anyway, I decided to tell them about everything. They can’t yell at me on my birthday right?”

 “I don’t know. My mom yells at my dad no matter way day it is. That’s life at the Taylor-Edison house.” She laughed. “Where do I fit in to this?”

“I want you there as support. It’s as simple as that. They’ll be less likely to yell at me because it’s my birthday and because you’ll be there.”

“Why don’t you just tell them you relapsed? If they knew your cancer came back, they won’t yell at you about Yale.”

“I’m working on it, Des. I just don’t know how to break it to them without making mom cry. I hate it when she cries.”

Mona looked wary, but I trusted that she would follow through. I’d always been able to count on her our entire lives.

We pulled up to the college and she parked in her usual spot. We had a private education at a college called Artemus. It was a place for those who planned to transfer Ivy League universities and admittance was by interview only. Since it was private, it was also very small. About four hundred students attended all together and everybody knew almost everybody by either name or face.

            We went to our Law and Fundamental Rights in American History class and sat in our usual spots. Another thing I loved about this school was that instead of desks, we had office chairs in front of a table long enough to seat four.

            We’d been sitting for a few minutes when Mona’s eyes wandered to my new ring and she grabbed my hand, studying it intently.

            “This is so nice! Apple wood and titanium, wow. Who gave you this?”

            “My fiancée proposed. We’ll be married in the fall.”

            She gasped and put a hand to her heart. “I thought she would never ask!”

We started laughing really loud and one guy turned around and shot us a glare. Mona flipped him off and that got him to turn back around.

“On a serious note, it was a birthday present,” I said. “It’s from everyone in my family. There’s an inscription on the inside that’s in a foreign language. I think it’s French.”

            She let go of my hand and began tying her hair back into a pony tail. “Sorry, I took Spanish. Oh! I finally have an idea for that senior party they’re throwing at the Pi Kappa Alpha house. Since it’s costume theme this year, Micah and I are going as Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.”

            “Why them?”

“Because I’ve secretly always wanted to be her. Plus Brad Pitt is a stud. Well…he was back in the day.”

“Miss Edison,” our professor said. “While we all love Brad Pitt, I doubt he’ll help you ace your final. Since you’re so chatty today, why don’t I nominate you?”

            The two of us looked at him for a moment, trying to pretend that we knew what he was talking about. Noel Shepherd wasn’t a strict teacher. In fact, he was the best teacher I’d ever had. Mona used to have a crush on him our freshman year because she thought blue eyes on a black man were the most beautiful thing ever.

            “Nominate me for what, exactly?” she asked, trying to sound innocent.

            “We have a new student coming in today and you get to be his welcoming party.”

            We looked at each other. This wasn’t what I was expecting her to have to do. It was the middle of May for crying out loud. We were one week away from finals. Why would someone enroll so close to the end of the year, let alone graduation? Enrollment deadlines were December twentieth for winter quarter and March fifth for spring. If this person got in so late, he or she was either a genius, rich, or close to someone on the board.

            “Okay, who’s the victim?” she asked. The whole room laughed and so did Mr. Shepherd.

            “His name is Phineus McCain. He’s a senior. He’ll be in here shortly. Why don’t you make him feel welcome and let him sit with you guys?”

            “Sure thing, Shep.”

            He began doing more review for our final and I did my best to focus. I was somewhat freaking out about family dinner. I could imagine my father flying off the handle and demanding that I try a new treatment and enroll into college. Unless he surprised me and was very sympathetic. He might not even yell. I wasn’t going to cross my fingers.

            There was a knock on the door and Professor Shepherd stopped teaching to open it. He spoke quietly to whoever was on the other side and then someone came in. I assumed he was the new student. He wasn’t what I’d expected a guy named Phineus would look like. He had shoulder-length black hair, fair skin and intense eyes. I couldn’t tell their color from far away. He had on tight black jeans and a dark grey v-neck t-shirt. He wasn’t the tallest guy, but he wasn’t the shortest I’d met either.

            “Everyone, I’d like you to meet Phineus McCain.,” Noel said. “He’s been doing our online program and he’ll be taking his final exams here.”

            “Please, call me Finn,” the new guy said. I saw Mona’s jaw drop out of the corner of my eye. I hadn’t expected his British accent either. This guy was getting more interesting by the minute.

            Mona nudged me and I turned to look at her.

            “Remember how you asked me to help you get a date to the party?” she asked in a whisper.

            “Nice thought, but last I checked, I’m into people of the more female sense.”

            She smacked my arm. “That’s not what I was going to say. You better look fast because the girls are going to be all over him.”

            We both hushed up as Finn came over to our table and sat to my left. I gave him a polite nod and he did the same. I figured we could do formal introductions after class, but I didn’t want to completely ignore him. When I’d nodded I’d gotten a glimpse of his eyes. They were a greenish blue. That wasn’t what was strangest about him. He seemed familiar for some reason.

“All right, let’s review the more recent laws,” Professor Shepherd said. “I know they’re probably more exciting than the the Bill of Rights. Who can tell me what major law was passed in two thousand seventeen?”

Mona and I raised our hands.

“Someone who doesn’t have first hand knowledge.”

We simultaneously lowered them. I was thinking he would have to call on someone when Finn raised his.

 “The twenty-eigth amendment. The law states that every immortal is liable to report to their distrcts Task Force and that if they are ever caught feeding from a human, they risk immediate incarceration and/or eradication.”

“Thank you, Finn. And since then, how many states have passed a referendum to require incarceration for any immortal without reason?”

“All but two,” a guy named Brendan said. “I don’t understand why. They should just burn all those parasites on the spot.”

“Wow, harsh much?” I said. “I think they should burn douchebags on the spot, but I don’t say that outloud.”

“Sympathizer,” someone said while coughing. Mona flipped that person off too.

“No, I agree,” Finn said. I turned to him in shock. “We should burn all the…parasites. While we’re at it, let’s burn the rest of the jews and the homosexuals and the crippled. That way we can establish white heterosexual dominance.” The sarcastic look left his face. “I would think carefully before you speak. The last thing we need is another Nazi regime.”

I almost laughed. I couldn’t believe he’d called someone a Nazi. One day here and he was already confident enough to speak his mind. This guy had balls.

Class ended and the three of us exited together with Mona chatting his ear off. She’d already finished her other classes so she was free to give Finn a tour. Though I was determined to finish strongly, I didn’t feel like sitting in class at all. School was getting to be exhausting to me. I was putting so much effort into my grades for no reason. It got me into Yale, but it didn’t cure my cancer. 

“I’ll see you in the caff at two, okay?” Mona said as she linked arms with Finn. She was always so touchy with people, no matter how well she knew them.

            I floated in and out of my next two classes. As each minute passed, I paid less and less attention. I was trying to figure out where I’d seen Finn before. I learned from nearby gossipers that he was a London native, but had lived in the U.S. for most of his life. I also heard that he came from old money but also heard that he was in the mafia, so I stopped listening to what other people said and decided to get answers from the source.

I had forty-five minutes to kill, so I decided to hit the gym for a twenty-minute run. After I went into remission, I got into pretty good shape. I ran a lot and lifted weights occasionally. I found that it was easy for me to build muscle. I’d been scrawny throughout high school and now I was finally in a place where I was happy with my body. Now that I’d relapsed, it was only a matter of time before my muscle tissue would soften and I would turn into nothing but a bean pole.

I finished up then showered and I saved a spot for us in the cafeteria. I’d just sat down with my tray when Mona and Finn came and joined me. She’d been talking as they walked up and I knew that she probably hadn’t stopped since we’d parted after class.

            “How was the tour?” I asked him.

            “It was great. She showed me everything, including the football stadium and the fraternities.” He paused then spoke again. “You are Lucas, correct? Mona told me all about you.”

            “Exactly how much did she tell you?”

“She said you’re smart, your hobby is researching real life crime, you’re bad at poker, somewhat into sports, and…that you plan to go to Yale. Are these facts correct?”

“I’m not that bad at poker. As for the sports, I had to quit for…medical reasons.”

“Guess what!” Mona said excitedly. “Finn knows French. He could translate your ring for you.”

            “It means, ‘over the hill,’” I said without giving it a thought. She stared at me for a moment.

            “You looked it up?”
            “No, I—” I actually had no idea how I’d translated that. I never had the chance to look it up, nor had I asked anyone. I brushed it off as a weird occurrence. I lied instead. “I asked Kirsten. She’s in French three.”

            “No she’s not, she’s in German three.”

            Before I could answer, Finn spoke again. “Doesn’t over the hill have something to do with being old?”

            “It fits,” Mona said. “Lucas listens to eighties rock. Nobody listens to that anymore.”

            “Hey! It’s classic. You’re just uncultured and unappreciative of good music.”

            “Aerosmith isn’t classic, it’s ancient. Face it; you’re just an old man trapped in a twenty-two year old body.”