Chapter 34

Amora

AJ's eyes are locked on mine and it fills me with a warm feeling.The connection here is special, but why is it telepathic? I hear a loud yell other than the ones AJ's dad so generously graced us with. Automatically recognizing the voice I laugh. How did she find me? How did she find him?

"Oh! Would you please shut up?! They're obviously not listening!"

"Who the hell are you!!" his father shouts, predictably.

"Ugh, bored." Raven says, I hear a sound of strained pain, a loud 'thunk!' sounds soon after. A small knock that can only belong to her.

"C'mon, what're you guys doing in there? Frenching? I swear Amora, if you decide to lose your virginity and he's the first to know, I'll kill him. It's not like I don't already want to."

I roll my eyes and open the door, "I promise, when and if I ever decide to lose my virginity; you'll be the last person to know."

She stays on the other side of the door, as if she can sense that this is AJ's sanctuary. Which wouldn't surprise me, she's brilliant when it comes to people. She places one hand on her hip and raises one eyebrow at me

"Oh really?"

"How'd you find me?"

She shrugs at me, "I asked Ren."

I narrow my eyes at her, "Raven, you know you're a horrible liar, right?" now she rolls her eyes.

"I may or may not have placed a tracking device in AJ's jacket that I stole from Ren last night while he and were making out in an alley…."

"Seriously! You told me you were done with pickpocketing and then framing other people!"

She smiles "Guess I'm not actually that bad at lying then. Anyway… I need to talk to you. Woman to woman?"

AJ snorts, "Woman." He says

. "I'm one hell of a woman and you know it. intimately." She looks him up and down, he gives her an irritating smile that rubs me up the wrong way. I step a few steps away from him as he says,

"I've never met a woman who quivered at a whisper in her ear. Wait, no. I take that back." He smiles to himself, as if reliving a memory he holds fondly.

Raven rolls her eyes, "Ugh, why did I ever find you attractive? you're such a man whore. Which isn't usually my type…I'm extremely disappointed in myself." Raven grimaces.

He directs the smile towards her, changing it into something of darker intention. "You liked it." he says simply. Alright I've decided enough of this, I already felt them earlier I don't want to hear their foreplay.

"Raven, why are you here?"

she tears her glare away from AJ and gives me a softer, pleading look.

"I need to talk to you, if you're not too busy?" I shake my head, "I think we were about done here?" I look over at AJ for confirmation and he nods at me.

"Have fun with your woman to woman talk I guess."

I reach out for Raven, my hand gripping hers as she pulls me out of AJ's breathtaking art room. I cautiously step over Mr. Collins' limp body, careful not to wake him up. I hope he doesn't come to anytime in the near future, he'll only give AJ another bloody nose or black eye, or burn mark, or broken bone, etc. etc. etc. Bastard. I almost wish Raven killed him. But not even I am that horrible.

"Let's go." I say to Raven as I loop my arm through hers.

"Amora, wait."

AJ says. "Yeah?" I ask. He gives a response that comes across as extremely awkward.

"Do you...want me to draw you something?"

The look in his eye lets me know how rare his offer is. Most likely, the only other people he's offered to draw something for are Ren, Jason, and Emillie.

"I would love that; do you think you could draw me a…field of flowers?"

I smile at him, great, now I'm being awkward. I need to get out of here, this is getting messier by the second.

"Okay, let's go now."

I basically run out of the door into the chilly air where I take a deep, grounding breath.

"What was all that about?" Raven asks.

"What was what all about, I'm certain I have no clue what you're talking about Valerie"

I give a small gasp and cover my mouth. She hates her first name. I gaze around the outside of AJ's "humble abode" The yellowish paint is peeling, everywhere. The three little stairs that lead to his door are groaning under mine and Raven's combined weight I'm almost certain that they will give out from under us, his dead, untrimmed lawn is littered with beer bottles and to-go bags, along with soggy cardboard. I look around at the rest of the neighborhood, there's a wild dog roaming the streets, everything looks so depressing. I can't help but feel despair just looking at it. No wonder AJ feels so trapped. Tears spring to my eyes at the memory of his constant emotion. I bring my eyes to Raven, looking at me with an eyebrow raised.

"I hope you're planning on apologizing for that."

I sigh. "I'm sorry, it's just…."

I trail off with no intention of finishing the sentence.

"Just…?" Raven prompts. I can feel myself buckling under the weight of her gaze.

"I Just can't help but feel like I'm falling into a trap that was set for me...the telepathy between AJ and I… it makes no sense and I'm overwhelmed. When things get intense I go into paranoia mode and I start acting like my mother."

"You're nothing like your mother Amora. "

"Why do you hate her, Raven?" She freezes, she was not expecting that to come out of my mouth. I know my mother isn't a great woman, but I don't blame her for the way she treats me. At least I'm still fed and clothed and taken care of. Even if the only time she wants to stop me from crying is when it will swell up my face. She's just lonely, the only way she knows how to cope is by putting on a show. It's all my fault anyway, I'm a murderer. Even if I wanted to hate my mother I couldn't. I understand her too well. I just wish she hadn't arranged this stupid marriage to Mr. Perfect. Perfect hair, perfect smile, perfect manners, perfect son, perfect perfect perfect. I hate people like that.

"This isn't about me…." Raven attempts. I just roll my eyes. Sometimes I feel like Raven knows more about my family than I do.

"What did you need to talk to me about anyway?"

Her dark blue eyes betray the look of defiance on her face. In her eyes, you can tell she's scared.

"Are you hiding something from me?" I ask her accusingly, "You know how much I hate it when you hide things from me!" She looks away from me. It's not fear I'm seeing in her, it's guilt.

"Are you ladies just gonna stand there on my porch or are you gonna go somewhere?"

AJ asks from the open kitchen window. I jump ten feet in the air as his voice sounds next to us. I turn and look at him, tousled hair and green eyes. I hope he's okay after his father tore up his artwork. Before I respond, Raven does it for me. Of course it's not at all what I was going to say.

"That depends, are you gonna invite us inside or shoo us away with a broom. Cause I'm good with either. Brooms can be pretty sexy."

AJ gives a small smile,

"I can't invite you in darlin' we'd disturb the neighbors. However, I do have a pretty sexy broom I can shoo you with."

She gives her venomous smile, "Well go ahead bad boy, Shoo me."

She says, leaning onto the unstable stair bannister. I would tell her that's a bad idea, but I want to see what happens. It seems AJ does too, being as he's staring at her expectantly, waiting for her to fall. We watch as the bannister moves and shakes as it gets ripped from the nails keeping it in place, Raven topples over the bannister and lands on the ground. AJ nods his head with acceptance and shuts the window. Next thing I know he's at the door, holding a broom. He walks down the steps and then bows in a grand gesture, holding out his hand for me to grab,

"Mademoiselle."

He says. I grab his hand and let him lead me down the steps, giggling. Raven has stood up and is looking entirely bashful. She pulls the hood of Ren's jacket over her head. She probably stole it from the back of his chair. The sleeves are white and the torse has a checkered pattern of four large orange and black squares. It looks like a letterman's jacket but without a team name on it. and this one has a hood. She pulls the drawstrings of the hoodie, so it covers her face. I'm one of the only people who has seen her like this more often than not, the truth is, Raven prefers baggy clothes. The only reason she dresses the way she does is because she likes the attention. She's like an attention starved goth. Minus the vampiric make up. But not minus the dark, thick eyeliner. After he helps me down the stairs, we walk over to Raven and AJ begins nudging raven with the broom. First poking her stomach, then her breast, repeatedly. She pulls out an aerosol can from god knows where and sprays it in his general direction.

"Get away from me pig." She muffles out. Her pride and confidence were obviously wounded. I feel bad, but I can't help but laugh. As soon as AJ inhales the gas he starts coughing viciously.

"What the hell is that?" he chokes out.

"It's jack-ass repellent. Good to know it works." She says as she pockets it once more.