Dominion (Guardian Angels) - By Melody Manful Page 0,69

I was happy that he wasn’t at school. For once, I felt like my life was beginning to become my own again.

After school, Tristan asked if I wanted to get ice cream with him, and I said yes. Ben dropped us off in town. I put on a hat and oversize sunglasses and was able to avoid any attention from paparazzi. Tristan and I walked around town, talking about anything and everything we came across. He bought me an ice cream, but he didn’t buy one for himself. I assumed it was all part of the angels-don’t-eat speech he gave me. I even found myself laughing while we were together.

When I got home, my mother was in the kitchen with Morgan and Ben, and they were talking and laughing. The house no longer sounded dead.

“What’s going on here?” I asked when I joined them.

“Dinner. We’re making cookies, too,” my mother said as she leaned over to give me a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“Dinner and cookies.” I looked behind her to the kitchen counter that was topped with all sorts of food. “Are we having a party?” I asked.

“No, just dinner,” Morgan answered. “We might have gone a little overboard.”

I put my school bag down on one of the chairs. “Can I help?” I asked.

“Oh yeah, you can peel this onion, and I’ll go watch TV,” Ben said as he handed me a knife. He hurried out.

I washed my hands and joined my mother and Morgan. I knew they were trying to move on, and when we finally sat down and started eating, I could tell they truly were because their laughter was real. They talked about my father and Felix without crying, and they smiled and laughed at their memories.

The next day was Friday, and Gideon still didn’t show up at school. During our lunch break, Jake came up with the idea to throw a pool party at my place, so we could forget about all the bad things that had happened.

“We can put aside our sadness about your bodyguards, 9/11, Hitler, and we can try to forget that awful song we heard yesterday,” Jake said, listing his reasons for throwing a party on his fingers. When he said the last part, we all laughed because we knew he wanted us to lighten up.

I didn’t think having a pool party was a good idea. “Today?” I asked.

Sarah answered, “Why not? I can borrow a swimsuit from you, and Danny and Jake already brought theirs.”

“Did you guys plan this?” I looked at Tristan, who I knew would tell me if they did.

He shook his head. “I knew nothing about this because if I did, I’d have brought a suit, too.”

I wasn’t in a mood to party, so I said, “I’m sorry I—”

Tristan cut me off and said, “I think a pool party is what we all need—to live for a moment.”

I wanted to say no, and I tried to, but they all started chanting, “Come on, come on!” until I accepted.

After school, Ben picked us all up and drove to my house. When we entered the enclosure surrounding the indoor swimming pool, Morgan brought in more food and drinks than we could ever finish. Music already blasted from the speakers. I figured Morgan knew whether she liked it or not, we were going to make noise, so she might as well start it.

Jake and Danny jumped right into the pool. Sarah started talking about how she needed to approach the water with grace or her hair would be a mess. I sat laughing as Tristan tried to reason with Sarah to give a swim cap a chance. It took awhile, but Tristan won, and Sarah decided to wear a cap. She stepped into the pool shortly after that, and it didn’t take long for her to start chasing Danny and Jake because they splashed her.

“Abby, aren’t you going in the water?” Tristan asked.

“No, I’m fine.” I stood and walked toward the refreshment table for a soda. When I turned around, Tristan was behind me. Being that close to him caused my heart to race.

“Why not? It looks like fun.”

“Then why aren’t you swimming?” I asked. “You can take off your shirt and just jump in.” Worst suggestion I ever made, because the moment the words came out, Tristan pulled his shirt over his head.

“That’s…” I wanted to say I didn’t mean it literally, but the words wouldn’t come out. My eyes were locked on his body. My face