I was putting lip gloss on when I heard the horn honk outside, letting me know Vincent was here to take me to the party. I had decided to wear the new top Katie picked out with black shorts, and while my make-up skills did not rival Jessie’s, I was feeling proud of my efforts for the night. 

            “Be good Benny, I’ll be back as soon as I can,” I called out. I had remembered to light his candles this time, and he was enthralled with the large pillar we had brought back from the shopping trip. I didn’t hurt that he also had a visit from Katie earlier. She checked in before heading to Hunter’s house. If I could have trusted Benny to stay hidden, I would have told her to invite Ryder over here instead. As it was, I didn’t trust him at all. Benny hummed in acknowledgment as I closed the door behind me. 

            Strolling down the steps I found Vincent standing outside his car, leaning against the passenger door in wait. He was wearing a slate colored t-shirt, black jeans, and a fedora. Small chains glistened from his neck. The outfit put his tattoos on display and matched his playful personality well. “Don’t you look spiffy,” I said. 

            “Look who’s talking.” He made a motion with his hand telling me to turn around for him. “Yes. Katie is a good influence on you.” 

            “Hush,” I said, waiving him off. 

            “One minor adjustment,” he said, then reached out and pulled the hair tie from my low bun, causing waves of hair to fall into my face.

            “Keep your hands to yourself!” I scolded him as I pushed my hair back out of my eyes.

            Grinning, he went to open the door for me. His car was some sort of antique collectible, that I’m positive he had educated me on at some point. As much as I loved Vincent, I didn’t care about cars, so “pretty” and “old” was the extent of my retained knowledge. After I climbed in, I pulled up directions on my phone to the nearest parking lot from our destination. It was at a park approximately a five-minute walk from the overpass. 

            Vincent grabbed something from the back seat before settling into the driver’s side. Handing me the roll of fabric, he said, “Here.” 

            I unrolled a charcoal, v-neck t-shirt with the flying plate image on the front. “Nice.” 

            “I’ve got Katie’s in my bag.” 

            “She won’t be here tonight,” I told him. I was regretting not having the protection of her aura, but not having to keep an eye on her the whole night would make our reconnaissance mission more effective. It was still a bit of a trade-off either way.

            “That’s probably good. You are going to have to introduce us and share her eventually, though,” he said. 

            “We’ll see about that.” I thought Vincent would adore Katie, if not be a bit of a corrupting influence. But at this point, Katie knew so much about my weird existence, I wasn’t sure having her and Vincent collaborating was a good idea. I’d successfully kept him in the dark this long. Scaring him off now would be disappointing. I was kind of attached to him.

            He chuckled at the response then gave me a quick side eye. “Are you ever going to tell me about your date?”

            I cringed. “He made me dinner.”

            “And?” He dragged the word out.

I turned to buckle myself in. “And I ran away when he tried to kiss me.” 

            “Define ran?”

            “Well, first I tripped over myself and fell on his bed. Then, I basically ran out of his house.” I could feel the heat rising to my cheeks as I spoke. 

            Vincent let out a full belly laugh at my expense. Once his laughter died down and he took a few breaths, he finally managed to ask, “You’re kidding?” 

            “I wish.”

            Shaking his head, he offered, “It can’t be as bad as you think, or he wouldn’t have asked you out again.”

            Wanting to avoid any more of the Hunter discussion, as I am sure Vincent would scold me for ghosting his texts, I asked, “Do you have pictures of the girls on your phone?” 

            Vincent nodded, then tossed his phone to me without taking his eyes off the road. “They’re saved in the photos. You can drop them to your phone, if you want.” I pulled the images up. There were five girls in all.

            “Are these all from the area?” I asked, scrolling through their pictures. Most of them looked like they were senior pictures. Happy, respectable photos picked out by their parents. There was something familiar about each of them, but I couldn’t place it.

            “Yup.”

When we finally parked, Vincent got out of the car and looked around. “Are you pranking me?” he asked. 

            “What do you mean?” 

            “Where’s the party?” He motioned to the empty, quiet space in front of us. 

            I smiled then. “We have to walk the rest of the way.” 

            Vincent groaned, covering his mouth with one hand. “You’re going to get my shoes all dirty.”

            “I could have made you walk from my house.” Laughing, I turned to leave, waiting for him to lock the car and catch up to me. 

            Just as last time, there were a few fires and I recognized some of the same small groups of people. As we approached the cement wall with the green swoosh, I saw Hunter leaning against it, greeting people as they showed up. As usual, he was in a casual, button-up shirt and jeans, his sleeves rolled back. How he kept from melting in so much cloth was a modern mystery. Subconsciously, I ran my fingers through my hair. 

            “You look gorgeous, don’t fidget,” Vincent whispered in my ear.

            I slapped his arm. 

Rubbing it where my hand landed, in mock pain, he laughed at me. 

            When we approached, Hunter turned to acknowledge us just like everyone else he had waved on to the party. He stopped when he recognized me. His eyes taking in my outfit, lingering just a moment longer where the shirt left my collarbones exposed. His mouth curved into a small smile as he took a step toward me. “I didn’t think you were going to come.”

            I shifted uncomfortably on my feet. “Sorry, I meant to text you back.” I really had meant to, but as more time went on, the awkward feeling worsened and I altogether chickened out. 

            “It’s fine. I’m glad you’re here.” He reached out to take my arm when Vincent stepped up next to me. 

            “Hey, man, good to see you again.” Vincent put his hand out to Hunter. 

            Hunter looked Vincent up and down, his lip pulling back in distain as he looked at his outstretched hand. He took a step back from us and looked at me. “You brought him?”

            Vincent dropped his hand and cleared his throat, one eyebrow raised at me in expectation. Just as I was about to explain, I heard a familiar laugh. Jessie strode up to us, Ian draped across her shoulders. She was in destressed jeans, and a slouched shirt baring one shoulder. Her blond hair had a wave to it, and she had dipped the tips of it bright pink. This was the most casual I’d ever seen her dressed.

            “Hey Sin!” she called to me. 

            “Sin?” Vincent asked, his voice lilted in amusement.

            In my sternest voice, I said, “Don’t,” while holding a finger up at him, threateningly. 

            He put his hands up in a warding gesture and pinched his lips tight. “Didn’t hear a thing.”

            “Oh my god.” Jessie’s mouth fell open as she stared at Vincent. 

He reached out to take her hand. “And who are you, gorgeous?”

“Jess,” she offered, giving him her best seductive smile. Oh, so it’s Jess now, aren’t we grown. I chuckled quietly. 

            Ian, dressed in another flattering and well-matched outfit, nodded at me humorously. “Hey, your date’s pawing mine.” 

            I blinked at him. When it sunk in that he was calling Vincent my date, I looked at Hunter. He was seething with his arms folded across his chest, looking like he was seconds away from tackling Vincent to the ground. Vincent was doing a fantastic job ignoring him and winking at Jessie. 

            “Bringing a famous date to a party another guy invited you to. That’s more like a move I would pull,” Jessie quipped.

            “He’s not my date. We’re just friends,” I blurted out, waving the idea away with my hands. 

            “Ouch, friend-zoned.” Ian laughed into his hand at Vincent. 

            Vincent shook his head. “My man, I am not hanging around waiting for my chance with a girl not interested in me. Too many fun times to be had for that nonsense.” 

The other man nodded in agreement, lifting his cup in a cheers motion. 

“No Nathan tonight?” I asked. 

Ian grinned good-naturedly at my jab. “You snooze, you lose.” 

Jessie scrunched her nose up in distaste. Then she smiled at Vincent. “Like you said, not worth waiting for someone who isn’t interested. I have all the fun I need, right here.” 

Ian’s was still grinning ear to ear, then looked at Jessie, his smile fading. “You mean me,

right?”

“Of course, I mean you.” She rolled her eyes at him.

          I glanced at Hunter. He was still eyeing Vincent with distrust, but his shoulders were less tense. Let’s hear it for small improvements. “Mind if we head closer to the festivities?” I asked him gently, motioning toward one of the fires with my hand. He regarded me for a moment, then nodded. Holding his arm out in a gesture for me to lead the way. As I walked past him, I leaned close and whispered. “I promise, I’ll explain.”

          He gave me a curt head bob in response and followed me toward the fire.

          The other three trailed behind us. I heard Vincent lean into Jessie and ask, “So, you watch my channel?” 

          Jessie gave him a deep giggle. Not one of Katie’s cute, nervous gestures, but something more practiced. “Who doesn’t?” 

          “Me,” Ian joked. I heard him “oof” and assumed Jessie had inflicted some sort of bodily harm. I should have guessed Jessie was one of Vincent’s followers. As we moved toward the fire, I realized other people were noticing our arrival too. While Vincent was just himself to me, his presence was likely to garner more attention from the crowd than I was interested in participating in. Maybe I could leave him here and hide somewhere in a corner? The more I thought about it, the better it sounded.