Bittersweet by Michele Barrow-Belisle Page A

surprisingly offered to pick me up.
    Adrius would be back in a day or two. Traveling with his uncle once again; that was the excuse we used and everyone bought it, no questions asked. I’d somehow have to manage to stay off Venus’ radar. Who was I kidding? She obviously didn’t have anything planned for me. If she had I would have known about it. For all I knew her sudden silence meant she’d followed Adrius back to the Nevermore. I found an odd sense of relief in that possibility. I hated her anywhere near Adrius, but he could look after himself. My human friends were a lot more vulnerable.
    ***
    Dissonance wasn’t so much a night club as it was a dark gathering place for wannabe rock stars. At least that’s what it appeared to be tonight. Every other night might have been different, but tonight it was a crowd of all ages rivaling those on the American Idol television show. The bar was packed with teens and nothing but virgin drinks without proper ID. Scattered among the throng were some twenty-somethings, either there for the same reason we were, or newbies who didn’t know Thursdays was an all-age no-booze night. The abstinence from any alcohol was the only way our forward thinking music teacher would have gotten clearance for this little road trip.
    Since we didn’t get access to our private room for another half hour, I scanned the club. The walls were vibrating from the pulsating music. Every second song, someone got on stage to sing along. A guy with jeans hanging off his hip just finished rapping when a glittering parade of sequin-enhanced diva wannabes flowed through the room toward the stage. I hated it when my mother was right. But they looked amazing on stage. Black lights made the white walls glow, and the high tables were glass lit from underneath with blue lights.
    â€œVery cool,” Brianne yelled in my ear over the Katy Perry tune someone was belting out off-key. At least they looked good doing it.
    I agreed with her. This totally beat sitting around doing homework, which is what my night would have had in store. I wanted to keep my mind busy and this was perfect.
    I watched the crowd undulating to the throbbing bass for a while, before Brianne dragged me onto the dance floor. Before I knew it, I was gyrating and spinning with the rest of the crowd. It felt good to cut loose. It was freeing for once to not be looking over my shoulder and worrying about how my life would fall apart next. I spread my arms, and whipped my hair back and forth to the beat. Music pumped from all corners, filling my senses. It was almost like there was something more than music in the air, making me light-headed. Giddy almost. I liked it. I danced harder, riding the energy high I was feeling. The music thrummed through the soles of my shoes, as my sweat dampened hair flew over my face. I didn’t want to think about that. About the way the temperature had dropped, or the way everything blurred by me while I was spinning, or the witch threatening the lives of everyone I loved.... in this moment all I cared about was the music coursing through my veins, and the blissful sensation of bass pumping through my body.
    When the song came to an end, I didn’t notice, until Brianne grabbed my arm. “Hey, let’s sing something together.”
    She was in super-friend mode tonight. But not even that bothered me. “Ya, sure. You pick.” I felt confident, certain I could handle whatever song she picked.
    Pushing through the crowd, I made my way to the bar. The long list of drinks were completely foreign to me.
    â€œNot much of a drinker?”
    A voice came from a man next to me. I shook my head and turned my attention back to the bartender. But something pulled my gaze away, and I returned it to the man who’d spoken to me.
    It was a face I recognized. But from where? Wherever I knew him from he had that creepy vibe.
    â€œWhat’ll you have?” the bartender shouted, more