The First

The First Complication

".... I love you Mercedes."

Oh my God, there we have it. This is the first time he has said this to me. Happiness takes over my body. Oh my God... like, I knew he loved me but no one outside of my family has ever said that to me. At this point the butterflies are on speed in my stomach moving a mile a minute. I smile at him and take his face in to my hands. I take a deep breath and say, "I love you too Luke. The timing doesn't matter." Luke smiled back and said with a cocky grin, "Well fine but I wanted it to be in a situation where we didn't f**k the life out of each other. I owe you a romantic date." I was really not opposed to that. Bring on the date! Luke dropped me back home shortly after.

Wait... where's my underwear. Luke......

That night I thought about the history between Luke and I. We go way back. I knew him since I was just 5 years old. His mom, Esmeralda moved in to the house across the street. When his mom came over to introduce her family to ours I remember little Luke nervously hiding behind his mom when my mom introduced me. He was my first crush. We were inseparable from that moment. We had many play dates, almost every week. We had sleepovers. We went camping and fishing. We spent holidays together. His mom even took me shopping and treated me like family. She would always say that we were meant to be together. He's my best friend.  

I was laying in bed, staring at my ceiling mentally recapping my day when my phone started ringing. It was Austyn. It was 11:00pm so I was curious as to why he'd call at this time. I answered, "Hey Aus. What's up?" Austyn sounded like he was outside somewhere because I could hear wind in the background as he said, "Hi. um, I'm at the pond by your house. Can you meet me here?" Curious, I asked, "Yeah, I can. But why? Are you okay?" Austyn hesitated and said, "Yes I'm okay, I just want to talk." I wrapped up our phone call and grabbed a light jacket. I then climbed out of my window to sneak out. I wonder whats up with Austyn.

The pond is a 2 minute walk from my parents' house but its late at night so I still called Aus just to have someone on the phone. I felt safer talking to someone, it made me feel like I wasn't alone. He answered and he told me where exactly he was. He acted differently over the phone. I got a little worried about him. After a short amount of time I found him. He didn't look like anything was wrong. He was sitting on this bridge that was overlooking the pond with a bench in the middle. He saw me then got up and walked towards me. He stopped right in front of me and just looked at me. I looked back up at him and said, "Um... hello. How goes it?" Austyn didn't reply, he just stood there like he was in a trance. I was about to ask him if he was okay but he grabbed me and held me in a sudden hug. I decided not to say anything. I just hugged him back. I could smell his Hollister brand cologne, it was calming and comforting. We stood like this, in a warm embrace for what seemed like hours. I looked up at Austyn, HIS EYES WERE BLUE! They were doing it again! Quietly I said, "Aus, your eyes. They're doing it again." I don't know why I thought this to myself but I felt like he knew what was going on... but he didn't want to tell me. 

Austyn shook his head and broke our embrace. He looked upset? Maybe disappointed? A little sad? I wish I knew. He just looked at me and said, "Oh, um... I don't know. Yours look a little blue. Maybe its the lighting? I'm sorry. That hug was weird for me to do." Lighting!! Its dark! What lighting? I was going to say that but he continued to say, "You belong to Luke... I.... uh... I just... but we are... UH! I can't ever have what's his. I know we just met but... I don't know, I just care about you. Like I feel a connection to you. It's weird and I don't know how to explain all this. I'm sorry" I try to process that jumble of words he threw at me. I figured there was a deeper meaning or maybe a reason why. I lifted his chin, delicately, and said, "What's really going on? None of that made sense. And I don't belong to anyone." Austyn didn't answer my question. Instead he took me by the hand and walked me back towards the bench. 

I didn't get much more out of Austyn that night. We just sat on that bench and talked about random things. We just enjoyed each other's company. We talked about the homecoming dance, and school. We talked about what we should do for my birthday at the end of the month. Austyn walked me back to my house. I didn't say anything while we were walking. I couldn't stop thinking about his jumbled up confusing conversation he had with me. I was annoyed that he didn't explain himself. I was mad at myself for being so curious about it, and about him. I could tell he was curious about me. I wondered if he had thought anymore about the weird thing with our eyes glowing blue earlier. I just wanted him to tell me, and because he didn't tell me my thoughts are just as jumbled as the sentences he tried to form when I first got to the pond. Man, I didn't even know what emotion to chose. Dammit Austyn.

The next morning I wake up before my alarm. I hate doing that! Not a good start to my day. I go to the bathroom to brush my teeth and shower. I change in to some decent looking clothing and head downstairs to get some breakfast. My mom was in the kitchen, she seemed surprised to see me up earlier than I normally am and says, "Oh, your awake! Morning. You want some breakfast?" My mom is usually already gone when I wake up so I accept her offer for breakfast. I love my mom's food! I am still thinking about my strange conversation with Austyn. Why did he act like that? I'm going to definitely talk to him today. Maybe at lunch? My mom and I engage in friendly conversation before she has to leave for work. I finish my food and put away my dishes. Time to get ready for the day.

I throw in some headphones and turn on my music. Maybe music will help clear my mind, I hope. I decide to put a little more effort in to makeup today. While I'm putting on my make up my phone vibrates. Its a call from Luke, I smile and pick up, "Hey babe. Good morning. How did you sleep?" I can almost hear Luke smile through the phone, "Hey baby. I slept like a rock, what about you? Good morning. Mom says hi." I could hear Luke's mom in the back as she says, "Oiiii! Boy-o is that Mercedes! Let me talk." I hear Luke say, "Mom! Espera (wait)" I then hear fumbling with the phone then a cheery voice. Looks like Luke's mom got the phone. She sounds excited and says, "Hola Mija! Donde tu Madre? I miss her, and you. When can you come see me?" I forgot that her and my mom stopped speaking. My mom went back to work so she didn't get to visit with her anymore. In addition to that both of our families moved to different cities but even though we were less than 10 minutes away, each family was busy doing their own thing. I smiled and replied "Mama, shes working and so is my dad. They are very busy. But I will tell her you said hi mama. I can come see you this weekend." I could tell that made her happy because she told me how she was going to make me lunch and dinner. She then joked and said Luke and I could have a sleepover like old times, but I assumed she wasn't joking because she's always talking about wanting 'Grand babies.' I love talking to his Mom, she brightens my day!

I wrap up the phone call with Luke and his mom. Luke tells me he'll be over in 20 minutes to pick me up. I hang up and I quickly finish up with my makeup. I decide to text Austyn. I tell Austyn that I need to talk to him about last night. I get a little mad and think to myself, he owes me an explanation... you can't just be weird like that and not explain why! Also why is he playing off the fact that when we touch each other our eyes change color? Its weird... right? Am I over thinking this?

Austyn replies with a simple, yet annoying, "K." I don't respond back. I'm upset with this kid. 20 minutes passes quickly and I hear Luke honk. Time to go. I grab some last minute stuff from my room and run down the stairs. I get instantly excited when Luke gets out of the car. He gives me a hug and kiss then opens the door for me. Luke and I solidify plans for the weekend. Luke tells me that his mom wants to make me lunch and dinner. Apparently she was serious about the sleepover and even offered to help cover for us. Luke is skimping on the details which I know he does when he plans surprises. I don't even attempt to hide my suspicion but I agree. I could use a mental break, especially after all this weird s**t.

Luke and I arrive early to school. He sets me on the hood of his car again. Standing in between my legs, he wraps his arms around my waist and gives me a soft kiss on the forehead. The forehead kiss was cute or whatever but I decide its not enough. I surprise him and pull him in for a deep, passionate kiss. Luke moans and kisses back, with an equal amount of passion. I feel his hands on my lower back, under my shirt on my bare skin. I could feel his excitement in his pants growing. Holy s**t we are making out like crazy in public. I feel just as turned on as him. I don't realize how much time has passed until we hear, "Ahem... get a room horn dogs." someone interrupts. An irritated Luke turns around to see who stopped his love fest. It's Jay with Aus and Casey, UH! What timing, I swear I was going to let him take me, right there on his hood. I didn't even care! Horrible timing!

Luke greets the guys and returns to his place, facing me. Casey, staring at his phone suddenly looks up with excitement and says, "Whoa, wait, Mercedes! Your birthday is coming up. What should we do? We have to do something! Luke, Austyn, and Jay can come to. Unless you want it to be just me and you." Casey usually slips comments in like that, its in his nature! He means no harm, and I know that but I think he said that to playfully mess with Luke. I wrapped my legs around Luke as I heard him growl, it was quiet but sounded animal like. Casey senses the tension and quickly says, "Luke, I'm kidding bro." I look at Austyn, who is avoiding eye contact with me I notice him looking at Jay who is staring at something. "Jay, what are you looking at?" I ask. Luke and the guys turn towards where hes looking. Jay squints his eyes and says, "Ass hat is sitting in his truck staring at us." We all look at the only pick up truck near us. we see a black dodge pickup, and sure as s**t, there's Brett 'Ass Hat' Daniels. Brett noticed us all obviously staring at him. He looked away as he started his pickup and drove away. Luke looks back at me and says, "Baby, can I kick his ass. Please?" I don't get a chance to answer because Jay changes the subject and asks what we want to do for my birthday. We all throw out ideas but narrow it down to a trip to Jay's family's ranch house. My birthday was on a Sunday so we planned to leave Friday after school and spend the weekend up there. Our conversation was interrupted when the school bell rings. We start to head inside.

We all said our goodbyes and headed different directions, to our lockers. I stop for a second and start to text Austyn. All of a sudden a girl accidentally bumps in to me. Shes cute. She has medium length straight black hair and blue eyes.She stops, looks at me with wide eyes and says,"Um, excuse you." Then turns to walk away but stops. She turns around and looks at me again and says, "I'm sorry... Wait, are you Mercedes?" I raise an eyebrow at her. Do I know her? Is she in one of my classes? Confused, I reply, "Yes. Who are you?" With a concerned look on her face she says, "I'm a sophomore, My name is Cameron but people call me Cami. I hear you're Brett's new target. Be careful with him." My confusion comes to the surface as I say, "What are you talking about?" She looks around, and I look around as well, wondering what shes looking for. "Last year Brett..." she gets interrupted by a horribly familiar voice, "Cami, now what lies are you telling my future girl." The horribly familiar voice possessively puts his arm around my shoulder with aggression. Gross, its Brett.

I try to pull away without causing a scene but Brett feels me doing so and digs his fingers in to my shoulder. Cami looks scared for a moment but musters up the courage and says, "Brett we wouldn't want another victim to add to your list. Let her go." I don't even hear his response, most likely interrupting him, I loudly say, "Let go of me you f*****g creep." I say it loud enough for people to stop talking and look at us. Brett refuses to let go as I am visibly trying to get his arm off. Cami turns and quickly walks away as Brett walks me towards a hallway with very little people in it. With all my strength I push away from Brett but he effortlessly pins me against the lockers and shouts, "b***h!" as my teacher Mrs. Van walks towards us with Austyn. Brett stops in his tracks as Mrs. Van shouts, "Mr. Daniels! What do you think you're doing?" Brett, who is still inches away from me gets practically thrown across the hall by Austyn. Brett has no time to react because a hall monitor arrives and stops the situation from escalating. Mrs. Van tells the hall monitor what happened as the hall monitor writes down my name and leaves with Brett.

I look at Mrs. Van and thank her for her timing. she tells me that the Dean will probably want to talk to me regarding what just happened. Mrs. Van stops talking and looks over to Austyn who is menacingly looking in the direction that the hall monitor took Brett. She looks down at her watch and says, "We have 2 minutes until class starts, but it looks like we got held up by 5 minutes because of this incident." Mrs. Van looks at Austyn who looks back at her with a concerned yet confused look. She continues to speak, "Look, there is no way to simply ease you in to this. So lets just rip this band aid off. I'm sure you have both noticed the change in each others eyes? Am I right?" Austyn and I look at each other then back to Mrs. Van and nod. She gives us each a soft smile, "I've gone through that too, with my husband. It started when we were 15, but it didn't fully surface until we turned 16. Mercedes, like me, you are what is known as a Succubus, Austyn you are the male equivalent which is called an Incubus. I can teach you what that means and how to control certain things but what I will tell you now is a Succubus and Incubus are supernatural beings who thrive off of s****l energy, just like vampires in all the movies live off of blood. That energy can heal you and benefit you in many ways. Specifically, with the 2 of you, similar to how wolves and other animals have mates, you are each other's mates, which our kind calls, Intended Other. This can only be seen by our kind but if two mates are near each other their eyes will simultaneously glow. I had to tell you, I will be here if you have questions. But for now, lets get to class kiddos." She turns away and walks down the hall. We slowly follow behind. I look over to Austyn and notice that he isn't surprised, he has no expression on his face. I get angry at him and say, "Why aren't you saying anything! Talk to me!" Mrs. Van discreetly looks back at us and slows down, which causes us to slow down. He still doesn't say a damn thing. What in the holy hell is going on? I'm a Succubus? Hes my Intended Other? She just dropped a bomb and this kid has nothing to say? Austyn suddenly stopped. He gently but firmly grabs my face  as he looks me deep in my eyes and hesitates. His eyes turn blue, yet again. In a calm voice, Austyn slowly says......

"I'm not saying anything because I already knew about this Mercedes. I knew about us when I met you. I know about everything..."

What. The. Absolute. f**k.