Unraveling Selena by Marisa Maichel (black female authors TXT) 📕

She reached out and touched my hand.

"It's okay. I get jealous, too. I got jealous when Scarlett kissed you."

"Sarah, don't. None of this is your fault. It's mine. It's all my fault."

She sighed. "What are we doing? I can't avoid my fate forever, whatever it is. The only way to be sure what my fate is or have any protection is to be around you."

"You can't avoid the darkness forever."

"You should quote that," she told me. Then she bit her lip and tried not to cry. I sidled in next to her and held her. I dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. I purred, trying to soothe my mate. "I'm okay," she said after a few minutes.

"Good," I said. "You know, you don't have to choose between the light and the dark. You could choose to be in the gray area, like most humans are."

"I think that most humans are inherently selfish," she said.

"So are most vampires," I said.

"Think about it. Do we do things for other people for them or for us, to make us feel better? It does make us feel better to do good, to put a dollar in the tip jar, but do we do it because she did a good job or because we want her to think we're good people?"

"Where did this come from?" I asked.

"Adriel said something about selfishness and mortals."

"Good for him, seeing as he is just as dispensible as the rest of us," I said sarcastically.

"Be nice," she warned. She leaned against me. I rumbled, then kissed her, marking her with my scent. I looked up and noticed Elliot Porter, Sarah's fat male friend who crushed on her. He was looking at us, and looked hurt. I growled. I would have to keep marking her. Make sure that everyone saw us.

"So, are we together again?" Sarah asked.

"Yes," I said, looking at Elliot. "We are."

CHAPTER ELEVEN - CONTEST

Over the next week, Sarah and I spent as much time together as possible. She was definitely going to win Homecoming Queen. The only other real competition was Ariella Spears, my ex-best friend. Not that it caused a rift in their friendship, at least not outwardly.

Sarah gave herself beauty treatments all the time. She would reapply a lipstick at a random time, or fix her already perfect hair. She wore sparklier eyeshadow than usual, or a different perfume. She started wearing gardenia perfume instead of Spanish amber. Her lipstick was always perfectly applied, and she wore a necklace that had both a cross and a Star of David on it beside each other.

Neither the cross nor the Star overlapped the other.

Finally, Friday rolled around, and with it, came the general influx of testosterone and estrogen. The rivalry between the guys was getting intense. That, however, was nothing compared to the rivalry between the girls. The girls all knew that they had a very remote chance of even getting in, but that didn't stop the cattiness.

I overheard one of the nominees saying that Sarah had thunder thighs. I growled at her, but before I could say anything, Ariella told Phoebe to fuck off. I was proud of her for that. I was still disappointed that she chose the wolves over me, though.

That night, I went to the football game late, around halftime.

"Introducing: our nominees for Homecoming King and Queen!" the announcer cried. "First: Sarah Cresley. Sarah has been a cheerleader for two years, treasurer for the student council, a member of the Fashion Club for one year, in choir for four years and a member of the Honor Society. Sarah is here accompanied by her mother, Alicia Cresley, and her father is the late Beckett Cresley. Sarah plans to go to school in Los Angeles next year."

"She looks so beautiful!" Mother gushed, tearing up. I couldn't agree more. Sarah looked fantastic in her curve-hugging red sparkly dress and with her hair curled and piled in a half-updo. But something else bounced around in my mind. She wanted to go to Los Angeles.

"-Phoebe has been a member of the Honor Society for four years, a cheerleader for four years, secretary to the student council, and a member of the choir for two years. She is here accompanied by her mother-"

"That Sarah chick is so hot," said a male voice. I glanced back. It was one of Caden Cartwright's friends, Tyler Worthington. "I hope she's single."

Fortunately, Cartwright was on the field as one of the nominees for King.

"-Mia has been a cheerleader for two years, member of the Honor Society for three years, a member of the Fashion Club for four years, and she is accompanied by her father, Anton Rayport. Her mother is the late Tory Rayport."

The announcer went on to announce the three other nominees-Rachel Griffin, Angela Montgomery, and Ariella Spears. Next, the guys.

"First is Caden Cartwright, accompanied by his mother Tarina Cartwright and his father Puck."

"Puck?" I said.

"I don't believe it," Alexander said, narrowing his eyes at Caden's father. "It is the King of the Fairies."

"Do you think he knows?" I asked.

"I doubt it," he said.

"He always was a pompous ass," I said.

"Like your father," Alexander replied.

"Control, gentlemen," Mother said. "Self-control. Oh, look at her!"

I snapped my focus onto Sarah, who was smiling, but it didn't quite reach her eyes.

"And the Homecoming Queen is...Sarah Cresley!" the announcer roared. Thunderous applause followed suit. Last year's Homecoming Queen, a cute blond, placed the plastic crown on Sarah's curls. "And the Homecoming King is...Caden Cartwright!"

As everyone knew would happen. It was really no shock that they won.

"And now, as is tradition, the Queen and King will share a short dance on the football field!"

"Stupid tradition," I muttered as Caden took Sarah's hand and led her onto the wet grass.

"Her heels will get ruined," Mother moaned. "And they look so lovely tonight on her tiny feet!"

"Africa" by Toto started playing. Sarah's eyes widened as Caden took her waist and hand. As the music played, he led her in a dance. As she twirled, I had the strangest feeling. I felt that if I stopped watching her, something bad would happen. I looked over and noticed that a lot of the other males had their eyes on her, and a few females. One guy actually had his leg halfway over the railing.

Her grace was romantic, even sensual. He held onto her like a lifeline, looking into her eyes, which she seemed to be trying to avoid. I noticed that the males on the other bleachers also looked interested.

"She's very pretty," sighed an older woman to my left.

"She doesn't look too interested," the man next to her noted.

After the dance was over, she and Caden bowed to applause from both sides.

"I love you, Sarah!" cried a guy to my right. His girlfriend did not look happy.

Sarah snuck up to the bleachers during the rest of the game. She came over and sat beside Mother.

"I don't know what they were thinking," she said. "These shoes are ruined now, and I spent a lot on them."

"Take these," Mother said, handing her a pair of black flats. "They will be better for your feet. I can have Zie clean those shoes as much as possible, but I don't think they will be completely saved."

"Hey, Sarah, you were amazing," said a guy to her right.

"Oh, thanks, Zack," she said.

I made a mental note to try not to kill Zack Davis. I took a few deep breaths and counted to three thousand in Greek in my head. I thought about my new piano, with which I had yet to practice with. I thought about my new cars. I looked back at Sarah, and was momentarily stunned by her beauty. She caught me staring, and I offered a small smile. She shyly smiled back.

The rest of the game went on without a hitch, and we won, sixty four to forty three. Of course Caden made the final touchdown. The applause was deafening, especially for us with fantastic hearing. I instinctively pulled Sarah into me. She protested loudly.

"Reese, I'm fine," she said, stepping on my foot. I barely felt it, but it hurt just the same.

"Sarah, want to head to the dance?" another guy asked.

"I'm going with Reese," she said. He eyed me suspiciously. My heart lightened at her statement. I took her hand and led her to the school.

"Sarah, right?" said the guy taking money. "You can go in for free. Your date has to pay."

I growled and handed him two dollars. He also eyeballed me.

I led her to the center of the dance floor, where I spun her around. The DJ was already playing Pitbull. Sarah took the elastic out of her hair, causing the rest of her curls to tumble onto her shoulders. As the dance hall filled up, a slower song started playing, and I grasped her waist while she touched my chest and shoulders.

"Is that Sarah...with Reese Emerson?!"

"What the freak?"

"She's too good for him."

"That just ain't right."

I ignored them, and Sarah began to sing along to the tune. I was mesmerized by her voice. It was beautiful, high and clear. She twirled around, blowing me a kiss now and then.

"We're soulmates," I said.

"Exactly right," she replied. "Soulmates. So we have issues-everyone does. That doesn't mean that we aren't good for each other."

"Right again," I said.

"He loves her," Mia Rayport said.

"He'd better be good to her," said Angela Montgomery.

"Her back has been hurting again," said Mia.

"Again?" Rachel Griffin replied. "Why do you think that is?"

"She's definitely got something about her," Honey said. "Boys flock to her like flamingoes to the water."

Her back hurt?

"How's your back?" I asked. She looked at me in surprise.

"It's been hurting a lot lately, but it feels fine now. Why do you ask?"

I looked over at her friends.

"Oh, you heard them gossiping? Yeah, they're worried about me. I keep telling them I'm fine, but they don't believe me."

Could it be true? Was my love part fairy? Could I be dating one of the Fair Folk?

My thoughts were interrupted when a fight broke out on the dance floor. It was between Mason and Noah. I was surprised to see them there at all-Noah hates dances and Mason was embarassed at the last one. I was not surprised to see them fighting; it was a long time coming. Between Noah's crush on Amara and Mason's stupidity, it was bound to happen.

Mason and Noah were dragged off by two of the teachers. Focusing back onto my date, I looked down at her, surprised again to see her looking sad.

"Sarah," I said, "They're not fighting over you. They're fighting over Amara." Which was more or less true.

She instantly brightened, then looked sad again.

"A lot of girls think it would be amazing to have guys fighting over you," she said. "It's not. It's just plain stupid. I'm not the only girl in the school-look at my friends. They're all gorgeous, but no one notices them. Especially after the Incident. I've forgiven almost all of them, but-"

"Shhh," I said, putting my finger to her lips. "It's okay. You're mine. We belong together. I am your future husband, and you are my future wife. I love you deeply, madly, passionately. So I've got competition. I'm stronger than all of them combined. I'm the ultimate predator. I can kill with my index finger. I will slay them all and introduce them to Hell."

She shuddered and looked up at me with wide, frightened eyes. I sighed internally, knowing I may have pushed myself and her too far.

"Sarah Harper Cresley, I promise, I vow on my own heart, that I will never deliberately hurt you. I'd die if I were to lose you again." I looked up and growled at the intruder.

Caden Cartwright tapped Sarah on the shoulder. "It's time for our dance," he said, taking her hand. She took it reluctantly and looked back at me.

I followed them to the center of the dance floor.

She looked massively uncomfortable as he took her