AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Date 3-16-17

The picture above is something I found that I think is cute for what Lena and Lucas are like as a couple :)

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Chapter 51: New Level of Weird

When Ivie finally gets away from Adrian and readies herself for bed, she's not surprised that her last thought is of Adrian.

~*~

The next day when Lena awakes she goes to check on Ivie. On Lena's way up the stairs, she can't help but remember her encounter with Lucas last night.

"Lucas! Are you okay? What happened?" Lena doesn't care that she looks ridiculous jumping into Lucas' arms. He only stumbles back one step when she crashes into him and throws her arms around his neck.

Lucas wraps his arms around Lena and she sinks into his warmth. Lena loves that Lucas has werewolf warmth to make her feel safe.

"I'm fine." Lucas exclaims with a laugh. Lena sighs and rests her forehead on his shoulder.

"Adrian fixed Ivie. He got her to turn back from vine girl. She gained control." Lucas says with glee. He knows how much this means to Lena.

"Really?" Lena pulls back enough to see Lucas' face, but keeps her hands resting at the back of his neck.

"Yes." Lucas breathes.

Lena goes slightly up on her tiptoes to kiss Lucas gently. Lena is so relieved that he came back safe and Ivie is going to be okay.

Lucas' arms tighten on Lena's back when she doesn't cut off the kiss immediately.

Nothing more happened then that kids, but Lena still wonders if they're moving too fast. She's only gone on one date with Lucas.

But Lena decides she doesn't care if they're moving too fast. It's their relationship, so they can do what they want.

Lena smiles to herself as she knocks on Ivie's door. Ivie doesn't answer. Lena opens the door and sees Ivie isn't in there.

Lena checks and sees Ivie's not downstairs either. "I'm going to have to text her." Lena mutters to herself.

~*~

Ivie just finished telling her best friends Vanessa and Selynn what happened last night when her phone buzzes. It's Lena.

"Where are you?" The text from Lena says.

"At V&S house." Ivie responds quickly. Lena always worries about her.

Ivie may have changed a lot since her transformation into vine girl, but Lena's overprotectiveness has always been annoying.

"Ok. Did you tell them the secret?" Lena asks vaguely.

"No." Ivie lies through her phone. Who knew two little letters could have such an impact on your conscience? Lies build up, Ivie knows this, but she lies anyway. Oh well. Ivie just shrugs it off.

"Still lying to Lena?" Selynn asks.

"Are you judging?" Ivie teases back.

"Nope. Just wondering so I don't say anything about the supernatural around her." Selynn responds truthfully. She has no intention of ratting out Ivie.

"Yeah. I'm lying." Ivie admits.

"So how do you feel about Adrian?" Vanessa asks with a flutter of her eyelashes, like it's the most important thing.

Ivie knows Vanessa is joking because she's not the type to be obsessed with guys, but Vanessa does want an answer.

"I thought he was a complete tool. The usual teen guy who pretends to be interested in me as a joke. But if he is like that, he's a heck of an actor." Ivie says with downcast eyes.

"Only you can decide on that, Ivie." Vanessa says wisely.

"Well thanks. I can totally figure it all out now!" Ivie says sarcastically, glaring teasingly at Vanessa.

"So, I was wondering... Since Adrian seems to know a lot about supernatural, do you think he knows what Selynn and I are?" Vanessa wonders aloud to Ivie.

"Maybe, but do you really want to reveal yourselves like that? Word might get back to Lucas, Mason, Jerica, and Lena. Then they'd know you guys are something too." Ivie reasons with Vanessa.

"So what? Who cares who knows?" Selynn asks with defiance.

"What if they use you like they did with John?" Ivie asks, completely worried for the first time in a long time.

Ivie starts to chew on her fingernails, but Vanessa stops her with a hard look. It's a bad habit of Ivie's that Vanessa hates.

"They won't." Selynn says confidently.

Vanessa and Ivie stare at Selynn in shock. "How do you know?" Vanessa asks. Ivie almost smiles at the fact that she got Vanessa on her side.

"Because John's experienced. We're not." Vanessa and Ivie laugh at that, causing Selynn to grin at them.

"Besides, what if Adrian could teach us stuff? If he taught me how to control these weird vision things then I'd gladly be used for my magic." Selynn says while rolling her eyes when saying "magic."

Ivie worries that Selynn doesn't believe in all of this and she might get hurt because of that. Or she could get hurt if she did believe and dive in headfirst. So could Vanessa.

"I'll ask him to talk one day then. When do you want to meet with him?" Ivie asks, making it sound like a business meeting. Ugh, when did she start sounding stuffy? Ivie decides to ignore that.

"Can he come over here? Now?" Vanessa asks. "Our parents won't be home for another two hours at least." She adds.

"I don't know how to get a hold of him." Ivie admits, embarrassed that she hadn't thought of that. "I'll have to ask Lena to ask Lucas."

So Ivie goes through the process of talking to Lena, who talks to Lucas, who goes over to Adrian's house to tell him that Ivie needs to talk to him.

Lena asks Ivie what this is all about, but Ivie only says that she has some questions for him. Which is true.

~*~

It only takes Adrian 20 minutes to get there. That includes the time it took to get a hold of him. So Adrian must've hurried over.

"You called for me?" Adrian asks with a smirk when Ivie opens the door.

Ivie just rolls her eyes and opens the door wider, stepping out of the way. "Come on in. I need to talk to you." Ivie says.

Adrian takes a few steps inside, then turns back to Ivie, sensing she had something else to say.

"I have some people for you to meet." Ivie adds hesitantly.

"Okay..." Adrian says with furrowed eyebrows and a hint of confusion in his voice. Adrian wonders if this is all some elaborate trap. It's very perplexing.

Ivie leads Adrian upstairs to the second living room where they agreed is where they'd talk. Ivie watches Adrian carefully as they walk up the stairs. He's looking around with alertness, which is making Ivie nervous.

Adrian senses the magic before he sees whoever's waiting for them. They're right around the corner...

Adrian grabs Ivie's arm to pull her back, stopping before they're seen.

"Adrian!" Ivie squeaks out when he pushes her against the wall, pinning her there. Adrian is so close that Ivie can smell his minty breath on her face.

Ivie doubted if she could completely trust Adrian because of his weird personality flips. Sarcastic, furious, flirty, bored. There's so many ways he snaps at people. But this is a whole new level of weird for Adrian. He just shoved Ivie out of nowhere.

"Shh!" Adrian hisses out. "Who's in there Ivie?" Adrian demands to know. His tone is harsh and low. Adrian's eyes are narrowed in suspicion and his eyes glitter dangerously with anger.

"What? My best friends! What's wrong with you?" Ivie whispers, sensing the urgency to be quiet since Adrian is so tense.

Adrian's hands loosen on Ivie's upper arms, but he doesn't let go. "How long have you known them?" Adrian asks, casting a glance to the corner.

"Years! Why? Tell me what's wrong." Ivie says in concern.

Adrian lets go of Ivie and takes a step back so he's not right in her face. Ivie stands up a bit straighter, keeping her back to the wall.

"Nothing. I'm just making sure this isn't a setup. You've been acting weird." Adrian explains with a shrug, staring intently at the railing to the stairs a few feet away.

"Oh. Sorry. It's not an attack. I told them about you so they wanted to talk." Ivie says quietly, feeling bad for freaking Adrian out. She was acting kind of weird.

"You told them about me?" Adrian says, crossing his arms over his chest. He lifts his chin a little and looks down at Ivie.

Ivie gulps, feeling like that was the wrong thing to say. Was she not supposed to tell her best friends about her life?

"Um, yes. I've been telling them about everything. Because they're my best friends." Ivie realizes that didn't come out very smoothly, so she clears her throat and tries again.

"I said you're an Alpha werewolf that's been helping. They won't tell. I promise." Ivie's words are hurried.

"I know they won't. Wouldn't want to expose themselves." Adrian says with a huff.

"What? You know they're supernatural?" Ivie asks so low that she wonders if Adrian heard. But of course he did. Adrian has superhearing.

"Of course." Adrian scoffs. "I can feel the magic from here. They don't conceal well."

"Conceal?" Ivie questions in confusion. You can conceal your magic?

"Supernaturals with magic can hide it, so other supernaturals can't sense it unless they use it or if they have very powerful magic." Adrian explains in a bored tone.

"Why can't I tell? Is it because I don't have magic?" Ivie asks.

"You haven't been trained to sense magic. You have magic, but its only use is to control vines."

"And no, it's not about if you have magic or not. I don't have magic, but I can still sense it. It's a skill." Adrian finishes.

"Okay." Ivie says, but she doesn't really get it. This is a lot to wrap her mind around.

"Great." Adrian smiles wide even though he knows Ivie is confused.

"Let's go talk to your magical friends then."