The switch was only a few days away. The thought was always at the back of my mind, lurking. It was impossible not to think about it, to worry. What would happen the day of the switch? What would I become? I found the bookshelves in the church common room to be helpful, they even had a few worn copies of the Lord of the Rings, something to take my mind off the future. I settled down on the ridiculously hard nun bed and immersed myself in a different world for an hour or so, only looking up when there was a soft knock on the door.

Aden was standing in the doorframe, a plate in one hand. "They made sandwiches for lunch, I figured you might be hungry."

I sat up, putting the book to the side. "Wow, thanks."

Aden walked over and sat down, placing the plate of sandwiches between us. "No worries. You're a Tolkien fan?"

I shrugged. "I've tried to read the books a couple times. But I have a short attention span. They're the best thing in the church library though, so I thought I'd give Frodo another chance."

Aden smiled, grabbing one of the sandwich triangles. "Tolkien is one of my favorites. When you live for as long as we do, you read a lot. It helps to pass the time and keep you from going...well, crazy."

We both thought of Morgan, but neither of said it. I grabbed one of the sandwiches and bit into it. Peanut butter and jelly, creative. "How long do you live?" I said, curious.

"Couple thousand years if no one kills us. We live longer than the Fates." Aden gave me a weak smile. "How are you doing, by the way?"

I swallowed. "How am I doing, considering the switch is only a couple days away?"

She nodded, studying my face.

"I'm okay," I lied, and took another huge bite so she wouldn't ask me anything else. She only nodded and stared down at the sandwich in her hand.

"You know," I said, finally. "You're not so bad."

She looked up, startled. "Pardon?"

"When I first met you, you were horrible." I told her pointedly, "but you did just bring me sandwiches, so you're okay in my books now."

Aden actually threw her head back and laughed, and I blinked at her. "What?" I had just reached down and picked up another sandwich, and now I yelped indignantly as she plucked it out of my hand. 

"I'm glad you approve of me now." She grinned.

"Well, that will change if you keep stealing sandwiches off me." I gave her a mock scowl and she laughed again. "So, when you dunked me in the fountain..."

"I was testing to see if you'd melt." I said, and then squawked when she punched me in the arm.

"You're a funny man."

"Yup," I muttered, rubbing my arm, "And you're a violent woman."

"Serves you right." Aden laughed.

"Okay, just remember you have ridiculous strength, and don't rip my arm off or anything, please." I said, only half joking.

Aden made a face at me. "I'll see what I can do. Hey, wanna go visit Harold again?"

I stood up, brushing crumbs off my sweat pants. "Sure, just give me a minute to get dressed. I've been sort of laying around in pyjamas all day."

Aden snorted, but she left the room, shutting the door behind her. "I'll meet you by Harold."

"Fine." I grabbed my jeans and struggled into them. Something in the left pocket crackled quietly, and I shoved my hand in and emerged with a crumpled piece of paper. I unfolded it to find a depiction of a cartoon cow and chicken. Morgan's note. I stared at it for a moment, blinking angrily, then crumpled it up in one fist and chucked it at the wall. It bounced, skittered across the floor and under the bed. Good. It could stay there. 

I turned and went to go find Aden.

Maybe getting closer with Aden had distracted me from Morgan's rejection, but it didn't stop me worrying about other things. I kept wondering when we'd be attacked, and several times I almost picked up the phone and called Mom, but what good would it do? What would I say?

Hey Mom, I think God might kill me any day now. Just wanted to say goodbye.

I hated to think what reaction that would get me. And my sister. I still wanted to ask Aden if she was here with me, but I repeatedly chickened out. It was too afraid of the answer.

I wasn't particularly thrilled to see Morgan when I went downstairs for breakfast. She was sitting cross legged on the sofa next to Freckles, blonde curls over the shoulder of her red sweater, one hand twisting a strand playfully around her finger as she talked. She didn't even bother to look up when I came in. Amazon gave me a friendly wave, and said good morning and Tiny gave me a massive grin. I mumbled my hello and crossed the room to sit in one of the arm chairs.

"You ready for the big day tomorrow?" Beefcake said cheerfully.

I grunted that I was. I had no desire to talk about it and throw myself into a panic. I kept trying to forget that I had one short day of freedom and then tomorrow...tomorrow was the switch.

Morgan's cheeks were flushed from being near the fireplace, and it looked good on her. I wished fiercely that it didn't. It sort of choked me up to look at her, I felt so stupid. She wouldn't even look at me. She was talking to Freckles, leaning in toward him, asking him questions.

"Had you ever been in a fight before? "

Freckles shrugged, he didn't seem to realize that he was being flirted with. "Yeah, couple times."

"Oh my goodness," Morgan gushed, "that's so scary. What was it like?"

What was it like? I noticed she was sitting really close to him, her leg was actually touching his, and as I watched she laughed at something he said, leaning forward to brush his forearm with her fingers. She was flirting with him.

I tried my best to keep a straight face, to keep everyone from seeing how angry I was. I couldn't seem to stop my hands from curling into firsts though, or relax my jaw. Luckily the conversation turned to other things, distracting me. Amazon was ranting about Sloan and his cronies, that they were too cowardly to just get it over with and attack. My stomach roiled in protest at the thought.

"You want them to attack?" I said.

"Beats sitting around," she said muttered.

"Calm down, you animal," Beefcake punched her in the arm goodnaturedly.

I noticed he had a shiny black pistol right next to his bowl of oatmeal."What's this? You expect a gun fight over breakfast?" I laughed and it sounded high and nervous, even to me. "Is the oatmeal that good?"

Beefcake gave a hearty chuckle. "No sir! But I would shoot anyone who tried to keep me away from my breakfast."

Freckles leaned forward, tearing his forearm out of Morgan's grip, making her pout. "You never seen a gun before, boy? You staring at that thing like it might jump up and dance the conga any minute now."

I tore my eyes from the gun long enough to make an unkind face at him. "Of course I've never seen a gun. I'm seventeen and my dad's a smarmy car salesman and my mom's hardcore religious. When would I have got to see a gun besides playing duck hunter on Nintendo?"

Beefcake and Freckles both roared with laughter, and my triumphant feeling was only slightly dampened by Morgan beaming at me and gushing, "You are sooo funny, Lucas."

"He is very funny." Amazon winked at me and I grinned back.

"Are you expecting an attack this morning?" Morgan quirked an eyebrow at Beefcake, who shook his head. "Not anymore than usual. It happened to be digging into my ribs. Everyone just relax."

"Where's..." I stopped myself from saying "tattoo guy", digging into my memory for his actual name, "where's Darren?"

"On watch," Beefcake reported. "Just took over for me."

Aden sauntered in then, her hair still wet from a shower. I knew it was from a shower, but seeing it wet again still made me grin like an idiot. She caught me looking and her cheeks flushed, but before anyone could catch on she said loudly, "What's for breakfast?"

Amazon winked and beckoned her into the kitchen. "The best oatmeal you've ever tasted in your life."

I noticed Morgan was staring at Aden thoughtfully, and I almost hoped she would put two and two together.

Thanks for reading! More coming soon! In the meantime come chat with me over on facebook, by searching facebook for E. Latimer Fan Page.

-x0x0x E.