Part 15 (1/2)

”What! And he kissed you! What a jerk!” She explodes, and I bite back my smile.

The bell sounds then, signifying the end of lunch break. I'm glad to have spent the alone time together. We both really needed it.

After the last cla.s.s, I wait outside the school's main doors for my best friend to appear. She soon joins my side, laughing at something funny one of the guys with her must have said.

”Ready?” I ask her, and she nods in agreement.

”Bye guys,” she calls over her shoulder as we rush towards the other bus stop opposite the road. I texted dad to let him know that she is coming, but wouldn't stay long.

So when we get off the bus and walk the short distance up the road, he is not surprised to see us.

”Hallo girls!” He calls, as he sc.r.a.pes off part of the old window sill from inside the bedroom. Grandpa puts out his hand to say hallo too. Grandma then comes from the back of the house and greets us.

”This is my best friend A.M.” I promptly say.

”What?” Grandfather asks puzzled.

”Anne-Marie!” She says to him.

”Are you feeling okay today?” Dad asks, stopping his scratching and scrutinizing my face.

”No she is not,” Anne-Marie b.u.t.ts in even before I can respond. ”She looks like she barely sleeps!” She says, and I stick out my tongue at her.

”Are you not resting well?” Dad asks, not bothering to wait for my response. ”Maybe you should get a break today. Go do something with your friend.” I open my mouth to protest, but Anne-Marie giggles out excitedly.

”Yeeiy, perfect! We can walk over to Rundskov Park. It is just a 10 or so minute walk away!” She rushes on excitedly.

”Perfect, and maybe you can finally do some homework, for I know you haven't had time for it.” Dad finishes off. The notion makes me happy, I would love to visit the Epitome, and what he said about my homework is right on point.

”Are you sure you don't need my help today..?”

”Go on, before I change my mind!” He says. I do not need much more encouragement.

Anne-Marie and I follow the main road for a short while, before branching into the forested area from a different place than I had the first time I visited the park.

The Essence is even richer here than back at our house in R. I bask in it, inhaling deep and long. Anne-Marie's hand is hooked into mine, and she looks up at me smiling, her beautiful warm grey eyes twinkling in turn.

”You are glowing, Caroline!” She exclaims, b.u.mping into me playfully. ”You really needed this, huh!”

”Yeah, I think I did,” I admit to her. We make it to the clearance of the park, and I pause momentarily to admire the view.

”It's beautiful!” She says, tugging me forward. I jerk forward to follow her and we find a spot where delightful slightly warm sunrays stream in. She plops herself onto the ground, ignoring the park bench beside us under the shade. I do the same.

I pull out books from my bag, and start with last week's essay on traffic accidents in Denmark, in Danis.h.!.+ Great! I take out my iPad and start typing away, using my phone's network as a Wi-Fi hotspot to research online. Anne-Marie works silently beside me, pouring over some math problems we received early this morning.

I don't need to look up to know that an angel has sat on the bench beside us. When Anne-Marie doesn't react, I know that the angel has placed himself in the other dimension. He is invisible to her. I look up and meet his bright green eyes with warm orange speckles.

Great! Azrael must be my babysitter for today! However, I do not feel the anger towards him anymore like before. In fact, I think I have come to like him. Yes, I know, I'm terrible at keeping grudges!

”And hallo to you too,” he says to me, giving off a cheeky smile. A quick glance at Anne-Marie's head still bent over her math problem confirms that she cannot hear him. I nod at him in response, and then bend over my work. We work in silence together for about an hour, spread flat under the wonderful warm caress of the sun's rays.

When Anne-Marie is done with her homework, she places her books back in her bag, takes out her sun gla.s.ses and then turns to lie on her back, facing the sun. She lets me work on in silence for a few minutes, but then she starts getting restless, s.h.i.+fting her position every other minute. I know my friend well enough to know she does not want to play boring anymore. I finish up what I am working on quickly, and then set my stuff back in my bag.

When I look up at the park bench again, I see that two more angels have joined the angel of death. They are the ones I met my first time at the park. The same ones that had flown past me the Sat.u.r.day we'd gone fis.h.i.+ng. They are just as big and strong as my angel entourage, but they do seem different, in the presence of Azrael. Like all the rest in my entourage seemed different in the presence of Raphael.

”You mean when we first saw her, she was just pretending not to see us?” The female one is asking in disbelief.

”She is a very good actor, Araqiel!” Azrael says to her, and I roll my eyes at him, turning instead towards my friend.

”Do you want to go for a walk?” I ask. She promptly jumps to her feet, and I laugh lightly. ”I guess that's a yes!” We pick up our bags, and turning our backs on the angels, walk towards the other side of the pond.

I am not scared of the angels, now that I know they don't want me dead. I have also never seen them harm a human, so I feel confident in the fact that they would not harm my friend. Like the teenage girls we are, the conversation soon turns towards boys, specifically Mikkel. I let her vent, that is what good friends do, even though I am bored out of my mind.

We walk up to a wooden bridge built over the middle of the small pond. We walk up to it, and stop in the middle, bending over the railing and looking at the water below. She continues talking about Mikkel, something about a party once where he declared her the prettiest girl in town, or something like that. I do not pay much attention to her, just remembering to nod once a while, whenever it feels necessary to do so.

I instead stare at the beautiful view in front of me, wis.h.i.+ng I had my sketch pad with me. The lovely golden glow settling over this park is exquisitely breathtaking. How can such a beautiful place exist in the world? I inhale the heavy air, like a drug addict getting his. .h.i.t, and feel the Essence travel through every inch of my body.

Exquisite!

”..Will you come with me then?”

”Mmh...”

”Caroline?”

”What?” I snap out of it, realizing I'd been asked a question. Anne-Marie frowns at me.

”Will you come to Aarhus with me Sat.u.r.day, for dress shopping?”

”Oh! No I can't,” I answer her. ”My weekends, sadly, are all accounted for until the house is complete.”

”Oh! But I need you to help me pick out the perfect dress for Mikkel's birthday party!” She pouts. d.a.m.n, I must have missed a lot of this conversation.

”Ask Charlotte, besides she has better tastes in clothes than I do.”

”Charlotte can't this Sat.u.r.day, I told you!” Uh-oh.

”I am sorry, I can't either. But I'm sure you'll find a perfect dress.” I say apologetically.

”I'll just go with mom,” she shrugs.

We start making our way back, as her bus is in twenty minutes or so.

”Do you have a dress?”