Teen Ink

Matchmaker's Mansion: Ch. 5

Asha licked her lips, remembering the three kisses from two days ago. She could still taste the strawberries from the last kiss.

As Shaun looked over her papers, she examined his desk. Off to the left she noticed a glass model of a man.

“Shaun?”

“Yes.”

“What is that?” she pointed to the glass miniature of a man standing on his desk.

“That, miss, is a Deum,” he picked up the glass model. “This here,” he pointed to something floating inside of the glass. “is the love demon that inhabits a Deum.”

“That is so strange. Can I see?” she took the glass model from his outstretched hand. She looked through the foggy glass to a floating ball inside of the man. The ball was a purplish color with threads of black surrounding it. She looked closer and noticed that inside the ball a light was pulsing every so slowly as though it were alive.

“So they’re like demon-possessed humans?” Asha said as she put the glass man back.

“You are correct…but they’re only folklore just like werewolves and elves and other such things. I’m very fascinated with them in the same way that many people in our culture today are drawn to werewolves and vampires.”

“Ahh…” Asha said, nodding her head.

“Well,” Shaun stood up, “shall we take you to your session?”

She smiled and nodded. Following behind him, she focused on his red velvet suit, watching the tails of his jacket flap back and forth as he walked. The air chilled her face as they walked down the corridors and she wished she could go back to the Sun Room again.

Shaun stopped and turned to look at her. “Today you finally get what you’ve been so patiently waiting for. You get to meet them!” He opened the door before them, but all inside was pitch-black. She looked back over her shoulder at Shaun, who had stepped in with her. “Just wait- you’ll see.”

She flinched when a bright light flashed down into the center of the room, illuminating the person standing there. His blonde hair was nearly white with the light. Another ray of light burst on at the left for her to see the figure of a tall person, the light bouncing off the tips of his spiked hair. When the last light on the right shone down, she could only see a shadow, like a black piece of paper had been cut out of the light in the shape of a man.

The whole room gradually brightened and the white spotlights faded to leave the room at a golden glow. Before her eyes, in the center of the bare room stood three teenage boys all dressed up in matching black suits.

“Asha!” The middle one raced across the room to her, enveloping her in a quick squeezing hug. He let her go, keeping his hands on her shoulders to hold her out at arm’s length. “You’re just like I imagined!” Chase smiled, the slight gap between his two front teeth only making his smile cuter. A mixture of caramel, honey, and pale blonde hair curved across his forehead to cover his right eye. The seeable eye, a blue-green color, sparkled with happiness.

As she gazed up into his tan face, she had to wonder why he had been worried about her not liking him because of his appearance—he was absolutely stunning.

Her eyes drifting down, she noticed his disheveled appearance—his untucked white shirt underneath his black suit jacket and his loose tie resting beneath his unbuttoned collar. She had the urge to reach out and fix everything but stayed where she was.

“Wow, you’re so short! Like a little dwarf,” Chase showed her with his hands, one at his own 5’10” and his other one lowered down six inches to her own height.

“No,” Asha smiled. “You’re just tall.”

Chase rubbed the back of his head, fluffing the shorter layers of his hair. A small silver loop jangled from his ear. “I never thought about it that way before,” his eyes widened like he had just discovered treasure and he turned to look at someone else. “Then Ever must be a giant compared to you.” He took the other person by his arm, pulling him over to squish him right next to Asha.

Asha looked up from her shoulder pressed against his arm, to his face. Ever was looking down at her with a good-natured smile. “Good to see you,” Ever said. His hazel eyes burned down into hers, entrancing her instantly.

“Wow! He is a giant! You’re not scared of him because of your height difference, are you Asha?” Chase’s visible eye saddened, loosing a few sparkles.

Asha managed to tear her eyes away from Ever to look at Chase. “No…” she looked back at Ever, her voice drifting a little. “Not at all.”

“Good, just think of him as a giant teddy bear,” Chase put his arm around Ever’s shoulders, using his other hand to ruffle Ever’s chestnut hair.

Ever pushed Chase away with an annoyed look, then tried to smooth his hair back up into its previous spiked state. He smiled when he caught Asha’s eyes looking him over.

“Don’t hurt yourself thinking too hard,” Ever said. Asha flushed and looked away, but found herself glancing at him again. She had been thinking that if there ever were such things as vampires, Ever would fit in perfectly with them—his sharp features and lean tallness, his wise old eyes in a young face, and his deep voice that spoke in an old tongue. When she looked at him she couldn’t help but have the feeling that he didn’t belong.

Realizing that there was still one more she hadn’t met, Asha willed herself to look away. Looking over Chase’s shoulder, she tried to see the last boy by standing on her tiptoes. Chase turned to see what she was looking at.

“Oh, right! You haven’t met Shay yet, have you?” He took her hand, running his thumb gently over her skin, “Our second touch…” he grinned, his face turning a little pink, “But who’s counting?” Chase led her over to where the trio had previously been standing in the spotlights. Shay stood exactly where he had been, on the right.

“Hey, Shay,” Chase bumped the guy’s arm which was holding a book up in front of his face. “Stop reading the dumb thing and start creating you own story,” Chase grabbed the book out of his hand, but Shay kept his hand poised like he was still holding the book. Above his hand, a gray eye flashed open to look down at Asha. Looking into his blank and empty eyes, Asha hoped with all her heart that he hadn’t been the third kiss. Suddenly she felt so much smaller standing in front of Shay than she had next to Ever.

“Hi, Shay,” Asha smiled, one corner of her mouth falling a little lopsided.

“Aww, see how cute she is,” Chase said, his grin the exact opposite next to Shay’s dead-pan look. Shay kept his eyes locked to Asha’s as he reached over and took the book from Chase’s hand, positioning it back in front of his face so that Asha could only see his black hair over the top of the book. Chase’s face was at first of pure shock, but then his eyebrows lowered. “Shay,” Chase said in a threateningly deeper voice. “At least say hello.”

No response.

Chase grabbed hold of Shay’s white dress shirt and shoved him back against the wall, his face inches from Shay’s. “I’m warning you, if this is how it’s going to be then—“

“Chase, calm down,” Ever suddenly appeared, laying a hand on Chase’s shoulder, but Chase wouldn’t let go of Shay’s shirtfront. Ever’s hazel eyes glanced over at Asha’s horrified expression. “Chase, Asha’s watching.”

Chase snapped out of his anger and looked over his shoulder at Asha. Immediately, he let go of Shay’s shirt, realizing what he was doing. He hung his head as he turned, his shiny variety-blonde hair covering both of his eyes, “I’m sorry, Asha.” He straightened. “My wild side gets the better of me sometimes,” he ran a hand through his hair and smoothed it in the back, smiling his apology.

“Please, forgive us,” Ever said politely and steered Chase away to a door, Chase willingly going with him like a lost and confused puppy. The door closed behind them, leaving Asha to stand before Shay all alone in an uncomfortable silence. A sweep of Shay’s dark locks covered eyes and Asha took the opportunity to look him over. Dark hair framed his face in jagged cuts, emphasizing his harsh jawline. He was the same height as Chase, but as he leaned against the wall he looked infinitely smaller.

Asha reached down and picked up the book he had been reading, dusting off its cover as she stood up. In golden letters, Romeo and Juliet decorated the cover. Glancing from the book to Shay, she couldn’t understand how the two could possibly mix. Not knowing what to do with it, she nudged the book against his dangling hand. His fingers clenched around the spine of the book and she let go.

With one final glance, she pivoted 180 degrees and exited through the door she had entered.

Shay’s eyes opened to focus on the book in his hand, trailing up to the door. With a sigh, he slid to the ground, folding his knees to his chest. “‘Parting is such sweet sorrow,’ ” he whispered, peering through the strands of his dark hair at the closed door.