Juliet Immortal

mistakes; I’ve made mistakes. The important thing is we don’t have to keep making them. We can stop worrying about who hates who and just try to love each other.”
    She looks up, eyebrows arching. “You really don’t … you don’t think I’m awful?”
    I meet her gaze—so vulnerable and hopeful—and know that I don’t. And Ariel won’t either. She never has. All she has ever wanted is her mother’s love, her approval. “No. I don’t.”
    Melanie sobs softly, and fresh tears fill her eyes. “I … That’s good to hear.” She sniffs, then laughs at the sound. “When did you get so smart?”
    “I’ve been studying. I hear you have to be smart to make it as a nurse slash artist.”
    She smiles. “I do love you, Ariel.”
    “I love you too, Mom.”
    “But I don’t want you to get pregnant,” she says, the abrupt change in direction making me blink. “Not until you’re married and you really feel you’re ready.”
    “Okay,” I say, embarrassed by the conversation.
    “I’m serious.” She takes my hand, squeezes it too tight. “We can go to the clinic now. I know they’d fit you in and you canget a prescription for birth control pills. Or they have IUDs if you want something more long term that you don’t have to think about every day. They’re perfectly safe. But either way, you need to use a condom too to protect against disease because—”
    “Mom, please. I’m not in any danger. I promise. Ben and I aren’t even …” What are Ben and I? I don’t know, and that’s a subject I know is better left alone. “We’re friends.”
    “I just want you to be careful.” Her forehead wrinkles. “Especially with this boy. He sounds rough.”
    “He’s not rough.” I sigh, wishing we’d stopped while we were ahead.
    “I mean, I know Dylan’s no angel, but he’s never been arrested. Mrs. Felix said Ben has a police record, Ariel,” Melanie says, stuffing her used napkin in her purse. “The only reason they let him enroll in SHS was because his brother and a couple of other people from the sheriff’s office vouched for him.”
    “But I know why he was arrested,” I say, struggling to be patient with her concerns. “He had this neighbor whose boyfriend was beating her up. He called the police, but he was afraid they wouldn’t get there in time. And the police dropped the battery charge, so—”
    “Oh, well, great.” Melanie rolls her eyes.
    “He was only protecting her.”
    “Like he was protecting you today?”
    “Ye-es.” Something in her voice makes me certain my answer won’t satisfy her.
    “Ariel … violent people usually have a good excuse for why they’re violent. But even a good excuse is just an excuse.”
    The argument I’ve been composing dies on my lips.
Even a good excuse is just an excuse
. Is she right? I have every reasonto kill Romeo, but can any reason excuse murder? Or is my love for Ben, my fear for his safety, simply a lie dressed up as justification, violence disguised as justice?
    “You might want to step away and think about that before you and Ben take your friendship any further,” Melanie says.
    “Ben’s a good person.”
    I, on the other hand …
    “I’m not saying he’s not.” She sighs and reaches for her door. “But when we go for that meeting tomorrow, you need to think about your future.”
    “I don’t understand.” I follow her. The second I leave the car, my skin breaks out in goose bumps. I’m still soaking wet. I need a warm shower, not another lecture.
    “I’m saying you need to make sure Mrs. Felix and Mr. Neville know Ben and Dylan aren’t the kind of people you usually hang around with.” She wrenches open the screen door and slides her key into the lock. “Ben may be a criminal, but you’re not.”
    “He’s not a—”
    “You’re a good kid who—”
    “So what are you saying?” I interrupt, pausing on the steps instead of following her into the kitchen when she opens the door. “I should blame him? Throw him to the wolves?”
    “No.” Melanie turns back to me with a frustrated sigh. “But Dylan is saying that you two planned this attack.”
    “Like I said before, he’s lying.”
    “Well, he’s apparently got a witness who heard you saying that you and Ben were planning to corner him in the theater today before school.”
    “What?” A witness? I’m guessing that’s Jason Kim, the only person in school as full of lies as Romeo. “That’s impossible.Dylan’s just convinced one