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scapegoat, but the others had argued me down.
     
    "Look Krista, we already know we're not normal, obviously," Sam had said, indicating Haniel who was still outside. "But we can at least act like we are every once in awhile. Plus, don't forget you already promised your mom we'd swing by the hospital on the way."
     
    With that one statement, Sam had sealed the deal. I couldn't deprive my mom. Being cooped up in the hospital for weeks now was wearing on her, and I knew she felt like she was missing out on my last few weeks of high school.
     
    "Maybe the training this morning will kill me," I grumbled, climbing out of bed. "Come on Feline, let's go change." I said grumpily, grabbing some clothes on my way out the door. I could hear Lynn laughing behind me as I trudged down the hall. "Whatever, Lynn, keep yucking it up?" I said, a little louder than necessary.
     
    "What's up sis?" Shawn asked , coming out of the second guestroom he was sharing with Robert.
     
    "Oh nothing," I said, not wanting to complain again. I hated it when people harped on stuff, and I didn't want to be viewed that way.
     
    "It'll be fine," he said, not having to read my mind. "We'll stick together the entire night and don't worry, everyone will be so busy living up their big night, they won't give you a sideways glance," he added, ruffling my bed head before darting into the bathroom ahead of me.
     
    "Hey, I was here first," I said, pounding on the door and stomping my foot in frustration.
     
    "You can change in my room," Mark said, coming up behind me with a steaming cup of hot chocolate. My mouth began to water just looking at it. "What's wrong? Oh you want this?" he asked teasingly as he handed it over.
     
    "Thanks," I said, flushing just slightly as he gave me the once over. I always felt so self-conscious when he saw me in the morning, all rumpled looking, but he recently confided in me that he loved seeing me that way. That he would love to wake up to me looking exactly like I did now.
     
    Knowing what he was insinuating made my body heat up each time I thought about it. The mental picture of waking up in his arms was definitely something that got my blood boiling. And by the glint in his eyes, I could see he was thinking the same thing without even entering his thoughts.
     
    "Um okay, I guess I'll go change," I stuttered, backing up from the oddly intimate moment. "Thanks for my drug," I added, indicating my mug of liquid gold.
     
    "No problem," he replied, still watching me with his burning gaze.
     
    I closed the door behind me sagging weakly against it. "Hormones my butt, that guy is just smoking hot," I told Feline as I changed my clothes.
     
    ***
     
    Twenty minutes later we were once again assembled on the sand facing Haniel. Despite my jokes this morning about it killing me, I was pretty apprehensive about another round. By the looks on Lynn and Sam's faces, I could tell I wasn’t the only one. In fact the only one out of our entire group that looked relaxed was the flipping seven foot Angel that would be assaulting our emotions in a moment.
     
    Haniel had spent the entire night outside. I wasn’t sure if he actually stayed on the beach or went somewhere else.
     
    "All right, let's begin. Remember Guides, though the images may be disheartening, use them to your advantage. They are there to help make your job easier. You must focus on changing the pictures they have, thus giving them back an emotion other than the one they initially had," he said, preparing us for another round.
     
    I closed my eyes and focused on the task at hand. I felt the emotion that Haniel was sending slowly creep toward me. I steadied my breathing and prepared myself for today's onslaught of pictures.
     
    I cringed when the first picture flashed before my eyes of a sad child huddled in a corner, only to be replaced with another of a man clutching a belt in his hand. In the next image, the belt sailed through the air. I jerked back in horror, trying to