Bloods Gem (23 page)

Holding me down he looked into my eyes.

“
I’m here Faith. It’s me Daniel. I’m
here.” His hand went to my head and I calmed. I knew done something
to me to bring me back to reality. My head burned where his hand
sat. My breathing became steady again and I apologized for hitting
him. “It's okay,” he said. “Tell me about your dream.” I didn’t
want to talk about it, but asked him to stay with me. He held me as
I fell asleep in his arms.

I woke with a clear head but the things I
dreamed about were still bothering me. I had to push it away, so I
could concentrate on school. I also thought I needed some distance
from Daniel. He dropped me off at school and I headed for
class.

I concentrated as much as I could in
classes, but Daniel consumed my thoughts. I found myself day
dreaming about him, coming back to reality when someone coughed or
sneezed around me. After third period Kate and I went to lunch in
the cafeteria. We had made up and went on as if nothing had
happened. Soon the others followed. Mike, Drew, and Melissa. We
were all sitting around the lunch table eating and talking when
Chris walked up. We hadn’t talked since our fight and I felt
uncomfortable.

Everyone got quiet when he sat next to me.
Mike gave him a look and Chris nodded as if they had a silent
exchange. Mike and Melissa got up to leave and Kate touched my
shoulder saying she’d see me later. Soon after Drew followed.

Picking up my tray I stood.

“
Please stay,” Chris said, touching my
hand.

I shook my head, “Why should I?” I asked
glaring at him.

He looked down. “You got this all wrong.
Kate told me what you thought I was capable of, and I would
never…”

His eyes pleaded with me and wanted to
believe him. I sat my tray back down on the table and took my
seat.

“
Alright, I'll hear you out, but it
doesn’t mean anything will change.”

He smiled. “I admit I was wrong by the way I
acted and the things I said were uncalled for. And yes, for a split
second, I lost it and I’m sorry. But I don’t hit girls.”

“
But you thought about it?” I asked
curious.

He sighed. “I don’t really know what I was
thinking. I mean, I was so hurt and angry and everything was
happening so fast, but believe me when I say this Faith, I would
never ever hurt you. I would never think about harming you in that
way.”

I wasn't
sure
how to respond. I knew if I were in his shoes and he did that to
me, I would probably feel the same way. And I would have probably
slapped him or punched him. “Alright,” I said, playing with my
food. His eyes widened.

“
So you forgive me?” He asked,
hopeful.

“
Yeah I guess. But Chris, You
know…”

“
Don’t worry, I wont
interfere.”

“
Thanks,” I mumbled.

I punched him in the shoulder and got up.
The bell rang and he hurried to give me a one-armed hug. “See you…”
I said. He smiled as we parted ways. I was scared to tell Daniel
that I forgave Chris because I didn’t want him to think Chris was
competition and I knew he already hated him. But I didn’t want to
lie either and he would eventually find out. I would tell him when
I felt the time was right.

Mom picked me up after school and wanted to
take me out to dinner and to some book stores. In Fayetteville we
ate at a Mexican restaurant. Talked about a guy she met at work and
that she was going on a date with. I was excited and proud of her
for trying to be more social. She didn’t give much thought to
dating after my ex-step father and her divorced. I was just happy
she was giving it an effort.

After dinner we went to Hastings. They had
books, movies and music in one store. I decided to pick out a movie
to watch and figured I would spend a few nights at my moms for
distance from Daniel. In the drama section I found the movie I
wanted. Nosferatu, an old silent vampire movie Daniel had
mentioned. Turning the corner, I bumped into someone dropping my
movie. I scrambled to pick my movie up and looked up.

“
Chris… what are you
doing?”

“
Obviously the same as you,” He said,
reaching for my hand to help me up.

“
Thanks,” I said, surprised to see
him.

“
You’re following me now?” I
asked.

He shook his head and laughed. “Nah. You
give yourself too much credit. You could be following me for all I
know.”

“
Yeah… Right,” I said, shaking my
head.

“
So what did you find?” He asked,
trying to peek at my movie.

I held it closer to my chest. “Oh it’s
nothing…”

“
So where’s your boyfriend?” He asked
sarcastically. I tried to walk away, but he grabbed my arm. “I’m
sorry I didn’t mean to piss you off again,” He said. “Its fine, I
just…” I had seen him looking over my shoulder at something.
“Darla, how are you?” I turned around to look. Mom hugged Chris and
I shot her a look. She ignored me. “Chris we haven’t seen you in
awhile, where have you been hiding?” She asked, smiling. “Oh you
know… I’ve been hiding in the usual places. Cemeteries, oh and not
to mention stalking young, helpless girls in the night,” He said
laughing, while giving me an awkward look. I cringed inwardly. Mom
noticed my annoyance but I didn't really care. It seemed she still
liked Chris, almost more then Daniel. She had mentioned a few prior
that she wanted me to have time away from Daniel. She told me it
was unhealthy and to hang out with friends and have fun without him
by my side constantly.

I tugging on her arm, to go. “It was nice
seeing you Darla” Chris said, seeing I was impatient.

She smiled. “Hey why don’t you come back
with us and watch a movie? Wouldn’t that be nice Faith?” I glared
and she ignored it. before I had time to make up an excuse he
agreed to come.

I yelled at her on the way home. “Calm down
Faith. You need to hang out with other people. You know you can’t
cut others out of your life just because your in love. It’s just
not fair.”

“
You know what’s not fair, is not
asking me first, before inviting my ex-boyfriend over, who is
probably still in love with me and who my current boyfriend
currently hates!”

“
Oh… Come on now. Daniel couldn’t hate
anyone.” I laughed at her comment. She had no clue how much Daniel
wanted to rip Chris apart. I kept my mouth shut and decided to just
go with it. There was nothing more I could say at this
point.

Watching the movie I picked out, mom turned
in early to leave me and Chris alone. I was already upset at her.
What did she think? I would just to be all over him like nothing
happened? There was no way she was going to try to force him on me.
I knew it wouldn’t work. Romantic feelings for him were gone. When
the movie ended, I walked him outside. We talked about our next
project in English and I agreed to be his partner as long as I
didn’t have to do all the work this time.

“
Well I better get to bed”

“
Yeah, but Faith… text me if you ever
need to talk or anything. Or, call. I don’t mind.”

“
Thanks. You too,” I said smiling at
him. After he left I thought about what he said about staying in
contact. Being around him wasn’t as bad as I imagined. It felt good
talking to him as a friend. I thought this little get together was
probably what I needed. I needed friends again and I knew if I ever
needed Chris, he would always be there for me.

I laid down and checked my phone to see if
Daniel had text. That’s weird… I thought. He was usually blowing up
my phone constantly, but he probably knew I needed space.

I sat my phone back down and picked up my
book. Started reading and my phone buzzed. A text from Chris.

Hey thanks for tonight. I was feeling down
and you helped me come out of my funk. Thank you for letting me be
your friend again. I will be here forever if you need me.

I text back.
“You too Chris. You know how to make me feel better and
you're welcome. We need to do it more often!

Yes! We do… uh wanna ditch tomorrow?!

Ha-ha. Well doesn’t sound too bad actually.
What ya wanna do?

We can go to our old spot or just chill and
watch movies at my house if you wanna?

Lets have breakfast in the morning and watch
movies all day. Sound fun? HELL yea!

He picked me up the next morning. I told Mom
our plans and she was seemed happy about it kissing my head telling
me to have fun. Hopping in his truck, the smell of his same cologne
overwhelmed me. “Damn, you bathe in that cologne or something?” I
asked.

He laughed. “Nah it’s the air freshener
remember?”

“
Oh I forgot!” I said smiling. We went
to a diner in Siloam Springs, called Back Forty. They had awesome
breakfast. We ate quickly and chatted about Kate and Mike. He told
me Mike was going to propose on the anniversary of their first
date. “That’s so sweet,” I said smiling. “Yeah, I planned how I
would do it when you got back,But it was too late…”

“
You planned?” I
was shocked.

“
Yeah. I bought the ring and
everything. No biggy. That's the past.”

I couldn’t believe he was going to ask me to
marry him when I got back. I didn't think we were on that level at
the time. I was flattered and sad at the same time. I knew how bad
I hurt him if he was that involved. I would have rejected his
proposal anyway.

“
Sorry,” I mumbled under my
breath.

He put his hand on mine, “Don’t be… you’re
happy. That’s all that matters. And it’s all I’ve ever wanted.” I
smiled and shook my head. “What?” he asked. “I just don’t see why
you’re so nice to me after all I’ve done to you. Why would you want
the best for me when I was so selfish?” “When you love someone,
that’s what you do. You have to let them go if it’s what they want.
I can’t force you to love me and I knew you never would.” “Thank
you for being so…. Understanding,” I said.

“
No. Thank you for being
you.”

I laughed. I knew I would always have a good
friend in him, for as long as I needed him and was grateful for
that.

“
You ready?” I asked.

“
Yeah let’s get out of this joint,” he
said standing.

He paid the ticket and we set off toward
home. After we picked up the movies, we decided to just go back to
my place.

We watched movies all day. Mom called and I
told her Chris and I were sitting at the house. She told me not to
wait up, that she was going on a date and might be late. I told her
to be 'safe', she laughed and hung up. I told Chris about it and he
laughed his ass off. Looking at my phone to see the time, “SHIT!” I
said, texting Daniel to tell him a story so he wouldn’t come
looking for me.

“
What?” Chris asked.

“
Well I think Daniel was supposed to
pick me up for school today. I just text him telling him I was
sick.

“
Ah,” he said unamused.

“
So, what do you want me to cook you
for dinner?” I asked, smiling at him.

“
Really? You’re going to cook for
me?”

“
Yeah. why not?”

He shrugged, “What’s your specialty?” he
asked.

“
I can cook anything. What are you in
the mood for?”

“
Hmm… How about some Chinese food? Can
you cook that?”

“
Yep. Let’s go to the store and get
the stuff.”

We went to the local grocery store. I bought
some chicken and vegetables and some rice. Back at the house, he
unloaded the groceries. It felt good having him around like this.
It was actually fun. I showed him how to cook chicken and rice with
steamed veggies. It was nice teaching someone something for a
change. I was used to being instructed by Daniel instead of me
doing the instructing. It made me feel useful again.

He played rock music on the radio as we
cooked and we foolishly danced around.

After dinner we went outside to enjoy the
evening. Sitting on the porch, I decided to mention the argument
Chris and I had about London.

"I have to ask you, and sorry to bring this
up again but are you sure that day you weren't going to hit
me?"

"Faith, I've told you already, I would never
physically harm you. You should know me by now. I'm not that type
of person. I promise."

I told him about my bad dreams and he put
his arm around me trying to comfort me. My stomach knotted up and
soon after I was in pain. The pain I get when Daniel was close. I
held my stomach and he asked me what was wrong. I told him it was
nothing and we continued to talk.

Daniel sent me a text, saying
have fun with Chris
.

Upset that he was spying on me again, I text
back, Chris looked worried. “It’s fine. Just having some issues,” I
told him.

He got up and told me he better go. I knew
he probably knew something was up from my expression. I told him
I’d call later and he took off.

Daniel

I dropped her off at school wishing I was
going to class with her. I hate leaving her alone like this, but I
was sure she was safe and she would want a little breathing room. I
felt as if I was suffocating her at times. Maybe I was pushing her
into the living situation with me too soon, even though it was for
the best of intentions.

Earlier she was distant. I figured it was
because of the bad dreams she was having. But the vibes I picked up
from her were different. It was almost as if she was repulsed by
me. I could have been reading her wrong, but the thought hurt.