Bloods Gem (8 page)

“
Faith and I are going to my house
after school, so I can't go to the river today guys. Sorry,” He
told his friends. They turned their attention to me and a brief,
uncomfortable silence settled over the group.

“
You don’t have to cancel on them just
to study with me,” I said, trying to get the focus off
me.

He turned to me. “You're worth it,” he said.
The girls laughed and the guys rolled their eyes.

The house was a beautiful two-story with a
long driveway. It took a five minute drive to get to the front of
the home. Flowers decked both sides of the walkway leading up to
the door.

Inside, it was even more spectacular.
As we entered, I saw a chandelier hung from the entryway
ceiling.
Art work
covered the
walls. Many of which were oil paintings. The floors were a dark
hardwood. It looked as though they were recently waxed, being that
they were in immaculate condition. The whole entry was about the
entire size of my house and intimidating.

Leading me upstairs to his room, I had to
comment. “Your house is really beautiful,” I said.

“
Thanks,” he said, taking my backpack
and sitting it on his dresser.

“
You can sit down,” he said, pointing
to the chair sitting beside his bed. I laughed nervously and
sat.

Sitting on his bed, he began asking me
questions.

He questioned me for hours, trying to get to
know me. It felt good to have a friend. Especially a friend who
happened to be a boy, who is interested in me and what I had to
say.

I looked at the time on my phone and told
him I needed to get home. He sighed but agreed to take me. We
walked to his truck and he opened the door for me and lifted me up
into the truck.

At home I dropped my bag
on the floor, let my body fall into the chair and closed my
eyes.

I felt good for the first
time in a lo
ng time. The way a girl should feel every
day.

My mom ruined it by kicking my leg. “Hey,
what’s up with you?”

“
Geez Mom, ruin the moment will ya?”
Rolling my eyes at her.

“
I didn’t know there was a moment,”
She said.

I got up and grabbed my backpack from the
floor heading towards my room.

“
So how was your first day?!” She
yelled.

“
Embarrassing!” I yelled
back.

That night I dreamed of Chris. The way his
eyes fixed on me, the way he half smiled and spoke to me. He was a
dream guy. Like a prince, here just for me.

He was perfect in so many ways.
In the dream he kissed me. It wasn't like my
first kiss which went horribly wrong. My second kiss with Chris
felt as if I was adored. And it felt genuine.

Excited when I woke up, I
jumped from bed and decided on what to wear. Feeling more
attractive, I wanted to show off. I dug out a low cut top and a
pair of tight fitting jeans. I quickly took a shower and set off
for school.

The day turned out to be cloudy and chilly,
but I had always loved the cold and the clouds. Most everyone I
knew hated the cold and the rain, but I was an exception. I
disliked the heat, and had the feeling that it was dreadful and
uncomfortable most of the time.

I always wished I’d live somewhere without
too much sun and had thought about Alaska, but It would be too
cold. When the temperature gets below zero, it's too cold for my
skinny body.

Staring out the window thinking about the
weather, we arrived at my school. Mom dropped me off and I told her
if I needed a ride I would call. She wished me good luck and I was
off.

Chris caught up to me before our English
class started. At my locker getting my English book, he touched the
lower part of my back and I jumped.

He stepped back and put
his hands up as if to ward off a slap. “Sorry!” He said, in a
joking tone.

I smiled and shook my head. Placing his hand
on my locker, my heart beat faster as he leaned into me, “Wanna
ditch with me?” He whispered in my ear.

I let myself breath for a second and let
out, “Sure.”

I put my book back in the locker and threw
my backpack over my shoulder.

“
Where we going?” I asked
him.

“
It’s a surprise,” He said taking my
hand into his.

We drove down a bumpy dirt road, woods
surrounding us on both sides. Outside the window, I saw we were
pulling up to a small waterfall. The fall had big rock boulders on
either side of where the water fell. Below the boulders were
clusters of rocks that overlapped each other forming a beautiful
rock wall. The water fell into a river below.

Chris came around and opened my door.
Putting his arm around me, we approached the water. We stepped on
small flat rocks until we reached a small island in the middle of
the rive
r. We s
tood there
admiring the waterfall together.

Standing in front of me,
he
pulled me into his body, leveled his gaze at me and
said, “May I?”

I nodded and he pressed his lips to mine,
gently. I kissed back as he held me closer. His lips felt so
natural, so right.

We kissed for awhile. He didn’t seem to want
to let go of me as we stood there hugging and admiring the
waterfall. I didn’t either, it felt too good to want anything else.
Taking my hand in his, he began to shake.

“
What’s wrong?” I asked
him.

He look up and smiled. “Well, I know this is
so soon and all but Faith…” He gazed into my eyes. “I really like
you. I like being with you. You seem different than other girls and
I want to take you out and maybe if your open to it… Being my
girl.”

He waited for an answer.

I so was elated I jumped into his arms and
hugged him tight. I whispered in his ear, “Only if you let me drive
your truck.”

Laughing, he started tickling me.

Late afternoon Chris dropped me off at home.
Mom was looking out the window when I walked in. “How old is that
boy Faith?” she asked, concern written all over her face.

“
He’s twenty-one,” I
answered.

Her expression told me that she was not just
concerned with his age but more with his intentions.

I jumped in before she could speak her
ever-so-hasty mind. “He’s not that much older so don’t get your
panties in a bunch mom.”

She threw her hands up, “Okay fine. But if
he tries to do anything funny…”

“
Mom!” I picked up my bag and went to
my room as fast as my feet would carry me.
He’s not that kind of guy
, I thought. He never
pursued me in that way, even when we did kiss.

My mind raced toward the
negative. I wondered if he would try to pressure me into make out
sessions or sex.
But then pushed the idea away. I knew
mom would get to me in some way when I decided to get a boyfriend.
I had to block her out mentally if this new relationship was going
to last longer than a week.

Sunday drug by. Chris was out with his
family and I would not see him that night. Feeling depressed, I
thought it could be a sign of obsession, thinking about Chris every
minute and wondering what he was doing and who he was with. I tried
ridding my thoughts of him by looking through books to see which
ones I had not read.

I decided on Pride and prejudice. I always
thought of Mr. Darcy as my dream man. He seemed so manly and
handsome, toward the end anyhow. The way I wanted my soul mate to
be, in my strange messed up fantasy world.

Oh
Mr. Darcy. If only you were real.
What would it
be like to find someone like that, I wondered. But that was
something I could never ask for. Material things didn’t matter much
to me, but it would be nice to not worry about
finances
.

My phone rang interrupting my fantasy and me
and Mr. Darcy‘s intimate time together. “Hello?”

“
Hey Babe it’s Chris. What’cha
wearing?”

I started laughing. I was glad he called but
still a little annoyed he was not Mr. Darcy. “Hmm, I’m wearing this
huge thick sweater and bulky sweats.” I held my hand over my mouth
giggling.

“
Well from my view I see, black
panties and… I cant see the shirt I just see black
panties.”

I jumped up glancing at my window but
I couldn’t see anything because
my light
was on and it was pitch black outside. I hurried to turn the light
off.

“
Baby doll that’s not going to help, I
have natural night vision.”

I rolled my eyes at his cheesiness. “What
are you doing outside my window. What about my mom?”

“
Relax. Your mom's not going to wake
up. Just let me in.”

I started feeling
unnerved
, I hope he’s not thinking…
I thought for a second, then laughed and shook my head.
Falling all over myself and my cluttered room in the dark, I
managed to throw some shorts on and went to the window.

He climbed through, and immediately pulled
me to him. “Don’t spy on me again,” I said.

He chuckled and promised me he wouldn’t.
Putting his hand on the small of my back, he pulled me closer
kissing me. I couldn’t resist. We fell onto my bed and kissed for
awhile.

He stopped to look at me after about five
minutes of light moaning and nothing beyond first base. “You know I
will never try to push you into anything right?”

I glanced at his face, a little confused and
taken aback by the question.

“
What are you talking about?” I
asked.

“
Well, I just didn’t want you to think
that’s what I’m about. You know?

“
I’d wait till your ready.”

Feeling uncomfortable that
he even brought it up. I
didn’t say respond at first,
trying to figure out the best way to address this situation. I knew
he was probably attempting to see where I stood on the subject. I
couldn't believe he would bring that up so soon though.

It will be embarrassing when he finds out I
have never been intimate before, And that I don’t want to anytime
soon.

My body might respond, but not enough
to actually have this conversation. I figured I would wait till I
was married to try. I was afraid, not of the pain, but getting
pregnant and then being expected to '
put
out'
whenever the guy wanted.

Too much pressure, too soon. I
removed his hand and sat up.

“
You need to go,” I said, backing away
from the bed.

“
Did I do something wrong
Faith?”

I pushed him towards the window, “Please
just go.” I couldn’t take it anymore, I just wanted him to leave
and fall down and cry into my pillow. I’m sure to most people the
way I was acting seemed dumb. But I felt pressured by the talk.

I woke up dreading school the next morning,
hoping he wouldn’t be there. If he decided to show up at school, I
would have the opportunity to do what I need to do. Break it off,
so he would not get another chances to hurt my feelings or ideas
about what he wanted from me.

I should have known a twenty-one year old
boy had that on his mind. I had my mind made up. He was not good
for me, if I wanted to save what innocence I had.

I was relieved when I didn't see his truck
in the parking lot. But hoping he didn’t tell his friends
everything so I wouldn’t have to face them too.

In gym, I saw Kate as I walked in the locker
room, but she smiled and walked by me.

Later, on the track, I jogged a few laps
trying to avoid sweating before the day even begun.

Kate jogged up beside me “Hey Faith.”

I glanced at her and smiled. “So where’s
Chris?” She asked. I shrugged like I didn’t care.

“
Well, he called Drew last night and
told him he might not be at school today. Said that he’d made an
ass of himself last night. Do you know what he’s talking about?”
she asked.

I mumbled under my breath and she leaned in
closer trying to hear me.

“
That’s understating it,” I
whispered.

“
That bad huh?” She looked at me
sadly.

“
Really, I don’t want to talk about
it!” I snapped.

“
Okay. Sorry,” she said, slowing her
stride. I shook my head and picked up my pace, leaving her
behind.

The day seemed drug by, but I managed to go
unnoticed. After school, mom picked me up to take me to a bookstore
to get a new book in Fayetteville.

An old rustic used bookstore with two
stories. The stairs leading up to the second level creaked with
every step. I was worried I‘d fall through or off the side and to
my death, since it had no rails or anything to hang onto. We spent
a few hours there enjoying the many titles loaded into each wall
unit.

Struck by Moonlight
so
unded
interesting. A love
story about vampires and werewolves. Obsessed with love stories and
romantic movies, made me realize the money I spent prolonging my
agony, kept me entertained, yet still depressed.

A month came and went. I avoided Chris like
the plague, but I had been working for my sister Tania, who had
just opened a fashion shop with handmade jewelry and clothing. She
had always had a talent for designing things to fit modern styles.
Always fashionable no matter the season.