Captivated (An Affliction Novel) (21 page)

“You need a special treat.” Shane said through his aluminous smile.

Shane opened the door for me and before I could adjust myself in my seat, he was already sitting next to me with the door shut and engine humming. He took me to an ice cream shop near my neighborhood. We sat outside under a huge umbrella to eat the ice cream. I had a banana cream shake and Shane was eating an Oreo blast. It was the only ice-cream shop in town. It was usually busy, especially after school. We were watching the different people come and go. Shane wouldn’t stop talking. He was hitting up every subject imaginable making time go by so quickly. I immediately felt comfortable around him, as if we’d been friends for years.

“I have a question for you.” I told him.

“Uh oh.” He said as he licked the ice cream off his spoon in such an inviting way.

“What’s up with you and Dean?” I asked not thinking of the consequences of talking to Dean’s friend about him. The consequences of course, being my humiliation.

“We have a unique relationship.” Shane answered.

     “Do you guys always argue? Why does he always seam mad at you? You don’t have to answer me if you feel it’s not my business.” I said. “It’s just…weird.”

“Consider it a form of having to deal with each other. But let’s not talk about that loser.” I gave him a sharp look. Just because we weren’t together didn’t mean I was going to tolerate someone talking bad about him. Then he continued, “Don’t tell me you’re interested in that clown? You’re wasting your time. He’s too dull to know what to do with a girl like you.”

Shane immediately changed the subject. In fact he had many different subjects. So many different things he knew about the world. We argued back and forth about our opinions. A lot of the times he proved me wrong. For some reason, I enjoyed the challenge of trying to prove him wrong no matter what the subject was. Before we knew it, the sun was starting to go down. My half eaten ice cream was melted in its cup. Shane’s was empty. We threw away our trash and headed towards his vehicle, but he stopped in front of me before we reached it.

“Let’s walk.” He said while gleaming his convincing smile.

I couldn’t say no and I really didn’t want to. He was numbing some of the pain I had been feeling since Dean had broken up with me. I didn’t want to feel the full force of the hurt just yet. I nodded my head in agreement and walked in the direction of the neighborhood with him.

It got darker as we approached the entrance to the neighborhood. It was a windy trail that had no room for walkers. There were no sidewalks in some parts of Austin, so we had to walk on the grassy division beside the pavement. On some streets, the road was all people could walk on because of all the trees along the side were in the pathway. Shane was able to get us out of the road way long before I would notice a car. We didn’t talk for the entire walk. We just enjoyed our surroundings. It was crazy, I would always walk by this area to get to my jogging site, but I never really took it all in. There was a small river nearby and from what I could barely see; there was a bench in front of it. A gigantic tree leaned over the water, cascading to cover the calm water. On it hung a long rope that almost reached the surface. I imagined kids running on the ground towards it and leaping over the edge of the water to catch hold of the rope. I smiled at the thought. 

Before it got even darker, I looked deep into the forest, trying to find something else I could awe about. Then, I noticed the figure again. It was halfway standing behind a tree. It was definitely the same one I had been seeing. It had to be. But I was too far to see a description of who it was. Even though the figure stepped out from behind a tree exposing himself, he was still just a figure. No light landed on him to show his identity. He was facing us…just staring.

“Do you see that?” I asked Shane while pointing at it with my eyes. “It’s the same person I’ve been seeing at night. I think he’s been following me around.”

“How do you know it’s the same guy?” Shane asked with doubt in his tone.

“I don’t know what he looks like, but it’s got to be the same one.” I added.

“How long have you been noticing this?” Shane asked, not seeming too concerned about a guy following me around.

“I don’t know, maybe a week.” I said.

“Only a week?” Shane asked unimpressed.

“Yeah?” I said, unsure of where this was heading.

“Every night?” Shane asked.

“Ummm…not every night. I’ve noticed here and there.” I said.

Shane smiled and gave a soft and seductive chuckle. As if there was some inside joke he was remembering. He was acting as if this were a normal thing. I wished Dean were here. He would storm right up to the person and sock him in the face. No questions asked. Just like he did with Ayden. Ayden? Could it be him?

“I don’t think that person is much of a threat to you.” Shane confidently said while setting his hand on my upper back to guide me to the entrance of the neighborhood.

Shane stood on the sidewalk in front of my house. He refused to come any closer to the door. I waved him goodbye and shut the door. My hurt was creeping out again. It had been there the whole night, but now that I had no distractions. It was far worse. The cold took over me leaving me shaking. I went upstairs and pulled Deans folded shirt out of the closet. Bringing it up to my nose to smell the cologne made me sad. The smell was gone. I clenched it to my chest and dragged my feet to the bed. I dove under the blankets without changing into my pajamas.

After hours of tossing and turning, I couldn’t get any sleep. I wanted to do something special for Dean. Something that would win him back, even if it was only a fraction of him. But it would have to wait till morning.

rose up and dusted the soil off of my knees and hands. The sun was starting to come out, I finished just in time. I walked around to examine my work. From what I could remember, Dean’s mom, Rose, had some lavender here along the walkway leading up to the lemon tree. I was able to plant everything else but the lemon tree. There were many patches of soil around the yard where I had planted seeds. I tried to picture the yard when I had seen it when I was a child. A mixture of purple, yellow, and white flowers blossomed along the brick yard. There was a lemon tree with a stone pathway leading to the French doors of the house. In all the extra space, she had grass. I planted grass seed, but that wouldn’t come out for another week or two. Luckily, I didn’t have to come back and water everything because it constantly rained here in Georgetown. I re-soiled everything so the plants would be able to grow. My work here was done.

Weeks went by. Dean still continued to ignore me in the hallways and especially during class. For him, my seat was an empty space. I still wasn’t used to the new routine. The hurt never stopped, it never even calmed down. I felt like I was being tortured inside. The agony was slowly killing me and would linger just as I was about to give my last breath. But I would live, each and every time; I would live the torture all over again. I thought of changing classes so I didn’t have to go through the pain while sitting next to him, but just the thought of not being close to him ate me up inside. I wouldn’t be able to have complete separation from him. Not just yet.

“Did you want to hang out tonight?” Markus asked while pulling out of the school parking lot.

“No. Not really.” I said. I stared blankly out the window.

“You need to get out of the house Mindy. It’s been almost a month. We’re worried about you.” Markus drilled out.

“Who’s we?” I asked.

“Everyone. Me. Tanya. Your mom even called me.” Markus admitted.

“Oh. Well I’m tired.” I lied.

“Really Mindy…Really?” Markus continued, “From what? What exhausted you to the point where you can’t even hang out with your best friends? Who, by the way, have never been too tired to hang out with you.” Markus raised his voice a pinch.

I stayed silent. The rest of the way home was dead silent. He was right. I had put them aside, even though I was physically still around them, I acted as if I weren’t. I refused to do it again. Not to them, my friends didn’t deserve that. They were too important to me. Markus pulled up to my house with one tire halfway on the sidewalk curve. He got out of the car to open the door for me and grabbed my book bag. I walked behind him to the front door where he handed the bag to me.

“Look. I know you’ve been going through something and I’m sorry. I don’t like seeing you like this. You don’t smile anymore. We used to joke around and now you’re a mute. You may not have noticed it but we have. We want you back Mindy.” Markus blurted out. Without letting me speak, he turned around and headed to his car. Before he reached it, he called out to me.

“I’ll pick you up at eight!” Markus started the car. “Not eight thirty! Eight!” He called out just before hitting the pedal and disappearing.

“Ok.” I said to myself gripping the book bag with determination.

After doing my chores and staring out into space, there were a couple of hours left before I had to start getting ready for my night out with Markus and Tanya. I decided to take Zeke for a walk before it got too late. I latched the harness around his chest and tied my hair up. His excitement always showed through his shaking body and smiling eyes. The things I found most amazing about loyal dogs, was that they contained true love for their master or family. They are always happy to see you come home. And when you reach down to pet them, it’s like the best thing in the world to them. They never dump you and leave you lonely.

Zeke stared up at me and tilted his head to the side. I bent down to hug him in appreciation as he shook even harder. He couldn’t contain himself. He stood on his hind legs and rested his forearms on my shoulders. I squeezed him tight and stood back up.

We walked towards the forest as we usually did. As we headed for my trail, I couldn’t help but to look in the direction of the waterfall. I couldn’t hear it or see it from where I was standing. I was too far. The urge to walk to it came to me. I shook it off and continued ahead. Because of the season change, it was getting dark a lot earlier than usual. By the time I left the house, the sun was already setting. The crisp coolness hit against my exposed skin. The sweater kept the rest of me warm.

Zeke tugged at the leash leading me in the direction of the waterfall. I didn’t resist the change of course. I inched my way past the fallen tree that marked the entry way I always took. That wasn’t here yesterday. It wasn’t as mature as the others. Standing, the tree had to be at least ten feet tall. Strange, I didn’t remember there being a wind storm or anything that could have knocked it over along with its roots.

As we got closer, I began to hear the falling water splashing against the clear pool beneath it. The sound was peaceful. It reminded me of the tender moments Dean and I spent at that very same waterfall. A piercing emerged in my chest; the kind that makes you double over and cry out. I was used to it though. Every time I thought of Dean and how close we were, the pain
strikes. That feeling didn’t stop me from going to what used to be a hideaway for me. I came up to the water and enjoyed the view of the clean liquid. I was able to see the tiny black fish following each other in jetting speeds along the surface. Catfish and bass usually stayed close to these fish, but I had never seen them there. It was like a getaway for the smaller fish too.

And that was when I saw it. Something large was down there. The tiny fish swam away in all directions, frantically trying to get away from whatever else was in there. As I looked closer, I noticed that it was a person. I brought my head up and scanned the forest before me. Dean’s motorcycle was hidden behind a tree in the distance.

“Crap!” I shrieked when I saw him coming towards the surface.

I didn’t know why, but I high tailed it away from there. I crouched down behind a bush that was several feet away from the water. Zeke sat next to me attentive to whatever I was hiding from. My heart wasn’t pounding fast it was just hitting hard against my chest. I felt like such an idiot hiding from Dean. It’s not like he was going to go all psycho because I was out here. I took a gulp before peaking through the bush that blocked his view from me. Luckily, he wasn’t facing me. The muscles of his back were shifting under his olive skin as he stretched out his arms. He then jumped up and down in place as he jiggled his arms. It was like watching a boxer warming up before a fight. Dean turned away from the water and his front was now in my view. A fresh slash ran across his stomach. Whatever cut him got him good and it wasn’t too long ago since it happened. Something inside me was reacting to the cut. I wanted to help heal it. I urged to clean it and bandage it up for him. Before I could stop myself, I leaped out of the bush.

“Are you okay?” I asked as I ran up to him. I didn’t care if he didn’t want me to. I didn’t care if he would push me away, just as long as he would let me help.

Dean said nothing. He just stared at me in shock. My focus was on his cut. From up close, I could see it was still bleeding.

“Come with me. I have a first aid kit at my house.” I ordered.

“You shouldn’t be here.” Dean said as he stepped away from me. His head swooshed from side to side, scanning our surroundings.

I remembered the first aid kit he kept in one of his bike compartments. “Hold on.” I said and ran to his motorcycle. I flipped open the one that didn’t have a lock. There was a thin rolled up rope sitting on top of the first aid kit. I moved it aside and grabbed the small box. I swiveled around to head back only to crash into Dean’s chest. A cold pain hit my chest followed by a warm rush that eased me. I looked up at him; he was looking down at me. His eyes locked on mine.

“Let’s-” I cleared my throat, “let’s clean that up.”

“You shouldn’t be here.” Dean said again.

“Isn’t there anything else on your list of things to say to Mindy? Why? Why do you always say that?” I waited for an answer; his eyes were softening as he looked down at me. “You don’t want me around you. I get that. Let me just bandage your cut and I’ll be out of your hair.” I gulped as I imagined running my fingers through his soft black hair.

Dean walked around me, trying not to make contact. It was way too obvious. He slowly turned around and sat against the seat holding onto the bike with his hands for support.
Wow.
The view I saw before me should have been on the cover of some hunk magazine. ‘TOP TEN OF THE HOTTEST HARLEY RIDERS.’ I knelt down so I could set the box down. Trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, I wiped my mouth against my sleeve, just in case I was drooling.

The thudding in my chest began to hit harder than before. I fumbled through the box and pulled out some Neosporin, alcohol wipes, a large gauze, and medical tape. I ripped open the alcohol wipes and brought it up to Dean’s cut. I lightly dabbed at it and his skin tightened as the wipe made contact. The cut was already starting to scab, he must have gotten it last night or something. I quickly dabbed the whole cut and set the wipe down. I grabbed a cotton ball from the box and covered it with Neosporin. I spread it on his cut slowly. My eyes were wandering to his abs. I’d never seen them this close. His skin was so smooth, not a hair on it. It was soft, that I knew for sure. When we used to swim together, I found it difficult to avoid touching him. His stomach was coming out as he exhaled and crunching in and he inhaled. His breathing was quick; it was as if he were nervous.

Almost done. I brought the cotton ball down and took the gauze out of the package. I unfolded it and set it on the cut. With the other hand, I fumbled with the tape, but I couldn’t do it with one hand.

“Do you mind holding this in place?” I asked him without looking up. I looked down at the tape, trying to avoid eye contact with him. That was when I felt a jolt of low level electricity flow through me. The warm rushes joined the electricity making me almost hit the ground hard. The source of the feelings were coming from one place. My hand. I looked up at it. Dean’s hand was on the gauze with only his pinky touching mine. I yanked my hand away and crawled back to put some distance in between us. I knew that if I left it there longer, I would have jumped up and hugged him. He would have pushed me away, just like the last time I hugged him. He would have scooped out the shattered pieces of my heart on the spot. And even though he would have left my chest empty, I would have still gotten back up and finished patching up his cut.