Enigma (3 page)

My temper flared and I felt my temperature start to rise. I felt it start in my feet as a slow tingle. I knew it was coming. The temper I had gotten from my dad had the tendency to come on so quickly that I never had time to try and take control of it. When I lost it, I always felt as though someone had replaced the blood in my body with kerosene—as it got hotter, the angrier I became. I now felt the tingling heat of anger over more than half of my body rising toward my head. I knew when I felt my face flush with heat that soon everything would go black and I would once again have no recollection of what happened until it was over.

It only took me two and a half hours after I had come back to full consciousness to find the place sparkling and smelling like a house should. I was finished in record time and couldn’t help thinking even Mr. Clean himself would have given me a well-deserved pat on the back for my efforts. Unfortunately, I became so exhausted that I didn’t think I should drive for fear of falling asleep at the wheel or being pulled over and suspected of driving under the influence. I pulled out my phone, debating on texting Lena to let her know where I was, but didn’t. I hadn’t asked what her plans were before I left the house and didn’t want to interrupt her if she was busy. More than likely, she was probably out on some hot date with some hot guy that she met in some questionable place while wearing some provocative outfit, which danced on the thin line between sexy and inappropriate. The more I weighed the options, the heavier my eyelids felt. I fought the urge to sleep as long as I could, but before I knew it, exhaustion had won the battle and I was sound asleep on the couch, forgetting all about Lena.

As I had come to expect with every sleep, along came the nightmare. The same nightmare I’d had every night for the past three years since my parent’s death. As always, I woke up in the dark sweating profusely and gasping for air as my heart threatened to explode out of my chest. I thought maybe it would have gone away as time passed or at least would not come as often, but I had not gotten so lucky. The nightmare was just as terrifying tonight as it had been the first night it occurred three years ago.

I concentrated on steadying my breathing and slowing my heart rate, which wasn’t as easy here on Sharon’s couch as it was at home. Maybe it was because I was leery of who had done what on this piece of ragged furniture, or maybe it was just being near Sharon at all that put me on edge. Generally when this happened I went to the library and read until I felt sleepy again. Tonight that certainly wasn’t an option.

Giving up on trying to go back to sleep, I turned on the cheap dollar-store lamp that sat on the particleboard end table and looked around. Deciding I would much rather drive home and lie down in my bed that felt like a cloud so that I could at least be comfortable for the remaining hours I rubbed my eyes trying to wake up. Looking at my cell phone, I saw it was 2:00 a.m. That was about right. The nightmare always occurred around the same time every night, give or take a few minutes. I didn’t bother leaving Sharon a note, assuming she wouldn’t remember anything about calling me, and even if she did, it wasn’t like she was going to be appreciative in any form or fashion of me going out of my way to pick her up and then vigorously cleaning the rat hole of a dump she called home. I looked around, making sure I didn’t leave anything, before grabbing my keys and heading out the door. I knew if I left anything in this house I would never see it again.

Outside the air was chilly and the dew was beginning to form on the grass. I slid behind the wheel of my new, metallic blue Volkswagen Beetle and turned the engine, hearing it purr to life. I was so proud of my first car. I’d saved up and bought it right off the lot in cash. My dad would be proud. I often wished he could have watched me drive off the car lot in it on my sixteenth birthday. Not only did I love my car but, I had my MP3 player loaded with my favorite songs ready to go as soon as I started the car.

Before I pulled out of the gravel drive, I plugged my cell phone up to the car charger, noticing I had a text message. Clicking the button to read it, I noticed it was from Lena.

“Hey, what’s your 10-20?” Lena loved using police code shorthand for some strange reason.

It showed to have only been sent ten minutes ago, so I replied, hoping she hadn’t fallen asleep yet.

“Had to go rescue the town drunk again. Got to her house and well, you don’t want to know. Words just can’t describe. I should’ve taken pictures. On my way home don’t wait up.”

“How exciting. I was out and about myself. I’ll give you details over breakfast at Spirits. Meet me at 7?”

“Roger that, over and out.”

Spirits was the kind of place that made you feel at home, even if not for the staff that provided excellent eye candy.

The owner had told me once that he named it Spirits because no matter how bad your day was after being here it would always lift your spirit. The fresh smell of espresso, the scent of assorted muffins and scones coming out of the oven, and the free Wi-Fi were all selling points for me when it came to spending time at Spirits, but I had to admit the best thing about Spirits was Avan.

Avan had moved here six months ago, transferring to Oceanview High School. He worked at Spirits as a waiter before school and during the evenings after school, alongside his best friend Bradley Morton. He had transferred into Oceanview from being a home school student and was now in my Spanish and history classes, which meant that I spent a good majority of my day staring at him. I admired Avan from a distance since I had never really talked to him unless it was to give him my order.

I had thought about how amazing it would be to strike up a conversation with him, but I was too shy to ever consider it a real possibility. Being such a chicken, I resorted to the usual girl behavior—writing his name all over the pages of my notebook when I was supposed to be taking notes in class.

Avan was one of those guys who had to know he was gorgeous. It reflected in everything he did—from the way he walked to the way he had every girl in school staring and drooling as he walked down the hall. He was also one of those guys who had brains as well as looks, making him seem as though he had a smart remark to everything that anyone said, which was a bit intimidating. He had a confident attitude that could almost be mistaken as cocky, and I couldn’t help being drawn to it.

Even though most everyone else thought he walked around like he owned the universe, I sensed something different about him. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but he just wasn’t like the other run-of-the-mill, obnoxious males at our school. Not to mention, he sat in the row beside me two seats up in both classes, so I was distracted by looking at him all the time.

I suppose the mystery of where he lived and that no one knew who his parents were only added to my fascination with him. He never talked about his home life at all, and no one asked. Even his best friend, Bradley, who I had a class with, never talked about going to his house or anything.

One thing I did know was that Avan Rork was the most attractive person I had ever laid eyes on. It was obvious by looking at Avan that he packed his off work time at a gym somewhere. He wasn’t bulky muscular, but the tight white t-shirt definitely showed off the definition of his exquisite physique. His arms were the kind you dream about getting wrapped up in and never letting go. Avan had a square jaw, perfect teeth, full lips that begged to be kissed, and a dimple in his right cheek when he smiled. I wasn’t sure exactly how tall he was but even when I wore heels, he was still slightly taller than I was.

He always wore Aqua di Gio cologne that screamed my name, begging me to push him against the wall and kiss him with everything I had.

I glanced down at my watch, seeing that it was five minutes to seven. Sitting back, I sighed, hoping the exhaustion would leave with it, but I had no such luck. I knew Lena would be at least five minutes late. Lena has always liked to make an entrance so it never shocks me for her to be fashionably late.

It was 7:15 a.m. when Lena finally pulled up in her new, shiny, black Corvette. Damien trades the cars in every year for new models, so Lena always had the hottest car of anyone at Oceanview. Walking in the door wearing snakeskin heels, a black mini skirt, and a low-cut top that caught every male’s attention in the room, she spotted me and waved. Lena waltzed to the bar where Avan was putting money into the register and leaned across the counter in her low-cut top, making sure to give her most
come and get me if you dare
vibe out. Avan picked up a pen and asked her what she wanted, ignoring her attempts at flirtation. She finally picked something, and he scribbled it on the paper without even looking at her before turning away.

“I don’t get it!” Lena said as she took the seat opposite mine. “Maybe he’s gay.”

“He is certainly not gay, Lena!” I almost choked on my coffee as I laughed.

“Well, he certainly isn’t an easy one to tempt, which is weird, because he could have definite potential! Everyone knows he could be with any girl in school if he wanted.” Lena wrinkled her nose as she lifted a perfectly shaped eyebrow.

“Wish he’d pick me,” I added under my breath so that Lena didn’t hear.

“I’m telling you that boy has no idea what he is missing!”

“Maybe he’s just really focused. I mean, if he flirted with all the girls, then they would come to Spirits to see him, they would spend money while they’re here, and
voila
, he increases business! But then a catfight would break out, cops would be called, you know how it goes. Things could get ugly really fast!” I retorted, trying to divert her attention by slurping my coffee. I thought,
I would come spend every dime I had if he flirted with me!
while sitting back and taking in how perfect he looked behind the bar, even though he probably had no idea I existed.

“He is a cocky, smart-mouthed jerk anyway. What would a girl possibly want with him anyway, except on an adventurous and playful encounter? He’s a little too perfect to be a keeper. He’s the kind that I would have to chase down and capture. But that’s what duct tape and gags are for! Just stick him in the trunk and run off with him if and let him go once I got bored.”

Lena never ceased to amaze me with what came out of her mouth at a moment’s notice.

“So I have a proposition,” she continued with a snaky grin on her face. “I have this friend, and he doesn’t have a girlfriend, and since you don’t have a boyfriend I was thinking maybe—”

“Lena, are you seriously trying to hook me up with a blind date?”

“Let’s not look at it using ugly terminology like that.”

“If I don’t know him, it’s a blind date!” I couldn’t stop the involuntary rolling of my eyes after my response.

“Okay, but you kinda know him.”

“Have I met him?”

“Well no, but I’ve talked about him so you know of him.” Lena had that tone in her voice that was tinted with a
pretty please
.

“Who is he?”

I could tell she knew I would give in, so she was excited to bait the line.

“Okay, remember last summer when I went with Daddy to that movie shoot for a month?”

“Okay, I’ll bite, keep talking.”

“Well, remember me telling you about the guy that was super cute that was hired to help set up lighting?”

“Vaguely, but I’ve slept since then, and considering that you tell me about at least three different guys every week, it’s hard for me to remember specifics.” I really didn’t like where this was going, but I got the impression Lena didn’t really give a rat’s hind end.

“So okay, he is moving here next week. He graduated last year, just turned eighteen, is incredibly hot, has a great personality, and I really think you would look cute together.”

“Great.” I dragged the word out so that she could see I was not enthusiastic.

“All right, so I’ll take that as a yes. Here’s the deal. He’s going to be in town as of this weekend, so I’ll have him pick you up at eight on Saturday.”

“What? You just said he wouldn’t be here until next week!”

“No, I said he was moving here next week, which means the moving van with all his things will be here Monday. He is coming in this weekend so he can be ready when the moving truck gets here. So be ready by eight, no excuses!” With that, Lena went to the restroom, only returning to change the subject.

Even though she had started on another topic, my mind could not get over the whole idea of hers. That is when it occurred to me that Lena already had this entire thing planned. I didn’t have a say in this at all. I started to panic when the thought hit me that I had no idea what this guy looked like, what his interests were, or even where we were going. Lena had changed the subject, ranting on and on about her date last night, but I didn’t hear a single word she said as I sat in terror, dreading this blind date with mystery guy. Surely he had to be okay as far as passing a background check anyway. They don’t let people with a dirty rap sheet work around celebrity movie sets, right? I tried to ease my mind by telling myself that at least Damien probably knew who this guy was, but I still had overwhelming anxiety.

Looking at my cell phone, I noticed it was already ten minutes till eight.

“Okay, guys, I’ll be back this afternoon. I’m gonna head out for class!” Avan yelled out to the other employees as he walked out the door and sprinted for his white Mustang that was parked right in front.

Once again, I wanted to say something to him, but I was too shy and too late. Lena and I hurried to our cars and headed toward the Oceanview High School parking lot, five blocks away on Summerset Avenue.

The drive to school was always the same from Spirits.

As I started going again after another red light turned green, I realized I had not even asked what my mystery date’s name was. I still could not believe I was going to let Lena go through with this. Blind dates in my mind translated into events for losers who could not get a date on their own. Was I really a loser? I sure knew I felt like I fit right into the loser club at this moment as the words
blind date
echoed through my head. How had I gotten to the point of allowing my best friend to set me up with a complete stranger? I may as well have asked Sharon if she knew any guys from the bar that wanted to go grab a burger and a movie. Okay, perhaps I was exaggerating a bit with that comparison.