Everlasting (9 page)

“Oh, Sophia, you’ve no idea what that means to me.” He reached for my hand again, bringing my fingers to his lips. I jumped, my heart thumping through my chest as he held it there. This was all new and foreign—I’d never had a guy do this to me before. The closest I had ever been to a guy was standing at arm’s length at the school dance with Jimmy Yale.

“And as for those girls, they meant nothing—don’t even come close to comparing to you. I know this sounds bad, but I was using them to make you jealous. It was stupid, I know, but that’s what you do to me.”

“Well…it worked.” Another nervous laugh escaped. My head buzzed, light and airy.

Tate pulled me in tight and held me there. His heartbeat battered against my breast, pounding restlessly. My stomach lurched and I bit my lip, body quivering. I couldn’t believe this was really happening. Awkward and stiff, my movements were disjointed.
Am I even doing this
right?
I didn’t know what to say, where to put my hands.

He held me for a long time, then we walked along the beach, hand in hand.

He stopped and pulled something out of his pocket. “See what I found?”

His hand opened up to rainbow-colored seashells resting in his palm, all in different sizes. “They’re cool.” I forced myself to look up into his eyes, resisting the pull of my head trying to bury itself in my neck.
Be strong. You can do this.
My eyes lifted and I stared into his, resting my smile there. I did it. My lips were shaking and eyes twitching, but I did it.

“They’re not just seashells, either. They’re homes for hermit crabs. You see, hermit crabs are always looking for new homes to move into when they get too big. Never truly satisfied, they seek, trying to find a better place. But once they find it—that perfect one—they want to remain there forever, knowing it’s exactly where they’re supposed to be.” His eyes glowed like he knew from experience.

We hunted for hermit crabs and found quite a few crawling on the sand. Some of them moved fast. Tate showed me the difference between a thinstripe and a flat-clawed crab. He found a big thinstripe and put it in the palm of my hand.

“Yuck.” The urge to shake it off overwhelmed me, and I shuddered. “I don’t like the way they feel. They freak me out.”

We watched the crab crawling on my hand. I struggled to hide my expression of utter fear, and couldn’t keep from wincing.

He laughed and picked it up. “It’s okay, they won’t hurt you.”

We searched for more seashells as Symphony jogged ahead of us, scaring seagulls and terns that ran along the beach.

She ran back to us, and Tate rubbed her head, scratching behind her ears. “Good job, girl. She’s been out here long enough to know that those are the kinds of birds that eat hermit crabs.”

After we had a pocketful of seashells and a couple of hermit crabs, we continued walking. I let Tate carry the crabs. “Let’s get out of this chill and take a ride. You wanna?”

My eyes downshifted and I gulped. I bit my bottom lip. “Sure…of course.” A flash of heat whizzed through me. This meant I would be locked up in a car with him…for hours possibly. Something about that made me panic. If he only knew how bad I was at trying to talk and carry on a conversation, he never would have asked me. What would we talk about for that long?

“We’ll walk to my house, get my car, and drop the crabs and seashells off. Put ‘em in my aquarium.”

We walked closer to where Mandy and Matt sat, and I froze, my shoulders tightening. My breathing bursting in and out…explosive. I couldn’t speak.

Gathered around Mandy and Matt, in a tight circle, were the eight black-cloaked men. They called out grotesque chants, ramming spears and tridents in the air and taking sharp jabs at Matt and Mandy. My knees weak, I struggled, almost collapsing. Tate walked on, pulling me. I couldn’t believe he didn’t see them.

When we got nearer, a smaller cloaked one cavorted in the center of them all. I stopped and looked closer, my head reeling. My heartbeat raced, erupting. Lidia…it was Lidia Forester—the lady from the plane. She danced around in the middle but wasn’t jabbing at Matt and Mandy. It was at the cloaked men, like she was trying to chase them away. The tight hood pulled in around her face made it hard to see her, but the black mole on her nose made her unmistakable.

Unable to hold it in any longer, I screamed, the full force of my lungs and Tate’s ears taking the brunt.

Tate stopped, turning toward me. “What’s wrong? You hurt?” He gripped my shoulders, coddling me into him.

“Don’t you see them…they’re right there….” I screamed again, pointing. Then I buried my head into his chest, horrified.

“What are you talking about? It’s just a couple of empty chairs.” His eyes blinked wide, but he held me close.

I pulled away, my mouth falling open. Dazed, I peered at the two empty chairs where, just a moment ago, strange, horrifying things had taken place. My quivering fingers touched my parted lips as I stood there staring, unable to comprehend.

I shook my head. “I don’t understand…my friends…they were here…. Evil, cloaked men danced around them…with spears in their…” Tate looked at me, a dumbfounded, questioning look rippling across his face. My brow wrinkled, my stomach queasy. I placed my quivering hand to my forehead.
What is
happening?
Something had to be wrong with me when nobody else was seeing the things I was.

Tate grabbed my hand, and we continued on past the Ice Cream Shack. “Let’s go back to my place for a while. Maybe you need to rest.”

W
e kept
on moving and ran flush into Brian. Tate let go of my hand and stepped back. His resistance strong…the discontentment pushing through me.

“Hi, Sophia, get your mind cleared? You wanna hang out, now?”

I winced. He actually had the nerve to stop and talk to me when I was obviously with someone else. Tate stayed silent. Not knowing what to say with Tate standing beside me, my words stuttered. “I did…but I’m with someone else now, Brian. I need you to leave me alone.”

Brian twitched his shoulder, giving me a look like I was half crazy. “Okay, if that’s the way you want it.” The hurt ran deep in his voice, and a pang ripped through my tummy for being mean. He kicked at the sand with his sneaker. “But if you ever need to talk, you know where to find me.”

I nodded. “Good-bye.”

“Bye.” He turned and walked away, giving two quick looks over his shoulder.

I shook my head, ashamed at the bad circumstances. “I’m so sorry, Tate.” My voice sounded weak. “That’s the nerd I told you about. The gall of him to walk up to me with you standing right here. He doesn’t get it.”

His eyes swept me in as he gave me a muted smile. “You don’t need to apologize.” His eyes carried a pained expression. “On a better note, I think you got rid of him.” He laughed, reaching for my hand again as we continued on to his house.

“
T
his is it
.” He pointed to a glass house a short while later. His house sat farther back from the beach than Mandy’s, but was still very close. If I would have known which one was his when I was looking for him, it wouldn’t have been too hard to find. A for-sale sign stuck in the front yard took me by surprise.

“It’s beautiful, Tate.” The round house was made entirely of glass. Large, French doors opened out to the ocean. It was a peculiar-looking house, but beautiful, nonetheless. A black convertible sports car sat in the drive. “Is this all yours?”

“Yep, sure is.” He opened one of the French doors to let us in.

I stepped inside and looked around, my mouth slackening at the high ceilings and the intricate woodwork. “And why are you selling your house? It’s beautiful. I’d never sell a house like this.”

“I just need to get rid of it.” His voice became firm and his eyes scraped over me. “A guy like me doesn’t need anything like this.”

Classical music played in the background. The bare house looked like he’d already moved out. Just a table with four chairs sat in the kitchen, and a tweed couch rested in the corner of the living room. Tate’s smell, his shaving cream, edged my nose as we went through the room and made our way back to his bedroom.

He pulled me with his hand and led the way down a narrow hallway. “We’ll put these little guys in the aquarium, and then, if you want, we’ll do some sightseeing. Have you been around the city, yet?”

I shook my head. “No, just mostly the beach.”

“Well, we’ll just have to change that. There’s way more to do here in Charleston than just the beach.”

He opened the door to a large room. A king-size bed sat in the middle for him, and a bright red wool dog bed was tossed beside it for Symphony.

Along the east wall, two aquariums sat on a long table. I stepped up closer to look at them. “These are really cool.”

“This one’s my dry one. It holds these crabs, snails, and anything else I find that doesn’t need water.”

I peered inside. Hermit crabs and snails crawled on the sand and around rocks. Some of them were big, living in giant seashells that he had hauled in at one time or another.

In the other tank, exotic, saltwater fish darted, showing off their array of colors.

“These are neat, as long as you’re not swimming in the water with them. But what’s that one? I’d hate to meet him in a dark alley.” I pointed to one with gruesome spikes.

Tate laughed. “That’s a lionfish. He’s poisonous, so don’t stick your hand in the tank.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Ha, believe me, I won’t be doing that.” My toes curled. “My best friend Mandy about had to break my arm to get me to snorkel with her.”

A smile drifted over his full lips, and his eyes danced over my face. “Snorkeling’s fun, but I prefer to scuba dive.”

“You go down into the deep?” I shivered at the thought.

“Oh, yeah, that’s how I got all these fish. Scuba diving’s my life. I love to find fish to bring back up here to my aquariums. But enough about fish. Let’s go out for a drive, and I’ll show you around.”

Symphony curled up in her dog bed, glad to be back home. We went out to his little sports car, and he opened the door for me, gesturing with a sweep of his arm to climb inside. I got in, and he shut the door, then went around to the driver’s side and climbed in.

The car rumbled to life, and the tires squealed as we tore off down the street. It was too cool to take the convertible top off, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I didn’t need the wind making my hair even more unsightly than it already was.

Butterflies whisked my stomach. Tate cranked up the radio as a country song played, and we rode for a while without saying anything. Every once in a while, we’d catch each other looking at the other one, our gazes flashing. We’d turn away, our smiles shy.

We rumbled through the city. He showed me the shopping malls and his favorite hangout places with his friends.

He glanced at me, his fascinating smile curdling my stomach even more. “You wanna get something to eat?”

“Sure…I could go for something.”

He pulled into a burger place, and we went in and sat down.

A tall, thin waitress came over, dressed in a pink striped skirt, pen in hand. She chomped on a piece of chewing gum, her mouth moving viciously up and down. “Can I get ya somethin’?” Her gruff voice rattled out, and her breath, smelling like a three-pack-a-day smoker, polluted my nose.

I looked at Tate and waited for him to order, but he didn’t say anything. “Are you eating?”

“Naw, I’m not all that hungry. Go ahead.”

The waitress eyed me mockingly, and I stuttered, wriggling in the booth. “Don’t you want something to eat or drink?”

“Nope, I’m fine.” His lips twitched, eyes fixated upon my mouth.

“I guess I’ll just have a basket of fries and a grape soda pop.”

The waitress gave me another ludicrous look like I was wasting her time. She rolled her eyes, her gum snapping. “Is that all?”

“Yeah, that’s it.” I cleared my throat, shaky hands smoothing down my hair.

We sat and talked while we waited for my food to come. He wanted to know all about me—what my family did, how many were in my family, what my plans were after high school. I barely got the chance to ask him about himself. The intimate look he gave me while he watched me talk melted the nervous knot in my stomach, calming me. His eyes read me, deciphering as he played with the salt-and-pepper shakers.

I told him my entire life story, and about my dream of going on to law school after I graduated, and becoming a lawyer. Amazed at how easy he was to talk to, I licked my dry lips. “So, what does your family do?”

“Not much, really.” His face clouded, became troubled, and his eyes shot away to glance at the couple in the next booth.

“Do they live around here? Do you see them much?”

He hesitated, still looking away, then turned to face me, his forehead creasing. “We haven’t seen each other in months.” His words were short and to the point. “They don’t live around here.”

I’d hurt him. I didn’t pry any more.

“It’s okay.” I awkwardly placed my hand on his. “You don’t have to tell me.”

“I don’t mean to be a downer. It’s just that certain things happened, and they’re really difficult to talk about.” He watched me, measuring my expression.

The waitress brought my food, but my appetite had vanished with his words.

Tate watched me pushing the fries around in the basket. “Aren’t you going to eat? I thought you were hungry?”

I pulled my mouth to the side and rubbed my arms. “I guess I’m not as hungry as I thought.”
I’m such an idiot. Why did I make him talk about things he would rather forget?

“Enough of this doom and gloom then, let’s go see the rest of the city.” He tugged me up out of the booth.

We drove around. People were out everywhere, each doing their own thing. My words flowed with ease, and we got immersed in conversation. Midnight flashed back at me when I looked at my phone. I hated to see our time together come to an end, but I couldn’t stay out all night. “I suppose you’d better take me back to Mandy’s. It’s getting late.”

In no time at all, we were pulling in front of Mandy’s house. He leaned closer. “Can I see you again tomorrow?”

“Sure…I’d love to see you again.” My tone was charged, sounding too eager. I absentmindedly scratched at a new, itchy bump on my forearm. Those things still refused to stay away whenever Tate unhinged me.

My insides quivered when he pulled me close and caressed my face with his fingers—their coldness penetrated me. He stared at my mouth, and a smile advanced across his face. Then he took my face in his hands and brushed a light kiss across my lips.

My insides wouldn’t calm down. He pulled me in tighter, his lips forceful this time. I knew he felt my lips quivering.
Am I doing this right?
The moment couldn’t have been more surreal. My very first kiss…I eagerly waited for the fireworks that I expected to go off. There was none of that. It may have been because my eyes were closed…or because my heart sprang open, and I got lost in him. At that moment, I decided I could very well spend every waking hour of my life doing just this.

“Good night, Sophia.” He pushed the hair back from my face and nuzzled his chin into my shoulder.

I couldn’t speak, the sexy distraction pounding inside me…insurmountable. “Good night.”

He opened his door and got out, then came around to my side, opening the door—a true gentleman once again. I waved one last time before I disappeared into the house, imagining his hot gaze following me.

The house was dark and quiet. With my insides a tornado, I tiptoed upstairs and collapsed onto the bed, my thoughts incoherent. Then I pulled out my journal.

June Thirteenth,

Like a smoke ring drifting in thin air, you came back to me. Just like that, you were standing before me, wanting all of me, for eternity…. I finally found my Tate—the man meant just for me. The man I plan on spending eternity with. The reason he was gone for so long was that he was hurt, thinking I had a boyfriend. This made me happy to know that he has feelings for me, but I also felt a little bad for hurting him like that. I had no idea he even saw Brian Tarris sitting by me. All is resolved now, and I think he is going to ask me to be his girlfriend. I’m hoping so anyway. I’m so happy, although, sometimes, I scare myself with these strange visions. I know they’re not real, but they’re frightening, nonetheless.

Sophia Bandell