Fated Dreams (Book One In The Affinity series) (15 page)

No one really
used this space, preferring the larger living room upstairs. But in the center,
under the window, was my shiny, black grand piano. It was an antique and had
been handed down to me by my grandmother, who loved playing it. She was the one
who taught me to play, starting when I was five. Her house was always filled
with music, and I wanted to learn so I could bring some of that home. When she
died of cancer last year I was devastated, but the one bright spot was the
piano. Every time I played, her smiling face appeared in my head. I sat down to
play her favorite song, and then mine.

I had only
meant to play for a few minutes to make my mom happy, but once I started, it
was hard to stop. Half an hour later, I headed back upstairs.

I did my
homework as quickly as possible and changed into my pajamas. As I passed the
window, heading to my dresser where I had left my brush, I saw something out of
the corner of my eye. I leaned my head against the cold glass for a closer
look. There was a dark figure in a hooded sweatshirt standing by a utility
pole, staring up at my window.

I gasped,
taking a step back. When the figure didn’t move, I ran to the door. “Dad! Dad!
Come here!” I screamed.

I heard him
running up the stairs. “What is it?” he asked with concern, standing in the
doorway, glancing around my room for something that had upset me.

“Look outside,
there’s someone looking in my window.”

He ran over to
the glass, and was quiet for several seconds. “I don’t see anyone.”

I stood beside
him, searching the area where I had seen the man, but the street was empty;
there was no one there. Had I imagined it? “I could have sworn I saw someone
standing right beside that pole,” I said, pointing out at the street. “He was
looking right at me.”

He gave me a
hug. “Well, there’s no one there now, honey. You’re safe, okay?” He gently
rubbed my back. His embrace and the familiar smell of his fruit-flavored gum
comforted me.

“Thanks, Dad,
I’m okay, really. I’m tired, though, I’m going to go to bed.”

He let me go.
“All right, see you in the morning.” He shut my door behind him.

I looked out at
the sidewalk again and still it was empty. Deciding I must have imagined it, I
crawled under my blankets.

That night, I
dreamed of walking in the parking lot outside of work, and I knew that I was
being watched. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, and the air
seemed thick. Walking to my car, I could feel someone’s eyes on me. It was
almost the same as the first time I had been followed, but in the dream, I
turned and saw a shadow lurking around a corner.

The next day went by about the same as the
day before. I drove my car because I had to work after school. Lucas met me in
the parking lot.

Our lunch table
was still full of boring guy talk. Emma and I were outnumbered when we tried to
keep the conversation where we wanted.

At work, the
time went by quickly. It was Tuesday night, and we were busy; people loved
cheap night. Zack asked me out again for Friday night, and the words “I have
plans” slipped out before I could tell him that I had a boyfriend, like Lucas
wanted.

After work, I
ran to my car. I’d parked closer than I was  supposed to, but Saturday night
had really freaked me out, and I was worried it would happen again.

After my shower Wednesday morning, I chose
my clothes carefully. I was going to Lucas’ for dinner, so I wanted to look
nice. My black pants went well with the purple silk blouse with a ruffled
collar. I pulled my hair back out of my face then glanced in the mirror. The
girl in the gilded frame looked presentable for an evening with her boyfriend’s
family.

Lucas had to
stop at the store on the way home from school. His mother had called his cell
phone just as we climbed in his car at the end of the school day, asking him to
stop and get some milk.

I waited in the
car while he ran into the corner store. He was quick coming back, carrying the
milk in a plastic shopping bag.

“Are you
nervous?” he asked once we were on our way to his house.

I frowned. “A
little, but not about your parents, just Logan. I haven’t seen him since Sunday
when your mother made him apologize.”

“Don’t worry;
he seems to be over everything. He hasn’t tried to pick a fight with me in a
while, and he hasn’t accused me of ratting him out again either.” He glanced at
me and smiled encouragingly. “Are you ready?” he asked as he pulled into his
driveway.

I shook my
head, but replied, “Yes.” He laughed, leaning over to brush his fingers against
my cheek before closing the gap, touching his lips gently to mine.

When we let
ourselves inside the house, we heard yelling coming from the living room. It
sounded like Karen and Logan were having an argument.

“Mother, why
can’t I go skiing with Jim? Lucas is going to a concert with his friends.” Logan was talking loudly; his voice held a slight whine.

We were still
standing in the foyer, not sure if we should interrupt. Lucas rolled his eyes.
“Here we go,” he whispered.

“You are
grounded, that’s why,” his mother answered him sternly.

“For what,
harassing Sarah? You took my car away, I’m on dish duty at the restaurant, and
I apologized to her. What do you want me to do? Give her my firstborn?” He was
starting to yell.

“Don’t you
raise your voice to me! And no, this has nothing to do with Sarah. I’m proud of
the way you apologized to her on Sunday. This is about picking on some poor kid
at lunch a couple of weeks ago, and ditching four classes.”

I heard a
frustrated moan. “How do you find out about everything?” he growled.

She ignored his
question. “When are you going to grow up and act like a man? Finally become the
good person I know you are?” As she said this, I could see her point; I
believed he was better than he pretended to be.

Finally, Lucas
had enough. “Uh um…” He cleared his throat, trying to let them know we were
there.

“Oh great, the
golden boy and his perfect girlfriend are here to prove how much of a letdown I
am.” Logan didn’t give his mother a chance to respond before he stomped out of
the living room. I could hear him all the way down the hall as he slammed his
door.

Karen turned
toward us, her face looking strained. “Oh, Sarah, I’m sorry you had to witness
that. I don’t want you to think we’re a bunch of animals.”

I laughed
nervously. “Are you kidding? I’m a teenager; I’ve had my share of tantrums.” I
was trying to ease the tension that I could sense from her.

She smiled at
me then turned to Lucas. “Why don’t you show Sarah the rec room? Dinner won’t
be done for a while yet.”

“Okay, Mom,
call us when you’re ready.” He handed her the milk and then led me through a
door off the kitchen. I waved at Nick, who was busy chopping. He sang along to
a song that pumped out of speakers above the cupboards.

The basement
was big, the size of the house. It had comfortable-looking brown leather
furniture, all positioned towards another big-screen TV. At the back of the
room was a pool table and beyond that was Lucas’ heavy bag hanging in the
corner. He turned to me, smiling. “So, you want to play pool, or hit the heavy
bag?”

That sounded
like fun. I stepped over to it and pulled my fist back. “Wait!” Lucas yelled. I
froze mid-swing, and turned around to see him walking toward me. “You need
gloves, or you’ll hurt your hand.”

“Oh,” I said, a
little embarrassed.

He took a pair
of boxing gloves off of the back of a chair and held them up for me to put my
hands in. Once I did, he tied them really tight around my wrists, and slapped
them a couple times. “Now give it a punch.”

I grinned at
him, then pulled my hand back and punched it. The bag moved ever so slightly,
but the point is, it moved. I turned in his direction at the sound of a low
chuckle.

He was smiling
at me and putting a pair of gloves on. “You need to bend your arms at the
elbows, and hit with little jabs.” He punched it a couple of times, and each
time he hit the bag, I noticed his biceps bulge. It was extremely sexy. I never
noticed before, but he was very muscular.

As he was
demonstrating, I sat down on the closest chair, enjoying the view. He punched
the bag for a while, and then looked around for me. When his gaze found mine,
his lips turned up slightly. “What are you doing?”

“Just enjoying
the view. You have very nice muscles. It’s kind of sexy.”

“You like that,
do you?”

I nodded,
grinning wickedly at him.

“Are you going
to give it another try, or just watch?” he asked.

I sighed.
“Ugh…fine.”

I tried bending
my elbows and punched with little jabs, like he showed me. It was actually kind
of fun. I could imagine doing this when I was frustrated. I punched it a few
more times, really getting into it. I heard a sigh.

“Talk about
sexy, I’ve never seen a girl look as hot as you do right now.”

I turned my
head to see him sitting on the chair I had vacated. He was staring at me with
an intense gaze. I knew that look; he was about to get frisky in his parents’
basement. Not interested in getting caught by his family, I decided to distract
him. “How about a game of pool?” I suggested innocently.

He was staring
at me with the same expression, but now his eyes darkened. I moved away from
him, over to the pool table. “So how do you get these things off?” I asked,
pulling at the gloves.

He laughed at
my pathetic attempts. Bending his head, he demonstrated with his own by pulling
the laces with his teeth. Once they were loose, he pulled the glove off. When
the first hand was free, he used it to pull the other one.

 “Would you
like some help?” he asked, his voice low.

“No, you stay
over there.” I tried to loosen the strings like he had.

His arms were
suddenly wrapped around me. “Why don’t you want me near you?” he whispered in
my ear. His hot breath gave me chills. His sweet, spicy scent made his offer
tempting.

“Because your
parents are right upstairs.” My voice was not as strong as I had intended.

He leaned in
and kissed me, trying to prolong the kiss, but I pushed him away. “No, I don’t want
your mother to catch us.”

He tried to
pull me in again, so I punched him in the arm, forgetting I still had the
gloves on. He lost his balance, and stared at me with his mouth hanging open in
shock.

I smiled and
punched him again. It was fun with the gloves on.

His mouth
twisted wryly. “Oh really? You want to go there, do you?” He bent down to pick
up his gloves that he had tossed on the floor.

I suddenly
changed my mind. “Ah…maybe we should go upstairs and see how dinner is coming.”

“Oh, no you don’t,
you started it.” He stalked toward me.

I backed up,
bumping into the chair, and moved around it. “I changed my mind. Why don’t we
play pool?” My voice sounded panicked.

He started to
laugh. “What’s wrong, Sarah? I thought you wanted to fight. Come here, I won’t
hurt you.” He took a few steps toward me, and I started to run. I could hear
his footsteps thudding into the plush carpet, chasing me. He wrapped his arms
around me and tackled me to the floor.

I was giggling
so hard, I began to cramp. We rolled around, trying to hit each other, but it
was difficult since our hands were in the gloves, and our bodies were so close
together.

“Uh…um,”
Someone cleared their throat.

We froze in
mid-roll on the floor, both of us laughing.

Logan
was leaning against the dull green walls, watching us. “What are
you doing?” he said, with a hint of amusement.

“I’m teaching
Sarah to box, what does it look like?” Lucas explained.

“Foreplay,” Logan replied.

We sat up.
Lucas took his gloves off and then helped me with mine. “What do you want, Logan?”

“Mom said to
tell you dinner’s ready.” He turned around and disappeared up the stairwell.

“Well, that was
fun,” I said, extremely embarrassed that Logan had caught us not once, but
twice in a very intimate position.

“Come on, let’s
eat,” he said, taking my hand to pull me up.

Dinner was delicious. His dad had made
chicken cordon bleu with seasoned potatoes and a tossed salad that had lettuce
in it that looked like weeds he picked out of the backyard. Everything was
delicious. “This is so good, Nick. Thank you for having me.”

Lucas laughed.
“Sarah, will you come to dinner every night? We never eat like this.”

I looked at
him, confused.

“Yeah, it’s
usually hot dogs, or grilled cheese that we make ourselves, or we eat at the restaurant,”
Logan added.

“You could
learn to cook for yourselves, I’ve offered many times to teach you,” Nick said,
before taking a drink of his coffee.

“No thanks,”
the twins said together.

As we ate, I
sat back and listened to the four of them talk. They liked to pick on one
another, but I could tell they were a close family.

“So Sarah, do
you have any hobbies?” his mother asked after she finished the last of her
chicken.

“Yes, I play
the piano. I want to teach music when I finish college.”

Lucas glanced
at me, surprised. “You never told me that.”

I shrugged. “It
hasn’t come up yet.”

“How can she
tell you anything, when you always have your lips stuck to hers?” Logan laughed at his own joke, and his dad joined him.

I blushed, and
Lucas looked deep in thought.

“Could you play
a song for us after? We have a piano, but no one plays. I’ve tried to get one
of these bozos to learn, but they wouldn’t.” Karen pointed to the twins.

“Sure,” I said,
and she smiled. Of course, now I was nervous. I’d preformed for people before,
but never for a boyfriend’s family.

“So what
college are you going to, Sarah?” Nick asked me, leaning his elbows on the oak
table.

“NYU.”

“Really? That’s
where both boys are going. Except Logan doesn’t know what he wants to be yet,”
his mother added.

Logan
rolled his eyes. “Mother, I’ll figure it out in school.”

Karen let it
drop, but it was obvious she had more to say on the matter.

After we were
finished, Nick brought out dessert, baked Alaska.

“You made this?
I had it once at a restaurant when I was a kid. I’ve wanted to try it again,
but I could never find it anywhere.” I wasn’t sure what my expression was, but
they all laughed at me. My cheeks reddened, and I wished I could take back what
I had said.

“Then you get
the first piece.” Nick placed a generous slice of meringue, cake, and ice cream
on my plate. The combination of the three flavors tasted like heaven on my
tongue.

When we
finished dessert, I helped clear the dishes.

I began to
wander around the kitchen and hallway, looking at the childhood photos of the
twins growing up. They were displayed on the wall separating the kitchen from
the dining room. Lucas and Logan were identical as children, but as I moved
down the hall, the pictures became more recent and I could start to see when
they changed their looks. They found their own styles and started wearing their
hair differently. It made sense. As kids they wouldn’t mind looking exactly
alike, but as they grew older, I could see why they would want to have their
own individual style, even if Lucas’ reasons were because of Logan’s behavior.