Fated Dreams (Book One In The Affinity series) (9 page)

BOOK: Fated Dreams (Book One In The Affinity series)
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Chapter
Nine
The
Waterfall

 

After a few minutes of driving in silence,
Lucas finally turned to me, his face strained with worry. “Are you okay?”

I nodded.

“I’m so sorry.
My brother’s a jerk, but I didn’t think he was capable of this.”

“It’s all
right; you arrived just in time. Thank you, by the way. I probably would have
hit him back, so you saved him a black eye.” I was trying to lighten the mood,
but my words were true. Even though I was prepared for him to strike me, there
was no way I would have let him get away with it.

He laughed. “I
don’t doubt that at all, I’ve never heard a girl talk to him like that. I was
impressed.”

The amount of
trees passing by my window alerted me that we were headed out of town. “Where are
we going?”

“Just a place I
like to go to think,” he said, glancing at me. “I’ve never taken anyone there
before.”

I gulped.
Suddenly nervous, I dug inside my bag to take out my phone, unable to face him.

“Who are you
calling?”

“Emma, to tell
her not to worry about me, and that I’ll pick my car up later.”

He nodded.
“Yeah, I’ll take you back whenever you want.”

I texted Emma,
since she was in class, telling her that I was taking the rest of the day off,
and to tell my mom I would explain later. After about ten minutes, my phone
buzzed. I opened the text and read silently. “Where are you? Are you with
Lucas? Heard what happened.”

I laughed.
“News travels fast.”

“What did she
say?”

“She already
heard what happened.”

“I’m not
surprised. There were a few people at their lockers, but no one was helping
you. I was at the end of the hall. I couldn’t hear what you were saying, but
you didn’t look happy.”

“So, should I
tell her that you kidnapped me?”

“Yeah,” he
said, laughing. “Make sure she tells your mother, the vice principal. Logan’s pretty stupid to pull that in front of witnesses. What if your mother finds out?”

I cringed at
the thought. I didn’t want Logan to get into trouble; it would only make it
worse.

“I’ll tell her
not to get involved.”

“Why?” he
demanded. “He should get what he deserves.”

“But won’t it
look like I told my mommy on him? I’d rather just let it go.”

He grinned. “Or
you could stay out of it, let things be, see what happens.”

“But since my
mother is the vice principal, it will look like I told her, even if I didn’t.”

He thought
about it. “I would love my parents to find out, and I can’t tell them.”

I didn’t know
what to do. “I’ll wait and see if she says anything.” My phone beeped. I looked
down and read what Emma wrote out loud. “I heard that Lucas defended you and
beat up Logan. Is this true?”

“Tell her that
I gave him a black eye.”

“How about, you
pulled him off me and threw him across the hall.” We both laughed. I glanced up
and saw that we were now sitting in a driveway; I didn’t even realize we had
stopped moving, I was so absorbed in his presence.

“Hey, I’m a
hero, I like it,” he said with a mischievous smile.

I sent Emma the
message and then shoved my phone back into my bag. “So whose house is this?”

“Mine, but
that’s not where we’re going.”

The house was a
large, white-trimmed, red-brick bungalow with an attached garage. A basketball
net hung above of the garage door.

We got out of
the car, and I followed him past his house into his backyard. On the edge of
the yard was a wooded area that went on as far as I could see. No neighbors
behind them and none running parallel either. The house was secluded. An
anxious feeling crept inside my chest.

He led me onto
a path, through brush, fallen tree limbs, and bushes.

The leaves had
turned color and were starting to fall. They made a crackling sound as I
stepped over them. “Are you taking me someplace where no one will find the
body?” I asked as we moved further through the trees.

 “I would never
hurt you, Sarah,” he said, his voice so heavy with emotion my heart skipped a
beat.

We walked for a
few more minutes until we came to a clearing. I followed him up a small hill,
where he stopped at the top. I stood beside him, and when I saw where we were,
I gasped. We stood on the edge of a rock cliff, up about twenty feet. “Holy
crap!” I said, backing away from the edge.

He laughed.
“Don’t worry, you won’t fall.” He took his black leather jacket off and laid it
on the cold ground. He sat on the jacket with his feet dangling over the edge.
Taking my hand, he pulled me down beside him. “Look,” he said, pushing my chin
forward with the tip of his finger.

Wow. Below
where we sat was a cascading waterfall, lined with large boulders, and a
variety of oak, maple, and pine trees. The leaves on the maples had changed
color; they were a pretty red, orange, and yellow. The rocks followed the edge
of the stream of water as it flowed all the way down. The water crashed up
against the side of the boulders, which caused the water to spray over the
side. The scene was breathtaking.

“It’s
beautiful,” I said softly, mesmerized by the view. I couldn’t look away. We sat
silently on the edge of the small cliff with our legs dangling. The only sounds
were the roar of the water flowing down the rocks, and a couple of finches
chirping in the tree branches above us. I felt like if we spoke, we would ruin
the moment.

I turned my
head to look at Lucas. He was staring at me, and his face held a thoughtful
expression. “I’m sorry about the other day. I know I hurt you, no matter how
much you deny it.”

I shook my
head. “It’s fine.”

“It’s not
fine!” His words were filled with frustration.

I glanced at
him. “Um…what do you want me to say?”

He softened his
tone. “The truth.”

I thought about
it, and decided to go for it. “Yes, I was mad, and hurt that you didn’t show
up. But I was more upset about your lame excuse. Playing basketball? I didn’t
buy it, and it doesn’t explain why you didn’t talk to me for the rest of the
day. It was your idea to have lunch with us anyway.”

His lips
twitched with amusement. “Now, there’s the Sarah I’ve been getting to know, the
girl who would throw a book at me when I was being rude, the girl who would
tell my brother off when he was being a jerk, twice.” I raised my eyebrows at
him. “I was in the cafeteria when he cut in front of you,” he explained. Lying
back onto the grass, he looked up at the sky. “I could tell you why I really
didn’t show up, but I’m afraid it will freak you out.”

We sat for a
while thinking to ourselves. Lucas was still lying on his back, I was sitting
up watching the waterfall.

“I’m afraid to
ask. Is it that bad?” I finally asked anxiously.

He sighed. “I
wouldn’t say it’s bad, just embarrassing.”

“Tell me.” I
held my breath, waiting for his explanation.

He hesitated
for a moment, and then started speaking so quietly I had to strain to hear him.
“I had a dream of you the night we had lunch together. In it, you were killed.
I saw your lifeless face, and it felt so real. I know you’re going to say it
was just a dream, but it was as real as you and I are sitting here right now.
The dream was so intense that I felt that if I had stayed away from you, you
would have lived.” He was quiet for a moment then slowly continued. “I rushed
to school to make sure you were okay. On the way there, though, I decided not
to see you again, so then nothing bad would happen to you.

“When I saw you
in the hall,” he said, “I felt so relieved. But you looked so beautiful I
couldn’t resist. In class when I was away from you, I could see your dead face
every time I blinked. I had to try. I don’t know why, but I have this feeling
that if we continue to see each other, something bad will happen to you.”

I was stunned;
he was having the same dream I was. Why was this happening, and what did it
mean? I opened my mouth to tell him that I shared his dream, but something
stopped me. I suddenly felt the need to keep it to myself.

“Did I scare
you away?” He sounded worried, so I turned to look at him.

“No, you didn’t
scare me away. But are you saying you don’t want to see me?” And why did just
the thought of that leave me feeling empty?

He took a few
seconds to consider. “I should say yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. But I
can’t, I’m drawn to you.” He smiled, and grabbed my arm to pull me down beside
him.

Relieved by his
words, I stared at the sky, watching birds fly overhead and clouds morph into
sheep, and one that looked oddly like the marshmallow man. I took in a deep
breath, smelling the grass, dirt, and the faint hint of pine from the trees
near the waterfall.

When I felt him
touch my face, I turned my head to look into his eyes. His fingers moved softly
against my skin, creating a spark that surprised and excited me. He pulled my
face towards him and leaned up until he was just inches above me. “You sure
you’re not scared?” he asked.

“No, I’m not
scared.” I meant my voice to be strong, convincing, but the words came out in a
whisper. He grinned then leaned in, touching his lips to mine. At first it felt
wonderful, and familiar. Then he opened his mouth to deepen the kiss, and it
became so much more.

When he finally
drew away from me, I realized that I had never felt anything like that in my
life. When he kissed me, I felt a buzz of awareness that told me I had finally
found the one thing I didn’t know was missing.

“Wow,” he
whispered. “We’re going to have to do that again.”

I smiled and
touched his cheek. “How about right now?”

He gave me a
lazy grin. “That can be arranged.” He pulled me up so I was sitting on his lap
facing him, and tugged me forward for another kiss. I would have been happy to
stay like this forever. He moved away from my lips and gently kissed my cheek,
my jaw, and down my neck. It felt so good.

He took a deep
breath. “Mmm, you smell like cinnamon.” He was about to start back up to my
lips when my phone beeped. “Leave it,” he whispered, his breath tickling my
neck as he spoke. He returned to his slow journey upwards.

I groaned.
“What if it’s my mom?” My voice was so low I wasn’t sure he heard me.

He pulled back slowly.
“We probably should get back to reality anyway.”

I looked down
at my phone. I was right; it was from my mother. “Where are you!!!” it read.
“She’s worried. I should call her. What time is it?”

He glanced at
his watch. “Three o’clock. Would you stay with me for a while, we can order
pizza. No one will be home until later. My parents work late, and Logan never comes home before midnight on Friday nights.”

The idea of
staying with him made me feel warm and tingly inside. “Sure, I’d love to.”

His smile
brightened his face, making his eyes shine; the sight nearly took my breath
away. I climbed off of his lap and sat down on his jacket that was still spread
out on the ground, and dialed my mom’s cell.

“Hello, Sarah,
where are you?” she answered on the first ring. She sounded worried.

“I’m fine, Mom,
something happened at school, but I don’t want to talk about it. I was a little
shaken up, so Lucas brought me to his house to calm me down. I’m going to hang
out here for a while, okay?”

“Do you mean
when Logan harassed you? I heard about it, and he is in so much trouble—”

I cut her off.
“No, Mom, you’ll only make it worse. Can we talk about it later?”

She sighed.
“All right, but I won’t forget, and his parents will hear about this.”

“No, I don’t
want that either, but I don’t want to think about that now.”

 “Fine. So
you’re with Lucas? What are you doing?”

I blushed;
thankfully, she couldn’t see. “We’re just hanging out watching a movie,” I
lied. I heard Lucas laugh softly.

“Don’t be home
too late.”

“I won’t. Bye.”
I hung up and glanced at Lucas. “It’s fine, I can stay for a while.”

He smiled,
grabbed my hands, and pulled me up off my feet. I squealed, surprised by his
sudden change of mood, but was cut off as his lips pressed onto mine.

“Let’s go,” I
said, pushing him away. He bent down and picked up his coat. After he put it
on, he took my hand and pulled me onto the path, back to his house.

 

 

 

Chapter
Ten
First
Date

 

We passed through the trees and into his
backyard. I followed him up the steps of the back deck, where he reached over
the railing and pulled a hidden key off a hook.

“This is where
we keep our spare key, if you ever want to sneak into my room at night to
surprise me.” His tone of voice was teasing, but the spark in his eyes made me
wonder if he was serious.

“Yeah, don’t
hold your breath,” I said dryly, hoping to hide my sudden nerves.

He chuckled as
he shoved the key in the lock and opened the door. We stepped inside, into an
enormous, open kitchen with large stainless steel appliances that were so shiny
you could see your reflection. A massive kitchen island stood in the center
separating the appliances from the table. The cupboards were finished in a
mixture of whitewashed wood and glass. Stainless steel light fixtures hung from
the ceiling, creating ample light for cooking. This was a kitchen that belonged
to someone with a passion for cooking. It was obvious that his father had
designed it; he was the chef at their family restaurant.

“You want a
soda?” Lucas asked, opening the fridge.

“Sure, do you
have diet?”

He took out a
cola for himself and a diet one for me then led me into their living room. It
was big, but very comfortable. The centerpiece of the room was a fireplace with
a flat-screen TV on the wall above it.

He sat down on
the plush sofa and patted the seat beside him. I joined him as he turned on the
TV. He turned it to a movie I had never seen before, but I didn’t really pay
attention; I was very aware of how close he was. Our legs were touching, and I
could feel warmth emanating from his body.

He leaned back
into the couch, wrapping his arm around me and pulling me against him. We sat
snuggled on the sofa watching the movie. His arm was so warm and comfortable,
there was no where else I wanted to be.

After the movie
was over, he ordered pizza. When it was delivered, Lucas brought it over and
placed it on the coffee table. Sitting down beside me, he handed me a greasy
slice. It smelled so good I couldn’t wait to taste it.

While we ate,
we listened to his new CD. Lucas started telling me about some of the
situations Andy and Kyle had gotten him into. When he finished a story about
the three of them spying on Kyle’s older sister’s slumber party, he leaned
back, lifting his fifth piece of pizza.

“How could you
possibly stuff another piece into your stomach?”

He smiled then
took a bite. “It’s a talent. You’d be amazed at how much I can eat.”

“Why are you so
thin?”

“I work out.”
He picked up a napkin and wiped some tomato sauce that had dripped on his
jeans.

I laughed.

“Why is that
funny?”

“I just can’t
picture you lifting weights like those muscle guys that oil up their bodies.”

“There are
other ways to work out, and I don’t do it to get muscles. I like it.”

“I still can’t
see it, though, you’re more the book reading type.” I leaned forward and
stacked our plates onto the pizza box.

He balled up
his napkin and threw it on the box. “I can do both.”

“If you say
so.” I stood up with the plates in my hand while Lucas grabbed the rest.

I followed him
into the kitchen, where he threw the pizza box away and then turned to face me.
“I’ve had a lot of fun tonight,” he said, taking the dishes out of my hands and
placing them in the sink. He backed me up against the kitchen counter. “I love
being with you.” He leaned in to gently brush his lips against mine. “After
work tomorrow night, do you want to do something?”

“Sure, why
don’t we hang out at my house?” Since my parents wanted to meet him, I figured
it was probably best to get it over with.

His hands moved
to the sides of my arms, gently rubbing up and down. “Okay, but only if you let
me take you out for dinner first.”

My heart sped
up at the feel of his soft touch. I swallowed hard. “Sounds good…I’m off at
seven.”

He leaned in
and kissed me again. “I’ll pick you up at seven thirty at your house then,” he
mumbled against my lips. His arms tightened around me as he guided me toward
the living room, without taking his lips from mine. We had almost made it to
the couch when his phone rang. “Damn! We need to turn our phones off when we do
this.” He pulled his cell out of his pocket while I sat down on the couch
alone. “Hello.” He paused as he listened. “No thanks, I’m busy…Yes, but I’m not
going into details…No, she’s right here…Goodbye, I’m hanging up now.” He
growled, turning his phone off.

“Andy?” I
asked, and he nodded.

“Come on, I’ll
show you my room.” He held my hand, leading me down a hallway and through the
third door. The room was a tad cluttered, with a wide dresser and a mirror
against one wall. His bed was against the opposite one, with shelves above,
filled to the brim with books, a few pictures, and a couple of trophies. Like
mine, his desk sat under the window. At the end of his bed was a basketball
net, hanging on the wall above. Have you read all those?” I asked, pointing to
the books.

He sat on the
edge of his bed and glanced over at his shelves. “Yeah, there are some more in
the basement.”

“What are your
favorites?” I reached up, pulling a dog-eared copy of
Huckleberry Finn
.

“I don’t think
I could pick one, but that would be one of them, along with
The Catcher in
the Rye, Lord of the Flies
,
and
To Kill a Mockingbird
.” He
reached up and pulled a copy of
Frankenstein
, playing with the pages.
“What about you, I see you reading in the lunch room, what’s your favorite?”

I sighed,
shoving the book back in place. “I have so many, but I’d have to choose the one
that started my interest in reading,
Anne of Green Gables
.”

He grinned.
“That’s a good one too.”

“I wanted to
dye my hair red after I read it,” I admitted.

He laughed.
“I’m sure you’d look beautiful as a redhead.” He placed the book back on the
shelf and turned to me. “You’re pretty, no matter what.”

Blushing, I
looked away, unable to face him after his flattery. I spotted the net hanging
on the wall. “You shoot hoops in bed?” I asked, changing the subject.

“When I’m
bored.” He watched me as I picked up the ball that was sitting on the floor. It
was small, orange, and made out of foam. I threw it at the net, and it went in.
He picked it up and handed it back to me.

“Try it again,”
he said, standing up. I lifted my hand to throw the ball, but was suddenly
tackled onto the soft mattress.

“Hey,” I said,
laughing, looking up at him. He was lying on top of me, his face hovering just
inches from mine. “That’s a foul.”

He grinned,
took the ball from me, and threw it in the net.

“Oh, so you’re
a cheater?”

“What are you
going to do about it?” His smile widened as he stood up, pulling me with him.
He started to shoot the ball, and when he lifted his arm, I jumped on him. We
landed on the bed, this time with me on top of him. Both of us were laughing,
but when I looked into his eyes I stopped; they were no longer filled with
laughter. He reached up and pulled my head down to his, for a long, deep kiss.

The sound of
the front door slamming shut scared me. I jumped up quickly, hovering in the
corner.

Lucas chuckled.
“Relax,” he said, glancing at the clock. It was eight-thirty. “It’s probably
just my mom.” He took my hand. “Come on,” he said, pulling me out of his room.

We met his
mother in the kitchen. I was very nervous, but when she turned her head and saw
us, she smiled warmly. Her hair was dark like Lucas’ and Logan’s, but hers was
thick and wavy, and it flowed just past her shoulders. She had blue eyes while
theirs were hazel. She was very pretty. “Well, you must be Sarah. It’s so nice
to finally meet you. Lucas has spoken very highly of you.”

I blushed,
giving Lucas a questioning glance. He quirked a brow at me and shrugged his
shoulders. If his mother noticed our silent exchange, she didn’t show it.
“Sarah, this is my mom, Karen,” Lucas said, pulling me closer.

I shook the
hand she held out. “Hi, it’s nice to meet you.”

She let go of
my hand as her smile faded. “Sarah, I’m so sorry about what my other son did to
you. That boy won’t be seeing the sun outside of work or school until he’s
thirty-five.”

We gaped at
her, both wondering how she found out so quickly. “How did you know what
happened?” Lucas asked.

“I have told
you both that I have spies everywhere, so you better watch your step. And I
don’t reveal my sources,” she said with a smirk.

Lucas grinned.
“Lisa?”

“Yep. She told
me that Logan harassed you.” She nodded to me. “And that you saved the day.” A
look of pride shone from her face when she focused on Lucas.

“Yes, she’s
right, but Sarah doesn’t want you to punish him, because she’s afraid he’ll
think she was the one who told. She won’t even let her mother do something at
school.”

Karen gave me a
look of disapproval. “Sarah, he has to be punished. He can’t treat people the
way he does and get away with it. This time there were lots of witnesses.”

I shook my
head. “I wasn’t hurt, and it’s over, I’d just rather forget it.”

“Well, I’ll
discuss it with their father and see what he says. And I’ll make sure Logan knows I didn’t hear about it from either of you.”

I could see I
wasn’t going to convince anyone. “Fine,” I said with a sigh, finally giving in.

Lucas got us
each a bottle of water then pulled me to the table. I sat down on the chair
next to him. He handed me my drink just as my phone rang.

“Hello,” I
answered after taking it from my pocket.

“Hey, are you
still with Lucas?” Emma asked.

“Yes, why?”
Lucas was whispering to his mother about the incident, and I was trying to
silence him with my eyes. It wasn’t working.

“I’m sleeping
over at your place tonight whether you like it or not. I’ve been going crazy
wondering what’s going on with you.” Lucas looked over at me curiously,
obviously finished squealing to his mother.

“Sure, I’ll
meet you around ten.”

“Are you at his
house?”

“Yes.”

“I want all the
details. I’ll see you later. I’ll have Derrick drop me off there. Can you give
me a ride home tomorrow?”

“Sure.”

After we said
our goodbyes, I hit the end button on my cell.

“Was that
Emma?”

I nodded. “Can
you take me to my car now? I should get home.”

“Sure,” he
said, pulling me off of my chair. “See you later, Mom.”

Karen smiled at
me. “It was so nice to meet you, Sarah. I hope you’ll come back soon?”

“Of course, it
was nice meeting you too.”

Lucas took my
hand and steered me to the front door.

“Who’s Lisa?” I
asked once we were in his car, pulling out of the driveway. He looked confused
at my question. “Earlier, when you were talking to your mom, she said her
source was Lisa.”

He smiled.
“Oh…Lisa Miller, she’s in the eleventh grade. She’s a hostess at the
restaurant, and she knows everything that goes on at school. I have no idea
how. This one time, I guess Logan cheated on a math test. Lisa found out and
told my mom, and she took his cell phone away for a month. He thought I told
her, and he punched me.”

“He hit you?” I
asked, horrified.

He laughed.
“Don’t worry; remember when I said he can’t take me? He walked away with a
black eye.” He laughed at my expression; I wasn’t used to violence. “He may act
like a tough guy, but I’m the one in the basement using the heavy bag all the
time.” He stopped at a red light.

“A heavy bag?”

“You know, in
boxing, with boxing gloves,” he said, pulling away again.

“Oh right, I
thought that was called a punching bag.” I blinked at him. It didn’t seem like
something he’d do. “You hit a heavy bag? Why?”

“I told you
that I work out, that’s how. It’s very therapeutic. I started when I was a kid.
It was my dad’s, but I sort of took it over. When I first started, I couldn’t
even move the thing. Then when I did manage to get it to budge, it swung back
and knocked me over.”

I thought about
it. “Huh…it sounds…interesting.”

“I’ll show you
sometime.” We were at the school parking lot now, and he pulled into the spot
beside my car.

“You mean you
want to show off?”

“Pretty much,”
he said, and we both laughed.

I looked out
the window at the school grounds. It was spooky at night with no one else
around. He walked me to my car, and after a kiss goodbye, I pulled out of the
lot, watching his car as he went the opposite way.

BOOK: Fated Dreams (Book One In The Affinity series)
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