KISS (12 page)

“
You came.”

Iris looked up and she took flight
into the sky, marveling at its limitless beauty. Jay was here. He
stood in front of her like a phantom, and held his hand out to her.
This was the magic moment in the fairytale she always dreamt of.
Should she take it? The second she placed her hand in his, long
fingers wrapped around her own providing her with warmth. She
stared at their joined hands in wonder, it was such a simple
gesture but intimate nonetheless.

“
You’re not going to faint
on me are you?”

“
No!” she said indignantly
looking at his back as he led her to another place. Where would he
get such an idea? Why would she faint? She wasn’t a pansy. There
was a subtle grin on her face as he turned away and led her into
the unknown. She thought about her feelings, wouldn’t most people
be a little anxious about someone leading them to some unfamiliar
destination at night? The wind ruffled his hair and her fingers
itched to straighten it. This boy was something foreign—an alien
species that she was curious to learn more about. A slight frown
marred her face when they stop in front of an old cathedral
church.

“
Jay, I don’t understand.
What are we doing here?” It was so hard to follow his thought
process and it intrigued her endlessly. She looked down at their
intertwined hands. His fingers were long and they wrapped around
hers cocooning them—she shook it away, the image of a more
masculine hand wrapping around her dainty one.

“
This is the perfect place
for me to reveal it all,” he said looking her in the eye. It was
such an intimate moment—staring into someone’s eyes. Her heart
raced in her chest and her palms became sweaty. This was completely
different from staring into Chester’s violet eyes. It made her
nervous, Iris wasn’t certain if that was a good thing or a bad
thing. The wind howl in the night almost like an ominous warning,
tendrils of hair escaped her ponytail and danced in the wind
tickling her face. She tucked them behind her ear and waited for
Jay to reveal his secret.

She unconsciously held her breath
while gazing at him with stars in her eyes.

“
I’m sick Iris,” he said
turning serious. She froze. Sick what did he mean he was sick? He
wasn’t dying was he? Her young heart was working double time in her
chest and she thought it would exploded from her chest. She feared
the unknown for him; she briefly wondered if there was anything her
mother could do to fix him.

“
Wait? What’s wrong with
you? Can’t they fix it?” she asked desperation clinging to her
voice.

“
Axel isn’t real.” Wait a
minute…what did he mean Axel wasn’t real. She was looking at him.
She watched as he paced back and forth like a cage animal. Iris was
in tunnel, the sounds echoed around her. She moved towards the
light—the end of the tunnel where she knew Jay waited for her but
the tunnel continued to expand and extend making it impossible to
reach him.

“
He let them believe that
Axel is real. He’s not! He’s a lie to keep my family happy…to
keep
him
happy.
But my mom is sick. She’s not getting any better because he’s too
worried about my college tuition.” He said grabbing Iris by the
arms. Her eyes grew round. He held her tightly. She started to get
anxious, was there a little bit of madness in his eye? Was this
what everyone was warning her about? Suddenly, she wasn’t so sure
about reaching the end of the tunnel. She stopped. When she looked
up it was too late, she was already at the end staring at Jay. He
held his hand out waiting for her to take it.

“
Maybe, my mom could help,”
she mumbled deep in thought. When Jay shook her she looked
up.

“
How can she help?” he
asked. Iris hadn’t realize he heard her. This was the time to
reveal her status in society. She wasn’t even sure her mother could
help Jay’s. There had to be a reason she hadn’t had the procedure
done yet right? It couldn’t only be about money. She broke free of
his grasped. “Sorry,” he grumbled.

“
It’s okay.”

But was it
really?

She wasn’t quite sure. He’d been
holding her too tightly. She was anxious now, they’d never even got
around to talking about what was wrong with him.

“
Do you want me to go
away?” What? Why would he ask that? They had walked toward the back
of the church where he sat looking dejectedly. She supposed she
paused too long before she knew it he’d closed his eyes and laid
down on the parking lot.

What was going
on?

“
Iris, what are we doing
here?” he asked suddenly sitting up. Iris was getting scared now.
She wasn’t so sure she wanted to solve this mystery; maybe she
should head home. “Jay, I –thi,” she started out.

“
I’m not Jay! I’m Axel,” he
said looking at her. Natasha’s words came back to haunt
her.

He’s dangerous. Be careful. My mom is
his therapist.

“
Axel, everything is fine,”
she said backing away from him slowly.

“
Of course everything is
fine. What are you talking about? What’s got you so
spooked?”

“
Nothing,” she squeaked as
her eyes darted around them. Damn. They were completely out of
sight. She’d rather face Jean-Pierre. At least the moon was still
shining providing some light. How long had they been out here? Ryan
should come looking for her soon. Well she hoped he would come and
look for her. “Did he do something to hurt you?” Axel asked
worriedly.

Iris only concern was getting away
from him, but she quickly disregarded it when he asked about her
wellbeing. Was Axel aware of Jay? It was like he was two entities,
no three she thought, recalling the shy one from earlier all mixed
together in one body. It was strange. She wondered what drove him
to this madness. What caused him to be this way?

Girl get a grip. You’re
dealing with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde!

“
No, no one hurt me,” she
muttered pushing her hair behind her ear. “Axel what’s going
on?”

Axel looked at the beautiful girl he’d
grown so attached to. She was unlike anyone he’d ever know. She was
a goddess bathed in the moonlight. He wondered how such a person
could exist. She was taken out of a fable and placed before him.
“Honestly, I don’t know myself. I just know sometimes I wake up
with missing parts of my day. My life at home is pretty rough. I
mean my dad tries his best you know. It’s just things got harder
when mom got sick. No one wants to take the chance with this new
procedure. There’s only two surgeons in the world who could do it.
My dad is worried about college education. I just recently found
out we’re drowning in medical bills. He doesn’t want to pay for a
procedure that’s bound to fail. But I love my mother!” he said
pulling at his hair. “I rather know we’ve done everything we can to
save her.” A lump formed in Iris throat. She threw her arms around
the despairing boy. She’d do everything in her power to
help.

“
I will help you. I
promise,” she said crying for him. Axel’s own whimpers soon joined
hers. “I know why I’m crying, but why are you?” he asked wiping his
face and stepping away from her.

“
Because you are a good
person,” she said grabbing him by the ears and delivering a kiss on
his lips. She used her thumps to wipe away the rest of tears that
settled in the crevices of his eyes.

“
Shh, it’s okay. I’m here
now. We will figure something out.”

“
I don’t understand. What
can you do?” he asked her. Iris smiled at him.

“
Let’s just say, I know a
doctor. Take my number. I will be in touch.” She said leaving him
standing there confused.

It was only when she saw Ryan in the
car her steps faltered. She initiated that kiss between them. Uh
oh. She was dating Cheese, that wasn’t supposed to happen. In fact
it didn’t happen. It was just a figment of her imagination. She had
no feelings for him. She was just comforting him. Her gut twisted
painfully at the thought of Cheese feeling or finding out about her
betrayal. She couldn’t do that. Her heart raced in her chest and
she felt clammy. No it didn’t happen. She would help Axel and then
tell Cheese about it later. It was a foolproof plan. She would
reassure Cheese about her feelings for him. She ignored the sinking
feeling in her gut when an image of Jean-Pierre flashed behind her
eyes. There was just no way. She had enough trouble on her hand as
it is. She didn’t want to go adding to it.

Climbing into the car the tension left
her as she smelt the familiar scent of leather. She closed her eyes
and leant her head against the window recalling the night’s
events.

“
I don’t like his character
miss. You should stay away from him,” Ryan said making eye contact
through the rearview mirror. She wanted to chuckle at his antics.
Axel err Jay was as harmless as a fly. She ignored the plummeting
feeling in her stomach as she recalled him grabbing her roughly. He
wasn’t himself then. She was confused. She didn’t know who she
preferred, Jay or Axel. In fact, she didn’t understand why she was
separating them as if they were different entities. They were one
and the same. Right? She had some research to do and she needed to
talk to Natasha.

16

Boys are Stupid!

Iris laid in the familiar arms of
Chester and of course her mind was racing full of thoughts of Axel/
Jay and a certain person she shouldn’t be thinking about. The guilt
ate at her like a toxin. It settled into her stomach and spread
outwards slowing consuming each limb until nothing but dead weight
remained.

“
Iri? You okay? You’ve been
quiet lately?” Chester stared into her honey colored eyes. He knew
when she got like this nothing good could come from it. He wanted
to push the issue, and yet refused to. He wanted her to come to him
when she was ready.

“
It’s nothing…really. I’m
just thinking.”

“
About?”

“
The greater things in
life. What makes us so great? Why do people have to suffer? Why do
people get sick?” He watched her solemn face. She’d been so
melancholy lately. He wondered if there was anything he could do.
It was funny. He was a rock star and could have any girl he desired
but he was so afraid of the only one he knew changing or worse
leaving him. He wouldn’t know what to do without her. She was a
blanket, something warm, familiar and safe. She was his
home.

Iris and Chester arrived to her home
and Chester was surprised at the unexpected guest that sat in the
entertainment area chatting along with Iris parents. It was his
manager and as far as he knew everyone was aware that his personal
life was off limits. If they needed to contact him they could reach
him on his cell.

Iris took note of the troubled look on
Chester’s face and wondered what the relationship between Cheese
and the man chatting with her parents. He wasn’t a bad looking man.
Dark hair styled messily adorn his head and he had the blackest
pair of eyes she’d ever seen—well not as dark as a certain
someone.

“
I’m sorry to intrude, but
I really…” Chester couldn’t stop the rage rushing through him. Iris
wasn’t ready for his world and the last thing he needed was someone
exposing their relationship. Chester learned early on to expect the
worst from those closest around him in the music industry. It was a
cut throat world, people always looking for the next opportunity to
move ahead in the industry and they would do anything necessary to
get there, even if it meant selling their souls.

“
What are you doing here?”
he wasn’t accustomed to being rude but he didn’t like the situation
one bit. He wondered how much information his manager was able to
siphon from Iris parents about them. He felt Iris moving to grab
his hand and he immediately moved it out of reach. He hoped the
subtle movement wasn’t noted by his manager. Zack was pretty sneaky
to find him at this place. He kept his private life under lock and
key. It only meant someone in Iris circle probably gave him the
information. He would have to find out. He smiled turning to Iris,
“I will call you later. I need to handle some business first.” He
stared into her honey colored eyes and watched as she nodded
silently at him. Her eyes were full of worry. He couldn’t help it.
“Mr. McDerman may I borrow the office for a moment?”

“
Sure Chester. Go ahead.”
He left the thunderstruck family behind.

Iris watched Chester’s retreating back
and she immediately felt selfish for hogging all of his time. Now
that they were finally together her mind was filled with Axel/Jay
and another person she wouldn’t name.

“
Let’s cut the crap, what
are you doing here?” he questioned his violet eye flashing
angrily.

“
Look, I only have your
best interests at heart. You’d been running off and disappearing.
The others were worried about you.”

“
So you hunted me down.
Followed me. Stalked my family. You know how I feel about my
personal life,” he roared furiously. His blood boiled and red
exploded sending his vision red.