Luminescence (Luminescence Trilogy) (11 page)

I jumped in the air and bounded down the lane straight into to Gavin’s arms. He twirled me once before setting me back on my feet.

“See, I knew you could do it,” he cheered.

“Beginners luck,” Jared joked beside me.

I stuck my tongue out at him and he hooted with laughter.

The strikes kept on coming and the competition never let up. Something about the way they played struck a chord with me. I started to
really
pay attention. No one was that good, not without some help, my skeptically mind rationed. It wasn’t the way they bowled or their form. What made me leery were their eyes.

Each time Gavin or Jared bowled they would line up and eye the pins. It was then that I noticed the bizarre glow in them, the same glow I saw at the coffee shop. Before the release their throw the gleam shined brightly. Over the last few frames I came to expect to see it. I considered it to be a trick of lighting, but the moment Sophie went to bowl her eyes remained the same. No glint, no glimmer, no unearthly glow.

When the game ended Gavin offered to drive me home. We had dropped my car off earlier on the way. The prices of gas were outrageous and I needed to save a buck where I could.

The night was late and the moon was mostly hidden. Gavin’s shadowy form was outlined by the neon blue of his interior lights. I shifted in the leather seat laying my head on the back of the headrest, watching him.

This was the first time we had been alone since we kissed earlier and I wasn’t really sure what to say. So of course I complicated matters by saying what had been on my mind the better half of the night. A part of me thought I was making a gigantic mistake by bring it up. He could very well think that I was a lunatic. I didn’t want to admit how much that would hurt, but I knew that there was no way I was going to let this go, especially if there was an off chance that I was right.

“You’re different.” My quiet voice broke the silence through the steady purr of his engine.

“What do you mean?” He had both eyes still on the road, but I knew he wanted to look at me. His jaw tightened ever so slightly.

“I don’t know, just different.”

“Different how?” he asked, his voice had stiffened and I knew I hit a nerve.

Heaving a heavy sigh, “I know that you are something else –” I explained warily. He gave in and looked at me with a perplexed expression. “Tonight… I saw your eyes glow. Jared’s too. I’ve seen it before.” I rushed the end of the confession – absurd as it was. “What are you?” I asked.

Cutting his gaze back to the road, he was silent. “I’ve been too relaxed with you,” he mumbled, chastising himself. Or at least that is what I thought I heard.

“What are you a werewolf or something?” I was only half teasing. Though a part of me actually thought he might just be a werewolf.

“Bri do you really think that I am any different than you?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted more unsure than ever.

“I’m not,” he said seriously.

It was hard not to believe him. Maybe this whole thing was just me. Maybe I was the one who wasn’t
normal
. Right now I didn’t even know what that meant. We didn’t talk at all on the remaining way home – each caught in our own thoughts.

When he pulled up to my house, I hadn’t the first clue how to undo the tension. “Gavin –”

He cut me off. “Bri just let it go.” He tried to sound lighthearted but failed. I could still hear the strain in his tone. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

I nodded and got out of the car without another word, no matter that I had a hundred more questions and an apology I badly wanted to utter at the tip of my tongue.

That night I laid spread on the bed, my hands propped under my chin and feet dangling in the air. The television was on low while I artlessly riffled through the channels, not really paying attention to the screen.

I was mentally trying to dissect the puzzle of Gavin and his family or the possibility it was all me. There was the crazy way I felt about him. He caused elevated emotions and I was drawn to him in an irrevocably pull, both terrifying and confounding. Uncontrollably compelled by him, I was taken in by the sultry sapphire of his eyes.

Then there was humming vibration I sometimes got when he or Sophie touched me. Or the strange lit of his and Jared eyes, like at the coffee shop or tonight. He might want me to drop the suspicion yet my mind was having a difficult time of it.

How had I let any of this happen? It was stupid – absolutely stupid to fall for someone like Gavin. He could be so grating and his smirk infuriating. Those seemed petty and insignificant excusing compared to the sputter of my rapid heartbeat. He made my head spin and left me feeling breathless when we were together.

I fell asleep with the television flicking in the background, the barely auditory voices drifting with me in dreams. And like most of my dreams they were of Lukas, a detail that ate at my guilt. When seconds before all I could imagine was Gavin. How messed was that?

Chapter 11

“I MISSED YOU,” HE SAID as soon as he saw me. We were in a park sitting on a marble bench. There was an elaborate stone fountain bubbling at the heart. Robins and blue jays sang from the treetops, chasing each other through the branches.

“Me too,”
I agreed. I had really missed him.

“We’ve seen more of each other the last few weeks than we have… ever,” he commented about my increase number of dreams.

Yeah we had. Why was that?

I shrugged. “Who knows how my mind works.”

He laughed and put an arm around the back of the bench, encompassing me in his nearness. “I like the way your mind works.” Grinning he inched closer. He was wearing khaki shorts and a polo tee. The air outside was comfortable and sunny. A flock of robins picked at the grass in front of us.

If I didn’t know better the golden boy was flirting with me. “That’s just sad,” I retorted, unable to believe anyone liked my mind.

He laughed. “Oh Brianna, when will you see what I see?”

I had no idea what he saw, but I didn’t think in the
real
world it would make a difference. “I think you need to get your eyes checked,” I suggested offhandedly.

He ignored my comment. “So have you seen the new guy?” He tried to sound nonchalant, but I could hear the underlying disapproval.

“It’s hard not to. We have a class together.” I was a little annoyed by the fact that he brought up Gavin. There was an accusation that rubbed me the wrong way – a warning, screaming caution. “Does that bother you?” I absently kicked the dust under the bench.

“I’m just curious about him.”

Oh it seemed like a whole lot more than just curiosity. Didn’t anyone ever tell him that curiosity killed the cat? “Why?” I couldn’t resist questioning him to prove it was more.

He gazed out into the park at an aging statue of a horse with a warrior on its back. “I can see the he means something to you,” he finally admitted.

How was I to respond to that when I wasn’t even sure what I was feeling? He was accurate that Gavin meant something to me, but it wasn’t any of his business. And how exactly did he know that? Because I thought about him when I was here with Lukas? My brows muddled in confusion. I couldn’t deny my feelings for Gavin and lying sounded like a bad idea. If he could tell that I cared about Gavin, then it was a good guess he could tell if lied.

“We barely know each other.” I was trying to be evasive.

“I can make you forget him,” he pledged. His emerald eyes locked with mine and he saw the stunned expression on my face. I didn’t want to forget Gavin, but that didn’t stop him from taking full advantage of my speechless shock.

He leaned towards me and pressed his mouth lightly to mine. And I let him. I didn’t pull away, I didn’t stop him – if anything I wanted it. This kiss was a chance I’d wondered about too often to let slip away.

His lips were soft, smooth and dreamy. They moved expertly over mine, drawing out each heavenly sensation and causing me to forget any doubts. The tips of his fingers moved lazily on the small of my back, gently coaxing me closer. He tasted of golden honey and sugary spice. Degree by slow degree I submerged into the kiss, letting it carry me to ecstasy. He cupped the sides of my face, his hands tender, keeping us locked together. His thumb stroked my cheek affectionately. He made my head feel like it was flying with the clouds. Floating on desire that felt endless, the kiss was perfect and sweet.

Perfect except that it lacked the punch my kiss with Gavin had, or the passionate desperation – like my last breathe depended on him. Lukas’s kiss was sweet, compassionate and wistful. I’ve been kissed twice in one evening and they were on irreconcilably planes of the spectrum. Not to mention this was a dream, but it felt just as real.

I knew that just as sure as this kiss would end, I would feel overwhelming guilt. His lips left mine lingeringly and his pure green eyes opened slowly. He kept our faces close and traced a feather soft finger over my thoroughly kissed lips.

“I’ve wanted to do that for so long,” he murmured low. “Something for you to think about,” he said, his voice like honey silk.

I didn’t need anything else to think about. The dream started to drift away slowly. I could feel myself being sucked back into my sleeping form. His emerald eyes and the sunny scent of him wafted with me.

Before I was completely tossed out a woman’s raspy voice slipped in through the journey. “Be careful what you trust. Dreams aren’t always what they seem,” she warned, her voice fading off in the distance.

When I woke up in my darkened room, the taste of his honey smooth lips lingered on mine. My body was humming and alive. I lay there the rest of the night feeling exactly what I predicted I would – guilt. The woman’s voice and her warning were long forgotten.

***

When I got to school on Monday, I was in a zombie-like state. Yawning endlessly and my eyes were heavy, like there were weights on them. The extra effort it took to keep them open proved to be too much during first period when I feel asleep on my desk.

Mrs. Schwab’s voice echoed in ears before I fully realized that she wasn’t talking in my head.

“Brianna… Brianna… would you like to join the class?”

Wiping the drool with the back of my hand, I inclined my head towards her voice. “Sorry,” I barely managed to mumble.

She eyed me with disdain. Turning her back on me, she continued her lecture. Austin caught my attention a row over and gave me a,
what is up with you
look. I sighed and my shoulders slumped in exhaustion.

He walked out with me after class. “Hey babygirl, you okay?”

“I haven’t a clue. Just tired I think.”

“We still on for Friday right?” he asked, reminding me of our plans.

Friday was Halloween night. Tori, Austin, Gavin, Sophie and I planned on going out. It was all Austin’s idea. I loved Halloween and was really looking forward to the scares. We were going to the Haunted Trails at Morris Landing. Sophie, Tori and I even decided to dress up. The three of us were getting together later this week to shop for our costumes. Gavin’s badass claimed he didn’t need a costume – whatever. What fun was that?

“Yeah of course. I am so excited,” I assured.

“I know. It’s going to be a scream.”

I usually laughed at even Austin’s bad jokes. Today I couldn’t even accomplish that. “Funny,” I replied.

“See you at lunch,” he called as we broke off in different directions.

By the time third period hit, I was finishing my second cup of coffee hoping for an adrenaline boost. Gavin caught up with me as I topped of the last of my caffeine and tossed the evidence in the trash. He arched his brow lifting the silver bar in query.

“Why so glum?” he inquired.

A yawn escaped the second I opened mouth. “There is something wrong with me. I shouldn’t be so tired after the amount of caffeine I just inhaled,” I admitted.

He studied my face as we walked. “Didn’t sleep well?”

I shook my head, stifling another yawn “No that’s what’s weird. I slept all night. I shouldn’t be this tired.” Neither of us mentioned the previous night or what I had accused. I was too tired to even care at this point and was glad I couldn’t detect any weird tension.