Mesmerized (7 page)

"Don't talk like that. This will all be smoothed over before you know it." 

After Lily hung up, she told Jake what her mom had said. 

He put his arm around her. “We’ll figure it out.”

Lily smiled at Jake and then rested her head on his shoulder. “You make it seem so easy.”

“School starts back up Monday. I’m sure there’ll be a lot of rumors flying around. You ready to deal with that?”

She took a deep breath. “I’m used to rumors.”

“Okay.”

“I should get back to Hannah. I did promise her some girl time.”

Jake nodded, even though he hated letting her go. She looked upset and he just wanted to hold her all night long. “Put your number in my phone, so I can call you.”

She took the phone from him and entered in her number. “Thanks.” She stood up to go. She didn't want to leave him. 

Standing up, Jake grabbed her hand and pulled her back to him. He cupped her face with his hands and quickly kissed her. “Now you can go,” he said after pulling back.

Lily’s cheeks turned red and she touched her fingers to her lip with a smile. She waved and took off back to her room.

Opening the door, she faced Hannah. “Just give me a minute and I’ll be ready.”

“What was that all about?” Hannah asked.

“What?” Lily tried to play oblivious.

“Jake? Since when does he come onto the girl’s floor and drag you out of the building?”

Lily hesitated, trying to think of a good excuse. “We were both here for Thanksgiving. We ended up talking.”

“Did he ask you out?”

“No,” she said honestly.

Hannah stared intently at Lily waiting for her to say more. She had a feeling something else was going on, but didn’t want to press too hard. “Let me know when you’re ready.”

Lily nodded thankful that Hannah was letting it go. She changed into a pair of loose-fit jeans. It was pretty cold out and she wanted to be comfortable walking around campus. She grabbed her curling iron and added a few loose curls to frame her face. Lily grabbed her coat and reached for a hat. “Let’s go for our walk.”

For the next hour, Lily and Hannah walked around campus. Hannah filled Lily in on her week at home. Lily listened, trying not to think about Ben and what had happened. When they had made a full circle, they went back up to their room and threw on a movie. About halfway through, Lily’s phone dinged. She picked it up. It was Jake, checking on her. She grinned and wrote back that everything was fine. She missed him so much already. 

After the movie was over, Lily straightened Hannah's head full of curls. She cursed when she burned herself with the straightner. "I don't know why you don't just embrace your curls. They’re beautiful."

Hannah smirked. "Wanna switch?"

Lily grinned. "Believe me, you wouldn't want to be me." 

"Sure, guys falling all over themselves to get your attention. Sounds horrible.” 

"Hannah, I'm so glad we're friends." Lily smiled at Hannah in the mirror as she ran the iron through the last piece of hair. 

"Me too." Hannah ran her hand through her fiery-red, straight hair. "I love it." 

Chapter Eight

Monday morning came much too quickly for Lily. She dreaded going back to classes. As she walked into her first class with Hannah, she heard the whispers. “Did you hear about Ben? He’s in the hospital.” A tall thin girl with mocha skin said in a hushed tone. 

“No, what happened?” One of Samantha's sidekicks asked eagerly. 

“Police are still investigating, but they said he was found unconscious on school grounds and might never wake up.”

“No way! Samantha might know more details, we should ask her.”

“Good idea.”

Lily leaned over to Hannah. “Why would Samantha know?”

“Her dad is the chief of police.”

Lily shrunk into her chair. Of course he was. That’s just what she needed. 

The day dragged on. Lily was grateful for lunchtime. Her stomach flip-flopped when she felt Jake’s warm hand entwine in hers as they walked through the door. Everyone turned to stare; at least it would give them something else to gossip about. She looked up and gave him a grateful smile. Even with what was going on with Ben, she was still having images of wrapping her body around Jake like a coiled snake. She was appalled by her thoughts, but she seemed to have no control over them. 

When Lily walked up to the table, Hannah raised her eyebrow. Lily shrugged and smiled. 

"I see a lot changed while I was gone," Hannah said.

Jake and Lily looked at each other with goofy grins on their faces. 

Hannah leaned in and whispered. "Lily, someone has started a horrible rumor about you."

"What else is new? My life is nothing but a big rumor."

"They are saying that you put Ben in the hospital."

"What?" Lily's heart dropped. She was trying not to let the panic show on her face.

"Who said that?" Jake asked.

"I guess Samantha, so of course no one really believes it. She said she overheard her father talking something about a surveillance tape."

Jake squeezed her leg under the table, but it did little to calm her down. 

"How could I have put Ben in the hospital? That's ridiculous." Lily was surprised how easily the lie rolled off her tongue. 

"That's what I've been telling everyone." Hannah took a sip of her chocolate milk and shook her head. "I really don't know why people are so mean to you. I guess they’re just jealous."

The last class of the day was Spanish and Lily's heart dropped when she heard a knock at the door and looked up to see a police officer. A hush fell over the class. He walked over to the teacher and leaned down to whisper something in her ear. 

"Oh dear." The teacher looked up and met Lily's eyes. "Lily, I'm sorry but you need to go with the officer to answer some questions." 

"Why?"

"Just come with me. We can deal with this at the station."

Lily grabbed her books and walked out hoping she didn't look as nervous as she felt. She wanted to bolt, but she knew the officer would catch her with no problem. "I don't understand. Should I call my parents?"

"You can use the phone when we get to the station. It's probably a misunderstanding." 

"Can I at least put my books back in my room?"

He looked at her briefly. "I don't see why that would be a problem."

Once in her room, Lily threw the books on the bed. She turned back to the officer. “Can I use the bathroom real quick?”

“Yes.”

Lily walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. She grabbed her phone out of her pocket and sent her mother a text.
The police are here and bringing me in for questioning.

Lily, use your powers.

How? You want me to seduce a cop???

No! Look him in the eye and tell him what you want him to believe.

I'll try. I have to go he's waiting.

Lily opened the bathroom door and stared out at the cop, trying to come up with something to say. Her mother was much better at this. She walked out of the bathroom and swallowed hard. She twirled her hair and looked up into his eyes. "Officer, can you help me for a moment?”

"Uh sure, what can I do?" He looked around nervously. 

Lily walked closer to the officer. She had no idea what she was doing, but figured at this point it was worth trying. She had seen her mother manipulate men countless times. 

She locked her eyes with his and willed him to believe what she said. "I don't want to go down to the station. Go back and tell your boss you could not find me. You can leave now." 

The officer turned and left. Lily couldn’t believe it worked! She had to get out of there before someone else came back. She grabbed her backpack and tossed in some clothes, cash, and the bankcard her father had given her.

 She called Jake. "The cops came for me, but I got out of it for now. I need to go. I'll contact you when I can." 

"Wait for me. I'm going with you."

"Jake, you can't leave for me." 

"Of course I can. I'm on my way. There is nothing holding me here."

"Okay. Thank you." Lily hit the ‘end’ button on the phone and held it in her hand for a minute. She was surprised that Jake wanted to go with her, but she certainly didn’t mind.

For the first time in her life, Lily was really scared. Sure, there had been times when boys kissed her and passed out, but never something like this. Her eyelids burned with unshed tears. She didn’t like being this way. She didn’t want any of this.

It wasn’t Ben’s fault either. He couldn’t help himself. But, why did he have to push himself on her twice. She was sure that’s what landed him in the hospital. Being exposed twice and the open mouth kiss. 

Her mind drifted to Hannah. She hated to leave her. She’d text her when they were safely far away.

“Lily?” Jake’s voice whispered on the other side of the door.

She flung the door open and threw her arms around Jake. “I’m so scared.”

“It’s okay. I’m here.” He held her tightly for a minute. “We should go.” He looked up and down the hallway quickly to make sure nobody was coming. Grabbing Lily’s hand, he led her out of the dorm. 

They hurried across campus and into the woods nearby. Twigs crunched beneath their feet. Thankfully, the moon lit their path. She was glad Jake was with her. She would have been terrified running on her own. 

“What are we gonna do, Jake?” Lily asked, her voice filled with panic. 

“You told me your parents have some pull, right?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Let their lawyers handle it. Or let your mother handle it her way. In the meantime, we’ll stay out of sight. I'm used to moving around unnoticed.”

“How far do you think it is to town?”

“Another hour on foot. Then we’ll have to get a car and get out of the area.”

Jake continued to lead Lily through the woods. Her legs were burning from the hills. Finally, she heard cars. Relief flooded through her—the road must be close. Five minutes later, they saw headlights. They stayed hidden behind the tree line as they followed the road. Shortly after, they came to a shopping center. 

“You’re able to compel people, right?” Jake asked.

Lily nodded. “I haven’t done it often, at least not knowingly."

“You need to right now. Go tell someone to let us borrow their car.”

Lily swallowed hard.  She didn't think it was right to manipulate people. But, she knew they didn’t have many options right now. She saw a man getting out of a dark-colored Honda Accord. She walked up to him, looked him right in the eyes, and said, “Excuse me."

The man turned and looked her up and down. 

"You will let me borrow your car. You will not report it stolen.” She didn't let her stare waiver. 

“Of course, Miss.” He handed Lily the keys and walked into the store. 

Lily was almost proud of herself. If the deed hadn’t been so sneaky, she would have been. She waved to Jake, who came sprinting out and she handed him the keys. “I’m too shaky to drive.”

Jake took them and they got in the car. He started it up and headed south. He glanced over at Lily. She was biting on her fingers and her knee was bouncing up and down. “You okay?”

“Mhmm.”

He drove the speed limit so no cops would have reason to pull them over, and got to the next city a couple hours later. Parking the car at a mall, he wiped away their fingerprints. Then he grabbed Lily’s hand and they walked to a motel. “Lily?”

She looked up and met his eyes. “Yeah?”

“I need you to do the same thing to the clerk. Get us a room for the night. I don't have enough cash on me.”

“I have a bankcard.”

“We can’t use that. They’ll trace it.”

“Oh.” She nodded and went inside.

Jake could tell that she was very uncomfortable using her powers like this. He hated making her do so, but his money wasn’t close by. It would take a day to get to it.

Lily emerged from the motel with a keycard in her hand. “103.”

They walked into the motel room, which was dim, dreary, and smelled stale. It wasn’t anything like what Lily’s parents would stay in. Jake pulled the curtains shut.

“What are we going to do now?”

He smiled at her, a few things going through his head. He gazed at her longingly for a moment. She was absolutely beautiful. He wanted to bury his face in her long, brown hair and lose himself in her startling green eyes. 

As if she knew what he was thinking her face flushed and her breathing increased. She smiled seductively and pushed him up against the wall. Her body didn’t seem her own anymore. Running her hands through his hair, she pressed her lips against his. Her breath came faster now, as did her heartbeat. 

His hands ran up and down her back. He groaned and tangled his hands in her hair. “Lily,” he murmured.

Her body felt like it was on fire. All she wanted was him. The feeling between them was electrifying. She could feel the passion increasing and never wanted it to stop. Images of pushing him down on the bed and being with him flew through her mind as all her other worries floated away. 

“Lily…” Jake panted. “Lily, stop.”

She heard him in her head, but she didn’t want to stop. She wanted all of him. "I can't." Lily grabbed his shirt and started to lift it off him. 

He gripped her by the shoulders and pushed her back a little. “Stop.”

Her adrenaline was pumping ferociously. She opened her eyes and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“I want nothing more to be with you, but not like this.”

"I need you Jake. You make me feel alive." She pressed her body to his and he gave in. He lacked any control when she was around. 

Lily went to undo his pants, which brought him back to reality. He grabbed her hands. "Not yet, Lily. We hardly know anything about each other."

"You don't want me?" She pouted.

"We don't even have any protection. Lily, we need to be smart about this."

The idea of being pregnant brought her down. "You're right. I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking."

Jake took her hand. "I want to learn all about you. What are you afraid of? What's your favorite food? Your favorite childhood memory? I want to know everything that makes you the person you are."