Take Me Away (5 page)

Taking out my pen and notebook, I get comfortable in the chair when I feel someone staring at me. Looking over, I see sexy blue eyes finding mine. I run my hands over my shorts and focus on breathing. This isn’t happening. Why the hell is he in my class?

CHAPTER 5

TRESTON

MY ALARM BLARES AT SIX A.M., FORCING me to get out of bed. Dragging my ass up, I put on shorts and a hoodie, my sneakers and grab my phone and ear buds, heading outside for my morning run. The loud music blares in my ears, drowning out my inner thoughts of Zara. The voices and her smile are loud this morning. Shit. Focus Parker, I shout at myself.

Just one more mile
.

I push myself, feeling the ache of my muscles throughout my body. I finish my run and head back to the house. I still have time to get ready and relax before history.
History.
Fucking kidding me. As a senior who needs to take a class with freshmen, it’s not my idea of fun, but something I need. Going back to school and practicing, prepping for my final year, keeps me busy. As soon as I settle down and things are quiet, the words hit me and her face comes to my head. I need to be successful this year.

“Promise me you won’t stop trying. You’re so smart, Treston. I don’t want my death to impact your life.”

I touch Emily’s face and softly kiss her lips. “How can you say that?”

“Because even though I’m gone you’re still here. You have your whole life ahead of you. Don’t stop living.”

Keep focus
I repeat this to myself. Shutting out Emily’s words from my head. In a lot of ways I know she’s right. I know I have to keep going.

Heading inside and to the left, I walk into class and decide sitting in the back is the best thing to do this semester. I hate sitting in the front of class. Makes you feel vulnerable and the professor feels the need to call you out when they see fit.

Then I see her, my feisty and sassy girl. Automatically, I sit down next to her and hear a little gasp coming from those lips, causing me to smile. Before I could say anything, I hear that sweet little voice.

“What are you doing in my class? You’re a senior. Oh wait knowing how you are you probably failed am I right?” I look at her, tilting my head.

I hold onto my chest and let out a dramatic gasp, “You wound me, baby." She rolls her eyes, "Since you care so much about my studies I need this class to graduate.”

“Oh. So you decided to sit next to me? I’m not going to help you cheat, Treston.”

“Didn’t ask you to nor do I need to. Maybe if you took a few minutes to know me you’ll know how much I enjoy history. But since you’re so kind,” I slide over my notebook to her, “You can take notes for me. I like your handwriting better.” I stretch out my arms and relax in my chair. The look on her face is priceless. I love messing with her. She's not boring and takes my shit instead of laughing like a hyena.

“You’re kidding me right?” She harshly whispers. “I’m not one of your groupies. Why don’t you find one of them to takes notes for you? I’m sure you will have no problem finding one in this, or any other class.”

“That’s the thing, baby. I don’t want anyone else doing this for me. We’re in this class together and you live next door to me. Get used to it.”

“You’re such an asshole. Stop calling me baby.”

I tap her nose with my finger, “You love me.”

Class starts and I’m trying to pay attention to what Professor Clarke’s saying about the semester. In the corner of my eye, I look at her.

Immediately Professor Clarke goes into the zone and talks about the class. She says we’ll be working with one other person, of our choice, on a semester long project. The project will have to be extensive research about a specific theme, war and terror, and we’ll have to write a paper and present our findings.

Perfect.

I look over and her mouth is slightly parted. My eyes travel to her chest and I can see she’s breathing a little faster and quicker.

Taking my pen, I lean over and write a note.

You look pretty.

She reads the note and writes
thanks. You actually look decent too.

I smile and write
admit it you think I’m hot. Just say it Peaches.

No! And what the hell? Peaches?

I'm not sure where that came from either. As soon as I sat down next to her, I smelled her perfume and there's a slight peachy smell.

Yeah Peaches. I like the name. It fits you.

ZARA.MY NAME IS ZARA.

TO ME YOU ARE PEACHES.

“Oh, it’s going to be fun working with you,” I tell her.

“No.” She shakes her head, “We’re not going to do this project together. I’ll find someone else.”

Professor Clarke asks if we have any questions. I raise my hand and she nods my way. “I would like you to know that I will be working on this project with Zara Borzilleri.”

“Okay Mr. Parker, thank you for letting me and the class know.”

“Asshole,” she mutters under her breath.

“Oh stop, Peaches. You’re making me blush.”

Turning back to what Professor Clarke’s saying, I try my hardest to focus. It’s hard paying any attention during her lecture.

"Come over today so we can start the research. Don't want to get behind, right?"

"I'll think about it," she answers.

"Sounds good. You think and I'll get things ready." She shakes her head, but I see a hint of a smile on her face. For some reason, her smile makes me feel good. Usually women aren't this hard to please. She's different and I want to work for her attention. This isn't someone I could forget or would want to.

When class is over, I follow Zara out and walk her to her next class. I like being near her, she's the calm for the storm in my head.

Before I can ask her to get lunch with me after she's done with class, Henry Baker passes us, "What's going on, Treston?" He extends his hand to me and I take it. I hate the fucker.

"Nothing much, man. You?'

"Same old shit. Hey, I'm Henry Baker."

"Hi," Zara waves, "Zara Borzilleri."

Henry is one of those rich fucking brats who thinks he owns the school. The swagger in his walk and his expensive Ralph Lauren polos, fucking wannabe Abercrombie and Fitch model. He likes to be around the brothers and tries too damn hard to fit in.

"You're the new girl on the lacrosse team, huh?" She nods, causing me to step a little closer to her.

"I can't wait to watch you play at the Invitational." Is this guy serious?

"That's sweet. Thanks, Henry." I look over and clearly can see she's being nice. Well, I'd rather her
not
be nice to him.

"Gotta walk her to class, man. See you around."

"It was nice meeting you."

"Likewise," he smirks, walking backwards, looking at us before I put my arm around Zara and walk her out of the building.

"Come over tonight. You can relax and do homework with me."

She flashes me her sexy smile, "Fine I'll come over tonight. We can motivate each other."

Oh yes we can.

After my last class, I head to the cafeteria, and find my friends sitting at a table in the corner of the room. Without thinking, I sit down next to Katy, across from Zara.

Before I can say anything, Peony makes her way over to me and sits down. She eyes the girls and then me.

“Treston. I have an hour free, why don’t we head back to my dorm room?”

“For what?”

“Come on,” she laughs, touching my arm.

“Yeah, Treston. You should go and play,” Zara says, staring at me, then back to Katy. Well then, this isn’t going the way I want. Why the hell would she want me to be with Peony?

“I’d rather stay here, Peaches.”

“Peaches?” Peony asks, “Is that your name?” She glares at Zara.

“Calm down, Peony. It’s a nickname. No reason for you to get all cranky and pissy.” Damn, she’s feisty.

“Whatever she said, Peony. Now go. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Fine. Whatever.” She rolls her eyes and leaves the cafeteria.

After Peony leaves, I eye Zara and put my arm around Katy. A smirk crosses my face, as I take food from Katy’s plate and pop it in my mouth.

"I'm surprised you're not following her," she remarks, "Seriously, what's the point in hooking up? I never understood that."

"I'm not technically hooking up. See, hooking up means sex. I'm just messing around with them. I don't have a girlfriend and I'm pretty sure these girls are willing." I tell her, keeping my eyes on her, "Why do you care anyways, Peaches? Afraid I won't pay attention to you anymore?" Eyeing her body, seeing the annoyed look on her face is the best. "You have nothing to worry about. You're my number one."

"Sucks to be you, since you are definitely not even in my top one hundred."

"Ouch, baby. You can wound me with your words, but you and I both know how you really feel. You'll see. I will be your number one soon too," I wink, pissing her off even more.

Henry soon joins us and he pulls a chair out, sitting next to Zara. Oh hell no. What the fuck is this asshole thinking?

"Hey, Zara. I was wondering if you wanted to get dinner tonight with me?"

I glare at the two of them and grind my teeth. I have to force myself not to climb over the table and grab his polo wearing ass out of the seat. I sense Katy looking at me with a smirk on her face.

"Dude, she's busy tonight."

"I am?"

"She is?" Katy asks, "No Treston, you have it wrong. Coach only wants us to be in the gym tonight, so no practice. I think it'll be cute if she and Henry go on a little date."

Staring at her, thinking about ways to kill her, my focus is back on Peaches. "She's busy with homework. You said you'd come over." I remind her.

She cocks her head to the right and gives me the evil
shut the fuck up
look. Damn, my girl is feisty.

"Oh, that's right." She turns to Henry, "I'd love to go out tonight."

Hell. No.

CHAPTER 6

ZARA

I DON'T REALLY WANT to go out tonight with Henry, but today pissed me off. Who the hell does Treston think he is? Ugh. The nerve of his arrogant ass. I know I told him I’d go over and study, but we just got the assignment and it’s a semester long so whatever he’s doing isn’t going to work. I’m not going to fall for his charms.

Pulling out a cute, dark green dress and a jean jacket, I change into my outfit and sit at my vanity.

Katy and Jamie walk in and plop themselves on the beds. "So, you're really going out with Henry?" I nod. "Treston freaked out today, Jamie. You should've seen it."

"I can't believe it. Zara, I have no idea what you did, but that boy has it bad for you."

I turn and face my two idiot best friends. "First, no. Treston and I are acquaintances. Who cares if I think he's sexy as hell? Nothing will
ever
happen. He annoys the ever living shit out of me and I hate the sight of him. Seriously, he's constantly on his man period and I've
just
met him!"

And it's true. Treston gets on my last nerve. I have no idea who the hell he thinks he is trying to tell me what to do and interfere. My phone rings before I get back to my makeup.

Jackson:
You're going out with Henry tonight?

Me:
Yep!

Seriously, what the hell is up with people today? Is Jackson going to tell me what to do also?

Jackson:
Really? Abercrombie? LOL

Me:
Oh shut up! He seems nice...

Jackson:
Right ;) have fun listening to him talk about himself

Me:
Ugh, go away!

I finish my makeup and grab my purse. "All right ladies. I'll see you later!"

"Have fun!" They both yell, laughing and smiling. I have no idea what's so funny or why my current love life, no wait, dating life, is so important.

When I get downstairs, the door opens and in walks Henry. He's wearing a dark blue v- neck with cargo shorts. I don't see what people think is wrong with him.

"You look really pretty," he tells me, taking my hand. "Ready?"

"Yeah."

We walk to his sleek, black Audi and he opens the door for me. See, what a gentleman! It’s not hard to be nice. Treston should take lessons since he obviously missed the
How to Be A Gentleman
course.

When he gets in, he starts driving and turns on his music from his iPhone.

"So, what are you feeling like tonight? Sushi? Mexican?"

I tap my chin and think. "Let's do sushi."

Henry takes my hand in his, stroking the top of my hand with his thumb, and nods his head. "Sushi it is for my beautiful date."

The food is really good here and I make a mental note to come back. It's a contemporary sushi restaurant with a New York City feel with contemporary colors and flashy food items like the
pink bomb which
is salmon and scallion. How do the chefs come up with these names?

"So that's why I want to get into the business with my dad. What do you think?"

My eyes snap to his. Oh yeah I was supposed to be listening to him talk about himself. Right. "I think it's great, Henry."

“Thank you. I do believe I’ll be a great addition to my dad’s company. I’ve been submitting plans to him…”

I'm trying hard to pay attention and listen to what he's saying. But I’m so bored. I look at the fork and think about stabbing myself in the thigh so we can end this date or whatever this is called.

Since we got here it’s been all about him. For a second he asked about me and my interests. When I brought up lacrosse I could see the confusion on his face.

“Tell me more about yourself. What are you studying?”

“Education with special education,” I tell him, feeling proud of that fact. “I want to get into coaching too.”

"So, you want to be a teacher?"

"Yeah. I want to work with little kids, especially kids with learning disabilities. There are so many different ways to learn instead of having the teacher standing in front of the room and telling their students what they should know. I want to be the type of teacher who inspires her students and watches them grow."

"But how can you inspire children?"

"By making them
want
to learn. A great teacher will come up with ideas for her students. They’ll research different learning techniques and demonstrate those techniques in class. When you open a child’s imagination so many positive things can happen."

"Oh okay," his confused tone is annoying. I guess not everyone sees my passion for teaching and instilling values in kids.

The chef comes out shortly after and puts on a great show with his cooking utensils. I think my favorite part is when he makes a volcano out of the onion.

Riding back to the house with him I’m thankful for the music filling in the awkward silence in the car. As soon as we get to the house, he walks me to the door, holding my hand. "I had a lot of fun with you tonight, Zara."

"I did too, Henry. Thank you so much for taking me out."

Standing on the porch, I reach for the doorknob and feel him pulling me to his body. The door quickly opens and to my surprise there's Treston and Jackson, with Katy and Jamie in the background laughing.

I glare at the four idiots and roll my eyes. I'll deal with them later.

"Say goodnight, Henry." Treston commands, looking fiercely at him.

"Don't be rude." I push them away and close the door. "I'm sorry about them. They're ridiculous."

"It's okay. I know Jackson's your ex, but what's the deal with Treston? He seems pretty possessive over you."

I wave my hand, dismissing his comment. "Treston's a jerk and doesn't know what he's doing. But I should head back in and do my homework. Like I said, thank you so much for tonight."

"I'll text you sometime, if that's okay?"

"Sure," I smile, before heading into the house. When I close the door, they're all looking at me, waiting for me to tell them about tonight. "The four of you are ridiculous and embarrassing!" I shout, stomping upstairs to my room.

Tossing my purse on the floor, I drop on my bed, burying my face into my blanket. Why am I not interested in Henry? He's sweet and caring, funny, kinda silly, and cute. Sure he talked about himself the whole time and doesn’t understand my passion for teaching. Maybe he was nervous? That’s it. He was nervous and I should give him another chance even though I was picturing Treston in my head the whole time.

"Peaches?" His voice. God, his voice turns me on and I have no idea what the hell I'm going to do.

"What, Treston?"

He sits on the bed, placing his hand on my back. "How was it tonight?" I groan, sitting up and looking at him. "Come on. Grab your books. It’s study time." He smirks, making me shake my head and smile at him. "That's my girl."

My girl. Seriously being friends is not going to be easy!

A few hours pass and I'm ready to pass out. If I look at any more books, I'm going to throw them out the window. The house is quiet. It's just Treston and me up right now. We're in the living room, resting on the couches. Looking at the time, I open my eyes wider and groan.

"I'm getting sleepy," I tell Treston, putting away my books. It's almost one in the morning and I'm ready for bed. "Thanks for tonight."

"No problem, Peaches. Why don't you stay over and tomorrow morning we'll go running."

An uneasy, but good, feeling takes over. He's asking me to stay over. Where would I sleep? On his bed? Oh no I can't do that. "I should get going back though. I can't spend the night here."

"Katy does and sometimes Jamie."

"Well, Katy's dating Gavin and I don't know about Jamie. Plus, it'll be weird." I have to be honest. I can't have slumber parties with a guy, whom I just starting liking as a friend, and my ex is living in the same house. It's weird.

"I'll walk you back to the house then. How about a run tomorrow morning?"

"Deal." I smile and help him clean up. When we walk out of the house, toward mine, it's quiet and I like it. That's the funny thing about hanging out with Treston. We can be around each other and not talk. It's not uncomfortable or anything.

When we get to the front porch, part of me is screaming that I'm an idiot for not taking his offer and spending the night. I'm not exactly ready to say goodnight.

"Tell me more about yourself," I tell him, "I want to know more about you."

"Not much to tell. What you see is what you get."

"You seem so up and down sometimes. Like you'll act like an asshole and then, when no one's around, you're sweet. What gives?"

"Nothing." He quickly answers. I don't believe him. There's more to Treston than meets the eye. I'm not sure why he hides who he is from everyone. The walls he has guarding himself makes me want to push it down and figure him out. He's a puzzle and I'm very good at solving puzzles.

"Just one thing?" I ask.

"Fine. I'm scared of the rain."

This surprises me. I wonder what the story is behind his fear, but I don't ask. That'll be a later question. "I've never been to New York City and I've always wanted to go."

"Why haven’t you?"

I shrug. "Didn't really have the time. It was always school and lacrosse. Those were my priorities."

"Maybe one day we can go together." He touches my cheek and I smile.

"Maybe."

The next day goes by without any issues. Treston and I go for our run and I feel great when we're done. We head back to the girls’ house and I make him an egg white omelet with mushrooms, ham and peppers. We sit outside, enjoying the sun, and talk about random things.

Practice isn't too bad today. More conditioning and running. Coach Kaler is the best. She's been around for a while, playing lacrosse and coaching, so we listen and look up to her.

"Girls, grab your sticks," she blows her whistle, giving us instructions. "I know this is going to sound like child's play, but we need to practice scooping and cradling. The key thing to remember is passing and passing accurately. Nothing’s more embarrassing than passing the ball only to have it intercepted by the opposing team. We have about six weeks before the Fall Invitational. I don't think I need to remind you how tough the teams are going to be. Ladies, you need to stay focused and trust me. I know what I'm doing," she finishes, blowing her whistle.

The drills are easy and juvenile. We're all capable of completing the drills without any issues. Weaving in and out of the cones, cradling my stick, I aim and shoot for a goal.

Boom.

After completing the drills, two players stand in front of us. We get into two lines and our goalie, Grace, is in the goal. Coach instructs us that one person will be flying down the field with an assistant and the other player is the opponent. As a midfielder, I love these drills. Not only do I get to run and catch with the ball, but I get to play a bit of offense and defense.

The drill goes by quickly and the team looks good. There's some things we need to work on, like communication and thinking faster, but it's all with how you practice together.

"Awesome," Coach claps her hands, "Awesome girls. Get some rest and I'll see you tomorrow night. Check your emails and start the workout plans I created."

Body on fire...Check.

Can't breathe...Check.

Feeling great...Check.

Heading back home with Jamie and Katy, I decide on going for another run. The adrenaline running through me is still high and I have a lot of energy.

Getting ready for my run, I put in my ear buds and let the upbeat music help push me so I can run faster. People say that music distracts them when they're working out. Not me though. I love it. Music is my life, especially when I find that
one
song that touches me. It can be in any genre, as long as the lyrics and beat are good.

I hit the two-mile mark without any issues and start back home. In the corner of my eye, I see Treston running too.

"Treston," I call out, hoping he hears me. Realizing he probably has his ear buds in, I run over to where he is and run next to him. He looks over at me and I wave.

"Hey. Another run? Didn't Kaler kick your ass today?"

"Yeah, but I have so much energy and I didn't want to sit around."

"Fair enough. Think you can keep up?"

"Of course!"

Treston and I run a little more before heading back. He's fast, but I keep up.

"Damn," he breathlessly says, "Morning run tomorrow?"

"Yep! But I want presents!"

He raises a brow, "I'll come with muffins, coffee and juice."

"You know the way to my heart. I like chocolate chip muffins, but just the top." When he smiles at me, I swear my heart is beating loud enough for him to hear. Melting at the sight of his dimples and the way he looks at me is my undoing.