The Soul's Mark: FOUND (10 page)

“Nah.
 
I’m
okay,” Amelia said, the anger finally starting to fade.
 
She set the bottle down on the table with a
thump.
 
“Who the hell does she think she
is anyways?”

“Most of them are like
that,” Erin said, and shrugged.
 
“They
think they run this town because they live behind the gate.”

“I’m Tyler Armstrong by the way,” he
said.
 
“I’ve got class but…” he shot
Amelia a big-eyed puppy dog look.
 
“You’re coming to Erin’s party, right?
 
‘Cause,” he ran a hand through his messy hair, making it stand up on
end, “I’ll be there and it’d be cool if you were.”

“Um, yeah maybe,” Amelia said.

“Cool.”
 
He gave her one last grin, got up and strolled away.
 
Amelia watched him walk away, enjoying the
view.
 
She admired the way his jeans hung
loosely on his hips and perfectly cupped his round and all-too-grabbable butt.

“He’s hot, right?”
 
Erin said, and snickered.
 
“He’s totally into you.”

Amelia felt herself flush; it burned up her
neck and she just knew her face was turning a bright red.
 
She looked back at Erin and shrugged.
 
“Yeah, he’s alright I guess,” she said and
they both burst out laughing.

****

Erin was in all of Amelia’s classes, and
she knew every short cut and hiding place in the school.
 
She escorted Amelia, showing her all the back
ways and least traveled halls to get to classes.
 
It made the day a bit easier and by the time
her last class ended, Amelia was starting to feel slightly better about her new
status.

She meandered towards the main parking lot
to meet Eric and made it out without another run in with the Barbie Squad.
 
Eric was waiting in the car right outside the
doors to the Math Building.
 
He was hard
to miss in his flashy green Corvette.
 
Amelia went straight to the car, jumped in and buckled up her seat belt
without a word.
 
What would he say about
Fiona?
 
Did he already know?
 
Should she tell him?
 
Now that she was with him, she didn’t know
what to do.

Eric squealed away from the curb.
 
She could feel him watching her from the
corner of his eye.
 
He was the first to
break the silence.
 
“Rough
day?”

“You could say that,” Amelia said.
 
Her voice cracked and tears stung her eyes.
 
She wiped at them, furious at herself.
 
She had had worse days.
 
She had been hit before.
 
This shouldn’t bother her.
 
Most of the people were nice.
 
Everyone wanted to know her.
 
She was popular.
 
This should be a good thing, so why was she
shaking?

“It’ll get easier,” he said, and looked at
her quickly before bringing his eyes back to the road.
 
“They’ll get used to you being around.”

“God I hope so.”

“I heard about Fiona.
 
She hit you pretty good, too, I see.”

Amelia hadn’t bothered to look but she knew
there had to be a bruise.
 
She could feel
the tight skin and any facial movements made her feel like her face would
crack.
 
She flipped down the visor
hastily and opened the mirror.
 
There was
a bruise all right.
 
She had a clear handprint
imprinted on her cheek that was turning a nice purple-blue.
 
“That’s nice,” she huffed.
 
“Just what I needed.”

“It doesn’t look that bad, honest.”
 
She shot him a look and he laughed.
 
“Well, okay it does but you can cover it up.”

“How did you find out already?”

“Amber called Justin freaking out.
 
Justin called us.
 
Angelle and Luke are over there now with the
five of them.”
 
He gave Amelia another
quick look.

Crap.
 
Amelia’s temperature dropped and all of a sudden, she felt cold as
ice.
 
Why were they getting involved?
 
She had enough problems without them making
it worse.
 
And Amelia could look after
herself.
 
She had been doing it for five
years now.
 
It made her feel uneasy,
especially with the way people were treating her.
 
She wasn’t important, so why was everyone she
met treating her like a rock star?

“Why?” Amelia blurted.
 
“Why can’t you guys just stay out of it?”

Eric chuckled.
 
“It’s better that we deal with it then for
Mr. Lang to find out.
 
He wouldn’t be
happy and Fiona was out of line.
 
Besides, you’re part of the family now and we look out for each
other.”
 
He shot her a mischievous
look.
 
“So it’s just us tonight.”

Just us?
 
Was it wrong that her heart did a little flip
at the thought?
 
Amelia quickly forgot
she was supposed to be mad and the stress of the day, well, the stress of
everything that had happened since she had arrived in Willowberg fluttered
away.
 
Since when had she become so boy
crazy?
 
She didn’t know, but with Eric
this close to her, so close she could smell his musky scent and feel the heat
of his skin, all reason flew out the window.

“I was thinking I could take you out for
dinner,” Eric continued cautiously.
 
“Somewhere nice.”

Was he asking her out?
 
On a date?
 
No, he couldn’t be.
 
He wouldn’t.
 
He was just being nice, she was sure of it, but she couldn’t help but
hope maybe, just maybe, he was.
 
“Okay,”
Amelia said, trying to keep the excitement out of her voice.

“Awesome,” he said, flashing a lazy, and
very sexy, grin.

****

Dinner was fantastic.
 
Eric had taken her to a swanky little place
in the downtown core.
 
Amelia had been so
nervous at first that she almost knocked her drink onto his lap.
 
Luckily, his reflexes were extraordinarily
fast and he caught the glass, not spilling a drop.

In no time, Eric had made Amelia forget all
about her nerves.
 
His laugh, his smile,
his charismatic, easygoing personality, everything about him made her at
ease.
 
By the end of the night, to
Amelia’s surprise, she was flirting and inching closer to him.
 
Even more shocking, he was flirting back.

When they got back home, he was a gentleman
and insisted on escorting her to her door.
 
That was when Amelia remembered her nerves.
 
They came back, jumping and flipping like
acrobats at a circus.
 
As they got closer
to her room, she was suddenly all too aware of her body and his body and the
closeness between them, like an electric current, coursing through her limbs,
waking up parts of her that she didn’t even know existed.

They reached her room all too quickly and
part of her wanted to rush in, shut the door and hide.
 
What if he kissed her?
 
Did she want him to?
 
Yes.
 
But what if she didn’t do it right?
 
Would he laugh at her?
 
In theory, she knew how to kiss.
 
She had kissed Mitchell hundreds of times,
but that was just a dream.
 
He wouldn’t
tell her if she sucked.

Amelia was getting herself so worked up
that she felt nauseous.
 
Her stomach was
flipping so fast it was as if she was on a rollercoaster, hanging upside down,
and looping around.
 
She stood in front
of her door, staring at her feet and fidgeting with her watch, turning it over
and over on her wrist.
 
She could feel
him watching her and could just imagine his laughing, vibrant eyes.
 
The silent tension was spine tingling, and
the urge to flee became overwhelming but she just couldn’t make her body work.

Just when she thought she would scream in
frustration, he reached out and gently tipped her chin up, so she had to meet
his eyes.
 
Then, as if it were slow
motion, the world around her stopped and he leaned in and kissed her.

He tasted sweet and his lips were soft and
oh so gentle.
 
She had thought it would
be just like kissing Mitchell but it wasn’t.
 
Not one bit.
 
Her lips tingled, and
it was nice, but the passion, the need, it wasn’t the same.
 
Not bad, just…different.

When he broke away, he licked his lips and
looked down at her, eyes hungry.
 
“Shit,”
he breathed and backed away.
 
“Shit, that
shouldn’t have happened.”

“No, it’s okay,” Amelia said.
 
That really wasn’t the reaction she had hoped
for.
 
What had she done wrong?
 
She took a step towards him.
 
Maybe if she tried again.
 
This time she could use her tongue.
 
Maybe that would work.

He held up his hands to stop her and his
expression turned cold.
 
“It’s really not
okay.
 
Don’t look at me like that.”

Her heart sank, feeling like boulders were
tied to it, dragging it down to her toes.
 
The way he was looking at her, as if he couldn’t stand to be near her
hurt.
 
It hurt really badly, way worse than
Fiona’s slap.
 
“Like what?”

“Like I’m some chocolate
sundae.
 
You’re going to be the death of me if you keep that up.”

“Eric, we didn’t do anything wrong,” she
pleaded, tears filling her eyes.

“Dammit, Amelia!” he yelled and slammed his
hand against the door so hard the walls rattled.
 
“Yes, we did.
 
I have to go.”
 
He turned away
from her and shuffled off.

“Eric,” she called after him but he didn’t
stop and the tears spilled over, gushing like a waterfall.
 
She scrubbed at her face, hiccupping and
gasping for breath not understanding what she had done so wrong.
 
Was she really that horrible to kiss?

Amelia stared down the empty hallway for a
cold, lonely minute, praying he would come back but he didn’t. Finally, she
went into her room, slammed the door, fell into bed and cried big
heart-wrenching sobs.

There was no sign of Eric the next morning,
and to Amelia’s relief (and dismay), he stayed away for the rest of the
week.
 
After their little kiss, he had
left abruptly, supposedly on some business trip and no one seemed to be able to
tell her when he would be back.
 
She knew
sooner or later that he would come back.
 
It would be awkward and they would have to
deal with it, but she was glad she didn’t have to face him, at least not yet.

As the days went on, Amelia’s shiny new toy
status didn’t fade in the least.
 
It only
seemed to grow, especially after the Barbie Squad formally and publicly
apologized to her.

With Eric gone, and no sign she would be
able to just blend in, Amelia focused on school, burying herself in books.
 
Studying was the best and really the only
distraction she could think of and she was glad classes were tougher than she
had expected.
 
It was nothing like high
school and by the time Friday came
around,
she had
already taken (and aced) two quizzes, and had a report to write by the end of
the weekend.

The energy at school on Friday was nuts;
there was a palpable buzz in the air.
 
Amelia could feel it like a soft vibration, radiating and pulsing.
 
By the time 7:00 came around and her last lab
class ended, the buzz had grown, and seemed more like a tidal wave of
anticipation.
 
At first, Amelia thought
it was a bit strange.
 
Erin was not Miss
Popularity by any stretch of the imagination, but from what she had heard
Erin’s annual party had grown a reputation of an event not to be missed.
 
Amelia had been asked at least a hundred times
if she would be going to Erin’s party.
 
And with Amelia’s celebrity status, all the girls wanted to know what
she’d be wearing, when she’d be getting there, if she had a date, if she would
have her hair up or down.
 
It was so
flattering and all the attention, whether she wanted to admit it or not, was
going to her head.

Now, at 8:30, Amelia was sitting on her bed
amidst heaps of clothes, watching the clock flip away the minutes.
 
The reality had finally hit her.
 
This was her first real party and with all
the attention she had been getting she knew she had to look just perfect and
everything seemed… wrong.
 
Every outfit
she tried on made her look fat or just didn’t work.

She picked up a black skirt, held it up to
the light and then tossed it across the room.
 
“Everything is just wrong,” she huffed to herself.
 
Her nerves were on hyper-drive and the knot
in her stomach twisted agonizingly tight.

With a sigh, she got off her bed, wrapped
her housecoat around her and stalked out of her room.
 
She knew it was stupid and she was overreacting,
but there was so much pressure on her to be some perfect, glamorous movie star
that it made her feel sick and she just knew she couldn’t go.
 
I’m not
the party type anyways,
she thought, and watching a movie and hanging out
here would be… better.
  
And how could
she look perfect when the bruise on her cheek was starting to turn a horrid
greenish-yellow.

Amelia slipped up the stairs and headed
straight for the media room, the thought of chilling out and watching a movie
was sounding better and better to her by the minute.
 
When she passed Eric’s room, she stopped for
a moment, taking in a deep breath of lingering musk.
 
Her heart sank as she looked at his closed
door and wondered if he was ever coming back.
 
She gave herself a little shake, forced her eyes away and padded down
the hall to the media room.

The room was dark and quiet, and Amelia
reached in and flicked on the lights.
 
She was half way to the television when she saw him.

Eric.

Amelia had expected it to be awkward, and
it was.
 
Seeing him again hit her hard,
like a punch in the gut, knocking out all the air from her lungs.
 
They locked eyes for an incredibly long
minute.
 
She wanted to pull away, break
the contact but she couldn’t.
 
So many
feelings rushed into her, suffocating her.
 
Hate, anger, lust, more anger.
 
She felt like she was drowning in the intense
rush of pure emotion.

It wasn’t until he grinned at her that
mischievous grin of his, the one which at one time had turned her into a
giggling fool, that it hit her.
 
A part
of her, a purely animal part, wanted to pounce on him and kiss every inch of
his magnificently sculpted body.
 
That
was her biggest worry.
 
She had been
terrified that when she saw him again she would act like a lovesick puppy
dog.
 
But now, as she looked at him, it
was crystal clear that her attraction to him was completely and utterly
sexual.
 
She didn’t love him, not even a
little.
 
And somehow, for some reason
that little bit of realization stopped her from making a complete and utter
fool
of herself.

“Oh sorry,” Amelia said, pleased at the
strength of her voice.
 
“I didn’t know
you were back.”

“It’s okay.”
 
Eric looked so calm and cool and she wondered
if he was feeling the same mix of confusion that she felt.
 
“Thought you were going to
that party tonight.”

She shrugged and continued on to the
entertainment stand.
 
“You thought
wrong.”

“Oh come on,” he whined, and Amelia had to
work hard not to look over at him.
 
His
voice was almost captivating and called to her.
 
She focused with eyes unseeing on the shelves of movies.
 
“I was looking forward to it.
 
Go get ready.”

“I’m not going so drop it,” she snapped,
annoyed at how much he affected her.
 
“And even if I was, you wouldn’t be coming with me.”

Amelia hadn’t heard him get up, but she could
feel his breath, warm and tantalizing on the back of her neck.
 
“Why?” he asked, a soft, seductive whisper in
her ear.

She was suddenly, hotly aware that the only
thing under her thin housecoat was a lacey black bra and thong panties and he
was standing so close that she could feel the heat of his skin warming her
body.
 
“I have nothing to wear and I look
fat in everything,” she breathed, broken and strained.

Eric laughed, loud and hard and Amelia spun
around.
 
“Fat?” he staggered
back
a few steps, laughing hysterically and holding his
stomach.
 
“Come on.
 
What are you, a size six?”

Amelia bristled.
 
“A size six!
 
You think I’m a size six!
 
You’re such an ass,” she yelled.
 
She grabbed a DVD off the shelf and flung it
at him; it missed and banged off the wall.

Eric sobered quickly, looked at her with
confusion and that look made her blood boil.
 
“What did I say?” he asked, and held up his hands in protection as she
grabbed another DVD and whipped it at him.

“What’s up with you two?” Angelle asked
,
appearing in the doorway as another DVD was sent airborne
at Eric.
 
“And why aren’t you ready?”

“I’m not going,” Amelia snapped, grabbing
another case off the shelf.

Angelle glided into the room, and before
Amelia knew it, she had snatched the next case out of her hands and placed
herself in between them.
 
“What the hell
did you say to her, Eric?”

“I didn’t say anything,” he said,
exasperated.
 
“She said she looked fat
and I said she was a size six.”

“You didn’t,” Angelle gasped and put an arm
around Amelia, more to keep her from attacking Eric than anything else.
 
“God, Eric.
 
Didn’t anyone ever tell you to just keep your mouth shut about that kind
of thing?
 
She’s a size four.”
 
Angelle paused for a second and gave Eric a
hard glare.
 
“You just have so much class,
Eric,” she said, her voice oozing with sarcasm.
 
“All lower, but so much class.”
 
She turned her big brown eyes on Amelia.
 
“
It’s
okay, Millie.
 
I’ll help you find something to wear.
 
Don’t listen to him.
 
He’s an idiot.”
 
And then she ushered Amelia off, promising to
help her get ready.

“I think I should cancel,” Amelia said when
they got to her room, her voice a little shaky.
 
Why had she let Eric get to her like that?
 
She knew it was crazy and he really hadn’t
said anything wrong, but dammit, he could get under her skin so easily.

“Don’t be stupid,” Angelle laughed.
 
“You were so excited yesterday.”

“That was yesterday,” she replied, letting
out a long gusty huff and curled up in bed, tugging the blankets around
her.
 
“This whole party thing is overrated
anyways.”

Angelle bounced across the room and ripped
the blankets off her.
 
“Oh
no you don’t,”
she said, wagging a finger at her.
 
“You’re going and it’s gonna be a blast.
 
Now go jump in the shower.
 
I’ll pick out something for you to wear.”

“That’s the problem,” Amelia said, glancing
back towards the closet and around the room at all the clothes scattered.
 
“I have nothing to wear.”
 
She ran her hand through her mess of curls.
 
“I’ve been looking for the last hour and I
have absolutely nothing.
 
Everything is
just wrong.”

Angelle erupted in laughter.
 
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
 
She put her hands on her hips and made a
great show of an exaggerated eye roll.
 
“We shopped for like ten hours and I bought you a whole new
wardrobe.
 
You’re being a bit dramatic,
don’t you think?”

Amelia felt the giggle bubbling up and
tried to cough and cover it, but it ended up sounding like a choked laugh.
 
She had to admit it.
 
Angelle was right.
 
For the first time in years she had lots to
wear, but nothing seemed right.

Angelle yanked her up out of bed and
ushered her into the bathroom, keeping a firm hand on the small of her
back.
 
“You better hurry,” she said,
giving Amelia another nudge towards the shower.
 
“I promise I’ll make you look fantastic.”

With a theatrical, drawn-out sigh, Amelia
reached in and turned on the water.
 
“Fine, but I want to put it on record that I don’t think I should go.”

After a quick shower, Amelia emerged from
the bathroom draped in a fluffy white robe.
 
She laughed when she saw her office door open.
 
Angelle had transformed it into a mini beauty
parlor.

“Sit,” Angelle ordered, pointing to the
desk chair.
 
Amelia obediently padded her
way over and sat down, perching on the edge.

“I’m pretty sure I can handle getting ready
myself,” Amelia said, jutting out her bottom lip in a pout.

“Stop pouting, Amelia.
 
You are going tonight and you are gonna have
fun,” Angelle said sternly, clipping the diffuser into place on the hair
dryer.
 
Grabbing the mousse, she squirted
out a blob of tangy, sweet-smelling foam and worked it into Amelia’s long
curls.
 
Then she turned the dryer on,
scrunch drying the masses of hair.

It took almost thirty minutes for Amelia’s
thick hair to dry into soft spiral curls.
 
Angelle parted it right down the middle into two loose pigtails and tied
them with short black ribbons just below the ears.

“Pigtails?”
Amelia questioned, feeling the knot return to her stomach.

“Just trust me.
 
It’s the little bit of sugar; now we will
work on the touch of spice.”
 
Angelle
dumped her make-up bag onto the desk and started rummaging through the
contents.
 
“Close your eyes.
 
I don’t want you to see the colors I’m
picking.”

Amelia huffed but closed her eyes.
 
The brushes tickled as they were swept across
her face.
 
She had never been one for much
make-up, never really knew how to wear it.