Prologue 17 страница

I was grateful and hoped he understood that that part of my life was behind me and I was right where I wanted to be.

In no time at all, the work day was over and I found myself climbing on the back of his bike again and heading home. He dropped me off and released me with his words. I ran in to get ready for our double date while he went to his uncle’s to do the same.

After my shower I chose my clothes, a pair of jeans and a yellow tank with my brown cardigan and light brown wedge sandals. My charm bracelet hung just under the hem of my sleeve. I left my hair down and pulled my bangs back to help tame it after the bike ride but then I wondered what we’d drive tonight. Beck’s little two door Neon is small and uncomfortable but we can take it if we have to.

I heard the knock on the door and made my way to answer it. For once I beat dad. Caleb was wearing something similar to me, jeans and a brown leather jacket. His brown shaggy hair was curling very cutely around his ears.

And he had a single flower in his hand. A yellow rose.

I gaped at him.

“Are you trying to score points Mister? ” He just grinned as I took it and smelled the petals. “How did you know these are my favorite? ”

He leaned close and kissed my cheek, speaking his words against my skin.

“When you left your mind open to me, I did some digging around. ”

I leaned back to look at him and he was serious.

“Really? I wish I’d thought to do that, ” I muttered.

“They’ll be plenty of time for that. Once we ascend we can pretty much go all in the other’s mind anytime we want. ”

“Hmm, ” I hummed nervously, smelling my flower again.

“Don’t worry. ” He wrapped his arms around my lower back. “I won’t go poking in your head unless you want me to. And you will want me to, ” he said low and foreboding.

Before I could ask him what that meant, he took my lips gently, kissing the top then the bottom and sucking as he did so. I felt the temperature in the room go to uncomfortable levels. He pulled back a little to murmur against my lips.

“You look amazing. ” Then he moved to skim his nose over my chin and under my ear. “And you smell so good. What is that? ”

“Ch-cherry blossom, ” I stuttered breathlessly, my breaths were practically nonexistent.

He came back to my lips and continued what he had started. His hands moved lower to my hips right as I heard my dad clear his throat behind us.

I pulled back and looked over at dad with a guilty smile. I didn’t look at Caleb at all.

“Sorry, dad. ” I bit my lip. “Alright, I’m gonna go put this in water. We’re just waiting on Beck and then we’ll be out of here. ”

I went to the kitchen and dad followed me.

“Maggie. You better be careful with him. ”

“I am, dad. It was just kissing. Wouldn’t you rather us do that here, at the house? ” I asked as I pulled the vase from under the sink.

“Yes, I would actually but I think you guys are a little serious after only a week of dating. ”

I blew a steadying breath to stall, to give me thinking time.

“Dad, he’s different. He’s not going to take advantage of me. ”

“I hope not, cause I’d hate to go to prison for murder. ”

I laughed and went to hug him but he wasn’t amused.

“Dad. I’ll be ok. Caleb is a nice guy and very responsible. I promise you I won’t do anything stupid and neither will he. I’m sure he wants to stay alive and keep all his limbs intact. Ok? ”

“Ok, ” he conceded with a sigh.

“Ok, ” I agreed. “Well, let me go call Beck. She’s late. ”

When I came back to the door I heard yelling outside. Caleb was standing in the doorway with his head cocked to the side.

“What’s going on? ”

“Well, ” he said slowly. “It looks like Beck and her date are here. ” He looked back at me and grinned. “And it looks like love to me. ”

Twenty One

I peeked over his shoulder and saw that they were fighting and yelling by the curb, right by the trash cans. I groaned.

“Leave it to Beck to start trouble before we’ve even started the date. Bye, dad! ”

“Bye. Be safe, ” he said as he came around the corner.

“We will Mr. Masters, thanks, ” Caleb assured him politely.

“Call me Jim, please, Caleb, ” my dad said and extended his hand to Caleb. “Mr. Masters makes me feel old. ”

Caleb laughed and took his hand.

“Jim. Thanks. And don’t worry about Maggie. I won’t let anything happen to her. ”

My dad nodded and waved to me as we left. I slowly made my way to the curb and could hear some of what they were saying instead of just the noise of it.

“Well! What do you expect! She texted you with me in the car! ” Beck yelled and tapped her pointy booted foot.

“Rebecca, come on. You called me just this morning to go out with you. We’ve been on like four dates. Am I supposed to delete every girl’s number I have even though I haven’t heard from you in weeks? ”

“Maybe! Just turn your phone off at least. You didn’t have to text her back. ”

“I was telling her I was out with you! ”

“Oh sure, ” she said sarcastically and rolled her eyes just as she saw us coming. “Hey guys. ” She jumped and grabbed Ralph’s arm affectionately. “We were waiting for you. Ready to go? ”

I looked up at Caleb and he looked torn between laughing out loud and smirking.

“Ok, ” I started. “What are we driving? ”

“I brought my uncle’s car, ” Caleb volunteered and jingled the keys in his hand.

I looked behind Beck at the black Lexus.

“See, ” Beck said smartly and smirked. “Told ya, Lexus. ”

“Great. Let’s go, ” Ralph said hotly and stalked to the car door.

Beck looked at me and nodded her head to the side. I followed her behind he car while Caleb waited by the front passenger side door.

“Can you believe him! He-” she started but I’d already heard enough.

“Beck, I know. We heard everything. You weren’t exactly being quiet. Look, please be nice and don’t fight the whole time. I want to have fun. ”

“But he texted her, right in front of me! ”
“He said it was about you. He told some other girl-a girl he might have been possibly about to go out with but instead chose you-that he was out with you. You should be happy that he’d do that. Ralph really likes you. What are you doing? ” I asked softly.

“I don’t know. You’re right. But if he texts anyone else, so help me... ”

I rolled my eyes and pulled her to her door. Caleb opened it for her since Ralph was already in.

“At least someone has manners, ” she muttered.

“Be nice, ” I commanded. He shut her door and I turned to look at him. “I have a feeling we aren’t going to have very much fun. ”

“Yes we will. ” He kissed my forehead fast and softly. “You’ll see. ”

I climbed in after he opened my door and waited in the stiff silence of the car for him to get in himself. Once in, I introduced them all and Caleb asked where to go.

“Take us somewhere we’ve never been, Caleb, ” Beck said sweetly. “Somewhere from your town maybe. ”

Caleb looked at me and I nodded, knowing what he was thinking.

“Ok. Buckle up. ”

“Where are we? I feel like we’re in Deliverance, ” Beck said as she clutched the back of my seat.

We had just pulled into the lot at Mugly’s and though she was my best friend, I wanted to smack her. None of us had barely spoken a word on the drive over. She spent her time filing her nails and answering questions with Hmm’s and Uhuh’s.

Caleb eventually turned on a CD, Cold War Kids, and clasped my hand. We talked a little, some in our minds too, but mostly, we let them both just cool off before we got to the restaurant.

And now, we’re parked and I’m getting out before Caleb can come and open my door. Ralph tried to open Beck’s for her and she just scoffed and walked to catch up with me. She laced her arm through mine as we made our way through the lot to the door.

I looked back at the guys and they were walking a few feet behind us, talking about something. I looked back at Beck and she was seething but with a nasty little smile on her face. I was so confused why she even wanted to come out. I didn’t remember her being so petty before.

“Oh my goodness, look at this place! It’s right out of the boonies! ” she exclaimed loudly when we entered. I turned and pinned her with a stare. “What? ” she said just as loudly.

I pulled her arm to make her come closer.

“Jeez, Beck. What is wrong with you? Just because you’re mad at Ralph doesn’t mean you have to be rude to everyone else. Caleb knows the owner here, don’t insult them, please. I brought you here because I thought you’d like it. ”

“Ok, ok. Fine. Whatever. ”

Caleb came forward and greeted the hostess, a new girl I hadn’t met before and she said to follow her. He reached back to grab my hand and tugged me along to a back booth. I sat beside him and Beck and Ralph sat on the other side.

Our peppy little waitress came and explained the different barbeque sauces to us, to which my rude best friend laughed at like it was a joke, and then took our drink order. We all ordered sweet tea except Beck, who ordered bottled water.

I’m so sorry about her. I have no idea what’s wrong with her tonight.

It’s ok.

He smiled reassuringly and put an arm around me to pull me closer. He kissed my temple and Beck rolled her eyes.

“So, Ralph. Where are you going to school? ” I asked because his date wouldn’t.

“Columbia. ”

“Really? ” Caleb said interested. “That’s a really good school. ”

“Yeah. Is that where Bish went? ” Ralph asked me.

“NYU. But he’s actually interning now, ” I said and he nodded.

“I wanted to go here, to Tennessee, but my mom is so set for me to go to New York and since they’re paying, it’s not like I have much say. ”

“I hear you there, man. ”

I heard something in Caleb’s voice then, longing. I peeked into his mind without looking at him, though he could tell, you always can by the little fuzziness. I knew he wanted to go to Arizona but I didn’t know if it was just a flashing fancy or if he really truly wanted to go. Maybe he didn’t even want to be an architect. His mind told me I was right. He had looked extensively into Arizona. He was good at it but had no real desire to do architecture except to please his family. He had no idea of what he wanted to be except maybe be a geometry teacher. It wasn’t that Arizona was a particular fantastic school, it was away from here, on his own and no one to stop him if he wanted to take an art or astronomy class or something else useless, but it was his time right? He just wanted to do what he wanted to do.

I smiled up at him and he shook his head at me, the corner of his lips turning up in his profile.

“Uh, hello. Can you come out of La-La land and answer me? ” Beck said irritated.

“What? ”
“I asked what we’re doing after we eat. ”

“I don’t know but let’s look at the menu. We haven’t even ordered our food yet. ”

“Fine. ” She snatched the menu up and grimaced when she opened it. “Ugh. Meat, meat and more meat. ”

“You’re not a vegetarian, ” I countered.

She didn’t say anything else and I told Caleb to get me what he was having again.

“So, we have a theater in town if you want to catch a movie, ” Caleb suggested.

“Ugh. No, ” Beck groaned. “Do you have any clubs in town? ”

“Not anything underage, but a friend sent me a text earlier. He’s throwing a party tonight at the beach. ”

“Yay! Sounds good. Let’s do that. ”

“Beck, ” Ralph said and looked at her funny. “Maybe they don’t want to go to the party. You didn’t even ask. ”

“He wouldn’t have brought it up if he didn’t want to go! ”

The waitress brought our drinks and we all ordered our food. Then Beck went to the bathroom so I decided to find out what the heck was going on.

“What is wrong with her? She can’t be this upset over a text message, ” I asked Ralph and he rubbed his neck, looking uncomfortable and guilty.

“The girl who texted me was my ex-girlfriend. Beck was really weird about it when we went out before and when she wouldn’t return my phone calls, me and Christina went out again a few times. She freaked in the car on the way over. What am I supposed to do? She doesn’t act like she wants to be with me but calls me out of the blue. Am I supposed to not ever go out with any other girls and wait for Beck to realize that I’m freaking in love with her? ”

We heard a gasp behind us and turned to see Beck with a struck expression. She heard him. I bit my lip as I watched him stand and move towards her. She smiled and threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. He laughed after a few seconds and pulled away.

“We’ll be right back, ” he said quickly and pulled her away, giggling.

I felt extremely giddy and leaned on Caleb’s shoulder. I was glad when the waitress brought our food right as they came back, about eight minutes later. Beck’s lips were red and her hair was a bit disheveled. She beamed at me and when Ralph was getting a refill she looked at me mouthed ‘Holy Cow! ’

“Try these, Beck. ” I pointed to the corn nuggets. “They’re really good. ”

Ralph stabbed one with a toothpick and nodded in appreciation.

“So. Caleb, ” Beck started and laced her fingers into a fist under her chin. “What’s your major? ”

She gave me a concerned looked and then turned her gaze to Caleb with a little frown. I realized this was the grilling she’d been waiting for.

“Architecture. ”

“Really? And what exactly are your intentions with my best friend? ”

He choked on his sweet tea, laughing, and I looked at her in disbelief.

“Beck. What the heck? ” I asked.

“What? It’s my job as best friend to make sure he’s not a serial killer. Or an English major, not sure which one’s worse, ” she spouted indignantly and Caleb and Ralph both laughed.

“Well, uh, I adore Maggie. ” He looked at me and smirked at my stunned expression. “And I am most definitely not a serial killer. But I do know a little English, ” Caleb said grinning.

“Well, that’s a relief. So are you parents loaded? ”

“Beck, oh my gosh! Are you serious! ” I yelled but she ignored me and looked at him imploringly.
“Well, I’d say we’re well off enough, ” Caleb answered carefully.

“Oh, yeah. Loaded, ” Beck said and tossed her hair. “So what about siblings? ”

“One sister. ”

“Parents still together? ”

“Yep. ”

“When’s the last time you talked to your best friend? ”

“Yesterday. Text. ”

“And your mother? ”

“This morning. ”

She raised her eyebrows at that.

“Really. When was the last time you went to the dentist? ”

“Um. Three months ago, ” he said grinning.

“Have you ever been engaged? ”

“Nope, ” he said laughing.

“What do you think about the current economical state of Iran? ” Ralph and Caleb were laughing so hard, they looked about to cry. I just shook my head at her while she bantered. “Hey! That’s a legitimate selling point! ”

“Don’t answer that, Caleb, ” I cut in. “Ok, Beck, enough. Are you done? ”

“Yes. You have my stamp of approval. ”

He raised his glass in toast to her in gratitude and smirked.

“So, are we going to the party or a movie or what? ” Caleb asked after everyone settled down.

“I vote party, ” Beck said and then recanted. “If that’s what everyone else wants to do. ”

“I don’t care what we do, ” Ralph said sweetly, looking at Beck.

“What about you? ” Caleb asked me.

“Whatever you want. ”

“Well. We can go to the party. He’s a pretty nice guy so I wouldn’t think it’d be too crazy. ”

“Ok. Party. ”

We finished up just as Mrs. Amy came by and said hello.

Caleb drove us to a dark parking lot in the woods. I took my sweater off in the car and we piled out. As you came over the dunes you could see the red and orange bonfire lighting the sand and trees behind it. There were probably fifty people out there on the beach.

Beck jumped out of the car quickly, towing Ralph behind her. Caleb and I walked slowly hand in hand. I took my shoes off and put them in the pile along with a lot of other girls who hadn’t worn appropriate sand shoes.

Quite a few people called out to Caleb and he waved or said hello, bumped fists. A guy came and offered us drinks.

“I don’t drink, ” I said as he forced the sloshing warm beverage into my hand.

“It’s just soda, cutie, ” he said and winked before stumbling away.

I didn’t know if he was joking or not but Caleb took the drink from me and threw it in a passing trash can.

“I’ll get us something we can drink in a minute, ” he whispered as we walked over to the fire.

I wondered for just a second what his telling tone meant but forgot all about once I saw the crowd. They all turned to look at us when a guy yelled loudly to Caleb.

I felt my cheeks burn and was glad the red glow of the fire would hide it. And I swear there were a couple girls glaring at me, openly giving me dirty looks. I looked at them curiously as Caleb hugged a guy and bumped backs with their fists.

“Hey, man. Glad you could make it. ”

“Yeah. Thanks for the invite. Tristan, this is Maggie. ”

“Hi, ” I said softly.

“Hey, there. ” He smiled widely. “Caleb, dude, you been holding out. It’s nice to meet you, Maggie. Any friend of Caleb is a friend of mine. ” I smiled and he looked back to Caleb. “Where you been, man? I haven’t seen you in a while. ”

Caleb nodded his head towards me.

“Maggie doesn’t live here so I’ve been traveling back and forth. ”

“I didn’t think you were dating anyone. I told Ashley to come because you might be here. ”

I silently groaned.

“Man, come on. I’ve told you before; I am not interested in Ashley, at all. Never was. ”

“Caleb! ” The Ashley in question crooned sweetly from behind us. She even came up to him and grabbed his arm. “I’m so glad you’re finally here. I’ve been waiting. It’s so boring without you, ” she whined.

She glanced at me and smiled unkindly. Caleb pulled from her grasp making her pout more pronounced.

“We’re gonna go get something to drink, ” Caleb announced and pulled me by my hand.

Ashley called out behind us.

“I’ll take a martini, dirty. ”

He cast a rolling eyed look over his shoulder at her.

“Give in a rest. ”

“Come see me once you take preschool home to meet curfew. ”

He turned back to glare at her.

“Enough, Ashley. You really have to wonder why I never wanted to date you? ”

She looked genuinely hurt and I wanted to feel sorry for her. Her look of hurt turned to snideness as she flipped us off before turning and almost tripping over a log. I laughed into Caleb’s shoulder.

“Oh, no. Did she really just flip us off? ”

“Yeah. ” He didn’t laugh though. “I’m so sorry. I wish we hadn’t come here, now. This isn’t my scene, even though I come to them a lot because there’s nothing else to do, but I thought Beck might have fun. ”

“It’s ok. I’m not worried about Ashley. I’m not worried about anything. ” I hugged him around his middle, pressing my face to his chest. “I’m gonna be with these people in a few weeks anyway, right? I better get used to it. ”

“I guess. It’s really making me look bad with my choice of friends. ”

“I’ve only met two of them. Let’s get a drink and then you can introduce me to anyone you want. ”

“Really? ” he asked curiously and looked down at me. “I thought you’d hate this. ”

“I kinda do, ” I admitted laughing. “But I want to like it. ”

“I know I’ve probably said this twenty times already but... you are amazing. ”

He cupped my face and kissed me with gentle pressure. I stuck my hands into his open jacket, grasping around his back for warmth and closeness. My lips tingled and it spread to my cheeks, then my neck. I pulled back before we got too carried away and licked my lips. I felt him sigh, his breath blowing across my face.

“Drink? ”

“Yeah, ” I answered in a squeak and looked up to see his smug smirk.

“Caleb! ” I turned to see a very nice looking and very tall black guy strolling towards us with a wide easy grin. “My brother from another mother! Man, where you been? ”

They hugged and verbally jabbed back and forth; laughing, then Caleb took my hand.

“Maggie, this is Vic. Vic, this is Maggie. The girl I was telling you about. ”

My gaze shot to him in surprise. I didn’t know he’d told anyone about us, especially someone from school.

“Maggie, Maggie, Maggie, ” Vic crooned and hugged me. “I can’t tell you how happy I am to meet you, girl. You know, my boy hasn’t stopped talking about you. ”

Twenty Two

“Vic, come on. We only talked like three times, ” Caleb said and I could feel his embarrassment and also his glee about this guy liking me.

This was his best friend, the friend he mentioned that day. He had an over pronounced southern accent that was very cute. His hair was short and he had an earring in one ear. His sunglasses were hanging from his polo shirt collar and he wasn’t wearing shoes.

“Yeah and it was all about this girl, right here, ” he shook his head, pointing at my above my head and laughed. “I’ve been Caleb’s friend for ten years and I’ve never seen him with a girl, not once. Not even prom, he just skipped it. The guy’s a monk. ”

I laughed as Caleb rolled his eyes and rubbed his chin.

“I know. He kinda told me all about it. ”

“Well, come on, Maggie. Let’s get you a very non-alcoholic beverage. ”

He put an arm around my shoulder and pulled me with him, Caleb trailing behind us. We came to a big flat rock where it seemed all the food and drinks were set up. He handed me an unopened can of soda.

“Want something to eat? We got shrimp, oysters, ribs, chips-”

“Nah, I’m ok. We just ate but thanks. ”

Vic looked me over in a very objective manner with his chin between his thumb and forefinger.

“Caleb. I have to say you did good, brother. She’s sweet, she’s polite, she’s southern, cute. I approve. You two can continue to date. ”

“Thanks, man, ” Caleb said with fake sincerity.

“So where did ya’ll eat? ”

“Mugly’s. ”

“Oh! ” he shouted and laughed. “Caleb pulling out the big guns! ”

We all laughed and went to sit around the fire. There wasn’t much room because that’s where most of the people were. I kept looking for Beck but hadn’t seen her or Ralph since we got there. I imagined her pulling him behind a tree and doing who knows what, that thought made me want to gag and giggle at the same time.

So we sat down and Caleb put me in between them on the log. He kept looking around protectively which made me wonder what he was looking for.

“So, where’s Molly? ” Caleb asked.

“She’s here somewhere. Probably with Ashley which means she probably won’t come over here. ”

“we’ve already run into Ashley actually, ” Caleb explained and his voice got harder. “She’s in rare form tonight. ”

“You know how she is, man. She ain’t gonna change, unless maybe you asked her to. Then, I bet she’d wear purple hats with green shorts and call herself, Sally. ”

“Dude, ” Caleb laughed. “You need help. ”

“Yeah. So, Maggie. What’s the plan for school? Caleb talk you into Tennessee yet? ” Vic asked me while he loaded up a marshmallow on a palmetto stick to roast.

“He has, ” I said. “I’m really looking forward to it. ”

“He must have some serious skills to get you to come to our school after only a week, ” he mused and stuffed the mallow in his mouth. His next words were muffled making it even funnier. “Must be the hair. Girls go nuts over that hair. ”

“It is good hair, ” I agreed and Caleb covered his face beside me making Vic laugh.

“Great. Now you’ve joined his side, ” Caleb groaned. “He’ll talk you into anything. ”

“Have you met his parents yet? I haven’t even met his parents, ” Vic grumbled. “Even though the guy has been to my swimming pool in my back yard a million times, I’ve never set foot in this guy’s house. His parents are like super secretive or something. ”

“I have actually met them... and been to his house. ”

“Oh, sure! ” He yelled and threw his hands up. “Of course she gets to. I hear the guy is loaded. Is it true? He’s always so modest but I know his parents have to be loaded. ”

“Don’t answer that, Maggie, ” Caleb said and leaned towards me to whisper loudly and conspiratorially. “He’s trying to get you to feel sorry for him. His parents live in a three story complex with an inside pool and a real butler. ”

I gasp in mock surprise.

“You tried to trick me! ” I pawned good naturedly.

“No! Don’t listen to him! ” Vic yelled playfully and waved his hands back at Caleb.

I laughed as they went back and forth.

“Alright, guys, ” Vic said. “I better go see my girl or I’ll be in the doghouse. I’ll catch up with you later. Text me, brother. ”

“It was nice to meet you, ” I said and Vic turned and smiled gorgeously at me.

“It was good to meet you. Please don’t go anywhere. You’ve done that kid good. ”

I laughed as Caleb continued to groan and moan beside me.

“He’s really nice. ”

“Yeah. He’s a good guy. ” He stood and held his hand out to me. “Come on. ”

I took his hand as he helped me up.

“Where we going? ”
“Well. It is a party, ” he said and smiled.

He took me to the spot on the sand designated as the dance floor. The music was so loud there was no point in trying to speak. Luckily, we didn’t need to use our mouths.

Caleb, I can’t dance.

Sure you can. Everyone can dance. Plus I’m an excellent teacher. They don’t call my kind Charmed for nothing.

He took my hands and laid them on his shoulders. His hands gripped my hips just as the music changed to something slower. I was swept over with relief and he laughed and shook his head.

You got lucky on that one, but you’re still dancing with me. That’s all I care about.

I wrapped my arms tighter around his neck and he pulled me closer. Our bodies touching all the way down as he used his hands to sway my hips. His slightly stubbly cheek rubbed against mine as he moved us with our heads together and I was consumed with calm and warmth.

It felt so right to be there, in his arms. Wherever he was is where I needed and wanted to be.

I had never danced before, ever. Not even Prom. Chad had been very focused on goofing off with our group of friends that went together and we never made it to the dance floor. I was relieved back then because I couldn’t dance and still can’t. Beck tried several times to get me to shake it with her on the dance floor, pulling me ungracefully in her sinfully low cut purple gown, but I refused. She even tried to get me to sneak out to clubs with her sometimes when I stayed at her house but once again, I refused.

Now, I didn’t know if I’d go to a club or not, it sounded appealing with Caleb there with me, but right now, all I could think about was him, pressing me to him with his big warm hands through the thin fabric of my shirt. I liked his hands there.