Destine (The Watcher's Trilogy) (15 page)

“I think that’s a good idea
.
If Cami is important to you talking to her can’t hurt, but I wouldn’t share anything that we’ve talked about,” he
advised
.

“I was going to open with your boyfriend’s the Antichrist
,
” I teased sarcastically
.
”
Why
,
is that a bad idea?
”
I began to walk towards the back door
.

Gabriel gave me a look that clearly said he was not amused
.
“No, here…I’ll walk you to the front door.” H
e
grabbed my
hand and
began to slowly walk me toward
the front of the house
.
When we got
the
re
he open
ed
the wooden door
,
but paused in front of t
he screen door
.
He tugg
ed
on
the
hand that he
already
held, pulling me closer to him
.
He took his free hand
and brushed some hair out of my f
ace, and then leaned
into me and
kissed me
.
I felt
the warmth of his lips, as he seemed to breath
e
life into my body
.
M
y face flush
ed
, my heart pound
ed
, and my stomach flop
ped
like I was on a roller coaster
.
My hand suddenly had a mind of its own as it ran
up
his neck and
through his dark bl
ack hair
.
It felt soft and thic
k
.
He leaned harder against me, and the intensity of the kiss increased
.
I had
lost all ability to think, all
I could do was feel, and it felt like every nerve in my body was on fire and sparking
.
Then all to soon he broke free of the kiss
.

We were both breathing heavy and his eyes
looked unfocused
as he gave
me
his slow, crooked smile
.
“Sorry, I got a little carried away.
”

I
t
took me
awhile to kick my brain back in gear
.
Finally I managed to smile back.
“I think I
like you when you’re carried away.”
A
nd with that I turned and let myself out the screen door
.
I didn’t look back
.
I couldn’t bring myself to
.
If I glanced back and he was staring after me, I would
probably
trip and fall down or worse run back up the
porch
and into
Gabriel’s
arms, and l
ose all the good sense I had left
.
No
,
I had to keep my eyes straight forward and force myself to do something I really didn’t want to do
—
go confront my former best friend about her possibly evil
boyfriend
.

Chapter
7

Luke 1; 19: “And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee […]”

I found myself
standing on the sidewalk outside Cami’s house
.
I was staring up at her bedroom window, and for the first time in my life I was dreading knocking on her front door
.
Thous
ands of Saturdays before I
have
stood
on the sidewalk outside her house, but never once had I hesitated or felt the increasing sense of dread that I felt now
.
I took a de
ep
breath, gathered my courage, and knocked on her front door
.
I rationalized that Cami and I had been friends for years
,
surely she would listen to me, but the feeling in the pit of my stomach made me doubt this thought
.

A few moments after my knock I saw the front door swing open a
n
d Cami bounced into view
.
As soon as she glanced in my direction I saw he
r happy, beaming smile slide off
her fa
ce into a look of vague annoyance
.
We stood staring at each other for what seemed like
forever through the glass
door that
separated
us
.
Finally she pushed the glass d
oor open, forcing me to step off
the first step
.
“What are you doing her
e
Michelle?
”
she asked
.
Using my full first name was not a good
sign;
I couldn’t even remember th
e last time she hadn’t called me
Chell
.

“Hey, I
uhh
though
t
that maybe we could talk,” I
stuttered
, “just for a sec.
”
I was immediately annoyed with myself, I shouldn’t feel bad about stopping by
.
Until two weeks ago we had been
inseparable
.
If anyone should feel bad it should be her for ditching me for a guy
.

“Fine, whatever
…
c
ome in
,
I guess,” she replied
,
stepping aside and
barely making enough room for me to step into the house
.

“Do you want to talk in here or your room?
”
I asked
,
hating the fact that I felt so uncomfortable in a place that had seemed like a second home just weeks ago
.

“My parents aren’t home, let’s talk here
.
Make it quick though, I’m expecting company,” she snapped
.

I took a deep breath and just launched into what I wanted to say
.
“Cami, what is up with you
?
You haven’t been around
a
t all lately, you never call, and we don’t hang out
.
Did I do something to deserve this treatment?

“I don’t know what you
’
r
e
talking about,” she spit the words out with irritation
.
“I’m the same person I’ve always been
.
I just now have other friends besides you, and I have a boyfriend
.
Let’s be honest
,
your real problem is you
’
r
e
jealous of me
.
Well
,
I’m not letting you hold m
e back anymore.
”

I felt like she had slapped me, and I actually found myself taking a step back
.
“Cami
,
I want you to be happy, and if having other friends makes you happy then I understand
.
I just don’t want you to forget about our friendship in the process.
”

She snorted through her nose and gave me a “yeah right “ look
.
“You don’t care if I’m happy
.
You only care about yourself.
”

“I’m
just worried
about you. T
hat’s all
,
Cami
.
I’m worried about you and Alex
.
I know you think he’s a nice guy, but maybe you don’t really know him that well
.
I saw you last night at the football game, and you weren’t acting like yourself. “

I saw her smirk at me in a nasty way
.
“So that
’s
what this
is
really about… Alex
.
I should have guessed
.
Listen, I understand that you’re jealous
.
He is popular,
gorgeous, and he is going to be elected studen
t council president on Monday.
“

I couldn’t help but let out a loud sigh
.
“For the last time
,
Cami, I am not jealous
.
I saw you at the game attached to his face
.
It was totally inappropriate
. Yo
u looked like a skank.
”
Admittedly my words were more than a little harsh, but she had tested my patience
.
“I think Alex is trouble and I’m afraid he’s going to bring you down with him
.
I don’t want to lo
se you as a friend, but I really don’t want to see you let some guy ruin your life!”

“How dare you come to
my house and call me a skank!
Don’t be such a prude Michelle
,
we were only kissing
.
Alex is such a
good guy
and everyone at school thinks so
,
too. You seem to be t
he only one with a problem
and
I don’t want you here spewing your lies,” she screeched
.

“Cami, we’ve been friends
since kindergarten and I can’t explain my feelings about Alex but I just know he’s trouble,” I tried desperately to get her to listen to me
.

“Get out of my house Michelle, and don’t come back!”

“Cami, please
…
j
ust let
…
”
She cut me off before I could even finish my sentence.

“Get out n
ow!” she bellowed, throwing the door open and stamping her foot
.
I dejectedly walked to the door
,
sparing one last glance at the one friend I had had since I was five
.
She didn’t even meet my
eyes;
she just stared off into the empty space over my shoulder
.
The Cami I knew would
n’t
treat me this way, she would
list
en
to me, and even if she didn’t agree with me she would have heard me out
.
Whoever this girl in front of me was, she wasn’t the same friend I had felt was a sister to me
.
I walked out her front door and away from my
best friend, more convinced tha
n ev
er that she was under Alex Chase
’s spell
.
As I turned on
to the sidewalk in front of Cami’s house
,
I all but walked into the very
person that was consuming my thoughts
.

“Michelle, y
ou really must watch w
h
ere you’re going,” Alex leered at me
.
“Are your thoughts perhaps preoccupied with our newest student, Gabriel?”

“Speak of the devil
,” I mu
ttered under my breath and then smiled
because the saying was true in more ways then one
.

“Michelle, you look tired
. H
ave you been sleeping alr
ight at night?” he asked with a sneer.
“I hope bad dreams aren’t keeping you up.
”
His comment had caught me so off guard I didn’t know what to say
.
I just stood and stared in his direction
.
“I’m off to see Cami,” he continued
.
“Remember Michelle
,
rage
is a sin
.
Watch that temper of yours.
”
He abruptly walked away from me
,
laughing
to
himself
, without
a look back in my direction
.

My mind was whirling around and around
.
Had Alex been commenting on the dream I had last night
?
It sure seemed like he had, but how did he know what I had been dreaming
?
Gabriel had admitted that he could enter my
dreams, but could Alex possibly
have
t
he same power?
A
nd if so
,
what other powers did he possess
?
I knew what I had to do
, and the clarity of that thought was almost startling
.
For the first time in years, I had to go home and talk to my mother
.