Fated Dreams (Book One In The Affinity series) (16 page)

At the end of
the hall, I noticed a picture of the waterfall. It was breathtaking; whoever
took the picture seemed to capture the moment. As I stood looking at it, I felt
like I was standing right in front of it. I could almost smell the crispness in
the air and hear the waves crashing against the rocks. “This picture is
amazing. Who took it?” I asked, unable to take my eyes off of it.

Logan
laughed. “Do you guys ever speak, or are you too busy making out?”
he asked his brother.

“Shut up,”
Lucas snapped.

Karen laughed
along with Logan. “Luke took it. Didn’t he tell you that he takes pictures?”

I was shocked.
I had no idea he had this much talent. “No, he didn’t.” We stared at each other,
both of us surprised at what we were learning about the other. “Lucas, this is
wonderful, can you show me more?”

“You first.” He
nodded toward the piano.

His parents
gathered on the sofa so they could listen. Logan stayed where he was, leaning
against the door frame.

Lucas took my hand and led me to the piano,
sitting next to me on the wooden bench. “Go ahead,” he encouraged.

I touched a few
keys to make sure they were in tune, let out a breath, and began my song,
Beethoven’s “Fur Elise.” In my opinion Beethoven was the master of classical
music. My fingers danced over the keys as if they had a mind of their own.

Before I knew
it, I had played the last few notes, and the song was over. I spread my hands
over the keys when the final note fell silent, and reluctantly lifted my eyes
to see their reaction. The room was quiet, and all four Tates seemed to be
frozen in position, their eyes wide with shock—or terror? I wasn’t sure.

I sat up
straight, fidgeting slightly on the uncomfortable bench…waiting. My eyes fixed
on Lucas, hoping he, or someone else, would break the silence.

Finally, Lucas
smiled, bent down close to my ear, and whispered, “That was beautiful.” His hot
breath tickled my ear.

I ducked my
head, feeling suddenly shy. His hand rested on mine as applause erupted behind
us. His parents clapped loudly from the sofa.

Logan
pushed off from the door frame he was leaning on, and nodded to me
with a slight grin. Then he turned into the hallway, where he disappeared to
his bedroom. That was as much praise as I would get from him, which was fine by
me.

“Wow,” his dad
said. “That was amazing.”

I stood up from
the bench, feeling a little uncomfortable with their applause.

“Sarah, you
must be so proud of yourself, I would love to be able to play like that,” Karen
said. A wistful expression appeared on her face.

An idea came to
me. “I could give you some lessons if you want.”

She looked very
surprised. “You would?”

“Sure, no
problem.”

“I would like
that, thank you.” She stood up, and before I knew it, I was wrapped in her
arms. She smelled like gardenias.

Lucas took my
hand, pulling me from her embrace. “I’m going to steal Sarah. Let’s go hang out
in my room.” I nodded to Karen, and let Lucas led me away.

In his room, I
sat on the bed while he stood in front of me, leaning against the dresser,
staring at me. “What?” I asked, feeling self-conscious.

“You keep
surprising me. Really, I had no idea you could play so well.”

“Well, I had no
idea you took pictures. We made a deal, let me see them.”

His lips turned
up into a nervous smile as he bent down to open his nightstand drawer. A brown
notebook lay on top. He took it out, shoving it into the lower drawer so
quickly I didn’t get a chance to see what was written on the top. Under that
book was a plain blue album. He pulled it out and handed it to me, avoiding my
eyes.

He sat down on
the bed beside me and chewed nervously on his lower lip while I opened it up. I
was amazed. There were pictures with vibrant colors of the trees in the fall
with the leaves red, brown, and gold. Pictures in the woods in the winter, with
snow-covered maple and pine trees. I flipped through a few more nature shots,
and then came upon some of children at a park, some posed, some candid. My favorite
was a black-and-white photo of a mother and baby, staring into each other’s
eyes. You could see the love coming through the picture. “This one is awesome,
Lucas. You’re really good.” I looked at him with the same amazed expression he
had given me after I played.

“Thank you.”

I turned to the
next page and saw a black-and-white photo of me. I was sitting in the cafeteria
alone, reading a book. In the picture, I looked lonely, but at the same time,
content in my reading. I glanced up at him. “When did you take this?” I was
sure it was before we started talking to each other.

“Last year, but
don’t worry, I’m not a stalker. I take a lot of pictures of kids at school, but
I only have my favorites in this book.”

Seeing a photo
of me taken from a distance, without my knowledge, made me feel anxious. Goose
bumps broke out along my arms as I became entranced with my own image. I was
wearing jeans and a dark-colored short-sleeve blouse, and my hair fell forward,
covering half my face. I was engrossed in the pages lying on the table, totally
unaware of being watched. It made me appear vulnerable in some way.

Lucas turned
the page, breaking the spell. The next one was of his parents cooking together.
I couldn’t shake the wariness, so I closed the book and placed it on the bed.

“Are you okay?”
he asked.

“Yeah, I’m
fine, but I should probably head home.”

He didn’t look
convinced; his eyes were clouded with worry. “Sure, let’s go,” he said softly.

When we arrived at my house, he turned to
me. “You’ve been quiet since you saw that picture. What’s wrong?”

I didn’t want
the photo to bother me, and as hard as I tried to see Lucas as I had a few
hours ago, the picture somehow changed my view of him, so I lied. “Nothing, I
was just so surprised at how good you are. Is that what you want to be, a
photographer?”

He nodded,
knowing that my change of subject was deliberate. “Are you sure that’s it? I
don’t want you to be upset with me.”

I smiled and
leaned over to give him a quick kiss. “Good night, Lucas, I had a great time
with your family. See you tomorrow.” I pulled away and escaped into the night.

“Good night
Sarah,” I heard him say just as I slammed the car door behind me.

I felt guilty
walking into the house because his face had looked so sad. But right now I
couldn’t reassure him. The picture freaked me out, and I didn’t know why.

Inside, my
parents were watching TV. “How was it?” my mom asked, not turning her head from
the screen. Some reality show was on.

“Great, his
father’s an awesome cook.” I took off my coat, hanging it on the hook next to
the door, and turned to face them. “I’m going to bed. Good night.”

“Good night,”
they said absently.

Up in my room,
after I had changed into my pajamas, I lay in bed thinking about my evening at
Lucas’. I felt like I knew him so well, but I hadn’t even been with him a full
week. There was so much more we had to learn about each other. He was so
talented. I wished I had finished looking at his book, but once I saw that
picture of me, I panicked. Ever since that first night in the parking lot when
I realized someone was watching me, I’d been a little paranoid.

But now that I
had some distance from Lucas and the photo, I knew I overreacted, and I wanted
him to feel better.

I made the
decision to talk to him on the phone. That way I’d only need my voice to
convince him. I waited about a half an hour before I called.

He picked up
after one ring. “Sarah, are you okay?”

“Of course I
am. I just wanted to call and tell you that I had a really good time tonight.
I’m glad I came over.”

He sighed,
obviously relieved. “So next time you come over, I’ll challenge you to a
rematch of boxing.”

“You’re on, but
I’m totally going to kick your butt.”

He laughed.
“Wasn’t that you running away from me tonight, or was that someone else?”

“Oh, it had to
be someone else. I do not run.”

We talked for a
bit longer, and then hung up. The sound of his voice made me feel at ease. I
was glad that I had called.

“Is this going to happen every morning?” I
asked as I climbed into Lucas’ sports car the next day. This time I had
actually made it inside my car before he pulled in behind me.

He laughed.
“Maybe, but today I wanted you to come over after school. I have a surprise for
you.”

“What is it?”

He stifled a
grin, staring at the road ahead. “No, not telling. You’ll find out later.”

We arrived at
school and went to our separate classes. The day went by slowly. I was
impatient and curious.

“What’s with
you today, you seem restless,” Emma asked, looking up from her phone; she was
texting her sister. We were sitting at our lunch table. Half of my brain was
listening to the guys argue about a basketball game that was on TV, and the
other half was trying to figure out Lucas’ surprise.

I had barely
taken a bite of the sandwich that I was holding up in front of my mouth. I
threw it down on the table in frustration—why was I so curious? “Lucas told me
that he had a surprise for me, and I have to wait until after school to find
out what it is.”

She shook her
head. “Don’t guys realize the ‘need to know right now’ gene is in a girl’s
DNA?” She stopped typing and closed her phone. After she took a long sip of her
water, she slammed the bottle down, spilling water on her hand and the table.
“Just last week Derrick said he had a surprise for me but waited three days to
give it to me. It drove me nuts.”

“What was it?”

She lifted her
arm. A silver charm bracelet glittered from her wrist. The charms bounced and
jingled as she shook them. I remembered her showing me.

“Oh, right,” I
said, before downing the last of my iced tea.

Emma leaned
over me to smack Lucas on the shoulder with her hand.

He turned to
her, one eyebrow raised. “What?”

“What’s the
surprise?” Her eyes were narrowed.

Lucas glanced
at me. “It’s really driving you crazy, isn’t it?” he asked with a wide grin.

I took my book
out of my bag. “Not really.” I opened it and pretended to read, not at all
interested in the conversation.

He just smiled
wider. “Yeah, right. And Emma, you’ll have to wait to find out after she does,”
he said, nodding at me. He turned back to the basketball conversation, which
was getting very heated. Andy thought the team who lost was robbed, and Derrick
agreed, while Lucas and Pete yelled that it was a fair call, whatever that
meant.

Emma stared at
him shaking her head, mumbling something about men and secrets.

In Lucas’ car after school, I finally
cracked. “So where are we going?”

“You’re
impatient, aren’t you?”

“And nosy,” I
pointed out.

 “Good to
know.” He shook his head. “But I’m not telling you.”

I looked out
the window and saw that we were on his road. “It doesn’t matter, I’m over it.”
I heard a soft chuckle but didn’t turn my head.

We pulled up to
his house, and he jumped out of the car. When I opened my door, I saw only Logan’s silver sports car in the driveway. “Where are your parents?”

“At the
restaurant.” He opened the door to the house and held it for me. Then left me
standing in the living room while he disappeared into his room.

I stood there,
unsure if I was supposed to follow him or not. The sound of banging came from the
kitchen, distracting me from my confusion. I ducked through the doorway to
investigate.

Logan
was standing at the kitchen island, chopping onions. The counter
was filled with a variety of vegetables, and a plate sat off to the side with
uncooked chicken breast. He glanced up at me; his face was full of surprise and
embarrassment. “What are you doing here?”

“I came with
Lucas, he’s in his room.”

He scooped up
all the food and threw it in the garbage. Then, with his head low, he stalked
out of the kitchen.

I stood in the
doorway, mystified. What had just happened? Why would Logan throw out food he
hadn’t even cooked yet? Was he trying to teach himself to cook and not tell his
father? If so, why would he keep it a secret? Before I could figure out the evil
twin, the good one came out of his room. He picked up a picnic basket off of
the counter. “Okay, let’s go.”

“Where?”

Instead of
answering, he held out his hand. When I took it, he led me out the back door
and into the yard. Now I knew where we were headed.

It was a very
warm day, considering it was October. The sun was shining brightly, but the
breeze was cool.

We walked into
the woods and onto the path that led to the cliff. By now, all the leaves had
turned color, and only a few were left on the trees. Gold, brown, and
rust-colored leaves moved on the branches as the wind danced through the air.
They covered the trail completely. In fact, there were so many, I had a sudden
childish urge to make a pile and jump in. One I ignored, and followed Lucas.

We came to the
clearing and the small hill. Lucas spread a blanket on the grass. I joined him
on the blanket, watching the waterfall. It was hypnotizing.

We lay down in
silence, enjoying the sunny day and beautiful scenery. While I was lying there
staring at the view, he sat up and leaned against the large trunk of an oak. I
heard a click and looked up at him, surprised. He had taken a picture of me. “I
wanted to take some photos of you when you were aware of it. I also wanted to
take some of you at my favorite place.” He seemed nervous of my reaction,
thinking I might freak out as I had last night. I smiled at him and then
glanced back in the direction of the waterfall. “You know, I really love it
here. It’s like we’re in our own little world, and nothing can touch us.”