Schasm (Schasm Series) (14 page)

“Okay, before you tear up and ruin your makeup, come over here.” She leads me over to the closet. “What would you like to wear?” She waves her arms in front of all the clothes, like a game show model.

“I know exactly which one.” I rub my hands together with excitement.

I pull out the navy blue sundress and slip it on over my head. It fits like a glove as it falls over my hips, like water cascading over stone. I’m eager to see how it looks. I turn toward the bathroom with my eyes set on the mirror. With slow strides, I make my way over to my unfamiliar reflection. It’s as if I’m meeting someone for the first time. I hardly recognize the girl in the mirror. She’s someone I would envy if I saw her out on the street.

Celia clears her throat, interrupting my rendezvous with my own self. “Wait until Alex sees you now.” She winks.

“Well, he liked me when I was dressed like a bag lady, so I’m sure he’ll be quite pleased to see how well I clean up.” I laugh, turning back around to take one last look in the mirror.

“Well then, what are we waiting for?” Celia loops her arm through mine and leads me down the hall toward Alex’s room.

When she opens the door, I see him standing by the window, peering out. My breath catches at the sight of him. His white dress shirt is only buttoned to the top of his chest muscles, which illuminate his golden tan. It conforms to the masculine lines of his body, all the way down to his forearms where the sleeves are cuffed into perfect folds, exposing even more of his tanned beauty. Dark blue jeans and leather brown flip-flops complete his model-like attire. I thought I knew what the phrase
take my breath away
meant, but it has a new definition now.

He greets me with surprise radiating from his eyes. They glisten when they meet mine. “Wow,” he says, his mouth hanging open as he makes his way toward me. “Chloe…I had no idea…I mean, you’ve always looked beautiful, but wow…” His eyes trace my bare shoulders, over my body and down to my calves. I bite down on my lip, hoping to numb or calm some of my nerves. It doesn’t work.

We’re both pretty speechless.

“I’m guessing between the two of us, it will be a pretty quiet dinner.” My voice sounds different now, more confident, more at ease.

He reaches out for my hand, and I give it without hesitation. He lifts my arm up and spins me in a circle, checking out every inch of me. Heat flashes through me. I suddenly feel like I’m on display. But it’s all for Alex. I’m perfectly okay with that. “So we’re going out for dinner then, I take it?” he asks.

“Oh. I didn’t mean to assume anything. I just didn’t think you were planning to stay in, looking like…that?” I smirk.

 “I don’t know, Chloe, you just came to a couple of hours ago." His hand engulfs mine. "Do you think it’s a good idea for you to be wandering around town tonight? I was thinking we could have a quiet dinner on the terrace off of our living room.”

I feel the nerves pinching in my stomach from embarrassment. “Oh, of course…whatever you would like to do is fine with me. We can stay in. It’s no trouble at all.” I’m so nervous again.

I hope I don’t sound like an idiot.

He shakes his head. “Forget it. If you want a night out on the town, then that’s what you’ll have. We’ll just have to make sure you don’t get the urge to climb any trees on the way.” His crooked smile entrances me.

“Deal." I exhale the air I've been holding in. "Celia, will you be joining us?” I look over and see her amused expression.

She smiles and shakes her head. “No, sweetie. You two go have fun. We can chat when you return.”

“Okay, but if you change your mind, we would love to have you.” I say it sincerely.

Alex furrows his brows. “We would?”

I shove my thumbnail in between my teeth and glance up to the ceiling in an attempt to avoid the awkwardness I just created between them. “Um…”

Celia waves us off. “You two just go have a wonderful time.” Then she squeals and claps her hands together. "Oh you two are just the cutest things!”

Alex looks so embarrassed. I can't help laughing. “Thank you again, Celia.”

She winks at me. Then she admonishes Alex very maternally. “Don’t you let go of her.” We all know exactly what she means by that.

“I will never let go of her, Mom,” he says, wrapping his arm around my shoulder.

Their protectiveness calms my heart.

We walk to the garage. “Is this your car?” I ask. My eyes are bugging out of my head. It’s an old-fashioned, candy-red, convertible. In no way does it look like it belongs to a nineteen-year-old.

“Yes, it is. Do you like it?” he asks with a proud grin as he opens the passenger door for me.

“It’s beautiful." I duck down to look inside. I can tell that he’s just bursting with excitement and ready to tell me all of the details. “What is it?”

 “This is a 1963 Ferrari 275 GTS. It has a V-12 and three hundred horsepower. I did all of the body work myself and have been fixing up the engine for the past three years.” He proclaims this while pulling the cuff of his sleeve up to polish a foggy spot on the paint.

I have no clue what any of that means, but I smile and try to look interested. He takes hold of my elbow and eases me into the car as if I have two broken legs. I’m not sure if he’s worried about the paint job or me, I laugh to myself. After he closes my door, he jogs around to his side and climbs into the driver’s seat. It’s sweet watching him relax. He glides his hands over the steering wheel as if it was a cat he was trying to make purr. He fires up the ignition and spins the knob on the radio until he finds a classical music station.

“You like classical?” I ask with curiosity since he doesn’t strike me as the classical type. However, I’m not sure I can classify him as any
type
yet. I seem to always have him pegged wrong.

“Love it. Helps me relax and focus. You don’t mind it, do you?”

“I don’t listen to music that often, but I like the sound so far.” It’s embarrassing that I have no knowledge of music.

“This piece is called Moonlight Sonata. It’s one of Beethoven’s best pieces, in my opinion. It’s haunting, romantic, and passionate all at the same time.” He looks at me through the corner of his eye and grins. “It’s amazing.”

I’m so uncultured, and I can’t even think of an intelligent response. I realize there’s something important I want to ask him. I don’t want to spoil the mood, but it’s something I have to know about. “Alex…do you ever drift without meaning to?”

He shakes his head. “I have pretty firm control over it at this point. Don’t worry. You’re still new at all of this. You’ll get the hang of it after a while.”

“How long is
a while
?” I really don’t want to risk landing in the dark place again if I can avoid it.

“I’ve been aware of my drifts since I was very young. My great-grandfather has taught me everything I need to know. It’s helpful that he has the same abilities.”

“You’re lucky to have someone like that to guide you.”

“Yes. I am. Here we are.” With that, he ends the conversation.

We pull into a grassy parking lot, and my eyes become lost in the glow of thousands of beautiful lights.

“What is this place?” I grin with excitement.

“Don’t tell me you’ve never been to a carnival before?” He looks disappointed for me.

Another explanation of my home imprisonment is coming. “Nope. Never.”

“May I be your first, then?” He pauses and winks “to escort you to a carnival, that is.”

Oh my…

“I would love that.” I don’t know how I managed to respond.

He hops out of the car and walks to my door, opening it to help me out. He wraps his long strong fingers around my hand and pulls me toward the lights.

As we enter into all of the excitement, I’m entranced by the smells of delicious foods and the sounds of excited people. I try to take everything in as he pulls me through the crowd toward a long line of people.

The whole experience is thrilling.

“What’s the line for?” I ask, standing on my toes to see over everyone’s heads.

“You’ll see,” he says, gripping his arm around my hips.

There are only two people in front of us now, and I can see the people in front of them walking up on a metal platform. It’s our turn, and a large man with a barbell mustache escorts us onto a cart.

I glance up to the mechanism that looks like a mobile hanging from the sky. A bar lowers over our lap and we pop up off the ground as we begin swinging into midair. We glide into the sky with grace, and I’m overcome with an unexpected joy as the city of San Diego unfolds before us.

I grip my hands around the lap bar, holding on tight. “Oh my goodness. This is the most amazing view I’ve ever seen." I laugh nervously.

“Yes,” he says, looking me straight on. “The view is breathtaking.”

I blush. "How have I never been on one of these things?” Then I remember: because I have the mother from hell. I can’t imagine what else I’ve missed out on in my lifetime. All I want to do is take in every little detail of this view. “This is amazing, Alex.”

“Not as amazing as you,” he whispers as he peels my hand away from the bar and places it between his.

He’s staring at me again, and just like the other night, I can’t seem to get myself to look over at him. I feel like a coward, but I know what will happen, and my nerves are too tangled to allow a moment like that to happen yet. I want to look at him, and I want to know what will happen next, but there’s an apprehension like a magnet holding me in place.

He gives me a soft kiss on the cheek and places his arm around me, pulling my head in to lean on his shoulder.

Our cart descends toward the bottom, and I know that the ride is almost over. I could sit at the top of the world like this forever. “I love how it makes you feel like you’re floating in the sky.”

“With you, I’m always floating in the sky,” he says, placing a kiss on my temple.

His words take my words away. I’m speechless and wanting to fill the vacant sounds with his breath on my breath. He wraps his arms around my shoulders and guides me back to grass. “Since this is a night of firsts, there’s something else you need to try,” he tells me, as he leads us over to a food stand. “What would you say is the most indulgent thing you’ve ever eaten?”

The aroma makes my stomach growl, and warns me of my growing hunger. “Turkey bacon is as wild as it gets in our house.” I offer a humiliated grin.

He shakes his head. “Chloe,” he says, tugging my arm to stop me. “What happened to you over the past twelve years?” His eyes are begging for information. “Please tell me.”

I place my hands over my eyes, searching for whatever bravery remains within my soul. I hate having to admit this. I remove my hands and clench my fists against my thighs. “Let’s just say that my condition ruined my mother’s life. And I will forever pay the consequence for that.” Bitterness pinches my throat from the pain I’m working so hard to suppress. “Can we just enjoy the night?” I ask. “I’ll tell you all about it another time. I promise.”

He runs his hands up and down my arms, filling them with warmth and calmness. “I’m sorry.” He lowers his chin, but lifts his eyes. “Let’s focus on your eating habits,” he says with a mischievous smirk as he walks us up to the window to place his order.

“What are we having?” I ask. I’m trying to see over his shoulder to the menu.

He smiles at the vendor. “We’ll have a candied apple, cotton candy, kettle corn, and a funnel cake.”

The vendor’s eyebrows squish together as he looks around to see if there are more of us.

“We can’t be the only ones to order everything on the menu, can we?” Alex asks. I laugh to myself.

The vendor hands Alex everything all at once. He passes me the candied apple first. “This is our dinner tonight,” he says, handing me a napkin. “I hope you don’t mind." He smiles. "You won’t regret it. I promise.”

I take a bite. My eyes feel as if they're going roll into the back of my head. Drool pools up in the side of my cheeks as all of my taste buds pinch and swell. “I can’t believe what I’ve been missing out on.” I try to speak through my sticky mess of a mouth.

“Wait until you try this,” he says, eagerness glistening in his eyes. He hands me a handful of pink fluff.

“How do I eat this?” I raise my eyebrows. "And what is it, anyway? Dryer lint?"

"It's the best dryer lint you'll ever taste." He winks and nudges my hand closer to my face. “Just put it in your mouth. Half of the treat is what happens when it touches your tongue.”

I lay it on my tongue and feel a flash of mild fireworks crackling on the surface of my taste buds. It disintegrates into crystallized pieces of strawberry-flavored sugar. My tongue screams for more. I’ve tasted
bliss
for the first time, and I can’t go back to turkey bacon again.

I look up at Alex, waiting for the next treat. I see the pity in his eyes. He’s looking at me as if I were an abandoned starving child who’s getting food for the first time. I wasn’t abandoned or starved, but I’ve been unloved, kept as a hostage, and mistreated.

I’ve missed my entire childhood.

“Don’t look at me like that. It’s embarrassing.” I sulk and turn my head away from him.

He places his fingers under my chin and turns me back to face him. “I just don’t understand how anyone could be deprived of these simple things,” he says.

I shrug. “Not everyone has a Celia in their life.”

His eyes graze over my nose as they lower to my mouth, and I’m now realizing that I might pass out before he gets a chance to do anything. My gut is doing summersaults, and I don’t know whether to turn away or fall into him. I want this to happen, and I want to feel his lips on mine. I close my eyes out of apprehension and wait for his next move. I probably look like a fool.

Seconds pass but they feel like minutes, and my heart is pulsating through every inch of my body. Is he staring at me? Is he waiting for me to do something? Is he laughing at me? I can’t open my eyes. I don’t want to see the incoming scene. I just want it to happen.

Just as my nerves reach the brink of disaster, his thumb slides over the corner of my lips. I open my eyes to a sweet smile.