Authors: Lilian Carmine
But I just went ahead and nodded at Tristan, smiling at him shyly.
Take that, stupid head! Hah! I mentally poked my tongue out to my brain. Apparently, my heart was in charge of things tonight. It wanted some more time alone with Tristan too; it also wanted more of his kiss. But before we could stand up, Seth, Tiff and Sam appeared in the corridor, talking happily to each other.
They spotted us sitting there and headed our way. Tristan sagged when he saw them approaching, frustration rolling off him in waves. Alone time seemed to be farther and farther away from our grasp …
“Hey, man, we were looking all over for you! You disappeared!” Seth said, beaming at Tristan. “Sam was even saying you must have been hooking up with a girl somewhere.”
“I’ve been here with Joey,” Tristan said, smiling to the ground. I noticed he had this habit of telling the truth without actually saying the truth. It was kind of clever of him.
“What’s going on, guys?” I risked asking, my voice coming out a little quivery. I still hadn’t recovered fully from my incoherent jelly state. “Why everybody’s heading this way?”
“Party’s over,” Tiff said, leaning on Seth and taking her high heels off. “Oh God, that feels good. Shoes were killing me. Pooh.”
Sam sniggered teasingly. “Have you noticed how women always make these orgasmic moans whenever they take their heels off?” He chuckled loudly. “And the more uncomfortable the shoes, the more orgasmic the sound?”
At Sam’s side, Seth started laughing hard. “Oh man! That is so true!” he said, high-fiving Sam.
They were almost choking with laughter. Tiffany, however, seemed oblivious.
“My toes just feel too good to care about them,” she said, shrugging, and wiggled her toes on the cold floor. “I’m calling it a night, guys! I’ll see you tomorrow.” She waved us goodbye then walked back to her dorm room.
Sam wiped tears of laughter from his deep-blue eyes. “I’m going to head to bed too. Night all!” he said, with a wave.
It was just me, Tristan and Seth, then. Seth turned to leave and looked at us, waiting.
“Aren’t you coming? You heard them, party’s over. Let’s go.”
I shrugged and stood up. What were we going to say? No, we are staying here some more, because we want to be alone and make out a little bit, so please, leave us alone now? Tristan sighed loudly and followed us down the corridor. I could still feel his frustration flooding off him while he walked by my side, even though his eyes were glued to the floor the whole time.
“So, where are Harry and Josh? They left the party early?” Tristan asked, making small talk with Seth. I focused on their chat, to distract my mind from that kiss.
“Oh, those two are still partying out there somewhere,” Seth said, chuckling. “Josh is always the last to return to the dorms at night. And Harry has his ‘boyish charms’ and the ‘I’m so shy’ sweet face of his. It’s a freaking gold mine! No chick resists him. Ever.”
The boys chatted amiably as we headed back to our dorm, but I remained silent. There was a lot that I needed to process about the night. About my feelings, and what I’d seen in Tristan’s eyes. Which part of that kiss was really us? Which part was the spell that bound us? I remembered the pinpricks of heat on my lips when we touched … Was that magic and, if so, was anything that was happening between us real at all?
I was the first to the bathroom, the first to get dressed in my comfy pajamas and the first in bed. When Seth retreated to the bathroom, Tristan took the opportunity of us being alone to sit on my bed.
“Are you okay, Joey? You look a little worried.”
“Yeah, no. I … I’m just a little confused. I mean …” I burrowed deeper into my bed. Okay, understatement of the year. I was freaking out.
“About us?” he said, biting his lips. It looked so damn sexy. I wished I could be biting those lips. “I’m not. Things are pretty clear to me,” he said.
“R-really?”
“How about we do this. Let’s take things slow. How does that sound?” he said, putting his hand over mine.
“Okay. I think. Sounds good …”
We locked eyes again and there was a sizzling buzz shooting electricity between us. He started leaning closer to me, but Seth came out of the bathroom, making him lean back hastily. Frustration and annoyance flickered in his eyes for a brief second, but it was replaced by a humorous glint.
“Yeah, slow. Maybe this is for the best,” he mumbled to himself, and shook his head. “Good night, then, Buttons.” He gave me a chaste peck on my forehead and walked over to his bed, smiling softly.
Chapter Twenty-One
Sky
I woke up lying on soft, warm, silvery sand.
Okay, I was having that same weird dream again, I thought to myself. It was the same moonless night in that infinite desert and the same goth-looking girl was sitting next to me. I sat up and turned towards her.
“Hi again.”
The girl greeted me back. She had her legs crossed in a meditation pose, her hands folded loosely in her lap. “Why do you keep coming back here, Joe?” Goth Girl asked. “I told you before, you’re easy to track here.”
“I don’t know why I’m here. Why are you?” I retorted, a little miffed. Why did she keep telling me to leave all the time?
“This is sort of a ‘workplace’ for me,” she said calmly.
“Well … your job must be really boring, then, huh?” I asked, looking around at the endless desert sand. This place looked as dead as it could be.
“It can get a little repetitive sometimes,” she said, following my gaze, but then she turned back to focus on me. “But sometimes unexpected things can happen.” She added thoughtfully, “Like when you called me. That was an interesting evening for me.”
“I called you?” I asked suspiciously.
“Yes. That night at the cemetery, you called me.”
Apprehension gripped my stomach. “What night?” I asked, but I already feared the answer.
“New Year’s Eve. But you know that.”
“I-I didn’t call you. There seems to be a misunderstanding …”
“Sure you did. You and Tristan.” She smiled softly.
“I-we … d-didn’t,” I stuttered. But then I remembered what Miss Violet had said. There were seven people that night. The three old ladies, Mom and me making five, Tristan being the sixth. And the seventh? She beamed, watching as realization dawned: “You were the seventh? Wait, who are you?” I asked, starting to get a little scared now.
She seemed to ponder that question. “You called me and you don’t know who I am?” she asked, confused. “And you keep coming here but you don’t know why, or how you are doing it? Not many people come here voluntarily, you know. And, please, do have in mind that he can also find you very easily in here too,” she said, looking at the horizon.
“He?”
“Yes. He’s been searching for you for a while. But then he stopped. Very odd …” she said talking to herself. “It’s not like him to give up like that. He can be so relentless, so stubborn.”
I tried to make sense of her words. Someone looking for me. Relentless. “Do you mean Vigil?” I asked. It could only be him that she was talking about. “I mean, I don’t know his real name, so I just call him Vigil. He already found me.”
She frowned then her expression changed to one of amusement. “You actually named him?” she said with a big grin. “That should be interesting to watch! And you said he found you?”
“Yes. He keeps crashing into my dreams. Kind of like you and this place …” I mumbled, looking at her in annoyance. “But I always wake up and there’s nothing he can do about it. Plus, last time I sort of punched him and it looked like it hurt him. So maybe he stopped after that …”
“Punched him, you say? You sure are entertaining. That explains his absence. He’ll be back, though.”
“I hope not,” I muttered to myself. Even in his fragile, pale, thin boyish incarnation, he was scary as hell.
“He will. You can count on that. It will be fun to see this,” she said.
“Well, as long as I’m entertaining you, that’s all right, then,” I replied, annoyed at the way she was looking at me like I was some sort of circus freak show.
“Oh! You’re tremendously entertaining. I do hope you can come see me again! But enough of that. It’s time to wake up, Joe.”
“What? Wait! You still haven’t told me who you are!” The sky above us suddenly seemed brighter. It looked like the sun was coming up – clearly my time here was running out. ‘Tell me your name?” I asked in a hurry, hoping she’d answer at least one of my questions.
She smiled. “I have many names.”
She was almost as cryptic as Vigil. Could this girl give me at least
one
straight answer?
“Why don’t you go ahead and make one up for me? Since you are already so good at giving names!” she said, winking playfully at me.
I didn’t have time to answer her, though, because the sound of Seth’s alarm clock burst through the scene. I blinked slowly, trying to adjust to the bright daylight washing over my eyes. For a second I thought about a name, while I was still slumbering in that intermediary state of half-consciousness.
Sky. Her name is Sky.
“That’s a good one!”
I heard her whisper in my ear, and then I woke up completely, and the dream faded from my mind like twirling leaves scattered by the wind.
The sound of his alarm woke Seth up too.
He wanted to rehearse the new songs today, even though it was Saturday. He’d decided that two days a week to practice wasn’t good enough for “the band”, so we were rehearsing three afternoons in the week, and now apparently we were going to practice all weekend too. Seth was riding us pretty hard with all the band practice, but I didn’t mind; rehearsal time was like the most amazing time ever for me!
Since waking up, I’d tried to avoid looking at Tristan. Every time our eyes accidentally met, I blushed like a thirteen-year-old; it was extremely aggravating! I felt so stupid, being all girly like that! Why did he have that effect on me?
Josh and Sam were already in the practice room when we arrived. We chatted a while about the events of the party, and then I sat in my favorite spot, right in front of the instruments area where I could lean against a bunch of boxes. I took out my lyrics book and some pencils from my backpack, getting ready to start work.
Tristan glanced my way, while the boys were setting out their guitars and drums. Then he walked over to me and, before I could start blushing again, he sat down by my side.
“So, did you sleep well?” he asked a little nervously, looking at my notebook.
“Yeah. You?” I asked.
Stop blushing, Joey. Stop blushing. Stop blushing.
“Yeah. But I got a little worried this morning, though.”
“Worried?” I asked shakily.
Keep it simple, short replies, and do not blush.
He gave me a nervous sideways glance. “I was worried that I may have stepped over some boundaries last night. I didn’t ask you if I could do what I did … if it was all right. I didn’t mean to disrespect you,” he said, and blushed. “If I did, please forgive me, Joey. I didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable, like you seem to be now.”
“No! No, no. You didn’t! I-I mean, I’m not. You don’t make me feel uncomfortable, Tris!” I said.
Tristan was so sweet, with his polite, old-fashioned ways, worried that he had ruined my honor just because of one kiss. One amazing, obliterating, mind-blowing kiss …
Before he could say anything in response, Harry barged into the room, his bass strapped to his back.
“Yellow, peeps! Ledger is in the house! You can all chill now!” Harry greeted everyone happily.
“Harry, you’re always the last one here, man! Every time, every rehearsal! What took you so long?” Seth complained.
“Whoa. Why all the sulking, Mr. Grumpy Face?” Harry retorted jokingly. “You should be more cheerful today, since last night you got some action, and all …”
Seth went all red in the face. “I-I did not! I don’t know what you’re talking about. Shut up, Harry!” Seth snapped, looking all flustered.
Harry laughed, took his bass off his back and settled it down. “Seth, dude! You know I can always tell when someone has seen some action! It’s my super power,” he said, surveying the room.
I was glad Harry hadn’t so much glanced in my direction yet. I was sure I would turn a new shade of red if he guessed that Tristan and I had also seen “some action” last night. I looked down at my notepad embarrassed. After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, I heard Harry again. I didn’t dare look up.
“You know who else got lucky? Smirking Josh over there in the corner. Oh! Tristan my man, too! Way to go, Tristan! And, aw, sorry, Sammy. Maybe next time, huh?” Harry said, making a sad face at Sam.
It was Sam’s turn to turn red. “Shut up, Harry! You are just making this stuff up!” Sam grunted as Josh chuckled.
“I’m not. You all know it! I can totally tell who’s been getting some or not.” Harry sniffed loudly, putting his bass down. “And I don’t understand why Seth is so worked up about it; he’s usually the last one to hook up. You shouldn’t be ashamed, bro! It is actually a good thing, you know? Unless … it was a shameful hook-up? Who was it, Seth?”
“It was nobody, Harry. Would you just shut it and get ready to rehearse?” Seth muttered crossly.
“Okay, Okay! Don’t need to bite my head off!” Harry said, opening his bass case. “How about you, Joey? Did you have a good time at the party last night?”
I glanced up and, panicking, looked around the room. Sam was sniggering at Harry over the other side.
“What? Can’t you tell? Don’t you have this
hook-up-radar
super power?” Sam teased him.
“I asked her if she had a good time, not if she had hooked up. Keep your mind out of the gutter, dude! Plus, my powers don’t work on girls. They mess up all my signals, it’s the damnedest thing!” Harry said, squinting his eyes at me.
“Stop staring at me, Harry!” I said, squinting back at him and mentally muttering,
“Don’t blush now, Joey, just don’t freakin’ blush now!”
to myself.
Thank God, Tristan came to my rescue then, telling the band to start rehearsals. We had a long practice session, but in the end all our efforts really paid off. The songs were starting to sound more finished now and we were playing our instruments in a much more refined way.