“Why don’t you go
out for the team?” I asked, amazed at the stunt he’d just performed. “You’d fly
by the competition every time!”
“It would be a
little bit obvious, don’t you think?” He grinned.
“No wonder you
aren’t impressed by sports.” I laughed at him. “They must seem positively dull
to you.”
“Not always. A lot
of those athletes have great natural ability. That’s fun to watch. Come here,”
he said, changing the subject and grabbing my hand so he could lead me up
toward the school. “I want to show you something else.”
I followed him to
a place where the sidewalk went narrow between two of the buildings.
“The same concept
applies here,” he said, gesturing between the walls.
He jumped up,
stepping one foot on the side of the building, then bounced to the wall of the
other building, repeating the processes until he had climbed to the roof in a
matter of seconds.
“Now you try it,”
he called down to me. “Don’t worry. I won’t let you fall.”
I took a second to
suck up some bravery, then attempted to copy exactly what I’d seen him do. I
wasn’t quite as graceful as he was, but I made it easily to the top. I threw my
arms out and wrapped them around his neck while he spun me around.
“Fun, isn’t it?”
he said, his eyes sparkling, alive with enjoyment.
“Yes,” I agreed,
totally wrapped up in the enjoyment of learning. “Show me some more.”
We soon were
scaling across the rooftops of the school, jumping from building to building,
floating and flying across the gaps until we ran out of roof. We then descended
back down to the ground beneath and crumpled on a grassy spot, laughing.
“That was great!”
I said breathlessly, gazing at the twinkling stars overhead.
“Yeah, it was,”
Vance said, rolling over onto his stomach so he was the only thing in my vision
now. He stared at me, his eyes taking on new meaning while he looked at me. “I
love you,” he added, brushing a wayward hair to the side.
“I love you too,”
I replied, reaching my hand up to his face.
“I wish I could
show you what I really feel for you. Words don’t ever seem like enough.”
“I know, Vance. I
feel it too.”
“Sometimes it’s
like my life is just beginning. It’s a new awakening for me. Even when I knew
you were the one for me, I had no idea it would be this strong.” He ran his
fingers over my lips. “It’s not just the physical part of it either. It’s
everything. I don’t know, it’s like I was only halfway living before now.”
I placed my finger
over his lips to quiet him.
“You don’t need to
try and explain,” I said. “I feel it too, like my heart’s always on the verge
of overflowing, or about to burst.”
“I wish I could
marry you right now,” he whispered seriously. “I want to show you everything.”
“Someday, Vance,”
I replied. “Like you said before, it just isn’t time yet.”
“I know.” He
dipped his head toward mine.
This time he
kissed me softly, almost reverently. It was a sweet, innocent kiss, but it
still made my heart race. Then he kissed both of my eyelids, followed by my
cheeks and the tip of my nose, before he settled on my mouth once more.
When the kiss was
over he lay back on his side and pulled me up to spoon against him, and we
stared up at the stars. He quietly stroked my hair and occasionally down my arm
until I finally fell asleep.
When I woke up
later, the first light of morning was starting to crest on the hills around
town and Vance was staring at me.
“I didn’t want to
wake you,” he whispered. “You’re so pretty when you’re sleeping.”
I rolled over and
wrapped my arms around his neck, giving him a long kiss. He pulled away from me
much too soon for my taste though. I tried to pull him back for more, but he
held firm.
“I need to get you
home before it gets any lighter. How will it look to be riding through town at
first light with you in your pajamas?”
“I don’t care what
people think,” I said, not wanting to leave this moment.
“I know, but it’s
time to go just the same.” He hopped up and pulled me to my feet after him.
“You’re so
beautiful,” he said, kissing me lightly once more.
“Of course I am. With
my messed up hair and bunny pajamas, I’m sure I look just peachy,” I grumbled,
rolling my eyes at him.
“Yes, you do.” He
smiled devilishly. “Like a peach I could eat over and over again, never getting
tired of it.”
“Oh hush!” I
shoved him playfully and raced off toward his parked motorcycle.
He caught up with
me easily, and I was “punished” with another breathless kiss before he pushed
me away again.
“Come on. Let’s
get you home. We have school today!” He helped me onto the bike, and we were
soon on our way down the deserted road.
Chapter 13
I forced myself to
stay away from Vance for one evening so I could have a girl’s night out date
with Shelly. I noticed she was beginning to feel sorely neglected.
It wasn’t like I
could just break out and tell her all the things happening in my life. She
wouldn’t even come close to understanding. I wanted to tell her though. I
missed having her as a confidant. It was hard keeping secrets from her.
Even now, Vance
was out there, lurking somewhere on the grounds of The Fountains at Fontane. I
couldn’t stand to be too physically separated from him still. It was hard
enough to drag my thoughts away from him, let alone my body.
I plopped in the
middle of Shelly’s four poster queen-sized bed, crossing my legs underneath me
so I could look at pictures of her and Brad from their homecoming date.
Shelly had been
upset with me when Vance and I had declined to go on the group date with them
to the dance. Actually, the two of us avoided homecoming completely. It had
been held during the early days of our binding spell, and there was no way we
could’ve attended that party and not drawn attention to ourselves. We probably
would have clawed the clothes right off each other in front of everyone.
Of course, there
was no way for me to explain this to Shelly. She took it as a personal insult
since she had been in charge of the decorations for the event. And, to make
things worse, in the weeks following I’d only ever seen her at school and
ditched her at every available opportunity to be with Vance. I had a lot of
making up to do.
I turned my full
attention to listen to Shelly explaining each picture in a tired, sort of
dejected tone.
“It would’ve been
way more fun if you’d actually been there,” she said with a sigh, casting me a
sideways glance. She gathered the photos and went to place them on her dresser.
“I don’t know how
else to apologize to you,” I said softly. “I’m sorry I wasn’t feeling well.”
That at least was
the truth. I just couldn’t tell her I’d been going crazy with desire.
“I know,” Shelly
replied. “I’m trying to be understanding and adjust my way of thinking. I had
all these ideas of how we were going to spend this year together, and then
Vance came along, and well….”
I intensely
studied my fingernails, not knowing what to say.
“You really like
him a lot, don’t you?”
“No, I don’t just
like him a lot,” I said with a short laugh before looking her straight in the
eyes. “I’m in love with him. I couldn’t imagine my life without him.”
Shelly paused for
second before she laughed and waved her hand to the side.
“You don’t really
mean that. Girls our age always think they’re in love with someone. Then a week
later they’re mooning over someone else.”
“That may be,” I
replied, feeling a bit hurt by her dismissal of my feelings. “But it isn’t true
in my case.”
She looked at me
with skepticism on her face.
“I love him to the
center of my being. No, he is the center of my being.” I let my stare bore into
hers, even adding a little magical push to it for emphasis.
Shelly shrank
back, as if nervous from the intensity of it.
“Oh, sorry.” She
turned away from me. “You know, I don’t really feel up to the movie tonight
after all. I kind of feel like I have a headache coming on. Besides, Angie
Wilhelm told me it was dumb.”
I nodded in
complete understanding. I didn’t need to remind her she’d been looking forward
to seeing this movie for weeks, and nothing Angie said to her would’ve stopped
her from going. She was trying to get rid of me politely.
Sadly, it was
actually a relief to me because it meant I could get back to Vance. Still, I
felt bad with the way things were, and I wished I could tell her what was
really going on. I wanted her to understand.
I stood up and
walked to the door before turning around to say goodbye. I waited there
awkwardly for a moment, hoping for her to make eye contact with me, but she
never did.
“Well, ‘bye,” I
finally said, and I quietly slipped out the door.
Vance was at my
side the instant I was out the front door.
“That didn’t go so
well. Sorry things are rough because of me.” He put his arms around my
shoulders, giving me a squeeze.
“It isn’t your
fault,” I said, pausing for a second to look through the window as we passed
it.
Shelly was on the
phone, and I could hear her clearly.
“Hi, Mrs. Anderson
is Brad home?” she asked, and after a short second she began speaking again.
“Hey, Brad. My
plans with Portia didn’t work out. You want to go to the movie with me
tonight?”
I turned away, not
wanting to hear anymore.
Vance and I walked
down the hill to where he had parked his motorcycle. We climbed on, and I
instinctively knew he wasn’t taking me home. After a short drive we pulled up
in front of his house. He helped me off the bike, and we went inside.
“This is
surprise!” Marsha exclaimed, looking up from the movie she was watching on the
television. “Come in, come in!” She jumped up and gave me a hug, acting like
she’d never entertained company before.
“Portia’s feeling
a little blue this evening, and she needs to get away from everything for a
while. I thought maybe we could entertain her,” Vance said. He gave Marsha a
peck on the cheek. “Sorry I didn’t call first. It was sort of a last-minute
decision,” he explained, while I stood there feeling dumb for intruding.
“No need for an
apology.” Marsha smiled. “Why don’t you two flip through the channels and see
if there’s something on you want to watch while I make some popcorn?”
“I don’t want you
to miss your movie,” I said, still feeling overwhelmed by her warm welcome.
“I’ve seen it
already,” Marsha called back as she entered the kitchen. “No worries.”
Vance checked the
guide on the television, and we finally decided to order a comedy on
pay-per-view none of us had seen yet.
Marsha soon
reappeared with a steaming bowl of buttered popcorn, and a handful of napkins. We
all settled in on the overstuffed sofa and began watching the movie.
Surprisingly, I
began to feel better almost instantly. I didn’t realize until sometime later I
was actually feeling happy thoughts coming from Vance, subtly sent my way.
I didn’t mind
though. We snuggled up close together, laughing over the funny situations the
guy in the movie kept getting himself into. The time passed quickly, and soon
the popcorn was gone and the movie was over.
“Boy, I’m tired!”
Marsha suddenly exclaimed, a little too obviously, running her hand through her
short blond curls. “I’m not used to staying up this late. I guess I’ll leave
the partying to the two of you and head for bed.” She gave us a quick wave and
she left the room with a smile.
“She’s sweet,” I
said to Vance. “I like her.”
“I do too. Marsha’s
like true family to me. She’s always treated me well, and even though we aren’t
related, I’ll always have a special place in my heart for her.”
“She must be a
spectacular person to take care of someone she didn’t even know.”
“That’s true,” he
agreed, becoming quiet. “But let’s not talk about that here, okay?”
I nodded in
understanding, quickly thinking of something else I’d like to do.
“Can I see your
room?” I bit at my lower lip in anticipation.
“My room?” He gave
me a quizzical look.
“Yeah, your room. This
is the first time you’ve ever brought me here.” I nudged him with my elbow. “I
want to see where you live.”
“How have I
managed to not bring you here in all these weeks we’ve been together?” He
smiled at me with a slight shake of his head. “It must be because I always feel
so at home at your house.”
He led me down the
narrow hallway to a plain, wood paneled door at the end. He opened it, reached
inside to flip on the light switch, and stepped aside. He gestured for me to
enter.
The room was of
moderate size, and I was surprised to find it very clean as well. A twin-sized
bed was pushed into one corner, under a large window that was covered in
plastic mini-blinds. The bed was draped in a dark blue denim quilt with a
pillow in a white case that matched the white sheets peeking out from beneath.
On the opposite
wall sat a desk with several of his schoolbooks stacked on top of it, along
with some motorcycle magazines. The Aloe Vera plant I had given him was sitting
on it, too. A matching chair held one of his leather jackets tossed over the
back of it.
The door to his
closet was open slightly, and I could see it was very well-organized. His Levis
were hanging nicely in one section, t-shirts on the other side, and his shoes
were thrown casually underneath on the floor.
A large wooden
wardrobe stood at the opposite end of the room. I walked over and touched the
handle of one of the doors.
“May I?”
“Help yourself,”
he replied, leaning up against the doorjamb and folding his arms.