When Lightning Strikes (Lightning Series Book 1) (26 page)

Her gaze shifted to the coffee, looking at how it flowed in beautiful, warm mocha streams across the polished wood floor. Distantly, she realized that she might forget. She might forget Melissande kissing Rory like it was natural. Her heart clenched, and she wanted to be sick.

This must be what it felt like to be dumped. She let herself drift further, willing herself to let this memory go. Let herself wonder tomorrow why Rory wasn’t around anymore. That would be easier. Remembering this would hurt for a long time. Maybe forever.

Julie clenched her jaw. She was not a coward. She would face this. She would face him.

She took a deep breath, and the tingles from her dancing mind washed away the fogginess.

“What a klutz,” Melissande said to the others. “I’m surprised she could even swim. You were lucky that day.”

Rory didn’t respond. He didn’t look at her. The other two boys at the table laughed.

He didn’t care. She was such an idiot. Why had she even believed she was anything more than one of his girls, like Jamie said?

She blinked rapidly, keeping her head down now. She would not embarrass herself.

“Here you are, dear.” The shop owner held out another tray of coffee. “I remade them for you guys.” She looked over at the table with Rory and his friends and sighed. “Ignore them. Someone bumping into you and making you spill your coffee isn’t funny. I’m not so sure why Melissande thinks so, but she and her boyfriend Rory seem to have a bit of an inflated opinion of themselves.”

Rory was Melissande’s boyfriend?
I’m such an idiot.

She sucked in another breath, feeling dizzy. She should have listened to Jamie and not trusted the weird feelings. Or anything else on this island.

The owner patted her on the back kindly. “Really, spilling something isn’t all that bad. Just ignore them.”

Julie nodded, only half paying attention. She blinked rapidly to keep her eyes from welling up.

Maybe they all knew. What if he did this kind of thing all the time and talked about it and that’s why they were laughing? She felt naked, exposed to the whole world as an idiot.

She walked stiffly back to Ariel’s store. Her hands gripped the bag and coffee, but they were numb. Her stomach roiled in humiliation, conflicting with the tingling she got from being around Rory. Her body screamed at her to go back and sit with Rory, to kiss him. She shook her head. She was like an addict, wanting the high of being around him so bad that there wasn’t a thought to the pain it would cause.

Maybe this was all some kind of stupid joke and Rory would come running after her to explain everything. She shook her head again. That didn’t make sense. She shouldn’t try to make excuses for him, so she could justify wanting to see him again.

What was there to explain? He had a girlfriend. He had cheated with her. It was over. If she made excuses for him, it would only make it worse.

Julie kept walking forward, her steps getting easier with each moment. She could get over this. She would not turn around and demand what was going on. She would not see him again.

“What’s wrong?” Andromeda asked as she walked in the door. “Are you sick? You look so pale.”

Julie nodded. She didn’t trust herself to speak yet.

Just a few minutes ago she was hungry. Now she wasn’t sure she ever wanted to eat again. She was so tempted to shut off her concentration and let these memories drift away. She started shaking.

“Oh no. We’d better go. Here, let’s leave all that here for Ariel.” She tugged the bag and drinks out of Julie’s numb fingers. “Come on, let me get you home and in bed.”

She should tell her to stay, but she wanted her mom. Even if she was lying to her, she wouldn’t hurt her as bad as this.
I wish I could tell her what’s going on.

Andromeda took her home and tucked her in bed, sitting with her and brushing her hair back from her face until she wanted to go to sleep. As soon as she left, she curled into a ball and cried. Her body ached at the thought of Rory. She still wanted him.

But she hated him. What had he done to her? She had to stay away from him. This would wear off. It had to wear off.

Much later that afternoon, she fell asleep. Something woke her in the middle of the night. She turned on her lamp and rubbed the crust out of her swollen eyes.

On her desk was a purple flower, a note tucked underneath.

Had he come in her room while she was sleeping?

Julie shivered. Even with Rory, that was creepy. Especially now. She got up and tore the flower to shreds. She picked up the letter, intending to tear it up also. Her fingers shook as she held it to rip it in half.

She couldn’t help herself. She had to know.

She opened up the folded paper.

Jules, I’m so sorry. Please meet me tomorrow so I can explain. I will be waiting for you at the school.

She tore up the note. Her heartbeat sped up, and her body vibrated with the thought of seeing him tomorrow. She hated herself.

He had screwed her up.

“If you can hear me, Rory, or even if you can’t. I’m not yours anymore. I will never be alone with you again.”

She sat down and wrote everything out in her red notebook in case her anger grew too much.

I won’t forget this.

♦

Julie didn’t meet him the next day. Instead she spent the morning at home. Then she walked to and from the gym with Kara.

On the way home, she felt like she was being watched. She looked back and saw Rory walking down the road. He waved at her, trying to signal for her to go off on her own. She narrowed her eyes, shook her head, and flipped him off behind Kara’s back. Even from this far, she could see Rory blanch. Kara chatted happily the whole time and didn’t notice that Julie was extra quiet that day.

When she got to her room there was another flower, some chocolate, and a note. She crumpled up the flower, burying it in her trash. She looked at the chocolate. The thought of eating it made her want to puke. She hurled the pieces one at a time off her balcony.

Rory popped out from the trees behind her house and waved at her. All her thoughts about him spying on her when they were dating may have been true. She frowned.

Was he going to lurk around her for a while? What would she do? She didn’t think he was dangerous, but then again she never really knew him.

She ripped up the note he had written her, threw it down at him, and went back inside, closing her curtains. A moment later she heard something pelt the glass balcony door. He was throwing rocks at the door. Jamie was downstairs watching TV, and he would see Rory if he looked out the window. As much as she might want him to beat the crap out of the jerk, she didn’t want her brother to get hurt.

She stormed over. “Go away. Go away before someone sees you here. I don’t want to see you ever again. Just go away.”

“Jules, let me explain.”

Angry tears dripped down her face.

She hated him so much for doing this to her. And she hated herself for crying in front of him. “No. And don’t call me Jules.”

“If you don’t let me explain, I’ll go crazy.” He dragged his hand through his hair. His eyes were big and wild.

She didn’t care. She started to close the door. “That sounds like your problem.”

“If you don’t come down, I’m coming up.”

She cracked the door open again, not looking at him. “You wouldn’t dare. I’ll scream. My brother is downstairs.”

“I don’t care.”

“Obviously you do. Did you tell your friends about me? Did you tell your girlfriend about me? Yeah, that’s right I know Melissande is your girlfriend. Joke’s on me, since I’m the last one to know.” Her voice caught.

“It isn’t like that. I’ve ended it with Melissande.”

She closed her eyes and gripped the edge of the balcony. The sound of his voice made her body shake with longing. She was too close to letting him come up, letting him tell her anything so she could feel good again.

“Even if that’s true, I don’t care. Go away. I’m going downstairs to watch TV with Jamie. There’s no point in coming up here. I know you can do it since you get stuff in here all the time, so I’m leaving. You can be all creepy and watch through the window for all I care.”

Julie went downstairs and sat next to Jamie, who smiled at her. She had no idea what was on, but she tried to laugh when he did. She rubbed her eyes on the opposite side of him when a tear leaked out. Outside she saw Rory watch her for a while. She fought the urge to go out to him, feeling safe with her brother.

He was the one who screwed up. He was the liar. Just one of the crowd.

There was another note later that night with a flower and this time a small box. Inside was an amethyst ring. It was pretty. She threw it out the window, not carrying if anyone ever found it.

Julie changed into her pajamas and got into bed. Her heart was racing. She couldn’t decide if she was scared of him coming or of wanting him to come.

He wouldn’t come up here. He would leave her alone after a while if she made it clear she didn’t want to see him. Wouldn’t he? She couldn’t imagine what he could possibly be so desperate to tell her. That whatever it was would make any difference. Maybe she should give him a chance.

What was she thinking? She was such a fool.

She lay awake for a long time—waiting, dreading, longing for him to carry out his threat. She glanced at the clock. It was three am.

He wasn’t coming. She held back tears. She should be happy he stayed away. That’s what she wanted. This would get better.

The next day was the same. She was stronger than this. She deserved better than this. She could focus on her dancing to forget. If he wasn’t careful, someone would notice. She didn’t want to explain to anyone what an idiot she was.

There were a dozen flowers in her room that night. She found them in her drawers, her desk, and her bed. The note simply said:
I’m desperate. Please see me. Please let me explain.

Julie crumpled it up, trashed all the flowers, and went downstairs. She was going to have to do something about her trash can soon or someone would notice all the torn up roses.

She paled at the idea that he might be feeling the way she did—that he wouldn’t be able to stay away from her, even if he wanted to.

That night she dreamed about blue eyes. The eyes slowly turned to gray, and in her sleep, she relived the time with Rory at the small island. She thrashed, feeling Rory’s touch. She opened her eyes. She was in her bed.

A hand rubbed down her side. He kissed her neck.

“Jules,” Rory said softly next to her. “Julie, I’m sorry to do this, but I couldn’t stay away anymore. Please listen to me.”

He was actually in her room. What the hell was he doing there?

Julie stiffened. She shivered with longing and dread. Her stomach tightened into a tiny knot of fear. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and kiss him until she forgot what he did, but she knew she would regret it.

She blinked back tears. A few days ago she would have been dead sure that he would never hurt her.

Now she wasn’t so sure. Was he capable of that?

She sucked in a deep breath, ignoring the salty sweet smell of Rory, until she felt her whole body tingling. Then she pulled her legs up into a ball and pushed him out of the bed.

“What the hell do you think you are doing?” She wanted to scream, but the thought of Jamie coming in right now made her cold. She didn’t want anyone to know how stupid she had been.

“I can’t stay away from you. I know I should but I can’t.” He rolled over and got up, starting to come back to her.

“Get out. Get out now.” She hissed. She had to keep him away from her. Once he touched her, she knew that her resolve would waver. For whatever reason, the physical feelings she had with him were too strong. She would forgive him. She couldn’t do that to herself.

Someone knocked on her door.

“Julie? Are you all right? I thought I heard something?” Jamie said from the doorway.

“Jamie!”

“Julie, what’s wrong?” Jamie opened the door and turned the light on. He stood for one second, and his face turned white and hard as he saw Rory sprawled on the floor.

“What the hell are you doing in my sister’s room? Didn’t I tell you to stay away from her?”

Jamie picked Rory up, pinning him to the wall. His hands shook. Rory held his hands up in front of himself.

“Jamie—don’t.” Julie cried out, unable to help herself. He looked over at her in disbelief.

Rory met her eyes. Some of the desperation died out of them as he heard her words. He knew he was close to getting her back.

“I know. I know I should, but I can’t.” Rory said.

“What do you mean you can’t?” Jamie’s eyes narrowed.

Rory hesitated. His eyes darted between Julie and Jamie. “The day she rescued me, I found out. We connected.”

Jamie dropped him. “What?”

“Julie and I connected.” Rory nodded his head from the floor again. “You see why I can’t stay away, even though I should.” He ran his hand through his hair. His eyes were wide, and there were dark circles under them.

“What does that mean?” Julie asked.

Jamie went over to his sister and put an arm around her. He rubbed her outer arm. A comforting warmth spread from her arm over her body, and she relaxed against his solid protection.

“Yeah, Rory, what does having the connection with her mean?”

“I don’t know.” His eyes locked on Julie like a starving man.

“Isn’t anyone going to tell me anything ever?” She stomped her foot.

They ignored her. Their eyes focused on each other.

“So, you have been seeing my sister on the side. All while dating Melissande? You can’t have it both ways, Rory. It looks like you already made a choice. You stuck with Melissande.”

Then Jamie surprised her by laughing. Rory looked startled. “Oh, this is fate. I mean, you of all people, connecting with my sister. With your mom and everything.”

“Jamie, this isn’t funny,” Julie said.

He looked down at her. “I know it isn’t. It’s ridiculous. Julie, I know it hurts now, but I promise it will get better. You can get over this bastard. It will just take time.”