by J. B. Garcia
"Alright" I turn and head out the front door to get them out of the back of the SUV. I open the tail gate and grab the mattresses. As I walk back into the house I get the overwhelming feeling of fear and hate. I take a deep breath shove these feelings to the back of my mind. I don’t know why I keep getting this feeling. I am starting to get the feeling that this is a warning.
I go into my dad’s office first throwing one of the mattresses in and then the other into the spare room. I take the mattress out of the box and it smells of brand new plastic. I don't think that these have ever been used more than two times. I plug in the electric pump then the nozzle into the mattress. It begins to inflate slowly. I look around my dad’s office at the pictures hanging on the wall. There is one photo that I have never noticed before. It’s of two little girls about 10 years old with their arms over each other’s shoulders. One has black hair that stops at the top of her shoulders that is dead straight with bright green eyes and the other red wavy hair with similar length and creamy brown eyes. Big smiles are across their faces and both have one or two missing teeth. I don’t recognize the red head but I swear the little girl with the black hair is my mother. I wonder if this little red headed girl is Denise. Why would there be a picture in my dad’s office?
The mattress is full so I unplug the pump and start for the spare bedroom. Opening the door, I can hear my mother through the wall in the kitchen talking to my father. It's muffled so I place my ear on the way hoping to hear well.
"James, I am nervous to see Denise." I can hear the worry in her voice.
"Oh Honey it's going to be fine. I am sure that after all these years it will feel as if nothing has changed."
"I guess your right..."
They stop talking and I go about fill the air mattress. As I sit on the floor, looking around the room, I remember the dramatic plays I would make up. For no one’s eyes but my own of course. I never wanted my parents to see what I was doing. I was too embarrassed. "Niki!" I hear my mom yelling down the hall and it snaps me out of memory lane.
"What Mom?"
"Come out here they are here!" she yells excitedly down the hall. I feel butterflies fluttering in my stomach. The moment my mom has been waiting for. I hope this lady isn’t crazy anymore.
Chapter 2
The moment I have been dreading has arrived. I get up from the floor and walk to the hallway. I see the front door wide open and there is a black SUV in the driveway. It looks like a very expensive car. I walk down the hallway and I see my mother speed walking to the driver side of the car. The windows are so heavily tented that I can't see anyone in the car. The passenger door swings open and all I see are two black boots step down from the car. Staring at the owners’ shoe's I can’t help but think they belong to…what’s his name… oh ya, Travis. The boots walk around the door. I look up from the bottom. He is wearing dark jeans with a black t-shirt. We make eye contact and I feel burning in my chest. It’s not painful thought, is almost enjoyable. His piercing emerald green eyes are burning into my soul. Golden brown hair perfectly slicked back. His face looks as if he was created after a Greek god. His body is muscular and perfect. Perfectly tan skin and a devilish smile. What is happening to me? I never get this spun off a guy. I don’t like letting a man dictate the way I feel specially one that I have only seen for two seconds.. What is this almost desirable burn in my chest? I have never felt this way before and it’s scaring me. Wait…Is that the man from my dreams that is standing by the shore. They have the same hair and eyes. If only I could see his face in my dream. I shake the thought from my head. It’s impossible that I dreamt of Travis. I don’t even know the guy.
"Niki, are you just going to stare at Travis or are you going to say hello?" My Fathers voice snaps me out of my trance.
"I wasn’t staring!" I snap back. My cheeks are burning red. I turn back to face Travis and he is right in front of me. How did he move to me so quickly? His scent is flooding my scenes. His cologne is familiar. It’s something that I have smelled before but I don’t know where. Its drawing me in and all I want to do is lean in on his chest and breathe deeply.
"Hi, I’m Travis." God even his voice was seducing me. What the hell is going on? I realize that I haven't answered him back yet and his eyebrows begin to rise due to the lack of response and the stupid look on my face. “And you are?...”
"Sorry, Hi I’m Niki." My words are shaking as I say them.
"Nice to meet you, Niki." Turning away from me he walks to the back of the car I to get this bags. His scent fills my nose. His Cologne makes me lightheaded from desire. What is happening to me? I need to get away from this man.
"Niki, come here" I hear my mom call me from the other side of the car. I walk over to the driver’s side of the car.
"This is Denise, my oldest friend from my hometown." She is just as beautiful as her son. She has long red hair with the same emerald green eyes. Denise couldn’t have been the girl from the photo in my dad’s office, they have different colored eyes. She is slender, tall and perfectly tanned skin. Jeez this family is really...well put together.
"Hello Denise, I'm Niki, it's nice to meet you." She looks me up and down almost like she is inspecting me. Then she throws me a dazzling smile.
"It’s nice to finally meet you Niki. I have heard so much about you" She turns to my mother and gives her another long hug. "I have missed you so much Michelle!" I see tears filling my mother eyes "So have I Denise."
"Niki" my dad calls from behind me. I turn around to find him talking to Travis. Again I feel warm embarrassment fill my cheeks. God why I acting this way. I feel drawn to him and I don’t even know him. The burning in my chest has not gone away since I looked into his emerald eyes and for some reason I don’t want it to stop.
"Why don’t you show Travis to his room and help him settled in." My eyes grow wide. I don't want to be stuck in a room with this guy. He is already having a strange effect on me; I don’t want to be anywhere near him. "Umm sure dad." I walk slowly over to Travis and my dad "Which room do you want me to put him in, the spare bedroom or the office?" My father’s thinks for a moment "Put him in the spare." I look at Travis who hasn’t taken his eyes off me since he came here. What is he staring at? Do I have something on my face? "C-come on Travis." I hate when I stutter. It only happens when I am really nervous and this man is making me more nervous then I have ever been in my life. I hear him let out a chuckle and its melts my heart. "Lead the way Miss Niki." I start to walk quickly away from him to get some distance. I start to walk up the stairs and my foot catches on the last step. My body is falling to the ground and right before I hit the deck everything stops. I open my eyes and see the deck inches from my face. I feel my skin burning with a strange sensation that I have never felt before. It’s not painful...it’s desirable. "You’re clumsy aren’t you?" I realize that Travis has one arm over and shoulder holding my chest and one around my waist. How in the hell did he catch me. I put distance between us on purpose to avoid touching him. But thank god he did because I would have face planted on the deck and died from embarrassment. There was something about being in his arms that felt right like I was supposed to be there. I hear him chuckle in my ear and feel his hot breath on the back of my neck. "Thanks for catching me, can you left me go now?" He lifts me to my feet with such ease. I guess that is where his muscles come in handy. He takes his arms off me and I feel the burning stop and disappointment takes it place. I need to snap out of it. I am not going to let this man take over my feelings. I don’t even know him. I am not going to get my heart broken again especially since I am only going to be around him for 2 months. The last guy I was with...ruined me. I don’t like to think about him...ever.
I take Travis inside the house and start to show him around. "That is the living room; there is no T.V., phone or internet. Sorry, no cell service either. It can get pretty boring here sometimes." I look back at him and he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. Letting it out slowly he re-opens his eyes and finds that I am
again...staring. I snap my head the other way and start to walk across the room to the kitchen. "This is the kitchen; feel free to eat whatever you want." I turn around and Travis is staring at my ass. "Travis! Eyes off the merchandise." He lets out another heart melting chuckle. "Sorry Niki." Anger fills me. I hate when men do that. They their mind clocks out and they just stare at your goods. It’s really rude. "Rude, how is that rude?" Travis blurts out. "What did you say?" My eyes snap to him. I know for a fact that I didn’t say that out loud. "Nothing, sorry continue with the grand tour." I look into his eyes and he seems to be nervous, like I caught him lying. "Whatever, follow me." I led him down the hall and he looks into the spare bedroom and I can hear him chuckling. I turn on my heels to face him "What is so funny?" He looks at me with silly grin on his face, "Nothing, Niki". "Whatever, that is your room anyways." I spit back. He goes to say something but I speed walk down the hallway and right into my room. I need to get away from him. Somewhere that I can decompress and figure out what the hell just happened to me. The last time I felt anything like this was when I was with Derek. Even with the feelings that I had for Derek, I never felt this uncontrollable desire for a man especially one I have never seen before. There is something familiar about him. His hair, the way he smells and the way he makes me feel when our skin makes contact. I can’t but believe that this is the same man I saw from the dream. Is that even possible…
I have been laying on my bed for an hour and Finally I can breathe. The desire Travis has cursed me with has released its hold from me. What is it about Travis that makes me feel this way? I don’t even know him or anything about him. Why do I feel so much desire towards him? Remembering how his arms felt around my chest and waist gives my shivers. I feel my body begin to warm and all I want is to feel his touch. I don't want to feel this way about him. I am not going to fall for him...I can't. It would be absurd. I am not going to let this happen. There is no way that I am going to let this stranger turn me into a love sick idiot. I have already let a man turn me into mush and I already promised myself that it wouldn’t happen again.
There is a knock on my door that startles me. "Who is it?" there is a short silence. "It’s Travis." My heart begins pounding in my chest. Oh my god, what does he want? "What do you need?" my voice shaking "Can I come in, our parents are catching up and I would like to get to know you." Get to know me? Why? "Umm I guess." I stand up, look in the mirror fix my hair and make sure my make up isn't smeared. I don’t know why I care what he thinks he is a total stranger. I grab the clothes that I scattered on the floor and push them under my bed. I walk to the door and take a deep breath and turn the knob. The door opens and our eyes meet. Right away the sparks begin to fly. My body heat is rising and my palms begin to sweat. My heart begins to beat loud and my mouth dries. I long for him to touch my skin again and feel the desire once more. I shove these thoughts out of my mind and try to control myself. All I want to do is grab this man that I don't know and kiss him with all the passion I have growing inside me. I don’t know why I want him so badly but I feel like I am going to lose control of myself.
He turns away from me and heads for the love seat. He gestures to the chair asking if he can sit. I nod slowly not removing my eyes from him. Sitting down he turns to me and says "So, do you know my mom?" he asked. "No I have never met her before and I had never heard of her before. Why should I know who she is?" my words dripping with sarcasm. He gave me a sideways grin "You’re feisty aren't you? I am not saying you should know her I was just wondering because I have never heard of any of you." There is a long silence between us and then I blurt out "So what made you guys want to come here?" He looks up the ceiling and ran his hands through his golden hair "Well, I guess your mom wanted to see mine. I don’t really know she didn’t tell me much. All I know is that I was being forced to come up here. No offense." I look away “None taken, I didn’t want to come here either. I don’t like coming up here anymore. Its gets old after 17 years of spending every summer here.” He nods his head in agreement.
“Your Dad didn’t want to join you guys?” He looks to the floor and his expression changed instantly to sadness. I made a grave mistake asking him this question and I regretted it. I made him sad and now I feel horrible. Why do I always put my foot in my mouth?
“My Dad… is working, he didn’t have time.” For some reason I feel like he is lying to me. I am not going to keep asking. I don’t want him to know that I care. The last thing I want is Travis to find out how I am feeling towards him so he can use me like Derek did.
"So, Niki, how old are you?" He lets out a sigh. I can tell that he is trying hard to change to topic of our conversation.
"I will be 18 in 2 weeks" Trying to relax I lay down on my bed looking up at the ceiling. Maybe if I don't make eye contact with him the desire will fade.
"Nice, I’m 18 as well. So what are we going to do for your birthday? You know that it’s going to be during the Blood Moon?" His face changes expressions and I can tell that he regrets asking me that.
"I don’t know my parents to the same thing every year, cake and ice cream. I don’t get to see my friends nor do anything fun because my parent don't let them come to the Lake House. Every year since I was 13 I have been forced to come here. I used to enjoy it but it gets old after a while. So what the hell is a Blood Moon" I can feel him become uncomfortable. So I change the subject, "So Travis where are you from?"
“We live in Oregon. It rains a lot. There are a lot of things to do and lots of different types of people. I like it there. Where do you guys live?" He leans forward and I catch the scent of his cologne. I breathe in deeply and feel my emotions take over my whole body. Desire is running through me and I can hardly hold myself on the bed. I hope that he doesn’t notice and think I am creepy. I try to regain focus and answer his question.
“We live in New York, well, the countryside of it. I have been to the city a lot but I prefer the country." I roll on my side and attempt to make eye contact with Travis without be totally taken over. He just stares at me. For a second I get lost in his emerald eyes and let out a sigh. He smiles out of the corner of his mouth and says “You like the way I smell don’t you?” Oh my god! I don’t know how he could have known that. My face turns tomato red, “What would make you think that?” I lay flat on my back trying to mask my embarrassment.
He sits back in the love seat and crosses his legs, “Well, when I leaned forward you took a deep breath in and then smiled. I assume you smelled me. It’s ok Niki you smell sweet too.” I sit up quickly and he winks at me. Anger is now heating my chest and moving though my whole body.
“You’re really conceded aren’t you?” I snap at him. He lets out a loud chuckle. “Am I wrong?” There is a silence between us as I try to figure out an excuse.
"Niki, Travis, come here please." Thank god, saved by my mother. There is no way I was clever enough to talk my way out of that situation.
"Ok we're coming" Travis yells back. "To be continued" he winks at me sending butterflies through my whole body. I force myself to keep my emotions in check no wanting him to see the effect that he has over me. He extends his hand to help me off my bed. Everything inside me wanted to grab his hand but instead I say "I got it, I’m a big girl, I can get up on my own."
"Yes ma'am" he says with a wink. God this man is making me crazy.
Walking down the hall I can feel his eyes on my back and then his hand on my shoulder. I suddenly get a vision of the dream I had when I was in the forest and I felt someone grab my shoulder. I gasp and turn around and put my back against the wall "What’s wrong?" he whispers "Nothing...sorry". I start to walk down the hall trying to collect myself and put distance between us. We both walk into the living room and sit on the couch. He sits right next to me and I wish he would move. The last thing I want is to lose control of myself and jump him in front of our parents. I move down a little just so we are not touching and I can control myself. “So what's up?" I ask my Mom. “Well we were talking about dinner and w
e have to go into town to shop. Did you want to come with us?" Travis says no so I immediately agree to go. Anything to get away from him would be great right now. Even a trip stuck with my mother and the crazy lady. I need a break for this over coming feeling I have when I am around him. My mom grabs her purse and we are out the door.
Walking through the grocery store is calming. Finally I am getting a break from the uncontrollable desire I am feeling for Travis. What is wrong with me? I don’t want to fall in love with his man. God I can't believe I even thought the L-word. After my last heartbreak I don't think that I want to feel love again. It’s too painful. Nothing ever is...forever.
***
My Jr. year of high school is when my crush on Derek started. He was a football player and of course I was in love with him. I was Captain of the swimming team so obviously I was invisible to him. We had almost every class together and I would sit as close to him as I could without him noticing, which wasn't hard. I didn’t have the courage to talk to him nor did I think he wanted to talk to me.
One day I turned around to pass some papers back to the other students in my row and I caught him staring at me. My face flashed red and he noticed it. This happened in almost every class for the rest of the day. In our last class, when the bell rang and school was out, I jump out of my seat and out the door. I was walking down the hall trying to get away as fast as I could. As much as I wanted to talk with him, I was too embarrassed to say a word. I made it outside and was to my car when I hear "Hey Niki." Oh my god he is right behind me. I must have looked like an idiot trying to get away from him and he was right behind me the whole time. "Hi D-Derek" God I hate when I stutter.
"Where are you going?" he comes inches from me and then leans against my car with his arms crossed."Umm I have swim practice." I motion over to the school pool."No anymore you don't." He smiled at me with a grin that could turn a nun red in the face. "I think that we should go get something to eat. Don't you?" Before I could answer he takes my hand and leads me over to his lifted bright blue truck. He opens my door and helps me into the cab. He gets in, starts the truck and we are off. For a while we didn’t say anything to each other. Finally I squeaked out "Where are we going?"