by Robyn Steele
Chapter 8
Monday morning was a usual school day. Nate picked me up and we met up with Brielle and Pason. School, once again, was a breeze. Brielle couldn’t figure out why I had all the sudden become a brainiac. So I tried to pretend that I wasn’t. I would purposely miss a question once in a while. However, I didn’t want to do it too much. After all, I wanted the grades I deserved. It didn’t matter that I had super powers. It was still me and I deserved the rewards.
At lunch Brielle confronted me. “What’s up with the smarts lately? Did you discover some magic pill?”
“”What do you mean? I’ve always got good grades.” I tried to play dumb.
“Good grades, yea but now you don’t even have to work at it. You had a tutor for math for like three years and now you’re helping everyone else in class. I just want to know how you do it so I can get in on it.”
“I guess it just finally clicked. You know, my brain probably matured or something.”
“Well I wish mine would! I wish it were that easy for me.” Brielle sighed.
“You know I will help you anytime you need me to. Just come over anytime to do homework.”
“Yea, I know.” Brielle agreed. “Hey, so has Nate asked you to prom yet?”
“Yes. Remember I told you about it just a couple days ago.” I was glad to change the subject. “We need to go pick out our dresses soon. You wanna go to the mall this weekend?”
“Sure. That would be awesome. I don’t want to wait ‘til they get picked over.”
“Me neither. While we’re there we can get our graduation dresses too.”
“Good idea. Hey, I think I’ll take you up on the studying tonight.”
“Sure, come on over. Why don’t you come for dinner and then we’ll study after.”
Brielle showed up a little after school and we went into the family room to work on math. It wasn’t unusual for Brielle to show up earlier than we had planned because she practically lived at my house anyway. When we finished math we were just hanging out and painting our nails; fingers and toes. It was now flip flop weather so we needed to have our nails looking good. Lissandra came in and asked if she could join us. “So have you seen my brother, lately?” She asked.
“No, I haven’t seen him today.” I answered. “Why?”
“I think he went to town early this morning and I haven’t seen him come back. I was just wondering if you had.”
“Maybe he found a girlfriend.” Brielle suggested. “Lots of girls around here like those hot Italian men.” Her comment made my head jerk up. Was it jealousy? I don’t know why but the thought of Cruz with someone else just didn’t sit right with me. Why should I care? I’m with Nate. He should be able to be with someone else. But I didn’t want that to be true.
“Not my brother.” Lissandra said. “He’s only interested in one girl.”
“Oh, He has a girlfriend back home, then?” Brielle guessed.
I had to stop her from answering that. “So Lissandra, we are going to the mall this weekend to shop for prom dresses. Do you wanna go? We’ll make a whole day of it.”
“That would be a lot of fun! And I really need to do some shopping, too.” Lissandra answered. Then she told me with her thoughts, I guess you don’t want me to say anything to your friend about the betrothal.
Not really. It’s too much information for her right now. Thank you for not mentioning it. I told her with my thoughts.
“So I totally got that side-stepping the girlfriend thing.” Brielle told me. “You changed that subject really fast. Do you wanna talk about it? Maybe later?”
“No, actually. It’s nothing. So, what are we doing for prom? Has Pason mentioned anything? Nate said he thought maybe we’d go out on the lake. Is that what you two were thinking?” Brielle is a good enough friend to drop something when she knows I don’t want to talk about it. That doesn’t mean she’s not speculating on her own. But that’s alright. At least I won’t have to talk about it.
I wondered where Cruz had gone and why he wasn’t back yet. There I go again. I’m planning a date with Nate and wondering what Cruz is doing. Why was I having thoughts about Cruz? Were these feelings of curiosity or were they beginnings of liking him? Or worse, an obsession? I was becoming more and more confused. I resented that Cruz was causing this confusion. Maybe I would just concentrate on Nate and forget about Cruz. Yea, like that’s going to happen. Especially having him right here in my house all the time. I looked over at Lissandra. She was grinning. Was she listening in on my thoughts? Maybe she was because she excused herself saying she had promised grams some help. That left me and Brielle alone. “Are you starting to like this Cruz guy?” Brielle asked me.
“Of course not. I’m with Nate, remember?” I tried to convince myself as much as Brielle. Although I had never been good at lying.
“I hope you know that you can trust me. Just because you and Nate have been together forever doesn’t mean you’re stuck with him. It’s not like you’re married or anything. You haven’t made any commitments to each other.” Brielle said.
“What about you and Pason. You’ve been together for a long time. Would you go out with someone else?” I asked her.
“True, Pason and I have been together for a long time. However, I’m not tied to him. I like him, yea, but if I met someone I liked more I wouldn’t pass it up. I don’t see myself being with Pason the rest of my life. We just ended up together and it’s stayed that way cuz…I don’t know…it’s convenient I guess. Nobody makes lifetime commitments in high school.” Brielle tried to explain her feelings but it’s hard to explain something you don’t fully understand.
“Do you like someone else?” I asked her.
“Not exactly. I mean I don’t right now. But it could happen.”
“I think I get it. You just don’t feel a strong commitment to Pason even though you care a lot about him. That’s kind of the same as me and Nate. I care about Nate but it’s like he’s a really good friend that I’ve had for a long time and I don’t want to lose that friendship. He means a lot to me and I have fun being with him. I just can’t picture myself being with him forever. I don’t know if it’s cuz we grew up together or what.”
Brielle and I understood each other better than anyone. She was like the sister I never had. Although I couldn’t help but have a feeling that she did like someone else. The “someone else” must not be available or doesn’t like her in return so she is not talking about it. She will when she’s ready. I know that about Brielle.
Cruz walked in the door just before dinner. He was looking tan and lean and buff. It made my heart twitter when he walked in. What is that about? I really am trying not to pay attention to him but I can’t help it. He is just so hot! I can’t believe I thought that. I need to be careful with my thoughts! Too many people are eaves dropping in on my thoughts. How unfair is that? Some of these abilities are annoying!
Grams had made Italiano for dinner, with Lissandra’s help. It was actually really good. Italian had always been one of my favorites but it was even better when it was authentically made by real Italians. We had Lasagnette with gagonzola. Apparently gagonzola is a type of cheese. Whatever it was it was heavenly. We had Chicken Marsala to die for. They also made tomato and basil bruschetta. I might have to keep Lissandra around just to be my personal chef. Well, if she would agree I would. Maybe I’ll just have her teach me how to do it myself.
Cruz sat next to me at the dinner table on one side and Brielle on the other side. I kept talking to Brielle so I wouldn’t have my thoughts going off thinking about how hot Cruz was while he was sitting right next to me. How embarrassing would that be? I didn’t look over at Cruz except one time when he asked me to pass the sauce, which I did quickly and then turned back to Brielle. I think I managed that rather well.
When it was time f
or Brielle to go home I walked her out on the porch. We talked for a couple of minutes and then she left. When I went back in the house momma was waiting for me. “That was pretty rude, tonight, Talli.”
“What are you talking about?” I played dumb again.
“You know what I’m talking about. Don’t play dumb with me. I’m your mother, remember. I made you. I know you. You cannot fool me.” She looked at me with the look that went clear through me and made me wish I was invisible.
“Okay, I just don’t want him reading my thoughts, is all. I wasn’t trying to be rude or anything.”
“Well maybe you weren’t trying but you sure as heck were rude.”
“I’m sorry. I just hate people reading my thoughts all the time. What if I had a thought like ‘he’s hot’ and he heard it?”
“I’m sure they don’t read them all the time. And I’m not the one you need to apologize to.”
“Okay, I’ll apologize to him.” I reluctantly agreed. I started to walk into the family room to apologize but momma stopped me.
“So do you think things like that?” She asked.
“Like what?” I asked.
“Like ‘he’s hot’.” Momma said.
“Sometimes. Okay, a lot. He is. I can’t help it.”
“Even more reason for you to go apologize.” Momma smiled, turned and went upstairs.
I went into the living room. Cruz was sitting on the sofa reading as if he didn’t notice me standing there. “Hey.” I awkwardly said to him. He looked up and smiled and said hi and then looked back at his book he was reading. I guess I must have been rude. He barely even knows I’m here now. Awkward. I don’t know where to begin. I am sorry I was rude but I wasn’t trying to be. “So I guess I was a little rude at dinner and… I’m sorry.” There, I got it out. Is that a dimple emerging on his cheek? Well if it was he quickly extinguished it.
“Its okay, Talli. Don’t worry about it.” He said and then kept reading. Either he was being rude now or he was still mad at my being rude. Well I was just going to take that as my cue to leave.
“Well, goodnight.” I said.
“Goodnight.”
I slowly turned around and headed upstairs to my room. I met Lissandra on the way. “You look sad. What’s going on?” She asked me.
“Nothing. Well maybe something. I don’t know.” I answered.
“You want to talk?” She suggested.
“Sure, you got a minute?” We sat on my bed and talked about my unwarranted feelings for her brother and my unsure feelings for Nate. I admitted that my feelings for Cruz were growing into something. I told her how sorry I was about being rude at dinner and how Cruz hadn’t paid much attention to my apology. I didn’t know if that meant he was mad or just didn’t care. She told me he probably was brushing it off to spare my feelings. Is anybody really that altruistic? Maybe I’m just a selfish person. Maybe Cruz was a good guy. He’s been nothing but good to me. I told everything to Lissandra.
“I am getting used to having Cruz around. He is appealing to me more each day. We just seemed to be connected in a way that I can’t explain. He makes me laugh. He always finds a way to compliment me. I just feel good around him. I don’t really know why. And still, he is mysterious and interesting to me. I find more and more that I want to be near him. The more I am near him, the more I want to be near him. There is something compelling about him that’s more than his being attractive and buff. And there is something familiar about him that feels as if I have known him a lot longer.”
“I understand.” Lis said. I could tell she was really listening to me. “This feeling is common with people who have been betrothed.”
“The problem is I still have feelings for Nate. However, Nate just felt like an old friend I couldn’t live without. Cruz felt like someone I really wanted to get to know. Was I being disloyal to Nate? Was it wrong of me to be interested in Cruz? Could I have them both in my life? Maybe I’m just being selfish. No, I didn’t ask for this. I’m still young and I never promised Nate anything. They would just have to understand that they were both important to me.”
“I can’t speak for them, Talli. They may be patient while you figure this out. But again they may not.” Lis advised me.
Lissandra, or Lis as I began to call her, was becoming my best friend. Not to discount my friendship with Brielle. Brielle was still one of my best friends. It’s just that our common interests had changed a little. I was a different person. At school I spent a lot of time with Brielle and after school I spent a lot of time with Lis. Saturday I was going to try to combine the two.
The DaMonicos were staying at our house until we could solve our problem. Grandpa insisted they stay here and not at some hotel. He and his family were helping us to figure out who was trying to kidnap me. They could be there a long time if we didn’t figure this out right away. Things were going to get real complicated, I could tell. The fact that I didn’t know what I wanted yet was only making matters worse. Why am I so indecisive? Why can’t things get black and white, cut and dried, easy to figure out? Momma laughs at me when I say that. She said if life were that easy it would be boring. I’d like to find out what boring feels like. But then again, maybe not.
Lis, Brielle and I decided to go hangout at the mall and do some shopping. We got an early start for the hour drive to the nearest mall. Cruz insisted on going to protect us, well mainly protect me, and my mom and grandparents agreed he should go along. Momma couldn’t pass up a trip to the mall and invited Cruz’ mom along, so we took the van for enough seats.
Mom, of course drove and Clariee, Cruz’ mom sat in front with her. Lis quickly climbed into the middle captain chair and pulled Brielle into the other captain chair. That left the back seats for me and Cruz. Couldn’t she be a little more subtle? This was ridiculously obvious. She was always putting me and Cruz together. Lis turned around and winked at Cruz. You don’t need to try so hard, Lis. I told her telepathically.
Oh good. That means the deals cinched? She replied.
Sigh
I looked over at Cruz and he was trying to play dumb, looking out the window and ignoring me. Or maybe he wasn’t playing dumb. Maybe he really was ignoring me. I didn’t really like that. I guess I just expected him to pay attention to me. What if he lost interest? What do I do now? I turned my head and stared out the window. Two could play at this game.
It was a long drive to the mall, trying not to notice Cruz ignoring me and trying to keep my him out of my thoughts so he couldn’t hear me think about him. I listened to his thoughts and it was things about the weather, his dad, his car and a to-do list. Keeping your thoughts to yourself can be pretty tricky when you’re surrounded by people who can read minds. It helped to keep making small talk with Brielle and Lis. Brielle kept asking me questions about Nate, which helped a lot. Lis just kept talking to our moms. It was kind of like she was avoiding me. What’s up with those two?
It was a relief to finally get to the mall and get out of the van. As soon as momma parked we all climbed out. I was last to climb out and as I stepped out, Cruz offered me his hand to help me out. I took hold of his hand and a warm sensation spread through me and a tingling feeling was in my tummy and a zing of electricity surged through my whole body! It was such an intense feeling that I could feel my cheeks heat up. Thank goodness Cruz looked over to his sister just before the blush. Then he dropped my hand as soon as I was out of the van. A part of me wished he still held my hand. That was just an act of chivalry. He would have done the same for any girl sitting in the back. I was somewhat disappointed.
Brielle grabbed my arm and steered me towards the entrance of the mall. I grabbed Lis and pulled her along. I glanced back at Cruz to see if he was watching. He wasn’t. Darn! I longed for that feeling I got when he touched me. What was that, anyway? I had never felt anything like that before. I’ve held hands
with Nate for years and never felt anything like that. I am attracted to Nate. He is an attractive boy and lots of girls would love to be in my place with him. Still, I have never felt that with him. It’s probably an ability that Cruz has but how do I find out about that?
“I need to hit the little girl’s room. Anyone else need to?” I asked.
“I’m good.” Brielle said.
“Well you’re coming with me anyway.” I grabbed her and pulled her with me.
When we got inside I asked her, “have you ever felt a warm sensation go through you and butterflies in your stomach when a guy held your hand?” I just came right out with it.
“Sure, haven’t you?”
“Well yea, just now…. with Cruz.” I looked at Brielle for a reaction.
“Really? Is there something going on with you two? This is great! Well, no I guess it isn’t great. What about Nate? Haven’t you felt that with Nate? But Cruz is so hot! How could you not feel that with him?” Brielle rambled on. Then she stopped and looked at me seeming to understand my dilemma. “I see. You haven’t felt that with Nate. Maybe Cruz and you have more chemistry. But that’s not good is it. Cruz lives in another country and you’re with Nate. What are you going to do? What do you want to do?”
“I don’t know. I like Nate and I like Cruz. I don’t want to hurt Nate or lose him, but I can’t deny what I feel for Cruz. I’ve never felt that sensation before. I’m not saying I have strong feelings for him but I can’t deny it could happen. And part of me kind of wants it to. Is that really bad of me? I’m a horrible person, right?”
Brielle took hold of both my hands and looked me in the eye. “I think you’re a bright, intelligent, caring person. You are not horrible. You can’t keep feelings from happening. You can only control what you do about them. That is a tuff decision, though. It should not be a quick decision. Let’s talk about this more when we get home. We’ll have a sleepover and lay it all out to examine. See what we can figure out. Come on, let’s go shopping! Best remedy for anything.” Brielle grabbed me and pulled me back out to the mall.
Brielle and I caught up with the others at the electronics store. Cruz and I both needed to buy new phones since the kidnappers took ours. Cruz was standing at the counter talking to the sales girl about a phone he was interested in. She was cute and bubbly and had his attention. I wasn’t real happy with the short distance between their heads. I know they were talking about phones and she was showing him the features. Still, I couldn’t help but feel a little jealous. Did I just think that? Get a grip, Talitha!
Cruz looked up and seen me and smiled. That was promising. He noticed me. Good sign. I walked over to him and asked what phone he was looking at. He showed me and then was telling me about the features. I stepped in a little closer, nodding to what he was telling me. I was hoping he would put his arm around me or touch my hand or something. However, I was sadly disappointed. He was very business-like.
My mom called me over to see a phone she was looking at. I went over to look at the phone, secretly wishing Cruz would follow me. He didn’t. Momma showed me a cool smart phone and I decided to get it with a hot pink and black zebra striped case. I also got a bling to hang off of it. I stepped out of the store and set down on a bench to activate my new phone. Lissandra set down next to me.
“Are you two playing hard to get or something?” Lissandra asked.
I sighed. “No, I just think he’s not interested in me.”
“Now that is funny. And so not true.” Lis laughed.
“I need to ask you something.” I told her. “Does your brother have an ability that would cause a warm sensation to go through my body when he touches me?” I asked her.
“Oh, now that’s really funny. You get butterflies in your stomach too, right?”
“So he does have that ability?”
“Well if he does, honey that just means you are falling for him. No special ability, just what every girl feels when she meets that special guy for her.”
“Really?” I wouldn’t know, I guess cuz I had never felt it before. “Oh…. I see. Then… I guess it’s… one-sided. My side. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted, anyway.” I confessed. I wished he had felt it too. If he had he would have said something or tried it out again. I was so disappointed. There I go again. One minute I want him to like me and the next I’m pushing him away. It just felt unfair to Nate. But really, what is fair to Nate? That I stay with him even if I don’t have that ’special’ feeling with him. And don’t I need to be fair to myself? Why does life have to be so complicated?
I finished activating my phone and got up to find Brielle. We walked around looking at prom dresses and trying them on for a while. We each bought two dresses, one for prom and one for graduation. I bought some accessories and a couple pairs of jeans. Brielle bought a few tops and some shoes. Lissandra bought a whole wardrobe. Apparently they hadn’t brought a lot with them due to the limitations the airlines has for luggage.
We went through just about every store at the mall. Cruz followed a safe distance behind and usually waited outside the store we went in. He was very calm and just acted like he was watching for anyone to come around that looked suspicious. I secretly wished he would walk closer to me but I didn’t say anything. Every time I tried on a dress I would parade around the front of the store secretly hoping he would see me. If he did, he didn’t say anything.
I noticed every time we came out of a store, Cruz had cute girls gathered around him. It was so unnerving to watch. He would laugh and joke with them and they would play coy and try to impress him. One time Lis asked him why he was gathering girls. He smiled and said that he didn’t gather them, they just showed up. Every time he would stop walking they would show up and start talking to him. He said he couldn’t be rude. I was trying very hard to not let my jealousy show. However, I could totally understand why girls flocked towards him. He has that effect on me too.
After a few hours of shopping we decided to stop and eat. We called our moms to meet up with us. We decided to go out of the mall to eat dinner at the Olive Garden. We were seated in a cozy corner by the window. I sat in a chair on the end of the table. Cruz sat kitty-corner from me on the end. This was nice! I would be close to him and maybe get a chance to talk with him. After the waiter took our order, Cruz picked up my hand again and weaved his fingers through mine. The warm electric feeling spread through my body again and my stomach did flips. My cheeks were feeling warm and I wanted to hide. But Cruz pulled my hand to his lips and kissed it. All I wanted to do at that moment is scoot closer to him. I was staring into his eyes and he into mine.
You feel it too, don’t you? He spoke telepathically. I nodded. I thought I heard you say it but I wasn’t sure. I promised myself I would give you time to come around and I’ve been trying to let you have your space. It’s been kind of difficult trying to ignore you. You, mi amore, are not easy to ignore. I could get lost in those crystal blue eyes of yours.
I was speechless. I didn’t know what to say so I didn’t say anything. I was just basking in the warm feeling. I had no idea these feelings could exist. But I was certainly happy they did and I was more than willing to accept them and encourage them. Maybe I was falling for Cruz. And now I knew he was falling for me too! He felt the same thing I did when we touched!
“Ahem.” My mom cleared her throat and I jumped as it brought me out of my trance. “Your food, dear. The waiter is trying to sit it down.”
“Oh, um…sorry.” I moved my arms that were evidently leaning towards Cruz and covering the table where our food would go. The others at our table snickered. Great, now Cruz’ mom probably thinks I’m an idiot. I looked at Cruz and asked him with my thoughts, how long has the waiter been waiting for me to move?
I have no idea, love. I wasn’t paying attention. Cruz winked at me and then slowly pulled his
hand away to take a drink. I was rewarded by the dimples that played on his cheeks.
While we all ate and talked, every now and then Cruz would glance at me through the corner of his eyes and give me a quick smile and then return to the conversation with the others. This was good. I didn’t feel pressured to marry anyone. I didn’t feel like I had lost control of my own life. And yet I could get that feel good feeling whenever he looked at me or touched my hand. This felt right. Like we had known each other all our lives and had just discovered our feelings for one another. Even though I really didn’t know him yet, I knew I wanted to know him. I knew he was someone I needed in my life. Whether it be for now or for a long time or for a lifetime, I didn’t know. I just knew I needed him in my life now.
The ride back home was totally cool. We all sat in our same spots that we had on our way there. However, this time I snuggled next to Cruz and he had his arm around my shoulders. I was in a perfect position to fall asleep, which is what I usually do on the ride home. Not this time. I didn’t want to miss a minute of this. I just nestled into his shoulder and enjoyed the ride. The coolest thing about being with Cruz is we could totally have a conversation and no one else could hear when we conversed telepathically, which we did on the way home.
Cruz, I need you to help me develop my abilities. I told him.
Of course. When do you want to start?
First thing tomorrow morning.
Sure thing. Well, how early were you thinking? I’m not a real early riser. He snickered.
I was thinking about 5 A.M. I teased.
Seriously?
No. I was joking. More like 9.
That I can handle. You do realize that tomorrow is your birthday, don’t you?
Holy birthday! I totally forgot! But how did you know?
I’ll never tell. But I do have something in mind for your big day. 18 right?
What is it? What do you have in mind?
That’s for me to know, and for you to find out tomorrow.
Hey! No fair.
Oh, I forgot. You don’t like surprises.
Some I like.
Well then, you’ll love this one.