Autumn Secrets (Numinous Book 1)

by Ivy Rose

“What do you want to do, Aurora?” he whispered softly, his breath tickling my face.

  I swallowed and tried to tear my gaze away from him, but he wouldn’t let me. The back of his hand caressed my chin gently and I knew I had to do something before things got really out of hand. I gathered my strength and pulled away, tearing my gaze from him. I needed answers right now, before I fell into the intoxicating arms of Adrian Hunter. Because I was falling, and I was falling fast. I took a deep breath.

  “Who is Ev…” My phone began to ring inside my bag, sending what little courage I had out the window. “I have to take this; it’s probably my mum.” I pulled away from him and reached for my phone.

  “Aurora, it’s me. Are you home yet?” Mum asked in a worried voice on the other end.

  “Hi, Mum. Yeah, I’m home. I’m having dinner. Are you still at work?”

  “Yes, I’m still here. I wanted to make sure you got home safely before it got too dark. Did you have to walk from the main road? We really need to get you your own car—”

  “Mum, can I call you back?” I interrupted and threw a quick glance at Adrian, who was sitting there with a self-satisfied smile on his lips.

  “Sure. I’ll still be at the office. It looks like I’ll be here another few hours.”

  “That’s fine. I’ll call you later, okay?” I hung up and turned my attention back to Adrian. “Sorry, it was Mum.”

  “That’s okay. Now, let’s finish these pizzas before they get cold.”

  I nodded and looked at the pizza in front of me, my mouth watering. I was starving, and it didn’t take long before I let go of any thoughts about who was sitting there with me, so I could concentrate purely on the food, without my nerves getting the better of me. Once I relaxed, we were able to talk quite easily. Adrian seemed genuinely interested about my life, and I found myself telling him stories about how we’d moved around from place to place for as long as I could remember. He was charming and funny; he made me laugh. However, as soon as I tried to turn the conversation back to him, he somehow managed to avoid any deeper insight into his life, and instead, smoothly turned the conversation back to me. I realised that by the end of our meal, he knew way more about me, than I did about him.

  “Are you finished?” he asked a little while later and looked in the pizza box, where there were just a few tiny pieces of crust left.

  I nodded and he grabbed the box and put it on top of his. The earlier intense moment we had before Mum had interrupted us was gone, and I couldn’t help but feel a sting of disappointment. I knew deep down that it was probably for the best, but somehow it still stung.

  “Well, that was great. Would you mind showing me around before I go? I’ve always been so curious about this place; I think everyone in Angel Falls is.”

  I couldn’t find the courage to ask him about Evangeline again as we walked through the house. I really didn’t want to sound liked I cared so much, because I was determined to get over this silly little thing I had for him.

  “What’s behind that door?” Adrian asked as we reached the second floor.

  “Mum decided to keep that wing of the house closed. There are at least another six rooms that way, but she didn’t think we needed them all.” We walked down the other end towards my room.

  “Mum’s bedroom is at the end of the hallway, and this is mine,” I said and opened the door. I tried to sound casual about it, but in truth, I was starting to freak out. What was I supposed to do with Adrian in my bedroom? Show and tell?!

  As Adrian passed me to walk into my room, his arm touched mine for a brief second, sending tingling sensations around my body. This was so not a good idea. Still, I followed him inside, but left my hand on the doorknob just in case. It made me feel a little safer, as I watched him take a look around with great interest.

  His beauty completely overwhelmed me at times. He created an unwanted desire that I knew I should never give in to. If I ever did, I knew I would get burned. He would have the power to crush my heart if I ever let him too close and I knew better than that. He was simply one of those guys, the kind that girls should stay far away from.

  Trapped in my own thoughts, I didn’t notice that Adrian had turned his attention back to me. There was a moment of silence, and I felt myself losing control again, as my heart picked up speed.

  “Aurora, relax.”

  “I am relaxed.”

  “No, you’re not.”

  I couldn’t really argue with that. I honestly couldn’t think or talk around him. I tore my gaze away from the eyes that threatened to unravel me.

  He tilted his head to one side and studied me. He was just about to say something when I heard a ringtone, not mine this time, interrupting us for the second time this evening. He put his hand in his pocket and pulled out his phone. He looked at his display and then at me.

  “I better take this.” He walked out of my room, leaving me standing breathless against the door. I had a sinking feeling I knew who it was and I decided in that moment, this would definitely be the last time I spent alone with Adrian. Nothing good could ever come of this. I didn’t trust myself in his company and it was obvious that I had completely lost control of myself.

  When he didn’t come back after a few minutes I left to find him down the hall, still talking to someone on the phone. His eyes met mine, as he replied to whatever the other person was saying.

  “I better go. I’ll call you when I’m back in town. Okay?” He put his phone back in his pocket and looked at me. “Well, Aurora. This has been a great evening, but I need to get going. Will you be all right here by yourself?”

  “Of course. Thanks for driving me home, and for the food. I guess I owe you,” I said as we walked downstairs. The sensible part of me wanted him to leave, but the other part, the bigger part, wanted him to stay. I opened the front door, determined to listen to the sane voice inside me.

  Adrian stopped just in front of me and softly shook his head. “No, you did owe me your company, but as far as I’m concerned, your debt has been paid.” He winked. “But I think it’s good if you take my number. You know, just in case you need a hand in the future.” He pulled his phone back out. “Give me your number and I’ll give you a quick call right now. Then it’s up to you if you want to save mine or not. No pressure. What do you say?”

  I tried to ignore the happy dance going on in my stomach at the thought of exchanging numbers with him. “I don’t think I’ll need it any time soon,” I replied, even though the thought made me feel giddy. “Actually, I’m quite sure I’ll never call, but thanks anyway,” I added. I wasn’t sure who I was trying to convince: him or me.

  He chuckled. “Never say never. Can I please have your number?”

  I nodded and, flustered, gave in and offered him my number. “There. Well, I just called you, so it’s up to you what you want to do with that.” He smirked. “I’ll see you at school?”

  “Sure.”

  “Have a good night, Aurora. It was nice spending time this evening with you.” He smiled and slid past me, as I shut the door behind him.

  A moment later I heard the engine of his car start and I slowly exhaled. Adrian Hunter is definitely too much trouble for me. Still, I couldn’t help but rush into the kitchen to pick up my phone as soon as he left. He was right. It was good to have his number. You know, just in case…

  Chapter 7

  Mum dropped me off outside school the next morning, delivering me the same speech from the day before.

  “Remember, it’s getting darker earlier, so please take an earlier bus home. I don’t want you walking around in the dark on your own.”

  I had already gone to bed by the time Mum got home last night, so I didn’t have a chance to talk to her. But I didn’t really want to tell her about the incident in the industrial area anyway, because it would only make her freak out. Besides, Adrian had been convinced it was a homeless person or something. I wasn’t planning on telling her about Adrian either right now. I wasn’t even sure how I was supposed t
o explain him.

  I nodded and looked at Mum. “I promise.”

  Mum gave me a kiss on the cheek. “We’ll go and look for a car this weekend, okay? It’s just a couple of weeks until you’re eighteen; it could be an early birthday present.” She winked.

  I chuckled. “Thanks, Mum. I’ll see you tonight.”

  As I climbed out of the car, I couldn’t help but look for a certain black BMW, but it was nowhere to be seen. Mum had dropped me off pretty early and there weren’t many cars parked here at all. I decided to head inside to see if Mrs Day had opened her classroom early.

  I was lucky. The classroom door wasn’t locked and, better yet, no one was there. I headed straight towards the computers. I thought of yesterday and my interaction with the beautiful and mysterious Evangeline. I still found it quite strange that no one seemed to know who this girl was. It was like she didn’t exist. Which was impossible, because I’d talked to her. I had seen her kiss Adrian.

  A wave of jealousy hit me again, and I tried to brush it off. I’d already decided to let this whole thing with Adrian Hunter go; he was too much trouble. I didn’t want to be involved in some stupid triangle drama. I was done, with or without his phone number. I sat down and turned one of the computers on as I looked for my USB in my bag.

  “I thought it was you…” A familiar voice made me jump in my seat, and I looked up to find Julian standing by the door. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

  “That’s okay,” I said nervously. He stepped in and closed the door behind him. His dark gaze swept across the room before it landed on me, and I squirmed in my seat.

  “I’m working on something.” I gestured towards the computer. Julian walked around the desk and sat down on the chair next to me.

  “Looking good.”

  I gave him a smile. “Thanks, but it’s not finished yet.”

  “I wasn’t talking about your work,” he replied and flashed a grin.

  I felt myself turning red, and I looked down at my hands. What was it with the boys in Angel Falls? They sure knew how to make a girl blush.

  “My parents are away this weekend,” he continued. “I’m having a party on Saturday night. Would you like to come?”

  I looked up into his dark eyes. “I don’t know. Who else will be there?” There was no way I was going to a party alone. I didn’t even like parties.

  “Everyone is invited, don’t worry. I do this every year when they go to their yearly conference. You will definitely know people, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  “And who’s everyone, if you don’t mind me asking?”

  “That would be our whole year.”

  “Oh, okay…”

  “Come on, Aurora. It’ll be fun…”

  “I don’t know. I’m not really into the whole party scene.”

  “Well, you haven’t seen this scene before. I can guarantee you’ll have a great time. I’m a great party host.” He grinned.

  I laughed. Well, why not? “Okay, I’ll come.”

  “It’s a date then?” He winked.

  “Uh, okay…”

  He stood up and pushed the chair back. “Looking forward to it. I’ll see you in class later.”

  “Yes, see you later…”

  As soon as Julian left the classroom I tried to get back to my work, but I found it hard to focus on the screen in front of me. I leaned back in my chair and ran my hands through my hair. I thought about Adrian. At the end of the day he had Evangeline and that was the end of it. There was nothing I could do about it; there was nothing I wanted to do about it. I was sure that he had left my place last night to go and see her and that had really made my mind up, once and for all.

  Julian was extremely good-looking, had no girlfriend as far as I could tell, and seemed to really want me to come to his party. I smiled to myself. I’d been scared that this little sleepy town would be too small for me, but this was far more than what I’d hoped for. I would even go as far as saying that Angel Falls was an exciting little town.

  I didn’t have a chance to talk to Lexi, Mia and Jasmine until lunch.

  “Are you guys going to the party on Saturday?”

  “Of course we are. I was going to tell you about it, but I didn’t have the chance this morning,” Lexi said.

  “Don’t worry, I got a personal invitation from the host.” I smiled.

  “Julian invited you? Interesting! What did he say? Oh my God. I bet he’s interested in you!” Jasmine shouted excitedly.

  “Ssshh, keep your voice down.” Mia chuckled and rolled her eyes.

  I couldn’t help but laugh with her. I looked around to make sure no one had heard our conversation, when I found myself once again caught in the gaze of Adrian Hunter. I felt a surge of heat rush through my body. He arched an eyebrow and grinned towards me. I stopped paying attention to the conversation around our table. My surroundings faded into the background; all I could see and feel was Adrian.

  “Here we go again.” Lexi chuckled somewhere in the distance. “Aurora, helloooo?”

  I felt myself slowly being pulled away from my private little bubble and back to the table. I shook my head, annoyed that I had found myself hypnotised by him again.

  “Sorry, where were we?”

  “God, you’re so lucky. You’ve got them both wrapped around your finger.” Jasmine sighed.

  “Both?” I asked, confused.

  “Yes, Adrian and now a personal invite from Julian this morning. You can’t deny they are both exceptionally good-looking guys,” Jasmine continued with a dreamy look.

  “Jasmine has had a crush on both guys forever,” Mia teased.

  “Seriously?” I asked.

  “I think everyone in this school has had a crush on Julian or Adrian, or the other two, at some point. Both boys and girls, I might add.” Lexi laughed. “But no one has had any luck so far.”

  “What does that mean?” I asked. I hated my own curiosity, but I still couldn’t stop myself from asking these questions.

  “Neither of them seems to be dating. They have never been spotted with a girlfriend. That’s what it means,” Jasmine replied.

  I immediately thought of Evangeline. Adrian definitely had a girlfriend, and it really confused me that no one seemed to know her. She wasn’t an ordinary girl; she was pure perfection. She was impossible to miss with her angelic beauty. I decided it was time to find out, once and for all.

  “Well, I’ve actually seen Adrian with his girlfriend. I tried to tell you guys about it…” I murmured, not sure if anyone actually heard me. I looked up and saw three pair of eyes staring at me.

  “What?! When did you see Adrian with a girlfriend?” Lexi asked.

  “Yesterday – she was here at our school. She came into one of the classrooms, and then Adrian came in too. They kissed each other.” I felt the same overwhelmingly sick feeling as I had when it happened.

  “What did she look like?” Mia asked. I gave them my best description of her.

  “I have no idea who this Evangeline is. She can’t be from Angel Falls,” Lexi said.

  “Maybe they met online, or on a holiday or something?” Mia said.

  “Yeah, maybe. Anyway, girlfriend or not, I honestly think he’s interested in you,” Lexi said and pointed to me with her fork, while she ticked her head discreetly his way.

  I let my gaze run over the cafeteria, before looking his way again. I found myself locked in his stare and he shot me another one of his heart-stopping smiles. I needed to get over that smile and those eyes, very soon.

  The rest of the week turned out to be a little bit of a study marathon. I quickly learned that it definitely didn’t matter if you went to school in Paris or in a little country town. The expectations were high, and I really wanted to do well. Lucky for me, my newfound friends were on the same page and we all met up at the library most afternoons to study together. We settled into a routine where someone had to walk up to the café on the main street to get us hot chocolates or coffees befor
e every study session, and we stayed for hours at the library so that Mum could pick me up in the evenings.

  At school I actually managed to go the whole week without any awkward meetings with handsome guys or mysterious girls. When Saturday afternoon finally arrived, my anticipation for the evening’s party was surprisingly high. I tried to tell myself that it had nothing to do with him, and everything to do with the fact that I had moved on from whatever that was. This was my night with my friends; that was all that mattered. I wasn’t even going to put too much effort into my clothes and make-up for the party. “It’s about having fun; I don’t care about anything else,” I mumbled to myself as I got out of the shower.

  Two seconds later, I head Mum call from downstairs: “Aurora, Lexi is here.”

  Already? I wrapped another towel around my head and ran downstairs.

  “And what are you doing here this early?” I asked suspiciously when I came to the door. She looked gorgeous with her short, black dress and smoky eye shadow, framing her moss green eyes in a stunning way. Her blonde hair was in a loose, low bun.

  “Is that any way to greet your friend?” She laughed.

  “You’re up to something.”

  She giggled and put her hands up in defeat. “Okay, you got me. I just wanted to have a look at what you’re wearing tonight.”

  I narrowed my eyes and tried to stifle a smile. I knew it. “And why is that?”

  “Come on, Aurora. You have a gorgeous guy waiting for you, well technically two guys, but since one is taken already, we need you to look hot tonight. Now, are you letting me in, or what?”

  After an hour in Lexi’s care, I had a totally different look to what I had originally planned. My long dark hair that I normally held in a ponytail, was hanging in loose, soft curls down my back. My green eyes looked amazing with the make-up Lexi applied. She tried to get me into a dress, but I politely declined. My black, strappy satin top and a pair of jeans was as far as I would go. Just before seven we said goodbye to Mum, jumped in Lexi’s car and drove towards the centre of town.

  “Do you know where you’re going?” I asked and looked out the window. We had passed through the main part of town and were now heading south. After the incident the other night, the darkness gave me a bit of a chill.