by Tia KENZIE
Prince: Luna, please don’t think that. Just know that I do care.
He’d sent this one ages ago in reply to my rant earlier. I just hadn’t checked it.
Prince: Luna, how is your first day going. Do you need anything?
Talia grabs it off me, running away to the restroom.
“Talia! Give it back!” I run after her. Shit, this is not good.
The door to the restroom is locked and I start banging on it. “Talia do not dare text him back. I swear to God, I will end you if you do…”
I can hear her giggling, “Relax, I wouldn’t do that, well, I might. Ha!” She opens the door, a sheepish look on her face. She thrusts the phone at me, “Here, you’re welcome.” She runs off back to our table.
Grabbing the phone, I take a look. OMG! She so did! No, no, no.
Me: Well now, Mr. Sugar Daddy Prince. Now that you’re asking, I think…. I need a big strong man to keep me warm in bed. It’s soooo… cold all on my lonesome. Do you know anyone who could help me with that?
I make my way back to the booth. “What the fuck Talia! I can’t believe you’ve done that. Like, actually sex texted the person who is, like, basically in charge of my life right now. What if he decides to move me…again? What then huh?” I’m glaring at her, and she’s - she’s rolling about laughing!
“I’m sorry,” she splutters while trying to get a hold of herself, “in my defense, I’m blaming the smoothie. Sugar sends me crazy. Well, even crazier than usual.”
Ping! My heart jumps. We both rush to have a look.
Prince: Luna, what the hell?
Talia moves towards the phone, but I grab it away from her, holding it on my other side.
“Oh, let me, pleeeease.” She pleads. “Come on, this is the best fun I’ve had in ages. OMG. What if he’s like super gorgeous, and you’re missing out?”
I raise my eyebrows, “yeah and what if he’s like 50, bald, with a huge belly? Huh, what then?”
She’s giggling again, “yeah, I see your point. So, like, ask him for a picture. Tell him, I don’t know, wait! I’ve got it. Tell him you need a picture so you can make sure he’s not a random pervert. Yeah, do that!”
"No. I can’t ask that, no way will he send one. Wait, I’ve got an idea….”
Me: I’m sorry about that. My friend, who I’m now sure is insane, got hold of my phone and sent the text. However, after careful consideration I’ve decided that we need to ensure that you are in fact, not a weirdo, just messing me around.
Prince: Not a weirdo and not messing you around.
Me: Prove it. Say like, with a picture.
Prince: Luna, sorry but I can’t send a picture. My word will have to be enough.
Me: No. It’s not fair, you’re not giving me anything! How about answer this then…. Do I know you? You said that you looked for me so….
A good 10 minutes pass before we get a reply.
Prince: Yes. You did know me, a long time ago. Please don’t ask anymore. Tell me about your day, what are you doing?
Me: I’m with a friend, the crazy one, having a smoothie. Then going to a party later. What about you, want to come to a party?
Prince: Sorry, I’m busy. Have a good night. Be careful Luna.
I feel deflated after all that.
“Bummer, I thought he’d take the bait.” Talia whines, gathering her purse and car keys off the table. “Come on, we need to get going, I’ve got something I need to do before we go out later.”
◆◆◆
I stuff the wrist cuffs into my purse and, grab my phone and we make our way to the door. A nap sounds nice, come to think of it. Molly shouts out a goodbye, I turn to say bye, and turn back. Bang! I face plant into a warm chest.
“OMG! I’m so sorry.” I say, looking up. A pair of gorgeous amber eyes look back at me, from under a mop of light brown hair. He’s a guy about my age, tall with a slim but muscled build. He holds his arms out to steady me.
He smiles, “It’s okay princess, I don’t mind at all.” He keeps hold of me and I like it. In fact, he’s making me feel all tingly and warm.
“I think you should let me buy you a drink in apology, what do you say?” Eyebrows raised, while still holding me and looking down into my eyes.
Oh shit, I can feel a blush coming on. Panic stations!
“Erm, I’m just going actually. It was my fault anyway…” I bite my lip, looking at the floor. What the hell do I do now? I’m so not comfortable with guys, like at all.
The door bangs open, “bitch! what are you doing?” Talia asks, walking through the door. She sees the situation I find myself in. “Oh, Toby, put the new girl down. Jesus, she’s only been here for like 5 minutes.” She pulls me out of his arms.
Toby puts on a puzzled face. “New girl eh. What, new to town or school? What’s your name?” He asks, with an eyebrow wiggle.
Talia sighs. “Both now leave her alone; we’ve got a party to get ready for. You don’t need her name, this bitch is not glory material, she’s too good for that!” She drags me out the door.
His face drops at the last comment. Something about glory?
“Bye princess. Maybe I’ll see you at the party?” He shouts, I turn back to find him giving me a sly smile. I nod back at him.
On the way back to drop me off Talia decides to explain the school hierarchy, something I apparently need to know…. “Well so, you’ve got the Glory’s, they are top of the shop.”
I choke on a laugh, “top of the shop. What the hell?”
“Well yeah, every school has a hierarchy. At our school, the Glory’s are top. Which is basically a bunch of 5 guys who come from mega money, who are the elite of the school. For some reason they came together in a group and the rest of the school named them the Glory's and they are idolized bitch. Anyway, then there’s the Glory chasers. They are 3 girls who hang around them, who are basically a bunch of bitches and their wanabee girlfriends. Well, in fact, one of them is, the others just hope."
We pull into the school and arrange to meet out front in 3 hours. I get out of the car but pop my head back in.
“So, why are you telling me this? I get the feeling there’s a reason you are telling me this now?” I raise my eyebrows in question.
She sighs, “Yeah, Toby back at the diner. He’s a Glory, so you know, thought you’d want to know, before you get stars in your eyes. Saying that though, he is the nicest out of the lot of them.”
“I’ve not got st…,” I protest a bit too forcefully.
She cuts me off with a wave. “Yeah, sure bitch. I saw you blushing, see you in a bit.” She calls, before speeding away.
◆◆◆
Chapter 4. DANTE
I kick around the apartment, impatiently waiting for Toby. He’d called to make sure I was home; said he has something to tell me. Whatever it is, he wanted to do it face to face.
Fuck! I hope he’s not moving out. He’s been talking about taking off for a while. Something about travelling and putting 2 fingers up to his family and all their expectations of him. If that’s the case, then I’ll have to move back into the dorms, which I really don’t like the idea of. I’ve lived here with him for 2 years now.
Toby comes from a very wealthy family, who takes care of the rent on this place. This place being a 2-bedroom apartment in a high-class development, situated just 5 minutes from school. He let me move in with him, rent free, because he’s a good friend. He knows my background and has always had my back.
I hear the door bang, and Toby comes bouncing in, gesturing for me to take a seat on the balcony.
We both sit, me with a feeling of impending doom. Toby, with his leg bouncing in excitement.
“Dante, fuck man. Look, I might be wrong but I’m sure I’ve just seen your girl, in the diner.”
I look at him, confused. “Toby, I’ve not got a girl. You know the fucking Serena story, so I don’t give a fuck about what she does.” What the hell? He knows I hate that bitch. Couldn’t care less if she dropped dead.
He rubs a hand over his face, groaning. “Nah man, I mean your girl... you know, surfer girl? From back home.” He jumps up and starts pacing, making his way off the balcony, into the open plan living space. It takes a few seconds for me realize who he’s talking about.
I jump up, racing over to him.
“Luna? Do you mean Luna?” Fucking hell! How the hell?
“Ah, now he gets it. Yes, your Luna. My surfer girl!”
“What do you mean your surfer girl? She’s not your anything!” I’m shouting, getting angry with him. I don’t like him referring to her as his anything. I mean yeah, they were friends, but she’s always been mine. Always will be.
He puts a hand on my arm. “Relax, I know that. It’s just that I’ve always called her surfer girl, I didn’t mean anything by it. Jeez, I’m trying to help you here.”
I throw myself onto the leather sofa, sprawling out.
“Well, tell me what happened. Are you sure it was her?” I feel sick, I think I’m gonna hurl. He grabs a beer from the fridge, passing me one too and taking a seat on the end of the sofa.
“I don’t know man. I mean, yeah, I’m like 95% sure.”
“Did you talk to her? What did she look like?” Christ, my heart has sped up so much I think I might have a heart attack.
“She actually bumped into me when I came through the door. And yes, I spoke with her. It’s her man, I’m sure. She’s got that same voice, all quiet and husky.” He shakes his head. “She looks good Dante; she looks fucking beautiful. The same long blonde hair, grey eyes, heart shaped face...”
I snap at him, cutting his next words off. “Yeah okay, you sound like you’re into her.”
Fucker, I can see hearts in his eyes! “She’s mine, don’t be getting any ideas. What the hell do I do now then? How am I gonna find her again?”
Toby just sits grinning at me, fucker. “Ah well, I can help you with that. I only spoke with her for like a minute, but I managed to find out that she’s going to a party tonight, with Talia. You know, the chick Reed had all those problems with a couple of years back? And she’s starting a new school, soooo, I’m guessing it could be Grace Glory? Seen as it’s the only one in this area, and she was with Talia.”
“Fuck!” This is not good. Well, it is good if Luna’s here. But fuck! I can’t imagine the shit this is gonna cause, or what that will mean for me. I have a thought. “How come she didn’t recognize you though? You met her loads of times when she was with me.”
He frowns. “Just a guess, but maybe because I don’t look the same. Did you forget how I used to look?”
I start laughing, “sorry man, yeah, I did forget actually.” Toby was always a bit on the tubby side when he was younger. Oh, he was also really short. It wasn’t until after Luna left that he had a massive growing spurt. He shot up to 6feet virtually overnight.
Toby’s messing on his phone. “Ha! Right, the only party that’s happening tonight is on the beach, behind The Reef. I take it we will be attending?”
I nod. “Yeah, but keep it between us. I just want to take a look first, see if it really is her.”
“Okay man, I got you.” And he has, he always has done. After all the shit that went down before, he’s the only one I’ve confided in. I burnt my bridges with my brother Colt, I’ve not spoken with him for years now. Which is mostly my fault. Guilt will do that, I suppose. I stopped answering his calls and eventually he stopped trying. He tried again last week, which I ignored.
I’m not in touch with Mom either. I feel bad for ignoring her, but I just can’t bring myself to answer when she calls. If I do, she will know straight away that something’s wrong. She won’t stop until she finds out what it is. There’s no way she won’t bring Luna up in conversation either. She loved her like a daughter, it hit her really bad when she was made to leave us. And if she ever did find out what part I played in it, I just know, she would never, ever forgive me. Man, this sucks.
◆◆◆
Toby picks me up from the gym. I’m only in sweatpants and a t-shirt, but that’s okay. I don’t want to make a big deal out of our attendance tonight. Not like we usually would when the Glory’s show up anywhere.
No, tonight, I just want to slip in quietly and see if it really is my Luna. God, I hope it is. I’ve missed her so much. I don’t think I’ve had one happy day since she left, taking my fucking soul with her.
No, that’s wrong. She can’t have taken my soul because I sold that to the fucking devil!
I climb into Toby’s jeep and he pulls away, heading towards The Reef.
“Dante man, what’s the plan then? I mean, people are gonna see us. And you do know it will get back to Serena.”
I sigh, knowing he’s telling the truth. “I know but what else can we do? I need to be there. Fuck, what if it is her? Shit, I thought I could just go and take a look, but I don’t think I can. If it’s her then, well, I’m not gonna be able to hold back.”
“I know, I realize that already. What about the shit that’s gonna hit after though? You do know Serena will follow through with her threats.”
“I’ll just have to deal with it then,” I shrug, “nothing I can do to stop it.”
Toby stops the jeep a good walk away from the diner, behind a stretch of trees. He decides to take a look around first, to see if he can locate her. Serena has a fucking army of bitches, ready to report back if they see me anywhere without her.
I have had enough. My life is a shit show, and the worst thing is, it’s my own, stupid fault.
◆◆◆
Chapter 5.
PAST
“Luna, I’m sorry. ‘I’m gonna miss you. I will see you soon though, I’ll try everything to get you back. I will even get my Mom to arrange for us to visit you.”
I shake my head, “but you don’t even know where I’m going, nobody will tell us!” Dante looks at me with vivid green eyes, twinkling with emotion. He wipes the back of his hand across his face, trying to push back his unshed tears. I could see he was trying so much to stay strong for me.
“Dante you don’t understand. Everyone will hate me, they always do. People think I’m weird, you are the only you who knows me, who treats me nice.” I sob uncontrollably, wringing my hands together. “Please don’t let her take me, I can’t go, pleeeeease. Let me stay with you.” I fall to my knees, sobbing into my hands.
We’re in the driveway of Dante’s home, a fierce looking woman from social care waits for me by a black Escalade, which has been loaded with my belongings, waiting to take me away.
I glance towards the porch of his home to see his mom Julie, her face contorted in pain and anguish. I know she tried everything that she could to keep me here, but it just wasn’t enough. I know that she tried but I can’t help feeling that she let me down.
I look to Dante’s older brother, Colt, who is fiddling with his motorbike in the open garage. He gives me a small smile and looks away again, as if my life isn’t exploding all around me.
Dante lifts me up off the ground, his arms circling me protectively. After a couple of minutes spent shushing me softly he places a finger under my chin, lifting it up to look into my eyes.
“Luna, I can’t stop it happening. I wish I could, but I can’t. Nobody will listen to us because we’re only 13 and the grown-ups are in charge. But just remember you are my best friend and I love you. I promise to find you and bring you back home, I promise you Luna. Until then you can call me or write letters, I promise to always answer you.” He wipes my tears away with his thumbs and in reply I swipe his dirty blonde hair away from his beautiful face that I love so much.
“Okay. You need to promise me Dante, I need you to promise and mean it. I’m only going because I know you will find a way to bring me back.” I lift up on my tippy toes to place a kiss on his cheek. “Love you star, I’ll look for you every night…." He takes hold of me again in his arms, giving me one last big hug, “Love you moon,” he says softly, before running away towards the treehouse. I can hear his
sobs, as emotion overtakes him.
◆◆◆
PRESENT
Beep.Beep.Beep.
Shit, worst noise ever! My face is wet with tears, evidence that I’ve had the dream about Dante again.