Wingless Book Series (book 1)

by Holly Hood

  Ari jumped up with her glass, the excitement just oozing from her. I stared around at each face, wondering how one birthday could be this joyous. It was beyond me, but I wasn’t going to be judging. Everyone was different.

  “Eve, I haven’t known you that long, but you truly have become a really good friend to me. You’re such a nice, caring person. And it means a lot to me. I can see how happy you make Evan, and that’s awesome!” she exclaimed, practically climbing the table to hug me. She crushed Evan, wrapping her arms around me.

  “Alright, alright, Ari,” Evan said, getting up. The look on Evan’s face was one that I wasn’t familiar with.

  He stood, clinging to his glass, his expression that of a feeble being. He almost looked sick. I was entranced by this and couldn’t keep my eyes off of him. The whole setting went from talking and clatter, to almost silence. Evan cleared his throat. He was acting fidgety. He turned to face me, his glass shaking in his hand. My nerves were starting to creep up on me now. He was never the weak one; I was scared something was wrong.

  “Are you alright?” I asked softly, not trying to catch anyone’s attention.

  He blinked, taking a deep breath. “Eve,” he said, ignoring my question.

  “What?” I asked, feeling numb.

  “It’s hard to put it into words how much I feel for you. I never have met another girl who’s just blown me away in every way. Who you are as a person… I can’t even find the words to tell you how great it is. You make me feel right. You make all of this make sense.” He took my hand, holding it tightly as he spoke.

  I was speechless, and rather embarrassed at all the emotion coming from him all at once all because of my birthday. It was sweet, but I was starting to wonder what it would be like if I did something even more amazing than be born on a specific day. I listened carefully to everything he was saying, it was all so amazing. I wasn’t sure if I deserved it, but according to them, I did.

  “I’m not a mushy romantic or anything, but seriously, I feel like it is true what they say. I think you are my soul mate. And that’s funny, because I never cared about those things before.

  “Okay, so what I want to say to you is, I want to share everything with you and only you. I want to take care of you, and I want to be in love with you and only you for the rest of my existence. However long or short that may be.”

  I took a quick glance at everyone. Ari was blotting her eyes with a tissue. Carlo was watching intently, and Kenny was holding onto Ari as she sobbed. They all were very interested what was happening.

  I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do. I looked at Evan, smiling, squeezing his hand.

  “I’m not the most articulate person when I feel like all eyes are on me, but I feel the same and I hope you know that.” Evan dropped to his knee still holding on to my hand.

  My heart almost stopped. I wasn’t stupid. When a guy dropped to his knee it meant usually one thing. “Evan!” I yelled, about to hyperventilate.

  Evan’s face lit up at my reaction, a big smile spreading across his face. He pulled a ring box from his pocket. It was black velvet. He opened it. Ari squealed.

  “Eve, will you be willing to put up with me until, ya know, whenever?” He laughed, trying to ease the mood.

  “Like marriage?” I exclaimed, covering my mouth with my hand. I was so thrilled I couldn’t even cry. “Are you serious? Oh my god!” I yelled.

  Evan shook his head, laughing at my hysterics. He looked at Kenny for help. Kenny threw his hands up. They all must have thought I was losing it, or maybe that I didn’t comprehend.

  “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m asking you. So what do you say?” he asked, taking the ring out of the box and waiting.

  “Of course!” I said, throwing my arms around him. I kissed his face holding onto him for dear life.

  I think it was more than the idea. It was the thought that Evan could truly envision himself with me for good. I never thought anyone would tell me that, and to think that he saw something in me worth holding onto just made it all even more right.

  Evan lifted me, my feet dangling above the ground as we kissed a long, happy, joy filled kiss. Everyone cheered and whistled. It was the best day of my whole entire existence.

  Chapter 24

  Hopeless

  As we made our way back home, I stared at the huge diamond on my finger. It was way bigger than any ring I had ever imagined. It was a pink diamond, Evan said. A rare stone that had been in his family and reset. It shined and sparkled so much in the moonlight. I was still so blown away at everything that had happened in the day. Evan had asked me to be his wife, the person he wanted to live the rest of his life with. And I had accepted. And I was happy about it all.

  The car crawled into the driveway. Evan came to a slow stop, turning the lights off and turning to look at me, his mood was still rather good for such a long, eventful night.

  “Did you have a good birthday?” he asked, smoothing my hair behind my ear.

  “Definitely, the best one ever,” I said, staring at him. He sighed, just gazing at me. “What?” I asked, laughing to myself. He was like, so totally odd after all this.

  “I can’t believe you said yes,” he said.

  “Really?” It was hard to believe he would think I would say anything but that. But I guess everyone had a little bit of insecurity in them.

  “I wasn’t sure. I really didn’t know how it was going to go. Your reaction was memorable though,” he said, his eyes seeming to drift back to the proposal.

  “Yeah, kind of embarrassing,” I said, biting my thumb in frustration.

  “Don’t worry. I won’t tell everyone. The most important ones already know,” he laughed, getting out of the car.

  “It was a good surprise. I never even expected that was coming,” I said, agreeing that I was quite humorous.

  We headed inside. The day felt like it was finally releasing its grip as I sat down on the couch. I undid my shoes watching Evan undo his shirt.

  “I’m glad you had no idea. That’s what made it such a great moment,” he said, lying down on the couch, his feet resting on my legs. I raised an eyebrow at his comfort level. He didn’t even know if I liked feet enough to be staring at them this close. Luckily, his feet were well taken care of and so it was fine.

  “Sometime next week we will head back for dinner at Carlo’s and work all the plans out. You’re still okay with that right?” he asked, giving me an interesting look.

  “I told you it was fine. I’m curious to meet your other brother and the rest of your family,” I said, nodding.

  Next week marked another big change. Evan’s brother would be coming back home and the rest of his family would be there to congratulate us. I wasn’t sure what all this entailed, but Evan insisted that it all would be a good time. And good for us.

  “Do you think you’ll tell your parents?” he asked, breaking into my thoughts.

  “I’m not sure what I will do, honestly. I don’t know if it’s worth telling them. You know how they are,” I said, checking his expression to make sure he wasn’t offended. He wasn’t which was good that he knew enough to know not to be when it came to my family.

  “Do you think you will tell them we’re moving?” he asked, sitting up.

  I wasn’t sure I heard right. My body tensed at this shocker. “Moving? What, where?” I asked in a panic.

  “We’ll still be close by, just a different neighborhood. I think the part you will like is that Ari and Kenny will be moving too,” he said so easily.

  “Evan, you never told me this. How far away will we be?” I asked, getting a little confused on why this was just now coming up, and why it seemed as if he had known this all along.

  “Almost an hour, but not quite. You’ll see it’s not that far. And I know you will like it better than here. We will have more privacy, and we will still be by Ari and Kenny.”

  “How do I break that kind of news to my parents?” I said, feeling ready to explode. I was one to go agains
t them, but taking off and moving was a little too far.

  “I didn’t expect this type of reaction from you,” he said, growing somber.

  “Well, you don’t just spring something on someone like that. It’s like it was already planned, and if we are going to be together shouldn’t we both plan this out together?” I looked to him for some sort of rational answer.

  Evan looked at me with a pathetic looking face. “If I could plot out all these things in my life, you would be the first one helping me do that. It’s just how it works.” He shrugged, going back to his business demeanor.

  “Oh, so it’s just something that has to happen? As in, part of how things work for you guys?” I let it all roll off my tongue, swallowing down the fear that I would be moved farther and farther away from all that I knew. I always had a fear of unknown places, maybe because I hadn’t traveled much in my life.

  “Remember when I told you to trust me?” Evan asked.

  “Yeah, I remember, and I do. It’s just hard,” I said, sighing out loud.

  “Please, just do that for me,” he said, hoping I would give in.

  I could tell by the look on his face, he was tired and not ready for a fight. “I will go wherever you go. It’s just hard to leave this city behind. It’s the only thing I have left to remind me of my brother. It’s silly, I know.”

  I felt like staying in Beaumont I was staying close to Marcus. He was buried here and I felt him in all the memories here. If I left, I was afraid my memories would fade away. And I didn’t want to forget about him.

  “It’s not silly at all. And if I could work something out, I would. Your brother is in your heart, and you’re taking that with you,” he said, smiling at me.

  “I just don’t ever want to feel like I’m forgetting him. He makes me happy. He is the one thing that I can look back on and be really happy over.”

  “Like nostalgia or whatever they call it?”

  “Yeah, good memories. Brings me back to all the times when me and my family were really happy, because now it’s just not that way anymore. And I really think it’s partly because there is no more Marcus.”

  Evan wrapped his arms around me, kissing my forehead. “I can tell you one thing, I may not know a lot about life, I may not have figured it all out, but no one is ever really gone. They may be physically gone, but I think they weave a life inside each and every one of us and that’s how they live.”

  He explained it so beautifully. In some ways I agreed when someone you care about dies-their voice, image, smell-lingers. Their belongings are still there and it’s as if they made a backdrop for you to revel in and go back at times to hold them close when you couldn’t imagine anymore.

  I guess it didn’t matter where I went; it was up to me to hold on to my brother’s memories. I would always be heartbroken, that would never change. My only hope was being able to carry Marcus along in everything that I did.

  “Sometimes, I wish I could have just talked to him one more time,” I said quietly into the dark as I lay in bed.

  “What would you have said?” Evan asked.

  “If everything was okay.”

  “What do you mean?” Evan asked, sounding confused.

  “Was his life everything he wanted out of it? Was he happy?” I said, tears secretly falling down the sides of my face. I didn’t touch them. To cry in the dark, no one could tell.

  “I think he was,” Evan said all knowing.

  “You think so?” I asked, getting tired.

  “I can almost guarantee it,” he said, rolling over and putting his arm across me.

  “I sure hope so. He was such a great person.” I closed my eyes, Evan running his hands through my hair lulled me to sleep.

  “Eve Renee!” A loud voice shouted with urgency and what seemed like a little anger. It frightened me because I knew there was only one person who sounded anything like it.

  I flew up in bed, out of breath and frightened, trying to focus my eyes in the dark. I thought I was going crazy, not sure what I had heard or if I was awake or dreaming.

  “Eve Renee, why don’t you answer me?” the voice echoed. I touched my forehead feeling as if I was delirious. “Eve, don’t pretend you don’t know who is talking to you,” he scolded.

  I blinked hard, trying to get out of the foggy feeling. The voice was that of Marcus, and I knew there was no way that could be happening.

  In the corner of the room appeared my brother, exactly as he looked the last time he was here with us. He lingered in the corner, his hands in his pockets, a big grin on his face, his curly hair tousled and wild like always. I felt like I was dying. I couldn’t breathe at such a shock as this.

  “Will you say something already?” he said, his voice sounding more soothing as each word came out.

  “Marcus?” I asked.

  He nodded. “Yeah, it’s me. I wanted to tell you that you’re doing the right thing. Well, I think so anyways,” he told me. “Trust everything you do and you will keep on the right path. You’re a smart girl.”

  I sat astonished as he came forth with all this information. “What do you mean? Are you talking about Evan?” I asked in a rush, not sure how long before this would all end.

  “I’m talking about everything. I always thought you were something special and you’re proving it. Trust, faith, and honesty, Eve,” he said, walking into the darkness.

  I woke up screaming. Evan flipped on the light, shaking my whole body. I let my eyes open squinting in the light. I was covered in sweat. His face was horrified. He stood over me, surveying my every move. I was beyond spooked at this point. What had just happened?

  Chapter 25

  Union of Self

  I sat at the end of the bed the following morning dazed and confused. The dream was so disturbing to me; it felt so real, almost like a hallucination. Evan was already up and going. I felt foggy and like everything going on around me wasn’t even happening. I didn’t know what to do. How do you move on after something like that? It had been four years since Marcus passed and not one time did I have a dream about him, until now.

  I lifted myself off the bed walking in a cloud to the bathroom, and started brushing my teeth, feeling as if I wasn’t even an image in the mirror.

  “You’re okay,” I said out loud, looking at myself in the mirror, trying to will myself to believe I wasn’t going crazy.

  It was as if he was alive and not just some silly dream, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about things like that.

  Ari came up behind me touching my back lightly. I jumped, dropping my toothbrush on the floor.

  She raised her eyebrows, backing off. “Are you alright?” she asked, looking a bit concerned.

  “I guess,” I said, still not all there.

  I picked my toothbrush up off the floor running my thumb down the bristles, staring at it intently, so many thoughts in my head.

  “You know you can talk to me about anything right?” she asked, breaking into my thoughts.

  “I know,” I said, nodding.

  Ari left quietly. I didn’t know what to do. I hadn’t even told Evan much about what had occurred. I had insisted it was just a bad dream. He quickly went to bed as soon as he knew I was all right.

  Coming into the living room, Ari and Kenny sat watching TV quietly. They both took a quick glance at me and I figured they thought I had lost my mind.

  Evan came in the door holding a few bags of groceries. He set them on the counter staring at me as I stood there lifeless.

  “Eve, you okay?” he asked just like Ari had.

  “I don’t know,” I said, my gaze barely being broken even by Evan’s.

  “Come outside, you can talk to me out here,” he said, opening the door to go out.

  I followed his order, coming outside. I crossed my arms looking at the ground, unsure how to explain it without sounding like a nut case. “I don’t know, I just feel funny,” I said.

  “Anything to do with last night?” he asked in a flash.

  �
�Yeah.”

  “Tell me about it. Maybe that will help,” he said, sitting down on a lawn chair.

  “I had a dream about my brother. My dead brother,” I said, looking at Evan for signs he was freaked out. His face didn’t change.

  “Okay, that’s not so bad. What was it about?”

  “I’ve never dreamt about him before, and he was telling me things,” I said.

  “Okay, like what?” Evan asked, patting the seat next to him.

  I was starting to feel better already. “He told me I was doing the right thing. That he always thought I was special. Just strange things,” I said, sitting.