Falling Behind (Falling Series)

by Dee Avila

She slipped down the hood, landing on her feet in front of me. “I thought you’d never ask.”

  My arms went around her waist, pulling her into me. I inhaled her sweet and spicy, berry aroma. Her hands went around my neck and we swayed to the music. I placed a kiss on the top of her head. When she looked up at me I saw desire and need woven in the steel grey of her moonlit eyes. She gasped. I slid my hand up to the back of her head, tilting it back. I waited, in case she wasn’t ready. When her eyes closed and her lips parted, I asked, “Can I kiss you now?”

  “Please.” It came out in a whisper as I captured her lips with mine. They were soft and yielding. I loved the way they moved with mine. I licked her bottom lip and she opened her mouth. When my tongue met hers, I swear there were fireworks. I felt the kiss all the way down in my toes. I pulled back, first. Panting. We were both breathless.

  “Wow. I always imagined...” She shook her head.

  “What?”

  She kissed me again, taking it deeper. I groaned when she pulled away. “I always imagined it would be just like that. I could kiss…” she placed a kiss on the corner of my mouth “You.” She kissed my upper lip and then kissed me square on the mouth “All day.”

  I chuckled, pulling her closer to me. “You imagined kissing me?”

  Reese didn’t respond, just flashed me a knowing smile. As if I should know that she had day dreamed about us just as I had. I let it go, for now. I took her home, kissing her goodnight at the door.

  “Goodnight, Ty. Thank you for tonight. It was wonderful.”

  My heart soared, again. Every time she said my name, my heart raced. Every time we kissed, my stomach knotted up. Every time I looked in to her eyes, I fell more in love. She had me falling hard. And now you sound like a whipped puppy and it’s your first date.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Reese

  I wanted to lay in bed all morning thinking about my date with Titus; but, I had to get up. Candice’s parents returned home last night and I was anxious to talk to them and get their permission to share Candice’s story during the school assembly I was planning. I sent Titus a text and yelled for mom.

  Me: Can you go with me to The Warner’s house?

  “MOM!” My phone beeped with a new text before Mom made it down the hall.

  Titus: Good morning to you, too. And yes.

  I smiled, jumping out of bed and throwing on jean shorts and a tank top. Mom stepped into my room. “Hi, Hun. Did you have a good time last night?”

  “I did. Can you go with Titus and me over to the Warner’s house, please?” I slid my feet into my flip flops.

  Mom’s hands wrung together. She was nervous. I was the one that needed to be nervous, not her. “Yeah, I can go with you two.”

  I smiled up at her, trying to show her that everything was going to be okay. “Thanks, Mom.”

  We walked up to the Warner’s front door and tears burned my eyes. When I looked to Ty for strength, his eyes were misty, also. I entwined my fingers through his and the corners of my mouth lifted with a small smile as warmth traveled through my body.

  I wasn’t prepared to face these demons—the demons of losing a best friend. I never thought that I would come back over here, not without Candice. And yet, here I was. George answered the door with a tight grin and a small nod of his head. As he stepped to the side, I led us in.

  I took several deep calming breaths before voicing my idea to them.

  Cecilia jumped up and came to me, wrapping me up in a hug. “That is the best idea. It is a way to remember Candice and possibly save another teenager’s life.”

  “I agree that would be a wonderful way to remember Candice. Do you need anything from us?” George looked at me and wiped a stray tear off his cheek.

  “No, I have received permission from the school to discuss abuse, rape and the signs of both. I will talk about everything I can to help others be aware. If you would like to attend, I can let you know when it is. If not, I understand. Even if, as a parent, you wanted to say something to parents or students, we could work that in. I’ll let you know when we plan to hold it. I was just thinking it may be a good thing to invite parents to it. They need to know the signs, as well.” I was a rambling mess. I looked between her parents hoping they understood at least a little bit of it.

  George and Cecilia agreed to think about having a role in the assembly and it would benefit parents to be there, too. We left; and I still held Titus’s hand, my strength returning.

  Getting to school early the next day, I went straight to Mr. Wait. Knocking on his door, I shifted my weight between my left and right foot, bouncing slightly. I was getting nervous, my stomach was twisted in knots. I absentmindedly started flipping a section of hair between my fingers, sliding the silky strands through each of my fingertips before settling on just twisting it around and around.

  The door opened and Mr. Wait stepped out of the way. “Good morning, Reese. We didn’t have anything scheduled, did we?”

  Dropping my hair, I shook my head. “Oh, no, no we didn’t. I saw Candice’s parents yesterday and I wanted to tell you about it. Oh, and about everything that happened this weekend.”

  “Well, come on in, then.” He took his seat across from my desk, ready to listen.

  “First, Candice’s parents agreed to the letting me tell about Candice at the assembly. And we thought that maybe inviting the parents would be beneficial to everyone. Can we get it scheduled, send out fliers and whatever else we need to do?”

  “That’s a great idea, Reese. I think parents need to be involved, too. I can get a date approved with Mr. Gustin and the Superintendant. Once we have that set, we can make the fliers and send them home. Now then, what happened this weekend?”

  “I told my mom everything that happened with Josh. She called the sheriff and we filed the reports. We got the process started. He should, hopefully, be put in there for a long time. I didn’t know that he was eighteen.”

  “That’s good, Reese. You can start to heal. The assembly, pressing charges, everything will look up from here.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Wait, for everything. I wouldn’t be healing if it wasn’t for you.” I jumped up and hugged him before blushing and rushing out the door.

  One week before the end of the year, I stood on the stage in the gym waiting for everyone to find a seat. My mom ordered pamphlets on abuse and date rape and handed them out as students and parents entered the gym.

  Mr. Wait, Titus and I all stood, looking at the agenda I had printed. My hands shook with fear of standing in front of everyone. We heard the crowd settling down and Mr. Wait looked at me full of pride.

  “Reese, are you ready?”

  “Not at all, but go ahead.” I offered him a smile.

  Mr. Wait motioned for me to walk backstage and waved at someone else to pull back the curtains. I heard him clear his throat, “You are not gathered together today to listen to me; so without any delay, Miss Reese Milson.”

  My throat closed and my mouth went dry as I stepped out from behind the wall blocking my view of the crowd. I swallowed several times, trying to lubricate my mouth. My eyes scanned the full bleachers and the chairs on basketball courts. Every seat was taken and there were several people standing along the back wall. Slowly, I made my way to the podium.

  I smiled at Mr. Wait and Titus, who were still standing off to the side. I can do this, for Candice.

  I stepped up to the microphone. Latching on to a few strands of hair and twisting them around my fingers. “Thank you, everyone, for coming. Candice was my best friend and I believe she was killed by her boyfriend.” I paused to gather my thoughts as everyone gasped in surprise.

  “Abuse comes in many forms. Emotional, verbal, and physical. There signs to watch for, and when you see these signs, you need to speak out. I failed my friend by not speaking out sooner. I listened to her excuses. I thought I was helping her, giving her the chance to end things with him. Unfortunately, he ended things for her, instead.

  I d
ropped the cluster of hair and gripped the podium pulling myself up taller. “It’s important to tell someone, anyone.” I looked over to Mr. Wait, who was grinning like a fool, and winked at him. “We have amazing and helpful teachers here, at Laton High, teachers and staff who care about us and want to help. Let them. The pamphlets you got when you came in list the signs of abuse. But, let me tell you what we experienced”. I gestured to Titus.

  “Candice started pulling away right after she started dating him. We were very seldom together, any more. When we noticed the first bruises on her wrist, she, like most victims, blamed herself. She was in a state of denial. The day I saw her back covered in bruises, I knew she was being seriously abused. Up to that point, I was just guessing he was grabbing her wrists too hard. Candice promised me…” My voice broke on a sob. I thought I could make it through the presentation, But I was wrong. I took several seconds to calm down. I sipped on my water bottle and blotted my eyes. Titus came up behind me and put a caring hand on my lower back, giving me strength. I cleared my throat, dried my eyes and continued. “She promised me she would end things, but I knew she wouldn’t. I confided in my mom because I didn’t know where else to turn. Because of my telling my mom, Candice stopped speaking to me. It was really painful, but I will never regret telling her. It wasn’t my fault or hers that he took her life. Your voice is important. You have to speak out and stand up to violence. All types of abuse are dangerous. Never be afraid to tell someone.”

  I was over half way finished with my presentation. Taking another drink of water, I gripped Titus’ hand on my hip. It was time to share my experience and hopefully save someone else, today. “The other half of my speech is on date rape. I was raped. I didn’t know it at the time and I didn’t believe that rape was what was happening to me. My boyfriend convinced me he loved me and that I loved him. I felt that I should share that part of me with him, if I loved him as he said I did. So, I gave him my virginity. I let him have it because I thought I was in love. I thought I had to to keep him. He told me it was the right thing to do.

  “When I didn’t want to do it again, he told me I had to and that it was no big deal since we’d already done it. I believed him. I forced myself to say okay. I let him force his way with me. Not by strength, but by his words and his guilt. And they are just as powerful as muscle. He convinced me that I was doing the right thing, even though it felt so wrong. I cried every time. Sex shouldn’t be that way. He made it that way. Girls, be strong. Say no. If they don’t listen, tell someone. Don’t lose what is yours to give because someone tries to make you believe it’s the right thing to do. If you aren’t ready, just say so.”

  I was getting worked up, angry, talking about date rape. I was ready to clear my name and set what happened in the Orchard straight when I locked eyes with the last two guys I expected to see in years.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  My husband thank you, Thank you, THANK YOU! For every time you paused your movie or Duck Dynasty so I could read an emotional part aloud to you. For being the first person to read the whole story and feel all the emotions I did. And for all of your support, I love you!

  Thank you to my kids, hearing you talk about mommy writing puts a smile on my face. Thank you for understanding (to a certain extent) that I needed to do this and there for you needed to help me with the laundry. Preston and Mackenzie thanks for entertaining the two little girls. You both are tremendous help.

  My very first critique partner, JJ McConnachie, thank you for pushing me to show not tell! Your help and advice is irreplaceable.

  My partner in crime and my sister! Kodie! Thank you for being there for all of my melt downs. Telling me to go ahead and start the drums or guitar, that I could totally be a rock star. Cheering me on even when you hadn’t read the completed version or even the second version of Falling. For seeing the final product as I did no matter how many half versions you read! Thanks for putting up with my crazy! I hope I helped you off as many ledges as you helped me climb down. Love you!! I can’t wait to see where our adventure takes us next.

  My Cougar Club Ladies~ You all have a special place in my heart. Thank you for all the words of encouragement. Love you girls!

  My River Girls~ You have all supported me over the last few years when I decided I was going to write a book and get it published. I cannot thank you enough for your continued support and enthusiasm. Every time you asked about my book you made me work harder to get it finished. Sherry~ Thank you for letting me read aloud a few chapters to see what you thought. I promise you can read the whole thing now.

  Christian Pilgrim and Carlie Hammond~ Thank you for agreeing to do my cover for me. I appreciate you both more than you’ll ever know.

  Bloggers and Reviewers thank you for helping me spread the word and get Falling Behind out to your readers. Word of mouth is amazing and you all rock at getting the books you love known. THANK YOU!!.

  About the Author

  Dee Avila lives in a very small rural town in Central California and is a mother to four, let’s be honest, crazy kids, unless they’re with someone else of course then they’re on their best behavior. Dee’s been writing for years. After losing her mom in 2010 she decided that life was too short not to do what you love. She told her husband that she was going to write a book. After four months and lots of late nights that first completed manuscript is locked tight away in a drawer. Spending some time with a high school friend that summer she decided she needed to write a different type of story.

  Dee loves people watching. Be careful if you’re around her she takes everything down in her ever present IPhone notes.

  You can follow Dee Avila and check out her upcoming projects at the links below:

  Facebook – www.facebook.com/authordeeavila

  Twitter - @deeavilabooks

  Falling Behind is loosely based off personal experiences, in hopes to save someone else.

  Below is a list of links for help with abuse.

  SafePlace www.safeplace.org

  Fight For Zero fightforzero.org

  A great blog on relationships is Love is Respect blog www.loveisrespect.org

  This is a site where teens can talk to teens about anything. Just talking to someone can help a person in an abusive relationship realize they need to get out and start over. Teen Line www.teenlineonline.org