My celebration ended quickly when Derrick came up behind me, shooting me in the back, causing a burst of pain similar to the feeling of being pinched. Damn, that was going to leave a mark.
I spun around and saw him smiling at me. “How could you do that, I’m your best friend!”
“This is paintball! Every man for himself,” he laughed and took off, ducking down behind a wall.
“So, I guess this gives us a chance to talk,” Andy said, leading me to a small set of bleachers at the edge of the room. We sat on the top row, giving us a complete view of the arena.
There was a wall standing alone covered in graffiti. Brightly colored paint spread across almost the whole surface; names, cities, and even movie titles. From up here on the bleachers, I could see the top of Lucas’ head as he crawled on the other side, stalking Kyle, who didn’t notice him. He was staring out a small hole on the other side of his wall.
“I’m really glad you and Luke got together. I miss hanging out with him, but he is so much happier now,” Andy said. I nodded absently as I watched the scene below. “I have a feeling he’s had a thing for you for a while. I’ve asked him about it, but he wouldn’t tell me. Did he ever say anything to you?”
I didn’t know how to answer him. I knew Luke had been dreaming about me. That could affect how he saw me, since it did with me. All he said was that he was drawn to me and had been for some time.
“Nope.” I stared ahead, watching my friends stalk each other.
“He keeps things to himself a lot.” He fiddled with the trigger on his long black paint gun.
This got my attention. I turned to look at him. “Tell me about it,” I said dryly.
He laughed. “You noticed, have you?”
“Well, I have a feeling he might be hiding something from me, but we haven’t talked about it much.”
“It’s probably nothing. I know he loves you, I can see it.” He stretched out his legs onto the bench in front of us and placed his gun beside him.
I sighed, leaning back against the bench behind me. “I know.” And I loved him. It was hard to believe that after only a few weeks I could feel this strongly for someone. The overwhelming feeling of intense love was so familiar. I had felt it once before in a dream the night Lucas fell asleep at my house. I remembered thinking at the time it wasn’t possible to feel that way, but in only a few weeks it was there in every waking moment.
We watched quietly while Lucas snuck up to Kyle and shot him, royal blue paint splattering on the center of his back. I couldn’t hear what was being said, but I was pretty sure I didn’t want to. Whatever Kyle was saying made Lucas laugh hysterically.
“You know, Sarah, you’re dating a cheat,” Kyle grumbled, climbing up the bleachers to sit on the bench in front of us. He shoved Andy’s legs out of the way so he could sit down.
“Poor loser, do you see me bitching about a girl taking me out?” Andy asked, leaning toward Kyle.
Kyle didn’t turn around, just continued to watch the game. “Not yet, but you will.”
I was having fun. It had been awhile since I had done something like this, well, maybe never. But I was sure that since I was dating Lucas I’d be dragged to more adventurous types of activities—if Andy and Kyle had anything to say about it, we would. I loved the feeling of shooting someone with paint. The gun was the size of a real one, and when I held it in my hand, I felt like a spy. Except a special agent's gun probably wouldn’t have a canister full of paint screwed on top of his. But when I pulled the trigger, the feel of the paintball exploding out of my weapon was exhilarating. Getting hit wasn’t quite as much fun though.
I looked down to see where Emma was and spotted her creeping up slowly and quietly to the end of a wall where Derrick was huddled. I think he knew someone was coming, since he stood at the end of the wall waiting.
She must have thought the same thing, because she turned around and went the other way, crawling on her hands and knees while her gun hung on her back, coming at him from behind. She stopped when she was about four feet away from him and pulled the trigger, splattering bright red paint right between his shoulder blades.
“Bull’s-eye, did we win?” I asked, throwing my hands in the air.
“Ah…no, you’re up here, you lost. Now it will be between Emma and Lucas. There can only be one winner,” Andy explained, like I should know the rules.
“Come on up here, Derrick, with the rest of us losers,” I stood up and yelled at him while he stepped slowly toward us.
His face held a timid grin. “I can’t believe my girlfriend shot me.”
“It’s paintball, remember, every woman for herself.” I laughed.
“Ha ha!” he said dryly as he took a seat on the bench in front of me, beside Kyle. Kyle held up a fist and Derrick bumped it with his.
Andy stood up on the bleacher beside me, cupped his hands around his mouth, and yelled, “Come on, Lucas, you can’t let a girl win!” I pulled him back down so he wouldn’t give Lucas any hints to where Emma was.
Emma took out Lucas right in the chest. He was stalking her from behind. She must have sensed him, because she suddenly whipped around, taking him off guard. Her red paint splattered on his chest and face.
“Wahoo!” She yelled from below, doing a little victory dance, waving her arms in front of her and shaking her butt, all the while chanting, “I won, I won.” She was rubbing it in just a little.
“Okay, let’s eat,” Andy yelled, ignoring Emma’s dance. He seemed to be a bit of a sore loser.
A half hour later we all settled into a large table at Charlie’s. We sat in front of a window, near the back of the restaurant, eating burgers and fries. The air smelled of grease and coffee.
“That was so much fun,” Emma said, after swallowing a bite of cheeseburger. Since we left the arena, she couldn’t stop grinning. I looked around the table and smiled. Everyone’s hair was messy with splotches of red, yellow, and blue paint.
“Yeah, good idea bringing the girls, Andy,” Kyle mumbled with his mouth full of burger and a spot of blue paint on his forehead.
“Well, we can take Sarah again, but Emma’s not invited.” Andy was smiling wickedly at her.
She looked up from her food. “Sore losers,” she said, sticking her tongue out. With a wide grin, she tossed a fry, hitting him right in the eyebrow. It stuck briefly to his skin then slid down his face, falling onto the table.
A look of shock crossed his ketchup-streaked face, and then he smiled, grabbed a handful of onion rings from his plate, and lifted his hand.
“You throw those onion rings, Andy, and you’ll be washing my dirty pots for a week,” Lucy, Charlie’s wife, said. She was standing with a tray of dishes in one hand, and the other hand on her hip. Her reddish-brown hair was in a messy ponytail. She had light blue eyes that often held humor. She seemed to enjoy the students coming here, and she knew most of us by name. I didn’t think she’d remember mine though; I hadn’t been here in a long time.
He gave her a sheepish grin. “Sorry, Lucy.”
“You better be. Oh, and Emma, I saw that.” She pointed a crooked finger at Emma before disappearing into the kitchen.
I had been holding my breath, trying not to laugh, but when Lucy walked away, I couldn’t hold it any longer. The rest of the group joined in with a loud explosion of laughter.
After we finished eating, we made sure to put our garbage away; we didn’t want to make Lucy any angrier than she already was. We said goodbye to our friends and then Lucas took me home.
“Can I come in for a while?” he asked after he pulled into my driveway.
“Sure, we can watch a movie.”
We took turns in my shower scrubbing the paint off of our hair and face.
“So, have you heard about the recital coming up in a few weeks?” I asked when I sat down beside him on the couch. I took out my brush and was trying to get the tangles out of my hair.
“Yes, I did. I was wondering if you were going to ask me to come.”
>
“Of course I was, but I wanted to wait until I perfected the two songs. I didn’t want you to see me if I was going to screw up.”
“Yeah, right, I’ve heard you play, and you’ve never made one mistake.”
“Well, it has happened once or twice. Besides, I wrote one of the songs and I was worried about it. But I’m asking now, will you come and see me play?” I put the brush down on the coffee table.
“Yes,” he said, leaning in for a kiss. I stood up and put the movie in. It was Lucas’ choice, so there were a lot of explosions and car chases.
I never saw the end of it, though, I fell asleep on the couch leaning on Lucas’ shoulder, but I woke up in bed tucked under the covers. There was a note beside my pillow. I picked it up and read it:
I wish I could crawl in beside you, but I don’t
think your parents would approve.
I’ll be by to pick you up after work tomorrow.
Love, Lucas.
After I read his note, I smiled at the thought of him crawling in bed beside me. I put the vision of falling asleep with his arms wrapped around me like he did when we were away in my head. It worked; I could feel his warmth as if he was there with me. I smiled as I drifted off to sleep.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Dead Roses
The next two weeks seemed to fly by. I finally had my spa day with my mom on Saturday before work. I hung out with Lucas a lot, sometimes with our friends. I worked a few times a week with nothing to report. Either the hooded man had given up, or was afraid to make a move with Lucas constantly by my side.
I didn’t have any disturbing dreams in those weeks, but I did have a few sweet ones about Lucas and me. Dancing in the moonlight or traipsing through a meadow, always with that intense feeling of love that now stayed with me even after I woke. Once I had a dream of us holding hands and standing in front of a group of strangers. We both looked very happy.
Emma and I managed a girls night. I went to her house for a sleepover. It was great to be just the two of us. We compared notes on our boyfriends while painting our toes, with mud masks on our faces. Even though I rarely had these moments with Emma, when Lucas picked me up the next morning, I was very glad to see him.
When he dropped me off at work one Saturday in early November, he told me that he had a surprise for me, but I would have to wait until later to get it. That was so unfair; it would bug me for the rest of day. He knew how impatient I was, and that was probably why he did it.
“Tell me.”
“No, you’ll have to wait until I pick you up.”
“Come on, one hint,” I whined, touching his check gently, trying to persuade him.
“No way,” he said and kissed me. “Now get out or you’ll be late.”
“Fine,” I said, sulking. I heard his soft laughter as I shut the door behind me.
I worked at ticket sales with Zack. I knew I wasn’t supposed to be alone with him, but I had no choice. I was glad, though, the day went by faster. He told me about a kid in his math class who must have eaten beans for lunch. He kept farting during the whole class. The teacher would make a face every time he did, a face that Zack mimicked. I was laughing so hard, sometimes I was afraid the drink I was sipping on would shoot out of my nose.
When my shift was over, I was excited for my surprise and ran to the front glass doors. His car was parked next to the curb, so I opened the door of the theater and rushed over. I pulled the handle to open the passenger door, but it was locked. I bent down and cupped my hands around my eyes against the window to peer inside. The car was empty.
I spun around to look for him, and right behind me stood a guy in a hooded gray sweatshirt.
It was him, the person who had followed me in the parking lot, and watched me through my window.
He grabbed hold of my arm with gloved hands and tried to pull me away. Thank God for Lucas’ lessons. I hauled my free arm back and punched with all my strength, striking him right in the jaw. It knocked the hood off, and under it, he was wearing a black nylon balaclava, only showing pale blue eyes.
The punch threw him back a few steps, and I saw my chance to get away. I took a few running steps but stopped short when he reached out and grabbed hold of my coat. I was struggling to take it off when I heard Lucas yelling my name. The guy looked over at him, and with a wistful glance in my direction, took off running.
“Sarah! Are you okay?” Lucas yelled in horror. He ran up to me, wrapping his arms around me tightly. I breathed him in, taking comfort in his scent. When he finally released me, I stumbled over something that made a clanging sound against the pavement. We both looked down, and there on the ground where I had punched the guy, was a huge black-handled butcher knife. We both gaped at the knife, and then at each other, in disbelief. Before I could react, I noticed a patch of red on the ground next to the knife. It was a bunch of roses. My heart thumped at the sight.
Lucas bent down to pick them up and handed them to me. “Here’s your surprise.” His face and voice were void of emotion. It was too much; I felt a sense of déjà-vu. The knife, the hooded man, and now even the roses. All the elements of our nightmare were here. But one thing was different.
We were alive.
Lucas led me to the closest bench and once we were both seated, his arms wrapped around me, and I settled against his chest, the flowers sitting forgotten beside me. His strong arms and the sound of his heartbeat soothed my fear. After a few moments, my hands were steady enough to dig through my bag. I pulled out Detective Franklin’s card and handed it to him. I didn’t think I could speak at the moment.
He took it and pulled his phone from his coat pocket. “Detective Franklin. My name is Lucas Tate, Sarah Samson’s boyfriend. She was just attacked outside of her work. He ran away when he saw me coming, but he dropped a butcher knife… It’s still on the ground…. Okay… Yes, right up front on the bench. Bye.” He hung up. “He’s on his way. He doesn’t want us to touch the knife, just make sure no one sees it.”
Standing up, he walked over to where the knife lay on the ground and placed his coat over it. He sat back down beside me and held my hand. Neither of us spoke; I think we were both still in shock. I couldn’t believe someone would want to hurt me.
I felt him shiver and was suddenly concerned for him; it was a very cold night. I could see my breath in the air. “Luke, you need your coat, it’s freezing.” I rubbed his arm to warm him, with my gloves.
“I’m fine until they get here. I’m not worried about me.” His voice was hard, and I recognized that look. He was lost in his own head, thinking of how to protect me. Now I knew I was right to keep everything else from him. I hated to see the worry and anguish on his face.
We both turned at the sound of tires squealing as a car pulled up along the curb. The two detectives climbed out and rushed over to us. “Sarah, are you okay?” asked Detective Franklin, his voice rough with worry.
“Yes.” Here we go again, I thought. Why did this keep happening to me and how was I going to make it stop?
“Can you tell me what happened?”
I told him everything from the time I came out of the theater until we found the knife.
“So you’ve been teaching her to fight?” he asked Lucas.
“Yes.”
“Good job, you might have just saved her life,” Detective Markus said, shaking Lucas’ hand.
“This time,” Lucas mumbled, but no one heard him but me.
They took the knife for evidence and wrote down our statements. I went first, and after Lucas was finished telling his version, they told us that we could go home.
My family was not at the house, having gone out for the evening. I was thankful I didn’t have to go into it tonight, although I knew I would have to tell them what was happening soon.
“Can you stay with me?” I pleaded, a little desperate.
He nodded, the corners of his mouth turning upward slightly. It was all he could manage.
Up in my room, we settled into
my bed, and I clung to him, afraid of his sudden silence. There was a distance in him, and I hated it. I needed everything to be the way it was this morning. And as much as I hoped for that, I knew that everything had changed. Instead of my beloved boyfriend, his role would now be what I had feared—bodyguard.
“Can you tell me what’s wrong?”
“Nothing is wrong, I’m fine.” We both knew he was lying. I had just been attacked, how could he be fine?
“I know you’re angry, just admit it.” I raised my voice in frustration.
He bent his head to look into my eyes. “You’re right, I am angry. But I want to hold you in my arms tonight. Let’s just enjoy that for now. Tomorrow we can deal with reality. Okay?”
I nodded, and he smiled.
We fell asleep together, but I woke up alone.
The roses, wilted now, lay on his pillow. I picked them up and threw them in the trash.
I dressed in yoga pants and my favorite baby blue hoodie, and threw my hair in a ponytail before I ran downstairs.
“Hey, Mom, how was your night?” She was sitting at the table eating a bagel piled high with cream cheese.
“It was great, I love going out to dinner. How was yours?”
“I don’t want to talk about mine right now, maybe later.” I took out a glass and poured myself some orange juice.
“Okay, I’m leaving now. Your father is playing racquetball, and I’m going shopping with Sheryl,” she said as she shoved the last of her bagel into her mouth. She kissed me on the cheek and walked out of the house, leaving a smidge of cheese on my face.
The rest of the morning was quiet. I was hoping Lucas would call, but he must have been busy at work. He was off at five, and we were going out to dinner.
My brother and I were on the couch watching TV when the doorbell rang. “I’ll get it,” I said, since he wasn’t moving. He was in a TV coma, which usually happened when he was watching something. The house could catch on fire and he wouldn’t notice.
Fated Dreams (Book One In The Affinity series) Page 20