He smiled. “Does he know that?”
“Why do you care? You lost your say about my life. You can’t tell me what to do, I won’t stand for it.” I started to walk out.
“Be careful,” he said quietly. I stood in front of the door, holding the doorknob for a few seconds, then without saying a word I opened it, almost smacking into his parents and the wait staff who had been listening at the door. Shaking my head at them, I ran out of the kitchen.
Zack was waiting impatiently at the booth.
“Let’s go, I don’t want to be here,” I said as he stood up. I stormed out of the restaurant with him following behind me.
“Did you know he worked there?” I asked accusingly once we were in his car driving away.
“No, how could I? My parents come here, and they recommended it.”
“I’m not very hungry, can you take me home?”
He didn’t look happy, but he did what I asked.
Two weeks went by, and I really couldn’t say what happened. I lived in a daze. The longer I was away from Lucas, the more I was swallowed up by grief. He was my missing puzzle piece, together we were complete. Without him, I felt like I’d lost a piece of myself. The dreams were no help to forgetting him. They seem to come full force. Now every night when I closed my eyes, I shared an evening in some capacity in Lucas’ arms. And every morning I woke up, lost to him all over again.
One Saturday morning in early December, I lay on my bed listening to my now favorite song, and stared up at my ceiling.
The door flew open, and Emma stalked in. She stood at the foot of the bed, staring down at me with angry squinty eyes.
“What?” I asked, confused. Did I do something to make her mad? I might have, I just didn’t remember.
“Sarah, this is getting ridiculous, all you do is lie on your bed and listen to this song. What the hell is it anyway?”
“It’s “Dead-Beat,” by Monster Ball. Don’t you like it?”
“I’m a Dead-Beat anyway just shove me six feet under?” She recited the lyrics with mock horror. It was their latest song, and I had to admit it was very depressing. But what could I say, this was the new me. “You’ve been listening to this for weeks. Most people listen to love songs when they break up.”
My eyes flicked away from the ceiling for an instant, and I shrugged. “My breakup, my song.”
She stared at me in disbelief. “Oh, come on, Sarah you’ve got to snap out of it.” She whipped the blankets off of me. “That’s it, we’re going out.”
I lifted my head up and smiled at her. “You know what? You’re right.”
“I am?” she asked, surprised.
“You are, let’s go.” I stood up and started changing out of the clothes I’d worn all week when I was at home, yoga pants and a tank top. I dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, then put my hair in a ponytail.
Emma watched me with her mouth wide open; obviously, she thought that I’d put up more of a fight. “Where are we going?”
“To break into Lucas’ house, of course,” I said, smiling as I took my dad’s old college ball cap and shoved it on my head, slipping my tail through the hole in the back. I gave her a pat on the shoulder before walking out the door.
She ran up to me in the hallway and pulled me back to my room. “What are you talking about?”
“Lucas is hiding something. So I’m going to look in his room and find out what it is.”
“You can’t break into someone’s house, that’s illegal.” She whispered the last word.
“We are not going to break in. I know where the spare key is, and he told me anytime I wanted to sneak in and crawl in bed with him, I could. It’s not my fault he won’t be there.”
She stared at me in amazement with her olive-green eyes, not sure if I had lost my mind or not. I probably had. “You’re nuts. I am not going to break into their house!” she whispered, shaking her finger at me.
I pulled up to Emma’s house an hour later, giving her time to drive her car back. She came out of her front door and ran to my car, glancing all around her.
“Good God, woman. What the hell are you wearing?” I asked, staring at her once she was seated beside me in the car. “Why are you all in black? Are you going to a funeral after?” She had on a black turtleneck, black winter jacket, and black jeans. “And where did you get a turtleneck? What is this, 1986?”
“It’s my mom’s and you’re supposed to wear black when you break into a house, so you can blend in.”
“At night. It’s morning, and it’s sunny out.”
“Well, how am I supposed to know that, it’s my first break-in,” she whispered, her eyes scanning the neighborhood, making sure no one could hear. The windows were closed, and the sidewalks were empty, but that didn’t soothe her. She sat slumped in the seat throwing on a pair of oversized black sunglasses. I chuckled, shaking my head as I drove off.
On the way to Lucas’ house, she asked me, “Are you sure they won’t be home?”
“Yes, everyone is working at the restaurant. Logan has band practice with Jim, Saturday mornings, then after that, he goes to work. We’ll park down the road and walk through the woods to their backyard, no one will see us.”
About half a mile from their house, there was a driveway. His dad sometimes used it if he was going to the woods with his truck. I parked there, under some trees, so no one would see my car.
We got out and had barely started on the path before Emma started to whine. “This is far; you didn’t say anything about hiking.”
“It’s not that far, I promise.”
It took us about ten minutes to get to their backyard. As we cleared the trees, I heard Emma grumble. “Not far, my ass.”
I smiled to myself; an outdoors girl she was not.
We walked though the spacious yard and up to the deck. “Wait,” I said, going back down the steps. I crept slowly to the front of the house to make sure there were no cars in the driveway. All clear.
I returned to the deck beside Emma and leaned over the railing where the key was hidden, pulling it off the hook. I slid the key in the lock and started to turn it. “Wait!” Emma yelled from beside me.
“What?” Panic ran cold inside me at the thought of someone catching us.
“Are you sure you don’t want to back out? There’s still time.”
I shook my head, breathing a sigh of relief as I turned the key and opened the door.
The house was quiet and empty. The only sound was the clock ticking on the wall in the kitchen. The air smelled of bacon. I looked at the stove and saw a dirty pan on the stove. Logan must have forgotten to clean up after he cooked himself breakfast.
Emma followed me to Lucas’ room. I opened his door and stepped inside.
“So what are we looking for, all I see is a messy teenage boy’s room…and a lot of pictures of you. He’s obviously still smitten.”
The picture he took of us at the waterfall was sitting on his nightstand. And the one of me in the cafeteria was out now, on a shelf.
I picked up the picture of us and stared at it. We were so happy then. Lucas sat beside me with his arm wrapped around my waist. My head was leaning on his shoulder. Our eyes were sparkling with happiness. Our smiles were both wide and gleaming. The waterfall in the background was frozen, the white spray coming up and over the hill. The two of us looked so happy, oblivious to the fact that some freak was waiting in the shadows to steal our joy.
“Hello, Sarah, break and entering here. Hurry up.” Emma said as she rummaged through Lucas’ clothes on his dresser, not knowing what she was looking for.
I put the picture back on the nightstand and glanced around, picking up his discarded clothing that was lying on the bed and floor, and moving books that had been haphazardly dropped on the floor beside his bed. But nothing stood out that would tell me what I wanted to know.
“Sarah, come on, I don’t want to get caught,” Emma whined, now standing by the door, ready to leave.
I remembered someth
ing—the book he took out when he showed me his pictures. I opened the drawer and there it was, right on top. On the front of the book, written in his handwriting, were the words Dream Journal.
I tucked the book inside my coat. “Jackpot, let’s go.”
We straightened up what we had moved and started to leave. “Wait.” I rushed back in and grabbed the framed picture of us. He was supposed to give me a copy anyway.
Once we were outside, I locked the door and put the key back on the hook.
We were halfway down their lawn when I heard the motor of a car pull in the driveway.
“Shit,” I said, grabbing Emma’s hand. We ran as fast as we could until we flew through the trees.
Once we were hidden, we turned to see if we were noticed. Logan’s car was in the driveway, but he was nowhere to be seen. “Okay, let’s go.”
The walk back didn’t take as long, but we were walking faster, afraid someone would catch us.
Twenty minutes later, I pulled up to Emma’s house, a blue-sided bungalow with a covered porch that wrapped around the front. “Thanks, Emma, this meant a lot to me.”
She nodded her head, and a small smile appeared. “No problem. Now that it’s over, I gotta say it was kind of fun. You’re not going to tell me what you took, are you?” she asked taking her seat belt off and reaching for the door handle.
“No.”
She groaned. “Fine, but he’s going to notice the picture missing.”
“He won’t care. The book is another story. He’ll notice it, but I’m not worried.”
“Whatever you say.” She pushed the door open and stepped out.
I waved as I drove off.
When I arrived home, my mom told me that my manager had called, wanting to know if I could take over Marcy’s shift, since she went home sick.
I called to tell them that I would be there as soon I could. “Mom, can you drive me?” I asked when I hung up the phone.
“Sure, but your dad will have to pick you up. I have to go to the office for a while.”
I ran up to my room to put Lucas’ journal away. I placed it and the picture up on the top shelf in my closet, beside the rock. I didn’t think he would come looking for it, but just in case.
“Okay, I’m ready,” I said when I went back downstairs.
She put her work down, and we left.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The Dream Journal
The sun had disappeared, dark clouds hovered above, and the wind whipped through me as I rushed to the car. The whole drive to the theater I waited for the rain to start, but it wasn’t until I stepped out of the car that the sky opened up and big fat rain drops poured down, soaking me instantly.
Stepping inside the warm building, I was wet and cold, and when I heard Marcy had been on concession, I regretted agreeing to work.
It wasn’t until my shift was almost over that I had finally dried off. A loud thump on the counter beside me made me jump. I looked away from the man I was serving to see Lucas standing on the other side of the counter. Crap, he noticed already. My God, he looked good. He wore a black leather jacket I had never seen. His hair was getting a little long, curling around his ears. It glistened with rain, making it hang longer than usual. His jaw was tight and his eyes were fierce, a sure sign that he was angry. He looked dangerous and sexy.
“What’s your problem?” I scowled at him as I collected the money from my customer. The movies were starting, so it was clearing out.
“Where is it, Sarah?” he asked, balling the hand he had slammed on the counter into a fist. Oh yeah, he was mad.
“Where is what?” I asked innocently.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about.”
“I really don’t. Why don’t enlighten me?” I took a cloth from the shelf and started to wipe off the counter. I deliberately focused on what I was doing, afraid that if he looked into my eyes, he would know I was lying.
“How could you break into my house? What’s gotten into you?” His breathing was controlled, trying to stay calm.
“Someone broke into your house?”
“Cut the crap, you suck at lying, remember?”
The amount of lying I had done lately would suggest otherwise; of course, I’d keep that to myself. “Look, will you stop this and tell me what happened?” I tossed the rag back onto the shelf.
“Someone used the key from the back deck to get inside my house. They took some things from my room, just, my room. You’re the only one who knows where the key is.”
“Oh, I’m sure Logan has shown some of his girlfriends.”
“They wouldn’t want what was taken.”
“And what was that?”
He sighed in frustration and shoved his hand roughly through his hair. “I’m not saying what’s missing because you know, you took them.”
“Was this today?” I asked, and he nodded. “Well then, there you have it, I worked all day.” I leaned against the counter with my arms crossed in front of me.
“That’s interesting, since they don’t open until noon.”
I pushed off the counter and leaned forward. “Well, this has been barrels of fun, being accused of theft and all, but I think it’s time for you to leave.” My voice held irritation, but in truth I was glad to see him. Since he stopped pressuring me, I’d missed seeing his face.
“Please, Sarah, you can keep the picture, I wanted to give you a copy anyway. But I don’t want you to read what is in that book.” His desperate plea was so genuine I almost gave it back to him. Before I could give in to that urge, I remembered why I took it in the first place. I needed answers.
“I don’t have it, now leave.” I pointed to the exit.
He looked defeated. I felt awful.
“What’s going on here, Lucas?” We both turned to see my dad walking toward us, looking angry. “Haven’t you done enough? You broke her heart, and believe me, I know. I’ve watched her pulling away from us more each day. And now you come to her work and harass her. What the hell is wrong with you?”
Lucas stepped aside as my father strolled up to the counter, and faced him. “I’m sorry, Mr. Samson, I never meant to hurt her, but this isn’t what it looks like. She has something of mine, I was just asking for it back.”
“I heard her tell you to leave; I suggest you do what she asked.” The tone of his voice left no room for argument.
“Fine,” Lucas said, obviously giving up. “But Sarah, I want it back.” He pointed to me as he walked away.
“What was that about. Do you have something of his?”
I smiled innocently. “I don’t think so, but I’ll look tonight. I’ll be right back, Dad, I’m just going to sign out.”
At home, as I rushed upstairs to read the journal, my phone beeped, letting me know I had a text. There were two actually, both from Lucas asking me please not to read the book. He didn’t want me to know what was inside. I was so confused. I needed to know what was going on, but he made me feel so guilty.
I opened Lucas’ journal and started to read it. Did I know it was wrong? Yes. Did I care? No. It was the only way to figure out what was happening. He might be willing to sit back and let someone ruin our happiness, but I wasn’t.
The first page was dated February first of our first year in high school.
It read: “I saw her, the girl I’ve been dreaming about on and off since childhood. Her hair was shorter than it was in my dreams, but it was her, she had the same beautiful face. I’ve decided I should document everything since a girl I thought I had imagined, actually exists.
I was in my first period math class this morning when Mr. Monroe announced we had a new student. She had transferred from a private school after her mother received the vice principal position.
I was absorbed in the pages of The Catcher in the Rye instead of listening to the lecture; the novel was hidden inside my math book. I didn’t look up when the teacher called our attention.
The girl, apparently named Sarah, walked by me,
accidentally rubbing her arm against mine; it felt like an electric shock that vibrated up my arm. I looked up at her as she sat down in the seat across from me. I gasped out loud when I saw her, the face that had occupied my mind for as long as I could remember. Mr. Monroe asked if I was okay. I was a little shaken as I asked to be excused.
In the bathroom, I splashed water on my face and stared at myself in the mirror. Was I crazy? Had I really seen her, maybe I imagined it?”
I put his journal down, in shock at what I had read so far. Had he been dreaming of me since he was a kid? I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t know how he could have kept it to himself all this time. Why didn’t he tell me? I picked it up and continued to read.
“I went back to class trying to avoid looking at the girl named Sarah. I didn’t trust myself not to freak out again. She was also in my last class, so when the day was over, I rushed home to document my dreams.
I had the first one when I was thirteen. She was younger then, and she seemed to grow in my dreams as I did. I didn’t know who she was, but I didn’t mind, she was beautiful. Her hair was a stunning dark chestnut; it was smooth and silky as it flowed down her back. Her skin had an olive tone, and her eyes were the darkest brown I had ever seen.
At first I thought it was cool dreaming of a beautiful girl I didn’t know, until I began high school, and I started having them once or twice a month. Sometimes I would only see her face, others, we would be sitting in a backyard on a swing set, or dancing in the moonlight. They were mostly romantic and sweet until one day they turned dark. While we were dancing in the now familiar back yard, after I’d giving her a single red rose, a guy in a hooded shirt came up behind me and stabbed me in the back. I fell into her arms while she screamed “Nooo!” My soul floated up above and watched the rest of the scene. After he stabbed me, he stalked over to her and shoved the knife into her chest. She fell on top of me, the rose still clutched in her hand.
Fated Dreams (Book One In The Affinity series) Page 23