Somewhere In-Between (Breathless #1)

by Izzibella Beau

  Somewhere In-Between

  Breathless Series

  By

  Izzibella Beau

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a magazine, newspaper, or on the web -without permission in writing from the author.

  Editor:

  Leanore Elliott

  Cover Design:

  Web Witchery

  Somewhere In-Between

  Izzibella Beau Copyright © 2015

  There’s life, there’s death, and for some, there’s in-between.

  Mara Crowe was your average high school senior. She had good grades, was best friends with Ashley, and in a relationship with Van, who was one of the star basketball players. Their relationship was more off than on most days. She was trying to get her last year of high school all in order with less partying and more time studying. Of course, not wanting to be the party pooper, and also wanting to make sure that Van didn’t do anything to jeopardize their relationship once again, she agreed to one last event. One final night that was supposed to be fun-filled, one last night that changed the course of everything.

  Max Carter was there, wherever there was at the moment. His mind and soul got stuck in the in-between, and he wasn’t sure how to get to either side. In fact, sometimes Max didn’t know which side he wanted to go. He’d left it all behind a few months ago on a spur of the moment decision, yet this wasn’t where he thought he would end up. People came and went, but no one stayed as long as he had in this place. Max could watch from afar what his family and friends were doing, but he couldn’t reach out to them. He was all alone.

  That was until she came. She filled that space that he always had. She made him laugh, cry, feel all the things he never thought he’d ever feel again…but most of all she made him love. He knew there would come a day when she would be able to choose her pathway. One day, she would leave, and he would be left alone once again.

  Max could help her go back, but was he willing to give up his happiness for her. Time was running out for both of them. Which path would they choose? Would they pick the one that would allow them to be together forever, or would they be separated by a time that no one knew existed?

  Prologue

  Did you ever have that feeling that you weren’t whole? That something or someone was missing from your life. No matter who you were with, you always felt alone. I feel like that every day of my life. I have my friends and even a boyfriend, if you can call him that, but they just aren’t filling the void that seems to surround me all the time. It’s like the other half of me is someplace else, and I’m just this casing of a body that’s walking around trying to pretend that happiness is all around me.

  My mom even wanted me to go to counseling at one point of my life, it was during my tenth-grade year of high school, she was worried about me not being socially receptive. Whatever the fuck that is, right? So, I started going out more with Ashley, mainly to parties that her ‘social’ friends held. I even accepted Van’s proposal that we date exclusively, meaning I only go out with him while he fucks the rest of the female population at our school. Mom got off my case about counseling, and I continued my entertaining ways like she wanted. I think she meant more of a club or some volunteering and not the countless hours that I spend with my head in a toilet because I drank too much or slapping Van’s hand away every five seconds from my crotch because that’s the only thing that ever crossed his mind.

  I made a resolution half way through my senior year that I needed to stop partying so much and finally settle into the real world…adult life was coming up quick, and I couldn’t very well continue this way of life and expect to get anywhere. The emptiness and feelings of lonesomeness would return, not that they ever went away, but the effects of the alcohol always drowned them out. The vacancy that I felt, the one that made me feel incomplete, had a hold on my life and wouldn’t let go. Sometimes, I wish I could close my eyes and never wake up. Sometimes, I feel there is someone else out there that feels the same way I do. Until we find each other, until we come together as one, we are just empty shells.

  Chapter One

  “Because I don’t want to.” I mean really, isn’t that a good enough reason not to want to go somewhere?

  “Mara, you have to.” My best friend, Ashley wouldn’t give up on the pestering of wanting me to go to the big upcoming party next weekend.

  Our friend Tori, well not really a friend but more of a rival in the social ladder competition that we were all trying to climb in our last year of high school, was supposed to be throwing this huge get together for all the big who’s who of our school. Usually, that meant that the usual crowd would show up, like all the popular kids, and then they would be so drunk halfway through the party, that no one cared who else showed up. I mean I’ve been there and done that so many times that it was becoming routine anymore. The only thing about Tori’s that was different from all the other parties is that the group of partiers didn’t have to sneak around when parents weren’t home. Her mom, who was a hot, newly divorced and apparently, in love with that fact and could date anyone who came her way, allowed Tori to have these parties without any supervision.

  “I mean really, Mara. Our senior year is our last year of school. Who knows if we will see each other after high school and you want to ruin the moment by being stubborn.” Ashley flopped herself down on my bed and grabbed a pillow to tuck under her head. She looked up at me with those big brown puppy dog eyes thinking I was going to cave in with just that one sad look.

  Ash and I were complete opposites in our appearances. She had long blonde hair, dyed of course, brown eyes, and an almost perfect body. She could always pick out several areas that needed some plastic surgery, but no one else ever saw the imperfections.

  Me on the other hand, I had brown hair, natural, that was shoulder length. It wasn’t silky, shiny straight like Ashley’s or full of bounce and waves like some hair shampoo model. I was just normal, in all ways than just my hair. My looks were average, no exceptional facial features, no triple D cup size in the boob department, and not a Victoria Secret model in the area of sexiness. I was a brown haired, brown eyed, average at everything girl from a small town in New Hampshire. “We’re going to the same college, Ash. We’ll see each other all the time.”

  We both had applied to and got accepted into Southern New Hampshire University, home of Petey Penmen. We both had different majors, mine was undetermined at this point since I had conflicting ideas of what I wanted to do with the next fifty years of my life, but Ashley knew since she was a little girl that she wanted to be a pediatric nurse. So, she was off to the big world of nursing while I questioned everything that I’d done and hadn’t done up until now.

  “I know, but you need to go. You know Van wants to go and probably will end up going even if you don’t.” Ashley bounced up off my bed and strolled over to my desk. She opened up my laptop and got on my account on Facebook. Even if I had logged out on my last visit, she would’ve still been able to get on since she knew my password. Of course, it had to deal with me and my long time on and off again boyfriend, Van. “See, lookie.” She pointed to Van’s latest posting on his homepage. ‘Going to killer party next week.’

  “Okay, so V
an is going. He’s a big boy, and he can do what he wants.” He never told me anything about this party that got him all hyped up. I glanced at his profile and of course, it still read single. We’d been back together for the hundredth time for over a month now. I had mine changed back to ‘in a relationship’ but apparently, he didn’t think of it that way. He still had a picture of us on his front page, our cheeks pressed close together, and we were smiling happily. Someone had taken it during the summer on one of the rare occasions that we weren’t fighting.

  “You know you love Van, and he loves you. I don’t know why you two have to make this whole relationship thing more complicated than it has to be.” Ashley tossed my hairbrush back down after she’d swept it through her hair about a hundred times.

  “I don’t know why he thinks he has to cheat on me with every ass that wiggles in front of his face.” That was one of the main reasons that we always broke up. He’s one of the biggest players in the school, in basketball and fucking around. But, I kept being drawn back into his sorry ass ways whenever he groveled and said he was sorry, it was all a mistake with the other girl, he’ll never do it again, he loved me, and every other excuse he can think of to get me back.

  “Well, because he’s as big of an ass as every other guy in the world. But even you have to admit, he has a sweet looking ass.” Ashley walked over and gave me a quick hug. “I have to get going. We’re going shopping this weekend to get wicked outfits for the party.”

  “Ash, I said—” My sentence was cut short by her waving goodbye and shutting my bedroom door on her way out.

  I didn’t want to go next weekend, but like Ashley said we are seniors and our time for hanging out and having fun were coming to an end. We graduate in six more months and then, it’s off to becoming adults, having families, and more responsibilities than I wanted right now. Okay, one last party, or maybe two, then it was time to settle down a bit.

  * * *

  “Hey, baby.” Van put his arms around my waist and pulled me back against his chest.

  I felt the muscles in arms twitch with each movement he made. He was really in great shape from playing basketball all through school. Also, being rated an eleven on a scale of one-to-ten in sexiness and good looks made him, even more, appealing. “Hey, what’s up?” I scooted out from his embrace and slammed my locker shut. Okay, he might have all those great qualities that make him a sex God, but I was still pissed off at him for his Facebook page and not listing us as being back together and not telling me he was going to Tori’s party.

  “Okay, what’s wrong now?” Van leaned his back up against my locker. He looked agitated that I was ragging about something.

  “You didn’t tell me about Tori’s party, and you didn’t tell me you were going.” I stood beside him, so the other students wouldn’t have to walk around me.

  Van shook his head and rolled his eyes. “First, you don’t even like Tori. Second, you said you were done partying. And third, you can come if you want, it’s not like I was trying to sneak around and go.”

  He was right on two accounts, but somehow I just didn’t believe him about the last one. I think if he were truly committed to me like he said, then he would’ve said, ‘Hey, I’m going to a party do you want to come?’ But no, my oh so not considerate boyfriend decided to tell the rest of the world where he would be next weekend and not me. “Whatever, Van. I’m going. Ashley and I decided since all of you were going, we might as well live it up another weekend.”

  We started to walk towards our next class, which was the only one we had together this year.

  Van took hold of my hand and began to run his thumb lightly across my fingers. “Maybe we can have a little more fun than usual at the party.”

  Oh, my God. Is that all he ever thought about was when he was finally going to get into my panties? I’ve told him no since we started our see-saw relationship back in our tenth-grade year. He still pesters and frustrates me to hell and back with his constant bullshit of ‘C’mon, baby. Why can’t we take our relationship to the next level?’ Well, how about I’m not ready, and you’ve been with how many other girls since we started dating? Yes, I was still a virgin and yes, I wanted love before I decided to give all of me away to some guy. I’m just not sure if Van is the right man. I shook my hand loose from his. “Let’s just go to class.”

  Van let out an enormous sigh and opened the door to the classroom. There was the onset of welcomes from his fellow teammates, and he quickly left my side to be with them.

  Why is it if I’m not giving out the goods, then he no longer acts interested in the total package? I took my usual seat by the side wall and texted Ashley that we would be going shopping.

  Chapter Two

  “Oh. My. God. You are going to totally rock the night.” Ashley came over and slipped her arm through mine. She’d come over early so we could get ready for the big Tori party together. We did the two-hour shopping trip last weekend to get all the things that we would need to make our appearance known. The thigh high stockings, high heeled ankle boots and of course, the tight little black dresses that clung to our bodies like a second skin.

  “Yeah, but this is like the most uncomfortable outfit I have ever worn.” I twisted and pulled the skirt part of the dress down so that maybe it would cover another half inch of my skin. I don’t know why I allowed Ashley to talk me into getting matching outfits, but she always seemed to have that effect on me. I say no and she gives me some reason my answer is wrong, and why I should listen to her. Her rationale was that if I dressed like this, there would be no reason for Van to have wandering eyes.

  “It’s not supposed to be comfortable. Maybe you should go ahead and get some sweat pants and t-shirt on. You know comfort comes before hotness.” She grabbed my hand as I walked towards my closet. I thought she had a great notion there about the whole being comfortable thing. Guess I was wrong, because she quickly got me out of my room before I could make any changes.

  * * *

  I couldn’t believe how packed Tori’s house was by the time that we got there. We were right on time with our nine o’clock arrival, but it looked like a vast majority of the other kids had been there for a while. There were beer cans and red solo cups tossed about on the porch, and when we stepped inside the slightly ajar front door, there were even more on the floor.

  “Looks like we’re late.” Ashley headed straight back to the kitchen. She went straight for the coolers of booze.

  We had to push our way through, but we finally made it to where the party began. The kitchen contained all the alcohol.

  “Hey, Ms. Walsh,” Ashley greeted Tori’s mom before I got past the last person and into the kitchen.

  “Ashley and Mara.” Tori’s mom stumbled over to us and put her arms around both our shoulders. “It is so great to see you again.” She had slurred words, her breath smelled like she’d been drinking something other than beer, and her clothes were hanging halfway off her body.

  “You too, Ms. Walsh.” I ducked underneath her arm, so I could get away from becoming intoxicated just from the alcohol on her breath alone.

  “Oh, you girls can call me, Linda.” She dug her long red painted fingers nails through the ice in the cooler and pulled out two cans of beer. “Here you go. Now, have fun.” She handed the bottles to me, and Ashley then stumbled off into the next room.

  “Now, why can’t my mom be that cool?” Ashley snapped the tab on the can and took a long swallow.

  I set mine on the counter. I just wasn’t in the mood to drink right now. Maybe later, but that all depended on how Van was acting. Plus, I needed to drive the two blocks back home, so I couldn’t drink too much. “I think if my mom acted that way I would move out.”

  “Mara, you need to loosen up a bit.” Ashley drank the rest of her can and tossed it into the trash barrel. “Now, let’s find our men.” She picked up my full can on the way out of the kitchen.

  Then before we got halfway down the hall, I heard the snap of the top. Looked like I
was going to be the reasonable one tonight.

  Thirty minutes later, and two more beers later for Ashley, we finally found Van and Reese. He was Ashley’s main man for the moment, even if it was for just the night. They were hanging out with the basketball team out on the deck that was on the backside of the house. There was the team and of course, there were the b-ball cronies or whores as Ashley called them, just chilling and in my opinion, getting a little too close for comfort with our guys.

  I walked over to where Van was standing.

  He had his back towards me and was chatting with some girl who I remembered was in a lower grade than us.

  She looked all glassy eyed and it could either be from the alcohol, or the fact that she was getting quite chummy with one of the famous basketball players. My guess was both those factors since they both had beer cans and his hand was on her hip.

  “Hey, Van.” I lightly touched his back.

  In less than one second, his hand fell away from her side, and he spun around to face me. “Mara, baby.” Van’s arms circled my waist and drew me closer to his body. Of course, his hands automatically went down to my ass and began to massage my cheeks. “Baby, you look good. I love the new outfit.” He lowered his hand down to my thigh and let it travel up the thigh highs I was wearing.

  “Yep. I’m sure you do.” I had stopped his hand before it got any further. I hated when he did all this type of caressing in the view of everyone. I heard

  Ashley told me she would see me later, and she went off with Reese back into the house.

  “Oh my God, baby.” Van walked me backward until I was up against the railing of the deck. “You’re killing me here with that dress on.” He took hold of my hand and pulled it towards his crotch. “Let’s grab a room before they’re all gone.” His body slammed against me as his lips crashed into mine.