by Aimee Ash
She wasn’t letting up.
“Heather, there are no juicy bits,” I lied. “We just sat and talked, and hugged, and there was a little kissing. That’s all.”
“Oh, well! I should’ve known. If I’d been stuck on that island with the hottie next door, I would’ve done a lot more than kiss him, if you know what I mean. The sad thing is that you probably don’t know what I mean, do you? That island was the perfect place to lose your virginity, Kate.”
I screwed up my face at her crude assumptions.
“It wasn’t a deserted island, Heather, and can you please keep your seedy thoughts to yourself? Leave! Go back to Paris and harass the poor French men. At least most of them won’t be able to understand you.”
She wasn’t impressed that someone had dared to speak back at her so rudely.
“Kate, you really need to loosen up, everywhere—if you know what I mean—or he’ll be knocking on some other girl’s door. When I get back, my door will be open!” She winked at me.
“Get out, Heather! Get out!” I shouted at her.
She stormed out of the bathroom, unsatisfied with my non-juicy version of the tale of two nights. I stood up in the tub looking for Jack, but he was standing behind me drying off. He helped me out of the tub and wrapped a fluffy towel around me.
“Sorry, she wouldn’t leave.”
Jack smiled and wrapped his arms around me. “Don’t worry. I was fine.”
“At least you didn’t hear her.”
His smile widened. “It’s a shame I didn’t hear you bragging about the hottie next door.”
I felt my cheeks burn and shook my head. “That’s not possible; you were under water the whole time. How were you able to hear us?”
Jack laughed. “I could hear you a mile away if I wanted to—water or no water.”
So he now had super hearing too.
“Can you see under water too?” I asked, wrapping my towel tighter around me.
“No; I can only hear and feel.” He winked.
“Can you read minds?” The thought of him reading my mind embarrassed me to my very core.
Jack laughed. “No. I just have supersensitive hearing.”
Relief swept over me. “Did you hear everything?”
“Everything.”
I cringed inside and felt my cheeks burn again.
“Well, my secret is out.”
“I think your secret is a little tamer than mine,” Jack joked, making me laugh. “You shouldn’t feel embarrassed. You’re waiting for the right guy; that’s nice.”
“You’re the right guy,” I said, wishing we could be closer. But that was far too risky.
We walked out of the bathroom and I opened my bedroom door, checking the hallway to make sure Heather wasn’t eavesdropping. Jack followed behind me and before he had the chance to kiss me goodbye, Heather barged into the room, and Jack was gone.
“Brett’s on the phone for you.” Heather passed me the phone and left.
“Hi, Brett, how are you?”
“I’m fine. Please tell me you have some gossip for me; I’m bored as hell in here.”
I smiled. “Well, actually I do,” I said, and made myself comfortable on my bed.
CHAPTER 15
After an eventful weekend, I settled back into normalcy on Monday morning. I grabbed my bag and ran downstairs, ready to leave and meet Jack. When I opened the front door, Jack was slouched against the wall. He looked dazzling in black shorts and a white T-shirt draped over his right shoulder. His sunglasses were propped on his head and he stared at me. Excitedly, I ran toward him, jumped, and wrapped my legs around his waist. We kissed through our matching smiles, and as he held me, Jack walked toward my car.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lindsey staring at us, somber and concerned. She shook her head and walked away from the window. Trying my best to ignore her coldness, I continued to kiss Jack, but I was confused. Although Jack and I had stayed away from each other for a week, Lindsey wasn’t honoring her guaranteed approval of our relationship. She was supposed to give me a chance, get to know me, but something in her eyes told me that she wasn’t going to. I decided not to say anything to Jack. Instead, we got into my car, and before I had the chance to start the engine, Jack handed me a letter.
“Sebastian has written to me. He hasn’t spoken to me since the night of the curse, but he wants to see me.” I looked at the letter and handed it back to him.
“This is personal, Jack. But why don’t you agree to speak to him on the phone first?” I suggested, unsure if the two of them meeting was a good idea. And I didn’t like the idea of Jack flying off to France and leaving me here alone.
“No, he wants to come home. He wants to speak to me in person.” Jack tapped the letter on his knee.
It seemed like a huge coincidence that Sebastian wanted to see Jack only a couple days after we had announced our relationship.
Jack ran his finger down the side of my face. “Don’t look so worried.”
“When is he coming?” I asked as I turned the key in the ignition.
“I don’t know. Soon, I guess.”
“Do you think he suddenly wants to see you because we’re together? Maybe I’m just being paranoid,” I said, adjusting my rear-view mirror.
“Well, paranoid or not, it’s certainly a coincidence. I know that what he’s done to us is terrible, but for my own sanity, I have to try and remember Seb as he was before the night he cursed me. He was the best brother anyone could’ve asked for; he was my best friend.”
I understood that Jack wanted his brother back, but it was hard for me to think of Sebastian as a good person. Still, I had to remind myself that I didn’t know him and had to have faith in Jack. After all, he knew his brother, his twin.
He leaned in to kiss me, but I moved back and placed my hand on his knee. “Jack, I’m worried that Sebastian will bring trouble for us. I don’t want anything or anyone to ruin what we have.”
Jack put his hand on mine. “The curse can’t be reversed, but we can’t live our lives fearing when, if, or how our love will be destroyed. Remember, a love like this can never end,” he said in an attempt to reason with me.
“I can’t bear the thought of losing you. You’re the only one in my life who makes me happy,” I said.
“Kate, hold on to the way you feel about me for as long as you can.”
Jack kissed my cheek. We put on our seat belts and I drove away trying to absorb some of Jack’s positivity so that I wouldn’t lose myself in a dark depression. This morning I was happy. I had temporarily forgotten about the curse and everything seemed wonderful. But now, I felt even more fearful of the unknown. Even though I was scared, I knew that Jack was right; we couldn’t live our lives in fear of the end.
I parked my car in the lot and we walked into the main building, stopping a few doors down from my classroom.
“Jack, what else is there about you that I should know?”
He took a deep breath. “Are you ready for this?”
I was hoping there wouldn’t be another huge bombshell, and said, “Yes! I want to know everything about you.”
Jack smiled and started to count on his fingers.
“Well, the most important things you should know about me are: I don’t eat anything tomato-based, I hate Sunday evenings, I never drink coffee, and I’m in love with the most amazing woman in the world.”
I gently nudged him. “Jack, I’m serious. Is there anything else I should know?”
The silence seemed to last forever. I couldn’t imagine what was so terrible that he didn’t want to tell me.
“It’s hard telling you about all these unique gifts I have. Every time I reveal something to you, I’m afraid that it’ll be the one revelation that’ll make you run away from me. I would love to be normal, but that will never happen. Sometimes it’s hard for me to accept.”
“If I wanted to leave you, I would’ve been gone a long time ago, Jack.”
“Look, I don’t want yo
u to get in trouble for being late. So let’s meet at the beach at noon, and I’ll show you what you want to know,” he said.
I looked at my watch. I couldn’t be late again, so after giving Jack a kiss, I scurried off to class.
After sitting through a long and draining lecture, I threw my bag on my back and rushed back to my car. As I drove to the beach, I wondered what else Jack wanted to show me.
When I arrived, Jack was at our spot by the cliff, and no one else was around. He greeted me with a hurried kiss and sat me down on a rock.
“Are you ready?”
“Yeah, I’m ready.”
Jack picked up a small, white shell from the shore, and as the tide came in, he rinsed off the sand that clung to it. He placed the shell in the sand by his foot and told me to keep my eyes on it while holding my hand out. With my hand out, I stared at the shell, and without warning, it moved off the sand and began gliding slowly through the air toward me. Jack remained transfixed on the shell until it settled into my palm. The breeze swept my hair across my face and I stared at the shell in disbelief, rubbing it with my thumb and forefinger.
“How did you do that, Jack?” I asked, looking up at him. I could tell he was relieved that I hadn’t run away.
“I don’t know, I just can.”
I stood and walked over to him. “Can you do this with anything?”
“I can move anything I want to,” he replied confidently.
I couldn’t resist. “Move me.”
Jack stepped back from me, unsure of himself.
“What’s the worst that could happen? I might fall, but I know you’ll catch me. Please? There’s nobody around. There’s never anyone around here,” I said, batting my eyes at him.
“Okay.”
My heart raced as I ran toward the ocean. When I turned around, Jack was by the cliff staring at me, and a few seconds later, my body felt incredibly light as I hovered above the sand and headed toward him. When I landed in the sand, Jack looked away from me, rubbed his eyes, and then smiled at me.
“Enough of this crazy stuff. Let’s do something normal,” he said, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Nothing is normal with you Jack, but everything about you excites me.”
Jack’s cell rang and he mouthed that it was his mother. He listened intently and said, “Yeah, she’ll come,” before hanging up.
“My parents want you to come for dinner tonight,” Jack said, putting the phone back in his pocket. “I told my mother that you’d be there. Was that okay?”
It would be the first time that I’d be in the same room with Jack’s parents since the search party found us in the cove, and the thought of sitting with them through dinner didn’t exactly fill me with excitement. But I had to face them sooner or later.
“Yeah, Jack, that’s fine,” I said, with dread lurking in my stomach. I looked at my watch. It was almost one o’clock and I had to get back to school for my last class. “We’d better go. I’ll meet you at my car after class and we can go straight to your place for dinner.”
Jack threw me onto his back and sprinted to where I’d parked my car. I held onto him, laughing hysterically.
Jack met me as planned and we drove to his house. I was nervous, especially after the way Lindsey looked at me that morning, and with every step closer to the house, the churning in my stomach intensified. I had no idea how I was going to eat anything, but Jack was looking forward to introducing me to his parents properly, and I wanted to make a good impression for him more than for myself.
Jack opened the door and as he softly squeezed my hand, Lindsey and Jonathan flew into the hall looking concerned. I looked over at Jack who also seemed alarmed by their unwelcoming reaction.
I gasped and my mouth ran dry when Sebastian walked up behind Jonathan and Lindsey. Jack looked horrified to see his brother smiling in front of him, and an uncomfortable silence settled over us.
Sebastian was identical to Jack in height, but otherwise, he looked very different. His short, black, ruffled hair and ivory skin made him look almost porcelain-like. His piercing sea-green eyes exuded peacefulness and his sunken cheekbones accentuated his eyes further. His clothes fit his slender body and an intriguing tattoo on the right side of his neck was partially hidden by his shirt collar. Around his wrist was a trio of braided, leather bracelets, and he wore a silver ring on the middle finger on his right hand. Sebastian was gorgeous.
Sebastian walked over to his brother, holding his hand out for a handshake. “Jack, it’s good to see you. It’s been too long. Why didn’t you come and see me after I sent you my letter? I waited for weeks. You didn’t write back or show up, so here I am.”
I didn’t understand what was going on. Jack said he had only just received Sebastian’s letter, yet his brother was claiming to have written to him weeks ago. I looked over to Lindsey and she seemed sheepish. Sebastian looked over at me and Jack held me close. I felt his body tense as he weakly shook his brother’s hand.
“Aren’t you going to introduce me?” Sebastian asked.
“This is Kate, my girlfriend,” Jack said flatly.
The atmosphere was incredibly tense.
“Oh!”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jack asked defensively.
“Nothing. It’s just . . . well, she isn’t your type. No long blonde hair, short skirt, or great big—”
“Sebastian!” Lindsey yelled.
He looked over at me and I felt anger rising in my chest.
“Heels, Mom! Great big heels!” Sebastian looked embarrassed.
Lindsey asked us all to come into the dining room, and within minutes, we were all seated at the table, which was covered with dishes of food. I was dreading the entire meal even more now that Sebastian was joining us, and I wasn’t even sure if it was appropriate for me to stay.
Lindsey and Jonathan sat on one side of the table, Jack and I sat opposite them, and Sebastian was at the head of the table looking awkward. Jonathan quietly ate his food, but Lindsey tried to ease the tension by asking me trivial questions about my family and myself. I would’ve loved an hour alone with Lindsey so that she could tell me more about Jack and Sebastian—how they were once best friends but now seemed more like strangers.
“Why have you come back home so suddenly?” Jack asked, throwing his fork on the table.
Sebastian looked over at him. “I asked you to come to France weeks ago. I sent you another letter last week. You would never have come, so I had to come to you. I just want to speak to you, Jack. And I’m back now, for good.”
“Come on, don’t argue. Can’t a mother just enjoy having her boys back in the same room, just like old times? Good times.”
“We’re not arguing, Mom.” Sebastian continued eating his meal.
I was trying to take in everything that was going on. Why had Jack led me to believe that he’d only received one letter from Seb? Why would he lie to me? I thought.
Jack picked up his fork. “Let’s just eat so that Kate and I can leave,” Jack said impatiently.
Then Jonathan stood up and politely suggested that I should leave. I stood, feeling that he was right, but Jack pulled me back down into my chair.
“Jack, I think your dad is right. I shouldn’t be here. We can have dinner again some other time.”
Jack got up and stormed over to Sebastian. “How dare you make Kate feel so uncomfortable? She’s part of this family now and you will have to accept that. You need to respect that, Seb!”
Sebastian put his hands up and looked over at me. His eyes shone like sparkling emeralds. They were stunning, and different from any other green eyes I had seen before.
“I’m sorry, Kate. I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable. I’m happy to welcome you into our family. You finish your dinner. I feel like I’ve crashed a private party. I’ll go to my room and organize my books.”
“Organize your books?” Jack looked over at Lindsey.
“I applied to Long Beach University at the sam
e time you did, Jack—before I left for France. I was accepted just like you.”
Jack looked over at Lindsey and she looked down at her dinner. He looked back at Seb. “When do you start?”
“Tomorrow.”
“I’m sure Jack will show you the ropes,” Lindsey said hopefully.
Jack didn’t answer.
Seb stood up. “Thanks for keeping my bike clean, Dad. I’m going for a ride this evening.” He kissed Lindsey’s cheek and left the room.
Throughout the rest of the meal, Lindsey glanced over at the empty chair at the head of the table. The four of us sat in silence, pushing food around on our plates, when Lindsey abruptly stood up, her fingers clutching the edge of the table.
“Jack, what is wrong with you? Your brother is trying to make peace with you. He feels terrible about what he’s done.
“Mom, you have to understand; it’s hard for me to be around him.”
I knew that Jack was angry, but I knew he loved his mom and wouldn’t want to hurt or upset her. I dabbed around my mouth with a napkin, desperate for a distraction.
Lindsey was close to tears. “Well you two need to come to an understanding. You have to learn to live with each other to stay alive!” She left the room and Jonathan followed her, glancing over at Jack with a stern look.
Jack slammed his fists on the table and stood, pulling at his hair. I had never seen him so angry and wondered if I should leave and let him have some space. When I stood up ready to leave, Jack spun around and walked over to me.
“Kate, I’m sorry. I had no idea that Seb was back. I should take you home.”
“Seb said he asked you to visit him weeks ago. Why didn’t you tell me about the other letters?”
Jack paused for a moment. “I wasn’t sure what to do. There was so much going on with us,” he said sheepishly.
I sat back down, pushed my plate away, and folded my arms on the table.