Enigma

by Aimee Ash

  Jack placed his hand on my arm. “Kate, I’m sorry. You’re right; my behavior is inexcusable. Please forgive me.”

  Jack pulled me toward him and leaned in for a kiss, confident that he’d been forgiven. Surrounded by the fairy lights, I allowed him to kiss me and then sat on his lap, stretching my legs out along the bench.

  After a while, I led Jack to the pool house at the back of the garden. I retrieved the key that was underneath the ugly door ornament, unlocked the door, and ushered Jack inside. After closing and locking the door, I closed the curtains.

  With butterflies in my stomach, I released the catch on my dress and watched Jack walk over to the day bed. He spun around quicker than I’d seen him do before and stared open-mouthed at my body. I let my hair down and walked over to him, wearing my kitten heels and black lace thong. Jack was so transfixed on me that he didn’t move an inch. I began to unbutton his shirt and then threw it on the floor. He leaned out to touch me, and then he grabbed his chest and fell to the floor in agony, just like before.

  I slipped into my dress and leaned down beside him, but he pushed me away. He was breathing deeply through the pain, not wanting to yell out and bring attention to us. All I could do was stand back and wait for the pain to stop.

  “Jack, I’m so sorry.”

  “Don’t worry; it’s not your fault. Seb will be here in a minute.”

  “What?”

  “We have this twin sixth sense thing. It’s really weird. If we need each other we just kind of tune into it. He’s here, open the door for him.”

  I unlocked the door and opened it. Seb was waiting outside—shirtless. I had no idea how he knew where we were.

  He rushed to Jack’s side and held his hand over his mouth to prevent him from yelling. It was horrible and I felt helpless. This was the second time that Jack and I had attempted to be intimate, and each time, the curse wouldn’t allow us to be that close.

  I heard a noise and tiptoed to the window. I peeked out from behind the curtain and saw Savannah holding Seb’s shirt. She had followed him and was knocking on the door. I looked over at Jack who was now unconscious.

  Seb told me to stand to one side so that I wouldn’t be seen, and casually opened the door for Savannah. I peeked out the window. Savannah stood in front of Seb, observing his body and smiling like a cat who had gotten the cream. I wanted her to leave and had no idea how Seb was going to get rid of her.

  “I saw you wandering up here and thought I would bring your shirt to you. Can I join you?” She walked nearer to the door.

  “Thanks for bringing the shirt, but I’m kind of busy.” Seb took the shirt from her and attempted to shut the door, but Savannah placed her foot in the way.

  “Are you sure you’re too busy to invite me in?” She began to unzip her dress at the side and I saw that Seb was lost for words.

  I ruffled my hair and released the catch on my dress, but held on to it before it fell to the floor. I walked over to Seb and placed my free hand around his waist, and I smiled when he put his hand on my hip.

  “Sorry, Savannah. He’s too busy.”

  Her face was priceless and she removed her foot from blocking the door.

  “Katherine Harris! Well, it looks like you’ve been taking tips from your sister. Wait until your mother finds out what you’ve been up to in her pool house!”

  Savannah was raging with jealousy and I knew she’d be spiteful enough to tell my mother, but I had that covered.

  “Savannah, if you breathe a word of this to anyone I’ll tell your mother that you lost your virginity to your cousin.”

  Seb tried not to laugh. He held onto me tighter than necessary and was rubbing his thumb up and down my side.

  “Kate, you wouldn’t dare!”

  “I will! I promise you I will.”

  She stormed off and Seb closed the door. I had almost forgotten that Jack was unconscious and felt terrible for laughing with Seb. He took the liberty of helping me dress and then he put on his shirt.

  Seb sighed. “Thanks. I wasn’t sure how to get rid of her. She’s persistent. What are you going to do if she tells someone about us? If Jack finds out about this, he’ll go crazy.”

  “She won’t tell anyone. Trust me. I have so much dirt on that girl and this is the only thing she has on me.” I walked over to Jack.

  “So you’re a good girl, are you?” Seb asked, following me over to Jack.

  “Yes; at least I think I still am.”

  I touched Jack’s chest. He was breathing, but was still unconscious.

  “Seb, what are we going to do? Your parents are going to suspect something if we don’t go back to the party.”

  “I’m going to take Jack home. I’ll be able to carry him over the fence. Tell my parents to excuse themselves and when they get home I’ll explain what happened.”

  “Okay, but you have to know that this is the second time this has happened. I mean every time we—”

  “Okay, I get the picture. Spare me the details.”

  I felt embarrassed, but continued. “Well, this happens before anything else has the chance to happen.”

  Seb looked at me. “It’s the curse. Don’t you see, Kate? You’re not meant to be together. If the most natural thing in the world isn’t possible for both of you, then how can your relationship be real?”

  I walked out of the pool house with a deep, dreadful feeling inside of me. Fireworks ascended into the air and as I looked up at them, I felt like I was going to explode.

  As the party ended, I rushed to my bedroom ready to change and leave to check on Jack. I closed the door behind me and as I turned around, Sebastian was sitting on my bed. He stood up and our eyes met.

  “Kate, I came to let you know that Jack is weak and will need to sleep for the rest of the weekend, but he’ll be okay.”

  I sighed with relief and sat next to him. “He’s okay for now then,” I said, looking down at my fumbling fingers. Seb walked toward my balcony. “Wait, I want to thank you, you know, for singing. You were amazing. Thanks for getting Jack home too, and for letting me know he’s okay.”

  Seb smiled. “You don’t have to thank me. But I think it would be wise for you to let Jack sleep tomorrow.”

  I nodded and watched as he leapt off my balcony. He was out of sight, but not out of mind.

  CHAPTER 20

  Sitting at my dresser, I combed my hair, preparing for my Monday classes, and thinking about how Seb’s sultry voice had saved my father’s party. He had mingled with my parents’ unpredictable friends and enjoyed some innocent fun with the belly dancers. My mother said that several of the guests at the party had commented on what a lovely guy Seb was.

  As I opened the front door, Jack was waiting by my car. Seb rode past us on a black and red Suzuki Hayabusa, the hottest motorcycle on the planet. I tried my best not to stare.

  Jack and I arrived at school and made our way to our lockers. I opened my locker and a piece of paper flew out. When I bent down and picked it up, I saw that it was a charcoal sketch of me. The most beautiful girl in the world was written underneath it.

  Jack snatched the sketch out of my hands. A purple tinge appeared around his eyes and he quickly put on his sunglasses. He ripped the sketch and I watched in shock as the tiny pieces of paper flew to the floor. He slammed his locker shut and grabbed my wrist, pulling me through the halls.

  “Jack, what’s wrong? Where are we going?”

  “We’re going back to my house. There’s something I need to show you. If you don’t see it for yourself, you won’t believe me.”

  When we arrived at his house, Jack opened the door and threw down his bag, which slid halfway across the hallway, and the buckle on the front of the bag scratched a long line into the solid oak floor. I placed my bag down by the door and caught up with Jack, who raced upstairs.

  He kicked down the door at the end of the hall; the door flew off its hinges so fast that the floorboards shook in a flurry of ripples. I held onto Jack to keep from falling
and soon realized that we were in Seb’s bedroom. Jack was tearing through drawers, throwing his brother’s belongings around the room in a rage. I began to pick everything up off the floor, placing Seb’s things back where they belonged. Jack’s anger was taking over his senses.

  “Jack! Stop! You’ve gone crazy! What are you looking for?”

  He continued to riffle through Seb’s drawers, making me feel uncomfortable.

  “I’ve found it!” Jack stood up, holding a framed sketch in front of his face. When he turned it around to show me, my jaw dropped, and I realized why Jack had been so furious. Jack was holding a sketch of Kelly, Seb’s ex-girlfriend. Underneath the sketch read the slogan: The most beautiful girl in the world.

  Jack threw the sketch behind him and I covered my ears as the glass smashed, sending shards of glass in my direction. As I raised my arms to shield my face, Seb appeared and caught the glass just as it was about to cut through my skin.

  Jack looked horrified. “Sorry, Kate,” he said. I knew you’d have to see it to believe it. You have to stay away from Seb. You can’t come over here anymore.”

  Jack’s eyes had almost returned to their normal color, but he was still angry. Seb remained calm even after seeing his room in a complete mess.

  “Jack, let’s hear what Seb has to—”

  “No!” Jack walked over to me. “You don’t understand the repercussions of spending too much time with him.”

  I sighed. “He’s just another person, Jack.”

  Jack held his head in his hands and gritted his teeth.

  “What the hell is going on?” Seb asked.

  “This is about you trying to steal Kate from me,” Jack shouted, his eyes sparkling.

  “What are you talking about?”

  I pulled the sketch of Kelly from the broken glass and held it up. “There was a sketch of me with the same slogan written on it in—”

  “In Jack’s locker. I know; I put it there,” Seb declared.

  “No, it was in my locker,” I said.

  “I put it in locker 265, Jack’s locker,” Seb insisted.

  “No, his locker is 264; mine is 265. Why did you put it in there anyway?” I questioned.

  “Jack asked for ideas; he wanted to do something romantic for you to make up for the pool house scenario, so I left a note with the sketch.”

  Seb took the sketch of Kelly from me, crumpled it up, and threw it in the trash. “That can stay in the trash where it belongs.”

  “Seb, I’m sorry. I had no idea; the sketch is beautiful, really romantic.” I looked over at Jack, waiting for him to apologize for making a terrible mistake.

  “Come on Kate, let’s go.” Jack walked over the glass and out of Seb’s room.

  I followed him out, mouthing another apology to Seb.

  When we walked into the hallway, Jack picked up my bag and opened the door. I grabbed my bag and stormed off to my car.

  “Kate, what’s wrong?” I slammed my door and locked it. Jack tapped on the window and pulled at the handle. “Kate, let me in.”

  “Go back and apologize to your brother for being such an idiot! He did a good thing for you, and you trashed his room and humiliated him. You should be ashamed of yourself.” I started the engine and Jack tapped the window again.

  “You don’t understand! Let me in and I’ll explain.”

  I rolled the window down a little. “You’d better have a good excuse.”

  “If you spend too much time around Seb, you could fall for him. He could be the reason you break my heart.”

  Finally, I was realizing that the sketch had little to do with why Jack was so furious. All along, he was worried that I might fall in love with his brother.

  “If you eventually fall for some random guy, I might be able to pull through, but if it’s Seb I know . . . I know I wouldn’t survive that.”

  Jack looked heartbroken. I opened the car door and he got in.

  “Why would you think I would fall for your brother?” I asked.

  “Because you’re exactly the type of girl he’s attracted to.”

  “That doesn’t mean I’m attracted to him, Jack,” I said. Seb was exactly the type of guy I’d be interested in, but Jack couldn’t know that. I placed my hand on his knee. “Jack, this curse is making you paranoid; it’s starting to control you. I’m no more likely to fall for Seb than I am anyone else. We agreed not to allow ourselves to think about what could happen. I thought we were living day-by-day?”

  Jack placed his hand on mine. “I can’t help it. I feel the curse prevailing. I thought I could block it out, but it’s too hard.”

  Seb walked out of the house.

  “Go and apologize, Jack.” I leaned over him and opened his door.

  He got out and walked over to Seb, who was standing next to his bike. I rolled my window down further.

  “Seb, I’m sorry.”

  “When are you going to give me a break?” Seb asked. “I’ve been trying to make peace since I came home. I’ve never caused trouble in my life; that was always your job, Jack! I don’t need to take Kate away from you. The curse will inevitably do that anyway. Despite what you think, I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “I don’t believe you, Seb.”

  Jack was incredibly stubborn. I got out of the car and walked over to them.

  “I believe you, Seb,” I said.

  Jack turned and looked at me, stunned. I wasn’t trying to betray him, but I believed Seb.

  “Thank you, Kate. At least someone is seeing sense,” Seb said. Jack walked off, furious that I’d taken Seb’s side. He turned the corner and was out of sight.

  “I don’t want any trouble,” Seb said, sitting on his bike. “If you need me, I’m always here for you. We could study together; it’s been nice having a friend like you.”

  “That would be nice,” I said.

  As Seb put his helmet on, our eyes locked for a brief moment before he placed his visor over his eyes and rode off.

  I walked back to my car and sat in the driver’s seat. Seb was a friend, but he intrigued me. Not only did he resemble the kind of guy that I was usually attracted to, but his personality and interests reflected mine in so many ways.

  But I had to fight him out of my mind; he couldn’t be the one I fell for.

  Instead of going to Jack’s football game, I walked back to my house. I needed a break and thought that Jack could use some space too.

  Enjoying the heat of the sun, I sat on my balcony reading, when Seb caught my eye. He had sensed that I was watching him and smiled up at me. I couldn’t help but smile back, feeling connected to him in a much different way than I felt connected to Jack. Without thinking, I gestured for him to come up to my balcony.

  He was on my balcony in less than a minute. I pulled him into my bedroom and drew the curtains. We stood in front of each other in silence for what seemed like too long. I felt different around him. It wasn’t only a physical attraction; it was like I could see into his soul.

  “How can I help you, Miss Harris? Or do you have the wrong brother standing in your bedroom again?” His wit was charming. “Are you holding me prisoner?”

  I laughed and reassured him that he was free to leave any time he wished, but he sat in my frilly, outdated, pink velour armchair, which I had inherited from my late grandmother. My mother had tried to persuade me to throw it away every time we moved, but I’d refused. Seeing Seb sitting in such a girlie chair made me giggle. I sat on the edge of my bed.

  “I need to talk to you; I need to know the truth. I have to trust that anything we discuss will stay between us,” I said, leaning toward him.

  “Jack would hit the roof if he knew I was here. I have no intention of telling him anything.”

  I couldn’t think about Jack at that moment. I wanted Seb’s company; he was easy to be around.

  “Is there anything else about Jack that I should know?”

  I’d told Jack that I didn’t care about his past, or the person he used to be, but now I
was suspicious and hoped that Seb could give me some answers.

  “I’m not going to tell you anything that Jack doesn’t want you to know. We may not be best friends right now, but I’m hoping that’ll change. I don’t want to jeopardize anything by exposing his past.”

  I was disappointed, but I was impressed, too.

  “So, you’re a loyal brother, then.”

  “I’m a loyal person, so I’m afraid I can’t help you. But I will say one thing: If you don’t trust him, you shouldn’t be with him. No relationship will ever survive if there isn’t trust.”

  I agreed with him; trust was a key factor in any relationship. Then intrigue got the best of me; I wanted to know about Seb.

  “So, tell me, who is Sebastian Jones?” I couldn’t help smiling. He made my cheeks ache.

  “Well, he’s a fun guy to be around. He loves to sketch, has a serious thing for motorcycles, and thinks the girl who lives next door is very nosy.”

  I laughed. Our conversation flowed naturally. He opened up to me about himself, but there was something I desperately wanted to know, and hoped that I wasn’t overstepping boundaries.

  “Do you believe that Jack meant to hurt you the night that he slept with your ex-girlfriend?”

  “NoI don’t think he intentionally set out to hurt me. It was the alcohol that played a big part that night.”

  I knew Seb was telling me the truth. Both of them had made terrible mistakes and now they were living with the consequences. Two brothers who had almost destroyed each other were now going to have to face the fact that it was going to happen all over again. I couldn’t hold back my emotions any longer and allowed tears to fall. Seb sat next to me and gently wrapped his arms around me; they felt very different from Jack’s. I let my head rest on his chest and he held me close. He wiped a tear from my cheek and passed me a tissue.

  “Kate, I have to say something and if you hate me for it, so be it: I believe Jack is in love with you, but you’re not in love with him. The curse made you fall for him and soon, any feelings you have for him will begin to fade.”

  I looked up at him. “Seb, you created the curse; can’t you destroy it? Is there any way to free us from it?” I asked hopefully.