“So, I’m having this party on Friday,” Erin said, bringing Amelia back from her thoughts. “You in?”
Amelia didn’t have time to answer, because just then some guy slipped into a chair beside her. “Hey, Erin. Who’s your friend?” he asked, giving Amelia a lopsided grin. He had shaggy, light brown hair which was styled perfectly messy, falling just above his deep brown eyes, and he was sporting a bit of stubble on his chin.
“You’re kidding me, right?” Erin rolled her eyes. “Damn Ty, where have you been? This is Amelia Caldwell. Like Amelia Caldwell from the Lang house.”
“Shit, sorry,” he apologized, blushing just a soft hint of color. Amelia thought he may be cute, but with Eric, who was droolicious and Mitchell, who was absolutely dreamy, her cute radar was kind of off these days. He was dressed in faded blue jeans, and a form-fitting white t-shirt that showed off his abs, but they definitely were not Eric or Mitchell kind of abs.
Amelia smiled, which stung her tight cheek. “Actually, it’s refreshing to find someone who doesn’t know who I am.”
“What happened?” he asked, nodding towards the bottle she held against her cheek.
“Run in with the Barbie Squad,” Erin said. “Millie here was defending my honor and got in the way of Fiona. You should have seen it. The look on Fiona’s face was priceless. I’ve never seen her so scared.”
Tyler laughed. “Nice. Bitch had it coming, that’s for sure. You want some ice?”
“Nah. I’m okay,” Amelia said, the anger finally starting to fade. She set the bottle down on the table with a thump. “Who the hell does she think she is anyways?”
“Most of them are like that,” Erin said, and shrugged. “They think they run this town because they live behind the gate.”
“I’m Tyler Armstrong by the way,” he said. “I’ve got class but…” he shot Amelia a big-eyed puppy dog look. “You’re coming to Erin’s party, right? ‘Cause,” he ran a hand through his messy hair, making it stand up on end, “I’ll be there and it’d be cool if you were.”
“Um, yeah maybe,” Amelia said.
“Cool.” He gave her one last grin, got up and strolled away. Amelia watched him walk away, enjoying the view. She admired the way his jeans hung loosely on his hips and perfectly cupped his round and all-too-grabbable butt.
“He’s hot, right?” Erin said, and snickered. “He’s totally into you.”
Amelia felt herself flush; it burned up her neck and she just knew her face was turning a bright red. She looked back at Erin and shrugged. “Yeah, he’s alright I guess,” she said and they both burst out laughing.
****
Erin was in all of Amelia’s classes, and she knew every short cut and hiding place in the school. She escorted Amelia, showing her all the back ways and least traveled halls to get to classes. It made the day a bit easier and by the time her last class ended, Amelia was starting to feel slightly better about her new status.
She meandered towards the main parking lot to meet Eric and made it out without another run in with the Barbie Squad. Eric was waiting in the car right outside the doors to the Math Building. He was hard to miss in his flashy green Corvette. Amelia went straight to the car, jumped in and buckled up her seat belt without a word. What would he say about Fiona? Did he already know? Should she tell him? Now that she was with him, she didn’t know what to do.
Eric squealed away from the curb. She could feel him watching her from the corner of his eye. He was the first to break the silence. “Rough day?”
“You could say that,” Amelia said. Her voice cracked and tears stung her eyes. She wiped at them, furious at herself. She had had worse days. She had been hit before. This shouldn’t bother her. Most of the people were nice. Everyone wanted to know her. She was popular. This should be a good thing, so why was she shaking?
“It’ll get easier,” he said, and looked at her quickly before bringing his eyes back to the road. “They’ll get used to you being around.”
“God I hope so.”
“I heard about Fiona. She hit you pretty good, too, I see.”
Amelia hadn’t bothered to look but she knew there had to be a bruise. She could feel the tight skin and any facial movements made her feel like her face would crack. She flipped down the visor hastily and opened the mirror. There was a bruise all right. She had a clear handprint imprinted on her cheek that was turning a nice purple-blue. “That’s nice,” she huffed. “Just what I needed.”
“It doesn’t look that bad, honest.” She shot him a look and he laughed. “Well, okay it does but you can cover it up.”
“How did you find out already?”
“Amber called Justin freaking out. Justin called us. Angelle and Luke are over there now with the five of them.” He gave Amelia another quick look.
Crap. Amelia’s temperature dropped and all of a sudden, she felt cold as ice. Why were they getting involved? She had enough problems without them making it worse. And Amelia could look after herself. She had been doing it for five years now. It made her feel uneasy, especially with the way people were treating her. She wasn’t important, so why was everyone she met treating her like a rock star?
“Why?” Amelia blurted. “Why can’t you guys just stay out of it?”
Eric chuckled. “It’s better that we deal with it then for Mr. Lang to find out. He wouldn’t be happy and Fiona was out of line. Besides, you’re part of the family now and we look out for each other.” He shot her a mischievous look. “So it’s just us tonight.”
Just us? Was it wrong that her heart did a little flip at the thought? Amelia quickly forgot she was supposed to be mad and the stress of the day, well, the stress of everything that had happened since she had arrived in Willowberg fluttered away. Since when had she become so boy crazy? She didn’t know, but with Eric this close to her, so close she could smell his musky scent and feel the heat of his skin, all reason flew out the window.
“I was thinking I could take you out for dinner,” Eric continued cautiously. “Somewhere nice.”
Was he asking her out? On a date? No, he couldn’t be. He wouldn’t. He was just being nice, she was sure of it, but she couldn’t help but hope maybe, just maybe, he was. “Okay,” Amelia said, trying to keep the excitement out of her voice.
“Awesome,” he said, flashing a lazy, and very sexy, grin.
****
Dinner was fantastic. Eric had taken her to a swanky little place in the downtown core. Amelia had been so nervous at first that she almost knocked her drink onto his lap. Luckily, his reflexes were extraordinarily fast and he caught the glass, not spilling a drop.
In no time, Eric had made Amelia forget all about her nerves. His laugh, his smile, his charismatic, easygoing personality, everything about him made her at ease. By the end of the night, to Amelia’s surprise, she was flirting and inching closer to him. Even more shocking, he was flirting back.
When they got back home, he was a gentleman and insisted on escorting her to her door. That was when Amelia remembered her nerves. They came back, jumping and flipping like acrobats at a circus. As they got closer to her room, she was suddenly all too aware of her body and his body and the closeness between them, like an electric current, coursing through her limbs, waking up parts of her that she didn’t even know existed.
They reached her room all too quickly and part of her wanted to rush in, shut the door and hide. What if he kissed her? Did she want him to? Yes. But what if she didn’t do it right? Would he laugh at her? In theory, she knew how to kiss. She had kissed Mitchell hundreds of times, but that was just a dream. He wouldn’t tell her if she sucked.
Amelia was getting herself so worked up that she felt nauseous. Her stomach was flipping so fast it was as if she was on a rollercoaster, hanging upside down, and looping around. She stood in front of her door, staring at her feet and fidgeting with her watch, turning it over and over on her wrist. She could feel him watching her and could just imagine his laughing, vibrant eyes. The silent tension was sp
ine tingling, and the urge to flee became overwhelming but she just couldn’t make her body work.
Just when she thought she would scream in frustration, he reached out and gently tipped her chin up, so she had to meet his eyes. Then, as if it were slow motion, the world around her stopped and he leaned in and kissed her.
He tasted sweet and his lips were soft and oh so gentle. She had thought it would be just like kissing Mitchell but it wasn’t. Not one bit. Her lips tingled, and it was nice, but the passion, the need, it wasn’t the same. Not bad, just…different.
When he broke away, he licked his lips and looked down at her, eyes hungry. “Shit,” he breathed and backed away. “Shit, that shouldn’t have happened.”
“No, it’s okay,” Amelia said. That really wasn’t the reaction she had hoped for. What had she done wrong? She took a step towards him. Maybe if she tried again. This time she could use her tongue. Maybe that would work.
He held up his hands to stop her and his expression turned cold. “It’s really not okay. Don’t look at me like that.”
Her heart sank, feeling like boulders were tied to it, dragging it down to her toes. The way he was looking at her, as if he couldn’t stand to be near her hurt. It hurt really badly, way worse than Fiona’s slap. “Like what?”
“Like I’m some chocolate sundae. You’re going to be the death of me if you keep that up.”
“Eric, we didn’t do anything wrong,” she pleaded, tears filling her eyes.
“Dammit, Amelia!” he yelled and slammed his hand against the door so hard the walls rattled. “Yes, we did. I have to go.” He turned away from her and shuffled off.
“Eric,” she called after him but he didn’t stop and the tears spilled over, gushing like a waterfall. She scrubbed at her face, hiccupping and gasping for breath not understanding what she had done so wrong. Was she really that horrible to kiss?
Amelia stared down the empty hallway for a cold, lonely minute, praying he would come back but he didn’t. Finally, she went into her room, slammed the door, fell into bed and cried big heart-wrenching sobs.
CHAPTER 13
There was no sign of Eric the next morning, and to Amelia’s relief (and dismay), he stayed away for the rest of the week. After their little kiss, he had left abruptly, supposedly on some business trip and no one seemed to be able to tell her when he would be back. She knew sooner or later that he would come back. It would be awkward and they would have to deal with it, but she was glad she didn’t have to face him, at least not yet.
As the days went on, Amelia’s shiny new toy status didn’t fade in the least. It only seemed to grow, especially after the Barbie Squad formally and publicly apologized to her.
With Eric gone, and no sign she would be able to just blend in, Amelia focused on school, burying herself in books. Studying was the best and really the only distraction she could think of and she was glad classes were tougher than she had expected. It was nothing like high school and by the time Friday came around, she had already taken (and aced) two quizzes, and had a report to write by the end of the weekend.
The energy at school on Friday was nuts; there was a palpable buzz in the air. Amelia could feel it like a soft vibration, radiating and pulsing. By the time 7:00 came around and her last lab class ended, the buzz had grown, and seemed more like a tidal wave of anticipation. At first, Amelia thought it was a bit strange. Erin was not Miss Popularity by any stretch of the imagination, but from what she had heard Erin’s annual party had grown a reputation of an event not to be missed. Amelia had been asked at least a hundred times if she would be going to Erin’s party. And with Amelia’s celebrity status, all the girls wanted to know what she’d be wearing, when she’d be getting there, if she had a date, if she would have her hair up or down. It was so flattering and all the attention, whether she wanted to admit it or not, was going to her head.
Now, at 8:30, Amelia was sitting on her bed amidst heaps of clothes, watching the clock flip away the minutes. The reality had finally hit her. This was her first real party and with all the attention she had been getting she knew she had to look just perfect and everything seemed… wrong. Every outfit she tried on made her look fat or just didn’t work.
She picked up a black skirt, held it up to the light and then tossed it across the room. “Everything is just wrong,” she huffed to herself. Her nerves were on hyper-drive and the knot in her stomach twisted agonizingly tight.
With a sigh, she got off her bed, wrapped her housecoat around her and stalked out of her room. She knew it was stupid and she was overreacting, but there was so much pressure on her to be some perfect, glamorous movie star that it made her feel sick and she just knew she couldn’t go. I’m not the party type anyways, she thought, and watching a movie and hanging out here would be… better. And how could she look perfect when the bruise on her cheek was starting to turn a horrid greenish-yellow.
Amelia slipped up the stairs and headed straight for the media room, the thought of chilling out and watching a movie was sounding better and better to her by the minute. When she passed Eric’s room, she stopped for a moment, taking in a deep breath of lingering musk. Her heart sank as she looked at his closed door and wondered if he was ever coming back. She gave herself a little shake, forced her eyes away and padded down the hall to the media room.
The room was dark and quiet, and Amelia reached in and flicked on the lights. She was half way to the television when she saw him.
Eric.
Amelia had expected it to be awkward, and it was. Seeing him again hit her hard, like a punch in the gut, knocking out all the air from her lungs. They locked eyes for an incredibly long minute. She wanted to pull away, break the contact but she couldn’t. So many feelings rushed into her, suffocating her. Hate, anger, lust, more anger. She felt like she was drowning in the intense rush of pure emotion.
It wasn’t until he grinned at her that mischievous grin of his, the one which at one time had turned her into a giggling fool, that it hit her. A part of her, a purely animal part, wanted to pounce on him and kiss every inch of his magnificently sculpted body. That was her biggest worry. She had been terrified that when she saw him again she would act like a lovesick puppy dog. But now, as she looked at him, it was crystal clear that her attraction to him was completely and utterly sexual. She didn’t love him, not even a little. And somehow, for some reason that little bit of realization stopped her from making a complete and utter fool of herself.
“Oh sorry,” Amelia said, pleased at the strength of her voice. “I didn’t know you were back.”
“It’s okay.” Eric looked so calm and cool and she wondered if he was feeling the same mix of confusion that she felt. “Thought you were going to that party tonight.”
She shrugged and continued on to the entertainment stand. “You thought wrong.”
“Oh come on,” he whined, and Amelia had to work hard not to look over at him. His voice was almost captivating and called to her. She focused with eyes unseeing on the shelves of movies. “I was looking forward to it. Go get ready.”
“I’m not going so drop it,” she snapped, annoyed at how much he affected her. “And even if I was, you wouldn’t be coming with me.”
Amelia hadn’t heard him get up, but she could feel his breath, warm and tantalizing on the back of her neck. “Why?” he asked, a soft, seductive whisper in her ear.
She was suddenly, hotly aware that the only thing under her thin housecoat was a lacey black bra and thong panties and he was standing so close that she could feel the heat of his skin warming her body. “I have nothing to wear and I look fat in everything,” she breathed, broken and strained.
Eric laughed, loud and hard and Amelia spun around. “Fat?” he staggered back a few steps, laughing hysterically and holding his stomach. “Come on. What are you, a size six?”
Amelia bristled. “A size six! You think I’m a size six! You’re such an ass,” she yelled. She grabbed a DVD off the shelf and flung it at him; it missed and banged o
ff the wall.
Eric sobered quickly, looked at her with confusion and that look made her blood boil. “What did I say?” he asked, and held up his hands in protection as she grabbed another DVD and whipped it at him.
“What’s up with you two?” Angelle asked, appearing in the doorway as another DVD was sent airborne at Eric. “And why aren’t you ready?”
“I’m not going,” Amelia snapped, grabbing another case off the shelf.
Angelle glided into the room, and before Amelia knew it, she had snatched the next case out of her hands and placed herself in between them. “What the hell did you say to her, Eric?”
“I didn’t say anything,” he said, exasperated. “She said she looked fat and I said she was a size six.”
“You didn’t,” Angelle gasped and put an arm around Amelia, more to keep her from attacking Eric than anything else. “God, Eric. Didn’t anyone ever tell you to just keep your mouth shut about that kind of thing? She’s a size four.” Angelle paused for a second and gave Eric a hard glare. “You just have so much class, Eric,” she said, her voice oozing with sarcasm. “All lower, but so much class.” She turned her big brown eyes on Amelia. “It’s okay, Millie. I’ll help you find something to wear. Don’t listen to him. He’s an idiot.” And then she ushered Amelia off, promising to help her get ready.
“I think I should cancel,” Amelia said when they got to her room, her voice a little shaky. Why had she let Eric get to her like that? She knew it was crazy and he really hadn’t said anything wrong, but dammit, he could get under her skin so easily.
“Don’t be stupid,” Angelle laughed. “You were so excited yesterday.”
“That was yesterday,” she replied, letting out a long gusty huff and curled up in bed, tugging the blankets around her. “This whole party thing is overrated anyways.”
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