The Sweet Series Box Set: Books 1-4

by Bailey Ardisone

  “Hey guys, how has your first day been so far?” I pretended that it was no big deal that they decided to sit with me, even though I swore I was about to combust any moment from happiness.

  “Good,” they both said in unison. “Pinch poke you owe me a coke,” Zaylie said quickly as she reached over the table and physically pinched and poked her brother. We both laughed at her silliness.

  “Good grief, Zales, could you maybe grow up?” Desmond grunted as he rolled his eyes. “Please excuse my sister, for she knows no boundaries.” Though he sounded serious, I could see the amusement in his eyes and a slight smirk pulling at his lips.

  “So do you think we have any afternoon classes together? I have Chemistry next, then a free period, and then my final class is Art. Are either of you in any of those?” I said with obvious hope tinting my tone.

  “I have Chemistry! I’m so glad we’ll be together for that one,” Zaylie exclaimed as she took a swig from her water bottle. Her curls bounced up and down, making me smile.

  “Really? I mean, I’m so glad too.” I beamed back at her. This year wasn't actually going to be so bad after all.

  “I have that Art class,” Desmond added. He reached over and stole a chip off Zaylie’s plate, then tipped his head back and tossed it in his mouth. He crunched on it while flashing a wide grin and lifting his eyebrows for one quick second.

  “Great!” I replied, completely elated. “Um, so, how come you are both seniors? Who’s older?” I asked, feeling very brave for doing so. I wasn't known for being a great conversationalist.

  “I’m older!” Desmond yelled. “So she has to follow my orders,” he said with a smirk and wiggling his eyebrows up and down.

  “Please! By only four measly minutes,” Zaylie countered, rolling her eyes. “…And 56 seconds. We’re twins,” she stated dryly as she turned to me.

  “Twins?! That is so cool! I don’t have any siblings. But I have always thought being a twin would be awesome.” I imagined all the fun things we could do together, the closeness we would share, always being there for each other and protecting one another. It sounded great to me. Zaylie didn’t seem too thrilled however.

  “Mmmhmm…sure, it may seem cool to you on the outside but you don’t have to put up with him!” She pointed a finger at Desmond across the table, fully extending her arm dramatically. Desmond only smirked and waggled his eyebrows some more.

  “Oh,” was all I could say. She was right; I guess I really didn’t know what it would be like.

  “I’m just messin'. I love the poor bloke,” she admitted softly. It made me happy, but I also envied their relationship at the same time. I thought of Rydan and imagined he would be the closest thing I would ever get to a brother. And that was good enough for me.

  “I seriously hope I get a good partner in Chemistry,” I decided to change the subject. “Last year, one of the senior students had caught his partner on fire,” I finished dramatically, opening my eyes wide.

  “Ha! What a dag!” Zaylie chimed.

  “Ace!” Desmond exclaimed at the same time, rather excitedly…I have to wonder about him.

  “I have no idea what you guys are saying,” I laughed, but still very much confused. What’d she say? What a…huh?

  They both laughed, clearly amused with my blatant American ignorance to Aussie terms.

  “I’ll explain on our way to Chemistry. Come on, let’s go.” Zaylie was still laughing, and the upbeat personalities they both seemed to have were catching. I found myself completely over my doom and gloom attitude and looked forward to the rest of my day.

  When we got to class, I was surprised to find out we could choose our own partners. Just as I turned her way to ask if she wanted to be partners, she was turning toward me also. She looked at me and laughed as she realized we both had started to do the same thing.

  “Are you going to pinch and poke me now til I buy you a coke?” I joked with unreserved friendly affection. I swore with each passing second I spent with her I grew to like her more and more. She smiled, brightening her soft brown eyes.

  “That would have been a good idea! But we didn’t actually say anything at the same time so I’m going to let you off the hook just this once. I won’t go easy on you next time though.” She winked at me.

  “I’m looking forward to it,” I replied sarcastically with a smile and wink of my own. I genuinely did look forward to spending more time with her in the future, even if that meant having to be pinched and poked.

  Our teacher Mr. Allen closed the door then and asked us to pull out our textbooks, turn to chapter one and then he was going to inform us of the different experiments we would be conducting this year.

  “As long as no one sets anyone on fire, we should be good,” said Mr. Allen as the whole class started to laugh. See? That story was still going around.

  Zaylie leaned in closer to me and said, “I heard about that bloke. I promise not to set you on fire.” We both laughed as we turned to chapter one.

  I headed to my sixth period class feeling excited. Art was my one elective this semester and my favorite subject. I loved to draw, paint, sculpt, anything where I could immerse myself. I couldn’t wait to see what projects we would be working on this year.

  Last year my painting on mythical creatures won first place in an art contest at the Portland Art Festival. I had painted a black dragon that I had once seen in a dream when I was little. I had never been able to get it out of my head since, so when the Mythical Creatures project came up, I thought it would be a great idea to paint the dragon that I had known for so long.

  Mr. Isaacson was our teacher, and he was a genius when it came to sculpting. He had won first place in that category at the Portland Art Festival, and his prize work was actually in a glass cabinet at the back of the classroom.

  I turned my head around to look and noticed a familiar painting hanging on the wall just above his prized sculpture. I couldn’t believe he had my painting. Where did he get that?

  “Nari Woodlinn,” I heard as the teacher’s voice drowned out my thoughts.

  “I’m here,” I said sheepishly.

  All the students started to laugh, and I realized I had no idea why he said my name and why I stupidly said I was here.

  “Yes, I can see that you are here. I was telling the class that all the art pieces along the back wall are from past Art Festival winners. Since I am on the school board, I selected a few of them to buy and display them in my class this year. Your painting is among them.”

  I lowered my head to let my hair cover the blush on my cheeks. Mr. Isaacson continued to name one other student in this particular class that had a piece displayed as well. I imagined everyone turning to look at it, but I was still embarrassed so I kept my head down and vowed to never speak again.

  The teacher started explaining all the different molds that we would be dealing with in regards to sculpting, which was to be our first project. He suddenly stopped and pointed to the back of the room. We all turned to look.

  “You there,” he said as he pointed to a student. “Please refrain from distracting the other students and pay attention. What is your name, son?”

  “Aye, mate,” said the Australian accent I had already come to recognize from the back. I turned around, trying my darndest to hold back a laugh.

  “Name’s Desmond,” he said as he winked to the girl beside him. She turned back toward the front with a huge smile on her face.

  “Yes well, Desmond, as well as everyone else, please make a note of all the items you will need for your first project,” he said as he started to write a list down on the chalkboard.

  “This needs to be special. I want to see what you all can come up with over the next few weeks. You are to sculpt using the supplies provided, and the object must stem from nature. I have all the items you will need on the table by the window.”

  An amazing idea formed in my head.

  “Put your creative thinking caps on. I want to see great work here,” Mr. Isaacson
stressed. “This is an elective class, and I know you all are here because you want to be here, so no slacking. This will account for 40% of your grade this first quarter, so make it count.”

  I was already excited because I knew exactly what I was going to sculpt. In fact, I had been waiting to creatively display my favorite object, and now I finally would get to showcase it. It would be perfect.

  Chapter Four

  ~Naminé~

  His cerulean eyes gazed back with bewilderment. I recognized the questions that were written in his regal stare. What was he doing here? Why did I call him? Was this a dream?

  This moment was surreal; I had finally gotten through to him. Hope and joy spread through my entire body like standing close to a hot fire on a cold day. He would save us. He would come back and save us.

  After forty-two nights trying to get through, I had succeeded. We had succeeded. I could feel Calen’s strength reinforcing our connection. Without each other, none of this was possible. I was dependent on her strength, for she was an extension of my very being. Together we could mold our energies as one. For now, we had to remain physically apart, which would greatly hinder our abilities, but faint as it was, I could still feel her strength linked with mine.

  All those days and endless nights of practicing finally paid off. We both were struggling, so I didn’t know how long this would last.

  I had a specific directive to convey to him. It was imperative that he heeded every word, for this was our only avenue of communication. Opening my mouth, I started to tell him what he needed to know. I tried to convey a sense of urgency as I told him the plan. As I spoke, he began to slowly shake his head. When I noticed his eyebrows furrowing together and a questioning look upon his face, I realized I was speaking but no words were coming out. My mouth moved as if to speak, but I heard nothing, not a sound. I started to shout, loud and then louder, but again, not a thing could be heard. I did not understand. This was horrendous. All this work and he couldn’t hear me?

  I tried to pull more power from Calen, but she was giving me all she had. It started to get painful for the both of us.

  Suddenly he started to walk toward me. However, if he got too close I would lose our connection and this would be for loss. I couldn’t risk losing him now. I vigorously shook my head and put up both my hands to signal halt. He immediately stopped, and I could see him sigh. He raked his hands through his hair and looked at me. He pointed two fingers at his eyes and then closed them. Opening his eyes, he repeated the gesture two more times, then pointed to his mouth as if speaking.

  Confused, I tried to understand his hand motions. What was he alluding to? Close my eyes and speak? How…? Yes! Close my eyes and speak to him through images. Was that not what dreams were, images speaking to us through our minds?

  I closed my eyes and cleared my head. Ever so slowly, I let the images come to mind. I couldn’t speak words, but I could pass images onto him, giving him this message of hope, and hopefully…a sense of urgency.

  A quaint town sat quietly on an eastern coast. Streets long and damp from moisture clung to the morning air. A lighthouse in white stone sat next to a small cottage with broken windowpanes, but with a well-manicured lawn, overlooking crashing waves against staggered cliffs jetting out of the ocean. Huge, beautiful trees, large oaks and a giant Weeping Willow hanging over a crisp cool pond surrounded by birches. The Weeping Willow-

  I jerked back as suddenly the image snapped from my mind. Our time was running out. I had to tell him it was imperative, absolutely vital that he….

  As I opened my eyes, I realized the horror.

  He was gone.

  I looked around, but he was nowhere in sight. As I felt a slight pain in the left side of my head I knew that I was waking up. I did not know how much he received. I hoped with all my might that the images got through to him. They had to.

  He was our only hope.

  Chapter Five

  ~Nari~

  I had music blaring from my iPod as I walked home from school. It had been a pretty good day, making me incredibly hopeful for the rest of the school year. Suddenly, a flash of bright blue passed. I looked over to find a pickup truck barreling down then screeching to a stop right next to me. It was so loud I could hear it through my music. I pulled out my headphones and turned to see a smiling Zaylie hanging out the window. Speak of the devil!

  “Hey hey, need a ride?” she asked as the driver continued to inch forward alongside as I walked.

  “That would have been awesome! But I actually live right around the corner, so I’m good. But thanks for the offer,” I replied and leaned forward to give a small wave to Desmond who was driving. He jerked his head up and smirked in response.

  “Must be nice to live so close to school! Or not. Depends on how you look at it I suppose.” She gave me a huge grin.

  “Well, since I foresee no car at my disposal in the near future, it’s definitely a good thing,” I laughed. “I pretty much have to walk everywhere.”

  “If you ever need a ride, just let us know!” she replied with a smile that lit up her eyes.

  “Thanks! I will.” I smiled back.

  “See you tomorrow!” she barely got out as Desmond squealed the tires and took off in a hurry shouting, “See ya!”

  It made me laugh, already feeling us becoming good friends and making my day that much brighter.

  But it was very short-lived when my stomach suddenly tightened into a deep knot as I came around the curve and saw a blue Toyota sitting in the driveway; his blue Toyota. I clenched my teeth and wondered what Ray was doing home. He shouldn’t be here. It was Wednesday, and he always worked late on Wednesdays. He was never here before 8 p.m., and I had enough time to clean the house and make sure it wasn’t a mess before he got home.

  I shuddered to think what my evening was going to be like now. I had planned to stop home, quickly grab my cell phone that I had stupidly left on my dresser this morning, and head to my favorite place. What was I going to do now? No way would he let me leave when I just got home from school.

  The sound of the front door slamming shut interrupted my thoughts. I saw him walking down the sidewalk heading toward his car. I jumped behind the nearest tree, hoping he didn’t see me. I heard the car start and a couple seconds later it backed out of the driveway and drove down the street heading the opposite way.

  I let out a huge gasp of air. That was close; too close. A couple seconds later and I would have met him face-to-face at the front door. Yuck. I tried to avoid him at all costs, rarely even uttering his name. Thankfully I was able to take care of myself, so I really didn’t need him for anything.

  As soon as I opened the door, I cringed from the awful stench of alcohol. This was my usual reaction when entering the front door, but this was worse. Like he had just drunk something before he left. How did he even keep his job? It always amazed me—and not in a good way—the amount of liquor this guy could drink yet still manage to function and go to work every day. Who would want to be around someone like that? I felt sorry for his coworkers.

  I dropped my head in my hand, wishing he would man up and quit acting like a college frat boy. I didn’t want to deal with this right now. Every second spent here meant less time spent with Rydan. Maybe I could just leave it and get to it later...

  On the other hand, if I didn’t clean up the huge mess he had obviously just made, and he somehow came home before me again, he would be extremely angry tonight. As much as I wanted to get out of there, I didn’t want to deal with that either, and it was not worth taking that risk.

  I looked to the familiar corner of the living room and sure enough, I saw it. A newly broken bottle of…what was it this time? Jack. Jack Daniels was his favorite. I closed out an eerie feeling creeping up on me because I knew that when he found Jack, it wasn’t a good sign. It was his go-to when something went bad.

  Why he liked to throw empty bottles against the wall and watch them shatter into thousands of pieces was beyond me, but it was an unsp
oken agreement that I would clean it up.

  My theory was the only reason he did it was to punish me since the first time he did it was the day after his wife died. He would always find as many ways as he could to make me suffer. If I didn’t clean up the mess, then it would give him an excuse to punish me in other ways, which usually ended with bruises.

  I tried not to dwell on it. Soon, very soon, I would be out of here, and he could no longer push me around.

  After I quickly cleaned the mess, dumping the glass in the trash, I ran to my room to grab my cell phone and headed out the door.

  Finally.

  I smiled and bit my bottom lip as I stood on this hill for the billionth time and stared out at the beautiful scene before me.

  My best friend—Rydan—was in the exact same position he was in when I first met him seven years ago and humming that exact oh-so-familiar tune I had come to love, just like back then. There he was, lying under our Weeping Willow tree. Our secret escape.

  As I made my way down toward him, just knowing I was on my way to see him gave me comfort and lifted my spirits. He was the only one I could truly talk to, the only person who was ever there for me, and the only person I could actually trust. I didn’t have any siblings or family that I could call my own, and although I’d like to think of Teddy as being a friend, he was just a stuffed bear. So yeah, he didn’t exactly count. I had never been close to anyone other than my mom and Rydan. He was my family now. He was my rock. I didn’t know what I would do without him.

  As I walked up to Rydan, I couldn’t help smirking as I lightly kicked him in his side. I knew he heard me coming, but he always chose to ignore my presence at first until I pestered him, making him finally avert his constant daydreaming and look me in the eyes. As always, he hummed his tune but stopped to quickly reach out and grab my ankle before I could make contact again.