“I’ve never regretted it, you know,” I said to him, watching him eat.
He raised his eyebrow in question and took another bite.
“Trusting you,” I replied seriously. “That first day we met, the first time I told you about Ray and what happened, and over the years I’ve always been able to trust you, Rydan. You’re my best friend. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” I smiled and picked up my turkey club and put it in my mouth before any more feelings started to come out. I didn’t know where that came from, it just felt right to say it to him out loud.
He mumbled something about girls and their feelings and shoved half his plate of fries in his mouth.
I shook my head. Girls and their feelings? Ha! Guys and their lack of feelings, I wanted to say back, but I kept filling my mouth with food so that no words would slip out. I was not surprised at his dismissal of my words. I rolled my eyes at him, and we continued eating our lunch in silence.
“You better finish that. The animal didn’t die just so you could waste it and get thrown in the trash,” he scolded me when we were done eating.
“Ry! You make me wanna be a vegetarian when you say stuff like that!”
He just looked at me from the corner of his eye. I stuffed my last bite in my mouth, feeling guilty. Rydan had always been a vegetarian as far as I knew, but sometimes I got this feeling that it was more than that. Of course he’d never told me why, but I could tell he was very passionate about it.
Rydan didn’t let me pay in the end, even though I tried to argue with him. He was way too good to me. I didn’t have much money left in my savings, which resembled a tiny piggy bank more than an actual savings account, so his gesture meant more to me than he probably even realized. Or, maybe he did realize.
As he headed outside toward where he parked his motorcycle, I started to follow him, knowing he would give me a ride home. I opened my mouth to say something when he suddenly turned around, locking his silver eyes with mine. His intensity stopped me in my tracks, like his eyes were reaching for my soul.
“I trust you too, Nari. With my life. I wouldn’t be who I am today without you. You’re very special to me; I thought you should know that,” he confessed seriously.
We stood there staring at each other for another few seconds, and before I could think of anything to say, he had already turned around.
“Come on, I’ll give you a ride home,” he stated plainly. I had the urge to say “duh” but stopped myself, savoring the rare intimate moment.
Five minutes later, we were pulling into my driveway. I hopped off the back of his bike and handed him the helmet he always brought with for me when he knew he was going to see me. He never wore one himself though.
“Meet you at the Willow later?” I asked him. He gave me a crooked smile.
“As always,” he replied as he pulled away.
I walked in the house and went straight to working on my sculpture again. I didn’t have much time left before it was due, and I wanted it to be perfect.
Time flew by fast, and suddenly I realized Ray would be home in twenty minutes. Ugh…I didn’t want to be home when he got here. If I was gone before he got home, then fine—he couldn’t do anything about it. But if I was still here when he walked in, then he always found some excuse for me to stay, refusing to let me leave. No way was I staying for that.
I quickly washed up, grabbed my sweatshirt, and headed to my favorite place in the whole world.
As I walked to our usual spot under the giant Weeping Willow tree, I couldn’t help but think back on what Rydan said to me earlier as we left the diner. He must have known I needed to hear those words. I knew what we had was special and that he knew it too, but it still felt good to hear it coming from his mouth. It wasn’t love that bound us together. We weren’t in love. Those feelings never crossed my mind. But we had a deep attachment to each other. It was a beautiful thing, our friendship. I wouldn’t want it any other way.
I reached the hill and my feet abruptly stopped upon hearing a beautiful but slightly melancholy sound. It was so transfixing, as if singing to my very soul. As my emotions began to stir within me with each note, I ran down the hill to where I knew without a doubt the melody was coming from. This was Rydan playing music.
As I got closer and closer to our Weeping Willow tree, I saw standing at the edge of the pond with long branches almost seeming to sway in time with the melody was Rydan playing a violin.
Seeing him there, standing beside the Weeping Willow, he looked totally different from when I saw him earlier in the day. He was wearing his usual black jeans that hung loosely around his waist and a dark t-shirt under a grey sweatshirt with the sleeves pushed up exposing his lean but muscular forearms. His black hair that reflected red when the sun touched it was tousled, as if he had just jumped out of bed and came straight here and started playing, not even caring to look in the mirror before leaving.
On his right wrist lay loosely his braided black and metallic bracelet and his one silver band around his left middle finger. Around his neck was a silver chain, its contents tucked under his shirt, but I knew what it was. I had never seen Rydan without any of those items on him. He was beautiful—like a dark angel.
I slowly walked up to him, not wanting to disturb his reverie, but he regarded me through slit eyelids, just barely his silver irises peeking out to let me know he noticed I was there. He then lightly shut them again, never skipping a beat.
I pulled the hood of my sweatshirt over my head as I sat down at his feet. Taking in each and every note, it was as if words were being awoken inside of me just bubbling to get out. I began to sing, matching lyrics to his emotions that were spilling out through his music.
When the song ended, he slowly opened his eyes, his intense gaze locked onto mine while lowering down his arms holding the violin and its bow. In that moment, a small smile played at the corner of his lips and his eyes were wide, like liquid mercury, burning with wild passion from the melody. He blinked, and just as suddenly, as if coming out of a trance, his eyes crept back to their usual guarded state, but he couldn’t seem to keep his slight smile from fading away.
Chapter Eight
~Naminé~
My outlook on life was once dismal, clouded with gloom. I had grown up a servant as had my father and mother. My mother Deasar worked in the kitchens, slaving over the other servants as they hastily struggled to keep up with the demands of the kitchen and the preparation of food for the royal family. My father Roche was head of the stables; he looked after the horses and the few griffins that were housed there. My brother, who was only two cycles behind me at fifteen, had been sent to the garrison and was to be thrown into combat. I was tortured with misery over Cathar’s welfare. I missed him greatly, for we had been good companions growing up. I feared for his safety; he was far too young to learn the pains of war.
The only reason I savored any ounce of hope in this dreary life was because of Calen and our gift. She was my Fëa, and we were bonded forever. Although we were struggling with that bond, being apart as often as we were and not having the time and practice we needed for our bond to solidify, we still had each other. We would get better with practice, but it taxed a great toll on our mind, body, and soul to do what we were trying to accomplish. Huge amounts of energy we would expend, and it seemed to be wasted. Despite the hindrance, I knew we must press through it. No matter what it took, I must reach him again.
Not every person of my kind was born with a gift. We were called Maite’Ona, and each one was born with a Fëa essence who would one day meet with their Fëa and bond for eternity. Any who were Maite’Ona were used by the King in efforts to prevail in the war. I would not allow myself or Calen to be used that way, and thus I held my gift in secrecy. Calen had to remain hidden in the forests, and we could meet only sparsely. She had the whole Tiuka Forest to fly around free, and how I longed to be free with her.
One day.
One day we would have the chance to be together.
It wasn’t until one day I met the person who changed everything and gave me determination. He knew of my gift and brilliantly conspired a plan, giving me real purpose. I had a mission. I would carry it out at all costs.
Chapter Nine
~Nari~
Finally! I didn’t think school would ever end. And it was only Monday…great. I stayed up way too late last night working on my sculpture. Once I got into it, time completely flew by. I didn’t realize what time it was until I finally looked up and saw that the clock read 3:02 a.m. Needless to say, I had a hard time staying awake in class. I groggily made my way out of the school and cut onto the grass, heading for home.
“Nari! Wait up!” a male voice called behind me. I closed my eyes and slowly stopped. What did he want now?
“Can I walk you home?” Liam said to me as he caught up. I didn’t feel like arguing.
“Sure, why not…” I replied.
“Sweet! I was expecting a fight from you.”
“Let’s just say you caught me at a weak moment.” I yawned.
“Watch it, chum!” I heard Zaylie say just after colliding with Liam. I guess he wasn’t watching where he was going. Her outburst made me laugh.
“Speak for yourself, Blondie! Now beat it,” Liam mumbled.
“Excuse me? What did you say to me?” Zaylie replied. I swore a fight was about to break out.
“Guys, guys! Calm the heck down! Jeez…” I huffed. They both stared each other down like a Doberman and a Chihuahua in attack mode. That image alone sent me spiraling into fits of laughter—I couldn’t breathe from laughing so hard.
“Nari! This isn’t funny!” they both said at the same time, sending me back to another fit of laughter.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” I pleaded through tears and choked breaths. I wiped at my eyes and tried to sober up. “I’m sorry, guys. I guess I get slap happy from lack of sleep.”
They both looked at me, then at each other, and then immediately out at anything else to avoid meeting gazes a second time. I had to look away too, otherwise I might've lost it again. Just then, Desmond walked up.
“Yo, yo, Nari! This your boyfriend?” Desmond asked.
I practically choked on my own spit at his question and squeaked out, “NO!” He held his hands up as if surrendering with a playful smirk.
“Come on, let’s go. We’ll give you a ride today,” he said, his awesome Australian accent marking the words. From the corner of my eye I saw a very disappointed frown immediately appear on Liam’s face. But…how could I resist?
As soon as I walked in the door, Ray came around the corner from his bedroom. I cringed, waiting for the yelling to begin. Without even looking at me, he mumbled, “Make yourself useful. Take care of this for me.” He then handed me a few twenty-dollar bills and a grocery list before heading toward the couch.
Make yourself useful? Was he serious? I did everything around this house; I was the only useful one around here. I took it, relieved that he wasn’t angry at least, and headed back out the door again.
I had to walk of course, and with evening falling there was a moist chill in the air, so I put on my sweatshirt, turned on my iPod, and listened to music as I headed toward the store. I had to hurry and get this over with. My art project was due soon, and I had a few finishing touches to work on tonight.
I thought back to this past weekend and all the fun memories I was beginning to create. Especially on Saturday watching Rydan play the violin. It was simply magical. He had such a way with music. After I started singing lyrics to his melody, we sat down and just enjoyed each other’s company in silence. He had played another song for me on the violin, but then drove me home, quietly dropping me off at the corner so Ray wouldn’t hear his bike.
As I walked into the local grocery store, I grabbed a basket and started to look at the items on my list: milk, butter, cheese, rat poison.
Wait, rat poison? What was that doing on the list? I hoped it was because we had a rodent problem and not an unwanted female teenager problem. I sarcastically made a mental note that it wouldn’t hurt to check my food from now on. I shook my head and found it anyway. Twenty minutes later, I had found all the items on my list and headed for the checkout counter.
As I walked out of the store, I stopped in my tracks upon seeing this lone figure leaning against the wall outside. He was wearing dark jeans and a dark fitted long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows, exposing his perfect lightly tanned skin. His shirt hugged his muscles just right, accentuating he was tall and slender. A shadow fell just over his face so I couldn’t quite see it, and his black hair was gently layered over his eyes, but it looked like he was giving death stares to a map.
He could have been the devil, or maybe an angel, I wasn’t sure. But one thing I did know was he took my breath away. Something about him screamed dangerous yet extremely alluring, leaving me completely mesmerized. My eyes fell to his neck, marked by the strangest tattoo I had ever seen. I thought it was a tattoo anyway. It was really hard to tell through the shadows and distance I was standing from, but it looked to be a mixture of ink and…scars? It was small and sat right in the middle of the left side of his neck.
I quickly turned on my heel before he noticed me gawking at him, feeling like a complete idiot for standing there as long as I did trying to make out his tattoo…thing. Whatever it was. Either way, I tried to catch the breath that I somehow lost just from his presence. I had no idea what was wrong with me; apparently I'd gone crazy.
Crap, crap, crap. My clock said what time? Oh crap! I was so going to be late for school, and I really needed to get there early to drop off my sculpture. The two weeks we had to complete our projects flew by in a flash, and now that the day was here, my stupid alarm didn’t go off. I let out a loud groan showing my irritation—today of all days.
I jumped out of bed, literally ran to the bathroom, and quickly hopped in the shower. I barely felt the hot water as it reached my skin, and in less than two minutes I was done in record time.
I speed-dried my hair—if that was even possible—not caring if it looked terrible. I realized when my stomach grumbled that I didn’t have time for breakfast. I’d be starving by lunch, but it’d have to do.
Hurriedly, I grabbed my jeans and threw on the nearest top. I took a quick glance in the mirror, and my eyes widened as I realized I put on the same shirt I had worn to school on Friday. I remembered because of the quarter-size stain on the light blue shirt. Mustard from my hot dog had squirted out the backside, and much to my dismay had Liam laughing at me all day because of it.
I shrugged it off and tore through my dresser drawer, trying to find something. Didn’t everything match blue jeans? I was finally satisfied in a purple cotton V-neck shirt.
I grabbed my jacket and took a deep breath, trying to remind myself that I had to go slow with my sculpture. It was very fragile, and I didn’t even want to think about anything happening to it.
As I slung my backpack over my shoulder, I heard a familiar tune notifying me that I received a text message. I grabbed my art project in one hand, very carefully, and my cell phone in the other. I flipped the phone open and read the message as I walked out my bedroom door.
'Don’t drop your sculpture. Be careful. Good luck today.'
I smiled at Rydan’s words, and as I flipped my phone closed just about to go through the front door, Ray stumbled out of the kitchen.
What the…? I was afraid he would see the cell phone that I wasn’t supposed to have, so I quickly put it in my coat pocket and grabbed my sculpture with two hands. Rydan had gotten me the cell phone and was paying for it as well, but we didn’t want Ray to know that.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked me like it was two in the morning and I was sneaking out of the house.
It took me a while to find my voice. I was shocked that he was home. He should've been at work already. “School,” was all I replied.
He looked at me like I had grown an extra head and began to shake his back and forth, as if trying to clear his thoughts. He clutched his head with both hands and moaned. I didn’t want to stand there a second more, so I moved for the door when suddenly he walked toward me and tried to grab my arm.
With the combination of me flinching away and him swaying, he started to fall at me. To protect not the falling drunk but my sculpture, I tried to step out of the way and grabbed onto the nearest object to steady myself, which happened to be the table beside the door. The falling drunk slammed against the door and managed to hurl his arm at my back, causing me to lose balance. At the same time, I watched a new bottle of unopened Jack go crashing toward the floor.
My eyes widened in horror as the scene seemed to be playing in slow motion. Not only was I trying to save my sculpture, which I grasped tightly in my hands, but I was also aware that a stumbling, hungover Ray who was already furious, as I could hear him screaming obscenities, was about to become infinitely more furious. I watched the bottle of Jack hit the floor and burst open. I cringed, wondering where my next bruise would be.
Time suddenly caught up and no longer moved in slow motion. I readied myself and gently put my art piece on the table to get out of harm’s way—a.k.a Ray’s way.
“I…” I honestly didn’t know what to say. I didn’t think "I’m sorry" was going to cut it. I had just broken his new bottle of Jack, and the fact that he was still screaming words I would never repeat, I knew it was going to be a while before I made it to school.
I backed up until I hit the couch when his awful gaze locked with mine, making my stomach instantly sick. I felt like throwing up.
The Sweet Series Box Set: Books 1-4 Page 6