by Brea Essex
“Hello? Raena? Are you okay?” he asked.
“Logan?” I whispered.
“Yes, it’s me. Are you okay?” He sounded worried.
“Did I—did I call you?” I wondered aloud.
He laughed. “Well, I do believe you did. Did you not mean to?”
“I was having a horrible dream,” I explained. “Your voice woke me up. I must have called you in my sleep.”
I could hear the arrogance in his voice. “So, I guess you could say I saved you. Glad I could help.”
“Wait, what did you say?” I demanded.
“I said, ‘Glad I could help.’”
“No, no! Before that!”
“I guess I saved you?” he repeated.
I sat there, stunned. Had I been dreaming of Logan? That couldn’t be right. “What do you mean?” I whispered.
“I guess I saved you from whatever was happening in your dream by waking you up,” he said.
I sat quiet for a few minutes, not knowing what to say.
“Raena? Are you still there? Do you want to talk? What happened?”
I suddenly found myself wanting to tell him everything. I sighed. “Well, I’ve just kind of had a bad day since we got out of school. When I got home, there were flowers from Andrei. Then when I was downstairs talking to my foster mom, he showed up.”
I could hear his sharp intake of breath. “What did he say?”
“At first, he apologized, but then he started acting like a jerk. I told him off and forced him to leave.”
“I’m glad.” He hesitated. “I don’t mean to tell you what to do, but you deserve better than that guy.”
I was afraid to ask him again if he wanted to be the one to treat me better. I thought I might be starting to like Logan, and I was scared he would say he only liked me as a friend. Instead, I said, “Anyway, I fell asleep and had a nightmare. Then, apparently I called you in my sleep, and here we are.”
“I’m glad you called,” he told me.
“I am, too. I feel so much better after talking to you,” I admitted.
“I’m glad to hear it.”
We continued to talk about mundane things and of more important issues. I must have drifted off at some point, because the next thing I knew, my alarm went off.
“Good morning,” Logan’s voice murmured in my ear.
I smiled as I realized I had fallen asleep still talking to him, my phone clutched to my ear. “Morning,” I whispered.
“Did you sleep well?” he asked. “No more nightmares?”
“No, no more nightmares,” I told him.
“As much as I hate to, Raena, I should let you go. We both need to get ready for school. I’ll meet you at the gate if that’s okay.”
“Of course. I’ll see you soon,” I said.
“I can’t wait.” He clicked off.
I lay in bed, grinning like a fool. Tanis knocked on the connecting door and popped her head in. “Were you just talking to yourself?” she asked.
“Nope,” I said. “I was talking to Logan.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Well. Isn’t that interesting? Sounds like I was right.”
“Yes, you were right. I told Andrei off yesterday, and things are over with him. Then, I talked to Logan half the night.”
“I guess we’re going to be seeing a lot of him then.”
“I don’t even know if he likes me.”
“He likes you,” she told me as she started to walk back into the bathroom. “Trust me, I can tell.”
“Tanis?” I called after her.
“Yeah?”
“Even if Logan does like me, I don’t know if I’m ready to get involved with someone so soon after this disaster with Andrei.”
She walked back and sat on the edge of my bed. “That’s true. Don’t jump into another relationship. I know you weren’t technically in a relationship with Andrei, but still, wait awhile. I’m sure Logan will understand.”
I gave her a wan smile “Thanks. It helps a lot.”
Tanis stood again and headed for the door once more. “Now, get ready or we’re going to be late!”
That got me out of bed like nothing else could. I didn’t want to miss meeting Logan before school.
As I got out of bed, I noticed some scratch marks on my arms. Where had those come from? They hadn’t been there when I went to bed. I froze as I realized that something had scratched me in my dream. It couldn’t have been real…
I shrugged it off. Maybe I had scratched myself thrashing around in my bed while caught in my nightmare. Or maybe Nuada had scratched me because I rolled over on her or something. She’d done it before.
I showered quickly, leaving my hair to air dry. I didn’t feel like dealing with straightening it. I couldn’t explain why, but I was excited to see Logan. Was I falling for him? Now that I was getting to know him better, he seemed sweet, but I wanted to be careful after the whole Andrei incident. Still, I felt drawn to Logan in a way I hadn’t felt toward Andrei, or any other guy in the past.
I stood in front of my closet for the longest time, choosing my clothing carefully. I had to opt for long sleeves yet again, because the bruise from Andrei’s hand still showed a little. I’d attempted to cover it with makeup, but I could still see purple traces beneath the cover of foundation. When I went to cover the scratches, too, they weren’t there.
Had I imagined them? More likely, my arms had been creased from the sheets and the creases had faded while I got ready. Oh well, one less thing I had to worry about hiding.
I breathed a sigh of relief that I’d ended things with Andrei. No way would I become one of those poor abused girls who always had to wear long sleeves and plaster their bodies with concealer every day. I felt sorry for those girls, but glad I wouldn’t end up in the same situation.
I took one last look in the mirror, realizing no amount of concealer would cover the dark circles under my eyes from the lack of sleep over the past couple of days. Well, I’m sure Logan will understand my appearance, I thought. I laughed a little when I realized just how concerned I felt about how I looked to him. I shook my head at myself, grabbed my bag, and headed to the car.
Chapter Twenty-One
When Tanis and I arrived at school, Logan waited at the gate as promised. He greeted me with a smile, taking my bag without saying anything. Tanis waved and disappeared. Logan and I walked extremely close to each other as we headed to class, our hands brushing.
“I need to stop by my locker,” I told him.
He nodded and gestured for me to lead the way. We had been together constantly at school for the past two days, but I rarely used my locker, and he had no idea where it was.
When we reached it, I stretched out my arm to dial my combination. I paused at Logan’s quiet question— “What’s that?”
I glanced around, wondering what he meant. “What?”
“That.” He touched my wrist where the sleeve of my shirt had slid up my forearm. I stared at him, not sure what to say. “Did Andrei do that to you? When he grabbed you the other day?”
“Yeah,” I admitted. His eyes narrowed. I ducked my head to avoid his gaze, and concentrated on pulling my sleeve back over the bruise.
“I’m glad you’re rid of him, Raena. He was a jerk.”
“I know. I’m glad, too.” I reached up again, spun the lock, opened the door…and froze. A note hung suspended from my locker shelf. It was from Andrei. I glanced around, confused. Nothing else seemed to be out of the ordinary, but now the day had taken on a surreal quality. How had he known which locker was mine? How had he gotten into it?
My hand shaking, I reached into my locker and pulled the note from the shelf.
“What’s going on?” Logan asked.
“Look,” I whispered. I held the note out so we could both read it.
Rae,
I tried to work things out with you, but you refused. I don’t think you realize how big of a mistake you’re making here. I WILL be with you, and you WILL be with me. Th
at’s the way it’s meant to be. We need to talk. Today. I’ll be waiting for you after school. Andrei.
I heard a roaring in my ears, and my vision began to cloud. My knees began to buckle, but Logan’s strong hands grasped my shoulders, steadying me. He took the note and crumpled it. “Rae, I’ve got to get you out of here. Let’s go.”
He started to guide me back to the parking lot, but I protested. “Logan, we have to go to class.”
“No. I have to get you out of here now! We need to go somewhere he can’t find you. I have to protect you.”
Logan put his arm around my shoulders, steering me out to the parking lot to his car. He opened the passenger door and helped me into the car, ordering me to put my seatbelt on. He rushed around the car, yanked open the driver’s side door, and jumped in. He’d barely shut the door before he turned the ignition and threw the car into gear.
“Where do you want to go?” he asked as we peeled out of the parking lot. I thought he was just trying to make conversation to calm us both down.
“Well, I could use some coffee,” I told him.
“Okay. Do you want to go to the coffee shop in the Village?”
“No!” I yelled, startling him.
He glanced at me, eyes wide, and then turned his attention back to driving. “Okay, okay. Sorry, not the Village.”
Still breathless, I said, “Andrei works there.”
“Well, we don’t want to go there, then.” Logan glared out at the road, perking up a little. “I know the perfect place.”
“Where?”
“You’ll see,” he responded cryptically.
****
Logan
My head spun at the implications of the note Andrei had left in Rae’s locker. He had threatened her. There was no other way the note could be construed. The fact that he had somehow known which locker was hers and had gotten into it without knowing the combination, suggested he had the ability to carry out the threat.
I wanted nothing more than to take Rae and run as far away as possible. I didn’t want to worry her family though. Hopefully Andrei didn’t have a way to track us. The most important thing now was to get her away from the school. Andrei could find her there. He could find her at home, also, but that would have to be dealt with later. I had to keep her safe for the time being. I just had to take things one step at a time, handling the present while trying to come up with a plan for later.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Raena
We drove for a while in silence, listening to the radio. Logan headed toward Santa Cruz. I had no idea where he planned to take me. Eventually, he told me to close my eyes.
“Why?” I asked.
“Just do it, Raena.”
I shut my eyes. We drove for a few more minutes. “Now open them,” he whispered.
I complied, surprised to see where we were. I sucked in a deep breath. We were at the Boardwalk! Ever since I’d been a little girl, I had loved coming to the Beach Boardwalk. I used to beg my mom to take me every time we came to visit Genevra and Shane. “How did you know this is one of my favorite places?” I asked.
“I didn’t. I just figured you needed to have some fun. You need to forget about the stress for one day. Besides, there’s a coffee shop here, and you said you needed coffee.”
“Thank you, Logan,” I told him, placing my hand over his. “This was the perfect idea.”
We didn’t have too much trouble finding a parking spot since it was a weekday. The rides wouldn’t be open for several hours yet, but hopefully the coffee place would be. Unfortunately, to our immense disappointment, it was still closed. “Come on,” Logan said. “I’ll take you somewhere else.”
“It’s okay,” I said. “Coffee can wait.”
“No, I promised you coffee and I’m going to get you coffee,” he insisted.
I impulsively grabbed his hand and instantly felt that heat again. “Logan, it’s okay.”
A genuine smile flitted across his perfect lips, and he held fast to my hand. My stomach did a little flip. “Since nothing’s open, why don’t we go for a walk on the beach?” he suggested.
“Okay.”
We walked down one of the many short staircases leading from the Boardwalk down to the beach. We sat down on one of the steps, took off our shoes, and rolled up our jeans. He took my shoes from me, shyly holding out his hand for mine. It was strange to see him hesitant.
We headed toward the water. As we wandered along the edge of the surf, fading waves lapped at our toes. A fog hung low over the water, but it showed the promise of burning off by afternoon.
This is so peaceful, I thought to myself as we walked. Being with Logan made me feel better than being with Andrei ever had. Just walking in silence with him was bliss.
He stopped walking and faced me. He lifted his free hand and brushed my hair out of my face, tucking a stray lock behind my ear. He stared at me as though trying to memorize every feature of my face. Finally, he spoke. “Raena, I think I love you,” he murmured as he bent his head down toward mine.
Chapter Twenty-Three
My world felt as though it exploded when Logan’s lips touched mine. The heat I felt when he touched me intensified, lighting me on fire. My knees began to buckle, but his strong arms wrapped securely around my waist and helped me remain on my feet. His lips were soft and warm. I reached up and locked my arms around his neck, pulling him closer to me.
A wave broke against our legs, startling us. He pulled back and started to release me. My hand on his face stopped him. “I think I love you, too, Logan,” I whispered as I slid my hand up into his hair, pushing it out of his eyes.
I wished I could have captured the look on his face forever. As my words registered, his eyes lit up, and his lips curled into a wide grin. I saw no trace of his trademark smirk. My heart stopped at the thought of what I needed to say next.
“Logan…” I hesitated. “I do like you a lot—maybe I even love you—but it’s too soon. I’m not ready for a relationship right now. After what happened with Andrei the past couple of days, I need to be careful. It’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s just…it’s just too soon.”
His smile fractured. The gleam in his eyes dulled. “Of course,” he whispered with a slight crack to his voice. “I understand.”
He let go of me and started to walk away. “Why don’t we go out on the pier?” he suggested with a false note to his voice.
I ran toward him and grabbed his arm, hauling him back. “Logan! Please don’t be upset. I’m not rejecting you. I just need a little time. It would seem so fickle to start dating you so soon after ending things with Andrei…not that much happened with Andrei. You understand, don’t you? Can you give me the time I need?”
Logan closed his eyes. His brow furrowed, and he rubbed his forehead with his free hand. He opened his eyes to look at me. “Yeah. I understand. I can give you time.”
“Please don’t give up on us. I just need a few weeks to deal with this. Besides, I don’t want Andrei coming after you.”
He laughed, but it held no humor. “I’m not afraid of Andrei.”
“I know. But I am, a little. And I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
He cupped my jaw with one hand. “Don’t worry, Raena. Nothing’s going to happen to me. You can have all the time you need. I won’t give up on us. I promise.”
I gave him a small smile, and we headed for the pier. Even though some of the shops were open, we passed them. Before we reached the end, I stopped. “Let’s watch the sea lions,” I suggested. Several square areas were cut out of the planks of the pier, but the railings offered safety needed to look down without worrying about falling in. Sea lions were visible through the holes, as they cooled off from sunning on the rocks.
I shivered a little, and Logan took off his coat, wrapping it around my shoulders. I gratefully pushed my arms through the sleeves, marveling at the way it hung on me. I had never realized how much bigger he was. He put his arm around my waist, pulling me
close against him to help keep me warm. I wasn’t sure this constituted giving me the time I needed, but I enjoyed being close to him, willingly sharing his warmth.
We watched the sea lions for a while as we wandered out to the end of the pier. The ocean rolled along happily, and the sun had just started to peek out from behind the clouds. I glanced down to the beach, noticing it had become more crowded.
He followed my line of sight. “Why don’t we see about that coffee now?” he suggested.
When we reached the coffee shop, we were glad to find it open. We sat for quite a while, but we couldn’t take up the table forever. Afterward, the rides still weren’t open, so we went to play a round of miniature golf. I was horrible at it, but it didn’t matter to me. Being with Logan was the only important thing.
The rides finally opened. “Don’t you think you should call Tanis?” Logan asked as we stood in line at the ticket booth.
I sighed. “Yeah, I should let her know where we are. She’ll wonder if I don’t show up at lunch or at the car after school.”
I stepped out of line and walked a few feet away so I could make my call without a bunch of strangers listening in. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and hit Tanis’s number on my favorites list. I had planned on just leaving a message, but to my surprise, she answered. “Where are you?” she demanded.
“After you left, I went to my locker. Andrei had somehow gotten into it, and he left a threatening note. He said he would be waiting for me after school. Tanis, I had to get out of there. I was too afraid.”
“Oh, wow,” she said quietly. “Are you okay now? Where are you? You aren’t alone, are you?”
“I’m okay. I’m with Logan. We’re at the Boardwalk.”
“Is he going to take you home? I’m assuming you’re not coming back to school.”
“No,” I said. “I’m not coming back to school. Not today. Logan will take me home. I’ll see you there later.”