Magic and Shadows: A Collection of YA Fantasy and Paranormal Romances

by T. M. Franklin

  “They’re better if you put some salt and pepper on them,” Troy said and put some on my eggs for me.

  “And if you eat them with your bite of waffle,” Drake added.

  I took a bite of them with just the pepper and salt and was surprised at how much of a difference that made. “That is better.” I stabbed some eggs with my fork and stabbed a piece of waffle and tried that. “That’s good, too.”

  “At least she doesn’t seem to be a picky eater,” Drake commented to Troy.

  “You never know, we haven’t tried too many things yet,” Troy said.

  I didn’t join in their conversation and instead listened to the friends talk while I ate. They were so comfortable with each other and it seemed like Troy could talk about anything to Drake. Would Troy be able to talk with me like that eventually? Maybe he really didn’t trust me. Maybe he never would.

  I tried the white liquid and enjoyed it, but didn’t ask what it was. Once I was full, I took my plate to the sink and rinsed it off before putting it inside the machine that washed the dishes.

  “Thank you for the meal. It was very tasty.”

  “You’re welcome,” Troy said with a smile. “I’m glad you liked it.”

  I went upstairs and could hear Troy and Drake whispering, but didn’t stop to try to overhear them. I had learned from a show that that was considered rude. Since we were going to the water I knew I needed to change clothes. Luckily, Gabriella had added a bathing suit to my items purchased at the last second. I wonder if she knew we would be going to the lake. Could she be psychic? The bathing suit was a top and bottom that resembled underwear and a bra, but for some reason the people considered them different. I put that on and stared at my reflection. It was very little clothing covering me. I put on a pair of shorts and a shirt too and tied my hair up so it wouldn’t get tangled and look weird after it got wet. When I went back downstairs, Drake was gone and Troy was cleaning the kitchen.

  He stopped when he saw me and slowly smiled. “You look ready for the lake.”

  I nodded my head. “Where’d Drake go?”

  “To get his swimming trunks.” I had no idea what that meant.

  “Troy, I, um…” I stopped talking because I felt silly and nervous. I wasn’t sure why I was nervous.

  “What’s up?” he asked me, dried his hands on a towel and walked out of the kitchen to stand just in front of me.

  “I don’t know how to swim,” I whispered.

  “That’s okay. We don’t have to go swimming.”

  “I want to!” I blurted out and bit my lip in embarrassment. “Could you, could you teach me?”

  “You want me to teach you to swim?”

  I nodded my head. “Please.”

  “Okay, but I’m not really a great teacher.”

  Happiness surged within me and I threw my arms around him, hugging him tightly. “Thank you!”

  His entire body stiffened and I realized I had probably done something wrong. I backed away quickly. “Sorry.” I ran up the stairs before he could say anything and shut the door to my room. My heart was racing and I blamed it on the stairs. I couldn’t figure out what to blame the sad feeling in my chest on though. I put my sandals on and called myself insulting names the entire time. He hadn’t done that when I’d hugged him at the mall. Why now?

  I heard his bedroom door close a minute later and then a little bit later someone knocked on the front door and Drake called, “Are you guys ready yet?”

  I took a deep breath, tried to forget about the stupid hugging incident, and jogged down the stairs. “I am.”

  “Here,” Troy said to me from the stairs.

  I turned and took the towel he held out to me. “Thank you,” I whispered and stepped to the side so he could go out the door before me.

  Drake looked from me to Troy and then turned and walked towards a large truck. “I’m driving.”

  Troy stepped outside, but waited to the side of the door. I walked passed him without stopping and climbed into the back seat of the truck clutching the towel that smelled like Troy. He closed his house door and got in the front seat beside Drake.

  “We should stop for snacks on the way,” Drake suggested.

  Troy nodded his head, but didn’t say anything. Drake glanced at me, but I was conveniently looking out the window at everything but the men in the truck with me.

  Drake drove faster than Troy usually did and just laughed when Troy chastised him about it. Slowly Troy relaxed and started joking and talking more with Drake. I didn’t feel sad about not being included and enjoyed watching Troy talk with his friend. Perhaps we needed Drake over more so Troy wouldn’t be so tense with me.

  Drake stopped at a place he called a gas station and he went inside the store it had. “Do you want anything?” Troy asked me, turned sideways to get out of the truck but facing me.

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. Surprise me.”

  He nodded. “Okay.”

  He closed the door behind him and I let my head fall back against the window behind me. What was I doing wrong? Why was he acting weird all of a sudden? Clearly, I did not understand men. I didn’t think that I had done anything wrong. Why was it okay to hug him before and not now? Troy and Drake came out a bit later with several bags of things. What had they gotten? It looked like a lot. They put them in a blue and white rectangle item in the back of the truck and then got back in the truck and started driving. Was it a secret? Or did they just not think to tell me what they had gotten? I guessed it didn’t matter since I would see it at the lake.

  We drove for a long time and the scenery changed a lot as we did. When we finally stopped, we were in a forest of trees that smelled a lot better than the place Troy lived. They got out of the truck, so I did too and followed them towards the large, blue lake in front of us. There were several other people there already, but neither guy seemed worried about that. They stopped a short distance from the water and set their stuff down. Then they took off their shirts and I forgot how to breathe. Both were in very good shape, Troy in better shape than Drake except that Drake had bigger arm muscles than Troy.

  Drake ran and jumped into the lake and yelled happily when he surfaced. “It’s warmer than I thought it would be.”

  I took off my shirt and shorts and set them on top of my towel, which I set on the sand. When I looked back up Drake and Troy were staring at me. I felt self-conscious and wanted to put my clothes back on, but there were several other girls wearing similar bathing suits to mine and no one seemed to care. I straightened my spine and walked confidently towards the water and tried my hardest to ignore the negative thoughts in my head. I dipped my toes in the water and slowly walked in until the water was up to my knees. Drake wandered a bit away to talk to some women who were swimming near us and soon he had them laughing at something he said. I walked farther into the water and stopped when it reached the middle of my stomach because I was worried about not reaching the bottom and drowning.

  “You okay?” Troy asked me softly and swam closer to me.

  I nodded my head and then looked around at the lake. It really was beautiful here. Someone was playing odd sounding music and a few women were dancing to it with men drinking and smiling. Out in the water people were riding and driving boats. Some were fishing and others were riding on strange machines that went fast on the water and caused ripples across the lake that reached even to us.

  “To keep your head above the water is actually pretty easy,” Troy told me, making me look at him. “You just kick your legs back and forth. Watch mine.”

  The water was clear enough for me to see, so I watched as he slowly moved his feet back and forth under the water. “That’s it?” I asked nervously.

  He nodded his head. “I’ll stay near you, if you want?”

  I nodded my head and walked closer to him, the water going up to my chin and then he held out a hand towards me. I set my hand in it and started moving my legs as I pulled my body closer to him by my grip. It seemed to work for a s
econd, but then my head went under the water. Troy wrapped his arm around my waist and lifted me up until my face was out of the water and at the same level as his. I took a deep breath and wiped the water off my face and out of my eyes.

  “You okay?” he asked. I nodded my head, but refused to speak. He was holding me right against his body, our chests and stomachs touching. In the water, his skin felt really warm. “Maybe move your legs a little faster this time.”

  I nodded my head and then he pulled his arm away from my waist. I wanted to throw my arms around his neck, but instead I pushed back from him and moved my legs faster this time and kept my head above the water.

  “Good,” he said with a smile.

  I smiled back, proud of myself.

  “To swim, you move your arms like this,” he made a weird move where he swung his arm around next to his head and said, “While kicking your feet at the same time. Let’s move you back to where you can touch so you can watch me.” He pulled me towards the shallower water and once I was on my feet, he started swimming in front of me. “You can try in that water so if you get nervous you can just put your feet down and stand up, okay?”

  I felt stupid as I did the arm movements he had shown me and kicked, but he said, “You need to get your feet up towards the top of the water and kick harder.” I did, but then I made a lot of noise and splashed water around. “Legs a little lower,” he amended.

  “Is that guy really teaching her to swim? She’s like twenty and she can’t swim?” some woman scoffed from nearby.

  “What an idiot,” another agreed.

  “How do you not know how to swim? It’s almost natural,” a guy agreed.

  My face was burning with embarrassment and anger. I probably did know how to swim before. Plus, what was wrong with me learning? If I was supposed to know how, then why was it wrong to learn?

  “Just ignore them,” he told me.

  I continued practicing and managed to swim a bit.

  “How’s it going?” Drake asked me with a happy smile.

  I shrugged and looked down at the water.

  “Don’t worry about it, we all took lessons as kids,” he said. “We took weeks of lessons before we really learned.”

  I knew he was trying to make me feel better, but it wasn’t really working.

  “Are you guys hungry? We could start making food,” Drake suggested.

  “Yeah,” Troy told him.

  “I’ll start the coals,” Drake said and walked away.

  I was still looking down when a fish swam near me. I stumbled back and Troy laughed softly. “The fish won’t hurt you,” he said.

  “They won’t bite?” I asked without looking at him.

  “Nope.”

  I went out into the deeper water and practiced kicking my legs to keep my head above water and watched all of the different people around us. Far off there were some kids playing in the sand and their parents watched them while they sat on towels. As I watched the family I realized two things: one, I wanted a guy who loved me and wanted to do things with me like that; and two, I did not want children.

  “You’re doing really well,” Troy praised me and swam around until he was in front of me.

  “I have a good teacher,” I said with a smile.

  “I think you’re just a quick learner.”

  I shrugged and stopped kicking for a moment which made me drop under the water again. Troy pulled me up quickly and smiled at me as he held me. Everything around us seemed to disappear as I looked into his eyes. He was so nice and sweet and so handsome. I leaned forward to kiss him and he pushed me back until he was holding me by the waist at arm’s length.

  “Am I ugly?” I asked him as angry tears brimmed in the corners of my eyes.

  “What?” he asked with a frown.

  “Is that why you won’t kiss me?”

  “No, it’s not that.”

  “Then what is it? If you’re attracted to me then why don’t you want to kiss me?” I asked him in confusion. He was single and so was I, so why wouldn’t he kiss me? It didn’t make sense.

  “You’re still learning everything and I don’t want you to kiss me just because I’m the only man you know right now.”

  “That’s stupid. I’ve met other men. Is it because you think I’m lying? Is it because you don’t trust me still?”

  “I don’t think you’re lying,” he said in shock.

  I pushed away from him and swam as well as I could until I could touch the bottom. “But you don’t trust me,” I said angrily and kept walking towards the shore and my towel.

  “I didn’t say that,” he snapped as he followed me.

  “Food’s almost ready,” Drake said with a smile. He was standing next to a round black object that had smoke coming out of it. He saw our faces and his smile wilted. “Everything okay?”

  “No,” I said angrily.

  “Yes,” Troy said.

  I turned to glare at him and said, “Of course you’re fine.”

  “Alys,” he started with a sigh.

  “No, I don’t want to hear your lies anymore!” I snapped at him and snatched my towel from the ground. I shook it out, wrapped it around myself and walked towards the building with the symbols that meant there were bathrooms there.

  “Alys!” he called after me, but I ignored him and kept walking. I walked past the building and sat at a table around the other side in some grass, which was thankfully deserted.

  I put my arms on the table and my head on them and cried. Everything was so confusing and people were mean and rude. Why did people not trust me?

  “A man who makes a woman cry isn’t worth your time,” a man said from in front of me. I lifted my head and gasped at the silver-eyed man sitting across from me. He lifted one of my tears off my face with his finger and examined it. “I don’t like seeing you cry, Alys.”

  “Who are you?” I asked him and sniffled as the tears stopped. For some reason, he made me feel safe.

  “I’m a friend,” he whispered.

  “Do you know me from before?” I asked.

  “Before what?” he asked me.

  “Before I lost my memory,” I whispered to him.

  His eyes hardened and the tear disappeared as if evaporated. “That’s why you don’t recognize me. I thought you were just pretending.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t remember anything, except my name.”

  He sighed and looked at me sadly. “I wish I could just take you back.”

  “Back? Back where?”

  “I’ve already said too much,” he replied and stood up.

  “What’s your name?” I asked him, standing up too.

  “I can’t tell you that,” he whispered.

  “Why won’t you tell me? Why won’t you help me with my memories if you know me?” I asked angrily.

  “If you saw fit to have your memories removed, then giving them back to you would only cause you to be angry with me. I don’t want to make you angry,” he explained.

  “I had my memories removed? How is that even possible? Why would I do that?” This was so confusing.

  “Alys!” Troy called.

  “Your friend is looking for you,” the silver-eyed man growled.

  “Wait, please tell me something,” I begged him.

  “The war is escalating and you might be in danger. As much as I dislike this mortal, he is capable of protecting you for a bit if something happens. Stay with him for now. Stay safe, Alys. Please, stay safe.” He rested his fingertips against my cheek and then walked into the forest.

  “Who was that? What did he say to you?” Troy asked.

  My cheek tingled where he had touched me and I felt sad without him here with me. “A friend,” I whispered.

  “A friend? He knows you? Wait, isn’t that the guy who was bothering you at the mall? How did he find us here? If he’s stalking you, I’ll…”

  “He knows me from before,” I told him and looked at him. “Why would someone purposefully forget their memories
?” I asked Troy.

  “What?” he asked me and was clearly confused by my question.

  “He said that I had my memories removed. Why would I do that? What if I’m a bad person? What if I did something terrible?” I asked, my words coming out faster and faster. “Maybe I shouldn’t be trusted. Maybe I’m a bad person.”

  “I don’t think you’re a bad person,” he said.

  “You don’t know. You don’t know me. What if I am a criminal?” I was nearly frantic now.

  “If you were a criminal, you would have come up in our database,” he said confidently.

  “He said there was a war. What war?”

  “There are wars all the time,” he said, “What else did he say?”

  I was near hysterical now and I couldn’t make my hands stop shaking. “He said I could be in danger, and that you could protect me and to stay safe. What war? Why would I be in danger? Did I cause the war? Who is it between? Maybe I should leave. I could be putting you in danger and…”

  Troy grabbed my arms and squatted down until I could see his face. “You’re not going anywhere. If you are in danger, then leaving will only increase the likelihood of you getting hurt. Whatever war this is doesn’t matter to me.”

  “I don’t want you to get hurt because of me,” I whispered with fresh tears falling down my face for a whole new reason.

  It wasn’t his fault that he was nice. He shouldn’t get hurt just because he was nice.

  “It’s my job to protect people, remember?”

  So now I was just part of his job?

  “We’re friends, right?” he asked me.

  “Are we?” I asked him softly.

  He nodded his head and smiled. “Of course we are. And as your friend, I promise to keep you safe, okay?”

  “Troy, I don’t…”

  He stood up and shook his head at me to stop me from continuing what I was going to say. “That’s enough. Let’s go eat and then we can go back to the house, okay? For all we know, that guy was lying to you and just wanted to make you agitated.”

  I didn’t think the silver-eyed man had lied. He didn’t seem like he was lying to me and he seemed like he really knew me. When he realized that I didn’t know him, he really seemed sad.