“He’s hooking up your internet thingy today.” Gran announced. “Marie and I went and got your car.” She said as she handed me the keys. I wondered how long I had been asleep when my phone alerted me to an incoming text.
Are you okay? The text read. I didn’t recognize the number.
Who is this? I replied back. It wasn’t even two seconds and another came through.
Evan Blake.
Evan Blake? Why was he texting me? And how did he get my number? I thought he hated me. Then, another text came through.
Meet me at Cannon Beach @ 6.
Why would he assume I wanted to meet him anywhere? Some nerve this one has I thought. I decided then and there I wasn’t going to meet him anywhere, until thirty minutes later the curiosity got the best of me. I looked at my phone for the time. It was five thirty five. I still had time to make it. I grabbed my keys and went to tell Gran I was going out for a ride. She didn’t put up much of a fight as I thought she would. If she knew I was meeting Evan she would freak out, even though I didn’t know why. I got in my car and pulled my phone out to text Evan before I drove off.
I’m on my way
When I got to Cannon Beach it was deserted. No one was in sight. Not even Evan. I pulled my phone out of my back pocket to see if he ever responded to my text letting him know I was on my way. Nothing! I found a large rock to sit on in front of the ocean. I stared off into the sunset, thinking of my parents. I miss them, and I missed my home. I wanted to cry, but I held back the tears incase Evan was to walk up on me. I didn’t want to explain why I was crying. Besides, I hadn’t told anyone why I had to move here. I looked at my phone for the time, it was six thirty. He was thirty minutes late. “Ah, why did I even come? Emma, you are stupid.” I scolded myself. I let out a big sigh and stood up to leave. As I turned, there stood Evan. He was as beautiful as I remembered. He had on a pair of dark colored jeans and a royal blue shirt that set off his gorgeous eyes. “You’re late.” I barked.
“Are you okay?” he asked, completely ignoring my comment on his tardiness.
“Yes. Didn’t your mother tell you I was?” I asked him, assuming he even asked her.
“Yes, but you left school early, I assumed-’’
“Why do you care?” I snapped.
“Because-“
“Because why?” You don’t even like me.”
“Who said I didn’t like you?” he said with a curious look on his face.
“You did, in not so many words.” I said as my voice faded.
“You don’t know anything Emma.” When he said my name I got goose bumps.
“I know the first day I meet you, you ran out of the class when you had to sit beside me. I know you changed classes so you didn’t have to be near me. I know you-” Before I could continue, he embraced me in a deep, passionate kiss. At first I sat there, not kissing him back for a moment .But it wasn’t long before I was matching his kiss. And then he stopped. I slowly looked up to meet his gaze. He looked at me and smiled. I could see the tenderness in his eyes. I could tell he wasn’t this mean hateful person he was pretending to be, and then suddenly walked away. He never even looked back. I stood there in frozen where I stood, unable to move or speak. I wanted to call out for him, but I was unsure of what just happened.
Sitting back on the rock, I replayed what just happened in my head. I don’t understand? Does he or doesn’t he like me? I could sit here all night trying to figure him out, but it would get me nowhere. It was getting dark now and I needed to go home. I decided then, I was going to stop obsessing over Evan Blake. I would not let him define who I was.
Chapter 4
Evan had been avoiding me since our kiss at Cannon beach a few weeks ago. I tried my best to pretend that it never even happened. But every time I saw him the memory came rushing back again. I had to force myself to not stare in his general direction whenever he was close. I wanted to be mad at him and to hate him like he hated me, but for some reason it only drew me to him more. But I don’t think it would matter how much I looked in his direction, I could stare at him 24/7 and he wouldn’t even notice. Evan was being really good about pretending I didn’t exist. He didn’t even look my way anymore. If I saw him in the hallway he was always looking down, not even looking up, and I knew this because I was always looking at his face hoping to catch a glimpse of that tender emotion I saw the night at the beach. I wanted to ask him how he stopped that sign, what was that image I saw, and why did he kiss me to only ignore me? But I couldn’t find the courage to ask him.
Sami noticed right away I was depressed and pressed me about why. I didn’t want to tell her about Evan and our kiss at the beach the night he saved my life. The whole school heard about the incident with the sign, and of course Sami and my other friends saw what happened after the fact but I never told them Evan stopped the sign from falling on me, only that he pushed me out of the way. Eventually I just told her about my parents, making her promise not to another soul. I didn’t need anyone’s sympathy. I hoped that would explain away the depression part. I could tell after telling her she treated me different. Not in a bad way, she was just more caution with her words. I did miss my parents, but my change in my mood was definitely over Evan and his bizarre behavior towards me.
Brady and Collin seemed to start competing almost for my attention. If Collin walked with me to lunch Brady made sure to sit by me during lunch, or squeeze into a seat to insure I would be able to pay him some attention. Sami said they both had liked me and they were acting very immature. I agreed. Amy seemed to get more distanced from us, I wondered if it had anything to do with Collin, and maybe Amy was jealous he was paying me attention. I was probably going to have to do something about this soon or I may make another enemy with Amy.
The excitement going around school was about the upcoming field trip hiking trip tomorrow to Saddle Mountain Trail. The whole Senior Class was going. I wasn’t too excited about going. I loved the outdoors, but having to hike a six mile trail wasn’t what I had in mind for fun. Plus I was sure Evan would be there, and running into him would be inevitable. And with as much as he hated me, he may push me over the edge. Sami had reminded me about needing hiking boots, and I remembered I still hadn’t gotten a pair. I would have to make a run to the local sporting goods store this afternoon to pair a cheap pair. I didn’t see the sense in buying an expensive pair since I was only going to be wearing them once. Or I thought about pretending to be sick that day. Then I wouldn’t have to come in close contact with Evan and have him push me to my death. Sami and Amy said they would go with me today after school so I could buy me a pair of boots. I didn’t really know where the store was in the next town was anyways and Sami said she wanted to buy a new fanny pack for the trip anyways.
After school Sami, Amy and I headed to the front doors to leave. They decided to just ride with me instead of riding the school bus home and then having me pick them up to leave for the sporting goods store. When we reached outside I did my usual glace towards Evans car. He was leaning against the trunk talking with his brothers. Of course he never even looked up. I kept my attention on him the whole way to my car as Sami and Amy causally chatted about Collin and Brady. It was clear to me that they both liked the boys more than they was willing to admit, I just wasn’t sure which one of them liked who. As I stared at Evan and his brother talking I noticed Evan and how flawless he was. His eyes, nose, mouth …everything was perfectly aligned where it should be. Nothing was out of proportion. And I remembered Doctor Blake, how beautiful she was when she came to the school to examine me, Evan must get his looks from his mother I could only presume since I have never meet his father. But then I thought, even his brothers Cameron and Everett was perfect, and they were adopted. Everything about them all was so perfect it was scary. Then I wondered if maybe their father was a plastic surgeon. I just knew he was a doctor at the hospital in town. Maybe he was a plastic surgeon and he had done work on his family. But what sane person would do any kind of plastic surgery on
teenagers? Maybe that’s why they seem to be outcast here to people? I didn’t know, but I wanted to learn more about them. By now Evan’s sister Payton was walking to the car towards Evan and his brothers, she looked at me and gave me a small smirk, which caused me to look away. I am sure she saw me staring. So I hurried to my car even faster before I could make a bigger fool of myself. We all got in my car and headed towards the sporting goods store.
As we pulled in the parking lot of Goodies Sporting Goods we all got out of my car and walked in to the store. After finding what I wanted a pimple face boy with braces whom name tag read Brad went to the back to find my size I would need in a cheap pair of brown boot I had found. When he came back with them I tried them on. They were a perfect fit. Sami found her fanny pack and we hurried to the front of the store to pay for our items. Amy laughed at me about the boy who helped me and said he must have liked me. I gave her a playful little push and told her to shut up.
Once we got back in Astoria we stopped for pizza in town at the local diner. Most of the kids from school were there. I was surprised to see Evan and his siblings there. As Sami, Amy and I got our seat in the back of the diner, Evan and his siblings sat up towards the front. As we walked past Evan stared at me until we past. This didn’t go unnoticed by Sami or Amy. “Evan is looking at you again.” Sami said as she nudged my arm. I took my seat, trying not to acknowledge her and what she said. “Did you hear me?” she asked.
“Yeah.” I said, still trying to avoid her comment.
“I think he likes you.” Amy replied with a giggle. I never commented. Thankfully the waitress came to take our order. By time the waitress left, I looked up and The Blake’s were gone. I let out a sigh of relief. Now maybe Sami and Amy both would drop the subject.
On our way to Sami’s house to drop her off first we turned the radio up as loud as it would go and just jammed out to some Blue October. After we dropped Sami off, Amy climbed in the front seat for our ride to her house. We still left the radio up really loud, which I was relieved. I didn’t know what to really say to Amy alone. Sami was usually our conversation starter. I liked Amy but she wasn’t like Sami, and I didn’t get along as well with her as I do with Sami. Once Amy was dropped off I was off to my house switching the radio over to the country channel. As I headed towards my house I saw a car in my rear view mirror making a fast approach. I kept watch looking in my side mirrors too. When it got within a few feet behind my car it slowed down. I kept my same steady speed, so when the car never tried to pass me I relaxed. Every turn I made I noticed it copied. I was starting to get nervous. Right before I reached my turn before the entrance to the Reservation I decided if it followed me in, I wouldn’t go to my house, if it was someone following me, I didn’t want them to know where I lived. When my turn was approaching I turned on my left turn signal, the car behind me never turn theirs on, but they also never did the other times either, my car came to a slow as the street I was turning on was near. As I turned onto Grant Street I quickly looked into my rear view mirror to see if the car that had been behind me this whole time had followed. To my surprise, I saw it fly past on the main road I just turned off of. I let out a big sigh of relief. Why was I being so paranoid? First I think a kid that barely knows me hates me, now I think someone is following me. This town was making me go crazy!
*****
We all stood outside the school waiting to load the buses. I could see Evan and his brother waiting two buses over from where I stood. He had on a red long sleeved thermal with a pair a light colored jeans and a pair of very expensive hiking boots on. Collin and Brady were goofing off in front of me wrestling with each other. I backed away so they didn’t injure me in the process. They both seemed to have way too much energy for it to be so early in the morning. I still haven’t woken up yet. Sami and Amy were watching the two boys playing around with huge grins on their faces. It was clear they liked them, I just couldn’t tell which one Sami liked and which one Amy liked. Mr. Simpson our gym teacher called us all to attention to let us know we could all board the buses now. As we started to load I gave a quick glace over to Evan again, he was walking up the steps on to the bus. I just stared and shook my head. The bus ride to the hiking trail was noisy. Everyone was talking and laughing with excitement for a day out of class. I would rather be in a classroom somewhere reading a good book or doing an assignment. Hiking was not my idea of a field trip.
As we unloaded the buses once we reached our destination there was still a chill to the morning air. The fog was thick in the air that seeing too far ahead proved to be a challenge. The hike to the first saddle was about two miles. There, the teacher let us stop for a water break. As we all took drinks from our water bottles he pointed out a small patch of poison ivy for us to watch out for. I moved quickly away at once. I stayed with Sami and Amy mostly, trying to stay as far away from Evan as possible, although he kept his distance from me staying far in the back of the line. As we continued on, the trail dipped down into the saddle and up to the second peak for about two and a half miles up. We stopped for another short break again. This time Mr. Simpson was showing us all the different trees and naming each one. We stood beneath tall trees looking at each one in awe. Some were very tall that I strained my neck looking up at them.
Although the hike was beautiful, it was exhausting. You hike through very heavy wooded areas. And there was a steep, rocky ascent at the summit. Of course I scrapped up my knees and palms as I fell down a lot. The knees of my jeans had grass stains on them. Hopefully Gran could get them out, because instead of thinking that I would be in the woods all day getting dirty, all I thought was I was going to see Evan Blake today and I wore my good pair Levi’s. Then I noticed the big hole in the knee of my jeans and sighed. Brady was nice enough to lend me his hand once he reached the top to help me up. Amy gave me the look, which I saw as I was crawling up off my hands and knees as I reached the top. Once everyone made it to the top, Mr. Simpson let us rest for a bit longer before we headed back down the trail for the return trip. I was sure the trip down wouldn’t take me as long this time, going down was fast when u had an incline you could roll all the way down. I looked over to where Evan was standing and saw him staring towards Mt. Rainer. I took that opportunity to stare at his perfect face without being caught by him. My thoughts drifted to our kissed we shared at Cannon Beach. And as if he knew what I was thinking he turned on cue and looked at me, I quickly took out my cell and snapped a few pictures of Mt. Rainer, Mt St. Helens and Mt Adams. But he caught me before I could turn quick enough. “They are very beautiful.” I said loud enough so he could hear me, hoping he would think I was just looking around when he looked my way. “You should see them when they are covered in snow.” Sami said. I laughed “That would never happen. I couldn’t even make it up this trail when it was dry, let alone when it was covered in snow.” She looked down at my jeans and saw the big hole I tore in the knees and laughed. “You are an accident waiting to happen” she said laughing. And I swear I could hear Evan laughing as if he heard every word we said, which was impossible since he was clear across the other side of the summit. Although I did notice since we made it to the top of the summit Evan started to look in my general direction more. And this was an improvement since our big kiss weeks ago. I tried to not look at him anymore than I had to. Since he seemed to finally be acknowledging me, I didn’t want to do anything that would make him go back to giving me the cold shoulder.
Our way back down the trail was a nightmare for me. Collin and Brady both helped Sami, Amy and I as much as possible, but I still fell down…a lot. I could hear little giggles from the back, and I was sure I recognized the voice to be Evan’s, but I wouldn’t swear to it. After all, I was seeing things that weren’t really there already with the sign incident and the car that I thought was following me, why not start hearing things too? After I got back up for the fifth time, I fell behind from the group. Or the rest got tired of picking me up, I couldn’t decide which it was. But I found myself behind every
one else. Even Evan was ahead of me. At least he couldn’t push me over the cliff if I was behind him. I struggled to keep up, going as slow as I could so I didn’t fall into a downward spiral to my death. Keeping my eyes on my feet while my head started filling with thoughts of this beautiful guy ahead of me, when all of a sudden my ankle curled and I was tumbling sideways, almost going over the cliff. I braced myself for the fall when I felt a hand grab my wrist. I looked up to see Evan. His eyes had the look of fear in them as he pulled me up with ease with one hand. As his hand touched mine my mind seemed to have gone elsewhere for a moment, just as it did that day the sign almost crushed me.
I was walking along the trail, turning to see where Evan was as my ankle curled, causing me to fall. I could hear my classmates screaming in the background as I rolled over the side of the mountain trail and began tumbling down the side of the trail.
And just like that, Evan pulled his hand from mine and I was back to reality. Staring at Evan face to face I struggled to steady myself before he snapped at me. “Are you trying to kill yourself? Watch what you are doing, will you?” he said sharply as he walked off to catch up with the rest of the group. My body stood frozen afraid to move. I didn’t know if it was due to almost falling to my death or from Evans harsh words or from what my mind had just seen. Was I going crazy? Why whenever Evan touched me I was seeing my death?
Evan followed me closely the rest of the way out. Walking a few feet ahead of me, looking back often, but never speaking to me, laughing once when a limb I pushed out of the way came back to smack me in the face. I mumbled under my breath wishing it was him the limb hit, often thinking of picking up a stick I seen on the ground to hit him with it once, but opted against it.
Astoria: Secrets, Lies and Vampires Page 4