Eternal Beloved

by Bella Abbott

  Chapter 17

  My roommates were crushed the following morning when I refused to discuss my date other than to tell them we’d gone sailing. They probed, especially Sarah, but when it became obvious I wasn’t going to volunteer anything more, they lost interest and resumed dressing for school. When Kate and Sarah were gone, I sat down across from Serena, needing to talk to someone and knowing she was the most discreet of the three.

  “You swear you’ll keep this secret?” I asked.

  “Of course. What’s wrong, Lacey? What happened?”

  I leaned back. “It was amazing. Completely, totally amazing. We drove to the coast, he had a boat waiting with all my favorite food, and we sailed around the bay. It was like something out of a dream.”

  Her brow furrowed. “And?”

  “Then we drove back to Ridley. It was really late by the time we got here.” I paused, trying to figure out how to describe what had happened next. “He parked by the driveway, and we got out of the car, and then…he kissed me.”

  Serena blinked, choosing her words. “Jared Richards kissed you…and that’s a problem?”

  I shook my head. “It’s not that. It’s how I reacted. I…I just freaked out and ran away.”

  She took a deep breath, clearly trying to understand. “What do you mean, freaked out?”

  “It’s like my mind went into flight-or-fight mode. And I chose flight.”

  “But why? I mean, that’s every girl’s fantasy – a dream date with Jared, ending with a kiss. Is his breath foul – rotting teeth or something? Did he try to stick his tongue down your throat? What went wrong?”

  I exhaled loudly and blinked away tears. “I’m seriously messed up, Serena.”

  She waited wordlessly until I continued.

  I cleared my throat and tried to explain. “It wasn’t anything like that. It was a kiss on the cheek. But it just triggered something in me, and the next thing I knew, I was running.” I looked at her and then pulled my hair back from the side of my neck. “There’s this, for starters.”

  I watched her face for the revulsion I was sure would follow, but her expression didn’t change except her eyes appeared a little surprised. “Lacey…a lot of people have birthmarks. I have one on my shoulder.”

  “A shoulder is different.” Great, now I sound heartless. “I mean…he could have anyone. You should have seen that concert. Any woman there would have jumped at the chance. I can’t compete with all that.”

  “It doesn’t look like you have to. He took you out. Obviously he likes being with you. Obviously, too, you like being with him. So why run?”

  “I…I was afraid he’d be grossed out that there’s something wrong with me. He kissed me on that side. I didn’t want him to see…to see I’m a freak.”

  A trace of a smile curled her lips. “Lacey, I don’t know how to say this any other way. You’re beautiful. Mark or no mark.” She shook her head. “If it’s such an issue for you, can’t you have some kind of, I don’t know, laser something?”

  “That would cost money.”

  She looked down at her hands for a moment, as if choosing her words. “Truthfully, I wouldn’t have even noticed. We’ve been sleeping in the same room for a week, and I hadn’t. Is it possible you might be building this up into a bigger deal than it is?”

  “I look like I lost a game of paintball.”

  Serena rolled her eyes, and when she spoke again, she sounded exasperated. “You do know that nobody’s perfect, right? Everybody’s got things they don’t like about themselves.”

  “This isn’t about perfection,” I said, sounding argumentative now and hating my tone, but unable to stop myself. It’s about not being good enough.

  She thought for a moment. “Let me ask you a question. If Jared was the same as he is, only he had a similar birthmark, would you be all like, ‘no way’?”

  I frowned. “But he is perfect. That’s the problem. I’m no good at hypotheticals.”

  “Just play along. If he did have a birthmark, which he covered with his hair like you do – would he still be the hottest guy on the planet, or crossed off your list?”

  I dropped my gaze, the truth of Serena’s question slamming home. “I’m a total idiot, aren’t I?”

  Serena stood and considered me. “Maybe not total. I mean, except for the running away when Jared kissed you part.” She smiled. “I’m not making light of this or your feelings, Lacey, but as your friend, I’m telling you that what might seem like the end of the world is barely a road bump. Seriously. The test is just to reverse it, which we just did. So I’d leave the birthmark thing in your chest of secret fears, because it’s not real. Besides, even if it was, would you want some dude who was that shallow? I wouldn’t.” She glanced at her watch. “Now I have to get going, and so do you.”

  “I just ruined everything. And now you’ve proved that I ruined everything for no reason.”

  Serena regarded me. “My bet is he won’t give up that easily. But you need to park the freaking-out thing at the curb. If the dude wants to kiss you, I say kiss him back.” She put her hands on her hips. “Repeat after me: Jared kisses, I kiss back, I don’t run away.”

  I did, solemnly, and we both laughed. I felt like a massive weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I rose and walked to where Cyrus was dozing on my books. I prodded him until he reluctantly rolled off the pile and hopped onto my bed, and retrieved my psych and lit textbooks.

  “Thanks, Serena. I mean it. This really helped.”

  She nodded. “Girl, he’s taken you out on two dates so far. You are now dating Jared Richards!”

  “Assuming I didn’t blow it last night.”

  Serena left, and I paused at the door. A part of me was still the little girl who desperately wanted to prove herself. That lonely child who believed I wasn’t pretty enough, not good enough, not cultured enough to make it “out there” in the real world. A foolish fear? Perhaps. But I couldn’t know that until I’d proven it otherwise.

  I half jogged to my first class, ignoring the stares I got as I arrived, preoccupied with thinking about what might happen next. I couldn’t blame Jared if he thought I was nuts and wanted nothing to do with me. But then I still didn’t know what he’d seen in me to begin with.

  When my cell vibrated in my back pocket halfway through my final class, I almost jumped out of my seat. I checked the screen, and my mouth dropped open at the blinking message. I read it a second time and grinned like a fool.

  When class let out, I ran back to the room, the lack of sleep and the day’s worry forgotten. Kate showed up first, followed by Sarah and Serena, and I sat on my bed, petting Cyrus as they put their things away.

  “So, what are you guys up to tonight?” I asked innocently.

  Kate’s eyes narrowed. “Why?”

  “Oh, nothing. It’s just that Jared’s doing a surprise club appearance to try out some new material, and he invited us.”

  “Really?” Kate exclaimed.

  “Yup. But I’ll understand if you’re busy,” I said.

  “He invited all of us?” Sarah asked.

  I nodded. “All of us. He said it’s going to be at Lefty’s, in Bangor. He goes on at ten.” Cyrus purred loudly, and I smiled. “He asked for your names. He’ll put us on the guest list.”

  “Nobody knows about it?” Kate asked.

  “No. It’s a surprise. I guess he knows the guys in the house band or something.”

  “Cool,” Sarah said. “Count me in.”

  “Me too,” Serena said, and I smiled to myself. Prying her out of the dorm was no small feat.

  “Me three,” Kate called out. “Now I need to figure out what to wear.”

  “We have time. Although we also have to figure out how to get there,” I said.

  “I can ask Robert. He’s got a car,” Kate said.

  “I don’t know. Jared said not to tell anyone.”

  “Cab fare would cost an arm and a leg,” Serena said. “Even with the four of us splitting it
, that’s too rich for me.”

  “I suppose if it was only Robert…” I acceded.

  Robert picked us up at nine in a sleek Audi sedan, and we were parked a block from the club by 9:40. I spotted Jared’s Porsche across the street, and my stomach did a somersault at the thought of seeing him again. Robert left us at the door and paid a five-dollar cover to get into the bar, while a bouncer checked the guest list for my name plus three. When he found it, he grinned, revealing two missing teeth.

  “No smoking inside,” he said, and stepped aside. We walked into a medium-size room with black walls and a bar on one side and a small stage on the other. A five-piece band was jamming through a Maroon 5 number, doing a passable job, for a half-full crowd of mostly twentysomethings in denim and work boots. Robert approached us from the bar with a bottle of beer in hand, and Kate took his arm possessively – a gesture that wasn’t lost on us. Sarah elbowed me and took my arm, mimicking Kate, and we both laughed.

  At ten, the singer stepped to the side of the stage and announced a special surprise guest band, and emphasized that no phones or recording equipment would be allowed. Jared’s drummer, guitar player, and bass player mounted the stage from a door at the back, followed by his keyboard player. Everyone plugged in, and the keyboardist played a few bars on a battered Fender Rhodes electric piano, and then they launched into the first song. Jared burst through the door, wearing jeans and a tight T-shirt that highlighted his perfectly sculpted chest and arms, a wireless headset in place beneath unruly hair.

  The crowd was stunned to see the hottest thing in music in a dive bar and rushed the stage. Oversized security men in black T-shirts with tree-trunk arms kept the more enthusiastic at a safe distance. Sarah, Kate, and Robert moved closer, but Serena and I hung back to avoid the crush of the crowd.

  The first song was one of the hits off his album, and throughout the performance Jared was staring at me, as though performing for no one else. He commanded the small stage effortlessly, his grins brought waves of female cheers, and every shake of his hips or sidelong glance met with screams of adulation. When the last note died, the roar from the audience was deafening.

  Serena nudged me as we applauded. “He hasn’t taken his eyes off you yet.”

  This time I couldn’t deny his attention, so I didn’t try.

  The next six songs were new, and Jared introduced each with a few words before the band played. At the end of the set, he finished with another hit off his album, and the crowd sang along as he strutted and postured in true rock-star fashion.

  Then it was over, and he vanished into the back, followed by his musicians. I felt sorry for the house band when they had to resume playing. Who’d want to follow a world-class act like that?

  Ten minutes later my phone vibrated, and I eyed the screen with a tight smile. I turned to Sarah and Kate, who’d returned once Jared’s set had ended.

  “Jared wants me to hang out till he leaves, so I won’t need a ride.”

  Sarah winked at me. “You mean you won’t need a ride from Robert.”

  I ignored the innuendo. “What did you think?”

  “He’s awesome, of course,” Sarah said.

  “Very impressive,” Serena agreed.

  “Tons of talent,” Kate said, pulling Robert closer. “He’s going to be even bigger with these new songs. I liked them all.”

  “He told me he’s recording the new album somewhere around here,” I said. “He seems really excited by it.”

  Robert smiled. “Must be nice to have it all. Voice, looks, tunes, and now a movie, too.”

  Kate looked at his profile. “It’s not like you got the short end.”

  He laughed. “You have a point.”

  The house band finished their second set, and my phone signaled that I had another message. Jared.

  Meet me at the stage door so we can get out of here.

  I said goodbye to my roommates and worked my way through the now packed house to the stage, where two beefy security men were guarding the backstage door. I gave them my name and told them I was there for Jared, and one of them disappeared backstage and rematerialized a few moments later. He gave me a curt nod, and I pushed past them and into a narrow hall that smelled like old socks and stale beer.

  Jared was waiting for me at the street exit, as calm as though he’d been napping. I walked to him and he smiled. “Thanks for coming. Sorry again about last night.”

  My mouth was suddenly dry. “It wasn’t your fault, Jared. I’m the one who should be apologizing.”

  He gazed into my eyes, and I felt a wave of calm wash away the anxiety I’d been feeling only moments before. I stood transfixed until he nodded at the door. He held up a gloved hand. “You ready?”

  “Yes.”

  I took his hand, and he twisted the knob and pushed it open. The exit let out into an alley that stank of garbage and rot. We hurried to the street, and after peering around the corner to confirm there were no fans lying in wait, he led me along the sidewalk and then crossed to his car.

  We were nearly to the Porsche when a roar of exhaust sounded from the nearby intersection and a pair of headlights careened toward us. I froze where I was standing, and just as the steel bumper of a sixties muscle car was a nanosecond from crushing us both, Jared pulled me out of its path.

  The car tore along the driver’s side door and accelerated away, swerving to avoid an oncoming truck before it rounded the corner and disappeared with a squeal of tires. It all happened so fast I must have been in shock, my heart skipping erratically as Jared cradled me by the curb. After what seemed like a minute, he slowly unwrapped his arms from around me, still staring at the intersection, his expression hard.

  “Oh, Jared…your Porsche…” I whispered, taking an unsteady step away from him.

  The muscle car had ripped through the metal of the door, leaving a long scar from the handle to the front fender.

  “You could have been killed,” he said, his voice a hiss.

  “You too,” I said, my voice shaky. “We have to call the police.”

  He walked to the driver’s side door and tried the handle, which opened after a hard pull. He glanced at me and slid behind the wheel. “Get in.”

  “But…”

  “Lacey, please. Hurry. They may come back.”

  I blinked uncomprehendingly. “What?”

  “Get in,” he repeated, and something in his tone drove me to action. I hurried to the passenger side and climbed in, and he started the engine and pulled his door shut with such force the entire chassis shook.

  He raced away from the bar with his lights off, and only turned them on when he was two intersections away. He stuck to back streets, and after crossing a bridge, he stopped behind a closed filling station and twisted to look at me. “Stay in the car. I need to check something.”

  Jared returned a minute later, eyes blazing. “Doesn’t look like the frame’s damaged. That’s something, I guess.”

  Something suddenly occurred to me. “You said they may come back?”

  He sat in the driver’s seat and stared through the windshield as though in a trance. “Did I?”

  “Yes. What did you mean? How do you know? Who is ‘they’?”

  Another long pause. He held up a small metal disk and studied it. “First thing we need to do is lose this,” he said, and tossed it into the road.

  “Who are you afraid of, Jared? What’s this all about?”

  His mouth hardened into a thin line. “I’m not afraid of anyone. I’m afraid for you. That was too close.”

  My heart was racing now, adrenaline coursing through my veins. “Jared, I want to go home.”

  He turned and fixed me with a hypnotic stare. “That might not be possible anymore.”

  My throat felt tight. “You’re scaring me.”

  He smiled, but the effect wasn’t convincing. “I’m sorry, Lacey. First I work up the courage to kiss you, and you run off like…” He smiled again. “Like I bit you. And now this. It can’t have bee
n a good couple of days for you.”

  “You? You worked up the courage?” I repeated incredulously.

  He sighed and put the car into gear. “There’s a lot about me you don’t know, Lacey. But after this, well, I suppose you have a right to know everything.” After another sidelong glance at me, he gunned the engine. The little coupe leapt onto the road like a scared rabbit, and he redlined the engine before shifting.

  “Where are we going?” I asked, still trying to process his words about working up his courage to kiss me.

  He shifted again and steered the car around a curve at white-knuckle speed. “Someplace we can talk.”

  Chapter 18

  Once we were well out of town in the heavily wooded area that stretched to the Canadian border, Jared pulled off the road and shut off the engine. He rounded the car and held my door for me, and for a moment I had a flashback of the moments leading up to his ill-fated kiss.

  The kiss he had to work up courage for.

  My head was spinning from all the things I didn’t understand. He held out his hand and I took it, and in spite of the unusual circumstances, I still felt a thrill. He led me through the woods until we reached a small brook, and we sat on the bank, facing each other in the moonlight.

  “Tell me what’s going on, Jared,” I begged.

  He said nothing at first. “It’s complicated, and you’re going to think it sounds crazy.”

  “It already sounds crazy. What gives? Why do you think someone’s after you?” I paused as something occurred to me. “You think the hit and run was deliberate,” I stated flatly.

  “I’m afraid you’re in danger because you’re with me.”

  “Who’s after you, Jared?”

  He looked away. “Someone who would destroy me.”

  I frowned at the nonanswer. “Why would anyone want to do that? Because of the movie? Organized crime or something?”