Awaken (Awaken Series Book 1)

by Jaime Guerard

  She pulled her eyebrows together. “What do you mean what is going to happen to us? I don’t understand.”

  “I mean with the whole Trevor thing.”

  Relaxing her face she chuckled out, “Don’t worry about him.”

  “Don’t worry about him? You’re my best friend and he’s your boyfriend, how do you think this is going to work?”

  “Breanna Davis, you worry too much. Alright, I’ll tell you how this will go. I’ll talk some sense into Trevor and the two of you will be friends again. Of course he sided with Josh. It’s a guy thing. This will all blow over soon and things will be back to normal. You’ll see.”

  I let out a big sigh. “Okay, if you think so.”

  Rebecca turned and chatted up with Stacy which gave me a minute to look around the room. People were staring, and I squirmed. I picked up on one conversation between a girl named Cassie, a petite, pretty blonde and Sarah, the brunette gossip queen. They were talking to each other as though I wasn’t even in the room.

  Sarah leaned toward Cassie and said, “So did you see it?”

  Cassie nodded, “Yeah I saw the whole thing. Breanna was always so nice. I didn’t know she had it in her. Plus, I thought they’d always be together.”

  “I know me too. I think this Megan thing is only going to last about a week, tops. So you know what this means right?” Sarah asked with one eyebrow raised and her mouth curling up into a smile.

  “Uh huh…Josh will be on the market soon.”

  “That’s right and I get dibs,” Sarah stated, claiming her territory.

  “No way!” Cassie blurted out.

  I tuned them out. I couldn’t listen to them anymore. All I wanted was to be away from this drama, but that would be impossible. Today wouldn’t go away quickly. With a high-profile person like Josh, the talk would hang around for at least a week or more. I would have to find the strength to tune out the gossip, if that could even be done.

  With the hopeless attempt to find a conversation that didn’t include me, I was drawn to Katie in the front corner of the room. She was too far to hear, but what interested me was who she was sitting next to and talking with. Eve.

  Why is Eve in this class, I thought to myself. Maybe she had an appointment and couldn’t make it to class yesterday. That must be it. As the bell rang, Mr. Wright began the class by telling everyone to take out their homework from last night and pass it to the front of the room. I didn’t think I would ever be more relieved to hear a teacher begin class than I was right then. The rest of the period was dull but comforting. I focused on the work and tried not to think about the sordid events of this morning.

  As I made my way to my next class, a group formed around me: Beck, Cassie, Jenny - who was sweet but kind of a loud mouth - and Sarah, the gossip girl. They were all anxious to include me in their conversation, even though I didn’t want to be. I didn’t want to talk about my ended relationship anymore, but I told myself to just suck it up.

  P.E. was better. I felt more relaxed. We were learning the game of tennis. P.E. was a good mental escape, leaving little time for talking, since sports are so hands on. Home-Ec was not great but okay, better than my first class. There were still whispers and the occasional staring, but at least no one bothered me. It did help that there was a mixture of freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors in this class, so not everyone knew about this morning. There was one thing that bothered me though, aside from the obvious. Eve was in the last two classes, as well as the first. She didn’t talk to me at all. On the contrary, she didn’t even look at me. Yesterday, she wasn’t here, and now she’s in almost all my classes. There had to be a logical explanation, but what was it? If she didn’t start up another conversation, I’d have to. I had to figure this out. My curiosity was getting the best of me.

  In the cafeteria, my nerves flared when my sight swept directly to Josh’s table. The entire football team sat staring at me, including Megan sitting right on Josh’s lap. This burned me all the way to my core. My break-up with Josh was too fresh and I was still licking my wounds of betrayal. Even though I knew Josh and I didn’t mesh anymore, it still pissed me off that he cheated on me.

  My mood didn’t get any better when I looked at the table where Austin, Stephanie, Becka and a ton of other people hovered around, waiting for me. Why couldn’t this day just be over? I grabbed a soda and nothing else; I was too overwhelmed to eat.

  Walking over to the table, I took the only seat available between Becka and Stephanie.

  “There you are slow poke. What took you so long?” Beck asked.

  “I was just walking around,” I said slowly as I sat on the hard bench.

  “So Bre, tell me,” Sarah spoke up. “What are you gonna do about Megan?”

  “Nothing. She can have Josh for all I care. They’re perfect for each other.”

  Stephanie, with her good heart, stepped in, “Bre, are you really okay? You don’t have to be strong for all of us. If it was me, I would be losing it by now.”

  I loved her for being such a good friend, but I really wanted to stop talking about it.

  “I’m fine, really.” Changing the subject, I glanced at Austin sitting directly across from me. He still seemed uneasy like before when I pulled my hand away from him. “So Austin, what time do you work today?”

  “Three-thirty, a half hour before you get there.”

  He looked intimidated by his surroundings, sitting at the same table with all my friends, but there was a hint of softness beneath his pale blue eyes when he looked at me.

  “Bre, you got the job!” Becka blurted.

  “Yep.”

  Stephanie exclaimed, “Congratulations, Bre! Where are you working?”

  “At Jim’s Pizza, thanks to Austin. He’s the one who told me about the opening.”

  The table fell silent, and everyone kept glancing between me and Austin. Given the events of the last day, they’d drawn their own obvious assumptions about the two of us. Kim and Stacy exchanged a whisper, followed by both of them glancing at us and giggling. It should’ve bothered me, but it didn’t. In fact, the idea of everyone thinking that Austin and I were an item; also meant others would be thinking the same thing. I didn’t mind Josh hurting over this. It looked like it was working. His eyes were glued to our table.

  Austin cleared his throat. “So Bre, do you think your car will be ready before tonight. I could take you to work, but I don’t know if you’d want to sit around before your shift.”

  “Um…I don’t think so. My Dad said today it was going to be a busy day and he didn’t think he’d get to it.” I looked at Becka. “Beck, can you take me to work?”

  “Of course,” she took a bite of her apple.

  Austin added, “I can take you home. I think we both get off at eight.”

  I tried to disregard the giggles and whispers. “Sounds great. Thanks.”

  The atmosphere shifted suddenly when Sarah spotted Erik, a boy from my English class, walking into the lunchroom. He was a grade above me, but he had to take the English class over again because he failed it last year. Sarah was appalled by him. He had apparently asked her out on a date today and she babbled about how disgusting he was.

  “OMG! Rachel, I forgot to tell you the funniest thing that happened to me this morning. You know that nerd from last year, Erik Smith, the one who hovered around me all the time and left flowers in my locker like every week?”

  Rachel cringed, “Ew, um yeah, I remember. That’s him in the orange shirt, right?”

  “Yeah, well, he asked me out today. Isn’t that gross? I mean hello, haven’t you got the picture that I don’t ever want to go out with you or be seen with someone like you. I mean, come on, I have a reputation.”

  Rachel nodded in agreement. I was relieved the focus was off of me for once today, but I felt bad for Erik, even if there was truth behind how annoying he was. Thank goodness he couldn’t hear them.

  Board, I started daydreaming about the only place I wanted to be, with Collin.
It was silly, pretending he was real and not just a figment of my imagination, but I didn’t care. I loved visualizing him, this perfect person that I so desperately longed for. I longed to hear his beautiful silk voice. I slowly brought my memory back into the dream. I tried to daydream further on, playing with the thought and idea that we talked more than we did, but it was difficult. I found myself getting frustrated every time the dream-memory halted. Mentally I would hit the “rewind” button over and over again, trying to get the dream to move on to another place. But as my mind reached the part where our hands were just about to touch, it would blank out and turn black. I tried several more times, but each time the result was the same. I was startled back into reality by the dull roar of the bell.

  Rebecca stood over me. “Breanna, what are you staring at? Josh isn’t over there anymore. You can stop looking that way. Everyone left for class. You should go, unless you want a tardy.”

  My intense dreaming definitely did the job zoning everyone out.

  “Oh, sorry I guess I was in another place.”

  “Let me guess, you were thinking about…Collin was it? Is that what you call him?”

  Blushing, I whispered, “Yes, his name is Collin.” Standing up, I realized that I didn’t even see Austin leave. “Hey, what happened to Austin? I thought we were walking to our next class together?”

  She curled her lips up and raised one eyebrow. “Oh, so that’s who you were thinking about. I see now.”

  “No,” I corrected quickly. “I was thinking about Collin. Austin and I, for the last time, are just friends.”

  “Uh huh, right,” she said, giving me that 'I don't believe a word of it' smile.

  “Rebecca, I’m telling you I don’t think of Austin that way. I mean he’s a nice guy and all.”

  She cut in, “And cute.”

  “Whatever, and cute if that will make you happy, but we were really close a long time ago. You remember right? I’m just glad to have my friend back. That’s all.”

  “You’re going to have one unhappy person on your hands if that’s how you feel.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked, though I knew what she was going to say.

  “He’s definitely into you.”

  Not wanting to go any further with this conversation, I urged, “Let’s get to class.”

  The last two classes were uneventful. The buzz from the morning must have worn off and everyone was back to normal. I was thankful for that. Even in my last class, no one seemed to pay any attention to Josh or me, which was strange because out of all my classes today, the one I was sure I’d have the most trouble in would be that one. It would’ve been perfect except for the uncomfortable feeling I had, sitting in the same room with him. He didn’t talk or acknowledge me at all, but it was weird pretending to be strangers. It would take some time to get used to being single again.

  I only had one item left on my agenda, Eve. After an exhausting search, which only brought me more fans and not Eve, I decided to give up for today. I tried to catch up with her in my last two classes, but she always managed to slip out right before I got to her. I felt like she was intentionally avoiding me, like she knew I was going to question her.

  Becka pulled up to the sidewalk as I came out to the parking lot. On the way home she was on one of her noisy prying streaks, bringing up Eve right away. If I didn’t tell her why I was looking for Eve she’d send out the troops to come hunt me down and hold me hostage until I told her.

  “Beck, I know you said she’s great, but something’s off. Yesterday, she was only in my English class. I find it kind of weird that she’s in that class because of the whole thing with the Andersons, and her being at the airport, and the fact that she knew when my flight was supposed to leave ―”

  “Wait a second, I’m not following. What are you talking about, her being in your English class? Why does that have anything to do with the Andersons and what happened?”

  My mind was running a thousand miles per minute and I needed to take a deep breath and explain one piece at a time.

  “Let me start over. Okay, Eve was in my English class yesterday and that was the only class I had with her, but today she’s in every one of my classes!”

  “Okay, go on.” Becka circled her hand to keep me going.

  I continued slowly so I wouldn’t lose her. “I didn’t notice until today, but yesterday in English class, Eve asked me what my classes were. Then after school, I saw her come out of the office with a half sheet of paper.”

  “So you think she found out your schedule and changed her own? Maybe she did have those classes, but she ditched or…maybe she didn’t come in the morning.” Pausing, she shook her head like she had just remembered something. “No, that’s not it, because she was in my second class yesterday and today she wasn’t there. Hmmm…that’s weird, and you said she’s in all your classes, even second period?” Her eyebrows were crossed and she was deep in thought. She spoke each word with a hesitation, not sure if what she was saying actually could be an explanation.

  “Yep.”

  “Well the only thing that I can think of is a few of her classes were full. That would change her schedule, right? I mean, that happens all the time.”

  “Yeah, but she asked what my classes were. And now she’s in every one of them. I could see a couple but every class? That doesn’t make sense.”

  Agreeing with me, she muttered. “That is strange. What did you mean when you said she knew what flight you had or something?”

  “Oh yeah, I didn’t tell you this yet, but when I was trying to find the Andersons’ flight, and right before Austin came up to me, Eve was there. She came out of nowhere. Like she was trying to stall me or something and stop me from getting to the Andersons. I know I sound crazy, but it was weird. She asked if we could go and have a coffee since my flight wasn’t until six-thirty. She knew when my plane left, Beck. How did she know that? She wasn’t around when I got my ticket from will-call. What was she doing at the airport anyway?”

  “Are you sure she wasn’t behind you when you got your ticket?”

  “I’m sure…well…” I paused to think about it again. I was so wrapped up in getting to the Andersons I didn’t really pay attention. I started questioning myself. Did the lady at the front desk say out loud when my flight left? I couldn’t remember. “Maybe I’m not that sure…but I do know she was still in her car because she almost hit me, and it would’ve taken at least five to ten minutes for her to find a parking spot and another five to get into the building. I know I wasn’t in the line for fifteen minutes. It was more like three to five.”

  “Hmm…it looks like we’re just going to have to make a stop at someone’s locker tomorrow morning.” She smiled at me, conspiratorially. “But again, I think it will turn out to be nothing. I’m sure there’s a logical explanation. You’ll see.”

  I sat back in my seat. “Yeah, I guess.”

  At my house, Becka pushed me into my bedroom and demanded, “Now stop worrying about this and get ready for work.”

  Digging through my dresser, I finally found a plain white t-shirt and a pair of older jeans that still looked fine, but I wouldn’t care if I got food on them. Throwing a sweatshirt and tennis shoes on, I half-listened to Becka babble about Rachel and how controlling she was. My mind was on Austin and how I would act around him tonight. Was it going to be weird or could I just ignore that awkward moment when I pulled my hand away?

  "So, what do you think?" Becka asked.

  "Oh ummm...I'm sorry, what was the question?"

  "About me joining the cheerleading squad?"

  "I think it would be awesome! I always tell you every year to join. You should do it!"

  "You’re right! I think I will."

  Austin was watching us when we pulled into the parking lot. His face illuminated when he saw me.

  "Well, it looks like someone is ecstatic to see you," Rebecca smiled.

  "Just friends Beck, just friends.”

  "We’ll see."

>   "Hey, thanks for the ride. I’ll see you tomorrow."

  Walking in through the door, I was greeted by the owner, Jim.

  "There's my newest employee and right on time.”

  "Hello, Mr. Daly."

  "Please call me Jim." He threw me a quick, warm smile. "Austin will show you everything you will need to know. I hate to run out on you on your first day, but I have to get home. Today is my forty-second wedding anniversary and I’ll be in the dog house if I'm any later than I already am." He grabbed his red-plaid coat and black cowboy hat from behind the counter.

  My eyes widened. "Wow, forty-two years. Happy anniversary!"

  "Thank you. Now Austin, you be nice to this one. Don't go scaring her off like you do everyone else around here."

  Austin winked at me. "Don't worry. I won’t give her too much trouble."

  Jim tipped his hat and walked out the door.

  It didn't take me long to get acclimated. The kitchen was a small working area and most utensils and equipment were kept out in the open so you could grab what you needed quickly. On the back wall were four huge stainless steel ovens that could hold up to six pizzas at one time, and on the adjacent wall was the prep area where all the ingredients were lined up in little bins.

  There were two other employees besides Austin and I that were working tonight. Maria, a short middle-aged lady with black bobbed hair and sweet personality was the first person Austin introduced me to. Before I knew she had four kids, I could tell she was the motherly type because of how she greeted me. "Well, hello dear, how do you like it so far? I hope you’ll find working here pleasant. If you need anything, I mean anything, you don't hesitate to ask me for help, okay? What a sweetheart you are."

  Next was Blayne, a sixteen-year old sophomore from Grants Pass High. He was our bus boy and dishwasher. He was a quiet boy and Austin told me he never really talks to anyone unless he’s addressed directly.

  After an hour of reviewing the menu and preparing a couple of pizzas, Austin started to talk about things other than work.

  "So Bre, did you have any more trouble with our boy Josh today?" he asked casually, placing a ring of pepperoni slices along the edge of a pizza.