Month: March 2020

Etta

Standing on the odd chalky grey surface Etta squinted. Last she remembered she had been sneaking out her window to sit up on the roof after a fight with her mom about coming home for the weekends. It was her first year of college and she wanted her weekends to hang with new friends. Now she didn’t even know where she was. 

As she tried to get her bearing she began to stumble forward. What distracted her most were the puffs of whatever was on the ground that billowed around her feet as she walked. It settled back down quickly but still had her shaking her head. Maybe she wasn’t actually awake. However it sure felt real.

 There was nothing around her but rocks, the dusty ground, and more rocks everywhere. That was it; gigantic boulders and sand.

“Hello?” She called. Her voice thin, sounding out of breath.

With no response, she continued forward more purposefully. Moving forward seemed preferable to standing still doing nothing. Walking meant she was doing something. Briefly the thought crossed her mind what her father had constantly said about getting lost. If you get lost, find a tree and stay there. Let help come to you. She paused for a second before giggling. No chance she was finding a tree without moving.

As more light gathered in the sky Etta mentally made a list of what she knew. While not helpful, it was calming. She was good at lists.

  1. This wasn’t her bedroom or anything remotely similar.
  2. She was far enough away from home to not recognize the landscape.
  3. It must be morning because the sun was coming up.
  4. There were no houses or any signs of anyone nearby.

In the midst of her list she glanced around to figure out what more she could figure out that would help her get home. That’s when she stopped and gaped at the rising sun, or more accurately suns; plural. There were two bright yellow suns rising into the sky. Was she hallucinating or seeing double from dehydration. She shook as she tried to clear the hysteria from her panicked thoughts. What other explanation was there?

She stood there staring, desperately trying to make sense of something that didn’t make any sense. On her mental evaluation of her situation the sun had been a constant that hadn’t even occurred to her to question. Moving forward in the hopes of finding a town was abandoned in favor of trying to wrap her mind around the fact that she apparently wasn’t even on her own planet.

Lost in her frantic scramble to reorder her thoughts, she didn’t hear the whine of a motor getting closer until it was practically on top of her. Whirling in the direction of the first sound she’d heard since waking, she once again dropped her mouth open in shock. Speeding dangerously close to her was a person in what almost looked like a roofless, flying mini cooper. It kept getting closer until Etta realized she shouldn’t just be standing there staring but running as fast and as far as she could. Survival instinct kicked in and she did an abrupt about-face and ran.

Etta dodged and zigzagged in her best attempt at possibly not getting shot, but beyond that she had stopped thinking lucidly. It took several minutes before she realized the odd hovering craft was no longer chasing her. Instantly she blushed, knowing that she must have looked like a complete airhead to be jumping all over the place in an attempt to try and evade imaginary capture. Instead the man she had seen driving the air vehicle was on foot and yelling at her. With concentrated effort she focused on what he was saying but could not understand him.

“Stul! Ges olf ota surre!” He screamed.

She may have felt threatened before when he had surprised her driving pell mell towards her out of nowhere but now that she looked his way, unfettered by overwhelming panic, she didn’t feel like he was out to get her…or kill her.

Incredibly tall, even to her 5’8 frame, he towered over her by nearly a foot. His short black hair almost blended with his nearly equally dark skin. With long angular features and a runner’s build he could almost have fit in with some of the men on earth. Her heart did a little shiver as her brain registered how dashing he looked. The clothes he wore crossed somewhere between warrior and sleek businessman.

“What?” Etta called back, still maintaining her distance. Just because he was handsomely stunning didn’t mean she was going to jump into his sculpted arms.

Yet he still beckoned her to where he was standing beside his contraption.

Drips of sweat rolled down her face as she noticed the rising temperature corresponding to the rise of the suns. In the back of her mind she knew that shelter needed to be her first priority after she managed to get rid of the gorgeous alien yelling at her in a language she couldn’t understand.

“Surre! Hak!” He hollered, pointing up to the suns. Again he motioned her to come to him and she found herself tempted. Looking up at the suns he was pointing to she raised an arm to shield her eyes.

In that moment of inattentiveness he surged forward at a full sprint. He didn’t tackle her into the sand but scooped her up in his strong arms and raced back to his flyer. Setting her down in the side seat with surprising gentleness she watched as he then raced around and got in on his side. A few button presses later and they were speeding away, back in the direction he had first appeared. As he rode he glanced down at her, then pointed at his chest. “Ryk.”

He stared at her expectantly. Etta only stared. He repeated the gesture. “Ryk.” Then he pointed at her and nodded with a soft grin.

“Etta.” She pointed at herself. Etta took a chance and pointed back at him. “Ryk? Is that your name?”

He nodded again with pleased twinkling eyes. “Ryk.” He declared. Ryk pointed to what looked like another tall rock in the distance. “Holgen. Ryk tam yi holgen.”

To read part 2 of Etta’s story, click here.

Leah

Leah glanced across the hall for what felt like the hundredth time. Justin was still standing there with a gorgeous redheaded beauty at his side. He wasn’t supposed to be here. She knew for a fact that his name wasn’t on the list. Now here he was, and it was distracting. HE was distracting, looking all handsome and kissable.

She hadn’t even seen Justin since her brother’s wedding 4 months ago. He had been affable enough at the wedding. But now it appeared that she no longer existed in his scope of the world, as he easily strode through the elite of the party she had organized for the charity, laughing and joking, never looking her way. Not even once. 

Another glance over and her chilled lemonade sloshed as she jerked in surprise. She’d been caught. Even though he was whispering into his date’s ear like they were the only two people in the room, Leah could almost swear that he was looking straight into her soul. She couldn’t break away. With ragged breath she leaned back, positively pinned. 

Her heart contracted into a breath-stopping squeeze as his stony face melted slowly into a knowing smile. When he winked at her she was stunned. 

A shudder rippled through her and a sudden desperate urge to be standing there, looking like she was waiting for him, took hold. She casually made her way to the outdoor patio when something within her wrenched her gaze back to where she knew he would be. He was still looking her way. Her face heated. 

Slipping outside she leaned against the cool stone wall and closed her eyes, focusing solely on steady breathing. 

“Hello there beautiful.” His voice was as deep, rich and smooth as ever. Leah opened her eyes and there he was standing right in front of her, hands casually in his pockets and a smile on his face. 

Shivers raced up and down her spine as he held her gaze. 

“Justin!” she gulped. Leah took in all the changes that couldn’t be seen from across the room, behind his girlfriend. He was built; the obvious evidence of his well-toned muscles pressing firmly against the confines of his formal dinner jacket. Had he always been so tall? His hair definitely had more chocolatey luster. How was anyone she dated supposed to compare to his…appeal? 

 She almost asked if he had been working out. Thankfully, her self-preservation filter was still intact, if a little shaky. Her voice, she was quite proud of herself to note, was not shaky at all. ”What are you doing here?” 

“I was invited.” He answered; calm, unruffled, and utterly charming as his smile quirked to the side. Her heart all but stopped at the memories flooding through her. How many times had he looked at her like that right before he kissed her? It had been so long. Leah gave herself a strong mental slap. She had to keep her head on straight and not make a complete fool of herself. Yet it didn’t work as memories continued to wisp through her mind. It couldn’t be helped really. She had been utterly in love. He had been the one to leave, something about too much too soon, about building his career for her. She hadn’t been enough. No. He hadn’t been able to see that she was enough.

Leah shook her head to clear it, subconsciously smoothing any wrinkles that may have appeared in the last few seconds on her favorite teal wrap dress. 

“No, I meant outside. Why are you outside on the balcony when everyone else is inside?” She dared to dash a smile up at him. 

He carefully scrutinized her face with the same intensity that was still pinning her to the wall. “You are out here.” 

“So?”

“I miss you Leah.” He took a step forward, dropping the distance down to mere inches. She had nowhere to back up to and it appeared as though he was well aware of that fact. “You’ve been running from me ever since I was stupid enough to let you go. Why are you hiding out here? Because of me?”

“I’m not hiding.” She defended, briskly. “I just happened to be out here enjoying the view and air and…” Her excuses trailed off when he shook his head and softly tucked some of her hair behind her ear.

“Save me a dance?” Even as she slowly shook her head she knew that even if she turned him down now she would still find herself dancing with him before the night was over. Every nerve ending in her body was screaming at her to lean into him and let him whisk her back into the room and onto the dance floor.

“Won’t your girlfriend mind?”

He chuckled, giving her a little room to breathe. “Melanie only agreed to be my date so she could have access to all the big names of business who came. I highly doubt that I will be seeing her at all the rest of the evening, unless she needs an introduction.”

Leah found herself nodding. That all made sense. Then it hit her. Here she was casually chatting about the party while she was seconds away from mushing into a pile of melt. No. Melting into mush.

“And you? How did I not know you would be coming? I saw the guest list dozens of times.” Her voice broke as she wavered. Leah found she could hardly think straight, let alone form full sentences.

With a slight smirk he leaned forward until their foreheads touched. Full of cocky self assurance he answered, “I thought it would be obvious why I’m here Leah. I knew you were in charge of getting this whole party together. I came for you.”

“Please tell me you did not crash a charity event.” Leah laughed, feeling herself softening.

“No. I didn’t crash. I am representing my boss who is out of town tonight but didn’t want our firm to miss this. Shaking his head, he held his arms out. “I have missed you.”

Kiera

Kiera laid her hand up against the cool glass, wishing for the warmth of the sun.  She missed the sparkling shafts of light through the clouds outside her window. Living so high above the clouds, dusk was the only time she could sit in her window seat and daydream into the clouds below, wishing to feel the breeze again. It wasn’t as difficult for her as it had been for her outgoing brother. He was going a little crazy being cooped up. He was an outdoors kind of guy. However, neither Kiera or Mason had been consulted about moving up to the new module in the sky. Supposedly it was a place where you wouldn’t get sick because there wouldn’t be any pollutants in the air.

The module she was in was odd compared to her old house. There was no yard, no visible neighbors, no open windows, no breeze or flowers. It was sterile and clean. Her parents loved it, lost in the academia they could access through their computers. All the walls were essentially glass. You could look out any direction but down and stare out into the open air. 

She would have been curled in a window seat similar to the one she was in no matter where she was. Not much had changed in her sheltered, private world; just a different view out the window.  She snuggled deeper into the pillows of her secluded window seat. 

Through the darkening sky a light flicked and drew her attention away from the book in her lap.  The other houses attached to their central module were supposed to be screened to give a guise of privacy.  Truthfully they weren’t more than a dozen feet or so away. No further than a normal neighbor but completely hidden. 

As she was about to return to reading the light flickered again.

Looking out, she was stunned to see a guy waving his hand at her, as if it was completely normal to be seeing the person in the next module. Still a little shocked, Kiera only stared. He continued to wave. Eventually she raised her hand in his direction. She hadn’t seen anyone other than her family for months. They were still ‘acclimating’. They weren’t allowed to go out and see the central module or the other people connected to them. She had a few months left of quarantine to be sure that none of her family were sick.

As soon as she lifted her hand he stopped and grabbed what looked to be a large pad of paper. Slamming it up against the window she read, PAX.

He began pointing at himself. When she nodded and waved again he dropped the paper down and wrote again.

YOU?

Glancing around to see what was near for her to write on, she had to stand up and move away from the window. In seconds she was back. 

Kiera. How can I see you?

With what looked like a chuckle he went back to his pad. Smarts and curiosity.

She stared. That wasn’t the answer she was expecting or looking for. So she waited.

His warm happy smile was addicting and he wasn’t sparing in his use of it. He flashed her another cheeky grin as he bent back over his paper to write. Putting it up against the window he watched her read.

I programmed the screen to have a glitch for 5 minutes, now I’m wishing I’d programmed it for longer. Even as she finished reading it, he put up another. Are you a hugger? 

Kiera had to stop and think. She didn’t know. She never had been much of a hugger but that was more because no one had ever really offered. I’m not against hugging…

With a look of empathy he gave, Kiera felt as though he knew exactly what she meant. She thought she had been subtle, but obviously not. Her family was more cerebral than physical in their affection.

Pax put his hand up against the glass and held it there. Kiera felt a tug to do the same, almost wishing she could truly reach out and touch his hand. She forced her hand to remain in her lap.

How long till you’re out? I have another month.

3 months. For the first time since walking into her new home she was resentful of being locked in.

That’s a long time to wait for a hug or a date. He pulled the paper down and she watched with rapt attention, aching to know what he would write next. She wasn’t disappointed. Or several of both.

Kiera had to reread that last one several times. Was he implying that he wanted to date her? Or that he was missing them in general. No one had ever paid her even the slightest attention before and now she had this gorgeous guy outside her window talking about dating…well, writing about it.

With me? 

He smirked.

Desperate? She goaded, wanting to see how serious he was or if he was flirting with her while there was nothing better to do and she was his only visible neighbor.

I’d say smart. He smirked again and held up another paper. You are gorgeous and from what I’ve seen so far, smart and funny. Intriguing. If I ask you now, I’ll be the first to take you on a date when you get out, thus upping my chances with you.

If? She questioned.

Pax nodded. You won’t reject me right? Instantly Pax’s smile changed to a pleading look and it was Kiera’s turn to laugh.

You haven’t asked yet.

Kiera watched as he glanced back to the clock on the wall behind him. Will you be here tomorrow?

Confused at the unexpected question she nodded before jotting down. I always come to this window to read, every night.

As he lifted his next message the screen began to flicker and she was unable to read what he had put up. Staring out her window she looked out at where, only seconds ago, she had been talking to the cutest guy to ever pay her such interested attention and now she would have to wait until tomorrow night to see or talk to him again.

Where she had been indifferent about the medical quarantine before, she was definitely not liking it now. Kiera was stuck being patient. 

Beth

Beth paused. You aren’t supposed to knock when you’re invited to a party right? She pulled out her phone to text Joey and ask, but stopped herself. Did she want to sound even more like an outdated outcast?

Moving into town last month had been enough of a tough reality check. She was lucky Joey had taken pity on her and invited her to this party at all. With no way to confirm what was ‘cool’ etiquette she stood there debating. Just as she was about to knock, the door opened and four girls tumbled out giggling, laughing, and luckily ignoring Beth. Ignored or not, it solved her dilemma. The door was open and she could go in.

Within minutes she was thick in the crowd and had only recognized one person. The only problem with that, actually two problems were: one, he was a guy and two, he was gorgeous. Living out in the middle of nowhere with only her parents had not prepared her for dealing with guys who looked like him… or any guy for that matter. So instead she stood there looking for a good place to try and blend in or at least not stick out.

The table covered with chips and treats was a good bet, no friends were required to grab some. As she made her way over, Beth was stopped by a black-haired pixie of a girl who looked vaguely familiar but she couldn’t place where she knew her from until the girl spoke.

“Go home newbie.” Rosh glared. 

As easy as that Beth remembered. Rosh was in her english class and had made a point to throw verbal jabs her way any time she was close enough to hear.

“I was invited.” Beth ventured.

Rosh scoffed. “A pity invite is not really an invite. Who would even bother to invite you?” Rosh leaned forward to whisper. “‘Cause I’m going to make sure they regret it.”

Beth silently shook her head and stumbled past. Stunned by the open anger directed her way, Beth puzzled over what she had done to deserve it.

As she moved once more toward the food an arm slipped around her shoulders and Beth was surprised to find her nervousness had instantly morphed to flutters. It was him. Mr. Too-Gorgeous-to-Talk-To. She stared up at his bright smile and dark green eyes.

“Beth!” he exclaimed happily. “Joey told me to keep an eye out for you till he got here. Boy am I glad he’s late.” Almost as if it was an afterthought, he broke eye contact with her to look back Rosh’s way. “See ya Rosh.”

With little prompting Beth stayed nestled in his half embrace as they made their way to a large room off the kitchen. It was decidedly less crowded and more quiet. There were only a handful of people who were all talking but did not have to resort to yelling over each other to be heard.

One linebacker of a guy sitting on a huge oversized red bean bag noticed them first. “Now look who Greg dragged into the inner sanctum. It’s the new girl.”

Beth began to wilt under his open curiosity. Greg gave her a quick comforting shoulder squeeze. “Give her a break Trent. She doesn’t even know you. Joey invited her and you should all give her a chance.”

She watched as that simple comment stopped Trent’s teasing and drew the curious attention of everyone else in the room. Joey must have a lot of influence over this group. How had she not known? It was obvious that she had entered the realm of the popular by stepping into that room with Greg.

“Huh. Well with that ringing endorsement you can sit by me.” chimed in a good looking blonde guy who patted the empty space of the sofa with great exaggeration.

Greg kept his arm wrapped around Beth’s shoulders as he steered her toward the empty sofa away from the blonde. Even if she wanted to go sit there she wouldn’t have been able to.  Beth couldn’t help but feel protected. “How about introductions first, then she can pick where she sits.” Greg suggested as they stood in front of the sofa. He started pointing and saying names. She tried to keep track of the names with their faces as he went but she quickly got lost. “Emma, Josh, Trent, Ria, Chrissy, Brandon, and Courtney. Guys, this is Beth. Her name is not new girl.”

For a half second Beth again worried how she would need to find a seat. Truthfully though, she didn’t want to move away from Greg, yet wouldn’t it be awkward to just stand there like a dunce? She was saved from deciding when Greg leaned over and whispered, “Sit by me.” All she could manage was a nod.

As they sat, Ria started chattering about places to eat and the focus moved away from Beth. She relaxed a little.

Beth happily sat and listened to the conversation without feeling any pressure to say anything to contribute. It wasn’t until Greg spoke up that she realized that she was snuggled in securely next to him, his arm still around her shoulders. It’s not like they had sat down in sync and not broken contact. Yet here she was. Her heart giggled.

Every once in awhile she would catch Greg glancing her way and giving her a soft smile. The tenderness and concern shining through his eyes made her heart sing with a tantalizing heat.

After a half hour of contented semi-snuggling Greg turned to face her directly. “We were going to watch a movie when Joey got here. Do you want to stay and watch with us?” He paused for a moment, quirking his head to the side with a meaningful grin. “With me?”

“Yes please.” Beth smiled. For a second she worried that her ‘please’ would be taken as a weird response but she didn’t have to fret for long.His answering grin lit her insides and any doubts she had vaporized. He settled back in beside her and she tentatively laid her head on his shoulder. His arm over her shoulders changed into a snuggling embrace  What a party! She thought to herself. And thank goodness Joey not only invited her, but had also been late!

Hadley

Typing furiously in my favorite corner of the Gina’s Pastry Shoppe, I was happily absorbed in chronicling my hopeless romantic of a sister’s lifetime struggle in finding true love on my blog. My own tradition of sorts. 

Three weeks ago Angie went on her first date with Tyler O’Connell. Little did I know that their relationship would take off in such epic strides. I can barely keep up. Saturday has become more of a marathon instead of the easy breezy chill time it used to be. Since that first date they have seen each other nearly every day and were still aching to spend more time together. Angie was definitely more twitterpated than I’d ever seen her. 

Whether it was official date nights, lunch dates, hanging out or talking on the phone Angie and Tyler were constantly connected and I was having to type furiously fast to keep up. I must admit though, I’ve been having a twinge or two of jealousy at the love developing between them.

“Excuse me.” A man’s soft voice shattered my concentration. Saying I jumped would be putting it mildly, though I did manage to not yelp. 

My response to his inane words was more of a strangled gurgle as I lurched around to look at who was interrupting me. I yanked my headphones out of my ears and the noise around me flooded my awareness. I almost felt guilty as I came face to face with a young, gorgeous, professor-type guy who looked positively startled by what must have appeared like a crazy reaction to his banal interruption.

“Sorry?” He leaned slightly back. 

Restraining myself from doing anything even more embarrassingly worse, I mentally slapped myself for ruining what could have been a romantic start to a new relationship with this handsome stranger. Not that that was why he was there. At least as far as I knew. 

In the mere milliseconds it took for me to realize how good looking he was, my writer’s brain took over and was already writing out all the sweet romance permutations that could have evolved into lifelong bliss if I had only reacted as a character in a romance novel would. Too late now.

“I…yes?…” With a gulp, I pulled myself together and blushed. “Hi.” Awkwardly I waved my hand before dropping it back to my keyboard as if I could convince it to stop embarrassing me. Oh how I wished I could start this whole thing over and at least appear to be cooler than I’m sure I looked at that moment.

With a chuckle, the confusion on his beautiful face melted into grin. “Hi there.”

I had to wait there in silence wondering if he had said why he had interrupted me or not. It only took a few seconds of me staring up into his light blue eyes before he blinked and stepped back.

“Oh yes.” He shrugged so self-consciously it was adorkable. “I couldn’t help but notice you here again.” 

“Again?” When had I seen him before. Here? I never talked to anyone here. “Do I know you?”

He glanced around before snagging the chair across from me and sitting down. “Well, we haven’t met. I realize that’s how it sounded after I said it.” He leaned back in the chair as he ran his hand through his hair. “I saw you here last Saturday and you were sitting in this exact same spot, typing away. You must have amazing concentration to not get distracted here. I thought about saying hi but I didn’t want to bother you. After I left, I found myself thinking about you throughout the week and wishing that I had at least stopped and said hi, maybe introduced myself.  When I saw you here today I guess I took it as a sign to come over.”

I sat there, flabbergasted. I couldn’t even recall the last time I had been noticed by any guy, much less a cuter than average guy like him.

“Really?” Cue the full on blush. Can I be any more lame? Did I really ask that out loud? “Are you a stalker?”

If he thought I was slow or dim witted he didn’t let it show. He had a rather charming smile. “No! Maybe I should just leave. Sorry to have disturbed you while you were working on…well…whatever it is you are working on.” He stood quickly.

It took several precious seconds for my brain to register the fact that he was leaving and I called out, “Wait!” He stopped and glanced back.

“I don’t think you’re a stalker.” I shrugged with a blush creeping up my cheeks. When he turned back around I motioned to the chair he had just left. 

“I just realized what a dunce I am. I still haven’t even introduced myself.” He stuck out his hand across the table.  “Brandt. It is a pleasure to finally meet you.”

“Oh. I…Hadley.” As I fumbled and flubbed my way through saying my own name I was convinced he would leave thinking I was brain-dead or well on my way to it.

Once again he surprised me. Not once did he look embarrassed or like he was suddenly wishing that he hadn’t sat back down. Instead he kept a hold on the hand I had extended. “Now I know you are busy with whatever you are working on but I figured that I could take this opportunity to ask if maybe you would be willing to go on a date with me sometime?”

Instantly my heart lifted and I felt like squealing YES!  I settled for a nod. “I would love that.”

I could see his relief as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone, handing it over to me. I put in my phone number and handed it back. He glanced down then back up at me with a happy grin.

“See you soon?” He asked as he stood, looking hopeful.

“Not soon enough.” I found myself daring to say, smiling with the anticipation of a date with Brandt. He stumbled back into a nearby chair as he turned to make his exit, nodding and smiling at me the whole way.