Author: kharrison

Analeigh

My grandmother warned me that the day would come that I would miss the old ways. I’d laughed at her. I had told her that I would never miss the days when I had to take turns with my siblings learning how to cook. I told her that going to school was a waste of time. I had told her that we were moving towards a better and bright future.

And we were.

I had everything. Friends who loved spending every spare minute with me, parents who took care of me, siblings who played with me, and a boyfriend who promised to love me forever.

What more could I need? My future was going to be epic…or so I had told her.

Until it wasn’t.

I didn’t realize what my grandmother was really warning me that I would miss. It wasn’t just the things I didn’t like doing or what the government and well-meaning influential people of the world could take away from me. She was warning me that my childhood was ending and it wasn’t going to be a soft landing into reality.

I wish I could tell her now that she was right.

The world had changed. Friends had been deemed unnecessary. Free time was superfluous. Family units were a drain on resources. And how could you have a boyfriend if you never interacted with anyone anymore.

I had two years of work left in the computer science division crunching meaningless data. After that, I would be placed with a ‘male of suitable qualifications’ so that we could reproduce and do our part to replenish the population. It was only after I had given birth to 3 live children or reached the age of infertility that I would be placed back in the work force. Those children would be sent to their assigned buildings where they would be forever lost to me. I was dreading it all.

The monotony was probably the hardest for my age group. I had been lectured weekly for the past 5 years, since graduating from the last class of our crumbling high school, that the transition to adulthood would be hard with the memories we possessed of our careless and frivolous childhood.

We were the last of the wasteful generation.

Those younger than me were too young to remember the freedom of learning how to drive or going to dances or sneaking out to the beach for bonfires with friends and classmates. They knew nothing but focused and steady isolation. Their ignorance chafed at my precious memories.

I was at work when it happened. A window popped up on my screen that I hadn’t opened. I blinked in surprise. Nothing new ever happened at work. Or the room I slept in. Or where I exercised for my minimum daily minutes of cardio.

Words began appearing and I was captivated.

Hello? I’ve been trying to get this thing to work but no one answers me to let me know if it is. So I am going to wait for 2 minutes then sign off. Just click on the window and type a response if you can see this. Press enter to send.

I clicked on the window and froze over the keyboard, glancing around the room at all the other people mindlessly working. I hesitated.

Hello.

After hitting send I panicked. What if someone was monitoring me and noticed I had stopped working. I hastily went back to my numbers. It was still senseless numbers, data, and html that constantly seemed to need fixing and rearranging. I don’t know why but it was my job.

It was several minutes before I had slowed my breathing enough to click back into the mystery window to see if ‘They’ had responded.

And there it was. Bold black letters.

Yes! Hello. Hello. Hello. My name is Ferris. What’s yours? How old are you? Oh and if you couldn’t tell by the name I am a man and old enough to remember when our names weren’t just assigned but lovingly picked just for us by our parents. I still miss mine. Sorry. Off topic. It has just been a really long time since I’ve spoken to anyone.

I nodded. Neither had I. There was no ‘need’ to stop and chat.

It has been a long time for me too. I’m Analeigh, named after my grandmother. How are you managing this?

His reply was immediate and I smiled.

I was a programmer before they decided to assign work details. I’m now an accountant in the One Bank. They don’t tell me what I am actually doing because I know enough to know that I am not doing anything banking related. Where are you?

I sat up straight and looked out the window. I could see the no-nonsense ‘One Bank’ sign from it. My heart thudded.

I work at Datuak Corp in Sierra Cruz. I added my city in at the last second, hoping he would confirm that he was currently in the building I could see.

When he didn’t respond immediately my heart sank. What if I had lost the connection to him? I didn’t know anything about computers. I think they had purposefully stopped teaching things, the important things, to people. They didn’t want anyone to learn too much.

Fighting tears and breathing deep I turned my attention back to my work. It seemed even more mind-numbing now.

You’re so close. So close.

His words blinked into being out of the corner of my eye.

Perfect! We can meet up for ice cream and play at the playground until my mom calls me in for dinner.

Let me guess. You’ll be the cute blonde in pigtails and a pink tutu.

For the first time in who knows how long, I laughed. Somehow I managed to turn it into a cough but it felt good. I quickly moved one of my work windows in front of the conversation in case a supervisor was notified and came to check on my efficiency.

I waited over 20 minutes before I dared to check it again. Another message was waiting.

Did I lose you?

I wasn’t sure if he would still be there after so long but I responded anyway. I didn’t want this to end.

You made me laugh out loud. I had to be sure I wouldn’t be caught. So I hid your window behind my work one. Please tell me you aren’t gone.

The minutes that passed were painful. I could barely breathe. I nearly cried when I saw him respond.

I’ll only close the connection at the end of the work day so we aren’t caught. I’ll reconnect in the morning too…just in case you want to keep talking.

Yes!

I like you already, Analeigh. I can tell we are going to be good friends.

She could practically feel him sending a wink her way.

Juliana

The rain started to pour, the water quickly gathering into puddles everywhere. Juliana watched out the back window with a grin, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

“Collin!” She yelled. “Where are you?”

“Upstairs. Hiding.”

She laughed as she continued to look out the window at the rain. “Hiding? Are you scared of a little rain?”

“No.” His indignant reply had her skipping up the stairs.

“Then come on out and play Collin! You’ll only get a little wet.”

His laughter gave him away and he knew it. As she waltzed into their room with a huge smile on her face he was already climbing out of the closet.

“Why do you think hiding is going to help you? One would think after all these years you would know better.” She shook a finger at him. “Come on then. We need to hurry or we could miss it.”

“Jo. It is supposed to rain all day.” He let her drag him out of the room and toward the stairs. “We won’t miss it.”

“You don’t know that for sure.” She spun back around. “Besides, who knows how long it will take to actually get you out there. You disappeared and hid in our closet when you said you needed to get your shoes.”

She didn’t wait to listen for any response. Pulling open the back door she sighed as her smile grew wider. “I love the rain.” She whispered.

They both stepped out onto their covered patio and silently watched the rain fall together. Juliana softly slipped her hand into his.

Collin looked down at his wife and smiled. No matter how many times she dragged him out into the freezing cold rain to splash in the puddles, it was worth it to see her whole being light up with joy.

She peered up at him as she huddled closer to him. “Why do you still fight me on this? You know that I’ll win and you will still end up going out and running in the rain with me.”

“That may be true Jo but what fun would it be if I didn’t at least put up a little fight after all these years, for old times sake.”

She shoved him a little. “We aren’t that old.”

“Old enough that our youngest is graduating high school next year.” Collin hip checked her gently.

Shaking her head at him she scoffed. “That does not make us old, Collin.”

“Old enough.”

“If Jack was here he would go run out there with me.” Juliana moved closer to where the rain was falling.

“Of course he would. Any of our kids would.” He paused to chuckle. “Because you’ve conditioned them since birth to go out and run in the rain with you. Puddles are in their programming.”

“Yeah, but if you think about it that way, I have been working on you longer and still haven’t made progress. In fact, based on the fact that I still have to drag you out, we might need to put in some extra rain time in today.”

“So what you’re saying, just so we are clear, is that it hasn’t rained in a really long time and you want to run around outside for a little longer than usual.”

“Precisely.” She beamed.

“Where are the kids when I need them?” He fake groaned.

“Aww you don’t need them. You’ve got me to keep you feeling young.”

She didn’t wait. She yanked on his arm and hauled him out into the yard. The downpour drenched them both in seconds. With a squeal she ran to the nearest puddle, leaping up to land straight in the middle of it with both feet. Mud and water flew everywhere with an incredibly satisfying splash. Her smile shone brighter, the warm happy glow shimmering in her eyes as she flicked her dripping hair out of her face.

She didn’t pause as she ran to the next. Splash after splash, Collin watched her with rain dripping down his own face. That was the woman he had married, radiating a genuine joy that time and age could never wear down.

Standing drenched and wet in the rain may not be what he had first thought when he heard the first drops of rain hit his office window but he knew it was coming. He wouldn’t miss that smile on her face for anything.

“Come on, you old fart.” Juliana called from the far end of the yard.

Collin took off at a run, roaring as he ran straight for her. “Watch who you call old.” He yelled.

With a happy screech she turned and ran away, running directly through every puddle she could find. As she ran she called back, “I would but then you would catch me.”

For several minutes they were both transported back in time to when they had first met and had ended up playing tag in the rain for over an hour.

It only took a few minutes for Collin to catch her. As he held her close he laughed, “Juliana, I hope you never change.”

Twisting in his arms she hugged him tight. “But I have changed.”

“You haven’t missed a chance to run and dance in the rain yet.”

“True.” She laid her head on his very wet shoulder.

“I think it was when we were running around in the rain on our first date and you ran all the way across the park to splash in that gigantic puddle that I first fell in love with you. The splash was not nearly as big as your smile as you stood in the middle of it afterwards, so pleased with yourself.”

“That was a good puddle.”

He nodded. “You have a knack for finding those.”

“Are you ready for your hot chocolate?” She was back to bouncing with excitement.

He picked her up and carried her toward the back door. “Ah and there it is. Half the reason you love the rain so much…the hot chocolate that always comes after.”

Both of them laughed as he set her down and bent to take off his soaked and muddy shoes.

“There is that.” She managed to say in between laughs.

Sofie

Sofie pulled her long straight hair back out of her face and behind her slouching shoulders as she held in the tears that were threatening to come. She kept telling herself it was too cold to cry and that if she started crying she wouldn’t stop. She knew from experience.

Sitting at his grave, saying goodbye to her father was still too painful, even though she had done it too many times to count. He had been gone for 3 years and still she came and mourned her loss and his absence. And it was just this last year that she realized that the precious memories of him that she treasured were beginning to fade. She could feel herself grieving the loss of those moments too. It was too soon. Those memories were her life line to him. She had lost him too soon.

She hugged herself tighter, huddling against the chilly breeze. As she closed her eyes, she heard someone slowly approaching. She wasn’t ready to face anyone.

“It’s time to come home.” Mark’s warm, steady, and wonderfully familiar voice broke the stillness of the cemetery with a gentleness that eased the ache in her heart just a little. Almost like a cozy blanket. “Your mom is worried.”

Turning, Sofie looked up at her best friend from childhood. “How long have you been here? Have you been looking for me?” Reaching into her jacket she smiled in chagrin. Her phone was not in her coat pocket like she had assumed. “What time is it?”

“It’s only 3.” He smiled and sat down on the cold ground next to her. He sat there, quietly giving her the support she hadn’t known she’d needed until he was there, sitting beside her.

Sofie sighed. “You didn’t answer my other question. How long ago did my mom enlist your help?” She broke away from staring at her father’s headstone to glance at him.

He had been looking out at the surrounding trees but when she looked over at him, he turned to study her face. It was as if he could sense that she had been watching him.

“I haven’t been looking.” He gave a soft smile. “I already knew where you were.”

With a chuckle, Sofie nestled into Mark’s side. “You followed me? How’d you know when I would be leaving my house? I didn’t even know I was going to leave when I did.”

“No.” He wrapped his arm around her. “I didn’t need to. But when your mom texted me a few minutes ago and asked if you were with me I told her I’d bring you home. Because if I knew you, and I do because I know I’m right, you walked here without thinking about needing to get home after.”

Sofie laughed and nodded. “How do you know me so well?”

“Time, mostly.” His head leaned on hers. “And I care about you.”

They sat that way for several minutes, him holding her as they both quietly looked at her father’s headstone. Mark once again was the one to break the silence. “I need to text your mom so she doesn’t worry. Is that ok? Do you need more time with your dad?  I can get you more time if you need it.” He glanced down at his phone. “Did you get a good cry in?”

Sofie shook her head. “No. I didn’t cry this time. I just missed him. I needed to be close to him. Mom seems to think that if I stop coming here I won’t hurt so much.”

Mark stood and held his hand out to her. As he pulled her up, he gave her a hug. “I understand. With too much chaos in our lives, it helps to sit back and draw close to those people and things we value most.”

“I value you.” Sofie breathed with a smile, snuggling into his warmth. “Maybe I should have come to your house.”

He chuckled. “You knew I’d be here. Maybe you didn’t consciously think it but you knew I would be…”

She gave a soft shrug. “Maybe I did know. You always seem to know when I need you and show up.”

“That goes both ways. You have been there for me so many times.” He pulled out of their hug with a smile that was practically begging her to pull him back into an even tighter hug. “Let’s go home.”

They stood there for a moment, just looking at each other. Sofie finally felt a little of the peace she was aching for at her dad’s grave, a peace that could only come from the living breathing person standing in front of her. She sighed and squeezed his hand.

“Thank you for coming.”

At his shy smile and nod, her whole being inexplicably brightened. “Mom is going to be thrilled that she managed to get you to come over. She loves you.” Sofie nudged him. “I might even get a little credit for it.”

Mark shook his head. “You know she is going to take all the credit.” In a more serious tone, he leaned into her, “And all you need do is ask and I’ll be there.”

Sofie nodded. “I know.”

As they began to walk, he hip checked her and laughed. “Do we need to go the long way to my car?” He pointed over to the winding path through the cemetery leading away from his car.

“Tempting.” She smiled. “Delaying the inevitable scolding from my mom seems a little too appealing right now.”

“Aww and here I thought it was tempting because you just wanted to spend more time with me and didn’t want to share me with your family.” Mark’s eyes sparkled with humor.

“Oh that too.” She laughed. “I definitely like not having to share you with my family. Why do you have to be so well liked?”

“So that they keep inviting me over and you’ll never be rid of me.” Mark winked and offered her his hand.

She took it without hesitation.

Hand in hand they walked silently over to his waiting car, a soft smile on his face.

Heather

Ultimately it was his repeated almost continuous glancing down to his lap that clued her in. At first she had thought he was nervous like her. After all, who wouldn’t be nervous about a first date set up by friends who swore that they were perfect for each other. That is a lot of pressure for a first date.

She couldn’t stand it anymore. “Are you getting texts from friends too? Mine are apparently dying to know if we have fallen in love yet.”

“No.” He didn’t even look up from whatever it was he was looking at on his phone.

“Is work bugging you after hours?” 

“No, Heather. Work is not bugging me. Why are you so curious about my phone all of the sudden?” As he was talking he slid his phone back into his pocket.

“Because, Parker. You’ve paid more attention to your phone than you have to me in the past few minutes. So I was wondering what could possibly be taking you away from our date.”

He folded his arms onto the table, eyes locked on hers. “Do you need every second of my attention in order for this date to turn into a relationship?”

“No.” She huffed. “Yes. If you ask me on a date I expect the majority of your attention to be on our date and not on your phone. I didn’t say yes to a date with the top of your head, yet I’ve seen more of it than your face.”

“What are you saying Heather? Do you want this date to be done?” He glanced around. “Has this lasted long enough that our friends will believe us now that we aren’t meant to be?”

Heather put her hand up. “Have you been counting minutes until you can end this without getting grief from our friends?”

“No.” Parker sat up straighter. “I wouldn’t do that.”

She leaned back in her chair, arms crossed. “I’m not convinced. And if you are done with the date then so am I. I don’t care how long it’s been or if I get grief from friends. Spending more time with someone who likes their phone more than me is someone I am not interested in.”

Parker pulled his phone back out. “Here.”

“I don’t want your phone.” She pushed it back across the table at him.

He wouldn’t take it back, leaving it on the table between them. “It’s my promise to not look at it again until you decide our date is done.”

“Why should I not just leave?”

“I’ve given you every reason.” He shrugged. “And now that I think of it from your perspective I realize how horrible I have been behaving. One more chance?”

Silence reigned between them as she weighed her options. 

“Fine.” She took his phone and put it in her purse. “Now will you tell me what you kept looking at?”

He shook his head. “I’ll make you a deal. If I can get you to laugh, a real genuine laugh, before I drop you off tonight then I will tell you what I was doing.”

“I could just laugh right now and you’d have to tell me.”

“I would be the one that decides if it’s a real laugh.” He chuckled. 

“How would you know what my real laugh is like then?” She leaned in. “I might have a horse laugh.”

His smile grew and a glint of ‘challenge accepted’ appeared in his eyes. “I plan on hearing you laugh so much tonight that by the end of the night I will know if I’ve managed to get a real laugh out of you.”

“Game on.” Heather laughed.

Immediately he shook his head. “Nope. That’s not it. Try again.”

That brought on more laughter from both of them.

“You know, based on our date so far, you aren’t going to hear a real laugh.” Heather started eating again.

His smile faded. “I am sorry.”

“If we do another date, I think I’ll start off by confiscating your phone right away. You are much more fun without it.”

“Hey!” His mock outrage had her giggling.

“The last minute with you actually engaged in conversation is so completely different. I’m actually enjoying myself now.”

He cocked his head to the side. “Maybe you should have blown up at me sooner. Because I like this version of you better too.”

“I haven’t changed.”

Parker cringed just a little. “I’m aware of that. It is more of a chastisement for myself. I didn’t take the time to talk to you. My opinion of you was marred by my phone.”

Heather smiled. “So what you are saying is you want to start our date over and try talking to each other to decide if we want to call this date a success…or failure.”

“Sounds good when you put it like that.” Parker looked down at his bread plate. “Maybe we can try a different place to eat.”

“Why?” Heather looked around. “This seems like a really nice place.”

He nodded, looked around and nodded again. “I don’t think that this is something that can really show you why I am a good person to date. And I am finding that I want you to say yes when I ask you on a date at the end of the night.”

“All because I called you out?” She laughed.

“No. Because you didn’t just sit there and take it.” He pointed at her purse. “And you gave me a second chance at proving to you that I’m a good guy.”

“Where to?” Heather stood with a smile.

Parker rose and held out his arm. “Well, my fine lady. Allow me to show you my favorite Italian place in the city…Tuscan Valley.”

“I’ve never heard of it.” 

As they were walking out he peeked over at her as he spoke. “Not surprising. It’s a teeny little shop near my apartment. But we shall feast like kings… queens…king and queen.”

Heather burst out laughing.

Evette

“Derek, you don’t understand.” Evette pressed. “Sarah is using you.”

Her best friend since forever shook his head. “I promised her I wouldn’t ignore her just because we were breaking up. I was with her for over a year. You know I can’t just abandon her. I still care about her.”

Evette crossed her arms, leaning against the locker next to his. “Why did the two of you break up then?”

He didn’t answer. He never did. It had been a month and he still hadn’t shared why the two of them had broken up. That wasn’t like him. He told her everything.

There was no love lost between Evette and Sarah. In fact, Sarah had made it clear over the past year that she hated everything about Evette simply because she had known Derek first.

“I know why.” She finally admitted.

Derek’s head snapped up. “What?”

“I heard Sarah telling her friend.”

He slammed his locker shut and pulled her down the hall. “What did she say?”

“Her dad threatened you with something and you were furious. She thought you broke up with her the week prior to the actual break up because you were so distant. Then you caught her flirting with another guy and actually broke up with her then.”

Derek groaned. “This is how rumors get started.”

“What do you mean?”

“She was lying to make herself look good. In that story she is just the sweet innocent victim.”

At this point they were nearing the empty soccer fields. Derek slowed. Looking around to find no one else around, his shoulders relaxed and he sighed. “Evette, I probably should have told you this, of all people, but it was too embarrassing and I was trying to make sense of my feelings.”

“What?” She pressed when he stopped talking. 

Derek took off his backpack and threw it under a nearby bench. He began to pace, not saying a word.

Knowing him and how long it would take for him to find the words, Evette moved to the bench and sat down. He’d get out what he was trying to say eventually. She just needed to give him the time to walk it out and through his head first. So she waited.

“Evette.” He stopped right in front of her. “We’ve been friends for a really long time.”

She nodded, not sure where this was going.

He shook his head. “I don’t know if you ever noticed but Sarah was always very jealous of our friendship.”

“She hated me. I knew that.” Evette shrugged.

Her admission apparently surprised him as his eyes widened. “No.”

“Yes. Keep going.”

“I…ugh.” He paced for another minute, processing what she had just admitted. “Evette, I didn’t break up with Sarah.”

In shock, all she could do was blink. He started to pace again.

“Wait, so you two are still together? I don’t understand.”

“No.” He flopped onto the bench next to her and leaned over his knees, head in his hands. “She broke up with me.”

“What? Why?” Evette shook her head. “She still cries and goes the other way when she sees you. And she’s still using you for rides and stuff.”

Derek’s shoulders slumped further. “I know.”

“Did she give you a reason for breaking up at least?”

“You.” He spoke so softly and muffled that she almost didn’t hear him at all.

When she realized what he had said she jumped up. “Me?”

He sat up and looked at her with sad eyes. “Yeah.”

“Why me? That doesn’t make any sense at all. If anything we have been hanging out less and less since the two of you started dating.” Evette threw her hands up in the air in frustration. “I mean I’m not saying that I suddenly like her but I don’t want to be the reason the two of you broke up.”

“It’s not your fault.” Derek stood and caught her.

“Hey, I let you pace.” She snapped at him.

He chuckled and pulled her into a hug. “I don’t blame you for our relationship ending. And I like pacing, it helps me think. You hate pacing.”

She nodded into his shoulder.

“So she broke up with you because you are friends with me. I thought she liked you more than she hated me.”

“It wasn’t that we are friends.” He looked away, his hug loosening.

Evette stepped back. “Then why?”

Suddenly Derek wouldn’t look at her.

She stepped back in front of him, forcing him to face her. “Why?”

He still wouldn’t look at her.

“Derek. Look at me.”

When he wouldn’t she took his face in her hands and forced him to look straight at her. Laughing, he closed his eyes. So she poked him hard right in the stomach.

“Hey!” He grabbed her, softly throwing her over his shoulder. “You looking for a fight?”

“No!” She screamed as he tickled her.

He didn’t let go. It was several minutes of screaming, laughing, kicking, and poking before she managed to get her feet back on the ground.

She heaved a deep, long suffering sigh. “Now will you tell me?”

“Aww.” He shot her a devilish grin. “I thought I had distracted you.”

“Yes. But I didn’t forget. It’s hard to forget when I may have been the one to end a relationship without doing anything.” She paused with a grimace. “Did I do something and not even realize I was doing something?”

“No.” With a deep breath he repeated himself in a calmer voice. “No. You didn’t do anything. It was me.”

“Wait, now I’m confused. She broke up with you because of me but it was something you did?” She threw her hands up, ready to shake him.

He stepped back, shaking his head.

“Spit it out already before I go crazy.”

“Sarah was…is…convinced” He sighed. “She is convinced that I am in love with you.”

“What?” Evette stepped back. “But you aren’t.”

Derek’s gaze shot up to capture hers with a forcefulness that made her shiver. She couldn’t look away.

“I’m not?” He whispered.

Evette’s chest tightened. “You are?”

He nodded with a small chuckle. “I didn’t really think about it until Sarah threw it in my face. Now it’s all I can think about. It’s so obvious to me now. I don’t blame her for breaking up with me.”

“You…love me?” Evette stammered, a smile bursting across her face.

He nodded again and picked her up in a bear hug, her favorite kind of Derek hug. “That I do. And since I seem to be jumbling this whole thing up maybe now would be a good time to ask will you go on a date with me and be my girlfriend?”

Her laughter filled the air. “That sounds like a fantastic idea.”

Sammi

“Sammi, I just need to focus on passing my classes. And with you around, I can’t. You are a big distraction that I can’t afford to have.”

Those words coming out of Preston’s mouth were the last ones she ever thought would come out of his mouth. After dating for 3 years, she had thought that nothing could surprise her when it came to him.

“So what are you saying? We should end our relationship because I’m too distracting for you to pass your classes?” As the words came out she felt tears burning, ready to come falling out at the slightest hint of any more painful news. Instead of turning into a sobbing ball of mush in front of him she hurriedly stood. “You know what, I’m going to leave. If you ever cared about us and me then you will need to let me know because I’m not coming back over here.”

“Sammi. Let me explain.” He moved to grab her hand but she shuffled quickly out of the way. She snatched her heels by the doors and didn’t bother to put them on. Those tears were coming and she needed to get out before they crippled her.

As she was about to climb into her car she heard Preston yelling. “I wasn’t breaking up. I’m not. I’ll call you after my finals are over.”

Her head shot up. “That is almost 3 months away.”

“Sammi.” His ‘lets be reasonable’ tone suddenly grated on her distraught nerves.

She slammed her door and mumbled under her breath. “You don’t put a real relationship on hold to pass a stupid class or two. You can’t bow out of a relationship any time life gets hard. If you can’t handle it now, what’s going to happen when we get married and he can’t kick me out of the house for being too distracting? Or when kids happen and they are distracting? Is he just going to disappear?” She gave a little scream. 

Preston knocked on her window.

“I didn’t mean it.” He yelled through the closed window.

As tempted as she was to start her car and drive away, she didn’t. Cracking the window just enough so she wouldn’t have to yell she gave him a good glare. “You didn’t mean what exactly?”

He stopped and stood up straight as if that was the last question he expected to hear.

“Any of it.” He said in a rush.

“So this was a game or a test to see how I would react to being kicked out of your life so you could focus?” Sammi’s arms crossed. “I don’t see how that is any better.”

“It wasn’t a game.” His hands shot into his hair and pulled. “You don’t understand.”

“No I don’t.”

“Come back inside and let me explain.” He pointed up at his apartment as if she had forgotten where it was.

She shook her head. “Pres, I am on the verge of falling apart here. My boyfriend of 3 years just dropped me because he can’t deal with me being anywhere near him. I thought we were headed toward forever. So I’m trying to not break into a million pieces and you want to go into detail.”

“No.” He dropped his forehead onto her car door. “No.”

Sammi stayed silent, not trusting any of the words that may come out of her mouth in the next few minutes.

“Sammi, please.”

She couldn’t move and didn’t know what to say.

“Sammi, I am not breaking up with you.” He tried to open the door but it was locked. “Open the door. Come back inside and let me try to say it right.”

“2 minutes.” She squeezed the tears back into her heart. “If after two minutes I’m still hurting, I am leaving and I will not come back here ever. You’ll get the space and distance you need. And so will I.”

“Come inside.” Preston pleaded

She opened the door slowly and when he moved to help her out of the car like he always would, Sammi held up her hand to stop him. “I’m fine.”

He paused before reluctantly stepping back. As they walked back up to his apartment she was careful to leave at least a foot between them. Getting any closer hurt too much.

Once they were back inside she took a seat on the one chair in the room making it impossible for him to get too close. He sighed as he went back to the couch where they had been sitting and snuggling while he studied only minutes ago.

“Sammi.” He began. “I realize what I said may have sounded harsh.”

She nodded.

“Sammi, I don’t ever want to lose you.”

“But…” She supplied, knowing it was coming.

“I can’t fail these classes. I’m under a lot of pressure. You know that.”

Again, she nodded.

“I’m not saying we should never see each other until finals. I didn’t mean it that way. That was the stress talking.”

“I think this whole conversation is the stress talking.” She folded her arms tighter as if she could physically hold herself together.

He shook his head. “I’m saying that I need study time by myself. I’ll probably be at the library.”

“Ok.”

“So I won’t be around as much.”

She waited.

“I don’t want you hanging around here waiting for me to get home and getting mad when I’m not.” He shrugged.

“So when you said you didn’t want me around? And that I’m a distraction you can’t afford to have?”

“I meant it in the way of ‘I am not going to be studying here in order to focus better’. And you have to admit, with how gorgeous you are every day, you are very distracting. I keep thinking about kissing you instead of studying. I’m hoping with me being alone in the library I will be thinking less about kissing you and more about the algorithms I have to memorize.”

“You could have just said that you were going to study in the library for a few hours each day so you would be home later than usual.” She shrugged, still struggling to move past the aching hurt.

He laughed. “I could have. I should have. Now that you put it that way I’m kicking myself for not thinking of that. Instead I almost lost you because I couldn’t get the words out right.”

“I can try to be less distracting.” She muttered.

“No!” His vehement tone surprised her. “No. I want you to be you. I love you for who you are, not a dulled down version of you just so that I can concentrate.”

“You love me?” She gasped, eyes wide.

He gulped. “I meant for the first time I said it for the setting to be a little more romantic.” He shook his head. “Too late for that. Yes, Sammi. I love you.”

The tears she had been holding in came gushing out with wild abandon. “You jerk!”

Tabitha

“I dare you to go up to the tower on the next full moon.” Tyler’s mocking voice rang through her thoughts. Those words haunted her; almost as much as the rumors and stories she’d heard for years about the tower.

Yet here she was, standing outside it. She had brought her phone and started the video as soon as she got close, to prove she had gone. She flipped the angle to show her face. “I’m going in.”

It took a minute to get around to opening the door. It was so heavy she almost dropped her phone as she pushed.

Once inside, the dark was oppressive and she would have ran back outside if the video wasn’t streaming. She was going to get massive cool points for actually doing this. No one had believed she really would. Even her best friend Heidi had laughed, saying that she would never go.

A few deep breaths later she was heading for a flight of stone stairs that spiraled the wall of the tower. Whatever building had been attached was long gone but somehow the tower itself had not crumbled at all. Sure it looked old but it wasn’t falling apart. The stairs stayed sturdy under her feet as she climbed.

The further she went, the colder she became. Rubbing her arms she groaned. “If I’d known that it would be winter in here I would have brought a warmer coat.”

Immediately after saying it out loud she regretted it…for two reasons. One, everyone watching her video was going to hear her grumbling and two, it instantly grew colder.

Shaking her head, she kept walking.

“A tower full of endless stairs. Not so scary.” She flipped the camera to talk to her viewers. “All of you were too scared to climb a tower of really cold stairs.”

Two steps later she encountered black ice coating a full step. She slid dangerously close to falling down those same stairs. 

“Ice on the stairs.” She spoke into the camera. “I don’t know how but somehow it is cold enough in here to have ice on the stairs. If I fall and die I want everyone to know that I blame Tyler and will haunt him forever.”

Nodding as if to confirm it to herself she was more careful as she continued forward. It was a lot slower going after that but somehow she missed the fact that the end of the stairs was coming. In fact, she was so occupied with making sure she didn’t fall to her death that she almost ran into the large wood door.

“Alright. Door. If it is locked I’m leaving. No one said they expected me to break down doors or go ice-skating on death stairs.”

Trying the door, she didn’t know whether to cry or sigh when the door opened with ease.

“I guess I’m going in.”

As she spoke an odd noise, kind of like a thump, was followed by what she thought might be a metallic clang.

“Noises and no wind. Now I’m a little creeped out.”

It took more than a few slow deep breaths to convince herself to go any further. If she wasn’t holding the phone doing a stupid live stream she would have been down those stairs and gone already.

“In. Go in.” She tried to keep as quiet as possible, on the off chance that it would be picked up in the video. And again she mentally chastised herself for feeling like she had to record it all in the first place. Stupid Tyler.

Once inside she slumped with relief. There was no scary anything. It was an empty room. Nothing that would cause a thump, bump, or rattle.

“There’s nothing in here. It’s empty.” Her voice echoed, filling the space.

After scanning the whole room with the camera she pointed it back to her. “I guess I am going to turn this off now since there’s nowhere else to go and nothing else to see.”

With a click she slid her phone into her back pocket and gave out a relieved sigh. “Well that’s done.” 

With nothing to sit on she plopped down on the floor against the cold wall. Ice stairs were not easy to manage and her legs were shaky. She closed her eyes and sighed. The trip back down was not something she was looking forward to.

Seconds later a thump startled her, her eyes popping open.

“Where did you come from?” She screeched.

Standing just a few feet away from her was a man dressed in well-worn leather with one arm chained to a post.

As she jumped up and put her fists up to defend herself, he rippled out of existence.

“Hello?”

She took another slower step forward. She could hear the rattle of his chain but couldn’t see him.

As the seconds passed she started to laugh. “I must be more tired than I thought.” Still laughing she headed for the door, only to be stopped by a really real hand grabbing her by the elbow.

She screamed and turned in the direction of whoever or whatever had touched her. And the man was back. As soon as she turned he let go and put his hands up.

“You…you can see me?” His voice was scratchy and deep. “You felt me?”

“I…well, yes?” Tabitha backed up a few more steps toward the door and he didn’t move to stop her. “What are you? Are you real?”

“I’m real. Just stuck in a curse.” He lifted his arm and dropped it. “And in this chain.”

“Curse?”

He nodded. Somehow the room grew even colder. Shadows darkened. She shivered, rubbing her hands on her thighs.

“And how do you break your curse?” She folded her arms as a gust of cold wind shot around her.

He held out a hand to her. “I can’t. But maybe you can.”

“Me?” Her head was shaking as she fought to make sense of it all.

The man didn’t move. “The curse can only be broken by a woman willing to release me from my chain.”

“Why would that be hard?” She took a step forward.

His hand went up quickly. “Stop. I must warn you. If you approach with the intent to release me from this chain, when you get within a few feet of me I transform into a strange large cat.” He took a deep breath.

“Really?” She took several steps forward, watching him closely, and he instantly  dissolved into a large white Siberian tiger.

Jumping back with a scream she clung to the wall until he reappeared.

“Are you alright? Did I hurt you?”

“No.” She sucked in an icy breath. “Not hurt. Freaked out of my mind? Yes.”

The man’s shoulders slumped. “”It is alright that you leave. I understand.”

Tabitha stood there debating. “I’ll be back.”

He didn’t move, didn’t acknowledge her.

“I will.” She turned and quickly stumbled out the door.

Grace

Last night I dreamt I was baking cookies again…or attempting to. It was the same as always. I am in my mother’s white and blue tiled kitchen surrounded by all the ingredients I would need to make my favorite butterscotch cookies. Except the sugar. I can never find the sugar.

I look and look and look, usually making a thorough mess of the place in the process. Yet it is never in the same place. At first I thought it was my brain telling me that my mother calls on me to save her from all the times she eagerly volunteers to make and bring cookies to events before she belatedly recalls, typically on the day of, that she can’t bake.

And every time I find the disappearing sugar, my dream ends. Once I found it under the sink. Another time it was already in the oven. Also the freezer, the pantry where it should be, inside the flour bin. And last night after I had looked everywhere I could possibly think of, guess where it turned up? In the outstretched hands of a man whose face I never got to see because I woke up before I could.

And trust me, I tried to go back to sleep, to get that dream back. I tried the rest of the night and it didn’t work. So instead I lay there remembering what I did see.

Whoever my dream hero was, he was tall and had very lean muscular arms. I know this because he was holding out the large bucket of sugar like it was nothing. They were tan too, so he spent plenty of time out in the sun. His shoulders were broad and he had been standing there waiting to help me make cookies. The perfect start to a dream relationship.

…And infinitely better than searching a kitchen for sugar all by myself.

When the phone rang and I saw my mom was calling I didn’t answer. She was sure to have some emergency that she would need me to rush over and solve. And I was busy trying to see who my subconscious was trying to tell me to date.

When she called a second time only a minute later I heaved a sigh and grabbed my phone off of my cluttered nightstand.

“Hi mom. What’s wrong?”

“Oh! Thank goodness you answered.” There was a slight pause. “Why should anything be wrong for me to call you?” My mother’s harried voice immediately went pouty.

I shook my head as I sat up in my bed and leaned back on the padded headrest. “Because you called me twice in less than a minute. At 7 in the morning on a Saturday. If this isn’t an emergency you have made me wake up early for no good reason and I’ll hang up on you. So what’s up?”

“Grace, I need you to come over immediately. Absolutely immediately. Everything is a mess and your father was called in to work so he can’t help me and everyone is expecting me to have these done and pretty and ready by noon today.”

“That seems a little last minute mom.” I pulled myself out of bed and went to get on my comfy cooking clothes. If this was something she needed my help with it would mean I’d be cooking or baking like crazy to help her be ready for some sort of event going on tonight.

“Just come save me.” She huffed.

Pulling on my shoes I glanced around for my keys. “I’m already heading out the door. I’ll be there in 20 minutes.”

“Oh good.”

As I pulled the door shut I smiled. “Mom, you never did say. What am I helping with?”

“I didn’t say?” Her mom’s voice trailed off. “Oh.”

“You only said they needed to look impressive.” I tried to prompt her.

She laughed. “Of course they do. Nancy Derrigan down the street always makes these angel sugar cookies that look divine and sparkly and perfect and pretty. I just want mine to not look like the poor neglected kid on the block.”

“So we are making cookies?”

“Oh heavens. Yes! Get down here!” I could hear her doing something that sounded suspiciously like shushing someone. “And don’t you worry. I already found you some help. You know how useless I am in the kitchen.”

“Help?” I stumbled on my way to the car. “Who?”

“You remember Nolan Strausen right?” Mom’s voice faded again. “Oh just get down here. You can reintroduce yourselves once you get here.”

“You are setting me up mom. Right? Tell me straight that you are not trying to set me up with someone using a cookie emergency as an excuse.”

She huffed loudly. “Grace Lorelai Woodman. I just thought you could use help and I found some. He can’t help it if he is gorgeously handsome and already approved by your father and I. Sorry if I don’t have a resume to send you of his cookie helping capabilities.”

“Mom. I am not doubting whether or not he can bake. I can work around that. However, I am doubtful whether this is a real emergency or if you made sure it would become an emergency so you could call me in and just so happen to have handsome manly single help nearby.”

I waited for an answer as I started the car.

“Mom?”

Pulling my phone back to look at the screen I growled a little when I saw that she had hung up on me. It definitely answered one question of mine. This was most definitely a setup.

But hey after my dream last night with my mystery stranger I had cookies, sugar, and a handsome dreamy man in my kitchen on my mind already.

“Might as well go meet this one.” I said to myself, sort of like a mini personal pep talk. “Maybe meeting a suitably parental approved man in my mom’s kitchen is the way my brain is telling me to find my one true love, though for now I’d simply settle for a devoted boyfriend.”

I pulled out of my driveway with a derisive chuckle.

“Either way. Today will be an adventure.”

Amara

Shivering in the biting cold wind, Amara shook the snow from her skirts as she continued to trudge back toward town. When she’d gone out that morning to gather the last of the berries before winter, the sun had been shining and it had been reasonably warm.

Now the sun had fast disappeared behind storm clouds that had come out of nowhere. The snow had dumped until she was up to her cold ankles in icy snow. Already she could hear her mother’s disappointed sigh, for she knew that she must look like a bedraggled mess by now.

Making it to the road had been a huge accomplishment but she had too far to go to slow down now. So instead she trudged on. Several minutes later she heard a horse’s hooves fast approaching. Hurriedly moving to the small ditch on the side of the road, she looked back to watch for the approaching rider. Instead of flying past her kicking up snow, the horse and its rider pulled up to a stop next to her.

“Can I assist you in some way?” A deep voice muffled by a warm dark blue scarf mumbled. “A ride perhaps?”

With a glare Amara turned to the rider. “Keep moving sir. I am uninterested in being accosted today.  If you get off your horse I will make sure you sincerely regret it before you can do anything.” She kept a wary eye on him as she took several steps away.

“Mari?” Despite her warning the rider dropped to the ground, unwrapping the scarf from where it was obscuring his face.

“Milo!” Amara flew over to him, leaping into his arms. He easily caught her, laughing. Her momentum was enough that they both fell to the side of the road as his horse patiently waited.

“When did you get home?” Amara asked, breathlessly lying in the snow, giggling next to him. Milo sat up, pulling her with him and brushed some of the snow from her hair. 

He shrugged. “Yesterday. Sorry I didn’t come to see you sooner.”

“After 5 years? What’s one little day? Was boarding school awful?” Amara began to shiver again.

Immediately Milo tightened his arms around her. “What are you doing out here? It’s freezing.”

“Berries.” She confessed, blushing. 

“Are you still going to kill me if I haul you onto my horse and get you someplace warm? Because as of now, I still don’t regret getting down from my horse.” Even as he asked Milo stood up and tossed her easily over his shoulder. 

She hit his back as she laughed. “Put me down.”

Striding to his horse, he helped her up. Then, after tossing her a cheery smile he climbed up behind her. They began a slow canter as Amara cuddled back into Milo’s chest, remembering all the times he had let her go riding with him when they were younger.

“Where does your father think you are?” In the past she had hoped his father would look past her lack of wealth and acknowledge that her family name was still a respectable one but by now, with all the time she had spent in his company and faced his scorn she doubted that would ever happen.

Milo hugged her as he laid his chin on her shoulder and whispered, “With you.”

“But he hates me.” Amara turned her head to look into his hazel eyes. “He would never let you come see me. Last I heard, he was adamant about being sure I didn’t get any foolish ideas of a future with you. He even went out of his way to inform me that he had found you the perfect wife.”

He pulled his horse to a stop and gently turned her in his lap. “Last night I told him, in no uncertain terms, that he was going to learn to treat you respectfully as a member of the family.” His steady gaze never left her face.

“What?” A shiver that had nothing to do with the cold coursed through her.

Milo quickly dissembled. “I know that I have been gone for a long time and you may have found someone else…” He paused as fear touched his eyes.

With a nervous laugh she shook her head. “Much to my mother’s dismay, I have not been deemed marriageable by any of the young men or their families. Something about a wild streak? Or impertinence? I think one of the good mothers I met informed me that I would never be a bride because I was appalling at being a good biddable girl. So no, there is no one else.” Amara leaned in. “And aside from all that, there is no one else I would want Milo. Just you.”

“Oh good. Then, I was saying that I know it has been a long time. I want you to know that you were never far from my thoughts. And now I am back and not going anywhere anytime soon. I figured now would be the best time to state my intentions. Amara, I want to court you so that when the appropriate time comes, I can marry you. Please tell me that is something you want as well.”

Stunned and overcome by the swell of emotion crashing through her, it took her more than a moment to respond. The worry once again creeping onto his hopeful face jolted her from her shock. She flung her arms around his neck. “Yes!” Immediately she pulled back and blushed. “I mean, yes good sir, you may court me so long as you are able to obtain my father’s approval…and my mother’s.”

He laughed. “That was a very good attempt. I almost believed that you were a good biddable girl. Too bad I know you better than that.” He tickled her.

With a screech she smacked his shoulder. “I know how to behave well when the situation calls for it, you lout.”

“Indeed?” He swept her into a huge warm hug. “You will have a chance to prove it tonight at our dinner party.”

She pushed on his chest. “Tonight? With your family? That is sudden. What if you hadn’t happened upon me on the road?”

“I was on my way to your house you goose.”

“Oh.” Amara took a deep breath. “Then I suppose you better take me the rest of the way so you can formalize it all with my parents while I throw on a decent dress.”

They rode the rest of the way in cheerful silence, smiling at each other every few seconds as if to reassure each other that they were together.

Joelle

Joelle quietly peered through the hole in the fence, lost in her staring. Every Saturday morning Trevor was out in his backyard and Joelle was hiding safely behind her fence. It wasn’t like she never talked to the guy, they were friends. She just didn’t want to be caught ogling him. After all, they were friends. Friends.

“Hey Jojo bean!” Trevor called out, not even looking in her direction.

Falling backward, she landed sprawled in the dirt. She blinked in shock. How’d he know? Seconds later his head popped over the fence, looking down at her with a huge grin plastered to his face. “Whatcha doin’ down there in the dirt Jojo bean?”

“I…I…” Joelle scrambled but failed monumentally to come up with any sort of explanation.

Thankfully he didn’t push further. “Well, when you are done hanging out in the dirt come over. You are still coming over to help with my homework?”

Jumping to her feet Joelle felt her comfort zone slide into place. “I am not playing in the dirt. I fell.” His eyebrow raised at that but she hurried on. “And I will come over to help you as long as it remains me helping and not me doing it for you. I’m not one of your groupies Trev, who will hang all over you and do whatever you want.” At least, you’ll never get me to admit it.

“Says the girl I found suspiciously close to that peephole.” He scoffed.

With a fierce blush she blurted, “How on earth would you know if there is a peephole?”

Jumping over the fence in a move he made look remarkably easy, Trevor was suddenly startlingly close. “It works both ways Jojo bean.” He grinned brighter as he looked pointedly over at her favorite lounge chair by her pool where she would sit reading for hours on end whenever the sun was out.

Joelle’s face flushed even more red. Once again at a loss over what to say she shoved him. She needed time to process what he had just admitted. “Liar.” 

He shrugged, moving in even closer. There were mere centimeters of space between them. Staring up at him, all she could do was blink.

“Trevor?!” A girl’s voice who sounded an awful lot like Emilia, groupie #1, echoed from over on Trevor’s side of the fence. Joelle wasn’t the only one that cringed. “Where are you baby?”

Trevor blanched every time the girl spoke, yet she still hung around. 

Joelle whispered, “You have got to cut her loose, she is getting on my nerves.”

“Trust me. I have tried.” Trevor whispered back. “Emilia is persistent.”

“Then go get yourself a girlfriend so we can stop whispering. You are hiding in my backyard, from a little sophomore.” Joelle goaded.

Trevor backed away from the fence with a mischievous glint in his eye, pretending to hide behind her. “No. I don’t want to.”

Joelle almost didn’t hear what he had said. When he’d moved behind her his hands had gone to her waist in order to keep her from moving. “You do realize that you are bigger than me, right? If she looked over the fence right now she would still see you. I…are you really hiding behind me?”

She tried to turn but he kept her facing the fence. His voice came from right behind her shoulder blades and tingles raced out in all directions. “No, I’m not hiding at all. I’m holding you.” His hands went from holding her waist to completely wrapped around her.

Her breath hitched. “Trevor?”

Slowly he turned her in his arms, not letting her move any further away as he stood to his full height. She wasn’t sure if he was still hiding or flirting.

“Hi.” He whispered with a chuckle.

Flirting. Definitely flirting. With her.

Too fast to comprehend what was happening before it happened, Trevor was gently but firmly holding the back of her neck, pulling her in. The kiss seared through her body, leaving a delicious glowing warmth. As he eased away he smiled. “I don’t want to go anywhere further than right here for a girlfriend.”

“There’s no one else here.” I growled. “How does that help you find a girlfriend?”

“You’re here.” He smirked.

Joelle started shaking her head. “I am not going to pretend to be your girlfriend just so you can shake Emilia. Besides, we are friends.”

“Trevor!” Emilia shrieked from just on the other side of the fence. Way too close. Both Trevor and Joelle jumped at the sound, fully pulling apart.

Trevor nodded. “I’m not going anywhere until you say yes, Jojo bean.”

“To what?” You didn’t ask me a question.” Joelle smiled, tilting her head. “Do you have a question for me?”

“Trevor!” Once again Emilia called out, taking on a sickly sweet tone. “Are we playing a game? I love games.”

Groaning, Trevor put both hands on Joelle’s shoulders. “Stay here, little miss peeping tom…er…peeping tami.”

“No promises.” Joelle teased.

Rolling his eyes, Trevor snatched her hand and dragged her out of her backyard and into his. When Emilia spotted him she came dashing over, completely ignoring Joelle. Trevor kept a firm hold on her hand, even as Emilia wrapped herself around him. It took forever for Trevor to pull her off. Joelle couldn’t tell how hard he was trying and she did not appreciate how much of Emilia’s incredibly long black hair was getting in her face.

“Emilia.” Trevor gruffed, turning back to pull Joelle closer to him. “You’ve met Joelle right? My girlfriend.”

Joelle’s mouth dropped as Emilia’s face turned red. With a wordless shriek Emilia stormed off, once again leaving Trevor and Joelle alone.

Hands on her hips, Joelle glared him down. “Did you just use me to get rid of her?” She demanded.

“No!” He put up his hands in defense. “Yes, but no.”

“Since when have I been your girlfriend then?” Joelle stumbled slightly at the word girlfriend.

“Since I kissed you and asked you to be my girlfriend. And before you bring up the whole pretending thing, I never said anything about you pretending to be my girlfriend. I was really asking. I know you haven’t had a chance to say yes yet but will you? You haven’t said no yet either.” He drew her in. “Do I need to kiss you again?”