by Kelly Hall
“Knock. Knock.” He peeked around at us and made a face at us. “Hate to drag you from your passion pit, but we’ve got training to do. You told me earlier you’d go.”
“I know. I should have called you when I got kidnapped and held against my will,” I teased, looking to Talon.
Talon’s eyes lit up. “Against your will, huh?” He made a face then started tickling me. “I’ll show you against your will!” He laughed with me and then stopped as we looked up at Owen who stood blank-faced as Talon continued. “Lily is unavailable. I suggested rest for her. You two were zombies this morning and all through lunch and she still hasn’t eaten anything.” Talon put a hand to my tummy and gave it a pat. I suddenly realized my hunger as it let out a growl.
I gave Owen an apologetic look. “I am pretty hungry.” I stretched my arms and yawned. “We’ll do it tomorrow, I promise.”
Owen shook his head. “Still letting him boss you around, I see,” he scoffed.
I tilted my head to the side as my jaw dropped. “Don’t be that way.” I searched his eyes. He shook his head and headed for the door. Talon smirked as I called out to Owen. “Tomorrow,” I promised.
***
Usually nothing exciting ever happened at school, but someone pulled the fire alarm and we had to evacuate the building while they checked things out. We’d just finished with lunch so we went out to take our usual place on the sidewalk. Owen joined us after flirting with the cheerleaders who had taken the opportunity to practice a few cheers. Bobbie Watson was still into him, even though he’d stood her up on the Halloween hayride.
“So, Ms. Jordan,” Owen kicked my shoe. “You’re keeping your promise today?”
“Yes, of course.” I nodded. “Talon, you want to come?”
Hunter spoke up. “Dude, you told me you’d come help finish those shelves. Naomi’s willing to pay, plus she’s about to hire part-time delivery people. You could get a foot in if you come and help now.”
Talon made a face, trying to decide how to break it to me, so I let him off the hook. “Hey, you go ahead. Make some money so you can buy me an awesome Christmas present.” I flashed him a wink.
Holly laughed. “Naomi will have us all hired before it’s over with.”
“Yeah, just don’t tell Granny I’m on the payroll.” Hunter had gotten his secret job just days before.
I wiped away the dirt Owen had left on my shoe as I spoke to Hunter. “How come she lets you go hang out up there every day, but she wouldn’t want you making deliveries and earning a living?”
Hunter let out a long breath. “Because Granny is more about control than anything else.”
“Kind of reminds me of someone else I know,” Owen mumbled, giving Talon a glare.
“Yeah, me too,” Talon retorted.
***
“Well, I see we didn’t have better things to do today,” Ray said, showing me how upset he’d been by my previous absence. He took a swig of beer and gave me a disgusted look.
“Sorry, Talon thought I needed to rest since I wiped out in school yesterday. So did Owen.”
He studied his bottle and frowned. “Yes, he told me about it last night. We could have worked it out if you’d shown up.”
“Sorry.” I honestly hoped that he would lay off.
He threw his hand up. “Save it. Today we’re going to try and connect on a different level and afterward I want you to ground yourselves. Hopefully you won’t stay hopped up like last time.” Ray pushed his sofa back and then his coffee table, expanding our space. He plopped himself down in his recliner to direct. “Okay, now. We’re going to try and do a mental connection; again, through touch. I’m assuming you’ve dosed?” We nodded. “Good. I don’t think a boost will be necessary since you two have already proven that you do have a connection. Okay, so sit cross-legged on the floor, facing each other, and join hands.”
We did as he said. Owen’s hands felt warm and rough. They were strong from working out, tinkering with his four-wheeler and doing yard work for Granny. My hands always felt dainty in his, though his measured only a little bigger.
Owen looked into my eyes and smiled as Ray continued. “Okay now, you need to lean in to each other, join hands, and let your foreheads rest together.” I gave Ray a look. He waved and encouraged me to hurry up.
Thankful that Talon hadn’t come along, I leaned up to touch my hands and forehead with Owen’s. I felt the heat flare in my cheeks because of the intimacy. The height difference also made it slightly uncomfortable. Owen seemed unbalanced trying not to lean his weight on me.
“This is awkward,” I said, talking so incredibly close to Owen’s face. It was unnerving.
Owen broke connection to rub his neck. “I know. My back is killing me.” He glanced over at Ray, who grew impatient.
“Sit up on your feet a little, Shortcake,” Ray snapped. “Then shut your pie hole and focus.”
I sat back and glared at him. “You could be nice, you know. This isn’t exactly comfortable.”
“No kidding,” Owen agreed. “I feel like I’m being directed in some low budget movie. Not that it isn’t nice in some ways; but I’m just saying—major creep fest here!”
Ray had lost all patience with us. He slammed his beer down on the table next to his chair. “Get your heads together and let’s do this. What we’re trying to do is serious. I can’t help it if you’re both too self-conscious and hormonal to do what needs to be done.” Owen and I both glared at him in silence.
“Now, continue,” he snapped.
A spark of blue flashed near us as if he’d cracked a whip. We cut our eyes to him and joined hands and leaned in. Sitting up on my knees a little did help some, and I started to relax when I got quiet and focused on Owen’s steady breathing.
“Okay, let your minds join. Picture it, encourage it, feel it.” Ray walked over and knelt next to us. “Think of your friendship. How much you mean to each other.”
I thought of how much Owen meant to me. Remembering the first time I realized I cared so much about him, when he stormed out of the room after learning of our relationship. My heart had broken for him. Then when I thought I’d lose him to French and his gang. How banged up he got that first time; beaten and bloody—dirty. It had been the first time I’d called the Light with the Water, because he had it hidden in his car. Then I thought of Halloween. I felt a pang of guilt for running out against Talon’s wishes, but I had to go find Owen. I had to, as if I knew deep down in my bones that he was mine and I had to protect him.
I felt my mind open up and my chest seemed to fill with fuzziness, tickling every inch of my heart. I could feel him there. I could sense him. Push harder! I thought. Try harder!
I pushed up on my feet to get closer to him and suddenly, for no reason at all, other than to coax him to me I kissed him, full and deep on the mouth. I could feel him in my mind then, as if we were joined as one. I broke the kiss and whispered. “You did it.” I tried to catch my breath and then the reality of what I’d done hit me. I’d kissed Owen!
My vision came back to me. It definitely hadn’t played out, but it was one step of many to make it happen. Guilt flooded my emotions as I backed away. Owen sat frozen with dreamy eyes that brightened with his smile.
“Sorry,” I said. “I don’t know what came over me.” I shook my head in disbelief. “Please don’t tell anyone.”
“Don’t worry. Even though he’s just as guilty. And don’t apologize. That was amazing.” We looked over to Ray who had kicked back in his chair drinking a beer, looking bored.
“Good thing your boyfriend didn’t come today, Sunshine. That would have been awkward.” He sang the word.
“He’s not her boyfriend anymore,” Owen reminded.
Ray smiled. “Don’t worry about it. It just means that you and Owen are in tune. He obviously needed help and you followed your instincts. You needed him, you got him. Understand?”
“No, I don’t.” Sure it sounded simple when he said it, simple and sleazy, but I still had so many q
uestions.
Owen laughed. “You had to have me. I’m just so irresistible. What can I say?” He breathed on his nails and wiped his collar as Ray stood up to approach us.
“Okay you two. Just lie flat on your backs and rest a minute. Imagine yourself nailed to the floor if you want. Anything that will keep you grounded. It helps disperse the energy you accumulated back into the earth.”
“I won’t be hyper tonight and dead tomorrow?” I asked.
“Nope, not if you shut that pretty little mouth and do as I say.”
Owen glared at his dad. “Stop being such a smart ass.”
“Now you know where you get it from.” Ray took another swig from his bottle.
“Yeah, well I knew that the minute I met you,” Owen replied.
After about ten minutes, which seemed like forever, Ray told us to get up. “So what was all that for? Other than making out,” Owen asked.
“You will need to communicate with each other if you’re in danger and it helps to strengthen your mental instincts for one another. Eventually you’ll be able to sense each other’s presence without any help from your other senses.”
“What do you mean exactly?” Owen asked, heading to the kitchen for a soda.
“I mean, you’ll be able to sense each other, feel each other’s emotions. Say if Lily is in danger, she can call out to you and you could do the same.” He gave a sly smile and then drank from his beer.
“How do you know all of this?” I asked. “Did your grandmother leave you notes before she died, like a diary or something?”
A devilish grin spread across his face. “Something like that.”
“That’s awesome. I want to see them,” I said, trying to seem genuine, I really just wanted to see more about Birdie.
“In time,” he assured. “In time, I am sure I will show you everything.” I wanted to believe him, but something in the way he made his promises, I didn’t trust him.
***
Owen and I discussed our situation on the way home. I started with the obvious problem. “Please promise not to tell Talon about the kiss. He would be so hurt over nothing. I didn’t even realize what I did.” I twisted my fingers in my shirt hem. This was the type of thing that Owen would love to rub in Talon’s face.
He reached over and touched my shoulder. “Lily, I won’t if you don’t want me to, but what if that happened right in front of him? You should try to explain some of this stuff. I mean, it’s not like you have some secret boyfriend. That is, unless you want me to be?” He gave me a dreamy glance and poked me in the ribs as he laughed.
I ignored his remark. “How would I explain when I don’t understand it myself? And it will only make him crazy every time I go to Ray’s. It’s bad enough we’re the way we are. You and I have always been too close with one another and that’s partly why Talon and I broke up in the first place.” I didn’t know if I should have said that. I sighed and wished I hadn’t.
Owen grinned. “Really, because of me?” I hoped this wouldn’t go to his head or give him the wrong idea.
“We spend a ridiculous amount of time together and you can’t quit holding my hand or hugging me. As if you need an explanation.”
“I thought we were cousins, though.” He shrugged.
I chuckled. “Come on, even cousins don’t do that.”
“Okay, so I pathetically used that as an excuse to be close to you. Sue me. I know it’s messed up, but I—I love you, Lily. I gotta pull out all my tricks when I can.”
“No tricks,” I scolded. “I mean it and don’t say that you love me.” It worried me what kind of tricks the new and improved Owen could play.
“Am I also the reason why you haven’t gotten back together yet?”
“No, Talon told me to think it over and to make sure that I’m prepared for a long distance relationship.”
“Long distance?” Owen raised his brows.
“Yes, he’s going away to school.”
“When you say ‘away,’ where do you mean?”
I frowned.
“You mean Houston? Where his girlfriend is?”
I reached out and popped his arm. “Shut up,” I snapped.
“That’s it!” Owen clapped his hands together and laughed. “It’s why you haven’t decided. He never has explained the mystery girl. What are you waiting for? Ask him about her.”
“No! And you have to promise me that you won’t say anything; nothing about anything. I have to give him the benefit of the doubt. I have to wait until he’s ready to tell me. He will, I know he will. Things have just been... strange.”
“Whatever, I’ll be good. I know my time is coming now.” He squared his shoulders and lifted his chin. “It’s pretty neat knowing you’ll always really be mine.”
“Stop it.” The thought of it made me nervous.
“I love the way you didn’t deny it.” He laughed.
“Shut up.” I stared out the window into the night sky as he turned on Bragg. I’d be glad when I got home. This is too much to handle.
***
Talon smelled sweet like the flower shop. “I can’t believe I beat you home. You aren’t going to be bouncing off the walls are you?”
“No, I’m pretty calm. Ray made us ground ourselves.” I figured he’d ask what that meant, but he didn’t. “So did you get the shelves finished?” I asked.
“The second set. We’re doing more the rest of the week. I’m making plans for Friday night, just the two of us.”
“So where are you taking me?” I asked.
“Oh no, it’s a surprise. I’ve got it all planned,” he said proudly. “So tell me, what did you two learn today?”
We learned that I could kiss Owen. I hesitated. “Um, not much, really. Ray just went over the same stuff as the other day, except he taught us to ground ourselves afterward so we could disperse our energy instead of letting it bottle up inside us like it did before.”
“Well, you seem fine.” He smiled. “I’m going to shower.”
“But you smell so amazing! So... flowery.” I buried my face in his chest, grabbing his shirt to my nose.
“Yeah, I got into some smelly oil stuff that Naomi uses on artificial arrangements.” He held his shirt out and studied it.
“Ah!” That explained the severity of the fragrance.
“Come see me when I’m done.” He gave me a peck on the cheek and went to the bathroom to clean up. Though our relationship had improved, I still had no idea what I wanted, but I refused to let myself think about Owen or the kiss.
***
After we’d all settled in our own beds and Holly had finished telling me all of her latest news, I drifted to sleep.
My dream started in the hallway by Owen’s room. I heard voices so I walked to his door. Something was strange about the feel of this dream. I couldn’t describe it except to say that it was—off.
I flung the door open to find Owen sitting on his weight bench with Tia on his lap. She was half- dressed in short shorts and a tight black tank top that left nothing to the imagination. She ran her fingers through his hair and kissed his neck. I gasped and started to step backwards, but the wall was closer than I’d thought. He startled as he glanced my way, but Tia didn’t move. She smiled and then faded away like a ghost.
Owen gave me a double take. Once he realized what I’d seen, he got nervous. “It’s not what you think!” He grew pale and looked around trying to find her.
My lips curled in disgust. “You were making out with Tia,” I said, wondering where this dream would lead.
“No way.” He shook his head. “You’re the only one for me, Lily. I would never be with anyone else. I love you.” He stood right in front of me now. “Kiss me,” he whispered, leaning in.
“What? No! I saw her. She disappeared.” I exclaimed. I clutched my neck and glanced away. “I can’t believe you. Your dad’s girlfriend?”
“Lily?” He cocked his head to the side and looked at me like he was trying to figure something out. “Y
ou seem—too—real. This is a dream, right? Something’s wrong.”
“You can say that again. What are you doing in my dream?” I asked. “How are you in my dream?”
“This is my dream.” Our eyes locked, both of us determined.
“Oh really, well, in your dreams do I do this?” I slapped him. The contact stung my hand and my eyes widened.
“Ouch!” he exclaimed as my hand print rose on his face. “What was that for?” He looked at me like I’d gone crazy and my heart sank.
I grabbed hold of his arms and shook him. “Owen, we’re in each other’s dreams.”
He rubbed his face. “You didn’t have to slap me.”
“It’s just a dream, it’s not real.” I shrugged.
“Yeah, but it hurt,” he growled.
“Really? Cool.” I hadn’t thought it would.
“This is crazy.” His image started to fade away. “Lily,” he called to me, just as he flickered out. I remained alone in his room, in my dream. I ran out to go home but woke up before I could reach the front door. Thank God it’s over.
I opened my eyes to find Owen standing over me.
“You hit me.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” I pulled the covers up over my head.
Chapter Fourteen
“Okay, so what’s this about a problem?” Ray asked, referring to Owen’s latest text message. He had sent several but we’d gone to see Ray in person before he had time to respond.
“Uh, this linking our energy isn’t going to work out,” Owen said. “I mean, just how much privacy invasion can we expect from one another?”
“Privacy invasion? Say what you mean, son? I’m not psychic.”
“Well we might as well be!” I said, taking a seat on the lumpy old sofa.
Owen tilted his head and held up his index finger. “We seemed to have had a little involuntary mind invasion last night while I was having a very... private dream.” I let out a long breath and looked away. Owen would certainly not tell his dad about Tia.
Ray looked at us for a minute and then cracked up. He wouldn’t be laughing if I told him what Owen dreamt about. “That’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard!” He popped open a beer. “You’ve got to learn not to call to each other.”
