He told Jessica Marshall his secret three days after they met. Needless to say, she was a little flattered, a bit appalled, and very surprised. Here he was, Connor Matthews, one of the most attractive yet quietest studs on campus just enjoying a ham sandwich with her on the grass when he blurts out that he could fly, and probably throw the tree they were leaning against into space. She didn’t believe him at first and in an embarrassing display, almost spit pieces of chewed up bread at his face when she laughed. But when he picked up a small stone lying in the grass and practically threw it into the clouds, well, let’s just say he got her attention.
“How did you do that?” she asked as he shrugged his shoulders.
“I just can,” he said. “I’ve been able to do it all my life.”
“And so…what? You’re like an alien or something?”
Connor found her country accent too cute and chuckled as soon as she said the words. Jessica just got more alarmed and started shuffling nervously to the side.
“No, no, no.” Connor laughed, raising his hands up. “I’m no alien. I just have powers, is all.”
“Powers?”
“For lack of a better word.”
“Okay, so what exactly can you do?”
“Oh, you know, the usual. Flight, lighting fast speed, super strength, and an amplified voice.”
“Amplified voice? You? You barely speak?”
“Maybe it’s because my voice is that powerful.”
“Oh is it now?” she said, leaning in closer.
“It seems to be working on you pretty well,” he said as he gave her a smirk.
“Is that why you’re telling me all these secrets? Your voice has some kind of hypnosis?”
“No. It’s because I love you.”
The words froze her completely. He had said it with such clarity of mind, such assurance and conviction that she knew he wasn’t lying instantly. He meant it, and there was no pleading or anxiety in his speech either. It didn’t matter if she refused him. He loved her, and those words were complete in of itself.
“Why me?” she said nervously, her voice low and full of breath. For the first time she felt unworthy of a man’s presence, and it was unsettling.
“Because you are the most beautiful, ambitious, and powerful woman I have ever met, and no matter how nervous I felt, I knew that I could never live with myself if I went through life without telling you.”
She was taken aback at this. Again, those words were concrete and unwavering. He believed every letter of his speech and yet he was the one who was nervous!
Who was this Connor Matthews?
“I can’t say I love you,” Jessica said, trying to regain her composure and take the reins over her anxiety, “but…I am willing to go out with you on a second date.”
“Where would you like to go?” Connor perked up. “Italy? France? Somewhere tropical?”
“No. No,” Jessica replied, placing a firm hand on his chest before she realized it. It was like a brick. “A movie is fine. Maybe some bad Chinese food. You know, something normal.”
“Are you sure?” he asked. “We can go anywhere you like.”
“What you’ll find about me, Connor, is that I don’t like my head up in the clouds. I don’t care how powerful you may be. The best I like you is right here, sitting in the grass, planted firmly on the ground. If we’re going to Italy someday, then we’ll save up. Take a plane, and do it together. Save your god-like powers for the rest of the world. To me, you’re just my boyfriend.”
“Boyfriend?”
Did I really just say that? She thought, pulling her hand quickly away from his chest. What is it about this guy that gets me so out of sorts?
“What I meant to say, um -“she stammered.
“- it’s fine,” he laughed. “We can take it as slow as you like. Now that I have a shot with you, I’m ready to just enjoy the ride. I don’t care what the conditions are. But I do have one small request, if you would do me the honor.”
“What’s that?” she asked him, her arms were covered in goose bumps.
“I want to show you the ocean.”
“It’s a three hour drive, and we have class tonight.”
“Is it three hours?” he smirked, and before she could protest, he had grabbed her with a swipe of his hand, held her close in his arms, and took off into the atmosphere. It was so fast that she couldn’t even take in her surroundings - the campus below turning into nothing more than a speck of dust on the proverbial carpet. She gripped his shoulders and tried to hold back a smile.
She had feared this. That she could fall for him because of the powers he had and not for the man he was. She barely knew him and already she was getting giddy, ready to shout out to the mountain tops how wonderful he was, and how she became so lucky.
Get yourself together. She thought as Connor slowed his descent. When he came to a halt, they were surrounded by the sky, and it was absolutely gorgeous.
“I didn’t want to show you an ocean of water,” he said as he picked her up and placed her on his shoulders, giving her a very comfortable, yet sturdy seat. “I meant an ocean of sky.”
“Do you come here all the time?” she asked, taking in the amazing view. “I can’t imagine this gets old.”
“It doesn’t,” he said. “Above the clouds, the pollution, and the grime, there is this. Untouched. Untainted. Pure and clear. I’m sorry I brought you here, especially since you just told me how much you want your mind to be grounded…but I had to make a point.”
“Which is?”
“That this is what I want our relationship to be, should you allow it to continue. Pure and clear. Untouched, untainted. We won’t allow anything to enter it that we don’t want, whether that be family, friends, people or even ideals and thoughts. We will create our own world, while being in the middle of theirs.”
“There’s something you haven’t told me yet,” she said, interpreting the sorrow behind his words. She looked down at the crown of his head, and he looked up at her, smiling warmly into her eyes.
“No, I haven’t,” he said. “It has to deal with my childhood. But…I just want to say that the way I was raised, has nothing to do with who I am now. Who you see, is naked before you.”
“Oh, god,” she muttered, rolling her eyes upward. “Can we please not mention things like that while I’m sitting on your manly shoulders?”
“Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean it that way. I’ll be more careful from now. A gentleman of the highest regard.”
“I trust you will,” she said as he pulled her off his shoulders and back into the cradle of his arms.
“You have no questions?”
“I’m sure you’ll tell me when you’re up to it.”
“Considering I get a third date.”
“Considering,” she smiled, and his eyes smiled back. Holding her tight, he let himself descend to the ground, still in a standing position, and Jessica couldn’t help but notice that as the world came back into view, with all of its grunginess, rust and flaws, Connor Matthews still looked exactly the way he did the day she first saw him.
Perfect.
The Works of Julius St. Clair (Novel Samplers) Page 16
