Hidden Embers

by Amanda Perry

  CHAPTER TWO

  After waiting for a long moment, nothing happens. Prying my eyes open slowly, I peek up into my father's gaze. His expression morphs into one of utter misery. Opening my eyes wider, I blink at him, trying to understand why he seems upset.

  Did I do something wrong?

  Before I overanalyze his mood change, the voices grow louder, grabbing my full attention. Three people walk around the corner into the kitchen area, and a breath I didn't know I held escapes at the realization they aren't who I expected.

  Two guys and one girl stroll farther into the kitchen, stopping short when they notice me. They gape at me soundlessly. I fix my eyes on my shoes to hide my burning cheeks. I hate being the center of attention.

  "Jaxon." My dad clears his throat, breaking the awkward silence. "This is Riley. Riley this is Jaxon, Jaxon's girlfriend, Cassie, and his best friend, Caleb."

  I peek up under my lashes at the guy shifting his weight in the front of the group. Jaxon—I assume—with his dirty blond hair and defined muscles steps slowly toward me. My entire body stills. He may be upset about me moving into his house. If that's the case, he won't be gracious about letting me know.

  He struts up and puts his hands on my shoulders gently, pulling me in for a quick hug. The gesture sends me into complete shock, unable to move or respond to his hug. He pulls back quickly, keeping his hands on my shoulders and holding me at arm's length. He smirks down at me, and I notice he’s about two inches shorter than my dad so I don't have to tip my head back as far to see him.

  His face is boyish but masculine. He shares the unique hazel eye color his mother has. His chaotically styled hair hangs to about his ears. His jovial attitude makes me want to believe he doesn't hate me yet. If I wasn't too stunned by his effortless show of affection, I might’ve fallen into a full-blown panic attack with his nearness and physical contact.

  Movement catches my attention, and I peer around Jaxon to find Cassie shuffling closer. She’s about four inches taller than me, with gorgeous curly black hair down to her shoulders. Her eyes sparkle a soft, warm brown.

  "This is freaking awesome," Cassie squeals. Her words come out too fast; it's hard for me to keep up. "There's finally another girl in our group! We can go shopping and get pedicures together. Jaxon and Caleb never do the girl stuff with me. You and I are going to be best friends, just watch."

  My eyes widen as I try to keep up with her.

  A deep masculine chuckle from the corner of the room draws my attention to the forgotten third of their group, leaning against the far wall in the kitchen. About the same height as my dad, he has dark-brown hair with a just rolled out of bed style. A fleeting thought goes through my mind of whether he really did recently roll out of bed or if he styles it that way on purpose. Either way, it suits him. A light shadow of stubble covers his strong jaw. His tanned skin sets off his almond-shaped, bright-blue eyes. A black, button-up shirt hugs his arms in just the right way, and the open collar reveals a white tank undershirt, outlining his defined chest. Paired with distressed jeans and black biker boots, he’s the most striking man I’ve ever seen.

  A half grin crosses his lips while he looks over my five-foot-one frame, my baggy black t-shirt, too big jeans, and holey sneakers. I blush as I realize everyone else in this room dresses like they belong in Vogue while I could have come straight from the sewers.

  "Cassie, give the poor girl a second to breathe, yeah?" he light-heartedly scolds Jaxon’s girlfriend.

  "Oh, right! Sorry!" Cassie blushes and skips back over to Jaxon. "I'm just excited to finally meet you. I don't have many friends who are girls because for some reason people think I can be too much. Whatever that means. Plus, I have no sisters, just my stupid brother." She rolls her eyes.

  "Hey!" Caleb shouts from across the room, making me jump about a foot in the air. "I'm not stupid."

  "Y-y-you're her b-b-brother?" I ask before my brain to mouth filter has a chance to kick in.

  His gaze shoots from Cassie back to me, and I take a step back, pressing myself into the wall again, before he advances on me for asking a stupid question.

  To my utter shock, he simply grins. "Yeah, I'm her older brother. I actually introduced these two lovebirds." He shoots the couple a mocking glare before turning his attention to the half-eaten food on the table. "Sorry for the interruption. You guys should go back to eating. We just planned on going up to the game room to chill out."

  "Actually," Leanne exclaims, stopping Cassie, Jaxon, and Caleb from leaving the room. "Now would probably be the best time to talk to Riley about the changes in the living arrangements."

  Sending a panicked glance to my dad and Leanne, I wonder if they want to kick me out already. It hasn't been long, but I've been on my best behavior. If they make me leave, I'm out of options. Social services will stick me in a foster home for the next six months, then I'll be thrown onto the streets. My dad is the only family they found when they searched. My mother was an only child, and her parents died before I was born.

  This whole set up appeared too good to be true, but I assumed there would be a little bit of time to come up with a plan before they sent me away. Hot tears sting the back of my eyes, desperate to fall. My mouth opens for me to tell them I'll get my bag and go, saving them the time and effort of telling me to leave. Before any sound can escape me, my dad speaks up.

  "Go ahead and finish your lunch, Riley." He points to the chair I vacated a few moments earlier. "You three, take a seat."

  Leanne, Jaxon, and my dad sit in the three chairs across from me, Cassie sits at one end of the table and Caleb sits right next to me at the other end. With the idea of being kicked out soon looming in my mind, I slowly finish eating my now cold fries.

  This could be the last thing I eat for a long time, I may as well enjoy it.

  "Listen, Riley," Leanne begins. "I know social services told you it would only be me, your father, and Jaxon living here with you, but we’ve had a sudden change of plans."

  She pauses to study my reaction. I try to keep the panic out of my eyes as I wait for her to continue.

  When I don’t say anything, she proceeds with her explanation. "Cassie and Caleb's parents had to leave the country for business recently. They won't be back for at least six months. Originally, they planned on letting the two of them stay in their home alone, but because Caleb and Cassie are two college-aged kids, they didn't want their home to turn into a crazy party house. Their parents asked us if we’d be willing to let the kids stay with us while they're gone. We have six bedrooms which means no one needs to share a room."

  Leanne pauses and gives Jaxon and Cassie a hard stare.

  Jaxon rewards her with a cheeky grin before she turns back to me. She watches me for a long moment as if trying to decide her words carefully.

  Finally, she lets out a perturbed sigh. "Riley, we won't push you into telling us anything until you're ready, but we need you to be completely honest right now when we ask if you’re okay with Cassie and Caleb staying here. We want you to be comfortable. This is your home, now, too, and we don't want you to think we don't care about your opinion."

  I blink repeatedly in confusion.

  It doesn’t make sense for her to ask my opinion about something. No one ever asks me what I want. My chest tightens. These people, who have known me for a few hours, care more about my thoughts than anyone else in my life. Glancing over at Cassie, I notice she appears worried. At first, I don't understand why. My mind automatically assumes she’s worried about their reactions to my opinion, but after a minute of analyzing her, I realize she's staring right at me, like she's waiting for me to answer.

  She must be worried I won't want her here. I seek out Caleb and see the same worried expression on his face. As terrified as I am to agree to more strangers in the house, I can't bring myself to say no to them. After all, they belong in this family more than I do. They know my father, Leanne, and Jaxon. I don't.

  Closing my eyes, I take a breath to try and make my
voice even and calm. When I'm sure I can speak without my voice shaking, I open my eyes again. "Of c-c-course it's o-o-okay with m-m-me." I try to act excited, but it probably comes across as a grimace. "I d-d-don't mind a-a-at all."

  They all watch me, their expressions full of disbelief. Thankfully no one calls me on my clear hesitation, for which I'm grateful. I want these people to like me. If agreeing to something that scares the heck out of me means they'll like me, then I'll do it.

  "Great!" my dad exclaims joyfully. "Leanne and I will clean up the mess from lunch. Cassie, can you show Riley her room?"

  "Yeah!" Cassie jumps to her feet and grabs my hand.

  I flinch hard, not expecting the contact, but she doesn't seem notice. She practically drags me toward the stairs. She snags my bag as we pass it.

  My tour of the second floor is short and sweet. There are two bedrooms on the left and three on the right. In the middle is a massive bathroom, complete with a large Jacuzzi tub and double sinks.

  Cassie gestures to the left. “The first room belongs to Jaxon and the second room is mine.”

  As we continue down the hall, Cassie explains the bathroom situation. "Jaxon's room has its own bathroom. Since the other three rooms have always been used as guest rooms, they never saw a reason to put in bathrooms. I guess we have to share for now."

  Without waiting for me to respond, Cassie continues pointing out the rest of the rooms. "To the right, the first room is Caleb's, and the second is for you. The third’s a guest room."

  Opening the door to my room, I blink a few times, trying to ensure the room in front of me is real. The walls are all painted light-gray. A queen-sized bed takes up the majority of the room. The stark white bedding stands out drastically against the jet-black wooden bedframe. A dazzling, black and white canvas skyline painting of Los Angeles hangs above the bed. A long, black dresser on the wall opposite the bed houses a flat-screen TV.

  How many televisions does this house have?

  A door next to the dresser leads to a walk-in closet. To the left of the bed sits a white desk with a small black desk lamp and a brand-new laptop sitting on top of it. I make a mental note to find out who left their computer in here and ask if they’d like to keep it in here or take it back to their own room.

  Random pops of electric-blue throughout the décor, like throw pillows on the bed and a blanket draped over the desk chair, brighten the otherwise colorless room. A few mason jars with fake white flowers in them rest on a shelf, and a gray and blue cushion rests on a bench by a huge bay window overlooking the neighborhood. To my surprise, the ocean is visible in the distance.

  "I-I-I'm in love w-w-with this r-r-room, I m-m-may n-n-never leave," I mumble to Cassie while spinning in a slow circle to take everything in.

  She bursts into a fit of laughter. "I'm sure you can personalize it a bit and make it even better."

  Her carefree attitude lifts my spirits a bit.

  Cassie leaves, suggesting I settle myself in and unpack my things. There isn’t really anything to settle, but I don’t voice my thoughts. After pulling the few articles of clothing I have from my bag and putting them away in the top drawer of the oversized dresser, I dig into the bottom of the bag and remove my small collection of paperback novels.

  Out of the five books I own, four of them are held together by tape or missing covers. They’ve been my escape for such a long time, the idea of getting rid of them never occurred to me. After I stack my books on the nightstand, I finish emptying the bag.

  Only my toiletries are left. I wasn't sure they would have any I would be allowed to use, and I wasn't going to assume they would purchase anything for me. Before I left, I managed to take a trip to a dollar store. I spent a large chunk of my tiny savings on soap and shampoo and other necessities.

  One perk of being forced to walk to the store and other places for my mother and stepfather was the little bits of money I would find while I walked. It's incredible how many people drop coins and don't bother to pick them up.

  After getting everything put away in the bottom drawer of the dresser, I put my backpack in the closet and sit on the bed. All of the traveling and new stresses took their toll on me today. It makes me nervous how tired I am. I haven’t talked to my dad or Leanne about the dreams. I don't want to anger them if I wake them up screaming. Then again, I don't want them to know what the dreams are about, and I fear they might ask.

  Deciding to keep it to myself and hope they don’t notice, I stand and head for the door. There was never anything said about what I should do once finished unpacking, but I doubt sitting here and relaxing is allowed.

  Shuffling down the hall toward the stairs, gleeful giggles float down from the next floor up. I stand there for a minute, feeling a pang of envy at the way they all laugh and joke around with such ease. With no worries of punishment. I push the thoughts aside and head downstairs. This is their life, not mine.

  "Riley!" Caleb's voice calls from behind me.

  It startles me severely, causing me to miss a step and lose my balance. I slide down three steps before strong arms go around my waist, pulling me into a wall.

  “Whoa!”

  Except, it's not a wall, it’s Caleb's chest. I feel incredibly small against him. But I feel something else, too. Something I can't put my finger on. He holds onto me for a full minute while I turn my head and blink back at him in a daze. For some strange reason, I'm not afraid of him. Any other person in the world who touched me like this would be rewarded with a completely different reaction. It would be normal for me to freak out and hyperventilate in this situation, but with Caleb, I simply stare at him and allow him to hold onto me. My heart squeezes at the contact, but not in an unpleasant way. How strange.

  He holds onto me for a long time with a dazed expression on his handsome face before finally shaking himself and releasing me. He backs down a few steps, breaking our contact. An odd sensation of loss rushes through me. With a frown, I try to clear my mind of the disappointment. I'm being silly, and if he catches onto my strange behavior, he might be unhappy with me.

  "You okay?" he asks, searching my face for something. "I didn't mean to scare you. I just wanted to ask if you were going to come join us upstairs. We’re about to watch a movie. The new one with Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill. Cassie says it's our best bet since it has Channing for you girls and the action for me and Jaxon."

  His expression is full of hope, and I lose my ability to speak. Blinking at him is the only thing I'm able to accomplish. Is watching a movie even allowed? It doesn't seem like such a smart idea for me to go up and watch a movie with them. Not without my father giving me permission first.

  “You should go with them, Riley,” my father’s voice calls from the bottom of the stairs.

  I turn around to find him strolling by with a book in his hands. It looks like some kind of workbook, and he’s clearly distracted by it.

  “It’ll be fun.” He glances up at me long enough to give me a small nod of encouragement before he continues by.

  Turning my attention back to Caleb, I bite my lip as I consider what to do. “So, what do you say? Movie night? We have licorice and popcorn.”

  With no other options and permission from my father, I give Caleb a small nod of agreement.

  His smile grows like the Cheshire cat as he turns to lead the way to the game room. I follow him without a word, stopping short at the top of the stairs to the third floor.

  The couch in front of the game room TV matches the U-shaped sectional from the living room downstairs, but this one is gray. Cassie and Jaxon cuddle on one end, and Caleb plops down on the other end. I sit in the middle, folding my legs underneath me and clamping my hands together in my lap to stop them from shaking. Jaxon and Cassie both welcome me excitedly, then Jaxon presses play on the remote, starting the movie.

  We quietly watch undercover Channing and Jonah attend college. The movie is decent, but I never saw the first one and end up missing some references.

  As the c
redits roll, I glance at the clock on the cable box and realize it's almost midnight. Cassie and Jaxon are fast asleep on their side of the couch, and Caleb is out cold on his side. Not wanting to wake them, I quietly go down to my room. All the lights downstairs are off, which I take to mean it’s okay for me to go to bed.

  Grabbing my toothbrush and toothpaste from my bottom drawer, I tiptoe to the bathroom and brush my teeth. Before leaving the bathroom, I stare longingly at the shower. It seems so inviting, but I don't want to wake anyone with the noise. Once back in my room, I put my toothbrush and toothpaste away before crawling under the covers.

  I know I won't be able to fight sleep tonight since the day has been so long and eventful. With how exhausted I am, I'm hopeful I won’t dream at all. My eyes close as soon as my head hits the pillow, and sleep claims me quickly.

  CHAPTER THREE

  “Come out, come out wherever you are.” His voice gets louder as he searches for me. My blood runs cold at the sound.

  To avoid being found, I hold my breath and close my eyes tight, wishing myself invisible.

  “Come on, sugar, you know how I hate to be kept waiting.” He sounds closer, now.

  My body shakes with terror, and hot tears spill down my cheeks. The air around me hums, a slight breeze pushing the hair away from my face as my hand covers my mouth, trying to muffle the sobs. Suddenly, the door to the closet, my hiding place, swings open. He stands there with an evil grin on his face.

  “I told you I would find you, sugar.” He sneers, taking a step closer. With his voice deceptively low, he leans down in my face and whispers, “I will always find you.”

  Then, he reaches for me.

  Bolting up, I swallow my scream. My breath escapes in shallow, quick pants. Taking a few seconds to adjust to the dark, I blink rapidly, searching the strange room, trying to figure out where I am.