Dancing With A Stranger (Londyn Carter Book 1)

by A. L. Martin

  “I take it there was nothing good to eat again today?” I asked.

  “Hell no. I wouldn’t feed that to my dog.”

  “Gavin, you don’t have a dog,” I said, opening my water bottle.

  “Well…If I had a dog, I wouldn’t make it eat that crap.”

  “Gavin, want to grab something to eat right after school?” Wyatt asked.

  “Sure. Where do you want to go?” he asked, looking over at me. “Want to come along, Londyn?”

  “No. You guys go ahead. I have to take Jules home. I’m sure Asher will be over later.”

  “Are you sure?” Wyatt asked, reaching for my hand.

  “Yeah. Besides, I will probably get started on my homework to get it done and out of the way before Mom gets home from work.”

  “I guess it’s just us then, Gavin.” Wyatt smiled, gently squeezing my hand.

  The rest of the day crept by so slowly. I swore the classes grew in minutes as the day went by. I didn’t hear a word the teacher said in my Biology class; I was too busy trying to come up with my own explanations for what happened. I wanted to know why I was able to freeze people the way I did. I was scared to bring my hand up to anyone or wave it around in fear I would freeze them and not being able to undo it, made me shiver in my seat.

  “Londyn, are you okay?” the teacher asked.

  “Sorry. Cold chill.”

  “Do you need to go see the nurse?”

  “No.”

  She went back to talk about whatever she was talking about before and would glance over at me every few minutes. I knew she could tell I wasn’t really paying attention in class and would have me stay a few minutes over to find out why. There were about fifteen minutes left class, and I needed to come up with a believable lie to tell her. Right as I came up with an excuse, the last bell of the day rang, and the class flew out the door before she was done talking about tomorrow’s class. I gathered up my stuff, waiting for her to tell me she wanted to talk to me, but she never said a word. I walked over to the door, pausing to make sure she wasn’t going to stop me from leaving.

  Jules was standing next to the car, talking to Asher. I didn’t see Wyatt’s car anywhere close in the parking lot. I made sure to look in every direction of the parking lot as I walked to my car to give Jules some more time with Asher.

  “You okay, Londyn?” Jules asked, leaning up against Asher while he held her.

  “Yeah. Did you see Wyatt leave?” I asked, scanning the parking lot again.

  Jules looked up at Asher, who was shaking his head no. He left on purpose before I got out here. I put my stuff in the car, while Jules gave Asher a quick kiss bye.

  Jules kept asking me if I was okay during the drive home. Each time, I told her I was fine, she would tell me she didn’t believe me. I turned onto our road and saw Wyatt’s vehicle in front of the house. He started to get out when I turned into the driveway. He was next to the car by the time I had turned it off, opening the door for me.

  “Thanks,” I said, taking his hand.

  “Hey, Wyatt! You going to stay for a little bit? Londyn could use some cheering up,” Jules said, grabbing her bag out of the backseat.

  Wyatt looked at me, wide-eyed. I knew exactly what he was thinking. I shook my head no, indicating that she didn’t know anything about what happened this morning. He let out a sigh, and I could see the tension leave his face. He grabbed my book bag from the backseat, carrying it inside for me.

  “So, she doesn’t know about what happened this morning?” he whispered in my ear when Jules took off for the kitchen.

  “No. She kept trying to ask me what was wrong on the way home. I told her nothing, but she didn’t believe me,” I whispered, leading him into the living room. “I’m going to go get something to drink and snack on. Do you want me to bring you back anything?” I smiled, letting go of his warm hand.

  “Sure.” He sat down on the loveseat.

  I was on my way to the kitchen when Mom came walking through the front door. “Hi, Mom. They let you come home early?” I asked, walking backward to the kitchen.

  “Um. Yeah. What are you doing?”

  “Going to get drinks and something to eat for me and Wyatt. He’s in the living room.” I turned back around to walk into the kitchen.

  “Someone here?” Jules asked, walking to the kitchen sink.

  “Mom’s home,” I said, reaching over her to get some glasses out of the cabinet.

  Jules left the kitchen the minute I told her Mom was home. I knew she ran out there to ask Mom if Asher could come over later. She never gave Mom a chance to get changed or anything before bombarding her with questions. I looked in the refrigerator for something to snack on other than fruit. I wasn’t in the mood for anything sweet. I closed the doors and went over to the pantry in search of something salty. I wasn’t in the mood for popcorn, and we didn’t have any chips. I yelled for Mom, asking her if maybe she had put the chips somewhere else. She came into the kitchen, saying she had to go to the store and get a few things for this week. I went to say something as I walked out of the pantry, but saw that she had already left again. I closed the door behind me.

  “We didn’t have anything good to snack on. Want to go somewhere to get something to snack on?”

  “I thought you wanted to talk.” He took a drink of tea.

  “I do, but I’m also starving too. I thought we could talk in the car on the way to get something to eat.”

  “We can do that too, if you want.” He got up from the loveseat.

  I went upstairs to see if she was in her room. I knocked on the door, but she didn’t answer. I called her name again and got nothing but silence from the other side of the door. I turned and headed downstairs.

  “Did you want me?” Mom said, walking out of the guest bathroom by the stairs.

  “I thought you were upstairs in your room,” I said, stepping down off the bottom step. “I wanted to let you know that Wyatt and I were going to go get something to eat real quick.”

  “You aren’t going to eat dinner later?” Mom asked.

  “We aren’t getting a full meal. Probably split an appetizer or something like that. The food, according to Gavin, looked disgusting, so we skipped lunch,” I said, heading back upstairs to my room.

  I walked over to grab my purse out of my chair by the window, and was about to walk out downstairs when I happened to hear Wyatt and Mom talking. I couldn’t make out entirely what they were talking about, but I thought I heard the words “Temporal Stasis” come out of his mouth. I looked around my room, whispering to myself, “Temporal Stasis.” I glanced around my room again, like the answer was going to jump out of the closet at me.

  “Londyn, Wyatt is waiting,” Mom yelled up the stairs.

  I walked out of my room, closing the door part way. “Sorry. I forgot where I put my purse this morning before I left for school.”

  I told Mom we wouldn’t be gone long and that we would be back in time for dinner. Wyatt led me out to his vehicle, opening the passenger door for me. He no sooner got in, I bombarded him with questions.

  “What is a Temporal Stasis, and why did you say it to my Mom?” I demanded, glaring over at him. I leaned forward a little bit to see his eyes had narrowed. He quietly got out of the vehicle and walked around to open the passenger door, holding out his hand.

  “I thought we were leaving to get something to eat?” I questioned.

  He closed the door behind me, gently grabbing my hand, leading me back up to the house and opened the door.

  Mom walked out of the kitchen, looking at us. I could see the confusion in her eyes as to what was going on. “I thought you two were leaving to get something to eat.”

  “Elizabeth, Londyn heard us talking earlier,” Wyatt said, straight-faced.

  “Yeah, I did,” I said, looking over at Mom. Her eyes were big with fright. “Wait! What did you just call her? I never told you my Mom’s first name. How in the hell did you know it?” I asked, stepping back away from them.r />
  Mom started to walk toward me and I found myself back up from her. She stopped a couple of steps away from me with a wistful look in her eyes. I wasn’t rejecting her entirely, but I didn’t want to be close to her at this exact moment either.

  “I know you are upset. I was hoping it would skip you.”

  “Skip me?”

  “Hey, Mom, do you care if I go with Asher to get something to eat?” Jules asked from the top of the stairs.

  Jules started walking down the stairs. “What’s going on?” she asked, looking at the three of us standing in front of the stairs.

  “Your sister got upset with me,” Wyatt quickly said, without a shroud of emotion on his face.

  “What did you do?” she asked, looking over at me.

  “I said something I shouldn’t have to her.” He ran his hand through his hair.

  “Oh…” she mumbled. “Mom, do you care if I go?” She redirected her focus back to Mom.

  “Yeah. Is he on his way?” Mom asked Jules, not taking her eyes off me.

  “I need to text him real quick. He should be here in about fifteen to twenty minutes.” She reached around her back and pulled her phone out of her back pocket. After texting Asher, she ran back upstairs to her room. We all stood there in awkward silence for a few seconds before Mom whispered that we would discuss this more after Jules left the house. I flung my head back, letting an exasperated sigh escape my mouth. I turned to go into the living room. I flopped down on the couch, my head bounced up as it hit the back of the couch and my arms stretched out on each side of me.

  “Londyn?”

  “What do you want, Wyatt?” I said, not moving my head from the back of the couch.

  “Don’t be mad at your mom. She was trying to protect you,” he whispered.

  “I’m not mad at her. I’m kinda mad at you for not being truthful with me. You keep saying I can trust you. How can I trust you when you haven’t been honest with me from the moment you met me?” I raised my head slightly, squinting my eyes.

  “You can trust me.”

  “Well, I don’t trust you at the moment,” I snapped.

  “Are you two still arguing?” Jules asked, walking over to the loveseat.

  “No.” I laid my head back.

  “Wow…What did you do?” Jules asked Wyatt.

  “I told you. I said something stupid.”

  “Well, what did you say?” Jules insisted.

  “Jules! It doesn’t matter what he said!” I ordered.

  “Damn! You don’t have to be such a bitch about it,” she yelled back.

  “Julie Elizabeth! Watch your mouth!” Mom yelled from the other room.

  “You let Londyn cuss.”

  Mom walked in the living room, placing her hands on her hips. “Londyn is older than you are and doesn’t cuss as much as you.”

  Jules was about to say something more, which would have gotten her grounded, when the doorbell rang. She jumped up off the loveseat and ran to the door to answer it. I was about to get up off the couch when Jules came back in the living room.

  “Londyn, it’s for you.”

  “Who is it?” I asked, getting up from the couch. I straightened my clothes, walking past her to the door.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” I demanded.

  My Mom came out of the kitchen. “Londyn, why on earth are you…” She stopped a few feet from me, her eyes fixed on who was at the door. “Why in the hell are you here?” she hissed.

  “I would never come here unless it was absolutely necessary,” my dad said, looking over at me. “They know…”

  I looked over at Mom. Her anger dissipated and instant fear took it’s place. She brought her hand up to her open mouth, tears began to trickle down her cheeks.

  “Are you sure?” Wyatt asked, looking over at my dad who was walking over to Mom. He wrapped his arms around her. She stood there, looking despondent in Dad’s arms. I stood there looking around the room. Wyatt was trying to get my Dd to talk to him, but he was too busy trying to calm Mom as she sobbed into his chest. I assumed I should be worried about something, but I had no idea what I should be worried about.

  “What did I miss?” Jules dropped her purse on the floor when she walked out of the living room. She bent down to pick it up, not taking her eyes off our parents hugging. It was definitely a strange sight to witness, seeing as they have been divorced for so long. Not to mention, they were supposed to loathe one another.

  “Same thing, I missed,” I said, crossing my arms and tilting my head to the side. “Would someone care to tell me what the hell is going on?” I demanded.

  Wyatt was about to say something when the doorbell rang again.

  “What. The. Hell.” I threw my hands up above my head, then letting them slam against the sides of my legs.

  Wyatt walked over and opened the front door. “Jules, it’s Asher.”

  “Did I come at a bad time?” Asher said, as he stepped inside.

  “No. Your timing couldn’t be more perfect. Why don’t you and Jules go get something to eat. In fact, dinner is on me,” Wyatt pulled money out of his wallet.

  “Thanks, Wyatt,” Asher said, turning to walk out the door with Jules.

  I was getting tired of the interruptions and no one answering my questions about what the hell was going on. I deserved an answer and I sure in the hell was going to get that answer before the end of the evening. Mom continued to cry into Dad’s chest, and it was starting to weird me out seeing them like this after years of nothing but disgust for one another.

  “Would someone like to explain to me what is going on? This is starting to wear thin on my nerves.” I walked past everyone into the kitchen. I had no idea why I walked into the kitchen. I wasn’t thirsty, nor hungry. I walked over to the table and sat down with my back facing the doorway. I stared out the window, looking at the flowers soaking in the warm spring sun. I rested my elbows on the table, lowering my head into my hands. I didn’t know what was going on, and I was sure none of them out there were truly wanting to tell me either. I sat there for a little while, when I heard someone walk into the kitchen.

  “Londyn, I know you must have a lot of questions, and I’m going to try and answer them the best I can,” Dad said, sitting down in front of me on the other side of the table.

  I slowly raised my head up from my hands, glancing at my blurry dad. The only think I could rationally get out of my mouth was, “Why are you over here?”

  “Well, I had to warn your mother and make sure you and your sister were okay. I know this is going to be hard for you to hear and comprehend what all it entails. I didn’t treat you and your sister that well growing up, but I thought it was best that way. I was hard on your both, not because I don’t love you. I love you both so much, and I don’t know what I’d do if anything every happened to you.”

  “What?” I crinkled my nose. “You honestly want me to believe you lectured at me incessantly because you love me? Wow…” I got up from the table to walk back into the dining room.

  “I don’t blame you for not believing me, but it’s true. Your mom will vouch for it. You might as well know the full truth. Your mom and I aren’t really divorced,” he said, walking up behind me.

  “You aren’t divorced? What kind of sick joke is that?” I snapped.

  “It’s not a joke, Londyn. Your Dad and I are still married. We got a phony document stating we are divorced. We had to make it look convincing in order to keep you and your sister safe,” Mom said from the doorway of the kitchen.

  “You two aren’t making any sense whatsoever. You’re basically trying to tell me that Jules and my lives have been one huge lie in order to protect us. Yet, you haven’t told me why we need protecting. Who would want to hurt us?” I backed away from them.

  “You didn’t tell her yet?” Mom’s eyes narrowed.

  “I was about to.”

  “No wonder she is so confused with everything. Anyone would be.” She moved closer to me. “Wyatt told me what
happened today before class started this morning. I know it probably freaked you out. Probably more so when Wyatt had undone what you accidentally made happen. What you did was called a Temporal Stasis. You did it without knowing how you did it, and that is why you weren’t able to start time back up. I’m sure your other powers will start surfacing here soon. Which means you will be in even more danger.”

  “Powers? Have you both last your minds?” I laughed, walking past them. They were a few steps behind, following me into the living room. “Powers…” I started laughing again.

  “Londyn, your parents are telling you the truth. I mean you saw how everyone was this morning before I found you,” Wyatt said, walking over to me. “I know it’s a lot to take in right now, but you have to try and keep an open mind.”

  “You are fucking kidding me, right? You want me to keep an open mind?” I threw my hands up in the air. “My parents tell me they are indeed still married but had to live apart to keep me and Jules safe. Mom is over there telling me my powers are going to start showing up now that I froze an entire hall full of kids. The best part of it all is…I don’t know how I did it!” I flopped down on the couch.

  “Again, I know it’s a lot to take in. You have to trust me, Londyn,” Wyatt said, sitting beside me on the couch.

  “Why should I trust you?” I said, looking up at the ceiling.

  “It’s hard to explain, but we know each other better than you think. And, you know deep down that I would never lie to you. Don’t you?”

  I raised my head up slowly, glancing over at Wyatt, and shook my head yes. I don’t know how he knew that, but he was right. Deep down, my gut instinct was telling me I could trust him more than anything. Wyatt took my hand in his and raised it up to his mouth. “I will never leave your side,” He whispered his breath hot on my skin.

  “I have powers, but let me guess. You don’t know what they are, per se. How will we know what they are?” I asked, looking up at my parents standing next to one another. I had to admit it was rather strange to see.

  Mom and Dad traded a quick glance between them, then moved in sync with one another toward me. I knew it couldn’t be possible, but it looked like they had aged since Dad got here a little bit ago. They exchanged a concerned look, then Mom motioned Dad to start talking. I’d never seen this side of him and I found it rather unsettling to say the least. This man before me was never one to be a loss for words, and now, he was fumbling to find the right words. I felt like I was in some strange dream, hoping to wake up any minute. I wouldn’t call it a nightmare because Wyatt was with me, but rather a sick, twisted dream.