by Laura Ward
My eyes welled up again with tears, and I hurried to brush them away.
“You talked to me during our visits about a boy you liked and when you called him Alec, I thought my heart would explode. You both liked each other! How funny is that? You both just needed a little help.”
“Wait a minute, Lee,” Alec addressed his cousin. “This whole year when I talked to you about Taren, you knew she was your buddy and you never said anything?”
William nodded, a big-ass smile all over his face.
“Why did you lie? I thought we told each other everything.”
William frowned. “I did not lie. I just listened. Listening is the most important.” He reached into his backpack and pulled out the red ribbon I had given him weeks ago.
I held my breath. This was so embarrassing. Alec would probably recognize it and know I had kept it all these years. Way to look like a weirdo, Taren.
Alec looked at the ribbon, and then his eyes met mine. He obviously remembered. He remembered everything.
William took one end of the ribbon and tied it onto my wrist. “Miss Taren gave me this. She told me the story of how you fixed her backpack with this ribbon, and she wore it in her hair when she asked you to the dance. She saved it and when she hurt my feelings one time, she gave it to me. She told me the story about the red string of fate and that she and I were connected.”
William took the other end of the ribbon and tied it to Alec’s wrist.
“Now I am part of your string of fate. I listen and I help. You two were always connected, you just need a good buddy to make sure you stayed that way. Yup, yup.”
“Jesus.” Alec swore quietly as he stared at the ribbon that connected us. I couldn’t tell what that one word meant.
“Willy, you’re very sweet, but just because you want us to be together, doesn’t mean we can be. We’re so different from each other. We hurt each other too much.”
William ignored me and turned to Alec. “Do you love her?”
Alec was silent as he raised his gaze to mine. My heart ached. I loved him, but I still hurt him without meaning to, and he had done the same to me.
Alec took a deep breath and then blew it out. “Yes. Of course I do. You know I do, Lee. I already told you that.”
My breath caught in my throat and I pressed the palm of my hand to my mouth. My heart raced as my brain processed the words I had been dreaming of hearing. Did Alec just admit he loved me?
He reached for my hand and took it in his. His thumb rubbed over the back of my hand. “I think I’ve loved you for a long time, Taren.”
“And what about you, Miss Taren? Do you love him?” William searched my face for my answer, but I couldn’t stop staring at Alec.
“So much I can barely breathe,” I admitted softly.
“Well,” William dropped the ribbon from his hands and stepped away from us. “Well, okay then. Happiness and love. You are tied by fate. Always have been. Yup, yup.”
William turned and walked away.
“Wait! Willy!” I was about to chase after him before I remembered I was tethered to Alec. A subtle one, that William was.
“Yes, Miss Taren?” Only William’s head turned back toward me.
So many questions swirled around in my brain. Some were for William, some were for Alec, and some were for myself. Only one came to mind at that moment. “If your name is Lee, why do you go by William, and Will, and Billy, and Willy?”
“My name is William, but my family always called me Lee since the day I was born. Never liked it. After I met you, I thought I would try a few others on for size. See how they fit, but I know for sure what my name is now.”
He walked away again, and I called out, “What did you decide?”
William turned fully around and laughed. “William. Yup, yup.” We both watched as William walked away. He didn’t look back. He kept his head up high as if he knew we didn’t need his help anymore.
Alec laughed softly and linked our fingers together. “What the hell just happened? I know I got hit in the head pretty hard, but I’m pretty sure we just got completely played by my cousin.”
“Someone needed to talk some sense into us. Remind us that we’re all in. Right?” I leaned in and kissed him lightly, still a little unsure.
When I tried to pull away, Alec reached up and slid his fingers around the back of my head bringing my lips back to his. I opened up for him and let him kiss me more deeply, and he groaned.
“You really love me?” he asked.
I held his gaze. “Completely.” I leaned in to kiss him again.
“I missed you,” he whispered against my lips. “You have no idea.”
“I missed you, too. It was killing me that I couldn’t find you. I even drove out to your parents’ house and knocked on their door.”
Alec pulled back so he could look at me. “You did? I didn’t think…”
“I was so worried about you. I wanted to fix things.”
Alec kissed each corner of my mouth. “My dad took me to Deep Creek. They thought it would be good for me to recover there at our cabin. No phone. No computer. No you.” He kissed me square on the lips. “No fun.”
“I thought you were avoiding me because you were mad. Your dad said you didn’t want to see me.” The relief I felt at knowing he didn’t purposely ignore my messages made me feel lighter than I had in a long time.
“My fucking father… Look, I was hurt. But I would have talked to you if I could. I thought about you the entire time.” He pressed his lips against mine again, and I loved the way his kisses wrapped possessively around my mouth. I wanted him to remind us both just how much we belonged to one another.
“I think William’s right. We’re tied by fate. We’ll always find our way back to one another.”
Alec grinned. “So, you’re sticking with me?”
I held up our joined hands with our wrists tied by the ribbon that had changed, and continued to change, my life. “You don’t have a choice. We’re bound for good. I love you, Alec.”
He lifted up our hands and kissed the inside of my wrist where the ribbon was tied. “I love you, Taren.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
ALEC
I pulled the car into the parking lot, and although she didn’t say anything, Taren looked at me like I’d lost my mind. Tonight was supposed to be a special date—our last weekend of freedom before we started classes at UMD as juniors. I was sure she was wondering why I’d brought her to our old high school at night. Our car was the only one in the parking lot.
Perfect. That’s what I’d been hoping.
“Ready?” I asked her.
An easy smile swept across her mouth. “Sure.”
I retrieved my duffle bag out of the back seat and met her in front of the car, taking her hand in mine. Taren was wearing a sundress that made me want to toss her back in the car. I wanted to christen the back seat with her in a mass of sweaty limbs and sweet kisses. Those cowboy boots weren’t helping matters any. I could almost imagine them wrapped around my waist while...
Focus, Hart.
I tugged on her hand, and she smiled as I pulled her toward the football field.
“What’s that?” she asked, pointing to the glow we could see in the distance.
I lifted our hands to kiss the backs of her fingers. “You’ll see.”
We walked hand in hand until we reached the area of scorched earth that was filled with at least a hundred lit candles. I finally looked over at Taren to see that her eyes were bright with happy curiosity. I set down my bag and pulled out a blanket and spread it open across the grass just outside of the circle.
“What is this? Are we having a night picnic?” Taren asked, staring at the circle of candles which looked like a sea of flame. “God. How beautiful.”
“Yes, you are.” I reached up and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. In the flickering candlelight, she looked like an angel. I would have to remember to thank Taren’s aunt Claire for helping get this ready in time.
&n
bsp; “So what’s going on?”
“I’m re-writing history,” I told her.
“Oh really?”
I took both of her hands in mine and pulled her close to me. “Ask me to go to Homecoming, Taren.”
She tilted her head in confusion. “What?”
“I wish I had said yes when you asked me to go to Homecoming. I wish I had known myself enough then to make the choice that I wanted to make—and not the choice that everyone else expected. I didn’t know myself back then, but I do now. So, we have our own bonfire.” I gestured to the candles. “Will you ask me to go to Homecoming? I really want to say yes.”
She looked over at the candles, and I saw the moment when it registered with her that this was where I’d broken her heart and trust that awful night. She shook her head as if I was being ridiculous, but when she turned to me, her smile was brilliant. Taren bit her bottom lip before looking up at me through her lashes. “Will you go to Homecoming with me, Alec Hart?”
I was surprised at how strong my relief was and how much I needed a do over on that night.
“I thought you’d never ask.” I wrapped my arms around her back while still holding her hands. Her body arched into mine, and I bent over to claim her mouth with a kiss. “Yes. Anything you ever want. Yes,” I whispered between kisses.
She laughed. “I just want you.”
“I just want the chance to finally dance with you.” I let go of her fingers, and she reached up to wrap her hands lightly around the back of my neck. My hands found her waist. With her body pressed up against mine, we danced in the flickering light of hundreds of candles on a night of second chances.
Taren brought her hand to my cheek, and her thumb caressed my skin. “You know, as hurt as I was when you said no, now I’m glad it happened that way.”
“Why would you be glad that I hurt you?” We swayed, and I kissed her shoulder. My lips traced a path up her neck until I reached the tender skin under her ear. Taren leaned her head back and sighed. My mouth moved down the front of her throat to the neckline of her sundress.
“We weren’t ready for each other then. Now I’m stronger and so are you. I know we’ll make it through anything because we love each other.” The words were breathy, pleading for me to show her just how much I felt the same way. How much I’d changed from the boy I was in high school.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the old red piece of silk that had been through so much with us. I twined my fingers with Taren’s and then brought our hands up between us. She watched as I weaved the ribbon in and around our hands and wrists. I tangled us together so tightly that no matter what we faced in the future, we’d never fall apart from each other again.
“We’ve both made pledges that are important to us and the things we believe in, but this time, my pledge is to you. I don’t ever want you to doubt the way I feel about you.”
“I don’t doubt you.” She leaned up on her tiptoes to kiss me.
“I know, but I’m making this official. I should have said yes all those years ago. I want you to know that you will always be my yes. I promise that no matter how life might try to tear us apart, no matter how tangled things get, I will always come back to you. I promise to believe in my trust for you and not my own insecurities. I promise to always be all in with you. I promise to love you with every piece of my heart. Tonight, I pledge myself to you.”
Taren searched my eyes, before her gaze fell hungrily to my lips. “Pledge yourself to us.”
“To us,” I said, lifting our hands to kiss her wrist.
My lips had barely left her skin before her mouth crashed into mine. I wrapped my free arm around her, and she pushed me backward until I was sitting on the blanket. She straddled me and then kissed me so desperately I could barely catch my breath.
She finally leaned back to look at me. Her free hand roamed under my shirt until her fingers rested over my heart. “This moment is so perfect. After everything we’ve been through, this means so much.”
She brought our bound hands between us looking at the red ribbon twisted and tied around our wrists, fingers, and hands. “I love you, Alec Hart.”
“I love you more, Taren Richards.”
A wicked smile curved along her lips, and she bent over our tied hands to take one of my fingers into her mouth. She wrapped her tongue around it, sucking as she pulled back.
Holy. Shit.
“Naughty little Taren.” My words came out in a groan.
“I pledge to us, too. Always.” She kissed my fingertips and curled her body into my lap.
Taren Richards owned me, body and soul. I couldn’t think of anything else in the world I wanted more than to belong to her.
Chapter Thirty-Three
WILLIAM
Love was strange. Alec and Miss Taren loved each other for a long time, but they were afraid of it. I was afraid of lots of things.
But not love.
Love was the only thing that helped people make the right choices. I listened to people all the time. I learned a lot by sitting still.
People could be mean. They were cruel to one another. Sometimes they were cruel to me. Life would be better if they knew what was really important. Happiness and love. That was all that mattered.
I was not in love. Not yet, anyway. I loved my parents. I loved Alec. I loved Miss Taren like a friend. The love like I saw with Alec and Miss Taren? I did not have that. I wanted it, though.
I thought I might be able to love Sarah. Her Dad said no. That we were too slow.
He was wrong. Nobody was too slow to love. Everyone could love. They just needed to find the right person.
That was the hard part I think. It was like shopping for shoes. Me, I liked a black gym shoe with Velcro straps. Easy to put on and comfortable when I walked to the bus stop. I had to try on a lot of shoes before I found the ones that fit best. Some people, like Alec and Miss Taren, found their match when they were young. But sometimes when you are too young, you are not ready for that match.
I was older than those two love birds. I was ready. And waiting.
I sat on the bench and checked my digital watch. I had fifteen minutes before my bus came to take me to my apartment. I was proud that I moved out of my parent’s house. I had a roommate who did not talk much, but that was okay. I listened when he did. I wished I had more friends, though. Right now my only friends were Alec and Miss Taren.
Today was a really good day. I spent time with Miss Taren. She was happy, so that made me feel really good inside.
Sunlight shone off something on the ground and made a rainbow in the air. I smiled, as I always did when the sun was shining and especially when I saw a rainbow.
“What is that?” a girl asked. She was standing next to me, pointing at the ground.
I looked up to see happy brown eyes.
“I don’t know, but it makes a rainbow.” I stood up and stuck out my hand. “My name is William.”
The happy brown eyes creased in the corners when the woman smiled. “I am Stacy.” She shook my hand. She had a nice handshake, not sloppy. “I like rainbows, too.” She pointed to a clip in her brown hair. I smiled back.
“Very pretty.” I sat back down on the bench and patted next to me. “Would you like to sit?”
“Yes, I would.” She sat next to me, hugging her purple purse to her chest. She looked over at me. She had a small grin on her face. “Are you in Good Buddies like me?”
“Yup, yup.” I nodded and angled my body to face her. “My buddy is Miss Taren. She is the sweetest.”
“Nah, my buddy is the sweetest. Her name is Alexis.” Stacy’s face lit up when she said her friend’s name. Ah, she had the sunshine in her, too. “Hey, can you find what was making that rainbow? I would like it for my collection.”
“Yup, yup.” I bent down. I studied the ground and found a small crystal. It looked like it was a charm on a necklace once. As I picked it up, light shined off it on to Stacy’s shoes.
I looked over and laughed.
>
“What is so funny, William?” Stacy sounded upset.
“I was looking at your shoes.”
“What about, ‘em?” She frowned, looking down at her own purple gym shoes.
“I like them. Especially the laces.”
She looked over at me and smiled again. “Thank you. I thought they were special.”
“They are. Do you have time for me to tell you a story?”
Stacy tilted her head to the side and then looked over her shoulder. “No bus. I have time.”
“Great.” I looked down once more at the bright red laces on each of her shoes. “Have you ever heard about the red string of fate?”
Don’t miss the next story in the College Bound series!
THE COLOR OF US
by
Laura Ward & Christine Manzari
*The following excerpt is subject to change.
The Color of Us
CHAPTER ONE
Those inspirational posters were nothing but lies. Rain didn’t always bring a rainbow. There wasn’t always calm after the storm. And not every ending meant a new beginning.
I only needed one violent night for those dreams to be shattered. The truth was, when things ended, there was no promise for a bright, new, shiny beginning. The only guarantee was that things would change.
I hated that things had changed.
I hated that the rain stole my rainbow. I hated that the storm tore my family apart and left nothing but broken bits inside each of us. I hated that when my sister’s life ended, so did my rosy view of the future.
Unusual silences. Empty places. Unfinished conversations. The pain came in waves, and sometimes I thought I might drown under the weight of losing her.
I always thought the worst part of grief was the moment when tragedy struck, but that’s not true.
The worst part came after the last casserole was finished and everyone went home. The worst part came a few weeks later, after the consoling phone calls had long gone silent and the last flower petal had withered away. The worst part was seeing the empty chair at the dinner table every single night. The worst part was the silence in the mornings...silence that used to be filled with my sister’s teasing voice and beautiful singing. The worst part was hearing people laugh or seeing them smile, never knowing if I’d be capable of either of those things again. The worst part was the finality of it all. Samantha really was gone and everyone just kept on living and breathing and moving as if my heart wasn’t some crushed, mangled mess inside my chest.
