Never say forever (Never series Book 1)

by Taylor, Courtney A.

  On the drive home, I can’t stop thinking about the kiss. I hope she didn’t think it was unacceptable to kiss me. I hope she didn’t take my silence the wrong way. That kiss was so magical, it left me speechless. I almost feel like I’m putty. What am I going to do?

  I arrive home and get out of these wet clothes. I take a shower and change into my pajamas. I lie in my bed and I smell Serena. She slept here in my bed last night. I can smell the lavender on my pillow. It smells so good. I am going to sleep great tonight, once my heart stops racing from my emotions. I decide to text her because I need to know for sure that this is the real thing.

  Hi Serena

  I just wanted to say how much fun I had tonight. I have never shared anything about my mom to anyone. You are the first. I know I didn’t say much on the ride home but it was because I was awestruck. You left me speechless. I enjoyed every bit of it. I am going to take your kiss as a sign that you said yes to me. Goodnight beautiful, I’ll see you tomorrow.

  I stay up awaiting her reply but exhaustion gets the best of me. Before I know it, I have drifted to sleep with Serena and her lavender

  scent invading my dreams.

  Chapter 6

  Serena

  One Month Later

  I can’t believe it’s been a month since Aiden and I became official. It seems like yesterday he asked me out after our kiss in the rain which made my heart crave for him. How can I say no to a guy like that? One that puts my needs in front of his own and is a true gentleman. A man that sure knows how to kiss. We haven’t gone any further than kissing and he’s been a true gentleman about it. He hasn’t pushed me for anything and that’s what I love about him. He sure knew how to win my heart. I promised I wouldn’t date but how do I turn my back on Aiden?

  Over the past month we have been inseparable. We have gone to our secret waterfall place many times. I’m either at his house or he’s at mine. Larissa still hangs around with us on a daily basis. Can you guess how excited she was when she found out about me and Aiden? I had to cover her mouth she was so loud with her hysterics. She’s good now. She’s happy that I finally caved and I’m no longer the nerd that dives into schoolwork and does nothing else. I guess I have changed. Aiden brought that out of me. I have never been this open with anyone. It’s crazy how a few months can change your life forever.

  Everyone at school knows about us. Jeremy backed off after the attack at the beach house. He keeps his distance. I haven’t heard a word from him. In fact, if I’m walking down the hall and he is there, he turns around and walks in the other direction. It really is kind of strange but this is the way I’d rather have it. I don’t need to deal with guys like that when I have my sweetheart.

  I don’t think my life could get better at this point. I mean unless Cadence happened to pop back in my life. One thing I have learned over the past two years is that I feel as if I can finally live without her. It took Aiden appearing in my life to realize that. I’ll never stop loving my sister but at this point I’ve stopped caring what happened. Aiden was right. I shouldn’t waste all my time stressing over something that may never happen. I decided to just live my life the way I should and everything else will fall into place. Or at least I hope.

  The chants of slut and whore have stopped from the girls. Once they got word that Aiden and I were together, it all stopped. Maybe once they realized because I’ve been with Aiden for a month now, they knew I wasn’t. I’m not all that sure if they know what happened at the beach house. I’m sure they did because Aiden had to carry me out while I was unconscious and I’m sure someone happened to walk in when he hit Jeremy. If anyone knows, they sure haven’t said anything. Maybe it’s out of respect, I’m not all that sure. But one thing is for sure, I will never trust these people at school. Even if they haven’t said anything out of respect for me.

  At Lunchtime, I sit at the table next to Larissa. We are both picking at our spaghetti that we really don’t want to eat. That was the only thing left at the counter when we arrived. More food was being prepared but we don’t have much time to eat, so we chose this disgusting glob we call spaghetti.

  I start to take a bite when strong muscular hands wrap around me from behind. I can sense Aiden smelling my hair as he leans and gives me a kiss.

  “Hello beautiful,” he whispers in my ear. I feel as if my heart just grew. I’m falling for him hard and he doesn’t even know it. Everything he says and does melts my heart.

  I turn around and look in his blue eyes and smile.

  “Hey there.”

  “Oh God, can you people get a room already?” Larissa expressed in her bored tone.

  “You’re just jealous because you’re happy for us,” I teased her.

  “Well, if Mr. Sande was here right now I wouldn’t be jealous or bored,” she fired back at me.

  “You know damn well you can’t do anything with Mr. Sande,” I told her time and time again.

  “I know, I know. A girl can dream though, right? In my dreams I can do whatever I want.”

  I’ll let her keep dreaming.

  Aiden looks at me and grabs my hand to hold. “So, dance is next weekend. You ready for it?”

  I hate that he asks because I really don’t like dances and I wasn’t planning on going. “I guess.”

  “You guess? Don’t you want to go? We can slow dance and you get to see me wear a tux,” he suggested.

  That changed my mind. I’d give anything to see him all fancied up looking sexy.

  “Okay. I’ll have to go shopping for a dress. Larissa can help me.” I look over at Larissa and she must be daydreaming because she hasn’t heard anything I said.

  “Wanna go to the waterfalls after school?” He asked me.

  “Sure. Ill meet you outside after school. I’ll send my mom a text letting her know I’ll be home later,” I said as I’m gathering my stuff before the bell rings.

  “I’ll see you later, sweetheart” He leans down and gives me the sweetest kiss that I don’t want to break away from. I’m smiling as I’m kissing him and then the bell rings.

  Damn!

  ***

  The final bell rang. I grabbed all my items and headed straight for Aiden’s car. I saw him standing against the car with his arms folded and a huge smile on his face. I love looking at him. His smile is infectious.

  “You ready?” He asked as he walked up to me and kissed me.

  “Ready as Ill ever be.” Gosh I feel like I’m in one of those sappy romance movies. I swore I wouldn’t be like that. Around Aiden how is that possible when he seems like a true prince charming?

  He opens the door for me again, and I enter the car. He starts driving, playing music at full blast. The happiness I’m feeling pours out of me as I start singing and dancing. He looks over at me and smiles. I stop what I’m doing. “What?”

  “Nothing. You’re just so carefree and so happy. I love it. I love seeing you this happy and having so much fun.”

  Even though he likes it, I stop. Now I’m feeling a bit self-conscience.

  We arrive at our secret place and make it to the waterfalls. He rolls down the blanket on the floor and we both lie down. This is our spot to talk. Well, make out too. We have our own privacy, we can tell each other anything. Sometimes we come here just to lie in each other’s arms while we talk and stare up at the clouds. Weekend nights, we lie out here and stare at the stars. The first time we laid out here at night, he pointed to a star and told me to name it. I thought he was crazy but when I did, he said that was my star forever and now it shines brighter than all the other stars. It’s nice to get away from the house, away from parents who watch your every move.

  We lie on the blanket and he wraps his arms around me and holds me. I could live forever in this moment. This is something that is new to me. I’m not used to feeling this. He must be very tired because I start to hear a light snore. I guess he’s really comfortable. I am always comfortable wrapped up in his arms, my body against his. I start to drift off as well when I hear a
faint “my Violet”.

  Seriously?! Who the fuck is Violet?! Does he have another girlfriend? That just turned my mood sour. All I want to do is go home. I can’t ask him about Violet because he’s just going to tell me what most men tell me. I don’t know any Violet. He just turned out to be just like all the other men. My momentary bliss just turned into heartache. Just as I was falling for him, I get reminded that sometimes it’s just too good to be true.

  I decide to do the only thing I’ve ever known how to do my whole life: Run!

  ***

  Aiden

  I woke up suddenly, just realizing that I fell asleep. How could I fall asleep? I must have been comfortable. I turn around and Serena is gone. I know she was here before I fell asleep. I remember holding her. Why would she leave? I tried calling her, but no answer. I tried texting her but she hasn’t responded. I’m at a loss. I have no idea what happened. The next step would be to call Larissa. I scrolled through my phone and dialed her number.

  “Hello?” answered Larissa.

  “Hey Larissa, Have you seen or talked to Serena today?” I really hope she’s talked to her. I don’t have a good feeling. What if something happened to her?

  “No, I thought she was with you?” She’s starting to sound worried.

  “She was. We fell asleep, or I did anyways. When I woke up she was gone. She’s not answering her phone and she’s not replying to my texts. I’m worried. What if something happened to her?” I say with shakiness in my voice.

  “Ill drive over to her house. I’ll call you as soon as I find something out.” She said.

  “Okay. Please call me as soon as you can.” I end the call.

  I’m pacing around not really sure what to do. I don’t want to leave here in case she walked around and got lost. I don’t want to leave her alone. It’s a struggle to not just hop in the car and search for her. I’m pacing back and forth through this damned forest awaiting the phone call to set my mind at ease. My mind is going crazy. What the hell happened?

  My phone rang, disrupting my thoughts. I quickly turned it on. “Did you find her?” I ask.

  “Yeah she’s at home. She said she doesn’t want to talk to you. Did you guys have a fight or something? She won’t tell me why she’s mad at you or why she doesn’t want to talk to you.”

  “No, we were fine and I fell asleep. I woke and she was nowhere to be found.” What the hell happened?

  “Give her some time. She seems upset. Shell come around.” I sure hope so.

  “I’ll try to message her later. Thanks for your help.” I turn the phone off and kick my car. I know it sounds like a kid thing to do but Fuck! I’m pissed at myself and I don’t even know why. How can she just walk into my life like that and I screw it up in my sleep? I can’t lose her. I have to get to the bottom of this.

  Tuesday rolls around. I see her in chemistry, but it seems as if she arrives late that way there’s no time to talk. She bolts out of class the minute the bell rings. I haven’t seen her at the lunch table either. I don’t know if she’s going to a class or just hiding out during lunch. I feel as if I did something really bad.

  I send her a text after school.

  Me: Babygirl, what’s wrong? I need to see your beautiful face. Meet me at football field after school.

  I got no response. I went to the field in hopes shell show up. I sat there for three hours and she never showed. It’s beginning to hurt. I started falling for her and now I’m denied the right to see her.

  Wednesday, I woke up sleep deprived. My mind was racing all last night thinking about her. What can I do to get her to talk? I’ve tried everything. I’ve texted, called, even stayed at her locker waiting for her. She never showed. I’m not sure what else to do.

  Please talk to me. Tell me what I did wrong so I can fix this. I can’t stop thinking about you. I need you. Please call me.

  I know I sound like lovesick bastard but what can I do? I don’t want to choose my pride and just let her go. She has become more than I imagined in our short time together. I can’t just let her walk out of my life without a fight. She still hasn’t responded.

  Thursday, I still haven’t seen her besides the back of her head at chemistry class. I’ve talked to Larissa, but she claims not to know anything. As close as we are, I’m not sure to believe her. They were best friends before I came along. They have the bond that can’t be destroyed. But because I’m good friends with her, Ill choose to trust that she’s telling me the truth.

  I miss you Serena. Please call me! I need to speak with you.

  Still no response. My heart is breaking in half. I can’t begin to think what I’ve done to push her away from me. I’ve barely slept this week because she has consumed my every waking moment. How can I fall asleep when my heart is being torn in two? How can I do any of my normal daily activities when my heart hurts because I feel as if I lost my soul? The only thing to make this better is to finally talk to Serena. If only I can get to her.

  Friday, I finally cave and decide to give her space. As much as it hurts to just sit here and wait, maybe that’s what needs to be done. I don’t text her today or call her. I have to fight myself otherwise ill pick up that phone. I need the will power to just say no. It’s hard as hell, because I want nothing more than Serena to just be in my arms again. I may be pushing her further away by always calling and texting. I didn’t want to seem like a stalker but I also don’t want to give up, and find out she found someone to treat her better. This is killing me inside. I have to find the strength to continue on without communication with the only girl I’ve ever loved. Yes, in all this mess I have realized that I have fallen in love with her. Now she’s gone.

  Chapter 7

  Serena

  One Week Later

  The past week has been rough. I have tried to avoid Aiden at all costs. He has called and texted me daily. As much as I want to respond, I know exactly how it will end. I will cave and end up back with him, but three months later with a broken heart because he cheated. I did not see him as a cheater, but how else can you explain him calling out another woman’s name? If I see him, I may just forget why I’m mad at him.

  The day at the waterfall was really hard. I had to be brave and walk away. I know I did this the cowardly way. If I stayed, I wouldn’t be strong to my word. I walked home that day crying the whole way. I thought I was cried out by the time I walked in the house. Boy was I wrong. I went straight to my room and laid there for what seemed like hours sobbing. I normally wouldn’t act like this about a guy, but I have come to fall for him. When I heard another name while lying in his arms, it just ripped my heart into shreds.

  Larissa showed up that day. I didn’t tell her what happened. To date, she still has no clue. I may be stupid for what I did. But what else can I do when the one person I thought was true has feelings for someone else?

  He gave up texting and calling me a week ago. The first few messages he sent me were pleas to have me call him. He seemed desperate. As much as I wanted to cave in and call just to hear his voice, I had to stay strong. Today is the day of the dance. The day I was supposed to go with Aiden dressed up. He would be in a tux. Something I’ve been waiting for. Well that’s shot to hell.

  My phone rings just then. I look at it because I’ve been screening my calls in case Aiden calls. Larissa pops on the screen.

  “What’s up Larissa?” I answer.

  “Get your stuff and come over. We’re getting ready for this dance.” She seems excited.

  “I’m not going. Aiden and I were supposed to go and it looks like that’s not happening.” I mumble.

  “You are going and you are going to like it. Don’t make me come there and drag you to my house. Besides, Aiden probably won’t even be there. He was planning on coming with you. Guys usually don’t show up without a date, unless they want to be labelled a loser. You don’t have anything to worry about.” She assured me.

  “Whatever. I’m only doing this for you.” I said.

  “Get your
dress and get your ass over here. Times a wasting.” She chirped.

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m on the way.” I know I don’t sound enthusiastic, but I’m not very happy about attending this dance.

  I grab my things and head to Larissa’s. The dress I got is really pretty. I’m not a dressy type of girl, but when I bought this dress I was excited for dressing up for Aiden. It is a strapless white dress with rhinestones at the top. The waist has a turquoise wrap. The bottom had ruffles and had turquoise at the bottom. I also got silver/white sparkly high heels to match.

  I arrive at Larissa’s and she immediately starts doing my hair. My hair is already slightly curly but she’s using her curling iron to make more curls. She finished with my hair and starts on my makeup, using a green/blue eye shadow to match my dress. She finished the makeup. I grab the dress and the shoes from my bag and head to the bathroom. Once in there, I start undressing. I put the dress on, which seems a little bit tight. I put the shoes on and already feel the pain in my feet. I’m going to be hurting tomorrow.