Sounds of Yesterday

by Pacheco, Briana

  I perk up in the seat with wide eyes because I love Audi’s and can’t just sit here without voicing my thoughts. “The Transporter! God, I love Audi’s because of that franchise! Have you seen the show? It’s not as great as the movies but it keeps me busy.” I sigh and close my eyes, thinking of a hot guy driving a sexy car. I blush when I realize I’m sitting beside one and this fantasy is now a reality.

  When I open my eyes, Alex glances my way and I can’t stop staring at the freckles dotting his face, adding to his looks. The way his eyes are shining have me looking away quickly, staring out of the window as we start passing by streets, coming closer to our destination.

  We’re both smiling until he parks his car in a gated two-car garage of his house. He switches off the car and gets out. I follow. When Alex rounds the car and sees me standing outside, his lips turn down slightly. “I was going to get the door for you.”

  “Oh.” I always open my own doors. It’s weird to see a woman standing by the car, waiting for their guy to open the door when they can do it themselves. It saves time. Stop being lazy.

  Alex grabs his backpack from the backseat and stuffs his hands in his pockets. He’s looking at the passenger side door like someone else is coming out of it.

  “Do you want me to get back in?” I ask, confused. “So you could…um, open the door?”

  “Oh, no! Sorry.” Alex shakes his head and steps back. “I was wondering if Sophie was going to sneak in.”

  He was looking at the reflection.

  He was looking at the reflection for Sophie!

  They followed us. He knows they followed us!

  Boston is a rich city so you can guess the places around here are worth somewhere in the millions. The garage is located behind the townhouse, on Branch Street. It’s a regular street that cars pass by on and I’m going to guess Zach parked right outside.

  “I’m so sorry!” I say, covering my face with my hand. “I told them to go home.”

  “Do you want them to come up with us?”

  “No!” I stare at the ground, kicking imaginary rocks. “Sophie adores your mom. She will go crazy.”

  Alex doesn’t say anything so I finally look up.

  “You hate my mom then?”

  I pale instantly. I didn’t mean it like–

  “I’m joking.” Alex holds up a finger and walks toward the garage door. He pops his head out and waves. I hear a squeal–Sophie’s doing. “Emily said you can’t come up,” he says with a hint of amusement in his voice.

  “Tell Emily she’s a whore!” Sophie pops her head into the garage and winks at me. “Call me when you’re done, okay. And…” She looks at Alex from the side of her eyes and brings them back to me. “Show a little skin!” she whisper-yells at me. “Love you!”

  Alex is right beside her. She didn’t need to whisper because we both heard her loud and clear. I look at anything but them and say goodbye. Sophie exhales loudly and heads back to Zach’s car. Alex closes the garage door and walks up to me. We walk toward the back where seven steps are, leading to a door. I press myself into the wall so Alex can have space to unlock the door. I feel his arm against my arm, his breath on my cheek, and his heart beating against my shoulder.

  When the lock clicks, Alex turns the knob and opens the door. He turns his head slightly my way. His lips are right there. We’re standing so close. I should have let him walk ahead of me but he placed his hand on the small of my back and I couldn’t focus.

  Hazel eyes lock on mine and we stay like this for some time–staring at each other while breathing the other in. I should move. We both should. We should be walking past the door, setting up for our tutor session, and making me understand what is going on in class.

  My backpack’s strap slips down my shoulder so I adjust it and end up dropping my hand on Alex’s arm. His arm which is on my hip. His fingers on my skin.

  When did he grab my hip? When did he start rubbing his thumb over the skin that peeks out from under my t-shirt?

  I blink, he blinks.

  I exhale, he inhales.

  I tilt my head up, he tilts his down.

  I smile shyly.

  He barks.

  Wait, what?

  I whip my head to the left and see a gorgeous woman–who looks a lot like Alex–holding a white fluffy dog standing there, where the closed door was. She smiles and the dog barks again.

  “You scared me, sweetie. Next time, tell me you’re home.” Alex’s mom steps back and lets us in. “You must be Emily. Alex has told me so much about you.”

  “Mom.” Alex scratches the back of his neck and looks off to the side.

  I feel my cheeks redden. It’s a given when you hear someone’s mom say that. Alex talks about me. To his mom. He blushes before he talks to me. He seems nervous being around me. He’s shy and adorable and smart and hot and I didn’t even know guys like him existed anymore.

  Gwen pulls me into a hug before I can comprehend why she’s getting closer to me. I hear the dog whine and I immediately pull back. “Ohmygod! I didn’t mean to hurt him. Her? Hugs are not my thing.” The dog starts to thrash in Gwen’s arms and I panic. “Is it taking its final breath?! I…”

  Alex takes the dog from his mother’s arms and it begins snuggling into his chest.

  “Emily, this is Zeus. Trust me, he needs more than a hug to kill him.” The dog stops moving and there’s an awkward silence where we only hear Zeus’ panting. He turns his fluffy face toward me and his chocolate brown eyes find mine.

  After the initial shock of possibly killing another dog with my hugs passes, I smile because that is the cutest, littlest, fluffiest dog I’ve ever seen. And his name is Zeus.

  Do not squeal. Be normal. Do not start that high-pitched squeal, Emily! Do not do it!

  “Isn’t he the cutest?” Gwen gushes, rubbing under his chin. “He’s a Bichon Frise, Shih Tzu mix. He came out perfect.”

  “I am going to kidnap him,” are the words that leave my mouth. “He is simply beautiful.”

  “As are you, my dear. Your eyes are hypnotizing. So blue.” Gwen grabs my arm and walks us past the open living room/dining room area. This place was recently renovated, Soph says. It shows. Everything looks new and I’m kind of scared of being within touching distance. When we step into the kitchen, there’s food set up on the island and a cake in the cake display. I try not to stare it down. “I picked up a bit of everything so please, take whatever you like. I’ll be upstairs while you two do your studying.” She gathers her long brown locks and twists it up into a messy bun. Her light green blouse makes her eyes pop. They’re hazel but I think more on the green side. “Sit wherever you like. Make yourself comfortable. I’ll come downstairs every once and a while.” In other words, I’m watching you so keep your hands off my son.

  Alex walks into the kitchen after setting Zeus down on the floor. He spots me and runs into my legs, begging for something. “I’m going to change real quick, if that’s okay?” Alex asks, slipping his backpack off his shoulder.

  “You’re leaving me alone?” I look down at Zeus who is starting to whimper and lick my leg. “I can steal something.” I’d be the worst robber. I wouldn’t touch anything but he wants to leave me alone. Is he forgetting who his parents are?

  “I trust you.”

  Oh.

  Well…that means a lot to me.

  Zeus nudges my leg again.

  “He likes to be held.” Of course he does. “I’ll be right back.”

  Alex heads upstairs and I’m left staring down at a dog who wants to be held. I can do it. I bend down and pet him then swoop him into my arms. I hold my breath for a second just to be sure the dog makes noise.

  “I’m seriously tempted to take you home.” He licks my neck and rubs the spot afterwards with his fluffy head.

  Alex walks into the kitchen wearing black sweatpants and a gray t-shirt that hugs his muscles perfectly. Throw in that beautiful smile and Zeus is squirming in my arms because I accidently squeeze him too tight. S
orry, buddy!

  How on earth am I going to study with this many distractions around me?

  And not like I can forget, Alex almost kissed me. Or I almost kissed him. Something was going to happen on those steps. Right?

  You better focus on studying or you’re not going to graduate.

  I. Can. Do. This.

  Chapter 4

  I walk out of Mr. McAllister’s class with a spring in my step. He handed back the graded tests from last week and I, Emily Spencer, got an A- on it. I’m pretty sure he crapped his pants when he graded that sucker and saw it was mine. Alex has been tutoring me for almost a month now and it’s obviously paying off. The guy knows how to get my brain to understand all those weird equations. Math isn’t for me. Music is. Give me sheet music and I can play you the song. Give me a calculus problem and I’ll probably leave you more confused when I show my work.

  I haven’t had a C since that time I was called out for it. Every weekly test since, I’ve gotten B’s and B+’s. I worked harder every tutor session because if I failed a test, that meant Alex failed at teaching me. He’s so damn smart I didn’t understand why he wasn’t in AP Calculus until he told me he signed up but the class was full.

  “Em!” Zach jogs up to me and walks with me to my last period. “Soph wants to know if you’re coming tonight?” She loves Halloween just as much as she loves her birthday so this is a huge day for her to get everything right. I keep avoiding her question on whether or not we’re going out as a group tonight.

  Halloween was fun until I turned thirteen and Declan stopped taking me trick-or-treating with him. He was too cool to bring his younger sister. It was our thing and then it wasn’t. Sophie and Zach have brought me along every year after. They’re usually a matching couple as of late but if I go with, they get something all three of us could go as.

  This year, I’ll rather pass.

  “No, I have a music piece I need to work on.” After I do some studying of course.

  “Alex said he’d come with if you wanted to go.”

  “Alex and I are going to be busy.”

  Zach’s eyes turn into discs and then he smiles a pained smile when he realizes I might have brought sex into the conversation. He gets weirded out when I bring sex up. Sophie and Alex can talk about it but not me because I’m like his sister and he doesn’t need to picture that.

  “Alright. We’re going to a party after nine. If you guys want to come, let us know.”

  I nod and walk into my world history class, ignoring the snide remarks of a fellow student who has hated me ever since we were seated together in kindergarten. She’s far from my mind at the moment so I’m not even going to acknowledge her today.

  The class passes by quickly and next thing I know, I’m in Alex car, heading to his house.

  We have a routine where we get food, head upstairs, do some homework, and then study each other’s bodies for some time before it’s time for me to go home. It works so we haven’t given it up. Gwen does pop into his room from time to time so we really spend most of the time doing homework. She lets me stay if she sees I’m learning something. Her pop quizzes are so much easier than McAllister’s!

  When the car is in the garage, we do our usual thing then head upstairs and plop down on Alex’s bed. He hasn’t said much on the car ride over. He kept chewing on his lip like he’s thinking of the hardest equation of his life.

  I don’t bring it up because he looks at me, and smiles, throwing off any vibes he was giving off minutes earlier. He was nervous about something, that’s all I know.

  We work on some homework for five minutes and I’m surprised that I’m understanding how to calculate derivatives of inverse functions without much struggle. I mentally pat myself on the back.

  Alex sets his pencil down and stares at me with a smile on his lips. That smile. It’s going to be the death of me. “Go out with me,” he says, biting his lip again as he looks down at his homework for a second.

  I cock an eyebrow and sit back against the headboard of his bed. “Are you asking or telling?” I become a little sassy whenever I talk to him. I always make sure he knows I’m joking around. I come off as a bitch when I’m trying not to be.

  “Asking?” He holds my eyes and I watch as he grows serious. “We can even make our first date extremely awkward. I just want us to be...official.”

  We’ve never gone on a date yet we’re familiar with each other’s bodies. We’re doing it all backwards. I’m just kind of…freaked out by putting a label on us. Alex told me about his ex-girlfriends when I asked him about his life in California. They dated him because of his name and the sad thing about it was he knew it. He knew they weren’t into him like I am. What if at some point, he starts to question that though…?

  He won’t.

  I really like this guy for who he is and I’m pretty sure he sees that.

  I tap my pencil against my thigh as the blush creeps up my neck. Calculus is nowhere on my mind anymore. Alex and I becoming more than what we already are excites me. He’s asked me out countless times but I always decline because I want to focus on school and graduating. We connect in a physical way so we work on that too. Making it official, I was hoping we could do that sometime after I turn eighteen in December. When I can handle school, a relationship, and the stress of officially becoming an adult.

  But I feel like I can handle it. This. We can do this.

  “Okay, but homework first.” I shove his shoulder when he winks at me then starts crawling toward me, making my body think it’s going to get special treatment any second now. “And we must eat good food. None of that vegan stuff your dad wants me to try.” Alex’s dad comes home really late so I only see him during the weekends if I come by. Being a surgeon, he’s on-call most of the time. His lack of sleep is controlled by these weird diets that he goes on and the latest one makes me want to hurl. Alex’s sister is coming home from Princeton in three weeks for Thanksgiving break so Alex bets his mom will find a way to get Damon into eating real food again. No one wants to eat tofurky.

  “Do you want to go out tonight?”

  “Tonight?” I question. “It’s Halloween. Everyone will be out.”

  “I know. It’s like everyone is celebrating this momentous decision of yours. Do you know how hard it is for you to say yes?”

  “Well.” I bite my lip seductively. “I said yes to sex, didn’t I? I just wasn’t ready for a relationship.”

  Alex grabs my notebook and tosses it to the foot of the bed. His lips meet my neck and I’m tempted to give in. “And now you are? You’re not just saying yes because I’m relentless?”

  “No. I want this. I want us.” I really, really do.

  “You can deal with the pressure of being with me? Being involved with my family? People will talk. I don’t–”

  “I’m okay with it.” Being in Boston isn’t that bad. No one is around suffocating the Sawyer’s. It’s only when Alex’s family goes out of town that the paparazzi are following them everywhere. And why would they bother this quiet family when Brady’s family is in the next town over? I’m good with the pressure of being involved with the Sawyer’s. Trust me.

  “Yeah?”

  I nod. He sucks the skin behind my ear then licks the spot, blowing cool air on it.

  “Alex.” His name leaves my mouth as a breathless sigh.

  My fingers get lost in his hair as his lips meet mine. I fall back against his bed and wrap my legs around his waist. His left hand travels down my body and I love the way he feels against me. He sets my body on fire with every kiss, every caress, every word he says.

  He’s so distracting!

  I drop my legs from around him and push on his chest when I’m on the verge of moaning, bringing his mother in here. We do not need that happening right now.

  “Alex. Homework. Now.”

  He drops his forehead against mine and pecks my lips. “Later.”

  Yes. No!

  “Exactly. Finish those three problems and we can come b
ack to this.”

  “I want to skip those problems and stay right here.” He nibbles on my bottom lip and sucks on it before he makes his way down my neck, over my breasts then comes back up slowly. His lust filled eyes lock on mine and I give up.

  I tried. I really did. I didn’t even have to bring up the homework.

  I pull him against me and forget about everything except for the both of us.

  Chapter 5

  December comes by slowly. Next week, I’ll be eighteen. Two days after that milestone, it’s winter break. I plan on perfecting the piano piece I spent months working on. There’s something not clicking and I have been trying to figure out where exactly it is happening. It’s frustrating that I haven’t found it yet.

  I don't think I’ll get much work done though because Alex is planning something, I know it. And I’m worried. His surprises are always big and super secretive. Yet, knowing he’s thinking of me puts a smile on my face.

  I like this guy so much it’s borderline obsessive. I won’t say fireworks exploded and I fell in love. Hell, that just sounds crazy. And we have only known each other for three months–not much time for me to understand my feelings but we’ve become super close. He has seen me cry as I talk about my past some days.

  I never felt the need to talk to someone like I do with Alex.

  We talk about everything.

  He holds me when I cry.

  He makes me feel safe.

  He gets me–understands me like no other, and he laughs at my lame jokes. The only people who do that are Zach, Sophie, and blood relatives. I couldn’t pass up the new guy, now could I?

  Alex has brought me into his life without any hesitation. He’ll find ways to tell me about life back in California and the friends he left behind. I know he has two close friends, Tyler and Liam that are like the brothers he never had. He’s mentioned meeting up with them sometime soon when school isn’t keeping him busy. He invited me to join him when that day comes. Obviously, I accepted. Any minute away from him is heartbreaking.