“Hah-hah funny, but, no, it’s not. I’ve been on the ground too much today, so get off,” I demanded with a smile.
Jace leaned down, inches from my face and asked, “Why?”
I looked into his beautiful eyes, not knowing what to say. I stammered my words when I spoke. “Oh-hum-hmm, Jace I-I—”
Jace put his finger over my lips and shushed me. “You feel the pull between us, don’t you? It’s so right, you cannot tell me you don’t feel it?”
“Yes, I—I feel it, but we can’t,” I said breathlessly.
“Why? We’re not doing anything wrong!” He studied me for a moment then frowned. “Oh, but I see. It’s Tru, isn’t it? So, Charlie, have you told him about me? Have you told him how you feel when I touch you?” To prove his point Jace put his large hand around my wrists, pulling my hands above my head. I didn’t protest so he continued. Jace took one finger and traced it down the side of my body to my ribcage, sending tantalizing shivers of heat through me. “Or, how you feel when I kissed you,” Jace whispered close to my lips. “Comfort you? Where was Tru, Charlie, when you were crying?”
“That’s not fair and you know it. Tru has no idea I was crying. And, yes, for your information, I told him I like someone else, but that’s not why we can’t.”
Jace grunted. “OK, then why?”
I blew the hair out of my eyes. “We can’t because it might hurt Tru, and I never want to hurt him Jace! Never!” After saying those words, I wanted nothing more than to take them back. I didn’t want to hurt Jace either, but I was, and I just had. My words were cruel. I saw his eyes flash painfully, and my heart started to break.
“Why did you come here, Charlie—to punch a bag or the truth . . . You wanted to see me!” He hissed. “Because you know you might have considered saving me some hurt as well. Or didn’t you think that you’re words and actions could ever hurt me?” Jace frowned shaking, his head. “Oh, I see, you didn’t think about me, did you? No!” His body trembled. “Just Tru . . . Right? You thought only about hurting Tru . . . Poor Tru,” Jace spat, his eyes were blazing. He was pissed.
And he had every right to be mad. Jace got off me so quickly it felt like my heart was ripped out. He was right. I wasn’t thinking it would hurt him. I was just thinking about myself. I was always thinking about myself lately.
“Oh God, Jace, I’m sorry,” I said as I wrapped my arms around him, trying to hold him to me. However, Jace wasn’t having it. He pushed me away and that felt like a slap in the face. All this time he wanted me, now when I did something to comfort him, he pushed me away. I knew that my logic was wrong, but my stubborn mind didn’t care. “Boy, Jace, how the tables have turned. When I touch you, now you push me away! I know what I said was cruel, but I am truly sorry.”
Jace turned on me so fast I didn’t have time to blink. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me against his chest. Breathing hard he said, “I want you to touch me. However, you’re afraid. I’m just hurt.” He pushed me away, hard.
And again he was right. All I was doing was hurting him over and over. Jace looked at me, came in close. I felt his breath slide smoothly across the top of my lip. He rested his forehead against mine and closed his eyes as he let out a sound of defeat.
Sadly he said, “Come on. I’ll take you home.”
That’s when everything shifted. I had no one to blame. What I did and said next was entirely my fault. But I could not lose him. In a panic, I grabbed him, pulled him back to me, looked deep into his eyes and said, “Maybe I am afraid. Maybe I am scared of what is happening to me. Scared and afraid of what I am feeling and what it all means. Right now, Jace, it’s just too much. But I am truly sorry for what I said.” I gave him a soft quick kiss on the lips, pulling away too fast for him to respond. “Now I’m ready to go home.” Jace looked at me surprised, but he just nodded.
The whole drive there we didn’t talk. Awkward! I could see the smile in Jace’s eyes. See the hope that was still there, and a part of me was happy—happy that this day had at least let someone smile—even if the smile didn’t fully connect to his lips. In any case, he was smiling. We pulled into my yard, and Jace leaned over and kissed me on my cheek.
Grinning a boyish grin he said, “See you tomorrow, Fox. Hey, try not to dream about me, OK?”
Oh, yeah, same old Jace, still full of himself. But I was much happier with this Jace. I was just glad he was not hurt anymore. “Well, I’ll try not to dream about you, Jace, but I think it’s you I should warn. So don’t dream of me . . . ‘Kay?”
I knew I shouldn’t lead him on when I didn’t know if I wanted him or Tru, but I also didn’t want to lose him. Was that called a conundrum? I didn’t know. Maybe that was me — a big old conundrum. I smiled and waved goodbye. Jace smiled back. He left as I walked into the house dreading the worst, but hoping for the best. Fingers crossed.
“Mom . . . Dad . . . I’m home,” I called out as I set foot into the living area.
“Charlie,” Mom called back. “Where did you go? I was so worried!”
“I just went for a walk to cool my head. Where’s Dad?” I asked.
“He was so upset at how everything played out.” She looked down. “He left. However, he left this letter for you to read. You know he’s not that good at explaining things, but I think he got it all out on paper.”
“I don’t want it, Mom. If it’s just going to tell me to stay away from Tru, I don’t want to read it.”
“Charlie, please read it. It’s not bad.” She stopped. “Charlie, I am sorry about earlier, dear. Your father and I did not handle things good.”
“You think?”
Mom sighed. “I’m truly sorry, Sweetie. You know I love you and don’t want you to be mad at us.”
“Mom, I’m tired. Please let’s not talk about this anymore and, um, you’re forgiven as long as I can still hang out with Tru.” I looked at her hopefully. “So . . . Can I hang out with Tru?”
Mom dropped her head, closed her eyes, and rubbed the back of her neck. She moved her blue-black hair over to the side and said, “I guess you’re not budging from this, and I would rather us not fight. Therefore, you have my permission to hang out with Tru. If Sam’s not happy about it, I’ll work my magic on him. You know I’m good at that.”
Mom laughed, and I gave her a big hug. I was just so relieved that she was on my side. I took the letter and told her I would read it. However, I didn’t tell her when. We said goodnight, and I told Mom to tell Dad goodnight when he got home. I went up to my room and took a long hot much-needed shower, put on my favorite PJs and checked my phone to see if I had any missed calls. But I had none.
A little disappointed, I hit the bed. Thankfully that night there were no bad dreams. It was a much-needed dreamless night, and it put me in a good mood the next morning. That morning, I stepped out onto my balcony to a beautiful 75-degree cloudless blue sky, smiling. I closed my eyes and breathed in the lavender fresh air. I was relaxed and feeling good when it was time for school. As I was gathering my things for school, out of nowhere a spasm of panic shot through my stomach. But I squashed it as fast as it came, shrugging the feeling off. I had been getting a lot of these strange feelings lately. Yet I just chalked it up to coincidence or something you go through when you’re almost 16. As I told Mom goodbye, I noticed Dad wasn’t home again. It made me a little upset, but I tried not to think about it and headed out to Tru’s truck. Like always, he was smiling his cute-crooked grin.
“Hey, C.”
“Hello, Tru. I see were alone again. Wow, I must be special.”
“You are special to me, but I hate to disappoint you. That’s not why they thought we needed more alone time. That’s why I have you all to myself,” Tru pointed out.
“Oh really, now what will we do with our alone time?” I asked.
Tru grinned. It was a boyish grin. The rest of the ride to school Tru flirted and so did I. We talked and laughed on the way to class. I did my normal routine, hung out with my new friends and went to a
ll my classes, but now I was so ready to go get a hot dress for the big dance.
Chapter Twenty-One
Runways Dresses
I told Tru I was going to look at a dress. He was a little disappointed. However, he said he’d call later. I had yet to receive one call on my phone from him. That boy and his phone didn’t get much air time. So fingers crossed. Dee, Tammin and I pulled up to a little shop. It was a cute white two-story dress shop with big hot-pink letters zigzagging across the front that read Runways Dresses!
“Oh, Charlie girl, this is the best place to get dresses! Ya just gonna love it,” Tammin beamed.
“Totally,” Dee chimed in. “Here is where you can buy the hottest dresses in town.”
“That’s cool,” I nodded.
In the store were all kinds of multicolored dresses. It was like a fairy world of bright vivid blues, acid greens, hot pinks, and gold. There were all kinds of shoes, handbags, and accessories. A girls dream. I was in heaven.
An idle smile played over Dee’s lips. She turned to me beaming she said, “Come on, let’s find a dress.”
“Yep, let’s get to it!” Tammin demanded, “C’mon, Charlie girl, don’t ya just stand there, look around.” She smiled and waved her hand, encompassing the room.
I giggled as we raced over to a rack of dresses. As we looked around, we decided it would be fun to put on a fashion show. Each of us picked out three of our favorite dresses. Dee was the first one up. Tammin pulled out her MP3 player and turned on some music to set the mood. In the dressing room were three stalls to change in. The doors on the dressing room stalls were a country-western-saloon type. The color of the swinging doors was a faint mahogany, with a silver-etched script imbedded into the wood that read Runways Dresses. The doors cut off around the chin and shoulder height so you could see the person’s feet and head. Dee entered the stall to put on her first outfit as me and Tammin sat there waiting.
“This’ll be fun,” Tammin drawled.
“I think you’re right, Tammin!” Tammin looked at me and grinned. I thought about Simon just then so I asked, “Tammin?”
“Ya, Charlie girl,” Tammin turned her gaze back to me, and her smile faded around the edges. “What is it?” She studied me. I hesitated. “C’mon, tell me? Is something the matter with ya? Are ya sick? Oh God, Charlie, tell me ya not getting stage fright.” She smiled sympathetically and reached out to pat my hand. “I’ll go next, Charlie girl. No need to worry your little heart.”
“No,” I laughed. “It’s not that, Tammin, but I’m glad you want to go next. It’s just that I was wondering something?”
“Yes!” She inquired.
I bit my thumb nail nervously. Tamm pulled my hand down and held it waiting for me to go on. I shook my head and nodded. “Uh, have you’ve asked Simon to the dance yet?”
She dropped my hand so fast you would have thought it was on fire. “W-w-what? Simon?” I nodded. “How’d ya—”
I laughed, cutting in saying, “It’s not that hard Tammin. Come on, you’re practically drooling over the guy. When you look at him, your eyes light up and by the way,” I mocked whispered. “Simon’s eyes light up when he looks at you, too.”
“Really?” She giggled.
“Yes, really,” I replied with a grin.
“So ya think I should ask him, Charlie?”
“Uh, yeah! Totally!”
Dee cleared her throat cutting in. She put one leg out, showing off some skin saying, “Are you ready for this?”
I giggled as Dee placed both hands on the swinging doors as she shoved it open. She popped out dramatically.
“Tada!” She beamed.
She was wearing a hot, black, panther-print style dress. It had a sultry lace-up detail, accentuating her bust and abdomen. We clapped and whistled as she walked and twisted back to the dressing room, swaying her hips the whole time. Drama Queen.
“So, what do you guys think of my first dress?” Dee asked.
“To be honest . . . It’s hot,” Tammin said. “But ya might get kicked out of the dance in something like that.”
Dee furrowed her eyebrows. “Charlie? What do you think?” Dee glanced down looking over her dress. Wow, was she really asking me. Oh, how things had changed. “Over all I give your performance a 10,” I said, holding up 10 fingers. “Uh, yeah the dress is smoking hot on you. However, I do think Tammin’s right. You might raise some red flags there.” Dee frowned. “But,” She looked at me hopefully. “I also think if you like it, then go for it. You know; if you got it, flaunt it and all that.”
Dee smiled at my answer. I could tell she had her mind made up. In my opinion, Dee didn’t even need to try the other two on. She was going for the hot-to-trot dress. I didn’t blame her. However, to keep the charade going, Dee tried on her other two dresses. Realistically, they were not as hot, but she didn’t have to know that. They did look good on her all the same, but the first dress blew the others behind. Dust baby! It was Tammin’s turn. Loved her to death, but Tammin was boring. If not for Dee’s commentary, I would have fallen to sleep. I was starting to think all her dresses had a country theme.
As Tammin was trying on her third and final dress, (enough with the cows, Tamm) I decided there was no time like the present to ask Dee why Z was not here. “Uh, Dee?”
“Huh?”
“Don’t be mad.” She narrowed her eyes and did this thing with her hands for me to go on. I sighed. “I was wondering why Zitkala’s not here.”
“Oh that! I’m not mad. We’re cool.” She sighed and grudgingly admitted, “You were right. She doesn’t care who I date just as long as I’m happy.”
“Good I’m glad, but where is she?” I asked.
“Oh, she had to do a family thing, but she wished she could have come.” Dee looked a little sad, “I wish she was here, too.”
I nodded. Just then, Tammin popped her head out of the dressing room, startling us. She stuck her tongue out at Dee and said, “Okay, ya guys. I’m ready—and don’t laugh, Dee—I decided to go with something different this time.”
“Oh, my God,” Dee gasped clutching her chest. “Do you mean this one has hay on it?” Dee laughed. I pushed her and placed my hand over my mouth trying to stop the giggle that was threatening to bubble up.
“Hah-hah! Very funny, Dee. I thought I asked ya not to laugh,” Tammin retorted.
“I thought it was funny. What do you think, Charlie?” I shook my head. I was not going to say a word. “Oh, you don’t have to say anything. We all know I’m funny!”
That was all I could take. I doubled over with laughter. Dee quickly followed. Tammin was frowning over at me.
So I got myself together enough to say, “Come on, Tamm. I bet it is beautiful, and Simon will love it. Let us see it! Don’t listen to Dee.” Dee snorted.
Tammin stepped out in a sleek hot-pink tie-neck halter dress, with a four-inch diamond- shaped leather belt. Whoa! I looked over at Dee to see if she was seeing what I was seeing. Yep! Her mouth was opened. I looked back at Tammin and grinned, holding two thumbs up. She beamed. As she twisted around, the fabric of the dress flowed around her body like waves. Wow, she had killer curves. Who knew when she was always covered up in flannel and denim? We hooted and clapped throwing some cat calls her way.
Me: “Yeah, baby! Woo show me whatcha got.”
Dee: “Work it. Work it.”
Tammin: “Oh, ya guys.”
Me: “Wow, put a little more back into it.”
Dee: “Woo. Woo. Hot momma!”
Tammin: “That’s it. I’m done.”
We laughed as Tammin marched back into the dressing room. I gave Dee a high five. I really was starting to like Dee. She reminded me of . . . well, me! I tried on my dresses. Dee and Tammin complimented me, telling me I looked good in all three of the dresses I tried on. Still, I opted not to buy one. I didn’t really like how they looked on me. I went home empty handed. Boohoo. I really could care less. Tammin bought the hot-pink dress, and just as I thought, Dee got
the kick-you-out-of-the-dance dress. They said it was a lot of fun, which I have to admit it was fun. Back at home in my room I noticed a package lying on my bed. I picked it up and shook it. Uh, maybe Dad bought me something because he felt bad about yesterday.
“Mom? Is this package mine? Is it from Dad?” I called down the hall to her.
She came rushing in and plopped down on the bed, looking anxious. I frowned.
Mom said, “No, it’s not from your father. I don’t know who it’s from, although it’s to you. It has your name on the letter that came with the package.” Mom smiled up at me wiggling the letter in my face. I grabbed it and glared at her. Mom looked too eager. Although, maybe she was just as curious as I was and like always my suspicion was piqued! “Well, are you going to see who it’s from? Go on, I’m dying to know too,” Mom said in a sweet low voice.
I scowled at her. Nosy much? Although I too was about to die, I opened the letter to see who my mystery gift was from. Written in old-fashioned hand writing on the outer part of the envelope was my full name.
Charlize, Leyland, Fox.
It didn’t have a return address, so I didn’t know who it was from. Inside the envelope was a cream-colored piece of paper that smelled faintly musty, like you would smell in an attic that hasn’t been used in a really long time. Written on the paper was something very weird.
My love, in dreams we shall meet again.
It must be from Jace. He always talked about me dreaming of him. So it had to be Jace. He had to be the one who got me the gift. Yeah, that’s what my mind was hoping anyway. I opened the box to find an elegant white lace chiffon ballroom corset gown. It had crystal stones embedded in the bodice that accentuated the crystal thin-as-paper straps showing off a lot of skin, but in a graceful manner. Layers of satin lined the inside of the dress. I quickly pulled the dress out and brought it up to my shoulders. It flowed gracefully down to my ankles. I smiled and spun around on one heel. Wow. Mom gasped as the fabric floated like a feather in the wind. I was in awe. I had never dreamed something could be this beautiful.
A Spark Of Magic: Chosen Saga Book One Page 17
