Protected (Book 1 in the Ariya Adams trilogy)

by Anna Applegate

  “Well, I’m glad you think it’s nice.” I was racking my brain, trying to think of another question to keep the conversation going, when he surprised me with one of his own.

  “Do you know what you want to do after college?”

  I tried to hide a smile at the fact that he was continuing our chat.

  “Well, I’m getting a degree in Counseling. Hopefully, I can get a job as a guidance counselor for high school students. I know a lot of people change from what they major in college when it actually comes to jobs, but I think I’d actually like it. I like the idea of helping people, being there for people, listening if they need someone to assist them. It seems rewarding.”

  He nodded. “I can see you doing something like that.”

  Riley came back with my wine. “Here you go, my lady. So what did you think yesterday? You left kind of early, huh? Way to bail. Caroline, too. You guys never leave us.” James seemed to go stiff for a moment. He seemed to act strange at the most random moments. Maybe it was a tick.

  “I was there, weirdo. You guys were great.”

  “Well, you missed the ending. Is everything okay?” Riley pushed.

  “Yes, I wasn’t feeling well. I don’t really remember. I was tired. It was probably a fever. I’m fine you worry wart. I was just telling James he picked the game up fast,” I retorted.

  “I told you earlier, Ariya. We’re going to be the dynamic duo!”

  They high-fived. Guys were funny to listen to when they were talking about sports. All the confidence and arrogance mixing together made quite a scene. I shook my head at them and Riley pasted a look on his face that screamed, “what?”

  Someone called Riley’s name and he excused himself.

  “You guys are very close. He’s lucky to have such a good friend,” James said.

  “Yeah. He’s my best friend besides Caroline. We’re just friends, though.” I rushed to include that last part. I thought it would be good to throw that in there to make things clear for James. He was smiling out of the corner of his mouth, so I thought it was safe to say he’d gotten the hint.

  The evening went on like most of our weekend parties did. I tried not to talk much after that to see if James would ask me more questions. He was quiet, but I thought my silence might come off as my not being overbearing on getting to know him. I’ve heard girls are supposed to hang back and be chased if they really want to snag their guy. I was not good at the mind games or the making-yourself-look-desirable thing that most of the girls who came to small schools were so good at. Most of them here were like Ashley, in the market for a husband. Why couldn’t people just say what they meant and mean what they said? That would make the most sense, right? This nonsense of giving people the run-around made it tough on a girl like me who just wanted a simple, straightforward man in her life.

  We said our goodbyes a couple hours later and headed back to our apartment. Caroline and Nick were snuggling in front of me on the walk home. I watched them, curiously.

  They really did just fit together. They had such a comfortable routine around each other. It was quite amazing to watch, especially given how this sort of thing wasn’t really Caroline’s style. At least it seemed to be when it came to guys here. I was sure this thing between them was going somewhere. Caroline is in the middle of her very own fairytale, I thought to myself and smiled.

  ***

  The weeks began passing more quickly after those first few. Compared to the first week of strangeness and excitement with transferring students and creepy new boyfriends, things were quiet and calm. My jerking had started again, but I was starting to suck it up and get used it.

  The only thing that seemed strange was that Ashley seemed to have dropped off the face of the earth. Devon did too, right along with her. No one saw much of her, and we all figured she had finally accomplished her goal of finding a husband. That was fine by me. It meant Devon wasn’t around to creep us out anymore. Maybe he left to crawl back into whatever hole he’d come from. It didn’t matter to me, wherever he was I hoped he would stay there. Besides that, things were good and life was going smoothly.

  Before I knew it, we were midway through October. We were halfway through our first semester already. I couldn’t believe that time was going by so fast. I imagine that’s how everyone feels when something is coming to an end.

  The weekend before Halloween, Caroline and I were preparing our apartment for the hockey after-party celebration. The boys were undefeated, and since it was becoming quite a habit to win, we had to keep rotating who hosted the celebratory parties to keep things interesting.

  Caroline and I were up, and we wanted to make it amazing. We loved the decorating part of parties and, except for picking out the right ground beef, we were pretty good at putting them together.

  We were setting up cups on the counters and putting final touches on everything when Caroline asked, “have you asked Riley who your partner is going to be for the Couples’ Costume Night?”

  She looked up, expectantly. My eyes widened. I had completely forgotten. Riley had started a couples costume party tradition our first year. People didn’t necessarily go with a significant other, but everyone was expected to have a partner. It was always best when the boys paired off and came completely ridiculously dressed. My favorite was when Riley and Johnny did Zack Morris and A.C. Slater from “Saved by the Bell.” It had been amazing.

  “I forgot all about it! I’m sure there will be someone left over. I can’t believe it’s time for Halloween already. Do you know who is left without a partner?”

  “Ja-a-a-mes,” Caroline said, in a singsong voice. I looked up and rolled my eyes, stealing her signature move.

  “He’s not necessarily the only one. Is Nick coming?”

  “Yes, but he’s taken,” she laughed. “We’re going to be Barbie and Ken. You’d better figure out your partner and costume, girl. You’re usually much more on top of this,” she joked.

  “Barbie? You? What is the world coming to? I can’t wait to see this!” I teased her.

  Riley showed up with the keg before the rest of the team arrived. He poured himself a beer and came over to sit next to me on the couch.

  “Who can I partner with for Halloween, Riley?” I asked.

  “You don’t have one? I assumed you would be with James,” he said, and his eyes flickered with something strange. Was that jealousy? Impossible. Riley wasn't jealous of me with anyone.

  “He didn’t ask me. I kind of forgot about it,” I replied sheepishly.

  “You want to be my partner? I can tell mine to take a hike.” He smiled at me.

  “No, I’m sure you already have it planned. I’ll figure it out.”

  “Whatever you want, Ariya.” He downed the rest of his beer.

  The door opened and more members of the team trickled in. Riley grabbed my hand to help me off the couch, and then went off to mingle.

  I hadn’t seen James arrive yet. Maybe I should just see if he had a partner. It wouldn’t hurt to ask. It’s such a simple question. It was nothing big, no big deal. I headed out to the balcony for some air. Leaning over the railing and taking in one last deep breath, I had just about bucked up the courage to go back in and look for James when I heard someone start talking to me.

  “Hey, I was looking for you.”

  I turned, but knew the voice before I had to actually confirm it with my eyes. It was James. He sported another black t-shirt, loose, but not loose enough to hide the perfect layout of muscle going on underneath. He was looking for me?

  “Sorry, I just needed some air.” I smiled.

  “Yeah, it gets crowded at these things. We just win too much, I guess. Riley says the fan base has grown.” He shrugged and started grinning.

  “Yes, that is definitely the problem, all that winning. Did you need something?”

  “Yes. Well, yes.” He looked a bit like he was struggling with something. I frowned for a moment, but he started back up. “Riley mentioned that I needed to find a partner for
the costume party he is having. I wasn’t sure if you would consider having me as a partner or if you already had a plan, but I’d like to pair up with someone I know. I figured I’d check with you first in case you had no plans, and then we could figure something out.”

  Well, well, well. Maybe those rules I was pretending to follow really were working. Here was James making a move. Well, sort of. He was standing in front of me, wanting to be my partner for a costume party. Granted, it wasn’t really a date since everyone had to pair off, but it was something to do together. And, he wanted to be partnered with me.

  “Yeah, sure, that would be fun. Did you have anything in mind?”

  “I’m not so good at costume parties. I hear you are quite good at it, though. Your reputation precedes you, so I guess that I can leave it in your capable hands.” He smirked at me.

  “Well, I’ll do my best to live up to that expectation. I’m going to head back in – it’s freezing out here.”

  “After you.” He waved his hand by. I thought that was going to be it, but we continued to spend time together the rest of the night evening. We started trying to plan out fun ideas.

  “Hockey player and cheerleader?” he asked.

  “Oh man, Riley would love that. I think we can do better, though. Plus your hockey outfit wouldn’t be a costume for you. Besides, I’d go all out and make you wear your skates and everything. That wouldn’t be comfortable to walk around in all night,” I teased.

  “I like wearing my skates. It’s freeing.”

  “I wouldn’t know, that’s all you guys.”

  “Wouldn’t know about skates? Have you never been?” He looked at me, shocked. Why was that a surprise?

  “Nope, never.”

  “Your best friends play hockey and you watch every week, but you’ve never ice skated? This has to change.”

  I laughed at his shock. “There isn’t anywhere to learn. Riley meant to take me, but things kept coming up. Plus, we don’t live near a rink.”

  “Ariya, there’s a whole hockey stadium. What do you mean there is no rink? That’s it. We’re going this week. We’ll sneak in through the locker room.”

  “It’s locked up after practice and games, James.” My eyes widened.

  “The girl who waltzes around in the woods by herself is afraid of a little after-hours skate? I don’t believe it.” I shook my head at him, trying to hide the smile creeping over my face.

  “All right, all right. Just tell me when.”

  His grin was overwhelming and my knees buckled slightly. Oh my gosh, this would be extremely embarrassing if he could actually see the effect he was having on me.

  Before I knew it, the night was over. People had started trickling out because it had gotten pretty late. Once I was alone, I was still excited, so I started trying to plan the perfect costume. There was a part of me that felt like I was being silly, acting this way over something so small. Then again, it had been a painfully long time since I felt so great about a guy. Who cares if it’s silly? There go my emotions. They were all over the place. It was hard to anticipate when they would strike, which made it hard to get a grip.

  Again, I blamed it on disrupted sleep from jerking awake and wrote it off. I’m supposed to be able to be giddy about this stuff. I quickly dismissed my train of thought, vowing again to stop over thinking every little thing and to just enjoy the moment.

  I went to bed that night making a mental checklist of options and reminded myself to get with Caroline first thing in the morning to go over my ideas.

  Chapter 7

  I woke up the next day, frantic to gab with Caroline. She’d be happy since she’d been begging me for some juicy information anyway. I ran into the living room and knocked on her door. A sleepy, groggy, and a bit hungover-looking Caroline answered the door.

  “Please tell me it’s past 7.”

  I glanced at the wall. It was 7:03 am.

  “Of course!” I said. “Guess what?”

  “What? I need coffee. You want some?”

  “Yes. James and I are Halloween partners! AND he is going to take me ice skating.”

  I couldn’t hide the excitement in my voice. I let all the giddiness bubble out. I was like a teenager who’d just been asked out to prom by the hottest guy at school.

  “Ahhh.” I giggled as I danced around for a minute, completely thrilled.

  “Really? That’s awesome, Ariya. So, what are you going to be? And don’t tell me you weren’t up all night thinking about it.” She started bustling around the kitchen, getting her barista skills ready to go on our coffee.

  “Of course I thought about it! I’m competitive with this thing anyways, but now I have to come up with something great so that James is impressed. Have you forgotten how this wooing thing works now that you and Nick are happily tucked away in your ever after?” She just stood shaking her head.

  “You’re lucky I love you or I would punch you for that comment. Wooing. Please! I’m an independent woman and I don’t woo.”

  “All right, all right. The number one thing I have is Gatsby and Daisy? He can wear a suit. I can wear a flapper dress. It’ll be the Roaring 20’s. Old, fashionable, and did I mention he’d be in a suit?”

  Caroline was looking at me like I was losing it.

  “You’re emotions are seriously starting to give me whiplash.”

  She was right, of course. I was high, and then low, a lot more than was normal. When I was tired, I was exhausted. When I was sad, I had been inconsolable. Now, I was happy and was probably coming off as a lunatic. I needed to try to get more rest.

  “I know, I’m sorry. I’m just so excited. It’s been two months and James finally wants to hang out again.”

  “You guys hang out every other day in class.” She poured out two cups of coffee, one for her, and a larger one for me. I love coffee.

  She hesitated when she handed it to me, “You know you don’t need this, right?”

  I snatched it away from her, grinning. “It’s not the same, hanging out in class. We just talk casually. Really, we aren’t talking about anything. We catch the other looking over and then turn away. This has to be a breakthrough event. I know I sound like I’m thirteen, but just pretend there is something to be happy about here. You’re the one who has been pushing this from the beginning!”

  “You got it.” She turned away from me, and then turned back around with an overly-obnoxious smile on her face. “Oh my gosh I can’t believe he asked! He is so sexy.”

  She started fanning herself. Just to spite her, I said I didn’t need her coffee, that I was awake enough, and headed to get dressed for a run.

  I told James my idea during our next class together and he seemed to like it, which was a plus for me.

  “I’ve always loved the 20’s. There was style everywhere. People wanted to see and be seen. It was quite romantic. You’ll look great in a flapper dress, too. They were fun and people were optimistic about everything. They had a blind spot to the Depression going on. It was fascinating.”

  “I didn’t know you liked history so much. You sound like you were there,” I said, in awe of his tangent. He just smiled to himself at my comment.

  “So, where are we getting these costumes?” he asked.

  “Leave that to me. I'm the pro, remember?” I nudged his arm, getting a bit cocky and just wanting to touch him in some way. Breathe, Ariya, I reminded myself.

  I focused all my attention on gathering the supplies for our costumes that week. Since I was a tiny bit behind, I worked extra hard to pull everything together. By the end of the week, I had a suit for James, a cane, and a top hat. For me, a black dress, pearls, a black bob wig, and a long, slender, black cigarette holder to carry around with me. We were set. I told James I had everything and he was surprised.

  “You got that together in less than a week. You really are good at this stuff!”

  The party was Saturday at Riley’s. James offered to pick up his stuff at the apartment after lunch.

 
“Would you want to spend some time together tonight? Since I’m swinging by anyway. I think Nick was planning on taking Caroline to the movies or something, so you might need company. We don’t have a game tonight, and that means we can sneak in and get you on the ice.”

  “Sure!” I chimed in, excited to finally get to skate.

  Who was I kidding? I was excited about spending time with James. I stared at him a bit more in class when I could sneak in glances. The more he talked to me, the more I thought that the way he spoke didn’t match the body of a twenty-some year old. It was almost like he’d catch himself and try to speak like the rest of the guys. I couldn’t put my finger on it. When he would try to say things in slang, it sounded wrong. Strange.

  We went our separate ways after class. He said he’d be over at dinnertime since we’d be hanging out. I got home and told Caroline.

  “Ooh, la la! Good thing Nick and I have a date.”

  “Yeah, he mentioned that to me. He and Nick must be getting close if he knows your date schedule. Now, be home by midnight, young lady,” I nagged.

  For a brief moment, Caroline seemed a bit put off when I said that James had mentioned her date, but she shook off whatever bad feeling it was that had come over her. Was she annoyed Nick had connected so well with everyone? Maybe she was unsure about him being close to other people when their relationship was so new? I’m sure she wasn’t. That must make her happy. He liked her friends, which was always important to Caroline. I must have imagined the look that crossed her face.

  Caroline and Nick left, and ten minutes later, I heard a knock on the door. I opened it and found James standing there, holding a bag.

  “I have food. I hope that’s okay!” he smiled as I ushered him in.

  “Of course it is! Now I feel spoiled.”

  “I’m not the best cook, but I haven’t done it in awhile and thought it might be fun.”

  “Well, I can’t cook. I can bake, but cooking, I’m not the best.”

  “I can teach you. We’ll have a lesson, and then we can head to the rink. You’ll feel quite accomplished,” he teased.