12/13
🕊WINGLESS AND BEAUTIFUL🕊
🍁EPISODE TWELVE🍁
The following week, I worked with the local band that
Denise hired to perform at the concert. They’re called ‘Dark
Rose’. I was quite happy because Dominic, the guy I used to
work with at Strung, was p@rt of it.
“I have missed you, girl!” he greeted me with a hvg.
“You too!” I hvgged him back.
I heard Chaise coughing behind me, forcing me to pu-ll
away from Dominic’s embr@ce.
“Oh, Dom, this is Chaise. Chaise, this is Dominic. We
worked together at Strung.”
Chaise shook Dominic’s hand. I didn’t miss the warning
look he gave him. Dominic merely raised a brow, giving
Chaise a sm-irk.
Boys! And I’m not even ro-mantically interested with
either of them.
Dominic turned to me. “You should pl@ywith us.”
“What?”
“Good luck convincing her,” Chaise murmured.
I shook my head. “I’m not exactly stage material, you
know.”
“No, I don’t know,” Dominic said. “Because I’ve always
thought you were pretty.”
I was pretty sure he said that just to spite Chaise.
Dominic was never attra-cted to me. I’d met his girlfriend,
and she was gorgeous.
“Come on. In case you haven’t noticed my scars, let me
show them to you,” I said, pu-lling my hair away from my
face.
“I see a patch of broken skin,” Dominic said. “Nothing
makeup couldn’t fix. I’m sure you have concealers for that.
Or better yet, let’s highlight it. Get a temporary cheek tat.
That would look really cool.”
“A tattoo?” I echoed.
Dominic nodded. “Yeah. You get those erasable ones. Or
we paint some flower designs on that. It would hide the
scars and it would look cool.”
“plea-se, let’s not get there. I’m not going to pla-y,” I said
firmly. “Now, you guys practice and Chaise and I will listen.
Pretend we’re not even here. We’ll choose a list of songs for
you to pla-y.”
“Alright. But if you ever change your mind in the coming
days, just let me know.”
Two days before the concert, Denise stepped up her
game. She was pressuring us more than ever. The concert
was the final highlight of the immersion program and she
wanted everything to be impeccable. That was why I was
ma-king sure Dark Rose performed well on Friday night.
I sat in the cafeteria alone. Denise was obviously busy
with a lot of things, and maybe she asked Chaise to run
another errand for her. I quic-kly ate my sandwich because I
wanted to call Dominic and give him some additional
pla-ylists.
“Why are you curious about her?” I heard someb©dy say
from the table behind me. I think it was Chelsea. “No one is
interested in her. If someone ever was, it’s because she
looks hideous!”
Yep. No doubt she was talking about me again.
As if that would affect me. That wasn’t the first time
Chelsea or one of her myriad of br@inless followers talked
down on me.
“Some of our boys are curious,” another girl replied.
There was a series of laughter.
“I’m sure they’re only curious because of her scars. But
other than that, nothing about her was ever interesting! I mean… maybe she could have been cute if she was
flawless. But she’s not. She’s a monster.”
In fairness to them, I think they were really unaware
that I was on the table behind them and I could hear every
word that they were saying.
“Well, there were rumors that someb©dy saw her with
Hunter on the beach.”
“Seriously? Hunter Vaughn?”
“That’s why Tania was so worried. She heard the rumors
that Hunter was carrying that girl around on the beach.”
“What?!”
I wish I could turn around to see their white, shocked
faces. But I didn’t want to give up my position yet, and
reveal that their conversation wasn’t really pri-vate anymore.
“That’s absurd! Why would Hunter Vaughn even give
her the time of day?”
“He’s probably the snobbiest person on the planet. He
ignores everyb©dy. He doesn’t know how to smile, he looks
angry all the time. Why would he even look at that vermin?”
“Tania was fuming when she heard. She confronted
Hunter about it.”
“And what did he say?”
Suddenly, I was curious about the answer to that
question too.
“Nothing.”
“See? That means that’s not true,” Chelsea breathed in
a sigh of relief. “Hunter won’t even bother explaining her to
his girlfriend. She’s not worth the effort. Tania shouldn’t be
worried. That girl had nothing on her.”
“Even if it were true, I’m sure Hunter would never admit
it. I mean… maybe she nee-ded his help for something.
Maybe they were just in the same place at the same time.
But he won’t even tell people about it because… he’d be
ashamed to be seen with her.”
I sank on my seat. That girl had a point. Hunter wouldn’t
even bother talking about me. I have a big hunch that he knew who I was. But now that he could finally see again, he
was ashamed of our past.
“It’s bad enough that she got Chaise un-der her spell…”
“Yeah. I think she’s practicing voodoo. Tell Tania not to
let Hunter near her again. Maybe he’s her next target.”
They all laughed. “Oh no. No amount of love potion can
come between those two. They have a long history together.
Their parents were friends. They knew each other from
kindergarten. Maybe they’re even arranged to be married to
each other. If Hunter didn’t get into an accident, they
wouldn’t have separated.”
“Tania is convincing Hunter to come back to
Jacksonville. He had a perfect life there. He had nothing to
stay for here.”
“Hunter’s father asked Tania to talk s-en-se into him. He
refused to see his father, that’s why he’s here. But if there’s
anyone who could convince him, it’s Tania.”
I felt like my heart was somewhere on the floor and
those girls were trampling on it over and over.
“Even if he stays, Tania has nothing to worry about. If I
can’t even successfully attra-ct Hunter Vaughn, no one will.”
Chelsea said, and they all laughed.
I figured I’d heard enough. I quietly sli-pped out of my
seat and walked away without getting noticed.
All afternoon, I recalled their conversation in my head.
Tania was Hunter’s girlfriend in Jacksonville. Funny that I
discovered that, because he told me that I was the best
d@t£ he’d ever had and he never mentioned having a
girlfriend when we were d@t!ngat the center.
The girls were right. Tania was gorgeous. I wouldn’t hold
a candle to her and seriously, why would Hunter choose me
over her supermodel b©dy and Hollywood starlet face?
The girls echoed many of the insecurities I had with
myself, but they said something I didn’t agree with. They
said nothing about me was noteworthy but my scars, and
my scars did nothing but make me hideous.
Maybe Chaise was right. It was time I showed these
br@inless morons what I was really made of.
I went to the girls’ room and dialed Dominic’s number.
“Hey, girl. What’s up?”
“You’re right. Maybe I can pl@ya song or two with you.”
“Atta girl! Let’s practice tonight.”
When I hung up the phone, I stared at my reflection in
the mirror. I turned to the side to study the broken skin on
my cheek. It reminded me of what my stepfather did to me.
He tortured me, broke my b©dy and my spirit. But here I
was, standing on the grounds of the most expensive school
in town. I had been wounded, but nothing was gonna st©p
me from living. I was moving on. I was moving forward.
I t©uçhed the rou-gh skin on my cheek.
These are not something I should be ashamed of. These
do not make me look like a monster. These are my battle
scars. They were meant to remind me that I fought… I
survived. I won.
***
It was the night of the concert. I was nervous but what
the heck! I c@m£ here for a battle, and I had every intention
to win. I was tired of people at Leighton High thinking they
were better than me. They were not! So they shouldn’t
really look or think down on me.
When I told Denise and Chaise that I agreed to pl@ya
song with the band, they were over the moon. They went
out of their way to support me.
Denise lent me a checkered Sk-irt that ended a few
inches above my knees and a pair of black boots that she’d
never worn. She also got me a black long-sleeved cropped
t©p that tea-sed a peek of my flat tummy.
Dominic brou-ght his girlfriend Kaia, who happened to be
a b©dy painter. She took time to paint flowers and swirls on
the side of my cheek where my scars were. She also br@ided my hair to reveal her handiwork on my face. When I looked
at myself in the mirror, I was surprised. I couldn’t even tell
that I had a scar on the skin she painted on.
“Wow!” Chaise breathed behind me. “You look… beyond
amazing.”
I smiled at him throu-gh the mirror. “Kaia did a great job
on my face paint.”
“She did. But you’re pretty without it anyway,” he said.
He spun me around so he could look at me in the eye. “Are
you re-ady to show them who you really are?”
I nodded. I was nervous but at the same time, I was
excited. I knew I had nothing to worry about. When I got up
the stage, I would have a guitar in my hands, and a
microphone in front of my face. I would be in my element.
The rest of the people who would watch me? Well, I only
cared about one of them. And he didn’t give a $h!t about
me.
So what if I fv¢k this up? Which I doubt I will.
“I’ll be here at the side,” Chaise told me. “Remember,
I’m your biggest fan.”
I laughed. “Denise will disagree with you.”
“So will I,” Dominic said behind us. “You look gorgeous,
doll.”
“Thank you,”
“We’re re-ady for you.” He handed me the electric guitar
that I was going to use.
I slung the guitar string over my b©dy, then I took a
de-ep breath.
Here we go!
As I stepped out of the backstage, I could hear the
crowd going wild for the band.
“We have a guest performer with us,” Dominic said on
the microphone. He took over the role of lead guitarist. He
would be pla-ying the guitar with me. It was great because I
knew him and I felt more comfortable. “She is one of you.”
The crowd applauded once again.
“Give it up for… Alice!”
The crowd cl@pped and whistled.
I felt Chaise give me a gentle push towards the stage.
“Break them, babe!” he said.
When I stepped into the stage, the crowd st©pped
cl@pping. I felt everyone’s eyes on me. I heard some people
say ‘What the fv¢k?’ but I also heard some say, ‘Wow!’
I stood in front of the microphone, and strummed the
strings of my guitar, ma-king sure they were in tune. Dominic
also pla-yed some notes to cover up for the crowd’s shocked
silence.
Then finally, Dominic gave me a nod, signaling me to
start pla-ying.
Before I strummed my first note, I said in my mind, I
hope you’re out there, Hunter Vaughn! I hope you listen
ha-rd . See how much I can challenge your guitar prowess
now!
And then I pla-yed the intro to Sweet Child O’Mine.
Shortly after, Dominic pla-yed his p@rt. We looked at each
other and he gave me a nod of approval as I walked towards
the microphone and started singing, “She’s got a smile and
seems to me…”
Hunter Vaughn had been ignoring me far too long now.
He would recognize the song that he taught me to pla-y
every day at the center. He should definitely remember my
voice. After this, he could no longer say that he didn’t
remember me. I was done being shoved at the back of his
memories!
I pla-yed the guitar solo too. It used to be difficult for me,
but right now, I pla-yed it flawlessly. After the solo, I could
hear the crowd cheering alre-ady.
When we finished the song, the applause was
deafening. Dominic himself was cl@pping for me.
“Amazing!” he shouted at me.
The audience was shouting, “More!”
I stared at Dominic, waiting for his cue.
“To all you, lovers, out there!” Dominic said to the
crowd. “You are welcome to dance to this.”
I strummed a more mellow tune. Then I sang, “Dancing
in the dark, middle of the night…”
It was a very ro-mantic song, and I had to concentrate on
pla-ying and singing because if I didn’t, I would cry.
The crowd was singing along, and many couples were
actually dancing.
I remembered the time that Hunter told me, “I swear,
someday, you will pl@yand sing in front of a crowd and you
will wow every single one of them… I may not be able to see
you, but I sure would hear you.”
If he could hear me now, I wonder what he would be
thinking.
Before I strummed my final note, Chaise walked up the
stage beside me and gave me a long-stemmed rose.
People were cl@pping and cheering. The applause was
deafening. I could ha-rd ly believe these were the same kids
who were ma-king fun of me on regular days.
“Ladies and gentlemen, Allison Harley!” Dominic said.
I pushed the guitar towards my back and gave a curtsy
and then Chaise took my hand and guided me back to the
backstage.
“Oh my God!” I screamed. “I can’t believe I pu-ll-ed that
off!”
Chaise pu-ll-ed me to him and gave me a hvg. “You were
amazing! Your voice didn’t buckle at all. You weren’t
nervous. You were truly in your element! I’m so proud.”
“Thank you! I couldn’t have done that without you and
Denise! Thank you for ma-king me do that!”
“I’ll bet these people didn’t see that coming.” He
laughed.
“Well, it doesn’t matter. I didn’t do it for them. I did it for
me.”
And for Hunter.
We enjoyed the rest of the show backstage. When it
finished, Denise went up to us.
“Alice, you were amazing!” She hvgged me. “People
were raving about you!”
“She was really great, wasn’t she?” Chaise said. “I hope
Chelsea and her band of br@inless bandits got to hear her
tonight.”
“Oh, they did! So did a bunch of all the other people
who were mean to you,” Denise smiled proudly. Then she
looked over at Chaise. “And you better watch out. A lot of
the guys from Jacksonville were asking about her alre-ady.”
“Wait, are you serious?”
Denise sneered at him. “It would be nice to have
someb©dy new tailing her for a change!”
“Ha-ha! You’re very funny!” Chaise gave her a sarcastic
smile.
Denise turned to me. “Who taught you how to pl@ythat
song? Your stepfather?”
I shook my head, remembering Hunter once again. I
gave her a bitter smile and shook my head. “Not my
stepfather. But someone else who… was once very dear to
me.”
I knew Denise didn’t miss the sad tone in my voice. Her
eyes drifted to my n£¢klace. “H?”
I didn’t answer.
“So, the bugger knows how to pl@ytoo, huh,” Chaise
muttered un-der his breath.
I just shrugged and decided to change the subject. “I’m
all done here. Why don’t we all go?”
“I was planning to gr-ab something to eat after this. You
haven’t had anything to eat yet,” Chaise said.
“Great. I’m starving too!” Denise agreed.
Chaise gro-an ed. “Seriously, you have to come again?”
Denise narrowed her eyes at him. “I’m sure she hasn’t
said ‘yes’ to any of your attempts to ask her out for a d@t£
yet.”
“Well, this wasn’t a d@t£. I was merely looking after her
well-being.”
“Then great. There’s no problem if I tag along.”
I merely laughed. I was definitely glad that Denise would
come with us. I would be a bit uncomfortable being out
alone with Chaise at this hour.
As we walked out, I could feel a lot of people looking at
me. Some were even calling out my name, telling me I was
amazing up at the stage.
I merely nodded and smiled shyly at them.
At the parking area, I saw Hunter with Tania. My heart
pounded inside my che-st. I was glad I was with Denise and
Chaise. I was pretty sure I would not be able to walk in front
of Hunter at all. But it was inevitable because they were in
front of the space where Chaise parked his car.
Tania looked stressed. It seemed like she was shouting
at him. Hunter was quietly leaning against a red car, holding
the pendant of his n£¢klace in one hand. His face was
flu-shed and he looked like he was struggling to control his
emotions. He didn’t even look like he was listening to Tania
at all.
He looked up and saw us walking past them. He caught
my eye and held my stare. I couldn’t un-derstand the
emotion on his face as he looked into my eyes.
Did he hear me sing? Does he recognize me at all?
I had a feeling he knew who I was. Unfortunately,
remembering me and admitting that he knew me were two
totally different things.
Hunter’s glance drifted off to the rose I was holding in
my hand. I saw the bored expression on his face before he
turned away.
“Burger Inn?” Chaise asked as we all hopped in his jeep.
“No! Half of the people who were in the concert will be
there too! And I just want a moment of peace, plea-se!”
Denise replied.
“Me too,” I agreed with her. “Because of what I did
tonight, I’m sure a lot of people would recognize me there.
And I don’t want to be the subject of table conversations,
whether good or bad. I just wanna be left alone to eat a
hearty meal with my friends.”
“Agreed,” Chaise nodded.
“God damn it, Hunter!” we heard Tania shout in
frustration. “Why?!”
“You know why!” Hunter bit back at her.
We all turned to their direction.
Tania looked like she was on the verge of tears.
“I swear, I will tell your father about this!” she wailed.
A few of Tania’s friends from Jacksonville approached
them.
I saw Hunter shake his head. “I don’t care,” we heard
him say. His face looked stoic. “Knock yourself out.” Then he
walked away from her.
“Aarrghh! Can we go?” Denise gro-an ed. “I have too
much of this at home alre-ady, I can’t bear any more of the
Hunter-Tania drama! Come on, Chaise, drive!”
“Oh, I thought you girls wanted to listen. That sounded
ju-icy ,” Chaise chuckled as he pu-ll-ed out of the lot.
“What was that about?” I dared ask, trying to keep my
voice steady.
“That’s Tania being the br@t that she always was,”
Denise answered. “She hung around the house a lot, even
when Hunter wasn’t at home. God, I hate her guts!”
“Why wouldn’t he be at home when she visits? Weren’t
they sort of a thing?”
“Tania kept chasing Hunter and he was being difficult. I
don’t know. He must be getting kicks out of seeing girls
make a complete fool of themselves in front of him.”
“His ego?” I echoed.
“Don’t know. Don’t care. Who knows what’s going on in
Hunter’s mind nowadays?”
“Maybe he’s not really interested in her,” Chaise
suggested.
“Come on, just look at her! Who wouldn’t be interested
in her?” Denise pointed out.
“Ahh… me?” Chaise asked, looking at Denise like she
was out of her mind. “I’m totally not interested in her.
Maybe she’s pretty and she has all sorts of clothes you
would find in a fashion magazine. But I’m not interested in
that.”
“You are an exception. All you see is Alice,” Denise
argued.
“Denise!” I hissed at her.
“Well, that is true,” Chaise said, grinning at me.
Chaise took us to Shrimp and Lobster Palace, a cozy
Chinese restaurant that served the best Chinese food in
town.
“This is my treat, by the way.” Denise announced as we
sat on our table. “You both had been so helpful to me. Even
you, Chaise. The principal was so plea-sed. The immersion
program was a total success.”
“Are you sure you’ll get the bill for this?” I asked.
Denise nodded. “I won’t hang out with you anymore if
you don’t make me pay.”
“Oh, in that case, I’ll tell the manager now that this is all
on me, if that’s what it will take for you to leave me and
Alice alone,” Chaise tea-sed.
“Don’t you dare!” I warned him. Then I turned to Denise.
“Okay. But don’t get used to it.”
“By the way, I have another favor I nee-d to ask you
guys.”
“There it is!” Chaise said. “I knew there was a catch to
this.”
“Shut up,” Denise glared at him. Then she turned to me.
“I have some cousins coming over. I nee-d to take them out
of town for an overnight swim in a family-owned lake house.
plea-se come with me!”
“What do we have to do with your cousins?” Chaise
asked.
“Actually, I’m not asking you, but if your pres£nce there
will make it easier to convince Alice to come, then I will
endure it!”
“Why can’t you handle your own cousins?” I asked.
“Yeah, really. I’m sure they couldn’t be any worse than
Hunter Vaughn,” Chaise quipped.
“We were close when we were growing up. But we
haven’t seen each other in a long time. I would be very
uncomfortable. And besides, I entertained a whole school
delegation for almost two weeks. I’m tired. I could use some
help on this one too.”
Denise looked desperate. After all the favors she did for
me, this seemed like a small favor in return.
“Okay,” I said. I turned to Chaise. “We could use your
help too.”
Chaise sighed. “Okay, you know I can’t say no to you.
And besides, it would be better if I’m there to make sure
nothing bad happens to you.”
Denise smiled “Great! You didn’t have to bring your
guard dog, Alice. But still, I’m so glad you said yes.”
I laughed while Chaise glared at her. My days would sure
be boring without witnessing these two murder each other
with their words.
Chaise dropped Denise off first and then he drove to my
house.
“Isn’t your aunt home?” Chaise asked. He was looking at
my house. It was completely dark inside.
“She’s still at work.”
“You’re gonna be alright on your own?”
“Sure. Our house doesn’t really scream luxury. Breaking
in would be a complete waste of time.”
I hopped off the car. “Thanks for the ride.”
“Call me if anything happens, okay?”
I nodded. “Night, Chaise.”
I walked towards the porch and opened the front door.
Before I went in, I noticed a white SUV parked opposite our
house. I could hear the faint sound of the engine, like
someb©dy was inside, but all the lights were completely off.
I hadn’t seen that car in our neighborhood before. And I
knew that the house opposite us was vacant. The car didn’t
fit quite right in our neighborhood because it looked
expensive.
After getting re-ady for be-d, I took Hunter’s diary out
from my bag. It had been a while since I wrote anything on
it. Since finding out about Tania, I couldn’t find the strength
to write anything to him. He had asked me to keep this diary
when he was blind, when I thought he really cared for me.
But he felt like a completely different person to me now.
The boy I met in CRC was flawed but beautiful. And he
loved me. The boy I see now was perfect but full of anger
and arrogance. He didn’t want to remember our time
together at all. And apparently, there was another girl in his
past that he forgot to tell me about.
I took my pen and started writing.
Dear Hunter,
If I could shout at you now, I would.
If I could hit you over and over so you would feel the
same pain I feel right now, I would.
If I could show you how angry and hurt I am, I would.
But I couldn’t…
I couldn’t…
I couldn’t…
The boy I used to know had gone to a place I couldn’t
reach him. And I was reduced to a memory he would rather
forget.
Before we come to an end, I wish I could shout at you,
hit you, show you how mad I am right now. But even if I
could, I don’t think you would hear… or feel… or see.
Tears ran down my cheeks. I hvgged Hunter’s diary in
my che-st and I cried myself to sleep.
The next day, Meredith was calling me at six in the
morning. She left her key and asked me to open the door for
her.
“Good morning,” I greeted her sleepily.
“Thank you so much!” She k!$$£d my cheek. “I’m sorry
to disturb your sleep. I know you’re pretty tired with the
concert last night.”
Before I closed the front door, I noticed that the white
SUV was still there.
“Was the house in front of us rented out alre-ady?” I
asked Meredith.
“No. I still saw the ‘For Rent’ sign at the front yesterday.
Why?”
“Nothing,” I replied. “So how was work?”
“Great! Exciting stuff going on. How about you?”
“It was great!” I told her everything that happened
during the concert.
“I’ll bet you felt really good,” she beamed. “I would have
given anything to see you perform on stage.”
“It’s okay, Mer. Someday, who knows?” I smiled at her.
“I could sing for a living.”
“You have to go to college. You can sing on the side, but
my sister’s dream is for you to get a degree. I won’t fail
her.”
“But you know it’s expensive, right? I nee-d to work too.”
“Maybe you’ll get a scholarsh!p. You can work on the
side, and I will help. Don’t worry. We’ll manage.”
She gave me a hvg. I suppressed the tears because I
really felt bad for Meredith. I knew in my heart that she
deserved a better life than this. She was not even a decade
older than me, and she was taking full responsibility for the
messed-up eighteen-year-old her sister left behind.
I hvgged her back. “I promise, Mer. Give me a bit of
time. You won’t have to carry this burden all by yourself.”
🕊WINGLESS AND BEAUTIFUL🕊
🍁EPISODE THIRTEEN🍁
Chaise picked me up at nine in the morning. When I
hopped into his car, I noticed that the white SUV was gone.
I almost backed out of coming to this weekend getaway.
I felt uncertain about how Denise’s cousins would react to
me. One of his cousins alre-ady didn’t like me that much, he
was trying his best to forget he even knew me at all.
When we got to Denise’s house, she was alre-ady in the
front garden waiting. She almost cursed at Chaise for being
late. She went inside a black SUV and I could see there were
people with her.
Just then, a beautiful white Escalade went out of the
garage and went ahead of us. It looked a lot like the car that
was parked in front of my house last night.
As soon as the Escalade was in motion, Denise drove
behind it, signaling Chaise to start his engine and follow.
“How long is this drive?” I asked Chaise.
“Not sure. But it could be more than half an hour.”
I yawned, my eyes getting heavier by the second. My
lack of sleep last night was catching up on me.
“Sleepy?” he asked.
I nodded.
“Go ahead and close your eyes. I will wake you up when
we get there.”
I leaned back on Chaise’s pas-s£nger seat and
immediately drifted off. I was p@n-ting when Chaise tapped
my cheeks. I sat up on the seat, re-ady to shield my face
from the b!ow that I thought was coming.
But nothing c@m£. Sunlight hit my skin and I could smell
the fresh scent of the earth.
Chaise was looking at me with a worried expression on
his face. I realized that I was having one of those
nightmares again. They rarely c@m£ then. But when they
did, they didn’t feel like nightmares at all. They were fresh
memories repla-ying in my head over and over again.
I sighed in relief when I realized that I was safe. I looked
at Chaise’s handsome face and I knew nothing would hurt
me where I was. After all, my guardian angel was just sitting
right next to me.
“I’m sorry. Are we here?”
Chaise nodded. Then he asked, “Are you alright? It
looked like you were having some nightmares.”
I shook my head. “I’m okay.”
We went out of the car and took our bags from the
backseat. We approached Denise. She was with two guys
and two girls who were all eyeing us curiously. The girls
were stealing side glances at Chaise. I couldn’t blame them.
Chaise was really cute, no doubt about that.
The two guys were Ben and Ross. The girls introduced
themselves as April and Mica. While they looked interested
in Chaise, they ba-rely smiled at me. Mica didn’t even hide
the fact that she was curious about my scars when the wind
blew the opposite direction and made my hair fly away from
my face, revea-ling the monstrous patch of skin I hid
un-derneath a mas-s of hair.
The Escalade’s door opened. My heart skipped a beat
when I saw the familiar figure stepping out of it, wearing a
pair of jeans, black shi-t and sleek pitch-dark sunglas-ses.
The SUV that looked a lot like the car in front of my
house last night and this morning belonged to Hunter.
Was it him in front of my house?
I heard my thoughts in my own head.
What would Hunter Vaughn be doing in front of my
house all night?
For a moment, I was scared that Tania would be with
him. I prayed so ha-rd that she wasn’t. This weekend would be an even worse nightmare than it alre-ady was.
I heard Chaise’s silent gr0@nwhen he saw Hunter. I also
did not miss the ha-rd intakes of breath coming from Mica
and April.
I stared at them curiously.
Cousin, right?
Mica caught me staring at her and realized how obvious
they were in ogling at Hunter. She glared at me. I just shook
my head and looked away. Tania was nowhere in sight. But I
was still pretty sure this weekend was going to be epic!
The house was a magnificent combination of wood and
glas-s. The ceilings were high and the walls facing the
beautiful view of the lake was made of glas-s, ma-king the
whole house almost visible to anyb©dy on the opposite side.
“Why don’t you do the honors of touring us, Hunter?”
Denise asked.
Hunter just raised a brow at her. “Go knock yourself
out,” he replied and then left us to disappear throu-gh the
glas-s doors.
Denise rolled her eyes. “He doesn’t even care!”
“Why does he nee-d to come anyway?” Ben asked.
Obviously, he wasn’t fond of Hunter either.
“Because Dad thought there should be someb©dy older
than me who should be in-charge. I don’t completely agree
because Hunter is only a few months older. But then again,
this is actually Hunter’s house.”
“Isn’t he too young to own a house?” Ross asked.
“He’s eighteen,” Denise replied. “After his operation, he
gained access to his trust funds and inheritance from his
mom. p@rt of that inheritance is his own place. He chose this
one. Yet he ba-rely comes here. And when you guys c@m£,
Mom thought it would be a good idea for this house to have
visitors.”
Chaise rolled his eyes and I had to nudge him with my elbow.
Denise led us all towards the glas-s staircase that led to
the second floor of the house. It had five mas-sive be-drooms.
Denise announced the room as-signments. The master’s
be-droom, of course, would be occu-pied by Hunter. According
to Denise, she’d seen all the p@rts of the house in her
previous visits, but nob©dy was allowed inside the master’s
be-droom.
Denise and I would be sharing the room opposite
Hunter’s. The two girls would room together while the two
guys got another room. Chaise got the room nearest to the
staircase. Chaise’s room was almost empty save for the sofa
be-d lying on the corner.
“Hunter planned to turn this into a game room. But I
hope you will find this cozy enough,” Denise told Chaise
apologetically.
“I’ll be fine.” Chaise win-ked at her.
Denise and I went to our room to freshen up and change
into bathing suits.
“Denise, how are you cousins with them?” I asked.
“They’re my mom’s brothers’ kids. Ben, Ross and April
are siblings. Mica is an only child. You have to excuse her.
She’s seventeen and quite a br@t.”
“So Hunter is…”
“Not related to them at all. But they’ve met him plenty
of times when we were growing up,” she said.
That explained why they were drooling over him. Not
related by blood. I was almost afraid that something was
wrong with Denise’s family.
“What do you think of the house?” Denise asked.
“It’s a dream,” I whispered.
“Hunter has a certain preference for lakes, I guess. I
don’t know why. He was so obsessed with getting a lake
house after his surgery.”
I smiled to myself. I knew why Hunter liked lakes. For
almost a year since he lost his mom and eyesight, that garden by the lake was what made him feel safest. It had
been his refuge… a place where he found a haven.
“There’s a smaller cabin on the opposite side of the
lake. It’s p@rt of this property.” Denise said, interrupting my
thoughts. “It only has one be-droom and a fireplace. The
water on that side is much more suitable for swimming. We
will go there in a while.”
I emerged from the bathroom wearing a pair of white
shorts and a decent blue bikini t©p. I had this swimming
outfit for more than a year as a gift from Meredith, but I
never wore them. There was no nee-d for me to go
swimming. I couldn’t even swim to save my life.
Denise gave me a smile of approval. “See? That’s one of
the reasons why Chaise is crazy about you!”
“Denise!” I gro-an ed at her.
“I’m just saying. You’re pretty. And your b©dy… rocks!”
Okay, in a way, that wasn’t really a lie. I didn’t always show
much skin but I did have a slender figure and a flat belly. I
didn’t exercise much but since I was so careful about
spending money, I got to walk a lot, which had its own
advantages too.
I took a smaller bag with me and stuffed it with one set
of clothes that I could change into. The others were alre-ady
in the patio, all dressed in their swimming outfits. Chaise
was staring at me as I walked towards him, I actually felt
self-conscious.
“St©p that!” I hissed at him.
He laughed and pushed a lock of hair away from my
face.
“You never cease to take my breath away, rock
princess,” he said.
“And you never cease to make me feel guilty about it,
Chaise,” I said evenly.
He smiled at me but that smile did not exactly t©uçh his
eyes. “Maybe someday, babe.”
I sighed. “Chaise… could you also not… call me that?”
“Babe?” he asked, his eyes twi-nkling pla-yfully.
I nodded. “It gives others the wrong impression about
us.”
“I don’t really care what others think. I can’t hear their
thoughts, you see,” he grinned pla-yfully.
I sighed. “But I care. Because it makes them hate me
even more.”
He raised a brow. “Why?”
I shrugged. “People can’t seem to believe that I could
get a guy like you.”
“They better believe it. Because you got me.
Unfortunately, it does not work both ways.”
“They can’t hurt or t©uçh you. Unfortunately, it doesn’t
work both ways too.”
Chaise sighed in frustration. “Okay. I’ll st©p.”
I smiled up at him. “Come on, Denise is getting
impatient.”
We went to the dock.
“What are we doing here?” Chaise asked when we
reached Denise. She was only with Mica.
“We’re going to the cabin on the other side. The water
there is better for swimming. Hunter took Ross, Ben and
April alre-ady. The speedboat could only carry four at a time.
We’re waiting for one of the guys to come back and take us
to the other side.”
After half an hour, we were all in the cabin in the middle
of the lake. This house was small but cozy. It only had one
be-droom and a big living room with a fireplace. The glas-s
doors opened up into a hvge patio with a sundeck, and
loungers. The edge of the dock was about thirty meters
away from the house itself.
Denise was right. The water here seemed cleaner and
dee-per. Denise’s cousins wasted no time jumping into the
water. Denise and Chaise also dove in. I sat at the edge of
the dock and watched them.
“Come on, Alice! Jump in!” Chaise urged me.
shook my head. “I’ll be okay here. You guys have fun.”
Well, the truth was, the water looked very de-ep and I knew I
didn’t stand a chance of staying afloat the minute I dove in.
There weren’t even enough posts to hold on to.
I stared at the sky. It was unusually dark for this time of
the day. The clouds looked thicker and darker. I suspected
that rain would come in the evening. I hoped the others
realized that, too, because the speed boat could not carry
all of us in one go.
I heard music from afar. I looked to my right and found
Hunter sitting in one of the loungers on the opposite end of
the deck, dressed in only a pair of board shorts. He was
wearing his sunglas-ses I wouldn’t know if he was looking at
me or watching the others swim. He just acted like we didn’t
exist.
I turned away from him. I felt really sad because the
truth was… he had been acting like I didn’t exist at all. Not
only did he make me feel like he didn’t know me, he made
me feel that he didn’t give a damn.
After a while, the others went up from the water and
into the deck. We ate some of the snacks that Denise
brou-ght with her. I only half-listened to the conversation.
Chaise seemed to be feeling at ease with our new company.
The girls were absolutely charmed by him and I couldn’t
blame them. If they didn’t give me the impression that they
were br@ts, I would have liked for Chaise to hook up with
one of them. They were gorgeous and seemed eager for his
attention. But I loved Chaise as a friend. I would want
someone better for him.
Hunter was still on his sp©t on the opposite end of the
deck, pla-ying his guitar, oblivious of our existence.
While Chaise was telling a story to the group, I turned
around and admired the view before me. I was reminded of
the lake I shared with Hunter. If we were still together, this
place would have been a dream for me. It was absolutely
beautiful. This little lake house was almost a mile away from the main house. It seemed isolated, like it was in a world of
its own. Like if a couple owned the house and preferred to
spend time in isolation and privacy, this cabin would be
perfect for them to leave the rest of the world behind.
I was so engrossed in my thoughts I didn’t realize that
someb©dy was standing behind me. I didn’t have time to
think or even turn around. I felt hands on my back and then
a strong push that made me lose my balance and s£nt me
flying out into the water.
Panic gr!pp£dme. I knew that once my entire weight
sank into the water, I would be helpless to go back up. I just
hoped that someb©dy realized quic-kly that I would not be
coming up for air soon.
The water was cold and dark. I couldn’t see a thing even
if I opened my eyes. I waved my arms and legs around me
and struggled to come up on my own but I was only sinking
lower and lower.
Suddenly, I felt strong arms wra-p around my w@!st,
pu-lling me securely above the water. I wra-pped my arms
around the person who caught me, thankful enough that I
didn’t have to struggle too much or too long. Someb©dy
jumped in the second I fell off the dock. I knew it could only
be Chaise. He was the closest person to me, ap@rt from the
person who pushed me in.
When we emerged to the surface, I looked up and found
Hunter looking down at me, his arms were wra-pped ti-ghtly
around my tiny w@!st.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
His voice was so familiarly gentle, I wanted to cry. He
sounded like he did before he left.
I couldn’t find my voice, so I nodded.
“I got you,” he whispered so softly only the two of us
heard that. He swam towards the ladder. He gently guided
me until I could grip the handles securely. He slowly let me
go so I could pu-ll myself up the stairs.
Chaise and Denise were standing at the t©p, waiting for
me anxiously. Chaise pu-ll-ed me up to the deck and Denise
wra-pped a towel around me. Hunter followed soon after.
I took a couple of breaths to steady myself as I realized
how scared I was. Chaise put an arm around my shoulder
and gave me a gentle squee-ze. “Are you okay?” he asked,
and I managed to nod.
Hunter walked past us with a furious look on his face. He
went straight to Mica and pointed a f!nger at her.
“Next time you push people into de-ep waters, make
sure they know how to swim!” he said in a booming voice.
Mica looked dumbfounded. The rest of Denise’s cousins
were quiet too and they genuinely looked scared of Hunter.
“You don’t know how to swim?” Denise whispered to me.
I didn’t answer.
“t©uçh her again, and I’ll make sure you’ll regret it for
the rest of your life!” Hunter said in a threatening voice,
even I felt scared.
Hunter turned around to look at me. My eyes were
welling up with tears. Mixed emotions were running wildly
inside my che-st. I could still feel the fear and the panic that I
felt when I fell into the water.
I felt happy and broken about the fact that Hunter saved
me. He spoke to me so gently, the concern on his face when
he said he got me was genuine. For a short moment, I was
reminded of the boy he used to be, the boy who used to
love me.
“How did you know she doesn’t know how to swim?”
Chaise asked Hunter in a cool, careful voice.
Hunter stared at us for a moment. My heart pounded
inside my che-st while I waited for his answer. I was waiting
for him to finally admit that he remembers me.
He turned away from us and replied in a sober voice, “If
she did, then she would have joined you all when you were
in the water, wouldn’t she?” His voice was steady,emotionless and his response was nothing but logical. It
frustrated the hell out of me.
Hunter walked away from us and disappeared into the
house. When I met Mica’s eyes, she looked away from me.
“What were you thinking?” Denise asked her angrily.
“Do you guys have a problem with Alice?”
The girls looked down on their feet, unable to answer.
“Alice is my best friend! She’s done nothing to you. Now,
apologize!” Denise sounded like she was talking to a bunch
of ten-year-olds. You can re-ad more of these story from ohene ome on+233544142683.
April and Mica approached me. Mica had tears in her
eyes when she said, “Alice, I’m sorry. I meant that as a joke.
I didn’t know you couldn’t swim. I never intended to hurt
you.”
They didn’t like me. If I had to guess, I think they were
jealous because they thought I was with Chaise and they
found him charming. I knew they didn’t intend to drown me.
I didn’t exactly come with an ‘I-don’t-know-how-to-swim’
sign written on my forehead.
I just nodded at Mica and April. They both smiled at me
ruefully and then went back into the house. We were all
quiet after that.
Chaise was unusually quiet too. I eyed him curiously. He
seemed genuinely bothered that I was almost endangered
from right un-der his nose.
“I’m okay,” I as-sured him.
He snapped out of his de-ep thoughts and stared back at
me. He gave me a gentle smile. “I’m glad you’re alright.”
April and Mica didn’t want to stay a minute longer in the
house. I suspect, it was because they were afraid of Hunter.
Ross volunteered to take them on the boat first and come
back for the rest of us.
“Do you mind if I come with them?” Chaise asked.
“Why?”
“I… left my phone in the car. I nee-d to call my mom. She
would be worried,” he replied.
I thought his excuse was lame but I was really not in the
mood for an argument right now. So I nodded instead.
It was getting dark and we could hear the soft bellows of
thun-der. My suspicions were right. It was going to rain soon
and we still nee-ded to make two trips so all of us would be
back in the main house.
“You’re going to be cold,” Denise told me. “Go change
your clothes while we wait for Ross to come back.”
I nodded and took my bag. As I went into the bathroom,
I caught a glimpse of Hunter sitting on the deck alone,
ma-king no effort to make chit-chats with Denise and Ben.
He was alre-ady dressed in a clean pair of shorts and a white
shi-t.
I took a quic-k shower to wash out the lake water from
my skin. Then I dried myself off and took out a fresh pair of
un-derwear from my bag. I dressed in a pair of white capri
p@n-ts and purple long-sleeved shi-t. The trip back was going
to be cold. I didn’t hear Denise knock or call for me so I
as-sumed that Ross had not returned yet. I got hold of a
b!ow-drier and dried my hair.
When I went out of the be-droom, the whole house was
quiet and the living room was empty.
“Denise!” I called.
No answer. I went out to the front door and found that
the boat was not there.
“Denise!” I called again.
Still no answer.
I went to the deck. I found Hunter standing at the edge
of the dock, looking out the view in the horizon, lost in his
thoughts. It was alre-ady drizzling but he didn’t look like he
had plans of coming inside the house. I approached him
nervously.
“Where is Denise?” I asked.
“They left,” he replied.
“Without me?”
He turned around to face me. “Apparently, Mica was
having panic attacks, she had to breathe into a brown bag.
Denise had to rush there to control the situation. I guess I
am scary if I chose to be.”
“So Denise left me here alone?” I asked, trying not to
look panicked.
He raised a brow and looked at me as if I was out of my
mind. “Not really,” he replied. His face turned serious and
mischievous at the same time. Then he added, “She left you
here alone… with me.”
My heart made three booming beats before it
plummeted to my toes. I held my breath for the longest
time in my life. And as I saw the slight sm-irk on Hunter’s
face, I was sure that my cheeks turned into the brightest
shade of red.
Tbc