Captivated (16 page)

“Friends? And just what do you consider a friend? Someone that walks with you everyday to your class? That tells pointless and stupid jokes? You’re right. I definitely need one of those since there aren’t bigger things to worry about in life.” he said sourly.

“We used to be friends. Didn’t you enjoy that?” I asked.

“You and I both know I was a different person back then.” he said softly.

“No! You’re still you, Dean.” I claimed while shaking my head in denial.

“Why would you think that?” His cocky attitude towards it made me even more determined to explore the subject.

“I can kind of see it when you look at me.” I said.

“A look?” He chuckled a very sexy chuckle. “Mindy can evaluate what goes on inside a person just by a look.” He mockingly announced with a smile. And it was a tender smile with meaning and passion behind it.

“You laughed. You never laugh! Ha! I got you to laugh!” Excitement sang out of me. I hadn’t seen him laugh in years.

His expression turned serious once again and he brought his face closer to me.

Right up to mine.

Face to face.

Eye to gorgeous green eye.

The smell of his cologne intoxicated me and I wanted to lick the scent out of the air to taste its sweetness.

“Let’s pretend that your ridiculous theory is true. Vampires exist. That I
did
save you that night. It would mean that I was simply passing by and punched a guy for hurting a girl, nothing more. It could have been anyone and I would have done the same thing. You’re not special. And if I am a vampire, then it’s best that I don’t socialize because my friends would be in danger of me getting
hungry.
Anyone around me would be in danger so I would keep to myself.” He paused and grazed his eyes over my lips and back up to meet my stare. “Are we pretending yet?”

I nodded and closed my dropped jaw. I was amazed that I heard what he was saying to me while I was under this spell.

“Now, let’s do something even better. How about we pretend that none of this ever happened and we forget we ever even knew each other. We’ve never spoken to each other. We don’t even know each other’s names.” With every word he uttered, his eyes drooped with a heaviness, and sadness.

“There would be a flaw in that fantasy of yours…” I pointed out.

“And what would that be?” he softly asked.

“Your staring at me would ruin it.” I said.

“I don’t stare.” he claimed.

“I guess stare would be the wrong word…” I continued, “…you gawk at me.” I accused.

“Gawk? What is gawk?” he asked.

“You tell me. You’re the one that does it.” I said.

He was quiet for a moment, gathering his thoughts to prove me wrong, most likely. But his face softened. He no longer had a scary aura around him-it was peaceful. He looked peaceful.

He brought his face down slightly closer to mine, so close that I could feel his clean breath. My God, even that smelled good.

“My definition of gawking would be…” He paused as if to hold back what he was going to say. But he couldn’t any longer. “…when you look at her, your heart starts slamming uncontrollably in your chest. So much that it scares you. And every other noise that surrounds you slowly fades away into absolute silence. You only hear the sounds she makes. And when she looks back at you, when her eyes meet yours, it’s as if she is looking deep inside your soul. And she can see all of the hatred you’re consumed in. Her eyes quench the thirst of your soul, gently soothing your damaged heart in the most alluring way… a way you could only dream of.” His peaceful face started to fill with pain. “Then those magical eyes start to look away. The time-freeze you were caught in starts to wear off. And fear takes over. You want to pull those eyes to yours again so that you could once again feel the fascinating sensations of happiness. Then, when she’s out of your sight, you feel empty inside. Your heart is back to normal. Only this time, it’s left with an aching worse than before. But you can never tell her. You can never be with her. You are alone in your pitiful existence-”

He stopped himself from talking further and studied my face. His lips were so close I could feel mine tingling. The feeling was much like when someone brushed their finger above your skin and you could feel the stirrings of it. I had forgotten how to breathe. My eyes had never been opened so wide. And my knees were about to collapse right under me.

“Is that how you would define gawking?” he tenderly asked.

S
ay something! Say something!
I cleared my throat and just when I was going to spit out whatever came to mind, he said…

“It’s getting late. You should go home now.” He stepped back leaving a painful distance in between us.

“Why do you always tell me that? You’re like a broken record. ‘You should go home now. You should go home now.’” I paused. “Is it because of vampires? Do they really exist? That’s why you always want me to go home when it gets dark, huh?” I couldn’t help but to show my victorious smile. I figured it out! He wanted me to be indoors where it was safe.

“There you go with the vampires again. Get that out of your head already.” Irritation crept into his voice.

“Fine. Well, are you going to walk me home? Who knows what’s lurking out there.” I barked.

I stormed off without waiting for him to respond. I wanted to see what he would do. When I didn’t hear him approach me, disappointment washed over me. I shouldn’t have stormed off like that. Dean probably thought I was a drama queen.

He wasn’t going to follow.

I didn’t look back-I refused to. If I did, I would look too desperate.

The sun had set and a blanket of darkness covered the earth around Georgetown during my ‘conversation’ with Dean. At the time, it didn’t seem like such a long time had passed. There was a group of deer standing together, enjoying the grass. I also slowed my pace to a stand as I took in the twinkling stars in the sky.

I enjoyed the night, it seemed so peaceful. No busy cars. No busy life-everything was tranquil. No wonder the deer come out at night, there was no one to bother them.

Except for me.

The group froze at the sight of me and seconds later, they all ran away.

“Why are you so quiet?” a husky voice asked.

I whirled around to where the voice had come from. Dean was walking slightly behind me.

“Where did you come from?” I squealed, relieved and surprised that he came.

“I’ve been beside you.” he informed and arched his brow as if I were a crazy person in the woods.

“I didn’t hear you. Did you tippy toe your way up here?” I asked while imagining it in my head. It didn’t suit him in the least bit. His masculinity wouldn’t have let him.

“I’ve been walking beside you. You’re just too busy wishing upon a star and scaring deer to take notice.” he teased.

Surprised that he had been with me this whole time, I began to smile a little too broadly. I jumped in front of him making him stop in his tracks. My smile didn’t fade. In fact, it got bigger.

“What are you doing?” he demanded.

Dean tried to walk around me, but I maneuvered myself to stay in his way so that he couldn’t walk. Once again, he tried and I blocked him.

“You like me.” I accused with confidence.

He huffed out and grabbed me gently by the arms, his grip was firm. The moment his skin touched my bare arms, a high volt of soothing electricity surged from his skin. He closed his eyes as if he were taking the same feeling in. A few small strands of hair rested over my eye and as I reached up to swoop them away, his hand came up too. It was right where it should’ve been, in front of my face, ready to scoot the hair aside. But he stopped, took a huff, and lowered his hand back while closing his eyes. Dean wanted to do it, just like he used to when we were younger. It wasn’t something normal children without feelings towards each other would do. It was different; natural. He pressed his lips and opened those eyes that were already locked on mine. My heart was bouncing all over like a pinball machine. Did he feel the same way? Slowly, his face inched towards mine. His shaky breathing wasn’t hard to notice with the silence around us.

He was nervous.

He moved in another inch towards my face. His eyes were smoldering and determined as he gently pulled me towards him. His lips were now coming even closer to mine... and just when it seemed like they were about to touch, he stopped. I couldn’t believe it! He stopped!

Dean’s lips lingered close to mine as he said, “we need to get you home. Now.” His tone was serious. He pulled away and grabbed my hand firmly. His hands felt a little rough, like he worked a lot with them. But at the same time, they felt safe and comforting. He bolted away, dragging me with him.

When we arrived at my door, he took off as I reached for the handle. I whirled around and saw him going back into the forest... and the forest was at least several yards away. There was no way he could have gotten there that fast. Not even if he sprinted.

I saw him enter the darkness of the forest without turning back.

He didn’t even say goodnight.

My mother had a dinner plate served for me on the dining table but I didn’t see one for her. Was it really that late?

After eating my dinner quickly, I trotted up to my mom’s room. It was cracked as it usually was when I got home from wherever I was at. I let her know that I was home and then I floated to my room. The words Dean said to me about when he ‘gawked’ gave me head rushes as I replayed them in my mind.

As soon as I shut my bedroom door behind me, I ran to the window. I didn’t know why, but I was kind of hoping to find Dean looking up at me, like I had seen in the movies.

But he wasn’t there. Just darkness.

That still didn’t take away the amazing bliss I was feeling. I couldn’t believe that I had such an impact on him. Wow! Could this really be real? A small screech escaped my throat as I ran to the closet. I wanted to make sure I had the perfect outfit for school the next day ready. I wanted to look my best for him.

It took me hours to fall asleep that night. The excitement was too great for me to relax, like waiting for Christmas morning.

Instead of under a tree, my gift was at school.

To my absolute disappointment, Dean wasn’t at school. My day had never felt so empty and out of place. For some strange reason that I couldn’t explain, I needed his presence. And I found myself irritated at the day that I faced alone. He had never missed a day of school, to my knowledge. Why today of all days?

After the dreaded school day was finally over Markus drove me home.

“That’s why he hangs out with Shane!” Markus blurted out while pulling out of the school parking lot.

“What?” I asked.

“Cause they’re both vampires. They stick together.” Markus stated.

“I guess that would make sense. Cause it doesn’t seem like Dean enjoys it, but if they
have
to stick together, then he has to put up with it…” I continued, “…then why did he kill those other ‘vamps’?” I air quoted.

“Maybe because of territory? It’s big in the animal kingdom. I’m sure it’s the same with vamps,” he said. “Cause they’re not human.”

“Yeah…maybe.” I said thoughtfully.

“You okay? You look distant.” Markus asked.

“Yeah, I’m just…tired. I didn’t get much sleep last night.” I said. What I really was feeling was out-of-place because I didn’t see Dean at school.

After Markus dropped me off at home, I dragged my feet up to the house and when I turned the knob to open the door, out burst my giant dog, slamming the door against me and causing me to fall on my butt. He took off running straight to the forest entrance we used to go running.
Stupid dog!
I dropped my bag and jogged in the direction Zeke went. Seeing as it was a little difficult jogging with my rhinestone flip–flops, I slowed down to a speed walk. It wasn’t like I would have been able to catch up to the dog anyway. Today seemed a lot brighter than usual, but when I entered the forest, the trees took away almost all of the heat from the sun, leaving behind only some humidity. I usually didn’t come out here this early because of the heat so I wished it was darker out already.