Healer (The Healer Series) (8 page)

He
flinched at the contact. He didn’t even want to be touched by me.

“I’l
l see you around then.” I made a nod and walked towards the front door. I made my way halfway through the living room, past Lucas passed out on the sofa, when tears welled up in my eyes. I had to say what I came here to say, regardless of the outcome. I walked back to Thomas’s room, where I found him lying back on his bed, with his arm over his head, and his feet on the floor.

“Thomas.”

He jerked upright, like he had been on the verge of sleep.

“You know, I
really value your friendship and if I were to lose it because I did something that made you uncomfortable, I would hate myself.” I held my breath while I waited for his response.

He s
hook his head.

“I’
m sorry.” My voice cracked, despite my best efforts to prevent it.

“
Damn it, Aldo!” He jumped up.

I stumbled
back, but he grabbed me by my arms. His grip was strong and full of emotion. “I just can’t be around you right now,” he said through clenched teeth.

“Why?’

“Aldo, please go and don’t come back here.” He released his grip and turned away. He leaned on his tall dresser and wouldn’t look at me.

I tried
to think of why he would be so upset with me. I knew I tried to make a move on him in my dream, but surely he knew I didn’t realize it was really him. He was supposed to be gone. I couldn’t think of anything else that could have made him so upset. Then I remembered telling him about going to prom with Wyatt.

“Is this about Wyatt?”
The moment the words left my mouth I regretted them.

“What
about Wyatt?” he snickered.

My face
heated. “Because I’m going to prom with him?”

“No
, Aldo. You can go out with whomever you want. I don’t care.”

His words
hit me like a judo chop to the throat. Of course he didn’t care, because he didn’t want me. “Right.”  I nodded. “So that’s it?”

He ga
ve no response nor did he move.

“I hope you have a nice date tonight.” I smiled
, even though it pained me to do so. I cried all the way to school, knowing I ruined everything. He was never going to come back. Not even having him as a friend seemed like the realest version of hell to me.

After school
, I went straight to bed. I lay, wide awake and tried to figure out what to do. Should I try to plead with Thomas again? Should I let him go and if he came back, it meant he was mine? I hate that stupid saying. It took hours, but I finally fell asleep.

I fished
in my dreams, casting the line mindlessly, hoping against all hope, Thomas would appear, but he didn’t. Three weeks went by and he never came over or called any of us. I was insanely depressed, but tried to function normal. I went out with Lila, Wyatt, and Robert. I tried to smile, laughing on cue, nodding when appropriate, so I didn’t seem sad, but I’m pretty sure they saw right through it.

On the weekend of prom, Lucy
pulled me aside to have the sex talk with me, and it was insanely uncomfortable. She was more embarrassed than I was. I reassured her there was no chance that I would be doing anything with Wyatt like that. We were just friends.

With graduation
only three weeks away, I still clung to hope that Thomas might at least attend. I ached without him, but I refused to allow that to ruin prom. I would enjoy tonight with the only friends I had ever had.

Lila and I went to a salon and got our hair done along with a manicure and pedicure. I had never had either so it was quite the experience for me. Afterwards
, Lila came to my house and we got ready together. She did my makeup, as she was practically a professional cosmetologist.

Lila
looked amazing wearing a black strapless dress with a split up the side to her thigh.

Sex.

I looked more
kindergarten graduation, wearing a pastel pink, high cut gown that covered my entire body with the exception of my arms.

Anti-sex.

Lila and Hudson had started dating and were pretty serious
, so they were going to prom together. I wondered if Lucy had the same talk with Hudson that she had with me. Whit was taking a sophomore named Dylan, and Robert was bringing a girl from another school whom we had never met.

When everyone arrived at our house
, Lucy went about taking what seemed like a thousand photos and then proceeded to cry. I guess it was hard for her to see us grown up like that and looking at my brothers I couldn’t believe it either. Here we were, on the verge of adulthood.

Wyatt
was a perfect gentleman and brought me a corsage. It was weird for me because I was used to Wyatt being laid back and easy going, but he almost seemed nervous that night. We went to dinner at a steak house. Shively, Kentucky didn’t offer much in the way of fine dining. I think it was literally called
The Steak House
.

Prom was
held in our school gymnasium. Wyatt was a pretty good dancer, I, of course, was not, but he was incredibly kind and pretended not to notice my two left feet. Lila and Hudson were attached at the hip and I had never seen Hudson look so happy. They spent most of the night with their tongues down each other’s throats which was kind of weird to see.

As the evening started
to wind down, we all agreed to go to Lila’s house and hang out since her parents were going to be out late at a poker tournament in Louisville. When we got to Lila’s, it was party time. After a bottle of Goldschläger and a bottle of Tequila, everyone was pretty much drunk within a few hours. I volunteered to be designated driver for my brothers, so I took three shots and stopped; drinking water the remainder of the evening. Lila and Hudson snuck off to her room, and the rest of us went outside for some air. After a while, it was just me and Wyatt outside, sitting on the porch, chatting.

“Are you nervous about college?” I asked.

“Nah. I’m ready to get out of this shithole town.” He shrugged and shook his shaggy hair to the side, out of his eyes.

“Well if college doesn’t pan out for you, you could
always become a model.” I winked.

“Ha, ha!
” He hated when we joked about him being a model. “I’m going to miss you.”

“Really?”
I asked surprised.

“Yeah, really.”

“Aw
, I’ll miss you, too. I’ll miss all of you.” I pulled down the corners of my mouth to make a frowny face.

“Walk to my car with me. I need a cigarette.” He stood up and held his hand out t
o help me up. I took it, surprised when he didn’t release it as we started walking.

“When did you s
tart smoking?”

“I don’t; j
ust when I drink.”

When we got to his car
, he opened the passenger side door and motioned for me to get in. I slid in figuring he just wanted company while he smoked and he wanted to sit in his car. When he got in the driver’s side, he grabbed a pack of Marlboro Red’s out of his middle console and pressed his car lighter in. He leaned his head against the steering wheel, and he was silent for a moment.

“You okay?” I
worried maybe he was getting sick from all of the shots he had taken.

“Yeah
, yeah.” He sat back. “Aldo, I have to tell you something.” He turned to me. His shaggy hair hung a little over his eyes and I smiled because he looked so handsome.

“Okay.”
I had a feeling he was going to say something I maybe didn’t want to hear, but I figured it was best to let him get it out. He was drunk, too, so I figured he wouldn’t even really know what he was saying.

“Actually
, I want to...” He stopped and we stared at each other. “Can I kiss you?” he asked softly, but very guarded. I was really surprised, and I guess he could see that because he added, “I know were about to leave for college and all, but I have liked you ever since I met you.”

“Really?”
I smiled, flattered and genuinely shocked.

“Yeah, but I thought you wouldn’t go for me.”

“Why?” Even though it was true, I wanted to know why he thought that.

“I thought maybe you had a thing for that Thomas guy.” His voice took on a tone when he said Thomas’s
name that I took for jealousy.

“Oh.”
A pang twanged my heart at the mention of Thomas. Was it that obvious I had a crush on him?

“I don’t know. There’s something about you. I’m
just so drawn to you,” he confessed. “You’re special.”

“No, I’m jus
t a regular old girl.” I was disappointed it wasn’t true.

“I know we
’re going our own ways, but I just want to look back one day and say to myself, at least I got to kiss that girl.” He smiled and nodded, like the thought already gave him great satisfaction.

I
pondered this for a moment. I was eighteen years old and had never kissed a guy, not for real anyway. I liked Wyatt, and I figured a kiss was harmless. After all, this was prom, and I was aiming for the ultimate teenage experience. I leaned towards Wyatt and as my lips got close to his, I whispered, “Just a kiss.”

His soft lips touched mine and as first kisses go, it was a good one
. It lasted a little longer than I intended, but it was very sweet and appropriate. As we pulled away, we both smiled, and then Wyatt leaned back in. I panicked, because I knew he was drunk and I truly only intended to share one kiss with him, but I allowed him to kiss me again.

I started to pull away, but
he pushed me back as he rose out of his seat and leaned into mine. I pulled my face away. “Wyatt, that’s enough.” I turned my face from him.

H
e began kissing my neck, as his hand moved up and groped my right breast.

“Wyatt, stop!” I attempted
to push him off of me. Still he continued. I inhaled deeply; I was going to have to drain him unconscious. I didn’t want to, but he was obviously drunk and being an asshole.

So much for that beautiful prom night
kiss memory.

I attempted to push him
once more, without success, and I was about to pull his energy, when he slowly sunk onto me and passed out. Maybe the alcohol had finally gotten to him.

“Wyatt?” I patted his back
, trying to see if he was really passed out. “Shit,” I whispered.

I tried
to push him off me again when the car door opened behind me. I almost fell to the ground, but strong arms caught me and pulled me out from under Wyatt, who was left slouched over the middle console and the passenger seat. I tripped as I was being pulled from behind, but whoever had me, didn’t let me fall. Finally, I was stood up and able to get my balance. I turned to see my attacker and could not have been more surprised.

“What are you doi
ng here?” I growled.

“Saving you from getting raped
by a douche bag,” Thomas growled back at me. The glint in his gorgeous eyes told me he was pissed. Even in my anger, I couldn’t help but get weak in the knees looking at him.

“Really
, Thomas? I can take care of myself.” I glared at him.

“It didn’t look like it.”

“What the fuck are you doing here?” I yelled. He abandoned us for weeks, then showed up on my prom night and drained my date.

“He was going to rape you!”

“How do you know?” I hissed back.

“I sensed it!
” he roared, his hands fisted at his sides.

I gritted my teeth
. “Did you also sense that he was drunk and it would have been impossible for him to rape me, which he wouldn’t have? He’s a nice guy. What you sensed was yourself being an asshole!” I tried to shove him, but it was like trying to push a brick wall. He didn’t budge. Thomas had me reeling, and I hated it. This was my life outside of him, and he had just come in and taken over it.

“I know what I sensed,
” he said in a calmer, but still angered tone, maintaining his planted stand.

“Did you sense that I kissed him?” I
prayed it would stab him like a knife in his heart, just as he had done to me the day he sent me away from his house.

“I
know what I sensed,” he growled through clenched teeth, ignoring my last statement.

“Oh yeah, well sense this.” I mustered up all of the
“fuck you”
vibes I could, which probably only looked like me straining to make a difficult bowel movement. I turned on my heel to walk away, but he began to speak.

“I
…” He stopped and looked away. “I just wanted to see you guys tonight, but I thought it was best to see you from a distance.”

“You were following me?
”

“No.
I mean, I didn’t mean to.”

“You were following me.” I stated
it this time. “If you had just
wanted
to see us you could have come by the house. Why are you here?” Both of us breathed heavily and my blood pressure felt like it was through the roof.