My Night Breeze (The Breeze Series) (2 page)

“You’re wrong. He didn’t
speak a word. Not one,” she advised.

Stephen fumbled
with the phone for a few minutes before his voice rang loud and clear.

“Maybe he was having his own love at first sight moment.”

“I’m done. I have to eat dinner and study. See you in the morning,” Audra advised.

Stephen sighed
loudly over the line. “The love bug will bite you, too. Don’t worry. See you.”

After eating dinner, Audra took
her time coming back to her room. She knew that she would do well on her English test. It was one of her favorite classes, but it was better to be prepared than rely on her memory. She sat back down at her desk and flipped through her notes until her eyes began to droop.

Audra slip
ped out of her chair and turned to the window to close the blinds when a movement in the dark caught her attention. She leaned in as closely as she could; there was no wind or branches moving. With a glance toward the street, she noticed someone walking on the sidewalk. She looked to the clock on her desk showing it to be half past eleven; who goes walking this late at night?

The next morning Audra was already dreading the long day as the weather seemed to be quickly descending into winter before her eyes, only to have the zipper get stuck on her jacket. She tugged it up over her head like a sweatshirt, mussing her neatly styled hair into a frizzy mess. Using her hands to comb her locks did little to bring it to a semblance of control.

“Now
that’s a shame,” Valerie remarked.

The strawberry blonde shook
her head with an amused grin. With one hand on her hip and another around Tobias’s arm, she didn’t waste time clarifying herself. The look upon her perfect features said it all. Audra attempted to swipe at her hair a few more times before another set of hands joined in.

She turned
to find Tobias pathetically trying to catch her fly-a-ways to tuck behind her ear. She sighed out loud letting the issue go by reprimanding her hair into a messy bun. Tobias smiled, but she wasn’t sure if it was from his approval of her style or her not chiding him like Jim would. Either way, the situation was moot. Valerie tugged his arm back roughly to face her, sending a hateful blue-eyed glare at Audra.

Audra grabbed her notebooks and slammed
her locker shut, heading to homeroom instead of waiting on Stephen. She plopped her stuff down beside her desk and lay her head down upon her arms. In the empty room, she could easily hear the constant throb of her heartbeat and every swallow. She wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep, but her internal organs seemed to get louder with every passing moment.

“What’s
going on with you?” Stephen asked.

“Tired
,” Audra mumbled.

She sat
up to look at her friend and rubbed her hands down her face. It was like the six hours of sleep never happened; the exhaustion started to get worse rather than lessen. Stephen placed his hand to her forehead only to pull it back quickly.

“You’re on fire
,” he stated.

Audra attempted
to feel her face with the backs of her hands, but she didn’t feel warmer than usual. It was just abnormally chilly today, and her sleep deprivation was making her extra groggy. She disagreed silently and stood for the national anthem followed by the morning announcements, only to sink back down onto her desk.

“You should go t
o the nurse,” Stephen encouraged.

“
I’ll be fine, honest,” Audra replied.

She look
ed at her watch with irritation before collecting her things. Mateo quietly waited by the door for her to make her way there, but concern once again appeared over his features. Audra didn’t bother making polite conversation. She pushed the door open and walked him to his first class in total silence.

As she st
arted to turn away, Mateo stuck his hand out towards her. The sheer shock of the gesture almost knocked her over. Audra looked up to meet his gray eye curiously, but there seemed to be tension coming from him. She shook her head at his gesture.

“I
might be coming down with something. Don’t want to pass anything to you,” she explained.

Her words fe
ll on deaf ears as his hand reached up, caressing her cheek tenderly. The feeling of warmth grazed her skin, like a warm breeze carrying a scent of fresh air. Mateo took a small breath in as his hand slowly ran back down her face and down to his side.

The bell sounded and
the doors swung open allowing clattering and chattering students to fill the hallways. Audra couldn’t seem to find the strength in her legs to push forward to her own class. She couldn’t even find the strength to speak. Mateo stepped in closer, the heat of his breath warming her inner ear.

“You feel fine to me, Audra.”

Her breath stopped at the sound of his voice—smooth and deep. He pulled back with a smirk before heading into his own class. Paralyzed in confusion, Audra’s mind fluttered uselessly trying to function properly. The chill in the air surrounding her previously seemed to have dissipated, but the tingles were popping up all over her cheek.

Jim appeared at her side and nudged
her out of the stupor.

“You’
re going to be late. Come on,” he said.

He escort
ed her to science class where the lesson was all but lost on her. Not that it wouldn’t have been in the first place, but she would have usually tried. Audra couldn’t seem to make heads or tails of the last encounter with Mateo. The mere fact that he spoke to her sent chills through her body over and over every time she thought about it.

Audra made a point of leaving
class early only to bump into Stephen in the hallway.

“What are you doing?” Audra asked
.

“Ducked out. You look better
,” Stephen said.

She bit
the inside of her cheek. Stephen would blow up the whole ordeal into something that it clearly wasn’t. And what’s worse, she could start to believe it on her own. Audra nodded in response continuing back to Mateo’s class with Stephen tagging along.

M
ateo walked out silently and nodded his acknowledgement of Stephen. The threesome walk to the gymnasium for class, but awkward tension lingered between them. Mateo made no attempt to speak again, even with Audra glancing in his direction a few times. Stephen smirked with a knowing look upon his face but kept his mouth shut until class began.

Audra walked
out of the girl’s locker room when Stephen began his path towards her. She took a deep breath waiting for the questions to begin but was pleasantly surprised when he stayed silent. They sat on the bleachers waiting for Mr. Adams to give instruction.

His boney finger poked
her side, causing her to glance his way only for him to thumb up a few levels in the bleachers. She knew not to turn to look as it would be too obvious but shook her head in response. Audra could already sense his intentions, and it wasn’t good.

“Do a lap and the
n stretching,” Mr. Adams ordered.

Audra did
n’t waste time and sprinted quickly around the gym before settling down, stretching out her legs. She wasn’t a long distance runner by any means, but her legs were powerful. It was one of the reasons why she was such a great middle blocker on the volleyball team. She smiled to herself while stretching her lower back.

“He can’t tak
e his eyes off of you,” whispered Stephen.

“You obviously can’t take yours off of him.”

“I know Jim can be overbearing, but you still have eyes woman. Use them,” he stated.

“It’s not just about Jim.”

“Then what is it?” Stephen persisted.

“A little less chatter Mr. Matters and mo
re stretching,” Mr. Adams scolded.

Audra breathed
out a sigh of relief as she began to stretch out her arms. Stephen wouldn’t understand how bad things could get with Jim. It would be relentless smothering, harassment of the poor guy, and such a burden that the relationship would never hold up. But if she were honest with him, he’d realize what was truly holding her back before the words even left her lips.

With backpack slung over her shoulder, Audra made her way up the stairs after her last class. Following the crowd of kids making their way to their lockers, Audra hadn’t noticed Valerie until it was too late. Surrounded by her friends with perfect hair and snobbish attitudes, it’s a wonder what Tobias saw in the girl. She wasn’t even likeable enough to lend an umbrella if it rained.

Valerie sent
a look of utter disappointment her way, followed by a laugh. Audra kept her eyes on her steps up the stairs and away from Valerie before a ruckus was heard a few steps behind her. Audra looked back towards the group of girls to find Valerie lying on her back on the stairs. Audra couldn’t help the laugh that slipped out; it served her right. She took another step up the stairs only to lose her own footing, slowly coming to the same fate, when strong arms grabbed her waist.

Audra grab
bed hold of the kind stranger until she stood up fully and met with gray eyes. Her breath ceased for only a moment, but it was clear that he’d noticed. His brow knit together as his eyes perused the rest of her form. Audra swallowed hard but found her voice.

“Than
ks. I wasn’t paying attention,” she said.

Mateo release
d her waist with a conflicted look upon his features. Audra wasn’t sure what to make of it or him. She didn’t want to be rude though. She made up her mind to take a step in the right direction—one that steered clear of danger.

“Are you busy?” she asked
.

“Not really.”

“Every Wednesday after last class, a bunch of us meet up for a study session. Would you like to come?” Audra offered.

Mateo nodded
, carefully following Audra up the stairs. As she guided him towards the library near the history wing, she began to worry. What if Jim saw her with Mateo? Maybe he wouldn’t make a big deal out of it if she explained about him joining the study group. Audra sighed, annoyed at the situation. It wasn’t fair that she had to explain all of her friendships.

Stephen and Molly we
re already seated with books open on the table when they arrived. Audra sat next to Stephen while Mateo sat across from her. Molly hovered over her notebook with a highlighter tucked in her black ponytail. Her chocolate brown eyes warmed, acknowledging Audra at the table.

“Hey
,” Molly greeted. “Newcomer?”

“
Hey, yeah this is—”

“Mateo
,” he finished.

Audra
came up short being cut off. She wasn’t used to it. Mateo looked back at her silently with a tiny smirk. Audra started to bite the inside of her cheek.

“N
ice to meet you,” Molly responded with a kind smile.

“And this is
—”

“Stephen
,” Stephen greeted.

Audra glared
at Stephen. He chuckled in response, not threatened in the least. She huffed, slightly annoyed with him, but it didn’t lessen his mirth. Mateo nodded in his direction allowing his dark hair to eclipse his face.

Audra
slipped her hand into her bag and pulled out her science book. She flipped to the correct page and began to read the first paragraph unsuccessfully. She really should have paid attention yesterday, but her mind was elsewhere. It had been a rough day trying to get everything to make sense, not that it did now. Frustrated, she shoved the book to the side and pulled out her English book.

“That to
ok five minutes,” Stephen commented.

Audra pushed
the book farther away while settling into her English assignment. It took a good half hour, but she managed to finish it in record time, leaving unfortunate minutes to attempt her science assignment. She looked at the book with disgust, tugging it back. Stephen chuckled softly beside her only to ruffle her feathers.

Audra flip
ped back to the chapter and read a few pages only to shut the book again but this time placing it into her bag. Maybe the library was too distracting to study for that particular class. It was hard enough trying to focus while Mateo sat across from her, silently working on his own homework. He was as quiet as the first day, but he seemed comfortable surrounded by them. She hoped that he would want to come back next week.

“Time
’s up,” the librarian advised.

The group pack
ed up their things and headed into the quiet hallways. Stephen didn’t bother to hide his excitement about the weekend gathering even though it was only Wednesday.

“Party at my place on Saturda
y. Mateo, feel free to come and meet more people. It starts at eight,” Stephen gushed.

“I won’t be bac
k in time. Sorry,” Molly advised.

Audra glanced
over at Molly and received a warm smile in response. Their friendship went back to freshman year when Audra tried out for the volleyball team and Molly, a sophomore, not only welcomed her but encouraged her blocking skills. Molly was a big bag of optimism that Audra loved to soak up, especially on the court.