The Unwanted Winter - Volume One of the Saga of the Twelves (97 page)

“
Oh my god!” she
said.

“’
Oh my god’ what?” came a
male voice, directly at her side, drowsy with sleep, the tones slow
and heavy sounding.

She winced, not realizing
she’d said it aloud. She turned her head to gaze over at Anthony,
who was rubbing at his eyes, staring back as he wiped the sleep
from them. “I didn’t realize I’d said it out loud, sorry if I woke
you,” she deflected, unsure if she was ready to explain herself to
him.

No, no, no! This was all
too soon!

“
That’s alright, gauging
by the level of the fire, I’m assuming it’s time to get up anyhow,”
he muttered quietly through clenched teeth as he stretched
languorously on the bedding.

She stayed silent, her
eyes wondering over his form. She was able to see more now, because
he only wore a dark colored t-shirt with
Nirvana
printed across the chest,
his jeans, and socks. He’d left all the rest of his clothing folded
in a neat pile atop his shoes at the foot of the makeshift bed. She
had deposited hers there as well, though she still slept in her
sweater. She watched his long, thin arms as they tightened with his
movements. She was somewhat surprised again to see he was muscular.
No, lithe was a better-suited word to describe him, she deemed.
Unwittingly, her expression changed. She was considering,
contemplating… him.

The first time she had
seen his taut upper body was when he’d come out of the washing area
to hang his clothes along the lines he and Andrew had strung about
the stalactites. She had blinked rapidly at the sight of his
defined chest and abdomen. Not that they bulged, as would
Joaquin’s, she surmised. Still though, she could see he was just as
solid. There was not an ounce of fat on him, anywhere. Though she
couldn’t see as much of him now, the sight of his arms combined
with the memory from the day before was enough to distract her into
silence. She was warm. Her skin felt prickly all over – sensitive,
nerve-endings firing continuously.

“
You wanna wash up and go
sit by the fire until everyone else wakes up?” he said quietly as
he finished getting the kinks out of his body, swiveling his head
to peer in her direction. He came up short at the look on her face.
“Sophie?” he inquired, one eyebrow raised above the
other.

She shook her head,
clearing her thoughts.
Jeez-zuz, what the
hell is wrong with me!?!
She met his eyes
and felt herself flush with embarrassment as he smiled a small
smile of encouragement.
This is not fair!
He is making me fall over myself like a little girl all sprung on
her older brother’s best friend! I’m a not goddamned cliché!

“
What did you say?” she
managed after she rediscovered she could speak.

Anthony giggled at her,
which made her blush even more. To her utter mortification, he
seemed to notice this time. His tittering trailed off. He turned
his head slightly to the side, his eyes a bit wide. “Are you
alright?” he whispered hoarsely, scrutinizing her face, making her
all the more uncomfortable.

“
Y-yes, Tony. I’m fine,”
she stammered. She sat up slowly, not wanting to disturb Elena and
Mikalah, who were still sleeping soundly. She wiped her hair from
her face and knuckled at her eyes, feeling him sit up next to her,
his head leaning toward her as he whispered in her ear.

“
You sure, you’re
ok?”

She hoped to God her face
had returned to normal. “I’m sure,” she replied in hushed tones,
flustered by his warm breath on the nape of her neck. Though he
hadn’t intended for her to react to it any manner, she shivered,
tingles of electricity bolting down her spine.

He seemed to consider her
answer for a spell, then shrugged it all away. “Come on, let’s go
get cleaned up and sit by the fire until the others wake-up. Yeah,
ok?” He stood slowly, holding out his hand.

She swallowed hard in
spite of herself, but steeled her will and reached out with her
right hand, taking his much larger hand within hers. He tugged
lightly, pulling her to her feet and closer toward him. Not sure
why, she let herself bump into him, which made him snicker, but he
didn’t say anything. He steadied her by holding her left elbow with
his other hand.

She gazed up at him,
realizing the discomfiture of a few moments ago was gone. Instead
of blushing, she looked up boldly at him, her mind clear enough to
wonder at his reaction. It shocked her when she understood she was
willing to go out on a limb to find out. She
wanted
to be in his arms.

He peered down at her,
searching her face to see if anything was amiss, if she was about
to ask something of him or tell him something. When she remained
silent, he looked at her for a moment or two longer, he gave her
elbow a quick squeeze. Then, suddenly he bent down -,

Oh my god!

-and scooped up the rest
of his clothing, including his shoes, motioning to her. “Get your
stuff, ma’ dear, let’s go brush our teeth.” He turned and took a
few steps toward the partitioned washing area with her staring
after him with a questioning look on her face, a squint in her
eye.

Was he really not as
affected by her as she was him or was he just really good at hiding
it?
she thought, when he abruptly swung
back to face her with a broad grin on his face.

His eyebrows arched up and
down as he mouthed, “Come on!”

She felt a sly grin etch
her lips.

He felt it too… he was
just playing around. What a brat!
she
accused, but that still didn’t stop her from letting her eyes drop
to his lips once again.

They were
so
pink!

*****

They sat next to each
other on the side of the fire furthest from their companions. They
had already brushed their teeth, washed their faces and relieved
themselves in the privy hole Jason had screened off toward the
front of the cave. Sophie wasn’t sure if Anthony chose to sit
there, so they could speak without risking the chance of waking
everyone up or if he wanted a degree of privacy with her or if he’d
merely sat down randomly. The boy’s calm, cool veneer was confusing
her.

“…
the time to really talk
to you alone and get to know you. With everything going on and all,
it has just been difficult to get quality time without someone else
listening,” Anthony was saying, his true intention readily upon his
face.

Ah-Ha!

He had indeed wanted to
get her alone. Like her, he didn’t want to waste an occasion such
as this. Though she tried to conceal it, she was, a little
anxious.
Maybe he does like
me
.

Wait? What?

She glanced down and
noticed he was sitting as close to her as possible, though he faced
her at the same time. Their knees were only a fraction of an inch
apart.

“
It’s not like I’m super
shy or anything,” he went on, “but sometimes, you know, things
should be said privately.”

This made her frown and
then grin a second later with comprehension. “What are you saying?”
she asked, each word said faster than the last.

“
Well, um, nothing
specific…,” he seemed to catch himself as if he had said more than
he’d intended to reveal. “I was just stating a matter of… fact, I
guess… or possibly explaining conditions here in the cave…?” He
ended as if he were asking a question of her, as if to throw the
ball back in her court for approval.

“
I see,” she nodded back
at him, trying not to smile too deeply.

His face relaxed a bit as
though she had eased some tension within him. He looked away, then
back at her with a more direct cast to his expression.

“
Can I ask you something?”
He looked in her eyes.

Her smile teetered. “Yeah…
I mean, yes,” she said awkwardly, her heart fluttering with
trepidation all of a sudden. Moreso, by the fact her moods kept
changing so quickly.
So stupidly, more
like!
She could barely keep up with the
feelings, the thoughts rushing through her.

“
Why did you hold my hand
yesterday morning?”

She searched his face and
found only open curiosity. It was the very last subject she thought
he’d bring up. She stared back at him wide-eyed, frozen within the
grip of uncertainty and embarrassment. “W-what?”

How is it possible he can
make me feel like a love-struck tween in the blink of an
eye?

“
Yesterday morning when
Joaquin was going to tell us what was going on, you held my hand as
we walked from the bed to the fire pit. You continued to do so for
a while longer. Why did you do that?” His voice was soft and
questioning.

She could hear no
malcontent in his tone. She sat up a bit straighter, taking a
deeper draught of air and slowly exhaled it. She straightened her
hair, tucking it behind her ears, looking back at him. “Truthfully,
Anthony, I don’t know the whole reason why. I do know I was scared
of what Joaquin was going to tell us, scared of being here in the
Melded World. It seemed like knowing the truth would be awful. I
don’t know. I guess I needed someone to reassure me and you seemed
like a good choice.” She glanced away, peering downward, a lock of
her white hair falling free from her earlobe and obscuring part of
her face from him.

“
Why me,
though?”

She jilted her head to
clear her hair from her visage, titling up to see him out of the
corner of her eyes. “Why you?” Her voice cracked. She felt her face
flush.

He nodded.

She breathed.

“
From the very first time
we met, you made me feel comfortable; maybe feel safer as well. You
have a calming way about you, Anthony. I really needed it. I guess
I’ve sort of gravitated toward you ever since. Holding your hand
yesterday gave me a sense of where the ground was, so I wouldn’t
have to think about anything other than what Joaquin was going to
say. Otherwise, I probably would’ve fallen to the floor and made a
complete idiot of myself.” She bounced with a stricken chuckle.
“And the funny thing is I am typically not that way, you now? I am
usually as steady as a rock, or at least I think I am. I never ask
for help, emotional or otherwise. I just plow on, hope for the
best, and don’t look back.”

He inclined his head
thoughtfully. “Why the change, you think?”

She folded her hands in
her lap after rubbing them across the tops of her jeans, leaning
forward slightly. “It’s been way too much. All of this.” She
motioned to the cave. “Even back at home, before the Rending, weird
ass things were happening that whole week. I was pretty freaked me
out. I was just barely able to get a grip on all of that crap and
then the whole world went bananas, and… well, I guess I just needed
someone. For the first time in my life, I needed someone. There you
were and before I could really puzzle it out, you were there and I
went…,” she trailed off, feeling the self-consciousness return. She
cleared her throat instead of continuing.

She realized he was
frowning when he asked, “What weird stuff?”

She sighed with relief he
hadn’t caught onto the deeper connotations of what she’d said. “Oh,
I don’t know, it really doesn’t matter now,” she answered with a
wave of her hand.

“
Come on, give over, what
happened?” He was serious again.

“
It’s kinda embarrassing
and creepy at the same time,” she explained quietly, her voice
lowering. This was the subject she didn’t like to talk about,
openly at least.

“
Kinda personal, too?” he
added.

Am I that easy to
read?!?
she asked herself, stunned he
could be that in tune with what she was feeling already. “Very
personal,” she said aloud.

“
Well, you don’t have to
-,” he began.

But, she cut him off,
tired of being the little frail, white girl who cannot take care of
herself.
This is not who I am!
“I had this guy stalking me for months,” she
blurted out.

Anthony’s eyes widening as
the words sunk in, mouthing a silent
“Oooooh.”

“
Yeah, tell me about it.
He used to follow me everywhere. Even when I was with my friends,
he would just butt into the conversation like he belonged or
something. He would try to bump into me casually on campus or on my
way home to talk to me. He even did some research on me and got my
cell number. He would call me all the time, morning and night,
sometimes real late at night, breathing words into the phone like
he was getting off or something. Yet, what he said was always so
weird. The more I thought about it, the more I was certain it
didn’t quite seem like he was saying things to whack off to. I mean
it did, on one level, but there was something more, something
non-sexual. It was so eerie, he made my skin crawl. He was always
talking about how he wanted to stroke the back of my hand or brush
my hair while counting to seventy-five or help me fold my clothes
as they came out of the dryer – just really crazy things like
that.” She paused to take a breath, watching as Anthony shook off
the images she was portraying.