Beginnings (8 page)

“Kenward? As in Kenward Enterprises?”

“Yes,” I answered apprehensively.

“I know who Adam is!” It was my turn to have my eyes pop out. “I mean I don't
know
him, know him, but I remember hearing about his accident. That's how Charlotte's dad got his promotion.”

“Charlotte knows his family?” Why did that make my stomach clench?

“Her father's been working for his family since he graduated college. That's why Charlotte was allowed to come with us to the lake house that summer. The company her dad works for's son got in a horrific accident and the CEO passed his duties off for awhile so he could focus on his family. Charlotte's dad was bombarded with extra work and her mom was off on her honeymoon to husband number three, so I used that to guilt trip my parents into letting her come with us. She never mentioned he was in a coma, but then again we were too young to care about information like that. That's crazy. I remember Charlotte pointing to a house at the lake saying her father's boss owned it. It was this huge beautifully built cabin that looked more like a mansion. Do you think that's why he was at the lake? Maybe it was his favorite place as a kid?”

I squealed, in a very Haley-like fashion, before trampling her with a hug. “Thank you! We've been trying to figure that out. His accident happened close to his home, which is an hour from the lake. We didn't understand why he was there. It must have been a happy place for him.”

Adam was laughing, hard.

“What's so funny?”

“All these years of not knowing and the one person who could help us was sleeping in the room next to ours.”

Was it horribly selfish of me that I was glad we didn't know? The years I'd spent with Adam were irreplaceable.

“What did he say?”

“He thinks it's funny that we could have had answers years ago,” I kept my voice subdued not wanting them to know I was glad.

“Annie, I can see what you're thinking. I'm glad too. I wouldn't go back and change a thing. I just found it amusing.”

“How can you say that?”

“I know nothing of my life before, but it couldn’t have been nearly as fun or entertaining as my time with you.” He gave me
my
smile and I understood what he meant. What we had was rare, our time together meant just as much to him as it did to me. My heart grew deeper in love with him.

“What's going on?” Haley's eyes were searching my face for answers.

“Nothing,” I didn't want to share our private moment.

“Nope, you're not allowed to do that anymore. I won't allow it.” Haley had her stubborn face on and I knew she wouldn't let up until I told her.

“He was telling me that our time together means more to him than the years wasted with no answers.”

“Don't say wasted, Annie. No time is ever wasted spent with you.”

I blushed, which was apparently all I did now. Knowing Adam felt for me the same way that I had always felt for him, felt incredible. I finally understood all those silly love songs when they sing about floating in euphoria.

“Does he always say romantic crap? Cuz I'm officially jealous.”

“Yes, he does,” I answered with a widening smile thinking of his last remark, which of course Haley didn't hear.

“I can't wait to meet him! Is he cute? What does he look like? Can you guys kiss each other? Does he watch you get dressed? Or take a shower? Or watch me take one? Ew, that's just creepy, don't answer that. Well, wait, does he?” She was bouncing again. Her over-enthusiastic energy was giving me a headache.

“Calm down. That's a lot of questions all at once.” I was thankful Jeremy found out first. I wasn't sure I'd want to go through this kind of questioning again. “He's incredibly cute. His features have a boyish charm; he has these warm brown eyes that cause me to melt if I stare at them to long. My favorite feature is his mouth, I could stare for hours at their perfection; the way they move when he talks, the smiles he gives me, the voice that comes through them...” I stopped myself, feeling embarrassed. It felt really good to have somebody to talk to about him.

“Geez, Annie, you're making me blush. No wait, that's your job,” Adam teased.

I stuck my tongue out at him before continuing, “He was just making fun of me for being so cheesy. Anyway, no we can't touch, so kissing is out, but believe me I want to. Remember to think of him as a ghost you would find in the movies. No, he's never seen me naked. Well, once, but that was an accident. And ew, Haley, he's not a pervert. I wanted to throw my shoe at your head for saying that. He would never spy on people in that way.”

Haley giggled, “Sorry, I have a habit of blurting things out. I do have one more question. What's your plan when he wakes up?”

“Tomorrow I'm meeting Jeremy in the library at lunch to figure it all out. He's going to find out what room Adam's in so I can easily find him. As far as waking him, I think we'll just have to hope for the best and wing it.”

“That's not what I meant. Won't it be hard for you both when he wakes up and you get separated for periods of time? If his family lives in the city, that's a long drive.”

“Yeah, we've talked about it. We know at first it will be hard, but we can talk on the phone every day, and I'll be sixteen soon so I can drive and see him. I'm not worried, it will all work out.”

“Oh please, you make it sound like you didn't cry about it for hours while I reassured you we would find plenty of ways to see each other.” Adam was making fun of me again.

“Don't be a brat. If you could cry I know you would have, and don't pretend otherwise.” He only smirked at me so I threw a pillow at him, which was stupid because the only purpose that served was knocking over Haley's lamp.

“Hey, watch it, that could have broke,” Haley said while she leaned over and picked it up.

“What's going on in here?” My aunt had poked her head in the room and her jaw dropped when she saw me in there, “Everything okay with you two?”

“We're fine, Sandra. Just hanging out,” Haley giggled at the absurdity of her words. We had never “just hung out” before.

“Well okay, just wanted you to know dinner's ready,” she was eyeballing us suspiciously.

“Thanks Aunt Sandra, we'll follow you down.”

It took her a minute to leave, probably worrying about what we were up to. I got up and Haley tugged on my arm.

“Just a second. When we're down there let me do all the talking, only nod your head in agreement, okay?” I nodded and she grinned at me, “Good girl.”

At the top of the stairs she stopped me again, “So, the whole Jeremy thing's a lie. You don't actually like him.”

It was more of a statement than a question, but I felt the need to clarify to make Adam happy.

“Most definitely not.”

“That's a relief. You can do way better than him. Er, you know what I mean,” her eyes roamed around not sure were Adam was.

“What, gorgeous movie star looks aren't your thing?”

“There's more to a person than their looks. I didn't like what he said to you the other day at the library or what he did to Charlotte, even though she deserved it. He walks around school like he owns it.”

I had to laugh at that last remark because that's exactly what Haley did.

“First off, he didn't know about my parents, but it was fun watching him feel like the biggest jerk ever after you yelled at him. Second, I put him up to the Charlotte thing, I really hate her. And since when do looks not matter to you?” I pointed at her accusingly.

“My obsession with my looks are a means to an end. Looks are everything in our society, and I figured out long ago that I can use it to my advantage. I have big plans for my future, and popularity will help get me there. So, unfortunately, sometimes that means being nice to people that suck, like Charlotte,” she smiled at me. “I knew that was your handwriting on the note. Well played,” she breezed past me to go downstairs. I found it funny that she approved of my prank, but Jeremy was a jerk for playing along.

Once everyone was seated and we'd said our blessing, nervousness settled in. I had no idea what Haley planned on telling them, and the loss of control didn't sit well with me.

We all chit-chatted for awhile and every time Haley opened her mouth I braced myself.

“Calm down, Annie. You need to relax, Haley will be fine. Your tensed up body is what's going to cause suspicion.”

Adam was right, Haley had gotten her way more times than I could remember. I concentrated on my breathing and letting my muscles relax.

“So, Mom, Dad,” Haley began, looking back and forth between them, “There's this new guy at school. You know, the one Anna had over for the English assignment?”

“The Greek-god looking one?” Aunt Sandra's skin turned crimson red, “Oh, I can't believe I just said that.”

Uncle Tom choked back his laughter.

“He's not that good looking,” Haley and Adam answered at the same time.

“Anyways, the other day he asked me to go to a concert with him in the city.”

Where was she going with this?
I had to remind myself to trust her.

“Absolutely not,” my uncle cut in, “You're not even sixteen yet. I'm not going to let you go gallivanting around.”

“I'll be sixteen in November, Dad,” she was letting her irritation show, “I can handle myself.”

“How will you get there?” My aunt questioned.

“He has a car.”

“Haley, you are too young to go into the city with a boy. I'm putting my foot down on this one.” My uncle's face was stern and I began to panic at how worked up she was letting him get.

“What if Charlotte came with us?”

What the hell is she doing?
Now my palms were getting sweaty. No way was I ever letting Charlotte come.

“Charlotte is the last person we-I mean you, can trust,” the words came out quicker than I thought them. I had already broken the one rule Haley gave me. She didn't even flinch; just calmly stared at me, forming a sly smile on the side of her mouth.

“Why don't you come with us then? I mean, what could make a date more boring than my librarian cousin?”

My aunt's fork clattered on her plate, “You want Anna to supervise?”

“If it means you'll let me go.”

“It's not safe for you girls, you're too young,” Uncle Tom was set on his decision.

“Would you be interested in going Anna?” My aunt was staring at me.

My mouth went dry and I looked to Haley for guidance. She only folded her arms and raised her eyebrows at me, waiting for my answer.

“I would like to go. As long as Haley buys my ticket,” I smugly replied back at Haley, adding the last part to make it seem close to how I'd normally respond. “Oh, and I'm going to need a tee shirt as well, maybe a key-chain too,” I paused, “And one of those flashing light things to hold up during the concert.”

“Anything else?” She muttered through her clenched teeth.

“I wouldn’t mind dinner before. Is lobster in season?”

“I'm not buying you lobster.” She looked to her dad, “So, that settles it. Anna will come with us.”

“I don't know...” he trailed off, his walls beginning to crumble.

“Please, daddy,” she said, looking like a lost puppy. “We'll eat somewhere in town, then go straight to the concert. We will even leave early to get there before dark and we can get a parking spot close to the entrance where it's safer.”

“How do I know this guy can be trusted not to try anything?”

Haley rolled her eyes, “Daddy, there will be two of us.”

My uncle was lost in thought, and Haley eyed me to speak up.

“Haley's right, we can take him. Besides, he's not that type of guy. I completely trust him.” I was proud of how confident I came off, even though my hands were shaking under the table praying this would work.

“Tom, I think it would be good for them to go,” my aunt spoke up, her eyes opening wide to get his attention, then in a way I'm sure she thought was discrete, moved her head in my direction. “You know, the stress of a new school year and all. It would be good for them to have some fun, be a normal teenager for once.”

We all knew she was talking about me, but I didn’t care. She could say whatever she wanted if it meant we were allowed to go.

My uncle looked at me and his eyes softened, “Fine, but I want to meet this guy before you leave. Have him come early to pick you two up.”

“Thank you, Daddy!” Haley jumped out of her seat and threw her arms around him. “You're the best daddy in the whole world.”

My uncle actually beamed. I couldn't believe how easily he let his daughter manipulate him.

“Thanks, Mom,” she went over and hugged her too.

“Oh, so it's Mom now.”

I could tell she was secretly thrilled. Haley kissed her on the cheek then sat back down, giving me a wink before she continued eating her dinner.

My eyes looked to Adam and he was beaming back at me.

“Two more days, Annie, and I get to feel you in my arms.”

Two more days. That was it
. I blissfully ate my dinner, glancing up to smile at Adam every other second.