Eternal Changes (Mikah) (2 page)

Ashton tried to swallow, but his throat was as dry as the Sahara Desert as his gaze followed her. She walked over to a large, flat boulder and lay down. Her eyes slid shut as the sun’s warm ray washed across her. The water on her pale skin glistened under the light.

Ashton shook his head. What was it about her that made him want to protect her? How did a simple favor turn into so much more? Ashton glanced down at the girl, his gaze softening. There was something about her that touched him to the core of his being

The sun was beginning to set as Lucy climbed up the front porch steps.  She looked over the railing and paused. The bright blue sky faded into a light orange, yellow, and purple as the sun barely bobbed over the horizon. She nibbled on her bottom lip as she looked across the terrain and thought about tomorrow.

Was she really ready to take on a new school? New people? Lucy rubbed the back of her neck as she leaned against the railing. What if she didn’t fit in again?

Lucy glanced over her shoulder as the front door creaked open.

“How about we take a ride to find something to eat, Luce?” Jean asked as she walked over to the railing.

Lucy looked at her mom and shrugged her shoulders.

An aggravated sigh left Jean’s lips as she headed for the car. “I guess I’ll take that as a yes.”

Lucy hopped down the steps and climbed into the car. She leaned her head back on the seat and stared out the window as they drove down the road. Mile after mile clicked by and not a building was in sight. Did restaurants even exist around here?

Irritation colored Lucy’s voice as she glanced over at her mom. “Do you have any idea where you’re going?”

Jean inclined her head. “Sure. I scoped it all out. We won’t have as many options as we’ve been used to, but it’ll get your belly full. There’s a McDonald’s and a Subway in town. You can take your pick.”

Lucy thought about McDonald’s and cringed. “I’ll take Subway.”

A small smile touched Jean’s lips. “McDonald’s is every small child’s dream comes true until they hit puberty,” she said as she glanced over at Lucy and then back at the road. “It shouldn’t be much further until we get to Greensburg.”

The Green and yellow Subway sign was a beacon in the black night as they finally turned into the parking lot of what appeared to be a shopping center.  Lucy glanced around the barren parking lot. How late was it? She looked down at the red numbers flashing up at her on the black dash. It was only seven-thirty.

Lucy followed her mom into Subway and the aroma of fresh baked bread hit Lucy head on. Her stomach growled and rumbled as she walked over to the beige counter.

“What can I get fo’ ya’ll?” a cute little brunette drawled in her southern accent.

 Lucy flinched. She really hoped that she never began to sound like that. The girl’s words ran together and Lucy almost needed a translator to understand what she’d just said.

Jean smiled at the girl. “I want the garden salad with ranch dressing.”

Lucy froze in place as a gorgeous specimen of the male species came out from the back to help finish up their order. She crossed her arms and looked down at the tile as a light blush stained her cheeks. She’d never been good at communicating with the male population. Lucy took a cursory glance at the small black name tag on his green shirt: Michael.

Michael rang up the order as he looked at the two women. Their northern accents floated through the air. His gaze followed the young blonde as she walked over to a table and sat down. Her head was bent down as she traced her fingers in a circle on the table’s surface.

He glanced back at the middle-aged woman standing in front of him. Was she related to the blonde? Michael looked over at the blonde again. She was average height, slim, had golden blonde hair, and had the most amazing violet-brown eyes. He slid his gaze back to the brunette staring at him as she tapped her fingers on the countertop. Her emerald green eyes flashed up at him in irritation as she waited for him to finish ringing up her order.

“Are y’all just passing through?” Michael asked nonchalantly as her gave the total for the two meals.

She handed him her debit card. “No. I bought a place out in Exie,” she said. “As a matter of fact, tomorrow’s my daughter’s first day of school as a senior.”

Michael’s eyes widened as he glanced at the girl sitting and then back at the woman in front of him. They looked nothing alike. “Will she be going to Green County High?”

A small smile spread across her face. “Yes. Is that where you go?”

Michael nodded as he gave the debit card back. “Yeah.”

“Would you mind helping Lucy find her way around the school tomorrow?” she asked as she grabbed the two sandwiches off the counter.

Excitement flared in Michael’s grey eyes. “It’d be my pleasure, ma’am. I’ll meet her in front of the school at seven a.m. slow time.”

“That’s great! Thanks,” she said as she started to walk towards her daughter. She stopped and turned around with an arched eyebrow. “What’s slow time?”

Michael couldn’t help but to smile. “Slow time is the lingo around here for central time. If you go up the road towards Campbellsville, they’re on Eastern Time. It only likes fifteen minutes to get from here to there, but they’re an hour ahead of us. Some folks in the county have their clocks set on slow time and some have them set on fast time. Just depends on where they work. So, everyone always says slow time or fast time.”

“That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard,” she murmured as she looked at him in total astonishment. “I’ll tell her to be at the front of the high school at seven a.m. slow time.”

Michael watched as the woman headed for the table. A smile lit up his face as he grabbed a broom and started sweeping up the tiled floor. Tomorrow was going to be interesting.

Chapter 2

The next morning, Lucy parked the car and stared up at the school. A million butterflies fluttered in her stomach while she rubbed her hands together trying to bring warmth to the icicles that were supposed to be her fingers. Lucy took a deep breath and climbed out of the car.

Teens buzzed by her as they made their way to the manila and brown building in front of her. Lucy chewed on her lip as she glanced down at her clothes. The knees of her jeans had been ripped out and the holes were glaring up at her. She touched her hair and wondered if she should’ve taken the time to control the wild mess instead of just throwing it up in a ponytail.

Something grazed her arm while she assessed her outfit, almost making her jump out of her skin. Her heart thumped wildly in her chest as she looked up into a familiar pair of beautiful blue-grey eyes.

“Hi, Lucy,” the boy drawled. “My name’s Michael. Last night I told your momma I’d help you find your way around.”

Lucy stood there staring into his eyes unable to say a word. He looked even better on his off time. The jeans he was wearing fit snugly enough to make her wipe her lips just in case she was drooling. His brown belt was faded as if it had been worn a few too many times. He even made the white Hanes t-shirt he was wearing look hot and his bronzed arms and face spoke of a summer in the sun.

“Are you alright? You seem sorta pale,” Michael drawled.

God, his accent was hot. Scratch that. Everything about him was hot. Lucy’s face felt warm as she looked down at her shirt and pulled off a piece of lint to keep her mind off how good he looked. She wouldn’t have been able to say a coherent sentence otherwise. “I’m fine. It’s just my normal color. I never did tan well. I just burn and go back to being albino,” she said as she shrugged her shoulders.

Michael laughed as he grabbed her hand. Lucy almost jerked it from his as heat pooled in the pit of her stomach.

“I’ll make sure you get around ok today. The school probably ain’t as big as what your used to so it won’t take ya long to learn your way around,” Michael said as he led her into the school.

There were kids heading in every direction in the halls and their country accents floated through the air. Lucy felt like she was in a really bad movie.

“Good morning, Mrs. Carter!” Michael greeted the woman behind the front office desk. “This is Lucy and today’s her first day. Do you got a copy of her schedule?”

The heavy set lady with black glasses smiled up at him. “How’s your momma doing Michael? I heard she hadn’t been feeling too well lately.”

“She’d caught some bug goin’ ‘round, but she’s doin’ ok. You know momma. Nothing can keep her down for long,” he said as he leaned against the counter.

“I’m really glad to hear that. Lemme get you that schedule. The last name’s Walden, right?” she asked as she flipped through some papers on her desk.

Michael looked at Lucy for an answer.

“Yes, it’s Walden,” Lucy confirmed as she shifted her feet. She hated being in school.

“Here it is!” Mrs. Carter announced, waving a piece of yellow paper in her hand. “Michael’s gonna take good care of you, honey. So don’t you fret ‘bout nothin’. He’s a sweetheart and one of our star basketball players to boot. He may even get to play for the Wildcats, ain’t that right, Michael?”

Michael looked at Mrs. Carter with a look of amusement on his face. “That’d be everyone’s ideal dream, Mrs. Carter. We’ll see how this year goes. I’ll see you around and I’ll tell momma that you were askin’ ‘bout her.”

Michael shuffled Lucy out of the office and stopped in the hallway with an apologetic look in his eyes. “Sorry ‘bout rushing you out of there, but if you don’t get in and out fairly quick, you’ll be in there for hours. Mrs. Carter loves to talk and she knows everything about everybody before they even know it their self.”

Michael glanced down at the piece of paper. “Well, looks like I have three classes with you. You have math first and I have machine shop. I’ll show you to your class and meet you at the door once the class is over. We have periods 3, 5, and 7 together.”

Lucy took the piece of paper from his hand and read through the classes. Some of the classes were advanced, but she wasn’t worried about it. School work came as easy as breathing.

Lucy looked up from the paper to find Michael staring down at her. He had a goofy smile plastered on his face. She glanced back down at her outfit to make sure that it didn’t have a stain on it.

“Is something wrong?” she finally asked him. “You’ve got a weird look on your face. If I have something in my teeth or a stain on my clothes, please tell me now,” Lucy whispered as she glanced back down at her outfit.

Michael gently pulled her head up until she was looking into his eyes. They reminded her of the color of the sky right before it stormed. “Everything’s as fine as frog hair, Luce. There’s nothin’ in your teeth and your outfit’s spotless,” Michael replied. “It isn’t every day that we have someone new start school here. Most people that go to school here were born and raised here. We’ve all went to school together since Kindergarten.”

Lucy was absolutely amazed that they hardly ever had a new student. It was an everyday occurrence at her old school.

“Come on. I need to getcha to your math class before you end up being late,” he said as he grabbed her hand.

“I’ll be right here when your class is over,” Michael said at the doorway of the classroom.

Lucy took a deep breath before she walked in. She glanced behind and Michael waved right before he left her view to head down the hall. Lucy looked around to determine what kind of cliques were in her first period. Their country accents floated through the air as she made her way towards the back row and took a seat by the window.

Lucy took a cursory glance of her surroundings. Everyone seemed to get along as girls and guys moved around the room talking to different people. Lucy glanced over to the girl sitting next to her. The petite brunette was holding a book that was barely holding itself together from where it had been read one too many times. The girl looked away from her book and right at Lucy.

A gentle smile lit up the girl’s face. “Hi. My name’s Samantha, but everyone ‘round here calls me Sam,” she said as she extended her hand. “You must be Lucy.”

Lucy was a little stunned as she shook Sam’s hand. “How do you know my name?”

Sam shrugged her shoulders. “Everyone knows who you are. That’s the one thing that people around here love and hate ‘bout living in a small town. Everyone knows everything that happens within a couple of hours. You’ll get used to it.”

Lucy tried to digest it all. She doubted that she’d ever get used to it. In her old school, she could get lost in the sea of students. No one ever paid attention to her and she actually preferred it that way.

Lucy glanced back over at Sam and noticed that Sam was waiting for her to respond to something that she’d said. “I’m sorry. It’s been sensory overload for me today and the day’s just beginning. What did you just say?”

“What made y’all decide to move to Greensburg?” Sam asked.

Lucy thought about it a minute before replying. “Mom said that she liked the thought of Greensburg. It’s a small town and less traffic. She figured she could write without all the background noise of the city to distract her.”

Excitement flared in Sam’s eyes. “Your mom’s an author? That’s the coolest thing EVER! I love to get lost in a book. Do you think I could stop by sometime to meet her?”

A small grin broke out on Lucy’s face. “Sure. That is, if you can find our house. I probably won’t even be able to find my way home.”

The final bell rang and the classroom became instantly quiet as everyone took their seats. Lucy looked outside and wished she was anywhere else, but trapped in a classroom.

The rest of the day passed by in a frenzy of activity and just as he promised, Michael was waiting for her after each class. He was extremely laid back and quick to smile. Lucy noticed that the girls were looking at her with envy as Michael sat by her during third period. She was sure they’d feel better once they realized that Michael was just doing her mom a favor and tomorrow he’d be back to his normal routine.

“So whatcha doing after school today?” Michael asked in a whisper as the teacher was finishing her lecture.

Lucy thought about it for a minute and shrugged her shoulders. She really didn’t have anything to do after school. It wasn’t like there was a mall in the near vicinity. She shuddered at the thought of it taking over an hour to get to a store other than Wal-Mart.

The bell rung and all of the students grabbed their books and scurried off to their next class. Michael grabbed Lucy’s hand to lead the way.

“Michael!” A drop dead gorgeous blonde shrieked as she came running towards them. “I haven’t seen you in forever! Your daddy probably had you out working on the farm all summer. Do you want to get together after school? It’ll be just like last year,” the blonde gushed, completely ignoring Lucy.

Michael glanced over at Lucy with an apologetic look on his face before looking at the blonde bombshell. “I can’t Alexis. I’ve already made plans to show Lucy around town. Isn’t that right, Luce?” he asked, his eyes pleading with Lucy as he glanced over at her.

Lucy looked up at him, trying to hide the shock she was feeling. Only her parents had ever called her Luce, but she liked the nickname a whole lot better coming from his lips. She slid a glance at the blonde who was staring at her. Lucy noticed the contempt in the girl’s eyes as she waited for Lucy to give some kind of a response.

 Lucy squared her shoulders and looked straight into the girl’s green eyes. “That’s right, I‘m new to the area so Michael offered to be my personal guide and planned out the whole afternoon. He might be available tomorrow though.”

Michael looked like a little kid who’d just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He smiled as he looked at Alexis. “I can’t tomorrow either. I’ve got cross country tryouts and I’ve made plans with Luce for the rest of my free time during the week.”

Lucy ducked her head, trying to fight the smile tugging at her lips.

“I guess I’ll see you around once you get bored with
her
,” Alexis hissed as she cut her eyes at Lucy before turning away and heading down the hall.

“Are there really tryouts tomorrow for cross country?” Lucy asked him as they headed back down the hall.

Michael nodded as he glanced over at her. “Yep. It’s always during the first week of school. I didn’t make up that part. Why?” he asked as he weaved around a group of girls that were already buzzing about what he’d just told Alexis. The whole school would know what happened within in no time at all.

“I’d like to try out,” Lucy told him as she held my books close to her.

Michael stopped in the middle of the hallway and looked at her. “You like to run?”

Lucy shook her head in the affirmative. “When I run, I can block out everything else around me and nothing else matters except for me and the finish line,” she explained as she looked into his eyes.

Michael nodded his head. “I know whatcha mean.”

Lucy couldn’t believe how quickly the day passed by. The next thing she knew the final bell was ringing, signaling the end of the last class. She walked out of the classroom and sure enough, there was Michael leaning against the wall, waiting for her. She tipped her head down to hide the smile on her face.