Forbidden: Book One of Wild Sky Saga (19 page)

Israel stopped moving the pen on his page and he turned and looked at her. “The
truth?”

Aira looked away for a second, feeling uncomfortable.
“Yes.”

Israel smiled, “It’s always been her.” He looked over to the door, then Aira looked to the door, and Mary stood outside giving him a smile, blew him a kiss, then walked
away.

Aira’s heart dropped into her stomach. She turned around and didn’t say any
more.

The hour dragged on forever. Distracted by her own thoughts, she couldn’t even
think.

Finally the bell rang. The sound pierced
her.

Israel got out of his desk and walked out the
door.

“Right,” she said to herself. She grabbed her books and walked
out.

Class after class, Aira sat in pain struggling to make it through hour by hour. The day finally ended and the last bell rang. Aira walked to her locker, filled her bag and waited for
Avery.

She could hear Avery’s laugh as she walked up with Joshua, and Aira smiled at
them.

“You’re smiling?” Avery said confused, but happy to see
it.

“Seeing you guys calms me in a weird
way.”

“Long day?” Joshua
asked.

“Ya,” Aira
replied.

“Well, let’s get out of here,” Avery said
dramatically.

Aira couldn’t help but smile, and they all walked out of the school
together.

As they walked, Aira stopped. She saw the girl sitting on Israel’s car as he stood in between her
legs.

Avery looked over and said, “Aira, don’t even look.” Aira turned her head away and they walked to Joshua’s
car.

Jaidas walked over. “Hey guys, ladies, bro?” he said, feeling like a nervous
idiot.

Aira shook her head and smiled at his unintentional charismatic
personality.

“I love your smile,” Jaidas said, looking at her like she was everything to him. She almost felt sorry for
him.

Joshua was moving things around in his back seat to make room for
Aira.

Jaidas noticed there wasn’t much room and he looked at
Aira.

“I’ll take you,” he said
hopeful.

Aira looked at him. “I do have my own
vehicle.”

Jaidas looked around, looked over to Israel, then looked back at
Aira,

“Ya, but that wouldn’t be as fun. You guys going to The Moose?” he asked Avery and
Joshua.

“Yaa...” Avery answered as she looked at
Aira.

Jaidas quickly grabbed onto Aira’s hand, and pulled her towards his
car.

“We’ll meet you there,” he shouted at them. He opened the passenger door for Aira, and she looked at him like he better behave, and that it meant
nothing.

He looked at her. “What?” he asked, like a guilty little boy with a
smile.

“Nothing.” she said. He knew what it meant and she got in. Jaidas smiled and walked over to the driver’s
side.

He looked over to where Israel and Mary were. Israel’s back was turned towards him. Jaidas couldn’t see Mary, he saw
Cleo.

Cleo looked over at Jaidas looking at her. His eyes were dead serious, a, ‘back off’ kind of
look.

Aira kept her head forward. Jaidas got into his car, turned it on, put on his seat belt, and pulled out of the parking
lot.

Israel picked Mary up by her bum and walked with her over to the passenger side of his car. He opened the door and put her down in her seat. Grabbing onto her seat belt, he pulled it around her and his vision went into slow motion. With eyes blacker than the night, he looked at her and she smiled. He closed the door, and walked over to his side of the car to get in. Just as he was getting in, a black feather fell out from underneath his sweater onto the
ground.

Jaidas and Aira got out of the car as Avery and Joshua got out of theirs. He smiled at her, aware that she was upset. He put his arm around her trying to give comfort, and they all walked into the coffee
shop.

Everyone was there, all of their friends, happy to see them. They got up and hugged her and Avery, and shook Joshua’s
hand.

Joshua gave Avery a look — he didn’t particularly want to hang out with
them.

Harlem patted Jaidas on the back, Avery and Aira sat down, and Jaidas and Joshua went to order them some food and
drinks.

Avery smiled at Aira, and Aira smiled back. She seemed to feel a sense of
relief.

Israel drove out to his house with Mary. She looked out the window at all the trees. The leaves were beginning to change color as fall was arriving. Israel looked straight ahead, almost zombie-like. He pulled into his driveway, put his car into park, and shut it off. Not saying a word, he got out and opened the door for
Mary.

As she got out, Nehemiah was peeking through the blinds
watching.

Abby walked in and seen Nehemiah watching. She walked up and looked through the
blinds.

“I see.” They walked out into the kitchen and Abby continued preparing a meal. They heard the door open and the girl’s laughter. When Israel walked into the kitchen, his father looked him in the eyes. They looked cold. Mary stepped
forward.

“Hello, Mr. and Mrs, Shaylam. It’s nice to finally meet you,” she spoke with a
smile.

Nehemiah just stared at Mary. He couldn’t see Cleo, but he could sense something very familiar. His stare was making her feel somewhat
uncomfortable.

“Israel, I’m making a nice dinner if you and your friend would like to join us?” Abby tried to break the awkwardness. Israel grabbed onto Mary’s hand and smiled at
her.

“I would really love that,” Mary smiled at
Abby.

“Great,” Abby responded as she looked at Nehemiah, then back at Mary. Abby smiled with a bit of
discomfort.

“Is there anything I could help you with?” Mary
asked.

“She likes to cook,” Israel
added.

“Ya, that would be great, and please, call me Abby,” she smiled, grabbed an apron, and handed it to Mary, then she walked over to the counter. Mary followed. Abby opened the cupboard looking for
something,

“I’m out of paprika, I can’t make my famous salad without it,” Abby said, looking
at

Nehemiah.

“I’ll go get you some,” Nehemiah spoke up as he grabbed his keys, and made a head movement towards Israel to
Abby.

“Honey, go with your father. Let us girls have some bonding
time.”

Israel looked at
Mary.

“I’ll be fine,” Mary
said.

Israel walked over and kissed Mary on the head and he walked out with his father. They walked up to Nehemiah’s truck and Nehemiah waited for Israel to get in. Israel jumped in and shut the door. Nehemiah looked back at the house, and then he got
in.

Most of the drive was silent. Israel stared out the window, and every once in a while Nehemiah looked over at his son. He tried to think of something he could say to
him.

“She seems nice,” his father spoke to try and break the
ice.

“Ya. She’s great, she’s perfect,” he answered, in a calm tone still looking out the
window.

“Israel, I’m your father. I’ll always be behind you, and I love you no matter what.” Nehemiah kept his eyes on the
road.

“I know,” Israel replied, and there was silence
again.

They finally reached town, and as they drove past the coffee shop, Israel saw Jaidas, Aira, Avery and Joshua walking out. His vision went into slow motion as he looked at Aira. Aira looked up and saw him. He closed his eyes for a second and then looked
away.

They eventually pulled into Cooper’s parking lot, the other grocery store in
Hope.

David was walking with his mom to her SUV with a cart full of groceries, and spotted Israel while his mother was opening her
trunk.

Israel and his father walked by them and David turned towards them. “Israel!” David shouted. Israel turned around and looked at him. Maddy watched, and Nehemiah stood
there.

“You broke her heart,” David said as he shook his head. He looked sad and
disappointed.

Israel turned around and began to walk away. Nehemiah still stood there and looked at
David.

David reached into his pocket and pulled out a small rock. He then reached into his back pocket and pulled out his slingshot. He loaded the rock into it, lifted it, aiming for the back of Israel’s head. He slowly pulled the band back and let it go. It hit Israel, who stopped, put his hand onto the back of his head and rubbed it. He turned around and David just stared at
him.

“David!” Maddy spoke. “What are you doing?” she asked him, completely
baffled.

Israel turned around and walked into the
store.

Maddy looked at Nehemiah, “I’m so sorry,” she mouthed to
him.

Nehemiah smiled at her and he watched David get into the
vehicle.

David looked out the window at Israel’s father. Nehemiah winked and smiled at him giving him a ‘good for you’ nod. Then he turned and walked into the
store.

Maddy stood there in shock. She shook her head and then got into her
vehicle.

Abby was chopping tomatoes, and Mary was chopping parsley. There was a quiet
awkwardness.

Abby grabbed some pasta and threw it into a pot of boiling
water.

“So how long have you lived around here?” Abby asked
her.

“We actually just moved here,” Mary
replied.

“Oh really? Where
from?”

“Um…” Mary didn’t expect her to ask, she had to quickly think of something, “Italy,” she
replied.

“I love Italy, what
part?”

Mary got even more nervous, but the one thing Cleo was known for was her temper. She hated being put on the spot. She closed her eyes for a moment to compose herself, but was having a hard
time.

“Are you okay?” Abby
asked.

Mary looked up, “Ya, um…Tuscany,” she finally
answered.

Abby just smiled to herself, “I’ve always loved
Tuscany.”

“Ya, it’s beautiful.” Mary knew that they knew exactly what was going
on.