Forbidden: Book One of Wild Sky Saga (9 page)

She kept looking at it, then looked back at him. “I had a dream like this... I mean a lot like this actually.” Saying it sounded weird to her, but it was the
truth.

“Maybe that’s where I drew it.” He smirked slightly, making it seem
coincidental.

She quickly looked up at him, wanting to say something about what he had just said, but his eyes were so calming, unworldly. She couldn’t think when she looked at him, she could only see him. Aira looked back down at the picture studying it very carefully. “You can have it if you’d like,” he offered, then quickly changed the subject. He started opening one of the paper bags of food he got from his boss. “I hope you like lasagna. I also got Greek salad and there’s garlic
bread.”

“It’s actually my favorite.” She looked at him and held onto the one picture putting the rest back. She loved it, more because it was something he had done. She laid the picture down over her
purse.

“My boss didn’t steer me wrong then,” he laughed, pulling the food out of the
bags.

“Mr. Lee.” Aira
smiled.

“He told me it’s been the only thing you’ve ordered since you were
little.”

“You’re really thoughtful.” She honestly couldn’t absorb that she was there with him. He handed her a fork and her food. “Thanks.” She grinned
subtly.

Aira walked over to the hammock and sat down. He sat by the fire pit on the chair he had
made.

She opened the salad and started moving it around with her fork, then looked over at him. It was weird, he was right there, yet he still felt really far
away.

“Um...You never really said where you moved
from.”

Israel looked up at her while trying to open the
lasagna.

“Ah… before here we were in Bergen, but we were only there for a few
weeks.”

“Norway, that’s pretty far... what made you want to move
here?”

“We actually used to live here when I was really young… I remember.” He paused for a moment, looking at her in such a way that it felt like he spoke right into her. The moment he knew she felt that, he continued. “I wanted to come back the same day we moved. It was an overnight decision to leave. My Mom wasn’t happy about moving either, she’s always loved it here. I was pretty excited when they made the decision to come back.” He gave her a quick smile then took a bite of his
food.

“Why did you move? I mean… if you loved
it.”

Israel’s energy seemed a little tenser and the lasagna burnt his mouth. He started to rub his
neck.

“Um… some complications came up, personal matters I think, I’m not really
sure.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to… did they buy this property? It’s really beautiful here.” Aira wanted to change the subject. It seemed like a touchy
subject.

“Yes. My grandfather actually helped my father build this house before I was
born.”

“Really?”

“Ya, my mom didn’t want to buy a house, she wanted her dream house. She won,” he
chuckled.

Aira smiled. “Do you think you’ll stay longer this time?” When she asked, he could sense she was a little
worried.

“I’m not sure I could leave, even if they wanted to,” he answered with a
seriousness.

Aira smiled, looking away for a
second.

While they ate they took turns asking questions about each other. When she laughed, he started laughing. Her laugh delighted him, and the way he stopped and just looked at her, was like nothing else mattered to
him.

As time went by, Israel moved around to different spots, slowly making his way closer to her. He even sat on his knees on the ground in front of her, like they were two magnets slowly being pulled together. Eventually he pulled himself onto the
hammock.

The sun had gone away. For those few hours, nothing else seemed to exist. They were now laying together in the hammock talking and he was playing with her hand. She noticed that he smelled the same way as he had in her
dream.

Aira turned and looked into his eyes. She stared intensely into them. They seemed to sparkle more in the
night.

“Your eyes are really beautiful, I’ve never seen anything like
them.”

“I don’t really look at my eyes,” he laughed
lightly.

“You should. Right now they look exactly like that.” She pointed up to the stars in the
sky.

Israel looked up, then he sat up and turned to his side a bit and looked at
her.

“Let’s see your eyes.” Looking curiously into her eyes, his mouth half open, he
smiled.

Israel’s back deck light went on and he looked up towards his
house.

“My parents are home,” he said, looking back down at
her.

Aira came back to
reality.

“Oh crap, my parents.” She quickly tried to get up, the hammock flipped, and they both fell onto the ground. Israel was on top of
her.

“Are you okay?” he asked overly worried, moving her hair out of her face. He thought he crushed
her.

She laughed out loud and he sighed with
relief.

“I’m okay… I should get back though. My mom likes to
worry.”

“Okay...” He slowly pulled himself backwards off of her and sat on his knees. “Actually, I have something for
you.”

Aira sat up and watched as he reached into his pocket. He felt around nervously, and then pulled his hand out, making a
fist.

“I fell in love with it the first time I saw
it.”

He opened his hand and dangling on his finger was the most delicate white gold necklace with a very tiny white dove pendant. The necklace was very
thin.

“Israel...” she spoke almost
breathlessly.

He opened the clasp and reached over her. She closed her eyes as he put it around her neck, and goose bumps ran all down
her.

She placed her hand over it to feel it and just looked at
him.

“What are you thinking?” His eyes seemed slightly
worried.

She was nervous to say what she was thinking, but she did
anyways,

“I love being with you.” She spoke very simply, but all the emotion she felt came through her voice and through her
eyes.

He sat there on his knees looking at her for a moment, and in an instant he rushed forward and kissed her. His lips were so
cool.

When he pulled away, it felt like slow motion to her. Looking into his eyes, she then looked up and the Big Dipper was right above them. It was almost like they were sitting right inside the cup of it. She looked back at him and touched her
mouth.

“Ah...” he said, scratching his head and
smiling.

“What?” she asked, nervously hiding her smile with her
fingers.

“Your eyes sparkle too,” he
smirked.

Aira let out a giigle and shook her
head.

Israel stood up and held out his hand to help her up. They held hands as they walked back to his car, and he drove her home. The drive for Aira was like a long, drawn out goodbye she didn’t want to have to
say.

He pulled up to the side of her driveway and put his car in
park.

“Your truck is still at school. If you’d like I could pick you up in the
morning.”

“Okay.” She smiled. Even though he was right there, she couldn’t wait to see him
tomorrow.

“Hopefully you’re not in
trouble.”

Aira looked at the time on his car radio, it was
8:59pm.

“My curfew is actually at
nine.”

“Well that’s good, I wouldn’t want to leave a bad first
impression.”

Aira smiled and bit her lip. Looking at her front door and thinking for a second, she looked back at him and decided to just kiss him. She then pulled away and he smiled. She smiled feeling painfully shy because it was so unlike her to be brave in that way. She got out of the car, closed the door and walked up to the porch. She watched him drive away, then turned around and went
inside.

“You’re home late,” Maddy spoke, walking out of the kitchen towards her daughter, “you must have had fun.” She smiled. “Aira, where did you get that? It’s beautiful.” Maddy said looking at the necklace around Aira’s
neck.

Aira put her hand over it, knowing no matter what she said it was going to
snowball.

“Um...” she shook her head nervously smiling, “just a
friend.”

“Does your friend have a name?” Barry spoke up, sitting in his chair by the living room window watching T.V. Maddy
smiled.

Aira’s face was blushed and
uncomfortable.

“Israel… his name is Israel.” She walked and then ran up the
stairs.

Barry smiled at Maddy who shook her head and walked back into the
kitchen.

Israel drove home happy and content. He finally pulled into his driveway, then got out and walked into his
house.

His mother, father, and his two sisters were all sitting in the living
room.

Though his father had lighter skin like Israel, his mother was dark skinned. She was breathtaking. She had very short, dark hair and beautiful deep brown eyes. She was motherly but very
vibrant.

His oldest sister Naomi was thirty-one. She had beautiful black hair and blue eyes, darker skin like her mother. She was composed most of the time, like her
father.

Olivia, his second oldest sister was twenty-one. She had shorter dark hair and brown eyes and darker skin like her
mother.

“Where did you go?” his father
asked.

“For a drive,” Israel replied looking at all of them staring at
him.

His father looked at him as if he was studying
him.

“Israel, what are you doing?” he asked straight forward,
serious.

“Nothing… it’s
fine.”

“You know we can’t
stay.”

“I just need more time.” Israel looked at his father, knowing that what he was saying was true, but there was also a quiet look of defeat in his eyes. He turned his head away and walked left down the hall to his room and closed the
door.

“This isn’t easy for him,” Israel’s mother spoke up, looking at her
husband.

“Abby, we came back to make sure she was okay… Then we were supposed to leave. He was supposed to keep his
distance.”

“I know… but destiny can’t.” She gave her husband a knowing
look.

Olivia smiled, but Naomi stayed as serious as her
father.

“Barbecue?” Israel’s mother excitedly suggested to break the tension. She gave her husband a quick smile then walked into the
kitchen.

Israel laid on his bed staring up at the ceiling. He placed his hand onto his stomach, closed his eyes, and drifted off to
sleep.