My Night Breeze (The Breeze Series) (12 page)

Noticing the gesture wa
sn’t making a difference. He sighed aloud stopping a few feet from her. His eyes took her in slowly just like the first day they met when she offered her hand to him. Hoping he didn’t try anything like that again, she took a stance.

“You have
sixty seconds.”

“I’m sorry
,” he started. “Not just for the other day. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Audra gritted
her teeth in response. “You don’t scare me.”

He tilted
his head to the side looking doubtful.

“You don’t scare me.
You terrify me,” she reiterated.

“I won’t hurt you.”

“Forty-five seconds.”

Mateo t
ook a step in her direction causing her body to stiffen up with tension. Words were meaningless. How many serial killers told their victims that same line? For once, she was grateful for the overprotective stance her family had put upon her, but it wouldn’t do any good now. She was alone with him; her breathing became shallow.

“Audra, I promise that I won’t hurt you. What happened the other day? You wouldn’t have been able to walk away from t
hat. I wouldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t.”

“How? I mean
, what are you?” she asked.

“I can’t
tell you. I’m just me,” he stated. “I’m not as different as you think. I go to school. Sometimes I tutor you. And sometimes I’m a jerk.”

She looked
into his eyes, trying to take in his words. She had thought that those things before, but everything was different now. He wasn’t the same person; he may not be a person at all. The thought alone made her stomach clench uncomfortably. He wouldn’t say the words, but it didn’t change anything. He clearly wasn’t someone she should be around.

“No, you weren’t. You were right. You told me to leave you alone and I did.”

“I’m really sorry about that. I was having a bad night—”

“I don’t care. You told me
, and I complied without question. Yet you won’t do the same.”

“You don’t understand. You didn’t show up
! How was I supposed to know you were sick? For all I knew, you could have called the cops on me or something,” Mateo said.

“They wouldn’t have believed me. No one would.”

“I will do as you wish, but I need to make you understand. I need you to know how dangerous it could be for both of us if you told someone,” he warned.

“If you stay away from me, I’ll keep my mouth shut. I swear.”

Audra felt his eyes searching her face for any hints of betrayal, but it was the truth. She never once thought about telling anyone what happened. Not just because they wouldn’t believe her but because she could barely believe it herself. The only trace of the incident was the scab on her arm, and with time that would vanish, hopefully with all the memories attached to it.

“I swear
,” she repeated.

Mateo nodded
, taking a deep breath himself. It was clear upon his face that there was more he wanted to say but instead he turned, heading towards the sidewalk. Once he was farther away, she began to walk back towards the front of the house. A light breeze pushed a few strands across her face, which she swiped away with her hand. Then, a thought suddenly stopped her in her tracks. She turned, noticing him just pass by under the street lamp.

She hurriedly walked
inside the house, locking it up. She quickly kicked off her shoes while replacing her jacket back on the hook. She headed up the stairs as quietly as she could, slipping into her room unnoticed, locking her bedroom door. She grabbed her cell phone from the desk and stopped the music from the laptop. She pressed a few buttons and hit ‘Call.’

“Audra?”

“I meant what I said about wanting you to stay away from me but…”

“But what?” Mateo asked
.

“I never thanked you for what you did. And I should have.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he dismissed.

“Still, thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

An awkward
silence befell the line, but she was speechless. The gentle rasp of his breath as he walked came through, but it still left her wanting to say something else. The distance between them left her feeling slightly brave enough to hold a longer conversation. It was the strangest feeling but no good could come from it. This was something she needed to stick to.

“Goodbye
, Mateo,” she said before hanging up and powering off her phone.

*****

The usual lap around
the building with Stephen lacked the comfort that it normally would give off. It might have had something to do with noticing Ryan at his locker upstairs that set off her mood, but there was no saving it once it plummeted. By the time they reached the stairs for the downstairs lap, Audra was already beginning to shake her head in reluctance. She forged her own path back towards her own locker, leaving Stephen behind.

Any comfort she was hoping to fi
nd once at the locker dissipated when she spotted Valerie with her tongue down Tobias’s throat beside it. Ignoring the scene beside her, she opened the locker, tugging out her science book before loudly slamming it shut. Tobias pulled back, breaking the kiss just as Jim came down the stairwell. Valerie smirked, pulling out lip-gloss from her purse. Audra couldn’t be bothered to look at either of them, not even Jim.

“Where’s Stephen?” Jim asked
.

“I don’t know, pro
bably with Chris,” Audra replied.

“How cute
,” Valerie mocked.

“Will you ta
ke care of her for me?” Jim asked Tobias.

“Sure
,” Tobias replied.

Jim nodded
, patting Audra on the back before heading to his homeroom class. Tobias looked at Audra with a content smile. Valerie glared between Tobias and Audra.

“What’s going on?” Valerie asked
.

“No
game today, right?” Tobias asked Audra.

“No, not today
,” Audra replied.

“Toby!
” Valerie squealed.

“Just gotta drop her off after school. Chill out
,” Tobias replied.

“Absolutely not! She can walk home or get a ride with someone else. I’m not wasting my Friday afternoon
babysitting,” Valerie complained.

“It’s not up for discussion
,” Tobias stated protectively.

“I can get my own ride
home. Thanks, anyway,” Audra said to no one in particular.

“No, I just told Jim that
I would. It’s fine,” Tobias said.

“I’m not your responsibility. I’m my own person. Jus
t do your own thing,” Audra said.

Before he could
make a rebuttal, Audra made her way to homeroom. The room was quiet even with a few people in it, but it was welcoming. She sat at the desk with the science book sprawled out. Her attention was only diverted with the usual national anthem and morning announcements. Stephen didn’t bother trying to gossip with her when she was actually being productive in the science subject.

A f
ew minutes before the bell rang, she cleared off her desk to allow more time to get to her next class. Audra glanced at the clock as she stood up when she locked eyes with Mateo. She could feel his gray eyes slowly taking in her face like a gentle caress. It was the strangest feeling. The only comparison might have been when the sun kisses your skin for the first time in the spring.

Two weeks had
passed since they last spoke, and he had kept his word about staying away from her. Even though he didn’t speak to her verbally, his eyes sent a greeting. The anxiety still worked her stomach every time she caught him staring at her, but the fear had dulled down along with the memory. It felt like air trapped inside, looking for a place to be released and coming up with nothing.

Audra had
kept her promise easily as her social life had slowly deteriorated with the ever-growing daydreams that seemed to take over at will. She swallowed hard breaking eye contact with him. Throwing her backpack over her shoulder, she walked over to the door just as the bell rang. She kept looking straight ahead, although she could sense his proximity. She never realized how aware of him she was until she was trying to ignore him. It’d been a rough couple of weeks.

Chris and Audra await
ed Stephen’s arrival while the rest of the school scattered around them. A pleasant smile sat upon his face, leaving Audra with a slight uplift in her mood. Just something about him made her feel good, and it was even better knowing that he had been making Stephen exceptionally happy. Chris scanned the crowd again before nudging her shoulder. When she noticed what had his attention, she wished that she hadn’t.

Tobias walked
hand-in-hand with Valerie, his attention focusing solely on Audra. She gritted her teeth ready to stand firm with her plan for the afternoon. Audra turned to Chris thinking on her feet for a last ditch effort.

“We could wait by your car. Stephen will know which one is yours.”

“He’ll be here in a second,” Chris said calmly.

Audra nodded
, not placated in the least, turning to face the doorway leading to the parking lot. It would have been easier if Tobias hadn’t noticed her. It only took a few minutes before she noticed him walking by causing her to sigh in relief. She already had one crazy, overprotective brother; she didn’t need anyone else trying to jump in. She shook her head at the thought of it. It was so stupid.

Without warning
, a sharp shove forced her to step forward, meeting face first with the door jamb. The instant it happened, she could feel the crazy numbing effect take hold. She clutched her face with her hand and winced at the tenderness of her nose. Her eyes began to water from the impact as the numbness started to wear off leaving the pain to take its place. Firm hands grasped her shoulders; through blurry eyes she could tell it was Stephen. A salty bitterness trailed along her tongue, and with a graze of her finger she could feel her split lip.

“Come on
,” Stephen said.

He guided
her to the bathroom to rinse her mouth. She didn’t bother looking at her face, knowing that the swelling wouldn’t take hold for a while yet. She came back out to Chris who kindly said nothing about what just happened. She looked around but couldn’t see her best friend anywhere.

“Where did he go?” Audra asked
.

“He’s han
dling the situation,” Chris admitted.

“What? What are you ta
lking about?” she asked.

Stephen appeared
from around the corner with a devious smirk upon his face. She searched his face to see what he had done, but he wouldn’t say anything. Stephen put an arm around her, walking her out to the parking lot and into Chris’s vehicle. Once inside, she finally managed to corner him.

“Please tell me. What did you do?”

“Valerie did that. I saw it with my own two eyes. I wasn’t going to let her get away with it,” Stephen said.

“What did you do?”

“Nothing she didn’t deserve. Let’s just leave it at that.”

The warmth of being cocooned in blankets made it almost impossible to unwrap herself from them, but the call of nature was now shouting a countdown. Audra took her time to unravel herself and walked into the bathroom quickly. After relieving herself, she washed her hands diligently then dried them on a towel. She made it a point to keep her eyes focused on her actions. It was too early to deal with the obvious in the mirror.

She retreated
back to her room, coiling back in the comfort zone of heat left inside the bed. Even with sleep not an option to recapture, the plan had been set for the day. Not leaving the house for any reason, let alone her room if she could help it. She hadn’t heard Jim stumble into his room until late the night before, and he clearly hadn’t heard about what happened. It’d be so much easier if he didn’t have another reason to worry about her.

A light knock on the door caused her to sit up. Mom came
in balancing a breakfast tray in one hand while shutting the door with her backside. Audra watched as her mom placed the tray over her lap and sat by her feet. A bowl of cereal with a glass of orange juice awaited her, and she didn’t hesitate to spoon the milk around the bowl.

“Morning
,” Mom greeted softly.

“Morning. Thanks for this.”

Mom nodded while Audra lifted up her spoon, eating her cereal carefully. The process was slow as the pain caused her to eat with the unwounded side of her mouth. Audra kept her eyes down on the bowl. She didn’t need to look up as it was evident that she was being checked out. Mom had been kind enough to assist her with ice the night before as well as assisting in keeping Dad out of her path. She finished her breakfast but refused to drink her juice.

“It’ll sting
,” Audra said.

Mom removed
the tray, putting it on the floor, scooting closer to her to inspect her fully.

“You’re lucky. No black eyes
. Your nose isn’t really swollen either,” Mom advised.

“My lip feels weird.”

“Takes time, but it will heal,” Mom said. “What are your plans for the day?”

“Studying.”

“It’s a beautiful day out. Why don’t you call Stephen and do something?” Mom asked.

Audra declined
, but Mom persisted. “You don’t have to hide. Accidents happen.”

Audra ke
pt silent while her mother lifted up the tray and headed for the door. Audra lay back down on her pillows, staring at the ceiling when her mom continued, “Call Stephen or I will.”

After a careful shower, she dried her hair and dressed in her usual home ensemble. She looked over her math homework for a long while, making sure everything was all set before starting her other assignments. Voices outside her door didn’t shock her in the least until her door pushed open. She turned to it with an audible sigh. Stephen in his handsome glory stood before her with a smirk. Mom shook her head from the door at Audra.

“Excuse my daughter
today. She hasn’t been herself,” Mom stated, narrowing her eyes.

Stephen waited
for her mom to leave before broaching the subject. “I’ve got kidnapping detail today.”

“I just need to study toda
y,” Audra said.

“An hour won’t kill you. Don’t be difficult.”

Audra ignored him, continuing her work when she heard him moving about the room. She tried to focus, but it was no use once he grabbed her up, forcing her to face him. He grabbed a brush and began working an awful attempt to cover her face with a long, sideways bang. She tried to grab the brush from him to no avail. Stephen used the curling iron on the new portion of hair as a bang, leaving a series of curls all around.

“I look like an idiot.”

“I’m not done. Try this,” Stephen encouraged.

He used
the brush to make them looser into more of a wavy enhancement than curls. The bang still looked awful, and no amount of brushing seemed to make it stay in place or appear deliberate. Audra tucked the lengthy bang behind her ear and used the excess to cover it, making it look thick but covering half of her face. Stephen smiled with the result, but she didn’t. It was just another ploy.

“Why don’t you call Chris to go out?”

“He will be here in a few minutes. We’re all going to see a movie,” Stephen advised.

A
udra opened her mouth, but he cut her off. “I’ll be downstairs. Get changed.”

Stephen left
the room, shutting the door behind him. Irritation at being forced out of her comfort zone ignited her mood. The only upside was that the activity was in a dark cinema. She changed into jeans and a long sleeve shirt with a cardigan before donning her jacket. Stephen smiled at her, but she wouldn’t reciprocate. They put their shoes on at the door as she stepped out to a car idling at the curb.

*****

Shutting her bedroom door, she lock
ed it before going over to her bed. Of all the crazy movies out, she never expected them to bring her to see a horror film. An hour and a half of hiding her eyes beneath her jacket were key to getting through it at all. Chris insisted grabbing pizza after the show for which she had no appetite of any kind and couldn’t understand how either of them ate a whole large together.

Audra removed
the cardigan before snuggling up comfortably on her bed.

A big han
d reached out in her direction and she recoiled with a great amount of anxiety blooming in her stomach. The hand kept searching, getting closer and closer when suddenly heat started to overwhelm her. The sound of flapping started up loudly; she opened her mouth to scream but choked on the searing heat. The temperature started to become unbearable, but even fear couldn’t keep her sitting still. She crawled out from under the table, but her eyes didn’t see anything.

“Come…” a gentle voice beckoned
.

She coughed
further, unable to catch a breath, when a tender hand clasped hers. Pulling her towards the door, the heat lessened with every step. The door suddenly tugged open and the person disappeared out of it.

“This way…” the voice called
.

She froze
at the doorway. She couldn’t move forward. Not a limb would move, even though her mind was screaming for it to do so. She turned back to look inside, but nothing made sense to her eyes. Her feet shuffled back towards the heat, the fear diminishing with a strange feeling of uselessness, when firm hands grabbed her by the throat.

Audra’s eyes open
ed up in a flash. A strong sense of wrongness, guilt and fear started to overcome her. Hot tears began to course down her face. What was wrong with her? A sob broke out of her chest, not just agony of the dream/memory but of everything put upon her. She tried to get a hold of herself, but nothing seemed to slow down the torrent of tears cascading down her cheeks.

As she rolled
over onto her front to quiet her breakdown, a ping echoed around the room. She wrapped her arms around her pillow. If any ghosts wanted her, they were going to have to drag her out of bed. The thought brought up memories from the movie, and she sat up quickly, glancing around the room. It’s not like she would see the ghost or whatever it was, but her heartbeat started to pick up.

Another ping
sounded and Audra glared at the window. It was not a good sign, but she decided to check anyway. She crawled off the bed towards the window, unlocking it just as movement caught her attention. Even in the darkness of the night, the lights within the room reached out enough to encompass the uninvited. Audra timidly lifted the window up.

“Are you crazy?”

“I’ve been called worse,” Mateo said with a tiny smirk.

“What are you doing here?”

“I bumped into Stephen. He said you were in a mood and for some reason thinks that it has to do with me. So I came.”

“I don’t believe
he would do that,” Audra stated angrily.

Her cell phone suddenly vibrated
on her bed with a text message. Audra went over to it, clicking read on the ‘Message from Stephen’.

Hopefully
u’ll have a good nite now 2.

Audra’s eyes narrow
ed into slits at the message. How could he? That was so out of character, so presumptuous, so stupid of him! She closed her phone chucking it back upon her bed, just as Mateo climbed through the window. She could feel her eyes widen to the size of saucers.

“What do you think you’re doing? You can’t come in here. I didn’t invite you.”

Mateo chuckled darkly. “I don’t need an invitation. Think I’m a vampire or something?”

“Just go away.”

Audra gave him her back, settling down in the chair by the desk. This was the second time he had broken the promise to stay away from her. If she were completely honest with herself, it was true that even without saying the words, she could see it in his eyes. She could feel him watching her through classes, in the hallways, but it didn’t bother her. The distance and the people surrounding her gave off the security she needed, but who knew if that was a figment of her imagination?

She swiped
her face, finally remembering that there may be streaks on it, and tucking the bang behind her ear. The silence behind her led her to feel secure that he left as quickly as he came. She looked up to see him standing before her, watching her once again with a strange look in his eyes. He leaned down, bringing his face as close as possible to hers before his gray eyes narrowed at her lip.

“What happened?”

Audra sat farther away, shaking her head in response.

“The first week we met, you invited me to be part of your life. You reached out, not me. I’m no different now than I was then.”

“I didn’t know what you were then,” she stated.

“And you don’t now. What’s really changed?”

Audra opened her mouth to respond, but nothing sensible came out. She knew now that he wasn’t what she thought he was. That wasn’t really his fault as much as her assumption, but why would she assume differently? Her mind spun but came up with nothing.

Mateo kneeled
down to eye level with her. “I want things to go back as they were.”

“How? I don’t know what you are. You won’t tell me. And I’ve kept my
side of the promise,” Audra said.

“I can’t tell you.”

“Then get out. Get out of my room. Get out of my house. Get out of my life! And don’t come back,” she snapped.

Audra slipped
off the chair leaving it between them. She went over to the window and pointed out of it. Mateo stood, walking over to the window and stuck one leg out, sitting on the sill. She folded her arms across her chest waiting to shut the window when he surprised her.

“I can’t tell you. Not just because it’s dangerous. Not because I don’t trust you. And not because of any other reason you’re thinking of.”

He rubbed his hands against his jean-clad thighs for a moment. “There are no words in this language that would even come close to doing it justice. There’s no way of telling you other than that I’m different. I’m just me.”

With a twinkle in his eye, he slip
ped out quietly into the tree, climbing down. Audra couldn’t help but watch him until he reached the bottom. He glanced up toward her but wouldn’t say anything. She had no words to give either. She watched him walk away, and not until he disappeared from sight did she shut the window.

*****

Stephen brought coffee over to the table where Audra and Chris sat. Chris insisted on getting a hot chocolate with whipped cream, which made Stephen chuckle. Audra settled with her cup, getting right to business.

“You know I could kill you for the stunt you pulled last night.”

“I’d be afraid if only you could stop smiling,” Stephen replied.

“I’m not.”

“Not with your mouth,” Chris commented.

“I figured if you were mad, you’d have told me last night. I heard nothing
, so I figured I was forgiven,” Stephen said.

“And the coffee?”
she asked.

“Breakfast
,” Stephen replied.

A
udra sipped her coffee, trying to ignore Stephen’s gloating. She wasn’t so sure anything had been sorted out. Stephen, out of everyone, should have understood that what he did was wrong on so many levels. Jim could have seen something or worse, Dad could have come across Mateo walking the property. No, nothing was okay with how he handled last night, but for some reason she couldn’t voice how annoyed she was about it.

“So it went well?” Chris asked
.

“We talked
,” Audra admitted.

“Which in her language means yes
,” Stephen chimed in.

Stephen chuckled at Chris as he ducked his head. Audra had
never had any type of ‘boy’ talk and even in the minimalist circumstances only spoke of it with Stephen. Chris sipped his drink and met eyes with her, trying to apologize. She shook it off. He was only trying to be kind, and since he was with Stephen, it was to be expected that relationship talk would be part of the deal.