My Night Breeze (The Breeze Series) (17 page)

“So you’re him with an
extra element?” she inquired.

“Yeah.”

“I think that fits you perfectly,” Audra admits.

“What?”

“You’re an ‘Element.’ That explains your powers, explains your difference between human and not. The perfect word in
my
language.”

Mateo
thought over the word before nodding an agreement.

“Is
he
aware of what’s going on?” she asked.

“As far as he knows, he is living his life. He doesn’t hear the conversations we have
, but he understands the feelings. We feel the same things.”

“How long
have you been in him?” Audra asked.

“Two weeks before I started here. Just before my grandparents passed.”

Sadness began to creep into his eyes causing her to reach out, placing her hand on his comfortingly.

“I’m sorry. Really
, I am.”

Audra cleared
the plates and cups, placing them into the sink and washing them. Mateo tried to do it, but she declined. He made breakfast. The least she could do was the dishes. She could feel him hovering behind her while she washed and dried, but it comforted her. He enjoyed being near her just as much as she liked being near him.

Mateo le
d her back to his room, putting on the TV for her to watch while he pulled out his sketchpad, doodling. She got comfortable lying against his pillow switching between watching the show and him. The way his eyes focused on the pad, the veins popping out of his forearm and even the gentle nibbling of his bottom lip piqued her interest. He seemed so comfortable in his own skin…even when it wasn’t his own. Or maybe it was now?

Slowly
, tiredness started to overcome, as her lids lifted less often. The fight to keep them open only caused her to surrender faster. Peacefulness surrounded her like falling asleep on a blanket under the sun. The rays left trails of warmth in their wake with a slight breeze or cloud to give a rest in between. The sounds of throbbing beat very low but close, just as further trails of warmth graced her skin.

Feeling the
warmth upon her eyelids, she rolled onto her side causing the low throb to become infinitively louder. A gentle material grazed her cheek, and she snuggled into it. She exhaled comfortably, reaching her arm out around the mass of material, clutching it closer to her body as a familiar scent wafted up into her senses.

Her lids lift
ed only slightly, taking in Mateo’s body pressed up against her own. He was lying on his back while she lay her head on his chest. The steady
thump, thump, thump
soothed her back into the lull of sleep as his hand rubbed up and down her back. The tingle of warmth only just made sense before all was lost.

A jolt shook her from the comfort of sleep. She glanced around the room in a panic, but nothing seemed to be out of place. The sunlight hid behind gray clouds darkening the room. The obvious change in weather caused her to groan deep within her chest.

“That doesn’t sound good.”

“It doesn’t look good out there,” Audra commented.

Mateo took
her in slowly with a tiny smirk before pulling her back to his chest. The closeness wasn’t exactly new, but awareness of it started to send butterflies to her stomach. She was in his house, all alone, on his bed with him; it didn’t get clearer than that. Maybe she wasn’t as alone in this as she thought. His hand lazily ran up and down her back trailing tingles, but it was unclear if that was her anxiety or not.

“
You’re tense. Is something wrong?” he asked.

She shook
her head against his chest.

“
You know you can tell me,” he encouraged.

“I’m worried.”

“About?”

Audra sighed
, trying to use it as space filler. All the words were jumbled up within her mind and could come out wrong. She could accidentally scare him off or give herself away. Neither was good.

“You said it was dangerous to tell me things. I hope that you know that I won’t say anything. I just worry that something could happen…and you’d just leave. I mean
, you haven’t even explained why you’re here in the first place.”

“I trust you
, but you really don’t know what you’re getting yourself into. It’s just not something I can risk,” he said.

She closed
her eyes, shaking her head in response. He lifted her chin until she looked up at him. He scanned her face trying to read her, but nothing was clear. She refused to look him in the eyes, terrified that he’d be able to read the meaning behind her statement.

“My best friend ran away. A cryptic message left behind was the only thing I had to go on. And I’m almost positive that they’re here.”

“Here on earth?” she asked.

“In this town.”

“Oh. Have you found them yet?” she inquired.

“I think so
, but it’s hard to tell.”

“If
this person is your best friend, why hide from you? Did you get into a fight?” she asked.

“It’s complicated.”

“You say that a lot,” she moaned.

Mateo shrugged
.

“Do me a favor?”

“I can try.”

“When you find your friend, don’t just disappear.
’Kay?”

Mateo held
her even tighter to his chest; a more thorough hug was never before felt. “I promise. I won’t just disappear.”

The s
ound of a loud bang caught their attention. She sat up, glancing out the window, but Mateo stood. Further bangs and loud footsteps made themselves apparent. Shock appeared upon Mateo’s face for only a moment before he went over to his door, locking it. Fear started to seep into her veins. It could only be one person.

He rushed
over to the window lifting it up. She hurriedly put her coat on, zipping it up just as a fist banged on the door.

“Mateo
!? Open this door!”

Audra slipped
one leg out of the window, easily reaching the tree next to it. Mateo held her hips, assisting in her balance until she made it safely onto the branch. The wind started to pick up slightly, but she made it down quickly. She glanced back up, noticing Mateo paying close attention to her.

“Are you okay?”

He gave a thumbs up in response.

“Text me tonight, please.”

He gave two thumbs up and a wave before shutting the window. Audra glanced around the backyard lined with bushes, making her way towards the driveway, carefully escaping the property.

*****

“It feels like it’s been forever sinc
e we’ve done this,” Stephen said.

“
Hasn’t been that long,” she replied.

“We’ve missed you
,” Chris admitted.

“Oh
, stop! It really hasn’t been that long,” she countered.

Stephen had
his arm firmly wrapped around her shoulders while Chris lay his head on it. They had been all over her since they stepped in the door. She almost turned them away with the new ‘rules’ set in place, but Mom made it clear they could come in for a while. Dad being out for the next few hours certainly had something to do with it, but still. For once she’d rather not be around her friends.

There wa
s only one person on her mind, and he hadn’t sent her a text yet today. She wouldn’t mind so much if she knew he was safe, but that was hardly a guarantee. She contemplated several times sneaking out to check on him, but her arms were aching from the climb earlier that day. Finally, at least he kept his word and got in touch, but it was the most minimal text to date. Simply put:
I’m ok.

Spending almost two
days with him had spoiled her rotten. She wanted nothing more than to sit beside him holding hands. She’d even settle for a short phone call just to check up, but that would be way past clingy into the land of overly obsessive. But wasn’t it normal to be concerned over someone you care for? Especially when you knew they lived in a lion’s den? Thoughts of him being hurt made her chest throb uncomfortably.

Chris sat
up, scrutinizing her features. “You all right?”

“Yeah, just a lot on my mind lately.”

“Valerie?” Stephen asked.

“No, I’ve been avoiding her.”

“It looks like you’ve only been spending time with one person,” Stephen continued.

“Stephen,
don’t start that again.”

“That reminds me. Have you
talked to him today?” Chris asked.

Audra shook
her head in response.

“There was an ambulance and a cop by his place last night. We were coming back from the movies when
we saw the flashing lights. Do you know what happened?” Chris inquired.

The throb had
become cymbals clashing loudly in her ears. Why didn’t he say anything? Worry distorted her features while she tugged out her phone. Her fingers fumbled through the keys until another set grabbed hold of hers.

“
Hey, relax! He wasn’t on the stretcher. Looks like it might have been his dad? Maybe a heart attack?” Stephen offered calmly.

“I’m sure one text w
on’t bother him,” Chris persisted.

“Don’t rush him though. Who knows what he is going through? He may need to have some quali
ty family time,” Stephen replied.

Audra bit
the inside of her cheek, wanting to run to his house as fast as her legs could carry her, but Stephen was right. Even if his dad did do something to him or worse, drank himself into trouble; that was his dad. The human Mateo would most likely be really concerned and upset about it causing his other self to feel it as well.

She put
her phone back into her pocket. Even sending a simple text to him needed to be done in private. Especially if he decided to come climbing in her window again, or she needed to go to him, wherever he was. She sighed, trying to get it together. Maybe if the police were involved, everything would calm down and get better for him.

“
Are you guys dating?” Chris asked.

“No
,” Audra said at the same time Stephen asked, “You’re kidding, right?”

“
Geez, I was only asking,” Chris responded defensively.

“You’d tell us if anything were up, right?” Stephe
n asked.

Audra nodded
even though that might not be the whole truth. It was the second time she had to lie to him since meeting Mateo. It left an awful taste in her mouth. Her feelings for him may not be mutual, and if they were, he had made it clear that it was dangerous. She wouldn’t be able to say anything even if she wanted to.

One thing wa
s for certain: within the last few months she’d collected more problems than she knew what to do with let alone fix. The only thing left to cling to was the hope that Mateo would stick around longer than not.

The usual lap upstairs did little to quell her inner tension while awaiting the arrival of her friend. Finding Ryan digging in his locker did give hope that it was just a normal school day—the routine nothing more than preparing students for the redundancy of full time work careers. A life surrounded by a paycheck and early hours…there had to be more to life than that.

Audra walked
down the stairs, continuing the first floor lap until she reached her locker. Pulling out her science assignment and book, she retreated to homeroom. Even in the distance, she could hear the giggling voice of Valerie and thought it would be better to dodge her than deal with her. Stephen didn’t accompany her, making it clear he was visiting Chris.

She waited impatiently as the
classroom began to fill up. The anthem and announcements played, but still no Mateo. Her hopes of seeing him were completely dashed when the bell rang, sending everyone on to first period. Searching the faces of peers all the way to science did little to soothe her worry. Why wasn’t he here?

Chris had
encouraged her to get in touch with Mateo yesterday, but she never did. She wanted to so badly but couldn’t do it. One day wouldn’t kill her to give him the peace of mind, the calmness of just being with his dad. He could deal with his problem without trying to calm her down over her own worries of him. Now she regretted not going to his house to check up on him.

At the end of the day,
she shoved her unneeded materials and books inside her locker. She dragged on her coat, zipping it just as voices come into range that she wished would disappear or at least allow
her
to disappear. Her hands shut the locker and twisted the dial as strawberry blonde hair came bouncing into view accompanied by Tobias. Walking home sounded better than the few minutes alone in the car with either one of them.

“Ready?” Tobias asked
.

Audra nodded
, knowing better than to speak.

Valerie huffed
impatiently while clinging onto Tobias. Audra made sure to stay a few paces behind them just to stay out of range of being tripped or possibly spit upon. Maybe the girl would just outright deck her in the face, who knows? She was as irrational as they came. Audra climbed in the back of the vehicle, buckling up while keeping her eyes scanning between her distance from Valerie and sights of Mateo walking around.

“So you
’re feeling better?” Tobias asked.

“Yep
,” Audra replied.

“You really should watch where
you’re going,” Valerie commented.

“You’ve never been so accident prone before. Are you sure eve
rything is all right?” Tobias asked.

The ride wa
sn’t as long as she thought and every second brought her closer to getting out. Something sparked inside…

“No
, not really, but I’m sure Jim has told you,” she replied.

“He’s as clueless as I am. Do you wan
t to talk about it?” he inquired.

“No
, I’m sure she doesn’t. I certainly don’t want to hear it,” Valerie sneered.

Audra grabbed
her backpack, placing her hand on the door handle. As he pulled up to the curb, she hopped out but walked to the driver’s side window. Tobias lifted his sunglasses, allowing his light green eyes to take in her face. She forgot how much she used to enjoy his company before everything went downhill.

“I’ll try
to be more careful,” Audra said.

“Good. Y
ou know I watch out for you no matter what.”

“It’d help if you picked
up your big feet,” Valerie said.

“It’d also help if
I wasn’t pushed,” Audra commented.

Shock flit
over Tobias’s face before irritation formed in frown lines. “What?”

“You’re not saying that I pushed you? I
did no such thing,” Valerie scoffed.

A
strange sense of security started to warm her chest, tingling throughout her arms. A sense of inner strength and courage started to overwhelm her in the best way. Valerie glared but didn’t respond. Tobias narrowed his eyes at Valerie but softened, tenderly looking at Audra. He patted her gently on the shoulder.

“I
’ll try to keep a better eye on you.”

“Thanks
, Tobias. See you tomorrow,” Audra said.

Audra stared blankly at her computer screen, once again drifting off into a fantasyland. It was a place where she didn’t have to worry about bullies or overprotective family members. She could have an uncomplicated life, filling her days with flower picking and nights staring up at the stars. Stars were so beautiful from afar.

The s
ound of her phone ringing brought her back to reality. The caller ID showed it to be from the one and only Mateo. She hit accept quickly, shoving the device at her ear.

“Hey! How are you?”

“Audra…I’m okay. How are you?”

“I’m fine
, but I’ve been worried about you. What happened?”

“Long story short, he started drinking. Pounded my door down. Took a few swings at me and managed to land a couple only to fall into the wall
, knocking himself out.”

“Oh
, no…are you okay? Is he okay?”

“He’s in the hospital. He’s been in and out of consciousness. The level of alcohol in his system keeps suppressing him.”

“Is there anything I can do? I feel terrible.”

“No, I’m staying at the hospital with him but…I just needed to hear your voice. And I figured you’d be worried.”

Hope started to flare inside from the sound of his voice but also that he missed her, too. He hadn’t said it in so many words, but it was clear. She turned up the volume to hear his voice clearer and louder. Even listening to his breath over the phone would keep the memory going for a while.

“When are you coming back to school?”

“Not for the rest of the week. I have to be here, but Ryan is dropping off my assignments for me.”

“Oh.”

“I have to get back to my dad. But I’ll keep in touch, all right?”

“Yeah, sure. Hope you both feel better soon.”

“You too, Audra.”

The line disconnected
, but she couldn’t remove it from her ear. She tried to hold the memory of his voice as clearly as possible for as long as it lasted. Should she move, the memory would get fuzzy. And the last thing she ever wanted was to forget a second of him.

*****

Audra walked to the curb as Tobias pulled
up to the front. The front seat was empty and he nodded for her to take a seat.

“Where’s Valerie?”

“Uh…we broke up,” Tobias advised.

“Oh. You al
l right?”

“Yeah. So Jim is sick?”
he asked divertingly.

“Apparently. I haven’t seen him
, but Mom let me know.”

Tobias shrugged
, pulling out towards school. The radio stayed turned down low leaving the open invitation of conversation, but it wasn’t utilized. Whether he lied about being okay or not, she wouldn’t want him to be in pain if she were the reason they broke up. Guilt started to make itself known leaving prickles across her skin.

He pulled
into the parking lot with ease having only a handful of cars already in place. They were easily ten minutes earlier than usual, and she took the extra time to relax fully. Jim wouldn’t be around, which would make things less stressful. Valerie wouldn’t necessarily be around either, which would be a pleasant surprise. But knowing that Mateo wouldn’t be coming in made it more difficult to think of trudging through the day.

The pressure
of a hand on top of hers caused instant tension in her back. Even knowing full well that he’d be one of the last people to hurt her wouldn’t quell it. She looked over, taking in Tobias as he lifted his sunglasses on the bill of his baseball cap. The tinge of irritation around his eyes caused her to wonder if he was truly more upset about the break up than he let on.

“Tobias, I’m sure that you guys can work out something, if you wanted to.”

“There’s nothing to work out. It was fun while it lasted, but she was a little too high maintenance,” he replied.

“That’
s why you broke up?” Audra sighed in relief. “Glad I had nothing to do with it.”

“But you did.”

Her jaw dropped at his admission and guilt plagued her further causing an almost nausea reflex. He clasped his hand to hers, but she was too inside her own head to fully notice the gesture. She blinked her eyes hard a few times trying to make sense of it all. She hadn’t specifically named Valerie even though it was more than obvious that she had done it.

“Do you know what kind
of person you are?” Tobias asked.

Audra shook
her head in response.

“You’re honest and kind. I’ve never seen you purposefully hurt someone. You try not to cause trouble and even put up with ridiculous standards from your family. I took your qualities for granted without realizing it.”

“Whoa…I don’t…I mean, I’m not—”

“I didn’t expect Valerie to be anything like you. Trust me, the girl is in a league of her own. But I had hoped that deep down she did have mo
re to her than what she portrayed to everyone else. I stupidly thought that maybe all girls held the same qualities that you have, just under layers of insecurity or pride.”

“
Tobias, what are you getting at?” Audra asked.

“I took you for granted. Spending more
time alone with her made it clearer everyday how much I missed your straightforward response. Jim is my best friend, but you are too.”

The last sentence sent
massive amounts of relief through her body. She never doubted for a second that she couldn’t trust Tobias. He had never betrayed her, unlike her brother, and stayed by her side throughout the beginning weirdness of her memory attacks. Considering him a best friend was as easy as considering him as family. She may hate the way things had changed—her rude outburst towards him—but in this moment everything seemed to be okay.

They climb
ed out of the vehicle in comfortable silence. He didn’t rush to escape her presence as when Jim was usually around. Audra attempted her locker combination, twisting the dial a few times, but for some reason it wouldn’t open. She tried two more times before she realized that it wasn’t the combination but the locker itself that was stuck. She tugged and pulled until it finally popped open; unfortunately, it caught her in the forehead.

“
Oh, wow! Are you all right?”

Audra could
barely open her eyes, the pain almost blinding. Tobias tugged her close, inspecting the area, but it hadn’t broken skin. She sighed, unable to put words together about the morning wake up call. A strange sound of chuckles caused her to look up. Tobias’s lips were smashed together, desperately trying to hold back the fit of laughter that seemed to be overcoming him. She shoved him back just as the dam broke.

“You’re a jerk
!”

“I’m sorry…so sorry
,” he said in between laughs. “But your face…priceless.”

“I hate you.”

He began to laugh harder and even though the pain hadn’t fully subsided yet, a giggle erupted from her mouth as well. Stephen popped up beside them in sheer shock of the scene until he noticed her forehead. He gestured to her forehead where a lump was surely forming.

“
Locker assault,” Tobias explained.

“Way to
start the day,” Stephen commented.

She tend
erly touched the area and winced at the pressure. Tobias assisted in getting her books exchanged before shutting the locker. With Stephen in tow, she made a trip to the nurse’s office for some ice. Even the nurse chuckled at the early morning visit. Stephen spotted Chris in the hallway and headed towards him.

Tobias started
to head to his own locker with her by his side. The seemingly effortless friendship seemed to be flowing through her. If Jim were here, there’d be no way that he’d allow his best friend to hang out with his little sister. And that was one of the best things about Tobias; he didn’t treat her like she was a naive child. He knew that she was her own person.

U
pstairs at his locker, she made a point of standing clear of it, which caused him to laugh further. He retrieved his notebook, putting in his belongings before shutting it. He placed his hand atop hers, removing the ice to check out the area again.

“You’re enjoying my pain way too much.”

“Yeah, well, something good had to come out of it,” he laughed.

“I
knew it,” an angry voice stated.

They look
ed up to find Valerie with red-rimmed eyes glaring between them. The normal, well-kept girl appeared more than fine, but her emotional state was practically written all over her face. Clarity came springing forth within seconds, but Audra had no chance to respond.