My Night Breeze (The Breeze Series) (3 page)

“Ready fo
r practice tomorrow?” Molly asked.

“Yeah, I spent the summer preparing t
o step up my game,” she responded.

“Maybe we’ll g
o to state this year,” Molly said.

“What do you play?” Mateo asked
.

Audra
smiled proudly. “Volleyball.”

“Interesting
,” he replied.

The group walked
out towards the parking lot after a few stops at lockers for their belongings. They stopped short of Molly’s vehicle, a small, white four-door. A light breeze kicked up and Audra zipped up her jacket farther. Molly fumbled with her purse for a few minutes before finding the keys.

“Shotgun!” Stephen called
out, going to the passenger side.

Molly unlocked
the doors and began to slip inside. Audra shook her head in response. She glanced back at Mateo to include him with her grin, but he appeared wary. She furrowed her brow in question.

“Get in! It’s cold
,” Molly said.

Audra opened
the backdoor, tossing her backpack all the way over and slid in, making it more than obvious for Mateo to get in after her. She beckoned him with a wave of her hand. Mateo hesitated for a moment before silently getting inside. Molly started the car and turned the radio volume down to a low buzz.

Stephen mumbled
about turning up the heat while Molly tugged on her seatbelt. Audra clicked her seatbelt in, but something didn’t feel right. She glanced at Mateo once more, and she noticed he kept gripping his hands into fists. He started to place his hand back on the door handle when she stopped him.

“Molly drops us all
off. Don’t worry,” Audra advised.

“I think I’d
rather walk,” Mateo replied.

“Do you live close?” Molly asked
.

“About a mile
, but it’s straight forward,” he said.

“Your choice
,” Molly replied

“It
’s cold though,” Audra complained softly.

Mateo look
ed at her with same tiny smirk as before. He leaned down grabbing his backpack, and it grazed her legs as he lifted it.

“It’s not so bad. T
hanks for the offer,” Mateo said.

Audra watched
him get out and shut the door carefully with a wave. Molly started to pull away from the parking spot. Stephen turned up the volume, singing along with Molly, but Audra couldn’t stop staring out the window.

Mateo started
to walk in the same direction of the car with his head hanging down, his face once more eclipsed. Even from a distance, she could see the tension radiating off of him. His clenched hands were roughly shoved into his pockets, and it almost appeared like he was talking to someone. It was such an odd sight to see.

Molly started
to turn the corner in the direction of Stephen’s house when a police cruiser pulled up alongside of the road. The officer waved Mateo over to the vehicle. Audra strained to keep her eyes focused but was shocked to see Mateo get in the back of it. A crushing pressure started to build in her chest as she lost sight at the next turn.

Anxiousness was wreaking havoc upon Audra’s stomach as she sat down in homeroom. The sight of Mateo getting put in the back of a police vehicle was burned upon her memory. She had strange dreams all night long of red and blue lights with eerie gray eyes pleading for help. In all honesty, there might be nothing to worry about, but she knew deep down that it wouldn’t stop plaguing her mind until she got some sort of answer.

Stephen sat
down beside her with wet hair and a look of irritation. She opened her mouth to question him when the national anthem began. The class stood in silence until the morning announcements began, but she didn’t get a chance to inquire. The door to the class swung open admitting another teacher who tapped Stephen on the shoulder.

Confused,
Audra looked up at Stephen, but he shook his head with further annoyance. He collected his things and followed the teacher to the desk for a few minutes before leaving. She watched Stephen’s back until the door shut. She glanced in the direction of where Mateo usually sat and found it vacant. Further anxiety began to wrack her insides. Where was he?

She
only barely got through her first period class, but near the end, began to crack her knuckles, a stress relieving habit for when she was on edge. When the bell rang, she bolted for the door and down the hallway towards the gym. Audra received a few glares for almost running over a few students, but she didn’t care. She was on a mission and wouldn’t be delayed.

Once at the gymnasium, she
quickly changed into her uniform and sat on the bleachers. She scanned the floor until Stephen walked out of the locker room. Audra launched in his direction and hugged him close. Stephen hugged her back, clearly surprised.

“Special occasion?” he asked
.

Audra pulled
back to look into his brown eyes, but there was no relief to the tension inside. She started to crack her knuckles, and he grabbed her hands, tugging her to the bleachers. He waited until she was seated before releasing her.

“I’ve been worried
,” she said.

“
I can tell. What about?” he inquired.

Audra th
ought about the strange reaction she had all night long. Constant worrying over a practical stranger, Mateo; and when she looked for some sort of comfort from Stephen, he was whisked away by a teacher without explanation. Did she really want to open that line of questioning? And with Stephen, any type of interest in the male gender would be an ordeal in and of itself.

She look
ed up to respond as Mateo walked out of the male locker room and headed towards the bleachers. He didn’t look any different than normal. When he was close enough to be socially acceptable to speak with, he went up the steps towards the top. He wasn’t speaking to them? Not even a polite hello? Audra glanced down at her lap. Maybe she was reading too much into things.

“Thi
s morning,” she finally responded.

“
I got caught having a smoke outside the main door. When a teacher spotted me, I tried to duck into the crowd and into class,” he explained.

“
I guess that didn’t work. Explains why you were wet, too.”

“It started to rain out of nowhere. No big
gie though. I got a warning to smoke in the designated area and a detention.”

“Maybe now you’ll quit?”

His smirk was the only response she received. She had spoken with him on several occurrences to break the habit, but it fell on deaf ears. Stephen explained that he was more of a social smoker than anything else. Audra didn’t understand the difference; smoking was smoking no matter the occasion.

Mr. Adams sent
them on the usual lap and stretching routine. Basketball was the sport of the day, and the coach broke the class up into groups. Audra ended up on a team against Stephen; he instantly locked against her in the forward left position. The battle raged on between them, but she managed a few baskets around him, scoring and winning for her team.

“You cheated
,” Stephen complained afterwards.

“How?”
she asked.

“Jim’s trained you.”

Audra chuckled. “That doesn’t count as cheating.”

“Distracting one of
my teammates counts,” he whispered.

Audra eyes widen
ed in surprise. She was too busy trying to beat Stephen to realize that she had been watched. She bit the inside of her cheek for a moment. Stephen would make a big deal about it if she said the wrong thing.

“Sounds like you were more distrac
ted,” she commented.

Stephen bumped
her shoulder in protest before they separated to their locker rooms. Audra began to wonder why Mateo snubbed her in gym. Did he not want to be part of her social circle? If that were the case, why was he staring? Or maybe something is really going on with him, something he doesn’t want to talk about? Her thoughts seemed to run amok while idly dressing for the rest of her day.

Audra shut the front door kicking off her shoes after waving thanks to Molly for the ride home. Practice had been rough
, or at least it seemed that way to her. She was in better shape than most of the girls on the team, but she could always improve. Coach insisted she work on her legs. Using stretches and exercises helped, but now she was dragging.

She
slogged her sock-covered feet towards the stairs when giggles echoed around her. Audra peeked into the living room, finding Jim tickling and playfully kissing one of the girls from school. Their parents were pretty strict about letting people in the house that they didn’t know well, especially persons of the opposite sex. She knew that this girl had never stepped a foot in the house before. Audra decided to go upstairs to her room and shut the door.

After hours of studying for her upcoming
science test, any type of appetite for food was long gone. She needed to keep her grades up in this class to keep participating in her sport, but she was having more difficulty than not. Audra glanced at the clock revealing the time to be a quarter to eleven.

Audra reache
d out to close the blinds when she noticed someone walking outside. She leaned in closely only to notice the person wasn’t wearing any type of jacket. It was just over fifty degrees out there. They must be insane. She squinted, trying to see any telltale signs; maybe it was a criminal? Who else walked around this late at night?

The person walk
ed a little farther away but seemed to drop something. Audra adjusted herself trying to get the best sight. The person picked up something that looked like keys, but their face was obscured by hair. They shoved the keys into their pocket but tension seemed to be running off of them. Audra peered so close, her nose rubbed the glass until a gasp shoved her back. That was no stranger…

Light green eyes gazed back while his hands fussed with his baseball cap. Audra leaned back against her locker with a curious look on her face.

“Where were you?” she ask
ed.

“Jim is staying late after
school. I’m going to drive you home,” Tobias responded.

“Oh.”

Audra looked down at her notebook in her arms. Jim never mentioned it this morning. Awkward tension started to make itself known. Audra relaxed minimally when Stephen came over. There were so many questions going on inside her mind, but there was only one person who could answer them. To be honest, she wasn’t sure she wanted those answers.

“Lap?” Stephen ask
ed.

She accepted the diversion from Tobias, which would prepare
her for the rest of the day. Stephen took the lead up the stairs; starting with the English wing, they began the circuit. Only when they passed by the science wing, her mind started to wonder about the upcoming test. She spent the whole night studying, but she might need to see if there was any extra credit she could do.

Stephen walk
ed into homeroom ahead of Audra, and she was slightly relieved to see that her new friend hadn’t arrived to class yet. She hadn’t really begun to understand what she saw last night. Anything in the realm of reality didn’t make sense. There was no explanation for any sane person to walk outside in such cool temperatures without the protection of a jacket. No one takes walks around midnight—on a school night, no less.

She walk
ed towards her desk only to be pulled to an abrupt halt. Leaning against it awaited the one and only Mateo. His lip piercing gleamed as his smirk widened at the sight of her. She bit the inside of her cheek and slipped into her seat, not bothering to say hello. If he could snub her, he could take it, too. She pulled out her notes in hopes of distracting him away.

“Good morning
,” he greeted.

His voice slowly roll
ed over the contours of her ears before leisurely going to the eardrum. Audra ignored him, flipping the page to find the right section that she needed for next period. Stephen had kicked back comfortably in his chair.

“Morning. Got any plans for the weekend?” he ask
ed.

“No
, not really,” Mateo responded.

“Yes
, you do. Tomorrow at eight,” Stephen encouraged.

Audra
pretended to skim the page in front of her, but her attention was solely on the conversation going on around her. It was so frustrating. He didn’t seem flustered in the least by her silence. A warm breeze passed through the room, warming her up slightly.

“Will you be there, Audra?” Mateo ask
ed quietly, leaning in closely.

Her amber eyes flick
ed in his direction against her will. She hadn’t realized how close he had gotten. It took her a moment, but she nodded, keeping her silence. Mateo smiled, letting his eyes rake her slowly. Audra bit the inside of her cheek trying to keep herself in check. It didn’t matter how attractive he was, leaning so closely, practically whispering in her ear…

“Cool
,” Mateo said.

The national anthem began
, and she stood up on autopilot with everyone else. Audra was acutely aware of how close Mateo was standing next to her; she could practically feel his body heat against her. She glanced over at Stephen who had a smug look upon his face; it made her look away. He must be getting ideas.

Mr. Donohoe
walked in just as the announcements began. His appearance was slightly disheveled, but it might have been the slack in his tie. Audra sat down in her seat and continued to examine her notes. She could feel Mateo starting to turn back towards his own desk when Stephen raised a hand. Audra could kick the legs of the chair out from under him.

“And Monday is the first home game
. Be sure to join us there, too,” Stephen said.

Audra narrow
ed her eyes in protest. Stephen’s smile widened from ear to ear in response. She began to close her notebook and shoved her seat back. There was no reason to deal with this. Neither of them had a right to make her feel uncomfortable. Audra walked over to the door silently and waited for the bell to ring before heading to class.

The day passed slowly
, but Audra was grateful to be collecting her things from her locker. She zipped up her jacket just as Tobias approached with his sunglasses and baseball cap already on. Audra slung the backpack over her shoulder and shut the locker, spinning the dial. She hadn’t seen Jim to discuss the ride home, but if there was a problem, she wouldn’t be the one looking for him.

Tobias led
her to his green truck in the parking lot. She climbed in after tossing her bag on the seat. The faint smell of fish assaulted her nose, and she quickly rolled the window down. Tobias started the vehicle and pointed to the glove compartment. She opened it up and pulled out one of the tree air fresheners, hanging it over the rear view mirror.

“Dad prefers to off road to the lake
,” Tobias said.

“At least he caught something.”

Tobias smiled while pulling out into the street. Jim would spend summers going fishing with Tobias and his family. It was the only time she was able to be free of supervision for hours at a time without the worry of being told on or scolded. Audra hadn’t realized how much she liked the alone time.

“Plans for the weekend?” Tobias ask
ed.

“Stephen is having a party
. It sounds like fun,” Audra replied.

“Does Jim know?”

“Not yet, but I’ll talk to mom first. That will help,” she advised.

“He really needs to get a grip. You have to grow up at some point.”

“I am grown up,” Audra stated.

Tobias flick
ed his eyes at her with a teasing smirk. “Of course you are.”

Audra did
n’t bother arguing with him. He knew the way things were settled at home and had been dealing with it for the last ten years. She had even overheard Jim scolding Tobias for looking at her for too long. As overbearing as Jim was, she knew the real issue behind it. It was the only saving grace of their relationship.