My Night Breeze (The Breeze Series) (4 page)

“Where
do you want to go?” Tobias asked.

“Home…
?” Audra responded, confused.

“Jim won’t be back for
a few hours, and your parents aren’t home until late. You want to come hang out at my house?” he offered.

“Do you like your face? Jim would rearrange it.”

Tobias chuckled. “I’m not afraid of him. Are you?”

“Just take me home
,” Audra said.

Her day ha
d been strange enough; she didn’t need to add anything to it by not being home when Jim showed up. Or worse, should Jim find out that she went home with Tobias, end up the subject of a family meeting. Home sounded the safe bet.

Audra vacuumed the living room while Jim washed all the cars in the driveway. She knew that it would be easy to appease her mom by doing a few chores around the house as well as give her dad less reasons to speculate why she couldn’t go out for the night, not that he needed a real reason. She made sure to dust and clean the windows before putting all the cleaning products away.

“Are you going to make brea
kfast, too?” Mom asked.

Audra smile
d widely before heading to the coffee pot.

“W
hose party is it?” Mom inquired.

“Stephen
’s,” Audra answered.

“When?”

“Tonight at eight. I’ve done all my homework and chores,” Audra advised hopefully.

Mom sat
down at the table as the sound of gurgling reverberated throughout the kitchen. Audra went to the fridge, pulling out the creamer and adding the acceptable amount of sugar to the mug. After filling it up, she placed it in front of her mom who had a knowing look upon her features.

“Ho
w many people?” she inquired.

“Not a lot.”

“You’re not allowed to go to parties,” Mom said.

Audra sighed
, sinking into a chair across the table.

“You can
, however, go to a study group that seems to be gathering tonight,” she continued with a grin.

Audra hop
ped up and giving her a tight hug replied, “You’re the best.”

“I know.”

Audra went up to her room to pick out an outfit for the evening and then settled down to get some real studying done. Luckily, Mrs. Palamino agreed to extra credit to assist in her struggle with the course.

Later that evening, Audra head
ed down the stairs to the front door when it suddenly swung open. Jim and Tobias came to an abrupt halt at the sight of her.

“What’s up?” Jim ask
ed.

“Study group
,” Audra replied.

“This late? Who
’s going to it?” Jim persisted.

“How am I supposed to know?”

Audra tried to walk around Jim, but he stepped in the way. “Does Dad know?”

“Mom said I could. Unless you
’re trying to say her opinion means nothing…”

“Audra, don’t be like that. We just want to make sure you’re protected
,” Jim said.

“I have two parents. I don’t need a third
,” Audra stated.

“Chill out
,” Tobias butted in. “Audra, go to your thing.”

Audra walk
ed to Tobias’s side and gratefully nodded before making the walk to Stephen’s. One of the pleasant coincidences was that Stephen only lived a couple blocks away. With the temperature dipping lower with a cold wind, it made her appreciate the proximity. It didn’t stop her from zipping up her jacket higher by any means.

Stephen’s
house came into view, and Audra made quick work of going up the walkway and ringing the bell. Stephen opened the door enthusiastically. He pulled her in for a tight hug and shut the door behind them. The living room was filled with about twenty peers from school, and the music was turned up loudly. Stephen handed her a can of soda as she hung her jacket up on the coat rack, already understanding that Audra didn’t drink.

“Chris!” Stephen shout
ed over the music.

Audra watche
d a petite guy walk over with bleach blond hair and dark roots with honey colored eyes. Stephen’s eyes lit up, and it was more than obvious that this was the crush he spoke of a few days ago.

“Chr
is, this is Audra,” Stephen said.

“Hey
,” Chris acknowledged.

“Hey, nice to meet you.”

Audra sipped her drink allowing Stephen to enjoy Chris’s company while she people watched. She wasn’t really searching for anyone in particular. She was only slightly disappointed that Molly wasn’t going to be there. The doorbell somehow managed to ring louder than the music.

Stephen went
to the door leaving Chris and Audra by the dance area. His eyes followed Stephen towards the door, and it brought a smile to her lips. It seemed that Stephen wasn’t the only one interested. Chris flushed, catching her staring at him.

Stephen
returned with a huge grin of his own and a twinkle in his eyes.

“Chris, I’d like for
you to meet Mateo,” Stephen said.

Mateo step
ped closer to Audra’s side nodding his acknowledgment. His hair, styled in the usual wall of protection, surrounded him allowing the one-eyed contact. He seemed even more closed off with his dark t-shirt and jeans; the complete opposite of her teal shirt and light wash jeans.

“You both transferred in on Monday
,” Stephen continued.

Audra glance
d over at Chris as he leaned closer to Stephen.

“Lucky me
,” Chris responded.

Stephen began
to dance with Chris, leaving Audra feeling awkward standing next to Mateo. She pointed to the table filled with cans of assorted soda and beer; he agreed. While he picked up a can of soda, she tossed her empty can in the black bag meant for the recycling. She scanned the crowd searching for an empty couch or chair, but there wasn’t anything available. Audra checked to see that Stephen was still distracted before walking down the hallway towards the back of the house and out into the glass-enclosed sunroom.

Audra plop
ped down on the comfortable tan couch that overlooked the lush, green backyard. Memories of past summers spent running through the sprinklers or playing tag with Stephen passed through her mind. The peacefulness and security of their childhood was all locked up in one place.

Mateo sat
beside her sipping his drink while looking around the room. It dawned on her at that moment that they hadn’t even said a word to each other yet. A feeling of immaturity started to set in quickly, but why should she have to break it first? He hadn’t even said hello to her. Audra crossed her legs in defiance and pulled out her cell phone to check the time.

His hand reache
d out with palm up. She wondered if he wanted to see the time as well and handed it to him. He opened it up and went into the ‘Create A Message’ option and began typing. Audra furrowed her brow in confusion until he gave it back.

U’re quiet 2night.

Audra erased his message and typed back a response, showing him.

U’re
always
quiet.

He grab
bed the cell phone typing back.

Does that bother u?

Audra smirked and took the phone back.

If u’d prefer to be a mime, who am I to stop u?

Mateo reached out to grab the phone back, but Audra pulled it back, shaking her head. She was determined to make him speak first, and the challenge was slightly exciting. He started to pretend he was in a box with hand gestures causing her to chuckle. Mateo smiled widely, and his piercing started to gleam in the dim light. Audra started to lean in closer, inspecting the piercing, before she realized how awkward it looked. Mateo raised his brow in question.

She point
ed to his lip piercing, concerned. He shook his head indicating that it hadn’t hurt. Audra lifted her hand pointing to his mouth and made the talking gesture. Mateo smirked and shook his head. She made the pleading gesture with her hands and batted her eyes at him. He chuckled, still shaking his head. Audra couldn’t think of anything else to get him to talk, so she pulled out her phone again.

Mean!

Mateo leaned back against the couch with a sigh. “I’m not.”

“Mean or a mime?”

“Neither,” he replied.

A bunch of questions plague
d her mind now that he was finally talking, but it felt strange to bring it all up now. Even if they were alone in the room, he didn’t have to answer to her for anything, but she couldn’t curb the need for answers. Audra turned to face him completely.

“I saw you
,” she stated matter-of-factly.

“Saw what?”

“Thursday night. What were you doing walking so late at night?” Audra asked.

Mateo look
ed straight ahead towards the backyard instead of looking at her. She wasn’t sure if he was going to answer or not, but at least she mentioned it. An awkward tension started to rise between them.

“You weren’t wearing a jacket. You could have gotten sick
,” she continued.

He start
ed to laugh darkly in response. “It wasn’t that cold.”

“Do you do that often?”

“I have insomnia. The walking helps me sleep,” Mateo explained.

Audra look
ed down at her lap. Should she bring up that she saw him in the police car? She barely knew him; he had no reason to lie but no reason to be honest either. She bit the inside of her cheek trying to decide.

“I saw you…talking to a police officer.”

The words managed to come out as awkwardly as she thought them. She couldn’t think of how to clear that up so she wasn’t accusing him of something. She wasn’t sure how he’d take it, but now it was too late.

Mateo sipp
ed his drink not looking at her. “I had to take care of something.”

The growing silence was awkward as she wished she had kept her mouth shut. The information he gave was vague but she was still a stranger to him. He had no reason to trust her or give her that type of information. She looked down at her hands trying to get it together.

“What time does your game start?” he asked.

“It’s at three. You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”

“I don’t have anything else to do,” Mateo advised.

“Thanks a lot
,” Audra complained with a smirk.

He laugh
ed, starting to stand up, reaching a hand to her. She took it and followed him to the door, heading into the backyard. They silently breathed in the fresh night air, listening to the sounds of the night. Audra remembered the cold gusts of wind that assaulted her on the walk here and was glad to see that it had retired for the evening. It wouldn’t be such a terrible trip home. She looked down and noticed that she was still holding his hand. The warmth was comforting, an unaggressive connection between them.

Audra swallow
ed hard as she looked up toward the moon lighting up the yard before them. Her heart started to quicken against her will. Holding hands with a practical stranger shouldn’t be causing such a reaction. She shouldn’t be enjoying the time alone together as much as she was. She glanced at Mateo to find him looking intently back at her. A look of curiousness upon his features enhanced one of his best attributes, his gray eyes.

“What are you doing out here?” Stephen ask
ed.

Audra quickly tug
ged her hand back and slipped it into her jeans pocket. A concerned look crossed Mateo’s face, and she tried to apologize with her eyes. Jim had more of an effect on her than she ever realized. She turned to find Stephen and Chris pulling out cigarettes for a smoke.

“Enjoying the fresh air
,” Audra said.

Stephen glare
d at her for a moment before retuning his attention to lighting his cigarette. Chris let out a cloud of smoke and Audra stepped back, bumping into Mateo.

“Sorry
,” she said.

Mateo d
idn’t respond verbally, but she wasn’t too worried about it. She had bigger problems at the moment. Besides the fact that her best friend was dating a smoker, which increased his ‘social smoking’ standards, but the smell would now be on her clothes. She stepped around them going to the door.

“I
have to go, but thanks for inviting me,” Audra said.

She made
her way through the house and growing crowd, collecting her jacket and shutting the door on her way out. If she could get away with getting in the house without being stopped, she wouldn’t have to explain the smell. She zipped her jacket all the way up to her throat as she got closer to the house. As she started to walk up the walkway, she changed her mind and went around the side to peek in the window. There wasn’t any sign of anyone in the living room area.