Outsider (Outsider Series) (2 page)

I pulled into the neighborhood and quickly found Gram’s qua
i
nt but cute pale yellow house. As I pulled up I could see her sitting on the little white front porch rocking in
a
rocking chair that she got one summer at Cracker Barrel. Seeing me she jumped up and waved enthusiastically. I pulled into the driveway and hopped out of the car. I ran into her welcoming arms like a little kid. She kissed the top of my head and then held me at arm’s length.

“Wow, my child, you’re taller every time I see you! What are you now six foot?” she said.

I laughed, “No, gram. I’m actually five-ten.”

“Close enough,” she said giving me a huge smile, “Sophie it’s so good to have you here.”

“It’s good to have a home,” I said.

She got a sad look and said, “Remember Sophie, it’s the people that make the home not the place.”

I gave her a small smile, “Then this should be the best home yet,” I said.

“That’s the spirit,” she said patting my shoulder.

She helped me carry my
bags
in from the car. We put it all in the guest room that would now be my room.

“Your dad called and he told me to tell you to go ahead and use his card to buy some stuff to fix up the room to suit you.”

I smiled, “That was nice of him but it’s your house. I doubt you want me changing stuff.”

“Oh no dear, go right on ahead. In fact I got you a gift card to the hardware store down the road for you to get some paint.
I doubt you want this color. And just so you know I was planning on redoing this room anyway. So, now I don’t have to pay for it. Just don’t tell your dad,” she laughed.

“You’re the best Gram,” I said. Looking around the room I was grateful that my dad was going to give me the money to fix up the room. The walls were an old faded blue that was peeling in places. There were leak spots on the ceiling. The bedspread was old and had been there for years.
At one point it had been white but now looked yellow.
There was still a nail polish stain on the
wicker
dresser. It needed work.
A lot of work.

“I made your favorite for dinner,” Gram said.

“You mean,” I said my eyes dreamy, “Your famous spaghetti?”

“The one and only,” she said.

“I love you,” I said running to the kitchen. I could immediately smell the heavenly scent of Gram’s own spaghetti sauce recipe. My mouth began to salivate. “Can we eat now?” I asked.

“Of course,” she said.

We sat down at the table together. Everything was just as I remembered it. From the yellow walls to the rooster salt and
pepper shakers
. This was the only place that ever felt like home to me. We moved around too much for me to permanently get
too
attached to one place. Moving never got easier but I did get used to it which helped. Whenever we moved I knew we probably wouldn’t stay for more than six months. The most we ever stayed in one place was a year.  But every summer I would come and stay at Gram’s house. I looked forward to it every year. I hadn’t spent the whole summer here this year because I wanted to spend as much time as I could with my mom and dad. I probably wouldn’t get to see them again until graduation. The thought saddened me but I knew living here was for the be
st
.

Spooning spaghetti onto my plate Gram said, “I’ll need you to work at the shop while you’re here.
After school and a little on the weekends.
I just really need the help and of course I’ll pay you well,” she smiled.

Gram owned her own little store not far from here. It was called Lucinda’s. Lucinda was my Gram’s first name. Her specialty was cupcakes. Gram made the best cupcakes in the world. Actually, Gram made the best of everything. But she also sold little sandwiches and had the store set up for people to sit and read or write or just hang out.

Sprinkling cheese onto my food I said, “I love working at your shop Gram. It’s so magical and special. It’s my second favorite place in t
he world,” I said taking a bite “Oh my God this is so good,” I moaned.

Gram laughed, “Glad you like it,” she nodded to my heaping spoon, “So what’s your favorite place?” she asked.

I shrugged, “Here of course.”

She laughed, “What’s so special about here?”

“I don’t know,” I said, “You’re here. And promise not to laugh?”

“Cross my heart,” she said.

“I just… I don’t know… I feel connected to this place.
Like- like I belong here or something.
I know it sounds silly
but it’s
the truth.”

Gram’s face became very serious as she listened. Her eyes darkened and she became grim, “There’s nothing silly about the truth, my dear.”

two
.

             
That night I settled into bed. I was extremely tired and I knew that I would have a rough couple of days ahead of me with preparing for school and my new life here. Pulling the blankets back from the bed I climbed in and scooted under the covers. I thought for sure that I would fall asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow but that didn’t happen.

First I heard the howling of wolves.
Then one wolf.
The lone wolf sounded like it was right outside.

But wolves don’t live in Virginia.

Then I heard something scraping at my window.

I tried to convince myself it was a tree blowing against the window but I knew better. There was only one tree in Gram’s back yard and it was nowhere near this window.

After that I heard the breathing.
Heavy, shallow, desperate breathing.
My heart rate accelerated. I squished my eyes shut and covered my ears with my hands. But that just let my imagination take over. I felt like a little kid who thought there were monsters under her bed.

“Calm down, Sophie. It’s just the wind. You’re
getting worked up over nothing,” I said to myself.

Then there was the banging at the front door.

I screamed bloody murder.

“Oh my God, Sophie. Are you okay?”
asked Gram flying into my room.

I clutched at my chest my breathing ragged. “Do I look okay? Who is at the door at this time of night?”

Gram gave me a funny look. “Sophie, there’s no one at the door.”

Now I gave her a funny look, “Are you kidding me? It sounded like someone was trying to break the door down.”

Gram sat down on the edge of the bed. She tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. “Honey, I think you were dreaming. Just go back to sleep.”

“Dreaming? But it was so real,” I said to her in disbelief.

“Some dreams are,” she said standing up. “You’ve had a long day. You’re tired and your brain just took advantage that’s all.”

“Yeah, I’m sure that’s it,” I said but I felt like she was hiding something from me.

She left; closing the door behind her.

I could have sworn I heard her open the front door and talk to someone but I was too tired to get up and investigate. After all it was probably just my over active imagination taking over.
             
I pulled the covers tighter against my body
.

This time I did fall asleep. My sleep was restless and dream filled.

Golden eyes watched me from the darkness. They were always there. I could not escape their glare. I couldn’t tell what creature the strange golden eyes belonged to but I knew that it wasn’t human. Anger rolled off of it in tumultuous waves.
The instinct to run flowed through my body but my legs were leaden. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe. I was frozen by the golden eyes. I knew I should run but even if I could move my feet the result would be disastrous. If I tried to flee I knew the creature would lunge out of the darkness and attack me. It probably would even if I didn’t move.
This creature was malicious and it wanted me. All I could see of it was its strange eyes but I tried not to show fear. This creature fed off of fear. I would not be afraid. I had to be strong.

I felt like the dream would never end but eventually it did. I woke up to the feeling of eyes glued to me. Goosebumps began to cover my arms. I was start
ing to question my move here. I hadn’t even been here a whole day and I was already becoming paranoid. I hoped my paranoia was without reason.

I could smell the delicious melody of crackling
bacon coming from the kitchen and decided to jump in the shower before I had breakfast. I towel dried my hair and let my natural
soft
waves roll down my shoulders.
I pulled
on a pair of jeans and a
t-shirt and
put on some make up to hide the dark circles under my eyes
, normally I wore little to no makeup
. Deeming
myself ready
I headed to the kitchen.

I kissed Gram on the cheek. “Something smells delicious,” I said.

She smiled. “Good morning, Sophie,” she said and deposited some eggs and bacon onto my plate.

“Thanks,” I said. “You didn’t have to make breakfast.”

“Oh, I know,” she said. “But I have someone covering the store this morning. I’ll need you to go in though around twelve o’ clock. I have some things I have to take care of.”

“Okay,”
I said and took a bite. “You have got to be the best cook ever,” I moaned in ecstasy.

Gram laughed. “From what your dad says you’re a pretty good cook yourself.”

I blushed. “I learned all I know from you.”

“Oh, I doubt that,” she said settling herself into the chair across from me. She had her gray hair pulled back into a bun. Laugh lines framed her eyes and mouth but she still managed to loo
k young. She seemed to exude this
aura of peace and tranquility.

I finished my plate and then cleaned it. “I’
m going to start un
packing before I head over to the store,” I said.

“Alright,” she said, now reading the newspaper.

I began filling up the closet with my clothes and then
used
only one drawer of the dresser.
I sighed and put my hands on my hips. The beauty of not owning much was that it didn’t take long to unpack.
I left my room and headed out to the living room. I flopped on the couch and started flipping channels. I still had thirty minutes before I had to leave the house.

Gram came out of her room, smiled, kissed my cheek, and told me she’d see me at dinner.

Finally, I couldn’t sit still any longer so I grabbed my car keys
, the hat and shirt I was required to wear,
and headed out the door.

The store was only two minutes from Gram’s house
, across from the drugstore
so it took no time at all to get there. I pulled around back
and parked next to a shiny black
motorcycle.
The door to the back entrance was unlocked so I went right in pulling my hair back into a ponytail as I went. I put on the black shirt and baseball cap that said
Lucinda’s
in flowy pink script. As I was pulling my ponytail through the baseball cap a guy came around the corner.

He took one look at me
, his eyes went all misty, looking at me like I was his own personal sun, or the only thing holding him to this Earth,
and
then
dropped the tray of cupcakes he was holding on the floor. Icing splattered across the floor
and onto our shoes
.

I noticed that he was extremely good looking with tan skin, dark brown wavy hair, and
dark
scr
uff covering his cheeks and chin. He looked to be about six foot three and had a well sculpted chest and arms. He looked to be around my age, maybe older. His blue eyes were captivating. They were endless shimmering pools and I knew immediately I wouldn’t mind drowning in them.
I’d go gladly.

He looked down at the mess and then back up at me blushing profusely. Somehow, his flaming cheeks only added to his looks. He bent down and began cleaning up the mess.

“Don’t worry. I’ve got it,” I said bending down.

“It was my mistake I’ll get it,” he said.

“I can get it,” I said. “I’m sure you probably want to get out of here,” I smiled.

He smiled back and I thought I would melt.

“Why don’t we do it together?” he suggested
in
his sweet caramel voice.

My heart thudded erratically in my chest and I blushed. “Sounds like a plan,” I said and dumped several of the ruined cupcakes in the nearby trash can. “I’m Sophie by the way. Lucinda’s granddaughter.”

“Caeden,” he said. “I didn’t know you were coming.”