Shades of Atlantis (9 page)

I told you, we have everything we need right here, he murmured. I could feel his lips move against my hair as he spoke.

I knew I should have felt cold, but I didn’t. I couldn’t feel anything except his presence. Caleb twisted the hand that was holding mine so my palm was flat against his body inside his open jacket. His heart was racing, thundering like mine. Was he trying to tell me something? The music slowed, and the words sounded so familiar. I had heard this song before, but that wasn’t the reason. His body was so close to mine it muddled my brain. I couldn’t think straight. Then it hit me like a thunderbolt straight through my body. It was what Caleb said about me, about figuring out what was special.

Caleb, I murmured, barely breathing. I pulled back to look at him, and the depth of emotion in his eyes staggered me. I couldn’t see anything clearly other than the amazing blue, even in the dim light. Was he letting me know it was me that blinded him? The warm air rolled off Caleb’s lips in puffs. I felt the pull between us again; I felt us moving closer. I was suddenly scared. Scared and excited.

Caleb smiled, and as the beat of the music sped up again, he twirled me outward, away from him, until I held onto his hand with my arm outstretched. Adrenaline rushed through every cell in my body. With one fluid movement he pulled me back, twirling, with my hair whipping across my face, until I crashed into his strong muscular body. I laughed and looked up into his smiling face, and all the tension of moments ago evaporated.

My hands rested against his chest, and his arms came around me, holding me close against him. Caleb’s breathing was rough and exaggerated. I was too exhilarated to feel nervous anymore. It was like everything and everyone had disappeared from the world, and it was just the two of us left. He brushed the hair away from my face and then lightly ran his thumb across my smiling lips. I shivered again, and it wasn’t because I was cold. His breath was on my face where his palm curved against my cheek, where his thumb caressed my jaw, where his lips were coming down on mine. My heart was about to burst through my ribcage, and my knees trembled.

Caleb’s lips were like his hands, soft and warm, softer than seemed possible. His taste filled my head, like new rain, sweet and luscious. His fingers tangled through my hair, holding me to him, and then he pulled away with one last brush of his lips and smiled down at me. I wanted to ask what this meant. What would happen now?

Why did you do that? I asked, gazing into his beautiful, radiant face.

His smile widened, lighting his eyes.

Because I knew I couldn’t not kiss you anymore, he told me, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Then he kissed me again.

Oblivious

The next morning I was up early, not that I’d slept much. Every time I closed my eyes, the scene up on Mount Battie replayed behind my eyelids. Caleb had dropped me off at home, promising that he would be back in a few days. I was dizzy from the twists and turns between us, not to mention the kisses. He didn’t explain about his girlfriend, and I didn’t ask, but I just wasn’t the type of person who would actively go after someone else’s boyfriend. I prided myself on the fact that I could never be that girl.

I couldn’t allow myself to follow the direction my thoughts had taken last night, that Caleb felt the same way I did. If I continued down that road it would only lead to disappointment. His relationship meant any other outcome was impossible.

I scribbled a note to say I was borrowing Lewis’s pickup for an hour and took a banana from the fruit bowl on the table in the kitchen, leaving the note in its place where it could be easily seen. I was out the door before the rest of the family even stirred. When I got to Amanda’s bedroom, she was still in bed groggy, but awake at least. Amanda’s parents were early risers, so I knew dropping in unannounced wouldn’t be a problem. It was snowing again, and thick heavy flakes covered me from walking up the drive. I threw my damp jacket over the old-fashioned column radiator by the wall before jumping onto the bed beside Amanda.

Easy, she moaned. It’s not even morning yet.

Almost, I informed her jokingly, grabbing a pillow from behind her head and sitting against the bars at the end of her bed with the pillow pressed between my chest and my raised knees.

Amanda blinked, trying to focus on the clock half-hidden on her bedside table among scraps of colored paper. Her eyes widened. It’s eight-fifteen! she exclaimed, finally focusing.

Your mom was up; she let me in, I offered by way of an explanation for the early morning wake-up call on a Saturday.

Yeah, well, she probably got to bed before three, she groaned, dragging the remaining pillow from under her head and squashing it over her face with both hands. It sounded like I had missed some night, not that I would swap it for mine, even with the Chris thing and the inevitable heartbreak I was setting myself up for.

Amanda’s dark green dress lay in a mound of crumpled silk on the floor beside her bed. I hadn’t known what she was planning to wear last night; she was unusually secretive about it. The green was similar to the color of Ben’s eyes, which was a surprise choice. I wondered if it was intentional and opened my mouth about to ask, but Amanda interrupted with a long sigh into the pillow still over her face.

I know why you’re here, she accused. The tone in her voice made me suspect she knew something about last night. I wasn’t actually going to tell her about kissing Caleb. Amanda was amazing at gathering gossip, but even she couldn’t know about it already. I was sure we had been alone up there.

What do you mean? I asked innocently. I came to find out how last night went.

Amanda pulled the pillow sharply from her face to her chest and held it there. She still had her makeup on from last night, although most of it was smudged on one side of her face. Her hair was sticking out everywhere, but she still looked better than I did most mornings.

Chris showed up at the after party. He told us about Caleb jumping him. She narrowed her eyes. Well?

The nerve of that guy! Did he have no shame at all? Maybe he didn’t take Caleb seriously. Or maybe he was just the meathead I thought he was in the first place. I punched the pillow across my lap in frustration.

You mean how Caleb pulled him off me after he tried to feel me up and ripped my shirt?

Amanda’s nose wrinkled. I didn’t actually believe it happened the way he said.

I stood up and paced the floor, still clutching the pillow. What did he say? Stephen was supposed to make sure he got home.

Amanda propped herself up on her elbows. That you were coming onto him and Caleb grabbed him from behind and threw him against a wall. He said Caleb was all over you right in front of him. She paused to measure my reaction.

I encouraged her to continue by waving my hand in circles.

He said you were nothing but a tease.

Nice, I muttered blackly, still pacing.

Well, he clammed up again as soon as Ben and Jonathan had a word with him, she added.

I took a calming deep breath and sat back down on the bed with my feet up. So they ended up looking out for me even when I wasn’t there.

Was he? Amanda grinned, sitting up.

Was he what?

Was he all over you?

I scowled at her. No. I could feel my face starting to flush and shook my hair so it fell over my cheeks. Of course he wasn’t. He was just checking to see if I was okay.

What was that? Amanda exclaimed with widened eyes.

I had no idea. It took very little to get Amanda excited; she was a naturally exuberant person. What was what?

Hold that thought, she instructed, holding her hand to motion a stop sign. She was on the move again, reaching over to grab her phone from her table. She motioned the stop sign again before she dialed. I frowned and waited impatiently to see what she was doing.

Hi, she said and then paused. Yes, I know what time it is. There was another silence while Amanda studied me. This is just as important as your beauty sleep.

I guessed it must be Jen on the other end of the line. She lived across the street, and if she was out as late as Amanda, she wouldn’t appreciate being woken early.

I am too just throw something on over them. She paused You’ve got two minutes, or I’m starting without you, she warned before hanging up.

Starting what? I asked curiously.

Interrogations.

I opened my mouth to ask.

Ah, she said, cutting me off. Wait for Jen.

I picked up a discarded interior design magazine from the floor and started to flick through the pages. It didn’t take long for Jen to arrive; the allotted two minutes seemed about right. She looked fresh-faced and beautiful, not in need of beauty sleep at all, and when she took off her woolly hat and shook her head, her hair swung perfectly around her shoulders as if we were watching a live shampoo commercial. Jen unzipped her jacket and threw it on the floor; she still had her pajamas on. She lifted the comforter and hopped into bed beside Amanda, nudging her over.

What’s so important? she asked, but it sounded more like a complaint as she tugged the comforter up under her chin and snuggled down, shivering.

She touched her lips, Amanda announced smugly, still watching me like I was about to try escape.

Jen frowned. You’ve lost me.

She’d lost me too. I knew she was talking about me, but I had no idea about what. Amanda inhaled deeply, puffing out her cheeks, and then blew out the air through pursed lips.

She was taking about Caleb Wallace, and she touched her lips.

I did not!

Jen still looked baffled. She looked to Amanda for a further explanation.

Amanda sighed, exasperated. Yes, you did. When I asked if he was all over you last night, you touched your lips.

I hadn’t, had I? I didn’t think so, but I guessed I could have.

And? Jen grumbled, still bemused.

Well, Amanda deduced proudly, it either means she’s thinking about kissing him or she already has.

I finally saw where she was going with this. It appeared to be dawning on Jen too. Her eyebrows came together in a disapproving frown. Doesn’t it bother you that he has a girlfriend?

You were the one who said you weren’t sure that was true, I retorted, pushing the comforter away from under me and pulling it up over my legs.

So you did. Amanda accused, clearly thrilled by her own detective work.

It was going to be hard to deny, since I knew the answer was there in my flushed cheeks and guilty expression.

Yes. Amanda smiled widely.

I really don’t want to talk about it. How did last night go? I asked in a lame attempt to change the subject.

Jen’s eyes flickered to Amanda with a peculiar expression. I was obviously missing something.

Amanda pouted. That’s hardly fair, and not very sharing of you. She wasn’t going to let it rest, but I just didn’t want to tell them what I thought happened. None of it seemed real, and last night was like a lifetime ago already.

Okay, I sighed. I’ll tell you, and then I don’t want to hear another word about it. I glared at Amanda, letting her know this referred to her specifically.

She smiled, apparently not caring how she got the information, as long as she got it. Jen pretended she wasn’t interested but shifted her position, making herself more comfortable like she was preparing for a long story.

She would be disappointed. If I was going to preserve the pretense of any dignity, most of last night was on a need to know basis.

You know what happened with Chris, I began. Jen’s eyebrows raised; I’d forgotten she had only gotten Chris’s side of events. Chris was drunk and coming on strong, and Caleb pulled him off, I explained.

He called Caleb a nutcase, Jen interjected.

What? I asked.

He said Caleb picked him up with one hand and carried him. She said it matter-of-factly, as if giving a weather report.

I scowled. I didn’t see that. I only saw Chris held against the wall, but Ben could have done that much, considering the state Chris was in. Caleb warned him off and then helped me to the back room. I was a bit shaky. That was obviously when Chris thought he was all over me. I used Amanda’s words for effect, to make the whole thing seem blown out of proportion.

Then Caleb took me home and that’s all.

Jen scrutinized my expression carefully. That’s all?

That’s all, I repeated.

I’m afraid we’re going to need more than that. Amanda attempted to look stern.

I’m afraid that’s not going to happen, I told her, pulling my hair down over my cheeks again. Now it’s my turn. Tell me about last night. Jen looked at Amanda with the same odd expression as before, and Amanda was avoiding eye contact.

It was great, Jen started brightly. Everything was perfect. Jonathan even danced with me to some of the slower music.

Jonathan didn’t often dance. For a guy that was so graceful on the soccer field, he had no rhythm on the dance floor. Dancing, or the lack of it, was one of the few bones of contention between the two of them.