“Come on. You’re spending the night at my house.”
I stopped her.
“I can’t. I have a...date.”
She screwed up her lips.
“Kyle, again.”
“No. Kyle’s cousin, Caleb.”
“Wow.” She grinned deviously. “You’re really making the rounds, aren’t you?”
“Shut up!” I yelled playfully. “I’m not dating Kyle.”
“So, Caleb is Kyle’s cousin. Where did you meet him?”
“At the main street red light. He stepped into traffic and I pulled him back.”
“What! For reals?” she shrieked.
“Yeah.”
I realized with painful acceptance that that was about all I could tell her. Everything else was complicated and crazy and unbelievable. I was going to have to keep secrets from her. Mmmmm. That sucked.
“Wow. So you saved him and now you’re going on a date? When did this happen?”
“Last night.”
“Ahh. He’s smitten because you saved him and asked you out to thank you. How cute.”
I felt a sudden bristle at her nonchalant words.
“It’s a little more than that.”
“What do you mean?”
I sighed and relented. There was no point.
“Nothing.”
“So, how old is he?”
“Nineteen. He’s a sophomore at U of T.”
“Really? Football?”
“Not sure. But he’s studying to be an architect.”
“Oooh. A money maker. Sweet.” She sighed dreamily. “I bet he drives a Lexus.”
“Don’t know. But it’s a convertible.”
“Definite Lexus. Is he hot?”
“He’s perfect,” I answered quickly, my mouth answered without my permission.
I blushed and she laughed.
“Aha! Wow. You really like him, huh? So, what time is Caleb coming to pick you up?”
My heart clenched each time she said his name. I tried to focus on her face and remain calm. My fingers were starting to twitch.
“Five thirty.”
“What?” she exclaimed loudly and grabbed my arm. “That’s only two hours. We gotta get you ready!”
“What? Why? What’s wrong with what I have on?”
“Nothing. But this is a college guy, babe.” She pulled me as she walked backwards. “They expect a certain kind of girl. And no offense, but your age isn’t exactly going for you right now. Unless he’s a pedophile. Do you think-”
“Beck! Eew! Stop!”
“Anyway, he’s been at college for a year already, seeing all those mature girls with their expensive cars and flat ironed fake blonde hair. It’s a lot to compete with.”
“I’m not gonna worry about that.”
I wanted to contradict her. Tell her I was his soul mate. That he would like me even if I wore a sack. I knew this must be true because I could picture Caleb in one and I still wanted him. I giggled to myself at the picture but then I remembered what he wore today. His yellow shirt and how much I liked looking at it on him. I suddenly wanted to look my best. Not just ok. Not just presentable. I wanted him to look at me and think I was pretty.
That brought me back to this morning in my bathroom when he thought I looked gorgeous in blue, how he loved my freckles. And how even after all that I still felt young and inadequate.
I wanted him to want me because he wants me. Not because he’s imprinted with me and can’t help himself. So I smiled at Beck and told her to have her way with me.
“Really!” she squealed and she shut my bedroom door. “You never let me play doll with you!”
“I know. Now’s your chance. Don’t go overboard,” I warned.
“Ok. What are we going for here? Where’s he taking you?”
“A barbeque joint in his home town.”
“Boo. That gives me nothing to work with.” She pressed a finger to her lips as she thought. “What do you want?”
“I just want him to look at me and think there’s no one else he’d rather be with.”
She smiled.
“So. Sex vixen?”
I gasped.
“Rebecca!”
“Kidding! Kidding. I have the perfect thing in mind. Don’t worry about a thing, Mags. We’ll have him drooling, in a very tame and respectable way, of course.”
I rolled my eyes but smiled at how much I missed her. I took a deep breath and let her work.
An hour and forty seven minutes later I stood in front of the oval floor mirror in my room. My very me room that I completely redid when my mom left. She had it all coordinated with different squares of color. I always hated it. So when she left I took everything down and now it’s just a room. The walls are white; the bed is white and green with a dark brown poster frame. Not a very girly room but I loved it, because it was all me.
So, I stood looking at what Beck had done. I didn’t look like a different person. I didn’t look vamped up with a crazy outfit or makeup. I wasn’t glamazonned in a preppy, peppy outfit that wasn’t me. I was just me.
She’d made me shower while she looked through my closet and decided nothing would do. So, she took a dark green knee length dress out that had thin brown stripes down the length of it. She cut the sleeves off to make it a tank dress and pulled a wide brown ribbon off a pillow on my bed to push my hair back with like a headband. She was always so crafty, always coming up with crazy things to do. It’s like her brain never turned off.
She pulled her long gold chain necklace off, with an open heart at the end that hung half way to my navel and put it around my neck.
“Perfect. Now shoes. Aha.”
She handed me my strappy gold flat sandals and I pulled them on before she dragged me back to the bathroom. My hair has a natural curl at the ends, always has, but she wanted them to curl her way. So she curled and did my makeup and then painted my nails a barely there pale pink. She ended the ensemble with small gold studs in my ears and smiled at my reflection with approval.
And that’s where we are. And I’d never been this nervous in my life. What if he thought I was overdoing it, trying too hard? I pushed that thought away. That had to be some side effect of the withdrawals from him because I’d never acted like this before. I wrung my hands and smoothed my dress over and over.
“Why are you so nervous? You’re going to sweat through your dress if you don’t calm down.”
“I’m ok.”
“What’s wrong with you? I don’t remember you being this way before. Even with Chad. It’s just a date,” she reasoned.
Yeah right.
I shook my head to clear it and thanked her for helping me right as the door bell sounded. It took all my strength to stay put and not bound down the stairs for him. The ache in my stomach and back had returned already but not as bad as before and I wondered if he was feeling it too.
“Wow. College boy is four minutes early. He must be trying to impress,” she joked. “Sorry. I meant to be out of here before he came.”
“It’s ok.” I thought real hard before my next statement and decided it was ok. “I want you to meet him.”
“Really? It’s not weird I’m meeting some guy you barely know on your first date?”
“No.” I chuckled as I pushed my bangs over to cover the wound on my forehead. “I’m sure he’ll be fine with it.”
I rushed to answer the door, at a ladylike pace, but dad beat me to it. Caleb was trying to make small talk with the man known as my father, standing in the same outfit as yesterday just another color, thankfully, but still his boxers nonetheless.
Caleb was wearing something different than earlier; a button up blue and green shirt and brown boots with his jeans. He looked up at me coming down the stairs to greet them and his face lit up and he couldn’t stop himself anymore than I could. It was like a dam broke.
He reached for me just as I raced to the bottom step and embraced me. I wrapped my arms around his neck, lifting my feet from the f
loor. I breathed him in and everything else fell away. He was just as happy to see me as I was him, as strange as it all was. And once again, the second he touched me the ache of being away and silly girl worry over what he’d think melted away.
I somehow found my sanity and pulled back. He smiled shyly and put some space between us. He looked me over, making my cheeks beg for permission to scarlet but I forbid them to, standing my ground.
“You look gorgeous, in case you didn’t know.”
“Thanks. You too.”
“Wow,” I heard Beck mutter behind me.
I turned and beckoned her down the stairs.
“This is my best friend, Rebecca. Beck, this is Caleb.”
“Hi,” he said easily and reached for her hand.
For a split second I imagined the whole imprinting process again but with her and Caleb instead. She already seemed half in love from her glazy stare.
“Hey, there.” She grabbed his hand and removed it quickly. “Do you have any single brothers?”
He laughed.
“Beck!” I chastised.
“I’m just saying,” she rationalized. “Alright. Have fun. I’m out. Text me if you need me.” She leaned to whisper in my ear. “Do you remember the code for a 911 emergency date exit?”
She pulled back to look at me seriously.
“Uh, 911?”
“Good girl.” She smiled at me and then at Caleb. “Have fun you two!” She waved over her shoulder.
I turned back to Caleb who stood amused and patiently waiting. I completely forgot my father standing there by the door. I looked at him and saw how he was looking at me, as if he was actually seeing me. Like he was looking at me for the first time in ten months, which was true. I didn’t know if that was a good thing, or bad.
“Where are you taking her?”
“To a place called, Mugly’s. It’s a barbeque place my family loves to go to,” Caleb answered.
“Hmm. Well, I expect her back before midnight.” He turned to me and scowled. “I know you think because you graduated you’re all grown up but you still live with me, so my rules.”
“Dad. I didn’t say anything. Midnight is fine. It’s only five thirty. We’re just going to dinner,” I said at a complete loss for his outburst and his sudden concern for my whereabouts.
“Well, good.” He seemed off put, like he expected a fight. “You have your cell?”
“Yes.” I grabbed it off the hall table and put it in my bag. “All set.”
“Ok. Call me if you need anything.” All I could do was stare at him like he was speaking Chinese. So he sighed harshly. “What?”
“No offense, dad. But since when do you care if I have my cell or not? Since when do you care what time I come home?” I asked softly.
“Since you started bringing a boy home that’s too old for you.”
“He’s only two years older than me, dad. And I’ll be eighteen soon.”
I glanced back at Caleb and he smiled, letting me know he’d wait.
“Well,” dad mumbled. That seemed to bluster his resolve. “Still, with Chad it was safe. I knew he was leaving for college. I knew there would be no chance of you getting all silly over him because he’d keep you at arms length. Everyone always knew he was leaving, everyone but you. But this boy, he is not safe.” He looked over at Caleb. “She is still a minor and I’m not thrilled about you taking her out.”
“I understand, sir. I promise you I’m not up to any trouble,” Caleb answered respectfully.
“Dad, if I’m old enough to work almost full time and go to school in clothes that I paid for all by myself, I think old enough to go on a date and know to be careful and come home at a reasonable hour.”
His face went pale and he nodded sadly.
“I guess you’re right. We’ll talk later.”
He walked off into the kitchen and I saw the light turn out as he made his way through the house. I was astounded. What just happened?
I looked at Caleb and felt the need to explain. I’d told him earlier that my dad was docile and uncaring but now he was all about my every move.
“I understand,” Caleb said. “I feel how confused you are. It’s fine. Maybe he’s just waking up. I told you it probably wouldn’t last forever.”
“Yeah. But why now? Why when I’m gonna need-” I stopped myself from saying anything else.
“I know. I need you too.” He came and hugged me to him, making sure to touch his palm to my arm so as to get skin contact, to take my troubles away. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure it out. In the mean time are ready to go?”
“Yes,” I said, pushing away the weirdness. “I’m sorry about Beck. She’s a little quirky.”
“It’s fine. My best friend is pretty quirky too. Vic. He’s pretty much insane.”
I followed him out to his car...only it wasn’t a car. It was a motorcycle, a sleek, black Yamaha.
“I thought you said...” Convertible. Oh. I get it. “Ha ha.”
He grinned and laughed.
“Hey, I didn’t lie. This is as convertible as you can get.”
“I guess I have to agree with that,” I said laughing.
“Ok. First things first.” He grabbed my bag and put it in the compartment under the seat. “This won’t do.” He motioned to my dress and lifted his seat again to pull out a jacket. He placed it around me and pulled the zipper up.
“It’s pretty warm out,” I said mildly, wondering why he thought I needed a jacket on May.
“Not on the back of a bike it’s not.”
“If you say so.”
“Here,” he came and put a small black helmet on my head, buckling it under my chin. “Now you can keep that pretty head all nice and in one piece.”
“And where’s yours?”
“Right here.” He pulled one off the handlebars and put it on. He climbed on and looked back at me expectantly. He flipped a switch on his bike and I could hear him in my ear in the helmet, “One leg at a time.”
I sighed and climbed on behind him. I settled myself close to him as I could get. Ours legs lined up and touching all the way down. I blew a breath to steady myself and tried to play off my shakiness as anxiety about the ride instead of being so close to him.
“I have never ridden a motorcycle before.”
“I assumed as much so I promise to take it easy on you; this time.”
I heard him laugh as he cranked up the beast. I got queasy as I could feel it’s every rumble. I dreaded this ride now, for more than one reason and wondered if there was some way to back out of it. I thought I was trembling but couldn’t tell.
His hand came back to pat my bare knee, easing and soothing me.
“It’ll be fine. I promise you’ll love it.”
“I’m ok.” I lifted my feet to rest of the foot props. “I’m ready.”
“Arms around me,” he ordered. “And hold on tight.”
I did as he said and leaned against his back as my arms hugged his midsection. I smiled at how comfortable it was. I felt him swirl his hand once on my knee before grasping the handlebars and slowly pulling away from my house. Then my street. Then my town.
Eight
The helmet did an okay job of shielding my hair from most of the wind. He blocked a lot of it himself. He’d been right about the jacket. My legs were freezing.
We drove for about thirty minutes that way. We talked through the mics the entire time. He told me some about his family members other abilities. Like his Aunt Kelly and uncle Max, Kyle’s parents. She can decipher any language or code. Anything that is meant to hinder and confuse, she can figure it out. She can do any crossword puzzle and learn any computer password and then turn around and speak Chinese even though she never learned it. And his uncle can learn anything and teach anything, which I’d learned earlier today, at a crazy fast rate.
Then he told me his dad’s ability was that he can detect the earth elements. It’s one way they have enough money to pay for college for everyone and get the re
al estate they want. He can find precious metals and gems. They go expeditions once a year for it.
Wow.
And his mom, Rachel, she can move and bend metal. The family jokingly calls her Magneto, but she can only move small objects. The biggest thing she’s ever moved was a Volkswagen and that was pushing it.
And his grandfather, the one he looked so much like, he could look at someone and see their intentions. Good or bad, he could see if you were planning something malicious or helpful, if you’re lying to hurt someone. He couldn’t see the actual act but could decipher and sift through it and see if your intentions are good or evil.
There are many more people in his family that I had not met. Some didn’t make it to Kyle’s for the meet and greet. I tried to imagine what having such a huge close family would be like.
He also told me that the families are clans. Each family is separate from the other and most are civil but some are rivals who vie for land and ‘territories’ or areas. They don’t like to be close to each other and they don’t ever mix if you are a rival clan, there has never even been an imprint between rival clans before; ever.
Once you imprint with someone, generally they would then be part of the clan of whoever the male is, since they share the same last name. For instance, he said his mother was from the Mitchell’s clan and when her and his father imprinted, she became part of the Jacobson family and clan. She does see her original family some but scarcely. For the most part, you gain a new family.
I was fascinated by it all. I was a sponge and soaked up everything he told me but soon we pulled into the parking lot and he stopped the bike under a tree on the edge of the lot. He kicked the stand and let me get off first. I was wobbly, my legs tingling and unsteady.
He grabbed my arms to steady me before removing his helmet and laughed softly as he removed mine. I can only imagine the nest it was but he smoothed it back for me with his fingers, running them through and giving me shivers.
“You did well for your first time. I was worried you’d squeal and shake the whole way.”
“You say that to all the girls who ride on your bike?” I teased but the thought of another girl on his bike made me tense with something...