Born In Flames (5 page)

Just as I began to nod off Fenn said excitedly, “Okay Rory, take it off.”
I hurriedly untied it and found myself staring at The Grand Palms of Lihue, a hotel built to house the rich tourists that stimulate our tiny economy. We never had a reason to come out this far. Commercial restaurants and fancy hotels didn’t really appeal to me.
“What are we doing here?” I asked in dismay.
He turned the car off and slid out, lightly jogging over to my side of the car and opening the door.
“Don’t be such a pansy, Rory. We’re going into that hotel and having a nice breakfast like normal people would do. And you are not going to fight me on this. Today is going to be one hundred percent normal,” he said as he tugged my arm.
“But that’s a five star restaurant, Fenn. We can’t afford that.” I yanked my arm back and pouted. “Just what I need…an opportunity for more people to stare at my hair.”
“No one will stare at you,” he said, tilting my chin up. My eyes lifted to his. “I’ve got this under control so get your butt out of this car.” His eyebrows grazed his hairline in expectation.
“Whatever you say, Fenn.” I gave up. Only because he had planned this and I didn’t want to ruin it.
As we walked up to the sliding doors, I took a deep breath, preparing myself for all the stares. But once inside the lobby all of that worry disappeared. I paused in awe, letting the surrounding beauty soak into me.
The crystal chandelier swayed slightly from the breeze as the door opened and closed. Red carpet lay effortlessly against the tile flooring and played off the white pillars that lined either side of the lobby leading up to the massive center staircase.
Fenn had already moved up to the front desk and was looking back at me, waving his hand to hurry me along.
I slid my arm through his as he led me to the lounge area where we were met by a hostess who quickly showed us to a table for two.
I nudged him and said, “Thanks, Fenn, this really means a lot. I guess your sweeter side isn’t as dusty as I thought.”
“Oh, does this come across as sweet? It’s all just a part of my master plan to make you fall for me…” He broke off with his quirky smile as I poked him teasingly.
I rolled my eyes and said, “Ha ha…you. You’re just
so
funny.”
He pretended to wipe laughing tears from his eyes. “I try, I try.”
A blur of black and white caught my eye as the waiter approached the table.
I ordered what Fenn was having, trusting that he had already looked over the menu. My appetite was usually one with the birds.
“So, what do
normal
people talk about? Hmm,” I teased. “Are you happy with the way your life is turning out?”
He shook his head with a smile and said, “Yeah, of course, I hadn’t imagined it any other way. Being with you and on our own, well, it’s perfect right now.” He was stacking the coffee creamers.
“I’m just glad that I have a roommate, one that I can trust and feel comfortable around. Even though he’s not normal,” I played, continuing to hint at what he was trying to avoid today.
He narrowed his eyes at me. “Come on, Aurora. Just one day. Is that so much to ask?”
“Sorry,” I said, fidgeting with my silverware.
“Oh look, food.” He smiled.
The waiter brought us our orange juice and some biscuits, and I watched as Fenn smothered his in honey. I giggled when the napkin he picked up stuck to his fingers. His agitated state was amusing to me, like a monkey banging the keyboard on a desk because he can’t figure out how to use it.
I dipped the tip of my napkin in my water and handed it to him. “Here use this to wipe it off, goof ball,” I said, smiling.
This really was pleasant, a feeling I hadn’t experienced in a long time. “You’re the Yin to my Yang,” I blurted out, hoping he wouldn’t catch the real meaning.
“Oh yeah?” he said, picking up on our old little game. “You’re the pen to my paper,” he retaliated.
I smiled and shot back, “You’re the music to my I-pod.” I got him good with that one.
He snickered in response. “Puh-lease, you are the lyrics to my heart song.”
I rolled my eyes. Crap. “You’re the cheese to my macaroni?” I knew I had been defeated.
“Seriously?” he asked, strained in laughter. “You’re going to pull the same line you used when we were like what, fourteen? Smooth,” he joked.
The waiter walked up balancing a tray filled with our breakfast. He laid it out, the smell tantalizing our taste buds.
“My kind of breakfast,” I mumbled as I dug into the delicious sausage. We ate in silence. After the waiter took our plates away, Fenn decided to pick up the conversation where it had left off.
“So about the Yin and Yang thing, I’ve always felt that way about you. You’re my perfect balance. That’s why I set this whole thing up. And I was thinking, recently that is…” His face went red as I coughed a little. I didn’t want to go there because going there would mean a change in our already perfect relationship.
“I was only playing,” I said quickly before he could finish that thought. “People like us don’t find a perfect balance, realistically I mean. We’re lucky enough if we can live our lives coming to terms with who we are. Why add something as complicated as a relationship with someone else’s feelings to the picture?”
He stared at me in disbelief. “Who said anything about a relationship?” He pulled his napkin off his lap and bunched it up a little aggressively before throwing it on the table. “I was just gonna say we should maybe invest in a car together or something because I trust you and I know how much you hate the bus.”
My face flushed.
“Gosh, Rory, you really thought I was gonna say something as crazy as I have feelings for you or something like that? That would be way too
normal
,” he said bitterly, turning to stare out the window.
Okay, so that hurt. It shouldn’t have, but it did. “I’m sorry,” I said lamely. “Excuse me.” I quickly stood and headed to the bathroom.
Standing in front of the gilded mirror, I asked myself, “What is wrong with you?”
Fenn would be a perfect balance if I chose to let myself go, which for a moment back there I had. I let him know that when I had unintentionally said the yin-yang thing out loud. He thought it was a game I was initiating, but was it really? I just couldn’t bear messing up with him and losing his friendship. He was my best and only friend in the whole world.
“Get it together,” I said as I splashed water over my face.
A few minutes later I left the bathroom, only to find an empty table. Fenn’s chair was flipped over, and there were people gathered at the window, occasionally glancing back at our table.
Uh-oh
, I thought as I stepped through the automatic doors.
There he was walking out to the parking lot. But he wasn’t alone. In front of him was Mr. Creepy. Fenn was following him. No, not following him—he had one hand around the guy’s arm, pushing him forward and shouting at the top of his lungs. This couldn’t be good.
I hurried over to the car and waited, watching as they yelled at each other. Then, as if he felt my presence, Mr. Creepy’s eyes shot to mine, burning through my core. My brows furrowed as Fenn yanked the guy’s chin away from me and back to his face.
“You don’t look at her, you hear me? You don’t touch her, you don’t follow her.” He leaned into the guy’s face a little closer, crowding him, and finished, “and you NEVER go near her again or you will have to deal with me.” He shoved him hard against Mily’s car.
I winced. Mr. Creepy straightened himself out, defiantly sticking his chin up at Fenn. I could feel the burning desire, the anger, and the hatred emanating off of both of them.
“You will do this alone then. And when
she
,” he pointed toward me, “is harmed by your ignorance, don’t come looking for me,” he snapped, his tone cutting. His eyes lit up as he scowled, and then he turned his back on me and walked away.
I was stunned silent. Harmed? Panic flooded my veins as I moved to plead for an explanation. But he was already gone.
Fenn appeared in my line of vision. “Ready to go?” he asked tightly, forcing a smile.
“Again? Really? You blew our only source at finding things out again? Fenn, he said I would be harmed!” I glared at him.
“He-he’s full of it Rory,” he said skeptically. “I wouldn’t let anything happen to you. Remember? Super strength? And what happened to having a normal day? We can’t very well do that with him tagging along, ranting some crap about lightning and fire and the initiation to your change happening tonight. He’s crazy and likes to ramble a bunch of nonsense.”
He opened my door, indicating with his hand that he wanted me to get in. Sucks to be him because I wasn’t moving.
“You mean to tell me,” I said under my breath, poking his chest as my temper flared, “that he told you something would happen tonight? Information coming from a man who obviously knows things about us. Things we’ve never disclosed to anyone besides each other. And you pushed him away…again?” My voice rose with anger and I felt my blood boiling. A small wisp of smoke left my nose.
I ignored it, swatting it away.
“Look, Rory, that guy…” he paused, the words seeming to struggle their way out, “there’s something not right with him, okay? And you agreed to a day of normalcy. Nothing will happen to you. The forecast said clear skies all day. There’s proof that the man is a lunatic.”
I shook my head in disbelief, looking to the skies for some patience as I grit my teeth.
“All right, Fenn, you get one day of normalcy and then it’s my turn. I will flip this island over until I find him.” He moved to disagree but I stopped him. “No. I will find him and get the answers I need, and if after that, if he turns out to be a crazy, then you will have your way. Agreed?”
He paused to consider, a tinge of humor playing on his lips, and then nodded in agreement. “Please get in,” he coaxed.
I huffed as I sat down, my legs still resting on the pavement outside the car, and impatiently waited for his answer.
He reached over and grabbed the handkerchief, gently wrapping it around my eyes once again. “Agreed,” he answered as his fingers brushed my cheek softly, a thrilling burn left in its place.
Stop it
, I told myself.
I should have stayed mad at him, but all I could feel was the blood rushing to my cheeks as I stumbled upon what my heart was feeling. There had to be a logical explanation. Fenn was my best friend. I had known him for, well, ever since I can remember…literally. There was no way that I, Aurora Jay Megalos, had feelings for Fenn Aiden Lovick.
But I had to resist the insane urge to grab his hand as he pulled away from my face. I tried to steady my racing heart as he picked my legs up and gently laid them into the car. The butterflies couldn’t help but roar to life at such innocent contact, but the slam of the car door quickly jolted them away, back to their hiding place.
“So…umm…where to now?” I stammered, coughing to hide the slight tremble to my voice. I hoped he didn’t pick up on it, but I couldn’t see his face so there was no way to tell.
“Like I’ve said before, you’ll see when we get there.” His own voice sounded rough, like something strange had come over him.
He turned the radio up and put the car into drive. The hum of the engine calmed me, quieting my thoughts for a bit. I wanted this, I wanted something exciting to happen. But I certainly hadn’t predicted this intense attraction to be the something that appeased my boredom.
Chapter 6
The Storm
WE DROVE FOR A SHORT while and listened to the ocean breeze. I had no idea where Fenn was taking me, but I liked the silence between us. I tried to relax and push away the thought of what Mr. Creepy had said about the harm I could be facing.
Clear skies
, I kept repeating inside my head.
“Okay, Rory, we’re here.”
I leaned forward and untied the back of the handkerchief, anxious to finally see something other than the back of my eyelids.
Following the blinding light of the sun, valleys filled with lush trees covered the expanse before me. I felt like I was staring at a green sea where the blue heavens met, lightly kissing the treetops.
I hadn’t been to this side of the island before but had always dreamed of going. It was as close to the Garden of Eden as you could get. Horses grazed the rich grasses, and I knew right away what he had set up for me.
“You’re taking me horseback riding?” I guessed, noting the smell of hay and the sound of the neighing horses.
“I wanted you to try something you’ve never done before so I pulled a couple of strings and managed to get us two horses for the day.” His face was bursting with excitement. I’d seen that face before—when we got our driver’s licenses, and at every shared birthday, right before we blew out the candles to make a wish. So why did I have the sudden urge to grip his face and kiss the smile into my soul?
“Lucky for you,” he continued, pulling me out of my sudden daydream, “I already know how to ride so you’re in good hands.” He opened his door and got out.
I frowned.
“Rub it in. You got lessons and I didn’t,” I said after he opened my door for me.
“It was the only thing I asked for that Christmas.”
We were both fourteen. I wanted make-up, and he wanted to learn how to ride a horse. He helped me out and then walked off in the direction of the house.
“Whose house is this?” I asked as I jogged to catch up with him. His pace didn’t hide his excitement.
“That would be John Stark’s house.” He didn’t turn to face me—he knew I’d be baffled.
“A couple of strings, huh? How the hell did you manage to get the quarterback from high school to lend you two horses for the day?” He headed towards the back of the tropical colored house, away from the front door. I weaved around the random pineapple plants, trying to keep up with him.
“Are we stealing these horses?” I whispered. “I’m down for something I haven’t done before, but that doesn’t include visiting the inside of a jail cell, Fenn Aiden,” I called out after him. “It’s not stealing, per se…John is simply letting us borrow them,” he answered confidently. “He sat next to me in Calculus so he owes me one. Besides,” he added, “he was all for it when I told him who I was planning this for.”
I contained my gag. I had a few dealings with John Stark, none of them good. Let’s just say I didn’t care for his lewd demeanor and grabby hands.
We strolled around to the back of the twostory house and came upon a path that curved like a ribbon, leading to a barn. The yard stretched out ahead like a never-ending carpet of green as we moved along the well-worn path. Solitary palms dotted the landscape, swaying their massive leaves in the slight breeze. There was no doubt about it, this was a beautiful day.