Forgotten Royalty (Escaping The Throne) (5 page)
Read Forgotten Royalty (Escaping The Throne) Online
Authors: Tiffany Wood
They walked out to the bathroom before I could say anything else. At
least she hadn’t walked in while we were having our make out session. I took my
night shirt back off and put on a dry bra. I changed the rest of my clothes and
found a t-shirt that wasn’t to girly but showed a little bit more of my
shoulders and neck. I put on dry socks and shoes and heard Damian in the
bathroom acting like a big baby.
“Ouch. That really burns.” He didn’t complain when I was cleaning him
up so I was really hoping she wasn’t cleaning him up with alcohol.I went to
Aunt Lynn’s room and used her little half bath. I washed my face and brushed my
hair. I pulled it back up into a pony so that she didn’t get to suspicious. I
hurried out to the living room and took up residence on the couch. Aunt Lynn
must have finished with all of his cuts and bruises because she went to the
kitchen and grabbed a couple diet sodas. She brought them back to the living
room and sat them on the coffee table. She went to her room and grabbed a pair
of men’s socks from her drawer and brought them out to the living room also.
She put them on the arm of the couch and sat down in the chair across from me.
She hadn’t looked at me until now.
“Well, you won’t wear regular clothes for me, but a boy saves your life
twice in one day and you immediately change your style.”
What? Shoot, “No, all of my black clothes are in the laundry. I would
have had them done by now if it weren’t for me having to be rescued.”
“Oh, here comes the man of the hour now. Damian, I brought you out some
dry socks. Please, sit down for a while and we can talk. Sara, why don’t you
take his clothes and shoes and throw them in the dryer?”
I knew that was more of a ‘don’t push your luck, I am only asking to
make it seem nice’ question. “Ok, do you need anything while I’m up?” I get up
and grab the pile from Damian’s arms. He tries to tug them back like he is
embarrassed, but I just keep a hold of them as I turn. He was either going to
let go, or go with me. I could deal with either.
“You really don’t have to.”
My aunt gestures for him to sit on the couch, “Oh, nonsense. What kind
of host would I be if I didn’t dry your wet clothes?” My aunt was giving me the
opportunity to do something that I would have never dreamed of doing before. I
checked his pockets and made sure they were empty. Now anyone who has done
their own laundry as long as I have, would know that you have to make sure that
the underwear are not left in the pants or they don’t get dry. So he’s a boxer
man. Never would have guessed that. Prime blackmail doesn’t come cheap. I would
definitely save that information for a rainy day. I put his clothes in the
dryer and grabbed the hair dryer off the shelf. I might as well put this to
good use. I spent the next twenty minutes drying his shoes with the hair dryer
while Aunt Lynn sat out there torturing him.
“So, Damian, tell me what classes do you have with Sara? Did you get to
talk to her much today?”
Is this really happening? I go from trying to stay away from her, to
protecting her, to getting the third degree from her aunt. I suppose it could
be worse. She could be coaching me on not having sex.
“Actually, I am in all of her classes. She helped me out a lot today.
We did get to talk some in study hall but not much other than that. She helped
me audition for the play. I needed a partner and didn’t know anyone else.”
That made her smile, “So you joined the drama club too? Did you meet
Shaun? You know, he and Sara have been friends since Kindergarten. Where is
that girl?”
This is my chance, “Why don’t I go see what’s taking her so long?” I
hop up before she can answer and hurry off in the direction that Sara had gone.
I didn’t need to know where, I could smell her. “Hey, are you using a hair
dryer on my shoes?” I start laughing.
“What’s so funny? Would you rather I threw them in the dryer and had
the belt break? If that happened you might have to stay here even longer to fix
it and who knows what else Aunt Lynn can come up with to talk about.”
Ah, so she knew that her aunt was drilling me for information. “I think
I could handle anything she may ask me.” I lift her onto the dryer with her
legs spread around my waist.
“You like to live dangerously, don’t you?” She asks slightly out of
breath.
Not that she seemed to mind, I probably could have laid her on the
floor at that point and she wouldn’t have cared. “Just proving a point, I’m
dangerous.” With that, I took my shoes, and turned to leave.
“Wait a minute. Where did that come from? What are you talking about?”
She begins to storm after me.
I couldn’t tell her. “Just giving you something to think about before
the next time you touch me.” The next time? I wanted to take her to her room
now and lay with her. Stop it! Take control of yourself. “Are you coming to
school tomorrow?”
She looked down at her hands, “Will you be there?”
I turn towards her, “I don’t have anywhere else to be.”
She looks up into my eyes and her thoughts begin flowing into my mind,
“Will you miss me if I’m not there?”
I turn away. Why was she playing this game with me? Doesn’t she realize
she’s going to get hurt?
She puts her hand around my bicep and pulls me toward her, “Do you want
to pretend that we didn’t kiss?”
I never wanted to forget that kiss, but I couldn’t answer her. I walked
to the living room, politely thanked her aunt and told her that I was leaving.
As I headed to the door, I heard Sara run back the hall to her room. She shut
the door softly so her aunt wouldn’t hear, but even after I shut their front
door, I could still hear her crying.
Why did I think he would want me? I wasn’t beautiful and I didn’t wear
sexy clothes. I had a boy’s body structure and dull, dry hair. No boy in their
right mind would want me. I dressed in black all of the time. No one would want
to be around someone so depressing. I dried my tears before I started gathering
up my clothes. I unlocked my door and went back to the laundry room.
I managed to have all of my clothes done in the washer before dinner
and put them in the dryer right before I headed to the shower. I decided I
wanted to burn the clothes that I was wearing now. I wasn’t sure how I would do
that without Aunt Lynn noticing though so I threw them in the trash. I don’t
want to remember anything about tonight. I use a scrub brush to wash my body. I
brushed my teeth and tongue like ten times before I went to bed. I cried myself
to sleep that night, and though I didn’t want to think about him, I dreamt of
my hero all night.
I woke up early again and swear I saw him in the corner. My eyes were
still full of tears when I sat up. I had cried all night even in my sleep. Why
can’t I quit thinking about him? I just want to feel his arms around me again.
I put on my clothes from my laundry and see his clothes folded neatly on the
dryer where I left them. I shoved them in a grocery bag and went out to eat
breakfast.
I wrote Aunt Lynn a note telling her I left early so that I could practice
with Shaun this morning for the play. Really, I just wanted to walk to school.
I left the apartment and started walking. Hardly anyone walked down my street,
especially this early in the morning. I heard footsteps behind me. Just keep
walking Sara. It’s probably just someone out for a morning jog. I keep looking
ahead and as I round the first corner, I see Damian’s car sitting on the side
of the street. I ignore it and keep walking. I wasn’t playing his games today.
After I passed his car, the footsteps stopped. Good, it was probably him and
now he’ll know what it feels like to be shunned.
As I got to school, Thai pulled up to the curb. “Sara, why didn’t you
call me? I would’ve picked you up yesterday and this morning.”
Truthfully I wish I had. “Sorry Thai. I meant to call you when I got
home last night, but everything started going wrong and I forgot. Do you
forgive me?”
He smiled, “You know I can’t stay mad at you. I’ll be here at 3:15 to
pick you up ok?”
“Yeah Thai, and I’ll call you if something comes up. I promise.”
As Thai pulled away, I saw Damian pulling into the parking lot. I
didn’t want to talk to him right now, but I remembered I had to return his
clothes. I could wait till after school, but then everyone would see and I
don’t feel like having rumors going around that we’re sleeping together. I walk
through the parking lot, reaching him right as he closes his door.
I throw the bag of clothes at him, “Here, you forgot this!” Not waiting
for a reply, I turn and walk away.
“Sara, come back here please.” His pleas were falling on deaf ears. Now
if I could only make it through the rest of the day without having to talk to
him, I’d be good.
I get my stuff out of my locker and head to the classroom. Our seats
are permanent so I was stuck sitting beside him. I opened a book and started to
read. Class wouldn’t start for another twenty minutes. What was I thinking
leaving so early? Damian walked into the room and I kept my head down. I didn’t
want to look at him.
“Sara,” he whispers softly, “Please…don’t be mad. It’s my fault, I
shouldn’t have kissed you. I…”
I wasn’t going to listen to this. “No, you shouldn’t have saved me!” I
managed to run out of the room and make it to the nearest bathroom before the
tears started to stream down my face. I heard a knock on the door so I ran into
a stall and locked the door.
“Sara, can I come in?” He pleads. “Let me explain.”
Why is he following me? “GO AWAY! I don’t want to talk to you.”
The door opens and I see his shoes come into the bathroom. He locks the
outside door and walks over to the mirrors.
“Sara, please. Come out of there. I just want to talk. Why do I have to
be so stupid?” Smash! He had hit one of the mirrors and it shattered. I could
see blood dripping down his hand onto the floor. “Please, come out. I promise
I’ll leave if you want me to.”
He doesn’t turn around but I know he can hear me unlocking the door. I
wiped my nose with the tissue in my hand and tried to dry my tears. “I’m coming
out. Don’t look at me. I don’t want you to see me like this.”
I ran over to one of the sinks along the other wall and splashed water
on my face. I put my hands on the sides of the sink and started crying again. I
couldn’t stop. Suddenly my shoulder was warm and wet. He slipped his arms
around my waist and kissed my neck so sweetly. I let my head lull to the side.
I felt like I was in heaven. He pulled away as fast as he had embraced me. I
couldn’t turn around. Why does he keep doing this to me? Why do I keep letting
him? I’m crying again and this time I don’t care if he sees. I turn and try to
run back to my stall but he catches me before I can. I start to cry even
harder. He turns me toward him and puts his hand on the back of my head to
soothe me.
“Sara, I’m sorry.” He lowers us down to the ground and sits there with
me crying on his shoulder.
I feel so stupid. I am stronger than this. I have never let a guy make
me cry before and I’m not about to start now.
“Let me go.” I stood up and walked to the sink. I washed my face off
and dried it. I held my head as high as I could and I walked over to the door.
“I’ll see you in class,” I whisper. With that I unlocked the door and went back
to class.
When he finally chose to follow me, the bell was just ringing. We
didn’t talk to each other. He tried not to look my way unless Shaun was talking
to him. We only talked in class if we had to. Shaun ran into study hall and
grabbed me and Damian by the arms and led us both to the auditorium. Damian had
learned not to ask questions. Our lunches were waiting and Shaun had news.
“What Shaun? I’m not really hungry.” I felt Damian’s glare even though
I refused to look at him.
“Mr. Hitero just told me that you guys both have the leading roles.
Isn’t that great?”
“You’ve got to be kidding. He didn’t like anyone else’s performance?”
Of course I knew he hadn’t. He would say that Damian and I had a kind of
chemistry. I would call it hate.
“I thought you would be happy Sara.”Shaun gives me a confused puppy dog
face.
Oh no, not the puppy eyes. “Shaun, I am happy. I just don’t feel very
well today.”
He knew there was something wrong, but he wouldn’t ask me in front of
Damian. He wouldn’t embarrass me like that. “Oh, well…I forgot something in my
locker, maybe I should go…”
If looks could kill Shaun would be dead right now. “That’s fine. I’ll
keep Sara company while you’re gone.” Damian announces.
Damian was the next one on my list of dirty looks, but right now I was
focusing on a if you leave me here alone with him I’ll kill you look aimed
straight at Shaun. He must not have seen it because he turned around and left
the room.
I turned on Damian, “One minute you can’t stand to be alone with me,
the next you can’t wait to be. Will you make up your mind?”
I turned to stomp away but he grabbed my arm and spun me right into a
longing embrace. I tried to resist at first when he started to kiss me, I can’t
stand to keep doing this. The more I pushed on him the deeper the kiss became.
I hit his chest and tears streamed down my face. And then I gave in. I
wrapped my arms around his neck and ran my fingers through his hair. He started
to pull away and I kissed him deeper. The lights turned on and we were still
holding each other, but we had stopped kissing. The door was about to open and
he picked me up and carried me onstage behind a curtain. He sat me down and we
started kissing again. I didn’t want to stop.
He gave me one last kiss and then, “We need to get back out there
before Shaun starts looking for us. I’ll go around the other way. You go down
the stairs.”
I brushed my shirt down and I fanned my face. I came out from behind
the curtain, went down the stairs, and went over to our table like I hadn’t
moved. Todd looked at me kinda funny, but I just gave him a look, and he turned
his head. Shaun sat down at the table and I reached for my chair but somehow,
Damian had got there before me and pulled it out again. Mr. Hitero announced
the roles for the play and then told us we had the rest of the period to
ourselves.
Nick started talking to us but Damian cut in, “Do you want to go for a
walk Sara?”
It’s like he read my mind. “Sure, we’ll see you after school, right
Shaun?” I didn’t like leaving him in the dark, but I didn’t feel quite ready to
explain things yet either.
“Yeah, I’ll meet you at your locker.”
After we left the auditorium, he led me out to the football field and
we sat under the bleachers. He held me like he never wanted to let me go. He
caressed my face and ran his fingers through my hair.
“I’m so sorry. Can you ever forgive me?” We were both crying. I
couldn’t speak. “Sara, I know I hurt you last night, but I was just trying to
protect you. I’m not good for you. I meant it when I said that I was dangerous.
I can’t explain it right now, but if you give me time I’ll figure out a way to
tell you.”
I turn my head away from him. I don’t want him to see me crying.
“Please don’t pull away from me. I don’t think I could stand being away
from you another minute right now.” He was making this sound too perfect. I
didn’t want to turn away from him. I moved another inch so I wasn’t looking his
direction at all. I had to see how far this would go before I could trust in it
again
“Sara?” He put his hand on my shoulder. I didn’t move. “Please?” He
runs his fingers through my hair. He brings his mouth against the back of my
neck and if he inhales any deeper I think he will pass out. I didn’t want him
to stop begging me. “I will get down on my hands and knees and beg if that’s
what it will take for you to stay with me.” The tears stream down my face. I
don’t even try to stop them. “Sara, say something, anything. I need to hear the
sound of your sweet voice or I’ll go crazy.” I reach my hand up to my shoulder
and take his hand. He pulls it back toward him and I turn a bit as he does. I’m
still not looking at him, but he can see enough of my face to know that I’m
crying. He pulls my hand to his cheek and I feel that he’s crying too. “Please,
just say anything. Say you hate me if that’s what you feel. Just say
something.”
I can’t take it anymore. “Hate you? I don’t hate you. I’m just not sure
whether I can trust you again. After you left me like that last night, I wished
that you had just let that guy, Bane, take me. I wanted to die. I still might
die.”
The tears are coming faster now. I start having trouble breathing. If I
can’t calm down, I’ll hyperventilate and pass out.
“Don’t say that! Don’t ever say that. I couldn’t live with myself if he
had taken you or worse, killed you. Sara, until I met you I could have went
through life without any friends. Now that I’ve found you, I can’t imagine ever
being without you. I thought that if I pushed you away, I would be protecting
you. I could protect you without you knowing I was even there. You complicated
my life in ways I could never imagine. I thought that if I hurt you last night,
you wouldn’t want anything to do with me. And I was right, but I didn’t think
that it would hurt me so bad to watch you torn up inside, trying to avoid even
looking at me, let alone talking to me. I know it’s selfish, but I couldn’t do
it. I’m sorry that I’m not strong enough to stay away from you.” He was trying
to meet my gaze, but I still couldn’t look at him, not on my own.
“You wanted to hurt me, so that I wouldn’t want you? You should have
let Bane have me, because at least I wouldn’t have to miss you now. If we
hadn’t kissed in the bathroom, and then in my room, I wouldn’t have been
feeling this way right now. I was living a boy free life. The only boy I had
ever kissed was Shaun and that was in the first grade. We swore we would never
go there again. You’re the only person other than Shaun that I’ve ever told
about that. I didn’t know how I really felt about you until you kissed me again
in my bedroom. So if anything, this is entirely your fault. It’s your fault
that I can’t stop thinking about you even in my dreams.” I turn away again but
he stops me. I’m looking at the ground and he lifts my chin with his hand. I
keep my eyes down and he tries to meet my gaze.
When I refuse to look at him, he speaks. “I want to kiss you again.
Tell me now if you don’t want me to.”
No, no. I’m thinking the word but I can’t bring myself to say it out
loud. No matter how much I try to deny it, I do want him to kiss me again. He
leans close to me and turns his head. I close my eyes so that he can’t see
them. He brushes his lips against mine the same way he did in the bathroom. I
don’t respond. He starts to caress my face and run his fingers through my hair.
I open my eyes for just a second, but that was all it took.
He had been looking at my eyes with his face so close to mine that when
I opened my eyes it was like our minds melded into one. He kissed me again but this
time it was that passionate kiss he gave me in the bedroom. I tried to push him
back as I had in the bathroom earlier today, but my hands quickly moved to his
hair. I didn’t want him to stop. We lay down on the ground beneath the bleachers
and continued kissing.
He was about to move on to my neck when we heard the fire alarm. We had
missed part of Biology and if we weren’t careful, we were about to be seen by
no less than half of the school when they walked over here for the fire drill.
As if he had read my mind, Damian grabbed my hand “I have two ideas:
One, I can sneak us into class and no one will know the difference; or two, we
can just go ahead and hide in the field and join the next class since we’ve
probably already been marked absent.”
Crap, I’m going to have another detention this Saturday. Aunt Lynn is
going to kill me.
“Do you trust me?”
I look up at him, “It depends on what you want me to trust you about.
Why?”
He looks away from me, “Okay, will you trust me? I think I can keep you
out of detention.”
How did he? “I don’t know how you would be able to do that. Are you a
miracle worker?” That was a stupid question. He had saved me twice.
“Stay here. Stay down, I’ll be right back. Don’t move.” That
sounds familiar. Why does he always get to be in charge? I drop my mouth open
to say something else, but he kisses me fast and runs off.