Her Love Ran Crimson (Crimson Series) (12 page)

As I pull into the parking lot of school I scan the lot for Jase’s car. I see it over in a corner, so I drive up to the spot next to him and park. I look over and see him sitting in his car on his phone. I don’t like what I see, though. He is visibly upset yelling into his phone. He notices me watching him .I give him a small wave and wonder if I should get out and go over to him.

He ends his call and tosses his phone on to the other seat. Then he gets out of his car and heads over to my car and opens my door. I grab my stuff and hop out, and he instantly hugs me. I get this strange feeling like something is up and he doesn’t want me to know. This could just be me being paranoid, so I push it to the back of my head. “Hi. You okay?” Cars are starting to pile in through the gates, so I take a few steps away from him. I still get a little uncomfortable when people see us together.

“Yeah, everything is fine. It was just my dad. He wants me to come to dinner at his house, but I told him no. I don’t want to be anywhere near his new flavor of the month. She’s only a couple of years older than me and I know she only likes him for his money. I refuse to be around it any longer. That’s the reason I moved into my mom’s house. I’m tired of seeing the revolving door of endless gold diggers coming through, but I’m fine. Ready for the day?” he asks a little too fast.

I follow him to get his stuff out of his car. He pulls out two paper cups of coffee from my favorite joint and hands one to me. I grab it and smile at him. “Thanks! How did you know I didn’t have any this morning? You might have just saved a person’s life if they came at me wrong today.” I chuckle as I try to make a joke, and take a sip of my drink.

He locks up his car and, as we head toward the school, he grabs my hand and laces our fingers together. It feels great. It’s like he is trying to let me know he is there and is giving me the support I need. The second he squeezes my hand it quickly sends tingles up my arm and straight to my heart. Just the simple touch by him sends my heart into overdrive. I have never had this feeling before with anybody and now I know what I have been missing out on. I relax and just go with it. I stand a little taller with the little bit of strength that I feel from that simple gesture.

We walk through the doors of our school and head to my locker. He stops me on the walk there.

“Can you wait here for a second? I need to get something from my locker.”

“Okay.” So I wait there while I assume he needs to grab his books and look around uncomfortably. I feel so naked without him next to me. It’s like I don’t know what to do with my hands again. I put my hands together and just have them clasped in front of me not wanting to fidget around and look as uncomfortable as I feel. Once Jase comes back over to me, he looks like something is up. He has this mischievous grin plastered all over his face. “Why are you looking at me like that? What are you hiding?” I stop and stand not letting him pass me as I try to figure out what is going on. I look behind his back and try and catch a glimpse of what he is hiding.

“Oh, you aren’t going to find it behind my back, but I promise you will get it soon. It has to be the right time. Just be patient.”

Patient, yeah I can do that. I think not. I have been waiting forever to feel this good and now that I’m finally living somewhat like a normal teen I don’t know how to wait for surprises. All I can think about is how I wait for Frank to be mad at me and Dixon to come back and take me again. I shake my head dismissing the thoughts, not wanting to ruin this day. I just smile. “Okay, patient. I think I can handle that. Let’s get to class, so we aren’t late and we can prepare for the test,” I say starting to walk to class.

“Wait we have a test today?”

I look at him and begin to panic for him. “Um, yeah Mr. Shultz has been talking about it for the last two weeks. This counts for half our grade. Hurry and let’s get there so I can go over some stuff with you.” I tug his arm, trying to make him walk faster so I can figure out how prepared or unprepared he is. All of a sudden he starts laughing loudly. I can’t figure out if he is laughing at me or if I said something funny. I don’t like being laughed at. Talked about and trashed is one thing, but to be made fun of is a whole new subject I hate to visit. He obviously notices the look on my face and walks up and takes my face carefully in his hands.

“Maddie, I was just joking. Sorry. Shit, I didn’t want to make you feel bad. I studied all night. I’m gonna to do fine.”

He starts kissing my temple making his way down my cheek bone until he reaches my nose and plants a soft gentle kiss on the tip of it. I relax a little bit. I can take a joke. God, Maddie, get it together. I curse myself in my head. Then he plants the softest of kisses on my lips leaving me wanting more and I am saddened that I have to break it off as a teacher is walking by. I nervously step back smoothing my hair down and wiping my bottom lip with my thumb. Jase smiles at me and he grabs my hand and we walk stopping at my locker first and then finally making it to class.

We settle in our seats. “Are you sure you’re ready for the test. We can go over it if you want,” I say as I flip papers over in my binder looking for the notes.

“I’m fine. I told you, I studied all night. I know this like the back of my hand. You good?” he asks as he leans back in his chair like this is going to be a piece of cake.

“Yeah. This stuff is actually really easy for me,” I say. I need to know this or I will fail this class and never get out of here. I need good grades, so when I find out where I’m going I can find a college for me to start over at. I glance at my phone and see I still have ten minutes before class starts, so I decide to finish up my coffee before the bell rings and just relax. I haven’t forgotten about Jase though and that he has something for me.

After class is over I am feeling really good about how I did on the test. I make a stop at my locker before the next class. When I turn away from locker, Jase is holding a small pink gift bag, I stare at it wondering what could be inside such a tiny bag. I don’t ever get gifts anymore. Not for birthdays or Christmas, so I am a little taken back that he would get something for me without any occasion. My heart is thudding in my chest so hard that I am sure it shows through my shirt.

“Here, it’s nothing big, but when I saw it, it just said, Maddie, so I grabbed it. Okay, open it,” he says, nudging the bag toward me.

Excitement blazes in his eyes and he has a huge grin plastered on his face. I grab the bag slowly, and carefully start removing the tissue paper. When I get to the bottom there is a tiny blue box that I lift out. I look back and forth from the box to Jase. He is bouncing on his toes in anticipation. I open the top and am stunned when I see what’s in the box. It’s a silver charm bracelet filled with charms. I lift it out of the box so I can look at it closer. Every charm has an inspirational word on it. They say Strength, Courage, Live, Learn, Love, and Embrace. Every single one of these words has a special and deep meaning to me. I wish I was each one of these words. Every word has a story and I understand why this would stick out for him and he would want me to have this. He has been rooting for me since he laid eyes on me. I knew it, but I didn’t believe it until last night.

I don’t know why it’s so hard for me to let him into my life. At what point do I tear down the wall and believe not everyone is going to crush my world. I have to break the cycle sometime and right now seems better that any. I could let him in and still be cautious. Ultimately, I am the one who is in charge of my heart. I need to build it up and take responsibility for who hurts me. I can only get hurt if I let it happen. There is no harm in having a little fun and giving in once and a while.

“Maddie? So do you…um…like it? I mean if you absolutely hate it I can return it. Is it too much?” Jase asks as he backs up a couple steps.

I have no words for him. I am speechless, so I do the next best thing. I rush over to where he has backed up to and jump in his arms and smash my mouth on his. I hold onto him with everything I have and whisper in his ear, “Thank you, so much. It’s beautiful. I love it.” I don’t care who is watching. I am embracing the new me that is trying so desperately to shine. The smile Jase is proudly wearing is lighting up the hall. It electrifies me and I couldn’t be happier right here in this moment.

“I did promise you a better day, not just a moment. Let’s get class out of the way, so we can hang during nutrition and figure out a plan to be able to hang out more. I have a few tricks up my sleeve,” he says as we walk hand in hand together to class. “Jase, this is a better day. You have already done enough. You don’t have to do anything else. This was amazing.” We make our way down the hall. For once I am fulfilled.

Chapter Fifteen

A week has gone by, and the new me is coming out more and more every day. It feels good to let go of the emotional damage that consumes me and takes over my life. To take things day by day and not let the small things get to me is something I have never done. I ignore the stares and the whispers. I don’t even pay attention to them anymore. I am floating in this world with Jase. I only focus on the good things that are around me. I have been trying like mad to upset Frank or let him down with his business, making sure to keep the attention off of me so I can do things I want to do when he is done using me for his running around. I hate doing it, but in the end there are just a short few weeks left until I turn eighteen and get out of here where he can’t find me. What he doesn’t know is my mom left me a lot of money and I have hidden it well. I can disappear. I have never even said these words out loud or ever really think about them scared he can read my thoughts and will trick me into telling him.

I am jolted from my thoughts as my phone buzzes. Jase sent me a message. I always get excited when he sends me messages.

Jase: Did you do everything you needed to after school? Can we meet up at the park?

Please!!!!!

Me: I’m done. Not sure. Let me see what’s going on and I will let you know.

I need to figure out a plan that will get me permission to get out of here for a couple of hours. Once I think of something I go to look for Frank to ask. It’s a Friday, so I don’t have school the next day and don’t have to worry about homework getting done for the next day.

Once I find him, I walk cautiously over to him, hoping this is a good idea and I’m not ruining the progress I have made staying out of trouble. “So Frank, I was…um…wondering if I could go to the park for a little while. I have a photography assignment due this Monday and need to get some shots done.” He doesn’t respond. When I am sure he is going to tell me no I turn around to walk away, but then he surprises me.

“I guess so. Only two hours though. I am going to need you to do something for me when you get home. Don’t make me regret this, Maddison.”

My insides are jumping around at the thought of seeing Jase. I try to remain calm, so I didn’t give away my little secret. “Thanks. Be home in two hours,” I say as I walk nonchalantly to my room to grab my bag and camera. I shoot a quick text to Jase.

Me: Meet me at the park. I have two hours. Leaving now!

I drive fast so I have as long as I can with Jase. When I pull into the place I call “our park,” he is already here waiting. I pull into a spot and jump out of the car quickly, excited to be out of the house on a Friday night and not trapped inside. I walk over to him. He is holding a blanket and a basket. I don’t know how he gets these things together in such a short amount of time, but he always does the sweetest things for me. “What’s in the basket?” I say trying to sneak a peek to see what’s inside. He snaps the lid down.

“No peeking. Let’s go find some place to set this up. We are working on little time.”

We make our way over to a shaded area cast by the trees. Once we get settled on the blanket he starts taking out some sandwiches, chips and bottles of waters. I get super excited when he takes out a white paper bag with my favorite pastries inside. I want to skip the real food and just enjoy the goodies he brought. “How did you find the time to do all of this?” I ask mesmerized by the set up. It’s incredible to see him do all of this for me and it makes me appreciate him that much more. “It was nothing. I prepared this earlier with the chance of you being able to come out. I’m glad you were allowed to. I would have been sitting at home eating these delectable pastries all by myself. My mom is at another function tonight,” he says as he rolls his eyes.

He doesn’t talk much about his family and I can’t blame him. I don’t give him hardly anything about my life, so I don’t push. I don’t know if he wants me to ask, but I never want to spoil the time we have together with talking about things that obviously bug him. I am just not sure if he is waiting for me to ask him about it or not, so I just let it go.

After we finish up eating I get up to stretch and notice the sun is starting to set behind the mountains. I want to shoot this and make this moment last forever, I walk around until I find just the right spot to capture the best picture I can get. I take about twenty different shots of this sunset. I have never seen such a beautiful sunset before. Maybe I just have never paid attention to it before. The oranges and pinks mixed and blended together magnificently. It’s not too bright and the fog is rolling in from the coastline on the other side of the mountains. It casts a glow around the park. I find a couple of other intriguing things and keep snapping away.

As I am pushing the button on my final shot, strong arms wrap around my sides from behind. Normally I would jump at the sudden contact, but there is no mistaking the arms embracing me. I look over my shoulder and see my favorite pair of eyes looking back at me with admiration I have never seen from him before. It’s hard for me to read people, but there is nothing I see hidden in his eyes.

He gives the crook of my neck a soft kiss, lingering a little longer than normal. It sets my insides on fire. Just the soft touch of his lips set me on a high that I never want to come down from. Goose bumps cover my skin and he makes his way down my shoulder until I am breathing hard, anticipating the next kiss. I turn around in his arms and take in his beautiful face. His lips are as soft as the most expensive silk. I don’t think I have ever seen such a perfect face. I reach up on my toes and place my lips on his and slowly kiss him to life. At first I start out slow, but desperation kicks in and I want more. I deepen the kiss as I wrap my arms around his neck and show him just how deeply I am falling for him. He shows me back by pouring his heart out to me in one amazing kiss.