Secrets (Swept Saga) (18 page)

Now all I needed to do was secure a building and buy it. Over the past week I’ve raised more funds. I’m amazed by the generosity of complete strangers, strangers that believe in me. Instead of posting about the building that I want I send out a general thank you. I prepare to leave, and ride around.

Fall is turning into winter, but the air is still mild. It’s a bright, clear day, and it’s perfect outside for a ride, I’ll just need my jacket. I zipped up my black leather riding jacket and hopped on my motorcycle it growled to life and I sped off into the neighborhood. I found a building not far off from where the first one was. It must have just gone up for sale because it didn’t have a sign on it before. I didn’t waste any time and pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and called the number. A female voice answered on the other end after two rings. Her name was Samantha and she told me the sign was put up just this morning.

I could barely believe my luck. I asked her how much and my jaw dropped to the floor. Not only was it a nice building, as far as I could tell from the outside, but the price was less than the first one. Not only would I be able to purchase it, but I would have enough money left over to buy equipment. I told her I was standing outside and she offered to come out and show me the building. I anxiously waited for her to meet me and paced.

I was itching to update my blog from my phone, but something told me not to. I had lost on two other buildings and I didn’t want to risk losing on this one. I wanted to tell Crystal too, but I figured I would have a chance later and if everything goes well I can tell her by showing the building to her. It would make a great date for the both of us and I couldn’t wait.

A jet black BMW with tinted windows pulls into the gravel parking lot. The tires crunch as she pulls up next to me. She rolls down the window and I see a woman who looks to be in her 30s looking back at me. Her red hair falls into maintained curls around her face. “Are you Gabriel?” She asks.

“Yes,” I smile at her. She parks her car, and steps out. She’s tall, thin and walks with certainty towards the door. “If you follow me,” she says.

I walk behind her and she unlocks the building. She reaches next to the door and turns on the lights. They flicker and they’re dim at first, but they provide enough light for me to see the empty building. It’s bigger than I thought it would be. The building isn’t insulated, and it’s like a big giant garage. There are bay doors that open, and the roof is high enough that I could add a second floor. As I look around I can see in my mind where I’ll put a half pipe for skate boards, an area for couches with a TV, and a computer hub. If I put in a second floor I can add a snack bar.

“Is there a bathroom?” I ask Samantha.

“It’s this way.” She says and our footsteps echo as we walk across the building to a corner closet. She opens the door and there’s a little toilet with a sink. It’s not bad, but I’ll need another bathroom and a shower if my little brother is going to live with me.

We stand in the building for a while and I discuss the process of buying the building. I’m going to have to have it inspected, and I’m going to have to put some money down. Provided everything goes well and there aren’t any problems I’ll be able to close on the building in a matter of weeks. I write a check for the earnest amount, shake hands with Samantha, and ride back to my dorm. I’m so happy that I’ve found something that will work.

Now I just need to find an inspector and find out how much it will cost. Hopefully I won’t have to fix anything. Then there’s insurance. I grab my laptop and begin searching. I find an inspector that has a great reputation according to the reviews online and call him up. He gives me a quote and tells me he can inspect as soon as next week. I arrange the time. I write down a list of insurance companies to call later. As long as everything goes well I should be able to call them up for quotes.

I can’t believe everything is falling into place like it is. Here I was worried that I wouldn’t find what I was looking for after I lost the first place and now I have a place fall practically into my lap. It’s funny how life is sometimes. Most people take a while to buy their first place, they save their money and plan it carefully, and here I am second year in college, buying a building instead of a home. It’s okay though this building means so much to me and it’s the beginning of a new chapter in my life.

Now there’s the matter of the party. It’s tonight and Emily is the host. I’m not looking forward to a possible run in with her after all the texts and the flyer incident, but Crystal is going to be there and who am I to pass up a chance to spend some time with her.

 
Chapter Twelve

Party

Crystal

I
t seems like it’s been forever since Kelly and I have been out. Ryan sent me with enough money to buy a store, and Kelly was more than happy to come with me. She chatted nonstop about Nick, and the band. I could tell she was excited about their performance tonight, and the fact that Ryan and I were going to meet them. I watch Kelly’s face as she talks, I haven’t seen her this happy in a long time and she glows when she says his name.

She addresses each piece of clothing with, Nick will like this, or Nick would hate this. Then she tells me that she’s thinking of cutting her hair. Apparently Nick has been saying that he likes short hair. I honestly don’t know what Kelly would look like with short hair and I can’t imagine it. She’s had long hair the whole time I’ve known her, and I just don’t think she has the right face for it. I try to talk her out of it when we get distracted by the biggest selection of shoes Kelly and I have ever seen.

It seems like we were there for hours making the poor sales clerk run back and forth for shoes in our size. We tried on what seemed like every single pair of shoes in the store, but we made it worth their time. I left with ten boxes of shoes because I couldn’t decide. Kelly didn’t buy as much as me, but she still bought more than what the clerk was expecting. We giggled as we carried our stash to Kelly’s car and stowed it in the trunk.

With Kelly’s help I was able to pick out a few nice outfits and a nice pair of jeans and a cute shirt for the party. I instantly felt better about myself, now that I was in some clothes that fit. The last thing on our list was a pedicure. Even though I would be wearing shoes that didn’t show my toes, I wanted a pedi. It’s been a long time since I last had one.

We walked arm in arm into the salon, and chatted about the party as we got our feet massaged, and toes painted. I was more relaxed and ready for the party when it was over. By the time we were completely done, we had just enough time to get back to our dorms and get ready for the night ahead. Ryan texted me earlier that he would be by to pick me up, we were going to go to dinner first, and then meet up with Kelly later.

When I was finished getting ready, Ryan knocked at the door, his timing impeccable as always. He handed me a beautiful bouquet of flowers, and a box of chocolates. I decide that I’m going to have to talk to him about my diet. If I keep eating this kind of stuff, I’ll sure I’ll look like Shamu by the end of the school year.

I put the flowers in a glass of water, set the chocolates on the table and held Ryan’s hand as we walked to his car. “I want to celebrate your accomplishments, tonight.” He says as he starts the car.

“My accomplishments? You didn’t too terrible either.” I say, rubbing his arm.

“Fine, we’ll celebrate our accomplishments.” He chuckles.

Ryan drives me to another fine restaurant, where the food is rich and flavorful and the price is cringe worthy. I don’t know how he finds these places, but sometimes I just want a simple burger from a fast food joint. When we’re done with our meal, Ryan places a present in front of me. “What is this?” I ask.

“Open it and find out.” He says.

The paper is pretty and I don’t want to rip it, so I carefully remove the tape on either side of the box, and revel a velvet box, the kind of box that can only hold one thing; jewelry. I open the box and gasp with the brilliant diamond bracelet that sits inside. It’s beautiful and it glimmers in the dim lighting that reflects off its many facets. I’m unable to speak, and Ryan takes the bracelet out of the box and puts it on my wrist.

“I-I don’t know what to say.” I stammer, turning my wrist around and watching the light play on the cut edges of the diamonds.

“Say thank you,” He says with a smile, and I thank him, then lean over and kiss him. No one has ever given me anything like this, and this bracelet is stunning. I try to count the diamonds in the bracelet, but give up, there are just too many.

“Would you like anything for dessert?” The waitress asks, interrupting the moment.  We both tell her no and she places the check on our table. I glance up at Ryan, and he’s looking the ticket over, and my eye is drawn back to the bracelet that adorns my wrist. I love it, and I’m sure I can get used to stuff like this. When I think about all the time I’ve spent with Ryan and everything that he’s done for me I realize that he’s a really great guy and he wants me, all of me. How selfish have I been to deny him that? How bad would it be to call it quits with Gabriel and just be happy with Ryan?

My thoughts are interrupted when Ryan asks me if I’m ready to go. I take his hand and follow him to the car. We don’t waste any more time and arrive at the party. I can hear music pulsing though the windows in the car. The parking lot is full and I see people stumbling all over the place. Ryan parks the car and opens my door. He takes my hand and leads me across the lot and into the crowd.

Ryan and Kelly play a texting game of Marco Polo. Wreck Hock is going to be on stage soon and Kelly wants us to meet them before they perform. I hear my name from somewhere and turn around. I don’t see anything and I hear my name again, I look to the side, “Crystal!” Kelly calls and waves at me as she approaches.

“Hey, Kelly I was wondering where you were.”

“I was wondering where you all were too,” She giggles, “C’mon I want you to meet Nick. I’m SO excited you finally get to see him!” She says, stumbles and then regains her balance.

“Are you okay?” I ask.

“Yeah! I’m great! Isn’t this party awesome?”

“Yeah” I answer with a nervous glance.

Ryan and I follow Kelly through the crowd. I haven’t seen this many people in once place since the county fair. I wasn’t a fan of large crowds. I hated the noise, the people pressing against me, touching me and the overall chaotic mess of it.

I scan the crowd as we walk, looking for Gabriel. He said he would be here. My eyes land on two girls kissing each other, their tongues tangle, and saliva drips from their conjoined faces. A guy stands next to them with a look pure shock and enjoyment. The girls part, look at the guy and both attack him. There is such carnage from them that it can’t be described any other way.

Another girl screams, waves her shirt in the air, and shakes her bare chest. Ryan pushes me to the side, and I look down and see a couple practically having sex on the ground. If it weren’t for Ryan I would have tripped over them.

Music throbs from the speakers that are too close to my ears for comfort and drowns out the noise of the crowd until we move further away. I don’t know how Kelly is able to navigate through this mess, but I’m amazed. I’m sure I would get lost in two seconds and freak out if there wasn’t a familiar face in sight.

Finally, Kelly reaches a tour bus and opens the door. We enter the bus behind her, and my anxiety is instantly better. The noise isn’t as loud and there aren’t a lot of people. Now this I can deal with.

“Crystal, I want you to meet my boyfriend, Nick Hock.” Kelly says and a guy with gauged ears, pierced eyebrows, pierced nose, pierced lip, pierced nipples, tribal tattoos on both arms, and a nice muscular body stands up, nods and shakes my hand. He has jet black hair and sky blue eyes and his jeans are so ripped I wonder how they’re even holding together.

“Hi, Crystal,” he says. “This is Craig, Corey and Alex.” He introduces and points to each one. They nod as he says their names. Each guy has a scantily clad bimbo sitting on their laps giggling and crooning over them. “Please make yourself at home. Would you like a beer, Bro?” He asks Ryan.

“Sure.” He says

“You?” He asks me.

I decline his offer and take a moment to look around the bus as he grabs a beer for Ryan. I didn’t notice it before but a smoky haze fills the bus, the lighting is dim, the carpet is stained, the chairs are ripped and stained as well. Beer bottles lie all over the floor and various articles of clothing are scattered about. I sit further back on the chair that was closest to me, and yelp when I feel something wet seep through my jeans.

“Sorry about that,” the guy that I assume is Craig says. “Things got a little bit messy, didn’t it, Bambi.” He chuckles and she laughs with him. I cringe at the fact that I’m almost certain I’ve sat in a possible love stain, and the horrific laugh of Bambi. It sounds nasally and just as obnoxious as her fake plastic tits that are barely covered by her poor excuse of a shirt; I mean why even bother at this point, just let em’ swing free.

“You can sit on my lap.” Ryan offers and I gladly accept.