The Mirrors of Fate (18 page)

She needed to see him again.

•

A chill, cold and imposing, interrupted Maria’s rhythm of sleep, awaking her with an itchy nose. Someone had apparently left the classroom window open. She opened her eyes and wiped drool from her chin with her knuckles. She hoped Mr. Lohan hadn’t seen her. She was pretty sure her after school detention, the very least of the punishments she had been given, involved doing work and not falling asleep.

The clock at the front of the classroom hanging above the markerboard might have been broken, but outside was quiet so she instantly knew everyone had gone home by now. That meant she had slept too long. Maria got up from the desk, rubbing her stuffy nose. She reached for her bag on the floor but a sudden fit of mouse-like sneezes stalled her.

“
Achiee! Achiee! Achiee!” she expelled. She sniffled, took a breath, but another fit of sneezes followed, sending her shoulders jerking up and down.

“
God bless you.”

Startled, Maria spun around to face the back of the room.

Sitting there isolated in the last row of desks was a body slumped back lazily in one of the chairs. Whoever it was wore a thick black jacket and a baseball cap hung low over a face.

“
Oh I’m sorry!” Her apology came out slightly shrieked in her attempt to hide her alarm. “I had no idea anyone was in here.”

“
I should be apologizing,” said the faceless figure. “It was I who left the window open.”

Maria stared at him. How odd. He was so still he blended in with the inanimate objects at the back of the room.

“
It’s...fine,” Maria finally said, her voice hesitant. “Have you...been in here long?”

“
Yeah. Just sitting watching you sleep. Sorry if I startled you. I have a knack for being invisible, one might say.”

Instantly she stiffened, not liking his response.

The tall male figure came to its feet and began to make its way up to the front where she was. Maria’s throat tightened, and she leaned away apprehensively, but when the figure finally came to stand over her and spoke in a familiar voice, her body suddenly relaxed.

“
You’re easily fooled, you know,” Alan said with a smile. He adjusted locks of black hair already hanging over the left side of his face and covering his cheek.

“
Alan! I didn’t know it was you.” And she still could not believe it was him. He had to have been sick like she speculated, because the person who stood before her now was not the same person she met the day of her blow out with Mr. Lohan; he wasn’t the same person she talked to in the cafeteria or met at the Square either.

Alan was starting to look like a completely different person. Though his hair was in his face she could still make out strange changes. His bright green eyes were on the verge of brown, mysteriously darker now and lacking their usual luster. His eyes looked less rounded and his eyelids thinner, making him appear as if he had become more Asian since she last saw him. The texture of his skin even looked different. He appeared as if in the past few days he had been through years of some strange rough practice that had injured and bruised his face. His countenance was robbed of its soft, flawless appearance.

His lips lazily formed an amused smile. “It’s rude to stare.”

“
S-Sorry. Have you been sick these past few days?”

“
You could say that. I had a lot going on.”

She wanted to ask exactly what, but wanted even more for him to tell her voluntarily.

“
You must have been pretty occupied. I couldn’t get you on your phone.”

Alan shook his head slightly. “Yeah, I know, the phone thing,” was all he said.

Maria watched him wander over to the window and prop himself up comfortably on the sill. She didn’t make a motion to follow him. Instead she stared at him, examining him, feeling uncomfortable and wondering why he was wearing such a thick bulky jacket. The slight chill in the air might have made her sniffle, but it was not a cold day. At least not for a strong guy like him.

“
Have you been okay? Sorry I didn’t try to reach you.” The statement seemed mechanical as he stared out the open window.

“
Yeah, I’ve been okay.” She blushed without much reason. “Just thinking about you, I guess.”

He didn’t respond. She looked at him longingly, deeply hoping he would say something equal in affection. She only found herself equally disappointed.

“
Well, listen, there’s something I need to tell you.”

Instinct or maybe paranoia told her what he might say next. This was the tradition for most girls, was it not?
Thanks but no thanks. You’re not the girl for me.
Or heaven forbid it was something like,
Look you’re a nice girl, but...

She mentally prepared herself for whatever it could be and envisioned barricading herself behind an imaginary red-brick wall of safety. Whatever he had to say, she wouldn’t let herself be disappointed.
Prepare for the worst. Don’t let his words or bad news penetrate you. Be strong.

“
What do you want to talk about?” she asked after the awkward silence.

“
I don’t think I’m cut out for this school.”

Oh hallelujah!
They were not the words she dreaded, but Maria still frowned. “What do you mean you’re not cut out for here?”

He lowered his head and stared at the floor. “I just don’t belong here. And soon, I’ll be leaving.”

A whirlwind of distress threatened to topple her over. Maria went up to him. “You’re leaving? Why? You’ve barely spent any time here. Is it the workload you can’t handle? Because I can help you...although my grades aren’t as spectacular as they could be.” She laughed a little to lighten the mood, but his demeanor remained the same. “I mean, I don’t think you should give up just because of something silly. Naturally you just started a new school and it takes time to adjust. I don’t know how they teach things up in Iceland, but come on, think about it. You shouldn’t just give up like that.”

This was more than her rationality talking; this was desperation making a plea. If he had given her this information any time at all before their date, she would’ve been able to handle his announcement and wished him the safest trip home possible. Instead, her willingness to help him was nothing more than a deep unwillingness to see him go. He couldn’t leave. Not now. Not after she found someone like him. He was someone who paid attention to her. Someone real who seemed to love her company. Someone who...she was developing deep feelings for.

“
I really think you should reconsider,” Maria told him again.

“
I can’t. I never planned to be here long from the start anyway. My time here is limited.”

Maria’s voice dropped considerably. “Oh. I see. You didn’t tell me that before.”

“
Why do you think I didn’t?” he asked, finally turning his face to look at her for the first time since they began speaking. His gaze pricked her like a thorn meant to cause bleeding. “I didn’t tell you because you weren’t worth telling.”

How could he say a thing like that? Any response she could have given died when her heart constricted in her chest. The powerful, chest-tightening reaction frightened her, but her feelings toward him were there now and they weren’t going anywhere. She gazed upon him, hurt by his brash, stinging words.

“
What’s wrong with you? Why would you say something like that?”

“
Does it bother you?”

She stepped back, confused. “Obviously it bothers me! What kind of a stupid question is that? You talk nice to me one second, and then...Are you on something? Are you high?”

He rolled his head back and laughed. Even now after the painful thing he’d just said, her eyes would still not allow the attractiveness of his mouth to go unnoticed when it was formed in a smile.

“
You’re funny,” he said.

But she found no humor in his bitterness. She stared at him thoroughly, noting with every passing second something wasn’t right about him. “What’s wrong?” she persisted. “You come in here looking like you’re freezing or something, looking like you’re sick and tired, and then you talk to me as if I’m some stranger off the street? And why the hell is your hat so low that you’re hiding your fa—”

He intercepted when Maria reached for his hat, grabbing her wrist tightly. “Don’t touch me!”

Sadly and silently she watched him, more confused now than before. After a moment he slowly and cautiously let go of her, but her hand remained suspended in mid-air.

Those eyes. He stared at her, feeling such disgust build within himself. The hurt and confusion on her face poisoned him, but he could not risk her seeing his face turning back to normal.

But most of all, he was afraid of her touch. The last time her touch had done something to unhinge him.

He was supposed to be controlling
her
, and while even now he realized he had been successful, somehow, inexplicably, she had wound up making him lose control of himself. On their date he had touched her and caressed her in a way he thought was an act to help unfold his plan. But he had gotten lost in a simple kiss, lost in the moment, lost in her. Somehow, the very one he had come to destroy had managed to draw something out of him, some sort of feeling.

But for her? Feeling for
her
? No, there was nothing but a deep-seated hatred for her. He could not allow anything like that to ever happen again.

He masterminded another sweet gaze, his eyes softening his look. Not before he saw the expression of shock fade away and that she was now receptive to him did he start speaking again to rectify the situation.

“
I know this comes as a surprise. I’m sorry if I’m acting like a jerk. The truth is I really don’t want to go. I’ve come to like you. If you’ll let me, there are some things I need to take care of before I leave.” He curved his mouth into a smile that was slow, tender and all enveloping, and then he eased himself off the sill and stood over her.

Maria’s scent assailed him from her nearness. He raised his fingers to cradle her cheek.
“Maria, you’re the thing I have to take care of before I leave.”

“
But I don’t under—” She was cut off mid-sentence by the pressure of his mouth on hers. The kiss was expertly executed, meant to be as false as the smiles that had led her to this climax in his mission.

But the same electricity from before was there sparking and gluing his mouth to hers. He fought to focus. Maria wrapped her arms around his waist and made no attempt to restrain him when he impulsively deepened his kiss by thrusting his tongue inside her. She opened for him, sighing when she did.

He let his hand fall from her face down to her neck where his fingers grazed. For a tempting moment they curled around her throat but he continued to let his hand fall and settle on her shoulder. Still deeply dedicated to kissing her, he opened his eyes briefly and looked at her flushed face. She was completely entranced by the moment and the way his tongue teased and played with her lips. This was his moment. No turning back now. He eyed the teacher’s desk and moved toward it, pulling her with him.

He hoisted her by the hips to sit on top of the teacher’s desk with her legs dangling over the edge, and stood between her knees, his groin against hers. Her hands rose and she wrapped them across his shoulders and around his neck. Her fingers slid underneath his cap and gently pushed it off his head, winding in his now fully-black hair.

That anyone might be able to see them from the window didn’t matter. He released his claim on her mouth and whispered into her ear.

“
Don’t be scared. Just go with it.”

He started kissing her neck. She moaned and leaned into him. The hot-blooded little fool was willing to do anything for another kiss—just what he’d counted on. So his eager fingers reached underneath her green blouse, expecting compliance.

“
Whoa, wait a second,” Maria said fast, pressing her hand into his chest.

He opened his eyes to consider her, his fingers still unfastening her bra. “What?” he asked, breathing harder from the dance her full lips had done on his. The toss of auburn curls down her back and along her face framed big doe-eyes, dilated and worried.

He held her gaze. His hands never stopped roaming.

“
We, we s-shouldn’t—” she stuttered. “We can’t do that.”

“
Says who?”

Her bra went loose. A sweet shiver ran through her as her breasts spilled out.

“
We can’t do that here. I’m not—” Maria gasped.

“
Sssh,” he whispered in a low murmur as he shifted the brassiere aside and let his fingers curl around one full soft mound of flesh. Lust stirred in his core.

“
Alan, please stop.”

Her pleas went unheeded. He pressed his weight into her until she was lying on top of the desk. His hand slid in between her legs, but her breathless whimper was outmatched by the unexpected heat developing within himself. He cursed himself silently and removed his hand.

He had to do it now before anything else came over him.

“
Maria?”

She opened her eyes to mere slits. “Alan...I really like you but—”

“
Maria...this is for all the trouble you have caused me.”