Undying Love (The Introduction) (8 page)

"Hello? Is everything okay?" She asks with a groggy voice.
 

Laughing I say, "Everything is okay. I just wanted to be the first one to wish you a happy birthday."
 

"You are so goofy. You couldn't wait when I was awake to do that."
 

"You're awake now, so happy sweet sixteenth
pretty girl
. I hope we have a hundred more birthdays together."
 

She whispers, "Yeah, me too."
 

"Good morning baby, I'll see you in a few hours.”
 

"You will?''
 

I smile, ''Yeah, I'm taking you out
for
breakfast."
 

"Okay, breakfast it is!"
 

***
 

At around 8:30 I pull up in front of the house. As I am walking towards the door, it flies open, and out walks Rachel's dad, Dr. Johnson. I swallow hard because I don't think he likes me much since the whole incident with Rachel.
 

"Good morning Dr. Johnson."
 

''Good morning Skylar. May I have a quick word with you before you take Ari out?" He says stoically.
 

Nervously I say, "Okay …"
 

"I want you to understand something. My wife and I always suspected that you were interested in Ari and not Rachel. Even though we didn't want our daughter to be hurt, we knew this relationship with Ari was inevitable. With that said, Ari is also my daughter. So if you hurt her or try anything funny with her today or any other day, remember that I’m a doctor. There are ways I can inflict pain on you that you couldn't even imagine. Got it?" He says all this with a devious smile on his face.
 

I swallow the lump in my throat and quickly respond. "Yes, sir."
 

With a menacing smile, he says, "Okay. Now take care of our girl."
 

He walks me inside the house and yells for Ari to come down. When she comes down the stairs, I see she’s wearing a beautiful sundress and a sweater for the December weather. She walks up to Dr. Johnson and kisses him on the cheek.
 

"Enjoy your day princess."
 

She beams at him.
"I will thanks. See you later."
 

"Goodbye, Dr. Johnson."
I say hesitantly.
 

"Goodbye Skylar, bring my girl back home just as you picked her up, and remember what I said."
 

With a lump in my throat I say, "Yes sir." I manage to croak out.
 

As we make it outside to the car Ari looks at me quizzically. I shake my head and say, “Don’t ask Ari."
 

"Okay … So what are we doing today?"
 

"Aren't you a saint today? You have such patience." I say with a laugh
.
 

She grins at me. "I don't need patience, today
is
my birthday.”  
 

"That's right, I almost forgot." I deadpan.
 

"Funny … So where are we going?"
 

"We are going for breakfast first, and then I have a fun filled activity day planned
out for us
."
 

"Okay, let's do it."
 

The day is filled with activity upon activities. After we leave the diner for breakfast, I take her to the amusement park and we go on all of the rides. After the amusement park, we go to the boardwalk and eat a little of everything
. I make sure to buy her chocolate as promised
. When we leave the boardwalk, I take her to play mini golf. She's so competitive it's not even funny. She slaughters me, and I didn't even purposefully let her win. After the game, we are both tired and hungry. So I decide to take her to the seafood restaurant near the beach where I first met her. After dinner, I ask her to take a walk on the beach with me so I can give her real gift to her. The sun has set so the backdrop for the walk is kind of romantic. I spot the bonfire I had asked Abel to setup for us.
 

"Someone just left a bonfire lit without anyone here, that's not safe."
 

"No, I had Abel build it for us. I sent him a text to let him know we were headed this way so he could leave."
 

In awe she says, “Wow, that's
really
sweet of you. Thanks, babe this was an awesome birthday."
 

"Well, it's not over yet."
 

S
urprised she asks, "It's not?"
 

"Nope. I haven't given you your gift yet."
 

"I thought today was my gift?"
She asks confused.
 

"Nope—there's more." I pull the box out of my jacket pocket.
 

She eyes the box as if it’s about to explode.
"What's in there?"
 

 "Open it." I say with a smile.
 

"Okay …"
 

As soon as she opens the box her breath hitches and her eyes water. It's a white gold charm bracelet. I see her eye it and touch it delicately inside the box.
There are
only a few charms on it so far, but I plan to change that.
 

Nervously I ask, "Do you like it?"
 

She smiles widely.
"Like it? I love it!”
 

I smile and I begin to explain why each charm is on the bracelet.
"The music note is there because from the first day I saw you it's rare that you don't have on headphones listening to music. The candy bar is there to represent your love of everything chocolate. The key … the key is there because you carry the key to my heart, Ari. You own me. You are it for me. The locket I put on it so that you can place in it a picture of your parents. The flames are there because every time I see a bonfire or even fire, I remember the night I met you. I remember the connection that
I felt. I remember it being so strong it felt
like it had a life of its own."
 

With tears shining in her eyes she whispers, "Wow. Now I love it even more."
 

"
We'll
fill it up in time. I won't wait until your birthday or a special event to fill it up. Because every day I spend with you is special. You are my on
c
e in a lifetime love Ari." I whisper.
 

She gets up and sits on my lap, and
rests
her head on my chest as tears run down her face. This time I kiss every tear away because she's mine, and she will forever be mine.
 

***
 

It's Christmas Eve and it has been a little over a week since Ari's birthday. I wanted to spend the day with her because she won't be able to spend Christmas
day with me
. So we decided to hang out at the diner for lunch.
 

"What are you getting?"
 

"I'm not hungry. I'll go straight for desert." She says with grin.
 

I laugh. "Why am I not surprised?"
 

"Because you know me very well …"
 

"That could be it. Or you're a chocoholic."
 

She shrugs. "Ugh. You're just a hater."
 

"I can never hate you … That's impossible."
 

She looks down at the table. "Don't say things you don't mean Sky."
 

I take my hand and raise her chin to make her look up at me. "Why do you say that? You do you know how I feel about you."
 

She looks away from me. Something’s not right.
 

"It's nothing. Forget I said anything. Please." She says with a forced smile.
 

I shelve it away for another time, but I don't like the feeling I'm getting. So I smile and try my best to enjoy our lunch. But, I have a strange feeling she has something brewing in her head. Once it starts, it's hard to get it out. Whatever it is, I'm hoping she doesn't use it as a way to try to tear us apart. Because I won't let it happen. I won't!
 

Chapter Twelve
 

Arianna
 

Christmas break is over, so that means it's the beginning of the soccer season. That also means Sky's days are extremely busy, and I see less and less of him. I know he loves me, but I've been depressed thinking of the future. He's a senior; he has scouts coming to watch him play. He's going to leave for college soon. And I don't think our relationship is strong enough yet to endure the distance. Even now, the female population at school is starting to get a little too interested in him for my liking.
 

It's Friday night and I'm sitting at his game worried out of my mind. Instead of enjoying watching him play. I sigh and do my best to try to focus on him playing.  
 

"Ari perk up, your man is killing it on the field. What can possibly be wrong?" Rachel says excited.
 

"Nothing, I am perky." I say without any enthusiasm.
 

She raises a brow at me. "If that's perky I don't want to see ecstatic."
 

“Seriously, would you find a hobby and stop watching my moods."
 

"If I did that then I wouldn't hold the title of being your BFF, would I?"
 

"No, you would hold the title of being the awesomest friend ever." I say with a sweet smile.
 

"Is awesomest even a word?" She asks
while
laughing.
 

"Who knows? Who even cares?"
 

"True … anyways why do you look so sad? Did Mr. Dimples do something stupid?"
 

I frown. "No, he didn't do anything. It's just me over analyzing things as usual."
 

With a serious tone she says, “You know you two are meant for each other right? I didn't see it in the beginning because I didn't want to see it."
 

"But does he love me enough for us to survive a long distance relationship when he goes off to college?”
 

She grips my arm. "If he loves you as much as I think he does; you guys are like an ageless kind of love. You guys are going to make it. Trust me."
 

"Okay."
 

And with that, we turn and watch the rest of the game. Skylar shoots the winning goal for our school in the extra time after the ninety minutes. We win 2-1. Everyone runs up to the field to congratulate him. But, I hang back because there is no way I can get through to him. A few moments later, I notice the crowd opening and Sky is rushing towards me. He picks me up and spins me around right before he lays a kiss on me.
 

"Congratulations baby," I whisper on his lips.
 

He whispers, "Thanks."
 

We stay there staring into each other's eyes. It's as if everyone and everything
fades
away. A few moments later, his teammates break the trance by pulling us apart so that they can celebrate.
 

He mouths, "Wait for me by my car."
 

I just nod and smile.
 

***
 

When he emerges from the
locker room,
his hair is wet from a shower and he looks delicious. With a smile he says, "Hey."
 

Shyly I say, "Hey."
 

"I'm sorry I took so long in there." He apologizes.
 

"It's okay. You can make it up to me by treating me to ice cream."
 

He laughs. "I will. Not tonight though. I'm going to go out with the guys to celebrate with them."
 

 "Oh. Okay …"
 

"You're okay with that right
?
"
 

"Yeah, I'm good." I lie.
 

"Okay, cool. Let me drop you home."
 

I walk over to the passenger seat and sit without uttering a single word. We drive the whole way without talking. When he gets to my house I'm about to step out of the car, but he holds my arm. He studies my face and says, "Hey, are you going to leave without even kissing me?”
 

"Sorry, I thought you may have wanted to get going."
 

"There's no one more important than you Ari. I would never leave you in a hurry to get to anyone else. It's you I love.” He whispers.
 

"I know."
 

He rubs the charm bracelet on my hand and looks up and smiles at me. He likes the fact that I never take it off. I reach over and kiss him quickly. Then I open the door and step out.
 

 "Goodnight Sky."
 

I walk away without even waiting for a response, but I hear him say "Night Ari."
 

***
 

At around one in the morning, I hear my phone going off. It’s a few text messages from Skylar. When I open them all I see is Skylar laying down with another girl. He looks like he's sleeping, but he has no shirt on. I drop the phone and run to the bathroom and throw up.
 

"Oh God, Sky what have you done?" I whisper.
 

I lay down on the bathroom floor and cry. I don't know how long I lay there crying. I cry until there are no more tears and I lay there numb. I get up when I hear an alarm going off in the distance.
 

I'm on autopilot. I take a shower and I get dressed. I need to think, but I need to be alone, so I go to the one place that no one will think to find me. Behind my old house is a clearing of land that no one ever built on; there’s an old tree house there that I use to play in when I lived there. It was a happy place. As soon as I make it up
to
the tree house, Skylar starts to blow up my phone. I turn it off, and I lay there. Time and space pass as tears I didn't realize I was crying slide down my face.