Awaken (Awaken Series Book 1) Page 2

  “I thought I got rid of that.” I snatched it up and shoved it back into my closet and began to search for my blue suit. “Here we go. I knew this was going to come in handy someday.”

  Getting dressed quickly, we were out the door at ten after nine. We took Rebecca’s sporty little red car that her parents bought her when she turned sixteen, because my little piece of junk sedan was in the shop, again. I was getting tired of it breaking down all the time and having my father fix it. Even though my father wouldn’t say it, I knew it was beginning to wear on him a little. He worked so many hours as it was. If I got a better car then he wouldn’t always be working on mine and he might get some more rest.

  Speeding down the street, we whipped past all the cars going the speed limit. My cell phone rang. I answered on the first ring and immediately regretted not checking to see who it was first. It was my boyfriend Josh.

  “Hey beautiful! Are you ready for me to come and pick you up?”

  “What are you talking about? You know I have an interview today and that I’ll be with Rebecca all day.” I didn’t hide my irritation. I wanted to hang up and chuck my cell phone out the window. He always did this. Whenever we had a fight, the next day it was as though it hadn’t even happened.

  “You’re still going to do this even though I told you not to?” he snapped back, his striking words hit deep in the pit of my stomach. I was so angry that all I wanted to do was fight back. It started to build more and more as he spoke. “You never do a thing I tell you. You are the most selfish person I know. Maybe I should go and find someone who will listen to me.”

  “I’m being selfish?” I couldn’t talk anymore. I was so furious that I could have smashed the phone with one hand.

  He spoke again, “Yes…”

  Slam! I slapped the phone shut as hard as I could, hoping it would inflict pain in his ear. Standing up to him made me feel momentarily better.

  “What the hell was that about?” Becka was turned toward me now, looking at me with probing eyes. I hadn’t even noticed we were already in the parking lot and the engine was turned off.

  “Sorry about all the yelling.” I paused. “He is such an ass. Beck….why do I do this to myself? Why do I stay with him? I deserve better.” My eyes were beginning to sting. All I could do was shake my head back and forth and try to calm myself down. I was losing the fight, my tears came streaming over my eyelids. For a moment, it was silent in the car, and then I felt the warmth of Rebecca’s hand on my shoulder. Taking a deep breath, she started talking.

  “You do deserve better, Bre. You know that if you are with Josh I will always support you, but I won’t deny it’s difficult to stand by and watch the way he treats you.” Her words were comforting but at the same time they had an edge to them. She looked out the windshield as she continued, “I would love to go over to his house right now to give him a piece of my mind,” she said through clenched teeth, her hands tightening and loosing on the steering wheel.

  I knew Josh was too controlling and that someday, he’d push me too far. Today I had other, more important things to think about.

  Wiping underneath my eyes trying to put myself back together, I saw the owner through the glass door as he unlocked it.

  “You know we can do this another day if you want,” Becka said sympathetically now looking back at me.

  “No…I’ll be fine.” I gazed at the tall, middle-aged man standing in the doorway staring at us. “He’s not going to reschedule this interview. The job will be gone if we wait.” I took a deep breath and composed myself.

  There were two hostess positions available. I felt like we had a great shot at getting the jobs. I was a 4.0 student and had great references from some of my teachers. I’d be very surprised and disappointed if I didn’t get it. Becka, on the other hand, because of her exceptional looks, mostly got whatever she wanted.

  “We need to go in,” I said, getting out and heading up to the restaurant.

  The interview was over in a flash. I couldn’t believe how calm and put together I was, especially since I had quite an episode right before I walked in. The rest of the day was a waste. We went from one place to another trying to find job openings, but we hit brick walls wherever we went. The only jobs available were a couple of management positions at some fast food restaurants and a gas station attendant for the graveyard shift. It seemed hopeless.

  It was five-forty when we drove up to my house. We barely fit into the driveway, not because of my car or my father’s truck, but because there was a very big, oversized black truck filling the rest of the space. Unfortunately that truck belonged to Josh.

  “Why is he here?” I hissed. I really didn’t want to deal with this or him right now. My eyes were burning with exhaustion and every part of my body felt like it was going to collapse at any moment. Only having a few hours of sleep this morning was wearing on me now and I had no energy to deal with the foreseeable confrontation.

  I could see out of the corner of my eye, Becka was staring straight at me, ready to intervene if necessary. “Do you want me to come in with you? I could go in and tell him to get the hell out of your house if you like.” She was always protecting me and I loved her for that.

  “No, I’ll handle it,” I said with uncertainty. I knew what was going to happen. It’s what always happened. I’d walk in, he’d smile and say how sorry he was, and like always, I’d give in. Would I ever have the strength to just walk away?

  “All right, but if you need me to come over I will.”

  With an unsteady, “sure” I was out the door and headed up the steps to my house.

  My perfect little white house usually was a comfort to come home to. It was nestled between two large oak trees that provided shade from the intense summer sun. The light gray window trim was now starting to chip away from the many years of wear that the house endured from the effects of the weather. I was sure most people looked at it and wondered why we hadn’t repainted it. Personally, I thought it added character to the house. In the middle of the front porch was probably my favorite part of the whole house, an old wooden swing that my great-grandmother bought my parents for a wedding present. I had spent many nights viewing the stars and wondering what my life was going to be like when I grew up. I’d sit and ponder; who would I marry, what were my kids going to look like, what might my career be? I hated the fact that tonight my safe haven was going to be disturbed by Josh, the guy who claimed to love me and only “wanted what’s best for me.”

  I stared at the door for a while, feeling conflicted with the decision I had to make. Should I go in and face him or just hideout in my yard until he left? At first, hiding out was more desirable than the latter, but as I stood there fighting with myself, I became bleakly aware that I was starving. All I had today was a sandwich. Despite my self-determination not to confront him tonight, it was finally my hunger that weakened my defiance.

  I stepped closer to the door and saw through the cracks in the blinds, someone moving swiftly past them, making them bang against the window frame. It sent my stomach into summersaults thinking that he was going to pop out the door. “Be strong Brianna, you can do this,” I tried to tell myself, but the overwhelming surge of defeat wrapped around me like a straight jacket.

  Realizing that I was as prepared as I would ever be, I stepped into the living room. The house was warm inside, but I was nervous and felt an unwelcomed chill run through my body. The first sound I immediately heard was the baseball game on the TV, no big surprise. Dad was sitting in his usual spot; the reclining chair that was perfectly positioned directly in front of the television. To the right of him, Josh was lying on the couch with his feet propped up on a pillow and a can of soda in his hand. Cozy, like everything was fine, just another typical day of bliss in our crazy relationship. Neither of them looked up at me as I came in. They were discussing who they thought was going to go all the way to the World Series. The sight of Josh made my temper flare internally. My temperature was starting to rise like I was going
to explode at any moment. The exhaustion I’d felt a moment ago was gone and replaced with a rush of energy as if I had drank five energy drinks in a row. My hands balled up into tight fists that started to shake with frustration. My teeth tightened with every word that was spoken. How dare he come into my house and be buddy-buddy with my father after the way he spoke to me this morning.

  Taking a deep breath and unevenly blowing it out, I calmly and deliberately walked over to the couch. “Josh?” I managed to get out without yelling.

  “Bre! You’re already back.” He sounded surprised. “I thought you would still be out with Rebecca.” He looked at his watch and then back to me. “So tell me how your interview went.”

  I couldn’t hold back the glare.

  Dad stopped watching the game and cut in, “Hey honey, how was your day?”

  “Fine,” I snapped back quietly. My eyes still held on Josh’s face. “Can I talk to you? Privately. Outside.”

  “Bre, are you okay?” my father interjected again, seeming concerned for once in his life. Usually, he was oblivious and didn’t notice when things were bothering me. Now when I didn’t want to get into it with him, he had to start acting like a parent.

  “I’m fine, Dad. I just want to talk with Josh for a second.” I could see in Josh’s expression that he was frantically searching for a reason not to leave the comfort of our living room. I walked out the front door before he could muster up an excuse to get out of the potential altercation that was about to happen.

  Pacing back and forth on the porch, I knew that I didn’t want to start yelling at Josh, just in case my dad overheard. He might decide to come outside to see what was going on. I could almost guarantee he’d side with Josh. It’s not that my Father didn’t believe me when I told him something. Josh just had this annoying way of turning things around, convincing anyone that what he said was the truth. I was all too aware of how persuasive he could be.

  Josh came straight to me, walking confidently and wrapping his arms around me so tight that there was no way I could escape him. For a seventeen-year-old boy in high school, his strength was impressive. He was the captain of the football team and, because of the training he did, he had a rock solid body. He was the envy of many of his friends, and the girls were always drooling over him. Looking up at him always strained my neck because of our height difference. I stood five foot four and he was six feet tall. His dark brown eyes glistened in the sunset. His perfect lips started to come toward me and for a second I forgot everything that had happened today. I was in that non-thinking trance again! As his moist lips touched mine, I came back to my senses and flinched away.

  “What are you doing?” I pushed back, but he held on tight, like a python wrapping around its prey before it swallows it whole. “This is not happening! Were you on the other end of the phone this morning or did I just imagine it?”

  “C’mon, Bre, don’t do this.” I hated the way he was looking at me. His tanned face gazed down at me with the same look that always made my heart skip a beat. He had such deep, brown eyes; his hypnotic gaze froze me. The back of his hand brushed my cheek and ran slowly down to my chin. It made me want to forget everything and surrender myself in his arms. He cradled my face in his soft hands. “I’m sorry, Bre, if I hurt you. It’s just that I crave spending every hour, every minute of every day with you. The thought of being away from you drives me crazy! If you get a job, what am I supposed to do? I guess I just lost it today. Forgive me?”

  My knees were buckling and I didn’t have it in me to be mad at him anymore. He was like an addiction to sweets; no matter how bad they were for me or how hard I tried to stop eating them, the craving returned, that much stronger, overriding all sense of reasoning and will. One glance in those perfect eyes and I was paralyzed, not able to think straight or reject him and his intentions.

  Slowly it poured out of me like honey in a glass of hot steaming tea, “I…I forgive you…but Josh, you can’t keep treating me like I have no say in anything. I deserve better. You’ve got to stop being so controlling all the time.” I buried my face in his chest. Why was it that he had so much influence over me? I was disappointed with myself that I let him win again. Why did I succumb to his eyes, his touch, his soft words…every time? Snap out of it, Bre!

  “And another thing…” I started.

  He grabbed my face and pulled me quickly up to his lips so I couldn’t say anything else. His kiss had so much force that I stopped breathing for a brief second and when he slowed down, I melted into his embrace.

  He pulled away slightly, “So, are you going to tell me how your day went?” By the way he spit the words out, there was only one word he wanted to hear, “horrible,” which would justify his controlling behavior. He wanted to gloat over how right he was. I could see it in his eyes. The thought occurred to me, did he pick a fight so I would be so upset I wouldn’t do well in the interview? I had pondered this at times before.

  Did Josh even realize how manipulative he was? To what extent would he go to get what he wanted? He hated to lose, but even at my expense? Too many questions, Bre. Someday I’d have the right answers.

  I responded cautiously. “It went…okay, I guess.” I didn’t want to tell him that it went fantastic, just in case he decided to blow up again. All I wanted was to stay right here in his strong arms and cast away the world that always seemed to sneak up on us.

  His eyes relaxed a little. “Good.” He peeked over his shoulder to look at his truck, and then back to me. “Well, it’s getting late and I need to get back home.” He bent down and gave me a soft kiss. “I’m going to go and say goodnight to your dad.”

  In the house, my dad looked at us. “Hey kids.” He glanced at Josh’s keys in his hands, “Going home so soon?” He was going to start prying the moment Josh drove off, because of the concerned look he gave me.

  “Yeah, I need to get home before my parents. They went away this week to the coast and I need to do some cleaning before they get back.” Looking down the hall, Josh yelled for Caleb to move his bike so he could pull his truck out.

  “Coming,” Caleb said as he ran down the hall and out the door.

  He threw a quick smile my way and said, “See ya.” And he was gone.

  Shutting the door, I turned slowly. Dad was already on his feet, facing me with a questioning smile. “So…you never did tell me how your interview went at the restaurant.”

  My body relaxed a bit. Smiling, I answered, “It went really well. If I don’t get it I’ll be really surprised.”

  He gave me a, “Good to hear it!” and went back to watching his game, no more questions.

  I grabbed a plate of the dinner I had missed. After finishing the overdone-meatloaf and cold potatoes, I started the dishwasher and headed to my room. My cell phone kept ringing incessantly. It had to be Becka, wanting to know how it went tonight. I really didn’t feel like discussing it right now. All I wanted to do was lock myself up in my room and watch some TV. I wanted something to distract me so I wouldn’t think about the day I had. Flipping through the stations, I settled on the local news. The weather man was on. “Tomorrow we should see the temperatures in the middle to high eighties. Quite a big difference from today as the…”

  Then silence.

  I turned the volume up on the TV, nothing. I turned it off and then on again, still no sound. The weather man’s mouth was moving, but I couldn’t hear a word he was saying. Fidgeting with the remote, I suddenly realized that I couldn’t hear anything going on in the house anywhere. There was utter silence. My brothers blaring music had stopped at the exact same time the sound from the TV was lost. There was also no sound coming from the dishwasher I had just started. The dishes couldn’t have been done yet, it had only been about five minutes.

  A chill swept over my body and goose bumps formed on my skin. Out of the corner of my eye, a yellow flashing light startled me. I realized it was just my cell phone ringing and grabbed it quickly.

  Someone was obviously calling, but ther
e was no ring tone, no sound. How was it that I couldn’t hear it ringing? I shuddered and wondered what was happening. Hesitantly, I pushed the talk button. “Hello?” No one was on the other end. Turning the phone off, the receiver began to shake in my hand. Hardly breathing now, I stood perfectly still, straining to hear something, anything at all. I took a book from my backpack and slammed it on the floor. Silence.

  Fear was paralyzing me. Logic; I had to think rationally. I must’ve been sleeping and this was all a bad dream. The kind of thing that only happened in movies, not in real life! Suddenly I felt a presence with me again; the same presence I had experienced this morning. There was a tingling sensation throughout my body and I felt weightless ― like right before you’re about to faint. I was dazed and disoriented. So much was happening yet when I glanced at the clock, only about a minute had passed…impossible. With my eyes focused intently on the TV, a bright flash filled the room. In an instant, everything disappeared into the light and the flash temporarily blinded me.

  I was completely frozen. Afraid something catastrophic might happen, I didn’t dare move an inch. The blurriness took a couple of seconds before settling into thousands of tiny spots. After I refocused, I couldn’t believe what I was staring at. “This can’t be happening,” I whispered in a distraught voice. Floating in midair, just a few feet away from me was what looked like a huge movie screen. It was about the size of a fifty-three inch big screen TV. It was transparent so I was still able to see everything in my room.

  I flinched and fell back on my bed as the images materialized on the screen. Appearing before me was a beautiful pale woman in a bedroom, packing a suitcase. She looked to be in her later twenties and she was stunning. Her eyes were a beautiful baby blue; her platinum blonde hair hung loosely around her flawless face. She was dressed in a red long-sleeved blouse and black dress pants. The room was beautifully decorated. It could have been showcased in a designer magazine. The deep cherry wood bed was positioned in the center of the room with two nightstands on either side. On the opposite wall sat a tall dresser with a beautiful bouquet of red roses. On one of the nightstands was an alarm clock with big red numbers that read four-twenty-nine, and a picture of the woman and a man sat next to the clock. I had the strangest feeling that I had seen him before but couldn’t place him. He looked like a taller man or perhaps the woman was short. His dark brown hair matched perfectly with his brown eyes and he had a wonderful bright smile. From looking at the picture, I had the feeling that he was a good man with a good heart.