Cinders

Cinders

Summary: When fifteen year old Gabrielle Cinders wakes up thinking it’s going to be like every other school year, she couldn’t be more wrong. Until at the end of the day in her art class she locks eyes with the most beautiful person she has ever seen. A new boy named Anthony Laile. On top of that her longest known friend Connor decides to get overprotective of her. Not to mention she and another friend named Jade find themselves joining in with a dark cult where it’s either give blood or take it. Tossed into a world of myth’s Gabrielle and Jade need to find their way out before it get’s much to late.

Note from Gabby:

What if I told you it was all real? What if I told you the things that haunt your dreams, stalk you in back alleys, they exist? Would you believe me? I don’t think so.


Prologue: Glimpse

My head felt like it was splitting in two. I had done something forbidden when I refused him. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I looked into his eyes. They were full of an animalistic ferocity that almost knocked what breath was trapped in my lungs, out painfully. There was a smirk dancing on his lips that I’d never witnessed before. The red button down shirt he wore seemed to caress his too pale skin lovingly as if urging him on. He raised his left hand slowly and I noticed a slight glimmer there across the surface of it in the dim light. My stomach twitched to life bile climbing violently up my throat.

“You still want it so much that you’ll take it from me by force?” I asked no longer looking up at him. I didn’t have another chance to think before he was on top of me squeezing the last of my breath painfully out of my lungs. Then I heard them by the window. Two dark feral growls.


Chapter one: The Butterflies

The year seemed like it was going to start the same as any other. I woke up early my eyes stinging with the residue of tears still assaulting them. I clutched at my pillow angrily wanting to lay my head back down but at the same time fear spread through me and I was very happy to be awake. Nothing this world had to throw at me could ever be as frightening as my dreams.

When I was a child I had been diagnosed with something they call Night Terrors. Which as far as I can guess are the extreme nightmares I have always had. I let out a yawn and pushed my cat, Kira, off the bed as I moved my legs over the side and crushed the soft carpet under my feet. I glared at the alarm clock on the nightstand by my bed.

“Five frickin thirty…” I mumbled under my breath as I stumbled out of my bedroom and down the stairs to the bathroom. I rolled my eyes at my dad’s loud snoring, knowing that he could probably be heard all the way out to the edge of the woods. Dad always sounded almost like a bear the way he snored.

Slipping out of my pajamas, I turned on the water in the bathtub and popped the little button up so the shower would come on. I closed the curtain and went over to the linen closet to grab a few towels and a washcloth. Putting them down on to the thick brown rug by the tub, keeping the wash cloth, I moved the curtain aside and stepped into the steaming water being careful not to slip.

I sighed as the water cascaded down my skin washing away the fear of my latest dream. I ran my hands through my hair making sure every bit of it got covered in the hot water. I grabbed my shampoo without even looking for it. Popping the cap off I was immediately surrounded by the fragrance of roses. Squeezing some in my hand, I then began the task of ridding my hair of the oils that plagued it. It didn’t take long because I had, just the other night, chopped off most of it. Oh how I hate my hair!

The rest of my time in the shower passed quickly as I washed with soap that smelled like mint and water Lilly’s, making my skin tingle with the menthol that was mixed in it. As I was concentrating on shaving my legs there came a knock on the bathroom door that startled me causing my hand to slip and make a small gash on the back of my right calf.

“Ow.” I muttered under my breath.

“Gabrielle?” Came my mother’s voice on the other side of the door. There was a sleepy haze in her voice and I could tell what she needed to do.

“Yes mom.” I said unhappily watching the blood run down my leg and across the porcelain floor of the bathtub circling the drain.

“I need to pee sweetie. You in the shower?” She asked me cracking the door open a little.

“Go ahead.” I said with a sigh trying to finish shaving was going to be a difficult task now that I had cut myself. This was how things had to be when there was only one bathroom in the house. I finished shaving before mom was done so I stood, for another couple seconds, under the almost boiling water concentrating on the heat.

“Gabrielle you need to put more cold into that water it’s way to hot in here. You’ll start melting.” She said the last part with a bit of a laugh and I rolled my eyes.

“I’m getting out in a second anyway so it makes no difference.” I wrung out my washcloth and placed it over the faucet waiting for mom to leave.

“See you in a few then.” She said and was out the door. As the door opened I could already smell the coffee. Dad must be up now too. I sighed and turned off the water. Moving the curtain aside I grabbed the smaller towel and bent over slightly putting it over my head and twisting my hair up inside of it. I grabbed the other towel with one hand on top of my head keeping the twisted one in place.

Drying off slightly before wrapping the larger towel around my body I stepped lightly out of the tub and onto the rug, looking into the mirror automatically like I always did. I liked my reflection much better this way. I wasn’t pretty at all. I looked in no way like the beautiful girl I saw in my head. The only pretty thing I saw when I looked in the mirror were my dark blue grey eyes.

Quickly taking my eyes off the mirror I grabbed a small wad of toilet paper and shoved it on my still bleeding calf pressing down hard. I held my hand there for a few minutes before removing it. The paper was stained a light red and the wound was already closed so I didn’t have to worry about a band-aid. Sighing I picked up my toothbrush and brushed my teeth before I started on my way back up stairs to get dressed, with the towel wrapped still tight around my body .

I made it back to my room. Once inside Kira made loops around my legs the way she always did when she got hungry. I sighed and went to my dresser opening the top left hand drawer to grab my undergarments. I let the towel fall to the floor and slipped on my panties almost falling as my right heel got caught slightly on the back edge of elastic. Standing up quickly balancing my self I pulled them up the rest of the way and put my arms through the arm holes of my bra fussing with the back clasp.

“There are times I hate being female…” I mumbled and then felt the soft brush of fur against my legs again. “Yes, yes Kira. Give me just a minute kitty cat…” After I finished fussing with my bra I grabbed a small cup beside Kira’s food bag, opened the bag, scooped up some food, and bent over to place it in her bowl.

Kira lunged for her food bowl as always. She made it seem like she was starving even though she was starting to get quite fat. I sighed placing the cup back beside the bag, and placing a large clip over the now folded edges of said bag. I turned around and headed to my closet to go through my choices for the day. I eventually decided on a dark red skirt which was mainly several layers of Tule and dark red ribbon hemming the bottom that would come down to just above my knees. It laced up with a lighter colored purple ribbon on both sides. To go with it I choose a dark chocolate brown v neck with dark blue lace lining it’s bottom hem.

Now that the actual bottom and top thing was decided I had to raid my never ending collection of thigh high stockings. I grinned going back over to my dresser and opening up the top right hand drawer. This was my favorite part of getting dressed. I absolutely love picking out the right kind of stockings for a particular outfit. It was essential to almost everything my wardrobe had to offer.

I sighed going over my choices. Thick horizontal stripes, pinstripes, ribbed, solid, wool, loose knit, lace up, so many choices. I decided on the same brown as my shirt with dark blue garter loops to keep them up so I wouldn’t have to constantly adjust the thigh highs, since I didn’t own a garter belt. I slipped on my outfit grabbing my rainbow flats and a thin jacket incase the air conditioner in Connor’s car froze me to death like it often did. I grabbed my towel off the floor while slipping on my shoes.

As my foot hit the bottom step the phone rang. I knew who it would be without even reading the caller ID. Rolling my eyes I made my way to the bathroom and hung my towel on the back of the door to dry. My mom had answered the phone and I heard her sigh as she got up to bring it to me.

“I’m in the bathroom mom!” I called from behind the door while I took my hair out of the small towel before it dried like that. My hair was already hard enough to deal with as is. She sighed again as she made her way to the bathroom to hand me the phone.

“It’s Connor.” She said while slipping the phone to me as I cracked open the door.

“Thank you.” I waited for her to leave before I put the phone to my ear. “Connor what do you want?” I asked feigning irritation at his early morning call. A hundred butterflies fluttered like crazy in my stomach when I heard him sigh.

“Good morning to you too, Gabby.” He said softly and I could hear the frown in his voice. I sighed lightly into the receiver. I never liked hearing him like that. It was the only weakness he could truly exploit of mine.

“I’m sorry Con, I’m brushing my hair so I’m irritated. Just got out of the shower, ya’ know?” I could almost hear his mouth pull up into a smile. I rolled my eyes and closed the door tight putting him on speaker so I could fix my hair into two low pony tails just behind my ears.

“So am I picking you up?” He asked and I could just picture the smile on his face because he already knew the answer. He’d told me he was going to pick me up this morning, last night.

“Why do you even have to ask Connor?” I asked him back smiling at the phone. A million butterflies joined the hundred as they tickled my stomach. This had been going on all summer and I couldn’t figure out why it was only when I talked to, or was around, Connor.

“Great!” He almost shouted. “I’ll be there to get you in oh… ten minutes?”

“Okay but…” I was going to say it’s only a quarter to six, but that wasn’t an option the way he was acting right now.

“Awesome!” He was nearly shouting again. “See you soon doll!” Then he hung up before I could protest at the nickname.

“Ugh!” I said and hung up the phone. He’d been calling me that all summer. Doll this, and doll that. It was enough to make me want to punch him, though I already knew that wouldn’t hurt him at all. Before I left the room I sprayed on my cotton candy-ish smelling perfume. I didn’t feel complete without it anymore. It had been a gift from my older brother for my fifteenth birthday.

I took the phone back to my mother and grabbed my messenger bag making sure everything I needed was inside. I then walked over to my dad and gave him a hug.

“You heading to the bus stop already Gabby?” He asked placing a kiss on my cheek. I shook my head.

“Nu-uh. Connor’s picking me up so I’m going to go wait by the road so he won’t have to turn off the car and wait for me.” I said and kissed his cheek back.

“Alright be careful honey.” He said with a sigh.

“I will.” I said and went over and gave mom a hug. She sighed again but didn’t say anything. I knew she didn’t like Connor but at least she was civil about it. “Bye mom. Bye dad!” I said and was out the door before they could object to me going so early. I slung my messenger bag over my shoulder and trudged down the long driveway through the woods to make it to the main road in time to catch Connor. Not that he would ever leave with out me. I laughed at the thought of Connor leaving me behind.

The woods were very quite this morning. I had never heard it this still before. It was very unnerving. There didn’t even seem to be any car’s going by on the main road this morning. A shiver ran down my spine as the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. I began humming a song I could barely remember the tune to, while trying to make it seem less spooky.

I heard a sudden noise behind me. Spinning around I saw a black Porsche following close behind me. I couldn’t see inside because the glass was so thickly tinted. That familiar shiver of fear ran down my spine. The silence had returned now that I couldn’t bring myself to hum anymore.

I waved them around me but they stayed where they were. This made me slightly sick to my stomach. “What the hell is their problem?!” I thought angrily turning back toward the main road my head down, and my cheeks drained of color. “Oh god! No! Please say their not after me?” I found it hard to breathe as the panic set in. Why couldn’t I have just waited for Connor on the front porch? He really wouldn’t have minded. Then I heard it, the door on the drivers side was opening slowly. There was music floating out of the door, I could barely hear it. A new sound suddenly pierced the slight silence. The butterflies made their presence known again.

My head darted up to see Connor’s dark blue ford maverick racing up the road toward me. Behind me the door of the Porsche slammed. A sudden wave of relief washed over me and I couldn’t help but smile as my legs moved on their own racing toward him as well. He shoved on the break and came to a halt on the newly paved road his tires squealing slightly. He opened his door and stepped out. It seemed like ages since I had seen my best friend. He was more tan than the last time I had seen him, taller too. His hair was defiantly a little lighter brown and shorter, messier. But he looked… Fantastic.

“Connor!” I squealed as I bolted into him, his arms opening automatically to hold me. “Thank goodness.” I muttered with a sigh as I buried my face into his chest. He’d been working out too, it seemed. He smelled wonderful though. It was a deep musky, woodsy, rainy scent. I smiled as I pulled back to stare up into his face. He wasn’t looking at me though. Turning my head slightly I saw that the black Porsche was still there. I could feel someone’s eyes boring a hole into my back and it made me shiver again. That seemed to bring Connor’s attention back to me quickly.

“Gabby?” He asked me searching my face trying to understand what had me so freaked out.

“I can feel them staring.” I said to him under my breath before I tried to bury my face back into the welcome warmth and comfort of his chest. I felt his arms squeeze tighter around me as he looked back up. I could only imagine the look on his face. It apparently got the point across to the person who continued to stare at me through the tinted windows of the dark car. “Oh, Connor!” I said as the car sped hastily past us. I hugged him tight.

“Well aren’t you just so happy to see me.” He said smirking at me as I raised my head again to stare at his face. I grinned back at him lightly head butting his chest. I felt him bring a hand up to touch my choppy hair. “You cut, and dyed your hair…” he mumbled and I nodded.


“I missed you! Of course I’m happy!” I said grinning and then blushing once I realized how close we had become. I quickly moved my head to where he couldn’t see my now bright red face.

“Come on now Gabby, I’ve only been gone two weeks.” He complained. I could tell he didn’t mean it. His voice was too happy to be upset with me.

“Two weeks, too long!” My thoughts shouted at him, and my face betrayed me once again. He brought a hand up under my chin and moved my face up slowly so he could look into my eyes. He was already so strong I didn’t bother to struggle or pull away, though he probably would have let me.

“Wow.” He said starring into my eye’s searching for the reason I was blushing so hard. “You really did miss me.” He grinned now and brought up his other hand to move a stray hair that had fallen in front of my eyes back behind my ear. His eye’s were beautiful. Like looking into a sea of deep green emeralds sparkling in the sun. I stuck my tongue out at him childishly.

“Of course I missed you Con.” I almost whispered. We were still too close for our own good. This time Connor blushed lightly. A feint pink tint over light brown skin. He gave me one last big hug and let me go so I could slip into the car without anymore awkwardness between the two of us. It was freezing inside.

“So what did you do while I was gone? Well besides ruining your beautiful hair…” Connor asked muttering the last part as he got back into the car, checking to make sure that before he took off at break neck speeds, I had buckled up. Then after he made a wide U-turn the woods sped by so quick it almost made me nauseous. I decided then to stare at the dash bored to see the little bobble head turtle, I had given him for his sixteenth birthday, shaking as we went over some bumps in the road. It made me smile.

“Not much.” I said shrugging. Not wanting to go over the boring details of the past two weeks. “I added some more stockings to my collection.” I grinned at that.

“Is that all?” He asked with a sigh his face contorting into that scowl I absolutely hated.

“No.” I hesitated a moment to think. “Jade and I hung out at the Asheville mall for a little while a few day’s after you left. Then after that I pretty much sat around waiting for you to call, and tell me about all the beautiful girls you were seeing at the beach.” My eyebrows knit together then. I didn’t like the thought of him on that beach surrounded by all those gorgeous girls sun bathing. Their eyes on him as he walked past them. He was a chick magnet. The butterflies pounded against my stomach.

“How many times do I have to remind you that I’m not into those kinds of girls.” He said through clenched teeth. The expression on my face softened and I let the thought of it escape me. I leaned against him as he drove and I looked at the clock. “Ten after six… hmm…”

“I’m sorry Connor.” I said softly nuzzling my head against his arm. Then another thing occurred to me. The way I was acting right now was the reason everyone always though we were dating. I blushed again and waited for him to speak.

“It’s okay Gabby. I always forget that you need to be reminded so often.” He sighed and put his right arm around me rubbing my shoulder as he used his left to drive.

“So… What do you have planned this morning since we don’t have to be at school until eight?” I asked looking up at him. From this angle his face looked even more handsome. That big cheesy grin lit up his features.

“Well I was thinking we could go out to breakfast and then I can give you the present I brought you!” He seemed truly excited at the thought of giving me a present but my face fell.

“I told you, you didn’t have to bring me anything!” I shouted angrily.

“Yeah you did.” he said grin still in place. “Doesn’t mean I have to listen to you.” I pouted and pulled away from his embrace and leaned over against the passenger door. He looked at me from the corner of his eye.

“Oh come on Gabby!” An exasperated sigh left his lips parted slightly, his smile gone.

“I just don’t want you to waste money on me Con! I’m not worth all the trouble!” My head banged against the window when he went to fast over a speed bump and he quickly pulled me back to him. He jerked the ponytail holders out of my hair gently to relieve any extra pressure on my scalp, and he tossed the small things into the back seat. He ran his fingers through it loosely so it wouldn’t dry in the shape it was in. I loved it when ran his fingers through my hair, it made my scalp tingle.

“Isn’t that my choice hun?” he said checking the top of my head for any forming bumps. “When did his hands get so big?” I asked myself. He continued, “To me you are always worth it.” I blushed again but decided not to move. The butterflies, on the other hand, wouldn’t let up.

“Alright it’s your choice. I just get to tell you my opinion and hope you take it.” I sighed when we stopped in front of the little diner, called Nellie’s, we always hung out at. We both hated hanging around in Marion. In our opinion it was the smallest most terrible town in the whole of the universe. I saw him roll his eyes at me and then the car turned off.

We sat there a moment his hand still rubbing the small bump that was forming under my hair. Then before I could even think he had me unbuckled, and was holding my hand while dragging me out of the car, only to pull me into a big hug that lifted me off the ground. He held me up with one arm while he pushed the door closed and then he twirled me around for a second.

“I missed you so much!” His voice had a strange husky tint in it that made my blush that much worse as he pulled me even closer to him. He leaned forward until his face was buried in my hair. We stayed like that for what seemed like forever. Me crushed against his hard chest and him lost in the smell of my hair. My blush started to fade and I smiled nuzzling his chest with the side of my face taking in his scent again too. Then almost immediately he let me go a look of confusion passed over his face and then was gone replaced with nothingness.

“So…” I started trying to understand why he all of a sudden didn’t like me very much. The butterflies made another attack in my stomach.

“When do I get this amazing present?” he turned to look at me that same look of confusion passing back over his features. I looked back at him just as confused. “Didn’t you say you had a present for me, Connor?” Then he let a half hearted smile replace the confusion as he began walking to the diner.

“Yup! Made it myself.” He said as we walked in the door and went to our favorite table. We both heard the cook softly call into the back room that Janette’s favorites were back. Then we smiled over at her as we both took opposite sides of the table. She looked slightly ragged today and had a sad smile hanging on her lips.

“Gabby, Connor!” She said her voice misleading us with a happy tone. “How are my favorite customers today?” Her dark blonde hair was messily put up in a tight bun on top of her head and her uniform was covered in what looked to be waffle batter. Her pen clicked as she took out her pad of orders.

“We’re great Janette!” Connor said smiling up at her. “We’ll have our usual breakfast?” He asked turning back to me and I nodded back at him. Janette scribbled down our order as she walked away before we could ask her what was wrong. I watched her go back behind the counter and hand the note to the cook. Connor was still looking at me though.

“You want your present now or when we leave?” he asked a look of excitement now etched on his face. I bit my lip as I tried to think how he could possibly be so excited about giving me a gift.

“Um… when we leave?” I asked back. He grinned wider. “Oh no!” I thought, “What have I done?”

“Okay! Thank you Janette!” He barely looked at her when she came back to the table with our two orange juices. She turned quickly to leave and once again was gone before I could say anything. Connor reached across the table and took one of my freezing hands in his. “Do you need a jacket?” He asked me quickly.

“No…” I blinked at him as I felt the warmth of his hand on mine. “You know I have poor circulation.” I said softly and tried to remove my hand from his, but before I could my other hand was now his captive too.

“This should help then.” He said softly, and then it seemed as I blinked that he had moved in beside me both my hands in his left hand and his right arm around me securely. I froze. Why did he have to constantly want to be close to me?

“Connor!” I said under my breath as Janette came back with our food looking at us questioningly. She set our food down and then left us again. I could smell my eggs and bacon. The smell made my stomach rumble. He wouldn’t let me go even though I could tell he was hungry too. His eyes starred into mine, so I starred back. The look on his face was one I’d never seen before. I didn’t know how to categorize it, but it made me blush just the same. My stomach growled again.

“Connor?” I asked quietly. “Can I eat now? I think my hands are warm enough.” Reluctantly, this time, he let me go so we could eat. I smiled as I stared down at my rather large plate of well done scrambled eggs, toast, and bacon. Connor again reluctantly reached for his plate of the exact same thing but with sausage instead of bacon. I loved our little time hanging out here. We both gobbled down our food, Connor needing three refills on his orange juice. When I finished with my food I started playing absent mindedly with my butter knife while I waited for the handsome boy next to me to finish his last glass of orange juice.

“You probably shouldn’t be playing with that.” I heard him say, that husky tone back in his voice but now laced with concern.

“Hmm?” I wasn’t paying attention until he reached over and took the object of my focus out of my once again cold hands.

“Good girl’s don’t play with things that could hurt them.” Connor said his voice now laced with amusement. I smirked.

“Who say’s I’m a good girl?” I asked him turning my head slightly so that I was looking up at him through my hair. He frowned and moved my hair back behind my ear and leaned in closer to me bringing his mouth to my ear.

“I do.” he whispered huskily into my ear. It sent shivers down my spine and caused me to blush yet again the butterflies in my stomach making their presence known. Which made him give a low chuckle. Why was he acting so funny? “Ready to go?” he asked leaning away from me. I nodded afraid to speak. Then he took my hand again and pulled me out of the booth while walking toward the cash register.

“Seven fifty.” Janette said softly waiting for Connor to hand her the money.

“Keep the change.” he replied handing her a twenty. That’s why we were her favorites, because Connor always left her a great tip even if he couldn’t afford to. I gulped as we walked out the door remembering it was time to receive my present.

“What did you get me?” I asked as we made it back to the car. He smirked at me and pulled a small black box out of his pocket. I then realized he was wearing baggy shorts. Connor never wore shorts. I then took into account the rest of his clothes. He wore a slightly tight dark green shirt over his baggy dark blue shorts, and… sandals? This wasn’t like Connor. He never wore his beach clothes too school. That meant he picked me up on his way home! I glared at him for a moment and he knit his eyebrows together in confusion.

“What?” he asked. “You don’t even know what it is yet!”

“It’s not the present!” I replied angrily. “You haven’t even been home yet, have you?!” I raised my voice slightly. He sighed rolling his eyes.

“There was no point.” he said nonchalantly still holding the small box in his big hand. “I was just going to have to leave quickly anyway.” I sighed angrily and held out my hand so that I could have my present. There was no point to arguing.

“I would like my present now please?” I had composed myself just enough to where the anger was no longer on my face or in my voice. Slowly he placed the box in my hand. Watching my face carefully as I took off the lid. I gasped as I starred into the box. “You made this?” I whispered. Relief spread through him and he grinned.

“Yup. I worked on it every day while I was in Wilmington. Bringing pieces of the beach back to dreary old Marion, just for you.” he put a hand back under my chin to lift my face back up toward his so he could study my eyes again. But before he could my arms were wrapped around him in a big hug.

“Thank you.” I said softly clutching the necklace in my hand the small box dropping to the ground. “Will you help me put it on?” I asked pulling away for a moment to look into his eyes now. He gulped and then smiled.

“Of course.” He took it from my hand as I stepped away and turned around to make it easier on him. It was a simple necklace, thick braided string with several small seashells fastened to it with thread and a small shark tooth dangling from it right in the center. It was beautiful. I lifted up my hair so he could easily fasten it around my neck and I felt him tense a little as I did. He swung the necklace over my head and quickly fastened it. Before I could drop my hair back down I felt the light touch of his fingertips on the back of my neck and I shivered at the gentle touch.

There was no time for me to react as he grabbed me, spun me around to face him, and pulled me into a soft hug his face once again buried in my hair. He was trembling at our closeness but wasn’t about to let me go again, and I found that I didn’t want him to. I clung to him fighting against the urge that sprung up in me to kiss him. It was silent all around us besides the hum that came from somewhere behind the diner, and I was so glad the parking lot was empty. I found myself biting my bottom lip as I fought the desires overflowing inside me. “Stupid Butterflies!” I thought.

“I’m so glad you like your present.” Connor whispered in my ear again sending that shiver down my spine. I could feel his breath on the flesh of my neck as he went back to reveling in the smell of my hair. He was making this very hard on me.

“What time is it?” I found myself breaking the moment and instantly regretted it. Connor moved slowly away from me. Not wanting the slight intimacy of our moment to end I grabbed his hand and held it tightly in mine. He looked down at our hands for a moment before digging through his pockets to find his cell phone.

“It’s a little after seven.” He said and leaned against the maverick shoving his phone back in his pocket and pulling me against him. He locked an arm around me while the other made sure I wouldn’t look away from him. “Why the sudden interest in being close to me?” his left eyebrow raised slightly while he thought about it.

“I… don’t know.” I replied trying to turn away. Not being able to, I found myself reaching up to touch his face with one hand, feeling the slight stubble there since he hadn’t had the chance to shave, the other clutched at my new necklace.

He leaned forward slightly, I could tell what he was about to do and I couldn’t stop it. I found myself leaning towards him a little too. Our faces were an inch apart, I could feel his hot breath against my lips and suddenly I couldn’t breathe. I closed my eyes and felt that familiar shiver run down my spine. My hand dropped from his face to his shoulder as I waited for him to cross that small distance between us.

“Gabby!!” I heard behind me, someone was running towards us, and suddenly Connor pushed me away. I was in a daze. I couldn’t register what had happened. Was I so awful looking that he couldn’t even bring himself to kiss me, when I so obviously wanted him to? Then I felt a tap on my shoulder.

“Hmm?” I managed to hold back the tears that stung my eyes as I turned around. Jade was standing there looking as if she could kill me.

“Gabby what on earth were you and Connor doing?” She asked me under her breath. I composed myself quickly and shoved a stray strand of hair behind my ear. She was tapping her foot impatiently her arms crossed waiting for me to answer.

“Nothing, Jade. I was just about to give Con a hug for this pretty necklace he brought me from the beach. You know as well as I do that Connor and I have absolutely no feelings for each other.” I said the last bit loud enough for Connor to hear me. I heard him start kicking his tires behind me, muttering angrily under his breath.

My eyebrows knit together as if I were in pain. Sad couldn’t even describe how I felt right now. I knew I had feelings for Connor but I also knew that if I admitted that now… Nothing would ever be the same. Jade quickly pulled her cell phone out of her skirt pocket to text someone. The light yellow shirt she wore contrasted perfectly with her blue jean skirt and yellow flip flops.

“What a crazy damn morning.” Connor muttered as he made his way over to stand beside me. I couldn’t help but agree as Jade studied the looks on our faces as she placed her phone back in her pocket. “Yes.” I thought. “What a Morning.”