Page 15 of Mine

"Are you okay? Come here."

He wrapped his arms around me, and I allowed myself to breathe him in, dizziness swept through me from a combination of my rapid heartbeat, crazy emotions and that divine smell of his.

With Cal I felt safe and secure, and so far away from the world. I pulled myself away from him and he grinned at me.

"I think I may be a shit therapist. They aren’t meant to hug their clients, are they? Come on, Raven. I’ll walk you home."

I didn’t have the strength to argue, plus I wanted as much time with him as possible. We walked silently, side by side, as I stole the odd glance at him.

He seemed to be deep in thought, catching my eye now and then as I looked away. When we reach my drive, I turn to him, grasping at any false confidence I had left.

"Thanks. We will need to meet up again soon and try to pick some points out about whether it works—"

He put his finger to my lips, and I trembled beneath his touch.

"Shh. Stop thinking. Get some rest, I will see you at school," he turned and walked away, lighting yet another cigarette.

I headed to my bedroom and logged onto my social media accounts on my laptop. There were new photos of Sienna & Ethan at the Rink, looking totally loved up. I clicked onto my profile to see the photo of me and Luke after one of his games, looking loved up, too.

What the hell has happened to us?

I climb into bed, hearing the ping that alerts me to a text.

CAL:

Confidential, I won’t tell anyone. Night beautiful.

Chapter Seven

GRETCHEN

I woke with a start, the ringtone from my phone piercing my skull.

I sat up, glancing around my room blearily. It must’ve only been around four a.m., judging by the darkness. I finally found my phone and I swiped at the screen until it stopped making the damn noise.

“Hello?” I said groggily as I heard Sienna huffing down the phone.

“Gretchen. Tell me you are not in bed. I’m outside your house.”

“At this hour?” I squeaked as she chuckled.

“It’s almost eight, babe,” she informed me, as I sat bolt upright.

I ended the call and checked the time to find Sienna wasn’t joking. I stretched before I padded downstairs with a yawn. I answered the door as Sienna swept in, a flurry of perfume and glitter following her. I trudged back into the kitchen, delving into the fridge for the orange juice.

“Sienna, where’s the fire?” My dad laughed as he walked into the kitchen, ruffling my hair.

“Morning Mr. Red. I came early to remind Gretchen we have the dance tonight. I’m not even sure she has an outfit,” she shot me a look and I groaned.

“The dance? Argh.”

“See?” she raised an eyebrow at my Dad as he chuckled. Sienna returned her attention to me, her hands on her hips. “If you’re quick, we can hit the mall before school.”

I slid some bread into the toaster as she held her arms up in dismay.

“You haven’t time for toast, Gretch!”

My Mom sailed in at that point, smiling at Sienna. “There is always time for breakfast.”