Thursday
Picture 2
Nostalgicmiss' Choice: Picture 1
Title:
"I think he likes you."
"Oh shut up, jackass," I countered, shoving Haden out of my way. Tate's truck was still on the street, he hadn't even turned the corner and Haden was already on the warpath. Not t hat it was anything new for him. His goal in life seemed to be to torment me.
"What? I'm being serious."
"I don't want to talk about this with you."
"Why not? I'm your best friend."
How about because Tate was the first person I have been interested in since I realized how I felt about you? That the conversation in the truck on the way home had been one of the most relaxed yet stimulating conversations of my life? Neither of them would work so I improvised.
"Because you're a boy."
"I'm all man, baby."
"You're also very, very sick."
"Yeah well you've known me your whole life, why is that a surprise? Hey, can I stay at your place? I don't wanna walk the mile back to the apartment."
"You lazy shit," I laughed, looping my arm through his. "Fine! But if Ava calls me, you're dealing with her."
I wanted to have the strength to say no to him. Haden had always managed to get what he wanted from me without once having to beg for it. This though, this was dangerous territory, this meant he would be crashing in my bed with me in the most platonic way, even when my mind went somewhere else.
Most nights, I would climb out of bed and onto the couch so that I could get some sleep. My excuse in the morning had always been his snoring was so loud it kept me up. Sadly it was being that close to him and not being able to do anything about it that really kept me up at night.
We walked to my building in silence. Haden was texting one of his friends while I thought about my conversation with Tate on the way home.
He'd changed before meeting us outside the tent, I had been a little more freaked out than I liked to admit after the show, but I kept my cool, even more so when I saw he'd changed. He looked amazing in the sweater and jeans he'd changed into, and the girl in me couldn't help but notice the way the color of the sweater brought out the amber in his eyes.
To my surprise he and Haden seemed to have a lot in common, the two of them chatting easily as I traipsed along between them. It was Tate who had brought me into the conversation though; asking my opinion on how I thought the team was doing this year.
It wasn't like I had a lot to say on the subject, but he listened attentively anyway.
Haden had hopped easily into the bed of the truck when we reached it, and Tate opened my door for me, before strolling easily to the other side in the dark. He didn't say another word until we were on the highway.
Once we started talking, we didn't stop. We covered everything, from where we grew up to music and literature. The thirty-minute drive flew by too quickly and we ended up on my street quicker than I would have hoped.
When he asked for my number, I put it in his phone. I wanted to know more about him. Talking to him had been so much easier than I'd have imagined. I didn't want it to end, the hope that I'd had before the show had bloomed in the short amount of time I'd spent with him.
"Earth to Megan, come in, Megan."
"You what?"
"Welcome back, space cadet. I need your keys, you know, to get in."
"Oh right, sorry," I mumbled, digging in my pockets.
I found my keys and opened the door. I'd been so preoccupied I didn't consciously remember making it up the stairs. Haden fell on the small couch and picked up the remote to the TV, flicking through the recorded list on the Tivo Christa and I shared.
"Do not delete anything, Haden. I will let Christa murder you this time."
"I won't, I swear. You gonna watch TV with me for a bit?"
"No, I'm going to bed."
"Throw me in a pillow and blanket?"
"Sure."
I wandered off into my bedroom and grabbed the spare pillow and blanket I kept here specifically for the nights he stayed, I threw them at him from my door and waved a goodnight at him before closing myself in my room with my thoughts.
Life moved on as normal after my night in the woods with Haden and Tate. The only difference was, I spoke to Tate every night before I went to bed. If I had thought talking to him in the truck had been easy, it was nothing compared to our talks on the phone.
He was intellectual, funny and thoughtful. I had been doing some work on one of my papers when he'd called one night and we'd gotten into a philosophical discussion about nature vs. nurture. He'd been home schooled his whole life, but his mind was sharper than anyone I had spoken to in my classes. When I asked him if he could objectively answer which he thought was a more proficient method he said he couldn't. He had an argument for both.
He told me about his family and how they'd become involved in the line of work they had. His mom was blind and his dad was an outcast. He played off the situation as a joke, but the inflection in his words made it obvious. He was hurt by the rejection his parents suffered from society, and I couldn't blame him.
He asked about my family and my friendship with Haden. I didn't tell him all the sordid details but I was sure he'd figured most of it out.
After a week of intense phone calls we finally had a date. Just like everything else where Tate was concerned, it proved easy than I'd thought it would be. He never pushed for me to do something I was uncomfortable with, he just took his time, and before I knew it weeks had turned into months.
Three months to be exact and we still hadn't gone further than kissing when he dropped me off at night. Sure, I hadn't dated much, but I was still a woman, and I had needs. I had decided that tonight I was going to be the assertive one, I was going to make a move.
Unfortunately, for me, Haden had other plans.
"Oh come on, please."
"Any other night but tonight, Hade."
"Look, now your dating someone, Ava doesn't have a problem with you. This means we get to hang out more. You know how she is. If you turn her down tonight she'll take it all personally and not ask again."
"That's really not my problem."
"We don't hang out as much as we used to, I want to see you."
I groaned into the phone. Of course Haden would decide he wanted to hang out the night I had decided to amp things up in my relationship. Yet, I still couldn't say no to him, especially when he begged like this.
"Fine, one drink, but that's it. Just so she knows I'm willing to make an effort."
"That's my girl."
I rolled my eyes. I was happy with Tate, when I was with him the rest of the world fell away. Even when I spent time with Haden on my couch, like I had a millions times before, Tate was all I could think about. Tonight though, tonight would be the first time since the night I had met Tate, that I would be in the same room as the two of them and I hated the way it made me feel.
It wasn't that I feared reverting back to worshiping the ground Haden walked on, in some odd way I had finally managed to work through that. It was the fact that the two people I cherished most in the world were coming face to face, and the if they decided they didn't like one another I would be forced to make a decision.
It was irrational, I knew that more than anybody, but I couldn't help the voice in the back of my mind screaming at me.
"See you tonight. We'll meet at Pikes on Main Street, around eight?"
"Eight? Hade, that gives us an hour."
"Will you stop complaining."
"Fine. Whatever."
Haden chuckled on the other end of the line, knowing I would be there at eight because I hated being late. sometime knowing someone for so long was a pain in the ass.
"See you then."
"Yeah, yeah," I sighed, mentally sticking my tongue out at him. Haden was perhaps the only person who could bring out my inner nine year old. "See you then. One drink Haden. I'm serious."
He hung up the phone with a laugh. and all I could do was sigh in frustration. I hadn't planned on going anywhere tonight, and now I had to go and get dressed.
I moved slowly, not really paying attention to anything other than the underwear I had bought for the occasion. The plans for the evening had changed, but I was reluctant to give up on the end goal. I knew what I wanted and I wouldn't be giving up on it, not tonight. It was exactly three months to the day I'd been dragged over that bridge, exactly three moths to the day I had trekked up that hill, and more importantly, it was three months to the day I had met the one person that meant so much to me, he encapsulated my attention.
"Megan?"
"In here," I responded, smiling at the deep resonating voice. "There's been a change of plans."
Tate stepped into the bathroom and wrapped his arms around my waist, his face disappearing into my hair as he breathed me in. It was this kind of thing that drove me to buy the underwear in the first place. His hands were always like hot flowing lava through my clothes, even with simple touches like this, his breath made my knees weak every time it came into contact with my skin, and his lips – there were no words – when they touched my skin a fire ignited inside of me and never extinguished until he left me again.
This unintentional celibacy thing was killing me.
"Hey Meg," he crooned. "I thought you had a present for me."
"Oh I do," I sighed, turning in his arms. "You just have to wait a little longer for it. The quicker we're out of there the sooner you get it."
"Out of where?"
"Haden and Ava asked us to go get a drink with them. I'm sorry, I tried to say no but . . ."
"It's fine. Haden's been in your life forever. I think it will be good for me to get to know him finally."
"You say that now," I smirked, popping up on my toes to kiss his full lips.
"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, quirking his head while his eyes shone brightly.
"You'll see later."
"Well, lets go so we can get back then."
I laughed, my head falling back so my hair fell gently down my shoulders. Tate caught me by surprise when his lips brushed over my throat gently, cutting off the sound of laughter. The last of the air in my lungs was forced out with a groaning sigh.
"Do we have to go?" I mumbled, my hands tangling in his dark hair.
"No."
Tate's hands gripped both of my hips and hoisted me onto the counter, his hands moving slowly down the material of my dress until he met bare thigh. Any thought I had been having or had been in the in the process of formulating disappeared from my mind, as his warm hands moved up my thighs. We'd been playing this games for days now, every day he moved a little bit closer, but every day he pulled away.
Our lips met in a furious frenzy, my hands tangled in the soft hair at the back of his neck, holding him closer as his hand moved slowly toward the apex of my thighs. The sexual tension was a physical being in the room with us, pushing and coaxing as his thumbs brushed the skin in gentle circles as he moved.
My breaths were coming in stuttered pants as I tried to inch closer to him, tried to lead him home to where I needed him the most. My brain was fuzzy and had my eyes been open I was sure the room would have been spinning with anticipation.
"What time do we have to be there?" he murmured against my skin.
"Be where?" I moaned into room, my body shuddering as his nose nudged the material at my chest.
"We can't do this now, not hurried like this."
"Then we won't go."
I felt his lips curl into a smile against the flesh he was currently nibbling on.
"We have to."
"No, we don't. Haden will forgive me."
"Baby," Tate growled, the sound was feral and wild, and I knew that any further and there would be no stopping.
"Fuck. Fucking stupid Ava and her stupid rules."
Tate smiled, his lips pressing against mine as his hands retreated from under my dress. He was closer than he'd ever been and I was about ready to pull out my hair in frustration.
"You look beautiful, by the way."
I smiled and let my head fall against his chest. I wanted him so badly, I wanted to just call Haden and tell him I was trying to get laid and to back off, but I could already feel the heaving in Tate's chest evening out. The moment had passed.
"Thank you."
"Let's go do this. You said a drink, right?"
"Yeah. A drink."
Tate took my hand and kissed my palm, before easing me off the counter and rearranging my dress. With an arm around my waist he guided me out of the bathroom and into toward the front door.
Four drinks later, we were still in Pikes. Ava's nasally voice was grating on my sexually repressed nerves, and Tate's hands were burning my skin with his touch.
It hadn't been as bad as I'd first thought it would be. Tate and Haden seemed to share the skill of easy conversation, while Ava and I just listened. I had nothing to say to her, and it was no longer because of her being with Haden. This was strictly because of her idiocy.
I'd tried to bring up a conversation about our English lecture, the one class we shared, and she'd gone off on a tangent about how the professor seemed to like to stare at her breasts more than read pay attention to what she was saying. She was under the impression that he was so mesmerized by her boobs that he wasn't listening to a word she said.
Unfortunately, I did share the class with her and I knew just how wrong she was. When she answered a question she was always superficial, the material was deeper than she could fathom so she quoted the cliff notes, unfortunately she quoted them wrong.
"I'm bored," Ava declared, her claws digging into Haden's chest and interrupting him mid sentence. "Let's go do something different."
"Like what, Beautiful?"
"Oh, there's a psychic in town. Let's go get our fortunes read."
Tate and I looked at one another and back to the blonde that was clinging to my best friend in almost an indecent fashion. The most we'd done all night was hold hands, Ava didn't seem to have a limit.
"That could be fun," Haden perked up, making my eyebrows reach my hairline. "You guys up for it?"
"No, I think we'll take off. It's been fun though."
"Come on, Megan," Ava whined. "It's gonna be fun. Just go out on a limb for once."
"Yeah, come on, Megan," Haden said behind her back, pointing and laughing at me. "It'll be fun."
Ava turned around to thank Haden for backing her up and I couldn't help but Mouth 'I hate you,' and flick him the bird. Tate actually turned around so he could laugh at the action.
"Okay, Ava. We're going to have to go after that though. We made other plans and we rearranged so we could meet up with you guys. Haden said you were really looking forward to it."
Ava turned to Haden again and I knew she was silently questioning him. This time I pointed and laughed at him. I should have known he was behind this. Ava couldn't stand me.
"Right, then lets do this," Ava smiled, grabbing my hand and digging her hot pink talons into the palm. There were no words to describe how different the two of us were, and I had to admit I was actually glad.
"I'm so sorry," I cried, the moment Tate and I were alone in the truck. "I am going to kill Haden for this."
"For what?"
"Dragging this out," I pouted, sliding across the bench seat so I was close enough to kiss him. I let my hand rest on his thigh as I leaned in, my lips capturing his bottom one and sucking it between my teeth.
Tate groaned in pleasure, his hands wrapping around my body and pulling me closer. His hands fisted in my hair tugging gently so I would release the flesh I was biting down on, I obeyed and let his tongue penetrate my mouth and massage my own. The need from our earlier close encounter seemed to reignite, the kiss prodding at the embers to entice the flame once again.
"Hey!" Haden's voice filled the cab of the truck and was followed by the thumbing of his hand on the window. "Cut that shit out. We've come somewhere to be."
I groaned in frustration and buried my head in the crook of Tate's neck as he unwound the window. I didn't wait for visual confirmation of the grin I knew would be on Haden's face, instead I gave him the finger.
"Now that's just uncalled for."
"No," I protested, lifting my head so I could see him. "That was earned."
"You're such a drama queen," Haden sighed, the smile I'd expected nowhere in sight. "Follow us. Apparently Ava knows where she wants to go."
"Everything ok, Hade?"
"Yeah, why wouldn't it be?" he asked, turning around and walking away. I could feel the frown forming as I sat back in my seat. Haden's reaction wasn't like him and it confused me. I was beginning to think I should have kept my mouth shut about Ava wanting us to come out. It had probably caused an argument between the two of them.
"And he calls me a drama queen," I mumbled, winking at Tate who was watching me curiously.
"Come on," he grinned, holding his hand out for me to take. "The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can leave, and finish what we started."
"We could make a run for it now."
Tate laughed, and put the truck in drive, pulling out behind Ava's Barbie-mobile as she passed.
"What is she doing in there?" I groaned. We had been in the waiting room for almost an hour while Ava got her reading.
Haden had barely said a word since we'd arrive and Tate seemed to make it his mission to touch me in some form of fashion. Both of them were acting strangely so I chose to ignore them.
"Ava was going on about how different her methods were. I guess they take longer too," Haden snapped, sliding down further in his seat and crossing his arms. "Sorry if we're boring you."
"What is your deal?"
"Nothing."
"Yeah, seems that way."
"Okay, Megan. Your turn," Ava sang, dancing into the room and falling into Haden's lap.
I tried to hold back on my eye roll, I didn't even want to be here. I leaned in and kissed Tate before standing up and walking toward the door that seemed to feel like impending doom. This was just what I needed.
"Megan?" The woman asked, standing from her chair at what appeared to be a small card table.
"Yes ma'am."
"I'm Harmony. It's nice to meet you."
"It's good to meet you too," I smiled, stepping forward and offering my hand.
"Oh no, dear. No physical touching, I get too much information at once. Take a seat and I'll explain what we're going to do."
I nodded and sank into the chair opposite her, my hands tangled in my lap as a sudden burst of nervous energy seemed to take control.
She pulled out a tray of off-white squares and laid them on the desk in front of us. "I assume Ava explain my unconventional methods?"
"No, ma'am. She explained you were unconventional but didn't elaborate."
She nodded and pointed to the squares in front of her. "These are nothing mystical or binding. They're simple scrabble pieces. I cleanse them after each use because they work from your energy. I'm going to have you pick out seven pieces, you can touch as many as you want and take as long as you want, just go with your feeling."
Seven pieces? Was I really paying to play scrabble with this woman? I realized that she believed herself to be psychic, but this? It seemed unlikely.
"Your aura has changed color. You're unsure."
"Umm, a little skeptical I guess."
Harmony smiled. I apparently wasn't the first to question her methods.
"Pick seven as I asked. You may be surprised at the outcome."
I nodded and looked at the inoffensive squares in front of me. I picked out seven I felt "drawn" to, and sat back, awaiting the results. She turned them over one by one and examined them carefully, her fingers making them switch position until they spelled out a word I recognized.
Freedom.
"Interesting choice of word. Why do you think you chose the word?"
"I didn't, I just picked out a few scrabble pieces."
"You felt drawn to them."
I nodded my affirmation and sat back. "But why?"
"You felt bound to something, something you never considered forced on you. Now you're liberated you're seeing how restrained you were, how tied you were to – a boy?"
Haden. I had felt tied to Haden because I couldn't escape my attraction to him. He was my best friend and we were locked in an endless cycle.
"You know what I'm talking about. Your aura is very easy to read."
"I . . ."
"No need to explain. As long as you understand it, that's all that's important."
I nodded. Harmony shifted the word to her right and looked at me again. "You're doing wonderfully, now pick out six letters."
I took a deep breath, still unsure of how much to buy into this. I went through the same process, picking out the squares that seemed to attract my attention. One by one pushing them toward Harmony until I had six.
She turned them over and shifted them again, her smile brightening. The word in front of her legible again.
Beauty.
"You think your savior is beautiful. What he did for you opened your eyes to the world around you and now your tied to him. Yet, you don't feel trapped, to you he is the embodiment of everything you had been missing."
"How do you know there's a savior?"
"How else would you have broken the cycle? I also saw your aura when you considered who I was talking about."
I blushed. Even though she couldn't possibly know how her words were affecting me, she seemed to simply know.
"Now pick five."
Without hesitation I pulled the five I was most attracted to out of the pieces and pushed them toward her again. I finally admitted I was eager to see where this was going.
She arranged them neatly in front of her, spelling out the new word.
Truth.
"You should be wary. There is one who will test your new happiness. They will make you search for answers, every question you have asked yourself will be asked of you. I cannot see the outcome of this, please, pick four more. Quickly."
I seared what was left of the collection and slid the four toward her, my heart thumping. Somehow I had gone from being a non-believer looking at this with trepidation to a believer who was seeking the answer in scrabble pieces of all things.
Harmony turned the pieces and sighed in frustration. The letter sat neatly in front of her, spelling the one word I hadn't expected to see.
Love.
"You will find love once the truth is determined, but there is no answer past that. This is the end result, and your ending will be a happy one. You just have to find the truth in order to get there."
"I'm not sure I understand." None of it made sense. Who could possibly question this happiness and freedom I had found, and Why? Why would anyone try and take that away from me now I'd found it?
"You will, in time. The questions will come to you. Don't live your life according to this reading because the future can change. You must travel on the path you're on to come to this juncture in your life."
How the hell was I supposed to do that when I knew I would have a choice to make? A choice I didn't want to make. I was happy now. I didn't want to have to choose.
"Please, you have to have more answers than that."
"It is for you to discover, Megan. It will come in time, but enjoy what you have now, before fate knocks on the door and makes you rethink every decision you have ever made. Change is inevitable, and you know it's coming."
Change. It was inevitable and I had already been there. Now I was going to be faced with a decision. Something I hadn't known was coming, something I could only guess at. I just hoped it wasn't soon.
"Thank you, Harmony."
"You're welcome, Megan. Would you send in your friend, Tate next?"
"Of course," I murmured, heading toward the waiting room. The loop seemed to continue in my head with every step.
A decision.
A choice.
Change.
Got my pictures for Week 12!! Will be continued . . .
1 comments:
This is turning out awesome. I'm so jealous you are able to keep this thread going. I haven't had that luxury yet. Great use of the pictures!
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