I'm in Love With My Kidnapper

"This one's cute." I say.

"Oooh! I'm so getting that!" Shawna squeals. She takes the shirt I'm holding and skips over to the mirror.

"I think I will too," I say, searching for my size.

"Honey, we don't want to be all matchy-matchy. Plus, it wouldn't look very good on you." Well that hurts.

"I think it would but whatever." I spot a fitting, blue, one-shoulder dress so I walk over to it and find my size. Grabbing the dress, I walk past Shawna who's still ogling herself in the mirror. "I'll be in the changing rooms," I call.

"Whatever."

In the stall, I change out of my clothes and slip on the dress. There isn't a mirror in the stall so I open the door and walk out. The reflection that stares back at me is gorgeous. She looks like a model with gentle caramel waves of hair flowing just past her shoulders. The dress she's wearing is a royal blue with only one shoulder. On the side is an oval hole lined with a thin gold chain, showing a peek of her skinny midsection. The dress hugs her body without being skintight. The dress is perfect for her--me.

"Shawna, come here," I breathe. She walks over to me, remaining emotionless about my dress. "I look stunning." I whisper. I don't mean to sound vain or conceited. 

"Honey, you're average. It's a dress, it can't improve you. You're ordinary. It's okay though, because I'm your friend and I'm fabulous." She smiles sympathetically at me and walks away. She's not even kidding?

"You are stunning," says a voice from behind me. I turn to see a man in his mid-thirties staring at me. He focuses on my face, rather than my body, making him seem sincere about his compliment. I blush and look at the floor. No one's ever called me pretty, much less stunning. 

"Thank you," I say.

"No need for thanks, it's only the truth," he says. The man walks away slowly and searches through a clothing rack casually. I watch him for a minute before I go back into the changing rooms to change out of the dress.

"Shawna?" I call, walking out of the stall and ready to leave. No answer. I turn the corner to see if I can find her. "Shawn-oh!" I say as I run into the man. "I'm really sorry, I should watch where I'm going." I turn and walk the other way, blushing for some reason.

"You're no bother. I actually have a question for you." Well, I thought, I'm waiting. "If I buy that dress for you, will you go on a date with me and wear it?" I turn to face him, wishing my cheeks didn't look like oversized cherries. The man looked fairly well for being around his thirties. He has a head full of luscious black hair and his face is chiseled. His muscles press up against his shirt, showing how strong he is. He could probably do some serious damage if he wanted to. 

"You don't need to buy my anything. Really, it's fine. I need to find Shawna anyways." I politely decline.

"That girl that was here? She bought a shirt and left." Why would Shawna leave me? She's my ride- was my ride. Now I have no way of getting home.

"Well, I can drive you after we buy you that dress." What? I didn't mean to say that out loud.

"Oh, uhh... That's very kind of you, but-" I'm not supposed to get in stranger's cars. He seems nice though and I'm old enough to handle myself. "Well, okay." I agree. The man smiles and gently takes the dress from my hands. I followed him to the checkout counter. 

"What's your name?" I ask him.

"I'm Luke," he says. I nod.

"That's a nice name." 

"So is yours, Viola." We walk out to his car, him leading and me following. It's raining out and we have to sprint over to it. When we get close, I see that it's a little, sky blue car. He pushes a button on his key chain and it beeps and unlocks the doors. I climb into the passenger side and buckle my seat belt, soaking wet already. "So where do you live?" He asks. 

"I'm just up the street. Take a left when you hit 25th and on the right side, you'll see a little street called Rosen Drive. Turn onto that and I'm the fourth house down." It feels weird to just give out where I live to a perfect stranger but I'm nearly eighteen and I can handle myself.

As we drove, I space out watching the familiar surroundings around me. I've lived in this little town for my whole life and I can't wait to leave. I love the town but I've been here too long. 

"Wait," I say as I notice we took the wrong turn. "Sorry, but you took a right when you should have taken a left. It's no problem, you can just-" 

"No,no. It's fine, I know where we're going," Luke says. This doesn't feel right.

"Please stop the car for a moment." I quickly gather my things and unbuckle my seat belt.

"Darling, I'm not going to hurt you. You'll be fine," he says, locking the doors. I turn my head towards him rather quickly, popping my neck. I study the outline of his face, his under-bite, his straight, perfect nose, and then I study his eyes. Although he's not looking at me, I can see lust and excitement. He doesn't seem vicious or cruel. His blue pupils contrast his black hair perfectly. If anything, age has sweetened his man's appearance. 

I take a moment to think. This man doesn't seem to want to harm me, but I know that sometimes looks can be deceiving. It would shock me if this man even raised his voice at me. The lust in his eyes scares me a bit; what does he plan to do to me? I'm still innocent, at seventeen years old, and I don't want to lose that to this man. He means... well he doesn't mean nothing to me. 

He is the only man in my life who's ever said something positive about my appearance. Every day, my friends remind me of my average-ness. The only thing I've ever wanted is acceptance. Luke accepted me.

"Okay." I whisper. Luke abruptly pulls over and turns to me, lifting his arm rest so he can slide his legs to the side. He quickly crosses the space between our seats and gives me a peck on the lips.   Strangely, I don't push him away and I don't slap him across his cheek. Strangely, I want to kiss him for real. 

I slowly leaned across the seat, stopping half way. I'm pretty sure he wants to kiss me too so I wait for him to lean in the rest of the way. He does and our lips interlock in a beautiful kiss. 

"Why are you kidnapping me?" I carefully ask after we kiss. He doesn't even hesitate to answer.

"Because I want you and I didn't know if you'd want me the same way. I didn't know if you would be okay with being in a relationship with someone my age." All of this is okay with me, just because I've never been loved in a real relationship, just because I'm average and he saw beauty in me.

"I want to love you." I say.