Rule #18: Say My Name, Say My Name
Cheers erupted from behind me, and I almost dropped dead of shock when I turned around and my dad ruffled my hair. “Now I can finally call you my son,” he said, smiling proudly. Okay, I’m pretty sure my jaw’s jaw dropped.
Mom and Mrs. West were having a tear fest, making me feel increasingly embarrassed. Fortunately, Rickie, the amazing guy he is, decided to lead our families away. Unfortunately, that left me and Audrey alone.
Flushing, I peeked at her, and she was now giving me a vulnerable look. “Do you mean that?” she asked finally.
Wanting to crawl up in a hole and die, I just nodded. “Yeah. I do.”
A small, genuine smile started to grow on her face but she still had indecisiveness in her eyes. The wait was killing me.
“Okay.”
I balked. “Okay?”
She nodded shyly. For some reason, that irked me. Audrey was never shy around me. If I was making her feel uncomfortable… “You have drool on your face,” I tested.
She blushed, rubbing at her face. “Sorry.” Her voice was small.
“Sorry? No ‘you have face on your drool, Adam’ or anything?” She was giving me a confused look, and I felt my exhilaration at finally telling her my feelings fade away.
“Never mind.” I turned away to leave. We had to repack our stuff; Ink’s family had volunteered to drop us off. And considering Lana was unavailable, the Langs were the only choice we had.
“Listen, Adam.”
I stopped in my tracks, turning around slowly.
“I don’t want to promise you anything, okay? That’s all there is to it. But that doesn’t mean…” A fiery expression took over her face and I smiled the widest I had since coming here.
Ears perking up, I tilted my head in her direction. “Yeah?”
“That doesn’t mean that you can just insult me and get away with it!”
The hug I gave her was self-explanatory. She was back; my Audrey was back.
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“I love you so much. I never, ever want you to leave me,” I breathed, staring deeply at her red color.
“Lana, baby, I am so, so sorry you had to leave.” I hugged the hood of my baby, never wanting to let go.
“Adam, you can let go now.”
“But baby, I missed you.”
Wait. Lana doesn’t speak. Wait, does she? Did I pay extra or something so they put in a voice box? “Lana, you can talk to me!” I exclaimed. This was honestly the best day of my life. “But you sort of sound like May.”
“Man, are you kidding me right now?”
Oh, it actually was May. “Oh, it’s you,” I said, my happiness dimming. It would have been cool to hear Lana talk. “Hi.”
May was looking at me as if I’d grown three heads. “You know, after your traumatizing weekend, I’m pretty sure you can take today off as well. Don’t worry about Jay,” she added. But from her face it was clear that it was something to worry about.
I straightened up, stroking Lana’s roof. “Nah, just glad to have her back. Besides, I’m here already. No point going back.”
Relief etched across her face, May ran a hand through her hair. It was out of her usual ponytail today. “Thank god. Now hurry up, we’re getting late.”
I don’t see why it was such a huge problem for her since she basically owned the place, but nevertheless I followed her through the melting snow to the inside of the mall. The warm air hit my face, and I reflected at how this place had become my second home, basically. I hadn't even realized how badly I was craving the sickly-sweet smell of Starbucks until it hit me, making my stomach curl with need.
The rest of the afternoon passed slowly and comfortably, serving Monday afternoon zombies their survival drugs and listening to Jay womanize the ladies. At least it gave me a break from handling the teenage terrors. Although it seemed kind of pedophilic. Still, Jay was Jay.
When a lull came in the evening, I slipped off my cap and messed up my hair, trying to cool it down. You couldn’t even tell it was winter; it was that steamy in here. Although that could be just from the looks May and Jay kept throwing each other from the corner of their eyes when they thought the other wasn’t looking. Well, the other wasn’t looking, but I definitely was. Cue evil laughter. Or creepy smile. Your pick.
“Dude.” I snapped my fingers in front of Jay’s dazed blue eyes. He tore them away from May as she put up her hair into a ponytail to focus on me.
“Huh?”
I smirked, leaning against the counter beside him. “You just gave a diabetic lady a caramel donut.”
His mouth gaped open, and he quickly sprang around the counter, chasing down the wizened old lady in her walker. I closed my counter seeing it was my break, and went to go see May. “What’s up, girlfriend?” I teased, trying to go for a bubbly twang.
She raised an eyebrow at me, looking away from an apologetic Jay getting yelled at by the little old lady. Seeing that gave me a chuckle as well. “Nothing. What about you? It feels like I haven’t seen you in forever,” she mused.
I bumped my shoulder with hers. “Missing me, I see.”
She rolled her eyes but was fighting a smile. “You wish. Only so I wouldn’t have to put up with that,” she said, glowering at Jay and his latest teenage conquest. There was also a hint of bitterness - or was it jealousy? - in her gaze.
Aha. Yep, there was definitely something going on there. Taking advantage of the fact, I gave her an observant gaze. “It’s more than that, isn’t it?”
She avoided replying by taking the next customer’s order, and I waited until she was done, still wearing my knowing grin. “It is! Wow, May, I would never have picked up on that,” I teased.
She shot me a glare. “Shut up. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Deciding that I had the information I needed, I shrugged with a wink, going back to my cash register to send a message to Sam letting her know this latest revelation.
Huh. Again, like in the past two days, I was disappointed. Sam had disappeared mysteriously. She was probably busy, but she had never gone so long without an explanation. I hoped everything was alright.
“Why the frown?” May had wandered over to my space.
I shook my head. “Nothing.”
She noticed the phone in my hand. “Is everything okay? Was that Audrey you were trying to reach?”
“Nah, no one.” I realized I had never really talked to May about Sam. Only Audrey was the one who knew, since she was involved with the blogging experience.
“Is it Sam?”
“What? How do you know Sam?”
May looked surprised at herself for a moment, opening and closing her mouth without saying anything. “I - uh, I’ve got to tell you something.”
I gestured to the barstool behind where I normally stood at the cashier. “Sit.”
She sat. Looking down at her feet, she attempted a half-smile. “Well, there was this one time I met this crazy guy at the mall…” she looked up at me to see if I was following along. I beckoned for her to continue.
“And I hired him. He was pretty cool. Also, on that same day, I was just scouring through various blogs on the internet…”
My stomach sank down to my toes and dribbled out, leaving a cold, empty feeling inside. Oh, no.
I held up a hand to stop her, getting the message, but she rambled on. “And there was this guy trying to find his dream girl, and he was just really funny and everything and then-”
“May, stop, I got it.” I don’t know why, but I wasn’t feeling as upset as I had been initially. Sure, she had kept the truth from me, but it wasn’t like we were in a relationship or something. “It’s fine, really. No harm done. It just feels weird to know that I’ve been talking to you this entire time, and yeah, it kind of sucks that you didn’t tell me. Just… why?”
She looked at me desperately. “Remember that one day that I came to your university? And then we ended up going shopping? The day before that was when I first found out who you were when you mentioned Jay and Audrey and everyone to me. I came to tell you, and then after that I never got the chance.”
I tried to process everything. “That still doesn’t explain why you didn’t tell me all those days we were working here? Like, I really don’t get why you didn’t.”
She bit her lip. “You were always so honest with Sam. And you always vented to her, not me, May, when you were going through something. I wanted you to still have that support.”
“So… your name really isn’t May?”
“It’s Samantha May. S and M, remember?”
“Right.”
Jay sauntered over to us, interrupting the miserable silence. I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact that Sam was May. Even though I wasn’t mad at her for keeping her identity from me, there was a small sense of betrayal. I had trusted Sam with a lot. And to think that Audrey wanted me to sleep with her once upon a time. “Alright, who died?”
I glared at him, and he raised his hands in defense. “Whoa. Sorry, uh, too soon, huh?”
We both ignored him, wrapped up in our own thoughts. The door tinkled, announcing a new customer. Not one for looking a gift horse in the mouth, I took the opportunity and broke away, putting my cap back on and a smile on my face for the young couple at the counter.
As I left, I could hear Jay asking May how I had suddenly started PMS-ing when it was clear that I was on menopause. The idiot.
Man, I just really want to be with Audrey.
Apparently wishes do come true. The door tinkled again, and my favorite redhead in the world walked through, chattering with a friend from one of her classes. She smiled widely at me, her cheeks red from the cold. “Hi.”
I grinned. “Hi.”
After we got back, our normal friendship fell easily back into place. Except now I could flirt with her, tease her and have another meaning behind it. We didn’t have a label to ‘us’ yet, and I was fine with that.
“Will May let you off a half hour early today?” she asked. At the mention of May, my eyes dropped along with my mood.
“I don’t know.”
“It’s fine, he can go.” May’s voice came from behind me. I smiled thinly at her.
“Thanks.”
Audrey was looking at us with confusion, but didn’t question it until I had changed out of my uniform and we were in the truck. “What happened with May?” she asked, a crease appearing in her forehead,
I smoothed it away, the little form of contact calming my senses. “She sort of threw a bombshell at me.”
The crease reappeared and i turned away, flexing my fingers against the steering wheel. “May is Sam.”
Audrey’s jaw dropped. “Like… our Sam? Samantha Sam?”
I nodded with a sigh. “The one and only.”
Audrey leaned back, her head thumping the headrest. “Wow… well, what did you say to her? Why did she lie?”
I explained it to her, and just like I had expected, Audrey was angry. “This is why you don’t trust anybody on the Internet. You never should have replied to that very first email.”
That amused me a little, and I threw a little grin her way. “Says the girl who wanted me to sleep with any girl off the Internet who showed interest in me.”
She mumbled something non-committal in return, and I revved up the truck, leaving May and her double identity far behind.
“Where are we going?” Audrey asked, squinting through the tinted windows.
I passed the turn that would take us to the street our apartment building was located in. “We’re going on a date.”
She looked at me, then down at herself, then at me again. “Are you serious?” Her voice was high-pitched.
A thought suddenly struck me. “Wait, I’m sorry, I should’ve asked first. I just wanted to surprise you. You don’t have any plans, do you?”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “But what if said no when you asked me out?”
I swear my heart stuttered for a minute. “Well, uh, this sort of eliminates that option.”
She smirked and leaned back. “I know. Alright, so where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise,” i told her, taking a right turn. Her eyes were curious but excited, and I took relief from that fact.
“Here we are,” I announced after an hour of singing along to my personal burned CD several times.
“Uh, the middle of nowhere? Adam, girls may like Twilight but I am not getting on your back and I’m pretty sure those branches will hurt me.”
Laughing out loud, I helped her out of the car. “Don’t be selfish. I’d have you carry me around, but apparently I’m supposed to be the gentleman here.”
“‘Supposed to be’ being the key words in that sentence,” she teased with a wink.
Locking the truck door, I scowled. “Hey, I am a gentleman!”
Her grin widened, and she snickered behind a hand. “Sure, sure.”
Even though I was supposed to be feeling offended, I relished the fact that Audrey wasn’t acting awkward around me anymore. It seemed to have sunk in that this wasn’t much of a change in our relationship, because relationships are built on experience and trust, which Audrey and I already had a ton of. The physical stuff would come too, but I could wait. I glanced at her pink cheeks surrounded by her red bangs, and tried to stop myself from planting a kiss on her lips. Yeah, maybe not.
“Okay, okay, enough talking, more… doing stuff-ing!” she whined, breathing into her mittens. Smiling widely, I took her by the shoulder and turned her around so she could see what I brought her here for.
“Wow… Adam, I-I don’t even know-”
“I know. It’s okay. Isn’t it amazing?”
She nodded, wordless, walking farther ahead in awe. I lay down the thick comforter I had brought with me, and the tons of pillows stashed in the backseat now covered the back of my truck. Audrey followed me as I climbed into the back and settled in, stretching my legs out onto the makeshift bed-slash-sofa. And together we watched.
This was a place I had discovered on my own during my first month here when Audrey still hadn’t arrived. Far away from the city, in the middle of the lush green pine forests, there was a pathway that led over to a cliff. From there you had a perfect view of the large, open meadow beyond the trees that dotted the base at the drop of the cliff. And after that, the meadow slowly blended into the town, and then the city. Behind that was the true beauty of what we had come for.
The sunset.
Red, orange, yellow, purple; all types of different colors made up the sky above us and mixed into a blazing hue that shone around the horizon, illuminating the entire view. It was stunning.
“How did you find this place?”
“Just wandering. This and many more.”
Her head snapped to me, brown eyes glowing in the reddish sunlight. “Really? You better take me after our exams are over,” she said, leaning her head onto my shoulder. The gesture was so innocent, but I knew that we both understood we were past the boundaries of friendship, and she was experimenting.
I raised an eyebrow playfully, moving my arm to hook around her waist and pull her in. “Oh? You won’t be saying no?”
“Adam,” she said in a very serious voice. “If you’re going to be taking me to places like these instead of some fancy restaurant, I might just ask you out.”
My chest swelled at her words, and an uncontrollable smile took over my face, making me want to kiss her again. Distracting myself, I moved and dangled my body half out of the back to grab the bag I had brought with me and put in the back seat. “Well, this is definitely not a fancy restaurant, so I’m sorry I couldn’t-”
“Is that Chicken 65?” Audrey gasped, grabbing the bag from me.
“Damn, girl. You’ve got one heck of a nose,” I said, gaping as she dug through the bag and pulled out her favorite dish.
“Did you make this?” she asked.
I nodded, feeling a bit shy. “Yeah, I may not be good with baking, but if there’s meat involved or something unhealthy, you can count me in,” I said. She had never really seen my cooking skills due to our mom’s craze for homemade food which took up most of our meals, and here she always cooked the major meals or we just ordered takeout. “I hope it’s fine.”
Audrey gazed up at me, sighing happily amidst the Italian salad and ice cream I had stashed in the bag as well. “Adam, this is perfect.”
The comment made me feel bittersweet. “Audrey… why won’t you commit yourself fully to us?” I asked quietly.
At first there was no reaction but then she put her fork back down on the plate in her lap, eyes un-focusing. Then she sighed. “I guess I’ll have to tell you sooner or later. And this will probably not explain anything, but…” She peeked at me before quickly looking away.
“But?”
“I took Cody’s virginity.”
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guys i finished nanowrimo like wut how omg thank you so so much for your support ilysfm here you go candies and cake for all like seriously we crossed 500 votes omfg im dying here
I messed up my arm while swimming :C i also have to finish and edit this story - which has like 5 chapters left omg :'C - before I send TGR off for publishing ^^ Wish me luck!
um please VOTE and COMMENT if you liked it, I love reading your comments <3 also for a shoutout as well ;)
also FOLLOW if you want to xD
xAce
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Story: Soft Silence
“Being mute isn't a disability. It just means that God loves you so much that He took away your voice so that you don’t hurt others verbally. You see, He doesn't want you to do what others are doing to you.”
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When Sierra Bloom suffers a tragedy that costs her both her family and her voice, she shuts down every bit of emotion and passion within her and brings out a new and cold her that doesn't like being around people and things that are easy to get attached to.
But David Hale? He just does not know when to give up.
What is Sierra supposed to do when he keeps bringing out the old her and makes her forget the tragedy she caused? The answer is obvious; shut him out and run away.
That's the solution.... right?
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Please read the important credits and disclaimers and copyrights on the first page.