Chapter 1
Declan
Declan Washington peered through his eyelashes, not moving his head as he searched for the person with the amazing laugh. It had rung in his ears clear as day, like church bells ringing on a Sunday morning. He smirked, seeing the long legged beauty that was just across the street. She sashayed as she walked, talking on a droid phone, her smile lighting up her whole face. Declan had to admit that he liked what he saw. She was wearing a pair of cut off jean shorts, a black tank top and a sleeveless shrug thing that was striped black and white and went to just beneath her shorts. On her feet were a pair of ankle cowboy boots, white threading going across each of the ankles. He studied the way her nose crinkled as she smiled revealing a few freckles on her nose, and the way her brown eyes would fall to the sidewalk as she walked.
My first fling of the summer, he thought to himself, absentmindedly stroking his dog's back. His pug, Albert (Al for short), was laying in the dry grass next to him, his head resting on Declan’s lap. Al’s little black nose was wet and just snortling booger bubbles, so he pushed it off of his camo shorts. In a quick movement, Declan had himself to his feet, and went walking over to the girl with the nice laugh. She looked around his age, certainly following the trendy side braid from that one movie. The....Hunger Games! That was it! Declan had gone to see it like 5 times with his ex girlfriend Angel. Angel had been so obsessed with that movie, dragging him along with her to go see that on some sort of like enormous double date. Thank god he was done with that girl.
“I know, mother. I am in Arlington safe and sound.” Her small voice pulled him out of his thoughts. He looked to her, smiling. She glanced up at him, holding out one index finger to tell him to wait. “Yes, I was already there.” She paused, looking down to the sidewalk again. “No, mom. I do not plan on getting knocked up while I am here.” Her brown eyes met his again and she rolled her eyes, pointing at her phone. She mouthed “mom” at him, and he grinned understandingly. “I just went for a walk, okay? I have to go, Mom, it is my turn at Jamba Juice. Love you.” She couldn’t seem to hang up fast enough, roughly shoving the thin smartphone into her back pocket.
“Your mother thinks you are going to get knocked up?” He couldn’t help but tease, his lips tilting into another grin.
“Well, yeah. I am a pretty terrible kid. Ditching my family for Arlington like that and all.”
“And why would you do that?” Declan asked, shoving his hands into his camo shorts pockets. He watched as she blew air out through her rosy pink lips.
“Once upon a time, my family lived here. And I like Arlington way better than where we live now, so... I think you get the point.” One of her hands shot up to her shoulder where brown hair rested in a braid and started fiddling with the end of it.
He snorted, why would anyone want to come back here? Personally, he would rather live anywhere but here. There were too many memories, too many mistakes that haunted him.
“Where did you live that was so bad that you would come running back to a place like this?” As he talked, he spread an open hand around the pathetic neighborhood. Almost every yard was rocked and void of any grass. The trees were tall, the only thing offering shade from the disastrous sun.
She wrinkled her nose at him, this time in distaste instead of laughter. “Look, I am not about to go spreading where I am living with some random guy on the street.”
“It isn’t random if you know my name.” Declan countered, shoving his hand back in his pocket.
“And I don’t. So excuse me, I think I will be on my way now.”
“Declan.” He outstretched his left hand to her. The girl dodged it, lunging to the left of him and took off brushing past him as she went. The smell of her perfume invaded his lungs, overriding his sense of smell and hearing. It was like he was at Niagara Falls, the rush of the beautiful waterfall blocking out all other life. When he finally escaped his thoughts again, he saw the girl who had the nice laugh about a couple yards away, walking along the sidewalk on the road.
“Hey, wait up!” He called after her, walking in long strides to catch up. She looked over her shoulder at him, an unreadable emotion glinting in her eye. She turned around, walking backwards.
“Someone seems to have a stalking problem. I wonder how that conversation with 911 would go.”
“It is Declan.” He insisted. “And no, I don’t have a stalking problem, I just have a habit of sweeping women off their feet with my charm.”
“Right.” She rolled her eyes. “And that charm is some chloroform and you are carrying them into your white van.”
“Puh-lease! If I were a rapist/pedo- whatever it is you are calling me, I would not drive a white van. That is too mainstream in the sex offender world. No, I would drive a jeep or something.”
She chuckled, stopping in the street and looking around. Blowing her loose side bangs out of her eyes, she looked into his eyes. “Nothing says playing it safe like a jeep. Guess that would get the cops off your trail.”
Jeeps are not "safe", he thought to himself. Something must be wrong with this girl. “Jeeps are not like that, and I most certainly am not safe either! Feel free to ask anyone around here.”
She turns her nose up to him as he moves closer. “If you want, I can show you that I am not one to play it safe.” With a look of disgust on her naturally tanned face, she huffed and whirled around. He watched in silence as she crossed her arms and began sashaying away again. Declan scratched his red hair. What did he do? “Hey! HEY!!! Wait up, little pony.” he hollered with his natural Texan twang.
That grabbed her attention and she turned her head so that it was parallel with her right left shoulder. “I am not a pony.” She took off in a brisk walk away, her shorts swaying with her hips, sagging a little with the weight of the phone, revealing a big bruise on her tailbone. Where could she have gotten that from? He wondered. But then his eyes widened, thinking of all the stories he had heard on the news and facebook. What if this girl suffered from abuse?
“Well, sorry, sugar.” Declan stole the nickname “sugar” from his best buddy, Thatcher. Thatcher and him had become best friends in 3rd grade, when in an attempt to get closer to his major crush, Declan befriended Thatcher. In 3rd grade, their teacher Mrs. Greene sat Thatcher right next to the most beautiful girl in school. Jamie Aarons. Declan would often times gaze across the room to see her laughing that beautiful laugh at something Thatcher said. Of course, Declan was jealous of Thatcher and had this ridiculous plan to gain his trust and worm his way into Jamie’s heart. Then he had planned to backstab Thatcher and win the girl. He was right about to burst out laughing had it not been for the serious look on the girl’s face.
Come to think of it, Jamie, his elementary school crush had a similar laugh to this girl’s. He studied the girl’s rigid figure in front of him, but then quickly squashed the notion. Jamie didn’t have as many curves as this girl did, and wore dresses often. In fact, Declan could just imagine her now, with her light brown-blond hair and straight across bangs, the long legs that were just endless, and she would be wearing a dress. A yellow one, with spaghetti straps and pockets. Those were her favorites. The only way that Declan knew what she looked like was from her old facebook profile that she hadn’t updated in a year, but he figured she would look the same.
“I am not, and never will be your sugar.” The girl said bitterly, walking a few paces towards him so that she could poke his muscled chest to accentuate what she was saying. Declan took her hand in his to stop her from jabbing him anymore.
“Alright, alright, settle down.” Declan was confused. How had him trying to hook up with an obviously available girl like her, have gone so wrong? The girl seemed to calm down by the way she took a deep breath and her cold hand relaxed in his.
"Sorry." She muttered. Declan was curious as to what her name was because he had never ever even held a girl's hand except for Jamie. And Jamie was long gone from his life. On facebook he would see all the trail of broken hearts that she had left behind, and all of her breakup statuses. Every time her status went to single, he had to resist the urge to like it, reminding himself that when she left, she hated him and probably wouldn't remember him at all.
But instead of asking for her name, he asked another question, leaving their entwined hands hanging between them. "So what are you doing on ol' Elbe Drive?" Declan asked using the street name.
She blew out through her pink lips before kicking her boots at the ground. "I used to live here. I am just visiting again."
"Oh." Declan replied, surprised. He would have known her if she had lived here. Especially with a body like that.
"Yep. Well, I better go since I have to walk back to my aunt's after." She was about to drop his hand when he spoke up.
"How bout I walk you? I have lived in this neighborhood for all my life."
Her eyes widened after he said that, but she quickly looked down to the sidewalk.
"Uh sure, Declan, was it?"
"Yep." He smirked at her and started walking her down the sidewalk in the direction she was heading before. They walked in silence, hand in hand until they stopped in front of a familiar house.
"This is where I used to live." She said quietly. He looked up at the house, already knowing what it would look like. The outside of the house was a red spotted gray brick with a rose vines growing on the right side. The grass was a dry green due to the lack of time the latest owner had spent on watering. That and the Texas heat dried up anything and everything. In the middle of the yard stood a tall oak tree, it's leaves hanging on the branches reaching out to brush anyone's shoulders.
"You lived here?" Declan asked incrediously. Her eyebrows furrowed as she looked at him.
"Yes, I-" She was about to say something when her phone rang, blaring out Radioactive by Imagine Dragons. Declan cocked his head at her sigh, followed by her dropping his hand and tugging out her phone.
"Hello?" She spoke into the phone, turning her back on him. His hand ached for the feel of her hand in his. Her back was rigid as she muttered into the phone. Declan's head was swirling with questions. How did he not know that this girl lived at her house before? Was this girl Jamie? And why would she change her look so much in the course of a year, if it was Jamie? He quickly abolished that notion from his mind. No, this wasn't Jamie. This girl was probably some troubled kid who had been housed here with Tessa, the current owner, and had returned because it was the only safe place. Tessa had a habit of doing that. Last year, she took in a runaway from some other state. Her name was like Kacey or something.
"Okay. I am tying things up here but I'll be there ASAP." There was a pause in her private conversation before she said a quick "I love you too, T." And hung up. T? That could stand for Tessa. He hoped so, because that would mean she wasn't Jamie and wasn't seeing anyone else.
"What's wrong?" Declan asked as she turned around. Her brown eyes skidded away from his nervously.
"Oh. I have to go meet.... a friend. I'll be back in a couple days, though. I might see you then." By the way she was tugging on her braid, and how she wouldn't look him in the eye, he figured she was lying. He had no clue why though, what was the point in lying to someone you would probably never meet again?
"Alright. Hope to see you soon then." He smiled at her, almost in a silent way of telling her she could trust him. Her eyes finally met his, and he could see the wariness burrowed in her deep browns.
"Okay." She looked away. Declan's smile turned to a frown at her response.
"Do I at least get to know your name?" His voice was filled with wonder and hope.
"Sorry, uh- Declan. I really have to go." He noticed she was looking down at her phone again, and when he caught her eye she gave him a sad smile before turning on her heel.
"Oh. Just real quick, tell me your name." He demanded, looking at his feet, nervous of rejection. There was no answer and when he looked up, he saw her jogging down to the corner, too far away for her to possibly hear him. He shuffled his feet in his black converse, wondering why that girl was so urgent to get away from him. It must be important for her to look so worried like that.
He wondered about her all the way on his walk home. From the way her laughter filled the air at the moment he first met her, to the way she was sprinting away from him, with worry filled eyes. And when he got home in the minute that it took for him to walk back, he thought about her some more. Even though he didn’t even know her name, Declan was intrigued by her. And he wanted to know just what she was running so desperately to.
A/N: So for the cover of the book I wanted a couple holding hands in front of a house, but I couldn't find any. So until I change it, its just going to be this with the street signs. There's an apartment complex/random building in the background, which I hadn't realized when I made it, but I am actually happy with it because it has to do with the story!!