I awoke to the sound of someone breathing next to me combined with the distinct scent of waffles.
“Fin, get out of my room,” I mumbled, flipping onto my side. A deep rumble of laughter echoed across the room.
“It lives!” he exclaimed. My eyes shot open. Levi. I shot straight up.
“Levi. Where am I and how did I get here?” Levi blushed and dropped his gaze to the ground.
“I didn't know where else to take you. You were unconscious and I didn't know where you lived, so I took you here,” he rushed out quietly. He blushed an even deeper red.
“Were you the one who got me out of the water?” I asked incredulously. I vaguely recognized that this would have been the second time he had saved me after an embarrassing moment.
“Actually, no. That would be my brother, Jude. I don't swim well enough to save an unconscious girl from the merciless grips of the invincible ocean.”
“That was quite poetic,” I complimented.
“It better be. I've been waiting hours to say it,” he deadpanned. Then he broke down and smiled, making me laugh. “You should laugh more often. It suits you.”
“I bet you say that to all the girls that end up unconscious in your bed,” I teased.
“Well, yes, considering you're the first one.”
“Really?” I asked feigning surprise. “I suspected at least one other person would fall unconscious just to end up here!” I grinned at him, realizing I loved to tease him.
Just then, an older version of Levi popped his head into the room. “Waffles are ready,” he declared, then left.
“That would be Jude,” Levi explained. I had suspected as much. The resemblance was striking. Levi arose from the bed, heading for the door. Then he stopped, as if he had just remembered something.
“I put one of my shirts on you while you were unconscious so that you weren't just sleeping in your bikini. It's not quite warm enough for that.” With that, he left the room, presumably straight for the waffles.
I followed suit, though I felt extremely self-conscious in just a bikini and a too-big men's tee shirt.
Down in the kitchen, Jude was shoving waffles onto plates. He turned when I got into the kitchen. Jude whistled.
“Shame it's not my tee shirt you're wearing right now,” he flirted with a smirk. I suddenly felt even more self conscious and picked at the hem on Levi's shirt.
Levi handed me a plate full of waffles. “I do apologize for Jude. Jude, she's a guest. Please have some respect.”
Jude winked at me and turned back to the waffles. “What's your name, anyway?”
“Her name is Elizabeth. Darcy Elizabeth Lancaster.”
“Darcy Elizabeth? Aren't those both people from that Pride and Prejudice novel?”
“Jude? Isn't that the name from that Beatles song?” I countered.
Jude smirked. “Fair enough. I'm actually Jude Lennon, so my parents were fanatics, too.”
I turned to Levi. “How come he got named after the Beatles and you got named after a brand of jeans?”
Levi smiled and shrugged. “Levi is short for Oliver. And I suppose my parents got out of their hippie stage after they had Jude.”
It was weird to see Levi like this. He wasn't extraordinarily cocky and actually seemed, well, decent. It was refreshing to know that Levi was a real person and not just someone who liked to flirt with me.
I ate the waffles in silence. They were chocolate chip, so I savored them before they were entirely finished.
“Man, you can cook,” I said in awe to Jude.
“I kind of had to learn. When me and Levi moved out of our parents house, there was no one left to cook for us. One of us had to learn to cook.”
I glanced at Levi for verification of his story. He shrugged. “I learned how to do the laundry.”
Suddenly it dawned on me that it was morning. I had stayed the night here. My mom was probably panicking. What if she had called the cops? “What time is it?” I asked, suddenly panicking.
“5:40. Why?”
“My mom is probably freaking out right now. Can one of you two take me to my car?” My mind was thinking a thousand things at once. I knew I had to go and grab my phone and then I'd need to sneak in the house somehow. My mom had probably called a million times.
“I'll take you,” Levi offered.
The drive to my car was quiet, but my mind was racing. I couldn't help but wonder what kind of trouble I'd be in when I got home. When we finally got to the car, my first thought was that I had to get to my phone. I climbed into my car through the hatchback due to the fact that the rest of the doors were locked and snatched my phone off of the front seat.
No missed calls. Only one text from Finley that read: Told mom you were staying at a friends so you could go be with your mystery guy. You can thank me later.
Secretly I was thankful. But I also wanted to kill her, so there was that too. I leaned my head against the window just as someone tapped on it.
There outside my window was Levi. I jumped at the sight of him, then hurriedly rolled down the window.
“You gonna get home okay?”
I smiled at his concern. “Yes, I'll be fine. Don't worry. My sister covered for me.”
“Some sister you've got there.” Then he paused. “Will you do me a favor?”
“Depends. What is it?”
“Go check yourself out at the hospital. Make sure you don't have pneumonia.”
“I'm fine, Levi. Now go home.”
“See you in class today, Darcy Elizabeth.”
With that I rolled my window up, and pulled out of the parking lot, driving home in blissful silence.
Finley was waiting for me when I got home. She bombarded me with questions the minute I walked through the door.
“Where were you? Were you with him? Where did you go after school? His house? Jesus, Lizzie, gimme something here!” she exclaimed in a hushed tone. I just glared at her before rushing to the shower. My hair was tangled with salt water and my face was dry and pale. My limbs felt sore and my chest felt like I had an elephant sitting on it.
I shut and locked the door behind me to ensure that Finley wouldn't rush in and pry more while I was at my most vulnerable and proceeded to shower, my entire body feeling like I had bathed in salt. Which, in a way, I suppose I had.
I reached over and turned up the heat and I just savored the burning feeling of the water slamming against my skin.
Eventually, though, I was forced to get out and towel off. And face Finley's questions. And my mother's undoubtedly, since she'd want to know who my new friend was. I groaned. I was not prepared for anything this day had to offer.
I emerged from the bathroom, heading straight for my room, but my plan of avoiding her had failed, as was my usual luck. Finley trailed me into my bathroom, not saying a word until my bedroom door had closed. Even then, I ignored her until she turned her back so that I could get dressed.
With her back turned, she said knowingly, “You'll have to tell me eventually. You know you will. And if you don't tell me, I'll get Damian in here and he'll get you to spill.” This angered me. She was undoubtedly blackmailing me.
“I don't have to tell you a damn thing, Finley. And if you think that either you or Damian can get me to do something I don't want to, then you're as wrong as wrong gets. Now get the hell out of my room before I throw something at you,” I exclaimed angrily.
Finley stared, wide eyed at me before turning around, throwing open my door and slamming it behind her. She had never seen me so mad, but I had never had a near death experience, so it was a day of firsts for everyone. I landed on my bed with a groan. I realized that if I wanted to avoid my mother's questions I would have to leave now. So that's exactly what I did. I figured Finley could get a ride from Damian anyway. It wasn't like he had anything better to do.
Because it was still a half an hour before school started, I swung by a coffee shop for a mocha latte and then stayed out in my car for another 20 minutes before I headed inside to my first period class. Spanish would have been stunningly boring if it had not been for the ridiculously hot guy staring at me from across the room the entire hour. The moment the bell rung at the end of the hour, I made my way to the door. But I was stopped by him.
“Hey there,” he said, his every syllable dripping with flirtation. I found myself blushing, mostly due to the fact that I never got any sort of attention, aside from Levi's unwanted advances. He brushed a hand through his mahogany hair, actively tousling it. “My name's James.” He offered me his hand.
“Elizabeth,” I replied, trying to hide my blush. His green eyes seemed to bore holes in me and it made me want to melt.
“Care to go for coffee sometime?”
“I can always go for caffeine. Just let me know when,” I answered. His eyes widened like something spectacular had just occurred to him.
“Now.”
“Now?”
“Yes, now. Come with me,” he pleaded. I glanced around the room.
“You want me to ditch on the second day of school?”
“Yes.”
Part of me thought why the hell not? But the other part didn't want to get in trouble.
“How about at lunch?” I asked, trying to skirt away from trouble. His face fell, like I wasn't living up to his expectations.
“Afraid to miss class?” he teased.
“Of course not.”
“Then come with me.” Something in me told me he was not about to take no for an answer. I sighed.
“Fine.”
He grinned. “Great.”
As it turns out, James owned a motorcycle (how typical). Not only that, but he expected me to ride on it with him. Unfortunately, he seemed the person who would refuse to take no for an answer in anything and I ended up agreeing anyway (Damn his charm!).
I slid on the back of the motorcycle cautiously as he started it up, revving the engine a bit. I suspected it was merely to show off. Right before he pulled away from the curb, he suggested, “Might wanna hold on, lovely.” He didn't give me a lot of warning because the moment he spoke those words, we were off, pushing about 10 miles over the speed limit. I was sure we were going to get pulled over. Or get in an accident and die.
None of this happened, of course, and we pulled into the parking lot of the local Java safe and sound, if not a bit shaken up. I wanted nothing more than to get off of the bike back on the ground. I had never liked going very fast and that, combined with my feet being off the ground, was nearly traumatizing for me.
I was very much relieved when my feet touched the ground. I was even happier when I was inside the warm coffee shop, instead of out in the cold. I was sure my hair was more tangled than it was when I had decided to bathe in the ocean. I shuddered at the thought of the water in my lungs.
Unfortunately, James noticed my obvious discomfort and asked what was wrong. I replied that nothing was, it was just me getting used to the warmth in here and this shut him up. I realized I was missing my math class right now, but to be honest, I didn't really care. I was just happy to be away from that place.
As I looked outside where it had began raining again, I was suddenly overcome by homesickness. I wanted to go back to California so badly, I would have given almost anything to be back. At least I'd have some friends. The only friend I had was the overly cocky Levi. And he was hardly a friend at all. He mostly just irritated me.
James stared at me, as if he were trying to figure me out. “Where are you from, Elizabeth?” I smiled. I had avoided telling this story for a while. I loathed it.
“California. Much different than here. It always rains here,” I complained. But with a smile, so I didn't seem too pessimistic. I'm not sure if I did or not, but I tried to prevent it.
“Why are you here? In Rosary Falls of all places?”
“My great aunt or something died. We'd never met her. But apparently she bestowed all of her wealth, land and fortunes onto us. We would've stayed in California, if it had not been for this house being bigger. Honestly, the whole thing pisses me off. I'd much rather be in California with my friends,” I explained bitterly.
“But then you'd have never met me,” he said with a cocky grin. Oh great. He's another Levi, I thought. I rolled me eyes at him and took a sip of my spiced latte. Not surprisingly, it was nowhere as good as the mocha I'd had earlier. In fact, it was quite bitter.
I finished my spiced latte in a couple of gulps, simply to avoid more questions, then asked in the most polite tone I could offer, “You wanna take me back to the school now? My sister will freak if she noticed I'm gone.” This was a lie, of course. Finley would assume I was with another boy, which I suppose was true, but her entire mind revolved around romances. I wished she'd stop prying into mine.
He drove me back to the school and I was actually glad that we were driving back on a motorcycle. Because of its roar, he was unable to ask anything else. Once at the school, I slid as gracefully as I could manage off the back and slipped into the bathroom, waiting for the bell to ring.