The Introduction: Undying Love #1 Read online

  "Fifteen. You?

  "Seventeen."

  "It must suck to move in the middle of the year."

  "Yeah, it did. But it's looking up already." He smiles at me and takes a sip of his drink and for some strange reason I feel like he's talking about me. But, I shake that thought away because we just met like five minutes ago.

  I feel someone's arms go around me and I turn around and see that it's Abel.

  "Hey Ari." He kisses my cheek as he sits next to me.

  "Hey Abel."

  "I see you met Sky here. He moved in across the street from me today."

  "Yeah, we met." I whimper as I watch Sky's jaw begin to tick as he looks at Abel's arm around me.

  "Hey Abel. Ari, I've been looking all over for you." Rachel says as she conveniently sits next to Skylar. I roll my eyes as she "accidentally" brushes him while she sits down.

  "Yeah, I needed to get away from someone who was being a pushy brat. Maybe you know her?" I raise my brow at her. She sticks her tongue out at me and I shake my head.

  "Real mature Rachel." I say with a laugh.

  "Whatever. Anyways, Colin says he'll call you later to finalize the plans with you."

  Skylar frowns at me, as if he's mad or something. I look away from his eyes because the intensity of them is overwhelming. So I turn my attention to Rachel.

  "Maybe you should go out with him since you agreed so easily on my behalf."

  She looks straight at Skylar. "I'm not interested in him."

  I can see him blushing even in the dark. And for reasons I don’t quite understand, this gives me a tight feeling in my chest. So, I look away and start talking to Abel.

  As the night prolongs, I hear Rachel give her flirty laugh while talking to Skylar. Every time I glance in their direction, I see her touching him. It shouldn't matter, but it irritates me.

  Abel leaves me alone to dance with some chick he was making goo-goo eyes at all night, so I stick my headphones on and block it all out. I don't want to care. She's my best friend, and I just met him. I don't understand what's going on, but I don't like it.

  Chapter Three

  Confident

  Skylar

  I've been sitting here for almost an hour. And I’ve been trying to find a way to get out of this conversation with Rachel the entire time. I haven't heard a word she’s said. I'm smiling and nodding when I think it's appropriate.

  You would think she would get the hint.

  I hear music playing, and in the corner of my eyes, I see someone pulling Ari to dance. And then I hear her laugh. Since hearing her laugh earlier, I wanted to hear that sound again. But, I had hoped I would be the cause of it. It's almost sounds melodic to my ears.

  I turn in the direction I saw her being pulled in. When I find her, everything stops and I can't look away. She's dancing with a guy in the most sensual way. Her full hips are moving in ways that shouldn't be seen in public. She seems so carefree and light. She moves as if created to dance.

  He's pulling on her hips to get her closer, and by the looks of him, he's enjoying it a little too much. I get up to go cut in, but feel a hand on my bicep, and turn to see Rachel looking at me a little hurt.

  She smiles shyly and asks, "Do you want to dance?"

  I don't want to dance with her, but I don't want to be rude, so I get up and head in the same direction I saw Ari. She doesn't even notice we're there. She's so confident and at ease in her own skin, and I find it so sexy. She's not even trying hard; it's just natural for her.

  As we begin to move, Rachel starts to put her best moves forward. She's trying her best to keep my attention. But, it doesn't work. As soon as the song is over, I step away and thank her for the dance. I don't stick around for her to respond, I head straight for Arianna.

  I cut in between her and the guy she was dancing with, "Can I have this dance?"

  She looks at me nervously. "Ugh … I don't know?"

  "Why Ari? You know who I am. You know that I'm not a stranger. We already straightened that out earlier." I smile at her and she begins to giggle.

  "Okay, one dance won't hurt."

  As she steps out of the guy’s hold, he scowls at me and I smile. As we begin to move, Confident by Justin Bieber begins to play. I smile at the appropriate song title. I wouldn't normally be a fan, but under the circumstances, it works.

  She grins at me. "Okay white boy, show me what you got."

  "Oh, you don't think I can keep up?"

  "That has yet to be proven." She begins to move with the tempo of the song, and I do my best to keep up with her, because, as much as I want to dance, I'm captivated by her. I'm finally looking at her without her hoodie or any other distraction. She's breathtakingly beautiful. She has a smooth, honey brown complexion and her skin looks so soft. She has the most voluptuous pink lips I've ever seen. Her nose is short and pert, and her face is round because she still has a bit of baby fat and innocence remaining. With the illumination of the fire, her eyes look green with specks of mahogany.

  The feeling of having her body in my arms is like heaven. I can feel her tiny waist underneath her sweatshirt. She has the curves of a woman. She is not tall, but she's not a midget either. It's just to my six foot height she appears tiny. Her hair is shoulder length and curly.

  "Why are you staring at me like that?" She asks as she wrinkles her nose.

  "No reason."

  "Right." We stop talking and continue to dance. As soon as the song is over, she moves to step away from me and I hold on to her.

  "I said one song, Sky."

  My body pulsates as I hear her say my name. “Say my name again.”

  She whispers, “Sky.”

  "That sounds so good coming from your lips.”

  Breathless she says, “One song, Sky.”

  I bend down and put my nose to her neck. “I know, but this feels right having you here."

  "Rachel likes you Sky. This can't happen. I won't let it happen. She's like a sister to me, so you have to stop." She steps away from me and looks me in the eyes and pleads, "Please, Sky."

  I sigh. “How is that fair Ari? Are you trying to tell me you don’t feel this?"

  "It doesn't matter what I feel. She likes you. I'm not going to do that to her. All I can offer you is friendship. Take it or leave it."

  I stare at her honest pleading eyes, and I concede. “Okay. But if we are going to be friends, we are going to be best friends," I say grinning at her.

  She smiles at me. "Okay, best friends.”

  Chapter Four

  Chains

  Arianna

  It’s been a few weeks since I’ve met Skylar Montgomery, and my life has changed a bit. He wasn’t kidding when he said we would be best friends. He has been doing his best in finding out everything about me and I’m trying to fight it. I know I said we could be “best friends,” but how can we? Even if I wasn’t attracted to him, the fact that Rachel is always fawning all over him would still make things weird. I don’t do love triangles and things are getting a bit too messy for me.

  It’s Wednesday morning and I’m tired, and it’s only third period. I’ve been dreading this period all day because he’s in this class with me. I don’t need to see him to know when he walks in. I feel it pulsating through me the minute he’s near. I can’t figure out what else I can do to stop the sensation I get from him. I’ve tried ignoring him or outright pretending he doesn’t exist, somehow he always finds me. This emotion, that I refuse to define, is suffocating me, but I like it. Actually, I think I may even love it, and that scares me even more.

  It’s too early to be thinking this hard. I sigh and slump into my chair and I rest my head on my desk. Then I feel it, the electricity. I hear a chair scrape the ground and I can imagine him folding himself into his chair.

  “Ari …”

  “Hmm.”

  He pulls my hair and I sigh contently. Then with fake annoyance I say, “How may I be of assistance to you today, Sky?”

  He chuckles. “One day
Arianna. One day.”

  I raise my head off the desk and look at him. “There will be no one day, Skylar.”

  “We’ll see.” With that, he turns around as the lesson begins. He doesn’t look at me throughout the whole class. I should feel happy, but … I’m terrified. Usually he tries to get my attention a few times during class, but not today. Call me a silly confused girl all you want, but he has become a constant part of my life. And it seems I've grown quite attached.

  ***

  After class, he grabs my hand and pulls me away from my next class. My pulse quickens and my palms begin to sweat.

  “W-where are we going Sky?”

  He doesn’t respond. He continues to pull me until I begin to see his intentions. The old hang out spot behind the gym that kids use to skip class.

  I panic. “I’m not skipping class, Skylar.”

  He smirks. “Yes you are. We need to talk Arianna.”

  Warily I ask, “About what?”

  He simply says, “You.”

  I begin to panic. “Me?”

  “Yes, you Arianna. I need to understand you. I’m infatuated with you, and I’m not talking about your looks. Something about you makes it hard to stay away from you. I’ve tried. It’s obvious Rachel wants to be with me, but it’s you that I want; I need to understand why I can’t be with you.”

  “I can’t betray her like that. She’s like my sister. Her parents are my parents now.”

  “I want to comprehend what happened … but if it’s too painful you don’t have to.”

  I turn away from him and find a spot on the ground and I sit. I tap the space beside me for him to take a seat. Once he sits, he takes my hand and kisses the back of it. I close my eyes and relish the feel of his lips on my skin. I take a deep breath and open my eyes. “My parents were so in love. At least that’s what I remember about them. They were always touching each other and kissing each other. My home was happy. But, the last time I saw them I was mad at them because I wanted to go with them. It was their anniversary, but I was so selfish I wanted them to take me with them. I wanted to go on that trip with them so bad that when they called I didn’t want to talk to them.”

  He grabs my hand and rubs his thumb in circular motion on it. “You don’t have to do this if this is too hard Ari.”

  “I want to. The last time I spoke to them … or the last time I even heard their voices … it still haunts me, Sky. They called and when they asked to speak to me, I didn’t want to. Rachel’s parents had to bribe me. Who does that? Who has to be bribed to speak to their own parents? When I came on the phone, they both were on the line. I remember my dad saying they would be home soon and he bought his princess gifts. He said they had a surprise for me. That’s when I spoke to them; when I heard about the gifts and the surprise.”

  “You were young Ari. You can’t beat yourself up about this. It isn’t your fault.”

  “I know it isn’t. I hope they knew how much I loved them. Because they were my world and I lost them.”

  He brings his hand up to my face and wipes the tears I didn’t realize I was crying. “They knew, because if you didn’t adore them, why else would you want to go on that trip with them. And I’m sorry you lost them, but I’m not sorry you didn’t go with them Arianna. If you did, I would never have met you. My life wouldn’t be the same without you in it. Before you, I was dead inside. You awoke something in me that I didn’t know existed.”

  I swallow the lump in my throat and turn my face because the emotions in his eyes are unbearable. “Thanks for listening. I haven’t admitted how I felt out loud to anyone.”

  “I’m here for you anytime you need me, Arianna.”

  “I’ll remember that. Now you see—I can’t be selfish with my family anymore. I don’t want to hurt anyone I love. I can’t.” I say with a tremble in my voice.

  I feel my resolve beginning to crack. It’s as if the harder I try to fight this feeling, this unbearable emotion that I feel for him, the deeper it becomes. It’s as if we were created for one another.

  He takes two fingers and lifts my chin up so that I can look at him. “Ari … I …”

  He moves in to kiss me. His lips are about to touch mine when I hear my cellphone ring. I jump back, the hypnotic haze lifted. When I grab my phone out of my pocket, I see it’s Rachel and I get this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.

  I look at him remorsefully. “I have to get this.”

  He doesn’t say anything, just nods.

  “Hey, Rachel … Yeah, I wasn’t feeling well, but I’m fine now … No, I wasn’t sick I was just having one of those days you know … Yeah, don’t worry about it. I’m good … I’ll see you later, I just need to be alone … love you too.”

  I don’t speak for a long while after I hang up the phone. When I gather enough courage to look up at him, I see that he’s already watching me. He sighs.

  “You’re going to say we can’t be together, right?”

  “We can’t Sky. I can’t do this to her. Plus, she likes you.”

  “Sometimes a sure thing isn’t the best thing, Arianna.”

  Frustrated and overwhelmed I snap. “What are you trying to say? She’s not good enough for you? She’s a beautiful girl with a beautiful heart. You should feel lucky to have someone like her be into you!” I shout.

  His face becomes void of any emotion. “I’m sure she is, but my heart doesn’t speed up at the sight of her. If you can honestly say that you don’t feel anything for me at all Arianna, I’ll date her. I’ll do what you want.”

  I close my eyes to fight the tears that are close to spilling and I stiffen my spine. “I’ll be okay if you date her.”

  He knows I’m lying; I can tell by the way that he looks at me. But I see the resolve in his eyes and with a sad smile he says, “Your wish is my command, my lady.”

  I return his smile, but it’s forced. On the outside, I look calm but inside there is a swirling turmoil and I’m not sure how I’m going to deal with it.

  Chapter Five

  Running

  Skylar

  I'm laying down in my bedroom staring at the ceiling. I’m mentally drained. I like Rachel enough as a friend but not as anything more, even though she’s beautiful. Actually, in my eyes nobody compares to Arianna. And any amount of time I spend with Ari, I feel myself falling for her. I’ve never been in love before, and I’m not sure if this is real, but I want to find out. I’ve never worked so hard to be with someone. Never has there been anyone who was worth this effort. I’ve never wanted to be in a monogamous relationship before her. But she has this misplaced loyalty to Rachel. So, she won't even give me a chance and it's so damn frustrating. I groan aloud and throw a pillow out my open bedroom door. I hear my mom shout “What the heck …”

  After a moment, I hear her shout, “Sky!”

  “Yeah, mom?”

  I hear footsteps and then I see her standing in my doorway in my peripheral view. “You want to tell me what that pillow did to make you so mad?”

  I sit up so that I can face her. “Nothing.”

  “So, what was that? Are you trying to test the theory of gravity or something?”

  I laugh. “Yup, that’s exactly what I was doing and it seems there is still gravity on earth.”

  “So do you want to talk about it?”

  “Not really.”

  She raises her brow expectantly at me. I sigh because this means I don’t have a choice in the matter. I sigh. “Mom, how did you first realize you were in love?”

  She smiles the biggest smile I’ve ever seen. My mom has never looked younger than in this moment. She walks towards me and sits next to me. “Well, I realized I was in love when I couldn’t stop thinking about him. He consumed me, and I couldn’t breathe without him. We were young, but I knew it was real. We spent all our free time together, and when we were apart, I felt like a part of me was missing. I wanted to learn everything about him. I wanted to know what made him happy or sad. What his favorite color was or even
his favorite food. When he spoke, I listened, and when he laughed, it made me feel … happy? It’s hard to explain it … But when I looked into his eyes I could see my future and I wasn’t afraid because I saw it with him.”

  “Wow, do you still feel like this about dad?”

  She blushes. “Sweetheart, I never said it was your father …”

  “What? Whoa … wait ...”

  “Yeah, sometimes love is not enough to stay together. Life can still tear you apart no matter how much you may love someone. So, when you find love hold on to it and cherish it. Because there is nothing more precious than real love. And if you lose it, it may never come again.”

  I grab her hand and squeeze it. She looks up at me with a sadness in her eyes that I’ve never seen before. “Mom, are you happy?” I ask hesitantly.

  “Of course I am, and if I wasn’t with your father I wouldn’t have you. And I wouldn’t trade you for anything in the world.”

  “I know you love me mom, but are you happy?”

  Mournfully she whispers, “I’m content.”

  “Who is he? Why didn’t you marry him?” I ask confused.

  “Who he is, is not important. The why of it all is a story for another time.”

  “I’m sorry mom.”

  “Don’t be baby. Now tell me about this girl who has you throwing pillows all over my house?” She teases.

  “Well, it’s Arianna … every time I’m around her I feel ... different. It's like she’s the missing piece to my life. I can sometimes even sense her before I even see her. I can smell her scent from anywhere. And I can pick her laugh in any crowd.”

  “Wow …”

  “Yeah, but she won’t follow through on her feelings for me. She feels something for me—I’m sure. I can see it in her eyes, but she won’t admit it because of Rachel.”

  She eyes me for a while as if she’s making sense of the whole situation. “So she’s loyal?”

  “Yeah.”

  She nods. “Well, give her time. I like her even more for her loyalty. In the long run, you’ll appreciate her more for it. That means she can be trusted. But she has to come to you, or else it won’t work. And let me tell you a secret about women. We always want what we can’t have.”