Insight: Web of Hearts and Souls #1 (Insight series 1)

  Chapter Three

  This dream was different.

  It wasn’t the sweet place, or even the nightmare. I was standing next to a large white windmill in the middle of a field. In the distance, I could see a beautiful home. There were gorgeous flowers of every color throughout the field. I knelt down to get a closer look and saw that the petals on the flowers were all different. Some looked like roses, others looked like daisies…it was as if they coexisted, but had no knowledge of one another. Ironic.

  Next to me, I found a flower more unique than the others. The petals were deep blue with emerald green tracing through the center. The colors were separate, yet one. I stared in awe as I glanced across the field at the other flowers; they began to sway with a breeze that brushed through the field.

  I stood slowly, wanting to explore, when all at once I felt a pull from behind me, the same way I felt when I touched one of my images.

  A rush of love, passion, and excitement absorbed my soul.

  Nervously I glanced over my shoulder, and there behind me, my blue-eyed boy stood. As I looked in his eyes, I could feel his disbelief. He stepped closer to me and reached his arms out.

  I lost my focus and woke without warning.

  I cursed under my breath as soon as I figured out I was pulled away from him.

  I laid in my bed, trying to find my way back to my dream, but my effort was hopeless. The daylight peered through my open drapes. I sat up and grabbed my sketchpad out of the tote bag beside my bed, then turned to a clean sheet and began to sketch as quickly as I could. I was afraid my memory would leave me before I could call back the details. I sketched the l field and the flowers, highlighting the blue and green ones, by making it larger than the others.

  My mind drifted to my blue-eyed boy. I wanted him to have a name, to hear his voice. Most of all, I wanted to find him. For the first time I sketched his addictive image.

  I relaxed as I gazed into the sketch that was coming to life. I didn’t want to wait two years to find him. I didn’t want to face what was in front of me without him. I feared that if I didn’t sleep right here in this bed that I would never dream of him again. That hurt.

  I could hear my sister and mother giggling in the bathroom next to my room, so I placed my sketchbook in my tote bag and pulled my robe on as I walked to the bathroom.

  “What’s so funny this early in the morning?”

  “Look at this bathing suit I found for Libby,” Mom answered.

  It was bright yellow with a big smiley face on the front and a sad face on the back.

  “It makes sense: happy to see you come, sad to see ya go,” I teased.

  “I get to go swimming today, Willow!” Libby exclaimed.

  “You do? Where?”

  “I’m going over to Abby’s grandmother’s house again.”

  “I assume you’re still going to the lake with everyone today?” Mom said as she tired to gauge where I was with life in general.

  “Yeah,” I said absently. I wasn’t ready to accept I was really saying goodbye today.

  “I told everyone we were just taking a trip to Paris to see the school and look for a place. They think we’ll be back in a few weeks,” mom said.

  I glanced to Libby.

  “Libby is very excited about our trip,” Mom said. As she finished pulling her hair back into a ponytail, Libby smiled up at me, then left the bathroom and went to her room to get her sandals.

  “Willow, I promise…we didn’t keep this from you to be spiteful.”

  I didn’t show any expression. The whole thing had left me confused and exhausted. Libby charged back into the bathroom, dancing in place while waiting for my mother.

  “Come here, munchkin, and give me a hug. I love you. Have lots of fun,” I said, holding her a bit tighter.

  Libby wrapped her arms around my waist. “Miss you,” she whispered.

  I went back into my room and closed the door behind me. All I wanted to do was go back to sleep, but I knew I’d have to find a way to wear myself down in order for that to happen. Packing, sorting out a life that was not longer mine was my go to distraction.

  Monica called, saying she would be there around eleven instead of noon. We were going to pick up Hannah, Jessica, and Olivia. After packing my bags, I dressed for the lake, covering my burgundy bikini with a black sundress.

  Dad’s study is by the front door. I could sense him in there as I climbed down the stairs. He was nervous. At first, I didn’t realize he was on the phone, but as I landed on the bottom step I heard him say, “I agree, we’ll take those precautions. I’ll head out first thing in the morning.”

  I leaned in the threshold of the study, wondering what had upset him. When he saw me, he said, “Okay, Ashten, I have to go. Willow is on her way out for the day…yeah…no…okay… tomorrow.”

  “What’s going on?” I asked when he hung up but never looked my way.

  “Nothing…um, we’re just going to alter our story a little bit.”

  “Why?”

  “It’s nothing. I’m going to leave in the morning and tell everyone that I’m going to Washington to help an old colleague. Then we’ll tell them that you guys are going to wait for me in New York.”

  “Why? Where are we leaving from anyway?”

  “We’re going to leave from Montana…look, Willow, we’re about to disappear, we kind of need to confuse our path so no one will worry. Just don’t be very conversational about what we’re doing. Let them assume.”

  I grinned dryly. I’ve never been conversational. I liked being mysterious.

  “Yeah, that shouldn’t be too hard for you,” he said quietly.

  Hearing Monica honk her horn outside, I pulled my big, dark sunglasses over my eyes. “Let the mystery begin,” I said. When he hugged me goodbye, he seemed to ease up on his mood, but he was still nervous.

  Monica was shaking her head at me as I climbed into her car. She loved to wear vibrant colors, and today she was wearing a bright yellow dress and make up. My darkness was clashing with her vibe. “Ya know we’re going to the lake, not a funeral.”

  “You like me to stay here?”

  “Yeah, right, this is your last day. You’re not sulking. I knew you were good, but Paris—geeze. I bet you never come back from there.”

  I was glad I was wearing my sunglasses, even if I had no expression at all, my eyes told everyone where I stood with most things. They needed to think this was good thing. Normal.

  We picked up Hannah and Olivia first. Olivia climbed into the back seat with a huge book in her hand. I had to grin. Monica and Hannah looked at each other and rolled their eyes. Secretly, Olivia and I loved to drive them crazy by being unconventional.

  We picked up Jessica next. It wasn’t hard to see she was upset about me leaving, but I felt it raw. I stepped out to hug her.

  “Can we please cry later? We’re burning daylight here,” Monica yelled through the window.

  The lake was only thirty minutes from Jessica’s house. Once we were on the highway, Monica turned down the radio and said, “Okay, ladies, I really think this new guy is the one.”

  Everyone laughed out loud.

  “Stop! I’m serious. Wait til’ you meet him. He, like, has a magnetic force of his own,” Monica continued.

  She was serious, but there was no way Olivia, Hannah, or Jessica would be convinced she was sincere. All guys Monica liked had something she found alluring about them, something the rest of us could never clearly see.

  Monica pulled up in front of one of the trucks that lined the shoreline. I could see Josh and Chase unloading their jet skis. Everyone but Olivia and I rushed to claim a spot on one of the tailgates. I leaned on the side of the car and watched all my friends, trying to burn the memory of their faces and emotions inside me. Olivia leaned up against the car beside me and opened her book to a marked page.

  “Good book?”

  “It’s better than those three,” she said. “It’s going to be a blast when you’re go
ne.”

  “What do you want me to do, stuff you in my suitcase?” I asked, halfway considering asking my Dad if that were a possibility. It felt so wrong to leave her behind. She may’ve had a good home with Hannah’s family, but family isn’t always blood. Olivia didn’t deserve to lose anyone else.

  A rather large, nice red Jeep pulled up to where the other trucks were parked. Chase jumped on the bed of his truck, waving the Jeep in.

  “That must be the new guy. Looks like he has money. Hot, too,” Olivia commented in her trademark I’m not impressed tone.

  I didn’t answer her, simply because I was perplexed. I couldn’t feel a single thing coming from the Jeep. It was a void, like it was driving itself. I squinted my eyes to get a closer look.

  I drew a short breath as he stepped out of his jeep and sunlight hit his face. He was extremely hot, tall, and lean built. His dark brown hair was swooshed back out of his face, and his eyes were as black as coal. His best feature was his dominant profile. In real life I’d never met someone as sure of himself as he seemed to be.

  Drake walked over to Josh and Chase. Monica peeked through the cab of the truck where she was to gauge my expression. I quickly changed it from perplexed to boredom. She grinned and turned forward, stretching out and posing, as Drake got closer to her. Through my dark glasses, I followed Drake as he walked, checking my senses with each person that he passed. With him, it was empty. First time for everything I guess.

  “What do you suppose he did to his arm?” Olivia asked.

  I hadn’t noticed the white brace on his right arm. He was wearing a black sleeveless shirt and white swim trunks. He looked so strong, so… so familiar.

  “Come on, let’s go watch Monica make a fool of herself,” Olivia whispered.

  “No, I want to stay here.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing, I just…I don’t know.” My stomach was tying itself in knots. I had never felt so uneasy around anyone.

  “Okay, I can look mysterious, too,” Olivia said as she pulled down her sunglasses, opening her book again.

  Chase and Josh were very different from Dane. They were teenage boys who were only interested in one thing. When Dane was around, Chase behaved, but when he wasn’t, Chase took every opportunity to annoy me.

  Chase stood on his tailgate, looked me up and down, and yelled in my direction, “Willow, baby, would you like to join us sometime today?”

  I was glad I couldn’t read minds. His was sure to make me sick to my stomach. Olivia rolled her eyes and threw her book through the open window of the car. She knew she’d have to play Dane’s part until he got there.

  “So, have you talked to Dane since they told you that you were leaving?” Olivia asked with a hint of disdain in her voice.

  “Yeah, he’ll be all right. And so will you,” I said, still staring at the void Drake was.

  “Come on, one day you might miss being annoyed by Chase,” Olivia said, pulling my arm toward the others.

  Chase whispered something to Drake as I walked closer. Drake just stared at me as if the others had disappeared. I felt my heart beating through my chest. I could barely breathe. The gift that had brought me so much grief was instantly missed around this guy. I felt blind. Not a good feeling to have. Not at this point in my life.

  “Baby, this is Drake,” Chase said as he put his arm around me.

  I pulled my sunglasses on top of my head so Chase would get the full effect of my glare. I heard the girls giggle. Chase let his arm drop and looked at Drake.

  “I told you she was feisty, didn’t I?” Chase said to Drake.

  Drake walked over to me, and I questioned his every step. He stopped inches from me and stared into my eyes. Monica was right—he was magnetic, though I didn’t find it appealing the same way she did. This was not a boy. This was a man. A man who knew what he wanted and how he was going to get it, I better not be on that list of wants. I didn’t have time for this.

  “The good doctor’s daughter. We meet at last,” Drake said smoothly.

  “Seems you aren’t having any trouble making friends here.” I didn’t really care for the fact that he and Chase had been talking about me.

  Drake didn’t say anything. He just stared at me with his dark eyes, pulling me in and smiling confidently. This boy was dangerous. He had a warning label tattooed all over his soul. I’d also bet every sketch I’d made that this boy knew the effect he had on girls and played it to his advantage.

  “That’s a new approach. I don’t think any of us have ever tried staring her down,” Chase said sarcastically.

  Everyone laughed. I took advantage of the distraction and broke eye contact, then slid by him onto the tailgate next to Monica and Jessica.

  Josh called Drake and Chase out to the jet skis. Drake glanced back at me as he walked away, smiling cunningly.

  “When do you leave again?” Monica asked, teasing me.

  I rolled my eyes and pulled my sunglasses down. Monica hopped down and walked over to where Drake was, flirtatious as ever. She managed to talk Drake into taking her out on the Jet Ski. The further he was the better I was. I was downright counting on Monica disappearing with him.

  I leaned back next to Jessica, who was lost in in her phone. “Hey, when did you get that done?” she asked. Out of the corner of her eye she’d spotted the star inside my ankh.

  “The other day. No big deal. I went alone.”

  I lay down and drifted into a peaceful afternoon nap as the sun warmed my face. Dreaming always came quickly to me.

  That was a gift.

  I opened my eyes in the field again. This time, I was closer to the home that I’d seen in the distance before. It was a rustic red brick with white porches that wrapped around both levels of the house. When I reached the porch, I followed it around to see where it led, as I did I stopped in my tracks. Just inches in front of me, he was there. My soul seized with anticipation. I didn’t understand why the routines of our dreams were altering, but I wasn’t complaining, they were shaping him into something real, tangible.

  A warm rush absorbed my soul as my heart pounded, deep and slow.

  When I gazed into his eyes I lost all feeling. They were so blue, so mesmerizing. He was smiling down at me, staring, questioning why I was there. Carefully he eased closer to me, exploring every part of my entranced expression. His fingertips reached for the side of my face, ghostly tracing every feature, when they touched my lips he outlined each, leaning forward ever so slightly.

  My entire body was numb, but I felt my soul pulse with raw expectation.

  My eyes fluttered closed. I felt his lips feather across my brow, then my cheekbone. I opened my eyes finding his stare melting into mine.

  Time stopped.

  He brushed the flesh of his lips against mine.

  A quiver rippled through me. I gasped, that slight part of my lips invited him in. The innocent brush of his lips elevated to an entirely new level when I felt his tongue glide against mine, a slow sensual caress.

  A lover’s touch.

  Though the heat of his body was absent, I felt myself melt from the inside out. My head spun wildly. I was sure I was going to faint. Is that possible? Can you faint in a dream?

  Thinking it was a dream gave me more courage than real life would’ve afforded. My hands slowly slid up his chest as his hands gripped my waist and pressed me against his body. I gasped between the movements of his lips. I couldn’t get enough. I wanted to kiss him deeper, longer.

  We had seen each other every night, but this was our first kiss, and it seemed so overdue.

  He had ignited me.

  That’s when I woke up.

  That’s when someone cruelly called my name and took me from a record breaking first kiss.

  My chest was rising and falling rapidly as the rush of my dream subsided. Dazed, I pulled myself up and pushed my sunglasses to my head. Ready to kill whoever had woken me.

  “Willow, I said what’s your sign? I want to
read your horoscope,” Jessica asked, shaking her phone like the open app was about to vanish. I didn’t answer; her words were lost in the background. I deeply considered going home and trying to fall asleep again. Figuring this boy out was exactly what I needed right now. It was more than a distraction. It was infusing hope, an unbreakable will to survive anything, inside of my reality beaten soul.

  “Scorpio,” I heard a smooth, deep voice say. I looked to the void from where it had come, Drake. He was right. How did he guess that?

  “Is that right?” Jessica asked, still trying to find my birthday in one of the signs.

  “How did you know that?” I asked Drake coldly.

  His smile was ironic, like I was missing a punch line. He moved to where I was sitting. In front of me he paused, like he owned the world and all the time in it, then reached for my face, cradling it in his hand and tracing the base of my eyes with his thumb.

  His touch moved me, literally.

  I felt my skin hum under his. My stomach dropped…I had felt that way before—just before that evil person had burned me in my dream. I held my breath.

  “Only a Scorpio could have those eyes,” Drake whispered.

  Monica’s jealously slapped me into a stronger defensive stance. I glanced at his arm, expecting to see a tattoo of a dragon, but I only found the cast that Olivia had spotted earlier. I looked back into his eyes. He winked at me, turned, and walked toward the lake.

  “Okay, so that was weird,” Jessica said under her breath.

  Stunned, I tried to remember a single time that I’d seen the figure’s face in my nightmare. I’d always imagined it as a gruesome devilish person, not tall, hot, and human. Then I realized that I’d never felt the emotion of the figure either. If this were the guy in my nightmares, would that not make him the kid that was looking for me? I swayed my head arguing with myself. If this were him, he wouldn’t hang out at a lake. He would have, like, tried to kidnap me or something.

  I told myself my imagination was running away with me. Its not like I could count on normal anymore. Everything was off track. When I glanced to the water’s edge Drake winked seductively at me.

  Monica saw the exchange and stepped in front of me, blocking my view. “Let’s get the coolers out. They’re going to start the fire soon.”

  I managed to avoid Drake for the last two hours. I sat down on the opposite side of the fire from him when I was forced to be in the same area. Every once in a while, I’d glance in his direction, only to find him staring at me through the flames. They seemed to accentuate his defined features. I didn’t see how he could be this evil person that my father had feared…he seemed too...addictive. Enchanting.

  “So, are you ready for Paris?” Josh asked me, settling next to Jessica, who was beside me.

  I shrugged my shoulders.

  “Paris…” Drake repeated, leaning forward and taking the opening in the conversation. “That’s a big step. Are you sure you’re ready?”

  “I’ve been ‘ready’ for this for a while now.” A lie.

  “I doubt that, love…Paris—Paris is a whole other world. The rules are different,” Drake said, brushing his dark hair out of his face and leaning back again, trying to pull me across the fire with a stare that would halt anyone. What was this? A coded conversation? My imagination thought so.

  Olivia glanced back and forth between Drake and me, knowing she was missing something.

  Josh threw a football at Drake. “Come on, man, let’s play.”

  Drake stood slowly, staring at me through the flames. A lump settled in my throat. I wanted to go home. As soon as Dane came, I was ditching this farewell party.

  I went to take a drink of my water, only to find it empty.

  “There’s some water in the cooler I put in the trunk,” Monica said.

  I hadn’t realized how warm the fire was until I stepped out into the darkness around it and found the night air cooler than usual. Trying to focus my eyes, I made my way to Monica’s car. Once there, I had to open the car door to pop the trunk. When I rose up and closed the door, Drake was there. It was like he had appeared out of the darkness.

  “Going somewhere?” he asked glancing down my body like I was puzzle piece he was sure was right, but felt wrong. At least that is what I gathered from the hints hidden in his placid expression.

  “Just getting some water. Go play your game.”

  He laughed under his breath, reached his hand out, and ran his fingers under my eye. The warm sensation knocked the wind out of me. The feeling was beyond comprehension—stronger than any dream. It was a freaking weapon! Supernatural.

  “I don’t want games…I want you,” he whispered.

  I closed my eyes finding the vibration sliding through me. His arm moved around my waist, then he pulled me against him.

  “Let me see your eyes…I went so long without them,” he whispered.

  I slowly opened my eyes, finding the will to face my fear once again.

  “Our time has come. You belong to me,” he said, staring somewhere deep inside of me. The absent, incredulous reflection in the dark of his eyes told me that he had expected a drastically different response from me, but I knew my response was on point. He had the wrong girl. I was not who he thought I was. Even though he had tormented my dreams, even though I knew I had a connection to him—this was wrong.

  Dane! That’s Dane’s rage I sense. Those were his headlights that had just pulled in. He had seen Drake’s pull me against him, my obvious resistance.

  “What’s going on here?” Dane shouted as he slammed his truck door closed. The others heard him and started making their way to Monica’s car.

  “Ahhh…does he think he’s your boyfriend?” Drake asked sizing up Dane.

  “Yeah, he does,” Dane said fiercely.

  Drake laughed. Dane charged forward and pushed Drake back, freeing me from the cage of Drake’s arms. Drake caught his balance and stepped forward to charge Dane, but Dane was already stepping forward to charge Drake again. Josh and Chase jumped in the middle of them, Josh was holding Dane back while Chase stood in front of Drake.

  “Look, man!” Josh screamed at Dane, trying to get him to look at him. “I know you’re upset about Willow leaving, but that doesn’t mean you need to take it out on strangers,” he bellowed, using all his force to hold Dane back.

  “Dane! Dane!” I yelled. “Take me home. Dane, do you hear me?”

  Dane finally stopped pushing against Josh and held his hands up to show that he was done. Josh let go, and Dane reached for me. I ran to his side. He wrapped his arm around me and briskly walked me to his truck. He opened the driver side door and helped me in. Olivia ran and jumped in the passenger side.

  When Dane turned his lights on and turned to leave, I locked eyes with Drake and gave him a murderous glare.

  “Did he hurt you?” Dane yelled, still full of rage. I shook my head no, still stunned.

  My soul was pulsing out of control like it was trying to get me to wake up. I could not shake the feeling that my nightmares were in some way a waste of time for Drake. He had me confused with someone else. Who? And why now? What triggered this? The Blue Moon? Was that it?

  “I’m staying at your house tonight,” Olivia announced, holding on as Dane peeled onto the highway.

  “Was that the new guy that’s staying at Chase’s?” Dane demanded.

  “Yeah, Drake,” I said as I grasped my chest and remembered the pain of every single nightmare I’d endured.

  “I’m glad I got there when I did,” Dane said through his teeth.

  “What did I miss?” Olivia asked, confused.

  “Nothing…he just tried to make a move, no big deal,” I said, dreading telling my father that Drake was there.

  “I don’t know where that guy is from, but he needs to learn his boundaries,” Dane seethed, turning up the radio.

  When we got to my house, Dane walked quickly inside. Once there, he climbed the front steps two at a time.

/>   “Where are you going?” I called after him.

  “To make sure your windows are locked,” he threw over his shoulder.

  My father stepped out of his study and looked up at Dane, then down at me.

  “I’m going to go call my aunt,” Olivia said, following Dane.

  “What’s going on?” my father asked.

  “Is that kid’s name Drake?”

  The fear that spiked in my father told me that it was. He pulled me into his study and closed the door.

  “Did you see him?”

  “Yeah, he’s been at the lake with me all day.”

  “Did he try anything?”

  “He had just gotten me alone when Dane showed up…he’s not what I imagined.”

  “Don’t underestimate him, Willow,” my father said sternly.

  “What are we supposed to do now?”

  “I’ll move our flights up,” he said, pulling his phone out of his pocket.

  Dane knocked on the study door. “Did you tell him?” Dane whispered to me.

  I nodded.

  We listened as my father went back and forth with an operator, then he hung up the phone, questioning himself.

  “Dane, can you stay here until tomorrow morning?” my father asked.

  Dane muttered a ‘sure,’ a little taken back by the request.

  “I’ve managed to move my flight to an hour from now, but I can’t get theirs any earlier than 9 a.m. I just don’t want to leave them alone if Willow is shaken up.”

  “That’s fine. I’ll call my mom,” Dane said.

  I motioned for my dad to come into the hallway. He moved swiftly thinking that maybe I had a better idea.

  “Dad what’s the deal? Why are we still flying all over the place? Let’s just go.”

  “We have to leave a believable paper trail. We can’t pass through the string now, anyway. When Ashten called, he said the others were separated from him in the storm.”

  “Are they hurt? Lost?”

  “No, they know what they’re doing. Ashten is sure they’ll be here soon. He said Drake only uses the large passages. If he was trying to take you to one, he would’ve already.”

  “You fear him one minute, hide us in this life, and now its no biggy?” I was over this!

  Dad clenched his jaw and fought with his own thoughts before he spoke. “Livingston has passionately argued this boy is not as dangerous as our fears led us to believe. He seems to think he can be reasoned with. I trust Livingston.”

  “But you asked Ashten and his family to take us home.”

  “I have my reasons,” he said shortly. “I don’t want you near Drake. I don’t want you alone. When we get home we’ll figure what needs to be done.” He searched eyes. “I’m going off your instinct, Willow. You would’ve came home hours ago if Drake was an immediate threat.”

  “Not the one you should be counting on right now,” I said quietly. Dane hung up the phone. I didn’t need him to get the vibe there was more to Drake than an unwelcome advance.

  “Okay,” Dad said to himself. “I’m going to tell your mother. Make sure you’re packed and ready.”

  I hugged him then climbed the stairs. In my room, Dane pushed my bed to the wall with the window on it. He stretched out on it with heavy eyelids. Olivia was pulling out the futon couch, which was big enough for the both of us. I went to my closet and pulled out the bags that I’d been packing to make sure I had everything.

  “Do you need help?” Olivia whispered, trying not wake Dane, who had drifted to sleep.

  “No, I think I have everything. I’m going to take a quick shower.”

  As I stood under the scalding water in the shower, I replayed the past few days. If I’d known what Drake had looked like, I don’t think those nightmares would have been nearly as bad. I regretted not asking him what he wanted with me.

  Then it hit me—if Drake were real, then the blue-eyed boy had to be, too. My eyes raced back and forth as I tried to think of a way to find him. I turned off the water, excited about going to sleep. I dressed like it was a marathon to do so, packing my stuff as I went. There was a soft tap on the door. I sensed my mother on the other side. I let her in.

  “Are you all right?” she asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “I have Libby all packed up,” she said, leaning against the counter.

  It was like she’d been waiting for this day for far too long.

  “I’m eager to go home,” she said reading my expression.

  “What was he like?” she asked when I didn’t open a conversation up.

  I didn’t need to clarify who the ‘he’ was. “He’s pretty hot,” I said with a smirk.

  “What did he feel like?” she finally asked, hunting for a reassurance that we had nothing to fear.

  I froze for a second; no one had ever asked me a question like this before.

  “I couldn’t feel him...”

  “I don’t understand,” she said, standing up.

  “He was just a—void. He’s the first person I’ve ever met like that.” I grabbed my bag, clearly not wanting to talk about it.

  “I’ll see you in the morning,” she said in a whisper when I opened the door.

  Olivia had fallen asleep with her book open across her chest, and Dane was passed out cold. I tiptoed into my room, put all my things together, then set them in the hall. When I set my tote on the top of the pile, my sketchbook fell out. Laying on top and staring at me was the sketch that I had made of the blue-eyed boy.

  Just the sight of him made me flushed. I just wanted to talk to him. I tore a page from the back of the book and pulled a pen out. With shaking hands, I wrote I need you, help me find you.

  I lay down and stared at the note that I’d written. My plan was to focus on him and the words and hope that I could somehow take it with me. I didn’t let any bad thoughts race through my mind, only him as my eyes felt heavier and heavier.

  Feeling sunlight on my face, I opened my eyes and saw the house in front of me. I felt adrenaline rush through me as I realized I would see him. I looked down in my hand and saw that my note was there. I ran to the porch and circled it, but he wasn’t there. I went through the house, searching every room. I found the place empty. My heart felt heavy as each moment passed. I didn’t know how much longer I could stay asleep. I went back outside and searched the fields, trying to see if I could feel him, and in the distance, I was sure I did. I moved through the field toward a small hilltop. He was getting closer, so I started sprinting in his direction. All at once, I saw him coming over the hill.

  He was astonished to see me. I crashed into his chest and hugged him, a tingling sensation filled with desire washed over me. The idea that he was real was almost too much to grasp. I felt his hands sway across my back, him lean down to catch my gaze. I would wake at any moment now. I leaned up wanting to feel the flesh of his lips once more, as I clenched the note I had in my hand against his chest.

  I felt his hand clasp mine, the note, as those spellbinding eyes swam in my hungry gaze.

  Right then I heard a loud crash and jumped to my feet. Wide awake.

  Olivia had knocked over my bedside lamp while she was folding up some blankets.

  “Sorry,” she said in a loud whisper. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

  I glanced down to see my hand empty. The note wasn’t there. Did it work? Was that real?

  “Your mom came in here. You have to leave in an hour,” Olivia said, pushing the bed into a couch.

  I nudged Dane to wake him as I grabbed a change of clothes and went into the bathroom to dress. I convinced myself the blue-eyed boy had read my note and that the next time I slept he would tell me where he was. Then I would make my dad take me to him, and if he refused, I would find another traveler. They couldn’t be that hard to convince, could they?

  I heard the front door open and sensed Jessica, Hannah, and Monica climbing the stairs. I met them in the hall. They were so sad and full of dread. I led th
em into my room. I didn’t have much time, and I wanted to make sure I wasn’t leaving anything behind. When they saw Dane asleep on my bed, I felt embarrassment come from everyone but Monica. She found it hilarious.

  “So I guess you were serious when you told Drake she was your girlfriend?” Monica said loudly, falling onto the bed next to him.

  Dane sat up quickly and surveyed the room, replaying the last words he’d heard. He then rolled his eyes, slid by Monica off the bed, stretched, and grinned at me.

  “I need a quick shower,” he said to me as he left the room.

  “So, are you guys serious?” Jessica asked, awestruck, not believing she’d missed something as big as Dane and me hooking up.

  “I bet they are,” Monica teased. “This whole time, Willow’s been playing the innocent one, and then the day she leaves, the truth comes out.”

  As I listened to her, I shook my head and scanned the room for anything else I may want to take with me.

  “Hey, Drake said to tell you he was sorry,” Monica said in a more serious tone.

  “For…?”

  “He said he must have scared you, but he was only trying to carry the cooler to the fire for you,” Monica said, believing every word she said. “He’s not that bad of a guy. He invited us all to go to Florida with him. He has this huge boat, and he said we could go out on it.”

  “Tell me you aren’t seriously considering going off with some guy you just met?”

  Monica glanced down as the room grew awkwardly tense.

  “We’re all leaving for school in a few weeks. It would be nice to go to the beach first,” Hannah said, defending Monica.

  “Promise me you won’t go anywhere with Drake,” I begged, feeling a growing sense of dread.

  “We got you something,” Jessica said, breaking the tension. She handed me a black bag with burgundy tissue paper. I sat next to Olivia on my bed and pulled the ribbons on the bag. “We’ve all been working on it since graduation. We were going to give it to you last night, but you left so fast,” Jessica said, proud of herself.

  Inside was a large photo album, and on the front of it was an abstract painting of the five of us that Jessica had done. The photos started when we were all in diapers, and they went all the way through graduation night. The album was full of birthdays and summers. Everything we’d ever shared. I grinned as the flashbacks flew through my memory.

  “I could not have asked for a better gift...” I said with a crack in my voice.

  “Just don’t forget us when you’re famous, deal?” Jessica said.

  I stood, pulled all of them together and hugged them.

  When Dane was through in the shower, he loaded my mother’s car with our luggage and drove us to the airport. He even went in with us, not leaving until we reached the security gates. My mother and Libby walked on, giving us a chance to say goodbye. I stared forward at the gate, then back at Dane.

  I was so scared.

  “You can’t be afraid of the next step, Willow. We all have to grow.”

  “That’s pretty deep,” I teased.

  “Maybe one day I will listen to my own advice,” Dane said.

  “You will,” I promised.

  Holding back my tears, I reached up and hugged him. I didn’t understand why growing had to hurt so badly. After I let go of him, I kept my eyes down. I could feel his sorrow. It was ripping me apart. I never saw my life without Dane in it without any of my friends.

  “Keep them safe,” I said as I walked away. Trusting him to make sure Drake stayed far away from the ones who helped make me who I was.