My Wish for You (5 page)

Sarah and I
grabbed the bags so Sean and Brian could unload the quads and get them into the
shed. We walked up the path and into the cabin. Mom and Charles were sitting at
the table in the kitchen talking with Mr. and Mrs. W. When they saw us walk in,
they stopped talking.

“Took you long
enough. Go unpack quickly. We’re eating in twenty minutes,” Charles snapped. I
looked at Sarah and she looked like she was about to laugh.

We trudged up
the stairs and I followed Sarah to our room. Three beds were placed in one large
room with a door leading to a bathroom. The bed sitting next to the bathroom,
the only one not right next to an exit, had Cassie’s things placed on it.

I asked Sarah
which bed she wanted and she picked the one closest to the door. I went over my
bed, which was right under a window, and put my bags on it. Each bed was on a
platform that had six drawers, and each had a nightstand with a lamp. I sat
down on the floor and pulled my duffel bag to me. I sorted my clothes out and
put them into the different drawers and put the books I had brought into one
drawer of the nightstand.

It was a tedious
task and felt like it took a lot longer than it actually did. I was feeling
nauseous again when Mom called everyone down for lunch. Grudgingly, I followed
Sarah down to the big, open kitchen. Everyone was standing around. I saw the
food and my stomach lurched.

“Help
yourselves, everyone,” Mom invited. No one needed further coercion than that.
At her words, everyone grabbed a plate and piled on food. Mom stood back waiting
for everyone to get theirs first. Seizing the opportunity to sneak off and get
some more sleep, I stepped next to Mom.

“Mom? I still
feel sick. Would it be alright if I went and took a nap?” I asked pitifully.

She looked
worried as she put her hand on my forehead.

“You’ve got a
bit of a fever. Get some rest. I’ll save you something for later if you want.”

“Thanks,” I
smiled softly and she kissed my forehead.

I was already
groggy by the time I dragged my feet up the stairs and into the room. I crawled
underneath the comforter and fell asleep quickly.

***

There were
whispers in the room as I pulled the covers off of my head.

“Is she alright?
She’s been asleep for over four hours.”

“I’m not sure.
Do you think we should wake her up?” Sarah quietly asked Brian. I groaned and
they stopped talking.

“I’m awake,” I
mumbled, sitting up. I felt groggy and my head hurt a little, but other than
that I felt better.

“How are you
feeling?” Sarah asked tentatively.

“Fine…hungry.”
My stomach grumbled. They both looked at me skeptically. “Seriously. I feel
better. I want something to eat,” I reassured them.

I got up and
walked down the stairs. Brian started coughing and couldn’t seem to stop.

“Are you okay?”
I asked him loudly.

“Yeah, yeah I’m
alright.”

When I got into
the kitchen entryway, I saw someone slip out the back door. Instinct told me it
was Sean.

I washed my
hands before piling some fruit and lunchmeat on a paper plate. Cautiously, they
watched me as I ate, looking for some sign that I was going to get sick again,
which, incidentally, I didn’t think was going to happen.

“I’m not going
to get sick again. Okay? So, stop looking at me like that.”

Something in my
face must have startled them, because they started talking animatedly about
what I had missed while I was asleep. They were mostly filler stories, just
something to talk about…none of it was really important. I let my mind drift
into a dream-like state, a serene blankness. I was eating my last piece of
watermelon when my attention was caught.

“—driving me
crazy. He wouldn’t stop asking us about you.”

“What? Who?” I
choked as I tried to swallow the piece whole.

“Sean. Weren’t
you listening? He kept ‘running into us’ and asking us if you were still
asleep,” Sarah informed me.

“Yeah, we
finally had to tell him to back off and leave you alone,” Brian chuckled.

I told myself
that he was just being a friend and caring about my health. Yet, that small—
well, large—defiant part of my brain kept reminding me that he wanted to talk
to me badly. Sean must’ve been leaving the kitchen because he heard Brian
coughing. I racked my brain for a way to avoid his fixation on talking things
out.

“Well, I’m off,”
Brian announced, standing up.

“Where to?” I
asked.

“Alisha’s.”
Alisha was Cara’s little sister, a year younger than us, and Brian’s girlfriend
of almost two years.

“Can I get a
ride?”

“Why?”

“To talk to
Cara.”

“Why?”

“Girl stuff,” I
snapped in a tone that made him realize that I wasn’t going to say anything
more.

“I guess,” he
sighed.

“Just let me go
change,” I said, heading out of the kitchen.

“Hurry up!” he
called behind me.

Quickly, I
climbed the stairs and clambered into the room. I pulled out a pair of blue
skinny jeans and changed into them, then picked up my purse and sent Cara a
short message telling her that I’d be at her place soon. Rushed, I stumbled
down the stairs and said goodbye to Sarah.

Brian was
waiting for me on the quad outside. I climbed on behind him and grabbed his
sides. He wiggled out of my grip and laughed. I chuckled to myself. I’d
forgotten that he was really ticklish. I placed my hands on his shoulders
instead and he drove off. We swerved through the trees in silence. When we got
there, I got off the quad and thanked Brian. He looked over at Cara
expectantly.

“She’s down by
the back side of the lake…waiting for you, of course.” She pointed around to
the back side of her cabin.

“Thanks.” Brian
drove off.

“So...what
happened?” she asked, her voice full of curiosity.

“Sean kissed me,”
I paused. My voice was controlled and calm. “And...I kissed him back.”

“Ohmigod! This
is amazing!”

“It would be if
he was planning on leaving her, which he is definitely not.”

“Whoa, back up.
Start from the beginning. Tell me everything.”

So, I began to
tell her everything. Every now and then she’d have a question, but for the most
part she stayed quiet.

“And then he
stops me on the highway, after I puked my guts out, and he wants to talk about
it…right then and there. He couldn’t wait until we got to the cabin. No, it had
to be then. So, I just came out and asked if he’s gonna leave her. You know
what he said?” I paused to swallow back tears that were surprising me. “No. He’s
not leaving that lying, conniving, evil orca.”

“I always
thought she was really skinny.”

“Cara, that’s
not the point.”

“Oh, yeah…sorry.”

“It’s okay. I
think I’m just gonna go home and crawl into a corner and sleep.”

“How do you plan
on doing that?”

“Um...closing my
eyes?”

“Let me
rephrase. How do you plan on getting back home?”

I looked around,
finding empty land except for Cara’s Jeep.

“You’ll never
find my keys.” Where was a magic carpet when you needed one?

“Well, what do
you suggest I do?” I questioned.

“Well, I just
happen to have a sexy little number that I found that would fit you perfectly.”

“Cara. We’re not
the same size.”

“That’s not the
point,
Samantha
.”

“Then what is
the point,
Carolina
?”

“The point is
that Sean will be here tonight,” she said mischievously.

“Yeah, like I’d
really stay here for him.”

“You know you
would,” she accused, and we laughed. “The task is to make him jealous.”

“Like that’s
possible,” I snorted. “You know as well as I do that Sean doesn’t get jealous.”

“Most of the
time.” She stared at me expectantly.

“And even if he
did, which could be pretty helpful, with whom would I make him jealous?”

“There’s a
certain person that I can think of that Tasha may or may not have slept with…a
certain person that he may or may not like at all.”

Then, it
clicked. A certain gorgeous, blonde, always tan, Greek god popped into my head,
and I thought I was going to be sick for, like, the billionth time.

Chapter Six

Blake Reade,
all-star varsity quarterback. The kind of guy that was absolutely gorgeous,
yet, the second he opened his mouth was an ugly, sort of repulsive ogre. The
kind that manipulated young, naïve girls into going on dates with them before
he zeroed in on them like they were his prey. Blake Reade was a class A jerk.

I had been
standing there talking, well more like flirting, for the longest hour of my
life. He was already so drunk that all I had to do was stand there, look
interested, and giggle. Of course, the shirt that Cara had gotten imported from
France certainly helped. It was a silky, red something I would never be seen in
normally, which gave me cleavage that normally wasn’t so developed. If Cara was
good at one thing, it was fashion. She could find a piece of red silk that fit
me perfectly and was a figure forming top that was clingy but flowy all at the
same time.

As he rambled on
about Hollister and his favorite type of gum, his eyes kept flickering to my newly
formed chest. He either wasn’t trying to hide the stares or he was just really
bad at it. Why on Earth would Tasha ever fool around with him when she had
Sean? At least Sean had an IQ higher than his age.

“I’m headed for
another. You want one?” he asked...again. He’d been consistently trying to get
me drunk. I was about two sips into my first drink and startled at the change
of conversation. My first instinct, which I sadly followed, was to giggle.

Hoping it would
buy me more time, I said yes. He didn’t even notice my cup was full. As he
turned around and started to walk towards the kitchen, I turned to go look for
Cara.

I dumped my
drink in a potted plant when I found her dancing with a guy that went to our
school. I walked up and got in between them. He seemed to think that I wanted
to dance until I pushed him away and tugged Cara away into a coat closet.

“What?” she
asked, astonished.

“Do you realize
what I’ve been through in the last hour?”

“Has it really
already been that—”

“Not the point.
We’ve spent an hour talking about Hollister and gum.”

“That’s
fascinating,” she said, preoccupied. She went to grab the door handle to leave.

“Cara, I am
going insane. If he says one more word about how Stride really is the longest
lasting gum, I’ll strangle him. Plus, he’s so drunk. It’s disgusting.” I
shuddered.

“Oh Sam, it can’t
be that awful. And even if it is, look at the bright side…Sean hasn’t looked at
anyone else except you all night. He hasn’t even talked to anyone else.”

“Yeah. Right,” I
scoffed.

“No, really…look!”
She cracked open the door and I peeked out. Sean was glaring at Blake.

“He’s been doing
that all night?” I asked.

“Yes, all night.
Now, get out there and dance with Blake or
something
before it’s too
late. You don’t have to say a word to him. Just go!”

“Alright,” I
said, stepping out of the door, laughing. “Wish me luck.”

“Good luck,” she
laughed and hit my arm playfully.

We got out of
the closet without being noticed by anyone except Sean, who looked straight at
us as we laughed. I made my way back toward Blake and his friends. They were
talking to a boy who didn’t go to our school. When I reached them I walked up
behind Blake and put my hands around his waist. I tilted my head up and
whispered into his ear.

“Come dance with
me,” I purred. He turned to look at me, shock in his eyes. Quite frankly, I was
shocked too. I had never heard myself like that before. Pushing that thought
from my mind, I pulled his hand and he followed me to the living room where
everyone was dancing. The beat was hypnotic as it thumped through the speakers,
into the ground, and up my legs.

Slowly, I turned
around to face Blake. He slid his arms around my waist and pulled me in. As he
pulled me in even closer, I slipped my hands around his neck. Trying to avoid a
potential kiss, I turned my face away from his and Sean came into view. His
face screwed up with different emotions: disgust, loathing, longing, and pity
were just a few of the ones I could pick out. Disgusted with myself, I pulled
away from Blake.

“Um…excuse me. I
need to—I’m getting claustrophobic. I’ll be a minute.”

I turned away
from his confused face and walked down the hallway, looking for an empty room.
To my dismay, I opened the first door only to find it occupied by a frisky
couple fooling around. The next room was occupied by a fighting couple.
Sighing, I hoped that the third time was a charm, and opened the last door.

It was empty,
thank goodness. Quickly, I walked inside and went to shut the door, but before
I could get it closed all the way, it was pushed open. I turned around to find
Blake standing in the doorway. He walked in and closed the door behind him,
locking it. My heart started to race as I took a step back and he took one
towards me.

“Blake, what are
you—?” He grabbed me roughly and bent down to kiss me. I put my hand up in time
to intercept it.

“You got the
wrong message, Blake. I don’t want you like that.” I struggled against his hold
on me to free myself, but failed.

“Mm…you’re just
playing hard to get. I know how you roll, remember?”

“You do not know
how I roll
, jackass. Now. Let. Me. Go.” I growled through gritted teeth,
tugging my arm again.

He laughed.

“You know what? I
don’t think I will.” He grabbed my wrists and pinned them against the wall,
forcing his mouth onto mine. The smell of alcohol was less faint than I thought
it would be. I turned my head away and thrashed against him. He put my hands
together in one hand and grabbed my face. Reproachfully, I stared at him for a
short minute before I spit into his face.