My Night Breeze (The Breeze Series) (7 page)

“Jim will find a way to make things right. I want you to be the
re, Audra,” Tobias advised.

“We can’t
always get what we want,” she stated, walking away from him.

On the drive home, Stephen turned on the wipers as it began to downpour. Audra tried to relax but tension kept her in a deadlock. As she looked out the window, the wind blew the rain directly against it. It was almost like the strange memory she had on Wednesday.

“Stephen, do you remember when we were kids
, and I was afraid of the rain?”

“Afraid? Try terrified, horrified
. Petrified would work, too.”

“Do you
know why?” she asked.

“You didn’t tell me
, but it didn’t seem like you knew either. You just freaked out. Why?”

“I don’t know
,” she said. “I still don’t know.”

“What you don’t know can’t hurt you
,” Stephen advised.

It wa
sn’t that she was just curious, but there was more to the story than she was getting. Her family was keeping something from her—something big. And she was going to find out one way or another.

*****

             Audra closed her math book, feeling accomplished and conflicted. She had managed to study and complete all the assignments for the weekend except for one subject. The first real test was tomorrow. Should she rely on the extra credit and her own study habits or use every advantage she could? She was already stressed without the added pressure of her dad, but there was a small amount of hope that she could use the notes she worked on from Wednesday to help.

She pull
ed out the notes, going over the first few pages of the chapter. The information still made sense, but there was more to the chapter than this. Audra packed up her backpack with her notes and book. She descended the stairs, finding her mom watching TV in the living room. She silently sat down beside her on the couch. Mom smiled, acknowledging her presence, and put her arm around her shoulders. Audra lay her head against her shoulder, waiting for the commercials.

“Another favor?” Mom ask
ed.

“There’s no way I can bring home the grade Dad wants without tutoring
,” Audra said.

“Oh…I’m not go
od with science either,” Mom said.

“Jim cou
ldn’t even teach me,” Audra said.

“We can’t really afford a tutor right now…” Mom continue
d.

“I have a friend in school who actually
can make sense of this subject. Would it be okay if he came over?” Audra asked.

“I don’t think that’d be a good idea, Audra. I know you’re father isn’t home right now
, but he wouldn’t be happy about that.”

“He wouldn’t be happy with my grade either
,” Audra continued. “Just for like an hour, please?”

Mom sigh
ed loudly but agreed. “I want to meet him.”

Audra nod
ded while tugging out her cell phone. It would really suck if Mateo weren’t available now that she had already set up the session, but she couldn’t risk going out again. Dad would want something concrete today, and she had nothing to offer him yet. What if Mateo was just being nice? He might not really want to tutor her, but then again, he was pretty straightforward. Audra worried herself into an anxious frenzy within a matter of seconds but began to type out a text message.

R u busy?

It didn’t take very long for a response, but sweat started to form on her inner palms.

Sketching. What’s up?

Tutoring assistance?
she typed back.

When?

Now pls?
she replied.

Al
l right.

Mom walked
towards the kitchen while Audra took out her notebook and textbook, placing them on the dining room table. It would put her Mom at ease to see her studying in the common area.

The doorbell rang with a shriek, and Audra had to suppress the urge to shriek right along with it. She made an added effort to slow her pace to the door. Audra was more than aware that Mom was watching; she didn’t need anyone on her case about this. She tugged the door open to Mateo waiting with the usual wall of hair and rebellious smirk. It took almost every ounce of power to not sigh out loud at him.

“Come in
,” Audra greeted.

Mateo respectfully t
ook off his shoes at the door entrance, putting them to the side next to the other shoes. Audra led the way around the staircase and into the dining room. While he pulled out his chair, Audra leaned into the kitchen, waving for her Mom’s attention. Mom nodded and finished tying her apron around her waist. Audra sat down next to him and flipped the book open to the chapter she needed help with.

She hand
ed over her highlighter to him while she uncapped her pen, ready for the study session to begin. Mateo took his time slowly going over each section, highlighting but giving examples for her to reference. Audra wrote notes beside the notes already in the notebook. He didn’t rush her but encouraged more details to keep for later. He leaned over her shoulder slightly to make sure that her notes had all the information needed before he continued to the next section.

“Hello, I’m Audra’s mom.”

Mateo looked up and greeted her with a polite smile and handshake.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Mateo
,” he replied.

His eye sparkled as he took
in her mom. Audra used the interruption to write a few more details in her notes. Mom seemed to be hovering slightly, which was expected.

“You two thirsty?”

They both declined the offer, and her mom made her way back into the kitchen. Audra caught a glance of her before she left and couldn’t understand the strange look upon her features. It wasn’t what she was expecting. Mom usually made the effort to be pleasantly polite and inviting, especially with the strict rules held by Dad, but she seemed off somehow. What could be putting her in such a mood?

Mateo and Audra finish
ed up the tutoring session leaving a small amount of optimism within her. She wasn’t completely hopeless in learning this subject; she just learned differently than everyone else. She looked at the difference between the notes from class and today; it was like all the puzzle pieces finally matched and clicked together. She glanced up at him with a smile. He smiled back in return.

“How did you learn
science so well?”

“
It just comes easy to me,” Mateo responded.

“Lucky me then. I’d fail without your help. Thanks.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he said.

She fe
lt warmth start to collect in the pit of her stomach. His eye gazed intensely into hers, causing the warmth to rise up into her chest. She hadn’t felt anything like this before—this anxiousness and excitement all wrapped up in one. Mateo picked up the highlighter and handed it to her, letting the tips of his fingers lightly graze her palm. She could feel her heartbeat speeding up rapidly, trying to find a way out of her chest.

Audra bit
the inside of her cheek as her hormones clashed with reality. Where did all this intensity come from? She barely knew him, but she wanted to know him more. She wanted to be closer to him. Mateo leaned back against the chair allowing his shoulder to touch hers. She wasn’t sure if it was deliberate or not, but she couldn’t stop her mind from hoping it was. She took slow, deep breaths with pursed lips, hiding how much he was affecting her. It almost pained her to realize how much she was feeling all at once. It didn’t make sense.

Mateo’s phone start
ed to ring, and he pulled it out of his pocket. When he read the name of the caller, his friendly demeanor changed in an instant. She could see his eyes darken as he hit answer.

“Yeah.”

Audra noted how much deeper and rougher his voice sounded. It shoved her back into the present mindset, the warmth a distant memory leaving goose bumps upon her skin. It was all happening so quickly she couldn’t understand what happened in the first place.

“Coming now
,” he said.

He hit
‘end’ and slipped the phone into his pocket as he stood up. Audra piled her book on top of her notebook as he pushed his chair back up to the table. Without a word, he walked toward the front door and slipped into his shoes. She had a horrible feeling that he would just leave and not say good-bye. She walked up behind him, silently flustered.

“Thanks again
,” she said.

Mateo look
ed at her from over his shoulder, the stillness in his eyes making her want to take a step back. His mouth pinched along with his forehead. A slight shiver of fear ran through her, but she couldn’t move. She could barely breathe as it was. He reached out, clasping their hands together and tugged her a step closer. A strange sensation started to overcome her senses once again. Was it okay to want to be touched by him? She looked intently into his eyes, but there was no sense of calm there. He rubbed his thumbs back and forth against her hand before nodding and leaving.

Audra
, rooted in place, watched his back walk down the walkway from the door. He gripped his hands into fists, keeping his head down. She realized that she was right; he had no plans of stopping once on his way out. She couldn’t pull her eyes away from him as she worried about the look he gave. Who called putting him in such a bad mood?

“Who was that?”

Audra dragged her eyes away only to realize Jim was standing in front of her. Even she couldn’t deny that she was staring after him, no matter how much fluff she used to buffer. This was one situation she would have to deal with.

“
My tutor,” she replied.

“Tutor? For what?”

“Science. Why?” she asked.

“You know how Dad feels about having people over.”

“Mom met him, watched us study. Why are you trying to make this a big deal?” she complained.

“Are you that selfish that you don’t care what happens to me?”

Audra glared at him. “I saw what you were doing on Friday. And I kept my mouth shut.”

Jim fr
oze on the spot. She knew that if she gave any details she’d be caught in the lie, but it would get him off of her case. She needed to be able to have some sort of freedom, and if holding this over his head would do it, then so be it. Jim opened his mouth to respond, but she shook her head.

“You can’t threaten me when you make dumb decisions all on your own
,” she continued.

“You were upstairs
,” Jim reiterated.

“Was I?”
she asked before persisting, “I won’t say anything, Jim, I promise. I just need you to get off my back.”

She walk
ed back into the kitchen where Mom was busy fixing dinner. Audra joined her side without question and helped put out the pots with water to boil. She could feel her Mom’s eyes on her actions, but she focused on what she was doing. Mom was so strange around Mateo that it was causing Audra to wonder what the deal was, but with Jim around, she couldn’t possibly bring it up.

Family dinner was already tension-filled with Dad’s usual zero tolerance, but Jim glaring at her was making her appetite disappear quickly. Mom tried holding light conversation about the weather; however, it didn’t make a dent in the obvious tension. Audra glanced over at Dad roughly cutting into his steak.

“Why do we have family dinner?” Audra ask
ed.

“Don’t start
,” Mom said.

“I’m just asking a question
,” Audra persisted.

Dad clear
ed his throat before stabbing into his meal. “It’s the only time we spend together.”

“To check up on us
,” Jim added.

“My life doesn’t consist only of school
,” Audra said.

“What are you getting at?” Dad ask
ed.

“We never have real conversations. No one reminisces about anything. We just sit at a table with food on it and give one word answers until we can be excused
,” Audra said.

The sound of Mom’s fork scraping her plate vibrate
d through the air. Deep down, she knew that family dinner was special to Mom, but it lost the ‘special’ aspect when it wasn’t being utilized. It was more like a mandatory interrogation of a crime that hadn’t been committed.

Dad look
ed directly at Audra. “Is there something you’d like to share?”

His tone and look wa
s a mixture of sarcasm and withering tolerance.

“No
, but I wish we’d actually spend more time together. Jim is going to graduate this year, and I want to spend as much time around him as possible,” she said.

Jim look
ed at her then with confusion, but she continued, “I’m going to miss him when he goes to college. I don’t want to spend our only designated family time discussing something that comes on a report card.”