Cherry Red Summer (Emely and Elyas Book 1) (29 page)

My excitement clouded. The feeling of flying disappeared, replaced by a hazy, dull feeling that sapped the joy out of the ride.

Twenty minutes later, we turned onto a paved road between some fields. We followed that road for a few miles. We were officially out in the middle of nowhere. I half expected to see a sign that said “Boondocks.” Eventually, a lake materialized before us, half-surrounded by a sea of autumn leaves and half by a huge green meadow. Way off at the edge of the meadow, I saw Elyas parking the enduro.

The rest of us arrived and parked in the same area. I got off the monster, and took a moment to get used to standing on solid ground again. I took in the landscape, a pastoral scene as though from a painting.

The place was new to Alex, too, and she came to stand beside me, as pleased with the setting as I was. Sebastian stood next to her, put his arm around her waist, and pulled her to him.

Note to self: Beat Alex silly, throw Sebastian over my shoulder, and run away.

The picturesque serenity of the setting came to an end when I heard a voice I’d be able to pick out among thousands.

“Well, biker chick? Did you like it?” he asked.

“I think I’ll join the Hells Angels next week,” I answered, turning to Elyas. He made a half-smirk and studied me.

“Elyas!” Andy called. “Make your moves on her later. Right now, help me unload the Jeep!”

Elyas sighed. “Boy, it’s great to have friends,” he grumbled as he returned to his buddy.

Everyone helped unload. The only things left inside minutes later were some cases of beer. Andy had already hauled one of the three cases over to the camping site. Once Alex and I weren’t needed anymore, we picked out a nice spot and started setting up our tent. The others gradually proceeded to set up their own tents throughout the meadow. It looked like Elyas and Sebastian were sharing a tent. Sophie was with Andy, Jessica with Yvonne, and Jan with Domenic.

After a half hour, there were four and a half tents up—Alex’s and mine being the half.

I studied the tangle of poles in the grass. For the love of God, I didn’t want to build a model Eiffel Tower, just a stupid tent! It couldn’t be this hard.

Jan walked past us on his way to the middle of the meadow, carrying a boom box under his arm. Music, food, beer—they had thought of everything.

“I think this goes here,” Alex said, holding part of the rain fly up over her head.

Her theory proved correct. I connected three of the pole segments and inserted them through the grommet. We did the same on the opposite side, and after a few more minutes our tent finally started to take shape.

Ten minutes later, it was actually three-dimensional. I stepped back to take in our one-room villa, but somehow my foot was stuck. I flailed my arms to no avail, lost my balance, and tipped backward. Instead of the hard landing I expected, two arms appeared under my upper body to break my fall. I remained in that bridgelike position, not knowing what was going on.

“You’re going to have to pay better attention, dearest,” Elyas whispered into my ear.

I frantically, and pitifully, struggled to get back up on my feet, but Elyas only tightened his hold, helping me up. I pushed his strong arms off me the moment I was standing.

Strong
arms? Why had I picked that adjective? Just arms. Totally normal arms!

Besides, where had Elyas come from all of a sudden? My cheeks flushed, and I tugged at my clothes to straighten them out. “O
h . . .
yea
h . . .
I guess I should
. . . ,
” I mumbled.

My eyes scanned for what I had tripped over, finally landing on my sleeping bag. My stupidity needed punishing—and here was my punishment.

“Well, you showed it,” Elyas said with a grin.

“What?” I asked.

“Your sleeping bag. Given how you’re glaring at it, it’ll never dare to get in your way again.”

“My angry looks don’t work on you, so what makes you think they’ll work on a sleeping bag?”

“Sorry. Next time I’ll just let you fall on your shapely backside.” He raised an eyebrow.

“That’s all I’m asking!”

I kicked my sleeping bag. Then I picked it up and chucked it into my tent.
Shapely backsid
e . . .
Ugh, who says that?

I ignored Elyas and his silly comments, so he went to hang out with the others, who had settled in the middle of the meadow. Alex and I joined them fifteen minutes later, and when the subject of a campfire came up, I offered to gather some wood. Alex decided she would “help” me, but I immediately sensed something was wrong. Places where you couldn’t wear high heels, such as in the woods looking for firewood, were
not
places you ever found Alex Schwarz.

And I was right. We had gathered a little bouquet of twigs and sticks when she spit it out.

“What’s up with you two?” she asked.

“What do you mean?” I asked, bending to pick up another stick.

“Elyas and you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Well,
is
there something going on?”

“Yeah. He annoys the hell out of me, constantly
,
” I mumbled, adding the stick to the others. “Can you get him to stop?”

“No. That’s not what I mean. I mean is there something
more
going on between you?”

“How did you get that idea?” I avoided her eyes. Why was she bringing this up?

“I’ve got eyes, haven’t I?”

“Evidently you need glasses,” I said, trying to snap a brittle branch off a tree. It didn’t break, though. Instead it bounced back and scratched my hand.

“Ow!” I yelled. I didn’t want to concede, so I tried again. The branch protested some more, but eventually I held it up triumphantly in my hand.

“I don’t think it’s normal for you guys to spend so much time with each other,” Alex said.

“You’re right—it’s not normal. But it’s not because of me,” I replied. I didn’t need her mistrust. Was it written across my face how crazy her stupid brother drove me? My stomach started to hurt. I didn’t want anyone to find out about the turmoil of feelings inside me. Especially not Alex. Try as she might, she could not keep her trap shut.

“I asked him about you, you know?” she said, bending to pick up some wood.

“About me?”

“Yeah, but he won’t give me a real answer about what exactly he’s trying to achieve. I also sounded Sebastian out about the whole thing,” she added.

“He’s been doing some digging?” I asked.

She shrugged. “He just ran some casual questions by hi
m . . .
But Elyas didn’t get into it. Even though I know full well,” she added, treacherously, “that Elyas talks about things like that with him!”

“Alex, why would they tell
you
that Elyas has only one thing on his mind? Not to mention you’re the biggest blabbermouth on earth.”

She squinted to glare at me.

“Plus, you can’t talk if there’s nada to talk about.
¿
Comprendes
?
”

She dropped the subject and grumbled as she returned to wood collecting.

After ten more minutes, we had made it back to the clearing with plenty of firewood in our hands. The others had arranged a big stone circle for the fire. Elyas, Andy, Sebastian, Domenic, and Jan were sprawled out on blankets, listening to French reggae. The first round of beer had already begun.

“Well, ladies?” I said to the guys as Alex and I arrived, tossing the wood next to the stone circle. I received grumbly male whines in response, which made me smile.

It was still too light out to light the fire, but we sat around in a cozy circle, eating the delicious sandwiches Sophie had made for everyone.

Sebastian and Alex were to my right, and they couldn’t keep their hands off each other, even while they were eating. To the other side of me was Domenic, who chatted my ear off about something technical. I had no clue about it, and didn’t want to have a clue about it. But polite as I was, I nodded at all the right spots.

Sophie acted neutrally toward me, which was an improvement, but the same couldn’t be said for Yvonne and Jessica. They looked at me while whispering with each other. Jessica gave me the impression she had placed a bomb in my tent and couldn’t wait for me to turn in.

I kept as much distance between us as possible. Andy’s hand appeared in my field of vision as he grabbed for a fifth sandwich. There was no end to how much he could eat. Whenever he wasn’t chewing, he was gulping beer, and whenever he wasn’t gulping beer, he was laughing so loud the ground shook.

I set my bottle of water next to me and freed my cheese sandwich from its plastic wrap. I took a bite and then noticed Elyas watching me, yet again. He was two spots away from me, evidently with nothing better to do than sneak peeks at me. Whenever our eyes met, I quickly looked away.

“I’m getting another beer,” Domenic said, standing up. The boys had submerged the case in the lake to keep it cool.

He had hardly taken two steps when Elyas scooted over and smiled at me suggestively. “Hey, baby. How much for that sandwich?”

I suddenly lost my appetite. “Does anyone want the rest of my sandwich?” I asked the circle of people, irritated.

Andy laughed, but when he realized my offer was serious, he crawled toward me and took it.

“You’re such a pig!” Sophie told him.

“What?” Andy replied, chewing, and Sophie rolled her eyes.

“I didn’t mean to spoil your meal,” Elyas said with a smirk.

“Why did you do it, then?”

“I’m sorry,” he said. “It’s your lip
s . . .
They captivate me.”

I moaned. If Sophie thought she had it rough with her pig, Andy, she should try seeing how rough it was with a stalker.

“Sorry, Elyas, but you’re sitting in my spot.” Elyas and I looked up to see Domenic over us.

“There’s plenty of room,” Elyas said.

“That’s great. Go find yourself some, then.”

“I was thinking more of you.”

“Stop with the drama, Schwarz. Stand up.”

“You know what?” I said, interrupting them as I pushed myself up. “Domenic can have
my
spot.” I walked two spots over and sat beside Jan. I was in no mood for nursery school games.

Once the sun had been swallowed by the horizon, we lit the campfire. Great orange-yellow flames blazed up, and glowing sparks swirled high into the nighttime sky. The fire crackled and hissed, and a pleasant wave of warmth washed over me like a blanket. The fire lit up the smiles on everyone’s faces, and laughter punctuated the conversations. You could tell a fair amount of beer had been drunk since late afternoon. I was one of the few who were still sober. Not because I didn’t like beer, but because it made me have to pee, and the huge, dark forest around us wasn’t the kind of toilet I wanted to visit any more than absolutely necessary.

Alex and Sebastian had disappeared a while ago. Where to, no one knew, but maybe it was better that way.

Andy and Sophie danced, holding each other tight, near the fire. His hands were on her butt, and her arms were around his neck. I had overheard earlier that they were engaged and getting married the following year. A little young for that, in my opinion, but to each his own.

I looked at Elyas, who was sitting kitty-corner from me, trying to burn a hole through me with his eyes.

I didn’t understand it. Why didn’t he get tired of this? Most days, a quick glance in the mirror was enough for me to know that any second more would be masochism.

Elyas noticed I was paying attention to him, and he seemed about to get up. Then Domenic moved to sit by Jessica, partially blocking Elyas’s view of me and interrupting his plan. Now he was watching Jessica and Domenic. The muscles of his face grew noticeably tenser.

I couldn’t figure out why he was reacting that way. Domenic and Jessica were just talking—nothing more.

Was Elyas jealous? Did he like Jessica? O
r . . .
did he like her more than he liked me? I had noticed a certain closeness between them all day. I had chalked it up to their being good friends.

Now Yvonne was staring at Domenic and Jessica, too, and trying to establish eye contact with Elyas.

I looked at Domenic, and realized he had laid his arm around Jessica. She nestled into him, lowering her chin and smiling.

Elyas’s face darkened. It was the same look as seven years ago, when it had been meant for me.

Domenic bent down to Jessica’s ear and whispered something that made her giggle. They talked for a few minutes like that, until Domenic stood and pulled Jessica up. She was obviously drunk. He took her hand and pulled her toward him. They found a spot off the blankets, he took her hips in his hands, and they started to dance. If Elyas’s look could have killed, Domenic would have been dead five minutes ago.

Alex and Sebastian returned to the circle and sat down, holding hands. But as Sebastian caught sight of the dancing couple, the smile vanished from his face. He looked first at Yvonne and then at Elyas.

Everyone seemed so tense, and I didn’t know why. Only Andy and Sophie were oblivious to what was going on. They were much too focused on each other to notice.

Once Domenic’s hand glided from Jessica’s hip to her butt, things got crazy. Elyas was on his feet in a flash, rushing at the two of them. Sebastian let go of Alex, jumped up, and followed his best friend.

“That’s enough!” Elyas yelled. He grabbed Jessica’s arm and pulled her away from Domenic.

“What the hell is your problem, Schwarz?” Domenic said.

Elyas didn’t respond and instead brought Jessica back toward the fire ring.

“I asked what the hell your
problem
is, Schwarz!” Domenic repeated. He walked toward Elyas and shoved him from behind. I put my hands over my mouth.

Elyas spun around as though he had been struck by lightning and laid into Domenic, roughly pushing him back. “I told you to keep your dirty fingers off her, you goddamned bastard!” Elyas took a step toward Domenic, his whole upper body poised to strike.

“Don’t butt into things that don’t concern you, you loser!”