Reckless Magic (11 page)

The weather had cooled down a tiny bit
and through the windows a nice breeze gave the house a
freshly-mowed-grass smell. I inhaled the pleasing aroma, thankful
the humidity was finally letting up a bit. Soon the leaves would be
turning colors and the rain would come; my favorite time of
year.

Just as I entered the kitchen the
doorbell rang. I turned around and walked back through the living
room to the front door. I flung the door open, expecting to see my
aunt, wondering why she chose the front door instead of the garage.
To my shock and horror however, Kiran was standing in the doorway
looking like a page out of magazine. What was he doing
here?

“
What are you doing here?” I
blurted out loud, completely aware of exactly what I was wearing
and the mess my hair was in, piled on top of my head.

“
Don’t you look cute?” he
said mischievously, in his crisp English accent. He gave me his
signature smirk and let his eyes drift over my legs. His wavy
blonde hair was slicked back away from his face and he was wearing
a black motorcycle jacket. I felt like I was in a scene from “Rebel
without a Cause.”

“
What are you doing here?” I
repeated, stunned and practically drooling.

“
I came to see if you were
ok. You haven’t been at school all week; I thought maybe something
terrible had happened to you,” he stepped past me into my house and
I inhaled his scent, feeling suddenly dizzy.

“
Um, come in then,” I still
managed some sarcasm though my mind was swirling and I could feel
the pin pricks of electricity start to return.

“
So are you… okay?” he
turned back around to face me; his smirk still playing at the
corners of his lips. His voice relayed no real emotion of concern
and I could tell that he knew I would be fine before he
came.

“
I’m fine,” I said, or at
least I was fine until he showed up.

“
Good,” he took a step
closer. I pushed the door closed and leaned back against it, not
really sure what to do now. I glanced around the room, debating if
I should have asked him if he wanted something to eat, or if I
should have just kicked him out.

“
Yep,” I replied shortly,
filling the awkward silence. I looked around the room again; hoping
some piece of interesting information would come to me, and noticed
he was still looking at me. “What?” I said half laughing, half
humiliated.

“
What are you wearing?” he
took another step closer and lifted the hem of my sweatshirt with
one finger, letting his other fingers brush lightly against my
thigh.

I couldn’t move. I couldn’t think. I
couldn’t do anything with him that close. Although his fingers were
barely touching me, it was like they were completely weighing me
down. The excitement his touch brought, scared me slightly and I
found myself trying to remember how to breathe.

“
Eden,” he breathed softly,
almost whispering. I willed myself to look up into his eyes and his
gaze was so intense I couldn’t look away; he smiled softly. “Why
haven’t you called to let me know you are alright? After saving
your life on numerous occasions, I think I deserve at least a phone
call.... a friend would have called,” he pouted sarcastically but
leaned his face in closer, too bad for him, I saw through
him.

“
I apparently need to remind
you that we are not friends,” I retorted quickly, snapping out of
my daze. A wave of embarrassment washed over me; he shouldn’t have
been able to manipulate me so easily just because he was the most
gorgeous thing I had ever seen.

I tore my eyes away from his and
walked across the room, leaving him to face the door alone. Maybe
he would take the hint. I definitely did not need to be reminded of
how often I had fainted in the last few days.

I didn’t care if I had to stand ten
feet away from him at all times, I was not going to let him get to
me so easily. His face flashed with frustration before he put his
seductive mask back on. Apparently he thought I would be
easy.

“
Oh come on,” he crooned,
“We’re friends. I thought we were going to try to get
along.”

“
You thought wrong,” I said
flatly. Now that my emotions had calmed down, I could feel the slow
tingling of electricity making its way through my veins. It had
been days since I had to deal with the energy, I had almost
forgotten how uncomfortable it was.

“
Eden, what do you have
against me? Why all of the hostility?” he gave me a playful smile
and walked over to one of Syl’s oversized, leather couches and
plopped down. Great. How did you get rid of somebody who refused to
be gotten rid of?

“
What hostility?” I
questioned, feigning innocence.

“
I just don’t understand why
you won’t confide in me,” although his posture was relaxed, his
gaze remained intense and I watched his jaw flex and un-flex. I
wondered at his use of the word “confide.” Weren’t we just talking
about my gratitude?

“
Kiran, there is nothing to
confide. I have no idea what you are talking about. If you want a
thank you, well, then thank you. I appreciate all of the
concussions you have saved me from,” I laughed a little, trying to
pretend he was as ridiculous as he sounded.

“
You’re lying. You are more
than what you seem,” he sat up straight and folded his arms across
his chest. He looked like a little kid pouting. “I could help you,
you know.”

“
Oh, you want to help me?” I
mocked, mimicking his accent, although it came out very badly. I
wasn’t sure exactly what ethnicity I had just impersonated… Indian
perhaps? “Now, I’ll tell you. Oh wait, there’s nothing to tell.” I
finished sarcastically.

“
Are you expecting someone?”
he stood up abruptly and glanced around the room.

“
My aunt,” I said, looking
around as well. We were standing at opposite sides of the room, but
the electricity coursing through my blood was growing steadily
stronger.

“
No, someone else,” he
squinted his eyes and walked around the room. “I’m getting tired of
this, old man,” he mumbled it so quietly, and his accent was so
thick that I was not sure what or who he was talking to.

He turned away from the window and
walked straight over to me, dropping all pretenses. His eyes were
hungry and his face said something I didn’t recognize… maybe
desire? I backed slowly away from him, not sure what he was about
to do. My foot bumped into the fireplace and I knew that I was
pinned. Electricity and anxiety washed over me.

Kiran let me struggle; I saw the
familiar smirk returning to his lips. He looked over me until
finally letting his eyes settle on mine. I lost myself in the depth
of his ocean blue eyes and worried that I was willing to say or do
anything he wanted now.

“
You’re not crazy, you
know,” he placed his hands on my arms and pulled me slightly
closer. My stomach erupted with butterflies and that almost made me
forget about the energy nearly knocking me off of my
feet.

“
I wish I knew what you were
talking about,” I lied, but I knew the conviction didn’t reach my
voice.

“
Sure,” he leaned in closer,
hesitating for a moment, our lips just barely apart. Kiran looked
at me for a second longer before changing his mind and kissing me
tenderly on the cheek. He let his lips linger on my face, the
warmth of his body heat warming me all over. I felt my body tremble
as his sweet breath tickled my face.

I was not sure how to react, or even
if I could react. Since this was the first kiss I had ever received
from a boy, ever…. I was completely frozen. His lips left my cheek
burning, and my body began to overheat; and I couldn’t tell if it
was from his kiss or the electricity surging through me at an
alarming rate.

He looked into my eyes again, watching
my reaction. Unfortunately for him, all I could do was stand
perfectly still, willing my body under control. He laughed gently
and then turned around and walked out the front door.

I placed my hands behind my back and
pointed them towards the fireplace. Not entirely sure why I felt
the need to be discreet in my own home, especially now that I was
alone, I let the energy escape through my palms and into the open
hearth. Thankfully the only damage I did was to my ears from the
loud popping noise of the small explosion I created; otherwise a
large fire was the only evidence of the electricity I let
escape.

I heard the garage door open and knew
that it was my aunt coming home for sure this time. I was too
shell-shocked from Kiran's surprise visit to want to see or talk to
her, so I headed for the stairs. My body was weak and my stomach
still full of butterflies. I obviously couldn’t understand my
feelings for Kiran, it was no wonder that I could barely control my
actions either. A shiver ran up my spine and I couldn't decide if
it was from excitement or fear.

Just as I passed by the living room
window however, I saw somebody or something move from behind a tree
in the front yard. I stood there staring for a few seconds, one
foot on the staircase, one on the wood floor, expecting Kiran to
jump out from behind the large oak or something. But instead of
Kiran, a tall, masculine figure walked out from behind the tree,
clearly not Kiran.

He was dressed in a long trench coat,
and bowler hat, and walked slowly and purposefully across my yard
and down the street. A shiver once again traveled up my back, only
this time I clearly recognized it as fear. Somebody had been
watching me.

11.

I parked my car in the long line of
black something or others, taking up two parking spaces. My
sunflower yellow Land Rover stuck out terribly, but I could have
cared less. I took a big breath, thankful that I didn’t fit in
there. But even more thankful that I was allowed to drive myself
that morning.

Of course, that was only due to the
fact that Aunt Syl was called into the ER in the middle of the
night. Feeling slightly sorry for her, but still happy to have my
independence back, I grabbed my backpack and stepped out of the
car.

Although I was running significantly
late, I stopped to take another deep breath and mentally prepared
myself. I had no idea how my body would handle returning to school
after my short hiatus. I was definitely concerned about the whole
fainting thing, and would have rather avoided it for the rest of my
life.

I was pleased that my close encounter
with Kiran brought no immediate spells of unconsciousness, and
hoped that my previous behavior was all just a phase I was now,
hopefully, over. I still could not mentally wrap my head around
Kiran’s unexpected visit or his even more unexpected exit. I
unconsciously brought my hand to my cheek and smiled. I felt the
heat rise beneath my fingers and quickly shook my head, physically
trying to forget last night’s intimate moment.

The student parking lot sat on the
back of campus, near the football and soccer fields, so I bypassed
the Administration Building and headed straight for English. A nice
change from being dropped off at the front of campus like all of
the other students who were too young or too rich to drive
themselves.

A handful of students were in front of
me, scrambling to get to class on time. All of them dressed in
their navy blue and white uniforms; the only change today was the
addition of navy blue or cardinal red cardigans, signaling the
change in temperature. I was always amazed at the ability some
girls had of changing a dowdy school uniform into a stripper piece
from some teenage boy’s wildest fantasy; I was not one of those
girls.

I clearly picked out Kiran and Talbott
in the throng of students ahead of me since they were walking much
slower than everybody else. I slowed my pace slightly, not sure if
I wanted to pass them, or be brave enough to join them. I mean
Kiran and I were friends right? Or something more? Or something
entirely different all together? I actually had no idea what we
were.

I noticed how much taller Talbott was
than Kiran, how much taller than everybody he was, and how strong
he was built. I had a hard time picturing him in a bowler hat, but
realized it must have been him behind the tree last night. An
instant wave of relief washed over me. I had no idea why he would
wear a disguise to accompany Kiran to my house, but it was the only
thing that made any sense.

I was still pondering whether to pass
or wait them out when they simultaneously turned around to look at
me. Kiran gave me a small wave and an almost sheepish grin. I
noticed near embarrassment in his eyes; it was the most endearing
he had ever looked. I gave a small wave back and felt my cheeks
burning from the memory of last night.

Talbott noticed our exchange and
slapped the back of Kiran’s head. My mouth dropped open from shock
and amusement. Kiran stopped dead in his tracks and Talbott
followed suit. They stood there staring at each other, both
refusing to say or do anything more. For a second I thought they
were going to fight.

“
Enough of this Kiran, go to
class,” Talbott demanded.

“
Who do you think you are?”
Kiran shouted hostilely. They were both angry enough that their
accents were making it difficult to understand them. The remainder
of students running as late as we were turned to watch the
exchange. I wiped the smile off of my face and realized this could
get serious.