Charity Moon (7 page)

“No, he didn’t have to.”

I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about that statement. “Well, we’re just friends, if you can even call us that.”

“That’s good to know.”

When we got to my house he walked me to the door. “Is there a reason you don’t want me to meet your parents?”

“Well, my stepfather and I don’t get along very well. Truth is, he’s sort of a jerk, and I don’t want him to be rude to you.”

“I can take care of him for you,” he teased, or was he teasing? It was hard to tell.

“Um, thanks, but no thanks. My mom’s kind of fond of him.”

“I enjoyed our evening. Maybe we can do this again sometime. You’re a very beautiful woman, Charity,” he said while wrapping a strand of my hair around his finger. I found the gesture slightly unnerving.

“Um, thank you, Wesley. Well—goodnight.” I turned to go inside when he took my hand, turned me toward him, and kissed me. It was a gentle kiss, but I saw a brief flicker of something in his eyes causing my hair to stand on end once again.

“Goodnight,” he whispered as he released me. Then he turned and headed back to his car; a shiny, new, red Corvette.

Monday morning arrived and the school was all a buzz about the fight. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured. I don’t know why everyone was so surprised. There’s a fight almost every year, and every year extra precautions are taken to avoid one, but on some scale or another there seems to be one regardless. Rivalries are funny that way. So much for hoping it was dying down.

When lunchtime arrived, I told my friends about my date with Wesley, down to the very last detail. For some reason they were surprised it went so well.

“Do you like him?” Delaney asked.

“Well, I’m not sure. I guess he was nice enough.”

“If he asks you out again, will you go?”

“Hmm, maybe.”

Out of nowhere, Levi appeared beside me, looking slightly agitated. “Charity, can I talk to you a minute?”

“Um, sure.” I got up and followed him out of the cafeteria. He led me around the building to the spot where we talked before.

“What’s up, Levi?” I turned to face him, and it was then that I noticed his perfect face was just that—perfect. But hadn’t I witnessed him receiving blows in the fight, as well as giving them? And yet his face was perfectly smooth and untouched.  

“Are the rumors true?” he snapped. “Did you go out with Wesley this weekend?” His voice was accusatory.

I was a little surprised by his intensity. And then I noticed his shirt was unbuttoned slightly and found myself distracted by the thin patch of hair on his golden upper chest.

“Charity! Did you go out with Wesley?” he repeated.

The intensity of his voice broke me from my train of thought, dang it. “Yes I did. What’s the problem? And how did you know about that?”

“I have my ways of hearing things. You can’t go out with him again.” He looked frustrated, which confused me.

“Oh, I’m sorry, but did you just tell me what to do? I must’ve heard you wrong. Why do you care anyway?”

“I—I don’t. It’s just that he’s not a good person. I’ve known Wesley for ten years. He’s only using you to get to me.”

“Are you suggesting that I’m not good enough for him to like me for me?”

“No, don’t twist my words. Wesley and I have had an intense rivalry since childhood. He always has to out-do me at everything. Winning is everything to him. He thinks I like you, and that’s the main reason he wants to go out with you.”

“And why would he think that? Doesn’t he know you actually hate me?”

“Is that what you think? You think I hate you?”

“Of course. Don’t you?”

“No, I don’t hate you, not at all. It’s you who hates me.”

I let out a deep sigh, feeling exhausted by the whole thing. “No, Levi, I don’t hate you. You just have this way of irritating me to death, that’s all.”

He flashed me his brilliant smile, and I had to fight the urge to touch his dimples. “That’s good to know. Now, will you stay away from Wesley? If he asks you out again you have to say no.”

“I can’t promise that, Levi. He was nice to me. He likes me, and he didn’t put his paws all over me like most of my dates have.”

“But he will! That’s what he wants! Don’t you see?”

“No! What I see is a guy who, for some odd reason, seems jealous because his friend is outdoing him and is saying things to make his friend look bad! For all I know, you’re the one who always tries to out-do him! And nobody touches me without my permission!” I yelled at him.

“That’s not what I hear!” he yelled back with such venom that I actually flinched.

Was he talking about Frank, I wondered? My mouth fell open and tears flooded my eyes. Feeling humiliated, I turned and abruptly fled the scene.

“Charity! I’m—” I heard him call to me, but I was already around the building.

Too upset to go to my last class, I found myself in my car—headed for home.

When I arrived home I went upstairs, fell across my bed, and cried. How could Levi have known about Frank? Surely that’s not what he meant, I told myself.

About an hour later I was outside on my roof, journaling when I looked up and observed the storm clouds rolling in. Right before a storm is my favorite time—when everything’s growing dark and the wind picks up. Call me creepy. I was snapped out of the moment when I heard the front door slam shut. I crawled back in and shut the window, listening intently. When I didn’t hear my mom call to me I assumed it was Frank. I ran to my door, shut it, and reached for my chair. It wasn’t there! I panicked as I looked all around; my chair was gone! My heart pounded heavy in my chest as my door flew open. Frank barged in. He’d been drinking. I could smell the alcohol on his breath. He once said he could never resist me when he’d been drinking, saying I reminded him of his first wife, Val. They married very young, and she supposedly did terrible things to him. He’s tortured by the very thought of her to this day, but I’m the one who suffers.

I was horrified at the wild look in his eyes, his stance predatorial. “I’ll make you pay, Val!”

“No, Frank!” I screamed. “I’m not Val! No!” 

He ran at me, knocking me back against my desk. The impact forced me to the floor, covering my head in defense. For a second all was quiet. I looked up in time to see him sailing through the air, smacking hard against the opposite wall and hitting the floor with a loud thud, taking my small bookshelf with him. He lay motionless, covered in books. I was thunderstruck at what I saw next—there, across the room, stood Levi, fists clenched, anger pulsing through him. He rushed to me, scooping me in his arms effortlessly and carrying me to my bed. I gave no thought to my actions as I clung to him like a lifeline, allowing myself to absorb his strength—his scent. After a few moments my heart rate began to slow, and I gazed up at him. “Thank you, Levi. How did you know I was in trouble?”

“I didn’t. I came by to apologize for being such a jerk. When I approached the front door I heard you scream. Are you all right?”

“I-I’m fine. How did you do that to Frank? I mean how did you throw him across the room like that?”

“I-I don’t know. I’m just strong when I want to be.” He shrugged.

I narrowed my eyes in suspicion, not sure what to make of his explanation.

“That’s all I can tell you. You’ll have to trust me. You
can
trust me, Charity,” he said, gently tracing his fingertips down my cheek.

The gesture surprised me, and my thoughts turned to pudding. “Um, okay. I guess I can do that.”
Breathe, Charity, breathe
.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

“No, thank you.” Before I could stop myself, I too reached up and touched his face, something I’ve been longing to do for some time.

I was frozen by the intensity of his gaze, his deep, piercing eyes seemingly seeing into my inner being, reading my thoughts. Slowly he bent his head forward, and when his lips came down on mine, the sensation was nothing less than electrifying. I wrapped my arms around his neck and drew him closer. The kiss deepened, and I felt my heart hammering in my throat. Our breathing escalated, but then I heard a voice inside my head saying ‘you can’t trust him, he’ll mistreat you, or worse, he’ll leave you’, suddenly and abruptly, I turned my head, breaking the kiss.

He released me as though he’d hurt me. “I’m sorry, Charity.”

“No, don’t apologize. It’s not you. It’s just kind of hard to kiss you with Frank unconscious on my floor.”

“Yeah, well I can see how that might crush the mood. Let me get him out of here for you.” He went over to him, picked him up over his shoulder, and carried him downstairs. He didn’t even seem to struggle with the weight. He brought my chair with him on his way back up.

“How did you know about my chair?”

“Oh, I spotted it downstairs and figured it would be a good way to keep him out. He’s out cold on the sofa, so he probably won’t remember what happened. After all, he never saw me.”

“That’s true. Thank you, Levi.”

“Don’t thank me, but you can forgive me—for what I said earlier. I know now why you reacted like you did. I was referring to Jeffrey not Frank. Forgive me.”

“Of course I forgive you.”

He walked over to my nightstand and grabbed my journal, opening it to where it was dog-eared and writing something. “This is my cell phone number. If you ever need me, or if you feel threatened by Frank again, call me. I’ll be here in minutes.” He laid the opened journal in my hands.

“Okay, I will.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” He leaned down and kissed my forehead.

“I’ll see ya.”

Then he was gone.

Reluctantly, my eyes trailed down to the last line of my entry, and here’s what it said . . .

I guess my date with Wesley went okay, but the entire time all I could do was think about Levi. I wish I could stop thinking about Levi!!!

I was mortified. Had Levi read my words? I prayed not.

I got up and closed my door, putting the chair against it and waiting until my mom returned home.

I
tossed and turned as the storm pounded the side of the house, heavy rain pelting my window. The lightening was close, causing me to jump and the house to shake with every strike. I covered my head with my Snoopy blanket, trying to drown out the noise. But the storm was only part of the reason I couldn’t claim sleep; the other was thanks to the images of the afternoon events swirling around in my head. I kept seeing Frank sailing through the air like a disregarded loincloth. Loincloth? Where did that come from? Anyway—how had Levi been able to lift a man of Frank’s stature? I mean, Levi’s muscular and strong, but he shouldn’t be that strong. It didn’t make any sense.

But the memory that plagued me the most was our kiss. I’ve never cared about kissing boys before, and yet this kiss was so different. I wanted it. I still want it. The storm raging outside was nothing compared to the one brewing within me, threatening to destroy everything I’ve worked to protect. I was struggling with how vulnerable I had allowed myself to become. No one’s ever seen me that vulnerable before and I hoped never again. But yet, it felt so natural allowing him to take me in his arms, engulfing me in security.

I have to admit I was greatly anticipating seeing Levi at school the next day. I even wore my best jeans and my most flattering blouse. I fixed my hair with extra care and accented my eyes a little more, since they’re the most dramatic feature on my face, or so I’m told. But if I was expecting any reaction from him I was sorely disappointed since Levi went to great lengths to ignore me the entire morning. In the parking lot, he acted as if he didn’t even see me, and in Calculus he never once looked in my direction. It was really becoming irritating, and by lunch, I had had enough of his games.

“Wow, looking good, Charity,” Ian, one of Levi’s friends, said to me as I approached.

“Thanks. Levi, do you have a minute?” I said, trying to tame my agitation.