My Night Breeze (The Breeze Series) (14 page)

“Yes, you do.
And I’m sorry but I…” she started.

It could
n’t be this way. She couldn’t do it…say what she needed to his back. She ran after him, stepping in his way. He narrowed his eyes, but his features stayed neutral.

“There is someone else who terrifies me more. And I wanted to know what you c
ould do to help,” Audra finished.

“T
hat depends,” he said. “Who is it?”

“You’re joking, right?” Stephen asked.

“Not at all.”

“That’s not a costume,” Stephen complained.

“Don’t care.”

“Oh, leave her be. If it makes her happy, then it’s fine,” Chris said.

“Thanks
, Chris,” Audra said.

Stephen mumbled
his disapproval under his breath. The sound of obnoxious laughter abused her eardrums, sending anxiety into a frenzy in her stomach. She ducked her head into the locker trying to hide, but Stephen grabbed her arm, tugging her to his side. Chris stood on the other side of her. A strange thought went through her mind like they were taking a stance against evil. For all intents and purposes it was true, but this wasn’t the time or place.

The sight of Jim brought
only a slight cushion of comfort to the situation. Tobias spotted the trio and sent his smile to her. She reciprocated to be polite, but the gesture hadn’t gone unnoticed by Valerie. She sneered and made a beeline straight for them. An adrenaline rush began to flood her veins at the impending scene after the attack of ‘Valerie the terrible.’ Audra kicked her locker shut with her foot and gripped the straps on her backpack.

“Did you see the
fight in the lobby?” Tobias asked.

“No,
what happened?” Stephen inquired.

“Two idiots fighting
over a chick,” Jim said.

“Glad I didn’t invite them to the pa
rty tomorrow night,” Tobias said.

“They’re underclassmen
. Of course they aren’t invited. Seniors only,” Valerie stated.

Tobias looked
at Audra, sending her a smile. “Seniors and a few juniors.”

A so
ft flush of her cheeks caused her to look down at the floor. She didn’t have to see Valerie’s face to comprehend the irritation there. It seemed to be radiating off of her. Tobias was making this worse without even realizing it. What was the girl so antagonistic about? It’s not like Audra had made any move to try to take him away from her. She wasn’t even interested in him like that. He was like part of the family, another brother.

“Come
on, you’ll be late,” Mateo said.

She had
n’t realized his approach but couldn’t take her eyes off of him now. The anxiety she usually felt didn’t make itself known, possibly because of the Valerie issue. His eyes pierced right through her as he nodded in the direction of their next class. Without question she followed his lead down the hall away from the group. Only once a few feet away, did she look up to him.

“
Thanks.”

“Yo
u looked uncomfortable,” he said.

“I was. Tomorrow night would be terrible if I had to deal alone.”

“What’s tomorrow?” he asked.

“Halloween party, remember?”

Mateo opened the door for her and walked slowly beside her. She noticed the awkward vibe he was giving off. It made her turn to face him. The look in his eyes already seemed made up on the issue.

“Please?”
she asked.

“I don’t do the whole get drunk thing.”

“Neither do I, but I have to go. And we could talk…about anything,” she said.

“You mean ask me more questions.”

“Not at all. I mean one or two may happen in general but nothing exploratory,” she said.

“I’ll go on one condition. You tell me more about yourself.”

Audra swallowed hard, not liking the condition but found herself nodding. There wasn’t much to tell, really. With him being a stranger, it would be easier to reflect the minimalist conversation about it. Even if he asked Stephen, which she doubted he would, there would be nothing to add. Small family, good grades and volleyball. There wasn’t much more to tell.

*****

Jim walked with her up the path towards the house when his hand lightly grasped her shoulder.

“If anyone messes with you
, find me or Tobias.”

“I know. I’ll
be fine,” she said.

Jim sighed
aloud in disapproval of her attending but bit his tongue. “Put your ears on.”

He rang
the bell; it only took a moment before it swung open. They entered the overly crowded living room as the music blasted them in the face. She’d never heard it before, but it was very techno-y. Jim grasped her hand, leading them down the hall towards the basement door. Only part way down the stairs did the music clash violently until it was drowned out completely by the raging rock music.

The heat radia
ting off of so many people made sweat start to break out across her forehead. She wasn’t expecting so many people to show up nor that with costumes on that the temperature would rise so drastically. She did a quick sweep of the room with her eyes, but she didn’t see her friends anywhere. Jim’s attention was distracted by a few guys from school, and Audra used it to slip out of sight.

Audra took
the stairs up, skimming the crowd once more before ascending the rest of the way. The living room was as crowded as it was when she first went through, but the sight of the jackets caught her attention. She squeezed through until she could tap on Chris’s shoulder. He smiled in response.

Stephen shook
his head in disappointment at her costume.

“You’d have looked better in a poodle skirt.”

“I’m more comfortable this way. Besides, I’d look weird trying to hone in on your greaser outfits,” she said.

“It’d be funny though.”

“I’m fine, really,” she said.

“Where’s your tail?” Ch
ris asked.

Audra turned
, showing off the black tail with white tip attached to her black jeans. When she faced them, she wiggled her nose at them causing Chris to chuckle.

“Very cute
,” Chris commented.

“C
utest cat in town,” Stephen said.

“Have you seen Molly?”
Audra asked.

“She’s running late. Something
about her makeup,” Stephen said.

Chris leaned
towards her. “I think she took the loss really hard.”

“It’s the first game we’ve lost. It’s disappointing
, but we have to continue the fight,” Audra advised.

Stephen point
ed towards the kitchen. Audra declined to join them to get drinks and watched them disappear into the crowd.

When she lost
sight of her friends, someone else stepped in her way. She couldn’t recognize them in the ‘Ghost Face’ costume and tried to step around them, but they kept stepping in front of her. Irritation flared across her face, but as the mask lifted, a familiar face appeared with a smile.

“Where’s Jim?”

“Downstairs,” she replied.

“Aren’t you supposed to be with Stephen?”

“Overprotective much?” she retorted.

Tobi
as laughed heartedly, but didn’t take offense to the remark. “Don’t get into too much trouble.”

“Here
, babe,” Valerie cooed.

She handed
him a fresh beer before grabbing his face and forcing her tongue down his throat. It wasn’t romantic at all; it made Audra’s chest heave with a slight impulse to vomit. The kiss was nothing like what she saw last time she came to his party. Tobias pushed her back forcefully but appeased her with keeping his arm around her shoulders.

“Sorry
’bout that,” Tobias said.

“Why are you a
pologizing to her?” Valerie asked venomously.

“She hit the keg pretty
early tonight,” Tobias continued.

Audra refused to
respond, scanning the crowd for the reemergence of her friends. For anyone who could be an excuse to go over to. Molly should be here any minute. She turned her head towards the door just as Mateo walked in. A broad smile instantly covered her face as well as a huge sigh of relief. He came! She waved her hand, flagging him down until he stood beside her.

“Tobias, this is Mateo. He
transferred in this year and is the only reason I’m passing science,” Audra introduced.

“
Oh…this is the guy,” Tobias said.

“What guy?”
she asked just as Mateo confirmed, “I am.”

Audra glanced
between the both of them, utterly confused. Mateo didn’t elaborate, but his smirk was set in place. She furrowed her brow in confusion. What were they talking about? Tobias chuckled. It brought the irritation back quickly.

“Glad yo
u made it, man,” Tobias continued.

“Thanks
,” Mateo replied.

Tobias nodded
to Audra before clutching Valerie closer and trying to clear a path through the crowd of people. Valerie narrowed her eyes at her, giving Audra the most irrational bloom of fear.

“Try not to have any
more accidents. Your face can only handle so much damage,” Valerie commented.

Audra made
it a point to step back from her until she bumped into someone behind her. She quickly apologized while maneuvering through the throngs of people into the hallway until she was in the kitchen. Stephen and Chris were nowhere to be found, but she went out the back door. The cool air was welcoming, but it did nothing to chill the frustration inside.

The breeze blew
cold air through her and she sucked it in, trying to fill her lungs. Thoughts started to flow—nothing that made sense, just actions. Valerie was nothing to mess with sober. How was she supposed to last the night here? Audra rubbed her hands up and down her face when the telltale signs started to creep in. The warmth against her face was unwelcome and harsh.

“
Tell me the truth,” Mateo stated.

The sound of his voice ripped
her out of the daydream. When she looked at his face, there was a fierce expression upon it. She awaited the cool breeze to blow once more, to inhale, but nothing happened. She glanced amongst the trees but not one leaf bounced. Her eyes glanced back at him again and realization hit her.

“You did it.”

“We’re not talking about that right now. What was she talking about?” Mateo said angrily.

“No, wait
, please.”

Audra made
her way to the picnic bench, sitting down trying to get her thoughts together. Everything seemed to be happening so quickly and slowly at the exact same time. She closed her eyes and then forced them open but nothing happened. Mateo came over, sitting beside her, but didn’t speak.

“You really did it. I didn’t think you could or that anyone coul
d, but you did it,” Audra rambled.

“Did what?”

“You got it to stop. I’ve been losing my mind, and you stopped it from happening,” Audra said.

Audra reached
over to his hand, grasping it tightly with a huge grin on her face. “You can make them stop!”

Mateo gave
her a crazy-eyed look before she managed to explain what had been going on with her strange memories. It took a few minutes to get it all out, and it didn’t stem another round of the memory takeover. Hope flared in her chest as well as her eyes. This could be finished! And maybe he could help her figure out the whole memory without dealing with the sensory overload.

“Audra, I didn’t do anything.”

“You found a way to pull me out of it. Maybe there is something you can do?”

“I don’t know how to help
, but I’ll try. Explains why you’re more afraid of yourself than me.”

He grazed
his thumb along her hand. They sat in silence with nothing but the darkness of the night. The music and ruckus of the party didn’t taint the outdoors, leaving a feeling of extra aloneness. Not abandon or insecurity, just perfect aloneness.

Audra glanced
down at their united hands, no anxiety or unwelcome feelings. She’d never done anything like this before, especially when it meant something she knew nothing about with someone she barely knew. Her amber eyes met with gray, a conversation with no words. He leaned slightly into her, allowing his side to touch hers.

“Show me
,” Audra whispered.

“I don’t want to scare you again.”

“Please?” she asked.

Mateo loosened
his hand from hers only to wrap it around her shoulders. He held her close into his side. She took slow deliberate breaths, glancing around them, waiting for something to happen. Gentle warmth started to slip over her shoulders and down her back. It felt like the first day of spring when the sun kissed your skin, leaving a trail of happiness within. Nature coming back to life in extravagantly blossoming colors.

“Better?” Mateo asked
.

She smiled
in response. The feeling was much more concentrated than the first time he touched her hand or when he touched her face. The tingles were like a live wire surging through her body. It felt like waking up after being in a deep sleep for too long. She looked up into his eyes easily with their faces so close. The proximity of his personal body heat enraptured her attention as well as the fact that he was still holding her close to him.