Shadowed Strength: Shadowed Series Book One (16 page)

“Were you in love with her?”

“No, I wasn’t, thank God. But I liked her and
to be associated with someone who could act like that, it really pissed me off.
Bad. I said a few choice things to her and broke up with her on the spot.
That’s part of the reason I got so angry when Sissy said those things to you at
that stupid party. To think that I was such a bad judge of character, seeing
good in people that just wasn’t there…I lost it.”

Melanie smiled. “Yeah, I heard.”

“Tara told you?” She nodded. “Of course she
did.”

“What about number three?”

“Number three?”

“Yeah, you said you’ve had three girlfriends.
Tell me about number three.”

“Well,” he said, taking his hands from her
hair and slipping back around her waist. “Number three should have been number
one. She is funny, smart, and beautiful. We were friends first, so I know
who
she is, and I love everything about her. I know there aren’t any nasty
surprises waiting for me. And, I happen to know she doesn’t really like sports
and won’t be leaving me for any baseball players, either.” He paused for a
moment, then squeezed her tight. “Right?”

“Right!” Melanie laughed and tried to wriggle
out of his embrace. She flipped over onto her hands and knees and kissed him
quickly before standing up and pulling her sweater off. Jiggly arms be damned,
she was hot.

“I was wondering when you were going to take
that thing off. It’s too hot out for a sweater. Why’d you wear it anyway?”

Melanie wrapped her hands around her upper
arms and shrugged. “I just thought it looked better.”

Jeremy got up onto his knees and scooted
closer to her. He turned her around so that her back was to the tree and he
wrapped his hands around the backs of her knees, then slid them up slightly,
just under the hem of her dress. He looked up into her eyes until she released
her arms and put her hands on his shoulders.

“You look beautiful, Melanie. You’d look good
in a garbage bag. Please stop trying to hide from me. I told you, I love
everything about you. That includes every inch of your amazing body.

“No, don’t pull away,” he said as she tried to
back up. She stopped. “I don’t know why you have such a low opinion of your
body. Well, I can guess. Sissy and her minions, right? Listen to me, Mel. Those
plastic Barbie Doll girls have nothing on you. I love that you have curves.” He
ran his hands up the backs of her bare thighs to her butt and squeezed. “One
day, I’m going to kiss every inch of every one of those curves. I’ll worship
them, and you’ll believe me when I tell you that you’re beautiful.”

 Melanie ran her fingers into his hair
and pulled up on it. He loosened his grasp on her and stood, only to wrap his
arms around her waist and yank her forward into a deep and tender kiss.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

His
grip on the steering wheel tightened as he saw Jeremy run his hands underneath
her dress. He could feel the anger rising within him. He’d been watching them
all afternoon. Watching them talk, and laugh, and cuddle together on the
blanket. He held it together, knowing his time was coming.

But this, this was too much to bear. Jeremy
was touching her places that belonged to him! He wanted to jump out of his
rental car and drag Jeremy into the water and drown him.  Then they
kissed, and he couldn’t take it anymore. He needed to leave before he exposed
himself and his identity.

“No,” he said aloud to himself with a grin. “That
would ruin the surprise. I don’t want to give away the end of the story.”

He put the car in reverse and backed out of
the spot, then pulled onto the highway to head back to town.

“Soon. Yes, soon, our story will end, Melanie
Johnson.”

“Melanie, what are your thoughts?”

The question from Mr. Hughes brought Melanie
out of her daydream like a slap.  “I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “Can you
please repeat the question?”

“Please see me after class.”

“Yes, sir.”

Great. Just great.

Melanie tried to concentrate and pay attention
to the rest of the lecture, but it was a struggle. Jeremy had texted her before
school and told her he was skipping today. His parents flew into town for a
quick visit and they wanted to go for a “run.” Once a month they like to go up
to the mountains and shift, so they can run free in the wild without being
seen. She had been tempted to make a dogcatcher joke, but refrained. She
snickered at the thought.

She surreptitiously pulled out her phone and
held it in her lap, out of sight. She pulled up Jeremy’s last text and smiled.

“
I’ll call U 2nite. ILY”

“
Miss Johnson!”

Melanie jerked her head up and was trapped by
Mr. Hughes’ narrowed gaze. His face was pinched and his lips were pressed
tightly together. Melanie couldn’t remember him ever looking so angry at a
student before. That it was directed at her made her squirm in her seat.

“Please bring me your phone. Now.”

Melanie rose and slowly shuffled down the
aisle toward the front. When she passed by Sissy, the other girl smirked and
tossed her hair.

“Poor, pudgy Piglet.” Her gaggle of friends
started tittering and Mr. Hughes slammed his hand down on his desk.

“Enough!” he yelled. “Melanie, if you please.”

He held out his hand expectantly as she neared
him. She gently placed the phone in his hand and he looked down at the screen
with a frown. She had forgotten to exit her texting app and lock her screen, so
Jeremy’s last text was still visible. He placed the phone in his top drawer and
waved Melanie back to her seat.

She spent the rest of class staring at her
book, but not really seeing anything. She was embarrassed and confused. Mr.
Hughes had always been her favorite teacher. He was young, cool, and, quite
frankly, easy on the eyes.

Up until a few weeks ago, he’d never lost his
temper in class, especially never with her. She couldn’t understand the change
in him. His anger made her jumpy. Sissy calling her Piglet in front of the
whole class was just the icing on the cake.

When the bell rang to signal the end of class,
Melanie stayed where she was while the rest of the students filed out. She
didn’t even look up, knowing he would speak when he was ready. One minute
passed, then two. Finally he called her name.

“Melanie, come here.”

She gathered her book and notebook and dumped
them into her backpack. Staring at her feet, she slowly walked to the front of
the room and stopped by his desk. Her breathing was fast and shallow. Fear held
her in its icy grip and she couldn’t figure out why.

“Look at me.”

His voice was gruff and firm and brooked no
resistance. She’d never heard him speak that way before, yet it held some note
of familiarity. She slowly raised her eyes to his and gasped at what she saw
there. The anger was palpable.

“This is unacceptable. First, you were very
obviously daydreaming instead of paying attention in my class, and then, to add
insult to injury, you pull your phone out to stare at a love note?”

The way he said love made it sound like a
dirty word. His breathing escalated and his next words were punctuated by rough
bursts of air.

“Unacceptable!” he continued. “You. Will. Pay.
Attention. To. Me. Do you understand me, little girl?”

Melanie nodded her head vigorously and turned
toward the door, ready to run. Mr. Hughes grabbed her wrist roughly and it felt
like her shoulder might pop out of joint. She looked at the hand on her arm,
fear making her eyes wild, before she glanced back at his face. Confusion
overtook her as she saw that the anger in his ice blue eyes had been replaced
by a look of smug satisfaction. He slapped her cell phone into her hand and
released her. She backed away slowly and he smiled.

“Have a good day, Miss Johnson,” she heard as
she turned and ran out into the hallway.

She went straight to the nurse’s office and
asked to call home. Her mom had the day off from the nursing home, so Melanie
knew she’d be at home, curled up on the couch reading one of her trashy romance
novels. Sure enough, she picked up on the second ring.

“Mom, can you please come pick me up?”

“What’s wrong baby? Are you sick?”

“I have a terrible headache and I feel a
little nauseous. Can you please come?”

“I’ll be there in ten.”

Melanie hid in the nurse’s office until she
heard her name called over the school’s intercom speakers. She walked as
quickly as she could to the front office, but slowed as the path took her by
her English classroom. Mr. Hughes had a planning period during second and she
hoped he had stepped out for the hour. As she passed by, the door swung open
and he walked out into the hallway and into her path. She had to stop or plow
right into him.

“Melanie, is everything okay?”

He sounded sincere, but his eyes were slightly
squinty and his lips were pinched together. He tapped the toe of his shoe on
the floor with agitation.

“My mom is here to pick me up. Headache.”

He put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed.
It took all she had not to jerk away from his touch.

“Well, I hope you feel better soon. It would
be a shame if you had to miss my class.”

He squeezed her shoulder again, nearly too
hard, and winked at her before he removed his hand. His slipped back into his
room and shut the door firmly behind him.

Melanie’s stomach cramped and she started dry
heaving in the middle of the hallway. Luckily there was no food in her stomach,
or else the school janitor would have had a mess to clean up. She wobbled to
the wall of lockers and rested her forehead against one, taking deep breaths,
trying to get herself under control. She couldn’t let her mom see her like
this.

After gulping in a few more deep breaths, she
straightened. Melanie stared at the closed door to the classroom. Her eyes
pooled with tears and she shook her head in disbelief.

“It can’t be,” she whispered.

She didn’t want to believe it, but deep down
she knew.  She knew it when she heard his voice laced with anger. She knew
it when he used the same words he used that night. Words he said right after he
threatened to kill her if she screamed.

“Do you understand me, little girl?”

Oh God, Oh God, Oh God.
Melanie’s stomach heaved again.
Oh God, Oh God, Oh God.

Her mind churned the phrase over and over
again as she tried to regain her equilibrium. She started stumbling toward the
office, but stopped and pulled out her phone instead. She needed to tell
Jeremy. He might not get her text right away if he was still out running with
his parents, but she knew he’d call or come to her as soon as he got it.

Before she could pull up his number, though,
her phone dinged with an incoming text. She unlocked the screen and stared at
it. Her numbed fingers barely kept their grip on her phone as she read the
words on the screen.

Unknown Caller: 912-555-8782

“Tell anyone and you’re dead.”

“Hey, babe.”

“Hey! How was your day? Did you have fun with
your parents?”

Melanie knew she sounded slightly manic, but
she was determined to keep the distress out of her voice.  She couldn’t
get that text out of her head.

Tell anyone, and you’re dead.

When her mom brought her home from school, she
went straight to her room and burrowed under the covers on her bed. She had stared
at the text all afternoon, her emotions flashing from disbelief to fear to
miserable resignation. She couldn’t tell anyone or he would kill her.

“It was fun. You okay? You sound funny.”

“Um, yeah, yeah, I’m okay. I came home from
school early today with a headache, but I’m doing better now.”

“You want me to come over?”

“No!” she yelled. Then more calmly, “I mean,
no, that’s okay. I’m already in bed and my mom is checking up on me every hour.
I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay,” he said skeptically. “I’ll see you
tomorrow. Bye.”

After saying goodbye and hanging up, Melanie
felt miserable. She hated lying to him, not to mention she was horrible at it.
That’s why she didn’t want him to come over. If he saw her face, he’d know
immediately that she was lying, if he didn’t already. She had no idea how she
was going to face him tomorrow. In first period. With Mr. Hughes.

“Oh, God,” she moaned into her pillow. “What
am I going to do?”

Melanie jerked upright as her phone beeped out
her text message alert. She had to force herself to look at it, fearing that it
was another message from
him.
She realized he must have gotten her
number when he confiscated her phone in class. She was freaking out that now
she’d have to live with threatening texts and phone calls in addition to the
creepy gifts in her locker. 

Well, that solves the mystery of how the
stalker got my locker combination,
she thought
. He
probably got it from the front office.

“
What’s up? You feeling any better?”

Melanie sighed in relief when she read the
text from Tara. Then she tensed up again. She had to lie, again.

“Still got a headache.”

“Chris just texted me. J said you were
acting weird.”

“Just not feeling 2 good.”

“Ok, girlie. I’ll let u sleep. See u in the
morning?”

“Yeah. Should be good 2 go.”

“K. Bye.”

“Bye.”

Melanie threw her phone on the bed in
frustration. She had no idea how she was going to face her friends tomorrow,
much less Mr. Hughes.  Jeremy being in class with her made it twice as
daunting. She thought maybe she should continue to fake being sick in the
morning. Her mom would believe her and she could just hide in bed all day.

Her phone beeped, and she picked it up
thinking it would be Tara again. As she unlocked the screen, her eyes widened
in horror.

Unknown Caller: 912-555-8782

“I’ve been thinking about you all day.”

She dropped the phone like it burned her, and
as it hit the bed it beeped again. She slowly reached for it, afraid to look,
but more afraid not to.

Unknown Caller: 912-555-8782

“
Don’t ignore me, baby. I want you so very
much.”

With tears filling her eyes, she decided to
plead with him to leave her alone. She didn’t know what else to do.

“Please, leave me alone. Please.”

“Oh, how I love it when you beg. You don’t
know what it does to me.”

“Stop texting me!!!”

“My only love sprang from my only hate-
Romeo and Juliet. You may think you hate me now, but you will love me, soon. We
are the perfect match, you and I. I know what you need, Melanie. You need a strong
hand to lead you into the throes of ecstasy. I can teach you so, so many things
about the pleasures of pain. I will teach you those lessons in the very near
future.”

Melanie was sobbing now, trying to stay quiet
so her mom wouldn’t hear. She decided not to text him again, thinking that her
responses were only encouraging him. Her hands were shaking so badly that she
wouldn’t have been able to tap the right letters anyway. Regardless, her phone
beeped again.

“If I see Jeremy touch you again, I’ll break
all his fingers. You are mine and you better not forget it again. With that,
I’ll give with another quote from Shakespeare to mull over-These violent
delights have violent ends. Good night, Melanie.”

“Oh, God, what should I do?” she whispered to
herself.

She knew, logically that she should tell
everyone the truth. Jeremy would protect her, Tara would shield her, and her
mom would call the police.

She had no proof. She used the search engine
on her phone to look up the phone number and all that came up was one of those
companies that sells throw-away phones at convenience stores. There was no way
to trace it back to Mr. Hughes. If the police couldn’t lock him up, he would be
free to come after her. Or Tara. Or Jeremy.

How am I supposed to keep Jeremy from
touching me without telling him why?

She stared at the ceiling as she thought it
over. There was only one way to protect him, and it devastated her. She was
going to have to do the last thing in the world she wanted to do- break things
off with him.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The next morning, Melanie got up extra early,
despite having no sleep. She had dark bags under her swollen, red eyes. She
laid awake all night, forming a plan of attack for today. She knew she had to
do something, anything, to protect the ones she loved. Even if that meant
hurting them in the process.

She threw her sunglasses on as Tara pulled
into her driveway. She hopped in and buckled her seat belt, but Tara just put
the car in park and stared at her.

“What?”

“Don’t ‘what’ me, Mel. What’s wrong with you?
You look like crap,” she said as she reached over and yanked the glasses from
Melanie’s face.

“I was up all night crying, obviously,”
Melanie deadpanned.

“Why were you crying? What’s the matter?”

“I’m going to break up with Jeremy today.”

“What?!? Why would you do a stupid thing like
that?”

Melanie took a deep breath. It was do or die
time.

“It’s that family secret I told you about. I
thought I could handle it, but I can’t. It’s just too much.”

“Are you sure? You said before-”

“I know what I said!” Melanie interrupted with
a shout. “Sorry,” she said quietly. “I thought I could, but I can’t. I really
can’t talk about it. I’m sorry.”

Tara threw Melanie’s sunglasses into her lap
and put the car in reverse. “Okay,” was all she said, but Melanie could tell
she was upset. They didn’t speak again until Tara pulled the car into a parking
spot at school.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I know what I have to do.”

Tara reached over and grabbed Melanie’s hand
and squeezed it. “Well, I’m here for you if you need me.”

“Thanks, Tara.”

Melanie’s car door opened and Jeremy stuck his
head in and quickly kissed her on the cheek. Melanie reared back and anxiously
looked around to make sure Mr. Hughes wasn’t in sight. She hopped out of the car
and slammed the door, then put a few feet distance between them. Jeremy took a
step toward her and she took a step back.

“What’s the matter, Mel?” He looked from her
to Tara and back to her again. “Did I do something wrong?”

“Bye, Mel. I’ll talk to you later,” Tara said
as she walked away, presumably to go find Chris and tell him what was going on.

“Mel, look at me,” he said when she wouldn’t
meet his eyes.

On a big breath, she blurted out “I want to
break up.”

Jeremy’s head reared back as if she had struck
him. He looked at her incredulously for a few seconds before asking, “Why?”

“I just do, okay?”

“No, not okay. You need to tell me what
brought this on. This is so far out of left field, I…I just don’t understand.”

“I can’t handle it.”

“Can’t handle what?”

“The thing. You know, the secret. I thought I
could, but I can’t. It’s too weird. So please, just accept this and leave me
alone.”

“Mel,” he said gently, taking another step
toward her, reaching his hand out as if to touch her.

“No!” she shouted. “Leave it, Jeremy. I’m
done.”

With that, she turned and walked away, trying
uselessly to stop the tears that were leaving wet trails down her cheeks.