You'll Always Be Mine (7 page)

              My last stop of the night was the Lawrence River, most famous for its fishing opportunities. I dumped the bodies in the freezing water to be found by someone else and got back into my car, heading over to my long hair beauty’s house.

CHAPTER NINE - LIZA

              “You know you’re crazy, right?” I questioned him, stepping down from the elevated sidewalk onto the mud.

              He turned around abruptly, pressing his body to mine and said, “Crazy is my middle name,” He leaned down so that his lips were to mine, brushing over them ever so slightly.

              Just as I was about to close the gap between our lips, he reached under my butt and picked me up bridal style. “Wouldn’t want to get your shoes muddy, now would we?”

              “They already are,”

              He remained silent until we approached the gazebo that stood in the middle of the park. He set me down gently and began to unpack our supposed breakfast--turned lunch. “How has the days been? You know, without me?”

              I pulled my knees to my chest, “It was one night without you. I think I survived.”

              He nodded in response, “You said you got flowers. From who?”

              “I thought it was from you.” I said, “I can’t think of anyone else who would want to send me a flower. I mean, I’m Liza.”

              “Don’t sell yourself short,” Sean encouraged, lifting my chin up so that he could see my face clearly. “Plenty of my friends are crushing on you.”

              I scowled at him. I hated his friends with a burning passion. “I don’t like your obnoxious friends. They only care about
Mountain Dew
and sex.”

              He rolled his eyes, stuffing a mouthful of noodles in his mouth. “They’re not that bad,” he defended. Pieces of noodles fell out of his mouth as he spoke.

              I tried my best to ignore his bad eating habits. “Those jerks you called friends gave me hell through freshman and half of sophomore year. They only tolerate me because I’m your girlfriend.”

              He pressed his lips together in a thin line, obviously regretting that he brought up the subject, “Liza…”

              “Forget it,” I snapped. Sean and his friends bullied me most of the time I had been in high school because I was overweight. Eventually, I turned my life around, lost the weight, and became healthier. Sean had some sort of epiphany and here we are.

              We sat in silence for what seemed like forever but was surely only minutes, before he finally spoke, “Babe, you haven’t touched your food.”

              My eyes drifted towards the box of noodles in front of me. “I’m not hungry,” I said bitterly.

              “Liza, I’m sorry--”

              “I want to go home.” I announced, standing to my feet. “Take me home.”

              He sat there, unmoving.

              “I said, take me home.” I repeated.

              “Okay,” he gave in, standing up as well. “You know I didn’t mean to bring it up. If you still want to go home then--”

              “Didn’t you hear me?” I asked with a ridiculous amount of anger in my voice. “Take me home, Sean.”

              “Alright,” he said, shoving all the food into the paper bag. “At least eat your fortune cookie.” He held it out to me.

              I snatched it from his palm. “Can we go now?”

              “Uh, yeah,” He fished inside of his pocket for his keys. “We can go,”

▪▪▪▪▪

              Two days had passed and somehow, I managed to avoid Sean. He practically knew where I was every second of the day so I took this to my advantage by not being where he expected me to be. I came to school earlier than usual to get all of my stuff so I could avoid going to my locker. I ate in a bathroom stall because I knew Sean would try to find me and that was the only place he couldn’t enter. After school, I would head straight for my car, not allowing him to see me and never answered his texts or calls.

              I admit, I was taking this to a whole other level but he deserved to see how life was without me. Maybe he will appreciate it more. Well, that seemed to be the plan until he stopped me in the middle of the hallway while I was trying to rush to my car. He pinned me against the lockers, one arm beside me to prevent me from advancing and the other holding onto my wrist.

              “Sean,”

              “You’ve been avoiding me,” he said, stating the obvious, “Why?”

             
“I have a lot on my plate right now, Sean.” I lied, “I have a huge test tomorrow that I have to study for, so if you don’t mind…” My eyes motioned to his tight grip on my wrist.

              “Sorry,” he apologized, removing his hand from my arm. “Look if you just want to break up, I-”

             
              “I’m not breaking up with you.” I interrupted, “I’m serious about that test so can I go now?”

              “Yeah, I’ll walk you to your car.”

              “I’m taking the bus,”

              “I’ll walk you to the bus then,”

              “No!” I protested, “I mean, I uh…you have football practice. You should get going, don’t want to be late, do you?” I quirked a brow while trying to fake a smile.

              “I’m not going to be late.”

              “Really?” I asked, “I heard the coach wants you off the team. He’s saying that you’re always late.”

              “He can shove it up his ass,” he scoffed, “If I want to walk my girlfriend to the bus, then I can.”

              “Sean,” I placed a chaste kiss on his lips. “I’m fine.”

              “Are you sure?”

              “Positive.”

              “I love you.”

              “I love you too,” I replied.

              He smiled, “I’ll call you later tonight, okay?” he said as started to walk away.

              “’Kay,” I mumbled to myself.

▪▪▪▪▪

              As much as I wanted to think that I was perfectly fine with being in the house alone, I knew I wasn’t.

              Katie was unavailable due to her mom grounding her for getting an F on her history paper. Sean was the only other person who came into mind. Unfortunately, his car broke down and now his ape friend, Marcus, has to chauffeur him around.

              I sighed, wishing that I had a pet to keep me company and not make me feel so alone.

              I decided that I would be able to make something special for myself. Jeremy always did the cooking and I would eventually have to learn so now was the perfect time. As I walked into the kitchen, I noticed a folded paper on the floor. It must have fell from the carnation I had received a few days ago, though I don’t remember ever seeing a note.

              I unfolded the paper and stared blankly at its contents. It was quite lengthy, typed, and it even smelt like roses.

              Elizabeth,

I don’t know much about you yet but I know that you’re not the type to approve of double standards. I would say that you are brave and strong, nothing can ever bring you down. You’re a highly independent woman which I find very appealing.

I know that you’re extremely beautiful. Your long brunette hair was only meant to make others jealous. Your enchanting blue eyes will forever mesmerize me. Your full pink lips make me want to kiss you every hour, every minute, and every second of the day.

I know that you haven’t come to realize your feelings for me and that is fine. Inevitably, we will be together. Forever and Always.

                ~J

              I stared, dumbfounded at the letter. Who would send this? I barely had friends, let alone secret admirers. I tried to think of anyone I knew whose name began with the letter J. There was only one, Justin, who was one of Sean’s best friends. He was a jerk. There was no way he had a crush on me. If anything, he hated that I even got recognition from Sean.

              “Stupid,” I mumbled to myself. I tore the note in half and in half again and threw it into the trash. Deciding to get rid of it finally, I tied the trash bag and headed towards the front door. When I opened the door, I was greeted by a bouquet of flowers. Only this time it wasn’t a carnation. It was gardenias, my favorite flower.

              I poked my head out and searched the streets for any unfamiliar cars. When I didn’t find anything out of the ordinary, I closed the door and locked all three locks as well as closing the blinds of all the windows in my house.

              I pulled out my phone and let my thumb linger over Sean’s contact name. I couldn’t tell him about this, he would freak out. He would never let me go anywhere alone and I wasn’t going to let him follow me around like Jeremy.

              I would just have to drag this out and hope it stops.

CHAPTER TEN - JACOB

              They had broadcasted the news on Ellen McHannon’s parents. Like always, they are clueless about what happened and who would have done it. Louisiana has never been advanced in their police force, which was good. It made my job easier.

              I stared down at the big bold letters written on the page.

‘Ellen McHannon found dead in her home’

              I sighed as I closed the newspaper, recalling the events that brought me to where I was today.

▪▪▪▪▪

             
“Please, you can’t--” Ellen wriggled out of my grasp, trying so desperately to free her arms from my grip but we both knew it was no use. “I’m not ready for this, Jacob, please!”

              I titled my head slightly to the left, confused. “What’s the matter, love?” I asked, stroking the side of her face. “Why are you upset?”