Page 19 of Adore Me (The Keatyn Chronicles 4.5)
Because Aiden the tease is the cutest thing ever.
I roll my eyes at him and smack his hand away from where it's sneaking down the side of my bikini.
Plus it's so much more fun to be the one to say no.
"This wish business is serious," I tell him as I tie the bracelet around his wrist, purposefully tying it in three tight knots. Maybe if I tie it tight enough, he won't be able to get it off.
And maybe he won't forget me when I'm gone.
I picture Aiden back at Eastbrooke, surrounded by girls at the cave, and quickly close my eyes to keep from crying.
"Are you wishing on my bracelet too?" he asks.
Part of me wants to curse his bracelet, so that no one else's lips will ever touch his.
But I know I'm being ridiculous. I'm giving him closure so that he can move on.
"No," I say, fighting back tears.
"Why do you look like you're about to cry?"
"I'm not. I think I got shell dust in my eyes." I wipe tears from the corner of my eyes. "I was supposed to wear safety goggles when I drilled."
"You need safety goggles for drilling?" he says, grabbing a pair. "Maybe I should bring them to bed."
I grab his now shell-wrapped wrist. "Come on, we've got to finish our list."
I drag him to the courtyard, where a hammock is strung between two palm trees.
"Lie in the hammock and read? There's only one problem. We don't have any books."
"We don't need a book. We have some homework to do."
He groans. "You're going to make me study French?"
"No, but it turns out that I have this survey I have to do for health class."
"You're not in health class."
"Neither are you. I had to answer your questions, now you have to answer mine."
He rolls his eyes and pulls me closer to his chest. "Fine. I'm an open book."
"Names of the last four girls you dated."
"Emily, Lauren, Megan, and Chelsea."
"Why did you break up?"
"Um, Emily and I got in a fight about something stupid. I honestly don't remember. She was always accusing me of cheating on her."
"Were you?"
He looks at me seriously. "I've never cheated on anyone in my life."
"Good."
"What about the rest?"
"Lauren broke up with me because she decided she liked someone else. Megan and I had a very volatile relationship. That was a mutual break up. And Chelsea. Um, we never actually went out."
"How many girls have you said I love you to?"
"Oh, the list is long. The first girl was Angela; she stole my heart in third grade when she gave me a special Valentine. She was a fourth grader. Older woman, you know."
"Maybe we don't need to go back quite so far," I laugh. "And I'm ready for dinner and some wine. Where do you want to eat?"
"Can we watch a movie while we eat?"
"That sounds fun. Then what?"
"Then, Miss Monroe, we're going dancing."
Screaming a lot.
8:30pm
We set ourselves up in back of the theater room at the bar table, deciding to watch a little college football while we eat. We enjoy part of the game, our dinner, and the whole bottle of wine.
"I'll go grab another bottle," I tell him. "You pick out a movie."
When I come back with the bottle, he holds up two movies. "I've narrowed it down to two. Which was really tough considering all the options."
"They do have a lot of movies," I say, moving our glasses and the wine cooler up to the theater seats in the front. "What'd you come up with?"
"Well, since we're on an island, I went with a water theme. So we have Jaws, which may be a bad idea, since we'll be out surfing again in the morning, or A Day at the Lake, which I've never gotten to see but is one of my parents' favorites."
I freeze in the middle of pouring more wine when he mentions my mom's movie. The movie that Vincent wants to remake. The movie that started all this.
I've seen the movie before. A few years ago. But I don't really remember all that much of it, and I don't know why I didn't think of it before. I need to study this movie. I need to understand the script. I need to try to figure out what Vincent has in mind.
"A Day at the Lake," I say, sounding too eager. "I mean, I definitely don't want to have bad dreams about being attacked by a shark."
"Have you ever seen it before?" he asks me.
"A few years ago, I kinda watched it on TV. But it was one of those things where it was on, but I wasn't really watching. So I've never seen the whole thing. I just remember the girl in the bikini screaming a lot."
"Perfect," he says. "We'll watch it and then go dancing."
I snuggle up on the big padded couch next to him, sip my wine, and press play.
The movie starts out showing my mom's character in her everyday world. Hanging out with her hot frat boyfriend. Her friends hanging out and planning their weekend party at the lake. Figuring out how to get all the alcohol they needed. Who is bringing the weed. The guys are looking forward to hooking up. The girls want to work on their tans. Mom and her boyfriend are adorable together, say they love each other, and have a romantic scene. But there's also a scene where they argue about an archeology semester abroad she really wants to do. You get the impression that he's not supportive of her dreams, so you're not really sure what to think about their relationship as they head to the lake.
We watch, drink more wine, and then Aiden starts kissing me.
Saturday, November 26th
A dangerous journey.
9am
I wake up, wondering where I am.
I squint my eyes, seeing only darkness and feeling Aiden's arm across my shoulder. I remember that we were in the theater room, watching Mom's movie, drinking wine, and kissing.
We must've both fallen asleep.
Aiden is still breathing heavily, and I sadly realize that I'm down to my last twenty-four hours with him. That it's our last night together.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
I get up and go find Inga. I need to see if she'll make us a special dinner tonight. We'll watch the sunset from the beach, have an amazing meal in the moonlight, and then I'll tell him that I'm not going back.
The moonlight.
I suppose that will be a fitting place to tell him I'm leaving, since it's the damn moon's fault. It's like rubbing a dog's nose down by where they peed on the carpet.
I want the moon to see what it did.
I shake my head. It sucks. But I have to do it.
> "Inga, since it's our last night here, I'd like to do a special dinner on the beach at sunset. Would that be possible?"
"Of course. What would you like on the menu? I have some filets and some fresh mahi mahi."
"That sounds yummy. Could we have a little of both?"
"Absolutely." She glances around her kitchen and then grabs my palm. "May I have a closer look?"
"Um, sure."
She looks at one palm and then studies the other, shaking her head. "I had a dream about you last night."
"You did?"
"Well, about your palm. I dreamed that the line, here, moved. And now I look at it and see that it was not just a dream, but more of a prophecy." She shakes her head. "I've never had something like that happen before."
"What do you mean?"
She holds up my left hand. "This hand is what could be." Then she holds up my right hand. "This hand is what is. This line. The one running through your life line on your right hand was not clear before."
"Does that, like, mean something important?"
She nods solemnly. "This line breaks your life line. Remember this one, up here, where I said you had cheated death?"
I swallow hard. "Um, yes."
"I believe death is coming back for you."
"Oh," I say.
She stares at me. "You're not surprised by this. You are about to embark on a dangerous journey, yes?"
I can't do anything but nod in agreement.
"And you know that you may not survive?"
I nod again. "Yes."
She wipes her reading glasses off on her apron, puts them back on, and studies my palm some more. "Maybe you should consider canceling this journey?"
I shake my head. "I can't. It's something I have to do."
"It is about getting your life back?"
I nod again.
"You love him, yes?"
"Yes."
"Inga will cook you an amazing dinner."
I nod and give her a grateful smile. "Thank you."
I walk to the great room window and look out at the ocean, so many thoughts going through my head, when Aiden leans his chin on my shoulder.
"You ditched me."
"I was coming back for you."
"You better always come back for me."
I reach down and grasp his hand, giving it a squeeze and praying that will even be an option.
"So what's on tap for today? We haven't done yoga in the sand yet. Or built a sand village."
"We're surfing and snorkeling today," I hear Damian say.
