Grey Eyes: Book One of the Forever Trilogy

Chapter Ten

“Up!  Up!” shouted Helena.  “Darren will be here in twenty minutes!”

I rolled over and buried my head beneath the pillows.  I hated few things more than waking up early. 

Peeking outwards, I watched as Helena pulled back the long curtain over the glassed wall.  Morning bathed the room in a warm, soothing light.  Too bad its effects were only skin-deep.  A familiar knot had settled into my stomach—once again, I would be the new kid.  Sure, I’d talked a big game in front of my grandmother, and I hadn’t lied, I really did know how to deal, but that didn’t make the prospect of starting over again any less awful.  “This time will be different,” I reassured myself.  Easy, even.  Heck, practically the whole town had showed up to my welcome party.  Of course, I hadn’t stayed around long enough to get to know anyone.  Just Darren.  I groaned. They couldn’t all be jerks could they? 

“And what might I ask has you in such a daze?” asked Helena.

“Nothing, just thinking about school,” I lied.  My cheeks burned with guilt, I’d been picturing Darren’s smile, the one he gave when particularly proud of one of his little quips.  I’d completely forgotten that Helena was in the room with me—Darren’s fault, for the second time. 

I hadn’t noticed the shopping bag on the end of my bed either.

“You bought me some clothes?” I asked.

“Well, you have to wear something, don’t you?  Next time, you and your grandmother might do well to let me know what you’re planning a little sooner than the night before.  It’s been a hectic morning trying to get everything in order...”

Helena’s fussing had all the ferocity of a growling kitten.  I crawled across the bed and peeked at what was inside the bag:  a pair of designer blue jeans, bright white tennis shoes, and a t-shirt with an enormous cowboy grinning stupidly across the front.

She eyed the t-shirt.  “I didn’t know what you liked—I figured since you’ve spent some time down south that you might like cowboys?”

I couldn’t resist a small chuckle at her expense.  “I can honestly say that they’re the nicest clothes I’ve ever had.”

Helena’s face turned pink.  “Oh, well alright then.”  She moved toward my chest of drawers.  “So, you are feeling better then?” she followed.

“I think so.”

“Even with the intrusion?”

I nodded.  “That was… strange.  I can’t shake the feeling that I knew him.”  Thinking about him brought forth a warm, familiar sensation that felt odd.

Helena just smiled as she set out a towel and two washcloths on the edge of my bed.  She started for the door.  “Take a quick shower and get dressed.  You don’t want to be late for your first day.” 

“The heart never forgets.”

The words had reached my ears like a whisper on a faint breeze.  It was Helena’s voice, at least, it sounded as if it could have been—she’d already left the room.  It also sounded a lot like a line from some sappy love long. Had Darren made me think of that?  I shook my head.  Get it together Ana.

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“No speeding,” my grandmother remarked sternly, her voice echoing in the empty ballroom.  She eyed Darren closely.

“I never speed, Mrs. Adams.”

My grandmother shot him a look before continuing.  “You are not to deviate from the agreed-upon course.  You are to take her straight to school and then bring her straight back here.  You will not, on either trip, make a stop at your family’s seldom used boathouse—I trust the reason for this request is self-evident.”