Her Legacy

IV. Persistence

"Knowing trees, I understand the meaning of patience. Knowing grass, I can appreciate persistence." Hal Borland

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Chapter IV – Persistence

Shea wasn't lying. He was making it no secret that I was the subject of his attention.

Every guy in school had stopped staring at me and I knew that Shea had something to do with it. I received no more curious looks, no more lustful gazes, not even a side glance. The only guy who looked at me was Shea.

I wanted to enjoy it. I wanted to accept it. I wanted to leap into his arms and do something entirely inappropriate for a school hallway. But still, every fibre of my being, well, at least the sensible, coherent fibres were keeping me from doing that.

I shouldn't feel this way about Shea. He shouldn't excite me the way he did. He shouldn't suck me in the way he was. It was like I was in his orbit, he was a black hole and it was only so long before I disappeared inside him.

That thought frightened me. Disappearing inside of a relationship just seemed insane to the logical part of my brain. Especially since I had only met him the day before. This connection I felt was unnatural.

And I really had no one to talk to. I couldn't talk to my mom about it. She would probably freak out and call Shea's mom to tell him to leave me alone. I couldn't talk to Cece. Shea was her brother after all. Aside from that, there weren't really any people that I even knew in Providence, let alone people I could confide in.

Cece was just as nice as ever, though. We quietly chatted through Spanish about normal, teenager things. It turned out there was a football game on Friday night. Cece and her friends were on the cheerleading squad. After the game there was a party at the Eckhart's. I recalled the name from the scoreboard donation mention but hadn't made the connection that it had been Zoey Eckhart. Apparently, they were one of the richest families in town, and owned a ridiculous mansion on the beach, perfect for parties. Zoey's parents were always out of town anyway.

"Would Zoey even want me there?" I asked, concerned. Zoey was still glaring daggers at me. She had made a point to hang out near my locker this morning for the purpose of wishing me dead with her eyes.

Cece rolled her eyes. "Zoey will get over it," she assured me. "She's had a thing for my brother for years, but Shea was never serious about her."

I frowned. I mean, Zoey wasn't exactly the nicest person that I'd encountered but she didn't deserve to be treated like crap by Shea.

It got me thinking. Was this how it happened? Did he reel girls in with his good looks and charm, screw them, screw them over, and then move onto the next new face that wanders into his circle?

Would I be like Zoey in a few months, or even weeks?

Thinking about the possibility of Shea's dishonesty physically hurt. Considering that he didn't really like me, that he only wanted me for one thing, it felt like ... betrayal.

Betrayal! I was in way too deep.

"Do you want to hang out after school today?" Cece asked in the midst of my internal panic. "A bunch of us are going to go down the beach. I think Shea is coming," she hinted.

Oddly, that didn't encourage me. "Can't, sorry," I apologised. "I have my trial shift at Sally's after school."

"Oh, right. Shea mentioned something about that. You'll love Sally. She's so sweet. She's been really good to us." Cece didn't elaborate as Señora Gomez began to set the homework.