CHAPTER 5
I laughed as he tackled me back to the grass. I let my fingers trail the planes of his face, the hair behind his ears. He leaned into my touch like he had done every time before. A raindrop fell on my hand, trickling down to my elbow. Another drop followed, and then another. The spring dew rain. I closed my eyes, and savored everything in the moment.
A foreign feeling settled in my chest. Joy. A kind of joy I had never felt before.
And then we were running in the rain, through the meadow. The droplets had become denser. They poured over us, showering us until our hair and clothes clung to our skin. I knew he was a faster runner which was why I kept cheating by nudging him with my elbow when I ran. He knew my game. His lips split into a grin, but he didn’t let his attention waver from reaching the hut.
When I reached the hut, I woke up.
Blearily, I blinked my eyes a few time. I’d dreamt again. This time with Duane starring. I knew how impossible the chances were, that it was a memory. But as I lay there, just staring at the ceiling in the dark, the dreams flashed through my mind again. The kiss in the alley. The fire. The lake, the meadow, the house, the hut, Duane—everything.
I couldn’t go back to sleep, so I took my sketchbook and turned on the light by the nightstand, careful not to wake Jamie up.
I sketched him first. I knew his face now. I knew how he looked like when he smiled, every line on his face, every spectrum of color in his gray eyes. If I could sketch a voice, I would have, too. I don’t want to forget every single detail I’ve heard, seen, and felt.
It was all what I had felt in the alley that night.
“Come on! Just let it go already, Lena. We don’t have much time.”
“It’s still two, Jamie. The party starts at seven. We’ve got five hours to go.”
“That’s only if you’ve picked your dress. You haven’t even picked you dress! Or curl your hair!”
I sighed, exasperated. My hands were on an automatic mode, wiping the tables and pushing the trays. Jamie followed me as I spoke. “Why should I even curl my hair? What do you think people invented flat-iron for?”
“But your hair is sooo straight. That kind of straight is so 2000-era hair.”
“It’s still 2016.”
“I mean pre-2010.”
“Kim has straight hair and everyone loves her.”
“That’s today. Tomorrow’s different. And Kim is so overrated and you know it.”
I took off my gloves and went to the dishwashers. “You’re the one who keeps pestering me with the Instagram stuff.”
“That’s not the point. Nick and Aaron will pick us up at six forty-five.”
“Who’s Aaron?”
“Aaron! Your date today, remember?”
I shrugged, washing my hands with the soap. “Alright.” I rinsed and wiped my hands, turning to Jamie. “Where do we start?”
We went upstairs. Jamie opened her closet, where two dresses were already hung.
“I’m not wearing that.”
Jamie grinned. “Oh, you are.”
Four hours later we were ready.
Mrs. Cadwell saw us going down the stairs and put a hand to her chest. “Oh, you girls.”
YOU ARE READING
Incarnadine
Paranormal*COMPLETED* Seventeen-year-old Elena had lost something for the past few years, and she had yet to discover it. It wasn't something that'd just show up because she was determined to find it. And no one could find it for her. She'd lost her memory. W...
