Thanks everyone for the great reviews. This story is a lot different from what I usually write so it's good to get positive feedback. D

Enjoy

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Chapter Three

Eep.

I inwardly whimpered at the deep, demanding voice that emanated from the dark inside of the sports car. I decided to remain silent, hoping that the rapist or axe murderer would just give up and drive on.

What was I saying about having really bad luck today?

“Are you deaf? I said, get in!” the male voice exclaimed somewhat angrily.

“Er… No thank you!” I replied in an extremely high, squeaky voice, the same voice I get whenever I’m terrified. “I kind of like… um… walking in the rain! Very refreshing. Thanks anyway!”

I heard a frustrated sigh and then the male said, “Look, I’m not joking around here. You’re lucky I’m even offering.”

Pfft, yeah right Lucky that I have a creep on my tail? I think not!

“Now get in the car before you catch something.”

I fumbled in my pocket, pretending that I was about to pull out a mobile – even though I had left mine at home today, something that I would never do again.

“Leave me alone or I’ll call the police! I mean it, you pervert!” I said, finally coming to a stop and turning toward the car.

The car stopped beside me and the guy leaned over the passenger seat so I could see his face. I felt my cheeks heat up immediately.

Oh crap.

None other than Nick Yoeman was staring at me from inside his sports car, one eyebrow cocked.

“What the hell are you talking about, Robinson?” he asked, frowning at me as though worried I was going mental.

I simply stood there, opening and closing my mouth like a fish. The downside of this was that I caught some rainwater in my mouth and began to choke.

Nick rolled his eyes. “Are you going to get in or what?” he asked rather snappishly.

I didn’t hesitate another moment, eager to get out of the torrential rain. Crossing the footpath, I opened the door and flung myself inside the heated car, rolling up the window so no more rain could come into the car. Nick immediately sped off down the road.

“Where do you live?” he asked after a moment of silence during which I was trying to be comfortable without getting too much water on his seat – I compromised by sitting on my school bag.

“Er… Twenty-nine Warrington Street,” I replied.

Nick nodded in recognition and made a right turn.

We sat in silence for a few moments before I blurted out all in one breath, “Thanks-for-offering-the-ride-and-I’m-sorry-I-acted-weird-it’s-just-that-I-thought-you-were-a-pedophile-or-a-rapist-or-something-not-that-you-look-like-one-or-anything-it’s-just-that-being-in-a-new-country-and-all-it’s-a-bit-scary-to-have-a-car-stalk-you-even-if-it-did-end-up-being-someone-I-know-well-I-don’t-really-know-you-but-you-know-what-I-mean –”

“What?” Nick cut across my rambling, glancing at me with his eyebrows raised.

I blushed a scarlet colour under his gaze. “Er… Sorry. I tend to ramble when I’m nervous… not that you make me nervous or anything because you don’t!” I winced. “There it is again. Anyway, what I was trying to say was: thanks for the ride. It’s really decent of you.”

I lapsed into an embarrassed silence, refusing to look Nick in the eye and instead opting to stare out of the car window.

Soft laughter reached my ears and I turned to see Nick chuckling to himself and shaking his head slightly.

“Er… What is it?” I asked.

“You sure talk a lot for a shy girl,” he said.

I blushed. “Sorry,” I muttered.

Nick simply shrugged and we returned to a slightly awkward silence. I racked my brains for something to say.

“Bad weather isn’t it? You’d think that being in California I wouldn’t see a single cloud let alone an all-out storm.” I winced silently.

Wow, nice choice Ali. Talk about the weather. You’re so cool.

Nick shrugged again. “It rains everywhere, even in California,” he said indifferently.

I sighed. Fine, don’t try and make conversation. See if I care.

I returned my gaze to the world outside the car, zoning out completely. I’ve always loved the rain, even when it caught me off-guard like before. I found nothing more calming than sitting for hours staring at the rain.

The car stopped at a set of traffic lights and I watched the trees bending in the strong wind that blew outside, causing the rain to look like it was falling sideways…

“Er… Earth to Robinson?”

Nick’s voice jerked me back to reality, causing me to jump with surprise and whirl around to face him.

“Huh?” I said stupidly, my mind still on the rain splattering against the windshield, the wipers whisking them away repetitively.

Wipe, clear, rain, wipe, clear, rain, wipe.

OK, so I’m amused by little things like that.

“I said, you and Zac have met before, haven’t you?” Nick said, glancing at me. “I mean, before gym class today.”

I nodded absently, my eyes still drawn to the windscreen wipers.

“How?” Nick asked, accelerating forward through the traffic lights.

I shrugged. “He offered to show me to the principal’s office this morning,” I muttered absently.

Suddenly, I became aware of what I’d just admitted and winced.

“Don’t tell any of your friends that,” I said quickly. “He doesn’t want… anyone to know that we’re even acquainted…” My eyes narrowed at the rain droplets like each one of them were mini versions of Zac’s face. I mean, he wasn’t even that good looking anyway!

Nick frowned. “He offered to show you to Mr. Wright’s office and then turned around and said he’d never even seen you before in front of our mates?” he asked, glancing at me.

I nodded. “Stupid, conceited jerk,” I muttered under my breath, sinking back into the leather seat.

Nick shook his head slightly, his eyebrows raised, but he didn’t say anything more.

Looking out the window, I realized we were pulling into my street.

“What number did you say you were at?” Nick asked.

“Twenty-nine.”

He pulled up outside my large white house and I unbuckled my seatbelt, preparing myself for the dash to the front door. Turning back to Nick, I saw that his dark eyes were on me, displaying no emotion whatsoever.

I opened my mouth silently for a moment, pulled into the familiar trance that Zac’s eyes seemed to hold me in. Swallowing hard, I found my voice.

“Thanks for the ride.” I inwardly screamed as I realized my voice had come out all breathy.

Nick’s lip tilted in a smirk. “No problem.” He leant forward slightly, his dark eyes serious. “Just don’t tell anyone about this, OK? Or you’ll regret it,” he said suddenly, his tone stern.

My eyes widened slightly with surprise. Were all the Populars this hell-bent against having anyone know that they’d been associated with me? Was I really that bad?

Suddenly, I realized that he was laughing at me.

“Not funny,” I said, fighting the smile off my face.

Nick shrugged. “Guy’s gotta try.” He sighed. “Look, don’t let the Zac thing get to you. He’s just… very uptight about his reputation.”

I raised my eyebrow. “Aren’t all you Populars like that, though?”

Nick stared at me, his dark orbs boring into mine. “Not all of us care about what others think, Robinson,” he said quietly.

I swallowed and forced myself to look away from him. “Well, thanks again for the ride. If it wasn’t for you I’d probably still be freezing my ass off in the rain.”

Nick frowned slightly.

“Er… What?” I asked, uncomfortable.

“You’re definitely not as shy as you first come across,” he muttered.

Blushing, I simply said, “Yeah, well, that’s what you get when you judge people, right?”

“Just like you judged me to be a conceited jackass consumed with the fear of what other people think like all the other ‘Populars’?” Nick said, rolling his eyes.

“Yeah… Sorry about that,” I muttered, twisting my hands together uncomfortably.

Nick shrugged, his eyes returning to the road. “See you in school,” he said, his voice returning to its usual, emotionless state.

I nodded and turned around, my eyes focused on my front door like it was the grand prize at the end of a marathon. Taking a deep breath, I opened the car door and bolted out of the vehicle, closing the door with a snap. Without a single glance back, I raced up the front path to my front door, my hand already withdrawing the house keys from my pocket.

Fumbling with the keys, I managed to get them into the lock, twist and push open the front door, stumbling into the front hall. I turned to look out at Nick’s car, only to see that it was already gone.

With a sigh, I shut the front door and turned to face the inside of my house. It was big; bigger than my old house in Australia that was for sure. We had decided to just buy all new furniture after the move, so it didn’t really feel like home at all to me… not yet, anyway.

I made my way through to the kitchen, glancing at the clock as I passed. It was nearly four-thirty. I uttered a soft curse under my breath, knowing that I had to have dinner ready by five, when Mum came home from the lawyer firm she worked for.

My teeth gritted together at the thought. Mum’s firm was the reason we had to move to America in the first place, the reason I had to leave behind everything I’d ever known. They had relocated to America for God knows what reason and Mum had agreed to join them in their new location.

Of course she hadn’t even thought about where her only daughter would fit into all this until a long time after the decision. Now the only time I got to spend with her was when we were eating dinner, too short a time to maintain a friendship, let alone a close mother-daughter relationship.

Sure, she asked questions like any mother would. Such as: ‘how is school going’, ‘have you got a boyfriend’ and ‘can you please pass the salt’. Yeah, those were nice foundation questions that would lead to a full-blown relationship… or so she seemed to think.

I fingered the locket that hung around my neck, my index finger tracing the initials engraved on it.

If only you were here, Dad, I found myself thinking, tears welling in my eyes.

Shaking my head to clear my mind of those thoughts, I crossed the kitchen and began to prepare dinner, letting my hand drop from the locket.

---

“So, how was your first day at your new school?”

“Fine.”

“Any special boy caught your interest?”

“No.”

“Hmm… Do you know where the salt has gotten to?”

What did I say? I shook my head. Predictable.

Silently, I picked up the salt shaker and handed it to Mum, who thanked me before returning to the crumbed veal I had cooked. She was still in the business suit she had worn to work, although her black hair – which was usually tied up in a tight bun – was hanging around her face.

We ate in silence for a few minutes before Mum looked up at the clock and swore so quietly I only just caught it. I looked up at her, surprised, only to see her rising from her seat, her half-eaten dinner in her hands.

“Sorry to cut this short, honey, but I’ve got a big case to work on tonight,” Mum said, not sounding one bit apologetic as she crossed to the rubbish bin and tipped my carefully made dinner into its depths. “I’ll be in my study if you need me.”

I mumbled something incoherent as she left the room. Rubbing the back of my neck, I fought back tears as I stared down at my hardly-touched plate of food.

Dad had always been the mediator in the family, bringing us together at dinner time and making sure Mum always ate properly. Now that he was dead…

Don’t think about that, I thought angrily.

Suddenly losing my appetite, I stood up and threw my food in the bin. After a moment of staring at the food I angrily threw in my plate after it, causing it to crack down the middle with a satisfying crash.

“What was that?” Mum’s annoyed voice carried down from upstairs.

I gritted my teeth, my blood boiling even at the sound of her voice. “Nothing,” I called back, my voice tight. “Don’t worry about it – I’ll clean it up.”

“OK, but this is a big case I’m working on, Alina! I thought you knew better than to make any loud noises when I’m working; it distracts me!”

My hands curled into tight fists and I glared at the plain white wall in front of me.

“I’m going out!” I suddenly shouted and, not caring if she heard or not, I stormed to the front hall, grabbed my coat and keys and stormed out into the night, slamming the door behind me.

A light rain was still falling from the storm clouds above, but it was bearable. I pulled my coat tightly around my shoulders and strode off into the rain, my head down as I let my feet carry me wherever they wanted. Random trails of thought flickered through my mind as I walked, ranging from my move from Australia to my mum to… Zac.

I still didn’t know what to do about him. I could take up his offer on friendship and hope that he eventually told his friends… No, that wouldn’t do any good. I’d only get strung along and be hurt in the process.

I kicked out at an innocent stone in the middle of the footpath… Missed. Well, that’s something to add to the list – now instead of just not having hand-eye coordination, I now didn’t have feet-eye coordination either.

Suddenly, my thoughts roamed to Nick. He seemed like a decent enough guy, if not a bit mysterious and secretive. But it wasn’t like I had told him everything about myself first up anyway. Maybe that would change when we got to know each other better… if we got to know each other better.

If anything, at least he wasn’t afraid of what other people might think… unlike Zac.

Scowling, I raised my eyes to see where my feet had finally dragged me to. I was surprised to find myself standing on top of a steep, grassy hill. Over the many treetops that covered the bottom of the hill, I could glimpse the tossing and turning ocean.

My scowl transformed into a smile and I stepped forward, deciding to make my way down the hill and through the trees to the ocean. One thing I forgot, however…

Steep, grassy hills that are wet from the rain and clumsy, uncoordinated people such as myself do not mix.

With a squeal of surprise, I found my feet go out from underneath me. I landed on my back and didn’t even have the time to blink before I began to roll rapidly down the hill. I had to squeeze my eyes shut against the dizzying sight as I rolled over and over and over again.

Prickly branches announced my arrival to the forest at the bottom of the hill. Gasping and grunting in pain, I continued to roll, smacking my elbows and knees into tree trunks as I passed.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, I came to a stop on my back. It took me a moment to regain my senses and when I did, I became aware of the sound of waves crashing and the soft feeling of sand beneath my body.

Opening my eyes slowly, I saw stars spin in front of me before the world suddenly regained balance, allowing my eyes to focus properly. I was looking up at the dark night sky littered with stars and a few stray storm clouds.

I groaned as I sat up, pausing to inspect the scratches that had appeared up my legs and arms. Luckily I had been covering my head with my hands therefore no branches or twigs had scratched my face.

I breathed a sigh of relief and looked up, my eyes widening slightly. I was sitting on a small beach surrounded by forest and before me was the black, swirling ocean.

“Beautiful,” I murmured, staring at the moon’s reflection on the ocean’s surface.

Smiling to myself, I lay back on the sand, stretching my arms above my head and emitting a long sigh of contentment. I could get used to this… lying on a secluded beach with nothing but the sound of the ocean and the twinkling stars to keep me company.

It was my heaven.

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I woke up the next morning with a pained wince.

Everything hurt. From my toes to my neck I was covered in tiny cuts and scratches from the branches of the forest and my muscles ached from the hour and a half I had to walk to get back home from the beach. I had no idea my feet had taken me so far.

When I had gotten home at ten o’clock last night – I had spent more time at the beach than I had realized – Mum went absolutely psycho at me.

“I HAD ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHERE IN THE HELL YOU WERE! WHAT IF YOU’D BEEN KIDNAPPED? WHAT IF YOU’D BEEN KILLED? HOW COULD YOU LEAVE ME TO WORRY LIKE THAT? I THOUGHT I HAD RAISED YOU BETTER THAN THIS!” Mum had shrieked, her black hair a total mess.

“Oh, don’t kid yourself Mum,” I had snapped, my blood boiling with fury, “You didn’t raise me. Dad did.”

Mum had stared at me for a good two minutes before screaming, “GET TO YOUR ROOM! I DON’T WANT TO HEAR ONE SOUND FROM YOU, DO YOU HEAR ME?”

I hadn’t answered, choosing instead to bolt upstairs and lock myself in my room.

Presently, I cautiously stretched my arms and legs, only to gasp as they lit up in pain. Rolling onto my side, my eyes caught the luminous digits on my alarm clock.

7.45am.

I gaped at my clock. I only had ten minutes before my bus left from the stop down the street! I was going to miss it!

Cursing under my breath and ignoring the pain in my body, I threw my bed sheets aside and leapt out of bed, running around to grab whatever outfit I could find. As I was pulling on my jeans, the telephone began to ring.

Deciding to let the answering machine get it, I hopped over to my wardrobe, trying to force my other leg into the jeans and pulled on the first thing I could get my hands on: a navy blue tank top.

“Hello. You have reached the Robinson household –”

I rolled my eyes at Mum’s business-like voice as I darted into my en-suite to brush my teeth.

“– Regrettably no one is available to take your phone call at the moment. So, please leave a message after the tone… Beep.”

I froze as I was crossing my room toward my dressing table, halfway through brushing my teeth.

“Hey… it’s Nick…”

My eyes widened and I turned to face the answering machine in disbelief. What was he doing calling me? How the hell did he even get my number?

“Uh… You left your school bag in my car yesterday afternoon when I dropped you off…”

I smacked my head on my forehead painfully. How did I manage to do that?

“So I guess I’ll just… er… see you in school…”

A sudden thought occurred to me and before I knew what I was doing, I had bolted over to the answering machine and picked up the phone, pulling my toothbrush out of my mouth as I went.

“Hello? Nick? You still there?” I said, my eyes on my alarm clock.

Yep, I had definitely missed my bus.

“Uh, yeah. Hi. I didn’t think you were home,” Nick replied.

“Yeah sorry about that. So I was wondering, is my house on your way to school?” I asked hopefully, biting my lip.

The line was silent for a moment or two and I thought he’d hung up.

Then, “Yeah. Why?”

I breathed a sigh of relief, my hope restored in my only lifeline to get to school on time.

“Listen, I’m sorry to do this to you… again,” I paused before rattling on at record speed as my stomach leapt with nerves, “but I woke up really late and I’ve missed my bus and I know it’s really inconvenient for you and all and believe me, I don’t usually ask this of people but today’s just an exception because my Mum’s already angry at me and if she gets a phone call from the school saying I was really late she’ll go nutso at me and I’ll probably be grounded until I’m ninety or something and I don’t really want that to happen ‘cause it’ll be really boring for me and I want some nice memories for when I’m older that don’t just include me sitting at home being grounded and watching re-runs of the O.C. –”

“You want me to pick you up, don’t you?” Nick cut across my ramblings.

I let out a nervous little laugh. “That’s the simple way to put it, yeah,” I said, nervously chewing on my bottom lip. “Will you, please?”

I heard Nick sigh as I held my breath.

“Can you be ready in fifteen minutes?”

I punched the air in celebration and did my little happy dance, grinning my head off.

“Uh… You still there?”

“Oh! Oh, right. Yeah, I can be ready then,” I said quickly, pausing mid-way through my dance and blushing furiously.

“OK.” Without saying a goodbye, Nick hung up.

I shrugged, placing the phone back on its receiver. He really was one strange guy. One minute he’d be acting all friendly and nice and the next he’d be snappish, emotionless and impatient.

Remembering that I only had fifteen minutes left, I dashed around my room, getting myself ready.

At eight o’clock I was already rushing downstairs into the kitchen when something caught my eye. A note.

Frowning, I dropped my house keys onto the breakfast bench and walked over to the note, picking it up.

Alina –

As I have previously informed you, I have been working on a big case as of late –

I rolled my eyes. Mum always wrote extremely formally when she was annoyed… this time at me.

- I need to discuss something with you tonight; therefore I need you to be sitting in the lounge room at six o’clock sharp. I will be arriving home around that time and I do expect to have dinner ready when I come.

Thanking you,

Mum.

I glared at the note, having half a mind to just ring her and tell her to stick it up her ass. But I couldn’t do that… unless I wanted to be kicked out of home. Which, in a way, wouldn’t be that bad that either. At least I wouldn’t have to put up with Mum any longer…

The doorbell jerked me out of my thoughts.

Nick.

I quickly threw the note back on the bench, snatched up my keys and an apple and hurried to the front door. Flinging the door open, I found Nick standing in front of me with his hands shoved in his jeans pockets. One look past him told me that the storm from yesterday was well and truly over, as the sky was now a beautiful, clear blue.

“You ready?” Nick asked shortly.

I had barely nodded before he turned around and strode down the front path to his car. Well, well, someone’s in a happy mood, I thought darkly, my own mood still crappy after reading the note.

Sighing, I locked the front door behind me and followed Nick to his car. Without waiting for his permission, I opened the passenger door, seeing my school bag on the seat where I had evidently left it the previous afternoon. I grabbed it and held it on my lap as I sat myself on the seat.

Nick slid into the driver’s seat without so much as a glance at me and drove off down the street in the direction of the school. I turned my gaze out the window, munching on my apple in silence. If he wanted to be antisocial, that was fine with me.

“What’s up with you?” Nick suddenly asked after a few minutes in total silence.

I glanced at him but his eyes remained on the road, his face expressionless. I managed a simple shrug and turned away.

“What makes you think there’s anything up with me?” I said, my tone unusually snappish.

Nick glanced at me, one eyebrow raised. “I think that answers your question,” he said quietly.

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep myself from snarling a retort and returned my gaze out the window. I didn’t want to discuss anything with him, especially when he acted so knowing.

Nick let out an audible sigh and ran his fingers through his dark hair. I followed the motion with my eyes and stifled a breathy gasp at the sexy, if not slightly messy, look it gave him. My stomach exploded with butterflies and I felt my cheeks heating up.

Wait, what? Did I just say sexy?

Was that implying that I had any feelings toward Nick other than friendly? If not less than that? And what about the butterflies and the blushing? No, that would just be stupid. I didn’t like him!

I must be coming down with something…

“Are you feeling OK?” Nick said, his eyes flicking between me and the road. “You look all red in the face.”

I drove my gaze anywhere but Nick’s face, trying to calm my sudden bout of nerves. No, they weren’t nerves because having nerves around Nick would hint that I do have more-than-friendly feelings toward him, which I don’t.

So I must be feeling… queasy. Yeah, that’s what was causing my butterflies. Queasiness. I was simply ill.

“Uh… I’m fine. Just feeling a little… queasy,” I replied, trying to keep my voice from trembling.

Nick shot me a look of pure horror. “You’re not going to puke are you?” he asked quickly. “Because if you are tell me now and I’ll pull over. There’s no way you’re puking inside my baby.”

A smirk suddenly wormed its way onto my face and some of the butterflies disappeared. “Your baby?” I echoed, my eyes on Nick as my smirk widened into a grin.

Nick glowered at me. “I like my car puke-free, thanks,” he said.

“Oh, but that’s not what you called it before, is it?” I snickered. “Your baby.”

“What’s your point?” Nick snapped.

I shook my head slightly, my grin still on my face. “Guys and their cars… I’ll never understand it.”

Nick shrugged. “It’s the same as you girls with malls.”

It took me a moment to remember that mall was the American name for shopping centre. I laughed loudly at this.

“What?” Nick frowned.

“That is such a stereotype,” I said. “Girls and malls.”

“Well, so is guys and cars,” Nick said defensively.

“Yeah, but in this case, I’m right and you’re wrong,” I informed him. “I hate ‘malls’.”

Nick raised an eyebrow. “Why don’t I find that hard to believe?” he muttered.

I frowned at him, my expelled anger returning slightly. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Nick shrugged. “You’re not like other girls, Alina.”

My frown deepened even though my anger seeped away.

“What?” Nick asked, noticing my gaze.

“That’s the first time you’ve actually called me Alina.”

Nick shrugged, his eyes on the road. “So? Is that illegal?”

I simply shook my head and looked back out the window to see the school looming ahead of us. Nick pulled into the student parking lot and pulled into an empty space, turning off the engine.

I grabbed my school bag as I opened the car door. “Thanks for the ride,” I said. “You’ve saved my butt two times in the past twenty-four hours.”

Nick shrugged. “Don’t mention it,” he said with a small half-smile.

I returned the smile before climbing out of the car. As soon as I did, I noticed the change in atmosphere.

Closing the car door behind me, I looked around to see almost every eye in the parking lot on me. Swallowing nervously, I glanced over at Nick to see his expression changing from mild curiosity to sudden – and apparently frustrating – realization.

The only words that came out of his mouth were: “Oh, shit.”

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Well, I just love to end my chapters with such a positive word. Haha. Anyways, thanks for reading so far and reviews are appreciated! Keep it up P.

Thanks