Glimpse - A Novel Part 4

"Jesus H. Christ, Avery," Claire shouted from the "dance floor" that was now more of an open s.p.a.ce for the couples to rhythmically grope one another, "ask the girl to dance already! She's going to be a virgin until she's twenty at this rate!"

"Thanks, Claire!" I called back to her, a crimson blush overtaking my whole face.

"Well," Avery said, taking my sweaty palm in his, "we wouldn't want that to happen." His eyes got wide and he started to backpedal. "Not that...virginity is good. I'm good with it...too?" He took a deep breath in and then blew it out slowly. "Let's just dance. This song is really good. Jason's band Fresh and Fruity covers it."

As Avery's fingers intertwined with mine, a jolt of electricity shot through me. I could feel my blood circulating through my body, whoos.h.i.+ng in and out of my heart. All of my senses became hyperaware. The smell of pine overwhelmed me. A million flashes of Avery went through my mind. His mouth, his hair, his hand now in mine and then a vision of the future played out behind my eyes.

Avery covered in blood, an older version of himself, splayed out on the side of the road. He was next to a red pickup truck with its driver's side smashed in. I was there too, older, screaming, holding my pregnant belly, kneeling down beside him.

"Hey, are you okay?" Avery asked.

I blinked hard and the vision disappeared. He was still holding my hand. How long had I s.p.a.ced out for? It couldn't have been long.

"Yeah, I'm fine." What the h.e.l.l just happened? I was so not fine. Why was I ruining this for myself? I had to pull it together. "Blecch!" I shook my head and stuck out my tongue, "I just s.p.a.ced for a moment, sorry! Let's dance, please. This song is good." I had no freakin' idea what song was playing.

He led me to the center of the room. I could feel everyone's eyes on us.

"I'm glad it's a slow song," he said, "I don't really know how to dance."

Oh, good. Slow dancing. Much, much easier. "Yeah, I can't dance very well either." I pictured myself doing the welcome home dance. That evened me out a little. I tentatively put my hands on his shoulders.

He put his hands on my hips at first, and then instead, moved them to the small of my back, pulling me closer to him. It seemed it was his turn to be filled with reckless sixteen-year-old abandon. We rocked back and forth. I suppose you could call it dancing.

Despite the whole vision thing, which I was completely choosing to block out until later, I expected to be freaking out a lot more in Avery's arms than I was. He felt comfortable, right.

I let my hands glide from his shoulders towards the nape of his neck. This was my real freak out test. I took hold of a lock of his hair and rubbed it between my fingers. It was so soft, like satin. Okay, that wasn't very manly. It was like...how it was supposed to be. How I had dreamt it would feel. I was glad his mom hadn't cut it after all.

The music changed. It got faster, then slower. Again and again. We stayed as we were. I didn't care about the other people in the room. What they thought of me, if they thought of me. He was it. Avery was the only thing in my mind. I looked into his eyes. I trusted him, felt close to him. We drifted into the corner.

He leaned into me, backing me up against the wall. And just like I'd pictured a hundred times, he rested his forehead against mine.

"I'm going to kiss you now," he said.

My heart jumped in my chest. The breath from his words was hot on my lips. I gulped, moving my mouth closer to his. "Okay," was all I could say. I had no idea what I was doing. I was just gonna go with it.

The instant Avery pulled my top lip in between his, my anxiety melted away, and was replaced by sensory overload. Every ounce of my body pulsed.

He pressed against me closer, harder, pus.h.i.+ng his mouth into mine. I grabbed at him, sliding my hands under his jacket, drawing him to me. There wasn't thought. My body acted independently of my brain, out of my control. I arched my back, meeting his touch at every point of contact.

I breathed him in, finally. He smelled sweet and clean, like oranges and...Glycerin soap. My lips were going numb.

"You okay?" he asked, coming up for air. "I'm, uh, that was even better than I thought it would be."

"Keep going." I brought my swollen mouth up to his.

He traced the edge of my face with his nose, kissing my neck. I thought I was going to spontaneously combust. I twisted my fingers into his hair, pulling his mouth back to mine. His fingertips brushed up and down my waist. He moved his hands around to the small of my back, grasping my hips. I didn't push him away. I wanted this.

Then Melody was saying something and everyone was hurrying around the room. Different, faster music put on. We stood there stunned, looking into each other's eyes, letting the intensity move between us for just a second more. Avery backed away from me. He looked like he'd been punched in the mouth.

"Tomorrow, after church, can you meet me at the lake?"

I almost couldn't get the words out of my own puffy lips. "Yes. Yeah. I'll be there."

Avery felt electric. Lying on top of his made bed in the dark, still wearing his church clothes, he listened for his parents, trying to detect any movement coming from their bedroom. All he could hear was the energy coming off of him. The whole room was buzzing.

He kicked his shoes off, letting them fall with a soft thud onto the blue carpet of his bedroom floor. Sitting up, he took off his suit jacket and white dress s.h.i.+rt, wadding them up and throwing them in the general vicinity of his laundry basket. Lying back down he unbuckled his belt and took his slacks off, pus.h.i.+ng them to the end of his bed.

Rolling onto his side, he closed his eyes and pictured Zellie's face as he leaned in to kiss her. He traced his lips with his index finger. He smiled, feeling dumb for calling what he and Zellie did just kissing. Again, he had overcome his fears and touched her, touched her the way he'd fantasized about, and it had been effortless, instinctual.

A sense of relief washed over him. The wondering was over. He let himself admit what he had been pus.h.i.+ng down for a very long time. He loved Zellie and now he was certain she loved him too.

It had been two hours since my sixteenth birthday party had ended. Three hours since I had first kissed Avery. Four hours since I'd had the vision of him bleeding to death on the side of the road.

I'd spent the past twenty minutes trying to concentrate on the vision, that's what it was, about that I had no doubt. I wanted to figure out what it meant, but my mind kept wandering back to the kiss. I replayed my first kiss over and over in my head until the vision and my curiosity about it subsided. I was going to have to check with Claire, but I didn't think the whole "dry hump as first kiss" experience was normal. I could still sense the intensity of it vibrating in my bones.

Now, however, as I lay in bed listening to Melody snore, I needed to think about the vision without interrupting myself. Work through it.

First off, why did I have it? Was it my age? Was it because of Avery? Okay, if I was being truthful with myself, I wasn't completely shocked. My whole life I had known things about people. Like the game with Mom. I had always had a gut feeling about others lives, what they were sick with, if they were close to death. When I visited people after church with Mom on Sundays, I always saw if that person was going to get better or take a turn for the worse.

Second, why was the vision in the future? I now had a real picture in my mind to go along with my feelings, but Avery was not close to death in the present. We were both older. Avery's hair was gray at the temples and I was...pregnant. That's what was freaking me out the most. Still, I couldn't help but feel a small thrill run through me at the prospect that we would be together for longer than just a summer. We were going to have a baby together? Maybe it was all just a cruel cosmic joke? Maybe I wasn't freaking out enough about this. Shouldn't I be freaking out more about this?

Feelings, senses, I could keep to myself, I always had. But a possibly life-ending vision of the future? How was I going to keep that to myself? Who in the h.e.l.l was I going to tell about it? My parents? They were sure to take me straight to the doctor. Maybe that was a good idea, I could probably use one.

I should start by telling Claire. She was the least likely to...well she would spaz out, but she might not think I was insane.

Avery was going to be the scariest to confess this to. Tomorrow, which was now today, after church at the lake, I would have to tell him then. Omitting, of course, the fact that I was in the vision and pregnant with his child. I was smart enough to know that informing him he was possibly my future husband and father of my child would probably not get me a second make-out session.

I took a deep breath, forcing my thoughts from my consciousness. I let myself slide into the feeling of Avery's arms around my waist, the clean sweet smell of his skin, the way he looked at me as he brought his face close to mine. Sweet, sweet dreams.

I awoke a short while later, Mom's hand on my forehead, a blank stare on her face.

The Avery vision flipped through my mind, but my eyes were all the way open. Unlike before, I could see the vision and what was right in front of me, which unfortunately was Melody clutching her creepy one-eared teddy bear. I looked up and studied Mom's face as the images of the smashed red pickup and Avery's wrecked body appeared. Her brow furrowed when I reached the part with me on my knees rocking back and forth, holding my stomach, covered in Avery's blood. Was I the only one seeing the vision? I didn't think so.

"Mom, what're you doing?" I jerked my head away from her touch.

"Oh, sorry honey," she whispered, coming to, "I didn't mean to scare you. I just thought that you looked a little feverish when you came home tonight. I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I'm fine, Mom. Go back to bed." I rolled toward the wall, turning my back to her, trying to convince myself that she wasn't doing what I thought she'd been doing. Grace Wells, devoted mother, Pastor's wife, and bible group leader did not just read my mind.

"Goodnight, my sweet redheaded girl."

"Goodnight, Mom."

What in the frickity frack was going on? I pulled my blankets up over my head. So far, sixteen was turning out to be weird and more than I could deal with. Not to mention seriously s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g up my beauty sleep.

Chapter Five.

I got up at five and jumped out of bed. I wanted to be the first person in the bathroom. Luxuriating in the hot shower, I smoothed a gigantic dollop of conditioner into my hair and let it linger while I meticulously shaved my legs. I scrubbed my arms, my stomach, the small of my back, and the tops of my feet with jasmine scented body wash. Forget tea rose perfume. This was the way to go.

I stepped from the shower and took two clean, but thin, towels from underneath the sink vanity. Securing one around my body, twisting the other around my hair. It was hard to breathe, the room was so steamy. I yanked open the small window above the toilet, letting the steam escape. I brushed my teeth, plucked my eyebrows, and cleaned my ears. Today, when Avery saw me I was going to look like perfection to him for once. All right, I admit it; I was in love, love, love! Something as momentous as that could cause a girl to go spastically hygienic.

At 6:30 Melody banged on the bathroom door. "Zellie! I have to pee so bad. Let me in."

I unlocked the door, struggling to turn the k.n.o.b. I was almost done lotioning up.

Melody burst into the room, pus.h.i.+ng me aside. She sat down on the toilet. "What are you doing in here? It smells like freaking Bath and Body Works exploded."

"Whatever," I trilled. She was not going to ruin my mood. There wasn't a thing in the whole universe that was going to bring me down. Okay, I was still practicing some major vision denial, but apart from that, nothing was going to bring me down today. Not when there was more severely hot making out to do!

I unwound my hair from the towel turban and combed through it with my fingers. Let the one hour blow dry commence.

Melody flushed the toilet. She turned on the shower, testing the water with her hand. I'm sure it was lukewarm. "Hey. You used up all the hot water."

I motioned that I couldn't hear her over the hair dryer. Nothing is gonna bring me down.

"Stupid Avery Adams," she hissed at me. "Did you hear that? I said your boyfriend is stoo-pid." Melody whipped off her nights.h.i.+rt and hurried into the shower.

The goofiest grin in my repertoire spread across my face. She said my boyfriend boyfriend was stupid. Yay to the...yay! was stupid. Yay to the...yay!

We Wells women splintered off to our various Sunday school cla.s.ses. Mom led the adult Bible study, while Melody went to catechism cla.s.s to prepare for her upcoming first communion. After your first communion you got to go to youth group, which was where I headed.

I tried to hold back a smile as I descended the stairs to the church bas.e.m.e.nt.

a.s.sistant Pastor Morris was walking around the long wooden table in the middle of the room placing Bibles on every other folding chair.

"Hey Zel, how was the birthday party?" he asked, handing me a Bible. I sat down at the end of the table.

I tried to play it coy. Pastor Morris was only like, twenty-three or something. He hadn't been an oblivious adult that long. "Oh, you know, as exciting as a party in a church bas.e.m.e.nt can be."

"Wow, must have been a rager then." Pastor Morris winked at me and took his usual seat at the other end of the table.

All of the kids that had been at my party the night before began filing in and taking seats around the table. Avery and Jason walked into the room. Jason was kicking him on the back of his calves trying to make him fall down.

"Knock it off man," Avery said. He looked at me and smiled.

Of course, my face flushed hot pink.

There were three remaining empty chairs situated around the table, two on one side and one on the other. Avery made his way toward the two empty chairs, picking up a Bible off of one seat and sitting down. He put his hand on the seat of the other. He glanced at me.

c.r.a.p! How stupid could I be? Why hadn't I saved him a seat? I was already not being a good girlfriend. Now I was stuck at the end of the table. Pastor Morris was sure to tell Dad if he suspected anything.

Jason flicked Avery on the ear, went around to the other side of the table and sat in the last empty chair.

"Okay. Let's begin," Pastor Morris said. "Everyone join hands..."

Claire came running into the room, the wide neck of her black t-s.h.i.+rt hanging off her shoulder, exposing a lime green bra strap. "Sorry! My mom like, totally forgot where she put her car keys and didn't find them until like, five minutes ago. In the refrigerator of all places!"

She came to a halt next to the table. I could tell she had instantly comprehended my dilemma. "Zellie, be a dear and switch places with me, I am so not in the mood to share a Bible this morning."

"Sure!" I stood up lightning quick, almost knocking over my folding chair.

Claire crossed her eyes and made a fish face at me as we took our seats. Avery pushed the chair next to him back from the table so that I could sit down.

"Okay, now that everyone has arrived and is hopefully sitting in the chair that they want to be," Pastor Morris smirked, looking right at me, "let us all join hands and bow our heads in prayer."

I held Laura Weaver's hand with the fingertips of my right hand and gripped Avery's with my left.

"Heavenly father..." Pastor Morris began.

The smell of pine wafted up my nose.

"Zellie...I love...please."

I studied Avery's face. His jeans and long sleeve grey t-s.h.i.+rt were coated in blood. Bits of winds.h.i.+eld were lodged in his forehead. A huge gash tore back the skin under his left eye.

"I could have prevented this. I could have stopped it." I heard my older self say as I rocked back and forth, holding onto my very pregnant stomach.

"Amen," the youth group said in unison.

"Amen," I added, realizing I'd s.p.a.ced out again and missed the entire prayer.