Chapter One
Winter Break's in two days. TWO days! Every last inch of me wants out of this school, the unflattering fluorescent lighting, the monotonous tones of teachers who no longer care, I can't take one more second of it. Senior year could not be going any slower. The only thing I have to look forward to is the next week off and the fact that I'll be 18 in less than 4 days.
"Earth to June, reality calling on line one!"
Crap…pay attention June
"Seriously, did you even hear one word I said!?" I'd been lost in my thoughts but judging by how irritated Marie was I had a decent guess.
"Yeah, you were talking about Kevin" I said blankly. Marie sighed and started up again.
"So like, I dunno what to do. He says he loves me and all but it's only when we're having sex, and don't even get me started on the sex. God, does he realize there are more than two positions in existence?"
It wasn't really a question so I didn't bother to answer and it's not like I could give any advice on the subject. The only thing I'd ever done was made out…and not well, by no fault of my own I like to think. This guy, Alex Tomlin, asked me out over the summer and at the end of our first date he kissed me. Now, I've never actually had a dead fish in my mouth but I'm pretty sure that it's similar to kissing Alex. His lips were uncomfortably dry and when he slid his tongue into my mouth it was like a cold fish flopping around, dying for lack of water. I dated him for a couple weeks anyway, for company more than anything. He was dimwitted and an ass and we already determined that he was a lousy kisser. In fact, he was pretty lousy at everything. He tried to feel me up once in his car and somehow managed to elbow me in the ribs. Anyway, that's when he ended it, apparently I was a "prude" because I wouldn't doing anything more than kiss him.
"Oh my gosh, do you have that Kama Sutra book?" She leaned in and excitedly whispered the question.
"Why would I have the Kama Sutra?" She snapped her fingers a couple times as if to get my attention
"Okay, learn to listen, honey. The book store…where you work…" she talked slow and deliberate "do you guys have a copy of it there? I could totally give it to him as a Christmas present or something."
"Oh, uh…I don't know if we really carry stuff like that. I mean we have old books you know, antiques and such. And I don't know if the Kama Sutra is really the sort of thing Cal would carry. You'd have better luck getting it off the internet."
"Oh right… So uh…you shack up with boss yet then?" She waggled her eyebrows. "I mean, you call him Cal and I've seen him before, that man is hotter than Brad Pit! Not to mention the way he looks at you." Her eyes got all dreamy and she mock fanned herself.
"You know, I don't see the big deal about Brad Pit… he's not that attractive…okay, well he is attractive but there are way cuter actors out there in my opinion."
"June, you can't change the subject on me. I'm relentless remember, and my brain is wired to think about sexy men. If he stared at me the way he does at you, I'd have thrown him down and rode him right on the spot."
"Ookay, well on that note I think I'm going to actually use Study Hall to, you know, study."
"Yeah right! I don't think I've ever seen you study and we've been friends since 8th grade. Sheesh, how do you manage to get such good grades." She had a point; even now I was staring at my notebook which was filled with doodles and sketches rather than actual notes. "Okay okay, fine, you win, new subject. Did you see Haley earlier? I heard she has a huuuge knot on her forehead and you are not going to believe how she got it!" I tuned out
Callum Grey had been my boss for nearly a year now. He'd inherited the store years ago when his Grandfather passed away. He was 26, I'd guess around 5' 11, lean but very well built from working out. He had dark black hair that always seemed to hang over one eyebrow daring me to go stroke it off his face just to feel how soft it is. His skin had a natural light olive tone to it and he had a strong jaw with smooth beautiful features. Marie wasn't lying when she said he was gorgeous. He paid pretty well too and my job was fairly simple. Working with customers, running the register, shelving books, sometimes I managed the online orders and packed up the books to be shipped. Other times I just read, which I loved, especially with the array of books he had there. A lot of them were first editions so I tended to stay away from them, my pay check may have been good but not nearly heavy enough to pay for one of those books. But I loved reading the classics and I loved seeing some of the odd books that happened into the store. Dracula was a favorite and one I was currently reading again at his shop. The last chapter was waiting for me and I was eager to finish it even though I knew what the ending would hold.
The bell rang snapping me out of my daze only to find that I had doodled and entire page of owls.
"Cute birds but uh, you still gonna design a tattoo for me?" Marie asked as we gathered up our things and headed out the door. "I was thinking about getting it on my butt or maybe like really small right above my breast? What do you think?"
"How about I do a picture of your favorite Kama Sutra position on your lower back, you know, tramp stamp, I hear it's all the rage these days. Oh, and then Kevin could just look at it in case he needed a reference to figure out how to do it."
"Not funny." She snorted and we laughed for a while anyway
Classes went slow as usual. I was given a project in art, which happened to be pretty much the only class I more than tolerated. I would go so far as to say I enjoyed the class. The idea was to sketch or paint your idea of the perfect man or woman. It was a fairly simple assignment and it wasn't due until after Winter break so I wasn't really worried about getting started. Instead I drew a rather detailed sketch of two lovers in the throes of passion, folded the paper and stuffed it in my pocket to give to Marie later knowing knew she'd get a kick out of it.
On the way to my car I got a text from Marie saying she was catching a ride with Kevin and she'd call later. Going home was the last thing I wanted to do, My Father and Stepmother were growing more unbearable by the minute, but they were leaving for their cruise tomorrow so that was some much needed good news. Plus I knew they wouldn't want me around to get in their way while they packed. But the great thing was, and I couldn't have planned it better myself, they would be gone for the entire Winter break! I had the house to myself. No chores, not getting screamed at and belittled by my step Mom, I was free for a whole week. Sure they'd miss Christmas but I wasn't so worried about that. We were planning to celebrate when they got back and opening presents didn't really appeal to me much anyway. I decided that I'd just go into work early; I didn't think Cal would mind.
I could hear Cal moving around upstairs where his little apartment was, I'd never been up there so I guess I couldn't really say it was little for sure but the bookstore wasn't that big; a modest size but nothing grand. I set my sketchbook down on a shelf under the counter in case inspiration sprung for my "perfect man" and reached up into the air as I groaned and stretched.
"Tired?" Cal came through the curtain to the back room where a set of steps led upstairs. Suddenly I felt a little self conscious, my little gray t-shirt had rose above my bellybutton as I stretched and I quickly lowered my arms and pulled it back into place.
"Just tired of sitting around in class all day, ready for break…you know, so I can sit around the house all day haha"
"Oh I'm sure you'll have something better to do than sit around"
"Eh, maybe" I shrugged "But I'm kind of looking forward to just relaxing for once."
"Do I really work you that hard?" He raised an eyebrow "I don't recall asking you to come in early."
"Oh no, I didn't mean it that way… I just meant from school and my parents you know…just…okay, shutting up now, sorry"
"Parents?"
"Yeah, they're leaving for the break so I finally have some time to myself."
"That's…odd, what are you doing for your birthday…for Christmas?"
"Um…making myself some dinner and eating in front of the TV?"
"No"
"What do you mean 'No' I think it sounds like a pretty good plan"
"I mean just what I said, No, you are having dinner with me" I opened my mouth to argue but the phone rang and he pointed at it expectantly, I heaved a sigh and answered 'Grey's antique books store'
I was busier than I thought I'd be and never touched my sketchbook. There were a large amount of books that had come in and I had the rather boring job of cataloging and shelving them. I was sitting cross-legged on the floor in the back room surrounded by books when something small and red caught my eye. It was a small book; 'The Labyrinth' was pressed into the leather. It wasn't very thick and it seemed peculiar looking, I stared at it for a long time before opening it. I shuffled though the pages, it was hand written rather than printed. I imagined this must be the journal of a writer or something of the sort but there was no Author name. I browsed over the first few pages, it was very strange and I couldn't stop reading.
Goblin King… Goblin King…
"Need some help? " He saw me intently eyeing the book. "Find something good?" Grey moved some books over and sat beside me, he was so close his arm was brushing mine.
"It doesn't say who it's by, somebody's idea of a Fairy Tale maybe?"
"You look like you're enjoying it." He reached over and took a look at the book. "This wasn't supposed to be with the lot of books, must have been mixed in by accident."
"Well I think maybe it was stuffed inside another book 'cause I didn't notice it when I first took the books out of the boxes." He tossed it back to me; I snatched it out of the air and held it to my chest for a moment. Cal watched and smiled.
"You can keep it."
"What? No I couldn't, I mean it looks so old, I'm sure it's worth something, way more than I could afford anyway." I tried to hand it back. He held up his hands and shook his head back and forth.
"Nope, just consider it an early Christmas present."
"Really!? Thank you Cal." I hadn't smiled like that in a long time and I wondered why a silly book would make me smile this way, or was it because Cal had given it to me? I leaned over and hugged him without thinking, I felt his arms wrap around me, he rubbed my back lightly and I shivered at the feel of his breath on my neck. And then, for a second, it felt like we both stopped breathing. I pulled away quickly, breaking the rhythm of his hand rubbing circles on my back and stood up so fast that I nearly fell back over. He put his hand on my hip to steady me and stood up too. Then he just stared at me, I felt like there was some big spotlight on me and I didn't like it. "It's getting really late" I glanced at the clock ticking on the wall "I was supposed to be home an hour ago, they're going to kill me." My shoulders slumped a little and I went to grab my sketchbook and leave. Cal was very quiet. "Sorry, I'll see you later"
"Yeah…" he waved awkwardly and locked the door behind me after I went.
I drove home slow; I knew I'd be in big trouble. My curfew was really at 11 but it stretched to 12 on work nights because cataloging and such was usually done after the store closed. It was 1:32 when I pulled into the driveway. All the lights were off which was a good sign but as soon as I got in the house and shut the door I heard footsteps approach, I braced myself.
"Do you know what time it is!?" Lovely old Step Mom
"1:32 last time I checked." Sure they could punish me, that might hurt a bit, but if they grounded me they wouldn't be here to make sure I followed through with their punishment over break.
"Don't you smart off to me, your Father was worried sick" I noticed she didn't say she was worried sick. Her voice suddenly hushed. "So help me God if you get into trouble and mess this trip up for me I'll…I'll…" I raised my eyebrow.
"You'll leave never to return again, 'cause I think I could live with that."
Holy shit I did not just say that, did I?
The next thing I heard was ringing; she slapped me across my cheek and half my ear. I held my ear for a second opening and closing my mouth, trying to make the ringing stop. It did a few seconds later. I knew my cheek must be flaming read, I wondered if there might be a little cut because I felt a distinct burning. I touched where it stung and saw some red on my fingers.
"What's going on…Lucy?" Dad staggered out of the hallway and looked between her and I
"I'm handling it James, June decided she wanted to go gallivanting around doing only God knows what until 1:30 in the morning."
"I got stuck at work. I'm sorry" Seems I'd lost all my courage from earlier. Suddenly I felt very tired. I listened to James and Lucy yell at me, I heard the threats in their voice but not the actual words, and all I could think of was bed. After about 20 minutes they seemed to run out of steam and wandered off to bed, I walked to the opposite side of the house where my room was and fell asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow. I didn't even bother to take my shoes off or change out of my jeans and t-shirt.
Goblin King…Goblin King…
The dream seemed foggy, distant, I felt like I was floating down a river. I felt hot, too hot. And then there was a creak…a creak? My eyes fluttered open and I squinted, scanning my room. Nothing. I was sweating and my room felt like it was a hundred degrees. I fumbled my way to the window and opened it, standing there for a minute and reveling in the frozen breeze. I walked back to bed and stripped off my jeans and bra, falling back into bed in nothing but my shirt and panties. I kicked away the covers and let myself fade back into the darkness. A small thought lingered before I was completely unconscious.
What's a Goblin King look like anyway?
Morning came, I heard my parents loading up the car, heard the door slam shut and the car drive away.
"Yeah, goodbye to you too…"
I got up to close the window seeing as I could hardly feel my feet it was so cold. I pulled the window shut tight and then saw my sketchbook on the floor where I'd thrown it last night. I picked it up not really knowing what I was going to do and then I started making lines, curves, things that took shape. Strong features, powerful deep set eyes, soft lips, long beautiful hair. But those eyes, that's what got me. And among it all, feathers encircling the bust of this glorious man I'd never even realized I was drawing until I was finished. I stared at it for a long time before setting it gently on my bed where that little red book lay half underneath my pillow.
Guess I finished my Art project early. Somehow this man seemed perfect.
Goblin King…
I laughed out loud "Goblin King" and there it was, I'd made up my mind that this was the Goblin King, a character from that strange little book about twists and turns and mythical things in his kingdom. About his nature and morals, however questionable they may be. This picture before me seemed to fit perfectly. Because though he was handsome there was something in his features, something sinister, mysterious, and inhuman even.
I caught a glimpse of the digital clock on my bedside table, it was 10:00, I was so late and I didn't even care. I took my time in the shower, bringing back warmth to my numb toes and fingers. I shouldn't have left my window open like that. I'm lucky I didn't freeze to death. When I finally sauntered into school it was lunch time and Marie was sitting with Kevin at our usual table. Marie's eyes got big for a second then she grabbed my arm and pulled me down to sit beside her.
"Geez, what happened?" She was looking at my cheek; I hadn't thought it was very bad when I woke up. She saw my quizzical gaze and dug in her purse for a compact mirror, I was a little surprised at what I saw. There was a little cut but apparently what had been a very light bruise this morning was now very purple and very noticeable. "So what happened!?"
"Oh…uh…I came home late." I knew there was no point in lying to her, she was my best friend and she knew how my parents could be.
"Gah, June, I'm so sorry!"
"Let's just forget about it okay, if anyone asks I was an uber dork and slipped in the shower or something."
"Wow, okay you should really come up with a cooler excuse than that or people are going to think you're special." Kevin was chuckling as he said this.
I made it through school with my stupid excuse and no one asked questions, not that they cared whether I was lying or not anyway. I spent most the rest of my period scanning through my little book. The teachers were eager for break as much as we were and no one was really doing anything. There was very little teaching being done and lots of talking or snoring from the students. I went to work early again and got an even worse reaction from Cal than I'd gotten from Marie. This isn't the first time one of my parents has hit me and it certainly wasn't the worst but usually when something like this happened it wasn't in a place that was so visible. Not that it happened a lot, it's not like they beat me on a regular basis but they were known to lose their temper now and then. I stopped saying things were unfair a long time ago, cause that's just how life goes, it may suck and it may be unfair but there's always someone out there who has it worse and by most standards I had it pretty good. I couldn't really complain…well I could but I didn't anyway. My Mum died a few years ago, I had a great life up until then, it was only in the last few years that my Dad lost it and married the bitch. That's when it started, he'd lose his temper, she'd blame things on me, she hated me for some reason, and so it didn't seem like a bad thing to them when they lost their temper. They wanted to believe I deserved it, like it was no big deal.
Cal crossed the distance between us in what seemed like seconds. I looked at the floor quickly and he took my chin lightly, forcing me to look at him. "What happened, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, just a klutz." He frowned at me
"It looks like a handprint." I tried to laugh when he said that but it didn't sound normal, it sounded strained and awkward.
"More like part of my bathtub, I slipped in the shower."
"And got scratched too?"
"Guess so…" I pushed past him and put my things behind the counter, keeping my back to him, making it obvious that I didn't want to talk about it. I worked for some time while Cal fumed in the back room, or at least that's what it seemed like he was doing, he'd peek out and check on me now and then, then start pacing. Finally he settled down, the store closed, and we both started working on the pile of books in the back.
"Do you need to go home? I mean, are you going to be late?"
"My parents left this morning, it wasn't even that big a deal last night, I just told them I got caught up here."
"Sure..." Call muttered and we worked in silence for a while longer until finally I noticed him smirking to himself.
"What?" I asked cautiously.
"Oh, nothing, I just found something interesting on the floor yesterday"
"Ookay, well, what was it?" I was genuinely puzzled
"A rather detailed, intricate drawing…" He paused to grin wickedly at me. I just stared at him completely confused for a minute and then it hit me.
Oh no…oh no no no. The drawing for Marie, It was in my pocket yester day. NO, SHIT!
By the look on my face he knew I'd realized what he was talking about.
"No" I choked the word out and his smile grew devious
"Oh Yes, I found it rather… well, it was interesting, do you think he looks a little like me?" He pulled out the sketch and dangled it in front of me. I lunged for it and he rolled out of the way laughing so hard he had to stay there on the floor. I scrambled over and tried to grab it, he held it above his head away from me until I was practically crawling up him trying to grab it.
"This is not funny Cal, you give that back right now!"
"So I'm curious as to why you are drawing such things, is this from your imagination or…" I grew furious
"It's a joke between a friend and I and absolutely NONE of YOUR business!" I tried to get up and off of him but his arm circled my waist and held me close to him, he was still lying on his back, our lips were mere inches apart. His other hand dropped the picture to the floor and brushed the hair off my cheek that was now throbbing in time with my heartbeat. I squirmed a little.
"Sorry, it's just…that's some drawing." He chuckled a little then lightly touched my cheek. It stung and I turned away more instinctively rather than from pain. "You're parents do this to you?" I didn't say anything, I didn't even look at him, I just kind of collapsed into his chest and rested my unscathed cheek on his chest, he held me there, brushing his fingers through my long, dark hair. "Is this the first time?" I wondered if I should say anything, it felt so nice to be here like this with him.
"…It's not as bad as it used to be"
"Geez June!" He blew out a hard breathe into my hair and kissed the top of my head "How come you never said anything? And it's not as bad as it used to be! This looks pretty nasty, how bad did it used to be?" I didn't want to say anything. I wasn't sure he even expected me to answer.
"I'm fine"
"None of this is fine, they can't do that to you"
"Stop, just stop, it's not so bad really. Can we please just change the subject?" I started to lift myself up and he followed, pulling me back down to sit in his lap, almost cradled to him. "This is…awkward." He laughed, pretty hard actually.
"Then I suppose it can't hurt much if I do this…" He looked at me and before I could realize what he had planned, his lips hit mine and I couldn't think anymore, I knew this wasn't right but it felt right so I leaned in, ran my hands through his spectacular hair and the kiss deepened. His hands came up my back and pulled me tight against him and by this time we were both panting and instead of being in his lap my knees were on either side of him and even though I already knew he was as excited as I was, I could feel it too. My face grew hot and suddenly I felt self conscious and pulled away to sit on my own in front of him. He let me this time. His face was red too and he just sat there for a second looking as if he wanted to say something but couldn't find the right words. Luckily we were saved from more of this awkward silence when the bell at the front door rang letting us know someone had entered.
