CHAPTER ONE
4:23 A.M. ThursdayAllison's P.O.V.
My head hit hard against the cold glass window of the airplane window with a muffled thump, jerking me out of the sleep I had unwillingly slid into. I blinked a few times and my hand slowly found the spot on the side of my head where a small bump had already sprouted. I straightened up and pulled my shoulder's back, stretching. I let my eyes wander around the cabin as my shoulders relaxed. The small jet plane was almost empty except for the twelve or thirteen passengers with their tired eyes slowly closing, or most already asleep. One man sat in the back row his black laptop on the small tray in front of him and the white glow from the screen lighting his face and breaking through the darkness of the plane. The gleam reflected off his glasses and mirrored what was on the screen. His pushed his glasses further up on the bridge of his nose and he brought his wrist watch to his face. The man reminded me of the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. I sighed and turned back around, pulling the headphones out of my ears and falling back into my seat. It was silent except for the soft clicks of the Man with the Laptop and the soft purr of the engine. And one again, as I slid down in my seat, I drifted off into another unwelcome sleep.
*****
About an hour and a half later, after the sun barley peeked over the tall mountains, I felt the large wheels of the plane hit the smooth ground of the runway, causing the cabin to lurch, and we slowly rolled to a stop. I rubbed my eyes and stifled a yawn while I stretched out my cramped body. I sat back in the seat as I waited for the tired line of passengers to pass. I followed behind a staggering man with a black fedora hat and suit out the door of the jet and into a arid hallway. I shuffled groggily into the gate and glanced around. Hmm. . . Sarah wasn't here yet, maybe I had some time to find a Starbucks. I tugged on my lower lip with my teeth and looked around, my fingers running through my hair. My eyes fell on a small coffee shop in the corner and I hurried over towards it. Not a Starbucks, but hey, it's coffee.
6:47A.M. ThursdayKaleb's P.O.V.
"Would you please stop complaining? The poor girl just lost her mother." My older sister, Sarah, snapped. My hands shot up in defense.
"I wasn't complaining! Besides, I doubt she's even going to remember me." I sighed and followed Sarah towards the automatic doors that led into the airport, and to Allison. Outside, it smelt like a garage and a soft drizzle fell onto our heads. The sounds of planes taking off and landing filled my ears. Sarah stopped, her tongue poked at the inside of her cheek and she ran a hand through her long, white blonde hair.
"Come on, Kay, she only left in the sixth grade. She has to remember you." Sarah sighed and tapped her loosely clamped hand on her thigh. Her car keys jingled in her fist. "What gate did she say she was in again?" She began to walk again, I stuffed my hands in my pockets and loped beside her.
"Actually she left in fifth. I probably won't even recognize her." The image of Allison Clare popped into my head. Her long pigtail braids that ended at her waist, her thick black glasses, and shiny metal braces with light freckles dusting her nose. I threw my bangs out of my eyes with a jerk of my head as we slowed in front of gate E15. Sarah double checked her hand where the gate had been written in black Sharpie on her palm.
"Allie!" Sarah's high pitched squeal made me jump slightly. A smile broke over my sister's face as she began to bounce on the balls of her feet. I sighed and glanced over to see a girl with long brunette hair that fell into curls, framing her flawless heart-shaped face glance up. She smiled, gathered her blue hand bag and stood up. It took me a few moment before I realized she was walking towards us. My eyebrows shot up and My breath caught in my throat. This was Allison? The Allison Clare I had grown up with? Her braces were gone and she had perfect white teeth; her glasses were also gone making her neon blue eyes stand out against her tanned face. Allie threw her arms around Sarah's neck and pecked her on the cheek.
"How are you holding up?" Sarah asked, pulling back and searching Allie's face.
"Alright I guess." She shrugged. Her eyes fell on me and I realized my jaw was slightly open and I was staring at her like a hungry man that hadn't seen food in a week.
"Kaleb Johnson." She stood in front of me, her hands on her hips and her lips pursed. I closed my mouth quickly and stood there. A smile broke across her face and she threw her arms around me. It wasn't until after she let go had I finally remembered how to talk.
"Allie!" I began. "You look........ great." I couldn't seem to muster the right word. Beautiful? Amazing? Gorgeous?
"Thanks," She giggled.
"Let's go get your bags and then we can go get some food if you want." Sarah said.
"Okay," Allie smiled and walked towards the carousel. I went to follow her when Sarah whispered:
"So much for not remembering." She smirked and walked towards Allie. I rolled my eyes and hurried to catch up.
8:19 A.M. ThursdayAllison's P.O.V.
The house was huge. It was a three story cream coloured brick house with two adjoining towers standing out on either side of the it and lush green vines twisted up the sides and crept underneath the widows on the left most side of the manor. A small gazebo stood off on the center of the neatly trimmed grass on a slab of pavement. I felt my eyes grow wide as the bronze gates automatically swung open and Sarah's orange Lamborghni roared as it glided into the seven car garage. Kaleb kicked the door open and then came around and opened the door for me.
"Thanks," I smiled, taking his hand as he pulled me out of the car. He had changed a lot. Sarah eyed him suspiciously before shaking her head and opening the white door that led into the house.
"Dad! We're home." Sarah called setting her keys on the table in the large kitchen.
"Like he cares," Kaleb mumbled from behind me. "Here, your room is upstairs." He had all three of my bags with him as he climbed the large flight of stairs that branched off into two loft-like hallways with rooms that lined the hall. He turned into a room in the back that took over the entire back wall. "It's the guest room. The guest house is being renovated for the next few weeks so..." He set my bags down. "Yeah, that's about it." He reached his hand towards the back of his neck and gave me a weak smile before turning into the room down the hall. I sighed and turned. The room was bigger than Mom's entire apartment, which I guess doesn't say much since it was a pretty crappy apartment. I ran my hand over the silk sheets on the queen sized bed and slid off my worn out converse. There was a fifty-six inch Plasma Screen T.V. in the corner and a small vanity underneath a mirror and a small cream coloured sofa sat underneath the window. The floor was covered in a white carpet and light blue drapes hug from both of the windows. I threw one open and looked down. The sounds of cars on the highway filled my ears and the smell of rain filled my nose and I smiled. I sighed and wandered towards the bed. I fell backwards onto the mattress and took a deep breath. After I found the bathroom that connected to my room, I ran a brush through my hair and washed my face before returning back downstairs.
*****
I sighed and leaned back further on the couch. It was already late afternoon. Kaleb came loping into the living room, his orange-ish brown hair covering his hazel eyes. He was pulling a shirt over his head when he drummed on the back of the couch.
"I'm leaving." He said.
"Where?" Sarah asked. We both turned our heads to stare at him. He clicked his teeth together, a habit he'd had since forever.
"John's." He said in an indifferent tone and sauntered over to the walk in closet and grabbed a coat.
"Have fun." Sarah waved him away. I watched as he slid his muscled arms through his coat and his eyes caught my gaze.
"You coming or what?" He asked, grabbing car keys out of a small glass bowl on the windowsill before turning towards me.
"Uhhh, sure. Lemme go grab a coat-" I began, throwing my thumb towards the stairs. He threw a jacket at me.
"Use one of mine. Let's just go." He sighed and hurried over to the garage door. I pulled the coat on (a little big, but it would keep me warm) and followed him towards his jet black Ferrari Spider in the garage. The coat smelled like cinnamon cologne and a suspicious scent of smoke and spearmint gum. I opened the door, careful not to hit it on any other car and climbed inside. He twisted the key in the ignition and the engine hummed to life. The radio turned on and Taylor Swift's "You Belong With Me" pounded through the speakers causing me to jump.
"Damn it Stephen," Kaleb grumbled before turning it off.
8:34 P.M. ThursdayKaleb's P.O.V.
An awkward silence filled the car between me and Allie. It's not that I didn't want to talk to her, I just didn't know what to say. She tapped her fingers on her thigh and stared out the window. I sighed, still unable to spit out a question, comment, anything.
I sighed as we pulled into John and Stephen's house, the windows dancing with lights and music so loud it shook the windows in the car. I parked the car behind Josh's silver '08 Ford Mustang and kicked open the door. I waited for Allie and stood in front of the large wooden door. I pushed it open, deciding they wouldn't mind that I didn't knock.
"Kaleb!" A familiar voice shrieked from behind me. I turned to see Sammi skip towards me. I glanced behind me to make sure Allie was there (which she was) before turning towards Sammi. She threw her arms around my shoulders. "How you been?" She asked, before I saw her eyes flicker towards Allie. "Who is that?" She asked flatly, green eyes slowly narrowed at Allie who was looking around curiously at the Gomez's house.
"Allie." I said, Allie's head snapped towards me.
"Yes?" She asked, the smile in her eyes melted into surprise when she saw Sammi's glaring eyes.
"New girlfriend?" Sammi asked, head cocking to the side as she glanced over towards me.
"Oh, no." Allie laughed before I could force the lie out of my mouth that I had been planning on saying. "Just friends." The smile returned in her eyes when they landed on me.
"We go way back." I said quickly. Sammi's arms were still around my shoulders and I quickly shrugged out of them. "Come on, Allie, let's go say hi to a few people you might remember." I said, grateful I thought of an excuse.
"Okay," She followed me into the kitchen where I thought I could hear Jess and Brian fighting.
"Hey guys." I smiled as I came into the room. They stopped to look over at me. Jess's brown eyes widened.
"Allie?" She asked, obviously surprised. Allie smiled and ran over to hug Jess. "Oh my gosh! What are you doing here?" Allie pulled away.
"Well, um, my mom-" She began unevenly.
"She staying at my place for awhile." I offered. Jess nodded understandingly.
"Brian!" Her eyes fell onto Brian, whose sandy hair was tucked underneath a hat.
"Hey, Al." He smiled, pulling her into a huge hug.
"Where are John and Stephen?" I asked looking around the kitchen.
"John's in the back." Jess jerked her head towards the hall, rolling her eyes. We ventured towards the hall where the lights were dimmed. I could see the silhouette of two people, uncomfortably close in the back of the hallway. I turned the lights on all the way.
"Knock, knock." I laughed as John pulled away from Melisa and glanced down the hall.
"Jesus." He said, fixing his lens less glasses. He looked like he was just about to swear every word in the book at me when his eyes found Allie. His mouth was slightly open when he saw her. "Allie?" He sounded confused.
"Allie?!" Melisa echoed in the same confused tone. "As in Allie Clare?" She nodded a smile breaking over her face. Was she always this smiley?
"Guess Kaleb didn't tell anyone." She sighed, laughing. I shrugged. John grabbed Allie into a hug.
"I haven't seen you in forever!" He laughed.
"Hey, my turn." Melisa giggled, pulling her into a hug.
"I believe this," I trusted the Taylor Swift CD at his chest, "is yours."
"Oh thanks, I was looking for this." He smiled.
"Don't mention it." I patted him on the back.
11:03 ThursdayAllison's P.O.V.
"You ever played Truth or Dare, Al?" Sammi asked, her fingers toying with the back of an uncomfortable looking Kaleb's neck. I quickly felt everyone's eyes on me. I pulled my Dr. Pepper away from my lips and looked around nervously.
"No." I said, quietly. Sammi smirked and sat up straighter.
"It's easy, hun." Melisa purred, her head resting on John's chest and his glow in the dark glasses sliding down her nose. John fingers played with the ends of her hair. "Here, watch." She turned to face Brian. "Truth or Dare." She smiled wickedly.
"No, really, that's alright. I--" He protested.
"Okay, Dare. Ummm...." Her chocolate eyes fell on Jess and her smile widened. "I dare you to kiss Jess. On the lips."
"What?!" Jess chocked, spraying her Coke over Josh. "No way am I--"
"It's a Dare. You have to." Melisa said as-a-matter-of-factly, leaning her head back into John who laughed.
"Pucker up." Brian mumbled, as he got up and leaned into Jess. His lips barley grazed hers before she pulled away. I heard a laugh from behind me and turned around.
"Never thought I'd live to see that happen." Stephen smiled. "Hey, Allie. Heard you came in." I stood up and let him pull me into a hug. "How you been?" He asked, pulling away and falling into a seat next to Melisa on the sofa.
"Good," I shrugged, smiling at him, and sitting back down on the rug in between Josh and Joel.
"Your turn, Brian." Sammi said, impatient.
"Okay, uhh. Allie." He turned towards me. Ohh, great.
"Hmm?" I chewed on my lower lip.
"Truth or Dare?" He arched an eyebrow.
"Uhhh." I glanced around the room and caught Sammi's smirk. "T-truth." I stammered.
"Who was your first kiss?" Brian asked.
"That's a terrible question, do you even know how to play this game?" Jess objected.
"Shh." Brian waved his hand in her face. She smaked his hand down but remained quiet.
"Uhh." I glanced unesily at Kaleb. "Kaleb." I felt red creep into my cheeks and was thankful that the lights were somewhat dimmed. I saw Sammi's face harden and she narrowed her eyes at me.
"Seriously?" Stephen's eyebrows shot up.
"Uhh, yeah.." I laughed uneasily.
"On purpose?" Stephen asked, still in shock. I shook my head laughing.
"No, on accident actually." I smiled. "We were playing that game when you pass the card by only using you mouth and," I shrugged, "It fell."
"Well, go give him a real kiss now!" Jess laughed.
"No, you can't do that! It's against the rules!" Sammi cried in protest.
"No it isn't. I Dare you, Allie." Jess smirked.
"Al, you don't have to..." Brian began.
"Shutup." Jess smacked him on the back of his head. I shrugged. I stood up and ambled towards Kaleb and grabbed the collar of his shirt and planted a kiss on his lips.
"There you go." I laughed, pulling away from a shocked Kaleb. Sammi's eyes flared and anger seemed to burn from underneath her skin. I sent her a small smile and sat back down.