Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Fault ❯ Disaster ( Chapter 5 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

The next morning, I arrived at Leily’s at nine o’clock sharp. The woman showed no anger towards what had happened yesterday, whatever that may have been. She only said to finish up my work in the attic, which I was more than willing to do.

I climbed the stairs two at a time, in high spirits until I noticed that the lights were already on, including the one in the storage area I was working in. Cautiously, I poked my head into the room, catching the back of a head with golden hair. The person turned around.

“Well hello Amanda Joy,” said Chase, only this time his voice wasn’t light. It was mocking.

I glared at him, folding my arms across my chest. “What are you doing here?”

“Leily wanted me to make sure you didn’t get squashed under a pile of boxes,” he said coldly. “And to make sure you stay out of things that aren’t of your concern.”

I bit my tongue to keep from responding, automatically turning to return where I’d left off yesterday and hoping that he’d just ignore me.

And for about two hours, he did.

I was struggling with an armful of leather bound books, cringing slightly from the strain on my arms. I felt his gaze on me as I carefully made my way over to a plastic container, weaving my way through the junk on the floor.

I heard Chase sigh, but I missed the sight of him standing up. But an instant later, the books were in his arms instead of mine. He placed them in their correct container with complete ease.

I frowned slightly, feeling my cheeks flush as he did so. “Thanks,” I muttered, my eyes cast aside.

“You’re welcome,” he said, smiling softly, his eyes surprisingly warm. He took a few steps towards me until he was right in front of me.

“Is it alright if I have a word with you?” he questioned.

He gave me an option, I could have easily said no.

“Yes.”

Chase sat down in front of me and I followed suit, both of us sitting Indian style with our knees nearly touching.

“I need to apologize to you for my behavior,” he said, the articulate way he spoke amazing me once again. “It was rude and uncalled for, not only today but yesterday as well. I’m very sorry.”

I blinked in surprise. “It’s okay,” I said slowly, eyeing him carefully. “I asked for some of it, probably. I don’t have the greatest temper.”

His eyes danced in amusement and the corner of his mouth twitched as he fought a smile. “Do you think that maybe we could start over?”

I nodded.

“I’m Chase Calhoun,” he said with a smile, holding his hand out.

“AJ Star,” I said, shaking his hand. Mine was tiny in comparison to his and nearly disappeared within his iron grip.

“Well, AJ,” he said. “Tell me something about yourself.”

My nose crinkled as I smiled. “Well what do you want to know?”

“How old are you? When’s your birthday? What’s your favorite color? Do you have any siblings? Where were you born?” He smiled. “Anything, everything.”

I sighed. “I’m 13, my birthday is July 4th, my favorite color is blue, I have five brothers and two sisters, and I was born in London, England.”

“Favorite food?”

“Cherries.”

“Sports?” ;

“Football.”

“Hobbies?”

“Running, art and surfing.”

“Play any instruments?”
“Guitar and piano.”

“Broken bones?”

“I fractured my pinky toe once.”

He smiled. “You parents?”

I clenched my jaw. “Next question.”

Chase eyed me with confusion written across his face. “Tell me about your siblings then, there are quite a few of you.”

“Well,” I began slowly. “You know Drake and Josh of course. But the oldest is Jason; he’s in the military and his wife, Kate, is expecting. Then there’s Matt, Drake and Josh. I have a twin sister, Chloe.” Her name came out as a snarl.

The corner of his mouth twitched. “And you don’t like Chloe.”

“She’s a whore.” I glared at him as his eyes danced in amusement.

“We were originally triplets,” I continued. “But our other sister, Rachael, died when we were five.”

He instantly turned sober, frowning slightly. “I’m very sorry. What happened to her?”

I sucked in a breath, adverting my gaze to the hemline of my pale yellow tank as I told him the story. I calmly gauged his reaction at the end, looking for some sort of disappointment that usually came at the end.

“It was not your fault,” he said, his response startling me.

“I know that,” I said breathlessly, staring at him in surprise.

“I could see it in your eyes while you told me, you blame yourself.”

I frowned, tracing the grains in the wooden floor with my fingertips, feeling his gaze on me all the while.

“I have a younger sister,” I said, changing the subject. “Emily. She’s a good girl, but a little too nosey. And then there’s Derick, he’s the youngest.” I smiled fondly. “He follows me around everywhere.”

“It sounds like you have a lovely family,” he said, eliciting a round of laughter from me.

“Don’t lie!” I said through my giggles. “You knew enough about us beforehand to know that we are hardly lovely at all!” Chase smiled warmly, joining in with my laughs.

“So,” I said a few minutes later. “Can I ask you a few questions then?”

“Of course.”

I attacked him with an onslaught of questions that last until noon. His full name was James Chase Calhoun and he was 16 years old, born on August 25th, 1987. He was born here, in this little town, and has lived here his whole life. His favorite color was green, his favorite food was watermelon. He played football and baseball and liked to surf and play guitar and piano. He had an older brother, Alex, who was 24 and an older sister, Lexie, who was 19. His father, Sam, owned the local lumberyard and his mother, Stephenie, was a kindergarten teacher.

“So,” said Chase when I finally paused, trying to think of something else to ask. “I’m not allowed to call you Amanda Joy.”

My eyes narrowed slightly, quirking a brow. “No,” I said.

He pursed his lips slightly, a peculiar look in his eyes. “Well,” he said, reaching out towards my face. I watched him carefully, completely still as his fingers applied the lightest pressure against my right cheekbone. He trailed a path across it, moving over the bridge of my nose and down onto my left cheekbone, causing my cheeks to flare and my heart to pound. “What if I called you Freckles?” he finished, staring at me with a smile.

I blinked dumbly, his question hardly registering as my mind raced. I recalled how, yesterday, he had seemed so tense, reluctant to be close to me. The way he clenched his hands and the distance that had been between us had made that perfectly clear. But now, here we were, his hand lingering on the side of my face, having leaned closer to the other as we spoke. It just didn’t make sense.

“AJ?” he asked, frowning slightly as he dropped his hand, though the closeness remained.

My blush deepened, aggravating me. I didn’t blush.

“Freckles is fine,” I squeaked.

Chase laughed, the sound doing nothing to calm me back down. He opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off when Leily’s head popped into the room.

She stared at us for a short moment, an odd gleam entering her eyes as she did so. “I don’t mean to interrupt,” she began, smiling brightly. “But it’s starting to rain pretty hard out there and it’s only going to get worse. You two might want to start heading home.” Leily smiled wistfully at us before whipping around and heading back down stairs.

I frowned, leaning away from Chase and standing up. He followed suit, eyeing me with curiosity.

“Are you okay?” he questioned, following me out of the small storage room and into the library part of the attic.

“Oh yes,” I said sarcastically, flicking off the lights and heading down the stairs. “There’s nothing quite like walking home in a downpour.”

He chuckled softly as we walked down the hall, turning to go down the stairs that led to the first floor. “I’ll give you a ride.”

I wrinkled my nose, the idea, much to my aggravation, actually sounded appealing. “That’s okay,” I sighed, opening the front door and standing out on the porch. “It’s not that far.”

“You can’t complain and then refuse when it gets better,” he said, the tips of his fingers making contact with my exposed shoulder. I suppressed a shiver. “I’ll bring my truck up to the front for you.”

I rolled my eyes, shrugging his hand off and walking down the wooden steps, getting soaked in the process. “I won’t melt you know,” I teased, my wet hair whipping around as I turned to look back at him.

Chase was at my side a moment later, his expression unreadable. “As you wish,” he said in a low murmur, leading me to the gravel road where his truck was parked. It was hard to see through the sheets of rain hitting us; I had to squint my eyes to keep out the water.

I felt his hand, surprisingly warm despite the cold that surrounded us, take the lightest grip on my elbow and steer me to the passenger side door.

I blinked in surprise, the height of the truck well beyond what I had been expecting. He opened the door for me to get in, but I hesitated, debating on the best way to get in. I could hear him laugh over the roar of thunder, and an instant later, his large hands were gripping my shoulders like a toddler and lifting me up into the truck. Once I was in the seat, he dropped his grip and shut the door.

I shivered involuntarily, wiping the water off of my face and rubbing my arms to try and stay warm. I jumped when the driver’s door opened, Chase sliding in and closing the door in one fluid motion.

“H-how do y-you do-o that?” I stuttered through chattering teeth, staring at him with what seemed to be an amusing face.

The corners of his mouth twitched dangerously as he responded. “I’m a good head taller than you, Freckles.” His gaze sweeped over my shivering form, a brow arching as a smirk pulled at his lips. “Oh yeah,” he said, fumbling with a few knobs on the dashboard to turn on heat. “I’m sure you would have made that walk back just fine.”

I glared at him, punching his arm. “Shut up,” I grumbled, ignoring the pain in my right hand. His arms felt like they were made out of steel!

Chase’s booming laughter sounded throughout the truck as he began driving away from the house. I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at him like a five year old and pulled my seatbelt on instead. I folded my arms across my chest in a huff, my right hand throbbing still.

The drive was mostly silent save for when I told him which way to turn and the spatter of rain against the truck. Soon, far too soon, we were stopping in front of my house, thunder booming all around us.

I frowned out the window, not quite ready to leave this haven of warmth. I turned to look back at him, a smile curving my lips. “Thank you for the ride,” I said.

He nodded, a hint of the guarded expression I’d seen the day before creeping up in his eyes. I creased my brow in worry.

“Are you okay?” I asked, reaching out to touch his arm without even realizing it.

“I was thinking,” he said slowly, his gaze fixed on my hand. “If maybe you wouldn’t mind me showing you something tomorrow.” He turned to look at me. “You’d have to wake up very early.”

“How early?” I questioned eagerly, curiosity getting the better of me.

“I would be here for you at five in the morning,” he said, a smile in his voice.
“Five it is then!” I said enthusiastically, surprises always excited me.

He laughed at me. “Would your parents even let you go?”

I rolled my eyes, pulling my hand off of him and instantly missing the warmth. “As if they would even notice or care,” I scoffed.

His face became troubled, a frown marring his face. He looked as if he wanted to say something on that matter but, to my relief, he did not.

“I will see you in the morning then,” he said after a moment. “Be looking for me, I don’t want to wake your family.”

I gave a brief nod, turning to brace myself for the cold and wet that awaited me. I flung open the door and leapt out, spinning around to face Chase again. “Thanks again!” I called over the roar of rain. He smiled in return, that odd look back on his face.

I ignored it though, and shut the door, dashing up into the yard and waving back at him. I’d never know if he saw or not, because a moment later he was speeding away.