Chapter 10 - A Promise

                                    

                                          
Before December 31st
                          
AIDEN
                          
I eat lunch with Emma on Tuesday. I try to make her laugh the way I did on Saturday when we went hiking, but she seems withdrawn and quiet. I hate seeing her like this, her eyes look so sad and her shoulders slump slightly.
                          
"What's wrong, Emma?"
                          
She looks up from her salad. "Nothing? Why?"
                          
"I'm not that dumb, Emma. I mean, I know it seems that way sometimes. But I can tell when something's up with you."
                          
She smiles a little. "I'm fine. And you're not dumb."
                          
On an impulse I leave my seat to sit down on the chair next to her, instead of sitting across from her, and put an arm around her. "So I'm not being dumb if I do this?" She shakes her head, a full smile taking over her face now as she looks away from me, shyly.
                          
"What about this?" I tilt her chin to me with two fingers and before I can change my mind, I plant a quick, gentle kiss on her lips. She jumps back a little as if shocked. My lips are still tingling with electricity, but I sense that the kiss upset her.
                          
"I guess that was dumb of me," I say. "I'm sorry. I should have asked."
                          
Emma relaxes in her chair a little, like she was expecting my reaction to her surprise to be different. "It's okay." She looks down at her food and then at me again. "I just want things...to go slowly."
                          
I nod. All I want to do is kiss her velvety lips again but I know I can resist for her sake.
                          
~ ~ ~
                          
EMMA
                          
I don't want to tell him about Blaze, about the fact that knowing he will be here in October means my nightmares have started again.
 When Aiden kissed me, I couldn't help flashing back to when Blaze first kissed me. And even though Aiden was much more gentle, I thought about Blaze when our lips touched and I felt scared. Then, when I pulled away, I almost expected him to be furious with me, the way Blaze used to get if I denied him anything.
 He wasn't, and I immediately felt silly for being so uptight. But I had my reasons.
 By the time I pull myself out of my thoughts, I catch Aiden looking at me with a soft expression on his face.
                          
"I don't mind if you don't want to talk about it," he says, as if he can read my mind.
                          
"Thank you."
                          
He looks at me with concern now and then as we finish eating.  Concern...and something else, in his eyes, as they drop to my lips for a moment before quickly glancing away. I feel myself blush. I actually enjoyed the kiss, but the bad memories that came flooding into my mind were too much.
                          
"Hey," he speaks suddenly. "Wanna bunk the rest of school and go someplace?"
                          
"I've never bunked before." But I'm surprised to feel eagerness at the idea.
                          
"Neither have I. But it seems to me that you need to go somewhere to get somethings off your mind." His voice lowers, on purpose or not I don't know. "So could I." When his cheeks colour a little, I catch his meaning and blush again as well.
                          
"Okay. Let's. But where will we go?" I feel tingles down my spine, both from the kiss and from the excitement over bunking school.
                          
He smiles broadly, any remaining blush disappearing from his face as his eyes take on a shine. "It'll be a surprise." He grabs my hand. "Let's go."
                          
We manage to sneak out of the school in the busyness of lunchtime and run to Aiden's car as rain falls down on us in heavy plops. The sky is partly cloudy, but the sun is still shining even through the downpour. My hair is getting soaked. Aiden's hair is also pasted flat to his forehead, his burnt copper locks dark and dripping.
 I almost slip, because of the wet pavement and my still sore toe, but I grab onto his shirt and he supports me until I'm steady again. I laugh at my own clumsiness and so does he. We end up laughing all the way to the car. 
 I'm revelling in just being a crazy, young kid bunking school. I realize that being able to feel younger and more innocent again is one of the best things Aiden could have done for me, and he has.