Obscured (The Obscured Series Book 1) (21 page)

               
“So can I ask you another
question?” I asked cautiously.

               
“You don’t even have to ask me,
you know? I’m an open book. Just ask! Besides, I’m guessing you have more than
one question,” he said matter-of-factly.

               
“Okay,” I blushed. What was wrong
with me? Why was I blushing? “How long do you plan on doing this?”

               
“Doing what exactly?” he asked
confused.

               
“You know,” I answered shyly.
“Being a Protector. You said you could choose when to stop, I was just
wondering if you ever thought about it, you know? I mean stopping.” The word
‘Protector’ still felt foreign in my mouth.

               
“Oh, I don’t know. I guess it
just depends on how things go. I guess I haven’t given it much thought. It’s
still all pretty new to me too.”

               
It seemed so simple coming from
his mouth, but it couldn’t be that simple, could it?

               
“What do you think Pete is going
to do?” I asked, knowing I had already asked him that very same question. But
my mind was struggling to grasp everything that was so not
normal.
That
was normal, right? It seemed to me that normal had gone out the window a long
time ago.

               
Eli looked at me, his deep blue
eyes staring right into mine. His look alone seemed to be speaking to my very
soul. I felt my insides stirring.

               
“You are so anxious! I can feel
it. I’m getting really good at telling what all these emotions are coming from
you,” he boasted. “You don’t have to be anxious. I have everything under
control.”

               
“Then why do you have to go
away?” I whined.

               
“I'm not sure that I have to yet.
I told you I might have to.” He reached out and brushed my hand reassuringly. “I
am waiting to hear back from the elders about what they want me to do.”

           
Our food was coming, so I twiddled
my fingers under the table trying to keep my anxiousness at bay. The waitress
set all our food down in front of us and waited to see if we needed
anything—and by we, I mean Eli. I didn’t know why it bothered me so, but my
mind drifted back to the confusing thoughts about Eli. He was so beautiful, in
a manly way of course. I wondered what it would be like to walk hand-in-hand
with him, but I instantly chastised myself for those thoughts. He was my
friend! Nothing more!

           
I looked up from my food to see that
Eli was staring at me.

               
“Hello! Earth to Abby…” he said.

               
“What? Sorry I was daydreaming.”
I was so embarrassed to be caught daydreaming about him. I wondered what it
felt like to have my feelings mixing with his constantly. I couldn’t even keep
them straight. I wondered how I had just come across to him, and that
embarrassed me even more.

               
“Do you want salt or ketchup for
your fries or burger?” He was holding out the ketchup bottle with a grin on his
face.

               
He was amused by my
embarrassment.
Ugh!

               
“No, thanks,” I said.

               
“Must have been a good daydream!
Your mood shifted considerably,” he said with a smirk.

               
“Oh, hush!” I said blushing and
giggling at the same time.

           
We ate our food in silence for the
first few minutes. I didn’t realize how hungry I was until then. The food was
really good and it seemed to melt in my mouth. The chocolate shake slid slowly
down my throat, turning all that it touched cold. It was rich and chocolaty,
just the way I liked it. Eli seemed to be enjoying his food just as much as me,
but it seemed that mine was disappearing faster.

           
“Look Abby, I know that this has
been a roller coaster ride for the last couple weeks when it comes to Pete and
all of this new information that is just so…”

               
“Unbelievable?” I finished his
sentence.

               
“Yes, in a nutshell.
Unfortunately, I foresee rougher roads coming.”

               
“Rougher?” I asked.

               
“Yes, I think Pete is going to
try to cause lots of problems in areas that we don’t even think of.” He was so
calm it struck me as funny.

               
How could that possibly be? I was
already struggling through everything else. How could they possibly get
rougher? Though I knew all too well, just about anything could get worse. “I
thought you said you didn’t see anything bad for a while?” I asked. “Also, you
foresee? What exactly do you mean by that? Just like a hunch or a feeling
right?”

“No,
it’s more than that. Remember when I told you that I ‘saw’ you in a dream and
that’s what told me you were going to be my first assignment?”

“Yeah,”
I answered.

“Well,
I have the ability to see things that may take place in the future. I don’t
always know what’s true and what’s fake, but I can usually feel if it’s
actually going to happen for real. Sometimes I even get the dreams more than
once. I’ve had dreams with Pete in them three times now, but unfortunately they
have all been different. It’s almost like he hasn’t fully decided what his plan
will be or it keeps changing,” he finished.

Back
to the prophetic dreams again. If Eli got these dreams so often maybe my
nightmare had been tied to him. I really needed to do some research on it. He
had already seen a taste of what Pete was planning and he was asking for help.
It must not be good.

“Ok,
so what do I do?” I asked hoping there was at least some small thing I could
help with.

“Just
like that? You are taking all this so well. I definitely wasn’t as strong as
you when I heard all the details not so long ago. My dad slowly told me over
the course of a whole year, and here you are learning it all over the course of
a couple weeks! I’m amazed. You amaze me Abby.”

There
it was again, another awkward moment. They were becoming increasingly popular
during the last day and a half. Maybe that meant we were getting too close. I’d
have to work harder to keep our distance.

I
blushed.

“And
to answer your question, nothing. There is nothing you can do. We have to
wait,” he said, breaking the ice once again.

I
finished my food at the same time as Eli.

He
stood without wasting any time. “I’m going to go pay. I’ll be right back.”

“Okay,”
I called after him.

While
he was gone, I took the opportunity to pull enough cash out of my wallet to pay
for my portion of the meal, plus tip. Suddenly, there was a buzzing. I checked
my phone, but it wasn’t mine. I looked over to Eli’s side of the table and
noticed that his phone was sliding around the table with the screen lit. I
couldn’t help myself. I snatched the phone and quickly saw that it was a text
message. There was no name on the screen. It only showed it was from a blocked
phone number. The message was even more quizzical.

You
have approval and I have answers. Call me ASAP!

Who
could it be from? I glanced over to see Eli striding towards me. Luckily, he
was looking down at his wallet. I shoved his phone back to his side of the
table and pretended I saw and heard nothing. It landed in an awkward position,
but I hoped he wouldn’t notice. What would he think if he knew I looked at his
phone and invaded his privacy? I felt incredibly guilty. It wasn’t like he
hadn’t been brutally honest with me thus far. I had no reason to be suspicious
or untrusting. Maybe I just was looking for validation from someone other than
him. I couldn’t explain it, but I felt compelled to know more. 

I
had forgotten about the money in my hand until Eli asked what it was for. I
thrust it forward awkwardly into his hands. “Here, it’s for my portion.”

He
pushed it back to me. “No, it’s my treat. You have been a rock through all this
and I appreciate it. You could be making things really difficult for me right
now and you aren’t. Thank you.”

I
didn’t know what to say, but I wasn’t going to fight him on paying for the
bill. That never worked anyway. Instead I planned to pay next time. Although
that was what I told myself the last time he paid, and look how well that
worked out.

He
swiped his phone off the table before we left and I didn’t notice him looking
at it until we got back in his car. He didn’t mention anything about the
message. He didn’t even act any differently. Here I was on pins and needles,
wondering what more there was to that conversation. Yet, he sat there as calm
as could be.

It
was 2 in the afternoon already, but Eli was ready to watch our second movie
despite the message he received. I could only wonder why he wasn’t ready to
jump in the car and call this mystery person. Of course it wasn’t a mystery to
him, I was sure. Maybe it wasn’t even about what we talked about, so I decided
to let it go.

We
watched a love story next, even though I think we both struggled to fully focus
on the movie with so many things going on in our lives at the moment.

We
never got to the third movie. When the second movie was over, Eli said he had
to go study and do homework. I knew better.

After
he left I went in the kitchen to find my mom making dinner.

“Hey
honey, how was your movie day and lunch?” she asked.

“Good.
We went to King’s burgers. I’ve never been there before. Have you heard of it?”
I asked, trying to make conversation. She deserved at least that much, even
though my mind was elsewhere.

“Actually,
I have been there. I went there for lunch with some co-workers who raved about
it. I really liked it, what did you think?”

I
nodded in agreement. “What’s for dinner?” I asked.

“Chicken
fried steak with mashed potatoes, gravy and corn. I’m being a cheater though,”
she winked at me. “I’m using frozen pre-cooked breaded steaks.”

“Sounds
good to me! Cheating or not!” I tried to sound enthusiastic but I think it was
a bit overdone. “I have some studying to do. Call me down when it’s ready?”

“Of
course honey, study hard!” she called after me.

I
sauntered though the house, and realized it had been over a week since I talked
to my dad. Even though the last thing I wanted to do right then was to hold a
conversation with anyone, I decided I had better call my dad to check in.

He
picked up on the second ring. “Hey Abby! I’ve missed you so much!”

It
made my heart hurt; I’d missed him too. I had to hold back tears. “I’ve missed
you too dad. Sorry I haven’t called.”

“Oh
sweetie, it goes both ways I'm sorry too. I’ve been so busy with inventory at
the store, sort of an early spring cleaning. Got to gear up for spring break
and summer campers!”

“Of
course.” I was happy that he had something to look forward to.

“How
are
ya
doing kiddo?” he asked.

“Doing
really good,” I lied.

“That’s
great! We really need to catch up.”

“We
definitely do,” I agreed.

“Unfortunately,
right now isn’t really a good time, I have to go, but I'm so glad you called!”

“No
worries, I have studying to do,” I responded solemnly.

“I
love you sweetie, it’s great to hear your voice. I’ll talk to you soon. Bye.”
He hung up before I could even say good-bye.

“I
love you too. Bye dad.” I said to thin air.

I
was glad I called him after all. I felt like I could concentrate better now on
my school work. I felt better than I had before. It was like I mentally checked
one more thing off my to-do list that I hadn’t realized I’d been keeping.

All
of my homework and studying took less than an hour. I was surprisingly focused
and when I was done, I felt ready for what the week would bring—test-wise
anyway. Anything else I wasn’t so sure.

I
sat in my room contemplating what I learned about Eli. I wasn’t frightened, as
I thought I would or should be. I was excited. Excited that boring California
life ended. Excited for the fact that I finally had someone in my life that
wasn’t going anywhere. Excited about things I didn’t even know, things I
couldn’t explain. Of course there was fear too, but the excitement was far more
overpowering than the fear, at least for now.

“Dinner’s
ready,” I heard my mom call up the stairs.

Dinner
was delicious as always. We relaxed together for the rest of the evening in
front of the TV until bedtime.

I
fell into a dreamless sleep that night, sleeping peacefully until morning. I
woke with a start, realizing I overslept. The doorbell was ringing repeatedly
with such urgency that I darted out of bed in my PJs and ran to the front door.
I knew it could only be one person, Eli. I swung it open and Eli barged in.