Vision Read Free Page A

crazy then?
    “No silly, I prefer girls. Stuart and I are
friends. That’s it. But I could tell he fancies you.” Her smile
illuminated the room.
    I could have sworn her and Stuart were
together. Maybe it was just hard to imagine Stuart single.
Cambridge was really mutating my skills. “Uh, he doesn’t fancy me,
Sienna. He was just fascinated by my freakish height and wild mane.
I tend to stand out, even when I don’t want to.”
    “Bollocks! You are gorgeous and fit in well
here. I’m the one who still looks like I’m eight years old. And
you’re not too tall so stop it.”
    I returned her contagious smile. “You look
like a rock star, Sienna. I want to get my nose pierced now.”
    Sienna beamed and leapt to her feet. “Now
that we’ve established we’re both smashing, let’s see what Mum’s
brewing up. I’m famished. Then we’ll talk about piercing.”
    Patrice did have skills in the kitchen, and
it was a treat to have actual food prepared each night, something I
was ill accustomed to unless it was me doing the cooking.
    After dinner we retreated to our respective
rooms, exhaustion kicking me hard in the head. I had to sleep. A
combination of delayed jet lag, and adjusting to my new life
knocked me out almost instantly.
     
    They were chasing me again. I teetered on the
edge of the cliff but the big, burly man in the kilt and black
stringy hair laughed, pushing me into the dark abyss of crashing
waves. I tried to scream, but the effort gurgles and sticks in my
throat. Falling in a state of paralysis and unable to change
destiny I let go, allowing the whistling air to embrace me as it
rushes passed my ears. The sensation of endings made me sad, the
finality of life, the inability to move forward - so unfair, yet
impossible to fight.
    These visions were cloaked in relentless
melancholy, death and loss following me everywhere, even after they
ended.
    Waking with a start, it took a moment for my
heart to slow down enough to remember I was no longer in Portland.
Then I grew angry when I realized the nightmares had chased me
across the ocean.
    Stuart picked us up again in the morning, and
later I asked Sienna if he would be our regular mode of
transportation.
    “Why? Do you not want him to pick us up?” She
was slightly hurt.
    “No, I just wasn’t…expecting…no, it’s fine.
Sorry.” I felt silly making such a big deal out of a two-minute
ride one way, even though it was shear torture being so close to
him.
    And while I couldn’t read him, I sensed a
vast hidden history tucked away safely like a secret. He made me
think of fallen angels and passion and he smelled amazing; rain and
woods and breezes that shifted as he moved. His voice called like a
song and me made me think of KT Tunstall singing White
Bird –
    Half of you is heavenly
    Showing off your purity
    The rest of you is from the street
    Like to laugh where they both meet.
    For the record, this is so not typical of my
usual behavior, associating guys with songs and the whole smitten
thing.
    We were mostly silent during the short
commute. My fingers wandered to the pocket containing the
mysterious letter from Abbey Grace, still stowed in my bag. Maybe I
would call her during holiday break…maybe. The thought made my
heart palpitate, and so did Stuart, as he watched me from the
mirror above the driver’s seat. It was difficult to concentrate on
anything else with him around. His aesthetic…gifts were distracting
– no, his existence was distracting.
    When he got out of the car, lifting his arms
above his head in a quick stretch, I glimpsed at the cords of
muscle pushed against the short sleeves of his t-shirt before he
grabbed his jacket…
    “Earth to Layla.” Sienna reminded me where I
was, and what I probably shouldn’t be thinking.
     
    The dark gray eyes and scrambled golden hair
made it impossible to look away.
    “Hi. Andre Branson. And you are?” The
gorgeous boy standing over me broke the stillness of my
concentration. I wasn’t