Dreams
The Long wait for the second book is here! (Reminder, you need to read Luke's story to be able to understand Rylie's)
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“Come home to me…” His voice echoed in my dreams. “Come home.”
I didn’t know what home it meant. The same voice, the same pounding in my heart, and the strange pull to leave my home of California… but where else could be home?
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Waking up to the blaring music coming from my phone from my alarm gave me a heart attack as it snapped me out of my thoughts. My body again was covered in sweat and nearly on fire. It happened every time with this dream. It’s been a years since they started, and I can’t shake off the feeling that I’m meant to be having them.
I laughed to myself. What a strange thought process first thing in the morning, but sadly that was my life.
Classes start today and Noah should be coming home from his adventure in god knows where. I haven’t seen him in days and frankly, I missed him. Friends of my mom and step dad’s came and stayed with me in me and Noah’s townhouse while he as gone, my step dad said it made him feel better that I had trusted people watching me. We had moved into this townhouse in Hollywood a little way from the campus about a year ago.
Climbing out of bed and into the shower. I couldn’t help but feel the nerves of going to my first day alone. Noah promised he’d be home in time, but he never texted me back.
Walking out of the shower and brushing my teeth, I caught my reflection in the mirror. My green eyes gazing back at me and to be honest, they sunk in a bit from the lack of sleep I’ve been having lately. That dream has been multiplying for the last week now.
Pulling my midback length brown hair into a messy bun above my head. I smiled at myself in the mirror, then rolled my eyes while stomping out of the bathroom. Who was I kidding? I’ve never been that girl that smiles and fakes her way to the top. In fact, I have pissed off a lot of those girls since I’ve arrived. Mostly to chase them off from Noah, but hey I’m just protective.
Dropping the towel off me I pulled on ripped up dark jean shorts and matched it with a black crop top and a red and pink kimono over the top of it. Tugging on my sandals and Checking my phone, I noticed I only had a half hour to get to class. I darted out of the house into the garage and jumped into my Mini Cooper. Next to me in the garage was Noah’s Jeep Wrangler and his endless amount of motorcycles and four wheelers. That kid loved his toys.
The school is only a 20-minute drive. Pulling into the parking lot I headed to my first class, English Lit. I was running as fast as I could to the main building and down the stairs. I followed a group of students into the psychology classroom which looked like a theater by the way it was situated with the desks wrapping around in a semi-circle, but also in levels. I climbed to the top tier of desks and sat down in a corner chair. I loved having an exit just in case, I could never sit in the middle of a row of seats. I plopped my backpack on the ground next to me and leaned down to get out a notebook and the book for the class.
A pair of black biker boots stepped into my view and I looked up to see a guy about my age, but holy hell he could be a model. Let’s be honest he probably was. My eyes traveled up his body to his face and it made my nerves instantly spike. To his white perfect smile, his piercing brown eyes and hair, the dimple in his chin and cheeks when he smiled, and his perfect angled jaw line. I could feel my heart speed up when he laughed a small chuckle a bit at me.
“That okay?” He murmured out of his mouth. I must’ve totally not caught what he said while I was oogling him with my eyes.
“I’m sorry?” I managed to escape words from my mouth. That was a surprise.
He pointed to the seat next to me. “Are you saving that seat? Or can I sit down?”
I shook my head. I’m so stupid. Snap out of it, Elizabeth!
“Oh, no totally. It’s yours.” I wanted to slap my own forehead. Who says totally anymore? What the actual hell was wrong with me? Why was I so nervous around him?
He slid past me with that perfect smile on his lips. My breathing tried to settle itself as I continued to pull out the materials and put them on our little overhang of a desk while he adjusted in his seat too. I leaned forward on my arms and waited till the lecture started, trying my damn hardest to not look to the side of me. But his arm came leaning next to mine and I noticed how tattooed he was. He had a full sleeve from his wrist probably to his chest, but the sleeve of his t-shirt hid that from me from his bicep upwards.
I felt him lean towards me on his elbow. “I’m Liam by the way.”
I looked up to see him still smiling at me but in a smirk this time. Which showcased his dimples perfectly and I had to adjust my oogling mind again before answering.
“Elizabeth, but everyone calls me Beth.” I smiled back at him, tucking a loose hair behind my ear. I picked a perfect day to look like a troll. He must be thinking the same exact thing because he leaned back in his chair and didn’t say another word. Well that was smooth.
The professor came in and handed out our plan for the semester and the role to sign. The girls sitting in front of us kept turning around to look at Liam and it was starting to get annoying. I rolled my eyes several times and I think one of the times they caught me doing it.
After a half hour of our professor’s lecture, I found myself leaning more and more on my hand with my head, with my elbow resting on the table. His voice was the kind that would put you to sleep in seconds. Liam must’ve noticed because he leaned towards me and his face was inches from mine from behind.
“You look like how I feel.” He whispered.
I bounced my head up and he was again, sitting there smirking at me. His arms crossed which made his muscles even more present. I looked to him, back to the professor and then back to him.
“You feel like your soul is slowly leaving your body from boredom too?” I decided to lean back in my seat too as he uncrossed his arms leaning on the armrest we shared.
“I’m fully volunteering to begin a sleep session partnership, you listen I sleep, you sleep I listen…” He winked at me. “Could save our souls...”
I tired to muffle a giggle and put my hand on my mouth to make it known. “We wouldn’t want anything to happen to your soul.” I put my hand on my heart dramatically and he let out a muffled chuckle.
The professor moved to our row and handed me the role and eyed us for a moment before returning to talking. Liam and I exchanged glances and muffled more laughter. I crossed off my name and handed the clipboard to Liam who lightly touched my hand while taking the board, my eyes flicked to his and they were already looking at me. I instantly pulled my hand away and leaned forward in my chair again, trying to hide my weird facial expression I was probably making.
After what seemed like forever of awkward sitting, the professor excused us to leave. I gathered my stuff and pushed them in my bag and stood up. I was planning on heading right to my next class, but a hand caught my wrist when I reached outside the door. Liam was standing there smiling at me. He had this total confidence aura around him that I found endearing.
“So, since we decided to save each other’s souls. I think this soul needs your number to make things official…” He didn’t drop his hand from around my wrist and I did not protest, but something was telling me to be careful.
“My god. That’s the best you got?” I laughed a bit at his attempt to do a pick up line out of our situation.
He shrugged and dropped his hand, putting them both in his jean pockets. “Hey, give a guy a break.” His smirk appeared on his lips.
I held out my hand and he handed me his phone. I tapped in my number and handed it back to him without another word, walking off down the hallway and out of the building heading into the art building down the pathway. My phone went off in my pocket and I grabbed it.
Ouch, leave a guy hanging why don’t ya? ;)
I caught myself rolling my eyes again as I climbed up the art buildings stairway but decided to text back.
Duty calls. Sorry soul saver ;)
Did I really do another wink face back? Man, the flirting was high today. This was not my normal. What was it about this guy that made me so anxious though?
I noticed another text and opened it up when I sat down in my next class, Advanced Drawing.
Dude, why do we even come to the first day? I am bored out of my mind!
Mandie, my other best friend and only true female friend. She was in classes just like I was. I snickered to myself. Everyone needed a Mandie in their life. She doesn’t hold back how she feels and her mouth was the ending of her sometimes but I loved her for it. She was a case of mystery. She boxes and does fighting rings on her free time, but she’s majoring in Art history. She was a basket of crazy. But she was my crazy and I adored her. But I would never mess with her, she could kick my ass.
Agreed. I have a delish story for you.
I went on with my class, luckily the professor knows we know how to draw so she wanted us to just do our own projects all year. I decided to take the time and start drawing Liam. He was a perfect model to practice the human body. My mind was wandering when the professor yelled. “Time’s up. See you Wednesday!”
I closed my drawing pad and put it in my backpack, almost jogging off to my next class. I caught Mandie’s figure in the middle of the common area. With her black pin straight hair and bright brown eyes, dressed in all black like her usual self. I ran over to her and she squealed and hugged me tightly to her.
“Oh, thank the heaven and earth and gods and goddesses!”
I grunted and rolled my eyes at her. “I’m glad you didn’t die too.”
She slung her arm around my shoulders as we walked side by side to our class. “It was HORRRRIBLE. Professor Stark is like a hundred percent sexy but my god, everything he said went right over my head. I don’t understand this Poetry shit. I might kill over in confusion.”
I giggled as we sat down in our math class and waited till the lecture started. Math was never my subject, but it was required to get for the degree. I hated the rules of degrees. Who made them anyway?
When we were excused from class, I had to shake Mandie awake. She nodded off when the professor started explaining long division with missing digits. To be honest, I wasn’t following anything he said. I didn’t even have time to tell her the story of Liam.
We got the common yard and I saw Liam leaning against a wall with a couple of people surrounding him. He noticed me and smiled, I smiled back but then caught a glimpse of Noah’s very unique, distinguished and muscular figure approaching with our mutual friend Ryan. I squealed in happiness and Mandie jumped in surprise when I took off. I ran towards him without another thought in mind. Noah caught sight of me with those bright green eyes of his and smiled, which I noticed he grew in a slight beard around his jawline now.
“Ah, there she is!” He yelled across the yard.
I jumped into his open arms and wrapped my legs around him. “You’re HOME!”
I put my hands behind his neck and pulled myself back, still wrapped around him.
“DON’T YOU EVER LEAVE THAT LONG AGAIN MISTER!”
He was laughing when I jumped off him and he put his arm around me. Smothering me in a hug.
“Noted, Little one.”
I plastered myself to him, taking in his scent. He was my safe haven and he was back. Mandie came jogging up. “Holy shit Noah. I thought someone died or something by the way she squealed.”
I pulled away from Noah and he poked my sides. “She squeals like that a lot.”
Ryan almost fell over laughing as I smacked the hell out of Noah’s arm. “NOAH!”
With the same arm he wrapped me into a headlock and I started wrestling with him, dropping my backpack near Mandie in the process. She plopped herself down on the grass as did Ryan.
“They are children.” She spat out and Ryan nodded in agreement. Ryan was Noah’s right hand man. He was usually always around him and they never seemed to have any issues with each other. Strangely enough they were always gone at the same times too.
When Noah let me go, we were laughing our asses off. I missed this, the endless laughs and good times. I had the best memories with Noah. He started walking off with Ryan in tow and I went back to pick up my backpack next to Mandie who was still sitting there.
“You good now?” She rose a brow at me.
I giggled at her. “Come on Panda, let’s go get some food.”
She sprang up at the mention of food and wrapped her arm into my arm. “You don’t have to tell me twice.”
My eyes caught Liam’s and he had a death stare going on. I swear he was glaring but not exactly a glare. What the hell I didn’t do anything to him? Maybe it was someone behind me? I looked back and no one was behind me. I rose a brow to him and shrugged. Walking towards the parking lot with Mandie in tow. My phone dinged.
You didn’t tell me you had a boyfriend.
I climbed into my car, as Mandie got in the passenger seat. Ah, that made sense. The total stand off ish personality. He must’ve seen me attack Noah.
You saw that huh? Well your 100% wrong. That’s my best friend and roommate. He’s been gone.
My eyes came off my screen to be greeted by Mandie’s staring down at my phone too. I jumped and screamed.
“HOLY SHIT!” I caught my breathe. “Mandie, don’t do that!”
“Sorry.” She was trying not to snicker. “But seriously, who is this dude?!”
I pulled out of the parking lot and headed towards the house. “Oh well since you fell asleep in class, I’ll fill you in.”
We drove home talking about Liam and my classes for the day. She was shaking her head at me while we climbed out of my car and into the house.
“Oh no no no Beth, you cannot think this type of behavior is okay, I mean he seems off and I really think he might be-…” She cut herself off.
We threw our backpacks on the counter as she continued after mysteriously cutting herself off. “Don’t you find it weird he got all possessive when you literally just met?”
I shrugged pulling out a bottled smoothie out of the fridge. “No, I mean. If you’re interested the last thing you want is the person you’re interested in having a significant other.”
Mandie rolled her eyes and slammed into the couch in the family room. “Whatever, just heed my warning and stay away from that guy. Something is making my senses tingle with that one.”
The rest of the night was spent binge watching Netflix and going over our assignments for class on our laptops. Noah didn’t show up till I was already in bed and took Mandie home already. So much for not leaving me again.
