1. Turning Wheels
“Hey, heads up” I heard the smooth voice shout out which made me look up from my phone as a strong pair of arms circled around my waist, moving me out of the path of the ball flying through the air heading straight at me.
“Are you okay?” I stumbled a little and was about to reply when I looked up into my heroes face. It was him. That guy; you know the one all the girls stop to stare at all day long. The guy who gets the winning touchdown in every game. He renders me speechless and I’ve never even met him properly before.
Evan White was even more beautiful up close. At about six feet tall he towered over my Five foot Six linches and I nod my head as I feel my cheeks heat up. He chuckles but doesn’t let his arms drop from around me. Not that I’m complaining of course.
“Do you have a voice?” he asks with a heart stopping smile. He should really come with a health warning. I just nod my head again, like one of those stupid nodding head toys you put on the dash of your car. It earns me another chuckle and a smile.
“You got a name too?” he questions, loosening his hold but not letting go completely. With the little bit of space between us I feel like I can actually breathe enough to talk.
“Emily, Emily Green.” I speak quietly and he pushes the blonde hair that falls over my face and tucks it behind my ear.
“Perfect name to match your eyes.” He says looking into my bright green eyes, which exactly match my mothers and sisters. As he releases me from his hold he reaches down to pick up the ball that he saved me from, reminding me of why he was here with me.
“Umm, thanks for that. I think it would have hurt.” I say with more confidence in my voice now, pointing towards the ball. I wasn't generally a shy girl but this was Evan White. Its not everyday you find him talking to you.
“Well anytime you need a hero, you know where to find me.” Swoon worthy, he is totally swoon worthy; shouts from his friends to send the ball back interrupt us and I take another step away, as he sends me another smile.
“Thanks again.” I mumble and walk away; a smile breaking out on my face.
I walked into my next class, my smile still firmly in place excited to tell my friends about my interaction with the schools hottest guy. He was a senior, a year above me and the Mayors son; because of his dad everyone knew who he was, and everyone liked him. I don’t think my smile was going to move for the next month.
Walking out of the school gates with my friends later that day; ready to walk home they were still going on about what happened earlier and a red convertible car pulled up beside us causing us to stop.
“Hey Emily, do you need a lift anywhere?” His voice was like silk that draped over me. Too shocked to say anything I just stood there like a mannequin in a shop window.
“You lost your voice again?” he teased me with that smile again. Still unable to form a sentence my friends spoke for me and pushed me gently towards the car.
“Emily would love a lift. She was just saying she was thirsty actually.” I loved my friends but sometimes I could kill them too.
“Oh no its fine. I’m fine, really. We should get going.” I finally speak for myself and link arms with my best friends; pulling them along the sidewalk. I would have absolutely no clue of what to say to Evan White if I were alone with him for any prolonged amount of time. I would just embarrass myself. I'm not doing that.
“Am I going to have to kidnap you to get you to have a milkshake with me?” he asked as he crawled along with us. My friends nudged and giggled beside me in awe at his words. He stopped the car completely and got out shutting his door gently. Panic and excitement started to rise I my chest and my friends giggled more as he walked up to us stopping in front of me and taking my hand.
“Would you do me the honour of having a milkshake with me? Please?” I couldn’t understand why he was asking me. In that moment all I could think of while I could hear my friends whispering was that Evan White was asking me out. Me, Emily Green, a sixteen year old nobody. I’d recently made the cheerleading squad and I was a junior; but compared to him I was a nobody. Suddenly I felt my legs give out beneath me and I was swept up into strong arms to the sounds of my friend’s excited squeals and laughter, and deposited into the passenger seat of Evans car.
There are pivotal points in a persons life that makes them who they are and takes them to where they are. This was my first pivotal point. This was it; this was the day that changed my life. This day set the wheels of my life into motion.
My junior year flew by. My popularity grew, I knew it was due to whom my boyfriend was. Evan White was my boyfriend, I couldn't believe it myself sometimes but junior year was the best year of my whole school life. I was a cheerleader, I had great friends and my grades were good. In movies cheerleaders were always portrayed as the schools dumb bimbo’s who were bitchy and who slept around, now while some of them did like to party and some of them were in fact bitches, we were by no means dumb. We had to maintain our grades to stay on the team and we worked our asses off learning the routines. I didn’t mind though I loved every minute of it, and Evan was always training when I was practicing and I could always feel his eyes on me.
I liked the feeling of him looking at me; watching me, my confidence had grown with him as had my self esteem. I liked that he was protective of me. It made me feel special. If a guy came up to me or walked past and spoke to me he would always pull me in closer to his side, to pick me up kissing me publicly. I liked that he was proud to be with me. I felt like I was in my own romance novel and I had my own personal bodyguard, always watching out for me and keeping me safe. I wasn’t just the quiet girl who I was at the start of the school but I liked who I had become. I had learnt a few weeks after our first accidental meeting that it wasn’t as much as an accident as I thought it had been. Evan had planned it all as a way to get my attention. He could have just said hello though, he always had everyone’s attention but knowing that just made me fall for him even quicker.
One day towards the end of the school year a guy who I had been paired with in science, Gavin, had walked with me to my locker to talk about the project. We were stood laughing at something the teacher had mentioned in class that we had both found funny when suddenly he was pushed into the locker, Evan’s arm under his chin and his face in his face.
“Evan, what the hell are you doing?” I shouted at him trying to pry his arm from Gavin, he just stared at me and then turned back to Gavin, pushing him harder into lockers and I released his arm; I had never seen him so angry. Evan towered over him and I could tell Gavin was scared.
“Stay the hell away from her.” Evan gritted out, I put my hands back on his shoulder.
“No, man I wasn’t, I swear, we have a project that’s all. I wouldn’t. I know she’s your girl. Everyone does...” Gavin tried to explain why we were talking as fast as he could.
“Evan, please, let him go. We just have science together.” He looked at me again and scowled, dropping his arm from Gavin, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me along after him. Tears formed in my eyes at the way he was holding my wrist tightly.
“Evan, please slow down, you’re hurting me. Please?” he didn’t slow down or stop and just kept going till we got to his car where he pretty much shoved me into the front seat. I sat there with tears rolling down my face, rubbing my wrist with my other hand, watching as my skin turned red, wondering if it would bruise. He got in to other side and slammed the door making me jump. He didn’t say anything for a whole five minutes and I didn’t want to say anything to upset him more, I hadn’t done anything wrong and wasn’t sure why he had acted the way he had. He had never done anything like this before.
He finally looked over at me and gently took my hand and examined my wrist. I watched him, watched the guilt and sadness wash over his handsome face.
“I’m so sorry baby. I didn’t mean to hurt you. You know I would never. I just got into a huge fight with my dad. You know how he is and then I saw you there with him. I saw how he looked at you and I just flipped. I’m sorry.” He lifted my hand to his mouth and kissed all over the redness.
“I’m so sorry. I’ll make it up to you. Do you forgive me? Please?” he pleaded with me to forgive him. I know he didn’t mean to hurt me, he loved me; he had told me plenty of times that he did. I know he had a turbulent relationship with his dad. His dad was the Mayor of the town and he always put a lot of pressure on Evan. I always felt sorry for him; I got on brilliantly with both of my parents, in fact Evan got on better with my parents than he did his own. He always talked sport with my dad and he was such a charmer he had my mum around his finger at hello. Of course I would forgive him. I loved him. I smiled up at him and he gently wiped my face with his large hands.
“There’s nothing to forgive.” I said with a smile and kiss to his lips. He pulled me in for a deeper kiss, pulling me onto his lap. His hands traveled up my thighs and past my waist, slipping under my shirt and I pushed his hand off me and climbed from his lap into my own seat; pulling my clothes back into place. We had never gone any further that that, I knew he wanted to but I just wasn’t ready yet. He always said it was fine and that he would always respect my wishes but more recently he always seemed to push that little bit further.
“I’m sorry; you’re just so beautiful I cant help myself sometimes. How about we skip last class and I go buy you an ice cream to say sorry.” I smiled at him nodding my head, and he bought me the most expensive ice cream they had.
That was the second pivotal day, that second pivotal point. The day where the wheels began to spin faster and faster.
