I’m Awake
By Seniya
Prologue to Half Asleep
Calculus
as all teenagers know is a cruel and terrible form of torment. And it certainly
didn’t help Will much that the room was so damn
stuffy, the floor was too damn cold and it was too damn bad that Taranee didn’t
have to come over until tomorrow.
On the bed
beside her lay, of all people; Caleb—you see for all his rebel leader blood,
which might have been good in battles; it had still failed to protect him from
a very potent enemy—the common cold.
He seemed to
have taken to it worse than had been expected. He had dropped off to sleep
sometime yesterday, and had, even at this very moment refused to rouse.
But of course
all that could have been due to the mysterious home remedy Yan Lin had brewed,
but perhaps…yes perhaps it was best not to ask questions.
The
oriental lady had only just gone to bed herself.
She had stayed
to keep Will company throughout the first half of her watch but had grown tired
after seeing the red head’s ongoing battle with her text book.
They had been
taking “watches” over Caleb’s near comatose state for awhile now. Yan Lin had
thought it best, so that someone would been there to administer the rest of the
potion when he awoke, whilst ensuring that he was still breathing if he slept
during your slotted period.
Cornelia had
quickly volunteered. She had happily relayed the tale of the couple’s latest
break up and then subsequent make up in between her sobs for her beau’s safety.
Such events
were getting far past the stage of annoying now. The two of them seemed to
quarrel over everything, then resort to making out by means of apology.
Something
above Will stirred…or more accurately, someone.
“Caleb?” Will
struggled to her underused feet to check for some sign of his consciousness.
A murmur
answered her. She managed to crack a smile at his disheveled state.
His shirt had
long been discarded due to Cornelia’s imperious concern for his feverish
state…or perhaps due to her concern over something else …
His untamable
brown locks stood now plastered onto his face.
“You look like
hell.” Will greeted him.
“How long was I
asleep?” was his sleepy reply.
Will shrugged,
“Long…I did four math questions since I was here…so I can say about six
hours…and that’s not counting when Cornelia was with you.”
“Oh God…is she
still here?”
“No, she left. Why? Are you avoiding her?” The redhead
narrowed her crimson eyes at his face.
“I
just…err…didn’t want her to get sick.” he sputtered, while carefully avoiding
her inquiring gaze.
“Sure, but
you’ll spare me the concern right?”
“You always
were my favorite.”
“You can spare
me the sarcasm.” Will rolled her eyes at the brunette. “Get up.” She continued
and she started a search around his room.
“What
are you looking for?” Caleb began to untangle himself from his bed sheets.
“Medicine…”
“You mean that thing
that Hay Lin made?”
“Oh, Hay Lin made it…well that explains a lot.” She paused, “Do you know where it is?”
“I may have
blocked it from my memory.”
“Fine then—be
that way, you can just die from the Meridian Malady, or whatever Yan Lin called
it.”
She
returned to his bed side and stood in the space between his legs.
“Open up.”
“What’s that?”
he peered at the device curiously.
“It’s a
thermometer; I’ll put in your mouth to see how hot you are.”
“I’m not
putting that in my mouth…”
“I could shove
it up somewhere else, like the rest of your species.” she grinned.
“You’ll need to
explain your idiotic remarks.”
She shrugged at
him. “Please.”
He grudgingly
obeyed; scrunching his nose as she silently scrutinized him.
“Ouch…you’re
hot…” she glanced at the tube. “I guess that means it’s a fresh batch of drugs
tomorrow.”
“You’re
enjoying this too much.”
“That’s why I
volunteered…” she smiled at him. It was a different smile than the others gave
him, very different from the flirtatious, wide toothed smirk that
Cornelia always wore.
“You know what
I just realized?” he asked.
“What?” she
tilted her head onto a side, and feigned mock interest.
“It’s late.”
She laughed at
his comment. “Yes Caleb, that’s what happens when you sleep for a day.”
“I’ll walk you
home.” He stood up, towering over her petite frame.
“My hero, but I
think that I can fend for myself. Besides Cornelia would hunt me down if
anything happened to you.” She motioned for him to return to his bed.
“Right…Cornelia.”
The smile died
from Will’s face. “Is something wrong with you two?”
“No, not
really…it’s just that…she’s well…”
“She’s Cornelia,”
Will finished, “don’t worry, you’ll get used to her…you got used to me after
all”
“After all.”
“Here,
now go back to sleep like a good rebel leader.” she chided, slowly raising her
hand in an attempt to tidy his hair.
He brushed her
hand away, and she grinned again…
“You’re going
to have to tell me that joke someday.” Awkwardly, he released the hold on her
hand.
“I’ll get Irma to
do it…she’s funnier.” she laughed again, this time causing a surge of
electricity to move in his chest.
“Will.”
his voice had suddenly become low.
“Caleb.” she
imitated the sound of his brogue.
“Go home.”
“You were
always the poetic one, huh?”
“Just…go.”
She frowned,
but didn’t question him.
“Fine—I’ll give
you your man privacy…you could have just asked, Irma’s coming next…” she
stopped. “What?” Her eyebrows knitted together and somewhere inside of her
being, a piece of her faltered under the look her was giving her.
For deep
beneath those murky green depths, she saw intensity so strong that it made her
weak.
The
mere scent of her was overpowering. But to see her standing before him; fully
cloaked in her innocence drove him to the breaking point.
She was
beautiful…why hadn’t he ever noticed that before? Her skin mimicked the color
of the blushing moon, the handful of freckles that were scattered across her
face might have been considered an imperfection by some…but he could tell that
they remained there to speak the truth.
She was a girl.
Only a girl.
And he wanted
her just because of that.
She
sighed once, trying to expel the rebellious heat that was now coursing through
her chest. It was impossible; she realized a moment later, as another surge of
warmth pulsed through her body.
The heat
between them was too much to ignore by now. Will tried to think of words that
would remind him of the awkwardness of this situation…or better yet that would
explain to her why she needed to leave.
“There’s something
between us…isn’t there?” It surprised her that it was he who spoke first.
Her eyes
scurried towards his face, searching for any sign that the illness might have
induced madness.
Her throat felt
dry, and still the ability to speak hadn’t returned to her. Around her the
temperature seemed to rise even further…and she found herself wondering if his
infection could be contagious.
He expected an
answer. But there was none—yesterday she would have defined her platonic
relationship with Caleb to God himself—but now, standing here alone in the
darkened basement was forcing her to reconsider.
There was too
much at stake here…friendships, hearts. She couldn’t…how could he even expect
her to?
She
shook her head, ridding herself, at least temporarily from the spell that had
been cast. Finding the strength that she had imagined lost, she turned to
leave.
She was half
way up the stairs before he called to her. “Why won’t you answer me?”
“What do you
want me to say?” Sense had abandoned her and her treacherous heart now ruled
her tongue. “There isn’t anything I can tell you that Cornelia hasn’t already.”
The bitter
words hung in the air, until they fell hard, onto the floor.
When
he didn’t respond, she continued. “Don’t bring me into this Caleb…I don’t
belong in between the two of you…if you’re having problems…then just…” she
trailed off ineptly; stunned of course by the sound of him coming towards her.
“Caleb…” he
hushed her with one look. It was a gaze that burnt into her very soul, causing
a pang of desire to gnaw at the insides of her.
He captured her
chin in his hand, forcing her to look at him. He brushed her lips with her
fingers, painfully slowly.
She held his
wrist within her hand.
“Someone might
come…in.” she breathed, the feel of his burning skin against hers was
suffocating.
All
resolve was gone as he crushed his lips onto hers. His tongue rained along her
mouth begging for an invitation. It was nothing less than a miracle when he
felt the quiet glide of her lips, allowing him to continue his sultry raid
inside her mouth.
His hands had
somehow found the way around her waist. He pulled her towards him, closing the
gap between their bodies. It caused shivers throughout her when she felt his
heated skin under her fingers.
This was all
happening so fast—too fast.
His
lips had long left hers, and instead had discovered the wonderful flesh along
her neck; he traveled downwards, grazing his teeth against her collarbone.
Her fingers
curled in his hair, silently begging him to continue this assault. His name echoed
from within her chest.
They broke
apart, and he grinned at her. She returned the smile half way. He seemed to
take this as further temptation, for in a moment he had scooped her up and
rearranged her on his bed.
“Caleb…” he
pressed a hard kiss on her lips to calm her, and then proceeded in joining her
on the cot.
He
didn’t give her the chance to protest, this time the kisses were rough and
unrestrained. They sang his carnal needs to her, and what could she do but
respond.
He had never
felt this way before, and by God, he hoped that he would never again, but as he
though of the writhing girl beneath him, he knew that it was a futile wish.
Her brain was
exploding…her heart had already gone. She didn’t know where he was taking her,
but she knew that she would gladly follow.
His
mouth left hers soon after these thoughts, and soon after he had removed
himself from the embrace.
“Why are you…”
she stopped when she looked onto his face. The uninhibited passion that had
been there moments before was gone; it was instead replaced by something
else…something darker.
It was
something that she didn’t want to see there.
He tried to
hide it by clutching his face in his palms.
“Will, I am so
sorry.” she could barely make out the words from behind his walls of protection.
She managed to
shuffle herself back into a sitting position in order to stare at him.
“Caleb I don’t—please
tell me…did I do something wrong?”
He was silent
for awhile. “You were right…I shouldn’t have put you between us…I made a
mistake.”
“A mistake.”
she repeated.
He nodded
grimly. “Cornelia and I…we…what I mean is that I shouldn’t have used you like
that…I’m sorry, it won’t happen again.”
“And that’s
it?”
He continued to
stare at the floor, at another time Will might have understood how awkward he
must have felt, or what’s more, she might have cared.
But not tonight.
Not now.
“So what am I
supposed to say—thank you?”
“Will…”
“Forget it…I’m
going home…tell Hay Lin my mom wanted me or something.” She had already marched
her way to the door, and hadn’t bothered to respond when he’d called her name.
If she had she
knew that the thread of strength that she had been clinging to would have
evaporated.
And she would
have died if he had seen her cry.