CHAPTER 15

I saw her. I saw Mum. She was smiling and holding me in her arms. I lay my head on her shoulder and she pushed my hair out of my face. I held onto her tighter. I miss her so much. I felt tears on my cheek. It was tears of happiness. It's been years since she held me like this. Her smell, the way she would smooth my hair and kiss my forehead. I miss all that. I miss her.

Suddenly, the smoke cleared and I stirred. I refused to open my eyes. I refused to wake up. If I do, Mum would disappear. And I so badly want her to stay. I held onto her and wrapped my arms around her torso as I snuggled deeper in her arms. Her arms tightened around me as well, making me smile. I never want to wake up. Not ever! I want to stay in her arms forever. Again, I fell into a deep slumber.

It was a moment later that I thought I smelt something foreign. Like cologne. Men's cologne, to be exact. Wait, Mum doesn't wear men's cologne! My eyes snapped open and widened when I saw Wes's profile mere inches away from my face. His eyes were closed and he was breathing evenly. I was lying on his chest and he had an arm around my shoulder, holding me close. One of my arms was around his torso and the other was tucked under my chin. This was not the first time I woke up in Wes' arms. The first time was when we were stranded in the forest during that hiking trip gone wrong. But still, I took the chance and stared at him like creeper. God, he's so beautiful. He had a hint of stubble on his chin and the longest lashes I've ever seen on anyone, let alone a guy that I've ever seen. His cheek looked soft and supple. I really wanted to touch it. Wes belonged to a group of people too beautiful for mortal life. People like me are never this close to people like him. He looked surreal and beautiful that I actually ached to touch his face. God, I'm a total hopeless case!

Just then, Wes took a deep breath and stirred. I quickly snapped my eyes shut, pretending to be asleep. I kinda had a feeling that Wes opened his eyes and was looking at me. But he was still. He'd probably went back to sleep. I risked it and opened my eyes a tiny bit. I was greeted by the most mesmerizing golden brown eyes with flecks of yellow and gold in them. And those scandalously long lashes. Horrified at being caught staring, I snapped my eyes shut and froze.

"Good morning. " Wes spoke in that just got up from sleep gravelly voice. The sexiest voice known to mankind. I felt my insides churn. He blinked his eyes and smiled as he sighed. I looked away and quickly got up from the bed. I stood up and cleared my throat as I walked to the bathroom with a towel in hand. Once safe in the bathroom, I gasped out the breath that I had been holding. Damnit! Stop swooning! Somehow, I managed to take my shower, although every time I closed my eyes under the shower water, the glimpse of Wes' face, smiling in bed would materialize and I would get swayed. Like literally swaying in the shower...Urgh, how the hell do I keep my thoughts pure and platonic if Wes doesn't stop being irresistible?! Deep inside I know that if I let my heart go were it wants, I would get hurt. There's no doubt about that.

After I got dressed, I took a deep breath and opened the bathroom door. Nonchalantly, I walked to my room to find Wes fiddling with his phone as he sat on the sofa in the room. Trying to cover my nerves, I rummaged my wardrobe and gave him a t-shirt to change into. He looked up and smiled as he took the dark blue t-shirt from my hand. As soon as he went into the bathroom, I went downstairs to see what grandma was up to in the kitchen. I was hit by the smell of french toast when I entered the kitchen. I saw grandma cooking many, many slices of french toast. She saw me and smiled.

"Good morning grandma!" I said as I sat down at the breakfast counter.

"Good morning honey. Can you help bring these to the dining table?" Grandma said as she dunk another slice of bread into the egg.

"Err, sure. Is somebody coming for breakfast?" I said as I carried the coffee pot and huge plate stacked with fluffy, delicious french toasts to the dining table.

"You mean, apart from Wes? Well, Josh is coming over later to join us." Grandma said as she gave me a sidelong glance. Uh oh..Grandma's gonna pry, I just know it.

"Oh, okay." I said, trying to ignore grandma's meaningful look.

"Addy, is there anything you want to tell me? Is there anything going on between you and Wes?" Grandma asked suddenly as she looked me straight in the eye. I almost dropped the coffee cups I was carrying in a tray. What the heck..

"What are you talking about grandma? We're friends, that's all. There's nothing else going on. Believe me, ok" I said convincingly. Grandma looked at me for a moment and then sighed.

"Ok, if you say so. But if he breaks your heart, just know that I'll break his neck. Tell him that, will you?" Grandma said and smiled angelically. I looked worriedly at grandma

"Grandma!" I exclaimed, grateful that Wes was not there to hear the exchange. Grandma just shrugged. I knew she would have my back. But how could she tell that I like Wes? Was I really that transparent? Oh God, can Wes tell?!

A few minutes after that Josh came over for breakfast and Wes came down after he got dressed. I looked at Wes and smiled at him wearing Popeye t-shirt. He made my lame ass Popeye t-shirt look cool.

"Hey Josh!" Wes said as he sat beside me at the dining table while Josh sat opposite him beside grandma.

"Hey man. Nice t-shirt." Josh said as he devoured the french toast on his plate. Wes looked at his chest and grinned. Grandma would look at him closely, trying to catch him being a moron.

We had a really nice, cozy breakfast. Josh kept looking at me and Wes weirdly. My heart sank as I realized how Wes and I were interacting, which was way unorthodox. I have to say that, lately, Wes had been..well..human-like. He displays emotions now. And he's like around. A lot. It was weird. ANd sleeping over at grandma's...well, that's waaaayyyy off the charts unlike him. I wonder what sparked the change? Was he unhappy back home? Did something make him suddenly break out and join us normal, emotional-wreck people? He's really baffling me right now. And judging from the glances that Josh was giving him, I could be sure that I'm not the only one thinking of Wes' personality change. Even his cousin was freaked out.

After breakfast, Josh announced that we would go to the beach. I went pale. Crap! I winced when I put on my one piece suit. It was very basic and very old. I sighed as I put on my oversize white shirt and clam diggers. I prayed that I wouldn't have to be seen in public wearing the suit. Grabbing a cap and my backpack, I headed downstairs. Josh and Wes were talking and it looked serious. Wes hadn't changed. He was still wearing my Popeye t-shirt but with bermuda shorts. When Josh saw that I was ready, we piled into his mum's SUV and he drove over to Daisy's to pick her up. Then, off to the beach.

When we reached the beach, Josh parked the car and we all bundled out. As I was climbing out, Daisy suddenly scampered off to follow Josh while calling out, "See ya at the beach guys!" and she was gone. I was getting rid of a pebble from my old Crocs and putting it back on. When I closed the car door, I was surprised to see Wes was standing there, waiting for me. I blinked and felt weird, like a slushy river was running down my tummy. He smiled and gestured for me to get going. I hastened and followed him.

It was fun. Granted, this is the first time I had ever gone to the beach with friends. I've seen the beach scene on TV way too many times, but I was never part of it. Even back home, I've never been to the beach with friends. Heck, I don't even have friends. Save for Frankie, but that's different. Frankie's a boy. I want a girlfriend so badly and I was lucky I found Daisy. Plus, Frankie would be the worst person to go to the beach with. He'd be bitching about the UV rays and cancer and moaning about the heat and getting sweaty that there had been times when I was tempted to smack him in his annoying mouth.

Josh found the perfect spot and we dumped out stuff there. All three of them stripped. Oh well, to be body-confident...what a blessing that must be. Daisy wiggled out of her romper and was wearing a gorgeous maroon bikini with criss-crossed straps at the back. It was not overly revealing and looked so gorgeous. She tied up her streaky honey-blond hair into a high ponytail. She looked crazy hot.

Both boys had no trouble going topless, both only wearing bermudas. I've seen Josh topless lots of times, him being a total exhibitionist kinda being the reason for my lack of enthusiasm at seeing him with no shirt on. But Wes, I've never seen him without a shirt on. And I must say, the view totally shocked me. While he wasn't as chiseled as Josh, who worked out like crazy, he had muscles where there should be some. And very nice abs. I guess him being in the football team in school kinda helped. Looking at his beautiful body made me even more hesitant about stripping down to my suit. No way I'm blinding them with my pale, wobbly bits. But after much coaxing from Daisy, I hesitantly took off my top. I kept my clam diggers on. No one needs to see my saggy ass. Seeing my mum arms should be torture enough.

We went to the water's edge but I didn't jump in. Daisy and Josh shrieked as the swam around with Wes in the water. Wes kept calling me to join them, but I just smiled and walked along the beach, shaking my head no. I watched them swim and goof around and it was enough. I felt so happy right now. I never wanted the summer to end. Because when it does, I would go back home. Home meaning the hell that Shelby created. And Wes, would he still be my friend when we go back to our natural element? Or will he start hanging out with me in school? Something deep in me knew that the answer would be no.Still, one could only hope, right?