Demons From the Past novel Chapter 16

"I know. I was there. I saw the great void in your soul, and you saw mine." -Sebastian Faulks

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|Verena|

"So, things between you and Nate are all good now?" Skylar asked me curiously.

"I guess." I sighed.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know." I admitted, "We're pretty much on good terms nowadays. We talk more than we used to but there's this awkward tension between us for some reason, I can't figure out why."

Skylar snorted, "It's called the denial stage, honey. You're both trying to deny your feelings for each other."

I could feel my cheeks heating up, "I don't have feelings for Nate." I tried to argue weakly.

Skylar gave me a cheeky smile, "That's great! Since you don't have any feelings for him, you wouldn't mind if I asked him out, right?"

My head snapped in her direction so fast that I thought I'd have whiplash, "You wouldn't dare!" I snapped angrily before I could stop myself.

Skylar raised her eyebrows at me pointedly, "See what I mean about the denial stage? Chill out girl, he's hot but not my type. Besides, I'm already in love with Aiden, remember?"

I scowled at her, "Okay so maybe I have feelings for Nate but it's not like he feels the same way or anything."

Skylar snorted, "You really are clueless Verena. It's kind of cute."

"I don't know. He's so closed off most of the time, it's hard to figure out what he's feeling." I confessed sulkily.

"I think you should invite him to the Winter-Gala as your date." Skylar suggested.

My eyes nearly popped out of their sockets at her suggestion. Honestly, I'd forgotten all about the formal dance our college had organized before the winter break. It was next week and I had no intention of going, dancing and dresses weren't really my thing. I chose to keep my mouth shut. I knew Skylar was really looking forward to the dance and she'd probably be pissed if I told her that I didn't want to go.

"How about this?" Skylar spoke again, "I'll ask Aiden to the dance if you ask Nate."

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, I'll think about it," I said finally, knowing that there was no winning an argument with her.

Our conversation was interrupted by the sound of my cell phone ringing. I quickly picked it up, my heart skipped a beat when I saw the caller ID.

"Hi, Nate." I said breathlessly.

I saw Skylar's eyebrows shoot up in interest, her lips curved into a sly smile.

I just rolled my eyes at her.

"Hi." His deep voice answered casually from the other end.

"What's up?"

"Just calling to let you know that I'll be picking you up in an hour from Skylar's."

Skylar started making inappropriate gestures with her hands and narrowed my eyes at her.

"Hey, I was thinking I'd go to the store and get some snacks. Your mom lives in the town over so it'd probably take us three to four hours to get there in your truck and I can't stay that long without junk food. I'd probably get all cranky and go Godzilla on your arse otherwise." I said somewhat sheepishly.

The sound of his husky laugh on the other end of the line had me swooning, "Sounds good. I'll pick you up from the store then?"

"That would be perfect." I cleared my throat nervously before speaking again, "Um, Nate, are you sure your mom won't mind you bringing me?"

"Of course she won't." His voice was sincere. He chuckled again, "Just don't go Godzilla on her if you're hungry," he teased.

My face broke into a grin, "I'll try to control my inner Godzilla."

"Good. I'll see you later then?"

"You will."

"So, I should hang up now?" His voice sounded amused.

"You should." I responded.

"Okay, bye." He said slowly.

"Bye."

The line went silent.

We didn't speak but neither of us made a move to hang up either.

"Why aren't you hanging up?" I asked after a while, laughing quietly.

"Why aren't you hanging up?" I could practically hear the smile in his voice.

"Oh my God! Stop being cheesy." I said trying to sound annoyed but failing miserably.

He laughed again, "Bye Verena." With that he finally ended the call.

I just sat there dumbly smiling at the phone like an idiot. Skylar cleared her throat loudly to gain my attention.

"You know you guys sound like two middle-school kids in love." She said rolling her eyes.

"Shut up!" I retorted but my grin didn't falter.

Maybe I was turning into a love-sick adolescent.

"And what's this about you meeting his mom? I thought you guys were just going on a regular road-trip?" Skylar demanded.

I bit down on my lower lip, for some reason I felt really nervous about meeting Nate's mother. "He was going to see his mom and he asked me if I wanted to come with so I said yes," I added with a shrug.

"This sounds pretty serious Ver. A guy doesn't take a girl to meet his mother just like that. Nate must be pretty serious about you."

I sighed, "I'm afraid it's not that simple. Nate's life is really . . . complicated, the only reason he asked me to come with him is because he probably didn't want to go alone."

"He could've taken Marcus." Skylar pointed out.

"Marcus couldn't just abandon the gym and go out of town with him."

Skylar frowned. "You really are clueless Verena."

"Drop me off at the store, will you? I have to get the snacks, Nate's supposed to pick me up from there in less than an hour."

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I sauntered down the aisle of the grocery store, picking up things randomly.

I picked up my favorite jalapeno flavored bag of crisps only to put it back down.

I wonder what flavor Nate likes.

Why do I even care?

Okay, I'll just buy all the flavors.

Suddenly I felt a strong arm snake around my waist. "What a pleasant surprise." A raspy voice hissed in my ear.

My whole body went rigid in panic.

I recognized that voice.

Ethan Grant

"Let go of me!" I spat out, struggling to get out of his iron clad grip.

"And what if I don't want to?" He taunted.

"I'll scream." I warned, trying to keep my voice from wavering.

Ethan was huge and bulky, I knew I had nothing on him. I desperately scanned the aisle for someone who could help me but it was deserted.