The Secret Pull

Chapter 3 - Homecoming

GABBY - 

I opened the door to my Jeep Wrangler, hopped out, and took a deservedly large stretch. I was almost to my final destination but I just had to stop. Stretching my hands to the sky, I inhaled deeply  before realizing…I needed to pee...and eat. My rumbling stomach would not be ignored. This gas station is just outside of my hometown. I always stopped here on my few trips back home because it was safe. It was big and well-lit. With my dad in law enforcement, I always try to be aware of my surroundings and whenever I could, stop for gas in safe places. Places with bright lights and video cameras. 

It was close to 11 pm and I'd been on the road for almost four hours. At this point, I was only half an hour away from my brother’s house and it seemed like a better idea to stop there for the night. My parent’s home was still an hour away and I was sick of driving. I took out my phone and texted my brother about my plans to stay at his house. Then, I texted my dad. I didn’t want my parents to stay up waiting for me to arrive at their house. I got a thumbs-up emoji from my brother right as I got to the convenience store entrance. 

I made my way to the restroom and afterward I did a quick assessment in the mirror. “Ugh!”, I groaned. I looked tired. I adjusted my jacket over my gray cotton romper, which looked more like a short dress than anything else. I reapplied my lipgloss and combed through my hair with my fingers.  I pulled up my thick curls into a messy top bun. After checking the mirror and deciding the results weren’t too bad, I left. I walked out of the convenience store with a bag of snacks and a caffeinated drink. 

I knew better than to shop for snacks when I was this hungry. I would then buy all the snacks. Whatever! I was on vacation. Now here I was leaving with a bag full of junk food to last me my entire stay. I recklessly tore into a chocolate bar before I reached the car. It was hanging out of my mouth like a cigar when suddenly I was hit with a feeling of butterflies in my stomach. A small momentary tingling that morphed into a tense spasm in my belly. 

I felt the goosebumps rising on my arms and I started to panic a little. This feeling was once so familiar to me.  It had been so many years since I last experienced it. To feel it again, being so close to home, left me frozen in place. I shut my eyes and took a deep breath to calm myself because now my body was on high alert. My heart raced with these old and yet all too familiar sensations. I was filled with the sense of impending doom. I knew these physical reactions always warned me of whenever HE was arou…

“Pumpkinhead… is…that…you?!” came a deep voice from behind me.

Oh no!

“I thought that was you Pumpkinhead!” 

I hadn’t heard the old high-school nickname in years. I turned my heels slowly in the direction of the voice. Its owner was dressed in a dark blue t-shirt, a black bomber jacket, and dark jeans. With growing dread, I watched as he slowly dismounted a sleek all-black motorcycle a few feet away and walked towards me. I anxiously turned my head from left to right, scanning my surroundings, confirming that I was not alone. There were two or three people innocently pumping gas several feet away. I tried to let that fact that I wasn’t alone calm my growing unease. I took another deep breath. The handsome and muscular rider making his way toward me was the bane of my existence. My old high school crush. My first boyfriend. My nemesis. 

Paul Bennett. 

My gaze locked on his green eyes, that seemed unusually bright under the bright lights of the gas station. His eyes always drew me in, almost like hypnosis. I’ve never before seen eyes that intense in color. They seemed to sparkle with little flecks of gold in the center. Right now those eyes scrutinized me with his all too habitual look of contempt. 

He had the same brisk and determined walk. I didn't realize the breath I was holding onto in my chest until he stopped in front of me. 

He looked different. In high school, Paul’s hair was always in a buzz cut. This new version of Paul had longer hair that was tied back at the nape of his neck in a short ponytail. With his hair longer, you could see his natural dark curls perfectly flowing from his head in waves. He was the exact image of his father in that way. His face no longer had the smoothness of a boy. A light stubble now covered his sharp jawline.