Whispers of Hope- Book # 3 (Mated Hearts Series) Complete

Chapter 1 (Marissa)

*****Now for Book No. 3*******

“Whispers of Hope”

2011 All RIghts Reserved

Chapter 1 (Marissa) ***Edited by MidnightStorm***



“Missy,” a familiar high-pitched voice called out.

Lifting my head up from the photo album I was browsing through, I stared at my sister who was standing at the door.

“Yeah?” I replied. Cara, who’s only a year younger than me, has been in a real pissy mood since we moved back to Florida. She has done nothing but whine for the last week about how she had to leave all of her best friends and a boyfriend that she had only been going out with for a week and swears that life as she knew it was now officially over. Such a drama queen. Three years ago I was ripped away from the same type of situation against my own wishes and I dealt with it; she can find a way to deal too.

“Can I come in?” she asked. Her tone was soft and she looked hesitant, which was totally unlike the typical outgoing Cara that I was used too.

“Sure,” I told her and sat up, patting a spot on the bed beside me as an invitation. I closed my photo album and laid it down on my other side.

She strode across the room and plopped down next to me. She was wringing her hands and looking down at her lap, which was a clear sign that she was nervous about something. I sat there quietly for several moments waiting to see what this little visit of hers was about.

Cara looked back up at me and I saw that her green eyes, which resembled the color of sea foam, were glistening. She looked as if she was about to cry.

I scooted over to her and wrapped my arm around her. My big sister instincts were clearly taking over.

“What’s wrong, Care?” I asked, my voice full of sincerity.

Her breath hitched and the first sob came. “I, I’m scared Missy. What if they don’t like me? What if everyone hates me? What if they all make fun of me?”

I had to struggle to hide my smile. Cara was one of the most eccentric people in the world and usually drew others to her, but she didn’t adapt to change very well.

Patting her back for reassurance I told her, “Everyone will love you Care, how could they not?” Stroking her long, coppery hair in an attempt to soothe her I continued trying to build her confidence. “Look; you’re pretty, you’re nice and everyone is going to think you‘re the best thing since sliced bread.” I tried to chuckle at the end of my statement to lift her spirits. That didn’t work and when her sobs became louder I just rolled my eyes.

Such a freaking drama queen, I thought again. All I could do was sit beside her until the awful sounds subsided.

When she was left with only hiccups, I patted her back and asked, “Better?”   

She looked up at me, and what a sight. Her eyes were all red and swollen and her cheeks were tear-stained, with a snotty nose to complete the look.

She nodded and I fought to hold back my laughter. “Hold on a minute,” I told her. I couldn’t take that nose any longer. Walking to the bathroom I just grabbed the whole roll of toilet paper and brought it back out to her.

When I stepped back into my room I froze.

“What the hell do you think you are doing?” I demanded.

She jumped in response and looked as guilty as a cat burglar being caught red-handed.  She was holding my prized photo album. The one I had made in freshman year with all my pictures of me and Zach. The one that I always flipped through when I was sad. The one that held the memories of my last days of true happiness. The very one that I didn’t share with anyone, not even my busybody of a sister. It was private and it was mine alone to look at.

Her eyes widened and she snapped the book shut. “I was just curious,” she replied in a snooty tone. “You’re always looking at it and hiding it when someone comes around. I just wanted to know what you were hiding, and guess what Missy?  Now I do.”

She had transformed into the snarky sister that I knew she could be. Anger surged through me and I threw the roll of toilet paper at her face.

“Out!” I screamed at her.

She caught the toilet paper in mid air and gave me the smirk of a life time. She got what she wanted and if she didn’t get out of my face soon I was likely to do something that I would almost definitely regret at a later date.

“I said out,” I repeated, not as a scream but in a voice so frigid it could have frozen ice cubes.

She snorted and started her rant. “Mama and daddy always give you the attention. You are their golden child, their perfect angel. Poor Marissa can never do anything wrong, they always say.  Looking at some of those pictures, it seems Marissa is not as perfect as they think, is she? In fact, Marissa is a naughty girl. With your aversion to boys I thought you might be a lesbian or something, but not according to those pics. They are indecent. Oh, the shame, Missy." She tsked. "The way he touched you and kissed you. I wonder what he looks like now? I wonder if he can still kiss like that or if he has gotten even better with time. I might have to find out; what do you think about that, Missy?”

I saw red. There were some pretty racy pics of Zach and I cuddling and kissing, but nothing too indecent. They were my memories, and they were all I had to get me through horrible times. She had no right to impose.

“I’m warning you Cara, you have two minutes to get your ass out of my room or your face is going to have a come-to-Jesus meeting with my fist."

I had to squeeze my hands tightly by my side to restrain myself from outright hitting her.  Believe me, that was no small feat to overcome.

Her haughty laughter grated on my nerves. “No need for threats, I’m leaving oh dear, sweet sister of mine. I got exactly what I wanted.”

With that being said she turned and waltzed out of my room as if she was queen of the world. "Bitch," I mumbled so that only I could hear.

When she was gone I went and slammed the door behind her. Even my fingers were trembling with the rage that had built in me. Stalking back to my bed I picked up a pillow and shoved it over my face. “Agghh!” I screamed into it, releasing some of my built-up anger. How the hell did she manage to do this to me every single time?

Collapsing on my bed I picked up the album and started paging through it again. I had now been away for three terribly long years, and not a day went by where I hadn’t thought of him.  I wondered what he looked like now. Did his blond hair still curl just above his brow?  Did his blue eyes still glow as brightly as a clear sky on a sunny day? Would he even remember me, or did he hate me for not wanting to continue our relationship? So many questions and tomorrow I would finally get my answers. Ready or not, tomorrow was surely going to prove to be one eventful day.

____________________________________________________


“See ya mom,” I called out as I grabbed the  keys to my car.

“Be careful, honey, and don't forget your medicine on the counter,” she replied.

“Got it,” I said as I was leaving. I was anxious, excited, scared and fearful of what today may bring. It was like there was one huge, emotional tornado churning in my stomach, and I figured that the best way to settle it was to get the day started and just see where it went from there.

I pulled into the school parking lot and was pleasantly surprised to find that not a thing had changed since I’d left. The right corner of the sign that held the school’s name was still chipped and the “r“ in Everstone was still missing so it read “Eve stone High”. The senior bricks still lined the walkway to the entrance of the school and standing at the front door welcoming students was Mr. Riker, the principal. He was in the same place that he always stood when it was time for students to start arriving at school. Some things just never change.

Standing at the bottom of the steps, I took a deep breath. “Alright, Marissa; this is it. Let’s just do it and get it over with.” First days always sucked.

“Ms. Combs, welcome back,” Mr. Riker said with a smile.

I smiled back at him and replied, “Thank you, sir; glad to be back.”

“That’s good to hear. Ms. Davis already has your schedule prepared. Just stop by the office and pick it up,” he told me, his genuine smile never wavering.

“Thank you,” I said again and headed for the office. I walked in and was again overwhelmed by the fact that nothing had changed. Even the smells were the same. The school always held a minty pine scent and the familiar smell hit me full throttle as soon as I strode through the double doors.

Just as Mr. Riker had promised, Ms. Davis had my schedule ready. I smiled politely and took it from her, going over my classes. They were all the same as my last school.

After leaving Florida I had to be home-schooled for two years, and was finally allowed to go back to public school last year. It was a hard adjustment, but nothing could have been worse than the first time I had to leave Zach. I’d thought I was going to die after that separation and today... well today I was probably going to see him again for the first time in three years. Talk about a girl having her wits rattled.

I saw my first familiar face as I headed down the corridor towards my locked. It couldn’t be. She was so beautiful now, not the same gangly girl with braces from three years ago.

“Amy? Amy Martin,” I hesitantly called.

She turned around and cocked her head. There was a very handsome guy standing by her side. He moved closer to her, almost like he was trying to protect her.

I shot her an honest smile as I held my hand out. She stared at me for a moment and even squinted her eyes as if she was trying to remember who, exactly, I was.

Her eyes widened as the realization suddenly hit her.

“Marissa. Marissa Combs, is that you?” she asked while taking my hand. The guy beside her had a rigid face and didn’t take his eyes off of me. It was quite unnerving, to say the least.

Trying to hold on to my composure I answered timidly, “Yeah, it’s me. I came back.”

She released my hand and a knowing grin appeared. Before I could say anything else she was pulling me into a bone crushing hug.

“Can’t, can’t breathe” I managed as I gasped for air.

She instantly released me and stepped back.

“I’m so sorry, I didn‘t mean to uh, you know…”

I held my hand up to stop her. “I’m fine,” I assured her with a smile. I even lifted my arms and twirled around to prove it, because by the look on her face she truly felt bad about the hug. I found it rather endearing and it even gave me hope that maybe, just maybe, Zach would be happy to see me again.

“We really need to get together and catch up sometime,” Amy said excitedly. Her blue eyes were beaming but the guy standing beside her kept his hard face completely blank.

“That would be great,” I replied. “We just got here a couple of days ago and to be honest, you’re the first person I’ve seen other than my family and the cable guy. And he wasn’t much to look at, if you know what I mean.” I scrunched up my nose as I remembered how the man’s pants had shown half his hairy crack every time he bent over, and he seemed completely clueless about it. The sight was unfortunately burned into my memory.

Amy laughed and for the first time I caught a hint of a smile from the hard male beside her.

“Oh, where are my manners? Marissa, this is Stevie my ma--my boyfriend” she said looking down at her feet. That was really weird. It sounded like she was going to say something else like male or mate, but that wouldn’t make any sense.

“Stevie, this is an old friend of Zach’s, Marissa Combs.”

I nodded in his direction.

“Nice to meet you, ma’am,” he replied in a deep baritone voice.

I chuckled lightly. “You don’t have to be so formal and call me ma’am,” I told him. “Marissa is just fine,” I added, still maintaining my perfect smile.

“Marissa, then. It is nice to meet you,” he repeated and his face softened revealing a much more approachable guy. It looks like Amy had snagged herself a good one.

The bell rang and all three of us looked up.

“I guess we need to get to class,” I sighed. I glanced at my schedule and saw that I had World History with Ms. Reeves.

“What class do you have?” Amy asked.

“World History,” I told her, “with Ms. Reeves”

“Ooh, have fun with that one,” she remarked sarcastically. “She’s a pistol. We have chemistry, so we’ll see you later?” she asked.

I nodded at her. “Yeah, you’ll definitely see me around,” I said as I turned to head towards my class. I was feeling so much better about the day now that I had run into Amy. She made me feel welcomed and gave me high hopes that  Zach might think well of my return.

I had just turned into the corridor that my World History class was in when I looked up and my world was turned upside down. There he was. Zachary Martin, so much bigger than I remembered. Fully muscled and filled out to the max. He still had those sexy blond curls that I remember tousling and twining around my fingers on many different occasions. He was even more handsome now than he was three years ago and when he looked up and our eyes met, everything stopped.

My breath came in short pants and my heart took off at a staccato pace. I felt my skin warm and my blood tingle and this was all just from seeing him again.  

At first he looked shocked, and then his face turned to a mask of longing. I could hardly believe that I was standing here, staring into the eyes of Zach, my Zachary.

Just as quickly a wave of anger washed over his face. I was taken aback by the intensity. He winked at me and then did the unthinkable. He reached for the girl beside him and laid a kiss on her that would make the Madame of a whore house blush.

I quickly turned away and ran off in the other direction. How could I have been so stupid as to think that Zach would want plain old me after what I did to him three years ago? He was way too gorgeous to sit around and long for me the same way that I craved him. It was nothing more than a stupid little girl’s fantasy, but, dammit, why did seeing the truth of it have to hurt so much?