Dangerous Vibes - Book I of the Dangerous Series [WATTY AWARDS 2012 FINALIST]

Chapter 18 - Impulsive

Chapter 18 – Impulsive

I pulled my phone out of my pocket, noticing that it was Summer who was calling. I looked back up at Joel one last time, realising that I wasn't going to get a proper answer from him at that moment, throwing him a hold-that-thought glance, as I took the phone call.

"H-hey Sum." I stuttered, not being able to contain the adrenaline that was now rushing throughout my body, inflicted by the realisation that Joel may have known something more than he let out to know.

It kind of creeped me out. I mean, this was big. Really big. I felt somewhat unsettled at the fact that I was standing there on the beach that had caused my nightmares, alone with him, making me feel even more anxious. I suddenly felt so desperate to get out of there as hastily as possible, ensuring to let someone, Summer for that matter, know where I was just in case Joel had turned out to be some evil vampire stalker or something, who wanted to suck me dry there and then.

"Hey Miranda! What are you doing? I have a proposal for you. Actually scrap that; a demand – get your ass home and get ready now, cos I've decided we're hitting the town tonight. Girls night?" She exclaimed, suddenly sparking up the tiniest bit of excitement inside of me, managing to momentarily subside my cautious emotions that Joel was causing me to feel.

"Awesome, I'm totally up for it. I'm just down at South Beach with Joel, so I'll get him to take me home now and get ready. Meet at mine, at say seven pm? We'll have pre-drinks then we can walk down to the main street." I replied, ensuring to make eye contact with Joel as I mentioned him taking me home.

"Woo-hoo! I'll be there with a bottle of vodka, or two. See ya then babe!" She chirped as we exchanged our goodbyes and I hung up. Joel met my gaze once again, with slight disappointment written all over his face.

"Look Joel, you need to take me home. Now, ok." I demanded, turning on my heel, and striding off straight for the path that led back to the car park. Joel didn't say one more word, and just hesitantly followed on behind me, not catching up with me to walk beside me.

He made me feel slightly nervous, and so I clenched my fists in preparation to be pounced on, glancing back behind occasionally, in hope that I'd catch him out before he had a chance to attack. I wasn't a black belt or anything, but I had been taking self-defence classes for a good few years now, and so I felt pretty confident that I would have had the strength and cunningness to knock someone out if I really needed to.

I was starting to sound like a bit of a crazy person. I mean, Joel was the nicest guy, so I found it hard to believe that he was some sort of surreptitious serial killer out to retrieve my blood. Undoubtedly if he was, he probably would have attacked me by now. Either way, I was still pretty pissed at him.

I knew deep down, my vibes perhaps, that it wasn't just by chance that he'd taken me here. I could tell that he had taken me here for a reason, as if he knew something about my dreams. The way he had acted the entire drive here, and the walk down the path which led to the shore; he had nervousness and dread seeping off of him like steam coming out of a kettle. It was just that blatantly obvious.

But why would he take me to a place that had caused me so much emotional pain? That was the reason that I was angry at him. I suddenly felt that I couldn't trust him, after a whole month of getting to know him and letting him past my barrier defences; allowing him in, allowing myself to confide in him and trust him. But it was now all shattered.

As soon as we reached the car, I impatiently waited by the passenger seat door, anticipating for him to open it up and let me in. The second he unlocked the doors I jumped in, slammed the door, threw on my seatbelt, and briskly crossed my arms over my chest, focusing solely on the scenery in front of me. It was probably fair to say that I was throwing a child-like tantrum. But I didn't care. I wanted Joel to know that I was pissed. I mean how could I not be?