The Shadows of Memory Lane (Book 2) [Gxg]

Chapter 27

Kira took Jordan's hands and placed it against her lips. Kissing them tenderly.

"Jordan, I'll be gone for the whole day today. If you need me, I'm only a call away."

His voice was gruff, "Okay."

He pulled the blanket closer to himself. And he let his head fall back on his pillow. Sunday brought freedom. Freedom from stress. Pain. Work.

The whirlwind of sleep took him over and transported him to a time of his past. For once, after months, it wasn't a time of torment.

Her blue eyes shone up at him, illuminated in the moonlight. Gleeful, lively, immature. No ties. No bonds. No worries. She was reckless. Her brown hair spilled down, below her shoulders, almost to her waist. She had light pink lips and the L.A. tan. The lights of the party, colored her skin. She was now a dancing blur of  pinks blues and yellow. She was like the sunset, beautiful yet temporary. She grinned up at him. Jordan smiled at her outstretched hand and took it. Pulling her closer. He twirled her around, enjoying the sound of her laughter. He took her hips in his hands and picked her up, spinning. She let her head fall back, her smile widening. He let her down and she led him to the middle of the dance floor. The music pounded in their ears. They were surrounded by teenagers just like them. Getting lost in the music, getting lost in each other. They danced for hours. Laughing. Two complete strangers drawn to each other by what can only be explained as alcohol. Or maybe it was something else. Something more.  But they were too lost to care.

Finally, around 2 a.m., Jordan grabbed her hand and led her out.

"Hey," he said, quite breathless.

"Hey," she purred, smiling at him flirtatiously.

He smirked unsurely, "Well... that was fun.

"Hmm," she agreed, enjoying his discomfort.

"What... I mean I... I didn't catch your name."

"That's because I didn't tell you sweetheart."

He gulped, "What's your name?"

"What's yours?" She asked, coming closer and playing with his shirt collar, never breaking their intense eye contact.

He shivered as her long nails grazed his collar bone.

"Jordan... Jordan Moores."

"Well hello there Jordan," she said, biting her lip and going up on her tiptoes. Her breath fanned his lips. He closed his eyes, expectant and nervous. But there was nothing. The blue eyed girl was long gone.

The next day, Jordan grabbed a cool graphic t-shirt and some dark blue jeans. He styled his hair in the neat slick way that he'd always done. He put on some ratty old sneakers that were way too comfortable for him to throw away and he walked out of his house. He'd been too nervous for breakfast. His first day of sophomore year. In a whole new town. He held his backpack close to him and walked along the path looking down. He wasn't usually shy. He had pretty much been a party animal back in his old school. He had been the most popular kid in freshman year. But somehow he'd changed during the summer. The death of his father had injected a sense of maturity and responsibility into him. They were pretty well off. His mother was a successful businesswoman. But that didn't stop him from being overly protective of her. He took a deep breath and looked at his new school. He ringed his wrists and scratched the back of his head. There was the expected buzz of teenagers spilling in and out of the gates. There were about a thousand cars in the car park. With one last gaze at the looming structure in front of him, he entered. His eyes suddenly caught a bunch of girls laughing. Their heads thrown back, their long hair bouncing in curls. Blondes and brunettes. Eyes of pale browns and greys. No. 'She' wasn't there. He continued walking, his eyes still absentmindedly searching for her. The girl he'd met the night before. He wanted to know her name. Curiosity was drawing him to her. But the bell rang before he could find her. He stalked into his home-room utterly disappointed. He got the seat near the window and waited for the bell to mark the end of homeroom so he could continue his search. But it was futile. He didn't see her for the rest of the day. There were hundreds of schools in L.A. he reasoned with himself, there was only a very slim chance that she went to the same school as him. He walked back home with his head down and earphones plugged in, staring at the green grass blades that were so fresh and exuberant that they seemed to mock his disastrous looks and introverted nature. 

His mother was a busy woman. She never really had the time to come home and make dinner, sit with him and talk about his day. But one thing she always found time for was gardening. She was a strict woman on the outside, but inside she was as tender as the flowers she cared for. She called gardening her escape. From her stressful job, her responsibilities as a single mother, and of course an escape from the current of pain that gushed into her every time she thought about her deceased husband. She wasn't one to socialise casually, it was almost always formal. That very trait of hers was what fed Jordan's surprise as he turned onto the stone pathway leading to his house. For drifting in the wind was the sound of his mother's laughter adding to the incessant pour of water from the hose. He dropped his bag on the floor of his house and walked to the backyard. He pried opened the doors only to be struck with more surprise. For there she was, the blue-eyed girl, laughing next to his mother, pruning her prize roses. His mother never let ANYONE touch them. Yet here she was. That was when Jordan's heart started beating faster, and sweat started trickling down his brow, for  that was when he realised that the blue-eyed girl could win over anyone's heart. And he was one of her victims. 

...

Kira was strangely drawn to the boy... Jordan that she'd met the previous day. She could see that she had an effect on him. Kira had a knack for realising these sort of things. She'd never been shy. Never in her whole life. She'd never had a secret to keep. No problems. No reason to cry. She was always free of burdens and responsibilities- with rich parents, amazing friends and straight A's (not to mention her talent of writing and her skill at art)- there had never been something that required any other emotion than happiness. The one thing she lacked in this seemingly perfect life was trust. Not in her friends, but trust in relationships. She'd had one too many heartbroken friends crying in her arms to settle down and commit to a relationship. But something about Jordan made her want to forget her trust issues. Something about him exuded reliability. It scared her. For a boy she'd met just one day ago, a boy who didn't even know her name, made her want to break the rules she'd kept for herself. 

That's why she'd avoided him the whole day at school. She thanked God that they didn't have any classes together on Mondays. But her heart lurched forward at the opportunity to meet him again, even though her whole body was against it. So when she met her new neighbour, Katherine Moores, she set out to melt her with Kira's inbuilt charm. Her charm had never disappointed her before. And this time was no different. 

Memory #27: Neither Haley nor Linda had a green thumb. They were both very capable of appreciating nature but even small plants that they had to grow for class projects died within a few days or never sprouted at all. Every time they submitted one of these plants they'd look up at their teacher with puppy eyes and sheepish smiles and they would escape every time.