Little Things (Second Chances 1)
He bends his head and kisses my cheek, “Happy Birthday, Raya.”
About forty-five minutes later, we leave the cemetery and head back to Melanie’s house. Duke wraps his hand around mine as he drives in a comfortable silence. Looking out the window, I realize that everything from this point on has changed. I no longer have a mother; I’m an orphan. And most of all, it was my fault. I did this—all because of a stupid prom. If I hadn’t gone, she would still be here. Perhaps, we could have already escaped from Craig’s path if I had listened to Duke earlier. But what good does that do? It’s too late. H
e won.
A few minutes later, we pull up to Melanie’s house and hear scattered voices coming from inside. Duke shuts off the car, unbuckles his belt, and positions to open his door. I reach out to him in time, stopping him from exiting.
He looks at me with a vast amount of protectiveness, “What’s wrong, Raya?”
I groan in protest, “I’m not ready to go in yet. Stay out here with me?”
He beams, “Of course, whenever you’re ready.”
I scoot closer to him and rest my head on his shoulders.
“Duke?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you for saving my life.”
He kisses the top of my head, “I would do it again, you know?”
“I know.”
“So, now that Craig’s locked up, what will you do? Go to college, get a job?”
I inhale deep, “I’ll probably get a job and an apartment. I’ve been saving up some money so it should hold me off for a few months.”
Duke hands caress my arm, “If you need help, don’t be afraid to ask me.”
“I know. But you start college in a few months. Syracuse is at least a five hour drive.”
He hesitates, “Actually, I don’t think I’ll be going to Syracuse.”
I look up at him, astonished, “Why? You got a scholarship? Don’t turn that down.”
He brushes his hand along my cheek and fiddles with a long curl of my hair, “I want to be where you are. And if you’re here, that’s where I’ll be.”
“I can’t ask you to do that. I’m not worth it.”
He chuckles, “You will always be worth it.”
He digs his hand into his jacket pocket, pulls out a small red jewelry box, and looks at me nervously.
“I planned on giving this to you the day after prom as an early birthday gift, and I know today’s not the best day for gifts, but it’s your birthday. You should get at least one gift.”
My eyes dazzle at the box and I pull it from his grasp. I open it slowly to find a silver necklace inside attached with a beautiful heart-shaped pendant with an engraving that says, “Sing”. I gasp in awe as tears fill my eyes.
“Duke, I love it.”
His smile flashes as he takes the necklace and clasps it around my neck. I look down and touch it as it shimmers and sparkles in the light.
“It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen!”
“Yeah, beautiful.”
I catch him staring at me and suddenly I’m speechless. His warm eyes glisten and radiate an electric current, making my body sizzle. He focuses on my lips and I can’t help but bite my bottom lip. He sucks in a gust of air and his eyes grow dark with a blaze of longing. A crash of nerves hit me and I realize he’s moving closer and closer to me. My heart skips a beat as my breathing becomes erratic. His hand grabs my head to pull my lips onto his, and just as they touch, I pull away.