Bonded With Love by Tiffany Heiser (the giving tree read aloud .txt) 📕

My heart reminded me to breathe when it slammed against my chest, threatening to break free. The sidewalk, only a few steps away, offered me a way out of the Texas heat but even that was too far for my shaky legs and nauseous stomach. I forced myself to pathetically lean against a tree for balance. The violent throbbing in my head caused beads of sweat to trickle down my forehead, forming a damp trail to my neck. I could barely stand- let alone walk. What the hell was wrong with me?
I snapped back to reality when Cecile grabbed my shoulders. I stared into her honey-brown eyes full with concern. “Rena what's wrong? Are you okay?” What was wrong with me?
Cecile Christine Richards, my best friend since kindergarten. It all started when we joined forces to conquer the playground against all boys. She became like a sister to me and still is the closest thing I have to family.
My voice was unsure. “I don't know, maybe the heat?” I swallowed audibly. “I'm sorry I worried you.” Giving a half grin and shrugging, I brushed away strands of my dark brown hair from my face then pushed off of the tree and led the way from the grounds to school.
We made our way to first period which helped calm me after the strange morning. Cecile and I shared most of our senior classes. English was one of them.
She and I lived together off of the money my parent's life insurance left me, on top of a large savings account started for my college career. My mom made sure a long time ago that I would be set for a while if anything were to happen to them. The savings hadn't been touched yet, hoping one day I would be able to figure out exactly what I wanted to be when I grew up. Plus I wanted to leave this town and start a new life for myself.
Cecile’s parents didn’t keep track of her. She never had the best home life, with an alcoholic father, and a mother too caught up in herself- they didn’t seem to care whether she came or went. When my world turned upside down she left them and stayed with me.
I whispered to her, “lucky you, getting to spend extra time with me.”
“Uh, no, I'm thinking more lucky you than me.” Cecile laughed loudly at her own lame comeback.
“Yeah, yeah. Did you finish the weekend reading?”
She shook her head. “I got halfway through, but was bored to tears, so I went shopping for some new shoes instead.”
The final bell rang, signaling the start of class. Mrs. Dawson pulled down the projector screen and the beginning credits of Beastly, a new age take on Beauty and the Beast, rolled across the TV. My mind wandered into the main characters'. With true love's kiss, a curse being broken and a happy ending, I found myself not caring if I ended up being the beast or the unsuspecting girl. I wanted my happily ever after, like I'd read about all my life.
She is here.

The whisper made the hairs on my arms stand at attention. I surveyed the room closely, assuming I was hearing things. I shrugged it off and gave all of my focus to the movie.
Oh god she is here. It has been so long.

My thoughts paused for the whisper that startled me once again. I took my time to look around at each student. Few eyes were glued to the movie, others stayed closed as their owners napped. Not knowing where the whisper came from, I thought of all possibilities the words could mean, but that stopped when it hit me again.
My breath caught in my throat, icy chills filled every limb of my body, and beads of sweat formed on my brow. Breath wheezed its way out, barely crawling past my lips. Gurgling noises bubbled from my throat. What was this? Am I choking? Having a panic attack? Am I dying? Breathe, I told myself. I only needed to breathe.
Mrs. Dawson paused the movie and everyone turned in their seats. Even the nappers woke to gawk at me while I inhaled loudly. Unable to escape awkward stares from my peers, I gasped for air and filled my lungs up once again.
No one said a word, they all peered at me until Mrs. Dawson started to walk toward me. “Rena, are you alright dear?”
Cecile turned to me, her eyes watched my every move.
Coughing, I answered, “no ma'am. I think I'm coming down with something. Can I go to the nurse's office?”
She nodded her teacher nod. “Of course. I'll write you out a pass.”
Hearing small murmurs from the other kids, I mashed my books into my backpack. Then took the pass for the nurse's office and fled from the room, hoping Cecile would come find me.
Lying in the dark cave-like nurse's office helped.
I dozed off, and an image snuggled behind my eyelids. The vision showed spiked raven hair bristling through my thoughts. Glowing blue eyes stared through the curtain of darkness. The image didn't scare me, I knew in my head that it was a dream, and definitely better than my embarrassing episode in Mrs. Dawson’s class.
I continued to enjoy my sneak peak. Like looking through a video camera, the scene panned out and I could see more of him. His full lips turned up into a grin and swirls of emotions swam through my body at his gorgeous features. I had the urge to reach up and stroke his beautiful face, so I did. Slowly lifting my hand to brush my finger across his soft looking skin, a knocking at the door startled me. I opened my eyes and sat up, cheeks flustered.
Cecile came in with a tray of food in her hands. “I brought you lunch in bed.” Her voice enthusiastically squeaked.
“Aw thanks. You didn't have to.” I scooted up into a sitting position.
“Uh, yeah I did. You're sick. Plus it gave me a reason to get away from asshole Jackson.” She sat down on a chair by my bed.
Jackson was Cecile's ex and a complete douche. He had more than one opportunity to prove that he could be a good guy, but he failed miserably every time.
“Douche. Sorry I wasn't there to keep watch for ya.”
Cecile chuckled. “No problemo. I was able to dodge him and get away.”
Typically I stayed quiet and really only spent time with Cecile. I've always been like that, but it became worse after the accident.
A little over a year ago, I had been in the car with my parents, when a car swerved over to our lane. My parents drove the speed limit but this guy had been going around eighty. He hit us straight on-I was the only to survive.
I had a hard time bonding anymore, out of fear of losing anyone else. But when it came to screwy Jackson and the sadness that still showed in Cecile's eyes, I opened my mouth and let him know where to stick his stupid apologies.
Her eyes looked so sad, I changed the topic. “What the hell is wrong with me, C? Am I losing my mind or something? I’ve never had headaches this bad. It’s like a hangover from hell, except the fact that I didn’t drink anything.”
“You freaked me out. I thought you might pass out or choke to death or something. Are you feeling okay now?”
“Yeah, my head feels a little better, but all the nurse could give me was one lousy Tylenol- dumb-ass. Like I’m really going to OD on Tylenol. Well, thank god you’re here. Now we can go.”
“Oh, that sucks. You should've come and gotten the keys from me. I have to stay for cheer-leading practice tonight.” She fished the keys from her purse. “Here you go, if you still feel sick later just text me and I'll get someone to take me home.”
“Works for me. Thanks C.”
“No problem Ren. I'm going to head out. Get some rest okay?” She patted my shoulder and gave one last glance before she closed the door behind her.
Grabbing my sunglasses and making sure the keys were in my purse, I ventured outside and made my way to her purple VW Bug. I was glad we’d snagged our parking spot closer to school this morning. I had a feeling it worked out that way so Cecile could park next to her new crush. I didn't complain since I didn't have to walk a mile through the parking lot this time.
Climbing into the bug, I felt like whatever had hit me before was gone, so I decided to head to the book store. There is always a reason to go book shopping, it makes everything better.
I pulled into the parking lot of Books City, Granbury's local book store, and headed inside to do some damage to my bank account. I felt like being generous to myself after the craziness I went through this morning.
The bell above the door jingled as I walked into the building, and the smells of new and old books wafted their way through my nostrils. This was heaven. I perused through the aisles finding all the new supernatural and fantasy ones. I thought about the large pile at home waiting to be read. It was about to get larger.
I made my way toward the counter to pay, when the pounding headache found its way back. Immediately following, nausea clenched my stomach causing a few gags to gurgle out of my throat. I couldn't catch my breath and my heart jabbed against my rib cage.
Trying to walk, to find somewhere to sit, I fell and took all of the books with me to the floor.
When my eyes opened, darkness surrounded me. One tiny light peaked from behind the black drapes. Fear tightened its grip on my stomach.
I stood on legs of jello and made my way toward the light, hoping it would wake me from this odd dream. I stumbled across the dark path, and a figure draped in night stood before me. A yelp escaped from my lips. I tried to get away, but his sparkling blue eyes locked me in place. His midnight hair spiked to a perfect point, and he watched me with pursed lips. His toned body towered over me.
His eyes danced along each portion of my body and I felt naked standing unguarded in front of him. In his eyes there wasn't desire but a longing, and I understood. I couldn't move, and didn't want to. For the briefest of seconds we stared at each other.
Then he took a step forward. With that one step, his body was drenched in light head to toe. I could see every detail. With that one minor step forward his whole appearance had changed. He went from being a dark seductive stranger, to a hideous foul beast. His blue eyes changed to a deep shade of red like blood