The Covenant by B.N. (best authors to read .TXT) 📕

went towards her car. She heard him follow. She turned back towards him. “Can’t you just leave me alone?” she whispered, feeling as though she were about to cry. He stared at her face for a long time. “No” he answered flatly. “Why not?” she asked, embarrassed by the shakiness in her voice. “I just can’t” he answered, his eyes tightening around the edges. He turned and walked away. Delilah got in her car and placed her candle on the passenger’s seat. What did he mean he can’t? She wondered as she drove home.
“Hey Dill” Josh greeted from the kitchen, eyeing the bag in her hand. She gave him a weak smile. “I got you a candle” she said, handing him the bag. He pulled the candle out of the paper bag and smiled. It was his favorite scent, midnight breeze. She sometimes bought one for herself though it was a manly scent. The smell reminded her of Pepper, he smelt similar to it. It was a rather wild smell, piney but with a sedulity, something close to juniper. “Thanks” he smiled. She returned the smile and went to her room. After she did her homework and ate, she got ready for bed.
She sat on her bed cross legged, looking through her phone. She had three missed calls. Two were from Tess and the last from Jake. She was surprised and she knew she didn’t feel like talking to either of them tonight. She closed her phone and laid it on her night stand then switched off her lamp. She hugged one of her pillows tightly, trying to ignore the guilt she felt. She shivered and regretted not blow drying her hair. It was wet and lustrous with dark curls. That’s the one thing she liked about her hair, she could easily wear it straight or curly; though she preferred wearing it straight. She closed her eyes as she heard Josh peek in. He closed the door quietly and Delilah found herself already half asleep.
She had awoken later that night, feeling she wasn’t alone in her room. She blinked, trying to adjust her eyes to the darkness. She saw him to her far right, looking out the window. She slid from under the covers very slowly, knowing he would see her. He turned, looking at her. Her heart pounded to life as she froze, caught in Pepper’s glaze. She looked over at her door and wondered if he would catch her if she ran. She dashed for her door but he was faster, grabbing her wrist and jerking her to him. She slammed into his chest, knocking the breath out of her. She tried to back away but he stopped her, wrapping his arm tightly around her waist. She looked up at him, panicked. He took in a breath perhaps smelling at her hair, which smelled of her shampoo, vanilla lavender. She squirmed as he knotted his hand in her hair. His face looked pale in the darkness of her room, his expression unfathomable. He walked forward, forcing her to walk backwards. She felt shaky and she swore her heart was going to beat right out of her chest. She gasped as he pushed her against the wall. Trapped against the wall and his body, she watched helplessly as he leaned in. His chest was heaving angrily and his lips came down hard on hers. Her heart reacted in a way she was sure it never had, causing her whole body to pulse. Her breathing was embarrassingly loud to her ears. He gripped her waist tighter, maybe trying to force a reaction out of her. She tried with all her might not to kiss him back, his lips were hard and forceful against hers and she knew he was taking his frustration out on her, probably his pent up frustration from her rejecting him every time he tried to kiss her. Soon she felt lightheaded and made a sound similar to a whimper. His whole body went still at the sound. He slowly pulled away, sliding his hand out of her damp hair. He stared down at Delilah, her honey colored eyes wide with panic.
He suddenly looked sad, his gray eyes, that were bright just moments ago, going dark as if ashamed. Delilah was confused, why did he look so guilty? He released her waist only to grab her face, brushing his thumb along her bottom lip. “Sorry” he whispered, his now smoky eyes burning with sincerity. She knew she had to be dreaming if Pepper had just apologized for kissing her. She stared into his eyes and blushed, wishing she could look away. He leaned in again, slower than before as if giving her the option of pulling away. She didn’t move, feeling her heart pound and her stomach flutter. Her breathing was louder than before and she tried to breathe evenly. His lips brushed hers gently causing her heart to pound loudly in her chest. He released her face and placed his hands lightly on her hips. She felt as if she was on fire, her body tingling and her heart pulsing. His lips were soft as he moved them against hers. He was being very gentle with her and she wondered if he was trying to make up for the first kiss, which had actually been her first kiss. He broke the kiss, looking deep into her eyes. Her breathing was ridged and she blushed from the loudness of it. He released her and when she blinked she found herself jumping upright in her bed. Her alarm went off a minute later. She clicked it off and switched on her lamp.
Again the question came to her, was it only a dream? Part of her hoped it was. She sighed as she went to open her bedroom door. She tried to turn the knob. The door was locked. She sucked in a breath of air. She hadn’t locked her door before she went to bed last night. She tried to think of something else as she unlocked the door and made her way to the bathroom. Her hair was now dry and wavy, she decided to wet it again and add mouse so it would keep its curliness all day. The only problem was her bang which didn’t seem to want to stay out of her face so she pulled it back and clipped it into place. She dressed, ate, brushed her teeth, and then made her way to school.
She stayed to herself most of the day. She had forgotten about Jake calling last night, until he walked up to her at lunch, ignoring Tess who was talking about who knows what. “Can we talk?” he asked, grabbing her arm. She looked up at him then and nodded. He hauled her up and led her out of the cafeteria. “Sorry I didn’t call you back last night” she mumbled as they came to a stop in the hallway. She noticed that he didn’t seem to be in a good mood. His eyebrows furrowed and he ignored her comment. “Chelsea called me last night” he informed his dark brown eyes that usually looked warm looked cold. She looked down guiltily. “Figured she would” she muttered. He looked at her with surprise; he had probably been expecting her to lie about what happened last night. “Is it true?” he asked, his voice pained. “What did she say?” she asked softly. He sighed from frustration. “She said something about you and Pepper being in some creepy ‘friends with benefits’ type thing” he said with a look of disgust. Delilah frowned. “No we’re not, he was teasing her and trying to make me angry” she answered. He looked at her face as if trying to decide if he should believe her or not, then sighed with relief. Her eyebrows pulled together, hating what she was about to do. “Even if it where true what were you going to do? Jake can’t you understand that I just don’t like you that way… I just want to be your friend, ok?” she said lowly, hating confrontation. His shoulders slumped and he sighed in defeat. “I knew you were going to say that” he whispered. She looked away, feeling bad for hurting his feelings. “Sorry” she whispered. The bell rang and the hallway began to crowd. He walked away, disappearing into the crowd.
Near the end of the day Tess found Delilah as she made her way to Mr. Gale’s classroom. “What did Jake want?” Tess asked. “Ugh… he probably hates me now” she mumbled, mostly to herself. “Why would he hate you…wait let me guess, you told him to hit the road…didn’t you?” Tess accused, seeming to always find a way to make a joke of things. Delilah nodded. “If you’re not interested you’re not interested” Tess shrugged, finding the justice in her friend’s decision. They walked in the classroom and took their seats. Delilah felt oddly nervous, wondering how Pepper would act today. She didn’t as much as glance at him. She finished her assignments quickly only then realizing that she had nothing to distract her. She dared a side glace and found Pepper staring. He was leaning on his elbow, chin in hand. He looked down at her hands that were on the table. He reached out and began to trace aimlessly on the back of one. “Are you mad at me?” he asked, not looking up at her. His light touch raised goosebumps on her arms. She wondered if he was asking if she was mad at him about what happened at the candle shop or in her bedroom. He looked up when she didn’t answer right away. She still said nothing. She was trying to decide if she was still angry at him for what happened at the candle shop. She sighed. “No, I’m not mad at you” she whispered, looking at the hand he was toying with. He slid his hand away and sat up. “I saw you leave with him at lunch” he said, sounding accusing. She didn’t look at him. “Chelsea called him last night; he wanted to know if you and me are…together” she said, in a blaming tone. “What did you say?” he asked. She looked at him then away. “I said we weren’t and that it didn’t matter if we were because I still wouldn’t like him that way” she admitted, feeling bad all over again. “Can’t say I feel bad for him” he shrugged. Delilah ignored him and suddenly had the urge to know if she had dreamed about kissing him or if it had been real.
“What did you do last night?” she asked innocently. He shrugged. “Nothing out of the ordinary” he answered nonchalantly. “Hmm…” she pursed her lips. “Why?” he asked, leaning in. She shook her head. “It’s nothing, I just had the weirdest dream and you were in it” she shrugged. He grinned. “What kind of dream?” he teased, but his eyes seemed defensive. Delilah smiled. “To be honest I couldn’t tell you” she answered, being coy. The bell rang and they stood. Delilah gathered her things as Pepper started to walk off. “Oh and Pepper?” she called sweetly. He turned, waiting. “You forgot to unlock my door” she said softly. He gave her a look that said he had no clue what she was talking about, and then he turned and walked off. She wondered if she had just made herself look like an idiot and then decided she didn’t care.
Blackwell, South Carolina
Peter stood and began pacing the room. Jess watched him with mild aggravation. “What’s taking him so long?” Peter asked. Jess rubbed at his temples getting tried of hearing that same question from Peter and Mitch. “We haven’t heard from him in weeks…do you think something’s wrong, maybe he’s dead” Peter guessed. Mitch slapped the back of Peter’s sandy blonde