Us by Arianna Joseph (list of e readers .txt) 📕

“Arelie.” Trystan’s voice; so familiar and tender to her by now, was calling out to her. She turned to face him, and turned up her face to receive his kiss. Just like every other time this kiss was passionate, Arelie-Trystan-Starved-For-Each-Other kiss. She smiled into it and put her arms around his neck. He pulled back, his hands settled on her waist, but made her lean into the car.

“Hey,” she whispered.

“Hey. Where are you going?” he asked.

“Victoria’s house, she just got back from New York. I’m going to be at her house for a while, and then I’ll head home. Bea should be home by then, so you don’t have to come by . . . if you don’t want to.” Elie trailed.

“No. It’s fine. I’ve got some things to do too, but if I can; I’ll come by.” Trystan suggested. Elie nodded, unsure. Trystan didn’t look too happy today, he looked behind her, distracted and she turned. A gang was formed not too far away from the school; they were hidden, but easy to see, if you tried hard enough. Arelie’s breathing hitched.

He can’t be serious. Was all she thought when she looked back at him, he was gazing at her. His eyes were stormy.

“Trystan . . .” Elie’s voice got choked up; she looked away and then looked back at him. She waited for him to answer her unspoken question, to at least say something, but he just walked away; just like the Trystan she feared he was.

@>------

“Arelie!” Victoria happily greeted that evening. Elie smiled at her friend. Instead of her normal wavy hair, her hair was straightened. Tori invited her friend in and they went up to her room. She flopped down onto the bed and smiled at Elie.

“Where’s your parents?” Elie asked.

“Oh, God. I’ve been away longer than I thought possible. You sound like a teacher!” Tori shrieked, Elie smiled and shrugged. She glanced quickly at her phone. She sat beside Tori on her bed.

“Just curious.” She explained.

“They’re dropping my sister and her husband off at their house. So anything changed since I was gone? Any intruders?” Tori asked, reaching for her lamp beside her bed and turning it on.

“No intruders. But, there have been some changes.” Arelie allowed, taking a peek at her phone again. She looked back at Tori.

“What changes?” Tori asked.

“Well . . .um, please don’t get mad and all. I know you warned me . . .” Elie trailed.

“Oh no. You did it didn’t you.” Tori accused. “Who was it?”

“Wait. What’re you talking about?” Elie paused.

“Sex. Isn’t that what you meant? I did remember warning you about it. God, Elie, you’d think someone like you would know better.” Tori sighed, Elie was still shocked. “Spill it.”

“I didn’t do . . . that! I meant . . . Trystan.” Elie hesitated. Tori sat up straighter, her eyes darkened slightly.

“What do you mean Trystan?” Tori asked. Elie stood up; she paced for a few minutes before blurting out everything.

“So . . . that’s what happened, and he . . . he’s really amazing.” Elie groaned. She collapsed on the bed with a distressed sigh.

“So . . . Trystan and Arelie. I did warn you.” Tori paused. “He kissed you? Really kissed you?”

Elie nodded. She blushed and looked away, back to her phone.

“What the hell has got you stuck to that damn phone? You’ve looked at it three times already.” Elie looked at Tori as she voiced her complaint. Elie sat silent for a few minutes. “It’s Trystan you’re waiting for, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but not for the reasons that you may think.” Elie gave Tori a meaningful look. “I’m worried about him. Trystan . . . before I left the school, he came up to me and we talked. I told him I was coming here tonight, he was ok with it, and then he said he was busy too. He didn’t look really happy either, but-”

“When has the kid ever been happy?” Tori interrupted. Elie gave her a look.

“You’ll see what I mean . . . anyways, I think,” Elie licked her lips. “I think I saw his gang. Blood Lust.” Her voice quivered a little. Tori’s eyes widened and slowly went back to normal. “I was hoping Trystan would explain,” Elie hastily explained, “but he just walked away, didn’t even look at me. I don’t want to be one of those girlfriends, who are always on their boyfriends back, but I’m worried.”

Tori took a long time soaking all of this in. “Wow,” she said after a long time, “I’ve been gone a really long time.” Elie laughed half-heartedly.

“I don’t want to loose him, Tori, not now. I just don’t want him thinking I’m gonna be on his back about this.” Elie sighed.

“I know, I’ve actually never been in this situation.” Tori gave her a skeptical glance and smiled faintly. Elie smiled. “But I think you just need to give Trystan a little time. You two, apparently, have a lot to talk about, and I promise not to tell anybody what occurred just now. Ok?” Tori whispered.

“Yeah, thank you, Tori, it really helps to have a friend like you, really.” Elie confided, just then the door downstairs came open and Elie heard Tori’s parents come in.

“Tori!” her mom called, Tori rolled her eyes and smiled.

“I have to go anyway. Trystan might come over.” Tori smiled and nodded.

After Elie left Tori’s house, getting on the main road to her home she got a text, at the stop light she checked the message.

I’m still here, darling. I’m coming back for you, don’t make me wait.

Arelie stared in horror at the message; quickly she looked around the streets. It was 11:39pm, there were a few cars on the road, not that many though. She kept her breathing calm. When the lights turned green she drove, speeding a bit, not wanting to get home any later than necessary.

She finally got home ten minutes later, the lights were off, Bea’s bedroom gleaming lights, and Elie breathed a sigh of relief. Quickly she got out of the car and nearly ran to the front door, she unlocked the door and yanked it open, slamming it behind her and locking it.

“I’m home, Bea!” She yelled.

“Hey, honey.” Bea turned on a few lights and came into the kitchen. She smiled at Elie. “I made rice and chicken, not sure if you had eaten already.”

“I did. I was at Tori’s house, the girl from school. She came back from New York today.” Elie informed, dropping her keys in the key holder.

“That’s nice.” Bea smiled, “Did she enjoy herself?”

“Yeah, they had a few pictures they had taken. They went up there for a wedding. One of Tori’s brothers. He’s the youngest boy at twenty two.” Elie sat down at the bar as Bea handed her the food. She drank the entire glass of water.

“That’s interesting, how many siblings does she have?”

“Five. Three elder brothers and two elder sisters, Tori’s the youngest. The one that got married, the youngest of the brothers was . . . I think it was William. Her eldest brother – Aaron, he’s twenty seven, he’s already married. Then the middle brother, Elliot, he’s twenty five, and not married. Her elder sister . . . Jocelyn is twenty, she’s married, and her other sister, Myra she’s nineteen and she’s in college.”

“Wow, your friend has a big family.” Bea smiled.

“I know. Tori loves her family though. She’s really happy.” Elie smile faintly. Bea ached a little for Arelie. She knew Arelie had a tough life with her brother and his wife. They were such horrible people, her brother especially; Bea was so scared when Jen had announced she was pregnant.

“Well, I’m ready for bed.” Elie announced, “Thanks for food.” Elie smiled, starting towards the sink. Bea took the plate and ushered her to her room, after giving in to her aunt’s urgings she left for her bedroom. She headed toward the bathroom, in her room, shedding her clothes and turning the shower on. She showered for half an hour before coming out. The warm shower had relieved a lot of her tension, she felt refreshed.

She pulled a tee over her body and grabbed the panty that was on the counter. She opened her bedroom door and walked into the room, she nearly screamed when she saw a figure lounging on her bed.

Hey guys! It's me - the author of us! I just wanted to let you all know that I am NOT going to put a price on this book ...but I cannot say so for the future, since my dream is to be published! But I'm so excited to have my book posted up on yet ANOTHER website and getting good reviews so far!

I also wanted to let you all know that I would appreciate it sooo much if you guys wouldn't mind to leave me some feedback! I already know that I cannot possibly be the best writer on Earth, but I'd love to know how you feel about it anyway! I appreciate criticism but I do know there is a difference between that and cruelty, so guys, please be nice!

I'm also looking forward to some great feedback and what you're definitely looking forward to! I'm so excited to be hearing from new people and also to be able to converse with some new fans! I have been getting GREAT feedback so far so hopefully you all will also enjoy this book!

Don't feel shy to message me! I love messages and I love hearing from my readers! But I also must prepare you all . . . Us is my own story! Everything in this book is under Copyright 2012 so please, NO PLAGIRISM! YOU WILL BE CAUGHT!

I will warn you, too, that Us has upset some of my readers and they were angry with me at the end of the book, and I do understand that, but I also know that I will not change the way my book ends for anybody, It's how it is, it's how I wrote it, so please respect that!

If you have any questions - any at all - please feel free to ask on my profile, message, chat, or even email me if you must! All I ask is that you enjoy this book!

Chapter 6

Trystan watched Arelie walk out of the bathroom in a t-shirt and drying her hair with the towel. She jumped and made a squeaky sound in the back