Page 27 of Landon & Shay: Part One

“We weren’t eye-screwing!”

“I bet he’s still looking at you right now,” she challenged.

“I bet he isn’t.”

We turned around, and Landon’s eyes were, in fact, on me, while the girl’s eyes were wide with excitement as they stayed superglued on him. Oh boy, maybe I was a bit bad at this betting thing.

Landon’s and my stare locked once more, and a chill raced over my body. Why was he still staring at me? Why did my heart flip when he looked my way?

He parted his lips a little, and his tongue darted out and swept over the bottom one before he bit it and dragged his teeth across it in slow motion. Then, he added in that smirk. The dimple appeared. The Gates of Hell opened up, and I was left speechless.

“Oh my gosh,” Tracey whispered, breaking my connection with Landon. “I think I just came for you.” She blushed, probably matching the redness of my cheeks, though her skin was much paler than mine, making it so much more obvious. I was thankful for my darkened skin, as it made it so much easier to hide whenever I felt a bit flustered.

And in that moment, Landon had left me a bit distraught.

I didn’t have a clue what I’d gotten myself into. I didn’t have a clue why I’d asked the Devil to dance with me, but I wasn’t going to let him or that dimple get to me. I planned to keep my distance, to avoid him at all costs. I couldn’t fall in love with him if I never let him near me.

* * *

Every day after school,I walked to Hadley Park. It was a beautiful place with a huge playground and amazing hiking trails. I’d been going to that park since I was a kid. I’d slid down those slides a million times with my parents and Mima. When my father wasn’t in his best shape, Mima would get me out of the house, and we’d build sand castles for hours. Then, she’d walk me down one of the trails toward the two biggest willow trees I’d ever seen. It was called the lovers tree. They were twisted together as one with their branches intertwined.

Growing up, I always explored those trails and sat near the two willows. It was still winter in Illinois, therefore all of nature was still fast asleep. The leaves hadn’t returned from their slumber, and the flowers weren’t yet in bloom, but the bark of the willows still stood strong. And in their trunks sat deep initials. There were dozens of initials carved into the trees. Legend had it that if you carved the initials of yourself and your loved on into the bark, your love story would last forever and always.

Years before, Mima had carved hers and Grandpa’s into the trees. Mom and Dad’s sat against it, too.

I thought it was the most romantic thing in the whole world—a tree filled with lovers. I wished someday to carve my name into the tree, too, with my future love.

Tracey was right about me. I did have a sensitive heart. I loved the idea of love. I adored the idea of finding someone you’d want to spend the rest of your life with. I craved having that kind of connection with another. I’d written dozens of stories about love, for goodness’ sake. Love was something I believed in fully, even though I’d never experienced it on my own. One day, my initials would rest against that tree bark, just not with the likes of someone like Landon.

I had no doubt that I’d win our bet, because I knew Landon wasn’t the type of person people loved. Lust, perhaps. But love? Never. He wasn’t built that way. He didn’t have the ability to let people in the way they needed to be invited into his soul in order for them to love him. His heart was shut off from allowing others to hear how it beat. In my mind, Landon Harrison would never be the hero. He was always the villain of people’s stories, including mine.

I knew I’d never carve his initials next to mine, because a person like me could never love a monster like Landon. In fairytales, the beauty fell in love with the beast.

In reality, the beast destroyed beauty.

I wasn’t going to let that happen. I wasn’t going to fall in love and be left with shattered shards of my soul.

I might have had a sensitive heart, but I refused to let it be sensitive to him.

7

Landon

My favorite thingabout Shay was how easy it was to make her blush. She was a good girl, and you saw it all over her face. Getting her to fall for me was going to be effortless. I’d seen girls like her. I’d hooked up with girls like her. Girls like her fell in love heart first, leaving their brains behind. Loving probably came easy to her like the air she breathed.

Her high cheeks always turned the slightest shade of pink whenever I made some kind of inappropriate gesture her way, and I knew it was driving her crazy.

That was why I kept doing it. It amazed me how annoying her was enough to keep me from thinking about the days coming up.

Never in my life had I thought it would have been Shay who kept my mind clear.

Yet, you could count on Mrs. Levi to remind me of how much these next few weeks were going to suck.

Once a week, I was forced to meet with the guidance counselor after lunch. It was supposed to be my free period, but instead, I had to sit with Mrs. Levi like I was damaged goods or something.

I didn’t even want to be there, but I knew my parents would give me hell if they heard I ditched. Well, my mother would’ve. My father wouldn’t have cared a lick.

The previous night, Mom had left me a voice message saying she wished she could’ve been with me, saying how she’d missed me and hated that she had to work so much lately. After Lance passed away, it seemed she was always coming and going.

---