Read Online Dreaming Awake by Gwen Hayes - Free Book Online

you.”
    He kept looking from his feet to the bracelet and back to his feet.
    I was curious, so I opened the plastic. The charms were a compass, a map, and a treasure box. I cocked my head and looked back at him for an explanation.
    “I just thought . . . you know . . . if you get lost again.”
    My breath hitched. It was a bittersweet gesture. If I ever got abducted again, I wouldn’t need a twenty-five-cent charm to remind me I wanted to go home, but he couldn’t know. He thought only to let me know I was missed.
    “Thank you.”
    Mike shook his head. “It’s dumb. I know. I’ll talk to you later.”
    “No, wait.” I sent him a reassuring smile. “I really like it. Will you help me with the clasp?”
    Mike smiled earnestly and dropped his books on the floor. His hands shook slightly as he put the bracelet on my wrist and a bead of sweat formed on his temple. Had I made him nervous? How strange.
    “You have really pretty wrists,” he said and then blushed.
    “Um . . . thank you.”
    He scooped up his dropped books and was down the hall before I could tell him how much I appreciated it.
    “Please tell me I don’t have to kill him.”
    I hadn’t even seen Haden arrive. It was like he materialized in front of me. I stretched and kissed his cheek.
    “I wish you wouldn’t,” I said. “We have enough obstacles in our path already. Visiting you in prison would make things even more difficult.”
    He twirled a finger in my curls. “Are we okay? Things feel . . . strange.”
    I wanted things to be okay. I didn’t like doubting Haden. Everything just seemed so overwhelming. “We’re fine,” I decided as I said it out loud. We had to be.
    It was daunting, really, to try to understand love. Six months ago I hadn’t known Haden existed. How did my heart recognize his so quickly? How did I go from not knowing him to risking my life for him? I used to think that love at first sight was ridiculous, but now I understood that it was never instantaneous. . . . Love was older than time. It wasn’t ruled by logic or our concept of reality—it was the reason we had souls.
    “You’re deep in thought, love,” Haden whispered in my ear. “Maybe I need to step up my game if you find it so easy to tune me out.”
    He nipped my earlobe and every nerve in my body fired a new rhythm. Haden tied me in knots and then loosened them at will. I was about to fall at his feet in a boneless heap.
    He pulled back, pretending to be oblivious to my near state of Theia-puddle. “If you keep looking at me like that, we’re going to have to skip class.”
    That sounded lovely to me. I never used to skip classes, but it hardly seemed like a big deal anymore. I was about to tell Haden we should go when I saw his expression change again.
    I followed his gaze to see which girl was making his jaw tic this time and was surprised to see two sneetches in letter jackets standing behind me. Haden wasn’t just upset; he was furious.
    Not paying attention to the fuming demon next to me, one of them, who’d never spoken a word to me before, said, “Hey, Theia. We just wanted to let you know a bunch of us are going to Hootenany’s after the baseball game. You should come.”
    The conversation had me wondering if there were hidden cameras in the hall. I’d never been invited to a sneetch gathering. Why would they start now? “Er . . .”
    “She’s busy.” Haden finished for me as he slid his arm around my shoulder.
    “But if I can stop by for a few minutes, maybe I will.” I sent the sneetch a bright smile even as I felt the heat from Haden rising.
    The boy smiled like I’d just given him a birthday cake. “That would be great.” After a quick look at Haden, he offered, “You can come too, man.”
    Haden gave him a clipped nod, and as they walked away, he spun me around to look at him. “What the hell are you doing? Do you think that’s funny?”
    The sharp tone of his words slapped me. Before I could respond, he