Innocence

Don't leave the house unless it's on fire, have the cooks make food for me instead of attempting it myself, don't do anything that will take too much energy, and make sure to take a bath instead of a shower (I might slip and crack my head open). Those are the rules for the next two days. My mom and Nathan already had plans to go to New York and meet a few people Nathan is thinking of working with. And they can't cancel.

So I got a lecture about safety of the house, of the world actually. Gloria is supposed to watch over me and make sure I don't do anything that could endanger my life. But if I want to get really annoying, I could say that going to the bathroom could be a danger to my life. There could be some water on the tiled floor and I could slip, hitting my head on the counter or tub, only to have my head split open. Or I could get a million paper cuts from the books in the library upstairs and bleed to death.

I didn't dare tell my mom this. She would call someone to carpet my bathroom and put plastic covers over all the books.

She took me to the hospital last night just to make sure I would be okay. Of course I was, but she didn't seem to care too much on the doctor's opinions.

The first thing she did when she got home was tell all of the maids to keep a close eye on me to make sure I didn't suddenly have a seizure in the middle of watching Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

Gloria popped her head into the living room as my parents closed the front door on their way to the airport. "They're gone."

I gave a very enthusiastic dance in front of my new audience. I throw my hands in the air and make my own tune to dance to.

Gloria gives me a smile. "You might get a Charlie horse doing that," she teases.

I shimmed toward her. "Or I could suddenly break a hip."

Gloria laughed. It's low in her throat like she's trying to hide it. "You're going to get me into trouble this weekend, aren't you?"

"Oh contraire, Gloria." I placed my hand over my heart like I was hurt she had asked a question like that. "I am going to do so many reckless activities...and then cover them up with lies."

A loud chime over head signaled someone at the door. Gloria left to answer it.

I plopped back down on the couch as Who Wants to Be a Millionaire came back from a commercial. The smile stretched across my lips seemed to be permanently etched there. This weekend was going to be amazing! Did I plan on doing any reckless things? No, not really. But it was a fine thought.

Gloria did not return to watch TV with me. In fact, I could still hear her at the door.

I clicked the TV off and sauntered over to the front door.

Gloria kept most of it closed, shielding my view of the people outside.

Two female voices and a male floated to my ears. "Oh come on," Nadia moaned.

"Just for a second?" Maryana asked.

William added. "We just want to see her."

Gloria shook her head and tried to close the door. There was obvious resistance against her small frame.

I pulled the door open with the others on the other side. Gloria gave a huff, stomped her foot, and backed off. "You know the rules," She grumbled as she went through the kitchen door down the hall.

"Candace!" All three squealed as the buried me on the doorway with their hugs.

"Nice place you have here." William slid through the doorway with his eyes to the tall ceiling.

Nadia had on a thick leather coat with fax fur on the cuffs and hood. She kept the hood up over her head and kept rubbing her hands together. Maryana took her jacket, her shoes, and her purse, and put them all by the door.

"Let's party." Maryana squealed like an excited schoolgirl.

Gloria stomped out of the kitchen again with her hands in little fists. She set her jaw as she eyed the four of us in the doorway.

Maryana lifted her hands in the air. "I was only joking."

I grabbed my three friends and headed toward the stairs. "Let's go to my room, okay?"

Gloria eyed us the whole way up, shaking her head at my smile, but returned one as she waved me off toward my room.

Nadia went straight to my bed and pulled a pillow to her chest. "Has it gotten colder since yesterday, or what? I am freezing my butt off."

William didn't seem to mind that he was in a girl's bedroom. He made himself comfortable at my computer. He turned it on and waited as my email popped up one by one in my inbox.

Maryana was more of what I had expected to see a person act in my room. She looked at the little things around the room, trying to get a feel for it. She picked up throw pillows off my bed, went over to the stack of books by bed, and investigated my closet. What girl doesn't want to see their girlfriend's closet? As Nadia shivered on my mountain of pillows, Maryana riffled through my pants and shirts, William was reading my email.

"Hey!" I shouted as I spotted him smirking over a message from Mike which I had not know was there. Since when did Mike email me?

William pushed off away from the desk. "I'm not going to tell anyone," he promised.

"Tell anyone what?" I skimmed through the email Mike sent this morning. The beginning was normal 'Miss you not being around,' sort of thing. As it went on, Mike wrote about the latest scandal at his school, mixing in a little trouble at home with his mom and dad not acting normal, and ending with some more 'Wish you were here with me; can't wait to see you again when you can make it down here.'

"What?" I asked again. I looked over my shoulder to see all three of them staring at me with smiling faces.

Maryana put the two pairs of jeans on the desk making it possible to cross her arms. "You never told me you had a boyfriend."

Nadia nodded, "Yeah, why not tell us?"

I laughed. "There's nothing to tell you guys, really. Mike's my best friend from Georgia."

William rolled his eyes. "Yeah right. I'm a dude."

Thank you, I hadn't noticed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He straightened up and sat on the edge of the desk. "Its obvious he loves you."

Nadia nodded, which surprised me.

"Look at the way he types out his message," William continued, "He almost sounds like a mushy girl talking about her feelings. How can you not see that? And this," he points to the end, "'I find it hard here without you,' what’s that?"

Maryana picked the jeans back off the desk. "So jealous of you right now," she said as she sauntered back into the closet.

Feeling warm enough, Nadia slide the jacket off her arms and set it by the computer. "It's nothing to be ashamed of."

I stood and left them by my desk, gliding over to my balcony doors. This room was getting too hot. "Why did the three of you come here anyway?"

I swung the balcony doors open to let the winter cold rush through. A subject change would be good right about now.

William shrugged. "I'm grounded starting tomorrow. I thought I would come and see how you were doing."

"The same," Nadia yawned. She picked her jacket back up and slid it over her arms.

"I needed a new outfit!" Maryana screamed from the closet. "I'm going to a party in a few hours."

It was still too hot in here. Why did they have to say Mike was my boyfriend? It never use to get to me, but now that I had Mike's ring in my side table it seemed more like I was ignoring the fact rather than denying the lies people believed.

"Aren't you two grounded?"

Maryana and Nadia were supposed to be at their grandma's house yesterday night when we all had a little party on the yacht. But when Maryana, Mac, and I fell over board, everyone had to be picked up by their parents. That meant Maryana and Nadia were busted.

Nadia rolled her eyes, "Of course we are."

"But my mom goes to bed at eight, and my dad falls asleep on the couch watching the history channel around nine. Then I'm free to go!"

She appeared in the doorway holding a turquoise top with ripped sleeves that I have never seen before.

“Take what you want,” I prompted her.

She beamed disappearing behind the door of the closet again.

“Psst!”

I turned toward the darkening sky outside. Someone was out there.

“Hey, Candace!” It was only a whisper, but I heard it loud and clear. I looked around at my guests, but all of them were focused on other things. No one had spoken.

The voice seethed a little louder, "Out here!"

Apparently the only one in the room to notice it, I shuffled closer to the balcony. “I’m going to get some fresh air. You guys just…make yourselves at home.”

The cold bit at my cheeks. The snow covered stone stung my bare feet when I approached the railing. The ground was piled high with snow on this side of the house. This was where the snowplows dump the snow they take from the driveway. On the top of the hill sat Aiden with a wide grin on his face.

I gaped. What was this boy doing at my house? And why did I have to be in pajamas?

"Hey Candace?" William called.

I turned and leaned against the railing with my back, blocking the view of the boy right outside my window.

William stomped outside looking at something small in his palm. "What's this?"

I stepped closer to him trying to breathe normally. That only lasted a second when I saw what William was holding. In his right palm he held out a small velvet jewelry box to me. It was open and on the cushion sat a very intricate ring with a ruby and a small diamond next to it on a band of gold.

What am I supposed to say now? "Well that's a ring William."

It closed the box. "Who gave it to you?"

"Wait a minute!" I snatched the box from his grip. "Why are snooping around my room? Don't you know any manners?" Please go back inside.

He shrugged. "Never liked them much. You know, if you do what everyone else does, you never have adventures."

"Well stop trying to find adventures in my personal things."

He shrugged again and headed back into the room. "Whatever you say ma'am."

The ring in the box glittered with a shine of new jewelry. I took it out of the box and slipped it over my ring finger on my right hand. It looked amazing there next to my olive skin.

"That's a nice ring."

I yelped as Aiden's breath hit the back of my neck. He had climbed through the snow toward the balcony. Standing on the snow, he was eye level with me. He smirked as I clutched my chest, trying to slow down my erratic heart. "What are you doing here Aiden?"

Aiden swung his legs over the railing. He sat down on the chair in the corner with a smile on his face. "Looks like you're having a party in there."

It's not like I wanted to hate this guy. I mean, I never hate anyone, but this guy was too unpredictable for me. My arms crossed over my chest even though I hadn't noticed it. I lowered my voice so no one could me accept Aiden. "They came to see me after yesterday. I highly count that as a party."

Someone had found my stereo. It blared through the open doors drowning out my thoughts. I scooted closer to Aiden's side. He raised his eyebrows at the rock music.

"It's still not a party. And if it was, you wouldn't be invited."

Aiden's face hardened. "No need to be rude."

That was mean, wasn't it? Well serves him right for climbing up to my balcony like it’s a fairy tale. "Right, sorry."

"Had you ever thought," Aiden commented as he stared off into the forest, "that I was here for the same purpose?"

No, if you must know the truth, I hadn't thought you were here to make sure I wasn't in shock. "You couldn't use the front door?"

His face lightened again; glad to see I wasn't going to insult him again. "I wasn't allowed in. Some girl said she was going to get killed already, and would appreciate not to die slowly."

I laughed. "That would be Gloria. She was given strict instructions from my parents."

He nodded. "So I came around here. I heard some people talking and decided to see if it was you."

"Why though?" Was that out loud?" That was just great. Can I ever keep my mouth shut and keep my rude thoughts to myself? No wonder he's so bipolar around me? I'm a complete bipolar person myself.

Aiden looked away from the trees to make eye contact with me for the first time in this conversation. He did not answer. His green eyes pierced mine, locking them to his face. His unkempt hair that stood in all directions made his look like he just rolled out of bed. And his clothes. They were wrinkled and dingy looking, but he wasn't wearing much. A sweater and jeans One thing was for sure; he smelled wonderful.

I was closer to him in the darkening sky than I had ever been before. His face so close to mine…

I looked away and gripped the railing. "It's just that…" I tried to gather my explanation for my past comment about him. What had it been again? And what were we talking about? Oh right. "You don't seem like the kind of person to just stop by. You never have before. And when you're around you're just…so…" Dare I say it, "bipolar."

Aiden stood from his spot in the corner. He took a step toward me. "You don't know the kind of person I am," he whispered. The harsh edge to his voice had me wanting to back away. "You don't know what I will do, what I have done. And you don't know the kind of person I am Candace Heart."

I changed my position. Rather than be pushed upon by Aiden, I pushed back; I pushed his chest with my palms. He stumbled a little, but caught his balance before he fell. He seemed surprised by my attack. He took a step toward me again, his mouth open to say something.

"I'm trying to!" I screamed.

"Candace?"

William took two steps forward, his jaw set. Nadia and Maryana stood in the doorway, watching me. William ripped his sweater over his head and stepped closer to Aiden with his chest puffed out. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Hey" I warned.

William advanced Aiden as if he was going to punch him in the nose. "What's your problem?"

Aiden backed into the railing, but he too had his chest puffed out. "This isn't your business."

"If you're going to push around my friend it sure as hell is!"

I slide in between the two fuming boys. "What the hell is wrong with you two?" I faced William. "Nothing was wrong. We were just talking."

"William," Maryana pleaded. She grabbed his arm and tugged. He did not move.

"He pushed you!" William screamed over the bass of the new song on my stereo.

"What?" I yelled back. "He didn't push me!"

"Then he was going to!"

"William, go home!" I pushed on his chest as hard as I could. He inched toward the door.

"I'll take care of him if you want me to."

I tried not to laugh. Even if I wanted him to, William would get his butt kicked. Aiden may be quiet at times, but I've seen him without his shirt on, and he was nothing to mess with.

Maryana pulled William toward the door. "See you Monday, Candace!"

Nadia stuck around. She stared at Aiden with unblinking eyes. I could tell she was trying to understand why I hung around him. I had told her my frustrations with this guy, and how much I loathed him. This must look confusing.

Aiden stared back with innocence plastered on every one of his features.

"Call me later Candace," she ordered.

I assured her, "I'll be fine."

"Call me," she said again. She snatched William's sweater from the snow and stormed after her other friends.

"What was that about?" I asked the night.

"Apparently I'm also the kind of guy who pushes around girls," Aiden said in a whisper.

I glanced at his face.

He looked upset, but determined to stay calm. He ran his fingers through his hair.

"I never said that." A gust of cold wind stirred up the loose snow. It blew around us both, melting on my face, and sticking in Aiden's hair. That made me smile.

"You want to come in and have some hot chocolate?"

Aiden's eyes brightened as he looked to see if I was sincere about this.

"Unless you want to see if William can beat you up. He's probably still waiting in the driveway for you."

I finally got a smile from him. "I'll take the hot chocolate, thanks."

What am I doing?