Within the Crystal Read online

  “Hey, I’m not a geek,” I say trying to hold back the chuckle at his obvious excitement. “There is an extra stool over in that greenhouse, go grab it. There is no point in you hovering over me all night.”

  Thinking about that in a different setting has me clenching my thighs together to try and stifle the ache I’m suddenly feeling between my legs. I try to slow my heart rate, which seems to have gone up a notch since he arrived. The smell of freshly washed laundry whirls around me as he places the stool directly behind mine. If I was to lean slightly back on the stool, I would be against his chest. I'm not going to lie, the thought lingers in my brain for a while.

  Clearing his throat as if he can sense my thoughts, he asks, “So, what are we looking at, professor?” in a very serious manner.

  “Well, currently, we are looking for the International Space Station. It travels around the earth at aproximently 17,500 miles per hour. Meaning it orbits our planet every ninety minutes. However, I want to map these stars here,” I say while pointing over at the star chats. “You see, sailors would originally use these stars as way points, and sometimes the stars are the same as they were hundreds of years ago.”

  “Wow, you’re really into this!” he says in wonder. Scanning my face as if he’s seeing it for the first time.

  Taking a deep breath I decided to show him a part of myself not many people see; my vulnerability. “You know I can see into the future with visions. Well, when you look at the stars, you are looking into the past. Since light takes time to travel and because stars are many light years away from us, we could be seeing a star that doesn’t even exist anymore,” I finish, with shyness tinging my cheeks as I look at my hands.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “That was really philosophical of you. You really are a geek like me,” he laughs. His response to my confession has me smiling. At least it didn't scare him off. Most guys find girls who are intelligent a turn off.

  “Ok nerd, you want to have a look?” I say, standing and ready to swap stools with him.

  “Hell yeah, I want to play with the shiny thing,” he responds, jumping up and rubbing his palms together like a kid in a sweetie shop. His actions cause a smile to grace my lips and a chuckle to pass through them.

  “Ok, so first rule: it's not a shiny thing. This is a Polaris 130EQ Reflector Telescope. It's no ordinary telescope. This bad boy,” I say while stroking my telescope, “has a Newton reflector in it, as in, a reflector designed by Sir Isaac Newton. Second rule: don't fiddle with my settings. I have them just right for tonight. Do you agree to those terms?”

  “Yes, Ma’am,” he responds while giving me a salute. Oh bird fucker, I didn't think this through. He is now sitting in my seat and I will have to lean over him to change the angles on it. Meaning, my boobs are going to be pushing against his back. Ok, Alex you can do this. You need him to trust you and you him, sex isn’t going to achieve that. Getting to know each other is. After my little pep talk, I'm ready.

  “Right, so you rest your dominant eye against the eyepiece.” He follows my command, but has to bend over slightly because the scope is set at my height and he has more than a few inches on me. “Can you see the moon?”

  “Yeah,” he responds in wonder. I remember that wonder all too well, when you finally see the stars crystal clear, not just blips of light in the sky.

  “Now, just to the right of the moon the constellation there is called Auriga. It consists of six stars, the brightest one being Capella. Funny fact, Capella in latin actually means She-Goat and is believed to be the goat that breastfed Zeus.” Oh God, I can't believe that just came out of my mouth. Now he is going to be imagining goat boobs. Or even worse, thinking that’s what I think about.

  “What are those pink coloured looking bits?” he asks with the wonder still in his voice. Ok, so maybe he isn’t thinking about goat tits. Leaning over him, I move the scope and change some of the settings for him to see better the ‘pink bits’, as he puts it, clearer. “That is beautiful, can you tell me about it?”

  “The brightest pink and red haze is the Flaming Star Nebula, which isn’t actually a star. Its dust particles reflecting light from another star. There are also ionized gases that emit light of various wavelengths, which is what causes the change in colour. Scary fact time, it is believed to be 1,500 light years away from Earth.” Yep, I went full on geek mode on his ass, but when I start talking about constellations, I get this form of verbal shits.

  Taking his eye away from the telescope, he turns on the stool to face me, our knees brushing together. “You’re amazing,” he says in breathless awe. Before my brain has caught up with my actions, we are leaning towards each other, and into a searing kiss. A strange sort of charge passes through us when our tongues meet. It feels like a static shock, but it’s much more intense. It calls to the power deep within me. It causes my power to start vibrating over my skin and onto his.

  We break apart from the kiss and both watch with rapt attention as the red haze of my power glides over my skin, causing all my hairs to stand on end. Then it travels over to him. It glides over his body like hands caressing a long lost lover.

  “What the actual fuck?” he snaps at me. “What did you just do to me?”

  “Nothing! I swear, I didn’t do anything,” I responded back defensively.

  He is looking at me like I have just taken a shit in my hands and offered it to him on a silver platter. This would be the perfect time to say that if looks could kill, I would be dead. Out of nowhere Taz runs up my body and launches herself over to Nunu. She scrambles up his body and presses her tiny paw to his temple. Suddenly his eyes are as wide as dinner plates, while he falls back onto the stool. She must be giving him some sort of image. Oh, to be in his head right now. Maybe she can help me with this job and have him tell the guys everything. Bet they would take it better coming from him than me.

  I hold my breath waiting for Taz to finish doing her thing. I never thought before now that I would be worried about how these guys were going to take this. But watching his facial expressions change from shocked to confused has me sitting on the edge of my stool with my fists clenched. What will happen when he finds out the truth? Is he going to reject me, reject us? If this goes badly will it have a knock on effect and all the guys will take it badly? Mother Nature showed me how important this is to the world. The true weight of this lies heavy on my shoulders, I can already feel the pressure causing me to hunch over.

  After a few tense moments, I watch intently as the sugar glider removes her hand from Nunu's temple. This is it, this is the moment that will make or break this mission. I don't want to look into his eyes. I don't want to see the hurt or rejection I will no doubt see there. Glancing around, I look at everything else, the outside world seems to be a complete dichotomy to my mind. The night is deadly calm and quiet, while my mind is traveling a mile a minute. Finally, unable to look anywhere else, I look directly into his eyes.

  The black and gold flecks are swirling around his piercing green eyes. I can see a thousand questions rolling around in there. I imagine he has a question for every speck in his eyes. The green seems to be brighter. In fact, looking at him, he seems to have a glow all around him. I want to smile at him to show that everything is going to be ok, but I also don't want to give him a false sense of security. Before I can say anything, he is jumping up off the stool, causing Taz to jump onto my shoulder.

  “I … ” he starts to say but slams his mouth shut again with an audible snap. I feel my eyebrows lowering in a confused sort of way but I try and keep a friendly smile to my face. I'm sure I look like a deranged crazy person right now. I watch as his chest rises up as he inhales a deep breath and slowly lets it out.

  “I have to go,” I quickly spit out, before he can say anything. The rejection I see waiting to leave his mouth will crush me. I opened my heart and soul up together to another human being, which I have never done and he is about to give it back to me in tiny pieces.

  Turning around, I run ove
r to the door that leads to the corridor, I pull so hard on the handle to open it up, I manage to bend back a few of my nails in the process. Glittering unicorn cum, that fucking hurt. Once the door is swinging open, I shove my body into the sliver of space between the door and the frame, catching my elbow as I go. Satan’s fucking nut sack that was my not-so-funny-bone. First my nails, then my damn elbow, what is going to be next, my heart? Everything happens in threes.

  As soon as I'm safe inside my bedroom, I release my breath trying to get my mind around the jumble of thoughts I'm having. Why the hell did I just run from him? I have no idea. The look in his eyes scared me. I didn't want him to tell me that he was going to have no part in this whatsoever. I didn't want to feel alone in this mission. At least having him know about it was better than having no one at all. I should have stayed and listened to what he had to say. Today has just been one giant cluster fuck of epic proportions. Well you know what they say, tomorrow is a new day… so more ways for me to fuck up I guess.

  Pity party for one over here.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Alex.”

  “Alex.”

  “Alex.”

  “ALEX, wake up, we are going to be late.”

  I hear a distant sound.

  “Guphyerable,” I groggily respond back. The smell of freshly brewed Celestial Seasonings Fast Lane black tea penetrates my tired and confused senses. “Yepablelt.” I think my mouth is trying to say thank you, but my brain just doesn't seem to be cooperating.

  “How did last night go?” asks the sweet feminine voice as my brain wakes up enough to register it’s Mom talking to me.

  “Good, then better, then bad, then I ran,” I grumble, while trying to bring myself to a sitting position. My muscles feel like I have been sleeping for years, not just… I glance over to the alarm clock trying to calculate just how long I have been sleeping. Three hours. All my tired, crabby, fried brain got was three damn hours. I'm going to end up being a bitch all day with so little sleep.

  Once I'm sitting, Mom passes me the cup of heavenly goodness. Not many people know that black tea has a larger quantity of caffeine than actual coffee. If you ever need a good kick start in the morning, green tea is the way to go.

  “You have ten mintues and then we have to leave,” Mom says while leaving the room. It's ok for her to look perfect, she most likely has been getting ready for the last two hours. Whereas, with the way I have slept and woke up, I know I'm going to look like a swamp creature from the black lagoon.

  Grabbing a pair of jean shorts, a white top and another long knitted cardigan in pastel pink, I quickly fumble getting them on before grabbing some ballet flats and aiming for the kitchen. Strutting over and grabbing a travel mug out of the cupboard, I fill it up with more black tea. This will help me for a few hours at least. I then head into the sitting room, where I see Mom standing by the door waiting for me.

  “You can't take that cup,” she says holding in a smirk. Looking down, I see that I have grabbed one of my funny mugs. It reads ‘don’t worry I pull out’ with a couch underneath it. Of all the cups I could have picked, it's like someone placed it at the front of the cupboard for me to take. “Wait, we don't have time for you to change it, let's go,” she says walking out the door. Oops, I will just have to make sure that the picture part of the cup faces me all day.

  Arriving at the college, I march straight to the lecture hall while Mom goes to grab her notes. Standing at the front of the class, I watch as the same faces I saw from yesterday arrive and take their usual seats. However, with the way I left things last night, the last people I want to see are the guys. I'm secretly wishing that they don't turn up. I just need a few hours to work through everything that happened last night. From the intimate moment, to the spark of power I sent without meaning to. I still have no idea how I did it. Maybe at lunch time I will find somewhere quiet to go and try and send my power outside of my body again. Last night was all types of messed up, but I also think something amazing happened. I can’t get the feel of Nunu’s lips pressed against mine out of my head. That boy sure can kiss.

  “Wow, the Daisy Duke shorts couldn't get any shorter.” That voice snaps me out of my daydream. It's the same voice from the Barbie girl that Cal had his arm around yesterday. Trying not to make it look so obvious that I'm staring, I try and look out through my eye lashes. Yep, it’s the same blonde girl. “Gross, I think I can see her flaps,” she carries on talking while walking down the steps. But this time I notice she isn't hanging off Cal. This brings a slight smile to my face and warms my heart. Maybe after yesterday he realised what a man slut he is. I tamper that thought process down; I don't need to be getting my hopes up too fast. One thing this life has taught me is the amazingness of let downs. Where guys are concerned anyway. Take last night for example. Ok, maybe that was mostly my fault for running scared, but it's not like Nunu called me back or told me to wait.

  Looking down, I check out my shorts. Okay, they may not be the most appropriate choice of clothing for here, but they are not that short. When will women like her understand we don't need to rip other women down to make ourselves feel better? I sigh.

  “You don't need to slut shame me to make yourself feel better.” I need more tea to deal with this bitch I think, reaching for my cup that is behind me on the table I'm perched upon. I hear a few chuckles go around the class. Fuck, I bet my cup is facing outward. Low and behold, the embarrassment carries on as the boys walk in and find me standing there holding the cup for all to see.

  I watch with bright red cheeks as each guy takes in my outfit and then their eyes go down to the cup in my hand. Where is that black hole when you need one? Looking over at Nunu, I keep my eyes fixed on his face, but he is looking everywhere except at me. While I’m plucking up the courage and getting ready to open my mouth to ask if he will meet me after class, Mom comes into the room and switches off the lights. Crap on a cracker, I swear that woman has the worst timing ever.

  “So, today we shall be learning star signs. Now, if you already have knowledge about your star sign you need to forget it all. At the beginning of the year 2020 it was the start of a new astrological year.” Mom speaks to the class in the authoritative tone she likes to use. I know where this is going as we have had countless conversations on it since NASA declared a new star sign and that the stars had shifted. “As we have said in previous lectures it was the Babylonians who invented the twelve signs of the zodiac some three thousand years ago. But now NASA has declared a thirteenth star sign due to the shift in the Earth's axis. Alex would you care to explain the new star sign?” No I really don't, but I cant voice that in front of the class as that would be unprofessional of me.

  Watching the stars on the ceiling as they form the new constellation, I start ready with my ‘professor’ tone. It is loud, clear and hints at taking no shit. “Here we can see the new constellation known as Ophiuchus. The star sign is represented as a man wrestling a serpent, as you can see here, dividing the snake's body in two parts.” I glance around the room and see that almost everybody's eyes are on the roof, bar the four boys, who seem to be staring directly at me. It causes shivers to travel down my body; having that much attention on me all at one time is scary. Their eyes are bright and unblinking. I rub my hands up and down my arms to try and remove the goosebumps that have risen up all over my skin. Looking over at Cal, I see a wicked smile on his lips. He can see the effect the guys are having on me. He knows exactly what he is doing to my body.

  Releasing a small cough to help dispel some of the tension I can feel building in the room, I carry on with the lecture. “Researchers believe that Ophiuchus is considered a healer, maybe a doctor of medicine, or perhaps a scientist who seeks higher education and enlightenment. Because the snake is in two parts, we like to believe he is trying to fix it as opposed to breaking it. Well, I do anyway,” I finish with a small chuckle. “So whose birthday here falls between November 19th and December 17th?” I ask as these are the dates for the star sign
.

  I should have fucking known before I asked the question, as I watch all four of my boys raise their hands. Oh for fuck’s sake, Mother Nature throw me a frickin’ bone! As a Seer, you would have thought I would have seen that, but alas I didn't. “Like every star sign, Ophiuchus also has its traits. People are believed to find a person born under this sign star very desirable.” I can't help the smirk plastered across my face right now and the way the boys have puffed out their chests. “Apparently good luck also follows you. You have a thirst for wisdom and knowledge, and also have a great sense of humor.” I feel like I have just described every single one of those guys sitting in the seats staring at me, but as individuals. Each boy has one of the star sign traits and that’s what I love about them. Cal is desirable, Nunu has the thirst for wisdom, Tek has a great sense of humor and Jasper is the peacekeeper.

  “Fun little fact, even though it's the 13th star sign, your lucky number is 12.” I don’t have the heart to tell them that my birthday falls on the 12th December. I also fall under the same star sign as them. The Fates really did have a field day with us, didn't they?

  Chapter Seventeen

  At the end of the lecture I ran out of there like hellhounds were nipping at my heels, with my stomach churning like a washing machine after everything I had learnt in the lecture. The boys and I are truly linked by Fate. I need to get some food into me and maybe find a quiet place to work on my power. Maybe I could find another way to talk to Mother Nature and get more information from her? A timeline would be perfect. I could do with her telling me that I have a few years to achieve the mission.

  I quickly walk down the corridor, checking over my shoulder to make sure the guys are not following me. As soon as I round the corner, I see large wooden doors with the university's logo carved onto them. Hmmm food, the delicious smells from the canteen hits me as I open the door and head inside. One of the most potent smells hitting me is the deliciously mouth watering aroma of melted chocolate. I was going to get a to-go tray, but that smell has me rooted to the floor.