ludicrous.
Despite that conclusion, my feet still took to the street with a mind of their own. They turned down Eagle Street, carried me three blocks until we took Warbler Avenue before turning onto Sandpiper Blvd.
The streets were deserted save for a few newspaper delivery men who had an early start to this Saturday. I wanted to ensure I reached my destination before anyone questioned me.
I turned onto Sugarcane Lane, a street I had never ventured on before. This led outside of Arcadia and I had no idea what lay beyond the city limits. For a moment I hesitated. Was I really going to do this? To step outside the bounds because my Life’s Plan was a blank?
My feet answered before I could and I moved forward with surprising speed. Within minutes the few homes that adorned the narrow lane gave way to dry fields of hay that appeared abandoned and finally to meadows of wild grass that fluttered in the breeze. Wild flowers bloomed and the further I walked the more the meadow burst with unimaginable colors. Violets deep and rich, yellows brighter than the sun and blues that rivaled a cloudless day.
Then I saw him and my feet halted their advance. Wild grass and flowers ebbed and flowed to his knees, while the breeze fanned his hair into his face against his broad cheekbones and full lips, in a way that left my feet eager to run to him.
This time I managed to get them under control and I walked, cool and calm, towards him. The closer I got the more appealing he was. Any question I may have had for him, the very reason I had come out to find him, escaped me in that moment. All my thoughts were centered on getting closer to him.
I knew you would find me. His arms were crossed before him and his gaze was just as intense as it had been when I’d last seen him. A hint of a smile played on his lips, teasing and playful despite the hard glint of his eyes.
“You hide in far away places, Mr. Torrid.” I’d finally crossed the meadow and stood before him, hot and sweaty in the early morning sun. With my hands on my hips, I looked defiantly at him, intent on letting him know he didn’t intimidate me. Or perhaps it was my attraction to him I so desperately wanted to hide.
“I don’t find living within your city limits appealing. I don’t so much hide out here as I choose to be where the air is free and the spaces are wide.”
“Arcadia is the most perfect place in the world to live. The air is just as free as you’ll find it anywhere and there are plenty of beautiful spaces.”
“I’m sure you didn’t come all the way out here to argue our varied preferences in living space.”
“You're right. I have so much to ask you, it’s hard to know where to begin.” I looked around, feeling breathless. His eyes hadn’t left mine since my approach, and the teasing grin he perpetually had left me feeling uneasy, almost self-conscious. What amused him so?
You're more beautiful than you know. And brave. A warrior like your father.
I wanted to smile as the words penetrated my consciousness, but I refused to give him the satisfaction.
“You know,” I said. “It’s not nice to stare.”
Torrid’s eyes didn’t blink. He continued grinning at me. Perhaps I do not wish to be nice, when it comes to you.
I began blushing under his gaze. How can a man be so blazon? I lifted my chin, stared into his eyes directly, refusing to be intimidated and said. “I recently received my Life’s Plan. For the first time in Arcadian history a blank Life’s Plan was sent out, and guess who had the honor of receiving it. Me. I’m to graduate with honors, that’s it, that’s all.”
“You tell me this as if I had a part in the decision made by a Committee I’m told is immensely revered in your beloved city.”
“Somehow I think my recent encounters with you do have something to do with the Committee’s decision. My life’s course was easily predictable before you came along. I was to marry Liam and live in the…”
“You're far
Despite that conclusion, my feet still took to the street with a mind of their own. They turned down Eagle Street, carried me three blocks until we took Warbler Avenue before turning onto Sandpiper Blvd.
The streets were deserted save for a few newspaper delivery men who had an early start to this Saturday. I wanted to ensure I reached my destination before anyone questioned me.
I turned onto Sugarcane Lane, a street I had never ventured on before. This led outside of Arcadia and I had no idea what lay beyond the city limits. For a moment I hesitated. Was I really going to do this? To step outside the bounds because my Life’s Plan was a blank?
My feet answered before I could and I moved forward with surprising speed. Within minutes the few homes that adorned the narrow lane gave way to dry fields of hay that appeared abandoned and finally to meadows of wild grass that fluttered in the breeze. Wild flowers bloomed and the further I walked the more the meadow burst with unimaginable colors. Violets deep and rich, yellows brighter than the sun and blues that rivaled a cloudless day.
Then I saw him and my feet halted their advance. Wild grass and flowers ebbed and flowed to his knees, while the breeze fanned his hair into his face against his broad cheekbones and full lips, in a way that left my feet eager to run to him.
This time I managed to get them under control and I walked, cool and calm, towards him. The closer I got the more appealing he was. Any question I may have had for him, the very reason I had come out to find him, escaped me in that moment. All my thoughts were centered on getting closer to him.
I knew you would find me. His arms were crossed before him and his gaze was just as intense as it had been when I’d last seen him. A hint of a smile played on his lips, teasing and playful despite the hard glint of his eyes.
“You hide in far away places, Mr. Torrid.” I’d finally crossed the meadow and stood before him, hot and sweaty in the early morning sun. With my hands on my hips, I looked defiantly at him, intent on letting him know he didn’t intimidate me. Or perhaps it was my attraction to him I so desperately wanted to hide.
“I don’t find living within your city limits appealing. I don’t so much hide out here as I choose to be where the air is free and the spaces are wide.”
“Arcadia is the most perfect place in the world to live. The air is just as free as you’ll find it anywhere and there are plenty of beautiful spaces.”
“I’m sure you didn’t come all the way out here to argue our varied preferences in living space.”
“You're right. I have so much to ask you, it’s hard to know where to begin.” I looked around, feeling breathless. His eyes hadn’t left mine since my approach, and the teasing grin he perpetually had left me feeling uneasy, almost self-conscious. What amused him so?
You're more beautiful than you know. And brave. A warrior like your father.
I wanted to smile as the words penetrated my consciousness, but I refused to give him the satisfaction.
“You know,” I said. “It’s not nice to stare.”
Torrid’s eyes didn’t blink. He continued grinning at me. Perhaps I do not wish to be nice, when it comes to you.
I began blushing under his gaze. How can a man be so blazon? I lifted my chin, stared into his eyes directly, refusing to be intimidated and said. “I recently received my Life’s Plan. For the first time in Arcadian history a blank Life’s Plan was sent out, and guess who had the honor of receiving it. Me. I’m to graduate with honors, that’s it, that’s all.”
“You tell me this as if I had a part in the decision made by a Committee I’m told is immensely revered in your beloved city.”
“Somehow I think my recent encounters with you do have something to do with the Committee’s decision. My life’s course was easily predictable before you came along. I was to marry Liam and live in the…”
“You're far
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