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| Chapter One | |||||
| Bridget Glen stepped out of her car and breathed in the salty sea air, enjoying every moment of her time alone. She was taking this summer off-time to spend along and find inner peace. A friend had advised her to do exactly this and her friend usually gave good advice, so she followed his instructions. Lately, eighteen-year-old Bridget had been feeling helpless and deserted. She cried herself to sleep every night, thinking of how bad her life was. Her mom had died when Bridget was seven and her dad was abusive. Little, tiny things would set him off in a wild frenzy. Bridget�s boyfriends had all been dirt heads who cheated on her or had hit her. Her latest boyfriend had been the scariest-Damon. One night when she was home alone, Damon had come over and things started to get hot and heavy. Damon tried to get Bridget to do other things with him (involving a bed), but when Bridget had told him no, he had beaten her to a pulp. He might have killed her if it hadn�t been for her best guy friend, Eric, who had come over to study for history with her. After that, Bridget stayed with Eric. He was the one who had advised this trip and her other friend, Ashley, had told Bridget about this house and told her to use it for as long as she wanted. Bridget walked in the front door of the house and gasped at the beauty and simplicity of the house. There was a living room with a TV and VCR, a bathroom and three bedrooms downstairs. As she climbed the stairs, she saw an entire wall of windows that led out to a balcony. Another set of large windows on another wall had a view of the ocean. There was a kitchen, a bathroom and two more bedrooms in the upstairs. A couch and two recliners were conveniently placed by the ocean windows to enjoy the view. A note sat on the dining table. �Bridget, I hope you are having a wonderful time. Stay here as long as you want and enjoy everything. Just promise to call me sometime, okay? Love, Ashley.� Bridget smiled as the doorbell rang. She raced down the stairs and opened the door to find a tall guy standing there. He was about six feet tall with curly blond hair and deep blue eyes. He had a beautiful smile with perfect teeth. �Hi,� the guy said, extending his hand. �I�m Justin from the house over there.� Bridget shook his hand firmly. �I�m Bridget from this house right here.� Justin laughed. �I thought I�d come over here and introduce myself.� �Well come on in. Do you want anything to eat or drink?� Bridget asked, shutting the door behind Justin. �Um, actually, a Pepsi sounds good right about now,� Justin said. �Well, let�s go see what I have. I just got in and I have no clue what I�ve got in the kitchen,� Bridget said, taking them upstairs. �Have a seat.� Justin sat on a stool by the counter. �So, where ya from?� �I�m from upstate California-San Francisco,� Bridget replied, rummaging around in the refrigerator. �You?� �Tennessee. Memphis,� Justin replied. �Aha! Here�s some Pepsi,� Bridget exclaimed, holding up two cans of Pepsi. As she closed the fridge door, she looked at Justin intently. �You look familiar�where have I seen you before?� �Umm�� Justin looked down at the ground. �Aren�t you in that one group�what does Eric call it�N Stink?� Bridget said with a grin. Justin�s head snapped up. �Hey! It�s �N Sync!� Bridget laughed and handed the can of Pepsi to Justin. �I know. Just wanted to see what you would do.� Justin smiled. �Yeah, that�s me. Justin Timberlake, teen heartthrob and sex symbol.� Bridget sat on the couch and Justin joined her. �Sex symbol?� �That�s what someone called me,� Justin said wryly. �You�re cute, but I wouldn�t exactly say you�re a sex symbol,� Bridget said, popping open her Pepsi. �Enough about me. Let�s hear about you.� Justin drank some of his Pepsi. �I cam here to get away from everything and everyone-to find my inner peace, you know? What about you? Shouldn�t you be touring or something?� Bridget asked. Justin shook his head. �We�re taking a break. We�re all exhausted, so we�re off for a few months. I came here all by myself to get away from the business�the media�s glaring eye.� Bridget nodded. �That stuff must be hard.� �Yeah, you have no idea,� Justin said. �Hey, do you want to go down onto the beach?� �Sure. Just let me change.� Bridget jumped up and went into the bathroom to change into a dark blue bikini top and cut off shorts. �You ready?� Justin asked as Bridget slipped her sandals on. �Yup. Let�s go,� Bridget said with a smile. They went down to the beach and spent more than half the time laughing. Bridget couldn�t remember the last time she had felt this relaxed and carefree and she had never felt like this around a guy before in her life. Bridget playfully touched Justin�s arm. �Tag! You�re it!� She began to run down the beach, screaming and laughing as Justin easily caught up to her and grabbed her arm. �You�re going to the dungeon,� Justin said with a smile. �Aaah!� Bridget yelled. �Not the dungeon!� She broke away from Justin�s grasp and ran. Justin grabbed her around the waist, but he lost his balance and they both fell on the warm sand. �Wow�nice tackle,� Bridget said with a smile. Justin grinned. �Well, I-� �Aah!� Bridget shrieked as a wave went up on the shore and washed under her. Justin stood up in a hurry, laughing and Bridget scrambled up too, but her whole backside was soaked with seawater. �I cannot believe you, Justin!� Bridget yelled. �What? How was I supposed to know the wave was going to come up?� Justin laughed. Bridget glared at Justin. �I�m going to get you.� �You gotta catch me first,� Justin said, and then ran away. �Ash, you will not believe who lives next door,� Bridget said two weeks later. �Ryan Phillippe?� Ashley said hopefully. �No�Justin Timberlake!� Bridget gushed. �No way! Are you serious, Bridget?� Ashley asked. �Yes! And it�s only been like two weeks, but I feel like we�ve known each other forever. The first day we met, we went down to the beach and acted like little kids. I�ve never felt this comfortable before around a guy until now,� Bridget said. �So umm�how�s Damon?� �He�s been dormant for awhile�I haven�t seen him around. I think he�s skipped town,� Ashley said. �You haven�t told anyone where I�ve gone have you?� Bridget asked. �No, of course not, Bridget. I wouldn�t risk that,� Ashley said. Bridget sighed. �Yeah, I know. I�m just paranoid. I keep thinking someone is going to come up behind me and like, kill me or something.� �Yeah, I know what you mean. Oh-Bridget, I have to go,� Ashley said. �You have an awesome time down there with Justin, okay? He could be the one for you.� �Haha, yeah right, whatever. I wish. Tell Eric I said hi.� �I will. Bye.� �Bye.� Bridget hung up the phone, smiling to herself as she opened the refrigerator and looked around for some food. Someone came up behind her and put his arms around her waist. Bridget screamed and dropped the bottle of ranch dressing she held in her hand. �Geez, Bridge, calm down. It�s just me,� Justin said with a tiny laugh. �Justin, you scared me!� Bridget exclaimed, picking up the bottle. �I couldn�t resist.� Justin grinned. �I know. You can�t resist anything.� �I can resist some things,� Justin said. �Oh yeah? Give me an example,� Bridget challenged. �Uhh�I can resist a girl,� Justin said. �Sure. Resist the ugly ones,� Bridget shot back. �No�I can resist the perfect girl,� Justin said. �How would you know?� �Easy. I�m doing it right now,� Justin said simply. Bridget looked at him defiantly. �Oh really. And what would this �perfect� girl�s name be?� �It would be Bridget,� Justin supplied, plopping down next to her on the couch. �Yeah. Sure. And why exactly do you think she�s perfect?� Bridget asked. �Well, for one, she�s beautiful. She�s funny, she�s playful, she�s smart, she�s every guy�s dream girl,� Justin said. �There are some things about her you don�t know,� Bridget said softly. �Things that aren�t so perfect.� �Like what?� �I�I can�t tell you,� Bridget said. �You can tell me anything.� �Yeah. I know that, Justin. But I can�t tell you right now. I don�t open up to people that easily. It takes time,� Bridget explained. Justin nodded. �I understand completely. Just know I�m always here to listen.� �I know.� TWO WEEKS LATER�JULY 4TH� Bridget and Justin had spent a great majority of their time together and were soon very close friends. Bridget was falling for Justin, but she was trying to deny her feelings, fearing she would be hurt once again. Justin, however, knew he wanted Bridget, but sensed her had to take things slow with her. Bridget was sitting at home, watching MTV when Justin walked in. �Bridget, come on.� She stood up and turned off the TV. �Where are we going?� �You�ll see.� Justin tied a blindfold around Bridget�s eyes so she couldn�t see even a sliver of light. �What�s going on?� Bridget asked warily. Justin took Bridget�s hand. �You�ll see.� �Don�t I get to put shoes on or something?� �Nope.� Once Bridget felt the warm, grainy sand underneath her toes, she knew where they were-the beach. Justin let go of Bridget�s hand. �Can I take this thing off now?� �No!� Justin exclaimed. �Hold on.� He gently untied the blindfold and smiled as Bridget gasped. �Justin! What�s this for?� Bridget asked. �For being you,� Justin answered. A blanket was laid out over the sand with a picnic basket resting on it. A long stemmed red rose lay on the lid of the basket. �Sit down. Let�s eat.� As Bridget sat down and ate the food, she realized that she was hopelessly falling into serious like with Justin, and there was no stopping it. �Thank you so much, Justin. This is so sweet of you,� Bridget said, finishing off her food. �Anytime. Let�s go take a walk,� Justin suggested, and they walked down the beach. They walked out onto a dock that went out about ten feet into the ocean. �Bridget?� �Hmm?� �Will you go out with me? Like�be my girlfriend?� Justin asked shyly, as if he were back in junior high or high school. Bridget looked at him shocked. �I-� Justin lost his footing on the dock and fell into the water, bobbing up instantly, looking sheepish. Bridget burst into laughter. �Are you okay?� �Not until you�re in here with me!� Justin said, holding her ankles and pulling her into the water. The water was about five or six inches over Bridget�s head, so she put her arms around Justin�s neck to keep above the water. Their faces were mere centimeters apart, their lips so close. Justin moved forward and their lips gently collided, starting their kiss. He started to pull away, but Bridget pulled him back for more. She kissed him with a kiss so tender, so needy that Justin knew he couldn�t let her go-ever. When the kiss finally ended, Justin murmured, �That felt like a yes.� �It was,� Bridget whispered. Someone hiding in a thick forest of beach grass farther up the shore watched Justin help Bridget out of the water, then kiss her again. �I don�t think so, Bridget. You�re mine.� |
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| Chapter Two You Don't Have To Be Afraid index Back to that sweet, sweet gravy |
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