Age 14
Ishouldn’t be looking at Luke Westwood like this, but how could I not when he is shirtless, running around the field at lacrosse practice?
I am about to be done with my first year of high school, and there are so many new things coming to light for me.
I don’t like playing with dolls anymore. Kiddie movies no longer pique my interest, and most of all... boys are looking a lot different from what they used to.
That includes Luke Westwood here.
He did not look this way when we were in middle school. He is just a regular guy who walks down the halls to class or have to partner up with during assignments. But now, his curly brown hair is longer, with his jawline more defined, andthe way his sweat is running down his abs flushes warmth through me with the need to squeeze my thighs together. I picture the way his hands would feel on me. The way his lips taste...
“You’re gawking, Eden,” Lianne teases, shoving my shoulder as she takes a spot next to me on the bleachers.
“Am not.”
It’s a lie. We both know it.
I keep my gaze on Luke, who takes a spot on the field and does his stretches. I try to mask the desire invading my senses and silently pray to the Divine for my wicked thoughts.
Am I going to hell for this?
“Sure. Staring and practically drooling isnotgawking. I apologize for my confusion.” She giggles.
Lianne is taller than me, with freckles dotting her light skin like a porcelain doll. Her wavy caramel locks cascade around her face like a lion’s mane. I wish my hair was as voluminous and naturally bouncy as hers, but here I am, with pin-straight blonde hair.
She is the only person who doesn’t treat me like an outsider here in Everton. Probably because she showed up years after me, so we are outsiders together.
She was adopted by Mr. Wellingburg during the summer going into this year. It is odd he doesn’t have a wife but is adopting a child, but I keep that to myself. I am not about to cross a line that isn’t my place to go near.
I was on stage when they did the welcoming event for her. Being a Donovan means I am a part of the indoctrination. She had to do the same thing I did when I came to town. A staged welcome, a speech from Mr. Donovan about how we would clean her of her sins and show her the ways of the Divine Worship.
The look in her eyes has been imprinted in my memory. She looked like she was terrified of us all.
After that day, whenever we would go out, I would look for her. In the stores. At restaurants. Even on the streets when we were driving home. I later found out Lianne couldn’t leave the house until school started because she was to be stripped of her past life and sins. The only people who could help her were her new family, Mr. Wellingburg, and the Chosen One, my father. I guess it is different for others when their parents aren’t the Chosen of the Divine.
Unlike the scared girl at indoctrination, Lianne looked confident on the first day of school. As if she owned the place. I envied her for that. She didn’t care about the boys and girls who are “born into” this community. She brushed off the weird looks and snickers they made about her. I have been under their radar for the last three years and didn’t look as carefree to their remarks as she is the very first day. I wonder what her secret is.
“It makes sense, you know. We are becoming women. We are gonna notice the boys more and more.” She pops almonds into her mouth as she watches Luke stretch his legs. “Too bad we are girls and aren’t allowed to think thatway.” She looks at me with a sinister tilt of her head as she grins my way.
“We shouldn’t. We have to keep it pure for when we are given a husband. The Divine will choose, and it will be perfect?”
“Yes, of course.” She straightens her posture and clears her throat. “Perfect wives for the perfect matches and perfectly pure.”
We look at one another and break into laughter.
She wipes a tear from her eye. “Until then, we can justtake careof ourselves.” She winks at me, popping another almond into her mouth.
My cheeks heat up, my hands picking at my pleated skirt.
As close as I am to Lianne, I am still afraid to express that part of me to her. The wants and needs I have been feeling. She told me it is only natural to have these kinds of thoughts. It is a part of growing up, but it terrifies me to go against the Divine Order. As a woman, I shouldn’t want it, let alone take those actions into my own hands. I am waiting for my husband.
A bang hits the bleachers, causing me to basically jump onto Lianne’s lap.
“Did I scare you?” Samuel pulls himself over the railing and stalks toward me, wearing a grin.
He must be amused with himself.
“Here comes hot brother,” Lianne says under her breath. She turns to fully face him.
