Gravity (Free Falling) Read online

  Free Falling

  Book One: Gravity

  Parts I &II

  By Raven St. Pierre

  Free Falling

  Book One: Gravity

  Parts I & II

  © October 2013, Raven St. Pierre

  This book contains strong sexual themes and content not suitable for persons under the age of 18. This work is a work of fiction. All names, characters, locations, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, or have been used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, locales, or events is entirely coincidental. No part of this e-book may be reproduced or shared by any electronic or mechanical means, including but not limited to printing, file sharing, and email, without prior written permission from Raven St. Pierre.

  This e-book is licensed for personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

  Synopsis

  In the first installment of the “Free Falling” series, the stage is set for one of the most riveting interracial love stories to grace the literary scene in quite some time. As the series spans several years, book one takes us back to where it all began – a chance meeting that reshaped the lives of two strangers who soon learn that we don’t always get to choose who we fall in love with; sometimes life chooses for us.

  Samantha Kelley is stumbling through her senior year with her plans for college and life outside of Fairfax all plotted out. She’s got the perfect boyfriend, loyal friends, and a wonderful relationship with her parents. Things couldn’t be better, or so she thought. It isn’t until literally colliding with a fellow classmate, Anthony “AJ” Hahn, that she begins to question whether she’s been missing something all along…….him. Samantha’s world is shifted on its axis when she’s blindsided by feelings that she’s never experienced – feelings that make her do things that she never even thought she was capable of. Come along for this epic journey filled to the brim with passion, excitement, secret betrayals, and twists that will keep you holding your breath from beginning to end.

  Coming soon from Raven St. Pierre

  Free Falling Book 2: Secrets

  Free Falling Book 3: Exposed

  Free Falling Book 4: Reciprocity

  Red Sun

  Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

  Again for the First Time

  Preface

  Confusion mounted. Where’d she go? As my pulse raced and fear gripped my throat, I considered the possibility that seeing her was nothing more than a hallucination. That had to be it. It made sense. I laughed at myself, shook off the paranoia, and pulled out into the intersection when the light changed. My heart settled to a steady pace again and I took a deep breath as I eased my hands down the steering wheel.

  At the sound of horns blaring and tires screeching across the pavement, the tension returned – sending every muscle in my body into paralysis. The relief I’d so foolishly allowed to disarm me was abruptly snatched away. I instinctively gripped the steering wheel tighter until my fingers nearly became one with the leather. I searched for the oncoming danger that the other drivers apparently saw. I couldn’t decide whether to speed up or to brake. Whatever the threat, I was blind to it.

  It was then that I turned to my left to search again. My body became rigid. Shock overcame me and the consuming paralysis finally spread to my brain. Each passing second felt like an hour. It was as though the entire scene was unfolding in slow motion. I could see her smiling as she accelerated toward me with hatred in her eyes. There was no way to avoid the oncoming accident. It was inconceivable – this girl actually despised me enough to risk losing her own life just to end mine. I closed my eyes and braced myself. The ominous silence as I accepted my fate was so heavy that it anchored me to my seat. On impact, the deafening noise flooded my senses. Metal twisted and bowed around me as I closed my eyes. The windows seemed to explode simultaneously, causing glass to whisk through the air, slicing into my skin like searing razor blades.

  The last fleeting memory that I have from that day is the sensation of intense pain that engulfed my body. Every dream, every regret, every mistake, every fear, every hope, all of the things that I should have said to those that I love, every apology that I owed, every wrong that I’d committed, suddenly spread through my brain like wildfire – accompanying the physical pain in perfect syncopation.

  Instinctively, I held my breath as the car spun and flipped violently across the road and

  finally down the embankment. Fear had taken on a life of its own as it choked me vengefully. Life had a score to settle and a balance to restore. As everything began to go dark and silent, I had a moment of clarity, realizing how all of my actions had come full circle. This – all of it – was my fault. It seemed appropriate that I was reaping what I sowed. I’d done enough wrong in the past few months for three lifetimes, and at what felt like the end for me, there was nothing I could do to change the past.

  Part I

  Chapter One

  My last year at John M. Allister Academy was quickly coming to an end. Although it was only October, that didn’t stop me from constantly thinking about life after high school. In less than one year, my friends and I would be spread out all over the country where we’d inevitably get lost in our own worlds and drift apart.

  It was the day before Homecoming and most of the teachers were just assigning busy-work because they anticipated our minds being all over the place with the excitement of the dance. By lunch, quite a few of the students had bailed to get a head start on the weekend, which didn’t sound a half bad to me either. However tempting the idea, my parents would never go for it. When I reached our usual table on the far left side of the cafeteria, I wasn’t surprised to hear my girls discussing their agendas for the next day. Some were going to the dance solo; like Kim, Ashley, and Megan – Megan being the only one of the trio who had actually chosen to attend the dance without a date. The others just got tired of waiting for someone to ask. My best friend, Leslie, was going with her long-time boyfriend, Terrance, who she’d been with since the first semester of our freshman year. Kyla and Brian were also attending the dance as an item. Then there was my date……. Antonio Martin.

  We started seeing each other last May, shortly before the school year ended. I know I liked him way longer than he liked me. The summer between freshman and sophomore year, he went through a serious growth spurt. Once a short, skinny, ordinary boy that had managed to fly under every girl’s radar; Antonio reemerged as the hottest thing on the map. I remember hearing all the girls talking about him in class that first day back before I’d gotten the chance to see his transformation for myself. Although some of them were more explicit than others, the overall opinion was the same – he was hot!

  It turned out that he and I were in the same third hour class, so I didn’t have to wait long for the big reveal; it was Ms. Henderson’s History class as a matter of fact. He was already seated when I entered the room. I stared at him longer than I should’ve, but I couldn’t help it. He was all those things the other girls said he was and then some. I stopped at the teacher’s desk to check the seating chart and felt a little faint when I realized that I was assigned to sit right beside Antonio.

  I took to my desk and made a conscious effort not to look his way the entire hour. Fighting the urge to be as conspicuous as all the other girls who’d been drooling over him all day, I was at war with myself. When the bell finally sounded, the battle was lost and I turned i
n his direction to steal another look just as he was rising up from his seat. I gasped low enough that no one but me would’ve noticed; Antonio had quite literally taken my breath away. He grew at least four inches and had bulked up quite a bit too. His dark brown complexion was flawless and seemed to emit a glow all its own. From that point, he was the only boy I saw anymore. The others faded into the scenery and only served the purpose of creating a backdrop for the work of art that was Antonio.

  The remainder of sophomore year went on pretty much as that first day had. I continued to fantasize about him being mine, but he was busy enjoying the suddenly overwhelming amount of attention he was getting from the female population at our school. He dated his share of girls that year, none of which he seemed particularly serious about.

  By junior year, I’d put the thought of us being together to the back of my mind, passing it off as nothing more than a fleeting crush. This task was made easier by the disgust that I’d developed watching his dating habits. His love life was a revolving door. One day he’d be with this girl, the next day he was with that one. It was actually quite sickening to witness.

  Then, one random day, I was passing him in the hallway and he reached out to grab my hand. Surprised, I turned to look at him, trying all the while to remind myself of his reputation to keep me in touch with reality. And what was I getting excited for? It wasn’t like we’d never spoken before. I’d hoped that my rationale would make him less appealing and give me the strength to hold my composure. No such luck. His gaze was so intense that it was difficult to stare into his eyes for any length of time.

  Once he had my attention, Antonio began to speak, “Hey, Sam.” There was a pause while he tried to feel me out. “What’s up?”

  I cleared my throat before responding, “Nothing. What’s been up with you?”

  Seeing that I was receptive to him, Antonio smiled and released some of the tension from his posture. “Not much. You got plans this weekend?” He asked with an air of confidence in his tone.

  “Umm…….Nothing comes to mind. Why?” I asked nervously, anticipating what was coming next.

  “Well……I thought you might wanna hang out. You know……do something,” he suggested

  It took everything in me to keep from smiling from ear to ear and completely losing my cool. I took two deep breaths and then replied, “Yeah…..sure. I’d like that.”

  Antonio smiled back and then we exchanged phone numbers. We were pretty much inseparable from that day forward. I remember my friends were a bit skeptical about us getting together at first because of his dating history; they didn’t want me to end up getting hurt like the other girls he’d been with. But eventually, they saw how we were together and that he really cared about me. He immediately became best friends with Leslie’s and Kyla’s boyfriends, Terrence and Brian.

  Four months later we made it official. At my request we kept our relationship secret. No one knew, but our closest friends. I told Antonio that it was because of how strict my father was and I didn’t want anything getting back to him. He bought my excuse, not knowing that it was a total lie. The real reason was that I didn’t want people to look at me as another girl who’d been conquered by Antonio. I remembered all too well how I’d once looked at those girls and I couldn’t bear the thought of being compared to the many victims he’d left scattered along the edge of the road.

  We had all summer to develop our relationship without the stresses of school and I was admittedly a little nervous our first day back. We weren’t going to keep up the charade any longer; everyone would know about us. I was unsure of how things would change once we were back in the company of our peers, dealing with all the he say, she say. That I knew of, there were no rumors flying around yet. Everything was going well and our bond seemed to grow deeper every day.

  Surprisingly, my parents liked him too……..even Daddy. Dating is never an easy feat for the only daughter of a protective father, but even so, he was going a bit overboard in my opinion. Anytime a new boy would start calling the house, my father would watch me more closely for a while. My guess was that he was looking for changes in my behavior, signs that I wasn’t as innocent as he’d once thought. Eventually his rudeness would deter my suitors from calling, prompting me to invest in a cell phone that summer. Although Daddy liked Antonio for the time being, I wasn’t sure how long that would last.

  Anyway, Antonio earned Daddy’s trust enough that he agreed to let us go to the Homecoming dance together. He even gave me an extension on my curfew so that we could go out to eat afterward with the rest of our friends. Honestly, my father’s sudden willingness to let me breathe was a little unnerving. He’d managed to hold on so tightly all these years that I didn’t know if I could even enjoy myself with the newfound freedom.

  Leslie’s light tap on my shoulder interrupted my thoughts. “Excited about tomorrow?” she asked despite the fact that she already knew the answer to that question.

  “Very.” I replied. “I just have a lot to do.”

  Leslie looked down at her plate and managed to take a bite of her pizza before speaking. “I can ask my sister to do my hair if you don’t think you’ll have time. She won’t mind.” I looked at her and forced a smile. As helpful as that would’ve been, I couldn’t do that to her. I’d seen Leslie’s sister’s attempts at being a stylist before and there was no way I’d let my girl go to the dance looking crazy – especially not when there would be pictures involved.

  “No, I’ll be there.”

  She smiled.

  Leslie and I had looked out for one another for years. In our circle of friends, she and I were definitely the closest. Kim and Ashley were really more like my acquaintances rather than friends. We were linked by our common friendship with the twins, Megan and Kyla. I consider them to be pretty good friends. In spite of them being identical physically, they were as different as night and day. Kyla had the grades and Megan had the popularity. Kyla was conservative and even borderline shy while Megan, on the other hand, liked to stand out and express her individuality. She was sociable and liked to be the center attention.

  Leslie looked down at her watch and I was reminded that lunch was nearly over. The feeling that overcame me was impossible to suppress, so I chose to welcome it instead. The mere thought of seeing Antonio made my spine tingle with excitement. He’d skipped lunch to work on an overdue assignment in the library, so we didn’t get to sit together and talk like we usually did during that time. With excitement in my voice, I told my friends that I’d see them later and made my way to the door. Typically, Leslie would’ve lingered in the cafeteria talking to Terrence, but in his absence, I could count on her following behind me because we had Government together next.

  When we made it out to the hallway, I could see Antonio heading toward the stairs already. Rather than calling out to him and drawing unnecessary attention to either one of us, I decided to just catch him at his locker, located in the same hallway as my next class. I shrugged and slowed my pace, realizing that I wouldn’t have to search for him.

  My thoughts shifted back to the dance. Leslie and I hadn’t yet discussed the time I’d be getting to her house to help with her hair. Just as I was turning to ask what would work best for her, I took a heavy blow to the chest that forced all of the air from my lungs as I scrambled to keep from hitting the ground. How…..embarrassing. I could feel everyone’s eyes on me as I tried to catch my balance. Luckily, Leslie was there to steady me on my feet…….but she wasn’t the only one who caught me. Hovering over me was another student – a boy – the one who’d nearly made me have a face to face with the floor. He hadn’t been paying attention as he came barreling down the hallway, distracted by a friend calling his name.

  I knew his name without having to rack my brain….. Anthony Hahn – most people called him AJ. I wasn’t sure what the “J” stood for though. He’s Asian, but I wasn’t sure of much more about his ethnicity than that. There wasn’t much I knew about him at all except for the one thing that w
as common knowledge; his father owns a construction company or something like that and a lot of other local businesses which meant that they were loaded – like really loaded. It isn’t everyday you see a high school student pulling into the parking lot driving a Jag. It made me feel inferior the one time I could remember parking my used, red Honda Civic next to it.

  We’d attended the same schools for all or most of our lives, but I honestly don’t remember either of us ever speaking a word to one another; there was never any need to. We ran in different circles and didn’t share any of the same friends that I could think of. We had nothing in common other than the fact that we had our next class together.

  “Whoa……..sorry. You okay?” he said as he took a brief assessment, trying to see how badly I’d been hurt.

  “I’m fine,” I replied, pushing my hair behind my ear and straightening my clothes. “…But you should watch where you’re going!” I nearly shouted, mostly to deflect the embarrassment that I felt. Shock crossed his face and I could guess that he wasn’t expecting me to respond this way. At that exact moment, I began to wish that I hadn’t.

  “I said I was sorry. Calm down,” he said quietly, hoping to defuse the situation.

  As I composed myself, I responded more rationally this time. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about it.”

  When we collided he’d reached out, attempting to prevent me from falling. His hand still lingered in the air for a few seconds before he realized I was ignoring the gesture, eventually withdrawing it. “Well, anyway, I’m sorry again. Forgive me.”

  His courtesy took me by surprise. I nodded once and then started down the hall again, remembering that I was trying to find Antonio before it was time to go to class. Leslie and I climbed the stairs casually recapping the incident that had just passed. When we reached the second floor, I spotted Antonio. His back was to me, as he stood facing his locker switching out his books for his next class.