Sapphire (Book #3 of the Jewel Series)

I knew it would be hot, but I was not expecting heat like this.  The humidity is killer, and I suddenly need to shower.  I am just glad to be off that fucking plane.  I knew the flight would be long, but I was not prepared for being on the plane for a whole fucking 22 hours.  I follow the signs to where the baggage pick-up is.  The only things I brought were my clothes and a few essential items I would need for school.  The rest of my stuff is in the room at my grandparent's house.  I have been living with them for the last two years.  Dad more or less kicked me out when I turned 16.

I need to stop referring to him as Dad, but he is the only father I know.  He is not my biological father.  He and my mother had been college sweethearts.  I don't know what happened, but they split up a few months after graduation.  Two years later, they ran into each other and rekindled their romance.  They were both still in love with each other.  Gary had a son, Riley, while he and my mother were apart.  Riley is a year older than me.  Mom didn’t care and accepted him, no questions asked.  Riley was a little over a year old at that time.  Two months later, Mom found out she was pregnant with me.  They thought Gary was my father, but that was not the case.

Mom had recently ended a relationship when she had run into Gary and was already pregnant with me, but she had no idea then.  They had no reason to think I wasn’t Gary’s, but it was blatantly clear I was not his child when I was born.  The first indication was my bright, sapphire blue eyes.  The second is my long, natural white hair.  I have been dyeing it different shades of blue since I was 14.  Mom thought it was beautiful, but it was one more thing about me that Gary despised.  Gary was pissed that I was not his child.  While he never abused me, he made it clear that he disapproved of me.  He more or less ignored me unless it was necessary to talk to me.  He isn’t on my birth certificate and refused when Mom suggested it.  It pissed him off that Riley accepted me and treated me like his sister.  Riley is the reason that Gary left me alone.  Gary would spew nasty remarks when I was around.  Once Riley and I were old enough, Riley told his father to leave me alone, and it wasn’t my fault that I wasn’t his child.  After that, he acted more or less like I didn’t exist, which was fine.  It hurt Mom that Gary treated me like this, but he treated her like a queen, so I shut my mouth.  Mom passed away when I was 16.  Riley had left for college, and after graduating a year early, Gary could do whatever he wanted with me.  A week before my junior year of high school, I came home to find all my stuff packed and sitting at the entry to the house.

__FLASHBACK__

“Why are all of my things sitting here?”  I asked.

“Because you’re leaving.”  Gary replies.

“You’re kicking me out?  Why?  I have done nothing to you.”  I tell him.

“You’re not my responsibility; therefore, I don’t want you in my house.”  Gary sneered.

“Mom would be pissed that you’re treating me like this.”  I point out.

The front door slams shut before he can say anything, and Grandpa and Grandma stand.  They are GAry’s parents and have, from the moment I was born, accepted and treated me like one of their own.  They hated how Gary treated me and voiced their thoughts on the issue.

“Sapphire what is going on?”  Grandma asks.

“Gary is kicking me out.”  I state.

Grandpa starts yelling at Gary that this is unacceptable and that he is an asshole.  Gary tells them I am not his child and he is not responsible for me.  He says he has a child and is attending college, and he doesn’t want some kid he has no ties to in his house.  The only reason I am here is because of Mom, and I know that.  Grandma and Grandpa are pissed, and they tell me that I can come live with them.  Grandpa makes a few phone calls, and soon there is a truck, and my shit is being loaded into it.  I take the house key off my key ring and chuck it at Gary.  I smirk when it hits him right between his beedy snake-like eyes.  I walk out with Grandpa and Grandma.

__FLASHBACK END_

I haven’t been back to that house since.   The whole family was pissed when they found out what Gary had done.  His older brother, uncle, aunt, and younger sister haven’t talked to him since.  Grandpa and Grandma haven’t spoken with him since then.  He is no longer welcome at family functions, and Grandpa even handed over the family business to my cousin Curtis and his husband, Tyler.  

Riley was livid when he found out what his father had done.  I am sure he called Gary and ripped him a new one, but I wasn’t there to hear it, so there is that.  I am pulled from my thoughts when someone over the intercom announces that they will start offloading the bags from my flight.  I stand here waiting for my bags to magically appear when someone grabs my waist, causing me to jump and scream in surprise. 

“Dammit, Sapphire, stop hitting me.”  Riley grunts.

“Then don’t be an asshole and scare the shit out of me.”  I hiss.

“Your sister is a right feisty little sheila, Riley.”  A guy says.

“You have no idea.  Sapphire this is Luke.”  Luke tells me.

“Hi, Luke.”  I chirp.

God, I hope not all of Riley’s friends look like this.  Luke, from what I have observed so far, Luke is a nice guy, but fuck is he huge.  He towers over my 5’4” frame and has seven or more inches on Riley’s 6’ frame. He also happens to have shoulders damn near as wide as I am tall.  The guy is massive!  Between the three of us, we can grab all my bags and drag them out to a large SUV that I am guessing belongs to Luke.  Riley lets me ride shotgun, allowing me to observe Luke more closely.  I tend to notice little things about everyone and everything.  Which I guess is good since I am an art major.  Besides being a giant, Luke has this shoulder-length wave hair, the color of caramel naturally highlighted by the sun, and platinum-colored eyes.  He spends a lot of time in the sun, evident by his skin's perfectly golden honey color.

In contrast, Riley has strawberry blond hair that ends slightly past his ears and golden brown eyes that he got from his mother.  He did inherit Gary’s strong jawline and facial structure, but Riley looks more like his biological mother.  I hear them both laugh when a gasp escapes.

“I thought you knew Grandma and Grandpa had bought us a house?”  Riley asks.

“I did, but I had no idea it would be this amazing or this big.  I told them I didn’t need a big place.”  I sighed.

“It isn’t that big.  It has five bedrooms and three bathrooms.”  Riley replies.

“That is way more than I need.”  I point out.

“It will be fine since I am living there with you.  Before you get angry with Grandma and Grandpa, it was my idea.  My roommates and I had to move out quickly a few weeks ago.  The apartment building we lived in had a significant plumbing issue, which fucked up the electrical throughout the entire building.  There is a room near the front which you can set up as your study room/art studio.”  Riley explains. 

That made sense.  I don’t care that I am living with Riley.  The two of us get along and always have.  I am not saying we don’t fight, but it is rare, and generally, within the hour, we are over whatever it was we were fighting about.  Luke pulls into the driveway, and I climb out of the car.  I wait for him to open the trunk so I can get my shit out.  The house is two stories with a wrap-around patio on the second floor.  The main floor also has a wrap-around patio.   My jaw drops when I enter the house as it opens into a vast room.  I fall completely in love with the open concept, and I can’t wait to get into that enormous kitchen and cook.  We cart my bags upstairs, and I am surprised when I walk into the huge bedroom.  

“Since you are the only girl living here, the master bedroom would be best for you,”  Riley tells me. 

“Thank you.  I appreciate it.” I say.

Luke tells us that he needs to return to his place and will see me later.  Riley sets my bags on the bed and says he must finish a few things before his classes start.  I still can’t believe I am here.  While I loved my last college, I felt their art program was lacking.  Riley told me that his college in Melbourne, Australia had an outstanding art program.  He had me send him some of my work, and a few days later, the head of the art department contacted me.  They wanted me to attend their college.  I spoke with my grandparents about it; they thought it would be a fantastic opportunity.  I immediately went and spoke with an adviser at both colleges, and we got all the paperwork and everything else that I needed to be able to transfer.  I am thrilled to be here, and I think the change will do me some good.  I have always wanted to travel.  

It takes me until after lunch to get my room how I want.  It made me smile when I saw how Riley decorated my room.  A king-sized bed is in the center of the room against the beautiful blue wall.  The remaining three walls are painted in an off-white color.  The bed looks antique-like and is sliver.  The furniture all looks antique-like, and the floor is hardwood.  Two large rugs are soft and remind me of the ocean with all the blues and greens within them.  One sits partially under my bed, and the other is under my desk, matching the other furniture.  Step out of my room and decide to explore the house.  There are two other rooms on this floor, both empty.  I know there are two bedrooms on the first floor, one being Riley’s.

“We should rent the other three rooms out.”  I say.

“Fuck, don’t sneak up on me like that.  That will probably happen, but not for a while.  I want to see what happens once classes start.  There is a possibility that a few of the guys on the team might need to find a new place to live, and if that is the case, then I want them to have first dibs on the rooms.  I won’t know until after everyone returns and classes start.”  Riley explains. 

“That makes sense,”  I reply.

“I want to get settled before we take on any roommates.  It isn’t much, but there will be some culture shock and a slight language learning curve.”  Riley adds.

I have been studying everything about Australia, and while almost everything is the same, there will be some terminology that I have to get used to.  I leave Riley in the kitchen to explore the rest of the house.  I have no words to describe the wonder I find when I opened the French doors leading to the backyard.  It is enormous, and whoever did the landscaping did a fantastic job, along with the gigantic pool in the center of the yard with a lazy river running the backyard.  A cave system crosses over the lazy river on each side.  

“Our grandparents thought you might like this, so they designed it,”  Riley tells me.

“This is beyond anything I could ever imagine,”  I whisper. 

“I am going to give you a few days to get acclimated, but Friday night, I and a few of my teammates are going out to the local pub, and yes, you can come.  The legal drinking age is 18, so you will be fine.  I would like you to meet them so you know a few people before you start your classes.  I am unsure if our classes will cross, but my friend's classes might.”  Riley comments.

“Yeah, it would be nice to know a few people so I am not alone when I start my classes,”  I say.

I know that Riley is on the hockey team.  Having an ice hockey team in a somewhat tropical country seems weird, but it is what it is.  We spend the rest of the day arranging the house.  We had some new furniture delivered, and I was impressed that Riley did an excellent job of picking it out.

I was unprepared to hear so many voices when I entered the house.  I went to the store.  Riley lived as a bachelor would, meaning we had no food in the house.  I borrowed his car and drove to the store.  Luckily, it is only about 10 minutes from the house.  I was shocked to hear all the yelling as I opened the door from the garage to inside the house.  Once it quieted down, I yelled at Riley to help me carry all this food.  I was surprised when Riley walked out, followed by a guy and a girl.  I let out a squeal when I saw the last person walk out.

“You know Ace?”  The guy asks.

“Yes, Sapphire and I went to high school together before Mom was transferred back here,”  Ace answered.

“That is cool.”  The guy states.

“I apologize for the guys; they are horrible at introducing people.  My name is Lina, and this is Arlo, my boyfriend.”  Lina tells me. 

The five of us make short work of carrying in the groceries.  Lina helps me put them away while the guys return to watching the soccer game.  Lina and I sit and talk while the three guys yell at the tv when the referee makes a call they disagree with—typical men.  Lina and I hit it off, and I am glad.  I didn’t have many girlfriends back home.  Most thought I was the weird one cause of my dyed hair, nose ring, and tattoos.  I ask if any of this bothers her.

“Hell no, I love your hair, and most of my friends dye their hair and have tattoos and body piercings.  We don’t care about that kind of shit here.”  Lina tells me.

 I smile at her.  I can already tell that I am going to be just fine here.  I am unsure what will happen once I graduate, but something tells me I may have found my new home.  I still hear the idiots in the other room yelling at the tele.  I shake my head at them while Lina giggles.  Yeah, Lina and I are going to be good friends.