At First Sight (2 page)

Dean Baker walked down the sidewalk before reaching a metal gate leading to a short walkway in front of a two-story brick house with pale blue shutters and a flower garden surrounding the outside of the grounds. He placed his cream surfboard against the house and grabbed a towel he had over his shoulder. He began drying his wet toes and his short, brown hair so he wouldn’t make a mess for his mother. He tossed the towel over the surfboard and walked inside, letting the cool air and the feel of the porcelain tiles on the floor envelop his senses.

              “Mom! I’m home!” he shouted, heading down the foyer toward the kitchen.

              He finally saw a petite, brown-haired woman with blue eyes just like Dean’s. While his mother was short and petite, Dean was tall and muscular. He was athletic and swift to learn new activities. Due to the surfing, he kept a pretty good tan. He always had a bit of stubble on his face. Just like his entire family, he had blue eyes that always seemed to sparkle.

              His mother, Katherine, set a plate down on the counter that had a cheese sandwich. “How were the waves?”

              Dean grinned and chowed down on his snack. “Pretty good. Better last week.”

              “Good, good.” Katherine paused anxiously, wringing her fingers together. “Did you find her?”

              Dean’s appetite was suddenly gone. He set his sandwich down and got up, rolling his eyes with a grunt. “Mom, come on.”

              This happened every time he got home from surfing, hanging out with friends, or even when he got back from the store or the mall. It got on Dean’s last nerve each time, but he didn’t particularly have the heart to yell at his own mother. He knew she only meant well.

              Katherine came around the kitchen island toward him. “Dean, I’m only looking out for you.”

              “Mom, be realistic for once.” Dean turned to her. He never liked arguing with his family. Especially his mother. “It’s never going to happen. For some reason, it stopped with you and Dad. Maybe I’m not meant to find my soul mate. Maybe there is no such thing.”

              Katherine gasped in shock. “Dean, don’t you dare speak like this. It’s in your blood to find your soul mate.”

              “Not in this century,” he muttered, walking upstairs to his room.

              He trudged to his bedroom and slammed the door, groaning in frustration. Why did everything have to be so difficult? For centuries, the Baker family had the power of first sight. If you looked at another gender and literally bonded with them physically and mentally, then you had what was called the first sight. It meant you were soul mates. There were imprints, powers, and spells once you found your soul mate. 

              The Bakers were Manifesters.

              They weren’t the only Manifesters, though. There were hundreds across the globe and keeping their species a secret was imperative. They weren’t crazy about going through regular life as humans because they weren’t able to display any powers. It was like having an itch that you really wanted to scratch but you couldn’t. Their powers were things that only humans could ever dream of, though unbeknownst to them, it was a reality. Hence, they were Manifesters.

The first sight had abruptly stopped after his Mom and Dad had their first sight. Nobody knew why it stopped. It had been nearly twenty years, and it was causing quite a ruckus in the entire family. People wanted answers, but nobody could provide those answers. Yet the burden of bringing it all back had been placed squarely on Dean’s shoulders.

              How in the world was he supposed to do that anyway? He couldn’t force it on some innocent girl. It had to be real. He’d seen pretty girls before and thought it could happen, but it always turned out to be a fluke. Ultimately, Dean realized that it was never going to come back. The power was extinct.

              “
Green? No.”

             
Dean swiveled around at the voice, expecting to see somebody. But, he was alone in his room.

              “
I can’t believe she is making me go to this thing.”

             
“Hello?” Dean felt silly calling out to nobody.

              “
I look awful. Nothing in my closet works for me.”

             
Dean’s heart ached at her insecurity. He clutched his chest, suddenly wanting to comfort her. But, he didn’t know her. He couldn’t even
see
her.

              He remembered learning from his history that soul mates could hear each other’s thoughts. It was just one of the advantages you had once you found your soul mate.

              Was this girl his soul mate?

              He smiled and sat on his bed, holding his chest. For some reason, he dared to believe that things could change for him and the Baker family.             

2

            
 
Lola adjusted her outfit and her long, brown hair as she walked toward the beach. After searching through her tiny closet, she finally found a decent blue dress with a lace neckline and a bow around the waist. She paired her outfit with black flats and a simple costume ring. Her hair was down in long curls and she wore minimal makeup. Surely it had to be acceptable for a beach party.

              Yet, when she came upon the party, she saw most of the girls wore heavy makeup and revealing outfits. They looked disgusting as they grinded against drunk boys and flirted ridiculously with some who were barely paying attention. No one looked at her, though. That was good. She didn’t want to be the center of attention.

              There was a big bonfire in the middle of the sand that illuminated the activities along with the glossy moon filling the night sky. A few coolers were buried in the sand with beer cans and bottles sticking out from the ice. In other coolers, there were many soda cans and water bottles for those who didn’t have the courage to get drunk tonight. She grabbed a soda from the cooler quickly. She didn’t like drinking. When she went to her first party with Jessica sophomore year, she tried a beer and automatically threw up. It tasted too funky for her pallet.

              “Lulu,” slurred a deep voice.

              She watched as Dale stumbled his way toward her with an open beer can in hand.

              He was dressed in a pair of khaki shorts and a school t-shirt. His pupils told her he was as high as a kite.

“What?”

              “You weren’t supposed to come. You don’t belong here. See…see…?” He gestured wildly to the bonfire. “The fire is going to burn out!”

              Lola tried her hardest not to burst out laughing. He wasn’t making any sense and he was acting ridiculous. He was drunk, along with being high. She watched as Jessica strode toward them, placing her arm over Lola’s shoulders.

              “Dale, Ashley is looking for you.”

              Dale furrowed his brows. “Yesterday, she told me to get lost.”

              “Yeah? Well, she changed her mind,” said Jessica, shrugging.

              He hurriedly stumbled his way back to the party before tripping over a sand pile, spilling his beer. Lola laughed and turned to Jessica. “When did you get here?”

              “I’ve been here for about an hour. It’s already in full swing.” Jessica glanced at Lola’s outfit. “You look great! Though it could be shorter.”

              Lola looked down at her dress. The hem reached the middle of her thigh. “Excuse me? It’s short enough! If I sit down, people could see up my dress.”

              “Maybe they should! We are nearing graduation and you need to get laid,” Jessica said, looking around at the party.

              “Uh, no thank you. You know I want to wait,” explained Lola.

              Jessica was always trying to set Lola up with a guy. Normally, the guys would be horrible and inappropriate. Lola found the guys at her high school to be completely immature. Plus, she wasn’t interested in a hook-up. Regardless of her parents’ marriage, she was interested in love.

              “Surely you aren’t going to wait until marriage.”

              “I don’t know. I want to wait until I’m in love.” Lola shrugged and looked away. “
As if that will ever happen.”

             
Lola felt a buzz in her head as if it was something dull and incoherent. Like static—an old radio trying to tune in where glimpses of words were trying to break through. She looked over her shoulder cautiously, but saw nobody. She looked back at Jessica, who was still perusing the crowd. She hoped Jessica wouldn’t notice she was in another world in her mind.

“Jessica, what are you looking for?”

              “I’m going to find you a man so we can…” She looked at Lola for a moment with a slight smirk. “…cure you.”

              “Jessica, wait!” Her best friend was already gone.

              Lola sighed and laughed to herself. At times, it was difficult to handle Jessica. She looked back at the party before deciding to walk by herself. She took off her flats and walked back to her vehicle, placing them inside the front seat before carrying her soda down the beach.

              She needed some alone time.

Dean slammed the back door behind him in a huff, bunching his fists together. It was bad enough having his mother get on his case about his lack of a soul mate. When his dad got into the mix, it rose to the next level. Luckily his brother, Freddie, wasn’t a part of it. He would just talk about how Dean didn’t deserve it or how Dean was so much better than everybody else.

Freddie had a major problem with his younger brother. He always believed Dean got the better end of the stick. According to Freddie, Dean had the good looks and the good life ahead of him.

              It got to be very tiring.

              He had heard about some party at the beach earlier so he decided to change into a pair of khaki shorts and a blue polo. He walked off the porch and down to the sand perfectly laid out in his backyard. He kept his hands in his pockets as the moon illuminated his tan skin. He glanced at it as he kept walking, listening to the soft waves crash against the shore lightly. He began to think about the girl he heard earlier.

              Who was she?

              Could she possibly his soul mate?

              Is it possible the magic did still exist?

              Was his family’s gift finally returning?

              It was so confusing, but he couldn’t stop thinking about her voice. It was like an invisible pull was telling him to hunt her down and find her. But, why would his heart keep telling him to stalk some girl he didn’t even know?

              “
As if that will ever happen.”

             
He stopped and furrowed his brows. It was her again. She sounded pretty dejected. But, why?

              “Who are you?” he murmured to himself.

              This was all driving him crazy.

              “
I need to get out of here. Why did I even come to this party?”

             
She was at a party? So, she could be a local. Against his better judgment, he decided to head for the party. All he had to do was follow the voice. Hopefully, he would find her.

              Then what?

              He walked along the sand, bypassing drunken teenagers and bodies that were too close for comfort. The thoughts had stopped. He suddenly felt lost, like he didn’t know what direction he needed to go in. He stopped in his tracks and sighed.

              “Hi,” said a small voice.

              He turned around to see a short girl with long red hair and shimmering green eyes. She was holding a beer can and she looked to be about sixteen. He silently hoped this wasn’t her.

              “Hey.”

              “I’ve never seen you at school before,” she said, sipping her drink like she had done it so many times before.

              “I’m homeschooled,” Dean said. “I live a few houses down.”

              “Oh,” she nodded and took another sip of her drink.

              Dean noticed she was swaying a bit. “How many of those have you had?”