At First Sight (3 page)

              “This is my third,” she giggled lightly. “You want one? We can talk about your house.”

              Dean cocked a brow and stifled back a laugh. This was starting to get awkward. “Uh, no thanks. I’m actually...meeting someone here so I better go find them.”

              He quickly scurried away before she could stop him, breathing a sigh of relief. He hoped and prayed to God that was not the girl in his mind.

Jessica looked around, trying to find a suitable boy for her best friend. She always loved playing matchmaker for Lola, even though she was never that interested in it whatsoever. She wasn’t trying to be pushy. She just wanted her friend to have some fun in her life. They were nearing graduation and they were barely making the most of their last few weeks together.

“Colby!” she exclaimed, rushing over to a boy with short, black hair and dull blue eyes. “I have a girl for you.”

Colby Waterson was on the tennis team, though he wasn’t particularly known for winning a lot of sets. He was only known for kissing a lot of girls and for having so many stories spread about him. Regardless, the girls still wanted him.

Colby smiled, taking a sip of his beer. “Oh? What does she look like?”

“It’s Lola!”

Colby’s smile lit up. “She’s hot.”

“Well, come on! She’s over…” Jessica stopped when she turned around. Lola was gone. “Where did she go?”

Colby simply shrugged and walked away, spotting another girl to talk to. Jessica stayed in her spot, confused as to where her best friend could have gone. Surely she wouldn’t have left the party without telling her, right?

All she could do now was look.

Lola stood by the shore, carefully making sure her toes didn’t come near the water. She had an unnatural fear of water, especially the ocean. The fact that it seemed endless and large scared her. At five years old, she and her parents had gone to the beach for a rare “family day”. She had ended up nearly drowning with the lifeguard and other families being concerned about her well being while her parents faked their own concern. Ever since then, she hadn’t let a foot into the ocean.

She stared at the moon and sighed as the breeze blew through her curls. It was a beautiful night, but she felt uneasy. Something about this night brought a chill over her bones. She couldn’t really decipher what it was, though. She couldn’t tell if it was bad or good.

              Her thoughts started to drift toward the boy in her mind when she felt a presence. She looked over to see Dale stumbling toward her. He was carrying a beer bottle and staring right at her. Was this the uneasy feeling she had?

              “Lulu…” He slurred his words as he sloshed his beer on the sand.

              “Dale, what do you want? I kind of want to be alone.” Lola backed up a few paces.

              “Why would you want to be alone?” Dale got closer to her, tossing his beer bottle on the ground.

              Lola started backing away more quickly. Dale was a pain in the butt, but she didn’t think he had it in him to be like this. “Dale, what are you doing?”

              “Nothing,” he murmured, licking his lips as he touched her waist. “You know, you’re kinda cute.”

              “Dale, stop it.” Lola attempted to remove his hands from her waist, but he held a firm grip.

              “Why? I know you like me. That’s why you’re always talking to me, isn’t it? You want me.” His lips descended on to her neck, creating a slobbery kiss.

              “Ew!” Lola pushed him away with as much strength as she could muster. “Dale, quit it! I don’t like you like that.”

              “It’s okay. We don’t have to like each other to have fun,” he said.

              Suddenly, Dale’s lips were on her own as he held her tightly against his body. She struggled against his hold. He was too drunk and stronger than he appeared. His hold was starting to hurt as they collapsed on the sand with a grunt. Lola tried to scream as his hands wandered up her dress and she suddenly regretted wearing the damn thing.

              Without warning, the weight was pulled off her. She covered her eyes as she attempted to get her breath back. She trembled as she heard a few muffled grunts and thuds. Then all was silent except for the waves in the ocean. She heard a voice and time seemed to stop.

              “Are you okay?”

              It was him. She recognized that voice. She uncovered her eyes to meet a pair of deep, beautiful blue irises. Instead of thanking him, her entire body and mind seemed to be consumed by another force as they stared at each other. Bright colors like fireworks danced before her eyes. Between the explosions of light, voices trickled in—she swore she heard her own voice echoing in her ears along with his. But, what did it all mean? She could barely think as her heart beat faster.

              Then, she saw darkness.

3

              Dean stared as he lounged with her against a lone log on the beach. He longed to caress her beautiful, long hair, and he caught himself staring too frequently at her inviting lips. Her brown eyes, deep and captivating, drew him in too. This was her. It had to be. She was the one consuming his thoughts. He had been trying to find her and didn’t even know that he had been saving the same girl from that jerk.

              He clenched his fist and winced at the pain. His knuckles were starting to bruise. He wasn’t much of a fighter, but something inside of him snapped when he saw the attack.

When their eyes met, he knew what followed had to be the first sight. It was simply amazing. There were colors, fireworks, and voices. He heard their own voices, though they were pretty dull at the moment. Either way, he had found her.

              He had found his soul mate.

              Unfortunately, she had passed out from the experience a few minutes ago. He gently carried her to a more comfortable and private spot and waited for her to wake up. His body and his senses were going crazy. He was dying to touch her. He wanted to caress her cheek, run his fingers through her hair—just hold her. Being close to her made his heart beat wildly.

She was human, though. They didn’t have that many humans-turned-Manifesters in their family. To make matters even more interesting, she was the first human to bring back the first sight. He knew she wouldn’t take the news lightly, but he wasn’t sure if she would even accept him for who he was. How do you tell someone that you aren’t a part of the human race anymore?

              Her eyes fluttered as she stirred, touching her forehead. He cautiously watched her, trying to keep his hands to himself. Though, it was insanely difficult. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, his lips twitching into a smile. “Hey, are you okay?”

              Lola gasped, not expecting to see this boy next to her. She scurried away. “What happened? Who are you?”

              “It’s okay.” Dean touched her hand softly.

              Lola glanced at their hands. She moved closer, but he could tell she was hesitant. He couldn’t blame her, though. He was a complete stranger to her. He watched her cautiously as they looked at each other.

             
“My God, his eyes are beautiful.”

              Dean smiled and blushed, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. “Uh, I don’t know what to say.”

              “Huh?” Lola furrowed her eyebrows, coming out of her reverie.

              “I can kind of hear your thoughts,” said Dean cautiously.

              Lola stifled a laugh. “Sure.”

              Dean sighed and decided to test out the power. “
Can you hear me?”

             
“Oh my gosh!” She shook her head vehemently. “How did you do that?”

              “It’s part of the first sight.”

              “The what?”

              Dean sighed. “It’s a really long story.”

              Lola chewed on her bottom lip, still shaking her head a bit like she was trying to get water out of her ears. “Uh, okay.”

              He hesitated. “My family isn’t normal. Not what you would consider normal… We’re technically not… human. We call ourselves Manifesters. We can perform spells and when we have the first sight, we gain our own special power called an imprint. We can read each other’s mind, too.”

              “What’s an imprint?”

              “Sometime during the relationship, we both gain an imprint embedded in our hand. Like, my dad’s is the shape of a cross. His imprint allows him to heal people of any disease and any injury,” he explained. “They come in all shapes and all do different things.”

              “Does it hurt?”

              Dean shook his head. “No. You barely feel it.”

              Lola exhaled heavily, looking toward the ocean. “This is crazy.”

              “My parents told me that you feel a great bond with your soul mate,” started Dean. “Your soul mate is somebody that you can always trust and be honest with. Your soul mate protects you from any danger and promises to… love you forever.” He paused. “I know it all sounds pretty forward, but it’s something that is really beautiful in our family.

Before this happened, the first sight had been absent in our family for nearly twenty years. I didn’t believe it would happen to me. I didn’t think it was true.” He smiled at her and played with a tendril of her hair. “But, now that I’ve met you, I actually feel something. It’s strange, but my heart’s telling me we were destined to meet each other.”

              “Oh.” Lola looked away from his gaze.

              It was quiet for a moment until Lola broke the silence.

              “I need to tell you something,” said Lola.

              “What is it?” Dean watched her carefully.

              “Lately, I’ve been hearing your thoughts. It’s been all about how you were looking for someone or something,” she explained sheepishly.

              “Oh…” Dean nodded. “Yeah, it’s been a pretty few rough days for me. My family has been badgering me about finding my soul mate. I’ve been hearing your thoughts, too.”

              “Really?” Lola blushed.

              Dean chuckled lightly. He then grew serious. “Honestly, they seemed kind of sad. Almost like you were degrading yourself.”

              Lola sighed and looked away, running a hand through her curls.
“Great. Now he thinks I’m insecure.”

              “Hey, hey.” Dean pulled her eyes back to his gaze as he cupped her cheeks. “Do not think like that. You’re beautiful and any guy would be lucky to have you.” He paused and smiled.

              “Isn’t it weird to be so happy after we just met?” asked Lola, confused.

              “It’s the effect of the first sight. It’s not a human feeling,” explained Dean.

              “Human?” Lola paused. “So, I’m not human anymore?”

              Dean sighed, suddenly nervous. “Well, not all the way anymore. Once you develop powers and your imprint, you’ll be considered a Manifester. We like to keep this a secret.”

              “We?”

              “There’s hundreds of us across the globe,” he explained.

              Lola’s breath caught in her throat as she stared at him incredulously. “Are you kidding?”

              “Lola?”

              Dean glanced up at a blond girl standing next to Lola. She stared at the both of them curiously, more so Lola.

“Jessica!”

              “I’ve been looking for you everywhere, but I can see you’re in good hands. Right?” She smirked.

              “I promise she’s in good hands.” Dean stood up. “I’m Dean.”

              “Jessica. I’m Lola’s best friend,” she said, still smirking.

              Lola stood up and looked at Jessica, rubbing the back of her head. “I’m actually going to head home soon. I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”

              “Yeah. You better,” she said, pointing a finger at her before leaving in a puff of energy.

              Dean cleared his throat, looking at Lola. “So, you’re really leaving?”

              Lola turned to face him and sighed, shaking her head. “Look, I appreciate you saving me back there. But, this is all too much to take in. Whatever we experienced had to be some weird dream. I mean, nothing like that happens in real life. It’s just not possible!”