My Soul to Save (Soul Keeper) (15 page)

"Yep you're a democrat." Mac throws in. I roll my eyes and get out of bed. Inara throws back the curtains, flooding the room with bright afternoon sun.

"Do I really have to drive around in this car at school? I don't want to look like a rich, word that rhymes with witch."

"You don't seem to realize that you are, rich now, quite, actually. As for the later adjective, no one could ever classify you under that category."
No Elena, that’s more your middle name.

"Elena
, are the Keeper's responsible for my abundant wealth?"

"Solely."

"How far back does all of this go?"

"Nine months before your birth, your Grandfather invested in a small fruit company, apples I think. His stock broker was a Keeper. It made a fortune and we made sure we managed it carefully so that you would always be well taken care of." Inara says. Her voice is always calm and cool.

"Um a fruit company, do you think maybe it was Apple?" I ask teetering my iPhone between my fingers.

"Oh, could be, I'm no good and remembering the little details."

I shake my head at how crazy this life of mine is.

"Inara what are your special gifts exactly?" She shifts uncomfortably in her seat. Her beautiful cotton dress billows all around her as we exit the car and walk up to the freshman house known as
Grays Hall.

"I am an excellent healer and my specialty is my ability to calm people or take away their pain. I guess I can influence feelings a bit."

"I knew it, that's how you keeping me from killing Elena." I say laughing out loud. Elena cuts me a go to hell look. I grin at her, telling her I still love her with my eyes.

"And it's how I keep Elena from ripping your head off."

"Okay this is us," I say dropping my bag on the floor and unlocking the door. I let them go first. Elena immediately casts some sort of magical spell over the place. Warding off demon's or dust bunnies, I don't know which. I vote for both.

"Alright you two get to share that bedroom as long as my roommate is not a weirdo."

"I am a total weirdo!" A perky blonde pipes up from behind us. She rolls up on her tippy toes and extends her hand. "Hi I'm Lexi."

She has former cheerleader written all over her, from her well-muscled legs to the red ribbon tied in her hair. I shake her hand and introduce myself
, and Elena and Inara who are both over joyed to finally rejoin the land of the visible.

"Come on we have to get out to the yard, they're starting the mixer." Lexi says
, dropping her bag in our room, and grabbing my hand. Um, whoa okay.

"Are you single
, or in a monogamous relationship?"

She drills me with questions until we reach the front door, hardly letting me answer.

"You really are a weirdo, I thought you were only being facetious."

I am only half joking.
 She tightens her ponytail and smiles coyly. "I know, but really everyone here is a weirdo or we wouldn't be paying forty grand a year for an education right? My parents thought Harvard would refine me. But I digress, I am what I am. People either love me or hate me. Which one are you?"

"Um, I don't hate you. I think you’re out there in left field somewhere waiting for the ball, but it'll come one day."

"Ha ha, see I like you too. You tell it like it is. God's honest truth, you can't find that in L.A."

"Is that where you're from?"

"Bren that planet is in a whole other galaxy."  

"Oh I'm well aware, I lived in San Diego for many years."

"No way, wait let me guess. Navy?"

"Yes, my dad was a Navy Seal."

"Was?" she says with caution.

The yard is filled with freshman, many are mingling, some still moving their belongings into the dorm. We walk around looking at the different clubs and organizations. There are so many. If I needed an alpaca addicts
anonymous I could probably find a booth for it here somewhere. I hadn't given much thought to what I would do for an extracurricular, but I'm sure Elena has it all mapped out. She and Inara, trail not far behind pretending to look at the clubs as well.

I explain to Lexi about my father and she tells me her brother was killed over there three years ago. Her parents still haven't recovered. He was in the Marines. She seems very down to earth and not at all like the stereo typical girls from L.A.

"So how do you know our roommates?"

"Oh well we sort of met a few months ago. There was a Facebook page for
future Harvard freshmen that lived in the Virginia Beach area, so we started meeting up." This is the story we're going with anyway.

"Cool, so what classes are you taking?" We compare schedules and I'm thankful we don't have any of the same classes. Not that I don't like her, I just have a feeling I may need a little
anonymity this year. I don't know what it is about all of the premonitions I've been having, maybe it's a new gift that is trying to emerge. But I'm learning to go with it.

My eyes scan all of my new classmates and a twinge of guilt hits me knowing that I'm viewing them as a single available girl. Lexi and I are getting plenty of looks and glances. Each one makes me miss Sam even more. The uneasiness inside of me is growing by the minute.

"Hey I think I’m ready to go back and unpack, it's been a long drive for me."

"Okay. Hey do you want to go to a flea market tomorrow and see what we can find for our place?"

"Sure that sounds like fun."

"It does doesn't it."

"I'm thinking shabby chic or crimson glam. We'll just have to see what we dig up. "

"Ladi
es welcome to Grays. I am your Proctor, Asher Kennedy. I am here to offer guidance in all things Harvard, from your course selections to Grays House Frisbee matches, I’m your guy. Saturday night, our house is having a mixer in the basement. There will be food and non-alcoholic beverages provided. You both should come and get to know your neighbors." Asher holds out his hand and pauses for our names, like the true douche he seems to be.

"It's a pleasure to meet you
. I'm Lexi and this is Brennen." She eyes him like a six foot tall lollipop and leans into him giving a very sweet smile. I like that's she's not overly flirty. I hate it when girls throw themselves at a guy
. You mean like you did to Elijah in the stairwell the first day of school
, my subconscious blasts.
Well, at least I learned from my mistakes.

"The pleasure is all
mine ladies." I'm in room four D if you need anything."

I'm shocked he didn't follow his line with, "Anything at all." His eyes never leave Lexi's.

Our room is on the second floor and the halls are littered with people moving in.

"As my roommate you have to come with me to the mixer," Lexi says latching onto my arm. The thought of mingling with others makes me cringe. But I know Elena will also urge me to go. Apparently my destiny will be hinged on whether or not I'm popular.

"Alright I'll go with you." Satisfied with my allegiance, Lexi lets go of my arm and skips down the hall like a first grader. Swinging her ponytail side to side while she sings, Teenage Dream. My eyes widen in wonder at hurricane Lexi. Inside, I carefully unpack my suitcases and make my bed up. The common room has an ordinary small desk with a chair and a pretty fireplace along one wall, opposite two large windows.

"Elena
, poof us an adorable sofa in the common room while we're gone."

"Oh don't worry
, Ethan Allen is delivering furniture tomorrow."

"No, Elena. No one here has designer furniture. You'll make me look like an ass. Just find something simple that looks like you got it at a garage sale."

"How about an estate sale."

"Elena."

"Fine have it your way."

Later that night, Lexi and I head down to the basement of
Grays dorm, the phone buzzing in my purse stops me right before we reach the entrance. I glance down, and notice Sam is calling. He hasn’t heard from me all day, and I’m sure he wants to know how the move went.

“Lexi
hang on, I have to take this.” The momentum of the bass pumping from inside pulls her in and she nods before opening the door. I press the talk button just as the door opens, great he probably thinks I’m living it up already.

“Hello.”

“Hey beautiful. Are you busy?” I bite my bottom lip at how sad he sounds. The guilty feeling in my stomach has me ready to take a knee. I cringe down to the floor just upstairs from the basement.

“No I’m not busy. Just getting settled in.” Scores of people keep filtering down to the mixer paying me no mind as they pass by.

“Are you at a party? I can talk to you later if you’d rather.” My sweet Sam, he sounds so lost. I can picture him right now, he’s probably sitting on the fence rail looking out over his green pastures, lit only by the moon.

I head back upstairs
, the music fades away as I do. “No I love talking to you. I love you.” I plop down on my bed. 

“And I love you. Do you want to tell me all about your day? You sound kind of sad.”

“I am kind of sad. I haven’t seen you in months and it hasn’t gotten any easier you know.”

“I know.” I hear him sigh a ragged breath and I can bet that he’s crying a little right now. My insides twist into a knot. I hate this. I stare at my bare walls and hear the laughter of people out in the hall. It all just makes me want to hop in my car and run to him. Never look back.

We’re both quiet on the phone for a while.

“Let’s switch to video, you can show me what your dorm looks like,” he offers. We switch to video chat and I nailed it, he’s outside
, I can barely make out his face in the dark. “You look beautiful. You always do.”

“I hate feeling this way.”

“I feel the same way. Classes start Monday, maybe it will take our minds off of it.”

“Yeah, I guess it’s the worst when we have a lot of downtime. The internship helped.”

“Yeah I know, Dad kept me pretty busy getting the new ranch up and running. But now it’s done, and your there and I’m here, and it flipping sucks babe.” He sighs out again and now he’s in the barn and I can see him better. His rich brown eyes are glassy and his soft lips look so kissable right now. I hate that I can’t touch him or comfort him.

“Alright I’m going to give you
the tour, but the place is bare right now. My roommate is pretty cool, her name is Lexi and she’s from L.A. This is my bed.” A dusty purple duvet in the softest cotton I’ve ever felt, covers the bed. A small picture of Sam and I sitting under our tree in high school graces my nightstand, along with a glass lamp in the shape of a frog.

True to her word, Elena has
already magically furnished our common room. Two small cream colored sofas, a rickety looking coffee table that's covered in nine layers of different shades of paint, and a leopard print chair make a cute U-shaped seating arrangement. A bright red shag rug centers it all with flare. I had to hand it to her she did have good taste.

“Your dorm looks really nice. I heard
Grays was very well appointed.”

“Thanks. Honestly I’m a little glad you’re not living on campus at Baylor.”

“Oh why’s that?” he asks smiling. And the gesture warms my heart.

“I don’t know I guess I’ll sleep better knowing you’re sleeping next door to your sisters, verses a beautiful freshman.”
The smile drops from his face and hurt crosses over his features. “Oh, and you think I won’t be losing any sleep knowing your surrounded by intelligent, rich, and eligible men. And that you’re officially single?”

My heart bottoms out and I don’t know what to say. I blink back the tears and my chest heaves ready to cave in at any moment.

My lower lips quivers and I turn away from him. When I finally glance back, he cuts me a pained look and hangs up the phone. I stare at the black screen for ages. I don't know what just happened. Just a moment ago we were smiling and laughing, then my stupid big fat mouth went and derailed it all with one comment.

Obviously spying on me, Inara comes into the room and sits on my bed. “You heard all that?” I ask. She nods and puts her arm around me. She begins soothing me with her calm voice, telling me everything is going to be fine. She tells me I need to give him some space.

“I can’t believe he hung up on me.”

“He’s hurting, you’re hurting. If it’s one thing I’ve learned, people do things they regret later when pain is the over ruling emotion.” Inara’s words may be true, but they do little to help ease my pain.

*~*~*

I wake up to Lexi coming in very late at night or early
in the morning. She tries to be quiet getting into bed but I’m a light sleeper. I peek at my phone to see if Sam may have sent a text or some sort of communication. But the alerts field is blank. Great.

“You missed a great party Bren Bren.” She slurs out. They may not have been serving alcohol
, but it seems my new friend found some anyway.

“Sorry Lexi, Sam and I sort of had a fight
, and I didn’t feel like coming down.”