True Connection (The Soul Mate Series) (2 page)

             
I roll my eyes this time. “No thanks, but I’d be forever grateful if you removed your hands,” I snap.

He shoves me away from him.

              “Do you know…” he says through his teeth. He pauses then restarts. “You had your chance. Now you get to choose from all the parasites, losers, and players that are around here. I bet you’ll be going after the new guy now, too. I know his type. Just look at him.” He points to Henry. “All those girls think he’s perfect, but he wouldn’t know how to treat a girl unless she was wrapped in pig skin. Go on sweetheart, beg me. I’ll save you the heartache and you can sit with me.” He finishes his speech with a look, like he actually expects me to drop to my knees and beg.

Looking around, we now have an audience, so whatever I say won’t go unnoticed.

              I fake smile. “Derik, you’re not God, and I really do feel bad for anyone who chooses to listen to the verbal diarrhea you spout off. You know nothing about me or the ‘new player.’ The only begging that will be heard will be from you, if you ever choose to touch me again. Are we clear?”

             
I can hear a few gasps and snickers as I turn to leave, but slam right into Henry’s chest. Seeing the anger on his face, I’d guess he heard me.

This should be interesting.

              “Is there a problem here, Jazzy?” Henry asks me as he stares Derik down.

             
“Don’t think so anymore. I may have taken care of this one on my own, but you’re more than welcome to check for yourself.” I smile, as he gives Derik a glare that would make the devil duck for cover. Derik backs away and goes into the cafeteria.

             
“Come on, let’s go get lunch.” Henry puts his arm over my shoulder and leads me out to his car. On the way out, I notice his little ‘fan club’ giving me the stink eye.

             
We get out to the car, and Henry grabs my arm and starts inspecting it.

             
“Henry, I’m fine. He was just being a jerk.” I pull my arm away.

             
“If he touches you again Jazzy, let me know. I’m talking a bump in the hall, a tap on the shoulder, I don’t care. I don’t like him. Stay away from him.”

             
“No worries, brother dear. I only have one class with him so far, so outside of that I can’t imagine spending any real time with him.” I smile. “Oh, I do know something that will make you happy, though,” I say, as he drives down the road to the McDonald’s.

             
He laughs a little. “What’s that look all about? You’re not going ‘Evil Twin’ on me, are ya?”

             
“I just happen to know that Derik is on the football team. That’s all,” I say around a fake yawn.

             
“I hope he goes to the early training camp.” He’s grinning like a hyena. I wish I could see what he does to him.

             
At least this school is closer to civilization than our old school. The break there wasn’t long enough to try and get food outside of the cafeteria.

We finish our lunch from McDonald’s and head back inside for our last two classes. The whole way to my math class, I feel the strange sensation that I’m being stalked. I shake off the feeling. It’s probably just Derik following me, anyway.

Skeeter smiles and waggles her eyebrows at me when I take the empty seat behind her. I shrug, causing her to roll her eyes.

             
“You’re hopeless, Jaz.” She rolls her eyes, dramatically. “Who’s the hottie that you left with at lunch?”

             
“Oh, you mean my brother? His name is Henry.”

Her eyes nearly pop out of her head. Am I really that bad looking that my brother being ‘hot’ is so strange and shocking? I mean, I know I didn’t apply much make-up today or do anything special with my hair. But I thought I was at least pretty.

              “Can I hang out at your place before school? I’d love to see that, freshly showered,” she says, while fanning herself.

             
“Oh wow, gross.” I scrunch my face, but then I laugh because Skeeter wants to be one of the ‘fan club’ girls.

             
A few minutes into class, the door swings wide open with a bang. I slowly look over and talk about a “hottie,” standing there is an extremely handsome boy, if you can even classify him as a “boy.” He has short, curly, dark brown hair, eyes as green as grass, a strong chiseled jaw, and the body of an NFL football player.

The kind of guy that makes your eyes bug out, your mouth water, your heart beat out of your chest, and your brain turn to mush. And I have all of those symptoms.

              I look down at my desk as my cheeks heat. I wish I’d taken the time to dress to impress instead of comfort. It’s my sister’s favorite band t-shirt. I wanted to feel close to her. I missed our traditional first day of school breakfast, chocolate chip pancakes and preparatory first-day insults.

             
I ignore those thoughts and try focusing on the next problem.

             
“Making an entrance, Mr. Neill? Take your seat and begin with the problems on the board,” Mr. Wolfe says.

             
Mr. Neill makes his way towards my side of the room silently and sits in the empty seat behind me. I stiffen, and might even be holding my breath.

I wonder if he’s looking at the back of my head instead of working on the problems Mr. Wolfe listed. I wonder if my hair is sticking up all demented looking or with a French fry sticking out of my hair. I fidget throughout the class, run my hands through my hair, straighten my shirt, and shift in my seat.

              When Mr. Wolfe announces the end of the lesson, Skeeter turns in her seat to face me. “So, Jaz, I’m curious. How do you know Leland Jefferies?”

             
That’s one question I’m not ready to answer, maybe not ever.

Leland’s a local celebrity and was active in the community with my mom, well, before the accident. If Skeeter figures out he’s my uncle, she’ll know exactly who I am and what happened to my family.

              “Skeeter, it’s Jasmine’s first day. Can’t you wait for her second or third day to get her life story?” It’s the distractingly hot guy behind me who says it.

             
I turn in my seat and openly stare at him.

He knows my name.

Oh God, he knows my freaking name.

             
He smiles, “I didn’t mean to startle you. My name is Seth. I’ve been hearing your name a lot today.”
Crap.
It’s probably my runaway act or because of the argument with Derik before lunch.

He has a gorgeous smile, and I find myself smiling back at him.

What else am I supposed to do?

The green of his eyes is so beautiful, incredible even. It’s like I’m hypnotized by them. I can’t seem to look away. I just hope I remember to breathe.

              “What class do you have next?” he asks me.

             
“Uhh…” Damn! Why didn’t I take the time to memorize my schedule?

             
“She’s got study hall with Mrs. Kling,” Skeeter answers for me and breaks the spell. I look at her with surprise written all over my face. “Sweetie, your schedule is in your hand, and close your mouth. You don’t wanna drool,” she whispers before walking over to the group of kids standing by the door, leaving me with Mr. Brain-Freeze-Inducer, himself.

             
“Could I walk you to class? I have study hall with Mrs. Kling too.”

Think Jazzy…work your puddle-brain and your mouth to form a sentence already!

              “Yeah, su-su-sure.” Oh my God! I can’t believe I actually stuttered.

When the bell rings, he points me in the correct direction to get to our class.

              “So, how do you like it here so far?”

             
“It’s um…great?” That really came out sounding like a question.

I’m pretty sure my cheeks are going to be stained red for eternity.

He laughs at my answer. “That good, huh? Well I have to say, Derik Little isn’t the best person to bring out the welcome wagon. Good thing you stopped his advances.”

He heard about that. My face is probably plaid by now.

My foot catches on something and I lose my balance and start falling. I close my eyes just as my arm starts tingling.

“Woah, there,” Seth says.

He caught my arm and stopped me from falling.

“Thank you.” I smile to him.

I didn’t think it was possible, but I feel my cheeks get redder.

I turn to see what I tripped on and a short little redhead is glaring at me. I recognize her from the volleyball team. Pretty sure she was the one that tried to use her face to block my spike.

I smile at the memory and to her. She huffs and walks away.

Seth removes his hand from my arm.

My smile falls and my mood plummets again.

Weird. I feel just like I have been feeling all day.

I shiver and cross my arms over my chest. I was just truly happy. Something I haven’t actually felt in months now.

Henry suddenly storms over to us. He takes in my stance and I’m sure, the confused look on my face, and glares at Seth.

              Seth holds out his hand to shake. “Hey man, I’m Seth.”

Henry glances at his hand, then looks back up to his face. “I’m Henry, and I’m getting sick of punks messin’ with my sister.” I stare at him horrified, and he grabs my arm and starts pulling me towards my class. “Let’s get you to class Jazzy.”

              “Henry, I’m fine, just embarrassed.” I try shaking him off me. “Some girl tripped me and Seth caught me,” I whisper harshly. I wish he could read my mind so he can see that Seth isn’t being rude.

             
“Just lookin’ out for ya, Jazzy. I’m a little on edge since lunch.” He shrugs one shoulder. I know he thinks he’s being a good big brother, but he’s really embarrassing me.

             
“I know,” I sigh.

“Okay.” He grins. “See ya at the car, Jazzy!” He calls over his shoulder as he walks away again.

              I smile apologetically at Seth and he returns a smile of his own.

             
“I have a question for you,” Seth asks as we head to the door. “Do you prefer Jasmine or Jazzy?”

Oh thank God! This I can answer! “I prefer Jaz, actually.”

I go talk to the teacher and she tells me there’s no set seating chart so I can sit wherever I’d like.

I choose the seat next to Seth, and he smiles at me.

All I can seem to think about is that smile of his and those lips. What would it feel like to have those lips on…
Stop it Jaz!

I pull out my English book and force myself to think of anything else besides the strange, gorgeous boy sitting next to me.

The Giants

I fall into an easy routine with Skeeter in the morning, Henry at lunch and Seth for the last two hours of school.

Skeeter’s fourth hour class is near the gym, so we walk together from art.

“What are you doing this weekend?” She asks me as we round the corner.

“I don’t know yet. What do you have in mind?”

“I don’t know.” She shrugs. “I’m thinking, maybe, Friday night going to that senior party. I need to get away this weekend.”

“Have fun at the party.” I smile. “What’s goin’ on that you want to get away?” I ask.

“My parents are having a get-together on Saturday. Bunch of old fogeys blabbing about the weather or some shit.” She shudders. “You won’t come with me Friday?”

“No,” I say emphatically. “Parties aren’t my thing.”

What I don’t say, is “anymore.” I don’t enjoy being around people so much, not since the accident.

“Okay, okay. No party for you.” She nods and stops next to her classroom. “Where do you live? I should be able to get out before people show up, I can come get you, and we can go to the movies or paint our nails pink.” She giggles.

The thought of pink puts me back in my sister’s room. She always tried to paint my nails and do my hair like I was some kind of Barbie.

I swallow the lump in my throat. If I would’ve known she wouldn’t be here now, I probably would’ve let her. “Uhh… I’m actually not going to be home this weekend,” I lie. “I’m sorry.” I rush off to gym.

I can’t believe I just told a bald-faced lie.

The gym hall is empty.
Shit!
I’m late. About halfway to the locker room doors I hear footsteps behind me. I glance over my shoulder and no one is there. Shrugging, I continue on my way. The footsteps get louder, faster. The hair on my arms and the back of my neck stand on end, and I jog to the girls’ locker room.

The rest of the day quickly goes by, and soon I find myself walking with Seth to study hall. He tells me about his mom’s birthday, and how he took her to see the latest tearjerker.

              “No way!” I laugh at Seth. “I can’t believe you watched that movie!”

             
“Well, she wanted to see it for her birthday.” He shrugs. “I didn’t really have a choice.”

             
That’s sweet. He took his mom to see a chick flick.

             
“Don’t,” he groans. “She gave me that look, too. ‘Seth, you’re so sweet!’” he mimicked a woman’s voice.

             
“It’s not a bad thing.” I tell him, while sidestepping another student.

             
“So,” he puts an arm on my shoulder to steady me from being jostled. “What did you do last night?”

             
“Nothing really, finished my homework and listened to music until dinner was ready.” I shrug. I don’t tell him that my uncle and I watched a really bad movie just for laughs.

             
“Your parents make you do the ‘family meals’, too?”

             
My heart squeezes almost painfully and my breathing picks up. “Yea…” I trail off and fish for something else to talk about. “So, do you play any sports for the school?” I blurt out my thought.

             
“No.” He shakes his head and gives me a look that says he’s confused.

             
When we take our seats, I release a quiet sigh, thankful for this hour of silence.

It’s hard talking to Skeeter and Seth sometimes. I’m just not ready to talk about my family.

***

             
It’s Friday, and Gemma, a senior, is having a party. Henry is going with his football buddies and doesn’t want me to go. That’s fine with me, since I had no intention of going.

After the bell for fourth, I head to the lunch hall and find my brother standing near the doors with three giants. I’m not kidding. My brother stands at six foot and these guys have, at least, six inches on him. They also have, I’d say, anywhere from fifty to eighty pounds of muscle larger than Henry’s.

They. Are. Huge. Like, steroid-filled, pro-wrestlers on TV.

Henry spots me and points. Four loud voices boom through the masses, “
Jazzy
!”

I’m not exactly sure who to look at because all four of them are grinning like hyenas.

What does Henry have up his sleeve now and who are the Giant Triplets?

             
“Come on, Jazzy, the guys are joining us today,” Henry says.

“And probably every day,” the one in the red shirt says around his fist.

The blonde and the one in green lead the way to a lifted, dirty Jeep. Whoever the owner is could be pretty awesome to hang with.

             
Henry introduces us before we climb in. “Jaz, this is Barry.” The blonde. “Flynn.” The one in the green shirt. “And this is Tony.” The red shirt. “Guys, this is, obviously, my sister.”

Barry, the blonde, is in front of me and begins to look me over. I raise a brow, wondering if I pass his pop quiz.

              Henry smacks the back of Barry’s head hard. “Dude! That’s my sister!”

             
“Sorry man, no worries! I’ll protect her…” he pauses dramatically. “From myself, I promise.” He rolls his eyes then gives Henry a shove toward the back door of the Jeep.

             
Before Henry gets in, I grab his arm and pull him away from the guys.

             
“Who are they?” I whisper and throw my thumb over my shoulder.

             
“Well, Barry is the…”

             
“Seriously?” I interrupt him and raise my eyebrow. “I remember their names. Just tell me who they
are
.”

             
“They’re guys on the football team.” He shrugs. “They’re cool. You’ll like them.” He shakes his head and jogs over to the passenger door. Not really having much of a choice, I follow him.

             
We head to the pizza pub down the road from the school and get a table near the back. Between the jokes, snarky comments, and the way Tony charms our waitress, I’m laughing so hard I can hardly breathe, let alone eat.

There’s a pause in the conversation and suddenly, all eyes are on me.

              “What?” I swipe my napkin over my face, thinking I’ve got a ketchup smudge.

Tony turns to me and takes a deep breath. “So… When do we get to meet this
boyfriend
of yours?”

What boyfriend? I look at Henry and raise a brow.

              “Guys, they’re not dating. At least, not yet anyway, but his name is Seth Neill. He just looks at her like she’s his next notch,” Henry answers on my behalf.

I throw one of Barry’s fries at Henry. “He does not, you moron! What’s it matter anyway? I. Don’t. Date. End of discussion.” I don’t get it. How did Seth get brought up in this conversation - and who are these guys to ask about who I’m dating?

Flynn is kinda flushed, Tony looks pissed, and Barry is laughing hysterically - like I just said I was going on a freak-show tour wearing a fruit hat, a muumuu and fuzzy bunny slippers. I’d hate to see the reaction if I was actually dating someone. Maybe Flynn would hide, Tony would crap himself, and Barry would choke on a French fry.

             
“Jaz, he’s kinda strange,” Flynn says.

“He’s the only kid we know that can beat
us
at almost anything,” Tony adds, without looking at anyone.

“Jaz, you hooked yourself a pretty boy, but you better let us figure out if he’s good enough for you,” Barry finishes.

              “I say, until Leland meets him, you stay away from him.” Henry practically orders.

I just stare at him. My face probably resembles a fish with the way my mouth is opening and closing. I’m trying to wrap my brain around this conversation, but it’s all so confusing, and frustrating. How is Leland meeting him going to change anything? How is it that three guys I just met get to be the deciding factor for who my friends are?

“So, what do you know?” Henry addresses the guys, before I can add my two cents to the conversation, and decision.

             
“Let’s discuss Pretty Boy later. We should get back,” he says, glancing at his phone. “We’ll figure out a game plan for this weekend, maybe Flynn can pencil in some interrogation time,” Barry says, while tossing some cash on the table.

             
As we walk to the exit, I slowly regain control of my thought process and function of my voice.

             
I hear the door swing shut behind me and snap. “
Guys
!” I yell. The four of them look at me in various expressions, ranging from stoic to amusement. “You three have absolutely...”

             
Barry interrupts me. “Dude, Jaz, chill out. We grew up here, so we know what kind of sticky situation you got yourself into. Let the men handle this. Just sit back and relax.”

Henry smiles crookedly and mouths, “He means well.”

I roll my eyes and growl. Yeah right!

They’re the strange ones, not Seth.

The guys go back to joking and goofing off, the whole way back to school like nothing happened. I, on the other hand, am getting angrier by the second and chewing at my cuticles to keep from blowing up on them.

Who do those giants think they are? They have no right to tell me what to do or who I should spend
my
time with.

I can kind of see where Henry feels he should be heard, but honestly, he has no right either.

By the time we get back to the school, I’m so mad I can’t even see straight. I slam the back door in Flynn’s face as I exit the Jeep.

And who else would be standing by the doors to the lunch hall?

Seth.

He frowns slightly at my approach. “Hey, Jaz, you okay?”

              “Uh, no,” I admit. I glance over my shoulder and see the guys coming our way, and they aren’t looking all that friendly. “Let me just apologize now,” I groan and tug on my hair as my brother and his three annoying friends surround us. I give Seth an apologetic smile, but he doesn’t notice.

             
“Hey there, Pretty Boy,” Barry says through his teeth.

Oh, crap. This is going to go over like a wet fart in church.

Seth’s jaw is already clenching, and his eyes are vibrant with anger. On my other side, Tony’s left eye is twitching, Henry’s teeth are grinding, Flynn is visibly shaking, and Barry is looking awfully cocky with his arms crossed over his enormous chest.

             
My temper flares. “What is wrong with you? Is this a stupid vampire versus werewolf joke that I’m not getting?” I look at each one of them. Not getting a response from any of them, I stamp my foot and growl. “Stuff you! I’m going to class!”

I leave them standing at the doors, staring at each other like idiots.

I don’t see Seth the rest of the day, and I wonder why I even care.

***

By Sunday afternoon, I’m ready to tear Henry’s head off.

He’s ignoring me and I’m sick of it.

How does making new friends at school cause your brother to ignore you? It’s not like Skeeter’s a hooker and Seth’s her pimp.

             
I barge into Henry’s room to find him sitting at his desk with his face glued to the computer screen. He doesn’t even look up when I come in, and I was not exactly quiet about it.

I’ve had enough. “Henry, what is going on?”

              “Not really sure, Jazzy. Leland and I are on it though,” he mumbles.

             
I stare at him. “What are you talking about?”

             
“Your new friends are weird. Something isn’t right.” He still hasn’t looked away from his computer.

             
“My friends are weird? What about your giants?”

             
His face stays glued to the screen.

             
This ends
now
.

             
“Henry, Skeeter and Seth are normal compared to you and your friends. My friends don’t question my relationship with you, my need for music, or ask why the color pink makes me nauseous.” He looks at me now, but I can tell he really isn’t looking
at
me. “Why is it such a problem for me to have friends?”

Henry says nothing and turns back at the computer screen.

I stomp back to my room and crank up my music. An angry rock song flows from the speakers. It soothes my anger as I dive headfirst into my pillows and scream out frustration that seems to be boiling over. Tears threaten to burst through an invisible dam as I pull my body into a sitting position.