Soulmates

She walked into the office, and I was kind of thrown. When Mr. Collins had said Head of the Student Council, I hadn’t put it together. This was the girl Kyle always used to talk about before we had a falling out. In my head, I had imagined her to be…..well, a nerd. She was nowhere close to that, though. She looked….amazing to say the least. Her hair fell perfectly around her face. Her clothes were-for lack of a better word-adorable. “Jade,” Mr. Collins greeted her. Jade, I thought, a perfect name for her. “This is Angel Jackson,” Mr. Collins continued, “ I set it up and you two have the same classes for the most part. Show him around for me.” “Yes, sir,” Jade said, her eyes lingering on mine. I picked up my bag, shook Mr. Collins hand, and followed her out. “What’s your first class,” Jade asked in a slightly husky voice. “Auto III,” I responded, looking at my schedule.
“Cool, same as me,” she said. Was I imagining the relief in her tone? I didn’t think so. We headed out of the main building toward the Auto Shop. A lot of the guys in there recognized me from Keller Middle. Chase was outside the shop, when we walked up. “Rumor has it you’re…” Chase began. I shot him a look, trying to convey he needed to shut up. “Trying to steal Kyle’s girl,” Chase finished. “He’s what,” Jade said angrily from behind me. She cocked her head. “Not likely to ever happen,” she said, stalking into the shop. “Nice, real nice,” I said sarcastically. Chase looked at me. “Are you really….,” he said. “She’s the one,” I said. “No way,” Chase said, incredulous. “I’ll explain later,” I said, walking past him to the shop.
I stopped in the doorway, looking around for Jade. I spotted her across the room, next to the lift, trying to unbolt a transmission by herself. I dropped my bag, and went over to hold the transmission. “I got it,” she snapped. “Yeah, you’ll really be showing me when this falls on your head,” I retorted. She glared at me. She looks even more beautiful mad, I thought. “Stop arguing and just say thank you,” I said before she could say anything. Jade turned back to the bolt, not speaking. The transmission came out suddenly, but I managed to catch it before it hit Jade. “See, what would you have done without me,” I said. “Gotten hit, and hopefully woke up from this nightmare,” she replied.
“Ouch,” I said, grabbing my chest and stumbling backward like she hit me. She glared. “Come on, lighten up, Chase was joking,” I tried again to make her smile. It had no effect whatsoever. When the bell rang, we went to History. We walked in, and the first thing I noticed was Kyle and Chase sitting on one side of the lab tables. The History room used to be a Science lab, hence the lab tables. “Hey babe,” Kyle whispered to Jade so no one overheard. I glanced at her. She had stiffened in her seat. What’s on your mind, I wondered. “Hey, wings,” Kyle said, kicking me under the table. “Keep your eyes off my girl.” I didn’t respond. The next class was English. It was just me and Jade, no annoying best friends or boyfriends, just us. It was the first day and we got assigned a project due in two weeks.
Jade and I were made partners. We had to come up with books we had read over the summer and make a skit/poem/song. During lunch, Jade kept playing with her food, not really eating anything. “Hey, do you wanna come over tonight and we can at least make the list?” I said, hoping she said yes. “Umm….I don’t know,” she said after a minute of thinking. “We can get a head start,” I pointed out. “Yeah...but Kyle wanted to hang out,” Jade said, continuing to play with her food. “Of course he does,” I said bitterly. “What’s your problem with each other,” she asked. “Come over and I’ll tell you,” I bargained. Jade thought it over. “I’ll try,” she conceded. “I’ll need your phone number then,” I said. “Why,” she asked, instantly suspicious. “To tell you my address and everything,” I explained. “Oh...umm...ok,” she said, rattling off her number. I scribbled it on a napkin and put it in my bag.
After lunch, I had Creative Writing. We were told to write a scary story. Creative Writing is normally my favorite class, but my mind kept wandering today. How can I bring up soulmates to Jade? Should I even bring it up? That could be a disaster in the making. I was startled when the bell rang. Great, more homework, I thought. The rest of the day went by quickly. As I walked out of the school, I saw Jade struggling to hold a box and open her door. “Jade!” I shouted. I got a few weird looks, but I ignored them as I trotted to her car. “Hey,” I greeted, taking the box from her. She looked at me. “What’s this,” I asked, peeking in the box. “Theater stuff,” Jade replied. “You can take theater here,” I asked. “Well...drama, but yeah,” she said. “Can I join,” I asked. “You’d have to talk to Mr. Collins and Mrs. Todd,” she replied. Jade finally got the door open and put the box on the passenger seat.
“Don’t you have a car or something to be getting to,” she asked, as the traffic around us increased. I nodded to the pick-up beside her car. “That’s yours,” she said looking shocked. I nodded. “It’s beautiful,” she practically gushed. “Thanks,” I said, amused. Suddenly, I was pushed against Jade’s car. “I thought I told you to stay away from my girl,” Kyle snarled from behind me. “He was just-” Jade started. “I don’t care what he was just,” Kyle snapped. Jade looked away. “Don’t yell at her,” I said, getting a little pissed. Kyle shoved me back into the car. “Don’t tell me what to do, and you stay the hell away from her,” he said, his voice getting louder with each word. I must have smirked or something because his eyes darkened and he swung his fist at my head.
I ducked and punched him in the gut. He stumbled into my truck. “You don’t want to fuck with me, not about her,” I said in a rough voice. Jade started to say something, but I hopped in my truck and sped off. About an hour after I got home, I realized Jade didn’t have my number. *Hey, it’s Angel.* I texted. *Hey, umm….Kyle doesn’t want to hang out anymore….what’s your address?* I smiled and gave her the general directions.