Chapter 1

            The night still held the slightest touch of summer as Brielle and her two oldest friends sat at a wrought-iron table outside the gelato shop. They were the last group of people to be there, and, despite the brief glares they were receiving from the high-school worker who was mopping up the floor inside, they had no intentions of leaving anytime soon.  Brielle brushed her reddish-brown bangs out of her eyes as the breeze yet again lifted her wavy hair off her shoulders.  She ignored the laughter of her friends, opting instead to close her eyes and listen to the sound of traffic on the main street just a block away.  She felt a wonderful disconnect from the busy world and for a moment wasn’t sure if she was ready to go back to New York.

            “Bri!”

            Bri’s opened one eye slowly until she could see the face of her friend, who was trying to glare at her, but could only succeed in a sassy smirk.

            “Do not tell me that you’re going to bed already.”  Melanie showed a row of perfectly straight teeth as she grinned at Bri’s return glare.  Emma giggled in response, deciding not to get involved in the banter that was sure to begin between the two friends. 

            The three girls had decided that tonight, the last night all of them were going to be in town, they would spend all of it together.  And, since Melanie was notorious for going to bed early, it had turned into a kind of death match to see who would be the last one standing at the end.  This explained why, even though the gelato shop had closed at 11, a half hour ago, they were still scooping out bites, taking their sweet time and ignoring the young worker, who apparently was unsure whether or not he could leave the girls outside the shop, even though the chairs would be left out all night anyway. 

            Brielle smirked as she spooned a bite of melty vanilla lavender gelato onto to tongue.  “I wasn’t snoozing, Mel dear, I was simply enjoying the night.”

            Melanie eyed her friend was skepticism, but then let a smile grow on her lips.  “I can forgive you; this is one of the most gorgeous nights I’ve ever seen.”

             Bri nodded happily and sighed as she leaned back against the chair.  The night was unseasonably warm for Rochester, Minnesota.  Even though it was still summer, it was rare for her to be able to sit out in the middle of the night in August wearing only a short sleeve brown tunic-length linen top that was belted around then middle and a pair of denim Capri pants.  Her brown and tan flip-flops hung lazily off her toes as she leaned back and looked up at the stars through the trees.

            Emma seemed to read her thoughts.  “Don’t you miss the stars when you are in New York?”

            Bri cocked her head to the side and answered her friend without looking at her. “Sometimes.  I don’t know, it’s hard to miss the stars when I love so many other things about that place.”  She looked up to give her friends a smile. “You have to promise to visit me this time, because you would both love it.  There’s so much energy there, and I feel like if I ever need some inspiration, all I have to do is walk around Manhattan a little.  I used to think I had inspiration here but then when I went there… it just went into overdrive.”

            Melanie shook her head, her long, straight brown hair ruffling over her shoulders. “But visiting just isn’t enough, we miss you! We definitely haven’t been able to make a friend at UM that can replace you yet.”

            Bri glared at her friend.  “Well just keep trying; I’m sure you’ll find someone eventually.  There are plenty of people in the Twin Cities.”

            Emma frowned, “Melanie, you know we don’t want to find a replacement Bri…”

            Melanie cut in happily, “No, you’re right – we want a better one!”

            Bri stuck out her tongue and took a scoop of her second flavor, turtle cheesecake, instead of replying.  She happily tuned her friends out as they mentioned a class that they were taking together and Emma tried to dissuade Melanie from what the girl called “friend interviewing.”  Bri could help but smile as she watched the two of them, whom she had known all since middle school.  It sure did feel like home to have them around again.

            Brielle had taken a big step when she decided to go to New York in order to study design.  Her parents weren’t all too thrilled for her to be far away but once she set foot on campus… she knew it was the place for her.  It was so full and vibrant and she felt like the city held everything open for her.  As much as she had enjoyed her summer back at home, it would be good to be back in New York.  She had to admit, she was looking forward to seeing her roommates again.  They weren’t that close of friends, but they sure were fun to be around.  And then, of course, there was Kyle.  Brielle gave a little smile as she thought about her boyfriend back at school.  He was super cute with short red hair and he had the added attraction of being super artsy – a must for any boy of Bri’s.

            “Bri, I think I know that smile.  Thinking about Kyle?”  Melanie winked at her friend. “So, when are you two getting hitched?”

            Bri almost choked on her ice cream.  “What?  Mel, we dated for a grand total of three weeks before we parted ways for the summer.  There will be no ‘hitching’ going on.”  She shook her head. Maybe it would be good to be away from Melanie and Emma, after all.  They always gave her such a hard time.

            She wasn’t lying when she said she loved New York.  It was on a whim when, a little over a year ago she had taken a chance and submitted her art portfolio to the school.  She hadn’t really anticipated getting in… but when the school replied with a very enthusiastic invitation – well, she just couldn’t say no.  And now she was living her dream, spending hours in an art studio and even more time on the computer, getting into a side of art that she had never before anticipated, graphic design. Just thinking about it made her feel a little antsy inside, remembering the project she had left half completed at the end of last semester, but found that she couldn’t finish it in Minnesota because the atmosphere was wrong.  Part of her wondered if she was going to be able to capture that idea again or if it was just part of being a freshman in a new place, and perhaps it was now gone forever.

            Brielle grinned as Emma threw her hands up in the air in exasperation of Melanie’s antics.  Melanie only mocked her friend some more, rolling her eyes and then winking in Brielle’s direction.  Bri shook her head and let her gaze wander out over the street to look at the quiet neighborhood. She found it hard to believe that it was already going to be the start to fall, and the start to a new semester.  She remembered one time when Emma asked her if she didn’t just feel like a little ant in such a big place like New York City.  Brielle just laughed and told her that Minneapolis wasn’t a little village either. Bri had to admit, it was so easy to get lost in a place like New York, and yet feel like she belonged to something big and wonderful at the same time –

            Brielle felt herself come out of her daydream as she caught the flicked or something just across the street, at the corner of the road where they sat and the main road that still had cars buzzing past.  Melanie and Emma, too, raised their heads as their conversation halted. It took only a split second, not enough to Brielle to think, before the enormous, deafening crash exploded through the air.  In seconds, she was on the ground, but not before she saw the dark sky light up in a brilliant orange fireball.

            “Bri!”  She heard the girls yell.  Blinking, she looked over to see he two friends who were also under the table. Without thinking, Brielle rolled out from under the iron table and got to her feet.  She rushed into the middle of the street, looking down at the corner. Where there used to be a corner gas station, there was instead a huge, red fire.  Her mind was in a daze.  Where the air had before been cool and calm it was now angry and gritty. Brielle could feel the heat of the fire on her face but couldn’t look away from the scene.  It was hard to tell in the dark, but it looks like there was a large tanker blazing, and it seemed obvious that the tanker had somehow run into the pumping stations.  The smoke was black and heavy, swirling dangerously through the air.  Brielle barely registered the fact that her friends were pulling at her arms, telling her that they should back away because they were too close to the fire.  But Brielle couldn’t tear herself away from the catastrophe, vaguely aware that she could see the forms of people still in the convenience store part of the gas station, their silhouettes obvious against the fluorescent lights into the store.  Bri realized with horror that it was obvious that the driver of the truck was still in his cab, apparently knocked out. 

            Brielle felt her heart race in her chest and before she realized what she was doing, she was bolting toward the blaze. Before she made it three steps though, her friends were holding her back. Melanie yanked on Brielle’s arm and shouted over the loud blaze into her ear.  “Bri!  You have got to step away!  If that thing explodes again it’s all going to be debris and glass.  We need to get out of here!”

            Bri shook her head and tried to pull her arms away. Her efforts were quickly halted as she felt something fly past her head.  Out of the corner of her eye she saw something speeding toward the fire.  Startled enough to stop, she turned back, unable to catch the glimpse of what she had seen before.  It was big enough to be a person and he was wearing jeans. 

            “Mel – did you see-?”

            “No!  I didn’t see anything, I’ve been trying to make you see what kind of danger we’re in.  Come on!”  Melanie said as Emma yanked harder on her arms but she wouldn’t budge.

            “No way, I just saw someone.”  Bri was saying quickly, barley believing what was coming out of her mouth.  “I swear, he was in the air.  I don’t –“ Brielle faltered, remembering what she saw.  His hair was blonde, he was wearing a blue shirt, but – was he really flying?  That just didn’t make any sense.  Was he running really fast?  Bri shook her head, still gazing intently at the flames.

            Suddenly they heard the cries and shouts of other people on the street.  She hadn’t even noticed that a crowd had gathered around the outskirts of the blaze as people emerged from the bars and homes nearby.  Emma was pleading with her to just take a few steps back as they were still inside the circle of people that were arriving.  There was a commotion on the far side and Bri could see that, safely out of the range of the fire, the driver of the truck was laying on the sidewalk.  The light from the flames showed that blood ran down his face and his entire body was black with smoke, but he was obviously alive as he slowly came to consciousness, looking bewildered.  Seconds later, Brielle followed the sounds of astonished voices to the other side of the street where a couple of people were hugging each other and crying before pointing to the convenience store and shaking their heads.  It was obvious they were the people who were, just moments before, stuck inside the convenience store.

            “Wait, how did they -?” 

            She didn’t have a chance to finish her thought as an eerie creaking sound was emitted from the gas station and she felt a third set of hands grab her shoulders from behind.  Turning her head, she locked eyes with a man she didn’t recognize, whose deep voice filled her ears

            “You have to get back, it’s going to explode!”

            The gas station gave another creak and Bri felt herself nodding.  His hair was blonde, his eyes were blue, and his lips were pinched with urgency. She turned quickly and the four of them ran away from the blaze, toward the line of people who were at least a block away.  Bri hadn’t realized just how close they were and suddenly felt the urgency that her friends had been feeling before.  Bri pushed herself to run faster but they didn’t make it much further before there was another enormous explosion, bigger than she could have thought was possible, and Bri felt herself being pulled off her feet.  With a scream that couldn’t be heard over the roar of breaking glass and metal, the four of them were thrown to the ground.

To continue reading, go to the bottom of the blog and click on “older entries” to find Chapter 2 and so on!

Chapter 16

            After that, Bri started hearing the ringing.  Jackson was convinced that she had just learned how, and that it had nothing to do with the fact that they had gotten frisky, but Brielle thought otherwise.  Bri had been in bed enough times to know that what they had was… well, fate.  It only made sense that her change wouldn’t be able to be complete until after they solidified that they were, in fact, together.

            Though, Bri had to admit that theory didn’t quite hold up when it came to developing all her powers.  She still wasn’t sure what her special power was but she was less worried about it now.  Not when she was almost constantly hearing a small, ringing bell that was calling her to come fight.

            “You have to learn to distinguish between them,” Jackson said the next day over lunch.  They were at the same table as before in the cafeteria, though the days had finally decided to feel much more like fall.  Bri had, unwillingly, pulled a heather gray cardigan over her burnt orange tank top.  She still wore capris, though they were the heaviest jean ones she owned.  Jackson had donned a navy NYU long-sleeve t-shirt over a pair of jeans.  Bri made a mental note to ask him what he was actually supposed to be doing – instead of pretending that he was attending NYU with her.  She had not idea how he got away with never having a student ID with him, since she was asked for it constantly.

            “It’s hard though,” Bri said miserably, taking a bite of her salad.  “I mean, every once in a while I can tell that it’s really far away, but there are some that seem to be right next to me, too.”

            “But you don’t feel like you have to go to them, do you?”

            “No, not yet.  Though I definitely want to.”  Even as she spoke, in the very back of her mind, she heard a slight ringing.  That one really didn’t bother her though.  “When should I start going?”

            Jackson shrugged one shoulder.  “Soon, I guess, if you’re hearing it.  It would be best if we could go to the same one.”

            Bri nodded quickly.  She did not want to try her crime-fighting skills out alone.  Surely she would just get really confused…

            “And what did I tell you about fighting?”  He asked, his voice light and babyish.  He smiled as he took a huge bite out of his cheeseburger.

            Bri rolled her eyes, but was thankful that he was at least pretending to review with her.  “That it’s all about the defense.”

            He nodded.  “You can move so fast, if you really only think about defending stuff, you end up fighting in the least reckless and most efficient way.  After you’ve kind of learned that, then you’ll be able to figure out how to make some offensive moves.”

            “I have to admit – that makes sense – but –“ Suddenly she was cut off.  Bri’s fork fell with a clatter to the ground as she pressed her hands to the side of her head.  She had never, ever before heard this kind of ringing.  It filled her head completely – she wasn’t even sure where she was –

            She felt Jackson’s hands on hers and just as soon as he removed her hands from her ears, the ringing was gone.  But, just like the sound waves that were bouncing through her head, she felt like they were pulling her outward, like her entire existence was floating on a wave, and all she had to do was follow it and it would lead her where she should – where she needed to go –

            “Well, speak of the devil.”  Jackson said, his voice low.  She looked into his face, to see that where there was usually laughter, he looked worried.  She knew why – she knew he was worried for her.  She also knew that there was nothing he could do to keep her from following the ringing.

            But it seemed like Jackson wasn’t going to try to stop her.  He held out his hand.

            “It’s just as strong for you, too, isn’t it?”  She asked, as she took his hand and, very quickly, they walked around the building, leaving their un-eaten lunches behind.  They need to be alone so they could leap into the sky.  They needed to do that now.

            “Yes.  It’s very close.  I know you can probably follow it, but I want you to follow me instead, okay?  It’s usually better to come around from the side…”

            Bri nodded, even though her instincts wanted to resist it.  She wanted to get there was fast as possible.  But, thankfully, she wasn’t such a slave to the call.  If anything she was more of a slave to her feelings for Jackson.  She would follow him anywhere if he honestly said it was best.

            Soon, they were out of sight of everyone and, in a flash, they were in the air.  Jackson reached out to grab her hand.  Bri didn’t need to do anything but focus on pushing off of the air so she stayed next to him.

            The ringing echoed through her head, distracting her from her thoughts.  What were they going to find there?  Petty crime?  She realized as they soared quickly through the sky that Jackson never really said what sort of things they got called for.  She just kind of assumed they would be doing the same things Spiderman did, or Superman, or –

            Suddenly, Jackson pulled out of the clouds and she was spiraling down through the sky, aiming toward a low flatland.  They were definitely out of the city, and she could feel Jackson tensing.  Something told her this wasn’t going to be an ordinary kind of adventure.

            She and Jackson set down lightly on the edge of a forest.  She quickly took in her surroundings.  Behind them was a forest full of tall red and white pines, their branches towering above her.  Out in front through, was a large open field. It was obvious, though, that no crops had been grown in it in a long time. Bri smelled the air, and her nose wrinkled.  It was bitter, like the sharp smell of chemicals.

            “Back up,” Jackson said quickly, low.  Bri did as she was told, crouching as he did in the low underbrush of the forest.  They were just hidden as a man wearing a black suit and who had salt and pepper hair walked out form a low, bunker type building just on the edge to their left.  Bri hadn’t noticed it before, realizing that it was painted the exact color of the field.  They only reason why someone would have made a building like that would be for it to be as hidden as possible.

            Suddenly, there was the loud crash of machinery, a sound that made her jump.  She flushed a little as she realized the man out in the field did not jump.  But, once that did occur to her, she looked at him more suspiciously.  He either created that noise, or was at least expecting it….

            Her eyes widened as, from the same level of the bunker, a large machine crawled up from the ground.  Its movements were loud, but with each motion they seemed to each into each other, and soon the machine was moving quickly, rapidly, without as much as a sound.  Bri watched as was looked like a small tank rolled across the field.  It was a weird, shiny metallic that was hard for her to focus on.  It was on four spindles whose treads rolled easily over everything.  From those four spindles were four off shoots that held a variety of different blades.  Bri instinctively jumped forward as the machine approached the man rapidly.  She wanted to save him. But Jackson reached out to grab her, holding her in place.

            She would have pushed Jackson off, except the machine had already stopped right in front of the man, who promptly got on top of the machine.  Seconds later the machine had flipped up a sheet of metal, completely surrounding the man.  There was a loud thump and pieces fell off, revealing the man again, who was now covered in metal of the same shiny metallic. It hurt her head to focus on him.  She watched closely as he now directed the machine down the field.  It was impossibly fast, cruising along the uneven ground as though it wasn’t even touching it.

            Bri looked over at Jackson so see whether or not they should follow the machine.  He did not look over at her, instead watching intently.  Bri could tell from the look of tension his face that this was not a normal, run of the mill, encounter.  She quickly turned back to watch – just in time to see a huge ball of fire erupt from the far corner of the field, opposite the machine.

            The sound was enormous and was shocking enough for Jackson to launch himself at her, pressing her into the ground, using his body as a shield.  They both watched, desperately, as the machine completely disappeared.  The only thing left was the remains of the explosion.  Flames licked high into the air.  Bri felt herself being pulled toward the fire, wanting to put it out, wanting to make sure no one was in there –

            “Come on.”  Jackson said, and, much to her surprise, she felt herself being pulled into the air, moving away from the fire.

            “No, Jackson, we need to make sure –“

            “No one is there, Bri, trust me.  We need to get out of here.”

            His voice was just strained enough that it pulled her to follow him.  It was hard though, every part of her core wanted to go toward the fire.  But every part of her heart was with Jackson.  She followed her heart into the clouds and back toward Manhattan.

 

–

            It wasn’t until they were safely back on the NYU campus that Bri spoke.

            “Jackson?”  was all she needed to ask.  He shook his head in response.  Instinctively they walked around the paths on the campus as though there were just normal students going to class.  

            “I don’t know what that was.  Well, I guess I have a better idea than you do – but not much.  That had to do with Gem.”

            She gulped.  The name Gem was starting to become more and more terrifying they it should have.  Probably because of the way Jackson looked whenever he said it.

            “But how do you know?”  Suddenly it occurred to her that she had no idea what Gem looked like.  “He wasn’t that man, was he?”

            Jackson shook his head. “No, but the explosion was definitely his… well… normal tactic.  That and –“ he hesitated, as if he wasn’t sure he wanted to reveal that much to Bri.  The hesitation didn’t last long.  “That and that was pretty much the same area I was just a few days ago.  I don’t know what is going on, but something is important.   And I’m willing to bet that Gem wants to get his hands on that machine.”

            “It did look pretty… intimidating.”  Bri said.  She was as unnerved by the blades as she was by how she couldn’t quite see it. It had kind of glimmered in front of her, its edges were shimmery, and thinking about gave her a headache.  “So… what do we do now?”

            Jackson looked over at her before stepping off the path to take a seat on a thick slab of a concrete bench.  Bri watched as some students she knew walked past, on their way to their next class.

            “You have lecture now,” Jackson said.

            She raised an eyebrow at him. “Really?”

            He ran his hand through his blonde hair, showing the first signs she had ever really witnessed of stress.  Her heartstrings pulled as she turned to face him, crossing her legs.  She grabbed one of his hands and proceeded to massage his fingertips.

            “You don’t know what to do now.”

            He shook his head, looking down at his hand in hers.  “It’s a tricky situation.  It’s hard for me, because there are some things that I have always just known… and now I need to teach it to you.  I’m not sure where to start.”  His eyes moved upwards to lock with hers and she felt her breath catch a little.  “Plus, I can’t help feeling a little guilty.  I just dropped in on your life – your school, your art, your friends…”

             Brielle let a soft smile play across her lips.  “Do you think I would have preferred you didn’t drop in?”

            Jackson’s smile matched her.  “No, however I could have picked a better time.”

            She lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “I’m not so sure about that.  There was never going to be a time in my life where I would just be sitting around with absolutely nothing to do.  In fact, this is probably one of the best times.  I have more freedom now than I ever would.”  She let go of his hand.  “And as far as teaching me goes… I trust you.  You’ll get me all the information I need.”  

            His smile drooped a little. “That feels like a lot of weight on my shoulders.”

            “Isn’t there someone you can share the weight with?  Surely someone else could help you to make sure you don’t leave anything out?”  She tilted her head, curiously.

            Jackson looked thoughtful.  “Technically, it’s my responsibility… however, you do need to meet Mukund at some point anyway…”

            Bri’s green eyes lit up.  “Perfect!  I was wondering when that was going to happen.  Would he know about what happened today?  Maybe you two can do some brainstorming about what it might all mean.”

            Jackson’s classic, wide, beaming smile came out in full force.  He put his palms on her cheeks, holding her head in his hands.  “I am so happy that you are the girl I fell in love with.”
            Bri returned the smile with double the wattage.  “Gee, thanks!  You can’t tell me you wouldn’t have come up with that yourself at some point.”

            They leapt up easily from the bench and instinctive started walking to the back of one of the administrative buildings.  Jackson looked at her skeptically.  “I wouldn’t be so sure.  Super heroes are normally pretty solitary creatures – or in pairs, obviously.”  He grinned, “We tend to just do stuff on our own.”

            “Then how in the world are you living with Mukund?”  She asked as they waited behind the building until it was free of possible witnesses.

            Jackson shot her a wily grin.  “It’s kind of a requirement that every house you have has at least one extra room in it for the traveling super hero.”  He then promptly shot into the air.

            It took Bri a moment for follow him, too preoccupied with his comment.  Every house?  She rushed to catch up with him. “Wait!  Does that mean you own a house?  Does that mean you own houses?  You have SO much to tell me!”

            Jackson’s laughter floated back to her on the wind.

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Chapter 14

            Bri couldn’t stop giggling as she slapped her paint to the canvas, completely thrilled by the way the colors were coming together, weaving themselves around each other in patterns she had never before seen or considered.

            “Bri?”  Jasmine asked, her voice more worried than irritated.  “Are you okay?”

            It had been two days since Bri had first flown and since then Bri had barely walked.  It was easily the most amazing thing she had ever experienced – saving, of course, Jackson’s kisses. And now, as she painted the way the sky looked around the top of the Empire State Building, well, it was really hard to get that feeling of exhilaration out of her mind.  Things were just moving so quickly.  Jackson had sat her down and explained so much about the super hero world to her – it was hard to keep track of it all.  The amazing part was that she still had so much more to learn.

            Bri did her best to quiet herself, but the grin was going to be on her face for a long time.  “Sorry Jazz. I’m just feeling… inspired.”  Bri covered her mouth as another laugh threatened to escape.

            “Because of the new boy, hm?”  Jasmine asked, adding a little paint to her own picture.  Bri watched Jasmine work with appreciation.  She had such a unique way of putting the colors next to each other but never quite mixing them…

            “Mostly.”  Bri admitted as she swirled light lavender around near the top of the spire.  It had been almost conical last night, the wind moving around the obstruction like a little cyclone…

            “Have you spoken with Kyle?”  Jasmine asked, pushing her short blonde hair behind her ears.  She purposefully kept her eyes adverted from Bri’s.

            Bri held back a sigh.  If there was one thing that was going to bring her down from her good mood… “No, I haven’t seen him since the night of the movie.  He was… pretty mad though.  Have you talked to him?”

            Jasmine nodded.  “Pretty mad is an understatement.”

            Bri agreed completely but decided that Jasmine probably didn’t need to hear the blow by blow.  “But he’s over it, right?  I mean, he can’t still be mad?”

            Jasmine’s raised eyebrows said otherwise.

            That’s just silly.  Bri thought, now absentmindedly adding streaks of teal off to the side of the painting.  “You should tell me what he said.”

            “Do you really care?”  Jasmine asked.  Her tone wasn’t mean, even though it did make Bri tense.  Bri had underestimated just how much of a friend Jasmine was to Kyle.

            “I really do.”  Bri said earnestly.  “What I told you in the bathroom was true.  I never meant to hurt him.  Jackson was the one who found me, and… let’s just say he was extremely ambitious in getting my attention.  I didn’t know what hit me.”

            Jasmine watched Brielle’s face as she spoke and then nodded.  “Okay, well – yeah, he’s basically furious.  I admit, it’s kind of a weird reaction.”  Jasmine’s lips pulled into a frown.  “He doesn’t seem sad or like he misses you, just that he’s really pissed off that you left him.”

            Bri nodded.  “I noticed that too.  When I was talking with him, he was angry that I went out with another guy, but then he was absolutely furious at the fact that I was breaking up with him.”  She bit her lip and looked over at Jasmine.  “It doesn’t make sense.  I was honestly thinking about breaking up with him before Jackson came along.  We just weren’t a good match.  But it seemed to take Kyle completely by surprise.”

            Jasmine nodded and brushed some paint on her canvas thoughtfully.  “I don’t think Kyle has ever been dumped before.  Maybe that has something to do with it.”

            Bri nodded.  “I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s angrier about his hurt ego than hurt feelings.  I know it drove him up the wall that I wouldn’t put out.”

            Jasmine snorted a laugh, her eyes brightening as she looked over at Bri devilishly.  “I didn’t know that was the case.  That certainly seems to make more sense.”

            Bri smiled back at her friend wickedly.  “Oh yeah, he never saw as much as a nipple – but not for his lack of trying.  It drove him insane.” Though Jasmine was a better friend to Kyle, Bri was glad that the girl could at least admit to the boy’s faults. 

            “Well if that’s really the reason why he’s acting like such a baby, then I don’t have any sympathy for him.  Plus, it seems like you’re really happy with this Jackson guy.  I think that matters too.”

            Bri’s grin softened as she thought about Jackson.  They had been together… a lot these past couple of days.  He was showing her everything that he could and she was learning from him and from herself.  It was amazing how fast things were moving.  She was so much stronger, she could go just about anywhere, and there was certain things that Jackson did that she could never do – but likewise things that she was developing that he couldn’t do either.  It was an amazing learning process for the both of them.  And then when they weren’t doing super hero things, they were normal people.  They went back to the theatre and watched the whole thing, they went to a movie, he held her in his arms and kissed her until she thought she would lose all her senses completely…

            “Bri?”  Jasmine asked, a smirk on her small, freckled face.  “Bri?  Are you blushing?”

            Bri ignored Jasmine’s question and did her best to focus on her picture once again, dabbing her paintbrush into a pale pink paint.

            “Don’t tell me that you held out completely with Kyle but you’ve had sex with Jackson?!”  Jasmine asked, shocked.  Her voice was not nearly as quiet as it needed to be.

            “No!”  Bri said quickly, her cheeks flaming with a blush.  “Not that it’s any of your business!”  But as Bri looked over and caught Jasmine’s suspicious eyes she chuckled.  “I promise, nothing like that has happened.  Though – well, let’s just say I wasn’t holding out on Kyle because I’m a saint – it was because he just… expected it too much.”

            Jasmine burst out with laughter and nodded in agreement. The noise finally got the attention of the professor though, and she came over quickly to see how their work was progressing, so the conversation stopped at that point.  But Jasmine snuck a glance and Bri, which said everything else they couldn’t say aloud.  Jasmine would want a full update every time they met up.

            Bri sighed, but couldn’t keep the grin off her face as she trailed light yellow across the top of the clouds.  It wasn’t so much a silver lining, as a golden one. The rest of the class passed quickly and as the end drew nearer, she packed up her stuff.  She was eager to get out of the building – it was another gorgeous day outside and she knew that Jackson would be out there waiting for her.  She was excited for this evening.  She was going to convince him to sit out on the roof again so she could paint him.  Already she was imagining what blues to use – wondering how she could possibly make his skin the right color – pale but glowing slightly under the light of the moon…

            Bri moved a little faster than she should for a normal human.  Jackson warned her that it was important not to show her changes to anyone but she was finding restraint hard.  Her excitement lessened however, when she got down to the grassy mall only to realize that, for the first time since she arrived in New York, Jackson wasn’t waiting for her.  Her heart started to pound.  Why would he not be here?  Was there something wrong?  She listened carefully, trying to distinguish between the talking of her classmates and any kind of high pitched whistle that would be calling the super heroes together. 

            Nothing. She thought, miserably.  If there was one thing she wasn’t catching on with it was the ringing that was supposed to alert people nearby to come help.  It wasn’t so much a siren as something the super hero minds did to clue them in on a situation that needed assistance.  But so far Bri had only ever heard the one that Jackson responded to two days ago.  She frowned heavily.  What if he needed help of some sort?

            Bri stood around in the mall for a couple more minutes, feeling awkward, before walking back toward her apartment.  He would know to find here there –

            Before she could get far though, Jackson suddenly appeared next to her.  He didn’t say anything, but she could feel from the way the energy was coursing through his body that he wasn’t his usual happy self.  Still, she was relieved just to have him next to her.  The tightened nerves relaxed measurably through her back and shoulders.

            “There you are,” she said with a sigh.  “What’s wrong?”

            Jackson shook his head, reaching out to wrap an arm around her waist.  “Things are getting weird.  I’m starting to worry that these problems are getting to be more concentrated – and more concentrated on us.”

            Bri felt an icy chill run down her spine as she caught eyes with Jackson  He looked confused… worried…  “What does that mean?  I still haven’t heard anything.  I think maybe if you let me in on some of the information I might be able to help…”

            Jackson nodded but didn’t say anything. “I’ll fill you in more tonight.  But you’re still not ready to help, Bri.  I know you want to, and that it’s frustrating, but – well, it takes a while to actually figure out what you can do.  Flying is one thing – fighting is quite another.  You still don’t know your special power, do you?”

            Bri frowned and shook her head.  “No.  I don’t have a clue.  I just feel strong and light… I haven’t felt anything change except for what you told me I would feel.”

            Jackson pulled her a little closer to him in a one-armed hug.  “Don’t worry, you’ll figure it out soon enough.  Maybe it’s just taking a little longer to develop.”

            That only made Bri’s frown deepen.  “Why would that be though?  I mean, you know for sure that I will have a power?”

            Jackson appeared thoughtful. “I guess it’s possible that you don’t have one.  You could be the first freak without any talent…”

            Bri growled and tried to shove herself out of his grip.  But, despite her new strength, he was much stronger than her.  She gave up quickly. “You are so helpful.”

            He snickered and gave her a quick kiss on her temple.  “Come on, do you want to fly the rest of the way home?  Then we can go grab some grub…”

            Bri’s face lit up at the idea of flying.  “Let’s do it!”

            They quickly dashed off the main road and, within seconds, were up in the air.  Since her apartment wasn’t far, they took a couple of laps, going high into the air – just below where planes fly, but high enough where if anyone saw them, they would just think they were birds.

            The wind around Bri caused her hair to fly out behind her.  Her white top was loose and flowy, catching the wind. But she had enough power to keep it from slowing her down.  Every little bit she tensed her muscles and gave a little burst – it was like she could press against the air, the wind, to give herself another push off.

            Jackson cut her off quickly and Bri had to shoot upwards to avoid hitting him.  She laughed aloud.

            “Hey, do you think you could tell me what you were doing today?”  She called to him.

            He slowed down and flew next to her, considering the question.  “I suppose now as if as good of a time as any. “  He looked down.  “Let’s touch down here.”  He said and took a nose dive.  Bri squealed with glee and followed him closely.

            They landed just on the outside of the Brooklyn bridge.  Bri grabbed a hold of the side railing and propelled herself onto the walkway.  She and Jackson both ignored the quizzical look that two runners gave them.

            “Where should I begin?”  Jackson asked and Bri grabbed a hold of his hand.  They started strolling back toward Manhattan.

            “Where did you go today?”  She asked him, watching his face carefully.  He didn’t respond right away, which made her glad.  For a moment she was lost in his face.  Aside from when their eyes connected, his profile was her favorite way to look at him.  She loved the way his jaw line curved strongly upward and she could clearly see the very faint lines on the side of his eyes.  She wasn’t sure it was possible for a super hero to have laugh lines but Jackson seemed to be starting some.

            “We were in southern New York state.”  He said quietly, thinking back.  Bri blinked.

            “So far away?”  She wondered.

            “Yeah, we usually don’t do much outside the city but, well, this was actually more of a precaution than anything else.  It seems like some of the military testing facilities have been, well, doing some testing.  But from what Mukund and I can tell not all the testing has been completely authorized.”  He shook his head.  “It could just be some guy in power being stupid, but we always get suspicious when this kind of stuff starts up when someone finds their mate.”

            “Really?”  Bri asked.  She tried to remember everything that he had told her up to this point.  Jackson told her about Mukund, who was another super hero who preferred to live in New York.  They were pretty good friends and, apparently, made a good team.  Bri had yet to meet Mukund for real but the way Jackson talked about him, she was sure he was a good guy.

            Jackson nodded and ran a hand through his hair.  “Remember what I told you about our enemies?”

            Bri glared at him.  “I remember.  But you really didn’t say much except that we had had arch-enemy… and that he wasn’t really something to worry about.”

            He nodded sheepishly.  “Well, it’s true, he’s not something to worry about, but he is probably something to be… aware of.”

            She rolled her eyes.  “Okay, you need to spit this out.  Tell me what I need to know, I can handle it.”

            Jackson’s eyes warmed as he looked into hers.  “Oh, I know you can.”  He gave her another squeeze.  “Okay, here it goes.  We think some of what was going on today had to do with the Gem –“

            “The Gem?”  She asked, arching an eyebrow.

            Jackson’s eyes lit up as he laughed.  “We had to keep with the tradition to name the villains ridiculous things.  Gem comes from Green-Eyed Monster… because he’s jealous of us, remember?”

            Bri nodded, smiling at the creativity of the super heroes.  “Okay, I can handle that.  But why do you think this had something to do with him?”

            “Well, actually he made it pretty obvious.  He likes to let us know that he’s working on us – I think it has to do with the ego of his.  He leaves jewels all around wherever he’s been.”  Jackson shrugged.  “Usually it’s just a false alarm, I think he gets bored, but this time we had something to worry about.  He killed a civilian, something he usually doesn’t bother to do, and he was around some pretty high tech stuff.”

            Bri frowned.  “So, what are we going to do?”

            Jackson took her chin in his hands and stopped walking to look her in the eye.  “You want to help?”

            She nodded.  “Of course, isn’t that my job now?”

            Jackson smirked and then shrugged.  He gave her a quick peck on the lips and then started walking again.  “Well, that’s part of it.”  His voice was full of innuendo.

            Bri eyed his back as he slyly let go of her waist and started walking quicker.  “Oh yeah?”  She asked, lengthening her strides so she was next to him again.  “And what’s the other part?”

            “Making babies!”  He said just as he launched off the ground and into the sky.

            Bri let out a cry of laughter and exasperation as she quickly took off after him.  They flew quickly across the sky.  Bri pushed herself hard to catch up with him, but he was still so much faster than her.  She wondered if she could ever match his skills.  How long had he been around, practicing all of these super hero capabilities?  When did he first learn how to fly?  She had so many things to ask him but first, she needed to capture him.

            Bri raced him to the ground in front of her apartment building, laughing aloud.  She touched down at almost the exact same time he did.  She quickly threw her arms around his neck, feeling his loud laughter through the rumbles in his chest.

            “Oh yeah?  And how do you expect we do that if you don’t even stay the night –“

            Her sentence cut off quickly as she looked over Jackson’s shoulder to see that there was someone standing on her the stoop to her apartment.  And not just any someone – but Kyle.

            Panic shot through her as she caught the expression on his face.  He was absolutely shocked, his eyes were wide and his mouth slung open.  Jackson voice was low in her ear as he turned to see what she was looking at.

            “Shit.”

            “Kyle!”  Bri shouted.  She didn’t care how mad he was at her.  She needed to know how much he had just seen.  “I’m… so glad to see you!  I have been wanting to talk to you –“

            Bri cringed as he took a step back.  He had seen a lot – he had seen everything.  How stupid could they have been, to not have seen him there?  She realized even as thought that though, how easy it was to miss him.  He had been leaning in the corner next to the door, where it was shadowed and the angle where they landed…

            “I think I may understand now.”  Kyle said slowly, carefully.  Bri bit her lip as she could still hear the low anger in his voice.

            “Kyle, I was really hoping that we could talk.  We could go up to my apartment if you want?  How long have you been waiting for me?”  She realized she was babbling, reaching into her pocket quickly to retrieve her keys.  She heart pounded in her chest. She didn’t want to look back at Jackson.  She didn’t want to see what his expression was.

            “No, I don’t think that would be good.”  Kyle said in a voice that would be barely audible for her normally, but her new ears picked up everything.  It was almost like she could hear him thinking, hear him realize that she hadn’t dumped him for a normal person but for something else entirely.

            “Kyle –“

            “I’m off, Brielle.”  He said quickly, and then pounded down the stairs. He walked quickly down the sidewalk away from them.  She reached out, meaning to chase after him.  But Jackson took a hold of her shoulder and she hesitated.

            “He’ll forget.”  He said, softly.  They watched him until he disappeared around the corner.  Bri turned to look into Jackson’s eyes.  She realized it was the first time that she had looked into them and not believed him.

Chapter 13

            How could something as simple as taking a shower matter in her change to super hero?

            That was what Bri originally thought, but as she stood in her shower, warm water splashing down her back, with half a bottle’s worth of shampoo in her hand she found herself very frustrated with her change.  One little squeeze, one little, normal squeeze, and the pressure had been enough to snap the plastic cover off the bottle, shooting it somewhere out of the shower and dumping what remained into the shower all over her palm and hand.

            How ridiculous.  She growled and poured the lavender liquid out until she had the correct, normal amount to put in her hair.  She sighed as she very carefully massaged it into her head.  The last thing she wanted to do was accidentally rip all her hair out…

            She wondered how long this would take.  Was she just going to become stronger and stronger until she was destroying everything in her path, unable to understand until it was too late that she was gripped the table too hard?  Or in the case previously, explode her pens during class?  That would get embarrassing really fast.

            Before Jackson departed the night before (despite Bri’s attempts to get him to stay) he did saw that they would spend some time today doing a little training.  He had to say he was surprised she was actually already as strong as she was… he seemed to think that she was changing faster than he anticipated, or maybe it just meant she was going to be very strong.

            Bri snorted to that idea.  She had never seen “strength” as being a predominate trait of hers.  And, frankly, she thought she would rather be good at something else – like flying.  Her mind drifted back to the conversation she had with Jackson the night before.

            “I know I asked you before… but what powers am I really going to get?”

            Jackson’s smile had filled her with so much happiness that, even now, as she applied conditioner to her hair, she felt a kind of weightlessness in her.  She had never, ever had anyone look at her that way before.  It made her feel, well, special.

            “Honestly, it’s kind of hard to say.  There are the basics, we’re all stronger, faster, and we can all travel to different dimensions.  We can all fly too, though the capacity of that flying tends to differ among people.  But then everyone has other strengths, and sometimes more than one.”

            “What can you do?”

            Jackson’s smile was smug.  “I have the power to shock people.”

            Bri raised an eyebrow. “I admit, you do say some pretty weird stuff.”

            His laughter shook his entire body and, since was still pressed firmly into him, she got to enjoy the sensation. “That too – but that’s not the power.  It’s like I can shoot out a little bolt of electricity.  It’s very effective again people I don’t like.”

            Bri remembered gasping and giving him a slap across the chest. “No way!  Do you mean that’s the reason why I feel all electrified whenever you touch me?!  You tricked me!”

            Jackson had held up his hands in defense. “Bri!”  I could tell that he was holding back a laugh.  “I shoot out a bolt of lightning!  I have never used it on you.  I promise.  It’s not a pleasant kind of shock.”

            Bri felt herself flush with embarrassment as she remembered that part of the night. She turned off the water and wrapped a towel around herself.  She never had any intention of revealing to him that she got those shocks when she touched him.  How mortifying.

              She pulled a brush through her hair, gazing at herself in the mirror.  She watched as her eyes softened with her thoughts.  Still, it wasn’t that big of a deal to admit that to him, not after the song he sang to her.  He really was a super hero – who else would have known that all she needed right then was a good, wonderful thing to take her mind off the day?

            Maybe someone who loved me?  She thought, watching a smile lift the edge of her lips.  What a funny thought.  She still didn’t know him, but there was just something there and, well, what with the way he talked about fate and all… it just made it really easy to believe that he loved her and that was the end of it.

            Bri made her way to her bedroom and picked out a set of clothes.  IT was another warm day but Jackson had promised to give her a little training on her developing abilities, so she passed up the shirt and went for a pair of tan Bermuda shorts and she layered a cream colored tank under an eggplant one.  Then, deciding not to wait for her hair to dry, she pulled it back into a bun at the nape of her neck.

Her mind floated to other parts of the day full of explanations.  She distinctly remembered portions that weren’t so much fun as… frightening.  She had, somewhat stupidly, asked what kind of things they did as super heroes.  This was real life – it wasn’t like there was one evil dude they had to kill off before the end of the 2 hours of the movie.

            “Yeah, well, you know – what superhero doesn’t have an arch enemy?”  Jackson’s smile glinted in the moonlight.

            “I don’t get it – what kind of villain?  How is this even possible?  Are you trying to tell me that you are – that… um, we are – aliens or something?”  She felt stupid saying that at all.  But she honestly was having a heard time wrapping her head around what Jackson  - what she – actually was.

            Jackson shook his head, his ruffled locks falling over his icy-blue eyes.  “There’s a big difference between other dimensions and other planets, doll, you have to keep that into perspective.” 

            She felt her fingertips go tingly as he winked at her. “Though, that being said,” he said. “I totally disagree with the scientists today.  Pluto is so a planet.”

            Bri had ignored that statement for the sake of her sanity.  She tried to get more out of Jackson about this so-called arch enemy, but he didn’t seem to really talk about it.  It had something to do with how, years and years ago, a super hero fell in love with a mortal, just like he was supposed to, but, unfortunately, someone else was already in love with that mortal.  The man worked his whole life to get his wife back from the super hero, but, of course, that just wasn’t going to happen.  Somehow he had managed to find a way to also be immortal and had been working hard to destroy the super heroes.  But, according to Jackson, he wasn’t really something to worry about.

            Bri took a glance at the clock and quickly pushed her thoughts out of her head.  She needed to focus.  It was still Friday, and she still had class, but it was really hard to gather the few notebooks and books that she would need.  It felt like school was a million miles away.  How could she worry about her studies when she was turning into a super hero?  Maybe she would get luck and she would develop a super intelligence super power and never have to attend lecture again.

 

          Grabbing a granola bar from the kitchen, she trudged out the door and toward campus.  She tried to get her mind on rocks, and their properties, to prepare herself for her geology class.  If she could at least focus her thoughts during the time she was already in lecture, it would make things a whole lot easier in the long run.

            Bri entered the large lecture hall, grateful yet again that she could get lost in the crowd.  She hated being in a small discussion when she definitely didn’t have her head in game – and when she hadn’t read the material that she was supposed to.

            She grabbed a seat in the back on the side, no one was around her.  This was probably counterproductive to her paying attention idea but she had misjudged the time and happened to arrive just moments before lecture started. She pulled out her notebook and did her best to follow along to the professor, copying down what he put up on the screen through power point and adding what she could with his commentary.  She was just starting to get the hang of it when there was a voice in her ear.

            “Wanna skip?”

            “Gah!”  Bri gasped, causing a couple people in the row ahead of her to jump as well.  Bri jerked her eyes to the side to find Jackson’s face very near hers.  Her initial plan to scold him was put on hold for a moment as she got lost looking at his face.  He was unbelievably gorgeous.

            “Don’t tell me you were actually interested in the properties of sandstone?”  His eyebrow lifted comically.

            “I was at least understanding it, and no!  I can’t skip!  I need to learn this stuff.”

            Jackson made a little whimpering sound, batting his eyelashes at her.  “Puh- puh- puhlease?” He asked, mopey.

            “Jackson!”  She did her best to keep her head down, her voice a sharp whisper.  “You are a horrible influence!  I refuse to leave… during this lecture.  But you might have convinced me to skip philosophy.”

            “Nice.”  Jackson said, apparently happy with the compromise.  He put his hands behind is head and kicked his feet up on the back of the chair in front of him.

            Bri shook her head and did her best to concentrate on the lecture again.  It was especially hard though, as she was partially embarrassed by Jackson with his cocky attitude next to her, she didn’t want to be associated with him, but the partially hoped that everyone did think that she was with him, because he was, well, immaculate.  She managed to ignore him though, and as he didn’t speak another word, she found she was at least able to get down all the notes from the power point slides.

            When the professor finally signaled for them to go, Jackson shot out of his chair like a bullet and held out his hand for her.  Bri wanted to eagerly take it, but she decided that she needed to give him a hard time for being so ridiculous.

            “You know, I am paying for these classes.”  She said as she gathered her things and followed him out of the lecture hall. 

            Jackson shrugged.  “That means you are free to come and go as you please.”

            Bri rolled her eyes, thinking that was probably not the same stance her mother would take but, as she stepped out into the distinctively still summer air and felt the warm sun on her skin she decided she was right to skip her class.  There was no good reason for someone to be inside on a day like this.

            Bri casually linked her arm through Jackson’s as she added a little skip to her step.  “Okay, so does that mean you’re going to start training me?”

            Jackson looked over at her, surprised by her action.  But his instantaneous smile stopped him from making any kind of sassy comment.  “Yeah, I suppose we could do that.”

            “You suppose, hm?”  She asked.  “And where might we do this supposed training?”

            Jackson paused and turned to assess her.  “Honestly, I’m not sure. How are you feeling?”

            “Fine?”  She responded, slightly wary.  How was she supposed to be feeling?

            “Anything feel different physically?”

            Bri thought carefully. “Well, I’m definitely stronger.  This morning I basically broke my shampoo bottle in half.”

            Jackson smirked.  “A positive.  How about your feet?  Do you feel lighter?”

            Bri looked down at her toes, exposed through her sandals. “That’s hard to say.”  She bounced a little.  “Yeah, I guess so.”

            “You might be ready then.”  He started walking again, directing her off campus.  “I do have to admit, this might be kind of difficult.  It was easier for me, since I was born this way. But you have to take a lot of risk. Forget that you’re not supposed to be able to do it but just kind of… go for it.”  He frowned.  “I guess you could say it’s kind of scary?”

            Bri hesitated, but her hand remained looped through Jackson’s arm.  “Really?  You didn’t have to do through any of this?”

            Jackson smiled. “Don’t you remember what I told you before?  Two super heroes make a super hero baby and then that baby has to find a mortal and so on, so forth!”  He pointed to her. “And you are my mortal.”

            Bri was silent for a little bit.  “What do you mean by mortal, Jackson?  Does that mean that… um… you are immortal?”

            He rolled his eyes.  “Obviously.”

            “And I will be too?”  Bri’s voice had gone up one squeaky octave.

            “Uh-oh, I’m not freaking you out, am I?”  He asked, pulling her along with him.  Bri ignored their surroundings, trusting Jackson to take her… wherever he was going to take her.

            “I guess there’s a part of me that is going nuts.  It’s easier to just accept this though when you’re around.  It can get a bit… mind numbing when you’re not.”

            “Interesting.”  Jackson said, “I guess that’s the best I can ask for.  I mean, you could have easily just run away screaming.”  He thought for another minute and then shook his head.  “Oh, who am I kidding?  No you couldn’t.  My charms overpowered you from the start.”

            Bri huffed and shoved him away from her.  “I don’t think you ever properly seduced me.”

            “Oh really?”  Jackson said, his eyes lighting up devilishly.  “Well I could find a way to do it properly right now –“ He then proceeded to drag her into an alley.

            “Ack!”  Bri yelped, digging in her heels and leaning back. “Oh no you don’t!  That is not what I meant!”  She made a great pull against him and, much to her surprise, he flew toward her.  Jackson wrapped his arms around her in an attempt to steady himself and they teetered dangerously on the edge of the sidewalk.

            “Awesome.”  Jackson breathed, his face near hers.  Bri looked up to his, watching as their icy-blue depths danced with excitement.  It was obvious that she, as her normal self, would ever been able to pull him like that.  Her super hero powers really were kicking in.

            Bri’s adrenaline kicked in.  Sure, there was an element of fear – and disbelief – but most of all, as she could see the changes in her body, she felt genuinely excited. It was too weird, to old-school action movie, to be totally worried.  She half imagined that something huge would happen, there would be one great big climax, and then she would walk out of the movie theatre as the credits rolled.  This feeling wasn’t one she wanted to run away from.

            Caught up in the rush, Bri threw her arms around Jackson’s neck and planted a great, big, sloppy kiss on his lips, quickly, and then grabbed his hand, pulling him in the direction they were going before. “Let’s get to work!”

 

–

 

            “You have got to be kidding me.”  Bri looked over the edge of the enormously tall building.  Okay, so maybe it wasn’t that tall, but five stories was definitely enough to kill her.

            “Can’t we start a little… slower?”

            Jackson pursed his lips.  “Well, we could, but really any height it going to be scary.  You just have to go for it.  I promise that you’re ready – you just need to push yourself to get to the next step.”

            “The next step?”  Bri asked, shivering as a breeze caught her, even though it was still a bright sunny day. Her fear was getting to her.  “You mean I will still be changing after this?”

            Jackson put his hand on her lower back to steady her.  Bri wasn’t entirely sure though that he wasn’t just going to give her one hard shove to get her started.  “Absolutely.  We don’t even know what your special talent is yet.”

            Bri looked down warily. Jackson had picked a somewhat random location in Manhattan to practice.  He knew he wanted the building to be high but not too high – and he didn’t want too many people around.  After all, thought New Yorkers were notorious for being either unobservant or unimpressed with the weird, he still didn’t want to have a lot of witnesses to super hero activity.  The building was an old one and was surrounded by equally old buildings.  It definitely wasn’t the best part of the city but it was pretty and it did seem like it would be the best place to practice.

            “Are you ready for a demonstration?”  Jackson asked and Bri nodded, her throat tight.

            “Okay, just watch… and try not to freak out.”  He then stuck one foot out and plummeted to the ground.

            “Oh!”  Bri gasped and instinctively reached out for him.  She had to windmill her arms around to keep herself from falling right along with him.  She turned her face away, unable to watch.  Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew that Jackson hadn’t just killed himself but every other part of her was reacting as though he had.  Her breath was coming in gasps and her heart pounded hard in her chest.

            She felt strong arms wrap around her and Bri instantly leaned into his body, slumping so she was sitting half on the edge of the building and half in Jackson’s lap.

            “You were, obviously, not watching.”  He said, a smile in his voice.

            Bri shook her head unable to look up and show him just how frightened she had been.

            “I told you not to panic, remember?”  His voice was soft and his breath warm against the top of her head.

            “Easier said than done.”  She lifted her head to see his face.  He had a warm smile on his lips and as soon as he could, he placed a kiss on her forehead. “How did you get back up here, anyway?”

            “Well, that’s what I was trying to show you.  I bounced.”  He ran his hand over his jaw line, causing her to shiver. “If I show you again, will you watch this time?  I promise I’m not going to smush into the concrete.”

            Bri nodded slowly and let out the breath she hadn’t even realized she was holding.

            “Good.” Jackson said and then slowly pulled himself out from under her.  She adjusted herself so she was more laying on the roof than sitting, her head hanging over the edge.  So long as she didn’t close her eyes she would be forced to watch the whole thing…

            This time Jackson didn’t warn her that he was jumping, therefore not giving her the chance to turn away.  She was glad that he didn’t, she might have missed it again.  And it was just about the most amazing thing she had ever seen.

            Jackson plummeted toward the ground but instead of splattering himself everywhere, he instead landed nimbly on his feet.  But, more than that, he landed just on the balls of his feet and as he touched the ground he pushed back – just enough to cause him to soar back up to the height of the roof where he easily stepped out to land next to her.  He held out his arms proudly, waiting for her applause.

            “Wow.”  Was all Bri could say.  She looked over at him, where he was standing safely next to her, and then back down at the ground.  “Wow.”  She said again.

            Jackson laughed heartily and laid down next to her, looking up to the sky.  “It’s absolutely amazing.  It’s like we all have this extra energy stored up in our bodies and we can pretty much use as much as we want whenever we want.”

            “And… I can do that?  Right now?  I can just… leap of this building?”  Bri knew her voice was filled with disbelief as she stared down at the ground, so far below.

            “Yes.”  Jackson said, rolling on his side and pushing a little on her shoulder so she was, too, on her side and looking at him.  “You can absolutely do that and so much more. You can do… really, anything that you try to do.  We’re virtually indestructible.  I meant, that’s just one little thing.”

            Jackson was having a hard time keeping his enthusiasm under control.  He adjusted himself, and, by pulling her shoulders, adjusted her with him until they were sitting and facing each other, legs crossed.  “You can do anything you want.  Flying is essentially what I did but with just a little more oomph.  It’s kind of like gravity doesn’t have a hold on us if we don’t want it to.  You can give one hard push and be gliding through the air for hours.  You don’t even have to touch down again to give another kick, it’s almost like we can push off on the air itself.”

            Bri’s eyes were wide, but it was hard not to be infected by Jackson’s excitement.  Her blood felt like it was tingling, her adrenaline flowing.  Was she really going to try to do what he did?  Was she going to jump off the top of this building and survive?  She looked over the edge again.  He made it look so easy –

            “How will I know how to do it?”

            Jackson grabbed her hands, threading his fingers through hers.  “How do you know how to breathe?”  He asked, his voice quiet.  Bri wondered what was making her palms start to heat up.  It could just be the way he was looking at her, his eyes so intent she felt like he was looking straight through her.  She felt like some of his excitement, his energy, was literally flowing from his finger tips through her and, maybe, it was.  Maybe this was part of that special power of his… but when she looked hard into his eyes, she completely believed him.  And maybe she needed to take advantage of that trust before her head tried to get the better of her again.

            “I already know?”

            His breath was warm against her face as he leaned closer to her, never removing his gaze from hers.  “You already know.”

            Bri nodded once and then, in one fluid moment, tore her hands away from his, got to her feet, and leapt off the building.  She spread her arms out to her sides, feeling the rush of the warm air around her as she fell to the earth.  But there was no panic around her; it was just like the night of the play when she walked home in the dark.  She knew she should be afraid, she knew that a part of her ought to be panicking. But instead she was calm, collected, and completely aware of everything that was happening.  As her feet rushed to the earth, she instinctively leaned forward a little, making sure she would land on the balls of her feet and, when she did, she easily timed it so she could give some pressure back to the ground.  But instead of pushing backward she launched herself up and forward, until she found herself flying up toward the next building, which was easily eight stories.  Bri reached out her hands – not because she didn’t have enough power to reach the top of the building, but because she wanted to stop there.  Somehow she felt like she had enough momentum to just keep going, up and up, through the atmosphere…

            Bri caught a hold of the top of the building with her left hand and, by flexing her arm, she was able to swing her legs up and over the edge in order to land, somewhat gracefully, on her feet on the top of the slanted roof.

            “Woo-hoo!”  Bri sang as she danced around in a little circle.  She had never before felt so exhilarated.  Her heart was pounding hard and fast in her chest.  “Jack!  Come over here and – eek!”  She let out a squeal as Jackson’s arms wrapped around her in a bear hug.  He lifted her up and swung her around in a wide circle, his laughter ringing in her ear.

            “Isn’t it exactly what I told you?”  He asked when he finally stopped spinning.  Bri never would have imagined that her smile could ever be as wide as his, but right now it sure felt like it was.

            “It’s more!”

            Jackson grabbed a hold of the side of her face and, before she quite knew what was happening, his lips were on her.  Bri automatically responded to the kiss with just as much passion as he held.  She threw her arms around his neck, crushing herself against him.  The exhilaration she felt from the leap changed with the kiss.  This exhilaration changed her heart thumped from flurries to deep throbs.  She felt her attachment to Jackson deep inside her.  This man who was holding her, he was everything she ever wanted and, well, what she just did proved it.  This was so much more than any other love she could have hoped for in her life.  This was fate.  She had changed because she had met him, in more ways than she ever thought could be possible.

            Bri’s lips moved along his, breathing through her nose so they wouldn’t have to break the bond.  Bri tightened her hold on him causing him to give a low moan against her mouth.  His tongue darted across her lips, causing them to part.  Bri echoed his moan as their tongues danced together and he adjusted his arms, one wrapping low around her waist and the other high, across her shoulder blades.  She never wanted to let him go.

            Their kiss deepened until Bri forgot where they were.  Were they still standing on roof of the building? All she could feel was his hot palms pressed against her back, holding her close to him, conforming her body around his.  His body was hard, warm against her.  She ran her hand down his back, feeling his solid muscles, and wishing there wasn’t fabric between their skin –

            Jackson broke the kiss roughly, gasping for air.  His icy-blue eyes were lit with a cold fire, his passion intense beneath them.  Bri was certain her green eyes looked something of the same.  She didn’t have to say anything to him.  They gazed at her each other intently, catching their breath.

            How could it have been this easy?  She didn’t even have to find him, Jackson came searching for her.  They didn’t need to question anything – maybe some of that was Jackson’s obvious confidence in himself but Bri felt like from the moment she met him she knew there was something about him that felt… permanent.  It was easy to believe that he were meant to be together – even before she jumped off a building.  Even before he showed her another dimension.  Even before he kissed her like that…

            Suddenly, Bri heard a high pitched ringing sound, though it seemed very, very far away.  She watched as Jackson’s eyes changed and he jerked his head in the direction of the sound, peering out, almost through the buildings.

            “Do you hear that?”  He asked.  The sound of his voice, still low and husky from their passion, sent shivers through her.  She nodded.

            “That’s the call that we need to help someone, or something.”  He said, matter-of-factly.  “There are different ones.  You’ll learn which ones are urgent, which ones pertain to you specifically, and which ones you can ignore.”

            “What is this one?”  She asked, though she could already tell by the way his body was tensing and how his lips were pulling down into a dark, remorseful frown, that it wasn’t one he could ignore.

            “Urgent.  Not specifically for me, but I can’t let it go.”

            “Do I come too?”

            Jackson’s eyes flickered to hers, his brows lightening as he looked at her.  “No, you’re not ready.  You’ll know when you are.  It’s –“ he closed his eyes for a moment, holding back.  “It’s hard to ignore.”

            Bri watched him and the nodded.  For some reason her mind flickered back to Rochester and the way she stared at the flames coming from the gas station.  “I think I know what you mean.”

            Jackson gave her a large smile, though it didn’t quite contain the joyfulness that he usually had.  “I can’t loiter much longer.  But this will give you a chance to figure out what your powers are.  Experiment.  You’ll know what you can and can’t do.”

            Bri nodded; she was certain that he was right.  She felt a power within herself that she never before could have imagined. He placed a kiss on her forehead, just like he did on the night of the play, and then, he was gone.

            She did her best not to turn around and watch him leave.  There was a part of her that was still exhilarated and that part of her wanted to discover her new powers on her own.  What, exactly, could she do?

            A breeze came across the top of the building, lifting her reddish-brown hair off her neck.  Bri closed her eyes and let the feeling of the wind move through.  It was absolutely wonderful.  She felt free – and Bri knew what she wanted to try.  She wanted to fly.  She wanted to throw herself out into the open hair, spread her arms, and see how far she could go.  There wasn’t a single part of her that was afraid of falling.  It was like Jackson said; she knew what her capabilities were.  She couldn’t make it to China, but she could definitely get to Brooklyn.  She could be up in the clouds and look down at the people below – and she would be able to see them clearly.

            Bri hadn’t really noticed before but her eyes were slowly but surely becoming stronger.  It was like she had the capability to change back and forth from her regular vision to her super vision.  Or maybe this had to do with the different dimensions aspect – her body would reveal to her just as much as she could handle at each moment.  As her eyes adjusted for what she was about to do, she could see the bricks on the building opposite of her clearly, see each crack and pore.  She wanted to see what it would look like from the sky.

            She tested herself, tensing her calf muscles.  They rippled under her command.  She bounced a little, feeling light and springy.  Her arms flexed and she held them out in front of her as she bent her knees.  Maybe this preparation wasn’t necessary – but what with the way the excitement was running through her body, she felt she needed to center.  For all she knew, if she got too crazy, she might be able to shoot herself right out into space.

            Okay, are you ready, Bri?  She asked herself.  When she felt the huge smile spread across her lips, she knew she was.  In one fluid motion she swung her arms back and straightened her knees, and flew out into the sky.

Chapter 12

            Bri stayed in Jackson’s arms well after she knew that they were back in her school building.  She could even smell the food, and she could hear the sounds of the conversation floating to her.  Surely anyone could hear that though, it wasn’t that her senses were heightened or anything…

            “Still think I’m crazy?”  Jackson asked as he kissed the top of her head tenderly.

            Bri nodded into his chest. “Absolutely.” Jackson’s laughter was cut short and she could feel a sudden tense-ness in his body.  “What’s wrong?”

            “Something’s wrong.”  He muttered.  He then, softly, pulled her away from him.  “I’ve got to go.”

            “To save the day?”  Bri asked, surprised she could say it so casually, her lips lifting into a smile.

            “Exactly.”

            Bri nodded.  “That’s okay, I think… I need to be alone anyway.  And –“ she thought back to the way Jasmine had looked at her in the cafeteria.  “I have some normal human business to attend to.”

            Jackson understood what she meant.  He softly grabbed a hold of her chin and lifted her face up to his.  “Don’t let it bother you too much.  This is fate that Kyle is playing with now.”  He then, softly lowered his mouth to hers.

            Bri felt the warmth from his lips course through her whole body.  Her toes and fingertips were instantly tingly, the sensation in them so stong that they almost felt numb.  Much to her dismay, Jackson pulled away soon and looked at her apologetically.

            “Gotta go.”

            “Okay,” She said and then watched as he bolted down the hallway, running much too fast for a normal person.

            Once he was out of sight, Bri let her head fall back against the cool cinder block wall.  It took her a couple of minutes before her heart settled down to her normal pace.  But was it still possible that was it beating harder than usual?  This wasn’t some part of her “changing” process, was it?  She had no idea what to expect.

            It would have been nice for Jackson to give me something to watch out for.  She thought back to what his list has been.  What did he say?  Speed?  That would be a nice change, Bri was not well known for her fantastic running skills.  She was certain there was something about strength in there too.  Bri looked back and forth down the hall to make sure she was alone before flexing her arms.  She watched with a frown as her muscles barely tensed.  She was so weak right now, how strong was strong?  She wondered.  Briefly she imagined being able to walk up and pick up a car.  There was no way she could just… turn that super hero, could she?

            And what about flying?  She wondered, realizing that Jackson has mentioned that too.  Bri shook her head at the thought.  There was absolutely no way this was happening.  She just couldn’t believe that she would be able to go flying around without a care.  Surely he was making up some of those things.  He did seem like he was joking when he said x-ray vision.  But she just couldn’t be sure… after all he could travel to different dimensions with just a little concentration why in the world would x-ray vision be out of the question?

            Bri’s head started spinning.  I have to stop thinking about this.  She said, realizing that it was all that much harder to absorb when Jackson wasn’t there.  But when he was in front of her, holding her in his arms, well… it almost made sense that there was something special about him.  It just wasn’t possible that a guy that perfect and intense was a normal human…

            Bri stood up straight as a couple of doors in the hallway opened.  She quickly checked her watch as students began filing out into the hallway.  The 2 o’clock lecture was just getting out.  She quickly blended into the crowd of students and joined the pack in exiting the building.  When Bri was out in the bright sunshine, it suddenly occurred to her that now was the time.  She wasn’t sure how she remembered, but she knew that Kyle was just getting out of his class in the computer sciences building.  If she could catch him before he went home… well it would be a lot less awkward than trying to call him up later.

            In a flash, Bri had slinked out of the group and she was booking it across the grassy mall, her messenger bag slung over her shoulder.  Surely she was imagining it, now that she was so aware of it, but she felt lighter on her feet, more relaxed in her stride.  She seemed to be so much more aware of what was around her, and, how was her bag not hurting her hip as it knocked against it?  Bri felt a smile play across her lips as she put in an extra burst of speed, ignoring the looks of confusion around her.  Even though she was going to go have a horrible conversation, she could at least have fun getting there.

            Bri rounded the corner to get to the front of the computer sciences building just to see Kyle cross the street in front of the building.  She was glad she had taken the opportunity to run.

            “Kyle!”  She shouted and waved her arm in the air.

            Kyle turned, confused.  It took him a moment to notice her, but when he did his face instantly exploded into a grin.

            Kyle’s reaction halted her haste.  She quickly slowed to a walk, catching her breath.  Apparently she wasn’t super hero enough to not need oxygen.  She didn’t mind though, because as Kyle approached it occurred to her that she didn’t plan at all what she was going to say.  And here he was, so excited to see her.

            The guilt that she had put aside was now coming back in full force.  She watched Kyle jog toward her, obviously very happy that she had finally searched him out since arriving in New York.

            “Well this is a nice surprise, Bri.  You look awesome.”  Kyle’s eyes roamed over her in a manner that would normally make her feel uncomfortable.  But really, his compliment just startled her.  She looked down at herself.

            “Really?”  She was wearing a pair of khaki shorts and a loose-fitting purple shirt with a low v-neck, revealing a hot pink tank underneath.  “Thanks.”

            “You’re welcome.  I wish you would wear those short shorts more often, they really make your legs look great.”

            This time Bri did blush, really wishing the first thing he said to her wasn’t sexual.  Her guilt started to fade a little.  It was conversations like this that always made her feel like they just weren’t on the same level.

            “I don’t think these are too short…”  She did look down at her leg though, curiously, wondering if somehow she did look more attractive.  Gaining super hero powers wouldn’t change out how she looked… would it?

            He raised one eyebrow but didn’t respond, he was obviously wondering why she had just scouted him out.  “Where are you headed?”

            “Same way you were,” Bri said and fell into step next to him.  She paused for a moment, before deciding that over thinking her words would just turn out poorly.  She just needed to get it all out in the open and stop playing games.  “Actually, I was hoping that we could hang out.  I, um, want to talk to you.”

            Kyle didn’t seem to notice the awkward tone in her voice.  “Hey, that sounds great.  I was actually talking with Brian earlier and he was thinking about doing a movie tonight.  How does that sound?”

            Bri frowned.  “Well, I wouldn’t say that the movie is the best place to actually hold a conversation.”

            Kyle shrugged.  “So what?  We can talk after it.  I think it starts at 5.  I’ll swing by your place to pick you up?”

            Bri didn’t know what to do.  She wasn’t just going to break up with him here, but the last thing that made sense was to agree to go on a date with him – even if it was with a group of other people.  “I don’t know, aren’t you free before then?  It doesn’t have to be long – “

            “Actually, doll, I have a meeting for the experimental science team.  In fact, it starts in about fifteen minutes, so I should really get over there.”  He stopped walking and turned to face her.  His eyes, that now seemed somehow unfamiliar to her after looking so much into icy-blue ones, looked at her intently.  “Come on, Bri, you know you want to come see a movie.  It’ll be really fun; I think Brian had some other people lined up to come too.  Say you’ll come?”

            Bri bit her lip.  So long as it was a group thing, it wouldn’t have to be a big deal.  “Okay… so long as you promise we can talk afterwards?”

            “Of course,” he said and Bri instinctively took a couple of steps to the side and held up her hand in a way, to deter Kyle from making any kind of physical contact in his departure.

            “Have fun at the meeting!”  She said, truthfully.  She wanted him to have a really great day today, that way her news hopefully wouldn’t hurt him so much.

            “Thanks, Bri.”  He smiled heartily at her.  “I’m so glad you see you again, girl.  It was a long summer without you.”  He then returned her wave and jogged lightly away.

            Awesome.  Bri said, groaning a little.  What had she just gotten herself into?  She ran over this way so that the whole process wouldn’t have to be dragged out, and now she was going to have to sit next to him for an entire movie and pretend like she didn’t notice he wanted her to hold his hand.  She just hoped they were going for some super gory action flick or something that way the thought would be less likely to cross his head.

            Bri turned around and headed in the direction of her apartment.  Maybe it was for the best.  Now she had a good couple of hours to kill and she knew exactly what she needed to do during that time – homework.  Brielle shook her head.  She couldn’t believe that it was already the third day of school and she hadn’t even cracked open a text book.  Vaguely, something in the back of her mind told her that if she was transforming into a super hero she wasn’t going to have to worry about silly things like homework, but she decided not to risk it. 

            After all, there is still a pretty valid possibility that Jackson is completely bonkers and he had just slipped some kind of roofie in my soda during lunch.

            Bri smirked to herself and headed home.

 

–

 

            There was one good thing and one bad thing that Bri noticed when she arrived at the movie theatre with Kyle.  The good thing was that they were, in fact, seeing a very non-romantic movie.  The bad thing was that Jasmine was there.

            Bri had a very distinct feeling that the bad was going to outweigh the good in the long run.

            If it was possible, Jasmine looked at her even more suspiciously now than she did in the cafeteria.  Bri gave her a small smile.  It was just her luck that in a group of six friends she would be included in it, by some great mystery.  Normally she would be excited to see her artistic friend, but at this point Bri wasn’t sure who had Jasmine’s allegiances more, herself or Kyle.

            I just hope I have a chance to talk to her alone before she can talk to Kyle…  Bri thought, but it just didn’t look like that was going to happen.  They didn’t arrive with a lot of time to spare and even though Bri tried to get a hold of Jasmine before the flick started, Jasmine had conveniently decided to sit on the complete other side as Brielle.

            Oh well, Bri thought to herself as the opening credits began to roll.  At least I know she won’t be whispering anything to him during the movie.  She then gave Kyle a small smile as he offered her some popcorn, purposefully grabbing a huge handful with the hand closest to him.  Surely he would understand when she didn’t offer up her buttery palm for a hand hold.

            By the time the movie had come to its close, Bri felt even less at ease than at the beginning.  She wasn’t sure if it was because of the slightly spooky nature of the film or because she could suddenly hear every rattle of candy and crunch of popcorn in the whole theatre, but she was on edge.  Not to mention the fact that she was certain that Jasmine had shot way more glances down the row than was necessary.  Certainly she wasn’t checking to see how friendly she and Kyle were getting?  It wasn’t something that could be considered a make-out movie.

            The lights came up in the theatre and as the group made their way out of the doors, Bri saw her chance to talk to Jasmine alone as the girl made an obvious beeline for the bathroom.

            “Hey, Kyle, wait for me while I make a pit-stop okay?”

            “Okay – we were thinking about grabbing a bite to eat, any preference?”

            Bri half-wanted to debate the idea of going out to eat, but felt that catching Jasmine was much more important.  “Anywhere!”  She called over her shoulder and quickly lurched into the women’s.  She passed up going to the bathroom, opting to just wash her hands, keeping her eyes carefully bowed until she heard Jasmine come up next to her and get the faucet running.

            Bri took a deep breath, “Hey Jasmine.”

            “Hey.”

            Bri looked up and caught Jasmine’s guarded eyes in the mirror.  Uncertain what the appropriate strategy would be, she just decided to blurt out the truth. “This afternoon was awkward. I’m really sorry.”

            “Should you really be telling me that?”  Jasmine asked pointedly.  Bri cringed.

            “No, I shouldn’t.  But I guess I wanted to catch you and let you know that I am telling Kyle.  That’s why I came tonight, because I needed to talk to him.  I just wanted to… well… talk to you before you had a chance to say anything to him because I really don’t want him to get hurt.  I’m not trying to do anything…” Bri thought for a moment, “conniving.”

            Jasmine looked at Bri for a moment before biting her lip.  “Really?”

            “Really!”  Bri said, suddenly relieved.  Good.  She hadn’t said anything yet.  Kyle didn’t have to know any of the gory details.  Bri could just break it off.  And if she needed to mention another man, so be it, but he didn’t have to know that anything serious had actually happened.

            “Well, jeez, now I feel kind of bad.”

            Bri’s smile suddenly froze on her face.  “What?”

            Jasmine’s look was guilty.  “Well, I kind of mentioned this afternoon to Brian…”

            Bri’s head suddenly whipped around toward the exit door.  She couldn’t see anything but, suddenly, somehow, she felt like she might already be too late. Forgetting to dry her hands, Bri dashed quickly out of the bathroom.

            Sure enough, as soon as she exited the door her eyes zeroed in on Brian and Kyle, standing a little too close for a normal conversation.  A mutual look of frustration was on their faces and, as if on cue, Kyle glanced up to find Bri looking at him.  His eyes were tightened into a glare.

            Bri did her best to align her face so it didn’t look as guilty as she felt, but she knew it was too late.  He had been told everything; it was already blown out the water.  There was no turning back now.  Bri wished she could just back-up and go back to this afternoon and tell him everything right then and there.  So what if it meant that he maybe was a minute or two late for his meeting? At least he wouldn’t be standing there now wondering why his cheating girlfriend had agreed to go to a movie with him.

            “Oh no, Bri, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything…”

            Jasmine’s sad voice cut into Bri’s thoughts.  Bri turned to give her a biting remark, but stopped midway.  This wasn’t anyone’s fault but hers.

            “Don’t worry about it Jazz, I was the one who did something wrong, after all.  It was just… never my plan to do that.”  She gave a half smile and gave her friend a light punch on the arm.  “Good to know you’re looking out for us.”

            Jasmine grinned but rubbed her arm.  “Heh, thanks, but are you sure you aren’t mad?  That was kind of hard.”

            Bri’s eyebrows rose and tucked her hands into her pockets quickly, as if they would reveal even more secrets to her friend.  “Sorry, don’t know my own strength, I guess.”

            Jasmine nodded, and then spoke, her voice low.  “He’s on his way. Somehow I don’t think you’re going to make it to supper.  I’ll see you in class, okay?”

            Bri nodded and then turned to face Kyle.  He was talking before he even reached her.  His eyes were angry, but not looking at her.  Instead his focus seemed to be just over her shoulder.

            “I was thinking we should skip the food.  What do you think?”  He spoke with his teeth clenched.

            “I think that’s a good idea.”  She turned and waved at their group before matching her stride with Kyle’s hurried one.  This seemed to frustrate him, apparently intending to make her hurry to keep up with him.  It seemed obvious to her that to try and start this conversation when they were at the speed of a power walk would be stupid.  Bri decided to keep her mouth shut and just stick with him, waiting he was willing to look over at her.

            It turned out Bri had a while to wait.  Kyle’s face was like stone as they boarded the subway.  They had to take the same line back to their respective places, though Kyle’s was one stop earlier than hers.  When his stop arrived, she stood up with him.  He gave her a look with one raised eyebrow.

            “You coming with me?”  He asked, his voice hard.

            Bri gave a single nod. “I told you I wanted to talk to you, remember?”

            He merely shrugged in response and Bri dutifully followed him.  They were silent again until they arrived at his apartment.  He lived there alone, in a small efficiency.  He didn’t look back at her, opening the door and then heading right up to his place.  Bri felt her heart rate start up a bit.  She wasn’t too excited to break the news to him, alone, in his apartment.  Not when he already seemed to mad.

            They were barely through the door before Kyle stared the conversation.

            “I’m not quite sure why you have to tell me anything when you know that I’m going to hear it through the grapevine anyway.”

            Bri winced.  For some reason she was still kind of hoping that he was being sulky for some other reason that what he and Brian were talking about.  “I never meant for you to hear about anything, Kyle.”

            Kyle flopped down on his futon, which doubled as his bed in his one-room place.  A small tv and xbox sat in the corner opposite the corner that contained what could barely be considered a kitchen.  The only other substantial object in the place was a small table that still had Kyle’s cereal bowl from that morning sitting on it.

            “Fantastic, good to know you were just going to keep going around behind my back.”

            Bri shook her head, feeling her guilt rise up in her as she heard the pain in his voice.  “No, I wasn’t trying to do anything.  I told you this afternoon I wanted to talk to you, didn’t I?”

            “Yeah, after Jasmine had already seen you two together.”

            “You don’t know that.”  It doesn’t matter if it’s true.  Bri thought, he still had no idea whether or not that was the case.

            “Apparently, I don’t know a lot of things.”  Kyle said furiously, his arms folded across his chest.  Bri sighed and took a couple of steps forward.  She searched her mind for the right thing to say, but like usual, the blunt, honest truth just seemed like the best option.

            “Kyle, I promise to you that I didn’t do any of this on purpose.  I’m not that kind of girl who runs around cheating on people.  I didn’t mean to get… involved with someone else.  I just kind of happened.”

            The truth didn’t seem to be doing much to help Kyle cope with his anger.  “It just happened?  What does that even mean, Brielle? Like you had no control?”

            Pretty much, Bri thought, remembering what Jackson had said about fate.  But she decided that kind of truth wasn’t going to be helpful.  “I mean that I didn’t have any malicious intent behind it.  I just… well, I met Jackson and it just happened to fast.  I never had any intention of hurting you or of even cheating on you.  The first time I saw him was last night, I promise, and I knew I had to tell you today at the very latest.” 

            “Really?  The first time you ever saw him was last night?”

            Bri didn’t like the way he asked the question.  His tone was biting, like he wanted every word to hurt her. It was also like he already had some kind of information.  She hesitated a moment, uncertain how to answer.  “Well, it wasn’t the first time I had ever laid eyes on him… no…”

            “I didn’t think so, considering his description pretty clearly matched the guy that I saw drag you out of the club on Tuesday night.”

            Dammit. Bri thought, realizing that her cringe was visible to Kyle.  She hadn’t even thought that Brian would have provided Kyle with some information about Jackson’s looks – or that Kyle would recognize him as the same one person.  Bri tried to make up some ground.

            “Well, that’s because that was the first time I met him.”  Bri said lamely, realizing that was only true if they didn’t count Rochester as a meeting.  Bri’s guilt was getting strong and stronger with each passing moment.  She hadn’t realized just how secretive she was being.  If she actually had some sort of innocence behind her she would be having a much easier time with this whole confession thing.

            “I have no reason to believe you, Brielle.”

            She really didn’t like the way Kyle said her name like that.  She sighed and nodded.           

            “I know, Kyle, and I guess I’m not asking you to.  I just wanted to talk to you tonight because I wanted to tell you what was going on.  I admit, I didn’t plan on telling you everything because I didn’t think it was all that important.  The point is that… well, I just don’t think we should be together anymore.”

            Bri didn’t realize how harsh it was going to sound until it was out of her mouth.  She watched as Kyle visibly jerked back into his futon, his eyes widening in surprise and his jaw snapping shut.

            “What?”  He asked, his voice, while it now sounded more shocked than anything, still had a very clear line of fury.

            It occurred to Bri that she had made another mistake.  Kyle had just thought he had caught her in a little fling.  He had no intention of this being the end.  Bri bit her lip, not sure what she should say.

            “You are breaking up with me?”  His voice wasn’t so much sad as cold, deeper than usual.  Bri looked at his eyes carefully, seeing that they were steadier than before, staring at her intently, harshly.

            “I…. well… yes.”  Bri’s voice felt small and weak.  She definitely didn’t feel like a super hero anymore.  If anything, she felt like an idiot.  What was she doing?  Breaking up with a perfectly nice boy after cheating on him with… a lunatic?

            “Because of some dude that you just said you met yesterday?”  His words came out of his throat semi-strangled.

            Bri lowered her eyes to the floor before mumbling, “Tuesday?”

            Kyle’s snort was one of anger.  “Of course, once I proved you to that it was Tuesday, now it’s Tuesday.”

            Bri looked up as Kyle got to his feet, his arms still crossed, his hands balled into fists.  She wasn’t sure what he was planning to do – and it didn’t really look like he knew either.  Bri did suddenly feel like the space they were in was much, much too small.

            “I don’t understand how this could have happened, Bri.”

            Bri shook her head. “I don’t know, Kyle.  Like I said, this isn’t something I ever would have planned.  I never, ever would have chosen to hurt you.  It just happened so quickly.  And –“ Her words spilled out from her mouth quickly.  “Yes, it has a lot to do with Jackson, but I really think he just rushed the process.  I felt like our relationship was lacking, I mean… I don’t think it would have really worked anyway.”

            The way Kyle’s eyes glare at her even harder proved that she had, yet again, said too much.  I should have just said I was totally infatuated with someone else. It didn’t have to be a double whammy.

            “Well, this is fan-fucking-tastic, Bri.  Can you please tell me that my dog died too?”

            Bri frowned, crossing her arms as well. “Kyle, I’m sorry.”

            “Yeah, it sounds like it!”  The explosion from Kyle was unexpected.  What had before been a conversation of harsh, cold words was now a full blown fight.

            She did her best to catch his eyes, but he was refusing to look at her now. Tremors of panic were starting to go through her body.  “No, I really am!  I didn’t want any of this to happen.  We were friends before we started dating; I was hoping we could somehow manage to go back to that.”

            “Fat chance.”  He spit the words with such ferocity she actually took a step back.

            Whoa. Bri thought suddenly.  She knew that Kyle was angry, in fact he had every right to be, but his anger at this point was a little… excessive.  He was positively seething.  Suddenly, she had a very strong feeling that she needed to get out of the very small apartment.

            “I… am sorry to hear that, Kyle.”  She said quietly, taking a step back.  Kyle took an intimidating two steps forward, his eyes locked on hers, their dark depths seeming to try to burn her from the inside out.

            “I think I should leave, let you cool down.  You can call me any time you want, you know.”  She said quickly, being more obvious about her steps back now.

            “I’m pretty sure cooling down in not going to happen right now.”  Kyle said thickly, and Bri watched he clenched and unclenched his hands.  Her heart was beating erratically in her chest.  His anger seemed to fill the whole room, making her feel very, very small.  She took another step back and felt the wall behind her.

            She grabbed the doorknob and quickly pulled it open.  “I’m sorry, Kyle.”  She whispered before dashing out into the hallway. She didn’t pause.  Quick as lightning she bolted down the stairs, trying to escape from Kyle’s black anger as fast as possible.

            It didn’t take long for her to reach the street, and the fresh air cleared her mind instantly.  Bri took a deep breath, treating it like a drink of cold water after a walk in the desert.  What in the world had even happened back there?

            The sky was dark as Bri started to walk back to her place.  She didn’t have time to think about her panic about walking alone. Her mind was still back in the apartment.  She had never before felt so… overwhelmed by a conversation before.  Was this part of her changing?  She just felt so tuned in to Kyle’s anger.  Or was it possible that he was really that mad?

            Bri shook her head to clear it.  That was not at all what I was expecting.  She thought.  She had expected some anger, sure, but more than anything she thought he would be sad.  Betrayed.  But not… well, that.

            She felt like there was a huge weight on her shoulders.  While it didn’t seem possible, she was certain that she was actually feeling more guilt now than before she had confessed.  How was it possible that Kyle could have taken this so poorly?

            Probably because he didn’t see it coming.  She thought, and as she thought it she knew it was true.  Sure, she hadn’t really missed him much this summer, nor was she all that super happy anymore when they went out; but she had hid that from Kyle.  It wasn’t hard for her to think back and know that he had always liked her more than she liked him.

            I really should have been better to him. She thought miserably, kicking a crushed can on the sidewalk.  There was no way he was going to forgive her for this.  At least not anytime soon – and she was definitely going to feel the strain between some of the other friends too.  She and Kyle just had too many mutual people that they knew…

            It didn’t take long for Bri to make it back to her apartment.  She eyed the stoop, wondering what Patrick and Kayla were up to.  The last thing she wanted to do was talk about this now.  Not when it just occurred to her that maybe she shouldn’t be worried about what her friends were going to think – once Bri had turned into a super hero – she shook her head quickly, wondering how she had already come to accept this – if she turned into a super hero, would she even need to friends?

            Bri unlocked the door to the apartment complex and climbed the stairs to her unit.  She opened the door quietly and sighed with relief when all the lights were off.  She was blissfully alone. Bri went into her bedroom and closed the door behind her before flopping on her bed. 

            What a mess.  She thought.  What was she doing?  Running around with Jackson, someone who… for all she knew… was totally dangerous.

            Bri sat up and pulled her knees to her chest.  Though, as she thought that, she knew it wasn’t true.  Jackson was, at most, part of a different world, but that didn’t have to make him dangerous.  At any rate, he got her out of her relationship with Kyle, which probably should have happened a long time before.  Though I wish I would have done it in a less shitty way.  She still felt bad for confessing that she had cheated.   She wasn’t that kind of girl.

            She sighed and decided to put it behind her for the night.  It was still fairly early, but frankly, she was exhausted.  She made a quick trip to the bathroom to brush her teeth and put on her sweatpants. She then returned to her bedroom and launched herself into her bed again. She stretched over and reached across her tiny room to flip off her light.  She checked to make sure her alarm was on and then snuggled herself down in her sheets.

            She wasn’t there for more than a couple seconds before she heard a giant thump on the windows above her.  She sat up with a start, her heart racing.  It was either a giant bird or –

            Suddenly she heard a few twanged chords of a guitar.  A wonderful, warm feeling spread through her body and she felt herself smile.  No way… Carefully, she climbed up on her bed then stepped precariously on her dresser at the end of the bed.  Awkwardly bent so as to not smash her head against the glass, she fiddled with the latch on the last window out of the four and slowly swung it open.  With a little bit of shifting she was able to straighten out her legs and get her head and chest out of the window.  She peered out into the night and, sure enough, just off to her right, was Jackson.

            Bri felt her breath catch as she watched him sit in the moonlight.  This was the first time she felt like she actually believed he was a super hero.  The light shadowed his features, causing certain areas of him to stand out in a glossy silver.  His face was profiled and she took in the way his blonde hair was disheveled over his ear, how his jaw line was tight with concentration.  He was holding a guitar, which reflected the moon on its amber surface.  His position, sitting with one leg up to support the guitar and the other straight out in front of him, accented his lean body – and with his arms exposed under t-shirt sleeves she could see how the shadows of the moonlight emphasized his tight muscles.  He looked mystical, perfect, like some kind of statue of a God…

            This image was an artists dream but, more than that, she was amazed how all of her horrible, mixed up feelings were easily falling away from her.  It didn’t matter that Kyle was furious with her, it didn’t matter that she had done some pretty stupid things today, none of that mattered when he was sitting on her roof.

            “Jackson…?”

            He held up one finger and concentrated on the instrument in front of him.  He played a single chord before singing.

            “Oh Bri-eh-eh-elle,” he played another chord, “You are so swe-eh-ell…”

            Bri groaned and instantly turned to go back into her room.  She had barely moved though before Jackson had his hands under her arms and was lifting her up onto the roof.  Somehow he had time to put down his guitar in the split second that it took for him to move to her.  Her body was carried as though it weighed nothing, and he carefully placed her on the asphalt rooftop, its surface scratchy under her skin.

            “Don’t worry,” Jackson said as he sat next to her, angling himself so their legs were touching, causing a static electricity kind of shock to run through her. “That was a joke.”  His eyes crinkled with his smile as he watched for her reaction.

            Bri could only shake her head at him, wanting to say she was mostly frustrated by how the gorgeous image of him would be lost forever – when all she wanted to do was paint it.  She decided to forgive him, however, as she looked out over the view in front of her.  The spot on the roof was gorgeous.  Their building was too short to have a great view of the city, but she could see down her street and watch as people meandered on the sidewalks.   She lifted her chin as a cool breeze lifted her hair off her neck.

            “Why are you here?” She asked.

            Jackson looked over at her with a wink.  “Sometimes people need super heroes for other things than life endangerment.  You needed a cheering up.”

            Bri’s mouth opened a little, probably more shocked than she should have been.  “Really?”  She felt a smile play on her lips. “Well, mission accomplished.  I feel wonderful.”

            “But I haven’t done anything yet.” Jackson pulled the guitar to him again, strumming a single chord. 

            “You play?”  She asked quietly.

            Jackson shook his head. “Only tonight.”  His smile was soft and warm. Bri watched as he slowly opened his mouth, as though he were a little nervous.  Bri felt her heart pull.  His voice was a soft song, almost more as if he were speaking it in the rhythm.

 

            “It isn’t every day,

That I can say

I find someone I care for

In such a way,”

           

            Jackson lifted his eyes to catch hers as he continued on.

 

            “But it’s so true

After I see you

I spend all my time

Thinking about you

 

If I touch your hair

If I so dare

to somehow tell you

How much I care,”

 

            Jackson licked his lips and dropped his eyes from hers.  His voice softened to almost a whisper as went to the next verse.  Bri couldn’t help reaching out to him, putting one hand on the bent knee that was supporting the guitar.

 

            “And if I… touch your lips

Steal one sweet kiss

Then you can’t go away

‘Cause you will be missed.”

 

            Jackson put the guitar off to his side, his lips lifting into a smile as he took her chin in his hand and finished off his song gazing into her eyes.

 

            “Oh, my Bri

Can’t you see

How much you mean

To me.”

 

            Bri was gone.  Even before his lips touched her, her insides had melted.  His lips were tingly warm in comparison to the cool night.  Bri instinctively threw her arms around his neck and pulled him into her, somehow wanting him to press every part of him against her. 

            So this is it,  she thought as she pulled her lips away from his, tilting her head slightly as she looked deep into his eyes.  His thick lashes fluttered at her comically.  A soft smile grew on her lips.  This is the one.

            “I’m okay with that.”  She said softly to herself.  She watched confusion cross through Jackson’s expression.

            “Wha-“ before he could get his question out though, Bri had already closed the gap between their lips again and pulled him close to her.

            She had very little intention of ever letting go.

Chapter 11

            Bri followed him automatically, watching as he deposited the trays and then pulled her out of the lunch room.  Bri did her best not to look around, knowing that most of the people from her last class were probably still there, eating.  Sure enough, she heard someone call out her name.

            “Bri?”

            She turned to see Jasmine, who was looking at her quizzically, her eyes moving from Bri to Jackson curiously.  Bri’s heart dropped.  Jasmine knew Kyle pretty well and Bri also knew that the way Jackson had her hand could not be construed as anything else than what it was…

            “Hey, Jazz, I just –“

            “Jasmine, right?  Bri has mentioned you.  I’m Jackson.”  Jackson butted in, holding out his right hand to shake hers, but still holding Bri’s hand with his left.

            Jasmine looked a little stunned, her eyes wide as she looked at Jackson.  Bri couldn’t help blushing a little, realizing that must be how she looked at Jackson too. He certainly was gorgeous.

            “Nice to meet you.”  She mumbled, before turning her eyes back to Bri.

            Bri gave a guilty half smile.  “Hey, I’ll talk to you in class tomorrow and – um – fill you in, okay?”  She felt a tug on her hand and shot a glare at Jackson and his impatience.   “I think we’re in a hurry.”

            “Okay…” Jasmine said warily, and before Bri could say another word, Jackson was pulling her out the door and into the hallway.

            Brielle scowled up at Jackson as he proceeded to tug her along. “I’ve mentioned her to you, hm?  Somehow I don’t remember that.  How in the world did you know who she was?”

            “Super hero, remember?”  Jackson said, turning around her grin at her.  Brielle shook her head.

            “I expected you to say stalker.”

            Jackson shrugged.  “Well, I suppose that is true too, but really the reason is more that I am a super hero and not that I’m some creepy guy.”

            “That’s debatable.”

            Before Bri could realize what was happening, Jackson flung her around so she was in his arms.  Her pulse suddenly raced as she found her back up against the wall in the corner of an empty hallway.  He stood much too close to her, his head leaning down, and his breathing a bit too heavy for their short rush.

            “I don’t want you to be afraid.”  He said softly.  Bri closed her eyes as she felt his warm breath in her hair.  Almost unwillingly, she melted her body into his.  “This is just going to be… more weird than anything else.  Okay?  But you have to believe me.  Just keep – what was it that you said?”  Bri looked up to see the thoughtful look on his face.  “You told me that when you were around me your mind was disconnected from your body.  That you were running on instincts.  Keep thinking of that, it’ll help you understand, I think.”

            His smile was warm and inviting.  Bri nodded slowly to what he was saying. 

            “Are you ready?”  He asked, his hands moving down her arms, leaving hot little trails behind.

            “I don’t know what I’m expecting.”  Bri said, her voice low, hard to hear.

            “You’re ready.”  Jackson said confidently.  He wrapped his arms tighter around her and softly, quietly, enough to make the hairs on her arms stand on end in goose bumps, whispered, “close your eyes.”

            Bri obeyed.

            “Now open them.”

            Bri kept them closed, confused.  No time had passed – why did he want her to open her eyes already?  She could still feel his arms around her, but something seemed a little different.  Where was the wall at her back?  Her heart started to race.   Where was the floor under her feet?

            Bri snapped her eyes open, confused when she could see nothing, nothing at all.  Everything around her was a strange kind of heather gray.  How clouds looked before a storm, how the television looked when there was no cable, the color of static fog…

            Fear exploded around her.  Where is Jackson?

            “I’m right here.”  She heard and Bri instantly relaxed.  She hadn’t realized that she had said it aloud. But, that was his voice, and she could in fact still feel his arms.  But how was that possible?  He wasn’t in front of her anymore…

            “Weird, isn’t it?”  Jackson asked, a chuckle in his voice.

            Bri had to close her eyes again, the weird gray fog disorienting her.  But, she realized that she couldn’t close them – for some reason the gray wasn’t going away.

            “Jackson, why can’t I see you?”  Bri was surprised that she couldn’t hear her own voice, in fact, she couldn’t feel her lips moving.  But she was so certain that she had said it –

            “Don’t be afraid, I just wanted to show you this.  It’ll be gone soon.  Close your eyes again.”

            “I can’t!”  Bri cried, but even as she said it, suddenly it all went black around her.  She could again feel her eyelids, realizing that they were closed.  Even though she had always felt Jackson’s arms around her, she felt them solidly again, not realizing that before, in the fog, she hadn’t really been able to tell where they were – now it was obvious, around her waist, his palms open on the small of her back…

            “Bri?”  His voice was careful.

            Slowly, she opened her eyes again, seeing him in front of her.  Her breath let out in a whoosh.  She didn’t have to ask him anything, just looked up into his icy-blue eyes.  The giddiness in them was gone, instead it was replaced by a soft kind of… tenderness.  Bri knew her own body was back too as she felt a blush crawl over her cheeks.  She’d never had anyone look at her like that.

            “Do you believe me now?”

            Bri felt herself smile, surprising herself.  That was the last reaction she would have expected after that.  But he was just looking at her with so much… happiness.

            “Well, you’re either telling the truth or we’re both crazy.”

            “And either way, we’re perfect for each other.”  Jackson said, his voice sing-songy.  Bri couldn’t help but laugh aloud and she launched her head into his chest, turning their embrace into a hug.  His arms tightened around her as he gave a little “mmm” of contentment.

            “So, do you care to take a little look around, or should we just keep standing here like this?  I’m cool with either.”

            “Look around?”  Bri asked, reluctantly ending the hug. She hadn’t even noticed – were they not back in the hallway…?  She gasped as she finally looked over his shoulder, noticing that they were in a room with a very high, white domed ceiling.  She must have been so focused on Jackson when they materialized again she didn’t even notice that they weren’t back home…

            “Whoa,” She said as she pulled even further away from him, looking around her.  They were in a sort of train station, or at least that was what it looked like.  The large domed ceiling led down to a very wide, open room that had a number of corridors opening up all around.  She felt a little silly, not having noticed before, especially since there was a multitude of people around her, milling around, seeming to be coming from and going to one any number of the different corridors.  Jackson adjusted himself so one arm was around her waist and led her out of the middle of the room.

            “People tend to get a little cranky if we stand in the way.  Shall we go sit down and I can explain some more to you.”

            Bri nodded her head enthusiastically, realizing that her mouth was open in awe.  She quickly shut it though, as one very tall, very beautiful woman looked at her with a smirk, obviously making fun.  Bri collected herself and opted to look at Jackson instead, suddenly seeing him in a whole different light.

            He had always looked powerful before, gorgeous but now he also looked… majestic.  The confidence in his walk and the way his grip on her was light, comforting, but at the same time iron-clad.  She had never before thought about a person having that much power…

            It wasn’t long before they were o the edge of the massive room, away from what seemed to be more of the major corridors that people were using.  There was a long, white bench attached to the wall, where Jackson motioned for them to sit.

            “Where are we?”

            Jackson smiled.  “The same place we were before.”

            Bri looked at him quizzically.  At this point she wasn’t trying hard not to be skeptical.  She remembered what Jackson had said, leave her mind behind and act on instincts.  It actually wasn’t that hard to do, since her brain had never seen anything like this before.

            Jackson leaned back against the wall, at ease.  “You’ve heard about different dimensions before, haven’t you?  You know, like how we’re in the third dimension but there are all these theories out there that thing there might be as many as ten dimensions but it’s really hard for us to…. Well, think about?”

            Bri nodded.  She really had heard about that.  There was the whole thing where the first dimension was a point, the second was a plane, the third was… well what she knew, how she lived.  But then the idea of thinking of more, well it kind of made her head hurt.

            Jackson shrugged.  “Well, it’s true.  There are that many dimensions.  And this place,” he motioned his arms out in front of him. A couple of the people walking nearby glance over, but then didn’t seem to pay him any mind.  “This is the portal to all the different dimensions.”

            He turned her to and grasped her hands again. “You see, where I took you before, that was part of the 5^th dimension.  But you couldn’t see anything, right?  You couldn’t tell what was going on?  You knew you were there, but you weren’t really…. You knew there was something but you couldn’t figure out what to do, who you were, or even where you were…”

            Bri nodded, watching his eyes as he talked, realizing that as she did that his expressions were helping her understand as much as his words were.

            “Well, that’s because you don’t know the 5^th dimension.  You only know the 3^rd so it makes it… very hard to even experience the 5^th.  Your mind can’t really handle it.  So, instead, I’ve brought you here and I’ve brought you in the context of the 3^rd dimension and now… it’s manageable.”  Jackson looked around, contented.

            “This is the exact same thing as the gray… nothingness I was in before?”  Bri asked, looking around again.

            Jackson nodded, “Absolutely.  Just in a different context.”

            “What’s the point of traveling different dimensions if you can’t experience them?”  Bri asked, her question surprising her.  Of all the things to ask…

            Jackson laughed.  “Well, you actually can, it just takes some getting used to.  It helps if someone can explain it to you before hand, prepare you a little. And, admittedly, it’s far easier to go to lower dimensions than higher ones.  The lower ones are easier to understand.”

            “Who are all these people?”  Bri asked, and lowered her head as some people walking past looked over at her.  Jackson just pulled her closer to him and laughed again.

            “Who do you think they are?”

            Bri raised her eyes.  “There is no way that they are all super heroes.  How could there be so many but we don’t know about them?”

            He smirked.  “Well, they are.  Though, I have to admit, there are very few in the third dimension.  It seems as though most of them are rampant in the 6^th dimension.”

            Bri tried to collect everything in her head, now using that instead of her instincts to help her understand and keep her sanity.  “But why are they all in this 3^rd dimension if they are actually in the 6^th?”

            Jackson shook his head.  “They aren’t, this is just our perspective.  Most of these people are in different dimensions, but because we chose the 3^rd, we are seeing them that way.”

            “Whoa,” Bri said again, watching at the people passed by.  It was hard to imagine that she was there, instead it felt much more like she was just some kind of observer.  She felt certain that she was on the other side of a panel of glass, that they were somehow in a television set, apart from her, different from her.

            “And you know what?”  Jackson said as he whispered into her ear.  She could hear the smile in his voice.  “Only super heroes can ever travel to another dimension.”

            Bri’s head jerked around to face him, her eyes wide.  “Really?”  She asked, her voice a higher pitch than usual.

            Jackson nodded.  “Crazy, hu?”

            She nodded with him, her head mirroring his.  “It’s hard to think about.”

            He grinned and then planted a kiss on her forehead.  “You’ll get used to it.  Surprisingly quickly, too, I think.  Let me take you back so I don’t completely overload you, hm?”

            Bri stood with him and automatically closed her eyes as he wrapped his arms around her.  She concentrated on what he was doing and seemed to be able to almost feel the existence around her slip away…

Chapter 10

            Brielle took her change from the girl behind the counter and aimed her feet in the direction of the patio.  She leaned her back on the door, pushing herself into the gorgeous sunshine.  Bri scanned the area quickly before choosing a table on the far edge where she plopped down, carefully avoiding the shadow from the violet and white umbrella which stood in the middle of the white table.

            Bri sighed as she reached for her soda.  She leaned her head back a little, enjoying the warmth of the sun on her skin.  She loved days like this – with the sky a perfect blue, even with the smog of the city.  She took a swig from the bottle of Mountain Dew, grimacing a little.  It wasn’t the kind of thing she usually drank, in fact, she usually didn’t have soda at all, but after the night she had she really needed to get some energy.

            Bri let her eyes search briefly around the cafeteria, looking for Jackson’s blonde hair.  She came up empty though and decided to get started on her Kung Pao chicken, uncertain how the mass-produced stir fry was going to taste.

            There’s no need to be anxious.  She told herself.  Jackson had whispered to her to meet her after her 12:30 class (it didn’t occur to her that he could only have known that it was her last one except from his stalking escapades) here at the cafeteria.  Since her class had let out a little early, she knew she would probably beat him here.

            There is no way he would stand me up.  Not with that bombshell he dropped on her last night.  Super hero?  What did that even mean?  It was quite possibly the perfect thing for him to tell her.  It was such an absurd thing to say, out of left field, it actually made it easier for her not to think about it.  She probably spent a whole fifteen minutes of her sleepless night focusing on those words but spent the night reliving his kiss – and then fighting the intense guilt that swarmed her as soon as she had left Jackson’s arm.

            Bri frowned as she played with the rice, mixing it in with the stir fry sauce.  She wasn’t sure why it never occurred to her that she had a boyfriend when she was with Jackson, but she definitely remembered as soon as she was away.  She had never thought, not in her entire life, that she would ever cheat on someone.  But here that was exactly what she had done.

            “Stupid,” she said for probably the hundredth time.  It could have been avoided.  Bri had seen this coming, but she had been too chicken to talk to Kyle about it.  Had she just broken it off earlier then she wouldn’t have to feel so horrible… and neither would he.  She shook her head and dug into the food.  She really needed to stop beating herself up over it.  It wasn’t like she was a dirt bag who planned it, or who intended to do that the whole time… it just happened.  And it wasn’t like Jackson was a one-time fling, or at least she hoped he wasn’t.

            “Nice choice,” a cool voice whispered in her ear, causing her to jump.  She quickly swallowed her bite of stir-fry and watched as Jackson’s lean body walked around her and took the seat to the right of her at the square table.  It took Bri a moment to process what he had said, as she was too absorbed in the look of him.  His hair was side swept as usual and his icy blue eyes appeared darker against the solid black t-shirt he wore over top of a pair of casual slacks.  His muscular arms were exposed, and Bri traced them with her eyes all the way down to his own dish of Kung Pao chicken.

            “It’s not bad,” she said softly, eyeing the dish.  She hoped it came off as casual but as she caught his eyes with her again, she could see the amusement in them, and she was certain that he was laughing at her.

            “I have to admit, there’s a part of me that’s surprised you are here.”  Jackson said, flashing her a smile.  Bri smiled in return, rolling her eyes.

            “Why?  Because you’re obviously completely insane?”

            Jackson laughed, “Well, I guess you could say that.  Except for the fact that I’m not insane – but you have every right to think that… for now.”

            Brielle shook her head.  “I don’t know how you could prove that, I guess I’m just more concerned with whether or not I’m okay with hanging out with a weirdo like you.”

            Jackson cocked his head, looking genuinely confused.  “You mean you really have written me off as crazy?”

            “Okay, I guess not.  I figured you would explain what you actually meant today.  In all honesty, I didn’t even spend that much time thinking about it.”

            Jackson’s eyebrows lifted under his hair.  “You didn’t think about it?  Did you even hear what I said?”

            Bri snorted and nodded, “You said you were a super hero.  What in the world is that even supposed to mean?  That you’re here to save me or something?”  She shrugged.  “I guess it’s actually a pretty suave way to keep seducing me.”

            Jackson shook his head, tilted his head down as he got a forkful of food. “So, you were able to sleep after all.”

            Bri shook her head, and pointed to the Mountain Dew bottle.  “Not at all, I was busy thinking about… other parts of the night.”

            Jackson’s eyes lit up and his voice was a little huskier than usual when he spoke. “Well that’s good to hear.”

            Bri bit her lip as she smiled and then quickly took a bite of food so she didn’t have to respond.

            “But how in the world could that have taken up your entire night.  There are only so many times that you can relive the way I had my arms around you, and how my lips felt when they –“

            “Okay, enough!”  Bri said with a laugh, her face turning scarlet and she looked around quickly to make sure no one was listening.

            Jackson’s laughter was louder than it should have been.  It seemed to her that he took great enjoyment in making her uncomfortable.  “What?  Afraid someone is going to hear about how I kissed –“

            “Kind of!”  Bri said urgently, wanting him to stop less for that reason and more so her heart would stop beating so fast upon the memory.  “Considering I have a lot to tell Kyle tonight.”

            Jackson’s smile faded.  “Oh no, don’t tell me you weren’t thinking about me being a super hero because you were busy thinking about Kyle?”

            Brielle shrugged one shoulder and Jackson groaned.

            “I kiss a girl and she spends the rest of the night thinking about another man. Talk about a plan backfiring.”

            “Well, it was a pretty shitty thing for me to do.”  Brielle said miserably, feeling even worse now that she admitted her guilty conscience to Jackson.

            “It wasn’t your fault, Bri, I kissed you.”

            Bri snorted, sarcasm thick in her voice. “Oh, yes, it was definitely something that I didn’t want.  You took complete advantage of me.  I did absolutely nothing wrong.”

            Jackson’s smile came back in full force, blinding her for a moment. “You did want me to kiss you. Excellent.”

            She smiled, “You think I would have let you do it if I didn’t want it?”

            Jackson gave his hair a little toss.  “I am a pretty charming guy.  Sometimes girls have a hard time keeping their head when they are around me.”

            Bri rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to her meal.  They were quiet for a moment.

            “I have to admit, I’m pretty stunned.”

            Bri looked up, recognizing a tone change in his voice.  He had put down his fork and he was staring at her intently.  “Why is that?”

            “Because I really thought you would be ranting and raving at me, or at least be extremely puzzled.  I mean, I revealed to you something huge.”

            Bri put down her fork too, recognizing that they were about to have a pretty intense conversation.  “Well, I don’t really see what you mean.  I didn’t think you revealed anything to me.  If I hadn’t been so… distracted, I probably would have been mad at you.”

            Jackson lips slowly pulled into a smile.  Bri felt a little concerned though as she realized that it wasn’t reaching his eyes.  “So you think what I said was just some kind of… metaphor, maybe?”

            Bri’s eyebrows pulled together in confusion.  “Well, yeah.  I mean… well… what do you mean?  Why wouldn’t I think that?”

            “Because it’s not.”

            Bri shook her head, her reddish-brown hair flowing across her shoulders. “I don’t understand.”

            Jackson sighed and leaned back in his chair.  “I guess you haven’t really thought about this at all.  I know you’ve seen enough for it to convince you… or at least, I thought you would have.”

            Bri looked at him for a moment, her heart rate staying the same, but, if it were possible, just beating harder, stronger.  “I wasn’t kidding, I… really didn’t give your words a second thought.  I didn’t understand what you meant.”  She shook her head as she spoke her words.  “I was really supposed to believe you are a super hero?”

            “You are supposed to believe I’m a super hero.”  Jackson said, changing her tense.  He watched her carefully.”

            Bri caught his eyes, her own confusion making it hard to read his face.  “But, I mean… what kind of super hero?”

            Jackson smiled.  “Your generic brand of super hero, I guess.  The kind who runs around and does cool stuff and saves people.”  His voice had a note of excitement enter it as he reached the end of his sentence.

            Bri shook her head, dropping her eyes from his.  Crap.  She thought, feeling a tension rise in her body.  He actually is crazy.  The thought hadn’t crossed her mind.  She had thought, instantly, that he was kidding, that he was creating some metaphor about how he was saving her heart, or something like that.  She never felt like she was in danger around him, and the way he made her feel like… it was enough to ignore the weird things.  But, was he actually convinced her was a super hero.  She had no idea what to do about that –

            Jackson broke into her thoughts.  “Doesn’t it kind of, make sense?”  He asked, his voice quiet.  Maybe he could tell what she was thinking, or at least feel how the energy in her body had changed.  Bri wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case.  For some reason she felt like it was more than just watching his facial expressions.  She felt like she could tell, even now, with her eyes still down, that he was feeling a little urgent, a little exposed.  Was he just now realizing that he was crazy?  She wasn’t sure that was something she wanted to reveal to him.

            “I told you, I didn’t really think about it.  I don’t know how you being a super hero could make sense…”

            “Bri,” Jackson’s voice was soft enough that it made her look up.  “I was saving those people in Rochester.  I know you saw me.  I don’t think you realized it at the time and maybe not even now, but you saw me run in there, you saw how I pulled the people out.  I noticed you instantly, the way you were instinctively trying to get in there.”

            Despite herself, Bri thought back to that night in Rochester.  She did think it was amazing how fast the man had gotten out of the truck.  She remembered checking with her mother afterwards and there hadn’t been any casualties.  But how was that possible, there were people trapped in the store itself – there was no time for them all to get out…

            Jackson voice continued the story.  “I pulled you away from there, Bri.  I know you wondered how I could have taken all that glass to the back and not have been at the hospital.  I didn’t need to go; it didn’t even embed itself into me.”

            Bri bit her lip.  She knew that was true – at least that he had glass in his back.  She didn’t have any in hers so it had to have gone somewhere.  And it didn’t make sense for him not to show up at that hospital, there wasn’t another that was a close enough to be an alternative…

            “Then how about me being in New York?  I don’t think even the best real stalker could have done so well.  You were on a plane the next day; I had no reason to know who you were, or to follow you.  But – well, that’s another part of being who I am.  Once I find you, it’s kind of like you’re a magnet to me.  I didn’t have to even think to know where you were going.  It’s easy for me to tell. It’ll be easy for you too, after a while.”

            Bri’s eyes filled with confusion as she looked up to catch her eyes with his again.  She opened her mouth to ask what he meant, why she could have done anything to draw him to her but he continued his story, cutting her off.

            “Then, ignoring how I happened to be everywhere at once on that first day of school, didn’t you see what happened in the club?  I know you were watching.  Didn’t it occur to you that I was just moving too fast?  Or that I was able to get us out of there way too quickly.”

            “But… everything was moving fast – “ Bri said lamely, her mind flashing back to that night.  She was frightened, and she was right, things didn’t happen quickly. Maybe it was too quickly.  Jackson’s hands had moved so fast it was like a blur.  But anyone who was a good fighter moved fast – okay, a great fighter…

            “And when Mukund came and took me away from the play.  I know you wondered why.  What in the world could have pulled me away from you at the very moment?  There are very few things, Bri.  Actually, there’s only one thing.”

            “What’s that?”  She asked, in a whisper.

            “When there’s someone I have to save.”

            Somewhere in the back of her mind, Bri realized that her lunch was getting cold.  For now, she was done eating it.  She wasn’t quite accepting what Jackson was saying.  She wasn’t quite putting this together.  But she was realizing that he really wasn’t trying to convince her that he was a super hero.  A real, live super hero.

            “What did you go do last night?  Exactly?”

            Jackson’s eyes bored into her.  “The 3 Line was going to derail.  Mukund and I had to make sure that didn’t happen.  That was why I thought I would be able to get back to you in time.  Even if we were too late, we probably would have gotten everything cleared up before the play ended.”

            Bri’s heart was starting to thump even harder, though she was certain that its pace was the same as always. “The 3 line was going to derail.”  She repeated.  She humored her curiosity.  “Why?”

            Jackson shrugged.  “There are bad people out there.”

            Bri started shaking her head before she realized that she was going to negate what he was telling her.  “Jackson, I don’t – I mean, none of this makes sense.”

            Jackson leaned over quickly, grabbing a hold of her hand.  His hold gave her little shocks of static electricity.  “Sure it does!  It makes perfect sense.  If you just believe that me being a super hero makes sense.”  He frowned for a second, thinking.  “And that Mukund is one too,”

            “Mukund is a super hero?”

            Jackson smiled brightly.  “Oh yeah!  He has been longer than I have.  That’s why he was able to drag me out of there, otherwise I never would have left.  Though, I guess now I’m going to have more authority.  It’s going to be a nice change.”

            Thought Bri realized that he was mostly talking to himself at that point, she couldn’t help asking, “Why?”

            Jackson smirked and his gaze on her was twinkling. “Because now I’ve found you.”

            Bri felt a tremble go through her body. “Why does that matter?”

            Jackson’s entire body livened with excitement.  He gripped her hand harder. “Because two super heroes are better than one!”

            Bri couldn’t help but laugh.  “Did you just call me a super hero?”

            Jackson nodded enthusiastically.  Suddenly the wariness that Bri was feeling before was gone.  She shook her head and laughed.

            “Jackson, okay this is going way too far.  I can’t – “ Bri cocked her head to the side and felt a smile on her lips.  He was obviously giddy, his face bright with excitement.  How could he be crazy?  She sighed and decided to play along.  “Okay, so if I’m a super hero what are my powers?”

            Jackson tossed his head, “Oh, you know – the usual. Speed, strength, flight, x-ray vision…”  He waggled his eyebrows at the last part.

            Bri shook her head.  “News flash, Jack, I don’t have any of those.  So how am I supposed to be super hero?”

            Jackson opened his arms wide in celebration. “That’s a beauty of it!  These things only show up when… well, when this happens.”

            “When what happens?”

            “When you find your mate!”

            Bri’s heart, whose fluttering had reached some sort of speed that would make hummingbirds jealous, came to a screeching halt. “Excuse me?”  Her voice was barely supported by her suddenly very dry throat.

            Jackson jumped up from his seat nimbly, and proceeded to perch on the edge of the table.  He clasped one of her hands between his and stared intently into her eyes.  Whether from his so called super hero abilities or her never-ending teenage hormones, Bri found it impossible to look away. “Well, you see, it’s a little like fate, or physics, or something – I don’t know – but basically you can’t challenge it so don’t even bother.” His voice was light, bubbly almost. 

            Bri’s brain was unable to compute.  “I… I’m sorry.  Is this just some really long, elaborate story to try and get into my pants?”

            Jackson laughed aloud and did a very characteristic fist-pump.  His excitement was palpable. “Well, yeah!  But the thing is that the story isn’t made up.  See, our existence is basically wrapped up in a search to find our mates, make a beautiful bouncing, super hero baby, and then be on our way.  Then it’s that baby’s turn to find some non-superhero mate of its own and continue the tradition on generation and generation.  It’s really quite beautiful, don’t you think?  I think ours will have my dashing wit but your cheeks.”  He then proceeded to pinch her cheeks before she could even react.

            Jackson slipped off the edge of the table and came around to sit on the edge of the bench next to her.  His eyes were alive with excitement as he grabbed a hold of the sides of her face to force her to look at him.  Bri’s heart was pumping violently.  She didn’t know what to think, she wasn’t sure what she was believing.

            “Surely some of the changes have been happening already.  Have you noticed anything different?  Any heightened senses or strengths?”

            Bri’s mind flashed back to her exploded highlighter, then to her ease walking down the dark road.  Those were just coincidences…

            “You’re going to have to see it, aren’t you?”  Jackson asked, and though she was trying her best to tell him he was crazy, he didn’t seem the least bit deterred by her lack of trust.  If anything, it seemed to thrill him more. The sun was shining brightly off his skin and, as Bri looked at him, his face so close, for a moment maybe she could imagine that he was a super hero.

            “Yes, Jackson, I’m going to need some hard evidence here.”

            His eyes lit up.  “Awesome.”  He got up from the table and grabbed both of their trays.  “And this is why I decided to wait until the morning to talk to you about it.  Let’s go.”

            “Where are we going?”  Bri asked, dutifully following as he still held her hand in his.

            Jackson twisted around to smile at her, his eyes crinkling with delight. “Another dimension!”

Chapter 9

            Bri was stunned.  She half rose from the blanket, not quite sure if she was going to follow him or not.  But, as she turned to watch him leave, she realized he had already missed his exit.  She blinked rapidly, shaking her head to clear it.  What in the world had just happened?

            Breathe.  She suddenly had to remind herself of.  She found that she had to concentrate on steadying her heart.  Much to her dismay, she realized that the thing that was causing her the most confusion at that particular moment was the way the nerves in her cheek were dancing on edge, as if they could feel the exact edges of Jackson’s fingerprints on her face.  She closed her eyes and focused on taking some deep breaths.

            There are so many other important things to be thinking about right now.  She scolded herself. Thankfully, it didn’t take too long for the flurries in her nervous system settled and her brain could function.  What the hell had happened?  Did he really just ditch her at the play?

            Suddenly very self-aware, Bri looked around to see if any of the other play-goers had noticed her being stranded.  Thankfully, everyone seemed thoroughly absorbed in the action on the stage.  The night had darkened to a navy blue, cloudy and breeze-less. She leaned back heavily against the tree trunk, barely aware that there were people performing in her line of sight.  Her brain was alight with confusion.

            Well if this doesn’t raise a whole new batch of issues… she thought, a frown deepening on her face.  Who was that guy who came up to him?  Why was Jackson so ready to go with him?  Brielle couldn’t convince herself that Jackson was surprised… he seemed completely at ease to have the Indian man come up so quickly and quietly behind him.  It had to be a friend of his?  But what had been so urgent that Jackson had to leave?

            Brielle chewed her bottom lip.  And why I am still here?  She wondered, feeling her heart rise a little in panic.  She was alone in central park and her only two options were to sit here and wait for his return – like Jackson had told her to – or to go home, which required her to walk home and take the subway in the now dark sky.

            A lick of fury wove its way from the bottom of Bri’s stomach and up through her throat.  Just who the hell did he think he was?  Here she was, yes, pretty stupid, but trusting him.  He should know better – he had very few cards to play before she was at complete liberty to freak out.  She was giving him the opportunity to give her some answers and what does he do?  Say cryptic things all night, half-truths, and then run away the instant that she is completely committed to sitting and watching the play.

            If he was trying to turn down the creepy-weird factor than he failed miserably.  Bri thought to herself stiffly, wondering how in the world this could have happened.  What had she gotten herself into?  She shuddered suddenly, not sure it if was the night air or the fact that she was alone. For all she knew, he was probably off making some sort of gang hit or getting a great deal on a bag of cocaine.  In fact, those were probably the two more logical things that could be happening, and neither of them were things that she wanted to stick around and wait for.

            Still, even as Bri adjusted herself on the blanket, she couldn’t quite bring herself to get up.  Her uncertainty about what was going on made her stay. He seemed sincere that he didn’t want to leave – and he did emphasize that he would be back before the end of the play, that he would get her home safely.

            Bri’s thoughts lingered on his last, fleeting words.  Forgive me.  She repeated in her head, seeing the way his icy-blue eyes glimmered in her memory.  Just that was enough to get her heart rate going again.

            Her eyes were un-focused in the direction of the stage.  Despite her constant interest in theatre she knew she wasn’t going to go back to watching it.  Even now, her ears were directed backwards, waiting for Jackson to walk back up behind her and say false alarm.

            A strong uneasiness settled in her stomach.  Something wasn’t right.  Ignoring the fact that she went on a date with someone who flat out admitted that he was stalking her, something about tonight was just weird.  What in the world could be so important that he had to run away that quickly?  And not only was it that important, but it was that expected?  It seemed like, more than anything, the news had irritated him, but it wasn’t something he could ignore either…

            Before she could change her mind Bri stood up from the ground and quickly gathered the blanket in her arms.  She wanted to wait for Jackson, she really did, but up until this point she had been listening to her body, to her heart, even, if she wanted to go as far as to admit to such a thing.  But now, as she was sitting alone in the park, it was time to listen to her brain.

            Mumbling apologies, she interrupted various people’s views of the stage in order to move through the crowd and go out the gate that they had entered.  Bri crossed the street quickly to get into the subway entrance, adjusting the blanket in her arms so she could reach into her purse for some money.

            After waiting only a couple of minutes for the train, Bri tried her ignore the guilt she felt as she sat down on the subway, frowning down at the teal and blue blanket.  She didn’t like the way her blanket took her attention, making her feel like an easy target.  She didn’t like traveling alone after dark – even if it was still early and there were a lot of people out.  She really ought to ditch the stupid thing – she didn’t want to walk the last few blocks to her apartment carrying it.  Even as she thought that though, her guilt grew stronger.  She thought about the way his eyes had looked so intently at her, remorse written all over his face.

            This is impossible.  Bri thought, rubbing her temples at the sudden stress headache she felt.  She felt terrible for leaving but she just couldn’t ignore the self-preservation instincts that told her to get the heck out of there.  Still, she felt like she had somehow broken his confidence.  She imagined the look on his face when he went back to the play to realize that she had left.  Would he be crushed?  Her guilt increased as she realized how guilty he would feel.

            But how could he really have expected me to stay?  She wondered as she rose to prepare herself to exit for the next stop.  She was doing him a favor from the very beginning to trust him and then – that?  For him to leave without any slight indication of an explanation? It would have been idiotic for her to stay and wait for him. She had every right to think that he was completely dangerous, up to no good…

            Bri shook her head and pushed her thoughts out of her head.  The last few blocks to her apartment weren’t the best lit and she felt even more cumbersome than before as she held the blanket in front of her with both hands.  She made herself aware of her surroundings, taking care to walk as far away from the shadows as possible.  Her strappy shoes clacked loudly against the sidewalks alerting anyone nearby that there was a woman wearing inappropriate shoes for running.  Brielle swallowed hard and picked up her pace as she realized that the streets weren’t nearly as active as they had been around central park.  She felt very obvious, a young girl walking alone, and really just wanted to go home.

            Bri took a deep breath, doing her best to keep at bay the slight panic that she knew would come.  She always kind of freaked out when she was walking alone.  She knew it was smart, but she also knew that she tended to overreact.

            Still, surprising herself, she realized that the panic wasn’t really there.  She found herself surprisingly alert.  She felt her eyebrows pull together in puzzlement as she noticed that it wasn’t really as dark as she thought it was.  Or at least… it seemed like she could actually make out what was in the shadows much better than usual.  And, maybe it was the way the long lane echoed but she was positive that she could hear the slight rattling of some sort of animal in the garbage at the very end of the alley she had just passed.  Even though she had been completely preoccupied up to that point, she found she was completely focused now, scanning easily everything around her.  She completely trusted her ears as they told her that no one was moving nearby. She didn’t even mind the blanket so much, her grip on it was light, ready to drop it at a moment’s notice.  She adjusted her strides so they were long, changing the rhythm of her steps to a echo confident clacking.

            Bri had her keys at the ready by the time she was at the front door and quickly opened it.  She had made it down the street without incident, and even more surprisingly, without fear.  As she closed the door behind her she let her eyes adjust to the bright lights of the hallway before walking up the flights to her apartment.  She couldn’t remember ever feeling that much as ease, maybe that wasn’t the right word, so attentive while walking down a dark street before.  Maybe she had been using her instincts so much more than usual lately and they were starting to take over?

            Unfortunately, since she was so preoccupied with her walk, she had totally forgotten to prepare herself with the onslaught that awaited her once she opened up the door to her apartment.

            Kayla gasped as Bri walked through the door, jumping up from her spot on the couch. “Back already?!”

            Bri groaned.  Another bad thing about having such a small apartment – there was never any place to hide.  She hadn’t even figured out what happened for herself yet, the last she wanted – or could do – was explain it to Kayla.
            “Yeah…”  Brielle mumbled, struggling to come up with the words that would make sense but not reveal everything.  “He had to go.”  She finished lamely.

            Kayla’s eyebrows rose in surprise.  “He had to go?”

            Bri shrugged, “Yeah, um – some kind of emergency or something.  Listen, I’m not really sure at all so can I fill you in later?”  Her eyes pleaded with Kayla, hoping her friend would realize that she really, really didn’t know how to talk about it.

            Kayla struggled to hold back another onslaught of questions.  She nodded slowly.  “Yeah… I can wait Bri…”  She opened her mouth again as she eyed the blanket but then stopped, a smile spreading across her face.  “You still look gorgeous, at least!”

            Brielle smiled in relief.  “Thanks, Kayla.”  She then turned and went into her bedroom.  She threw the blanket at the end of the bed and grabbed her sweats.  Quickly she changed into navy blue tank top that had a couple of bleach spots on it and a large pair of gray sweatpants that she had chopped off the bottoms of to make them capris.

            Now what?  She wondered to herself, sitting heavily on her bed.  She scrunched her hair a little, giving kudos to Patrick silently for how nicely the curls held.  She was just toying with the idea of taking a shower in order to get all the make-up and hair spray off her body when she heard the buzz of the door.

            No way.  She thought suddenly, as she pulled open the door to her bedroom and bolted for the intercom.  Somehow she made it there before Kayla who was still out in the living too.  Bri was shocked – for some reason she really didn’t think she was going to talk to Jackson again tonight.  Her heart raced as she answered the door.

            “Yes?”  She asked quietly, already knowing what voice would respond.

            “Bri?”

            Her heart fluttered as she heard the tone of his voice.  It was just like how it sounded right before he left; miserable.

            “Hi Jackson,” She said stupidly, realizing that she should probably buzz him up.  She held the listen button.  Maybe he just wanted to pick up the blanket.

            “Would you mind coming down and taking a walk with me?”

            “Sure!”  She said automatically.  Just as reflexively, she hit herself on the forehead.  What was wrong with her?  If she was contemplating the fact that he was some crazy killer, the last thing she should do was go down there and walk around in the dark with him.  Yet, even as she thought that she continued into the intercom, “I’ll be right down.”

            Bri ignored Kayla’s stare into back as she slipped into a pair of flip-flops and, grabbing her phone and keys, bolted out the door.  She pounded down the steps, not quite sure why she was rushing.  She pulled the front down open quickly and it was all she could do to stop her momentum from plowing right into Jackson, who was still standing close to the intercom.

            Jackson held out his arm, catching her across the shoulders.  Bri felt her heart race again as she looked up into his face, but she ignored it to quickly study his expression.  Though his now-familiar smirk was playing across his lips, his eyes weren’t glittering like they normally did.

            “Careful,” he said softly.  “You know, I thought I was really going to have to beg in order to convince you to come down.”

            Bri shook her head, her reasoning clicking in her brain as she looked into his eyes.

            “I feel really, really guilty for leaving.  I’m just glad you came.”

            Jackson dropped his arms from around the front of her shoulders, letting her get the rest of the way out the door and close it behind her.  He lightly plucked her cell phone and keys from her hands and dropped them into his pocket.  Bri mentally kicked herself.  That action alone should have scared her.  It should scare her that she doesn’t know this guy and that they are about to walk down the very, very dark streets.  But she completed trusted him.  There was absolutely nothing in the way he was standing or looking at her that gave her any reason to fear him.  Suddenly, she felt the need to explain her actions.

            “Jackson, I –“

            Jackson cut her off by wrapped his arm around her shoulders and leading her off the stoop.  “Just one second, Bri.  I believe I’m the person who should be talking and explaining now, wouldn’t you say?”

            Bri’s mouth tightened into a frown.  “Actually, no.  You asked me to stay and I left.  I shouldn’t have done that.”

            Jackson smiled softly.  “I’m not mad, Bri.  It was the smart thing for you to do.”

            Brielle shook her head. “But you’re sad,” she pointed out.  “And, it really wasn’t all that smart.  These streets aren’t good to be walking around on at night alone.”

            “Did something happen?”  He asked suddenly, quickly.  Bri looked up to find his eyes intensely looking at her, searching her face.

            Truthfully, she shook her head.  “No, actually, I had a really easy time taking care of myself.”  She realized that sentence wouldn’t make much sense to him but his question had reminded him of how alert she had been, how her senses all seemed to be on edge.

            Jackson watched her face for another second to make sure she was telling the truth and then nodded.  “Well, I’m not going to let you apologize, not when that’s what I came here to do.”

            Bri looked down at the sidewalk.  She kicked a small piece of broken sidewalk as they walked.  “I left because I was confused,” She said softly, “Not because I was mad at you.”

            “Really?”  He asked, and Bri nodded as she looked up at him.  Her heart skipped a little as she watched a small smile start from the corner of his lip.  “How can that be?”

            Bri shrugged, moving with him as he rounded a corner.  “You seemed so sincere.”

            “I was sincere.”  He said.  He shook his head and his lips pulled down into a frown.  “I had really hoped that wasn’t going to happen.  Now I’m not quite sure what to do.  I didn’t have a chance to seduce you at all.”

            Bri couldn’t stop herself from laughing aloud.  She shook her head.  “Don’t be so sure, Jackson.  Just taking me to a play gained some major points.”

            “But you didn’t even watch it.”  He pointed out.

            Bri frowned, remembering.  “I suppose… are you trying to hurt your case?”

            Jackson laughed and shook his head quickly.  “You’re right, why am I working against myself?  Think about how awesome I am for taking you to a play.”

            Bri smiled brightly, ignoring the wary thoughts in her head.  Conversation was just so easy with him and she wasn’t sure why but she had absolutely no trouble joking with him, confessing that she had genuinely liked the date, before he left of course.  They were silent for a short moment and Bri looked around the streets, realizing that she hadn’t been paying attention at all to where they were walking. She didn’t recognize the street, which wasn’t surprising since it was dark and she hadn’t done a whole lot of wandering around her neighborhood.

            “So, I guess I have to tell you where I was, don’t I?”  Jackson voice had a slight tenseness in it that made Bri’s heart race.

            “It’s kind of the whole reason why I left.  You don’t give many answers, you know.”

            Jackson nodded, his expression thoughtful.  “The thing is, it’s kind of a long story.”

            Bri looked at him after a long pause.  He was going to make her guess wasn’t he?  She took a breath and blurted out the one thing that scared her most.  “You’re not doing something illegal, are you?”

            Jackson chuckled, “No.”

            She eyed him carefully. 

            He turned his head to catch her eyes. “No,” he emphasized by giving her shoulders a squeeze.

            Bri hesitated only a moment longer before sighing and relaxing a little into his arm.  “Good.  That was really the only thing that I was worried about.”

            He chuckled.  “Really?  You can’t think of anything else that you wouldn’t be okay with that wasn’t illegal?”

            Bri shrugged.  “Well, I’m sure I could but I haven’t yet.  I was pretty much focused on the illegal stuff.  But I can get started on the rest of it now if you would like.”  She turned up her face to look him and glared.  “Or you could just tell me.”

            Jackson was quiet for a moment before she started to wiggle in his arm, showing her anticipation.  “The thing is, it’s a really long story.  I just… it’s not something that I can start tonight.”

            Bri felt her hopes dropping.  “I need some sort of explanation, Jackson.  I’ve been doing some pretty irrational things since I’ve met you but that’s not really part of my nature.  Pretty sure I’m not going to be able to ignore the way my mind calls me in an idiot every time I’m with you.”

            Jackson laughed softly.  “Not many people talk about their mind as though it’s not really a part of them, Bri.”

            “That’s kind of how it works when I’m with you.”  She said quickly, not realizing until afterward that she should probably be embarrassed about confessing that.  But as she stole a look up at Jackson it didn’t seem like he noticed anything strange about what she said.

            Jackson looked over at her, his eyebrows pulled together in concentration.  Bri stared back.  What in the world could be so big that he could just tell me?  She wondered, searching his eyes.  She didn’t even notice that they had stopped walking.  What does he do that would take so long to explain?

            Suddenly, it was as though inspiration struck him.  “Bri, do you think if I told you what it was, that you could wait for the explanation tomorrow?”

            Bri’s mouth pulled down into a frown.  “But why?”

            Jackson looked uncomfortable.  “Because…” he paused looking for the right words.  He started walking again, pulling her into him.  His words were faster than usual.  “because there’s a place that I want to show you too, but we can’t go there tonight.  I would just… work so much better if we could talk for a while, during the day.”

            Bri watched the way the muscles in his jaw moved as he clenched and unclenched his teeth, waiting for her reaction.  She mentally debated.

            “Whatever you’re going to tell me is going to keep me up all night, isn’t it?”  She asked softly.  Jackson smiled.

            “Probably.  But since I know that you’ll already be up all night anyway, it doesn’t seem like it matters at this point.”

            Bri cocked her head to the side, thoughtfully.  That was actually completely true.  She watched the side of Jackson face until they stopped walking again and he turned to face her, dropping his from around her shoulders.  She hadn’t realized it before but they were standing again in front of her apartment complex.  Surprising herself, she reached out her arms to place both of her hands on his shoulders.  She wasn’t completely sure, but she thought this was the first time she had reached out to touch him.  Bri couldn’t help but smile with pleasure as she felt a small tremor go through his muscles.  So I’m not the only one.

            “I think I could handle that, Jackson.”  She said, watching as his concerned eyes lit up with surprise.  He obviously didn’t think she would agree.  “You might as well be able to tell me whatever way you want to.  The catch is just that you have to tell me.”

            Jackson’s face lit up with a grin and his eyes sparkled in the yellow security light.  “Brielle, you are amazing.”

            “Oh, whatever!” Bri laughed, a bubbly feeling filled her stomach, loving how that one little sentence had made him so happy.  It was definitely work waiting if it made him look that adorable.

            “No, you are.”  Jackson said seriously, and Bri’s heart almost jumped out of her chest as he slipped his arms around her waist again and pulled her close to him.  In response to being closer to him, her arms automatically curved around his neck.  Bri could feel his heart pounding in his chest and knew that he could feel hers as well.  “I came over here expecting I was really going to have to make up some ground.  I thought you would be furious, that you would slam the door on me.  You have absolutely no reason to be receptive.”

            “Does that make me amazing, or stupid?”

            Jackson smile was soft, and it was getting closer to her.  “Other people would say stupid, but I promise that it’s not stupid.  I promise that I will never make you regret trusting me.”

            Bri felt her heart soar.  “That’s good to know.”  She looked up into his face, her eyes searching how his jaw was tense, holding back.  She knew from what too – because the way he was holding her was just a little too tight to be a hug, and the way that his eyes were looking at her.  She didn’t have to guess what he wanted to do and she absolutely knew that she wanted to kiss him too.

            But, before that feeling could take over, she just had to ask one more thing. “Why in the world are you so certain about me?  How could you ever have just seen me and then needed to follow me?  I don’t understand how it’s possible that you could just pick me out of a crowd when you could obviously have any girl that you wanted…”  Brielle wasn’t sure what was she saying, she wasn’t sure that he had ever really said he wanted her but –

            Her thoughts evaporated as his face moved even closer to hers.  She closed her eyes, focusing instead on the way his warm breath was on her face and how their foreheads were just millimeters away from touching.

            “That’s part of the explanation for tomorrow.”

            His voice was a whisper, and Bri felt embarrassed to shiver in his arms.  She was so nervous for him to tell her, she was so nervous to have him so close to her, she had never before felt these many butterflies, the prickling of her nerves on edge was enough to drive her crazy.

            She didn’t have to say a word; Bri knew he was tuned into her thoughts.  He knew she felt her head run away from her heart whenever he was in her sights.  He knew how she had a hard time catching her breath every time she thought about him.  He knew the way her skin flushed just as the idea of touching him and then when he actually reached out to hold her just the way he was holding her right now – well, who wouldn’t notice that she couldn’t formulate a word, and much less a sentence that would actually tell him how she felt? 

            It was the comfort of an embarrassment that she didn’t have to explain and for the first time in her life Bri was so tuned into another person she wasn’t even quite sure what part of her was him and what part was her.  Was she the one who was feeling so connected to him that she never wanted to let him go – or was that what we was thinking?  Did he want so much to kiss her that he was having a hard time holding back, or was it her? 

            Bri realized that she should have felt some kind of element of fear over her lack of control; she barely knew him – scratch that, she didn’t know him. She didn’t know how this crazy feeling inside of her would end up changing her, but some how she knew it would.  Somehow she knew that everything, from this very moment, was going to change.

            Bri opened her eyes in order to search Jackson’s.  They were strangely out of focus for since they were standing so close.  She wondered how many of these questions he could answer for her, and how afraid he might be for what would happen in the future.  Yet, something in the way he was looking at her told her that he didn’t fear anything.  In fact, he seemed to be so much as ease standing there, holding her far too close to himself for being out in the middle of the street, for not knowing her, for trusting her…

            Bri’s thoughts stopped completely as Jackson moved enough to have their noses touch.  She wasn’t embarrassed to gasp, her eyes snapping shut.

            “Which do you want first?”  Jackson whispered, barely loud enough for her to hear it.  In fact, she wasn’t sure if she so much heard the words as much as she felt them across her lips.  Brielle found herself unable to respond and as his chuckle again reached her ears, her lips, she felt herself slipping into a stupor of her own senses.

            The feeling of Jackson’s lips against hers shut out everything. Bri was caught in a universe she had never even imagined.  Electricity bore though her body instantly, putting all of her nerves on edge, standing each and every hand on her body on edge.  His lips were hot, strong, and completely overwhelming as she craned her head up to connect as much of her mouth to his as possible.  It was a kiss that contained so much more than another other kiss she had experienced.  There was no urgency behind his embrace, though it was strong and powerful.  It was as though he knew it would be one of many, one of thousands, one of forever –

            Bri opened her eyes as she came up for breath, instantly connecting with his.  The intensity in them slowly softened as they searched each other, assessing the reaction of the powerful connection they had just experienced.  Jackson leaned in, not aiming for her lips, but for her forehead where he gave her a soft kiss above her eyebrow, then moving to her temple, upper cheek, and jaw line, where he stopped.  His breath was hot and erratic in her ear and ever so softly, he whispered to her his explanation.

            “I’m a superhero.”

Chapter 8

            Bri didn’t think it was possible for it to take that long for one person to get ready.  Just as they had started primping her, Patrick declared for “ultimate hair perfection” he would have to work from scratch with her hair wet. Kayla insisted that the best strategy would be for Bri to shower (“and make sure you shave your legs!” Kayla had called into the steamy bathroom.)  Once the shower was complete, Kayla forced Bri to stand, shivering in her towel, while her outfit was picked up.  After a number of trials and Bri insisting that she didn’t want to try that hard, they settled on a sleeveless teal shirt with a low neckline. She wore a knee-length denim skirt and strappy, comfy white sandals.  In compliance with Kayla’s insistence, she donned a pair of large silver hoop earrings and matching arm bangles.

            From there they ushered her right into the bathroom where Patrick and Kayla simultaneously worked heavily on her appearance.  Bri had joked that she couldn’t believe she was that plain to need the excessive amount of work that was being put in.  She instantly received angry exclamations that told her to take back her words.  Before she could even respond though, there was the ominous sound of the buzzing of the front door.

            Bri watched her eyes widen in the mirror.  Patrick froze; curling iron wrapped tightly one of the last few pieces of hair he was working on.

            “It’s only 7:30!”  Bri exclaimed, realizing that the huge preparation had caused this night to seem much more important to her than it had before.

            Kayla quickly put down the mascara and rushed out to the living room.  Patrick proceeded on her hair, but they both silenced their conversation, listening closely to the speaker.

            “Hello?”  Kayla’s voice asked sweetly.

            “Hello!  I’m here for Bri.”

            Bri couldn’t believe her heart could possibly thump that hard for his muddled voice through the speaker system.

            “Oh, Jackson.”  Kayla said, drawing out her syllables. Bri had given her room mates just the smallest description of him, leaving out everything about the night before, and that she had seen him in Minnesota. “Come on up!”  She held the buzzer and then opened the door so he could walk in, before running back into the bathroom, grinning.

            “What boy comes a half hour ahead of time?!”  Bri asked, miserable.  She did not need him to see this operation.  He was going to think she had no idea how to take care of herself.

            “One who obviously doesn’t know that a girl needs some time to let the process set!” Patrick said, irritated as he rushed through the last few curls he wanted to do.

            There was a soft knock on the front door and Kayla called out of the bathroom.  “Come on in, we’re in here!”

            Bri didn’t realize she was holding her breath until she saw Jackson’s gorgeous reflection f.  Her air came out in a whoosh.

            “It’s not my fault, they took me hostage.”  She said miserably.  She couldn’t say she wasn’t impressed by the work they had done – her eyes were lined in a soft brown and softened with a little eye shadow and mascara.  She never usually wore lipstick and found herself afraid of the lip liner that Kayla had used.  Patrick had easily put her wavy hair into perfect curls.  He was just putting the final touches of hair spray on.

            “Close your eyes!”  He declared and Bri obeyed.  After a good couple seconds of spraying, Bri began to cough.  Patrick kept her for a little longer and then declared that she was free. Bri opened one eye enough to bolt from the room, desperate for some fresh air.

            She found herself next to Jackson, coughing feebly.  “I apologize if you were just planning on taking me to a movie.”

            Jackson chuckled and shook his head. Bri couldn’t help noticing that he hadn’t yet taking his eyes off her since arriving in the apartment.  Brielle decided to ignore the staring by introducing him to her room mates.

            “Jackson, this is Patrick, hair artist, and this is Kayla, master of make-up.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

            “Our pleasure,”  Kayla said, giving a little curtsy.  “Hey – why don’t you sit down for a bit?  Would you like something to drink?”

            Before Jackson could open his mouth, I was already shaking my head furiously.  Patrick looked at me and the way my curls were flopping with dismay.  “No, no, no!  I do not want you interrogating him.”  She quickly grabbed her purse from the end of the couch.  “I will tell you everything that I feel you need to know when I return, okay?”

            Kayla pouted but nodded.  It wouldn’t really matter if she had agreed anyway though because Bri was already pulling Jackson out of the apartment.  It wasn’t until they were out on the street level that she let go of his elbow and relaxed.

            “Whew,” She smiled up at Jackson’s handsomely confused face, “That was a close one.”

            Jackson raised an eyebrow.  “I have to say, I’m confused.  Most girls like to show me off to their friends.”

            Brielle snorted out a laugh.  “If you’ve been bundling me under the term ‘most girls’ then I might have to cancel the date right now to save you some disappointment.” 

            “I didn’t really, until I saw you getting ready.”

            Bri could tell by the way the edges of his eyes crinkled that he was joking, but she still couldn’t stop her groan.  “I told you that was none of my idea.  Kayla attacked me, and then told Patrick what she was doing.  You can’t deny Patrick a chance with the curling iron, I’m telling you.”  She laughed a little to herself.  “Though I have to admit, I can’t say I mind.  I could never get my hair to do this on my own.”

            “I do have to say that you look quite nice.”  Jackson said off-handedly.  Brielle looked at him from the corner of her eye.  There was something in the lilt in her voice.  She wasn’t sure she was catching it right, since she barely knew him but…

            “Quite nice?”

            “Smokin’ hott.”  He elaborated quickly, the words exploding out of his mouth with more force than he obviously intended.

            Bri burst out laughing at the comment, flipping her hair with her hand.  “Now that is more like it!  Yet another reason to not put me in the normal category, hm?”

            Jackson looked down at her, his eyes softening into seriousness.  “I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be here if you didn’t like something more than a normal girl to me.”

            It occurred to Bri as she looked over at Jackson with a soft smile that a comment like that coming from… well, any other boy would have probably just weirded her out.  But there was something in the way that Jackson looked at her and acted around her… it was like everything he did was casual and honest.  She didn’t doubt that he felt that way about her and, though normally she would have felt self –conscious, found that he phrased things in a manner that she could accept.  At least for right now – when she did feel pretty hott.

            Their stride was casual, as if they had no real destination.  Brielle took a moment to enjoy the warm breeze on her cheeks.

            “So why did you come a half-hour early?  You almost gave Patrick an aneurism.”

            Jackson gave a half smile, lifting a shoulder.  He didn’t look at her, instead focusing his gaze down the sidewalk.  The sun was slowly setting, turning the sky a light lavender.  The street lights around them were slowly buzzing on, and though the road they were on was relatively light in traffic, the sounds of the commuters on their way home was bouncing loudly off the New York buildings.

            “I guess I was impatient.”  He said easily, taking her elbow softly to direct her to turn at the street corner.  Bri did her best to ignore the skip her heart took.

            “I suppose, you must be pretty bored.  I mean, you… aren’t from New York, are you?”  Brielle spoke carefully.  Needless to say, she had a lot of questions for this mystery man next to her. The thing was, she wasn’t quite sure what to ask or when she should be asking them.  Her eyes floated down to the cracked and dingy sidewalks, wondering if she really even wanted to know what he was going to reveal to her. 

            His smile seemed to conceal some secret information.  “You’re right, I’m not.  But I have been here before, so it’s not like I don’t have anywhere to go.”

            Brielle recognized that his answer was pretty vague.  She simply nodded and gave a small vocalization of understanding.  With each passing second it was becoming more and more obvious to her that she really had no idea what she was doing.  Was this some kind of crazy rebellion to her normal, average life?  Was she that desperate for some kind excitement that she would jump at the chance to go out with some stranger?  There was a silence between them for a couple moments before she looked up again.  She wasn’t surprised to find when their eyes connected.  She kept her voice as casual as possible.

            “You do realize that you are going to have to provide me with some answers tonight don’t you?  I mean, you’re lucky that that I’m not just calling the police and getting a restraining order on you.”  Suddenly, her eyes furrowed into a frown.  “Actually, I have to wonder, how did you know that I wouldn’t just call the police?  You have to admit, you’re pretty bizarre.”

            Jackson laughed aloud.  “I guess I didn’t know – but I figured that your curiosity would keep me out of trouble.”

            Bri smirked.  Apparently, he did a good job in his stalking techniques.  “Okay, that was a pretty good assumption to make.  If there’s one thing I am –“

            “It’s curious.”  He finished for her.  She expected him to continue in his analysis but instead he just led the way down into the subway.  Bri reached for her purse but he held his hand up to stop her.  She glowered.

            “I think you are again trying to group me with some of the other girls you may know.  I always go dutch.”

            “And I always pay – unlike, obviously, some of the guys that you have been going on dates with.”

            Bri sighed and shook her head as he got them into the subway system.  She knew better than to talk back to that statement.  He was obviously referring to Kyle whom, as she thought about him again, she felt a pang of guilt.  If there was absolutely one thing she didn’t do this evening, it was homework.

            Their train was there as they arrived and they quickly stepped on. Brielle bit back the urge to ask where they were going.  She noticed that his knee was bouncing as they sat in the hard seats.  She looked up curiously at him, surprised to find his eyes locking into hers.  She felt her heart give a little shudder again and she quickly tore her eyes away from his, shaking her head at herself.

            What in the world is wrong with me?  She wondered.

            Jackson broke the silence.  “So, why did you think you agreed to go out with me, if you think it’s such a crazy thing to do?

            Brielle smiled, looking up at him.  She bit her lip as she searched his face before answering.  “I guess I wanted to make sure you were actually here – I was beginning to wonder if I was hallucinating or something.”

            Jackson’s bright, wide smile made her stomach give a little flip. “No hallucinations or imaginations, it’s all real.”  He stretched out his legs, taking up most of the aisle, and put his hands behind his head.

            Bri laughed aloud, doing her best to act appalled.  “You are easily the most egotistical person ever!”

            Jackson gave her a wink.  “You can’t argue with the fact that you like what you see.  Don’t pretend like you don’t stare at me every chance you get.”

            She snorted and turned her head away from him. “It’s like a train wreck, it’s impossible to look away.”

            Jackson grasped at his chest.  “Shot through the heart!  So harsh!”

            She giggle at his excessively pouting face.  “Why should I be nice to you?  For all I know you are just trying to make me comfortable around me so I will let you take me into a dark alley.”   

            “Again?”  He added, his voice dark.

            Bri grimaced, “Oh yeah, I forgot about that.”  She watched as he raised his eyebrow in skepticism. “Okay, so I guess I should say that I’m trying to write that out of my memory.  It’s kind of hard to forget something that happened last night.”

            Jackson looked legitimately taken aback.  “Why would you try to do that?  I though I was pretty suave.”

            Bri rolled her eyes, giving his shoulder a shove.  “Not because of you, just because I got yelled at this morning because of it.”

            Jackson playful tone was suddenly gone.  “Yelled at?  By that Kyle kid?”

            This time it was Bri’s turn to raise her eyebrows.  “He’s not so much a kid at the guy I am dating, remember?  And yeah, he wasn’t exactly happy that I just disappeared last night.”

            Jackson nodded.  It looked like he was debating with a number of different things to say.  Finally, he decided to say, “Well, I think you made the right decision.”

            Brielle smiled.  “Why am I not surprised?”

            He tilted his head at her.  “Don’t you think you did?”

            She shrugged, trying to be nonchalant.  “I only do if he doesn’t find out that I ditched him on purpose – yesterday or tonight.”

            Jackson’s eyebrows rose.  “You aren’t planning on telling him?”

            “Well,” Brielle bit her lip, “It’s hard to say.  I really didn’t want to get him all riled up over nothing.”

            “And what if it’s not nothing?”  Jackson asked.  His voice was smooth and calm but as Bri looked she found the intensity of his eyes catch hers.  She had to wait a moment before she remembered exactly what they had been talking about.

            “Well, I guess that’s your goal tonight, isn’t it?”  She asked quietly, “You’re trying to convince me that I really am supposed to be here right now.”

            Jackson’s smile was smooth and soft.  “There are some other goals, too.”  He then grasped her hand quickly and easily, lifting her to her feet as the train slowed to a stop.  “This one is ours.”

            Bri nodded and her hand casually fell from his as they moved out of the car and up to street level.  She wondered if she could somehow feel the way her entire body had warmed as his soft touch.

            Bri wasn’t sure what she was supposed to say after those last few seconds of their conversation.  There was obviously a lot behind his words. Thankfully, though the topic changed entirely once they made their way out of the subway.  The sun had gone down even more, leaving the sky a dusty, smoggy blue-grey.  The subway exit had led them to the edge of a park where a large crowd had gathered.  There was a large stage in the corner lit by a small number of bright lights.  For the most part the crowd was milling around, but a few of them were laying out blankets and getting settled.

            “Come on, let’s get a blanket.”

            Brielle tagged along behind him, unable to speak.  An outside show?  Not just a show, but, from the look of it, some kind of play?  Her heart soared.  She had heard of these showings but had never really had anyone who was as interested as she was to go.  She shook her head slowly, wondering just how long he had been watching her.

            She was slightly awed by his obvious comfort here.  He had done this before.  Suddenly, Brielle was suspicious of his familiarity of the city.  It seemed to her that he had been here for longer than he indicated before.  She watched as he walked comfortably up to an old woman who was selling large, hand crocheted afghans.  She listened to him barter a little before purchasing a large blanket that had patterns of teal and blue.  She felt herself look self-consciously down at her outfit.  When she looked up she found Jackson looking at her, his eyes soft.  Neither of them said it, but she knew why he had picked out that blanket.

            “See a spot?”  He asked softly and Brielle just shook her head.  She wasn’t sure why she was suddenly so shy.  Maybe it was because she was so surprised that this was where he ended up taking her.  She wasn’t sure what she expected but she didn’t think it would be to a park where they were obviously going to have some sort of play.  How did he know that this was something she would absolutely love to do?

            He reached out and easily took a hold of her hand.  Guiding her gently, they wove through the crowd.  It was like somehow, from that far away, he had seen the perfect spot that was still available.  It was a little far off to the one side and under a tall tree.  It didn’t seem like it would have a very good view but once they got there and put down the blanket it was apparent that it was one just the smallest of humps.  Bri could easily see over the heads of the people sitting right in front of them.

            “Nice choice,” Bri said, smiling widely.  She was trying hard not to show just how excited she was to see the show.  Her eyes gazed at the sparse set that decorated the stage, unable to tell just what show they were seeing.

            “With the date, or the location?”  He asked, leaning up against the trunk of the tree.

            Bri ran her hand over the cotton.  For being a spur of the moment buy, the blanket was actually quite nice.  “Both, I would say.”  She said honestly, looking up and giving him a genuine smile.  “Tell me, did you already know that I love theatre or was this a really good guess?”

            Jackson’s eyes lit up with pride. “Would you think I was lying if I said that it was a shot in the dark?”

            Bri searched his blue eyes for a moment longer than she probably needed to.  Her lips curled up into a smile. “Nope.”

            Jackson didn’t respond to her, instead just returning the gaze in her eyes.  Bri wondered why she wasn’t uncomfortable at his gaze.  She couldn’t ever remember a time where she had felt so… relaxed.  Even around people she knew well.  Tilting her head, she wasn’t quite sure she wanted to spoil the moment with a question, but it was about time she started to get some answers.

            “So, where do you want to start?”  She asked, “I was going to ask you a question but, frankly, I’m not really sure where this whole… thing really began.”

            Jackson smiled.  “I was telling the truth when I said that the first time I saw you was that night in Rochester.”

            “And what happened after that?”

            Jackson’s smile widened.  “I decided that I needed to get to know you.”

            Bri shook her head, still not quite sure she believed him.  “So you honestly came to New York just because that was where I was going?”

            He nodded in a way that implied it was the only logical thing for him to do.

            “But how in the world did you know who I was or where I was going?”

            Jackson shrugged a shoulder.  “I’m very observant.”

            Bri’s eyes narrowed a little.  “I don’t know, I don’t think I can accept that answer.  I can’t just see a person once and decide that I need to learn about them.  I wouldn’t know where to start.”  Her brow furrowed suddenly.  “That, and weren’t you busy going to the hospital?  You had to have a lot of glass in your back.”

            Jackson’s smile diminished slightly. “I forgot, I was going to ask you if you ended up being okay.”

            Brielle nodded.  Her legs were stretched out in front of her on the blanket and she lifted the edge of her skirt so it exposed her scabbed knees.  Jackson winced a little at their appearance.  “They are healing nicely.”

            “So much for me trying to help you.”

            Bri looked up at his self-defeating tone.  “What do you mean?  You did save me.  This is the least of my worries, I could have easily gotten really hurt.”  She shook her head as she watched him leaning against the bark of the tree.  “Why did you, anyway?  Try to help me?  What were you even doing there?”

            Jackson’s smile was soft.  “When I think people are going to get hurt, I tend to take action.”

            Bri watched him for a moment, before shaking her head.  That just wasn’t good enough of an answer.  It was still so vague.  If he wasn’t going to start volunteering some information she was going to have to ask some really specific questions.  She struggled to come up with the one that would really open up the reasons to her, but in many ways she didn’t quite understand what made Jackson so confusing.  He seemed so normal, but then the way he acted around her and the way he answered her questions just made him seem like he was… well… leaving something out.

            But, at the same time, she had a hard time feeling uncertain about him.  It seemed like her body had already made all the decisions for her.  She could feel her heart racing, her stomach twirling, every time he did or said anything directly to her.  How could she be so instantly attracted to someone like that?  It wasn’t even that he was gorgeous, which he was, it was so much more than that.  It was the way he looked at her, the way he leaned against anything that he was near, crossing his arms over his broad chest.

            Before she had a chance to gather up her thoughts and ask her question though, she heard the crowd start to clap and cheer. She hadn’t even realized that people had stopped milling around and had instead found spots all over the grass.  A couple of actors came up on the stage and bowed before they started introducing themselves and the show.  Bri scooted herself around so she was facing the stage instead of Jackson.  She suddenly felt his fingertips on her upper arm.

            “There’s room for you to lean on the tree, too, if you want.”  He said softly.  Bri hesitated for a moment, looking at how close she would have to sit next to him.  She wasn’t even aware that she had made a conscious decision to move but she, trustingly, scooted herself back and placed her back against the tree.  Jackson’s arm pressed into hers and she, once again, felt the sparking and cracking of her nerves as they reacted to his flesh.

            “Comfortable?”  He asked,

            “Do you feel it too?”  She asked suddenly, but then immediately regretted it as she felt her face flush with embarrassment. He didn’t respond, which caused Bri to look up at his eyes. She realized as she did so just how close his face was to hers. 

            “Even when we’re not touching.” His voice has been huskier than usual, and, even though she had come to get used to the way her heart jumped when she looked at him, it moved even more violently than usual this time.  She nodded in response to his question.

            “Is this why you followed me?”  She asked quietly.  Jackson’s face glowed with his smile.

            “It’s what started it.”

            They then turned to the play.  Bri straightened her back against the tree, alert as she watched the actors.  She had never heard of the play before, but it looked like it was a comedy.  There were only two actors, but a whole lot of props.  Though Bri was still thoroughly aware of the heat that was coming off of Jackson’s body, she was still easily drawn into the play.  He worked hard against that focus though as, after a minute or so, he pulled up his arm and draped it across her shoulders.

            “Do you mind?”  He asked, nonchalant, he didn’t seem to notice as her words were lost in her throat.  She only managed to shake her head.

            What is wrong with me?  She wondered, confused by how she was surprising herself by her actions.  Not only was she completely happy to have his arm around her – something she usually shied away from – she found that the simple action sent a whole slew of hormones raging through her body.  She couldn’t ignore the fact that she could smell a soft waft of his musky cologne, making it hard to concentrate on the play again.  Somehow though, she managed.

            Bri felt her heart jump with a burst of happiness as she felt Jackson’s body rumble under her as he laughed at something the actors said.  A boy who loves theatre.  She thought, astounded.  He really is trying to seduce me. She blinked rapidly. Focus.  She told herself, and found, with some effort, that she was able to enjoy the feeling of his arm and the dialogue of the actors. 

            It wasn’t long, however, into the play that her focus was broken again.  Jackson’s head moved to look over his shoulder.  Someone had walked up behind the two of them and, much to Bri’s surprise, crouched down next to Jackson’s side.

            “Jack,” he whispered.

            Bri felt Jackson’s arm tense around her.  Not in fear, but in anticipation.  “Shit. Really?  Now?”

            “I wouldn’t be here if you didn’t have to,” he said.  Bri looked over to see who Jackson was talking to.  His dark skin and accent indicated that he hailed from around India.  His dark hair was cropped short and, even in the dark, she could see that he had wide-set eyes and a handsome face.  His eyes flicked to Bri’s for a moment and he gave a soft smile.

            Jackson quickly pulled his arm away from around Bri’s shoulders.  He looked over at her, his face drawn with dismay.  “Bri… I have to go.”

            Bri’s eyebrows shot up into her hairline. “Now?”  She whispered, confused, worried.  Her feelings doubled as Jackson rose to a standing position. “Wait… what is going on?”

            “I can’t explain right now – I need to hurry.” He looked over at the unidentified man who looked very anxious.  “I’m sorry, I’ll explain it to you, very, very soon.”  The reflection of the stage lights showed the urgency in his eyes.  “Just, stay here and –“

            “Jack,”  the man said quickly, half turned to leave. 

            Jackson held up one finger, obviously torn.  He quickly crouched down next to Bri again, his words soft but rapid.  “I’m sorry I can’t explain anything now.  I promise I will though.  Stay here, watch the end of the play, I don’t want you walking back alone.  I’ll be back before the end of it, I swear.”

            Bri didn’t have a chance to respond before Jackson touched her face gently, before whispering, “Forgive me,” and then disappearing into the night.

Chapter 7

            “You really worried me.”  Kyle’s voice was hard and patronizing.  Bri did her best to keep her cool.  She was standing awkwardly outside of Kyle’s apartment complex.  It was early afternoon, and it was the first chance she was able to catch him in order to get her phone back.  He wasn’t just about to hand it over and let her walk away though, which was all Bri really wanted to do.  Her morning had actually been really busy, and since she barely slept at all the night before, she really wanted to get a nap in before her… event that night.

            “I know I did, and I’m really sorry.  It was just such a commotion –“  She shifted her weight and adjusted her backpack .  She didn’t want to waste time by going into the apartment but she was really getting uncomfortable standing outside.  They had already been talking for about five minutes and, frankly, her backpack was heavy.

            “I saw you leave with another guy.”  Kyle said coldly.  She had never seen him this way before.  His burgundy lips were pulled down into a deep frown and he was holding her phone like it was blackmail.

            Bri pitched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger.  “I did.  I mean – a guy came up and dragged me out of there.  He knew it was going to turn dangerous, I’m pretty sure he was ushering a lot of people out…”  Bri knew it was a flimsy suggestion, but she was usually pretty good at fibbing.  Besides, it wasn’t a complete lie – and frankly, it wasn’t any of Kyle’s goddamn business.

            Are you sure?  Bri inwardly groaned at her own conscience.  Why did it have to keep reminding her that she and Kyle were actually dating?  It was becoming more and more inconvenient.  Still, that wasn’t something she needed to bring up now – not when he was seething with unwarranted jealousy.

            “But then why didn’t you come find me afterwards?”  Kyle was leaning against the door frame, his voice stern.

            Brielle sighed.  “Kyle, I tried.  Then I realized it was just safer for me to get home.  If I thought you would have been mad at me, I would have tried to look for you.  I think you would have been madder at me if I got shot or something.”  She shook her head and held out her hand for her phone. “I really don’t see why we are having a fight.  I apologized for worrying you.  But guns were pulled in the club we were in.  You were going to be worried either way.”

            Kyle’s frown didn’t lift, but he did place her phone in her hand. “Yeah, okay.”

            Bri hesitated for a moment, realizing that he wasn’t finished talking with her, but all she wanted to do was get on home.  Her guilt slid in though and she tilted her head to try and catch his eyes.  “Don’t be mad at me?”

            Kyle shook his head. “I’m not really just… confused, I guess.”

            Brielle’s stomach dropped.  “I don’t mean to confuse you,” she said miserably.  She didn’t.  She really wanted to tell him that she had very, very suddenly found herself on another path.  But how was she supposed to do that?  She didn’t even know what path she was on.  She wasn’t going to be able to figure out herself with Kyle if she couldn’t even figure herself out.

            “I don’t suppose you would want to get together again tonight, would you?”  Kyle’s voice had a note of hope in it.  Bri’s stomach dropped.

            “I… don’t think so, Kyle.”  She said slowly, watching his face drop.  She quickly babbled through an explanation before he had a chance to jump in.  “It’s just that I haven’t even thought about doing homework yet and it’s really important that I at least start something tonight.  I don’t want to start off the semester being already behind.  Plus it’s still only Wednesday, I really can’t be going out during the week this often.  I don’t want to start a habit and it’s really important to me to keep my grades up this semester because I know I’m in a couple of really hard classes and I just – “ she took a breath. “Can you wait until this weekend?”

            Kyle gave a one shoulder shrug. “If you can.”

            Kyle’s obvious sadness and her even more obvious excuse to not see him made her feel horrible.  “I just think it would be best. Don’t hate me?”

            He lifted his eyes to her and she watched the way his eyes searched hers.  They were suddenly soft and kind.  “You know I don’t hate you.  That’s why I want to spend time with you.”

            Bri did her best to smile.  “Good.  And I do want to spend time with you too.  I just think… we should go when we don’t have to worry about other stuff.”

            “Okay – well study hard tonight.  I have a gig this weekend.  You’ll come right?”

            “Yeah!”  Bri was glad to be able to genuinely tell him that she wanted to see that.  “I can’t wait to see you in action.”

            “Sounds good, I’ll call you later with the time.  You know, now that you have your phone.”

            “Excellent.  Thanks again, Kyle.”  She then turned and made her way back to her apartment.  Bri wasn’t sure there was ever a time that she felt so guilty.  It was especially hard because she didn’t know who to turn to.  Normally she would call up Emma or Melanie and explain the whole story – but there wasn’t much that Bri could explain without having one of them commit her to the mental ward.  Being courted by a random guy who happened to save her life and fly to New York to find her?

            Brielle frowned as she climbed up the stairs to her room.  She had to stop thinking about it – the more she thought about the facts of the situation the less she could understand what she was actually doing.  Instead, she had to focus on Jackson the person.

            Specially, the way that I feel when I am looking at him… it was like that was the only part of the whole ordeal that made any sense at all.  He was funny, and the way he looked so intently at her – she really felt like there was something there.  The way his arms felt around her waist… it wasn’t something she had ever experienced before.  And then tonight she was going to get some answers.

            Tonight.  She felt another surge of guilt come up.  Surely Kyle would never find out that she had flat out lied to him about going out.  Sure, she hadn’t lied that she really needed to start on her homework, but she knew she wouldn’t get any of it done.  She was going to sit down at her desk and pull it out but she knew how her mind worked.  Until she was through with this meeting – date – tonight she was going to be thinking about it non-stop.  She wasn’t going to be able to concentrate on a single concept from philosophy.

            Still, I have to try.  So, dutifully, she sat down with her homework and did her best to focus.  After a couple of minutes of staring at her book through, it became apparent that she hadn’t retained anything.  Bri felt her frustration build.  In the past three days that she had even been aware of Jackson’s existence he had completely taken over her mind.  What kind of stupid, love-sick little girl was she?

            Without warning, Brielle’s highlight exploded in her hand.  She gave a screech of surprise and jumped up from her seat, looking in distress as the bright yellow liquid flew all over her book, desk, and clothes.

            “Oh, come on!”  Brielle shouted.  Within seconds Kayla had popped her purple head into Br’s room.

            “Bri?  Are you okay?”  Kayla suddenly saw the mess of highlighter all over. “Bummer!  How in the world did that happen?”

            “I have no idea!”  Bri growled.  She held out her hand to show Kayla the remains of the marker.  Kayla raised her eyebrows as she looked at the shards.

            “Damn, girl, you either have to read something that gets you less angry or get those paws under control.  You destroyed it!”

            “It wasn’t my fault –“ But when Bri looked down she realized that had, in fact, exploded.  It wasn’t at the tip where normally these things happened.  Instead it was broken right though the center.  She could even see where the plastic has directly shattered under where she held her thumb.  “Okay, so maybe it was.  Piece of shit.  How cheap can these things get now?”

            Kayla shrugged her shoulders and then motioned her head for Bri to follow her.  “Come on; let’s get that washed off before you stain everything.”

            Bri nodded and followed Kayla out of the room and into the kitchen.  They quickly disposed of the marker and Bri washed off her hands and then took a sponge to her room to try and wipe everything up.  Thankfully, it didn’t look like it was going to stain much, and there would only be a few pagers that were overly highlighted in her book.  She wasn’t sure her clothes would fare well, but it was a pretty old t-shirt that she was wearing anyway.

            After Bri changed, Kayla flounced her way back into Bri’s room and stretched out on the bed.  She pulled a book off Bri’s shelf and made herself at home.  Brielle just smiled and took a seat at her desk.  This would make for a nice distraction for a while.

            “So, what are you up to tonight, Brielle?”

            Or not.  Bri hesitated for a moment, not sure what she should tell her room mate.  Before she could come up with a distinct plan on what her room mates should and shouldn’t know, Kayla had already noticed the internal struggle.

            “Hmm, this sounds like it’s going to be interesting.”  Kayla put the book back and rolled on her stomach, putting her chin in her petite hands.  “Dish!”

            Bri shook her head.  “No, it’s not like that – I’m not really sure what I’m doing tonight…”  That even sounded wrong in Bri’s head and she sighed aloud.  Kayla was never going to buy it. 

            “That juicy, hu?”

            She looked at her room mate who was still grinning at her expectedly.  How much should she tell her?  Maybe it would be good to get a little of it off her chest.  After all, her pent up frustration caused her to squeeze a highlighter until it exploded – this can’t be healthy.  Bri sighed in resignation and came over to sit on the bed.  Kayla squealed in delight.

            “Don’t judge me, okay?”

            Kayla’s eyes sparkled.  “Wow!  This really is going to be good!”  But her face sobered as she realized that Brielle was being serious.  “Okay, I’m ready to listen.”

            “I am planning on going out tonight.” Brielle said and then waited for Kayla to jump to conclusions like she was prone to do.

            Kayla was quick to understand, “Kyle’s not going out tonight though, is he?”

            Bri shook her head no, frowning.  Kayla nodded, contemplating her next question.

            “Kyle doesn’t know that you’re going out either, does he?”

            Bri kept shaking her head.

            “Kyle would be really mad if he knew that you were going out, wouldn’t he?”

            Bri didn’t hesitate to change her shaking to very pronounced nodding.

            “The guy you are going out with tonight is cute, isn’t he?”

            Bri couldn’t help but grin as she kept nodding.

            “The guy you are going out with tonight is cuter than Kyle, isn’t he?”

            Brielle tried not to giggle as she increased the intensity of her nodding.  She then sighed and looked at her friend, already feeling a slight weight come off her shoulders.  “I’m a horrible person, aren’t I?”

            Kayla shook her head, looking at her friend seriously.  “No, you’re not. It’s not like you’re married to Kyle.  You have every right to see someone else – especially if he is cuter.”

            Bri laughed but shook her head.  “But I’m lying about it.  I feel like I’m cheating on him.”

            Kayla frowned a little.  “Well, you don’t want to do that but… well… my guess is that this is happening very fast since you have only been back for a couple of days.”

            Bri let out her breath in a whoosh.  “Very fast.  I’m not even sure what’s really happening, that’s why I don’t feel like it’s something I can mention to Kyle.”

            “Then you’re okay, dear.”  Kayla said softly.  “We don’t ever intend to hurt anyone.  I mean, it would probably be better if you could talk to Kyle about it before you were to go out with this other guy but, well, sometimes the opportunity just doesn’t come up.”  She paused for a second,  “You think you might really like this guy that you are going out with?”

            “Yes.”  Her heart rate had instantly increased and her palms were very suddenly clammy.  She looked over at Kayla, giving a sheepish grin. “It’s just one of those things where if I get caught I’m definitely going to feel like bad person.”

            Kayla smiled at the comment.  “Well there’s one thing that I can assure you, and that is that you are not a bad person.”  She cocked her head to the side and seemed to scrutinize Brielle closely.  Suddenly, Bri felt very self conscious.  “When do you leave for the –“ she coughed, “meeting tonight?”

            Bri smiled.  “He’s stopping by around 8.”

            “Plenty of time!”  Kayla said cheerily.  “I just bought some new, fantastic make-up that I have been dying to try, but I just don’t have the occasion.”

            Bri felt her cheeks heat up in a blush.  “Oh no!  You are not getting me all dolled up – not when I already feel guilty…”

            “So?!  What difference does it make?  You’re not going to go out in jeans and a t-shirt.  If you are planning on doing a secret rendezvous with a sexy stranger, then you are going to do it right!”  Kayla grasped at Bri’s hand and pulled her off of the bed.

            “Oh, no, Kayla – please!”

            Patrick poked his head out of the bedroom he shared with Kayla.  “What are you girls doing?”

            “Bri’s going on a date tonight!”  Kayla said cheerfully.  “And you’re on hair duty!”

            Patrick gave a low, hearty laugh.  “Excellent!”

            Bri knew at this point it was futile to resist.  If there was one thing that Patrick lived for, it was to do hair.  She might as well sit back and enjoy the ride.

            “Where are you going tonight, Bri?”  Patrick asked as he grabbed a brush in order to run it through her hair.

            “I have no idea… but I’m pretty sure it’s not the prom.”

            Her room mates laughed heartily and within seconds their skilled hands were working their magic.