Heart for Three

5

"What?" I asked stupidly.

The beautiful man sitting next to me blinked a few times, almost as if he had been surprised by my face when I had turned toward him. He sat back in his chair, and it wasn't until this moment that I noticed we had both been leaning towards each other.

I sat back as well, my face turning warm. If I kept blushing like I had been so far today my face was going to turn permanently red.

"I.. um, I-I said 'hi'." He stammered, rubbing the back of his neck. His eyes flitted to the front of the room before coming back to mine. Was he nervous? Why in the world would this lab-experiment-gone-right be nervous talking to me?

"Hi." I smiled shyly, trying to bat my eyelashes subtly. I hoped I was being alluring, rather than looking like I had something stuck in my eye.

He cleared his throat and sat up straighter. "I'm Jax." He introduced himself, a southern drawl tinting his words. I tried not to swoon as he held his hand out for me to shake.

"Ava." I replied, returning the gesture.

The instant his large hand engulfed my own, a powerful jolt of energy made me jump in my seat.

I'd never felt anything like it. It's warmth traveled up my arm, before settling in my chest. I jerked back, quickly pulling my hand from his. His whole body was tensed and he stared at me wide eyed, emotions that I couldn't name present in his eyes.

I shivered involuntarily as the remaining effects of that powerful surge ran through my veins. My chest felt tight and I felt all the hairs on my arms standing up on end. My hands turned warm and suddenly, I could feel my magic building inside of me.

"C-Can you- can you watch my stuff? I have to go to the bathroom." I asked him breathlessly, standing so quickly that my chair collided with the table behind us. I winced at the loud noise but was already backing towards the door, barely taking the time to let him answer. I needed to get out of this room.

Right now.

He nodded wordlessly and watched with wide eyes as I nearly ran from the room, thankfully our table was only about ten feet from the door.

Lucky for me, the hallways were empty, seeing that class was going to start soon. I sprinted down the hallway and pulled open the door to the first empty classroom I saw.

The door clicked shut behind me and I pressed my back against it. My chest was heaving as I tried to catch my breath from running here.

Unable to hold it any longer, my magic burst from me like a sound wave. The neat rows of desks in front of me skid across the floor from the force of my release of energy, their metal feet screeching against the tile. A few bounced off the far wall noisily.

I slid down the door until my butt hit the floor and placed my hand over my chest where my heart was beating a tattoo against my rib cage.

"What the fuck was that?" I said out loud to the empty room.

Never in my entire magical life, had I felt a sensation like I just had. I pulled out my phone to send a quick text to my mom.

"Hey, everything is ok, I just need to talk to you about something. I'll call you when I get home. Love you."

Almost immediately she sent back a question mark and I put the phone back in my pocket. I couldn't explain this to her right now. Especially when my pulse was still racing, and my breath was still coming in short gasps.

Poor Jax probably thought I was a freak. First, I shock him with the strangest static shock I've ever experienced, then I bolt from the room right after he introduces himself to me.