The Girl of Many Worlds | (Story formerly known as "Multiworldcial")

Chapter 1

~17 years later. Jade's POV~

The new guy, Arden, was sexy.

I don't use that word often. I actually despise the word because it's used too freely. But Arden... Arden fit the description. His looks were otherworldly.

He had caramel colored skin, golden eyes—no joke, his eyes were golden—and auburn colored curly hair. I would have loved to run my hand through them without disturbing their beautiful pattern.

I think he felt my eyes on the back of his head. He spun around right as I made seriously unnecessary eye contact with my desk. I stared at the glossy beige surface as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. I scanned over the words smelly butt repeatedly until, through my peripheral vision, I saw him face forward.

Letting out a sigh of relief, I gingerly looked back to the front of the class. Okay. Mrs. Johnson was talking about something related to proofs... and it's time to go. Jeez. I don't think I paid any attention this whole class period. And not just because of Arden.

Arden was a welcomed distraction actually. I've been worried too much about what's going on at home.

I pack up my desk and then sling my backpack over my shoulder. Arden already left the room, much to my disappointment, but that's okay. I already had my fill of eye candy for the day. Besides, that was all he was good for. He had a vibe about him that was so sure of himself that I knew that he'd be having a lot of girls chasing after him. And he'd be with each and every girl who chased him.

So a player? I don't know. But definitely someone who'd love the attention he got.

I scanned the halls, looking for Jason, my best friend. We've been friends since we could walk and he was literally family. Especially since our family did everything together, and I mean everything. Family trips, vacations, family dinners, you name it we've done it.

I stop at my locker and right on cue, Jason taps my shoulder. I smiled, and when I turned around, instead of seeing him, I was met with Arden's beautiful golden eyes.

"Hey, I was wondering if I could get your number?" he asked. I stared at him, dumbfounded.

"My number?" I asked. "From my phone?"

"Yes," he said with a slight laugh. I glanced down at the phone in his hand. He already had a blank contact page pulled up for me. Without thinking, I listed out my number. I went to tell him my name, but he quickly typed Jade into the name section before I could.

He was full of surprises. Raising my eyebrows, I asked, "How do you know my name?"

"Because we're in the same class," he stated. Oh... yeah. That was fair. I knew his name so why wouldn't he know mine? But then again... of course I knew his name! He was crazy attractive. And I wasn't alone in this opinion; I saw many people look his way when he walked into class earlier. Some of my peers even giggled ecstatically when he glanced at them during the lesson. He had that pull on people.

"Yeah, duh. That should've been obvious. Don't mind me."

He smiled and I'm ashamed to admit it made me feel warm and gooey. Lord, I needed to get a grip. As I composed myself he said, "See you around." He walked off and I let out a slight sigh of relief.

"Hey!" Jason said. I hadn't noticed him walk over. "Who was that?" When I looked at him, his eyes were full of curiosity.

"Arden," I said, fixing my attention on my locker. As I put away books that I wouldn't need for classes after lunch, I continued, "He's new. I'm guessing he hasn't been in any of your classes yet."

"Oh, that's Arden," he said. "I haven't had him in any of my classes yet, but I have heard Angie and Emma talking about him."

"Great," I said and rolled my eyes. "He has no idea what he's about to get himself into. Now every girl in this school is going to have to stay away from him." I closed my locker a little harder than I should've.

"He'll love it, though," Jason said. "Two gorgeous girls treating you like a god? Who wouldn't?" I scoffed and shoved him.

"It'd be different if they were actually nice human beings," I said.

"True."

We walked to the lunchroom together with all the other stragglers. When we got there, our friends were already clustered together at a table, shoving food into their mouths. We grabbed some food and headed over. That's when a sneaky little presence crept up by my side.

"Hey, Jade," Arden said.

I hastily looked around—making sure there weren't two burning sets of eyes wishing to tear my head off my body—before returning my gaze to him. "Hey, Arden. Uh... long time no see." I nervously laughed and he did, too. I gestured over to Jason. "This is my best friend, Jason."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Arden," Arden said.

"Same for you, dude," Jason said. I stepped forward to continue walking but their eyes remained locked on each other's. I looked between them and inwardly cringed at their shared silence.

"Are you two all right?" I asked.

They said nothing. A part of me wanted to walk away and have them sort out whatever was going on themselves, but the other part of me didn't have the guts to be that rude, so I stayed with them. I looked between their shared gaze. Arden's eyes seemed to swirl as they steadily looked back at Jason's. When I looked back at Jason again, his eyes looked weird, too. They were usually gray in color but now they seemed to be glowing. A flash of blue, almost looking like a mini lightning bolt, flickered between them both. All of this happened so fast that after I squinted to get a better look, his eyes looked normal again; so did Arden's.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Jason asked, glancing at me as he smiled sheepishly. "Let's go!"

"What was..." My gaze traveled over to Arden who's friendly face was momentarily stoic. His eyes were challenging and his whole body was tense. There was an intensity in his stare that caused me to quiver. My lips sealed.

"What was what?" Jason asked. His voice was uneven.