Intended

Chapter 5

I can't believe he knew I was scared of thunder, what was I thinking!? I should have checked the forecast!

I woke up early Saturday and Jess was still asleep. Without waking her up, I slipped out of bed and into my bathroom for a quick shower. I put on some jeans and an old t-shirt. When I got back out, she was up.

"Hey..." I mumbled, knowing she knew I didn't want to talk about last night. She groaned in exhaustion and slipped into the bathroom behind me. Jess and I fit together like pieces of a puzzle, we could read each other with ease, but recently some of her emotions have seemed a mystery to me.

I checked my phone, the storm had passed, thank goodness. I opened the blinds and looked around. That storm was really rough. Branches were scattered across the yard and there was even a downed tree in my neighbor's yard. It had that kind of dreary gray feeling that only occurs after rain.

I heard Jess open the bathroom and I was brought out of my thoughts, she was wearing a pair of my sweatpants and another old t-shirt. She managed to make everything look good on her. She picked up her phone and I saw an emotion that I couldn't quite decipher flash across her face.

"What is it?" I asked quietly.

"Nothing..."

I sighed and gave her a look, we both knew that wasn't true. "If it's Charlie or Kyle-"

"It's not!" Jess replied with finality. She had been acting weird lately, I wanted to know why.

She walked out of my room and to the kitchen. We both got some cereal and sat at the dinner table.

• • •

She went back to her house after breakfast and I could see from my window as she drove off. She said she had something else to do that day and although I was curious, I didn't ask.

Besides, it gave me time to work of my college applications, which I had barely even started on. I sat at my desk and read the prompts I got to choose from:

Write about a time you were challenged and how you overcame your problems.

No.

Choose one person in your life who changed you for the better.

I thought about my aunt for a moment, then Jess, but that only reminded me of how rushed she had seemed this morning.

I knew something was going on with her and I had a feeling it had to do with Sebastian too. I could sense something about him, his existence seemed shrouded in mystery. Like how Jess seems to know him, and how everyone's obsessed with him.

I wanted to find out more about him, but it seemed that every time u was close to him my mind would go fuzzy. Maybe if I was feeling up to it, I could talk to him Monday, at least thank him for being so helpful on Friday.

I shuddered at the thought of the horrible storm. He had been so...protective... perhaps it was my brain just trying to convince me that the hot guy like me or something. He was very attractive after all, with those golden locks and deep eyes.

I shook my head to refocus my thoughts, they had drifted back to him again. It was like he had casted a spell, or rather a curse, on me. I wouldn't mind so much if it didn't stop me from doing my assignments.

I looked down at the final prompt I could choose:

Write about a loss in your life and how it changed you or what you learned.

I thought back to that night, the night my life changed forever, the night I lost my mother.

*Flashback*