HeartBeat

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I move fast, but it's still not fast enough. I watch her practically disappear before I could reach her to....

To what exactly?

I stop a little behind Jess, as she too calls out to the girl, Charlotte. I stare out into the mingling crowd of students, bewildered and confused. My feet were carrying me over to her, as if they knew something I didn't. What was weirder was the fact that this sort of desperation, had come over me. It was as if I had to reach her, an impulsion that propelled me forward.

The look on her face was tense before she had turned and practically ran away. In confusion I continued forward wanting to call out to her, even without knowing her name. I felt something unfamiliar unfurl inside of me. Something that reminded me of the rush I got from doing dangerous things. As if the average sized woman held me at gunpoint, my heart was slamming against my chest. It was a sense of fear almost. My eyebrows furrow in disbelief.

I didn't know why she gave me that feeling, like a blasted warning, and a siren call at the same time. She wasn't very tall, but not at all short from what I saw. Just your average woman's height. From the distance I saw that she was also sharply, her jeans and shirt hugging her fittingly. Unfortunately, I didn't get to take much of her in. I glimpsed her hair. It was filled with waves, curly really, but it was loose. Her eyes were too far away to see but I could see how dark they were, maybe a really dark brown...? I didn't catch too much of her before she ran off, but it was enough to remember how much she scowled at me, and for a moment, just after I had caught her stare, I saw the flicker of confusion that mirrored my own. It was amongst anguish and something else that was fragile, something on the precipice of breaking.

I shake my head, trying to shake off the tingles that ran from my head to the tips of my fingers and toes.

"Oh, hey Chase." Jessica's hand sits on her hip, and she smiles at me widely. Jess was a good distraction, to what ever was going on with me. It was only there, standing still and focusing on Jess, that I realized how much my heart was racing. I rub my chest, giving Jessica a small smile back.

She frowns in worry, eyes on my hand moving back and forth against my chest. I drop my hand.

"Are you okay?" she asks, with concern thick in her voice. She moves closer, her friend forgotten for a moment. Instead of answering her, I ask, "Who was that?" I nod my head in the general direction, Charlotte had taken off in, "that girl you were with."

Finally, slowing down, my heart begins to thump almost normally inside my chest. I had always had an abnormally fast heart rate, thankfully my parents had taken me to a specialist and got me mostly fixed. Just one of my many problems.

"Oh, that's Charlotte." She smiles, and bounces excitedly, right before frowning in confusion. "But I don't know where she went." She looks around again. She turns back to me her eyes sad.

"Oh no. Did I scare her off? I know I talk too much, and Charlotte seems like the type that's very introverted. You know? And she's a bit shy maybe. Yeah. I scared her off. I'm sure of it." Her hands go to her cheeks and anguish and regret color her eyes.

My expression softens. Jessica Bailey was the sweetest person I knew, and that includes Springville's resident sweetheart-a title that still made the boys and I snort in laughter-Liam. "Ah. Jess. I'm sure it wasn't you."

She didn't run off until I...

Was she scared of me? I mean I did randomly start walking towards her, staring like a creepier. God. It was me, I made her run off. I almost smack my head. My stomach tightens in displeasure. I didn't want any woman fearing me. Ever. My stomach continues to curdle.