Temptations

VI

Since that night, Sabrina and I haven't talked. We now sit on opposite ends of the classroom. I've still gone to her games, but I've avoided her family at all costs.

As of right now, the basketball team is at the Paradise Jam tournament in the Virgin Islands. They've won their first two games and they're playing Louisville today.

---

"Hey, can we talk?" Sabrina asks. She's been back for a couple days now.

"I thought I was dangerous. I don't think you want to be seen around me." I say coldly.

"I didn't say that."

"You were insisting that." I spit back.

"My parents are wrong about you. I can't explain the impact you have made on my life in the short amount of time I have known you. You are silly but serious when you need to be. You are the sweetest person I know. You are competitive. You challenge me to be the best version of myself. I don't know if my season would be going the way it has been without you by my side."

I throw my arms around her and bury my head into her neck.

We stay like this for a while until I pull my head away from her neck. I look into her eyes and then down to her lips. She leans down to my height and I watch as her eyes go down to my lips.

"Are you sure?" Sabrina asks.

I run my finger from her lip to her chin. I place two fingers under her chin. I start to lean in but then I pull away.

"I can't. I'm so sorry." I try to pull out of her grip but she grabs my hand. She rubs her thumb over my knuckles as she looks deep into my eyes.

"Are you trying to suck my soul out of my body?" I ask making Sabrina laugh her adorable laugh.

"No, I'm just trying to remember everything about you."

---

"I should really go back to my dorm." I tell Sabrina.

"No, stay." She holds me closer to her chest.

After a prolonged silence I speak up, "So, are we going to talk about what happened earlier?" I ask.

"I think I was just caught up in the moment. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable."

"You're fine. I'm just not ready for something right now." I tell her.

"That's totally fine. I understand, but just know that I'm ready when you are."

"Who said that I want to date you?" I joke.

"Well... you- I- well..." She stumbles on her words.

"I'm messing with you Sab."

"Ha ha ha. Very funny."

She starts running her fingers through my hair.

"You're beautiful. You know that, right?" Sabrina asks.

"I guess."

"Don't be that way. You are so beautiful." I make my way out of her grip and take off my shirt.

"What about this?" I ask, pointing to the gunshot wound slightly above my left collarbone.

She gets up off her bed and grabs my left hand.

"I think it's beautiful. Can I touch it?" She asks quietly.

"Yeah." She brings two fingers to it and lightly feel it. "You can press a little harder, it's just all tissue."

"O-okay." She runs over it with her thumb. "How did this happen?" She asks.

"I was walking my friend home from a party and some Bloods pulled up on us. She was shot in the neck and the shoulder. The bullet went through her shoulder and into mine. They did end up getting arrested. The kid who fired the shots is in prison for the next 37 years, I think. And the other guy is in prison for the next 17 years."

"I-Is she alive?" Sabrina asks.

"No. She died inside my arms. And I think if soulmates are real, then she was one of mine."

"Why?" She asks.

"The feeling I got when I was around her was something I had never felt at the time. Everytime she touched me, I got chills down my spine. Everytime she smiled at me, it made my entire day. And that cliché feeling of knowing that she was the one."

"What was her name?"

"Olivia." I answer.

"Do you think you've met another one of your soulmates?" Sabrina asks, changing the subject after a small silence.

"I think so. What about you?"

"I think so too."

She runs her hand down my arm and puts her hand on my hip.

"Sab..." I lightly push her hand off my hip.

"I'm sorry. I just don't think when I'm around you. You just do something to me."

I fall into her chest and wrap my arms around her.

She puts her hands on my lower back and I get those same chills.