Soul Mates

Thursday, September 23, 1999

*Carolina's POV*

I’ve been in love with Logan “Angel” Matthews for twelve years. I loved him before I even knew what love was. He’s been my best friend since kindergarten. Oh, who am I kidding? He’s been my ONLY friend since kindergarten. We’ve been there for each other throughout the years, Logan was there for me when my father died and I helped him through his parents’ nasty divorce. He taught me how to ride a bike and I taught him how to read.

No one understands our friendship, sometimes I don’t even understand it myself. No, our friendship makes no sense.  Logan dreams of becoming a NBA star, while I dream of going to Harvard and becoming a lawyer. He's the most popular guy in our school while I'm the biggest nerd. Still, our friendship is beyond labels, beyond logic. I like to think it’s almost magical, like we’re soulmates. I often think of Logan as my guardian angel.

Logan's life has not been easy. His mom is an alcoholic, a shadow of the person she used to be before her husband left. His father moved down to Texas and tried to convince Logan to go with him, but my angel decided to stay in Connecticut. He’s been working since his 16th birthday to save money to move out of his mom’s house as soon as he turns 18 next month. His dad said he would pay half of all his expenses to help get him away from his mom. In the meantime, Logan spends most of his time in my house. I swear my mom loves him more than she loves me sometimes.

I wake up to find Logan brushing his teeth in my bathroom, it doesn’t surprise me, he usually crashes in my brother’s room. Still, the sight of him, wearing only pajama bottoms, is enough to get my pulse racing. God was not playing fair when he created Logan. It isn’t just his six foot three frame, with broad shoulders and lean sculpted abs, or his soft dark brown hair and huge amber eyes, it’s his smile that’s the cincher. That perfect smile with those impossibly adorable dimples, the smile of an angel.

He looks up at me as he finishes putting his toothbrush away and flashes me one of those smiles. I gasp as I take all of him in and notice the bruise on the side of his body. “This is getting out of hand, Angel. She's even hitting you, now. You should just go to Texas with your dad.” I say as I turn him around to check for more bruises. He stops me and shakes his head, “This is nothing. My place is next to you, Mia. You, Carla and Diego are my family.” he whispers as he puts his forehead against mine.

It’s true, my mom has “adopted” him as an honorary son and he is just another part of our family, as far as everyone is concerned. The main problem with all of this is that Logan sees my brother, Diego, as a little brother and me as a twin sister, while I see him as the love of my life. 

I’m not the only one in love with Logan, most of the girls in our school would give away a kidney to be able to be with him. He’s popular, captain of the basketball team, an aspiring singer/songwriter and he’s an all around amazing person.

We finish getting ready and Logan drives us to school. I still can’t believe I’m a senior and soon I’ll be able to get away from this town. If everything goes according to plan, I’ll be attending Harvard in the fall.

The school day started on the wrong foot and it only got worse from there. Some jokester thought it would be funny to stick gum in my hair and I spent 10 minutes of my lunch break trying to get the gum out.  As I look in the restroom mirror I can’t help but sigh, no wonder Logan doesn’t see me as a girl. Sure, I have a nice smile and pretty green eyes, but my curly hair is frizzy and untamable, it’s only saving grace, the dark shade of red I inherited from my mom’s side of the family. I look down at my body, my 5’4” and 200ish pound body, and my shoulders slump in defeat.

I get out of the restroom to find Logan waiting for me by the door. “Hey, Mia.” he says putting his arm around my shoulders. My name is Carolina but Logan's always called me by my middle name. I secretly love the way he gets mad whenever someone else calls me that.

“Tell Carla I’ll be late for dinner. I have practice and I picked up an extra shift at the coffee house tonight.” I start walking with him, letting him lead me as I bask in his warmth. “I’ll tell her, but you know mom hates it when you don’t make it in time for dinner. She’s always worrying about you: ‘make sure Logan eats, make sure Logan studies, make sure’…”, he covers my mouth with his hand. “Shhh, you’ll ruin my rep.” he whispers while smiling.

He pushes open a door and that’s when I notice he’d steered me into the school cafeteria... again. I usually try my best to stay away from Logan’s friends, the ‘elite’, as everyone calls them, but Logan insists on trying to mix oil and vinegar. I stop walking and he takes my hand, pulling me to their table. Ugh!, sometimes he’s just insufferable.

We’re almost at the table when Logan’s girlfriend, Cindy Harper, spots us. Cindy is the head cheerleader, she’s rich, beautiful AND spoiled. She hates me and the feeling’s mutual. Her icy blue eyes go from our faces to our interlocked hands. She sweeps her wavy blonde hair to the side and plasters on a fake smile as she says, “Babe, I didn’t know you were bringing your pet. Sorry, Carolina, but there’s only space for one.”

I freeze, Logan thinks they call me his pet as a term of endearment, but I know better. They call me his dog behind his back. I try to pull my hand away from Logan’s but he tightens his grip and smiles down at me. “Well, if there’s no space for Mia, there’s no space for me. We’ll just eat somewhere else.”, he says and he starts to pull me to another table. Suddenly, as if by a miracle, there were two seats available at the table.

Logan seats next to me with his arm around my chair instead of Cindy’s. I’ve talked to him about this, but he doesn’t seem to care. He says it reminds people in the school that I’m under his protection. It sounds bad, but I really do need all the protection I can get,  because of my weight and my grades, I’m always being bullied one way or another.

Logan met Cindy when we were in middle school and they’ve been together on and off ever since. They  break up multiple times a year and it’s always because of me. I don’t know what Logan sees in her, sure she’s pretty, but so is a snake and you wouldn’t date one, would you?