Redheads are Soulless (6 page)

“Then what is this?”

He gave me a sideways smile. “I want to be
more
than just your friend,” he said seductively. My heart once again started
to beat in a
n
erratic rhythm
.
I cleared my throat, pretending to be unaffected by him. His smile told me I didn’t hide it very well.

Just breathe, Sofie,
I reminded myself.

“Why are you trying to pretend that I don’t affect you? Why are you trying so hard to push me away?”
He glanced over at me for a second before looking at the road again.

I didn’t have an answer for that.

“I
like
being with you,” he admitted.

I could no longer hide my smile.

“You have a beautiful smile. It’s radiant, and lights up the whole room,” he complimented me. “It’s so genuine – your eyes sparkle when
you’re
truly happy.”

“I don’t get what
you see in me that is so great.”
I bit my bottom lip
.

“I see
you,
Sof.
Everything
about you is great.” He pulled my hand up to his mouth and kissed it.
My hand tingling as he pulled it back down. “I like you, a lot.”

“I like you, too,” I admitted shyly.

“I know you do.” He smiled at my confession.

“How do you know?”

“You look at me different
ly
than you look at everybody else.”

“Oh really?” I asked. “How do I look at you?”

“Like I’m your dream come true.” His words made me blush. I didn’t mean to look at him like that. “And last night, when you were so upset, instead of pushing me away, you actually let me comfort you.
I think that I am
the first person since your dad’s death that you’ve really let in your heart.
And, as scared as you are to admit it, I think you’re falling
for me
too.
”

His words
startled me. Maybe because I knew that he was right… He was the first one to get in my heart since my father’s death.

And maybe, just maybe, I was falling in love with him.

Wait – did he just say too?

I looked up at him, and he smiled. “Yes, Sofie, I am falling in
love
with you.”

Once again, my heart rate accelerated.

My heart no longer belonged to me, it belonged to Jason Morgan.

Six

S
hatter

Saturday with Jason was literally the best day of my life.
It was one of those days that you
never want to end… But, of course,
like all days,
it did
eventually come to an
end.

Jason ended up taking me to the mall. I think he wanted to make up for my mom ditching me. He even bought me some new clothes. I tried to refuse them, I did. I hated him buying stuff for me, but he was pretty persistent.

First, he bought me a pair of purple converse. He couldn’t believe that I had never owned a pair before, and insisted that it was essential. They did look cute on my feet.

Next, he bought me a couple of new dresses. They were on sale, and they
did
look good on me. So, after arguing for a couple of minutes,
I caved… He also bought me 2
new pair
s
of jeans, a couple of tank tops, and a new hoodie. I felt absolutely terrible afterwards
, but he wouldn’t hear it.

And, after all that, he took me out to eat… again. I was no
t used to being taken care of, but he seemed to genuinely like doing it.

That night, he d
ropped me off at my door about 10
o’clock. My
mom was gone to the bar
, so I invited him inside to hang out.
I was embarrassed once we got inside. There we
re empty beer cans, and broken g
lass all over the living room floor.

“I’m really sorry,” I started to apologize, but he stopped me
by putting his finger over my lips. I kissed his finger, and he smiled. He took my hand and pulled me seductively towards my bedroom.

I crawled into my bed, and he lay beside me.

“I hate that you have to live like this.”

I sighed. “Not much longer until I graduate and get out of here,” I said optimistically. “Once I leave, I am never coming back.”

“That’s fine, as long as you take me with you.”

“How did
I
get so lucky?”

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“You’re just… t
his… incredible guy
.
I don’t deserve you.”

He sat up, looking me in the eye. “Is it so hard to believe that I want you?”

I nodded, and he smiled.

“Well, believe it, because I do.” He paused for a moment, looking at my lips. “I want to kiss you right now.”

“I want you to kiss me right now,” it came out more breathless than I intended.

Right before his lips found mine, I heard the front door open. Drunken laughter filled our s
mall house, and
Jason pulled away.

“Ugh, I’m sorry,” I grunted.
“I’ll be right back.”

I walked out into the living room to see my mom, shirtless, on top of a guy I didn’t recognize.

“Sofie,” she slurred at me. “Come meet my boyfriend.”

I
was getting
angry. “Mom, can you please go to your room and do that?”

S
he laughed. “Come on! We’re jus’
havin’ fun!”

Beside my mom, a glass lamp shattered into thousands of tiny pieces.
My mom jumped, but then just laughed. “Whoops,” she said.

She didn’t bump the lamp though. It just shattered all on its own.

Jason ran out of my room beside me. “Are you ok?”

I looked up at him, it was then that I noticed tears filled my eyes. “Not really.”

“Come on,” he said, pu
lling me back to my room. “You are
going to
stay with me again. Pack some clothes.”

It didn’t take much persuasion to get me to go with him. In fact, anything sounded better than staying here while my mom has sex with a random stranger in my living room.

“Can we leave out the window?” I asked, embarrassed.

Jason smiled knowing
ly
. “Good idea,” he agreed. First, he lowered me down,
passed me my suit
case, and then he jumped down himself. He landed perfectly on the grass.

“Thank you, again,” I said as we took off towards his house.

“For what?”

“For saving me.
Once again,
I owe you.”

He smiled mischievously. “Your undying gratitude is enough for me.
”

“I’m serious – someday I will pay you back.”

After a few minutes of driving, we pulled in Jason’s very large house.

“Do you
r
parents ever come home?” I asked.

“Never,” he answered as he opened the front door. He motioned for me to go inside first.

“And you’re sure they don’t mind that you have a girl over when they’re not here?”

He seemed amused by my question. “I can assure you that nobody cares who I invite over.”

We sat down on his brown
, leather couch and he put on a scary movie. He put his arm around me, and I jumped at the appropriate spots, but my mind was elsewhere.

First, I was thinking about the whiskey bottle. The bottle didn’t just break on its own. That’s impossible. Then the light bulb busted when I slammed the door. I
know
I didn’t slam the door hard enough to break a light bulb over 5 feet away from the doorframe. And then, ther
e was the soda can – it rattled
this morning whenever I got mad and thought about my mom. Jason, grabbed the
can
quickly, and then acted like he didn’t hear anything. But I know he did.
And then tonight, when my mom was with that… guy… The lamp just shattered.
She
didn’t bump it. She was at least 3 feet away from the lamp when it happened.

Really, everything
has
to have an explanation.
And I am determined to figure it out.

…

On Sunday morning when I woke up, Jason and I were still on the couch. He held me as I slept, and when I woke up, he was looking at me.

“Good morning,” I said all groggy.

“Good morning,” he smiled.

“Were you watching me sleep?”

“Maybe,” he admitted.

“That’s kind of creepy,” I joked.

“Good creepy or bad creepy?”

“Is there really a good creepy?” I couldn’t help but laugh.

We spent most of Sunday hanging out. On Sunday night when I got home, mom was there on the couch, she was crying, and very wasted.

I talked to my mom for a few minutes, but she wa
s pretty intolerable when she wa
s like that, so I quickly excused myself to my room. Once I got there, there was a big purple ribbon sitting on the middle of m
y bed. Once I got closer, I
could see
that the ribbon was attached to a brand new
purple
iPod. There was a note attached.

Sof,

I loaded a ton of songs on here I thought you would like. I know you don’t have a computer, but anytime you want music, you can come to my house.

Love, Jason

P.S. You don’t owe me anything.

I couldn’t help
the huge smile that spread across my lips.

Really, this was too much. I don’t think anybody has ever spent so much money on me before, even my own mother. I knew that I should take the iPod back to him, but I also knew that he would refuse it,
so I put the ear
buds
in my ears
.

The iPod really was loa
ded with all my favorite bands. I don’t really remember discussing my favorite b
ands with him, but I was sure the conversation
must have
come up at some point.
I turned the volume on MAX and let the music
mute
the sound of my mother’s sobs from the living room.
I let the music drown out my thoughts… I allowed it to take me to my happy place… I listened until finally I drifted off to sleep.

On Monday morning when I woke up, my headphones were still in my ears. I pulled them out, and plugged my iPod up so it could charge.

After a quick shower, I got ready for school.
When I looked in my closet, I was excited as I remembered I had new clothes… Outside, it was in the upper 60’s, so I decided to wear my new purple dress with my purple Converse.

My normally frizzy red hair was actually tame today…
Lately
it had
actually
been pretty non-frizzy. I didn’t mind – I hated my frizzy locks.

When I left, my mom was snoring on the couch.

Once
I got
to
the classroom
, I slid into my desk just as the final bell rang. Jason smiled at me, and I sent a shy smile back as Mr. Franks took roll.

“We have a new student.”

I looked up to where Mr. Franks stood. I had been watching Jason, so I
didn’t even notice
that anybody else had co
me in.

Beside him stood a guy with the same color of black hair as Jason. His ey
es were the same caramel color
, in fact, if I didn’t know better, I’d say they looked like brothers – twins even. The only difference was the new guy had a much shorter hair cut, his short spikes sticking up all over.

“If you would all please welcome Robbie.” Mr. Franks point
ed
to a seat near the front
.

I looked over at Jason. First, his expression was shock, but it quickly turned to anger. Then it happened again, his eyes turned
black
. The first day, I thought I had imagined it, but I didn’t. There he was, looking at Robbie with black eyes.

I looked over at Robbie. His eyes were
red
as he looked back.

I gasped loudly and the whole class looked up at me. I blinked, and R
obbie and Jason’s eyes were once again their natural color.

Everybody snickered at me, but Mr. Frank’s quickly got everybody’s attention on the lesson. My mind couldn’t be further away.

I looked at Jason. His caramel colored eyes looked at me with concern and confusion. Really, had I imagined the whole thing?

When the bell rang, I jumped in my seat. Everybody laughed as they walked past my desk. I just sighed and got up. Jason walked beside me. He looked at me cautiously before speaking.

“Are you ok?” He asked.

I cleared my throat. “I don’t think so actually.”

“What is wrong?”

“I think I’m…
crazy
,” I whispered the word ‘crazy
’, though I was sure everybody
knew it already. It’s got to be hereditary, right?

He just laughed. “Sofia, you are not crazy.”

“But… your eyes… and Robbie’s…” I cut off, not able to finish.

Jason’s face looked panicked. “You could see that?”

I nodded my head. “I mean, I saw it the first day you came here, but I thought I was just seeing things… and… I’ve been
breaking things
… with my
mind
. It’s not normal.”

“I promise I’ll explain everything, I just…”

Jason was cut off as Robbie walked up. “Hello,
brother
,” he spoke.

“Brother?” I asked, looking between the two, and then finally at Jason. “You never told me you had a brother.”

“
Twin
brother,” Robbie answered me, and then turned to Jason. “Got yourself a cute one, brother. Too bad she’s mine, and you
know
it.”

“Could you not talk about me like I’m not here,” I waved my hand in his face. “And I’m
not
yours. In fact, I’ve never met you before.”

“Ah, I’m hurt – you don’t remember me?” Robbie’s eyes turned red once more, and realization hit me.

“You… You…” I tried not to cry. “You killed my dad.”

“You do remember,” he smiled.

I felt anger throughout my whole body. Above us, the light bulbs shattered. The sound was louder than I expected. I covered my head as broken glass fell around us. Whe
n I looked up
,
the whole hallway
was dark, and the glass doors that led to outside the school were shattered.

My body felt like it wa
s on fire. I looked at my hand. S
team was literally rising from my skin. I looked at it in amazement.