Significance (3 page)

“Yeah, I’ve been friends with Kyle since...forever. He’s actually the one I’m waiting on. I thought his party was from five to seven?”

“It is. I snuck out for a walk. I can’t handle so many Jacobson’s in one room.” He put his hands back in his pockets and rolled his shoulders looking a little uncomfortable. “So, You’re Kyle’s big date, huh? He kept talking about you earlier.”

“It’s not a date. Well...I guess it is. We’re just friends. He’s sweet.”

“Well, I’ll tell you, he definitely thinks this is a date and wants to be way more than friends, trust me.”

I bit my lip and he smiled sadly at me.

“Really? I wasn’t trying to get his hopes up, I just wanted to do something and he’s asked me out a few times already. I just didn’t want to say no again. You know?”

He nodded and rubbed the back of his neck. His hair fell across his forehead and I wanted to fix it for him. In fact, my fingers twitched with wanting to but I clenched my fist and mentally shook myself. I was not one of those girls who gets all swoony over a cute guy. I wasn’t about to start being one.

“Well. I can walk you there since that’s where I’m headed anyway. Kyle will be happy to see you.”

He looked as disappointed as I felt at that prospect. I’d never been attracted to anyone but Chad before. And I was definitely attracted to mister blue eyes.

“Ok. But we’re just friends. I’ve never even been to his house before. You don’t think he’ll mind my just showing up when he said he’d text me, do you?”

“Positive he won’t.”

“Ok.”

We started walking in that direction. I knew where Kyle lived but it was nice to have someone to walk with in the dark.

“So, what year are you?” I asked to fill the silence.

“Heading into Sophomore. I’m studying to be a architect.”

“Really? That’s neat. I guess that’s why you like geometry.”

He smiled and nodded.

“What about you? You headed to school anywhere?”

“Uh.” I sighed. “To be honest, as lame as it sounds, I haven’t even thought about it. I kinda blew it this year with my grades and haven’t even applied to any colleges yet. I have no idea what I’m gonna do. My dad, he- he kinda needs me right now. I work at the diner in town. I guess I’ll work there until I figure it all out.”

“Hey. Taking care of family is just as important if not more than taking care of yourself. You’re doing a good thing, staying with your dad while he needs you.”

It was the first positive thing I’d heard someone say about anything I was doing all year.

“Thanks. Wow. I can’t believe how much I needed to hear someone say that,” I admitted and smiled bashfully.

He smiled back. Then he pulled me to a stop by a hand on my arm and pushed my hair back once more to inspect my head. I looked up to his face, refusing to look away no matter how much my cheeks wanted to flush. I refused to be swoony. He looked back down at me, his hand still in my hair and I felt butterflies attack in my gut. He cocked his head to the side a little and seemed to inspect my reaction. I licked my lips nervously. His eyes flashed and he immediately looked away and dropped his hand.

“It looks better. I think you’ll be fine. Hey, Kyle. Look who I found.”

I turned to see Kyle standing behind us. An irritated gaze latched onto his cousin.

“I can see that. You two know each other?”

“Nope, but your friend here saved my life.” He looked back down at me and smiled. He looked back up to Kyle’s incredulous look. “Seriously, I almost got hit by a truck. She pulled me out of the way. I would be standing here dead, if not for her.”

Kyle looked at me with a new admiration.

“Really? You did that?”

“Uh, yeah, it was nothing.” I waved off their flattery.

“Mags. I can’t believe you.” He came and grabbed me in a hug that lifted my feet from the ground and I could tell he was just doing it because of what he saw between his cousin and me. His cousin could too from the way he rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. “Come inside. Wait until I tell Aunt Rachel what you did.”

“No, please don’t take me in there. I’m not really in the mood for a crowd.”

“Ok,” he said reluctantly. “I was just about to text you anyway. Sorry, the party ran a little late. We were waiting on a certain someone,” he looked pointedly over his shoulder, “to come back so we could eat but now I see he was preoccupied.”
“Well, late’s better than dead, right?” I spouted and then winced.

Kyle raised an eyebrow at me but his cousin burst out laughing from behind him.

“She’s got you there, cuz.” He slapped him on the back. “And I’m glad to see you’re so worried about me.”

“Whatever. You ready?” Kyle asked me and I wasn’t.

I so wasn’t ready to leave the stranger I’d saved but saw no way to invite him to go with us when I could see there was clearly tension between them. I looked at him and he was looking at me. I could tell he clearly didn’t want me to go either and it made the butterflies worse.

“Uh, yeah, sure,” I muttered.

“Ok. I’ve already got the keys. Let’s get going.”

“Hold on.” I walked up to his cousin a few feet away. I looked up into his face, at least half a foot higher than mine, probably more. “I’m really glad I was there.”

“Me too. Thank you. You ever need anything- a new pair of rollerblades, a popsicle, a kidney- it’s yours.”

I laughed and tucked my hair behind me ear as he chuckled too and shuffled his feet.

“Ok. I’m Maggie by the way.”

I stuck my hand out towards him and smiled.

“Maggie,” he repeated and I bit my lip at the sound of my name on his lips. “Caleb.” He took my hand and I felt an instant jolt go through my body; that made me gasp.

Not like a girly wow-he’s-touching-me jolt. I mean an actual jolt. Like it felt as if fire was racing through my veins and I was standing in water with a blow dryer. My breaths ceased to exist and my blood felt cold in my hot skin. My eyes fluttered automatically at the pleasure pain of it. I saw images, flashes of things. Me on a porch with tan arms going around me from behind and a brown haired head sitting atop mine then leaning down, kissing my neck. Then that image vanished and a new one appeared.

Me running, someone chasing me but I wasn’t scared. I was laughing. I looked back and a brown haired boy was hot on my tail, grabbing me and throwing me over his shoulder as I squealed in delight. Behind them was a house with a for-sale sign but ‘SOLD’ was stamped over it, a moving truck parked beside it.

Then, a man and woman took a walk through a lot of white sand. The man pricked a finger on a cactus as he swung his arms. I kissed his finger and then pulled him back to the house, through big bay doors into a bedroom. He pushed me to the bed and followed me, kissing me senseless as we rolled around in the white sheets.

Then I saw me, right now, holding the hand of a tan, dark haired boy. The look of pleasure and confused delight on my face was also on his. His eyes opened and he smiled at me like he understood everything, like
I
was everything.

I was jolted back to the present when my eyes saw what was actually in front of me and not a strange vision of happy times. I was still looking at Caleb’s face. He was still looking at me but, just like in the vision, he was smiling, ecstatically.

“It’s you,” he whispered in wonder. “You’re the one.”

“What’s going on?” I heard Kyle behind me but I couldn’t look away from the blue eyes looking at me with such want.

Caleb came closer to me, releasing my hand and framing my face with his hands and I felt a flood of calm and warmth.

“Breath, Maggie.” I hadn’t realized I was holding my breath. I took a deep breath and felt the air rush in and out frantically as I blinked. My head cleared a little. He smiled. “Everything’s going to be ok. Alright? Just don’t be upset. You don’t have to be scared.”

“What are you doing?” Kyle asked and pushed Caleb’s hands away. The second he did that, I felt cold and oddly desperate and heard myself gasp. “Dude, not cool. Look, I understand that she saved you and you feel- whatever- but I told you about this girl. You can’t just-”

“She’s the one, Kyle,” Caleb interrupted, never taking his eyes from mine. It felt like an eternity had passed since he’d first taken my hand and I was still tingling in my veins from whatever had taken place. “It’s her.”

“What?” Kyle said loudly, almost angrily. “She can’t be. I mean you just...met,” he sighed harshly and ran his hands through his hair. “You gotta be frigging kidding me.”

“What’s going on?” I asked softly and finally pulled my eyes from Caleb to look between then two. Kyle looked pissed and angry. Caleb looked in awe and blissed out. He stepped closer to me but didn’t touch me this time.

“Maggie. We have a lot to talk about.”

“Not tonight, Caleb,” Kyle said coming to stand between us. “She has no idea what you’re talking about. You’re going to scare her.”

“I’m not going to scare her. She knows me, inside. She knows me, just like I do her, Kyle. It’s exactly like they always described it. I can feel her heart beating.”

Kyle cursed and shook his head.

“This is bull. I can’t believe you did this. You knew how I felt and you still did this.”

“You know that’s not how it works. We don’t get to choose. I’m sorry, Kyle, I am.”

“Well, fat lot of good that does me.”

“Ok,” I stopped them both. “Please tell me what’s going on.” I felt a little light headed and blinked to clear my vision.

Caleb came around Kyle to grab my upper arms gently.

“Maggie, everything’s fine. Just wait. It’s new, it’ll calm down some. Just breathe.”

I felt something strange. It felt like an invader, a welcomed invader. Like something was pushing its way into my thoughts or my body somehow. I felt
him
. I gasped and looked up at him. He smiled, realizing what I felt.

“I can feel- your heart beating. I can feel your- happiness,” I admitted and had no idea how I knew these things, I just did.

I brought one of my hands to my heart to feel it under my fingers. I could feel each beat of his heart as if it was my own. I felt his concern over me, he was worried that I was going to run when he told me everything, he felt an intense sense of longing and protection for me, but more than anything, I felt his utter joy at what was happening between us, whatever that was.

“See,” he continued to explain to his cousin but his eyes stayed on me, as did his hands. “She can feel me already.” He laughed a breathy chuckle and his next words were barely whispered. “Wow. I can’t believe this.”

“You’re too young,” Kyle countered. “And she’s only seventeen. You’re both too young.”

“Tell that to my imprint.”

“You know what? No.” Kyle once again came and got in between us and as soon as Caleb’s hands released me, his heartbeat went with him. I was beginning to be irked with Kyle but wasn’t sure why. “We have a date. And we’re going on it.”

“You want to take my significant on a date?” Caleb asked and cocked a brow at his cousin.

I couldn’t speak. I just stood there and let them fight.

“Yes, exactly. If she is your significant, she still will be when we get back won’t she?”

“We have to talk about this, Kyle. We have to tell the family.”

“I know. But I’ve been waiting for this all year and I think you can spare her one night, since you’ll apparently be spending the rest of your life with her,” he said snidely.

“Kyle, don’t be like this.”

I finally found my voice.

“Ok. Ok. Ok. I have no idea what’s going on. I feel strange. I feel...really strange. Why are you both talking like I’m not standing right here?”

“Maggie, I’m sorry.” Kyle turned to look at me. “I never wanted you to get mixed up in all this. I never would have thought that
this
could happen.”

“What? What could happen?” I said a little hysterically. “What are you talking about?”

“There’s some stuff we need to discuss, but first, let’s just go. Ok? We can get away from here and I’ll explain when you have a clear head.”

“But- What are you...I mean- I don’t understand.”

Kyle grabbed my arms to steady me as I swayed.

“Caleb. Tell her. Tell her it’ll be alright.”

I looked up and there he was as Kyle handed me over to him. He was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. How had I not noticed this before? He looked the same to me. Same cute guy but so different now. Like a new light had been shone on him. My blood was singing in my veins at having him touch me. I wanted to touch him too, hug him, pull him to me to see what his scruffy chin felt like on my jaw. Anything. He smiled and leaned close to whisper to me.

“They’ll be plenty of time for that.” I gasped and blushed furiously as I realized he’d heard my thoughts. “It’s ok. Don’t worry.” His warm hands closed over my shoulders and his fingers brushed my neck sending another sense of warm calm through me, which I’ve started to think wasn’t a coincidence. “It won’t always be like this. You’ll learn to control it. Where I’ll only hear the thoughts you want me to hear. But for now, go ahead and go with Kyle. He’s right. You need to clear your head and I have to talk to my father and the family anyway and it’d probably be better for you if you weren’t there the first time. They’re a little zealous.” He bent to look closely into my eyes. “Don’t be scared. You feel that I’d never hurt you, don’t you?”