Gifted Connections 1

Remy, Drake, Will, and Noah came back in the room decked out in Kingstown High School and College garb. I stopped to look at them and had a surreal feeling, not believing this was my life now.

Remy handed me an older looking well-worn hoodie. It was powder blue and soft from the many washes it has been through; broken in as only a well-loved piece of clothing could be. The writing was distressed, but I liked it. “It’s cold out there, you should bundle up.”

“Man,” Noah sucked his teeth. “Nobody wants to wear that beat down sweatshirt. You should have donated it long ago. Stop clinging to the old days when you use to play. I can get you a newer one. A better one from my closet,” Noah grinned at me.

I pulled it on and took a deep breath. It smelled good. It smelled of fresh detergent, dryer sheets, and faintly of Remy’s woody smell. “I like it, it’s charming,” I said as I rolled the sleeves up a little bit.

Remy gave Noah a smug look. “At least I played football. What did you do? Dance?”

“Hey, hey, hey,” Noah held up a hand with mock indignation. “I’ll have you know these hands are surgeon's hands. I couldn’t damage my money makers. Besides,” he winked at me. “I never went to a dance alone.”

Somehow, that didn’t surprise me. I had seen him do that mock strip tease, and I could see him picking an activity that the male to female ratio was low. He would have been surrounded by girls all the time. He definitely threw out the stereotypes of male dancers being effeminate. There was no doubt he was a testosterone driven male.

“What are you wearing? Is that Remy’s favorite hoodie!? It looks like a dress on you,” Jemmy said as she came down the stairs carrying hats, scarfs, and gloves for us. “Seriously, I can go grab another one of mine.”

“I want one,” Ella cried out.

“There you go. Ella can wear it,” I smiled. “I’m wearing this one,” I smiled up at Remy. Somehow, I didn’t think it was often that he did thoughtful gestures.

“Let’s go,” Will clapped his hands. “Remy, Noah, and Blake you’re with me.”

I sighed inwardly knowing the car ride to the game wasn’t going to be a fun one.

Jemmy looked at us all and said. “Okay, well, I can take Ella with me.”

Ella, wearing Jemmy’s grey hoodie that fell to her knees, seemed happy with that prospect.

“You guys can ride with me,” Drake offered as he stuffed his hands into his jeans.

“No, thank you,” Jemmy cut Rose a nasty look.

“Okay, who’s going to tell me what’s going on?” Will looked expectantly at Remy sitting beside him. Then in the rearview mirror at Noah and me.

“I made a connection last night,” I said flushing red as I looked out the window. I imagined this was worse than the birds and the bees talk that I never received.

It was embarrassing enough that he knew I had six connections, and I would have to be intimate with them to form the connection. Drake and I had only kissed to get my first connection, but who knew if it would be that easy next time around? I imagined if people had to tattoo or announce the number of people they were intimate with, or could be intimate with, they would be a lot choosier and mindful of their actions. I had no choice if I wanted to fulfill my destiny. My actions shouldn’t negatively affect other people’s lives, so I had to see this through.

Will gave a shocked and amused glance over at Remy. “Is that why you got home early? As private as you are about your…” he flushed with embarrassment as he looked at me. “Well, anyways, I never expected you to be first.”

Remy gave me a sympathetic look, obviously seeing my embarrassment. “It wasn’t me. I just…felt it.”

“Felt it?” Will looked mystified. “So, it was Jax then, but wasn’t Tamara there last night? No wonder Zach was so insistent I tell him everything about you.” He looked at me then over at Noah. “So, he finally decided to break it off with Tamara. It’s about time,” he gave a short laugh. “Never did like Zach, his connections, or their children.” He cleared his throat. “Well…enough about that. What did you mean by feeling it?”

Might as well treat it like a band-aid and rip it off. He wouldn’t stop until he heard it all. I buried my red face in my hands and said in a muffled voice, “It was Drake, and we only kissed. We made the connection by kissing. When we connected, I saw it. They felt it. All of them felt it. It seemed to drain me of all my energy, and when I woke up this morning, I could feel Drake’s emotions. Jemmy had an argument with Rose earlier, and it hurt Drake. Old memories came up and they pained him. I felt the hurt. I couldn’t breathe it hurt so much.”

Will looked over at Remy as if he wanted confirmation of the story. Noah even looked stunned by the new revelations. “Do you think things like this will continue happening to her if we continue connecting with her? Do you think she would be able to feel all of us once we’re connected?”

Will rubbed a weary hand over his face. “I don’t know. I don’t know.”

I was determined to enjoy my first football game experience, despite the fact that we were all left wondering what was going to happen next. The stadium was getting packed when we got there, and the hum in the air was contagious. We followed the crowd as we made our way to the stadium. I could see splashes of powder blue, grey and white, mixed with the opposing team's colors of red, black, and grey. From the raucousness exhibited by some of the fans, I had a feeling they had been drinking before the game.

I was surprised when Remy reached out to grab my hand as the crowds started to push us forward. He pulled me into the curve of his body. I realized he didn’t want me to get lost or pushed by the crowd, especially since it looked like we were now surrounded by the other team’s fans. I looked behind me to see that Drake had hoisted Ella onto his wide shoulders and she was grinning ear to ear. Noah had his arm over Jemmy’s shoulder, making sure no harm came to her.

As we wove our way through the crowd and into the stadium, we could see a man waving at Will.

“That’s the coach,” Remy murmured in my ear.

Will made his way up front and had a few words with the coach before shaking his hand. He then turned and motioned us forward. We were pleasantly surprised to see that the coach had made sure the president of the school and father of the all-star quarterback had a row of seats reserved for him in front, behind the players and cement wall.