Meant to Be (The Saving Angels 1)

“I know honey. I just want you to be happy.”

“I’ll try,” I said again, getting out of the car.

I closed the car door behind me and looked at my new school. I couldn’t help feeling a little awed at the beauty of the campus. The brochures didn’t lie, it was a beautiful school. The building itself was two sprawling stories that was as big as the mall back home. The most appealing feature of the building was the wide staircase leading up to the large imposing front doors that were made from honey colored oak. Windows that sparkled in the bright sunlight lined the exterior of the building and were placed every six feet or so. Each window was adorned with a different brick inlay pattern over it. Ivy ran up the sides of the structure in abundance and made the school look more like an Ivy League college than a private high school.

It was definitely more prestigious looking than my previous high school. I couldn’t help feeling intimidated just looking at it; I now knew why the tuition was so high. The grounds themselves probably cost more to maintain than my old school spent for all their teachers salaries put together. I had once gone golfing with my dad and even that grass couldn’t compare to what surrounded this school. The grass was plentiful and was only broken up by the big oak trees that provided shade over the many picnic tables that littered the grounds. Beautiful flowers flanked the sidewalk leading up to the building, and ran along the border of the building. The overall affect was quite pretty, and I couldn’t help being impressed.

Glancing at my wrist watch, I saw that I still had eight minutes until the bell rang. I looked around for a place to sit while I waited. All the picnic tables were occupied by students catching up on what they had done during spring break. By the sounds of it, most had enjoyed a killer party at some guy’s house. Others had obviously spent their time partying at the beach during spring break, since many of the girls were showing off their new tan lines.

I mentally shook my head as I settled under one of the big oak trees. It didn’t matter if they were smarter, teenagers are the same everywhere. I didn’t know why I felt so out of touch with other kids my age. Maybe my mom was right, maybe I should try to make more of an effort to get to know people better. Maybe the connection I had been searching for all these years just didn’t exist.

I studied a group of guys messing around with a Frisbee. They all looked so carefree and happy. Had I ever been that carefree? I couldn’t remember a time when I wasn’t thinking about him with some part of my brain. Could someone be carefree when they were always consumed with a hunger for something else?

A shadow fell across me. Looking up in surprise, I saw a very pretty girl looking down at me with interest.

“Aren’t you afraid that you’re going to get a grass stain on your skirt?”

“Excuse me?” I asked surprised. I wasn’t used to someone talking to me; most times people treated me like a leaper.

“Aren’t you afraid you’re going to get a grass stain on your skirt?” the girl repeated.

“No, if I do, I’m sure it will wash.”

The girl’s face widened into a big smile. I felt my mouth spread into a matching smile.

“I knew you were my kind of girl when I saw you plop down without a care of your clothes. I’m not sure I’ve seen anyone sit on the grass since I started here six months ago.” She said, still smiling.

She held out her hand. “I’m Sam.”

“I’m Krista,” I said, reaching out to shake her hand. I gasped in surprise when I felt a small shock like one of those hand buzzers you might get from a joke store, except, Sam was holding nothing. It filled me with a warm feeling like I had been dunked in a steaming bathtub. It gave me a feeling of odd completeness.

“Did you feel that?” I asked in a shocked voice. “What was that?”

“That was strange,” Sam replied, not looking quite as surprised as I felt. Instead she studied me with interest.

I felt a little flustered. It felt like déjà vu, or like we had met somewhere before, but that was impossible. The warmth from our handshake was still strong and I looked at my hand in amazement. Who was this girl?

Sam continued to study me with interest as I tried to make sense of what was going on.

Only mere seconds had passed, but I had the uncanny feeling that this girl and I were lifelong friends. I should feel foolish, but for some reason, I didn’t.

Finally, Sam broke the silence. “My real name is Samantha, but I changed it to Sam. It fits me better, don’t you think?”

It was like she opened a flood gate. Before I knew it, we were chatting away like we had known each other for years.

“Amazing, isn’t it?” Sam asked after a few moments.

“I know, I can’t believe it,” I said, still a little flustered.

>The drive to the Boardwalk was short and soon we were pulling into the parking lot. My mom grabbed some change out of the center console to feed the meter.

“Do you want to ride some rides?” she asked me as we walked across the smooth pavement.

“Not today, I thought it would be fun if we just walked around. Maybe even walk on the beach for awhile,” I said trying to sound nonchalant as I subtly faced away from her. I didn’t want my tell-all blush to giveaway the fact I was hiding something from her.

The view from the beach was the whole reason I wanted to visit the amusement park. Of course I couldn’t tell her the real reason, so I had fabricated a story of wanting to see the famous amusement park by the sea as an excuse for the outing today.

Admission to the amusement park was free, so we were able to stroll right in. The park was busy with families trying to shove one last, fun day into their final day of spring break. I smiled as I watched kids run from one ride to next, followed behind by their parent’s that already looked harassed even though the park had just opened. Older kids hung out in groups, trying to look cool without parental supervision. They seemed to like the roller coaster the most, since the line for that was the longest. It had a big sign above the entrance proclaiming it as the “Giant Dipper.” A smaller sign informed riders that it was either 6 tickets or free with the purchase of an arm band.