Meant to Be (The Saving Angels 1)

“I didn’t have a chance to tell you. I talked to him this morning. He came over after we woke up from the dream.”

“Oh my gosh, you have to tell me everything. Was he everything you expected? Is the connection between you still strong? What did you talk about?”

I laughed. “Slow down, I’ll tell you everything.”

“Ouch!”

I was interrupted by a sharp stinging pain on the side of my head. Something had struck me hard on my right temple. Looking down, I saw a softball lying on the grass beside me.

“Sorry about that,” a guy said, jogging up to me.

He didn’t look sorry though; on the contrary, he looked quite pleased with himself.

“Do you want me to kiss it and make it better?” He said in a suggestive voice.

“Oh, brother!” Sam said with disgust.

“What’s it to you fridge? He said with contempt as he turned to look at Sam.

“So, what do you think, will a kiss make it better?” he asked, trying to lay on the charm.

“No thanks,” I said with disgust, and turned my back on him.

“Hey, what’s your problem? I was just trying to be friendly.”

“I have enough friends,” I said dismissively, waiting for him to leave.

Instead he looked at me with a nasty look on his face. “Oh I get it. You’re not into guys,” he said, looking suggestively between Sam and me.

“Go bother…..” my words caught in my throat as another person joined our group. I looked up to see Mark standing beside me, and he was not happy.

He had caught the end of the exchange, and I could feel the anger vibrating off of him.

“Maybe a trip to the Dean’s office will clean up your language,” he said.

“Is that a threat?” the boy asked in a mocking voice. “Maybe the Dean would like to hear how you’ve taken an interest in our new student. Everyone’s talking about how the two of you were ogling each other in class. No, I don’t think you’ll be talking to the Dean anytime soon,” he said in the same mocking voice as he turned and sauntered off.

Mark started to go after him. “Don’t,” I said in a low voice, putting my hand on his arm.

My touch stopped him in his tracks. The connection was as strong as ever. “Everyone’s watching, you have to walk away and act like nothing happened,” I said in a low voice. “Otherwise our secret will be out sooner than we wanted.”

Mark looked at me one last time, glancing at the spot where the softball had struck my head.

“It’s fine. I’ll go to the nurse’s station and get some ice,” I said. “Besides, the nurse and I are already friends.”

Mark reached up his hand, as if to touch the sore spot.

I took a step back. “No you can’t, I said glancing around. “Everyone’s still watching.” Please go to class, I’ll meet you later,” I pleaded, suddenly choking back tears. The pain in his eyes was almost too much to bear.

Finally, he walked away and I let out a bent up breath. “So much for keeping it a secret,” I said to Sam in a shaky voice.

Sam had remained silent during the whole confrontation, but I could tell she was going to burst if I didn’t fill her in on all the details.

“Come on, I’ll explain on the way to the clinic,” I said, grabbing onto her elbow, for once my emotions behaved.

By the time we reached the clinic, I had given Sam a basic idea of what Mark and I had discussed earlier that morning.

“You again,” said the same elderly nurse from the day before. “What can I do for you today?”