Chapter 3- part 3

Ja… Words spat inside my head… Ja… Jade… Jude.. Jay... Jayden. His name is Jayden! I’m sure of it. Just as sure as I know he’s someone I need. Someone, I want. My body pulls towards him, like a puppet on a sting. I need him with every inch of my bones.  He will stand between me and Zailor.  

Ugh! Zailor. I catch my breath and break away from Jayden’s lock.  Whipping my head around to the glass doors. I can almost make out Zailor in the crowd, but there’s too many kids now. Which takes away from my view and gives me an uneasy feeling. What if he attacks here, with all these kids?  Could I? Or would...

Shelly’s rambling comes closer to the front of my head. “So, what did you do last night?”

“Nothing much.” I keep my eyes scanning back and forth between where I think Zailor is and Jayden. Hoping that Jayden will get some kind of hint. -not exactly sure what hint I'm going for. But anything is better than nothing.

“Well! I reworked my scene from yesterday… You know… the one you saw… Tom’s….” She fades back into my unconsciousness again, when I turn back to Jayden and he isn't there.

NO!  Panic rushes through me. No he can’t go. Not sure why he can't,  I'm going on full instinct now.  I take a step forward, towards where Jayden use to be and stop quickly when someone grabs my right arm.

“May I speak with you?” Jayden’s soft, silky voice whispers in my ear.

His touch sends an electric shocks up my arm. The world around us stops, and the only sound I can hear is my heart pounding inside my chest. I secretly hope he can’t hear it too.

Jayden stays close to my cheek. His breath feels warm and sweet, like lilies on a hot summer day. -It makes me a little dizzy.  I lean my head towards him and close my eyes- mesmerized by every inch of him. He's here. He's really here. I think, not knowing where the thought comes from. My insides are like Jell-O and I feel my knees give a little. He feels it too and places his other arm gently around my lower back. This is better… MUCH better. 

“What do you want?” Shelly’s soft tone had left with Tom and forces me back into reality for a moment. I tug on my eyes lids, but I’m too weak to open them.

“Just a moment with her” Jayden’s voice is more husky this time. Soft, husky, sweet voice. I wait for him to speak again. … Just breathe. I tell myself. But I'm really waiting for him to whisk me away. To keep me safe in those warm strong arms. I will follow those arms anywhere. I will follow him anywhere.

“Well, it doesn’t look like she wants a moment with you.” Shelly spat back at him.

Wait… what? My mind spins… what did she say? She couldn’t have said what I heard. Why would she think I wouldn’t want that? No! No! That’s not what I heard! I lean closer to Jayden.  But Shelly grips my left arm and pulls me away. Jayden lets go of arm. He let me go!?!  How could he let me go? It feels like we have walked across campus before my stomach drops to the floor and I ground my feet into the ground.

“NO!” My eyes fly open and the crease in my forehead is hard. “No!” it’s all I can say for a moment.

Shelly is stunned.  I could see she’s full of questions. I try to say something… but when I open my mouth, nothing comes. Shelly looks past me and focuses on Jayden. I follow her glare. He’s only a few steps away from me. His eyes are passionate, but his body is jagged in place. His right arm is rapped around to the side. – He’s grabbing for something, but must have stopped when I spoke. Horror is in his face. Cold out desperation gloomed over him, as he reaches towards me with his left hand.

“He’s weird- he’s hot, don’t get me wrong… but it’s just weird how he grabbed you. Like he owns you or something.” Shelly whispers.

Maybe he dose own me. I thought. What else would make me feel this way?

My voice loosens, just enough for me to say “It’s okay.” I take a breath in. “I want to talk to him.”

Shelly rolls her eyes and drops her hand. “Fine. But I’ll be waiting right here for you.”

I whirl myself back to Jayden and take his waiting hand. He glides me to the other side of the hall, and round the trophy cabinet. The kids move out of his way quickly, like he has the pelage or something. But he doesn’t seem to notice. His eyes keep glancing back at me. I can tell he has just as many questions as I do. But he doesn’t speak. When he pulls me to the wall, he takes my other hand.

“Raynie.” Hearing him speak again makes my heart jump, even if he did call me by the wrong name. “Are you alright?”

I open my mouth to speak, but I clamp my mouth shut. I can't speak after that. My voice would sound like a bear in pain

“Do you have the star?”

The Star? Why would he want the star? Suddenly, I feel a small burning feeling from my star, that's hiding under my shirt. But I don't take two seconds to think about it. I’m trapped inside his eyes… his smoky deep sea eyes.

“Come on Raynie, its important, my love.” My heart flitters, as He tugs on my hands a little “Zailor is here, and he’s coming for you.”

Zailor. This is a name I understand. “I know.” I finely say.

“When are you going back to Narmolyna?”

Narmolyna rings inside my head. Narmolyna.  Narmolyna.   I can’t see straight let alone understand this word. This is the second time someone has said this ward... But wait, he wants me to leave? What? Where? He’s here…. He wants me to leave him?

“I can’t…” my voice scatters like fire.

“There isn’t much time Raynie. If you have the star.” He takes a breath of frustration and grips my arms hard.
“Zailor won’t stop.”

“I don’t know…” my head is shacking.  I break our gaze and suddenly see all of the other students staring at us. My body starts to tremble, my knees are weak again, but this time I don’t lean towards Jayden, lean away. How could I leave them… defenseless?  My thoughts don’t make since to me. I tug my eyes back to Jayden. – hoping that his gaze would capture me once more.

“I can’t protect you here, not for long any ways. You know that Raynie.” His voice is braking.

“I don’t.” I want to say I don’t understand. But that’s not what came out “I don’t want you to.” I can’t believe what I’m saying. But I can’t stop myself either. “Go back Jayden. You shouldn’t be here.” My voice is stronger than I expect. It’s rugged, and painful to hear.

My mind is twisting around and around inside my head. I'm having trouble breathing, my heart burns… how could I say that? I couldn’t let him go… I just found him.  A vision tangles inside my mind. I see Jayden eyes trap me again. We're outside under a white tree with sprinkle flowers over us. He softly brushes my hair out of my face tucking it behind my ear.  I just found him, again?

Reality snaps back when Jayden drops my hands. By the time I look at him, his hands were at his sides -forming fist. His body is frozen in front of me, but he’s heating up like a steam train.

“You should probably stay around the people that you love SO much today.” His lips barely move.

He turns quickly and heads through the crowd of kids. They move out of his way again. he reaches the front doors before I can breathe again. My heart longs to run after him. I don’t even care about what everyone else thinks. But my legs grip their place, and won’t let me move. I’m trapping myself now.