Throwing my arm over my eyes, I try to block out the sunlight. It’s too early to be awake. My mind goes through the previous day’s events. I died. I actually died…and Ryanne saved me. Though she didn’t know it, she accepted me as her soulmate and healed me. I slam my arm down and hit the mattress. Tensing, I turn my head to the left and find the bed next to me empty. If Ryanne were here, I would have just slapped her in the face. Where is she?
Sitting up, I rub my eyes and stretch. I get out of bed and open the bedroom door. Stepping into the hallway, I listen to the noises around me. It sounds like almost everyone is awake. I can hear Ryanne talking to Emma in the room across the hall.
After getting dressed, I walk downstairs. Passing Emma’s room, I hear the girls in a heated discussion. Emma is probably trying to get Ryanne to change into something different. I smile and walk past their room. You have to pick your battles. I round the corner and head down the stairs.
In the kitchen, I grab an apple and lean against the counter. Liam, David, and Logan are sitting at the kitchen table eating cereal. “How’d it go last night?” David asks between bites.
“I told her.” I wipe a bit of juice that dripped onto my chin from the apple off and continue, “She knows.”
Liam turns around and stares at me, eyes narrowing slightly. “Did she freak out?”
“Surprisingly, no. She said she kind of knew, but she didn’t want to accept it. She’s still worried about putting us in danger.”
A girl’s scream echoes through the hall. David and I tense. The scream could have only come from Ryanne or Emma. I can hear a deep laugh. It doesn’t sound bad, so I relax and lean back into the counter. “Put me down!” Ryanne yells as someone starts coming down the stairs.
“I don’t think so.” Bragden casually walks into the room carrying Ryanne over his shoulder. He is holding onto her legs while her head hangs over his shoulder and down his back. She is struggling to get free. She’s hitting Bragden’s back, but we can tell that she’s not doing any damage. “Morning. Say good morning to Ryanne.” He turns around, so we can see her. Lifting her head up, she pushes her long hair back and looks around the room. She scowls at us as we laugh.
“It’s not funny.” She hits Bragden on the back again. “Bragden, you put me down right now. I don’t like being this high!” He just chuckles at her but doesn’t put her down. “You know I’m afraid of heights.”
She stops struggling. I can tell that she is calling her magic to her. All of the sudden, Bragden yelps and places Ryanne on the ground. “Did you just pinch my butt?”
She runs a hand through her hair, effectively creating more disarray for her curls. Placing her hands on her hips, she looks up at him. “No, I electrocuted it with lightning!”
Bragden looks incredulously down at her and then over her head to the rest of us. “She electrocuted me.” Only Ryanne would think of something like that.
Emma casually walks into the room and walks over to David. “I told you she would do something like that.”
“Bragden, honey, you can’t do that to a short person. We’re close to the ground for a reason. I don’t do well with heights.” He looks down at her with a fake scowl. I can see the amusement behind his eyes. “I mean you’re like what, 6’4”?”
“Six six actually, but you’re close.”
“So that puts you at a total of…a foot and three inches taller than me. Come here,” she says and motions for him to come closer. He narrows his eyes. I would be afraid to step closer to her too after that. “I’m not going to do anything to you.” She steps forward and pulls his shirt, making him bend down toward her.
When he is level with her, she says, “When this is what you see every day, it kind of freaks you out when you’re suddenly a lot higher than that.”
“Man, you’re really short.”
“Man, you’re really tall,” she mumbles back, trying to mimic his tone. However, her voice can’t get that deep, so it just sounds southern. He laughs and steps around her to sit down at the table. Ryanne turns around and rolls her eyes and walks over to me. I smile at her as she gets closer to me. She bites her lip the closer to me she gets.
While she is walking toward me, I get a better look at the outfit she has on. She is wearing fraying jean shorts with white paint splatters on them and a black shirt with a faded British flag in the middle. That wasn’t what caught my eye. The end of the shirt has little fringes hanging down, exposing an inch of skin on her stomach—her very tight and toned stomach. She elbows me in the ribs when I continue staring at her stomach. Tearing my eyes from her showing skin, I glance up at her. She is blushing but rolls her eyes. “Emma.”