Sapphire: A Paranormal Romance by Bryan W. Alaspa Read Free Book Online

sorry for his mother. 
He never talked back to her like this.  For Jimmy and his mother, it had always
been him and her against the world.  Jimmy always did what his mother asked,
even wearing a bad tux and going to a dance he did not want to attend.  Talking
back like this, showing open rebellion, defying her, was a complete 180 from
the person who had left for the dance the night before.  This was not like him
at all, and even he knew it, but he still felt good.  At the same time, what
was his mother’s deal?  Shouldn’t she be happy that he had met someone?  Yeah,
they had met under strange circumstances, but so what?  Kids met at dances all
the time, right?  Of course, he had met Sapphire standing beside a road, but
that was just semantics.  Why was his mother reacting like this?  It seemed way
out of proportion to events and it made Jimmy nervous and put him on the
defensive.
    He had a lot on
his mind as he got dressed.  He was wondering how he would get through work,
listening to George asking him questions all day and mocking him at every
turn.  He wondered how he would get back down to the bridge tonight.  He
wondered what he would say to Sapphire, if she even showed, and what might
happen if she did.  He wondered when the football jocks were going to show up
at some point and just how badly he was going to get beaten.  Given the fact
that he had injured one of them pretty badly—an injury that could have ended a
potential football career—he bet he was in for a good beating.  He wondered if
he would end up in the hospital.
    Then he thought
about Sapphire again.  Despite his protests, George was right.  When he stopped
to think about it, so was his mother.  Everything about Sapphire and the events
of the previous night made little to no sense.  When he tried to think of where
she might have been going when she vanished down beside that bridge, he came up
with nothing.  There were no homes down there.  There was no path leading to
homes down there.  It was as if she were living in the river.  He shook his
head and smiled at the thought.  There had to be an explanation, but what it
was eluded Jimmy.
    Instead, he
thought about Sapphire’s laugh and the feel of her hair and how it bounced
around her head when they danced to the up-tempo music.  He remembered the
feeling of her body against his, beneath his hands, as they danced to the slow
ones. 
    He had never
kissed a girl.  He certainly had never French-kissed a girl.  Now he had done
both, and he had to admit he was feeling tingles in places he had never felt
them before.  He guessed he might be falling in love, even though that seemed
like a ridiculous proposition since he had just met her and, well, there were
all of those weird things about her to deal with.  Jimmy smiled when he thought
about how they had dazzled the entire crowd at the prom and that he had had his
first kiss.  And with a girl who is pretty as Sapphire, no less.
    He was dressed and
ready to go in record time.  He sighed at the thought of a day stocking shelves
at the local Shop Smart.  He would be answering questions from old ladies and
mothers with children in tow. All the while, his mind would be thinking about
her.  He would eat lunch with George, and George would tell him he was crazy
and not to head down to the bridge, but he would ignore him.  He would ignore
his mother, as well, when she tried to tell him that he was being foolish and
that he shouldn’t pursue this girl.
    He was still
daydreaming when the car pulled up outside and honked.  Jimmy waved to his
mother, grabbed his lunch, and headed out the door.  George was not his smiling
self, he could tell already.  It was going to be a long day.
     
    It seemed to take
forever for lunch to arrive.  Jimmy’s back was killing him.  Today was the day
to re-stock the canned goods and the pallets were exceptionally heavy.  Plus,
his stacking partner remained stoically silent.  No matter how much