Soulmates by Holly Bourne Read Free Book Online Page A

so-dark-brown-they-were-almost-black eyes were wide and questioning. My breathing was getting faster and I was scared I was panting. Noah motioned to me but I just stared back like a fool. Then he was reaching towards me. The pace of my heart picked up as his arm approached – the arm I’d fantasized about only this morning. He reached for my face. Was this happening? Was he going to cup it? Was this morning’s daydream actually a premonition?
    And then the reassuring sound of The Beatles disappeared and I realized he was just taking my earphones out.
    “Sorry. I didn’t mean to shock you. Can you hear me now? Poppy, isn’t it?” He was smiling but it was strained. I think he was nervous. Probably scared I would yell at him or pass out again.
    I gulped and nodded idiotically. Memories of the other night whirred back. The humiliation, the hurt. I felt my face turn tomato.
    “Hey,” he continued. “I tried to call you Saturday night but you didn’t pick up.”
    I didn’t know the correct response so I stayed silent. My heartbeat was so loud it was stopping my mind from thinking of anything coherent to say. It felt like a warning drum and all the hairs on my arms stood on end, like when I’m home alone and I hear an inexplicable bang – a primal fear reaction. But Noah was just a boy. He wasn’t dangerous, was he?
    “I feel really bad about what happened.” His smile had gone. My silence was obviously bothering him. “I didn’t really understand what was going on. Your friend Ruth just dragged me over. I only laughed out of nervousness.”
    His speech sounded rehearsed, like he’d been practising alone. That made me feel good. He had been thinking about me. I glowed and then focused on being normal.
    “It’s okay, don’t worry about it.” I’d just about held it together enough to get those six words out. But if I hung around much longer I would completely give myself away. “Bye then,” I stammered, then turned and walked off.
    “Wait,” he called.
    And then my hand was burning like it was on fire. Noah had grabbed it. His touch scorched my skin. I looked up in confusion and his eyes met mine. They looked tortured, burning with intensity, and my insides turned to blancmange. He kept hold of me and the fire coursed up my arm. We stared at each other for a few seconds, both silenced. My breathing got quicker, matching my panicked heartbeat, and the familiar feeling of sickness drew in. Wrong wrong wrong. Something was wrong. My whole arm was screaming. Just as I was about to pull my hand away, he withdrew his and shook his head as if to restore clarity.
    “Sorry,” he said again.
    “S’okay.” My heart rate slowed the moment the physical contact ended. I looked down at my arm and it was normal again, like nothing had happened. Had it?
    He stared at his shoes and scratched his head, looking embarrassed.
    I cleared my throat and tried to break the atmosphere. “Umm, I didn’t know you went to Middletown College.”
    He looked straight into my eyes and my heart went into overdrive again. But, as if he knew what he did to me, he quickly lowered his gaze. “I don’t go here.”
    “Oh. Then why are you here?” It was a direct question and it came out nastily.
    He flinched and I felt guilty.
    “Erm,” he said, “I was hoping to see you actually.”
    I hadn’t expected that reply. I blushed and tried to hide my face with my hair. “Oh,” was the only reply I could muster.
    “Look…” he said. Again I got the feeling he’d rehearsed this. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you and what happened. No one’s spoken to me like that before. I’ve never known anyone to speak their mind so bluntly.”
    I kept my face down, not trusting myself to look at him. “It was stupid,” I muttered. “I’m sorry I was rude. I just lost my temper.”
    My chin began to burn and he was touching me again. Pushing my face up, forcing me to stare into his dark eyes.
    “You don’t understand,” he said,