The Soul Mate

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

After my morning chores, I grabbed lunch and sat down with Hockey and Becki. Instead of eating, I ended up tearing chunks of bread into tiny pieces and tossing each one into my soup. When I ran out of bread to tear, I began to stir. And stir. The three of us continued to sit in an uncomfortable silence.

“I’m sorry Trinity, I should have told you,” Becki said, ending the silence, “I’m a shit friend.”

“Told me what?” I asked. Scooping up a piece of bread I let it fall back into my soup with a loud plop.

“About Gerik,” She replied.

I dropped my spoon, surprised. “You knew?” I accused.

She nodded. “Everyone did. It’s… it’s hard to understand if you don’t have magic but you Gerik have the same aura. It’s downright identical and because of that everyone knew immediately something was up. No two people have the same aura and with Gerik being so powerful and a Gaje having the same aura as him… well, you know the rest.”

If my spoon had still been in my hand I would have dropped it again.

“Why is he staring at you?” Hockey asked, interrupting my shock.

Becki shook her head. “You’re imagining things.” Hockey didn’t look like he thought he was imaginings things but he dropped it and looked away.

I turned in my seat and caught Tobar’s gaze. He smiled politely at me and went back to eating.

Tobar was tall and lean with shoulder length brown hair and soft brown eyes, not nearly as dark or as harsh as the other guys in camp. I supposed he was decent enough guy but there was something off about him.

Constantly amused and unnaturally quiet, his laconic smile always firmly in place, he gave me the creeps. Whereas Hockey was just naturally shy and probably didn’t have very much to say, Tobar had a method to his madness. Those wheels of his were constantly turning and he missed nothing. You could practically see the machinations forming in those eyes of his.

I turned around to find Becki blushing and suddenly everything made sense. Becki’s disappearing act, Xan’s random comments and now this.

“So how come Xan didn’t know about Gerik and I?” I asked her, changing the subject before things got messy. I’d had enough of my own messes and didn’t want to get caught in Becki’s.

She shrugged. “He doesn’t have magic and I guess no one told him…”

“Shandor has magic right?” I asked. She nodded.

I turned in my chair, angry and glared at the little hyena for not telling Xan what he knew. Some best friend he was. With a ridiculous grin on his face he saluted me with his spoon. Everything would always be a joke to him.

A sudden weight across my shoulders had me jumping, bumping the table and spilling more soup. Tobar slid into the seat next to me, smiling.

I was way too jumpy today. I should have stayed in my trailer. Better yet, my bed.

“What’s up, Trinity? How are you feeling? Better I hope after what happened with Gerik.”

“Uh, yeah. Thanks.” I went back to playing with my soup, wishing he’d remove his arm from my shoulders.

“I was wondering if you’d maybe like to come to the next fire dance with me, that is if you’re free to?”

Tobar’s sudden interest in talking to me was suspicious enough, let alone escorting me to fire dances. I turned to look at him only to find he wasn’t even looking at me but staring instead at Becki.

“Maybe she doesn’t want to go with you frate. If Trinity is freed up now what’s to say she doesn’t want to go with me?” Gunnar sat down on top of the table precariously close to my soup and leered down at me.

I was starting to feel like a lone sheep surrounded by hungry wolves.

“Um, I’m probably not going.” I shrugged a few times attempting to dislodge Tobar. As his arm fell he snaked his hand around my middle and with one hard yank he’d pulled both my chair and I flush against his own chair. His creepy smile deepened.

Becki’s face was turning an interesting shade of red. Odd considering how dark skinned she is.

“You could wear that tiny purple dress of yours Trinity, the one that barely covers your-

A loud crash had me nearly grabbing Tobar out of fear. Becki’s chair had flown almost halfway across the tent and directly into the picnic table housing the food. She was already storming outside with Hockey racing after her. Tobar immediately released me, his smile was gone.

“I’m sorry,” He said and stood. He left the tent through the opposite side Becki had.

Still trying to process what had just happened, I grabbed my bread drenched soup and headed for the entranceway with Gunnar hot on my heels.

“I was serious Trinity.”

Gunnar Horváth, the older brother to the tacky triplets who, like his sisters, never hesitated to throw in my face just how Roma I wasn’t. He’d called me a Gaje so many times I’d lost count.

“Why?” I asked him.

“Huh?”

“You heard me, why all of a sudden do you want to take me to dances?”

“You didn’t hear fată?” Just entering the tent, Xan paused next to us. “After that crazy display of Gerik’s hormones, Jericho has forbidden him contact with you.” He shrugged. “He’s probably worried he’ll destroy the camp trying to get in your pants. Looks like your fair game now.”

Xan slapped Gunnar on the back and the idiot actually grinned back at him. He was such a meat head.

But wait… forbidden?

Questions were popping up left and right. Was I free now? Would Gerik be okay? What would happen to him? Did I even care?

I was way out of my element with all this hocus pocus that everyone else around here seemed so blasé about.

“So you’re free to do what you want Trin. Maybe you’ll have better luck with Gunnar here…” Xan slapped Gunnar on the back. Then, leaning in so close that I could smell the cigarette smoke mingling with fresh cut wood clinging to his clothing, he whispered, “Maybe he won’t repulse you as much.”

“Bastard!” I cried out, backing away from him. “That wasn’t my fault!”

“Maybe…” Xan looked mockingly thoughtful. “You just didn’t want it bad enough.”

I didn’t think, just reacted. And my reaction landed Xan with a bowl of soggy bread and soup on his chest. Clumps of vegetables and meat slid down his pants before hitting the ground.

I recognized Shandor’s laughter as I tore out of the back of the tent. Anything that amused Shandor pissed Xan off twice as much. I needed to be invisible. Like yesterday.

“Watch it Xan Daniel!” Kizzy, Shandor’s mother, yelled. Horrified, I glanced over my shoulder at the Asenov trailer. Kizzy stood outside hanging her laundry and Xan had just trampled her basket of freshly washed clothes. He was bounding towards me, his face a mask of fury.

I amped up my speed, pumping my legs as fast as they could go, I had only two more rows of trailers before I got to my own row and was hoping upon all hopes Becki hadn’t locked herself in after what had happened with Tobar.

I raced past a shocked Maisera and Jericho. I knew Xan was right behind me, his heavy footfalls growing closer. I could only imagine what this must look like. Any day now I was sure they were going to kick me out of camp, citing that I was causing more trouble than I was worth.

A flash of white had me nearly tripping over my own two feet. Gerik was standing near a small fire at the edge of the back lot, his eyes aglow. A chill peppered my arms with goose bumps as the scents of cinnamon and pine trees deliciously filled the air.

“You pussy! You magic using pussy!” Xan yelled, sounding very far away.

I paused at my door to look back. Xan was picking himself up off the ground halfway across the living lot and Gerik was…gone.