Soul Searcher by D.M. Richardson (novel24 .TXT) 📕

“Whoa” she said when she got upright. “You know I’ve been in seventeen homes before this one?” she asked rhetorically. I saw the guys widen their eyes in surprise. “And I guarantee that every one of them will remember me. They’ll remember my name and what I look like. They’ll cross the street to avoid me, but they’ll notice me. All of them except the one that I came from.” she bent over laughing as Will, Frank, and I exchanged worried glances.

“I’m sure the one you came from will remember you.” Frank tried to reassure her. She smiled sadly at him.

“You’re sweet, but they don’t.”

“How do you know?” I asked with dread building in my chest.

“Because I saw him. My father. Today when I was walking back to get my car. He bumped into me. He looked me in the eye and didn’t recognize me. Didn’t even bother to look twice.” she grabbed the bottle then remembered it was empty and put it back down with dismay.

“When was the last time you saw him?” Jacob asked earning a glare from the rest of us.

“I was six. He drove away and my mom dropped me off at the church. I haven’t seen him since. At least until today.” I took a deep breath. I had wanted to hear her story, but not like this. I wanted her to tell me because she wanted to. Not because she didn’t realize what she was saying.

“So what’s up with you and that Chase guy?” I mean you can’t walk by each other without glaring daggers.” Jacob pried. I was ready to smack him.

“You didn’t tell them?” she asked me in surprise. I shook my head and she shrugged and turned back to Jacob.

“He’s my ex. He and Sam are cut from the same mold. He would use the new girl and then throw her away. I was the new girl and he turned on the flattery. He didn’t get far with that, but then he adjusted his act to a more down to earth kind of guy. I fell for it. But then I guess he got bored with me and he cheated on me thinking I wouldn’t find out. Theoretically it should have worked. I didn’t talk to anyone and no one talked to me. But I found out anyway. I broke up with him and he got obsessive about it. He had a reputation to protect I guess. He kept calling me all the time. He wouldn’t leave me alone at school. He kept trying to get me back. Probably so he could break up with me this time. It didn’t help that I made the breakup pretty public so he couldn’t turn it around on me. Finally I moved here and I thought it was over. I didn’t realize he would follow me here.”

“What makes you think he followed you here?” Will asked his curiosity peaked.

“His family is rich and he can con his parents into anything. Why would he leave popularity and a regular supply of girls to warm his bed just to start over here? His father works abroad and they own property all over the county. There’s no reason for him to be here. Especially since his parents will let him live wherever he wants without parental supervision.”

“That’s persistence.” Frank muttered and she chuckled. She laid down again and closed her eyes. After a couple minutes her breathing slowed and became rhythmic. She had passed out. I watched her for a few moments marveling at the change. She seemed so peaceful in sleep. When she was awake it was like she had a constant chip on her shoulder. But asleep when she was completely relaxed she looked completely different.

We heard a couple of cars pull onto the parking lot and we all stood. I told the others to stay with her and went outside. I met my dad and Koner before they reached the door, and I held up my hands to stall them from going inside.

“Step aside Zeke” Koner said trying to step around me. He radiated anger and worry. I stepped into his path again.

“Wait you don’t understand.” I started but he interrupted me.

“What I understand is that she left us to worry ourselves sick about her while she ran off to have fun. Now move.” he tried to step around me again but I wouldn’t let him.

“No wait there’s a reason that she did what she did.”

“What did you find out?” my dad asked and Koner turned on him.

“Relax friend. I think we should we hear him out before we just barge in there.” he nodded at me to continue and the look in his eyes said to hurry. I complied gratefully.

“She saw her father.” Koner stopped seething long enough to look confused.

“Her father?” my dad asked perplexed. I nodded.

“Her biological father.”

“How would she know who her father was? Wasn’t she put into the system when she was born?” Koner asked. I shook my head.

“No when she was six. Her father ran into her today and he didn’t recognize her. So she went and got a bottle. She’s really torn up about it. Please don’t be too hard on her.” my dad kept quiet and Koner looked at the ground for a few minutes. When he looked up he had completely calmed down. He nodded at me and I let him pass. I followed both of them to where Rayne was still sleeping. The guys had gathered to the other side of the table and tried to stay out of his way. They all looked to be at different stages of worry. I looked her over and she had rolled over to her side. She was still sound asleep. My dad looked at her with so much sympathy I was glad she hadn’t woken up.

Koner picked her up gently and left the building. We watched out the window as he laid her in the back seat and drove off. My dad turned to us with so much seriousness that my friends shrank a little.

“I trust that you all know to keep whatever she said to yourselves?” he asked eyeing us all. We nodded and he heaved a sigh. “Good because this is a very personal issue for her, and she’s likely to be embarrassed enough when she wakes up.”

We all left the building and I took my friends home. We rode in silence and I went directly to bed after I got home. It had been a long night and I had a lot to think about.

Rayne

I woke up in my bed still in my clothes from the night before. I laid there in confusion for a minute until the memories came back to me. Unfortunately it was impossible to forget anything. No matter how hard I tried I couldn’t get rid of them. The more I tried to repress the more they stood out. I sighed and stood. My body was stiff but I didn’t have a hang over. I hadn’t had a hang over since I was ten.

I groaned as the memory of the conversation I had with the guys made it’s appearance. I took a hot shower staying under the water longer than was necessary. I didn’t want to face Sara and Koner. They were bound to be furious with me after my disappearing act last night. I looked at my phone and had to turn it on. I had twelve missed calls. All from Sara. I sighed and went downstairs to face whatever consequence waited for me.

I found all of them at the dining room table eating breakfast. They greeted me cheerfully as I sat down and Sara put a plate in front of me. It was full of food. All the right food for a post drunken breakdown. I ate quietly while I waited for the other shoe to drop. They kept up a good conversation with Kristi. They talked until I couldn’t take it anymore.

“Listen I’m sorry about last night-” I started but Koner cut me off.

“Don’t worry about it. Just for future reference if you’re not going to come home please call us first okay?” he asked. I nodded and they went back to their meal. Unfortunately it was impossible for me to let anything go when I didn’t understand it.

“So you’re not mad?” I asked.

“No we were just really worried about you. We understand that sometimes you need to handle things on your own. But we do want you to know that if you ever need someone to talk to one of us is always available. But don’t disappear on us again. I’m too young to die of a heart attack.” Sara said with a smile. I smiled back and went back to my food. After a few more minutes I had to leave or I would be late for school.

The day went by slowly and I spent most of it wishing I had a pair of Zeke’s sunglasses. I ignored him as best as I could during class and he gave me the same courtesy.

Lunch was a different story. I walked by their table and the other three stared at me with varying degrees of concern and curiosity. I felt myself blush as I walked to my table. I got my book out and started reading, but Chase was talking loudly at the table on the other side of mine. He was telling a ridiculous story about me that was half fabrication. I rolled my eyes and pulled out my mp3 player.

When I got home Kristi had a few friends from her day care center there. Zeke showed up a little later and we went up to my room again instead of trying to study with four screaming little girls running around. Unfortunately they decided to run around the upstairs too. Sara tried to keep them downstairs but they wouldn’t listen.

“Do you just want to go over to my house?” Zeke asked after an hour and a headache was beginning to form behind my eyes.

“Sure” we gathered our things and I went down to the kitchen to let Sara know. She was baking cookies for the girls and was excited for me when I told her we were going over to Zeke’s house.

“We’re only going to study Sara. It’s not a date.” she shrugged.

“It’s a start.” I shook my head and walked back into the hallway. I froze in surprise and had to put a lot of effort into not laughing. Kristi was standing in front of the door and was sticking her tongue out at Zeke. Zeke, instead of ignoring her like most people would, stood there sticking his tongue out at her just as hard. I cleared my throat and they both straightened up quickly. Zeke had a bit of color that was slowly climbing up his neck to his ears.

“Shall we go?”

“I’d love to but the little gremlin won’t budge.” I looked at Kristi and she folded her arms with a smug look at Zeke. Fortunately for us I knew the magic words.

“Sara’s making cookies.” She looked up in excitement and ran for the kitchen. Of course she didn’t know that they weren’t done yet. I motioned for Zeke to leave quickly. I followed him out just as Kristi returned to yell at us.

We ran a few steps and bent over laughing. When we calmed down we started walking to Zeke’s. We walked in comfortable silence until we walked through the front door. He led me to the living room. We got comfortable on the couch and resumed our efforts with studying.

After a half hour Zeke had mastered the lesson and we started talking about other things. We talked about everything and nothing. It was easier to be around him after the night before. I guess I felt that