Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 68195 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68195 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Before I could open my mouth to answer her, we were joined by my first welcoming party duo and some other kids, one of which was the blonde who was now looking like she’d swallowed a lemon; whole.
What was her problem anyway? As if I didn’t know. Why someone who looked like she did would be threatened by little old me, boggles the mind.
She was movie star perfect and dressed like she stepped off the pages of a magazine. I’m sure it won’t take her long to figure out she had nothing to fear from this quarter.
“So new girl, how do you know the great Azarov?” Mark sat down next to me.
I wish someone would hurry up and tell me what the big deal was about this guy.
“Azarov and I uh....” I clapped my hand onto the back of my neck where I’d once again felt the sensation of wind blowing across my nape and a tickling in my ear.
Everyone was staring at me like I’d suddenly sprung an extra head, and my face was heating up like the hot Arizona desert.
Great, now they’ll think I’m crazy.
“Yes newbie inquiring minds want to know, where and when did you meet Our Thorn?” Blondie practically sneered, but I paid her no mind, I’d just heard his name for the first time.
Everyone else called him Azarov. I wondered if there was some special reason she called him by his given name. And what did she mean by ‘our Thorn’?
“Thorn.” Again I whispered his name on a sigh. As soon as the word left my mouth I felt him. I don’t know how I knew he was near, I’d only ever felt his presence in dreams before today, but somehow I knew.
I searched the room for him almost as if compelled, as if I had no choice. I felt an unmistakable pull, but had no explanation for my odd behavior, seeing as how it had never happened before.
The heart palpitations, the sweaty palms and that overwhelming feeling of something I couldn’t quite put into words. There was a slight fear there, but it was more a fear of the unknown than of any imminent danger.
He was standing across the room, arms folded, one leg braced behind him on the wall, as he listened to some pixie like chick that was very animated about whatever it was she was saying.
I felt off seeing them together, like my world had gone off kilter for a second. Was that his girlfriend? I felt a tearing in the region of my heart and wondered what in the world was wrong with me.
I was acting so out of character for me; I’ve never been one to moon over a boy before, not even one who’d been following me in my dreams for as long as I could remember.
But now seeing him in the flesh, up close and personal with someone else, was heart wrenching. It almost brought me to tears.
I didn’t miss the slight imperceptible shake of his head, or the way he was staring right at me.
The others seemed to fade to black as his eyes held mine almost spellbound. I think I’d read about this once in a book, it was called mesmerized, or something like that.
I knew I was probably being really fanciful right about now, but something about this whole day was just too surreal.
The girl he wasn’t listening to turned suddenly and looked at me; then she did the strangest thing. She threw her hands up in the air and stalked off in a pique.
I tuned back into my surroundings, but barely, he was very enticing after all.
No one else seemed to have noticed our little byplay and I looked away for one second, only to find him gone when I looked back. I felt empty somehow, empty and sad. Today sure was turning out to be one for the books.
I didn’t see Thorn any more during class, though I searched for him in the halls between changes. Each time feeling a little more disappointed that he wasn’t there.
Get over it Jazz, he’s way out of your league. That thought was very saddening and I had to fight not to feel sorry for myself. But he was so beautiful, and so out of my reach.
I still didn’t know and didn’t understand what that whole thing this morning had been about though. And what had he meant by welcome home? Did he know my dad? That had to be it. Why else would he say it?
Home, it had a nice ring to it. I smiled as I felt the warmth of those two little words touch me. I had a home.
No one else asked me about our seeming friendship after I’d been less than forthcoming at lunch, but there seemed to be a lot of whispers on the subject.