Redheads are Soulless (9 page)

I rolled my eyes. “No, ewe,” my voice sounded
unusually
high, so I cleared my throat. “I need to know what a hortribue is, and I need you to tell me.”

When I said the word
hortribue
, Robbie’s eyes got really big. “You, little girl, need to go back in there with Jason and forget you ever heard that word.”

“So you
do
know what it is,” I smiled. “Why is it so bad to tell me
about them if they’re extinct?”

“They are very much alive, and will very quickly rip you apart limb by limb. I’m serious. Forget you ever heard the word
hortribue
.
”

“What does it matter? You’re going to kill me anyway. What does it matter if they kill me first?”

Robbie stiffened. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he didn’t. “Sofie, please, just go back in there with your boyfriend and stay out of this. It’s a fight that you don’t want to get involved in, trust me.”

“Why should I trust you?”

“I don’t know, but you do, and I know it.” He ran his fingers through my hair, making me shiver
. I tried to ignore the way he looked at me with desire.

I stared at the floor, and resisted the urge to cry. “I don’t want to die.”

He pulled my chin up so I was looking him in the eyes. “I don’t want you to die either, Sof. I…”

Suddenly the bedroom door opened, and Robbie quickly pulled his hand away from me. Jason pulled me into his arms.

“You have gone too far this time,” Jason yelled at Robbie. “Leave her alone.”

Robbie didn’t respond. Instead, he turned and walked away. A few seconds later, I heard the front door slam.

“Are you ok?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” I said, not fully meeting his gaze.
“Robbie didn’t hurt me.”

Jason put his arm around me, and I lay back down, but my mind was on Robbie. I wondered where he went, and if
he was ok. I needed
to know what he was going to say before Jason walked into the hallway. I believed him when he said he didn’t want me to die.

I lay in bed, tossing and turning most of the night. Finally, around 3am, I heard the front door shut.
Then I knew that
Robbie was home saf
e.
It was then that I was finally able to close my eyes and get some sleep.

…

The next morning when I got up, Robbie was in a bad mood. He seemed to be taking all of his
frustrations
out on me.
As soon as I walked into the kitchen, he stomped past me to the living room. When I sat down on the couch, he got up and moved the chair on the opposite side of the room.
I glared at him, but he seemed oddly unaffected by me. I crossed my arms over my chest, and tried to be rude back to him. It had a slightly less dramatic effect coming from me.

“Are you ok?” Jason asked with concern.

Of course he would be concerned. Here I am acting like an idiot over a boy who wants to kill me, when I should be ignoring him for Jason, becau
se Jason is the one who
truly loves me
… Really, it seems inevitable that I would fall for the bad boy.

“I’m fine,” I lied.
I got up off the couch. “I’
m just going to get a shower
.”

On my way out of the room, I glared at Robbie. He looked up at me for a moment, but there was no hint of
hatred
in his eyes, only concern.

I got ready for my upcoming day with Jason, and I thought about how much fun I had ice skating with him
before
. I wondered if I
would fall as much as I did last time, or if my new
skills
would stick.

In the back of my head, I also wondered if Robbie would still be watching us from a distance. I didn’t allow m
yself to think about it though. I
t would stay
safely in the back of my head.

One thing was sure though – no matter how hard I fought it, Robbie was slowly making his way in, and I like
d
it.

Ten

Rollercoaster

Hanging out with Jason on Saturday was fun, as usual. Of course Robbie stayed in the distance, out of sight as much as possible, but I could still feel him. I almost felt like he was
trying to
protect me. I tried to tell myself it wasn’t true. He w
asn’t trying to protect me. He wa
s just a predator, hunting dow
n his prey. I was becoming
more
venerable, and I would
be an easy kill for him.

On Sunday, we all hung out and watched movies. Well, Jason and I did. Robbie sat across the room, not talking. He has given me the cold shoulder since the hallway incident. I needed more answers, and he was avoiding me.
I hated the whole situation, it seemed impossible.

As much as I normally dread
ed Monday, I was
actually looking f
orward to it. After school, I was
going to s
ee my mom for a few hours. It would
be nice to
sort of
get away from Jason and Robbie. Sure, they w
ould
both be sitting outside waiting for me, b
ut at least neither of them w
ould
be in the same roo
m as me.

Though I made my way to homeroom class, my head was definitely elsewhere. I was trying to think of anything besides Robbie, but it was becoming an impossible task.

As I sat down at
my desk, he gave me the mischievous smile that I had grown so accustomed to with him. My heart flut
tered in ways I didn’t know
were
possible.

“Sofia Black,” I heard Mr. Franks call my name.

“Here,” I replied.

A few people in the class giggled.

“I’m aware of that. I was wondering if you could answer the problem on the board,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest.

As I got up, I hear
d
Robbie
quietly
laugh
ing
at me. I glared at him. I went up front, answered the question
as quickly as possible
and walked back to my desk. I tried to pay attention
through the rest of class
,
but it was difficult.

Why does Robbie have to be so
hot
? I chastised myself to thinking about him like that.

As we walked to our next class, Robbie walked extra close to me. “You know, if you didn’t stare at me so much, you wouldn’t be so distracted,” he whispered.

I rolled my eyes in response.

Don’t let him see how he affects you
.
Ignore him
, I told myself.

“You can’t ignore me forever,” Robbie winked.

“Leave Sofi
a
alone,” Jason scolded him, and put his arm around me.

“Maybe Sofie doesn’t want me to leave her alone,” he replied. I couldn’t deny that his words were true, but I sure wasn’t going to admit it either.

“The two of you bickering is getting really old,”
I jumped into the conversation
. “I get it, immortal twin brothers forced to tolerate each other for all eternity, but I’m sick of it. Can’t you just pretend to like each other for one day?”

Robbie winked at me, and Jason apologized. “Sorry, you’re right. My number one goal is to keep you safe.” Jason turned to Robbie. “Stay away from her. I’m serious.”

Robbie raised his eye
brows and gave me a look that made me weak in the knees. “I promise I will not appro
ach her without her
permission
first
.”

Jason was pleased with that answer. He walked into our next class, but I stood there looking at Robbie a few seconds longer.

“But, if you approach me, that’s another story all to
gether,” he said seductively. With that, he
walked off leaving me in the hallway, breathing heavily. I fanned myself with my chemistry book for a few more seconds before I walked inside and sat between them.

One thing was
certain…
it was going to take a lot more than chemistry to get my mind off Robbie.

When I looked up from my chemistry book, I notice a pale blonde girl staring at me. I didn’t recognize her, so I knew
that
she was new. Her blue eyes were so light, they almost looked opaque.
As s
he glared at me, and I felt chills run down my arms, but I shook it off.

“You ok?” Jason asked.

I nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

When I looked back at the girl, she was looking forward. I sighed, and turned my attention back to the lesson. I have to stop being so scared and distracted by every little thing.

Robbie
won’t let anything happen to you
, I reminded myself.

Jason. I meant Jason.

I resisted the urge to bang my head on my desk, but barely. I really was losing it. Lock me in a cell, and throw away the key… There is
officially
no hope for me.

…

After school, I was ecstatic to see my mom. I hadn’t seen her in almost a week. I just hoped her new boyfriend wouldn’t be there.

Jason parked by the curb and I walked inside the house. What I didn’t expect to see was an empty living room. Everything was gone – the furniture, the coffee tables, and pictures. The only thing left was the beer and whiskey stains on the floor
, and a bunch of boxes
.

“Mom,” I yelled.

Mom walked out from the hallway, and into the living room.
She sat down the box she was carrying, and gave me an awkward sideways hug.
“Sof! You’re just in time
!
I’m moving in with Steve. Is there anything you want? I’m tossing everything.”

“You’re… moving in… with Steve?” I asked, unable to believe what she
was saying
.

“Yes,” she beamed. “I am so excited!”

“What about me?”

My mom put her hands on her hips. “You already moved out. It’s about time I got on with my life too.”

I nodded, trying to hold back my tears. “But you barely know him.”

“I’m in love with him, Sof. That’s enough for me.”

“What about the house?”

“I’m going to sell it. I have an appointment with the real-estate office tomorrow.” She did look genuinely happy
, so I decided I would not ruin her good mood. After all, everybody deserves their shot at happiness.

Just then, a guy walked into the living room. He had brown
ish gray hair
with a slowly receding hair
line
, and a large round stomach. Really, if the guy had a beard, he would make a great Santa
Clause at Christmas
. He had to be at least 10 years older than my mother.

He held out his greasy hand, and I just stared at it.

“It’s clean,” were
the first words he said to me. “I work at a mechanic shop, they’re just stained.” He once again held out his greasy hand, and I accepted
it to be polite
. “I’m Steve.”

I nodded. “I’m Sofia.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Sofia.”

“
Likewise.” Ok, it was a lie. It’
s anything but nice to meet him, but I wasn’t going to say it to his face.

He put his arm around my mom. “Your mother here has told me wonderful things about you.”

In my attempt to not be
one of those kids
who hounds their mom’s boyfriend, I just smiled
at him
, and held my sarcastic comments back. I turned to m
y mom. “Well, M
om, as lovely as it has been seeing you, I think I’m going to go. Have fun packing.”

“Wait,” she said. She grabbed a notepad and paper from a box close by. She scribbled down something, and handed it to me. “It’s my new phone number and address in case you need to get a hold of me.”

Steve grabbed a couple boxes and walked outside with them. I stood there looking at my mom a few moments longer.

“Mom, are you sure that you want to do this?” I asked, but almost sounded like I was begging. “You have barely known him a week. You can always wait until you’ve dated longer.”

My mom kissed me on the cheek. “I am completely sure.”

I swallowed the knot that was starting to form in my throat. I knew I would have to leave soon if I didn’t want to cry in front of her. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Sof,” she smiled at me. “This is for the best. You’ll see.”

Steve walked in and grabbed a few more boxes. My mom picked up a few and followed him outside. I stood there for a few more minutes, taking one last look at our old house before walking out the front door.

This is for the best
, I told myself over, a
nd over again. I wished that I c
ould believe the words, but I knew I was lying. This was in no way “for the best”.
My mom was making the worst mistake of her life, but I couldn’t d
o anything about it. The truth wa
s that I no longer belong
ed
in her world.

I wiped my eyes off before getting in Jason’s car. He looked at me with concern. “Are you ok?”

“I’m fine,” I lied.

He pulled me in for a hug and I cried on his shoulder for a few minutes before I finally got a hold of myself.

“My mom is moving in with her new boyfriend,” I finally told him. “I’m going to be ok, really. Can we just go home?”

Once we got to the house, he made hot chocol
ate and we watched Spongebob re
runs on TV. We laughed until we cried, and I instantly felt better.

I thought it was odd that Robbie
wasn’t home. I hadn’t seen him
, all night long. I didn’t complain though, it was kind of nice hanging out with just Jason.

“Where were you 7 years ago?” I asked Jason. “I’ve been a pathetic mess my whole life, and suddenly you show up and everything is just magically better.”

“Well, other than the evil twin brother,” he reminded me.

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Yes, other than that.”

Out
of the corner of my eye, I saw
Robbie storm past us to his room. He slammed the door hard, making the walls rattle.
I wondered what could possibly be wrong with him, but I wasn’t brave enough to ask.

“He’s different with you.” Jason’s voice said. I looked at him confused for a moment, so he continued. “Robbie, he acts differently with you. I’ve never seen him like this before. It’s almost as if…” he shook his head, and stopped talking mid sentence.

“Please, finish?” I asked.

His voice was a whisper this time. “It’s almost as if he likes you.”

“Is it so weird to think that he is capable of making a friend?”

He shook his head. “No, he used to have several friends. But, to him, you’re the enemy. He never befriends his enemies. He thinks of it as
a sign of weakness.”

“Maybe I’m his weakness,” my voice was so low, I wasn’t even sure that Jason heard me.

“Maybe you are,” he agreed.

I hated the feeling I got when I thought of Robbie… You know, the feeling you get at the top of the rollercoaster, right when you’re about to drop down the first hill – the nervous, excited feeling, the thrill.
Really, the feeling would be great if I actually had a chance with him, but I don’t. Despite what he says he wants, he
is
going to kill me…
Robbie
is no
t safe. He
i
s dangerous. Not just for me, but also for my heart.
The sooner that I figure this out, the better.

That night,
I was unable to sleep. I stared at the ceiling, wanting to think about something other than Robbie.

I wonder
ed what Robbie wa
s doing.

Really, I need to go to sleep
.

I wonder how it would feel if he wrapped his arms around me and embraced me – his warm body pushed up against mine.

I wanted to scream into my pillow, but I didn’t want to wake up Jason. I should not be thinking of Robbie like that. So instead, I did something very stupid. Very slowly, I got out of bed and tiptoed my way into the hallway. This time Robbie wasn’t standing there waiting. I was very surprised. His bedroom door was shut, so without invitation, I let myself in.

“What are you doing?” Robbie scolded me as soon as I shut his door
behind me
.