We left the apartment building, and I noticed it was in a pretty well-kept complex. I stiffened as I saw a familiar face exiting the building in front of us. Stacey. She and Noah were Healers. She was pre-med and Noah’s current girlfriend. She looked like she belonged on the runways or gracing a magazine with her gorgeous complexion, long red hair, and hazel eyes.
Collin looked at me sharply. I knew he wanted to see if whatever was done to me had worked. He was expecting recognition or a reaction. I didn’t want to give it to him. Instead, I looked around the lobby as if I hadn’t paid much attention to her.
“Hey, Stay,” Collin called after he didn’t get the reaction he wanted.
Stacey turned with a wide smile. “Hey Collin.” Her eyes lighted on me. She seemed mildly interested, but not hostile. It wasn’t the normal reaction I got from her.
She hated me, and I didn’t blame her. The boys and I had kept our connection a secret. To have a connection was somewhat common in the gifted community. Having two connections was somewhat unusual. More than two was unheard of. I had six. I had told the guys I didn’t want them to leave their girlfriends. I felt like it had been hypocritical of me to foster six relationships and restrict them to just myself.
The guys had all been attentive and affectionate towards me, and Stacey had noticed. Stacey hadn’t liked me from the get-go. It wasn’t like I was out to separate her from Noah—we didn’t choose our connections, they were chosen for us.
“Stacey, I want you to meet my girl Blake. Blake, this is Stacey,” Collin said pulling me to my side. “She just agreed to move in with me.”
If Stacey thought it was odd that he was providing her so much information, she didn’t react to it. She smiled gracefully and held a thin, manicured hand out towards me. “Nice to meet you,” she murmured. I gave her a halfhearted response back.
“I wish Noah would finally commit to the next step of our relationship so quickly.” She huffed jokingly.
Collin chuckled. “It won’t be too long before he takes that next step. And we haven’t moved so quickly.” He grabbed my hand squeezing it, carrying on with his show. “We’ve known each other forever, and when I found out she was thinking about attending our school, we reconnected. It just made sense for her to move in with me instead of living in those dorms.”
“Aww, how sweet,” she cooed genuinely. “It was great meeting you, Blake, but I better run if I want to be on time for my first class. See you guys around.” She waved as she ran out the building.
I took this opportunity to pry into Collin’s story. “When did I decide to come to this school? Why did I leave Ella behind?”
Collin gave me another indulgent laugh. “Oh babe, maybe we shouldn’t let you drink for a while. You never went into too much details with me, but I knew you weren’t happy at home, and since Ella is in foster care now after your step mom got busted for prostitution and possession of drugs, you really didn’t have a reason to stay there.”
I didn’t stifle my gasp. It was a normal reaction to finding out your ‘sister’ was in foster care. “Where is she?” I asked quietly.
He shrugged, but I noticed an emotion close to sadness crossed his expression. “I don’t know, babe. All I know is you told me she was happy the last time you talked to her.”
I gulped the tears back. “Where I can reach her? Do I even have her new number?” I asked, pulling out my phone.
He shook his head. “Not that I’m aware of, babe. I know you want to see her, but the judge advised against it, and you’re really not in the position to adopt her. She’s well taken care of, though.”
I brushed the tears away as I noticed her name wasn’t in my list of contacts. In fact, I didn’t recognize any of the names, save Collin.
I followed him to a silver sports car, and he opened my door for me so I could get in. It was rare for men to be so chivalrous nowadays, but my guys had been. Technically, I had just seen most of them last night, but it felt like forever ago. Now that someone had chosen to separate us, I knew it was going to be a battle getting back to them.
I opened my phone once more and noticed with some surprise at the date on the screen. It was a week before the original day my new life began. I had still been a student attending a normal public high school. I had been the main caretaker of my sister. I had been living with my step mother for seven years after the death of my dad who had really been my uncle. She had developed a drug and alcohol problem over the years and had brought some nefarious individuals into my life. Later, I had been rescued by the Bell clan, and now someone had decided to erase the last couple of months, starting me in a new life once again.
My mind scrambled with how to proceed. I needed a plan of action, and the sooner I could get the ball rolling, the better. I needed to reclaim my life.
Collin pulled up in front of the college, and I felt strangely anxious. I pulled out my schedule, pretending to study it as Collin turned to scrutinize me.
I looked up at him with feigned naivety and asked, “No music classes?” I noticed there were no performing art classes (gifted classes) or physical education classes; they were extremely basic. In fact, the only class I had pertaining to the gifts were history of performing arts. It looks like they had signed me up as a college student with a major in General Studies.
He looked over at me with narrowed eyes as he took my hand in his. “Music? Do you like music?”
I wanted to snort. He was well aware of the fact that I had been a promising student in the music program.
Instead I gave him a confused expression. “Well, yeah, I love music. My dad had me at a piano at four or five years old.”
He seemed satisfied with my answer. “Sweetheart, you know how hard it is to get into the program here. You have better odds winning the lottery.”
“Oh,” I said in a small voice. No guys, no music. I wasn’t sure how I was going to survive this.
He gave me a gentle squeeze. “Maybe we can get you a guitar or something.” I nodded as he led me into the school. “My classes end earlier than yours today. I’ll meet you in the quad, okay?”
I nodded once more and looked down at my schedule. I knew exactly where I was going, but I didn’t know exactly what I should let on what I knew. “Is English literature 101 on the first floor?” I asked hesitantly.
He smiled warmly. “Yes, I’ll drop you off before my class.”
When I got in class, I took the back seat in the last row and noticed I was one of the first ones there. Out of curiosity, I pulled out my phone and texted the last phone number I had for Ella.
I couldn’t imagine how she was. My beautiful, petite, blond hair, blue eyed sweetie. She was vivacious, smart, and outgoing. I really hoped she was in a good place. I wondered if she had her memories as well, or if they had been swiped, like Stacey. Would she have remembered our old future as I had? Would she have shown signs of her gift around this time, as she had last time?
Blake: Hey Sweetie! How are you?
It wasn’t long before I got a response back.
Ella: Who is this?
I frowned.
Blake: Blake…
The response was immediate.