Redheads are Soulless by Heather M. White Page A

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