Free Beautiful Souls by Sarah Mullanix Page A

invited Zoey and Luke to come with all of us to Homecoming.”
                       “Like hell,” Leo mumbled, still glancing back and forth from me to where Zoey had just turned at the end of the hall. He still wore the same disapproving scowl across his handsome face.
                       I frowned with disapproval. “What’s wrong with you?” I snapped at Leo, losing my patience with this new attitude of his.
                       “Nothing,” he claimed apologetically. “I just didn’t get a good vibe from her or her brother. They’re different,” he responded, obviously trying to be a bit more sympathetic toward my feelings now. He was attempting to cover his dislike and agitation, but as well as I know my best friend, I could see that his feelings still lingered and would remain.
                       “What’s wrong with different?” I asked, completely thrown off by Leo’s attitude. I’d started to rethink my new-found attraction toward him.
                       “Sorry, that’s not really what I meant. I just think that they’re strange.”
                       “So you mentioned, but I don’t have time for this right now. I need to get to my next class,” I said, glaring toward Leo as I passed, completely frustrated.
                       Leo flashed a regretful glance my direction, and I just told him that I’d talk to him later.
         I honestly had never seen Leo react this way to someone he’d barely met, or anyone at all for that matter. I didn’t even know if he’d actually met either of the Fitzgeralds officially.
                       Leo had always been a little protective over me because of our obvious bond shared over the years growing up together, but this was way out of character for him. He was usually so kind and accepting, and now he was being the strange one.
                       The rest of the day moved slowly from that point on. I talked with Leo and Emmy during lunch, where we all made plans to meet up at the dance. Leo still wanted me to wait for him after the game, so I told Emmy that we’d just meet her and Will in the gym for the dance.                   I was physically present in my afternoon classes that followed lunch, but my mind wasn’t there. I was so confused and full of questions about Leo’s conclusions of Zoey, but he did promise me at lunch that he would keep an open mind about her.
                       What I couldn’t figure out for the life of me was why there wasn’t even a minute vision when I saw or spoke with Zoey today. I was almost looking forward to whatever scenes today’s visions would bring. When nothing occurred, I was pretty much devastated. If I could only figure out what triggered the visions, then maybe I could force myself to have more.
                  With this revelation, I knew that I wanted to hurry home and attempt to make the visions occur again. The seconds seemed like minutes, and the minutes dragged in to hours till that final bell released me from torturing myself with any more of this waiting game.
                  I quickly grabbed my belongings from my locker, threw them into my bag, and headed out to the parking lot. The moment my lungs filled with fresh, crisp autumn air, and the afternoon sun sent it’s low intense rays directly into my eyes,  was when I remembered. I told my mom I’d be at the shop after school today to help her out for a little while with the new shipments.
                  While I contemplated whether or not I should show up to work, Leo met me at the driver’s side door of my car.
                  “Hey, Bec. Can we talk?” he asked quietly. I thought that he might still be upset for the way I snapped at him earlier. We had made up during lunch and I was over it, but