Free Shaping Destiny by Hmonroe Page B

times,
but I couldn’t tell Jared that.
    “How did you meet
him?”
    “One of the weekends when
I went walking through campus. He saved me from hitting my head too
hard. It was so wet that day, remember?”
    He didn’t reply, but just
continued with his questioning. “Does he go to this
school?”
    “Nope.”
    “Does he live around
here?”
    “For now.”
    “Then what does he
do?”
    “Jared, what is with the
one hundred and one questions?”
    He sat back further in his
seat and folded his arms. “Nothing. It’s just that if you’re going
to be hanging out with this guy, I want to know he’s good for
you.”
    “Well, enough of the
questioning. You’ll just have to trust me.”
    “I’m your best friend.
This doesn’t feel right. We know everything about each other.
Something’s wrong, and if this guy is the reason, I want to
know.”
    “He’s not the reason. I
know you and I haven’t been talking or hanging out. I feel the
distance between us too, and I’m not trying to ignore it. I want
you still in my life, but there are some things happening right now
that are bigger than us. I know it’s hard to understand. I just
wish you could trust me.”
    “Hard to understand? You
haven’t told me anything to understand. You’re not even giving me a
chance to understand. You’ve decided that whatever is going on is
too big for us to handle together.”
    “I don’t know what else to
say. Maybe one day I can tell you, if you’ll stay around that long
to find out.”
    “Where would I
go?”
    “Good. That’s all I wanted
to hear.”
    ***
    Jared drove me home that
night without another word about Max. We talked about classes,
family, and ballroom. For a minute, it almost felt normal
again.
    “Our performance is coming
up fast. Do you think we’ll be ready?” I asked.
    “Yea, we have our steps
down. Miss Chapel is a little concerned about how the formations
are coming along, but we still have another week.”
    “Week? I thought two or
three.”
    “It was, but they moved up
the performance dates. She announced it last class, don’t you
remember?”
    “I guess. If you ever want
to practice out of class, just let me know.”
    “That would be great, but
like I said, I don’t think we have anything to worry
about.”
    We pulled up to my dorm,
and exhaustion took me over. After shape shifting, telling Jared
about Max, and breaking up an argument, I needed sleep.
    “Thanks for taking me out
to dinner,” I said. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
    Jared kissed me on the
cheek. “Bye, cutie.”
    This good-bye felt like
the end of a chapter, but when Max stood waiting for me next to my
room, I knew it wasn’t the end of anything.
    “I just got off the phone
with my employer. He says it’s time for you two to
talk.”
     

CHAPTER TWELEVE
    “Meet him? Why now?” I
asked.
    “Probably because you
shifted today. Every couple days I call in.”
    “When does he want to
meet?”
    “As soon as possible. We
can start the drive tomorrow.”
    “How far is this
person?”
    “A few hours
away.”
    “Hours? I can’t drive for
hours on a week day. School is tomorrow and the rest of the week.
How can we drive for hours and still be back in time for
class?”
    “I don’t think he cares
that you have classes. In fact, he made it sound like school needs
to be put on hold until this is finished.”
    I couldn’t believe what I
was hearing. A man I had never met wanted me to drop out of school,
drive hours to see him, and listen to what he had to say. Who did
this guy think he was?
    “I’m tired. It’s been a
long day, but you can tell this person that I’m not leaving yet. I
have classes and a performance with Jared next weekend. Jared and I
may not be in a good place right now, but he’s my friend. We have
been working really hard for this.” I tried to walk past Max to get
to the door of my room.
    “The longer we stay here,
the longer you’re in danger. We should listen to him and
go.”
    “Max, I