Kassy sighs. "Did he tell you that he liked you?"
Camilla shakes her head and laughs at her own memory. "Actually, when the weekend was over, he just tipped his hat at me, like some proper gentleman and left. I was heartbroken because I was sure we had something."
"How long did it take for you to end up together, then? You didn't even get a chance to find out if you were Intended for one another," I say, wanting to know more, feeling the heartbreak that eighteen-year-old girl felt.
"Well, after we were away from each other for a couple of days, we started feeling the side effects of being away from ones Intended."
"What do you mean by side effects?" Kassy asks before I can.
Camilla touches her chest, where her heart is located. "I could feel the pain in here. When a Seer meets their Intended and starts developing feelings for them, it's like a string is tied around their hearts that connects the two. The stronger the feelings, and especially if they had touched before, the tighter the string. So, when the couple is separated, it's like the string is just stretching farther and farther. After a while it becomes unbearable, like your heart is being pulled tightly against your chest, trying to get back to its match. Even though we hadn’t touched, I knew that I cared deeply for him, enough to cause me pain."
The ache she describes is familiar to me. I listen closely to her next words, feeling like what she is saying is especially important.
She continues talking. "For the entire next week, I was constantly sick to my stomach and my chest was hurting so bad I could barely make it out of bed in the morning. My mother was so worried about me and figured I must have had the flu or something. She didn’t know of my feelings for Cedric. It wasn't until we got a call from Gram that we figured out what the problem was." She smiles at Gram before finishing her story. "I guess Gram noticed that Cedric was having the same symptoms as me and knew exactly what to do. She put Cedric on a plane back 48
to me and told him, 'You better embrace that girl, young man and stop being so darn stubborn!'"
Everyone but me laughs. "You know when Gram tells you to do something, you better do it. As soon as I saw him on my doorstep, he swept me up in his arms and kissed me until I couldn't breathe. Needless to say, the ache I had been feeling vanished pretty quickly."
I breathe very slowly as I listen to her story, feeling as if there is some answer that I am missing that would pertain to my life now.
Kassy giggles. "That's so amazing. So, just a touch cures the illness?”
The ladies in the room all nod with smiles.
Kassy continues with the questions, loving all of the gooey romance. “How do people usually know when they are someone's Intended? Is it always that kind of trial?”
Gram looks my way, as if she is talking to only me. "With my Leo and I, it was just the first handshake that told us we were Intended for one another."
"How is that possible?" I ask. "What did it feel like?"
She answers slowly so that I hear every word. "It felt like electricity. When a Seer touches their Intended, there is always a tingling electricity that passes through to the other. It's also how we can make one another stronger, as if we charge the other’s abilities."
I gasp at her words. She has to know that I have felt that with Gavin. I look at all of the Seer faces around me. The women see my reaction to Gram's words, and they watch me with knowing eyes, even Alexa who gives me a sad smile. It seems the only one out of the loop is Kassy.
How could we be soul mates? I learned about this world less than two weeks ago and now I'm supposed to decide whether or not to marry the first Seer I met? Whether or not to be with someone forever… And, who's to say that he even wants to choose me.
A realization comes to me. He has to know what we are to one another by now. He knows the signs because he has been taught these things since he was just a kid. How can he know who I am to him and not tell me? Does he really want that badly to not be with me that he’d just keep me in the dark?
Everyone continues talking as I sink into a dark hole of unanswered questions within myself. I have wanted nothing more than to be the one that Gavin wants, even though I pushed him away in the first place and thought there was another girl out there Intended for him. I feel as if I just got my wish dangled in front of my eyes and then ruthlessly ripped away from me. Gavin Cole is my Intended...
49
Chapter 8
It is nearly impossible to avoid Gavin like I had planned. Apparently, three days isn’t enough time to build up my strength and endurance in order to protect myself and get away from him.
Nowhere I go on his property is enough distance to help me move on. Being aware of the
“string” on my heart makes the pain worse when he is gone watching over Kassy at school. I know now that the reason he had been 'accidentally' brushing up against me here and there was so that we wouldn't get sick from not having contact with one another.
He still avoids me, which is good I guess, but it doesn't help that we are doing hand
