Heal Me (A Touched Trilogy Book 2) Read Free

what we would have had by handing in the garbage he’d given me.
    Ms. Garcia had the desks arranged in a giant U shape and, thanks to assigned seating, Dylan sat directly across from me. I stared at him, wondering which Dylan he was today. He whispered to the girl next to him. He seemed to be in a good mood. Unlike the day before, he didn’t mope in his desk. His hair fell across his eyes and he brushed it back, his eyes catching mine. He grinned and I forced myself to smile back.
    Ms. Garcia droned on about the assignment and I focused my attention on potential partners. I passed over Chloe. Working with either of my sisters never ended well for me, since they had seventeen years of learning how to manipulate my gift to their benefit. Besides, she was chatting up Andrew. The rest of the class was filled with people I rarely socialized with, including two newer students I’d never even spoken with.
    One was a pretty Hispanic girl with long curly black hair. She seemed to do okay in class, probably similar to me, but she was already motioning to someone a few seats down from her.
    I looked at the other new student, Micah. He’d enrolled a few weeks ago and kept to himself. He was in a couple of my classes and always seemed so intense, as if he was trying to absorb everything he heard because he might not get another chance. He wasn’t too tall, maybe average height, although he’d still tower over me. Chloe considered him a hottie, but she’d once said the same about Justin Bieber. I had to admit, though, he was attractive in a dangerous kind of way. Not something many guys in Beachgrove could claim.
    “Now about your partners,” Ms. Garcia said, pausing until everyone focused back on her. “I see some of you trying to pair up already, but this is your last project of the year. Over the semester, I have noticed a few of you consistently working with the same person. So, we’re going to draw random names.” A chorus of groans and protests followed her announcement that quieted when she lifted a hand for us to stop. “Everyone on the right side of the room will choose the name of a person on the left side.”
    My plans crumbled around me and I sagged in defeat. I wouldn’t be stuck with Chloe, who was beside me, but Dylan happily sat across from me, knowing luck always managed to throw us together.
    “No arguments. Think of this as an opportunity to make a new friend.”
    “Ms. G, you do know that we’ve all been stuck together since kindergarten, right?” Andrew asked.
    “Not all of you have and that does not mean you’re friends. After high school, you will have to work with not only people you have never met, but also people you don’t like.”
    Chloe half raised her hand and asked, “What if someone ends up with a partner they’ve already worked with?”
    “Then lucky them,” Ms. Garcia said, smiling as she gave her standard response when someone wanted to make things more complicated. She handed the bag to the first student. “Tyler, pull a name and pass the bag.”
    The paper bag made its way down our side of the U and when it came to me, I pulled out a folded green sticky note then handed the bag to Chloe. She pulled out an identical piece and opened it immediately. I peeked at the name she had. Micah . Across the room, Dylan looked at me hopefully.
    I unfolded my paper. Dylan.
    I glanced back up at him. For a moment, I saw him as he was four years ago, when he passed me a note, asking me to the movies. He’d been on the scrawny side and his hair had hung around his face in a mop of curls, but he’d been the cutest boy in class. He’d been a boy who made me smile when he said the sweetest things.
    That Dylan was gone. The one staring at me now was a completely unknown person.
    I shook my head and he slumped back in his chair. I wouldn’t be doing his work again for him, though I had no clue how I’d get out of it. Chloe leaned over my desk to see my paper, and when she saw his name, she gave