Author's note: Hi! Some of you might remember me from writing a few other Finding Sky stories. I was previously in the middle of writing 'Glamorous Grace' and 'Captivating Camille', but I haven't updated them in a while because my notebook broke. I have a new laptop now and tried to get back into writing them two stories, however I struggled to do so, and after re-reading them, I wasn't very happy with my writing in those stories. I feel I can do better.
So, I decided to put them two stories on hold and start a new story. I don't know if I'll ever actually continue them two, but I might try in the future sometime. Or not. I don't know yet. Probably not. I kind of like the idea of starting my own little Finding Sky series by writing a story for each of the brothers.
But for now, this is Trace's story and I hope you like it. Please leave reviews if you are interested in reading more so I know whether I should update or not.
Charlotte xo
September 1993
"Tracy, Tracy, what are you drawing? A pretty pink dress you like?" Six year old Connor Jones teased his classmate during Art, the first lesson of the day. Connor - a chubby, dark haired little boy - had always been a little 'bratty' and a bully, which was probably down to the fact his parents neglected him a lot and preferred to drink alcohol than spend time with him. He took his anger out on other children, getting a thrill out of upsetting them instead of letting it be the other way around. Connor's friends laughed at his little joke, despite having heard similar ones every day.
Trace Benedict, the victim of their endless teasing, turned bright red and looked up from the table he sat at on his own. "No," he defended himself, forcing himself not to cry in front of them like the last time. "I'm drawing a picture of a motorbike, it's for my new baby brother, Xavier." He smiled, a proud tone in his voice.
"Ha! Gay boy," Connor retorted with a snort. "You're such a girl, Tracy!"
"Who's such a girl?" Connor, Trace, and Connor's friends turned when they heard the sweet, delicate female voice. Georgeanne Carter, the new girl, was tall for her age, with straight dark blonde hair, grey eyes, and dimples in her cheeks. She was looking at the boys, her head tilted to the side questioningly.
"Him. " Connor pointed at Trace, a boy with dark hair and chocolate brown eyes, caramel coloured skin and a tall, lanky body for his age. "He's called Trace, which is a stupid name. It sounds like Tracy, which means he's a girl."
"But he looks like a boy to me," Georgeanne pointed out.
"I am a boy!" Trace said, embarrassed.
Connor laughed and said, "no, you're not. Shut up, Tracy! Get back to drawing your stupid motorbike for your stupid bro-"
His voice cut off as he was shoved forward and fell backwards onto the floor, landing flat on his bum. It was him that turned red this time, not Trace - who, by the way, was now sat with an amused grin on his face - as he looked up at Georgeanne and exclaimed, "you pushed me!"
"Yes, I did," she nodded. "My daddy said I shouldn't be nice to bullies, or let them be mean to other people. Leave Trace alone, he's not a girl. You're a bully. I think Trace has a cool name, the name a superhero might have. I'll hit you next time, if I see you being mean to Trace again, okay?"
Connor just nodded, got up silently and walked away, his friends quickly following behind him like little lost sheep.
Georgeanne smiled at Trace and sat next to him, shocking him: nobody had ever chosen to sit next to him before, they all avoided him as if he were invisible. "Hiya," she said as she settled into the seat. "I'm Georgeanne, but my daddy calls me Georgie, which I like more, so you can call me that."
"I'm Trace," he replied shyly, slightly intimidated by this girl.
"Do you want to be my best friend? I've never had a best friend before, but it seems like it would be nice to have one like the people in the movies I watch."
"Um... Okay," he smiled happily. "I've never had a best friend either," he said telepathically to her. He only realised his mistake when he saw Georgie's eyes widen. His mom and dad always told him to only talk like that to family because people at school don't have powers!
"You have powers? Me too! Daddy says it's because I'm something called a savant,"
she replied, also telepathically.
Trace didn't understand. He'd spoken that way to his parents, cousins, and grandparents before, but none of their voices had felt as bright and special as Georgie's did. Was it because they weren't related, which made them different? Or was it like in the bedtime fairytale story his mom told him where he found a beautiful princess that was his magical soulfinder, and they'd live happily ever after?
Whilst thinking about this, he moved his favourite crayons - which he normally never shared with anybody - into the centre of the table so Georgie could use them if she wanted. After all, they were best friends now, he should share everything with her, he decided.
He didn't understand why Georgie's voice had sounded different in his head, and came to the conclusion that he would just have to ask his mom after school.
Trace had told Karla about Georgie while his mom was doing the washing up. In her shock, she had dropped a plate and smashed it. She hadn't had a vision of her first born son finding his soulfinder at such a young age, and wondered why she hadn't predicted the little girl's arrival into their family. Despite her frustration at not having seen this before it happened, she was thrilled. Trace would never have to go through the pain of growing up not knowing where or who his soulfinder was, like many savants before him had to do.
Trace never stopped talking about Georgie whenever he got home from school; he was obsessed with the girl! He'd asked about why her voice had sounded different in his mind, and Karla lied and said she didn't know. Her and Saul had come to the conclusion that they should tell Trace and Georgie at the same time, with Georgie's parents present, considering how serious and monumentally life-changing for the two young six year olds the truth was. Unfortunately, when Karla had managed to get in touch with Georgie's father, she had found out that Georgie's mother was no longer with them. However, her father agreed with Karla that they should tell the kids together and arranged a meeting with the Benedict's.
There was something about Mark Carter that Karla didn't like, although she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was. He looked and acted like any other normal and ordinary man, and he seemed like a great single father, but Karla still sensed something off about him. However she put this to the back of her mind for the sake of the children and invited Mark and Georgie over on Saturday morning, much to Trace's delight.
By the time they got there, Xavier had just fallen asleep after Karla sang to him for an hour straight and Uriel and Victor were occupied in their bedroom watching a movie. This made it easy for the adults, Trace and Georgie to settle down in the living room. The children squashed onto the black leather chair together, giggling and whispering quietly like children do.
"I am so glad you agreed to come over, Mark," Karla started the conversation. "This is obviously a great thing for our children. They'll have each other their whole lives now; I just hope my other sons end up this lucky."
Mark nodded and said, "yes, I think it's brilliant as well. Trace seems like a fine young boy, I'm sure he'll grow to take care of my daughter properly."
"I'll make sure of it," Saul chuckled. "So we're in an agreement that we'll allow the children to be in each other's lives from now on then?"
Mark paused for a moment before answering. "Yes, yes, of course. Look, I don't mean to be rude, but can we just get this over with? Georgie and I have some errands to run and some shopping to do."
Karla tried not to narrow her eyes, she really did, but she couldn't help herself: she really didn't like Mark, despite knowing that he was now a part of her life. Without thinking first, she opened her mouth to reply with a snarky remark, but Saul knew his wife all too well and spoke before she could say something she would regret later. "Of course, we understand," he nodded. "Trace, Georgie- We need to talk to you both about something very serious, so please settle down, okay?"
Trace and Georgie both recognized the authorative tone in his voice and fell silent, their eyes appraising the adults curiously. "What's wrong, dad? Are we in trouble?" Trace asked.
"No son, you're not," Saul said, shaking his head. "Georgie, what do you know about soulfinders?" He asked, already knowing that Trace knew the gist of what the term meant.
Georgie tilted her head to the side, pursing her lips, her grey eyes somehow looking older than her six years. "What's a soulfinder?"
Karla took a breath to reign in her anger which was directed not towards the little girl, but her father. How could he not tell his daughter about soulfinders? Yes, it must be rough being a single father, but Georgeanne had a right to know she had a perfect soulmate in the world!
Karla came up with an explanation that would make sense to a six year old. "Well honey, every savant has a soulfinder. Saul is my soulfinder," she gestured towards her husband who was sat beside her. "A soulfinder is a special friend. When you find your soulfinder, your whole life seems better and easier, and you are friends with that person for life."
"Wow, I'd really like a friend for life. That's like, forever!"
"Yes, it is!" Karla nodded, smiling. "And you know if a person is your soulfinder because they are your age and sound different in your mind."
"Mom, Georgie sounds different in my mind! That's what I was trying to tell you!" Trace exclaimed.
Karla chuckled and said, "I know, I know, darling. This is why we needed to talk to you both... Trace, Georgie: you're soulfinders."
"I knew it!" Trace grinned at his mother before looking at Georgie. "You're my princess; we'll be friends forever and ever!"
Georgie grinned back, her dimples prominent in her cheeks, before looking at Karla again. "I once got told by daddy that these two people I saw kissing were special friends and about to get married. Does that mean me and Trace have to kiss and get married when we're grown up?"
Karla and Saul both laughed, but Mark clearly didn't share their amusement. He frowned and snapped, "no, it doesn't. You have a choice, Georgie; being his soulfinder doesn't mean you have no choice but to marry him, okay?"
Mark and Georgie left not long after that, due to an awkward stop to the conversation. Trace went to join his brothers in watching a movie, leaving his parents alone in the living room.
Saul wrapped an arm around his wife's shoulders and pulled her close to him, kissing her forehead. "That went well. The kids seem happy together."
"Yeah," she nodded in agreement. "But Mark is... Difficult. I don't know, I just don't like him. I think he's hiding something. I reckon he's going to create trouble around here..."