Author's note: Thank you for the reviews on chapter one, I loved reading them so much!

butterflylion14 pointed out to me in her review that I forgot to include Will in chapter one, which I apologize for. I have no idea how or why I forgot him. Let's just say that baby Will was sleeping or something, haha.

This chapter is set years later when they are 15. The next chapter will be set in 2003, then after that, the rest of the story will be in present time with the occasional flashbacks. The first three chapters were set in the past so you had an understanding of their background :-)

I hope you like this chapter, please leave reviews with your thoughts and feedback; I appreciate it so much.

Charlotte xo


December 2002

By the age of fifteen, both Trace and Georgeanne had developed completely different personalities.

Trace was the boy at school that mostly everybody loved now: he was kind, helpful, quiet in class, and just a genuinely down-to-earth guy. He never bullied anybody; in fact, he had started up an anti-bullying policy at school after he got sick of seeing bullying and made a presentation to the headteacher about the policy he wanted to create. He always participated in fundraiser's, and volunteered to be part of a group of students that tutored younger students. He always got top marks in class but wasn't arrogant about it, and never got in trouble with the teachers.

Georgie however, was the the girl at school that mostly everybody was scared of: she was tough, sarcastic, bitter and unpredictable. She helped Trace out with his anti-bullying campaign, but instead of talking to the bully calmly like Trace would, Georgie would most likely punch the bully. She was only defending others, yes, but her attitude and behaviour led people to avoid her as if she were the plague; Trace was the only friend she had, really. She didn't really care for school and didn't pay much attention, causing her to not get grades as high as Trace's.

Despite their obvious differences, however, they were still the best of friends and were each hiding developing feelings of love for one another. Georgie still stopped people from bullying Trace and calling him a geek like they would if anybody else helped out at school so much, and Trace tried to help Georgie with his school work as much as he could, although she made it hard for him to do that when she was so disinterested.

Today, they had finished school and gone straight to Trace's house. They were now in his bedroom - Trace was sat at his desk working on homework, whilst Georgie was laid on her back in the middle of his bed with her headphones on. She was singing along loudly to the song playing - Busted's 'what I go to school for' - and waving her hands around as if she were playing the drums.

"You should be doing your homework," Trace said to her telepathically, knowing that if he spoke out loud, she wouldn't hear him.

"How about you do it for me?" She replied, a nonchalant amusement in her voice.

"No, I've told you before: I'll help you, but I'm not doing it for you. How are you ever going to learn if you don't do your homework or listen in class? With low grades, you won't get into a good college."

She scoffed out loud, then talked into his mind again. "You sound just like my dad! I had this same exact conversation with him yesterday. I have a few years before I need to focus on getting grades for college. Besides, I won't need the grades if I don't want to go to college."

The smile fell from Trace's face in his shock. He had never heard Georgie say that she didn't plan on ever going to college. Well, at least she was keeping up with her habit of constantly surprising him; there was never a dull moment with her around. He turned his chair around, away from his desk, so that he could face Georgie. "Take out your headphones," he told her.

She sighed loudly, but did as she was told. Georgie knew what this next conversation was going to be about and although she didn't want to discuss it, she knew that Trace would keep on persisting and bugging her until she spilled the beans. "What, Trace?" She sighed.

"You don't want to go to college?" He asked quietly. "Why not? And why am I only hearing of this now?" Trace couldn't deny that it upset him that she hadn't talked to him about this. This was a big decision, why wouldn't she ask him for his opinion or just confide in him about her thoughts?

"You're only hearing of this now because I knew that you'd try and talk me out of it," she sighed and sat up. "Trace, this is my decision. I don't want to go to college- School's bad enough, do you really think I'd be able to cope with higher education?"

"I'd help you, Georgie. You know that."

She nodded. "I know, Trace. But I can't rely on you for everything, whether you're my soulfinder or not. I need to be independent. There might come a time in my life where you're not there for whatever reason, and I'll need to do something myself. And I just don't want to go to college... you know I'm not a studious person."

"Well, what do you want to do with your life? What job do you want to have in the future?" He pressed on.

"I have no idea," she shrugged. "Don't look at me like that! We're fifteen, Trace! How does anybody expect to actually know what we want to do with our lives?"

"I'm going to study to be a lawyer, I know that."

"But that's not what you want, that's not your dream job and we both know that. You're going to be a lawyer because everybody tells you that's what you should be. But you know what I think? I think you're a coward, Trace Benedict. You're too scared of what people will think if you become a policeman like you want to be; so scared that you're willing to live a life doing a job that your heart isn't fully into. So don't judge me for deciding not to go to college when you won't follow your dream. Going to college actually sounds like hell to me, and I'm not scared of what people will say about me, so I'm not going to put myself through that."

She sounded so... Adult. Like she was older than fifteen and had experienced much more in life. Trace marveled at how he hadn't even noticed how much she had actually grown up. She had been in his life for as long as he could remember, a permanent figure: he hadn't even noticed how much she had been changing into a decent, thoughtful young lady. He just hoped she didn't lose the cheeky rebellious side of herself that he loved so much.

"I'm guessing you haven't told your dad about this yet," he chuckled, choosing not to argue with her on this. She was right, you see, about him being a coward and not following his dreams. And he realised that she had clearly thought about college a lot, it wasn't just a rash decision that she had made in the space of two minutes. He couldn't control her life and even if he wanted to - which he didn't - there was no way Georgie would let him do so. He wasn't even her boyfriend, just her best friend, which gave him even less of a chance to make decisions for her. "He's definitely not going to be happy."

'Not going to be happy' was the understatement of the year. Mark was a strict father. If Georgie wasn't home by eight, he would call the Benedict's straight away: if she was there, he'd pick her up as soon as possible, if she wasn't, he called the police. She was constantly grounded and made to do chores for her behaviour at school, and he never let her go out to parties and such. And for some reason, he hated Trace. Mark disliked Georgie hanging out with Trace, even though he knew that they were soulfinders.

Everything was always so tense in their house, even more so when Trace was around, so Georgie preferred to spend more time at the Benedict's than her own home. She loved her father, of course she did, but his overprotective nature was extremely annoying, whether he had good intentions or not.

"Of course I haven't told him," Georgie laughed. "I'm thinking of keeping it a secret until everyone starts actually applying for college. Gives him less time to persuade me to go. Hell, he'd drag me there himself if he could."

Trace laughed whilst he stood up and moved over to the bed, sitting down next to Georgie. "No doubt he'll find some way to blame me."

"God, I know," Georgie sighed and fell backwards so that she was laid on her back again. Trace copied her and they turned their heads so they were looking into each others eyes. "I wish he'd accept you into the family, he's had all these years to get used to you being around. He's such an idiot."

"Well, yeah, he is..." Trace winked. "But he's not all bad. You're the only person he has in his life, his only family, I guess he's just scared of losing you. He doesn't want to see you get hurt. But, as much as he dislikes me, he doesn't stop us from being together unless he has a serious reason to. And I think that once he's got over his anger over this college thing, he'll do anything he can to help you follow your dreams. Once you figure out what they are, of course."

Georgie laughed and said, "if that ever happens, that is... Thank you, Trace. For not completely freaking out about college, I totally thought you would."

"Well, thanks for the vote of confidence in me! I'm more upset about the fact you and I always said we'd go to college together, that we'd never be apart. Remember? On my thirteenth birthday, we promised each other that we'd never be apart and if something separated us, we'd find our back to each other. If you don't come to college with me, we won't be together as often as we are now. Since we met, I've seen - or at least spoke - to you every single day."

"And that doesn't have to change," she said softly. "Forever and ever, remember? You just try and get rid of me, you'll have a tough time doing so."

"I don't think I'd ever even try to get rid of you, I need you too much," he admitted quietly.

Their eyes met: brown to grey. And then something changed between them; an electricity began to spark between them, the soulfinder bond pulsing with energy and pulling them even closer together like magnets attracting. Before they knew it, their lips were pressed against each other, and they had turned on their sides to hold each other's waists. It wasn't cliché; it wasn't magical and fairytale-like; it wasn't life-altering or something you'd seen in a movie.

It was just a kiss. An ordinary kiss that wasn't any different than another.

It was the feelings behind the kiss that made it memorable. Over the years, their friendly love for each other had developed into much more, yet neither of them ever talked about it or acted upon it. They were soulfinders... and they were madly in love. That love was shown through the kiss and it warmed their hearts, filled their entire being with longing and want.

Neither of them ever wanted the kiss to end but of course it had to eventually; they had to breathe at some point.

They were both breathing heavily when their lips finally parted, and they rested their foreheads against each other, smiling. "Wow," Georgia mumbled. "That was the best first kiss ever."

"I agree," Trace replied quietly.

Knock, knock, knock.

The tap on Trace's bedroom door startled them, bringing them out of their little bubble and back into reality. They quickly sat up, arranging themselves so that they each had a headphone in their ear, making it look like they had just been casually listening to music and not kissing.

"Yeah, come in!" Trace shouted.

The door opened a little and Karla popped her head around the door, a huge grin on her face. "Georgie, your father just called; he's on his way to pick you up. And by the way, I am so happy for you both! You finally kissed, you're so perfect together!"

"Mom," Trace groaned. "You promised you wouldn't read our minds."

"Oh please," she rolled her eyes. "Honey, it's hard not to read your mind when your thoughts are screaming out 'oh my god, I'm finally kissing her'. Don't blame me, Trace. Georgie, you should start getting your things ready to go."

"Yeah, okay. Thanks Karla," Georgie smiled, holding in her joyous laughter at Trace's thoughts.

Karla smiled and closed the door behind her. "She's so embarrassing," Trace moaned.

Georgie giggled and said, "your mother is lovely, be quiet." She used telekinesis to move her bag and coat from the floor and into her lap. "Anyway, I have a new favourite song, you totally need to hear this..."

When Mark arrived, a mere ten minutes later, Georgie gathered her things and went to leave. Before she left Trace's bedroom however, Trace made sure to kiss her one more time, leaving a giddiness inside both of them and smiles on their faces.