Alex

"Y'all drew each other?" TJ laughs as we walk to English. "Wow. You might as well be soulmates."

I laugh. "Yeah." If only you knew.

"Hey, I'm throwing a party at my house on friday. You coming? There'll probably be a lot of people there."

"Well, I was gonna come, and then you said the p-word."

"What?" TJ cocks his head.

"People." I sneer.

He rolls his eyes. "If you're not there at nine, you're not my friend anymore."

"Well, it was nice while it lasted." I say, stepping into the classroom.

"Bro, you've got a mansion." I say as TJ opens the door for me. He shrugs and smiles.

"I'm glad you could make it. Now I won't have to ghost you on Snapchat."

I'm about to respond when I hear a roar coming from inside the house. "What was that?"

"Don't worry," TJ rushes to assure me. "It's just Halfborn. He gets kinda berserk when he's tipsy."

"He's already tipsy? The party just started!"

"Him and Mack were here early to help set up. Plus, he's a lightweight."

"Who's Mack?" I ask, pusing past him and into the party.

"One of my friends," He says, shrugging and following after me. "She's a freshman. And Halfborn's a junior. They're dating. I think. It's complicated."

I turn into the kitchen and finally catch a sight of the notorious Halfborn, standing on the kitchen counter. He's giant. I mean, he's gotta be like six foot eight at least, and he's got giant muscles, plus impressive body hair. I know because his shirt is off, and from the shredded piece of fabric in his hand, I'm pretty sure he tore it off.

He sees me and hops off the counter, grinning. "New kid!" he yells, patting me on the back and almost knocking me across the room.

"Yup, that's me," I mutter, scanning the room for anyone I know. My eyes go wide when I see a boy with shaggy red hair and brown eyes.

"Adrian?"

Adrian whips his head up and locks his eyes with mine. "Alex?" He picks his way over to me. "Jesus, is it really you?"

I smile nervously. "Yeah. It's good to see you again."

He smiles widely and engulfs me in a hug. "Man, I haven't seen you in forever! Come on, let's go talk." He grabs my arm and leads me to a quiet corner.

"So first off, how'd you get invited to this?"

"The condensed version is that my friend Magnus helped me find a shelter that's near here and they enrolled me at New Mission."

"What's the uncondensed version?"

"It's a really long story."

"I've got all night."

I relent and start telling him about everything that's happened since I met Sam, leaving out the parts about my soulmark. I don't know, it seems too private to share, even though I've known Adrian for years.

"So, what about you?" I ask once I'm finished. "How'd you get here?"

He scratches his neck. "I, er, snuck in. I've seen enough of these people around that they'll assume I was just invited by someone else."

"Adrian!" I gasp, mock offended. "I never would have expected it would be you doing something against the rules while I'm following them."

Adrian laughs. I expect my stomach to flutter, like it would've any time I talked to him before, but I don't really feel anything different.

Adrian snakes his hand through mine, and I fight the sudden urge to pull away.

"I'm really glad we both came here today." He says earnestly, looking down at his lap.

I grimace. "Adrian, I-"

"Alex!" A too-loud voice draws my attention away. My head snaps up and I meet eyes with Magnus.

I quickly pull my hand away from Adrian's, the motion causing Magnus to look. He frowns, a look of hurt in his glazed eyes.

"Sorry. I'm interrupting. I'll go." He turns and stumbles away, dropping his red solo cup on the trash as he crosses the room.

"Magnus!" I call out weakly as he goes.

"Your soulmate?" Adrian asks, a sad smile on his face.

"How- how did you know?"

He shrugs. "I'm happy for you. Now, go get him."

"Thanks, Adrian. I love you." I kiss him on the cheek and then stand up, ready to chase down Chase.