Afraid of Love

Chapter One

Natasha hated Tuesdays, but there wasn't much to be done about that as she slipped on her backpack and shoes. Just as she was wondering where her sibling was, Sasha ran into the entryway, out of breath.

"Damn..." Sasha muttered as fae pulled faer shoes on. Natasha smiled at her sibling. Sasha usually got up on time to eat and get to school on time, but lately fae had been sleeping in to the point where fae had to run part of the way to school.

"Ready to go?" She asked. Sasha nodded and shot her a smile as they headed out the door. Silence hung between the two of them until about halfway to school. Natasha knew what was coming before her sibling even opened faer mouth.

"Sooooooooooo?" Sasha asked. Natasha sighed. Her sibling did this to her every single day. And so did her mom for that matter. Natasha wasn't ready to tell her sibling and mother who her soulmate was. The truth was, she wasn't sure if she'd ever be ready or allowed to tell them. She stayed silent until Sasha sighed dramatically.

"Nat, when are you going to tell us? You're sixteen now! Surely you've already met your soulmate? It's not like mom or I would be mad like some people are. You know that." Natasha nodded and stared directly forward at the trees and cracked sidewalk ahead.

"Nat... if it's someone who's a total dick or something, it's okay. Mom and I will support you no matter what."

"Mhm" She said in as neutral a tone as she could manage. Natasha was special, but not the good kind of special. She wasn't soulmates with some already famous teenager or something like that. She just didn't have a soulmate. She only knew of five other people like that. Six if she counted Robert, her best friend who'd been missing for three years. She went to secret therapy twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays that was supposed to teach her how to learn her soulmate's name. It wasn't hard to lie to her mom about where she was, but it was hard to lie to Sasha. Natasha didn't get along well with her mom, but Sasha had practically raised her and fae checked up on her regularly. Sasha sighed and the questioning was over for now. They walked the rest of the way to school while Natasha contemplated how she was going to keep this a secret for the rest of her life.

"Nat?" She snapped back to reality as her friend Lee waved his hand in front of her face. Natasha grinned at her friend who'd seemingly come from nowhere.

"Sorry. I was having really deep thoughts." Lee laughed and gestured over his shoulder

"Okay miss genius. Come on, Alex's waiting for us. Also, we have someone Alex wants us to find." Alex was Lee's soulmate and the two of them were stupidly cute together. Natasha cocked her eyebrow

"Who?" She asked. Lee shrugged.

"I don't know. She wouldn't tell me until you came. So come onnn!" Lee tugged at her sleeve and Natasha smiled and followed him inside the open doorway of the school.

They didn't get to Alex before the bell rang. Natasha bid a quick farewell to Lee as she dashed to her class. The first several classes went pretty normally, however she noticed extra glances being thrown her way. Whispers seemed to follow her down the halls to her classes, more than usual, and anxiety slowly built its way up from her chest into her throat. By lunchtime, Natasha was thoroughly convinced that her big secret had been discovered. She felt her shoulders tense and she had to force her face to remain neutral as she stepped into the noisy lunchroom to find Alex and Lee. Her eyes found Alex's hand raised in the air and she smiled a little as she walked over to the table.

"Have you seen her yet?" Alex asked. Natasha shook her head. She assumed "her" was the person Alex had wanted to find earlier.

"There's a new girl in school. And she's so pretty." Lee told her excitedly. Alex nodded enthusiastically and smacked Natasha's shoulder as she sat down beside her

"She is! And apparently she won't tell anyone her soulmate either." Natasha felt the gentle smile slip from her face. Lying to Sasha was easy compared to lying to Lee and especially Alex. She looked down at her food, her appetite suddenly gone. Of course, the universe chose that moment for the lunchroom doors to open.