All Signs Point to You Part Two, Navaura Campbell [best novels for students .txt] 📗

grip was steady, firm. Like Denise's. He thought. He looked into warm dark brown eyes. "It's a pleasure to meet you Ms. Alexi."

"You too, Mr. Williams."

The three of them walked up to the church and Jordan held the door open for both as they entered. Jordan took this time to observe Sebrea. She wore a burgundy red dye hair style, chin length. The color seemed to bring out the brown in her eyes. She wore a long black over coat, black slacks, and a red burgundy colored t-shirt, underneath. He stared at her. Her style was cute. Chick in a sophisticated way. He noticed the diamonds in her ears and wondered if they were real. From where he stood, they were.

"So, Jordan, how come I've never seen you here? I've been here for the past two years?" "I stopped going."

"Why?" Sebrea wondered curious.

"I have my reasons." He stated, hinting at the End of the conversation there. Sebrea accepted this, and began a new topic.

"So, how old are you?" They walked through the foyer and into the church. The foyer was covered in a basic baby blue tile, while the walls were painted a sky blue color with streaks of silver around the base boards. Inside, the sanctuary was filled with wooden pews from the entrance to the back of the church. Sabrea led them to a pew in the middle of the church. When they sat down, she asked her question again. He answered. "Sixteen. I'm a junior."

"I'm a senior at Brown."

“Oh yeah?" He concentrated his attention on her, having been taught that constantly while growing up.

"Yeah. I'm planning to go to Yale next fall." She sat her bible down on her lap and relaxed against the pew. He had a hard time doing so.

"Yale. Wow." He was deeply impressed now.

"Yep. I want to major in Law, minor in accounting."

This really got his attention. "That's awesome."

She smiled, glad that it sparked his interest. "So what are you planning to do?"

He smiled back. "Civil Law though."

"Ok." She liked hearing this. He was a motivated individual.

“Also a bachelor's in Business Administration, that way I can open my own firm."

"Really?"

"Yes."

She found this admirable.

"Are you the only one in your family that attends church?" Jordan asked, pulling his coat closer to his body.

"No. My mom and..." She paused, looked back into the foyer and said, "Here they come now." Looking back, Jordan stared at the man who came through the door. On his arm was a beautiful woman, with dark black hair and startling blue eyes. She wore some type of expensive fur coat. He wore a pant suit. His tall frame matched his wife's perfectly. She was a few inches shorter than he. What made them so benevolent looking, was they both stood erect and at full height, giving the impression of importance; almost royal like in their demeanor. He stood up as they approached.

"Hi mom, Dad, this is Jordan Williams, Mrs. Anita Williams son." Sebrea spoke in her native tongue.

With an even thicker accent than his daughter's Mr. Alexi smiled at Jordan and introduced himself. "I'm Jonathan Alexi, this is my wife, Francesca Alexi."

Jordan grasped his hand firmly, shook it and then moved out of the pew. He allowed them to move further into the aisle. Once they did, they draped their coats over the seat and sat down.

~

Denise was picked up at a quarter to twelve; A half an hour later by Quinn, who told her more about YAAL, when she got into his car. He told her to buckle up, and off they went to the Young Adult American Leaders facility. There were numerous tables in the room, all in no particular order. There were children running around everywhere, not doing anything to do with reading. As a matter of fact, three of the people who were there looked as if they were teenagers either her age or younger. They wore orange shirts with yellow lettering which read Yong Adult American Leadership, in capitol letters. Denise watched them run around.

"Hey, Mr. Q, How are things going?" A girl inquired as she looked up from what she was doing. She had begun to line up a small group of children and try to retain some of the chaos in the area. Five of the pupils were listening. The rest were still running.

"Hi Audrey, this is Denise, she's going to be sitting in with us today, to see what the program's like." He greeted and introduced as he pushed Denise toward the girl Audrey, who wore glasses framing dark blue eyes and a halo of strawberry blonde hair, "Hi Denise."

Denise smiled, "Hi, Audrey."

"Audrey's one of the freshmen workers." She's volunteering till she's old enough to get a job." Quinn winked at her. Audrey giggled and then continued on with her task.

"Come with me, Denise."

Denise followed him around, as he introduced her to the other staff. There was Riley, who was a sophomore in high-school; Twin brothers, Wesley and Darren African American like herself and then two Vietnamese people, Tu yen and Ahn. Tu yen was in his second year of college, getting a degree in Recreational Planning. He was the program coordinator, while Ahn was a Junior like Denise, who went to Richmond High-school, but came here on the weekends to work with YAAL. Denise glanced back up at Quinn, "Wow, this is pretty cool. What exactly is your job here?"

Quinn smiled at her. "I own the place."

Denise laughed, "Seriously, Quinn." She thought he was being playful.

"I'm serious." Quinton's demeanor did not change.

"You are not even fresh out of high-school."

He shrugged, "Well, you'd be amazed at the type of grants you can acquire at eighteen if you tell them you're an entrepreneur with a business plan."

"Wow." Denise looked around, starring in shock. The place was actually really nice. There were book shelves set up in specific corners. A couple of the workers had gotten all the children assembled in a line, and were now readying them for lunch, while the remaining others cleaned up the room. Once it was picked up, crayons put away, books on the shelves, tables and chairs cleaned off, the floor vacuumed, the red carpet was visible, bringing an educational atmosphere to the entire place. There were photos of the attendees and employers/volunteers on the wall.

Denise sighed. "Wow, Quinn, I had no idea you had this big of a heart."

Quinn laughed. "That's what most people say. Thank you for the complement. I brought you here, because this is where it begins."

Denise stared at him baffled. What was he talking about? Reading her expression, he answered. "In order to care for yourself sweetie, you have to learn to care for others. This is a great opportunity to find out a lot about who Denise is and what she wants."

Chapter Twenty Nine:

Denise reached her locker Monday morning with a dreary perception of the day. Everything would go exceptionally slow today due to the simple fact that it was a Monday. She yawned as she stuffed books she'd taken home over the weekend to complete homework assignments that were due earlier in the week. As she was accomplishing the previously mentioned, a voice startled her out of her task.

"What's up, De?" The voice was high pitched.

Denise slid her geometry book where it was supposed to go and then took out her Geography book for one of the morning classes. She grabbed the last two books and shoved them into her bag. Standing up, she greeted Tanya. "Hey girl."

Tanya smiled, "So, how was your weekend?"

Denise shrugged, "It was ok." She pulled the strap over her shoulder and closed the locker door. Tanya wore a dark green top with black jeans and a pair of sketchers.

"That's cool," She stated. She gave Denise a smile. "Anything new lately?"

Denise shook her head, "No, why?"

"So, you haven't spoken to Jordan?"

Denise brought her bottom lip into her mouth. "Nope."

"Why not?" Tanya interrogated.

Denise stepped back, "Since when is it mandatory for me to talk with him?"

"I just thought you'd be missing him by now," Tanya stared her in the eyes.

"What does it matter if I do or don't?"

Tanya lifted a brow. "Because Denise, I gotta hand it to you, you really messed up something good between the two of you."

Denise sighed, "What does that have to do with you coming to my locker?" She wanted to know.

"Everything. I came to tell you that I think you're selfish, insecure, prideful, and down right mean to do that to him. He did so much for you." Tanya vented, her hands at her sides.

"Leave it to you to tell it like it is, Tanya." Denise stated, beginning to walk down the halls.

"Well, I may as well, since all my boyfriend can talk about is how much of a bitch you are and how much he wished Jordan would've left you where he found you, but no, Jordan sees a problem, he wants to tackle it." Tanya sighed, exasperated.

"What about you, Tanya? You think you made a mistake?" Denise stopped right here to look the girl in the eye. Tanya's vision didn't waiver.

"No, I saw the chemistry between you two, Denise. There was a lot unspoken between the both of you. I don't think you're a mistake for him," She sighed, and stepped a little closer, "Do you want to know what I think?"

Denise swallowed, "What?" Her throat was suddenly parched. She grabbed the neck of the sweater she wore and pulled on it. Nervous.

"I think, that you are selfish, that's why you broke up with him. For what ever reasons, you wanted to keep him at arms length, but that didn't work because the more you two talked, the deeper things got between you and you didn't like that. You don't like the idea of him having that kind of control, you are the one who must be composed, at all times, must always know what's going on, where things are going and how they're going to end, but...you can't see that with him, so it frightens you."

Denise stared, not knowing how she knew; how she could see that without her saying anything about it.

Tanya continued on, "You didn't have to tell me anything, I saw it, heard it and witnessed it with my own eyes." She paused to give Denise the benefit of a doubt. When Denise didn't respond, but just stared intently, she sighed, "Look, Jordan won't say this to you, but he's miserable and I believe you're just as miserable. I think that you two have a chance, but if you're not willing to let down your guard, maybe you shouldn't be with him."

Denise stared straight ahead in her class, not really doing anything. She couldn't stop thinking about Tanya's words. It wasn't that she was wrong, no. She was right. Everything she'd spoken was true, but how, how did she figure it out? How had she pinpointed something that Denise had sincerely guarded? Sighing, Denise put her head down on her desk and tried to still the fear that had gathered itself around her heart.

~

Denise smelled his scent before she heard the soles of his shoes walking toward her. When he went by her desk, she got a strong whiff of zest. Strange enough, the smell aroused her and she pulled her body closer together. Unable to resist after so much thought, she turned around in her desk. Looking him in the eyes, straight to the point, she said, "And here I thought you'd sit somewhere else."

He leaned forward, "I bet you'd like that, huh Denise?"

Denise almost cringed at the ferociousness in his voice,"Whatever."

Jordan stared at her, a glare in his eyes, "If you want your seat changed, you move. You can run me from your life, but not everywhere else."

Denise swallowed nervously without saying a word. His eyes locked onto hers, making it impossible to look away. Finally the teacher walked in the classroom and the spell was broken. That didn't stop her from feeling the glares he shot in