by J.T. Stoll
Pieter lightly jogged through an empty, locker-lined hallway. It wasn’t that this weekend’s excitement had caused him to sleep in; it was that every weekend’s excitement caused him to sleep in. Now that he drove himself to school, his mom didn’t bother him in the morning.
Pieter slid into a seat near the back, directly behind Gloria, just as Mr. Miner finished the roll call. “Pieter Walters.”
“Here,” Pieter called out. Every once in a while, his last name came in handy.
Mr. Miner, a tall black man wearing floating math symbols on his tie, leaped into a lecture on quadratic equations. The bleary-eyed students slowly felt the freedom of the weekend drain away. Pieter stared at the back of Gloria’s head.
South Obispo High was about ten years old and lay spread across a hillside surrounded mostly by undeveloped land. Unlike the older SLO High across town, South Obispo drew students from nearby county land and a couple towns down the freeway. Pieter heard some of the teachers who’d grown up elsewhere talk about how they loved the small town feel of the school and how they never wanted to teach anywhere else. He couldn’t wait to leave this parochial village for somewhere fun.
At the same time, he recognized most of the students. They’d grown up together, and he brought spice to their life. They appreciated his humor, if he did say so himself. Barriers of cliques didn’t bother him; no label defined him. He was Pieter; he got along with everyone from Neil to the football players. From the potheads to the church kids.
“The four of us should meet and talk,” he whispered to Gloria.
She jumped a little at the sound of his voice. “Yeah, you think?”
“Hadn’t heard from you since that night.”
“It was a lot to take in, and…”
“You slept about twelve hours yesterday?”
“Yeah,” Gloria said.
“How about after school?”
“I’m busy after school every day this week, mostly work.”
“You have a job?” Pieter asked.
“Yeah, Bueno Taco. Lots of drunk college students on weekends.”
“Sounds entertaining.”
“Usually.”
Gloria was so different one on one. She actually talked.
Mr. Miner spoke up. “Pieter, can you tell us the value of X?”
“Three fifths,” he responded.
“That’s… that’s correct.”
“You know me and math; we’re like this.” Pieter crossed his index and middle fingers and held them high. “Now, do you mind? I have a conversation to finish.”
A few laughs around the class. Mr. Miner said, “Yes, actually. There’s an empty seat up front if you’d prefer.”
“Well, Gloria, yes I love you, but I already have a girlfriend. And I have to pay attention in math class.”
A few students laughed. Gloria said nothing but slunk low in her seat. Pieter stared up front and zoned out. His mind flashed to the dying form of James and the feeling of Croga’s strength in his muscles.
Then he heard Jed’s words. “Your deaths will entertain me.”
Mentally, he pictured the highlander as a little girl in a pink dress and moved the voice up a few octaves. “Your deaths will entertain me.” Given the choice between terror and humor, Pieter preferred humor.
Saturday had almost been a blast. Dragging the girls and Neil into a dark field, becoming the king of that field… he’d almost managed to make something of the evening. And then Jed had appeared. And then Neil had decided to charge into battle for death and glory. It’s not as though they’d accomplished anything. James still died. Except now, they’d gotten sucked into some weird civil war from another world. Even Pieter couldn’t make that fun.
Mr. Miner gave some time-consuming homework then released them. Gloria waited outside. “I wanted you to see this,” she said and pulled a little square of thick paper from her pocket. She handed it to Pieter. “What do you think?”
It was a photograph of a woman wearing a long blue dress that reached to her ankles. The neckline rested just below her shoulders. Beautiful but not sexy. Long wavy, jet-black hair fell to her waist and billowed behind her.
She faced the camera with a very slight smile. Her dark-brown eyes contained a confidence Pieter had never seen. She didn’t seem carefree, just convinced that everything in the world would turn out fine. He couldn’t quite place her age: twenty? Thirty? She seemed timeless.
Above the woman’s head, some kind of light threw down beams and bathed her in colors Pieter couldn’t quite put words to. Blue, yes, but a very crisp blue. It almost looked Photoshopped.
“What do you think?” Gloria asked.
“She’s hot. Where’d you get this?”
“James.”
“Oh, right. Didn’t he say you reminded him of her?” Pieter studied the picture then looked up at his friend. Gloria definitely wasn’t so tall and skinny. But they both had the pale skin and black hair. “A nice compliment. But he didn’t say who she was, did he?”
“Julia. That’s all he said.” She put the picture in a three-ring binder. “Figure out a time and somewhere private to meet up, then text me.”
“Sure thing. I never refuse a lady wanting to secretly meet with me.”
Gloria’s mouth dropped open and she stared down the crowded hallway.
“That’s the reaction they usually give.”
“No, do you see that?” she asked, pointing.
“Yeah, I don’t think those shorts fit the dress code.”
“No, it’s gone. I saw a short, dark-skinned man. He looked like that… that assistant of Jed’s. Dek. But he was almost naked and see through, like he wasn’t really here. He just stood there, and people walked right through him. Then he vanished. You didn’t see anything?”
“Spooky. Though streaking is rather pointless if you’re invisible.”
Gloria didn’t respond.
“You afraid?” He gave her an affectionate hug. “Don’t be. You’re wearing your jewelry, right?”
“Yes,” she replied, placing her hand on the zipper of her sweater, a little below her neck.
“Good. I’ll get you the staff back after school. Remember. James said you’re the strongest.”
The warning bell rang and Pieter dashed down the hallway. Second period waited across campus, and his mind churned to produce an excuse in case his feet didn’t carry him fast enough.
7. New Friend