by Holly Hook
She couldn't hold her tears back as Janelle helped her pack her clothes, now silent as they prepared the leave the world neither one of them could be a part of anymore.
Chapter Three
Not once did Shane call after Sophia as she ran away.
Not once.
He had seen her secret. The one she hadn't even let her grandmother know about.
Sophia's world turned into a blur as she ran through the hall, barely remembering as she cut through the gym and past the incoming soccer players. All of them were wrapping their arms around themselves. Shivering. Cursing.
She grabbed her backpack from under the bleachers, tempted to kick Shane's laptop farther under the dusty darkness for a second. But everything was done, and there was no point. Shane had sealed the end of their relationship already by spying on Callie. If by some miracle he hadn't made this the end, she had by letting him see what a freak she was.
Perhaps she should have gone somewhere and cooled down first before confronting him. The other voice inside her might not have been able to act out like it had. Shane wouldn't have seen. Those people would have avoided all those car accidents. Shane wouldn't have almost died…
But isn't that what you wanted?
"No," she told the Other, disgusted. Then she thought out the rest, in case the passing soccer team was listening in. Stop fighting my battles for me. You only make it worse!
But what else do I have to do?
Sophia was practically shaking with rage now. I mean it. This could get me in trouble. It probably already has.
Maybe a picture would get the point across. She closed her eyes, imagining Shane following her with his camera and catching the ice spreading away from her. Then she pictured him uploading it onto the Internet and sharing it with the world. The other presence in her had to know what the Internet was, at least. It had only been with her during her whole adolescent life.
Sophia opened her eyes, hand on her bag. She almost felt as if someone had come under the bleachers and slapped her back.
"Crap," she said, not even giving the Other time to argue again. Only she didn't say, "crap."
What if Shane had already taken his discovery with Callie to the online world?
He did have an account on YouTube that he was quite active on. More than one, maybe. Shane's pastime was trying to get more subscribers and likes. To build his channel. It was a frequent lunch conversation they had. Of course he'd want to find something big that could go viral…
If Callie's stormy eyes were circulating on YouTube, it could mean disaster for her, just as it would if he ever caught her icy tantrums on tape.
Ignoring the stares of the drenched soccer team, Sophia pulled out her phone and ran out of the gym, backpack bouncing on her shoulders. It was too late to use the school computers to check. They were all shut down this time of day and the library locked. The quickest way she could look was by going to Callie's to use her computer. Her house was closer to school. It was a shame she'd left school right when the bell rang today. It would have made this much easier if she'd stayed for band practice.
Somehow, she managed to pull out her phone and send her an emergency text:
CALL RIGHT AWAY. SERIOUS.
Sophia burst out of the school, careful to avoid looking at the messed-up intersection and the emergency lights now reflecting off the wet surface of the roads. The ice seemed to have disappeared, along with the silver frost on the lawn. Unfortunately, her guilt hadn't. It was growing around her like a thorny shrub, coiling tighter and tighter. If there were injuries, they were her fault.
Or Shane's. He was the reason she'd gotten upset and had to run out here. Yes. For now she would place the blame on him. She had to keep her sanity long enough to get to Callie's and tell her the news.
The thought made January in Alaska return an in instant. It spread under her skin as she ran, as if the wind itself were creeping under there.
Why didn't you let me take care of him? Then this wouldn't have happened.
It was as if that old voice was a stern mother who had just finished punishing her. Not that she was around anymore. Her mother had taken off five years ago. Soon after, this voice started to invade her head as if it sensed a vulnerable soul. It was just another reason to hate it.
"Shut up!" Sophia yelled to the air, glad that no one was around. "Whoever or whatever you are, shut up!"
She started to run again, ignoring the burning in her lungs. Sophia reached up and seized the gold chain--Shane's gift that had been a lie--and yanked so hard that it dug into the back of her neck. At last, it gave and snapped. She tossed it to the sidewalk, where she hoped Shane would find it soaking in the rain and broken.
* * * * *
Callie never returned her text. Neither did she call back. It wasn't a good sign. Her best friend never blew off a text unless something was wrong.
She never skipped band practice, either.
Something was adding up, and it was something Sophia was sure she wouldn't like.
Sophia took the city bus to Callie's house instead of hers, using up almost all of her allowance money in the process. Thankfully, her grandmother wouldn't get worried for another few hours yet. She hung out there after school all the time.
Sophia let her head rest on the bus window as it rolled through town and several amazingly big puddles. Water splashed everywhere as the bus plowed through, creating twin walls. Another downpour beat on the roof, and the poor driver had to turn the wipers up from Super Fast to Could Decapitate Somebody. What was with all the rain in the past week? It was as if the weather gods were angry at the world. Several street corners had started to flood, and the bus hydroplaned through a couple of really bad ones. The sensation made Sophia grab the seat in front of her, turning the head of a woman reading a magazine.
Of course, she didn't have much room to talk. With each blink, she saw the emergency lights of the accident scene, spinning and flashing at her.
Shane's fault, remember? Her thoughts sounded childish compared to the Other who had now gone very silent. Sophia had done the best that she could. Staying inside could have meant hurting or even killing Shane. There wouldn't have been enough space for the Other's icy attack to spread out. She'd learned that the hard way last year with her pet turtle, Speedy, after being grounded by her grandmother and sent to her room in a fit of rage.
She'd had that turtle since her ninth birthday. Back Before the Voice, or BV for short. Callie had gotten him for her.
Sophia didn't realize she was crying silent tears until she leaned against the foggy window of the bus. The voice didn't return to chastise her. Thankfully. Maybe it knew better. It was already ruining her life. Shane was the first person to find out the truth, but there would be others eventually. If her grandmother learned about this, would she throw her in the crazy bin along with her mother?
She's mentally unbalanced, she always told Sophia when she got upset. That's why she left. I'm sure she still loves you in her own way. It was practically a mantra of hers.
Sophia felt that way now. Unbalanced. Alone. And the Other wasn't tipping the scales in her direction.
Then, she knew what to do, and the realization made her lift her head in time for the bus to splash through another mini-lake in the street.
She would tell Callie about it all. She'd understand completely. Her friend had those stormy eyes. Waves formed in the ocean at her command. If anyone would understand her problem, it was her best friend. They were in the same crazy bin together.
An incredible sense of relief stole over her. A laugh bubbled out, drawing a stare from a couple of boys across the aisle. But she could care less. A door had opened, and she was going to leap through it. Sophia sucked down the last of the tears. There would be more later, no matter how much she told herself Shane was such a jerk, or how much Callie was about to tell her the same thing. It was inevitable.
For a while, she really felt that she loved Shane. This wasn't going to go away quietly.
And just how far that other presence inside of her would go.
The bus rolled through another half-flooded intersection, where water bubbled around a storm drain. Rain continued to roar on the roof. Thankfully, the voice showed no signs of coming back. As long as she stayed calm, it seemed to stay at bay. Rarely did she ever hear it when she wasn't emotional.
At last, they stopped at the corner near Callie's house. A small crowd of college students were gathered inside the glass bus stop kiosk, crowding out as Sophia descended the steps. She ran the last quarter mile to Callie's street, unable to wait to get out of the rain and crash on her couch. Her hair stuck to her forehead. Never before had enduring two hours of Fall Out Boy and Weezer sounded so good.
There was an orange moving truck backed into Callie's yard.
At first she could only stand there in the rain and stare. Callie's father carried a stack of three boxes that must have weighed a couple of hundred pounds altogether in his arms, descending the steps to their house without so much as wobbling. He turned a bit as he climbed up the ramp, turning his back to her.
He couldn't have lifted all that by himself. But he had.
Sophia shook her head. That wasn't what she should be freaked out about.
The Allisters were moving. Callie was moving. Without telling her. That was what she needed to freak out over.
Sophia broke into a run again, ignoring the ache in her sides and the panic rising up in her. Callie had never said anything about this to her. Not today. Not ever. She would have for certain. This had to be due to Shane's video. Her family was fleeing because of it. There was no other explanation.
A new, smoldering hatred for Shane started to burn inside her, but she swallowed it. If she let it take over, that voice could return. It was the last thing she needed right now.
"Where's Callie?" she demanded as her father descended the ramp, showing no signs that the boxes must have almost broken his back.
Mr. Allister wrinkled his mustache and gave her a nervous glance. "She's packing. I'm sorry, Sophia. I know she's your friend, but things have come up and we have to leave for a while. I…got transferred at work."
It was just as much of a lie as Shane's had been, but she wasn't going to say so if she wanted to get in. She spoke, trying to hold down the panic as much as she could. "I need to see her. You know, before she goes."
Callie's dad watched her standing there in the rain for a few seconds. His mustache drooped with sympathy. He finally nodded, letting beads of water fall off of it. "Be quick. We need to leave by the end of the day."
An insane fog descended over her as she rushed in through the front door, past where Callie's mother was shoving kitchenware into another box. She glanced up at Sophia as she passed. She had nothing to say.
The pictures on the walls were gone, leaving lighter squares and ovals on them where dust never settled in the past two decades. The Allister's plant with the fiber-optic lights was gone. The living room looked as if an earthquake had hit, with furniture all out in the middle of the space. The world seemed to be cracking at its foundations. Falling down all around her. Her boyfriend was a liar all this time. Her best friend was leaving. Leaving her with this horrible voice in her head and nowhere to turn. It took everything she had to keep the rising storm down as she rushed down the hall to Callie's room, where more sounds of packing were coming out.
Thud.
Thunk.
A sniffle.
Sophia turned and crossed the threshold into what she always called Punk Central.
Her best friend was shoving her CD's into a box with as much anger as she could muster. Some of them had come out of their cases, even. Her eyes, now lacking the swirling storm clouds, were red where they had been white before. Callie had spent some time crying.
"Callie."
She looked up, mouth falling open at the sight of Sophia standing there.
Sophia braced herself as her friend stood and rushed towards her, wrapping her in a strong hug that she realized she needed more than anything right now.
"This isn't fair," Callie cried, sounding as if her age had suddenly reversed six years. "Mom and Dad wouldn't let me tell anyone about the move. There's so much going on right now and I can't even talk about it." Her words broke down, cracking, until at last a sob escaped her.
Sophia knew better than to interrupt. She returned the hug, sucking down her own tears. For a few seconds, they were miserable together. There was an odd comfort in it.
At last, Callie released her. "I don't even know where we're going." Her eyes begged Sophia to ask what had happened. But the next second, they darted away to face the boxes around her room. Never before had the space looked so sad.
It was time to get right to it, before she broke down and lost it, too. "It's that video, isn't it?"
Callie froze. She was half-turned away, but it couldn't hide her face turning three shades lighter in three seconds. She glanced at her bedroom door as if she wanted to run out of it. At last she seemed to give in to the truth, let her shoulders sag, and pushed Sophia towards her computer chair. Sophia sat, unable to resist her strength. Callie had always seemed a lot stronger than normal. Maybe that had something to do with her stormy eyes, too.
"It's going everywhere on the Internet," she managed, a hair above a whisper. Her arms trembled. "Someone posted it there. That's partly why we have to go."
"Partly?" Sophia managed. There was more?
"Please. Don't tell anyone. Not even Shane or your grandmother." Callie looked to make sure her parents weren’t coming. "I guess I should give you the truth. You're my best friend. I know you're the only one who can keep a secret. I'm not even sure we'll be able to talk to each other again after this."
"I promise to." Sophia managed a nod, shocked Callie was opening up this easily. But the truth was out already. Callie had to know there was no point in not telling her.
The finality of the move seemed to settle in the room. The lavender of the walls turned darker. Her band equipment dimmed in the fading light as a slow roll of thunder washed over the house, shaking the windows. Callie was about to make sure Sophia had some closure. That was all. She knew she wasn't coming back.
This was her last time seeing her best friend.
Despite that, Sophia couldn't bring herself to tell Callie the truth about Shane, that he was the one that had ruined her life. Not during these last few minutes. It would hurt her too much. She at least wanted to end this on the happiest note she could.
What a joke, she thought. There was nothing happy about anything that had happened today. It was more like falling into a black hole of despair on the fringes of space. "Just so you know, there's something I need to tell you, too. Believe me, we're more even than you realize."
Callie's brow lowered in confusion. "I'm not sure about that," she said. "I don't think you're what I am." She sounded numb as she turned away to tear down her gemstones poster. Emeralds and sapphires rolled up into rubies and amethysts. "You saw what my eyes looked like on the video, right?"
A shudder raced over Sophia as she remembered. "I did. How did you do that?" She hoped she sounded completely level, like this was the most normal thing in the world. Now that she was actually sitting here in Callie's computer chair, those crashing waves and stormy eyes seemed a whole lot more frightening.
Callie's sleeve fell down her arm as she undid the tape at the top of her poster, revealing the weird birthmark she'd had there all her life. Sophia hadn't seen it since they were about eight, when Callie fell off her bike and scraped her elbow.
A gray spiral. With a dark spot in the middle that reminded Sophia of something.
The eye of a hurricane.
Sophia gripped the sides of the computer chair tighter, focusing on the mess of wires on the floor. The room felt as if it were closing in. "Oh. I…I think I get what you're saying, Callie
. You can make storms?"
Callie sighed as she dropped the poster to the floor, where it rolled away to hit a box of nail polish. Green, red, and acid blue went with Callie's bubbly laugh and punk outfits, not with crashing waves and eyes that swirled with raging storm clouds. "I can't believe I'm saying this. We're supposed to keep it secret. Well, I know I can trust you." She turned, and Sophia held down a wince, in case those stormy eyes came back. But her eyes appeared normal. Callie licked her lips, her nervous tic. "My parents and I…we're, um, Tempests. We can control wind and waves if we touch ocean water. Like what half the Internet's going to see." Callie's face flushed, but not with embarrassment. Shame, maybe. "But the big thing is that once in our lives, we become them. Storms, I mean. Hurricanes."
Sophia couldn't hide the flinch that shot through her body. "No. Way," she managed, not quite processing the words. "Callie, that's just too much. You've got to be kidding, right?" She forced a smile, hoping it came across as calm and friendly, but even she could tell there was a scared undercurrent in her own voice. "I mean, I can understand controlling the air around you and stuff--"
Callie's face paled as her revelation dangled in front of her like underwear on a flagpole. "Just believe me, Sophia. And believe me when I say I hope I never kill anybody when my time comes. That's in eleven years. If you look up that storm naming list you'll see my name there."
Her best friend wasn't lying about this. She'd never had such a hard, serious, scared look on her face before. It felt as if Sophia had slipped into another world, one that existed beside normal life. Sophia felt oddly at home here. "I believe you. And you know what? I'm not going to miss you any less." Callie hadn't chosen to be a Tempest, just as she hadn't chosen to have a hitchhiker presence inside her that froze everything when her emotions got out of control. "Wow, I have so many questions to ask you now."
Callie wrapped her in another hug. "I won't have time to answer them," she said. There were breaks in between her words. She was near tears again. "And it sucks. This ruined my life. Whoever got me on camera has no idea what they did."