“I have people looking into it. If anyone can find them, it’s CODA.” He grips the steering wheel tighter.
“Just promise that you’ll tell me anything you find out.” I stare at him.
He nods his head yes then changes the subject. “When we get home, I want to show you something. Don’t let me forget.”
“Ok,” I reply as we pull in front of the large grocery store.
We go in and Dad grabs a cart and we slowly make our way through the store. He grabs a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables, piling them in the cart.
“You need a lot of potassium living here. And drink a lot of water,” he says when he notices me watching him.
“Catherine warned me about the water,” I roll my eyes. “But why the potassium?”
“With as much water as you need to drink, it helps keep your electrolytes in balance. When I first moved here, I had a horrible headache for the first three days,” he replies.
We finish going through the store and stop at a hot food station full of Chinese food before checking out. I order sweet and sour chicken with fried rice while my dad orders General Tso chicken. We check out and then head back to the apartment.
I sit on the couch while he puts groceries away then we eat at the small table. When we finish, I clear our dishes and throw the trash away.
“What is it you wanted to show me?” I ask when I’m done.
“Come sit on the couch with me.” He pats the cushion next to him.
I sit beside him and wait for him to continue.
“Don’t freak out,” he grins. “I’m going to share my memory with you.”
“Ok, how does that work?” I raise my eyebrows.
“Watch my aura. A small piece will detach and head towards you. You don’t have to do anything. When it hits you, you’ll see my memory like it is your own,” he replies.
“Ok, I can do that,” I say.
I sit and watch as his aura swirls around. A small stream of blue and grey breaks apart and comes towards my face, hitting me in the middle of my forehead.
Dad is walking down a crowded street in the town we used to live in. He glances over his shoulder and sees two large men with no auras surrounding them. He begins jogging and darts down an alley until he’s on another street. He keeps zig zagging down alleys and streets, glancing over his shoulders periodically. Until he arrives in a residential neighborhood. He walks up to a small blue house and knocks on the door. A much younger Uncle Tony answers the door.
“Dustin? What’s going on?” he asks.
“Vinco,” my dad answers, out of breath.
“Get inside.” Tony moves and lets him pass, glancing up and down the street before closing the door.
“I was downtown looking for a present for Nikki and I noticed two of them following me. I’m pretty sure I lost them, but I didn’t want to lead them back home,” Dad says, still catching his breath.
“You did the right thing, but what are you going to do now?” Tony asks, looking at my dad with a mixture of pity and fear.
“I don’t know. Nikki is still too young to tell if she has my gift or not. Just me being with them now puts her at risk. What do I do? Stay and hope Vinco ignores her if they catch me or leave to keep her safe?” my dad questions, his eyes brimming with unshed tears.
“You already know the answer in your heart, brother.” Tony pats him on the back.
My vision clears as the blue and grey smoke of the aura returns back to my dad.
“It was a no win situation.” He looks down at his hands. “If I thought I could keep you safe and stay, I would have done it in a heartbeat.”
“I understand why you had to make that choice. Catherine helped me see that, but it doesn’t erase the years of pain. You never even called me. You just disappeared,” My bottom lip trembles as tears stream down my face. “How am I supposed to ignore those feelings and pretend that everything is ok between us?”
“You’re not. We can’t change the past, we can only move forward and try to change things in the future.” His eyes meet mine, unshed tears glistening in them. “I wanted to watch you grow up so badly. But more importantly, I wanted you to be able to grow up. If I would have stayed, Vinco could have still snatched me off the street and I would have been gone, just the same, or they could have taken you as well. They take kids all the time. The few we manage to save were left alone when their parents were taken elsewhere.”
“I will try. But it’s going to take time for me to get past this,” I say.
“That’s fair enough.” He winces. “Let’s get you settled.”
I follow him into the bedroom. The walls are the same light beige as the living room and kitchen and there’s a double bed pushed up against the wall. On the opposite wall is a dresser with a mirror. He walks to the dresser and opens the three drawers on the right side which are all empty.
“You can use these three for now and I cleared out half of the closet for you. We should be able to move within a couple of weeks if I can find a decent place,” he explains.
“Thank you,” I reply.
He pulls a pillow and blanket out of the closet and goes back to the living room. I begin to put my new purchases away then move onto my backpack when I finish. As I take the tattoo machine out, I can’t hold back the tears. My family was ripped apart within minutes, just because of this stupid Vinco. With everything Catherine told me about them, and the memory Dad shared with me, I feel the knot in my chest tighten as I think of what they could be doing to Mom. I haven't heard from Uncle Tony and hope he's okay. I grab my phone and try his number, but it just goes straight to voicemail. I try my mom’s number one more time, even though I don’t have much hope, but it goes straight to voicemail as well.
I avoid the manila envelope and put everything else away. When it’s all that’s left, I pull it out and open it, remembering the sealed envelope inside. I take it out and look at it, wondering what information it might hold, but chicken out when it comes to opening it. What if reading it makes me think different of my mom? I shove it back in the larger envelope and stick the whole thing in my underwear drawer for another time. My entire world has up and changed in less than a day and I don’t know how to process this. I just want my boring isolated life back.
I go in the bathroom, shower, get dressed in my pajamas, and crawl into bed, too tired to think about anything else today.
Chapter 5
“Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey,” my dad says from the doorway.
“I haven’t heard that in years.” I groan, remembering how he used to wake me up every morning when I was little.
“I really did make eggs and bacon.” He chuckles. “Get ready; today is your first day of school.”
“I’m getting up,” I mumble as I throw the covers off.
I stumble into the kitchen and grab a glass of water and down it before sitting at the table with Dad to eat. We don’t bother with small talk and soon my plate is empty and my stomach full.
I walk into the bedroom and pick out an outfit then head into the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face before I get dressed. My stomach is a mess by the time I’m ready. I haven’t attended public school since I was six. Shortly after my dad disappeared, my mom pulled me out of school and switched me to virtual school. I don’t remember what it’s like to take classes in person with other people.
Hell, I don’t even know if I can fit in. I guess the up side is everyone at this school can see auras as well, so I don’t have to try to hide that part of me. Wait, if they can see my aura, they will know how I’m feeling without asking! I’m so behind, I don’t even know what the colors mean yet!
I grab my empty backpack and go back into the living room where Dad is waiting for me.
“Can you explain what the colors of auras mean?” I play with my long brown hair nervously.
“Sure. So the basic ones are red, pink, purple, blue, green, grey, and black,” he explains. “Red is anger, pink is extreme calm or love, purple is pas
sion, blue is sadness, green is optimism, grey is fear, and black is pain or trauma.”
“That’s a lot.” I open my eyes wide.
“Those are the basics; there are alternate meanings but you will have a class that goes into depth on that,” he replies.
“I’m going to be so far behind,” I sigh.
“You will catch up easily. Students come in at different ages so you’re not as far behind as you think,” he reassures me. “Besides, everyone is willing to help each other out. It’s a close knit community.”
“If you say so,” I mumble, not really believing him. I’ve seen enough teen dramas to know there are cliques and mean girls everywhere.
“We need to get going so we can get your schedule from the office.” He grabs his keys.
I nod as I stand up and follow him out of the apartment. It’s only a short drive to the school. He pulls into a parking spot at the back where Catherine and I parked yesterday. It’s hard to believe... Just two days ago I was with my mom, and now everything is different.
I follow my dad into the school and down the hallway to the office.
“Good morning, Arlene.” My dad grins at the older woman.
“Good morning Mr. Hoalt, and you as well Krissy.” She smiles warmly at both of us.
“Good morning,” I reply, trying to shove my nerves down.
“No need to be so nervous, honey. Everyone here will help you get settled in,” Arlene says, reminding me once more that everyone can see my feelings.
“Sorry, I’ve homeschooled for the last ten years. This is a new experience,” I explain, the tips of my ears heating.
“No need to apologize, honey. I think we all get the jitters when we do something new.” She smiles again. “Here’s your schedule. You have a little bit to find your classes before everyone arrives,” she says as she hands me a large slip of paper with a post it note attached. “That’s your locker number and combination. You’ll want to memorize it.”
“Thank you.” I smile back at her.
“Have a wonderful first day,” she says then goes back to her paperwork.
I follow my dad out of the office then look over my schedule. I only have four classes on Monday and Wednesday and four on Tuesday and Thursday. Friday I have all eight classes; that’s going to be a busy day! It looks like I have classes like I’m used to in the mornings and then in the afternoons the classes relate to our gifts.
Today is Wednesday, so I have Math and Science in the morning, then lunch. After that is Understanding Auras and Reading Memories. Tomorrow it will be English and History in the morning, then Memory Eating and Control in the afternoon.
Looking over the room numbers, the core classes are on the first floor and the gift classes are on the second floor. At least that part makes it easy to find my classes. I locate the Math and Science classes then look for my locker. I find it right by the staircase to the second floor. I put in the combination and open it, then repeat it in my head until I think I have it down, slipping the post it note in my pocket just in case.
The hallway begins to fill with students but I just stay by my locker, unsure of how to act. Everyone that passes me looks me over before walking off. It really sucks to be the new girl.
“Krissy!” I hear a shout above the din of the students.
Looking around, I see Chance waving at me from the other end of the hallway.
“Krissy, over here!” he shouts again.
Several people whip their eyes around on me and I want to crawl into my locker to escape their stares. Instead, I wave back and make my way to where Chance, Tanner, and Noah are standing.
“What’s your schedule look like?” Tanner asks when I stop in front of them.
I hand it over to him and they all look it over.
“You’re in the same classes as us.” Chance grins, causing little butterflies to flutter around in my stomach.
“Word of advice, don’t talk during Mr. Robinson’s class, he hates that.” Noah winks at me.
Tanner hands me back my schedule and I follow them to the Math classroom.
“You can sit with us if you want to,” Noah offers.
“That would be nice.” I smile, relieved that I don’t have to negotiate where to sit.
The guys head to the back of the classroom and I sit next to Tanner near the window. The room begins to fill up, still having several new glances but no one says anything to me until a tall skinny blonde girl comes in. When her glacial blue eyes land on me, she scowls and stomps over.
“You’re in my seat, new girl,” she huffs, her hands on her hips.
“Back off Becca. You know there are no assigned seats.” Tanner rolls his eyes.
“I always sit by you, Tanner. Why wouldn’t you save that seat for me?” She pouts, sticking out her bottom lip.
“We invited Krissy to sit with us. She’s new so she doesn’t know anyone yet,” Noah says.
“Then let her sit next to you instead of Tanner,” Becca crosses her arms across her chest.
“Good idea.” Tanner smiles. “Krissy, switch me seats.”
“Uh, I can move if it’s an issue,” I stammer, not liking the attention I’m receiving from this altercation.
“We invited you to sit with us, so you’re going to sit with us,” Tanner slips into my chair as soon as I stand up. He points to the chair he just vacated. “Now sit.”
I shrug at Becca and sit in the seat he pointed out. Now I’m sitting between Noah and Tanner.
“Now she’s sitting by Noah.” Tanner grins at Becca.
Becca makes a noise of frustration but gives up and sits in front of Tanner then turns and glares at me.
“Not smart to make enemies on your first day, new girl,” she snaps at me.
“All I did was sit down. It’s immature to count someone an enemy over a seat,” I reply.
Is this girl serious? Is she dating Tanner or something? He doesn’t act like it, but I have so little experience that I’m not sure if I’m reading the situation correctly.
Noah motions to me to lean over. When I do, he whispers, “Becca has been trying to get his attention for months. He’s not interested and she won’t take the hint.”
I nod, understanding clearly now. Her aura is swirling a bright red and a dark emerald green. If I had to guess, that dark green would be jealousy, but she has no reason to be jealous of me. These are literally the only people I know here. Of course I’m going to jump at the chance to sit with them.
Tanner turns to me and says loudly, “Krissy, I forgot to tell you, Catherine wants to know if you’d like to come over for dinner this week.”
“I’d love to.” I watch Becca as the reds and greens in her aura grow darker and darker.
Mr. Robinson walks into the room and glances back in our direction.
“Becca! Report to the principal's office immediately!” he snaps, his eyes widening.
“What just happened?” I whisper to Noah who has a look of fear on his face.
He watches Becca stand up and walk out of the room with Mr. Robinson following, before answering.
“She just tried eating one of your memories. It wasn’t an accident either. She’s been here long enough to have control,” Noah answers, his eyes wide. “We’re going to have to watch her crazy ass.”
“How did you all know that?” I ask, my eyes widening.
“We could see her aura swirling towards yours. You’ll learn what to look for in class.” Chance glances at me.
“Thanks for throwing me to the wolves,” I grumble at Tanner.
He has the gall to look amused. The class quiets down as Mr. Robinson returns. He’s a tall, thin, middle-aged man with sandy brown hair and a full beard. He wears round wire frame glasses and a long sleeved white shirt under an olive green sweater vest.
“Good morning class. Just a reminder, memory eating will not be tolerated in this class. If you are caught, you will be punished quickly and severely,” he says. “Please welcome our new student, Krissy H
oalt.”
I give a small wave as all eyes turn back to stare at me. Whispers start between the students after they hear my name, until Mr. Robinson clears his throat and the class is quiet once more. He grabs a text book and brings it back to me, sitting it on my desk.
“Let’s begin.” He claps his hands together. “Please turn to page two hundred.”
I open the book to the page he says and find that it’s all material I’ve already learned. I zone out for the rest of class, knowing I can easily do the homework and still be ahead.
When the ending bell rings, he says, “Please complete the problems at the back of the unit for Friday, and we will have a quiz. Class dismissed.”
I grab my book and run it back to my locker then grab my notebook and pencil before heading to Science. I didn’t think to take it to Math with me. When I step into the classroom, there are long tall tables with four seats behind each. There’s an open seat between Chance and Noah. I slide in grateful they saved a seat for me.
My breath catches in my throat when I see Becca step back into the class with a glazed look on her face. When her eyes land on me, she looks a bit confused but she shakes her head and ignores me and sits with a group of two other girls.
The name Mrs. Elbourn is written on the white board at the front of the classroom. When she walks in, she’s a younger, black-haired woman with olive skin. She's wearing a black pencil skirt and a grey button down shirt.
She introduces me to the class again, gives me a textbook, then jumps into the lesson. This class is going to be more enjoyable than the virtual one simply because we get to do labs and experiments. There’s something different about doing things in person than doing them virtually on a screen.
When class is over, it’s time for lunch. I return my things to my locker and the guys follow me.
“The cafeteria food isn’t too bad here,” Chance says as I close my locker. “It’s way better than my last school.”
“I don’t remember school food,” I admit.
The Strange Existence of Krissy Nichole (The Memory Eater Chronicles Book 1) Page 4