The Lost Boys

by Lilian Carmine

  “Yeah, slow. Maybe this is for the best,” he mumbled to himself, and shook his head. “Good night, then, Buttons.” He gave me a chaste peck on my forehead and walked over to his bed, smiling softly.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Sky

  I woke up lying on soft, warm, silvery sand.

  Okay, I was having that same weird dream again, I thought to myself. It was the same moonless night in that infinite desert and the same goth-looking girl was sitting next to me. I sat up and turned towards her.

  “Hi again.”

  The girl greeted me back. She had her legs crossed in a meditation pose, her hands folded loosely in her lap. “Why do you keep coming back here, Joe?” Goth Girl asked. “I told you before, you’re easy to track here.”

  “I don’t know why I’m here. Why are you?” I retorted, a little miffed. Why did she keep telling me to leave all the time?

  “This is sort of a ‘workplace’ for me,” she said calmly.

  “Well … your job must be really boring, then, huh?” I asked, looking around at the endless desert sand. This place looked as dead as it could be.

  “It can get a little repetitive sometimes,” she said, following my gaze, but then she turned back to focus on me. “But sometimes unexpected things can happen.” She added thoughtfully, “Like when you called me. That was an interesting evening for me.”

  “I called you?” I asked suspiciously.

  “Yes. That night at the cemetery, you called me.”

  Apprehension gripped my stomach. “What night?” I asked, but I already feared the answer.

  “New Year’s Eve. But you know that.”

  “I-I didn’t call you. There seems to be a misunderstanding …”

  “Sure you did. You and Tristan.” She smiled softly.

  “I-we … d-didn’t,” I stuttered. But then I remembered what Miss Violet had said. There were seven people that night. The three old ladies, Mom and me making five, Tristan being the sixth. And the seventh? She beamed, watching as realization dawned: “You were the seventh? Wait, who are you?” I asked, starting to get a little scared now.

  She seemed to ponder that question. “You called me and you don’t know who I am?” she asked, confused. “And you keep coming here but you don’t know why, or how you are doing it? Not many people come here voluntarily, you know. And, please, do have in mind that he can also find you very easily in here too,” she said, looking at the horizon.

  “He?”

  “Yes. He’s been searching for you for a while. But then he stopped. Very odd …” she said talking to herself. “It’s not like him to give up like that. He can be so relentless, so stubborn.”

  I tried to make sense of her words. Someone looking for me. Relentless. “Do you mean Vigil?” I asked. It could only be him that she was talking about. “I mean, I don’t know his real name, so I just call him Vigil. He already found me.”

  She frowned then her expression changed to one of amusement. “You actually named him?” she said with a big grin. “That should be interesting to watch! And you said he found you?”

  “Yes. He keeps crashing into my dreams. Kind of like you and this place …” I mumbled, looking at her in annoyance. “But I always wake up and there’s nothing he can do about it. Plus, last time I sort of punched him and it looked like it hurt him. So maybe he stopped after that …”

  “Punched him, you say? You sure are entertaining. That explains his absence. He’ll be back, though.”

  “I hope not,” I muttered to myself. Even in his fragile, pale, thin boyish incarnation, he was scary as hell.

  “He will. You can count on that. It will be fun to see this,” she said.

  “Well, as long as I’m entertaining you, that’s all right, then,” I replied, annoyed at the way she was looking at me like I was some sort of circus freak show.

  “Oh! You’re tremendously entertaining. I do hope you can come see me again! But enough of that. It’s time to wake up, Joe.”

  “What? Wait! You still haven’t told me who you are!” The sky above us suddenly seemed brighter. It looked like the sun was coming up – clearly my time here was running out. ‘Tell me your name?” I asked in a hurry, hoping she’d answer at least one of my questions.

  She smiled. “I have many names.”

  She was almost as cryptic as Vigil. Could this girl give me at least one straight answer?

  “Why don’t you go ahead and make one up for me? Since you are already so good at giving names!” she said, winking playfully at me.

  I didn’t have time to answer her, though, because the sound of Seth’s alarm clock burst through the scene. I blinked slowly, trying to adjust to the bright daylight washing over my eyes. For a second I thought about a name, while I was still slumbering in that intermediary state of half-consciousness.

  Sky. Her name is Sky.

  “That’s a good one!” I heard her whisper in my ear, and then I woke up completely, and the dream faded from my mind like twirling leaves scattered by the wind.

  The sound of his alarm woke Seth up too.

  He wanted to rehearse the new songs today, even though it was Saturday. He’d decided that two days a week to practice wasn’t good enough for “the band”, so we were rehearsing three afternoons in the week, and now apparently we were going to practice all weekend too. Seth was riding us pretty hard with all the band practice, but I didn’t mind; rehearsal time was like the most amazing time ever for me!

  Since waking up, I’d tried to avoid looking at Tristan. Every time our eyes accidentally met, I blushed like a thirteen-year-old; it was extremely aggravating! I felt so stupid, being all girly like that! Why did he have that effect on me?

  Josh and Sam were already in the practice room when we arrived. We chatted a while about the events of the party, and then I sat in my favorite spot, right in front of the instruments area where I could lean against a bunch of boxes. I took out my lyrics book and some pencils from my backpack, getting ready to start work.

  Tristan glanced my way, while the boys were setting out their guitars and drums. Then he walked over to me and, before I could start blushing again, he sat down by my side.

  “So, did you sleep well?” he asked a little nervously, looking at my notebook.

  “Yeah. You?” I asked. Stop blushing, Joey. Stop blushing. Stop blushing.

  “Yeah. But I got a little worried this morning, though.”

  “Worried?” I asked shakily. Keep it simple, short replies, and do not blush.

  He gave me a nervous sideways glance. “I was worried that I may have stepped over some boundaries last night. I didn’t ask you if I could do what I did … if it was all right. I didn’t mean to disrespect you,” he said, and blushed. “If I did, please forgive me, Joey. I didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable, like you seem to be now.”

  “No! No, no. You didn’t! I-I mean, I’m not. You don’t make me feel uncomfortable, Tris!” I said.

  Tristan was so sweet, with his polite, old-fashioned ways, worried that he had ruined my honor just because of one kiss. One amazing, obliterating, mind-blowing kiss …

  Before he could say anything in response, Harry barged into the room, his bass strapped to his back.

  “Yellow, peeps! Ledger is in the house! You can all chill now!” Harry greeted everyone happily.

  “Harry, you’re always the last one here, man! Every time, every rehearsal! What took you so long?” Seth complained.

  “Whoa. Why all the sulking, Mr. Grumpy Face?” Harry retorted jokingly. “You should be more cheerful today, since last night you got some action, and all …”

  Seth went all red in the face. “I-I did not! I don’t know what you’re talking about. Shut up, Harry!” Seth snapped, looking all flustered.

  Harry laughed, took his bass off his back and settled it down. “Seth, dude! You know I can always tell when someone has seen some action! It’s my super power,” he said, surveying the room.

  I was glad Harry hadn
’t so much glanced in my direction yet. I was sure I would turn a new shade of red if he guessed that Tristan and I had also seen “some action” last night. I looked down at my notepad embarrassed. After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, I heard Harry again. I didn’t dare look up.

  “You know who else got lucky? Smirking Josh over there in the corner. Oh! Tristan my man, too! Way to go, Tristan! And, aw, sorry, Sammy. Maybe next time, huh?” Harry said, making a sad face at Sam.

  It was Sam’s turn to turn red. “Shut up, Harry! You are just making this stuff up!” Sam grunted as Josh chuckled.

  “I’m not. You all know it! I can totally tell who’s been getting some or not.” Harry sniffed loudly, putting his bass down. “And I don’t understand why Seth is so worked up about it; he’s usually the last one to hook up. You shouldn’t be ashamed, bro! It is actually a good thing, you know? Unless … it was a shameful hook-up? Who was it, Seth?”

  “It was nobody, Harry. Would you just shut it and get ready to rehearse?” Seth muttered crossly.

  “Okay, Okay! Don’t need to bite my head off!” Harry said, opening his bass case. “How about you, Joey? Did you have a good time at the party last night?”

  I glanced up and, panicking, looked around the room. Sam was sniggering at Harry over the other side.

  “What? Can’t you tell? Don’t you have this hook-up-radar super power?” Sam teased him.

  “I asked her if she had a good time, not if she had hooked up. Keep your mind out of the gutter, dude! Plus, my powers don’t work on girls. They mess up all my signals, it’s the damnedest thing!” Harry said, squinting his eyes at me.

  “Stop staring at me, Harry!” I said, squinting back at him and mentally muttering, “Don’t blush now, Joey, just don’t freakin’ blush now!” to myself.

  Thank God, Tristan came to my rescue then, telling the band to start rehearsals. We had a long practice session, but in the end all our efforts really paid off. The songs were starting to sound more finished now and we were playing our instruments in a much more refined way.

  We had also started to give small performances every Wednesday at Professor’s Rubick’s classes. Since a well-performed prank had got us noticed at school, we’d attracted a regular gathering of people showing up to listen, too, not just our friends and classmates.

  Our little unnoticed band was finally starting to get noticed inside Sagan’s grounds.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Under Pressure

  Monday morning I woke up with a little bit of a headache. I was walking to my locker to gather some books for my first morning class, when one of the cheer squad girls called after me. Caroline, I think, was her name. She was the blonde perky girl who’d been dead set on having Tristan at that party. I remembered hating her. Vividly.

  I sighed when she stopped in front of me. I wasn’t in the mood for conversation. My head started to hurt slightly more in her presence.

  “Hey, Gray!” she said, putting a hand on one hip.

  “Hi … you,” I said, a little annoyed, pretending I didn’t remember her name.

  She gave me a glare because she was probably not used to people forgetting her name. She was quite popular around the school. “So, we kinda need your official statement so we can close the bet,” she said with a huff.

  Ah. The bet. I wasn’t one bit surprised that she was the one in charge of that stupid deal.

  “Yes. We need you to confirm the hook-up, so we can deliver the prize,” her friend said, picking at a nail.

  “What prize?”

  She gave an annoyed sigh, rolling her eyes. “Jeez, you really don’t know anything, do you? The person that hooked up with you at the party gets a whole week of physics homework done by Dwight for free.”

  Dwight, I knew, was the school nerd; Seth had told me the guy had a lucrative business going, charging people for homework.

  “A whole week of physics homework? That’s a lot.” I hadn’t realized I was worth that much. I think she noticed where my thoughts were heading, so she quickly set me straight, putting me back where I belong: Loserville.

  “Yeah, well, we first set the prize up for Tristan’s hookup. He’s totally worth a whole week of any homework. Hell, he’s worth a whole month of homework!” she said, getting all excited, but then she noticed my disgruntled face and returned to the point. “And since we had already set his prize for a week, we thought we had to set the same for you … so you wouldn’t feel too bad, and all.”

  “Gosh. Thanks so much. I don’t feel bad at all now,” I muttered sarcastically.

  She shrugged, meaning she really didn’t care how I was feeling.

  “So, should I take Harry’s homework, then? He still hasn’t come to collect. It’s so typical of him, always forgetting things …” She shook her head in disapproval.

  “Wait, what? Harry?” I asked, puzzled.

  “Yes, Harry Ledger. Red hair. Pierced lip. Crazy tattoo, hot and weird. Harry. I’m sure you remember him, the party wasn’t that long ago!” she said with a smirk.

  “I know who Harry is!” I snapped, annoyed “I don’t … we didn’t … there was no hook-up with Harry!” I said in a hushed voice, and looked around to see if there was anyone overhearing us.

  She cocked an eyebrow, not believing me at all. “Come on, Gray. Don’t play coy now. We all saw you two that night, holding hands, dancing. You were all over each other. The whole school is talking about it. Let him have his prize!”

  I was baffled. “I-I-I … There was NO hookup!” I shouted, stamping my foot. “And even if there had been, it’s none of your goddamn business! And these bets are awful! You are all awful people! You want some gossip to spread around? Spread this one: if I ever hear that someone has made a bet on me again, I’ll kick their ass! Got it?” I snapped, and stomped off to my next class.

  I was early and the classroom was empty, which was fine by me; I really didn’t want to talk to anyone anyway. My head was throbbing. I was rubbing my temples in aggravation when Tiffany walked in.

  “Hey, Joey! I saw you storming madly through the corridors. What’s happened? Something wrong?” she asked in concern, sitting by my side.

  “No, it’s just … I hate people!” I grunted menacingly.

  She chuckled at my general display of hatred. “Care to elaborate? People in general or someone specific?”

  I sighed, holding my head in my hands. “People here at this school. Did you know everybody’s been talking about me and Harry getting together?” I said, exasperated.

  “Yeah, I heard about that at breakfast. So? What’s the matter?”

  “The matter is that we didn’t! It’s a lie!” I snapped.

  “I see. I just don’t get why you are so upset about it. Harry is a really great guy, and he follows you around like a lost puppy. Maybe you should give him a chance,” she suggested.

  “Harry is my friend,” I said quickly.

  “Yes. But he could be more.” Tiff raised an eyebrow, looking me directly in the eyes. “Unless there’s something you’re not telling me … some other reason why you won’t even consider being with him.” She leaned over, close to me. “I always get this feeling you’re hiding something from me, Joe. I thought that, with time, you’d trust me and tell me what it is … It’s the reason you won’t give Harry a chance, isn’t it?”

  I avoided looking at her and fumbled with the hem of my shirt instead. “I’m not hiding anything, Tiff. I really like Harry, but just as a friend!” I said, trying to sound convincing, but I wasn’t fooling anyone here.

  “Come on, Joey. I tell you everything that’s going on with me! You can trust me! I know there’s something,” she said pushing harder.

  “I’m telling you the truth, Tiff. Really,” I said nervously.

  She stared at me for a few seconds in silence. “Fine. If you want to be like that, be like that, then.” She looked hurt. “I thought you were my friend.”

  “Tiff, come on! Please …” I began, but she just st
ood up and went to sit far away from me.

  Students started to arrive, and the teacher followed right behind. The class started and I didn’t have a chance to talk to Tiff again. She didn’t look my way the whole class, and when it was over, she just stood up and left. She was really hurt and I couldn’t blame her. She knew I was hiding something from her. Keeping my secret was starting to have a price. And it seemed the price was going to be Tiffany’s friendship.

  I walked out of class in a very bad mood. The day couldn’t get any worse. First I’d heard about the nasty rumor about me and Harry, and now my best friend wasn’t talking to me any more. Then I glanced up and saw Tristan walking my way, a worried expression on his face. That was it. He had heard the gossip going around school and was angry and had come here to tell me he hated me and never wanted to see me again.

  He stopped in front of me, glancing sideways to see if anybody was listening. Okay. He didn’t look angry. I was just over-reacting. He looked … concerned and anxious. Not mad. That was good. Not mad was a good thing.

  “Hey, Joey,” he greeted in a tense voice, and managed a weak smile. “What’s wrong? You look awful.”

  “Gosh. Thanks very much. It’s always nice to hear a compliment in the morning,” I muttered darkly. I didn’t know why I was snapping at everyone today! The headache definitely wasn’t helping.

  “I didn’t mean … You just look kind of in pain. Are you okay?” he said, trying to apologize.

  “Sorry, Tris, it’s just a headache, but I’ll be fine. You look worried …” I said, trying to rub the headache away.

  “Listen, I need to talk to you …” he said, then stopped and looked hesitantly to one side “… later. Can I meet you after morning classes, by the big oak tree?” he said, his eyes flicking back and forth.

  “Sure. What’s the matter?” I said, trying to get some clue about what he wanted to talk about.

  “We can talk later, okay?” he said, waving to one of his basketball friends at the end of the corridor. “Come on, I’ll walk you to your next class.”