Rise of Alpha (The Prodian Journey #1)

by Lorenz Font

  Sure enough, her mouth was like a cushion of feathers. Soft and warm, it was a taste of heaven. I watched her eyes grow the size of saucers, and she stepped back. I smiled sheepishly.

  “Are you bipolar, by any chance? You’re going to give me whiplash with your mood swings. One minute, you’re dismissing me like I carry the plague, and the next moment, you’re kissing me.” Shannon’s voice seemed to echo in the quiet hallway.

  Okay. This sounded awfully real. I shook my head and blinked. “Shannon? Are you really here?” I asked, feeling stupid.

  “Um, yeah?” She enunciated every syllable like she was talking to someone who’d gone crazy.

  “Crap.” I muttered, and a round of quick tremors pounded my body. “I’m such a loser.”

  “Well, I’m getting tired here. This tray isn’t light, you know. Your mom invited me for dinner, and I asked if I could bring your tray up and eat with you.”

  I closed the door and took the tray from her. After putting it on the desk, I asked the most obvious question. “Why?”

  “Why what?” She stared at me.

  “Why are you hanging out with me? What’s in it for you?”

  As someone who’d been used to rejection and humiliation all his life, I had the habit of verbalizing my inner skepticism. I didn’t accept kindness easily, since I had learned a long time ago that most kids my age didn’t have compassion in their make-up. Anyone different would always be someone to make fun of and humiliate.

  The hurt that flashed across her face made me want to take back what I’d said. “Nothing’s in it for me. Do I need a reason to want to be friends?” She turned to the door.

  I took hold of her arm to stop her, letting go when she turned around to face me. “Shannon, I’m sorry. I’m not used to girls wanting to hang out with me. It’s pathetic, I know.”

  She chewed on her bottom lip as if deliberating if I was worth the trouble, so I went with the puppy eyes I’ve seen on television. “Please … would you stay and join me?” God, even I was giving myself whiplash.

  “I don’t want you kissing me. Despite my popular reputation in school, I’m not easy, you know.” She crossed her arms over her chest, waiting for my reply.

  “I know, and I’m sorry. I promise I won’t ever kiss you again … unless you ask me to.” What in the hell made me say that? I’d be an old man, and still waiting for that to happen. “Just blame it on the flu or whatever.”

  Shannon narrowed her eyes before the crook of her mouth turned up into a smile. “We’ll see about that.”

  “Thanks,” I said with relief. “What’s for dinner?” I migrated to a safer topic so I could think straight. The fast beating of my heart made it difficult to think clearly.

  “Your mom made chicken soup for you and a ham sandwich for me. And of course, I brought more orange juice.”

  Her smile grew wider when I pulled out the desk chair for her.

  “TV or music?”

  “Um, do you have Pink’s ‘Just Give Me a Reason’?”

  I stifled a smile. “I didn’t know you were into mushy songs.” I got my phone from the nightstand and searched for the song.

  “Hey, she’s amazing. Stop dissing her.”

  Once I found the song, I put my phone into the docking station and pressed play. I turned around to find Shannon laughing.

  “What?”

  “You’re unbelievable.”

  “I like Pink. She’s a tough chick.” I shrugged.

  “Yes, she is. In fact, she has a concert here next month. I was hoping Brittney and Veronica would go with me.”

  “Cool.”

  Damn, it would be nice if I were the one taking her to the concert. Dream on, lover boy.

  After I set the volume to an acceptable level, I sat on the edge of the bed, holding my bowl of soup while Shannon took a bite of her sandwich. After she finished chewing, she glanced around the room.

  “What’s with boys and Call of Duty?” she asked when she spotted the numerous posters plastered on the walls.

  “Some of us who have nothing better to do like playing video games. Try League of Legends online. It’s fun.” This was true. I passed the time playing with other kids, mostly when Mark was out on a date and Darryl had to work in his father’s gas station.

  “Don’t tell me you’re so anti-social that you’d rather play video games than hang out?” Shannon appeared surprised. It was obvious that she didn’t know much about me. My social calendar had been empty even before I realized what a big loser I’d turned out to be.

  “Well, let’s see. I have two friends. Two. One is popular enough to hang out with the ‘in’ crowd, and the other one is content to play video games all of his waking hours. I try to minimize getting myself into awkward social situations. As you can see, I don’t do well with people, considering my … ” I shrugged and jerked my shoulder, “you know what.” I shoved a spoonful of soup in my mouth and watched her.

  “You’re exaggerating!” Shannon socked me on the arm.

  “Am not.”

  “Whatever.” She took another bite and chewed in silence.

  I ate, but I couldn’t take my eyes off her. Shannon was not what I’d expected. She was easy to talk to, and as I was realizing she wasn’t easily discouraged. The short time we’d spent together showed me I’d passed judgment on her the same way other people always did to me. In my mind, popular people would never befriend the unpopular ones.

  “I’m curious. What were you doing at the tarot shop the other night? Don’t you guys have better things to do?”

  Good opening. “It was Darryl’s idea. He said Madame Elizabeth is good … and pretty,” I added as an afterthought.

  “Oh … ” Shannon sounded doubtful.

  “My turn to ask questions. Do you work in the shop every day?” I would have expected her to work at the mall, maybe at the perfume counter or selling fancy handbags, or whatever women called those things.

  Shannon seemed reluctant to answer, but after a moment, she dropped her sandwich back on the plate. “I don’t talk about myself or my family all that much, but I’m going to tell you since you look like you can keep a secret.” She glanced up at me, looking hopeful.

  I placed a palm over my heart. “Not a peep.”

  “My dad travels on business a lot. My mom gets bored, so she took classes on tarot reading. She’s one of those … um … eccentric people. When she got her certificate, she talked my dad into getting her a spot in that awful location. And to make things worse, she demanded I helped her out after school.” Shannon’s mood shifted, and she seemed unhappy.

  “Madame Elizabeth is your—”

  She didn’t even let me finish. “Yep, my mother.”

  “Does it bother you to be working there with her?”

  Shannon nodded. “Sometimes I ask myself why I agreed to it, but I don’t have the heart to tell her to look for someone else. It feels weird, because I feel we’re just fooling people. But her readings—I’m not sure what to make of them.”

  I stared at her, stunned.

  “Don’t look so shocked. I saw your face when you went out of her office.” She tried to make it sound funny, but I couldn’t smile.

  “What are you trying to say?” I put down my soup bowl.

  “Madame … err, my mother said something that scared you. I knew it, because she’s done the same thing to me.” Shannon picked up her sandwich again, as if debating another bite, but she put it back down without eating more.

  This small revelation triggered the warning bells in my head. “Is that why you’re here?”

  “Yes and no.” She got up to walk over to the window, and she stood there for a long moment before turning around. Her eyes misted. “I didn’t believe her at first. She told me after you left that you’ll be the key to what lies ahead for me.”

  I stared at her, dumbfounded. “So our being partners in class is falling into a pattern designed by some cruel jokester?” I tried to make sense of it, but I was drawing
blank.

  “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. That’s what she told me. It scared me, and for days, I didn’t talk to her. It felt like she wasn’t the same person. I don’t know what to say, Brian. Believe me, I’m freaked out, too.”

  I patted the mattress and urged her to sit beside me. I had no idea what to say to her. It sounded so weird.

  Shannon sat down and wrung her hands. “I have no idea why I didn’t believe her then, but I do now. My peculiar mother saw something in those cards. When I asked her, she cried and hugged me. She said she has no idea how to help me. When she saw you, she was certain you’re the one who could. It’s just plain unbelievable!” She shook her head.

  “Did she explain why?” The whole thing was too confusing.

  Shannon glanced around as if what she was about to tell me was top secret. “Mom wants me to stay as close to you as possible. I got so upset with her because the whole thing was ridiculous, but she insisted. I know it sounds like I’m taking advantage of you, but how else can you explain how we became partners all of a sudden?”

  That much was true. Even if it did sound suspicious, there was no other way of explaining how we ended up on two projects together. If I were in my right mind, I wouldn’t be complaining. Instead, I should get down on my knees and thank my lucky stars for adding some excitement to my life.

  “I’m not going to lie. She freaked me out, too. Besides, I don’t believe in psychic stuff,” I replied, not apologetic in the least.

  “She freaks me out every day!” Shannon laughed. Then she glanced at the clock on my nightstand and bolted up. “Shoot, I have to get home. My dad’s getting back tonight, and I don’t want him to send out a search party.”

  “Hey,” I pulled at her arm again, “Can I call you?”

  “Sure. You have my number.” The smile she gave me was more than dazzling—it was mind-numbing.

  She made me feel like a million dollars. I almost gave back a big grin, but I stopped myself. Instead, I got up, and we walked down the stairs together in silence.

  The rest of the house was dark and quiet. My parents must’ve retreated to their bedroom for the night.

  “Drive safe.” I had to fight the urge to touch her again. It’d be a mistake if I let myself get used to it.

  “Thanks. Get better, okay? We have tons of work to do.” She waved before descending the lit pathway to her car.

  I waited by the doorway until she gave another wave and drove away. After I closed the door behind me, I gave in and twirled around with happiness. I was still pirouetting when the hallway light turned on, abruptly halting my celebration. I turned to look up and saw my dad shaking his head.

  “Brian, are you okay?” he asked.

  “Yep!” I answered way too eagerly and took the stairs two at a time. “Night, Dad!”

  I returned to my room, and like a greedy dog, inhaled deep to savor Shannon’s lingering scent. When all that was left was stale air and the aroma of our leftovers, I crawled into bed. In the darkness, I recalled Madame Elizabeth’s words. Your curse comes with a blessing. If Shannon was the blessing, then I wouldn’t mind shouldering my curse at all.

  Interpretation

  I took another sick day from school. The fever had gone down, but even though I was feeling better enough to attend my classes, it would take crafty maneuvering to convince my mother to let me out of the house so soon. Mark and Darryl called to check on me before class started, and I dozed off after playing a round of video games.

  When I woke up, I sent Shannon a text to tell her I’d be missing school again. To my surprise, she responded right away. She even volunteered to come by after school to drop off my homework before she headed to her job.

  Even though Shannon didn’t stay long and I would have liked to spend more time with her, I wasn’t going to complain. It wasn’t every day that a fine girl dropped by my house to see me. As usual, I stared at her like she was from another planet. I couldn’t get over the fact that she was in my life, no matter in what capacity. Since I didn’t have anything else to occupy my mind, I spent most of the day daydreaming about her, still unable to believe my luck in having her come into my life. There was no questioning that a higher force had brought us together.

  My plan was to savor the moment and enjoy having a new friend. No matter how thrilled I was with recent developments between us, a nagging feeling that something was about to happen began to plague me. With my sudden recurrent nightmares and what she told me the night before, I felt rather strange and somewhat nervous. Whatever it all meant, it dampened my inexplicable high.

  My phone rang, disturbing my inner conflict.

  “Talon, we’re coming over,” Mark said.

  “Sure. What time?”

  Then the doorbell chimed. “Now.” He laughed and hung up.

  I opened the door to find him and Darryl with PS4 controllers and a bag of chips. It was typical of them to show up like that.

  “Feeling better?” Darryl asked when we reached my bedroom.

  “Yeah,” I answered absent-mindedly.

  We sprawled on my bed, and Mark picked up the remote control for the television and started flipping through the channels.

  “Here, let me!” Impatient, I grabbed the remote from him and turned on the auxiliary station right away. “Let’s play.”

  They gave me a questioning look. “I know you’re in love with your remote, but what the hell was that about?” Mark opened the bag of chips, and the barbecue scent filled in the air.

  “Nothing,” I fibbed.

  “Nothing, my ass,” Darryl said before stuffing his mouth with a handful of potato chips.

  “Bro, you’re acting weird today—weirder than usual, anyway. I know you well enough to know something’s up, so spill the fava beans!” Mark made that Hannibal Lecter hissing sound from one of our favorite movies.

  “Yeah, you ran out of that psychic shop like you’d seen a ghost.” Darryl seconded. “Then you got sick and wouldn’t answer our calls until this morning. Spill, dude.”

  I wavered between the truth or a lie about what had happened over the past few days. Telling them would also mean I had to tell them about Shannon. For some selfish reason, I wanted to keep her all to myself. My own little secret.

  “We’re your best friends, in case you’ve forgotten. We’ve shared dirty secrets since middle school,” Mark reminded me.

  As long as I could remember, these two had been watching my back.

  I still hesitated, but the overwhelming need to share my fears with them overcame the urge to keep Shannon to myself.

  “Fine. It’s weird, and I expect you to keep this on the down-low, aʼight?”

  They nodded.

  “That night at Madame Elizabeth’s, she said something that scared the crap out of me. I know it was bogus, but it freaked me out bad.”

  “What did she say?” they asked in unison.

  I mimicked Shannon’s mom. “With your curse comes a blessing.”

  “Really?” Mark narrowed his eyes. “That scared the shit out of you?”

  “Yeah.” I was sure they’d start making fun of me, but when neither of them said anything, I continued. “She’s creepy, bro.”

  Again, there was silence except for the crunching sound of their chewing, and the music of the forgotten video game’s menu screen.

  After a moment, Darryl began picking at his ear piercings, a nervous habit of his. “Okay, fine. Madame Elizabeth confused the hell out of me with my reading. I got the man hanging upside down. She said that it symbolized self-sacrifice and adapting to changes. Like there’s going to be a pause in my life until I give up something for the greater good. So I asked what it really meant, because my creep-o-meter shot through the roof. She said that my friend would be going through a transition and I needed to be there for him.”

  Mark and I looked at each other while Darryl resumed his assault on the chips.

  “Who is transitioning?” I asked, not sure what it meant.

>   Mark raised both hands and shook his head with a grin. “Don’t look at me. My voice doesn’t squeak. I’m circumcised, and all cylinders are a go.”

  I socked Mark in the arm. “You’re stupid.”

  “What did Madame E tell you?” Darryl asked him.

  He was thoughtful for a moment. “Well, mine was kinda freaky, too. She had me pick a card, and I got temperance. She said it meant I had self-control and was able to handle tough situations, but that I had to deal with impatience and conflict. It could also mean angels and guardian spirits were around, but in my case, she said I was it.” He sighed and looked over at me. “Go figure what that means. Anyway, now you can tell us whatever it is you’re holding back.”

  Cornered, I knew it was time to tell them about the dreams. I turned my desk chair around and straddled it. “That night, I started having weird dreams. First, this creature was chasing after Shannon McKesson. It was all a blur. I went back to sleep and dreamed something different. This random woman was being bitten by a rattlesnake. It was like I was there watching it happen. Then the next day, there she was in the news.”

  I stopped to take a deep breath, and my friends stared at me like I’d lost my marbles. “See, I told you it’s weird. But that’s not all. I dreamed about Shannon and the weird creature again. It woke me up. I went back to sleep, I had another dream. This time, there was a girl running away from a man, and he was holding a bat. I could see everything around them, but I had no idea where they were. The next day, Shannon came over, and she and my mom were watching the—”

  “Hold it right there! Shannon was here?” Disbelief was all over Mark’s face. Darryl stopped chewing, mirroring Mark’s surprise.

  My secret was out. “Yeah, she came over when I didn’t show up for class yesterday.” I tried to make it sound like it wasn’t a big deal.

  “Why would Shannon care if you showed up in class or not?” Mark asked.

  For a brief moment, I felt smug. “We’re partners in Sweeney’s and Mr. P’s classes, so she came by to find out when we’re going to start with the projects.”