by Ryan, Matt
I shook my head and wondered if Mark had a list of lame sayings in his back pocket, or if he saved them all for me. The corners of my mouth tugged up at his dorky smile. It was hard not to smile around him. He had an adorable way about him … endearing, with a mixture of mystery. I mean, why the hell was he so interested in me?
The bag swayed in his hand like he might be trying to hypnotize me. I knew he saw my interest because I was making no effort to hide it. I had to know how this all worked and if it indeed was real.
“Come on,” I said. “Let’s go up to the tree fort.”
I scanned the nearby forest. I wasn’t sure why; I just felt as if we were doing something nefarious. Like going to hide and smoke a pack of cigarettes, or sneak a beer from the fridge.
The two-by-four ladder creaked under my feet. I flung the hatch open and climbed into the small room. Mark was climbing much more slowly, mostly because he was holding the bag in one hand and climbing with the other. I paced around the opening until he climbed into the room.
He closed the hatch and took what seemed like an hour to open the bag and place the bowl and two vials on the shelf in the corner of the room. “So, you just—”
“I know what to do,” I interrupted, brushing up against him in an attempt to move him aside.
He held firm and smiled at me. “You are one anxious person, aren’t you?”
I crossed my arms and tapped my foot. “I’m sorry, but I need to prove, or hopefully disprove, this crap. I can’t handle the uncertainty for much longer.”
He shook his head and raised a brow. “Well, you’d better get used to not knowing anything. This stuff is just the surface of the alchemist world. Once you start dabbling, it’s only a matter of time until they find you.”
“Who’s they?”
“The Academy, most likely.”
“The place your mom was kicked out of?”
“Yeah. Though she wasn’t kicked out exactly. She just didn’t graduate. Something about not showing enough promise. Some alchemists are weaker than others.” He paused to streak back his hair with his hand.
“So some are stronger than others?”
He nodded. “My mom has talked a lot about the Academy, and she trained me for much of my life, hoping I would have the touch like her.”
“But you don’t?”
“Would she be bugging you if I did?”
“I suppose not.” I stared at the three items on the shelf and then back at Mark. He pushed on his stomach with his fingertips while smiling at me.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, why?” He moved his hand away from his stomach.
I knew he didn’t want me to know, so I let it go. I would find the right moment to talk with him about it. Besides, I had a shelf of ingredients waiting for me to mix.
“Can we get to it?” I succeeded in keeping a calm tone, but my mind wanted to yell the words out and grab the items to mix together.
“This is the simple mix of two liquids. The blue one is ammonia, and the second is water from the tap.”
“I’m mixing two liquids together. Really? Your mom had some flaky stuff in the mix before. How is this going to turn into anything?”
“You’ll never know until you do it.”
“Fine.”
He moved aside and I sidestepped to stand in front of the table. I took the first glass vial and poured it in.
“Oh, I almost forgot.” He handed me a thin wooden spoon. “Your mixing stick, my lady.”
“Thanks.”
I poured the blue liquid in and watched it mix with the clear water. I stuck the spoon in and stirred. The anticipation of something happening put me at arm’s length from the bowl. The water didn’t froth or steam up like the other ones … it just looked like a bowl of water. I pulled the spoon out and tapped it on the edge of the bowl before placing it on the table. The liquid swirled under the momentum I had built and then slowed down to still water.
“Did I do something wrong?” I stared at the liquid.
He eased up next to me, gazing into the bowl. “What you did wrong is a lack of emotion. You have to channel a bit of yourself into the mix, otherwise you’ll be just another rube.”
“What’s a rube?”
“Someone who can’t channel their emotion into the mix.”
“Channel my emotion,” I parroted. The two times Ms. Duval had had me mix, she’d told me to feel my anger. It wasn’t hard for me to summon.
I stood next to the bowl again, and in a second, I had the rage I wanted. Spinning the spoon around, I felt the essence of the water … and a part of me actually went into the water. Steam flowed over the edge of the bowl and up into the air.
I heard a clanking sound and felt the spoon hit something solid in the bowl. I blew the fog away and saw a round object sitting at the bottom. A clear stone, about the size of a golf ball, with a hint of blue in it, almost like an ice cube. I reached in to grab it.
“No.” Mark grabbed my hand. “You don’t want to touch these things.”
“Why? What does this one do?”
“This is one of the simplest forms of alchemy, mixing two similar ingredients. My mom tried to get me to make that stone a hundred times before she gave up. All it gives you is a runny nose.”
“Show me.”
“I’m not touching it.”
“Big baby.” I picked the stone up. It felt cold and as smooth as ice. It sat on my palm and then flattened out like a scoop of ice cream melting and disappearing into my skin.
“I don’t feel—”
Snot ran down over my lip and stopped my sentence. I rushed my hand to my nose and looked at the back of my hand, thinking I might see blood. It looked like water but with more gel to it. The snot continued to drain from my noise.
“Oh my god, it won’t stop,” I said with my hands flying up to cover my nose.
Mark laughed and shook his head. “I told you.”
It ran down onto my shirt. He kept laughing, and I wanted to punch him for it. “It’s only supposed to last a minute or so.”
I hopped around, pulling at my shirt and stuffing it into my nose. The front of my soaked shirt acted as a poorly built dam, blocking the snot from running further along my body. I felt disgusting enough already. When was it going to end?
I pulled the shirt from my nose and felt the stream turn to a dribble and then nothing. But the damage and grossness had done its job on me. The wet cloth clung to me and I pinched it away from my body, trying to keep it from touching my skin.
“This is so gross.”
Mark unbuttoned his shirt. “You can wear this. I have an undershirt.” He handed it to me and I placed it on the chair.
He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow in expectation.
“I’m not taking my top off in front of you.”
Mark turned around. “Is this okay?”
“Cover your face.”
Mark put his hands over his face.
With one quick glance at Mark, I yanked my shirt over my head. I brushed the dry side over my face, then tossed it to the floor.
Mark looked over his shoulder.
“Hey, no peeking.”
I adjusted my bra and yanked his shirt off the chair. It was too big and smelling of Mark, but I slid my arms through the sleeves. He looked over his shoulder again. Did the guy have no shame? Seeing me in his shirt, he turned around.
With the last buttons done, I had to admit it felt good to have it on. Maybe it was just getting my disgusting snot-ridden shirt off, or maybe it was the feeling of being closer to Mark. Such a stupid thought, but there it was. He strutted across the tree fort, staring at my chest.
“You wear that a whole lot better than I do.”
“You’re unbelievable.” I wiped my nose and felt relieved to have a dry face. I stared at the bowl for a while and then turned back to Mark. “This is for real, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“We really jumped back in time?”
/> “Yes.”
I felt nauseated and plopped down on the chair. A stack of books fell to the floor, but I didn’t care. The room swayed and I saw Mark moving closer.
“You okay?”
I closed my eyes tight and stopped the world around me from spinning. I didn’t notice he had both of my hands in his.
“I’m fine,” I said, my words slurring. I couldn’t get past the realization that I was some rare alchemist person who could do things that no one should be able to do. Apparently there were more of us, a whole Academy of people like me.
The chair creaked and Mark rose as I sat up.
“Please, show me more.” I wanted to learn about every freaking stone in existence. The idea of it swallowed me whole and a tingling sensation through over my entire body. My thoughts ran wild with possibilities.
“I can, but I have to warn you, it’s a dangerous road to take. There are people like my mom who search out people like you. The fact that you can make a something like a time stone makes you even a bigger target. There are also dark alchemists who try to take people like you away.”
“I can handle the danger. Let’s get more stuff to mix. Something cool. Dude, we could do a million amazing things, I bet.”
“It’s not that simple. Not everything produces results, and I only know so many patterns.”
“Then we need to talk to your mom. You said she used to be in some academy, right? I bet she knows all kinds of stuff.”
“Allie, no. You don’t want her to be involved in this. She’ll find ways to manipulate you, create things that who knows what she’ll do with.”
“Yeah, but she knows how to make these stones. She might be able to help me understand.”
“My mom’s purpose is to manipulate people with them. I’ve seen it my whole life. It’s something you want to stay away from.”
“What do you mean, your mom uses these stones on people?”
“She won’t teach you. She’ll get you to make a stone, like the time stone or the insight stone. Things that can be used to create a situation of opportunity.”
“Insight stone? If we can’t trust your mom, then where can I go?”
He rubbed his chin and glanced out the window. “There’s the Academy, but I’m telling you that world isn’t one you want to get mixed up in. It’s filled with greed and deceit.”
I ignored the warning with my interest maxed out. I stared at the side of his head, wanting to turn it with my hands and make him tell me more. “Where is this Academy?” I had to know more about these stones and this ability I had. “How do I get in?”
“The Academy watches and listens. Making and using things like a time stone can bring out all kinds of people.” He looked at the ceiling and cringed. “I think I’ve handled you entirely wrong, and I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have shown you this stuff. It’s just when I’m around you... Listen, with your skills, there’ll be some people who will kill to get to you.”
“Are there really people out there looking for people like me?”
“If you’re looking in the right place, using the right stone, you can find a budding alchemist. My mom found you. How hard do you think it will be for others?”
I hated the idea of someone looking for me, and for what? Because I could make these rock balls?
“Is everyone in alchemy bad?” I asked.
“No. Don’t get me wrong. There are ways you can help people. There are ways to do good with it. It’s just that too many people get sucked in and consumed by it.”
I jumped on the good part. “Why don’t we grab some more stuff from your mom’s cabinet? I bet we could make some pretty awesome ones.” I wiped my nose. “Maybe even stuff we can protect ourselves with.”
“You’re not going to give up on this, are you?”
“Not a chance.”
“Fine, but tomorrow. I’d like to have another day with you before you go completely alchy crazy.”
Mark shared my desk the next day. Bridget shot glances back at us if we laughed or spoke loudly enough for her to hear. I couldn’t help but look at Bridget differently after what had happened in the chimichanga line.
The time flew by with Mark in class next to me, and then when the lunch bell rang, I lifted a brown bag from my backpack.
“I brought us both lunch today. We can sit at my tree.”
The other kids scraped their chairs against the concrete floor and shuffled their books into their packs. Bridget got up and left in a hurry, giving me a glance along the way.
“You don’t want to hang in the quad? We might find some people you actually like.”
“No, we won’t.”
“I’ve only been here for two days and I already can tell you a few people I think you’d like.”
“Are you trying to set me up on a date?”
He laughed. “No, let’s forget it. I love your tree spot.”
I smiled and stood. We walked across the campus, past the art classroom to the large oak tree. I selected a ground-down root as a chair and tapped my hand on the space next to me. Mark sat next to me in the shade of the tree’s canopy.
“What did you bring?” Mark asked, gesturing toward my paper bag.
“Turkey sandwiches. I snuck the good sharp cheddar out of the fridge this morning.” I handed him the sandwich wrapped in cellophane.
I unwrapped mine and took a bite, but I wasn’t thinking about food. I hadn’t thought about much of anything besides stones, alchemy, and this Academy he’d mentioned. It consumed my thoughts so much, I had to suppress them so I wouldn’t look like some freak in front of Mark.
“We should do something cool today,” I said.
He held his sandwich with both hands and chewed what remained in his mouth before answering. “I take it you have something in mind?”
“I want you to show me what you and your mom do. This manipulation thing?”
He set his sandwich down on his lap and instantly I knew I’d asked for too much, too soon.
“I don’t help her in that kind of stuff. It isn’t right to use the stones that way.”
I searched for the words. “We don’t have to do it the way your mom does, you know? We can just have fun, maybe mess with some people. You’re the one who said they don’t even know what happened to them.” I hugged my sandwich close to my body. “Come on, please?”
“You’re so dang cute when you beg.” He paused. “Yes, we can find some innocent people and then use them solely for our entertainment.”
“When you put it like that, it sounds even more awesome.”
I told Mark about the sidecar, which he thought was the funniest thing in the world, but he declined to ride in it. It was a short walk to Main Street.
I felt the small sack hanging next to my hip. Having two stones so close to my skin made me nervous, especially since I knew what they did. Mark had shown me how to make them and they were a staple of his mom’s arsenal.
He took my hand away from my side and wrapped it around his.
“You nervous?” he asked.
“A little. I mean, what if they notice, or what if I drop one?”
“We can turn around right now.” Mark slowed down, but I shook my head and kept walking down Main Street.
The Swan looked busier than normal, with at least six people in it. A few customers were at the bar, and a couple was sitting close at the back table. We passed by the window, and I looked briefly into the next place, Bob’s Electronics. TVs were displayed in the window, hanging from thin cables. Some sports game was on; football, it looked like.
Mark slowed down and observed the screens before catching back up with me as I stopped in front of the farmer’s market. Busier than the Swan, it had clusters of people touching different fruits on display or taking small samples of beef jerky from a jerky cart. It was big enough for a couple of stone wielders like us to mingle through, but small enough that we could witness the disturbances we created.
“How about him?” Mark nodded toward a hefty
man examining the beef and cheese cart.
“I don’t know. I was thinking about him.” I pointed to a man aat the orange cart. His shifty eyes glanced at us and he moved closer to the stand.
I walked over to the cabbage vendor and pretended to pick through some stacks of iceberg lettuce.
“Two for five, miss,” the cabbage salesman said.
I snuck more glances at the man in the thick coat, and when I didn’t respond to the salesman, he walked back to his chair, mumbling something about teenagers.
“Five bucks says that guy is shady,” Mark whispered.
“I don’t know. He might just—” Before I could finish the sentence, I saw him stuff an orange into his jacket. “Did you see that?”
“Got a bandit in the farmer’s market.” Mark smiled.
This was better than I’d thought. I’d had reservations about using these magical rocks on an innocent person, but this little man had just stolen something. He deserved a little bit of pranking.
“He’s the one. Which stone should I use first?”
“The one with yellow stripes.”
I removed the sack from my pocket and opened it on the palm of my hand. A blue stone with red speckles sat next to a milky one with yellow stripes. I pinched the yellow striped one and walked over to the shady man, who was now standing next to an apple cart. He asked the salesman to grab a jar of apple cider from behind him and used the opportunity to stuff an apple into his pocket.
I moved closer as he rejected the cider. “Never mind. I thought it might be something spicier,” the thief said. He glanced at me and moved to the next cart.
I followed, with Mark close behind me. I pinched the stone harder between my fingers and moved in on the criminal. He glanced back at me and narrowed his eyes before moving to the pomegranates. I moved next to him and reached for a pomegranate. I dropped the stone on the back of his hand. He jerked his hand back, but the stone had already dissolved by the time he brought his hand to his face.
He rubbed his palm and glared at me.
“Sorry, just grabbing one,” I said, keeping my eyes on him, waiting for the stone to do its thing.
He stopped rubbing his hands and a glazed look washed over his eyes as his hands slumped to his sides. I set the pomegranate back on the pile and waved my hand in front of his face. He didn’t blink.