Chosen

by Sarah Swan

  “I heard what you did,” she said in a whisper. “Thank you.”

  “It’s fine,” I said, coming up beside her. “Anybody would have done the same thing.”

  “No.” Liz shook her head. “Not everyone.”

  “How are you feeling?” Her skin was still pale. She looked like she had been through hell and back.

  “Better, now.”

  “That’s good.” I had a million things to ask her, mostly about what happened last night, but decided this wasn’t the right time. “Zoe’s here too, by the way. She’s still sleeping.”

  “Madison told me.”

  “You saw her?”

  “She was here a few minutes ago—no. Maybe half an hour ago. It’s hard to tell. My head still feels… fuzzy.” Her voice was barely audible.

  “At least you’re in the right place to recover.”

  “Yeah. Silly me, huh?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “What I did to get here. I should have been more responsible.”

  “You shouldn’t worry about that now,” I told her genuinely. “Just focus on getting better.”

  “I will.”

  “Good. Well… I’m going to head out, now that I’ve seen you up and alive.” I barked an uneasy laugh, and turned around to leave. I was stopped by Liz reaching out to touch my hand.

  “Thank you,” she whispered. “I knew I could rely on you. And… I’m sorry. About getting mad yesterday, with Rob. I shouldn’t have done that.”

  Would she still say that if she saw me talking to him last night? I wondered, but smiled at her. “All is forgiven.”

  “No. I really shouldn’t have done that. Sometimes I can get a little bit protective. I’m sorry.”

  “You just need to focus on getting better,” I said, “then we can talk.”

  “Okay.”

  I nodded, and left the room. It was good to see Liz recovering. As soon as she got her strength back, I would have to talk to her about exactly what happened in the room when I wasn’t there. I knew the answer wasn’t as simple as alcohol poisoning. There was something more, and it was being covered up by the girls. Their innocent faces when I asked about the blue light were just too scripted. There were secrets here, and they nearly cost Liz her life.

  As I left the clinic, I could immediately smell the fresh ocean breeze. I took a deep breath, savoring the moment. The sun was high in the sky, and again not a single cloud showed overhead. It seemed that storm that hit when I first arrived was an anomaly.

  I started down the hill walking toward my room. Judging by the position of the sun in the sky, I guessed it was somewhere around noon. It was lunchtime, but I was too exhausted to think about food. The courtyard out front was busy again, with kids sitting in groups under the trees or kicking a soccer ball around. I was too tired to take notice. The little sleep I got last night was restless and filled with worries – not to mention uncomfortable. I was simply looking forward to collapsing in my big, fluffy bed and taking a long nap. I would deal with everything else once I woke up.

  My plan was going perfectly until I reached the third floor. There, as I was dragging my feet toward my room, I saw probably the last person I wanted to see: Chris.

  He was knocking on my door at the same moment I turned the corner. He frowned, waited for a bit, and then knocked again. Maybe if I turned around now, he wouldn’t notice me, and I could come back in a few minutes…? Begrudgingly, I erased that thought from my head. Even though I was absolutely exhausted, I owed Chris at least the chance to talk to me. And I wanted to talk to him, to clear everything up, but now was absolutely the worst moment. I was exhausted. Before I could decide what to do, he turned his head and recognized me. Instantly, his entire face lit up.

  “Hey! I was just looking for you. I thought you were in the room—” he made a funny expression and pointed at the door, “—but now I see you’re right there.” He pointed at me. Then he laughed, showing that disarming smile. “Funny, huh?”

  I had to force a smile. I didn’t have the energy for humor at the moment. However, now that Chris had seen me, there was no way to back out without hurting his feelings. After his reaction at breakfast the other day, I did need to clear the air. At least he didn’t seem angry or upset right now.

  “Where’ve you been?” he asked, noting my appearance. “You look like you haven’t gotten a wink of sleep! Are you… just returning to your room from last night?” He made that sound so debasing that I had to suppress a groan. Who was he to judge me? But the last thing I wanted to do was start an argument, although, in my current state, I knew I was more apt to do so than usual. I had to watch myself.

  “Yeah,” I laughed, trying to play off the admission. “There was a…” party, I had meant to say, but then stopped myself as I remembered what Chris said about his popularity here. “…a sleepover I was invited to by some girls I met yesterday.” I flinched. Chris had seen the girls I was with yesterday, and that was why he had stormed away. Admitting that I was with them could cause another flare up with him.

  To my surprise, though, he didn’t react. If anything, he seemed concerned. “I wanted to talk to you after I got your message. I know I should have called you yesterday, but I was busy all day and didn’t see it until I got to my room late at night. Today, I figured seeing you in person was better than talking on the phone, anyway. But if you had a long night…?” he trailed off questioningly.

  “I’m fine,” I said quickly. “I can talk.”

  “Are you sure? You look like you might want to get some rest.” He took a step toward his room. “If you want, I can come back another time?”

  “I said I’m fine,” I said with a harsher edge than I meant.

  “If you say so.”

  “So what happened yesterday?” I asked, wanting to shift the subject away from me. “At breakfast, I mean? I didn’t see you until the cafeteria, and when I did you were… already leaving.”

  “Oh, really?” Chris asked, the picture of innocence. “I didn’t notice you there. We must have missed each other.”

  “Are you sure?” I didn’t believe him. However, I was glad he didn’t want to talk about it now. “So you’re not mad?”

  “Mad?” He laughed. “Tracy, I could never get mad at a friend for a simple misunderstanding.” He took a step toward me and smiled. “That is, we are friends. Right?”

  “Of course,” I answered too quickly. The dread that had been welling up inside me about this conversation disappeared. “You’re the first person I met here, after all.”

  “Good.” He stepped toward me again, and spread his arms out for a hug. It was unexpected, but I reciprocated. For the brief moment it lasted, I got a flash of the same feeling I felt when Rob hugged me last night: that feeling of being safe and unconcerned about the world. It disappeared faster than it had come, though. “I wanted to show you something today, if you’re free.”

  “Today as in… right now?” I asked.

  Chris bit his lower lip. “I know you’re probably tired – despite what you say – but I was actually hoping you’d be able to come now, yeah.”

  “Well, what is it?”

  “Just a place on the island I think you’re going to love.”

  “Is it far away?” I was apprehensive about walking any sort of distance before I got some proper rest.

  “Um, not really. But, if you want, I can show it to you some other time.”

  “No, no, I’m fine,” I said. No matter what Chris said about missing me at breakfast yesterday, I knew that he had seen me, and I felt an odd sort of obligation to make it up to him. “Let me just go change into something more comfortable.”

  Chris shook his head, and spread his hands out in front of him apologetically. “You know what, I was wrong. You should definitely get some rest. We can meet up later today and I can show you then, if it’s not too dark.”

  “Really? I mean, are you sure?”

  “Yeah. I don’t want to force you into this at a clear
ly bad time.”

  “But, if you made plans…” I began.

  He shook his head again. “Don’t worry about it. I have plenty to do otherwise.”

  “Thanks for understanding. If you come back in just a few hours, I’ll be ready to go.”

  “Sounds good,” Chris said with a wink. “I’ll let you rest, and then I’ll come by again. Say… around five?”

  Five was actually the time that I wanted to get dinner, as I hadn’t eaten all day and that was the next possible time to make it to the cafeteria. “Five sounds great.”

  “Alright then,” Chris said with a laugh. He tapped my door with one hand. “I’ll be here at five.”

  “Great. I’ll see you then.”

  As he left, Chris came in for another hug, and I gave it to him. Something in the back of my mind told me he was a little too friendly. But, I ignored the voice as I finally opened my door. Throwing my shoes off, I collapsed onto the bed, wrapped the warm blanket around me, and instantly fell asleep.

  A knock at the door jolted me out of bed, and I fumbled for my phone to check the time. It showed 3:48 p.m. I sighed and relaxed. I thought the knock had been Chris, ready to go at five o’clock, which I totally wasn’t ready for. I needed to shower first.

  The knock came again, and I frowned. Who could it be? The knock sounded a third time, louder than before.

  “I’m coming!” I called, and slipped out of bed to investigate. After the catnap I felt better than before.

  I opened the door, and found Liz standing there.

  “Liz?” I exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”

  “Came here to talk to you, obviously,” she said tersely, though not in an unfriendly way.

  “Shouldn’t you be at the clinic?” I asked. She looked much, much healthier than the last time I had seen her. The color had returned to her cheeks, and, surprisingly, it looked like she had found time to put new makeup on.

  “I was there. They let me out.”

  “So early? But… wouldn’t they have to do tests on you, to see how you’re doing, and all that?” They kept me there for three days, although she didn’t know that. I imagined I was in better shape than Liz when I arrived.

  Liz shrugged. “I guess I recovered quickly.”

  “Well, I’m super happy you’re feeling better.”

  “Right.” She sounded like she doubted my sincerity, although I couldn’t imagine why. “Anyway, we need to talk.” She started to come in.

  “Actually,” I said, stepping in her way, “now’s not a great time. I promised a friend I would meet with them very soon, and I haven’t even showered yet…” Talking to Liz was a priority, obviously, but if she were already doing better – which only added to the mystery of what happened – then the conversation could wait a few hours. I had blown Chris off once before, and didn’t want to do it again.

  “Ugh.” Liz looked scandalized. “It’s not with Chris, is it?”

  “No,” I lied. Liz did not look like she believed me.

  “Anyway, this is more important than whatever promise you made. I’m sure your friend will understand. If not – I can tell them myself.” She forced herself past me, and came into the room.

  “No, Liz, really, I can’t—”

  “You need to,” she told me. “We have to talk. Or, more precisely, I have to talk to you.”

  “Yes, and Liz, I promise we will,” I assured her. “But this is just not a good time.”

  “It can’t wait.” She sat down on the edge of my bed, and looked at me expectantly. “So? Come in, and close the door behind you. It’s important!”

  “Liz!” I cried out, exasperated. “Look at me! I haven’t even showered today! And this is after carrying you all the way from the party to the clinic, and then barely getting a wink of sleep in a hard plastic chair all night! You need to give me at least some time to get myself together before talking to you!”

  She considered me for a long moment without a word, head tilted to one side. Then she nodded curtly. “Okay.” She pushed herself up. “That’s fair. You do what you need to do, and once you’re done, let me know. And not a moment later! We need to talk, ASAP.”

  I didn’t disagree. “Not a moment later.”

  “Good.” Liz walked past me to the door. Before leaving, she turned and added, “I’ll call you later tonight if I don’t hear from you before.”

  “But you don’t have my number.”

  “Madison gave it to me.”

  “Ah. Okay.”

  With that, Liz left my room. It was a relief to close the door after her. This visit raised a hundred more questions in my mind. How did Liz get better so quickly? I saw her last night. If that had really been alcohol poisoning, she shouldn’t have been able to so much as get out of bed today. And why did she deem it so important to talk to me? Was it about the same things I wanted to talk to her about? It was hard to get a read on her.

  I looked at my phone, and saw that it was already ten minutes past four. That meant, if I hurried, I had just enough time to get ready.

  Chapter Thirteen – An Unexpected Journey

  The knock at my door came exactly at five. It was perfect timing, too, because I had just finished drying my hair. After the shower and nap, I felt refreshed and revitalized. Truth be told, I was looking forward to hanging out with Chris, and genuinely curious about what he wanted to show me.

  “Hey,” I said as I opened the door, “right on time.”

  “Yeah,” he laughed, combing a hand through his hair. “You ready to go?”

  “Just let me put my shoes on…” I said, before raising my head to look at him for the first time. What I saw caught me off-guard. “Whoa. You look good.”

  It was true. I don’t know how he did it, but somehow Chris seemed… transformed. Even compared to what he looked like this morning. His hair was styled a bit better than before, and his clothes were somewhat nicer, but that wasn’t what made the difference. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but there was something about him that seemed to be there, now, which had been missing before. It made all the difference in his appearance. I didn’t see the scared little boy anymore. Instead, I saw a confident young man. Maybe it was the way he held his shoulders back and up. Whatever it was, Chris definitely looked more impressive than before.

  “Thanks,” he said, and I realized with a start I was staring. I cleared my throat quickly and looked away. “You alright?” he laughed.

  “Yeah, sure,” I replied, spinning away from him. It was a good thing I had the excuse of looking for my shoes. Otherwise, he would have seen my cheeks color. “I’ll just grab my shoes from the closet.”

  “You might want to get a jacket, too,” Chris called from the doorway.

  “Why?” I looked outside, and saw that it was a perfectly sunny day. There were hours of daylight left, at least, and it was still warm.

  “It might get a little windy where we’re going.”

  “Um… okay? And where is that, exactly?”

  “You’ll see,” he answered mysteriously, a gleam in his eye.

  I laughed. “Always the man for secrets, huh?” I teased as I put my shoes on. Chris spread his hand innocently.

  “I’m just saying.”

  “Alright, fine, I’ll take a jacket,” I said, picking one out of the closet and throwing it at him. “But you have to carry it for me!”

  “Fine by me. Just don’t get mad when you beg for it as I hold it out of reach,” he said playfully.

  “Oh, I doubt that’s going to happen,” I answered with a laugh.

  “We’ll see. You ready?”

  “Yeah.” I came out and locked the door behind me. We walked down the stairs. Once we were outside the dorm, Chris set off on an unmarked path, in a direction I’d never been. There were some hills that way, sparsely lined with small trees. Much farther away the cliff edged the ocean. I looked after him for a moment, wondering where he was taking me, when he turned around and beckoned me with a hand. Shrugging, I start
ed after him.

  We walked for maybe ten minutes, with him leading the way. He was oddly quiet. Every time I caught his eye, he looked like he had a secret that would burst out of him if he said a word. I took his cue, and walked alongside wordlessly.

  Eventually, we came upon the edge of the island. It was elevated maybe two hundred feet above the water. There was a sheer drop to the bottom. Jagged rocks stood like sentries as whitecaps whirled around them. From where we stood, it was possible to see all the way to the horizon. The sky was beautifully adorned with thin red and orange clouds. Scattered evergreens stood around us, and it looked like nobody had been here for hundreds of years. Finally, my curiosity got the better of me.

  “So is this what you wanted to show me?” I asked stepping past Chris, looking over the horizon.

  He smiled. “This is nice, isn’t it? But it’s nothing special.”

  “So, there’s something more?”

  “Of course.” He pointed to the side, where a few boulders came out of the ground. “See that rock over there?”

  “The big one that looks like a head?”

  He laughed. “Exactly. Behind it is a trail that leads down.”

  “Down to what?”

  “You’ll see,” he answered mysteriously. “When we go down, though, the winds pick up, and sometimes the surf splashes against the rocks. You’ll have to be careful not to slip.”

  “So that’s why you made me bring a jacket?”

  “And I won’t make you beg for it, either,” he laughed, tossing it to me. “Come. Take a look.”

  He walked to the rocks, where I saw the trail he was talking about. It was little more than a very thin ledge carved against the stone. Small handholds jutted out every few feet. I traced its path down the side of the cliff, and saw that, about halfway down, it started to get wet. At the very bottom, it curved against the cliff face and faded out of view. It was impossible to tell where it ultimately led.

  “What’s down there?” I asked.

  “That’s what I want to show you.”

  “Is it something I want to see?” I asked, eyeing the precipitous ledge.