Chapter 9/Old friends collide
Monday morning Selah walked into her Biology class as usual and took her seat, Thomas was behind her and was about to tap her on the shoulder and ask her about her weekend, when out of the blue Brittany came over and sat on Selah desk.
“Hey Selah, don’t you just hate Mondays, I was wondering a bunch of us are going to the mall afterschool to do some shopping, are you game?” she was twirling her hair seductively as she sat ram rod straight so her breast were at their highest.
Selah thought of how Brittany had treated her on the weekend, she knew it was all a play for Daniel still, and she had never had any desire to belong in Brittany’s world.
Mia a sweet little thing that hung on every word Brittany said came on the other side of Selah’s desk, “It would be so much fun, Selah kinda like old times remember?”
Selah remembered her and Mia had been close a long time ago, they used to have sleep overs and paint each other’s nails and giggle long into the night. Selah felt a bit of nostalgia, and not having her mom around had reduced her girl talk to nil. She resisted the urge to crawl into a corner and forget about them, she did want something nice to wear to impress Daniel on Valentine’s Day, there was a dance coming up and she wanted to ask him to take her.
“Yeah that sounds like a really good idea, I would love it, thanks Mia.” She smiled at her then turned to Brittany. She was going because Mia would be there and not for Brittany, she would make sure she couldn’t sink her claws into Daniel if it was the last thing she did.
“Great!” Brittany said, “Give me your cell and we’ll get in touch right after classes how about we meet in the parking lot.” They discussed the plans for a second more, as the bell rang and the class began. Selah felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned and saw Thomas with a dismayed look on his face, “What gives Sel, why you going with the poison squad, shopping of all things?”
Selah shrugged her shoulders not wanting to get into it at the moment, she brought her finger to her lips dismissing him and telling him to be quiet all at once.
When Biology class was done, Thomas couldn’t take the waiting any longer he grabbed Selah by the arm and pulled her aside, “Come on Selah, what’s going on.” He was growing very impatient.
Selah looked at him, “What! I can’t go shopping without your permission now!” the anger in her voice palpable.
Thomas backed away his feeling hurt immensely, “Sorry I thought we were friends, since your new boyfriend and your mom…never mind, you’re not the same person I remember that’s all…and I don’t know if I like the new you.”
Selah regretted how harsh she had been with him, “Thomas I’m sorry, since mom died I have a hole you know and I realize I miss some female conversations, my friends are all guys, I live with guys, when Mia asked me if I wanted to go…”
Thomas hadn’t thought about Selah and her mom’s relationship suddenly it made a lot of sense for her to want to be with them, “Sorry Sel, sometimes I don’t think you know…I just miss you and when you agreed to go with them, I felt betrayed…like I didn’t matter anymore.” He had the saddest expression on his face.
Selah put her arms around his shoulder and squeezed him, “You and me, Thomas are always gonna be buds, no matter what, maybe you, me and Daniel can hang out sometimes, what do you say.”
“The three of us, why not just you and I like we used to” his bottom lip began to stick out in a childish pout.
Selah laughed at him “If only I had a camera to take your picture right now.”
Thomas sucked in his lips and tried to man up, his momentum a tad bit too late. “You know what I mean, just you and me, that’s what I mean, catch a movie or something, I’ll feel like a third wheel if I hang out with you two!”
“Why don’t I try and set you up with a date, how about that cute girl on the junior side that followed you around like a puppy last year?” she offered.
Thomas remembered Cindy Matthews, she was kinda cute and thought he was a living god of sorts; his ego could use a boost. He looked at Selah again she was obviously attached at the hip to Daniel, he should have someone too. And Cindy always made him feel good about himself, “Well I think you have come up with a reasonable solution to our dilemma.” He could be with Selah, Cindy would be a distraction, but it would help smooth things over, and Daniel well he would have to learn to stomach him.
The bell rang for the next class, Selah left Thomas to his thoughts, the rest of the day zoomed by, she was actually looking forward to the mall, and shopping, she had missed female companionship more than she was willing to admit.
She texted Daniel telling him of her plans, she asked if he wanted to go to the Valentine`s day dance he said yes, but said he couldn`t dance too well, two left feet and all. He said he wanted her to have fun; he was going to pick up Jacob afterschool and go to the rink with him they had a practice for the junior A team and Jacob was gonna help him.
Selah went out to her car and saw they bunch of girls waiting to go to the mall, they were quite the possy. Mia looked at her and said “Do you mind if I go with you there’s only enough room for them”
Selah was instantly glad she had agreed to go she had mourned her friendship with Mia for a long time. “Yeah sure I have plenty of room,” she turned to Brittany, “We’ll meet you at the main doors ok.” Brittany agreed.
Selah got in her car as Mia, went over to the passenger’s side, “Wow you drive a stick, that’s awesome I barely passed my license with an automatic, but then again you have always been so clever.” She said it with not a bit of malice in her tone. “Selah I’m really sorry about your mom, she was so cool, I remember she always let us stay up late, and make messes in the kitchen,” she touched Selah’s hand sincerely.
Selah had just started the car, she froze for a second as memories of the past flooded her vision, two little girls trying to be grownups, and baking up a storm. Her mom had fed the dreams they had with gentle encouragement and plenty of chocolate chips.
“Thanks she really loved you too you know…she thought of you as her second daughter…” her mom had been just as sad as she was when their friendship had changed when they had gotten into junior high, popularity winning Mia over. Selah had never become bitter over their parting, but it had hurt her a lot.
“I went to the funeral but was too chicken to come see you, I’m so sorry, can you forgive me…for everything I’ve done to you?” doubt filled Mia’s words.
Selah suddenly came to the conclusion that she needed a female in her life, Mia had been everything to her once, and she hoped she could trust her again, “You remember the pinky swear we used to do in your tree house whenever we had a secret, and we promised we wouldn’t tell anyone?” she looked into Mia’s eyes as she saw the familiar look there.
“Yeah, I’ll never forget, you never let me down Selah, and I’m the one…” she gasped as tears fell.
“I’ve learned that it’s best to go forward and not backwards in life, we can’t change the past but we can try move forward with the future, right?” Selah found herself comforting Mia, but it felt good.
“Thanks Selah, my mom has been after me to talk to you, and she was right, and I’m glad I finally got the nerve to.” She saw Mia’s shoulders relax, and she wiped her tears and fixed her makeup. “You know all the new friends I made, I never got as close to them, the way you and I were. I have missed you, but was too scared to come crawling back, when your mom died it made me realize how much I take for granted.”
Selah thought of Mia’s mom Sharon she was famous for her tuna noodle casserole, she remembered eating some after her mom had died and realized it was probably Sharon’s. She backed out of the parking lot and headed for the mall. They continued with some small talk. Selah was glad they had renewed their friendship and hoped to regain some of what they had, but a small part of her remained reserved in the likeliness that she might get disappointed again.
As they arrived at the mall they met the other girls in the food
court, they were all shopping for dresses for the dance, they entered a fancy store, all the other girls flocked to the racks going through all the dresses, Mia was very petite she confessed to Selah that she was going with Cody Smith, she had been crushing hard on him since the beginning of junior high, they had been getting closer, he had asked her to go steady around Christmas time, and Mia had been overjoyed.
They slowly went through the rack all the really pretty dresses had been picked over already; Mia grabbed Selah “Let’s go find some shoes Sel,” Mia went over to Brittany and told her they were going to the shoe store, Brittany shrugged her shoulders as if she didn’t care what Mia did.
They walked over to the nearest store, Selah gravitated to a pair of 2 inch heels they were multicolored with a gold trim, she loved them instantly. She asked the sales lady for her size as she sat down waiting, Mia came over with a pair of even taller ones, they were an open toe with a beautiful black and white design they had the sole and the heel both with a lift, the new style in shoes, the heels were more stiletto like.
Selah like the ones Mia had found, they had each found some in a matter of minutes, Selah walked around with the shoes she had on, they were even comfortable to walk in that would be important for a dance.
Mia fell in love with hers too, they tried on a few more pairs, and Selah found some flats to wear everyday too. They bought their finds and decided they would go looking at the local vintage clothing stores for the perfect dress. They didn’t even bother to tell the other where they were going as they left the mall and went downtown.
They stopped at Tim Horton’s and got some coffee, they began settling in to the same camaraderie they had before, they had a huge selection of dresses to choose from after looking for about fifteen minutes Selah found the perfect dress for Mia, it would look fabulous with the shoes she had found earlier. She turned and found Mia she was holding a beautiful halter like dress it looked as if it was a rap around type and it was multicolored, they both went to the dressing rooms and tried them on, they had brought in the shoes too so they could match them up to their dresses. Mia’s dress was a bit too big for her, Selah’s dress fit her perfectly she put her shoes on to see how they went together.
She walked over to the mirror outside the fitting room, the sales lady was there, Selah heard a low whistle “Wow, if I had legs like that, what I could do!”
Selah slightly embarrassed by her comment twirled in the mirror self-consciously. The dress was perfect for her; the shoes were terrific with it also. She looked at the price there was none, she asked the saleslady the price, she answered “ All dresses were 8 dollars unless otherwise marked,” Selah thought of her mom she would have been so proud she was always looking for sales, it had often drove Selah crazy.
She whispered under her breath “Mom do you like this one?” no sooner had the words left her lips, Selah saw a bright flash as if there had been a star in the room with her, she took it as a sign her mom approved.
Mia tried on another dress and found a cute little number that showed off all her curves, they paid for their dresses and decided to go see if they could find some matching accessories. A store a few doors down specialized in handmade jewelry, they found some quaint little items to go with their fabulous finds.
Selah was so glad that they seemed to be going in the right track, her’s and Mia’s friendship, she couldn’t wait to tell Daniel, she decided to tell Mia a bit about him and how amazing he was.
Mia told her how she had seen them at the funeral; he had been so close to Selah it was as if they were attached, helping her stand in her moments of grief. They talked a bit more about all kinds of things, she told Selah about the party at Colby’s house after the dance.
Selah hadn’t been to too many parties she didn’t like the drinking and drugs scene, she said they most likely wouldn’t go as Mia tried to convince her otherwise. They soon parted ways as Selah dropped Mia off at her house. Selah wanted to get home and talk with Daniel she missed him like crazy, she felt like she hadn’t seen him in weeks it had only been a few hours at the most since they had saw each other last.
Later that evening Selah had been trying for a while to get a hold of Daniel, his phone‘s battery had run out because the answering service said it wasn’t on. She watched TV, and anxiously waited for his call. Jacob told her Daniel had just gone home after dropping him off after the practice.
When ten thirty rolled around Selah couldn’t wait any longer and knew she had to call it a night, she would see him in the parallel that she would make sure of. She washed up and crawled into her nice crisp sheets, it wasn’t long before she found herself in the familiar surroundings; she thought of Daniel immediately and became frustrated when
nothing happened she had always been able to pull him into her thoughts and he had always appeared instantly, she tried a few more times to no avail. She decided to see what Caleb was up to, she shifted and went searching for him at the beach.
Daniel had had a busy night, his moms car had broken down and he had to go pick her up at work, nothing seemed to be going right for him, his phone had died he had forgotten to charge it. And he hadn’t even touched base with Selah since after school, when she had told him she was going shopping with the girl from the restaurant Saturday night; he had been shocked to say the lease.
He had wanted to talk with her to find out what had happened, but the circumstances of the evening had prevented him from doing so, it was late now and he didn’t want to wake her if she was sleeping, he hoped that tomorrow would prove to be a much better day, nothing else could go wrong tonight, he got home after eleven with his mom, they talked for a bit then he said goodnight, hoping he would see Selah tonight in the void, he missed her.
Selah walked over to Caleb he seemed to be in a not so good mood, he had a creased brow and looked very serious, Selah sat next to him, not daring to ask any questions, she would wait him out.
Caleb turned and looked at her, she seemed pensive tonight, and he wondered what the cause was. He watched her as she stared off into her own thoughts, wondering what they were, if he could only have a piece of her for just himself.
Selah wondered why calling Daniel to her hadn’t worked, she figured she would ask Caleb maybe he would help her. “Caleb may I ask you a question?”
“Depends, what’s the question?” he was short with her, man she frustrated him to no ends.
“I have brought people into my dreams before, and I tried tonight but they never appeared does that make any sense, why wouldn’t they?” she bite her lip waiting for his response.
Caleb tilted his head trying to understand her question, “What do you mean in your dreams, were you conscious like you are now?”
“Yes, just like now I am now… this is like a dream right?” Selah asked.
“Well not really, you’re conscious now, in a dream you wouldn’t be so aware, when you woke up you wouldn’t remember much. In dreams’ you can have people you want there but they are mostly uncontrollable they are made up of your psych trying to tell you things in your subconscious thoughts. You wouldn’t be able to do what you just said.” Caleb was a little confused by what she meant.
“What do you mean you call them to you? I don’t’ understand that part of what you’re saying.” He had never heard of calling someone to come to you.
“When I first came here in the parallel...”
“The void, you can call it the void,” he interrupted her.
“What did you say the void, why do you call it that” she asked, totally forgetting her train of thought.
“Yeah the void is what I said, because this place is void of physical beings… for now.” He barely whispered the last two words, not wanting Selah to pick up on them.
Selah repeated the word, knowing it was fixed in her brain now, she wouldn’t forget that, “The void, anyway what was I saying before I mean, when you interrupted me.”
Caleb looked at her straining his memory then he said, “Pulling peopl
e to you, you were going to explain that to me.”
‘Oh right, when I come into the void, I can see everyone’s lights or at least that’s what I think they are, I can sort of distinguish who’s light they belong to kind of and then I pull them to me like gravity or something…I know it sound weird and you think I’m crazy, I don’t know how else to explain it in words.”
Caleb thought about it for a bit, to pull something it would take a lot of energy and you would need air to do so, “Show me what you do Selah”
Selah thought about bringing Caleb to her special place where she could see all the stars but something inside her was telling her not to share that with anyone. She closed her eyes and instead pictured Daniel hoping it would work this time, she pictured his face concentrating on his features as if she was staring right at him, nothing happened.
Caleb saw how she was focusing he waited, nothing changed and no-one appeared before her.
Selah was getting frustrated, “It’s not working that’s what I don’t understand,” she was wringing her hands together.
“Has it always worked before tonight? Caleb asked her.
“Yes why? Selah asked
“Try with a different person if you’ve only tried with one.” He suggested.
Selah relaxed some, why hadn’t she thought of that, she thought of her mom and focused on her face, she felt everything shift and grabbed Caleb’s hand as it changed.
Caleb was surprised at the sudden change surrounding him, he thought she was imagining things; they were in a huge flower garden he saw a pretty petite women sitting on a rock, staring into a pond at some colorful fish.
“That’s my mom she who I thought of and I pulled her to me, but I guess I went to her instead. It’s still not what I meant she is always here, the person I pulled to me isn’t here already. They don’t know about this place.” She desperately wished she could find the right words so he could understand what she meant.
Caleb looked around the place and at Selah mom, “Try that other person again, I’m having trouble envisioning what you mean.”
Selah sat down on the grass she folded her legs one over the other, resting her hands on her knees, in a meditation pose. She cleared her mind of all her thoughts and imagined the little mouse with his trusty broom. She concentrated every fiber of her being on Daniel, right down to the stubble on his chin, she could smell him, tastes him even when she focused like this.
Caleb watched as Daniel emerged in front of him, as if he had always been there, he hadn’t thought of who she was trying to reach, when he saw Daniel the bile in his throat rose.
Daniel had just relaxed and entered the void, when he felt her pulling him to her and he surrendered most willingly, he wanted to see her. He felt everything shift and she materialized before him like a vision of beauty.
Selah opened her eyes and knew it had worked this time she had felt him. She was so happy to see him she reached up and touched his face bringing his supple lips to hers, “I missed you.” She whispered to him alone.
Caleb what beginning to boil in rage, he really didn’t want to be a witness to this tryst. They were completely unaware of his presence; he decided to make himself known.
Selah let Daniel go remembering Caleb all of a sudden, as he began clearing his throat. Daniel turned and saw they weren’t alone, suddenly cautious of the situation.
Selah smiled at Caleb innocently, “Now do you see what I did, I called him to me not me to him, like before.”
“Yeah, I see I never knew you could do that I’ll have to try it sometimes, can you do that Daniel call people to you?” Caleb asked Daniel a hint of malice in his voice.
Daniel turned and saw the look of utter confusion on Selah’s face, this wasn’t good…Caleb should of never known him by name. Selah’s face was getting paler by the second…how would or could he even explain it to her… “Selah…” he barely got out.
Selah looked from Daniel to Caleb, she had heard wrong Caleb knew Daniel by name… but how could he? It didn’t make sense Daniel didn’t know anything about the void he had never mentioned it to her, and she had even told him everything the last time she met him here…he would of told her then…this was a mistake she had heard wrong she was sure of it.
“What did you say Caleb, do you two know each other?” she croaked out her throat like sandpaper suddenly.
Daniel gave Caleb a look of pure murder; Caleb ignored him and calmly answered Selah. “Well I don’t know him very well but he’s been coming here in the void a lot longer that I have, I’ve seen him around, right Daniel?” he answered sweetly as if he hadn’t just pulled the rug out from underneath them both.
Daniel took Selah’s hand’s wishing he could tell her everything, but his vow left him empty of words as she looked at him, the pain and hurt in her eyes so visible it left him in physical pain.
He shifted wanting to be alone with her, he had to make her see he couldn’t tell her, he wanted to but it was supposed to be her choice he wanted to break Caleb in half for what he was putting her through, she had been through enough already he didn’t care one iota for her to do this now.
“Is it true do you know each other, Daniel?” she was trembling he tried to hold her but she pushed him away.
“Answer me is it true… do you know Caleb? She shouted her anger getting the best of her now.
Daniel felt defeated this was going to come to no good he could tell. “Yes, I know Caleb.” He whispered, he would make him pay for this… the pain he was putting her through… he had underestimated Caleb’s tenacity for power… he never thought he would stoop so low.
“Why didn’t you tell me Daniel, Why…? I told you everything… you never said a word…all this time you knew.” Her tears were flowing; she was so distraught she hadn’t even noticed that he had brought her somewhere else to be alone with her.
“I’m sorry Selah I couldn’t…” how could he explain and not break his vow he was speechless, they had come so far together, he could lose her over this he knew…he knelt on the ground before her, “I will do anything for you Selah you mean everything to me…”
“How can I believe you…Daniel you lied about everything… is this all a lie…? Why didn’t you just tell me…I would have understood, but lying I told you at the beginning I hated liars and you still went ahead and did it…” her heart felt as if it was being ripped to shreds.
“I never lied to you Selah…I just left some things out…I know that’s not right but I never lied.” He felt his own tears fall as the hopelessness of the situation dawned on him.
“So what Daniel what else did you leave out…? Selah screamed at him “Is there another girlfriend was this just a joke… see how far you could play me,” she pushed him to the ground wanting him to hurt as much as she did, she punched him and slapped his face, he never lifted a finger to defend himself, he just knelt there before her, trying to soak into himself all her pain.
“I opened myself to you completely…I am such a damn fool, I wondered why you were there all of a sudden, I was so blinded by you I never saw what was right in front of me, it all makes sense to me now, and all those years ago when I met you here, right here.” And you just couldn’t come clean for whatever sick reason you have… whatever game you were playing,” she slammed every feeling she ever had for anything behind the biggest wall she could create, never again would she be so gullible, believing, trusting in something… a fairy tale…why would he ever want her… she would never let herself be this fallible again.
Daniel watched as she went through the motions and as the light dwindled from her eyes, she closed herself off to him, he got up and held her to him as tight as possible.
“Selah, I wish I could make you understand why, someday you will, please forgive me, please. I love you so much, I love you.”
Daniel saw that he wasn’t going to get through to her, she had shut down, he lifted her face to his, and he kissed her gently to no avail, as he pulled his lips from hers she didn’t r
eact even slightly. She even felt cold to his touch, as if she were empty inside, vacant, dead.
Selah wanted to scream at the top of her lungs, she had wanted so much to see him, this was a nightmare, she shoved everything into a tiny place in her mind, it had all been just a dream it had never been real, she had been in a nightmare the whole time, her tormentor had just been put into a beautiful package…all the harder to resist…it had been a ruse.
She didn’t want to be in this night mare anymore she just wanted to sleep, she willed herself back to her bed, she would wake from this night mare and she hoped she never returned to it.
Daniel felt her slip from his fingers he tried to hold onto her but she was like water and suddenly she was gone. He burned with a cold fury he had never felt so strongly before… all his efforts to make her love him, to be there for her, so she would trust him… Caleb had cancelled it all out with one word… his name.
He moved with a determined precision… he would find him, maybe not tonight but he would and when he did…he had never imagined he could want to hurt someone as much as he wanted to inflict pain on Caleb, he pictured the look of pain on Selah’s face and all he wanted was Caleb’s blood, he wanted to rip him apart piece by piece… the way he had ripped both their hearts to shreds.
He searched looking for any trace of him, he was frantic the anger burning away at his soul…
Above a concerned look covered the creator’s face, Caleb had done them wrong he would have to pay for that, not just from Daniel…he would have to correct him in his actions…He disliked when his children fought, and Caleb had messed with a hornet’s nest… Daniel was not someone to be taken lightly… and Selah had shut herself down like a light switch, time was of the essence and Caleb had cost them a lot of it on this night…
Parallel (Prophesied a spirit within,Book I) Page 11