I closed my eyes and grinned. I could feel my heart beating boldly as she hooked her arm through mine, and we lay there for some time, not speaking, just staring up at the night sky.
❦
Late that night, I walked down the hallway in the hospital where my mom received her radiation treatment. My footsteps echoed through the empty hallway and an eerie haziness surrounded me. As I walked closer to her room, I noticed a chill in the air and anxiety weighed my stomach down like an anvil. Something was wrong.
I bolted to my mom’s room. The evil stone priest-thing stood over her, very still, watching her. She lay in her hospital bed, fitful and restless in her sleep, like she could sense the evilness around her. Fear seized my body as he slowly turned his head toward me. He smiled and the darkness swirled around him; he radiated pure evil and hatred.
“She will die regardless. Does it really matter when?” I heard in my mind. Then he reached for her. I felt like I’d been sucker punched in the stomach and stood frozen in the doorway for a millisecond. Then, fear moved me to action.
“Stop!” I yelled.
I charged furiously at him but my efforts were in vain; it felt like I was slogging through quicksand. My chest felt heavy and I struggled to breathe. Suddenly he disappeared and then reappeared in front of me, inches from my face. His empty eye sockets stared into me and then he opened his mouth slowly, deliberately. His stitches ripped apart, jutting raggedly in his mouth. His bloody lips stretched wide as he leaned toward me like he was going to suck me into a black hole. I felt my feet slip from under me and the blackness surrounded me.
‘I am coming’ rumbled through my thoughts as the darkness encircled me and I sunk into an abyss.
❦
I woke up in my bed, the sunlight streaming into my eyes through the window. My mind was instantly alert and I honed in on the sounds around me. I heard birds chirping outside and my dad banging around in the kitchen. I smelled coffee and bacon. My breathing eased; I felt safer knowing that my dad was doing his routine.
I need help. There is something wrong with my head. These dreams are not normal.
I thought about my dad’s worries and my mom’s treatment. My dad’s voice echoed in my head, “Just tell me if you have any more dreams about him, okay?” I wasn’t sure if I should tell him about this new dream, although I really wanted to. I didn’t want to complicate their lives any more. I was torn. These dreams kept getting worse and I don’t know if I could handle any more.
I couldn’t decide what to do.
If I don’t tell them, then who should I tell? Ailey? Isolda?
I thought about my date with Isolda last night. I couldn’t help but smile as I thought about her; the way we laid on the grass and stared at the stars. They were brighter than I’d ever seen them somehow. My thoughts drifted back to the man in my dream.
No, there is no one I can tell. Maybe Ailey. Maybe.
I swallowed my fear and turned, setting my feet on the floor. I forced myself to think about Isolda. My anxiety eased as I thought about her. I laid back down and closed my eyes, thinking about how her face brightened when she smiled, how her body moved when she ran during gym.
“Tristen, do you want some eggs?” My dad called out. I jumped out of bed in response. The image of the man standing over my mom suddenly appeared in my mind and I forced it away. I ground my teeth and then forced a smile on my face as I left the room to meet my dad.
❦
In history, I could see Isolda perk up when she saw me. I tried to act happy even though I was exhausted.
“Hi,” I said shyly.
“Hey,” she said.
I was happy, dang it, this woman was so amazing. And she was happy to see me. I sat in my seat. Ailey wasn’t here yet. Not sure what to say to Isolda, I leaned over, put my head on my arms, and closed my eyes. I was so tired. It had been hard to focus in class; all I could think about was my mom and wondering if anything was going to happen to her. I’d called her twice while hiding in the bathroom to ask her how she was doing.
“Tristen, are you okay?” Isolda asked. I plastered a smile on my face and turned to look at her. Her blonde hair shone as it trickled down her back and her blue green eyes pulled me in. My smile softened into admiration.
Man, she is amazing.
“Hey,” I grinned at her. She smiled back.
“You still good with me coming over today? I have to take care of my sisters for about an hour and a half after school, but then I can come over.”
“Yeah, sure. I can’t wait,” I said.
“Are you okay? You look tired.”
I sighed. “Yeah, you caught me. I’m a little tired.”
“Aww. I’m sorry. Anything I can do?”
“No, I think I’m okay,” I said. I heard the familiar sound of Ailey’s walk and I turned to look for her. I felt better knowing that she was here.
“Tristen, you okay?” she asked as she sat down next to me. The image of the Stone Priest from my dream hovering over my mom popped into my head and a sudden sadness came over me. I struggled to keep it together.
Ailey put her hand on my arm to reassure me. It felt nice. I put my head on my desk and Ailey scratched my back. I felt warm and comfortable. Soon I fell asleep and for once, Mr. Becker didn’t wake me.
❦
After school I walked to the library to let Ailey know that we wouldn’t be meeting with her in the library. She was already sitting at the table and looked at me quizzically when I told her I wasn’t going to stay today. When I told her that Isolda was coming over she smiled a huge grin.
“What?” I tried to play innocent.
“Nothing.”
“Well, I’m sorry I’m not going to be here.” I ignored her gleaming smile. “Is Brooks coming today?”
“Oh yeah. He’ll be here soon. Don’t worry.”
“Oh, okay good.” I turned to leave. I could see Brooks at the door, talking with some of the football players.
“Have fun!” Ailey reached up and squeezed my hand. As I tried to walk off she pulled tighter on my hand.
I turned back to her.
“Hey,” she said. “Are you okay? You seem a little bit off today. At least for a guy who had a great time with a great girl yesterday.”
My heart sagged but I smiled anyway.
“Yeah, sure. I just had a weird dream last night, but it’s okay. I’m sure it was nothing.”
She looked at me skeptically. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. I’m sure.” I looked at her. She squinted.
“Okay. You’ll tell me if you’re not doing okay, right?”
I pushed away all thoughts of strange dreams and replaced them with thoughts of Isolda at my house.
“Yes, absolutely. I will tell you.”
“Well… okay,” she reluctantly agreed and dropped my hand. “Be good,” she called out. I couldn’t help but smile as I walked off.
“Bye,” I called out over my shoulder. As I approached Brooks I waved but he didn’t seem to see me.
“Just chill, man. Everything’s fine,” I overheard him talking to Greg.
Greg looked at me. “I’m just saying man. Be careful.” Then he turned around and walked off. I stopped to look at Brooks.
“Hey. What’s up?”
Brooks looked toward Ailey. “Nothing. Don’t worry about it.” He looked at me. “So, are you leaving? I thought you guys were going to work on your project or something.”
“I’m going to meet Isolda at my house. We’re going to work on the project together there.”
His face cheered. “Sweet, bro.”
He turned to Ailey, grinned, then looked back at me. “I’ll catch up with ya later then.” He walked off to meet Ailey, and I turned to get my bike. My stomach swirled with nerves.
A little bit after I got home the doorbell rang and my stomach twisted. When I opened the door, Isolda smiled and gave me a little wave.
“Hi.”
“Hey.” I opened the door t
o let her in. She had changed out of her school clothes and looked absolutely amazing. She wore jeans and an olive t-shirt with Oscar the Grouch on it. She wore simple sandals with a red flower on her toes. She can make anything look good.
My mom came out of her bedroom. She was pale and tired.
“Oh, Mom. You didn’t have to get up. We’re just going to study.”
She smiled weakly. “It’s okay for a little bit, Tristen.” She looked at Isolda. “He is a little too protective. Sometimes I think he forgets who the parent is.”
Isolda smiled. “Hi. I’m Isolda. I’m in Tristen’s History class. We’re working on a project together.”
“Oh, okay. Yeah, I remember, the one that he’s been working on with Ailey, right?”
“Yeah. That one,” Isolda responded. She had a funny look on her face.
My mom placed a hand on the wall for balance.
“Mom, come on, I’ll help you back in bed.”
She looked back at Isolda. “Ok. Feel at home. And get Tristen to fix you a snack or something.”
Isolda laughed.
I reached out and took my mom’s arm and led her back to her bed.
“She’s cute,” my mom mumbled before snuggling under the covers.
“I agree,” I said, smiling.
She smiled back at me and then turned over and closed her eyes.
I went back to Isolda. She was looking around, studying my house. Suddenly, I became self-conscious; I looked around the house with new eyes, slightly blushing at the framed picture I painted when I was ten years old. I turned to look back at her and she was looking at me expectantly.
“Oh,” I said. “We can study over here. Would you prefer the dining room table or the couch?”
“Umm…I don’t know. Where do you usually study?”
I blushed a little. “Actually, usually in my bed. Or the backyard if the weather is nice.”
“Oh. Well, the couch is fine.”
“Okay.” She threw her backpack on the floor beside the sofa and sat down. I went to the kitchen.
“So, do you want a snack?” I called out.
“Sure. What do you have?”
“We have Oreos,” I said and her expression brightened.
“That’ll work.”
I brought a plate of Oreos with two glasses of milk to the coffee table and sat down on the other side of the couch. I then pulled out the books that I had checked out of the library. Isolda moved to grab a cookie. We opened our books and quietly began copying down notes from the books. After a couple of minutes, I peeked up to look at her; she was trying to quietly nibble on her cookie. I chuckled. She looked up at me.
“What? They’re good,” she said defensively.
“I agree,” I said as I bit into one.
“So…” she playfully swatted my arm.
“So…” I replied.
“So, aren’t you excited about going to the beach tomorrow? I heard it was a lot of fun last year.”
“Yeah, that’s what I heard too. Are you going to go in the water?”
“I don’t know. Probably. If it’s not too cold. What do you think? You’re from around here, is the water too cold this time of year?”
“Yes, it’ll probably be chilly. At least at first. You might get used to it though.”
“Huh.” She thought a bit. “I can’t believe she’s letting us bring our swimsuits. Are you going to bring yours?”
“Um… I don’t know. Probably not. I’ll probably just roll my jeans up.”
“Why not? Can’t you swim?”
“Sure, of course I can swim.” I couldn’t think of a good excuse. I didn’t want to tell her about my aversion to being half naked in front of other students.
“I just don’t know if I want to.”
“Oh, come on,” she teased. “It’ll be fun.”
“Yeah, maybe. We’ll see.”
“Come on. I bet you look hot in your suit.”
My face turned as red as a cherry. “So anyway. What about our project? Should we get started?” I changed the subject.
“I think you should wear your suit”
I didn’t answer and she smiled at me. I was mesmerized by that smile.
“Okay, fine.” She gave in. “Tell me about what else you’ve got so far. I need to know how to organize this thing.”
“Ok, let’s see…” I launched into an explanation of the history of the French military. After about ten minutes of explaining I looked up; she was just staring at me with a blank look on her face.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “Sometimes I get so involved, I forget reality. I can draw a diagram, if that would be better?”
“Yeah, that would be better for me,” she replied. I scooted over to show her my notes and reached over to her notebook to draw a diagram. I rested my elbow on her thigh and began to write out all the facts in my head.
“Okay,” she exclaimed after a while, “I understand now. Wow, that was complicated.”
I looked back up from my diagram; my face was inches from hers. My heart beat faster; I was worried she could hear it. She just stared into my eyes.
“So…” she said. The whole house was quiet.
“So…” I replied. She didn’t move. She was so close I could easily have leaned over and kissed her. I wanted to. I really wanted to. I could smell mocha and chocolate on her lips. She must have a thousand different flavors of lip gloss. I inched my face a millimeter closer, testing. A shadow passed over her eyes, and then she looked down, breaking our hold.
“Umm… Tristen?”
“Mmm?” I pulled back a little.
“Can I ask you a question?” The knot in my stomach twisted even tighter; bracing for rejection.
“Um…sure. Shoot.”
“Well…I’m kinda embarrassed.” She took a deep breath. What could she be embarrassed about?
Breathing out, she gushed, “What’s the deal with you and Ailey?”
My head jerked back. “Me and Ailey? What do you mean?”
“Well, umm… you know. Do you like her?”
“Sure. I like her, I mean, we hang out.”
She looked disappointed. “Yeah, that’s what I’m saying. I can tell.”
The room was silent. I was confused about what she was getting at. I sighed; I’ll never figure girls out.
“I mean, like like,” she explained.
Realization washed over me. Man, I am dumb sometimes.
“Oh, you mean, do I like Ailey?”
“Yeah.” She gushed, happy that I’d finally figured it out. “In that way.”
“Oh! No. I mean, she’s kinda like a best friend. We just get along really well. And besides, she’s with Brooks anyhow. Ya know?”
“Yeah, she is with Brooks.” She looked thoughtful. Then she leaned back and folded her legs on the couch and opened up her book again. I didn’t know what to think of that. I scooted back to the other side and put my legs on the couch next to hers. She laughed, and put her legs across mine and wiggled her feet with mine.
“I haven’t played footsies with anyone since I was a kid.”
“Oh yeah?” I thought about it. “Yeah, me either.”
“Since Johnny Cane. In fourth grade.” I looked at her and smiled.
“Johnny, huh?”
“Yeah. He gave me a Garfield pencil topper. He said it proved I was his. Then I pushed him down and said I didn’t belong to anybody.” She laughed. “The next day he broke up with me and asked Karen Finley out. Broke my heart, that guy.” She looked at me with laughter in her eyes.
“You should have broken up with him. Saying he owned you, that’s ridiculous.”
“Yeah. But still. I liked him.” She looked up, remembering. “What about you? Who was your first girlfriend?”
I thought back. “Katie Mullen, in second grade. I guess she was; that’s what she told everyone anyway.”
Isolda chuckled.
“Then she cornered me on the playground and told me to kiss her,” I sai
d, remembering. “She was cute, too. Blue eyes, brown curly hair in pigtails. So, I kissed her.”
I looked up to a skeptical face.
“I had to. She had pigtails!”
Now she laughed and I grinned.
“So, do all the girls always have to ask you to kiss them?”
I blinked. “Why? Are you going to ask me to kiss you?”
She stared.
My mouth dropped open; I couldn’t believe I just said that.
“No!” she protested. “Why should I?”
I sat there, shocked that I would even suggest such a thing. She was right. She shouldn’t have to ask. I was stupid and insecure; and I just wanted her to be the one to make the first move.
“You’re right,” I said. She looked surprised.
“You’re right,” I continued, “a beautiful girl like you should never have to ask to be kissed.”
She blushed a rosy pink and looked down.
I looked down, too. My stomach twisted back into a knot – I knew how to make this right. But I was afraid she would think I was a twig. I looked up at her. She was still looking down, pulling on a string on the couch.
Gathering all my courage, I swung my feet to the floor. She looked up, and I looked at her, determined. I scooted closer to her and put my hand softly on hers and stroked her fingers gently. Her eyes met mine; I was completely drawn to her. Even her smell was intoxicating. I leaned forward a little and closed my eyes.
Stitches ripping from fleshy lips flashed in my mind and I jumped back. My heart raced as I thought of it over my mom.
Don’t even think about touching her. My stomach felt sick.
Isolda opened her eyes. I turned my face and sat back. I really didn’t want to barf on her.
She just sat there, blinking in disbelief. Suddenly, panic set in. I opened my mouth, saying the first thing that fell out, “Ailey said that we should get together to see the tulip fields sometime.”
Now she sat back. “Ailey said that, huh?”
“Yeah.”
No. What was I doing? Why did I say that?
“No, wait. No, she didn’t say that. I don’t know… I don’t know why I said that.” I tried to backpedal. She just looked at me, waiting for me to explain.
“Really. I mean, she did say that but I don’t know why I said that just now.”
The Last Seeker: Book 1: a teen & YA magical, fantasy, paranormal, & adventure novel (TRISTEN) Page 7