Soul Stone

by Gladden, DelSheree

  Gently, I touch her shoulder. “Sibeal, I think I can help you. Why don’t you call me when you’re ready to talk?”

  I don’t wait for a response, but I hope she doesn’t take too long. I have a feeling, though, that she knows how much time we have better than I do. She’ll call soon. Leaving Sibeal alone in the classroom, I wander back to my locker to get my books for this afternoon. My next stop is the lunchroom, but as soon as I walk in I notice the distinct lack of Bas and Tanner at our table.

  Beth, a girl I don’t know very well walks by, and I ask, “Hey, have you seen Tanner or Bas?”

  “Bas took off in his truck right after class. I think Tanner and Evan went out to the basketball court.”

  “Thanks, Beth.”

  She smiles and continues on her way. I hurry through grabbing my lunch and head after Tanner. Beth was right, and I spot them shooting hoops on the asphalt court near the back of the campus. Both are too intent on their game to notice me until I sit down on a bench next to the court. Even then, Evan is the one who sees me. Tanner takes another shot before Evan elbows him and points in my direction.

  A quick smile flits across Tanner’s lips, but he’s obviously agitated. Evan usually takes any opportunity he can to joke and tease and generally make a fool of himself, but for once, he begs off and leaves Tanner and me alone. It’s a bit frustrating that Tanner stays on the court taking shots for another five minutes before dropping the ball and coming over to the bench to sit with me.

  “Hey, you okay?” I ask.

  Tanner shrugs. “I don’t know.”

  It was pretty clear that Tanner was pissed at Bas after I nearly fainted, but he wouldn’t say a word about it the whole rest of the afternoon. When he dropped me off at home, still nothing. I barely even got a kiss from him. Sunday was so busy with Sibeal and David that we hardly talked at all. He’s had two days to stew. We need to talk.

  “Tanner, I know you’re angry at Bas, but I wish you would talk to him.”

  “Not interested,” Tanner snaps.

  Taking a different approach, I wrap my hand around his. “What do you think happened at the field? What did it look like to you?”

  Tanner shakes his head and sighs. “I know he was correcting your posture. I know that’s exactly where I would have put my hands if I was doing the same thing. I know what Bas was doing. That’s not the problem. It’s who he was doing it to.”

  “Tanner, he’s your best friend.”

  “That doesn’t make it any easier,” Tanner says. Standing abruptly, Tanner begins pacing in front of the bench. “Harder, actually.”

  I’m not sure I understand. “What do you mean?”

  “Bas is a great guy.” Tanner’s shoulders fall. His head drops to his chest. “I know you think he’s a prick, but one of these days you’re going to realize you’re wrong. Seeing his hands on your body…I just don’t want to lose you, Arra.”

  I stand up and catch Tanner mid-pace. My arms slip around his body and I lay my head against his chest. “You’re not going to lose me,” I say quietly. “I’m sorry I let Bas help me. I wasn’t thinking about how it would look to you. I never meant to hurt you, Tanner.”

  Tanner’s arms finally come up to return the embrace. “I know. I know Bas didn’t mean anything by it either. It’s just that …”

  When he doesn’t continue, I pull back enough to meet his eyes. The odd combination of frustration and guilt hiding there confuses me. “What’s wrong?”

  “Why do you and Bas text so much?” Tanner demands. “I mean, you keep telling me that you don’t even like him, but there are all these texts to him on your phone. All late at night, too. I don’t get it, Arra, why?”

  I’m so shocked, it takes me a minute to react. Slowly, I take a step back from Tanner. “You went through my phone?”

  Shame darts across his face, but it doesn’t last long. “I had to know.”

  “When?” My voice is quiet, hurt.

  “After you almost fainted. When I took you back to the blanket to sit down. You dozed off for a few minutes and I looked at your messages.”

  I try to make a response, but Tanner talks right over me, more angry than ashamed.

  “The fact that you’ve been texting him at night isn’t the only thing you neglected to mention either. What did you mean when you thanked Bas for helping you get through the needles? And why did it sound like you two almost died on the way to Portland and Bas had to save you both? What else are you keeping from me?”

  Other than the fact that Bas had dinner at my house on my dad’s invitation and I just talked to Sibeal alone? I don’t feel like I should have to explain either of those. If Tanner hadn’t rushed off after class, he could have waited nearby and made sure nothing happened with Sibeal. And dinner, well that was my dad’s doing and it wouldn’t have been right of me to kick Bas out after he came to apologize. My own anger starts rising as I take in what Tanner is saying. What right did he have to go through my phone and question me about my loyalty?

  “Tanner,” I say slowly, “I don’t understand where all this insecurity is coming from suddenly. I have never done anything to give you reason to doubt how much I care about you. I don’t deserve you snooping through my things and questioning my behavior.”

  I swing my bag onto my shoulder and prepare to leave. “No, I didn’t tell you that I cried like a baby when my dad sewed up my cut. I was embarrassed, if you can imagine that. And the drive to Portland wasn’t as bad as Bas made it sound. He was making fun of me as usual. I got scared when we got on the interstate because of all the cars and Bas helped me get to the side of the road and he drove the rest of the way. Again, I was embarrassed to admit how inexperienced and how terrified of driving with so many cars I was. Bas kept both to himself because he was trying to be nice and not embarrass me any more than I already was.”

  My anger pushes me a few steps away, but I turn back quickly. “You’re right. Bas is actually a nice guy. He still drives me nuts most of the time, but we’re starting to become friends. That’s it. I would never cheat on you. I would never do what you just did to me.”

  I can hear Tanner calling after me as I walk off, but I don’t stop. He should think about his own choices a little more before calling mine into question. I never lied to Tanner about texting Bas. If he had asked to see my phone, I would have given it to him. It’s not like we’re carrying on some secret relationship. Tanner was the one who wanted me to be friends with Bas to begin with.

  I storm off to my next class fuming at Tanner for invading my privacy like that. It doesn’t occur to me until I’m leaving English class and on my way to Spanish to stop and ask myself the question Tanner really wanted an answer to, but couldn’t bring himself to ask. It’s the same question David asked. Do I like Bas?

  My first response is, no, of course not. As I walk into Spanish and see Bas sitting in the back corner looking miserable, my heart breaks. Am I interested in running off into his arms? It’s not something I’ve ever considered. At least not until David started putting thoughts in my head. I have to admit, though, that he is much more Sherriff Andy than Canvas Boy the Jerk than I gave him credit for when we first met.

  Bas’s touch did cause me to react. Most of that reaction was confusion, but I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel something for Bas. I love that he is so nice to Sibeal when everyone else steers clear of her. As much as I get mad at him for poking fun at me and being a jerk, he has always held back when he knew he could really hurt me. He is a good friend. One of the best I have.

  I have no idea what else might happen between us, but I am done pretending I don’t care about Bas. He has stood by me when I really needed him and I will not leave him sitting alone in a corner by himself. I don’t care what anyone else thinks about it when I sit down next to Bas, but the small smile he gives me when I do sit by him makes me smile back.

  Chapter Eighteen

  The computer lab is quiet. I really wish Ms. Carpenter would let me plug in some hea
dphones and listen to music. Since I finished my assignment last night, I really don’t have any work to do in here today. So what am I doing instead? Trying to find out everything I possibly can about the Celtic religion, Ireland in general, and the Ahearn family.

  There are about a billion websites about the Celtic religion, but a lot of it is contradictory and doesn’t mention any specific gods or power outside of druids. I email myself a few links to look into more tonight and try to focus on the Ahearns in Ireland. I didn’t have another dream last night, but I did plenty of thinking. Maybe the reason we couldn’t find any articles about what Sibeal or Darcy might have done was because they didn’t happen here where all of our newspapers are online and bloggers rule much of the news now.

  The town Darcy was running through in the second dream could very well have been a small town in Ireland. I know she mentioned to Bas that her family visited frequently. I feel like I’m onto something, but I hit the roadblock I was afraid of right away. There are large newspapers that publish online in Ireland, but many of the small towns either have no newspaper at all, or rely on larger publications to cover anything of interest. I can’t find a single thing about the Ahearns.

  I decide I need a break. I pop the thumb drive into the computer and open up the pictures Sibeal took of me. After showing them to my mom, she loved them and suggested I make a photo collage. I might as well try to do something useful today.

  “Arra,” Bas says from right next to me, startling me bad enough to make me jump.

  “Geez, Bas!”

  We both laugh and Bas takes a seat next to me. The buffer of empty space he keeps between us is as impossible to ignore as his twitching fingers are. “Hey, I just wanted to apologize for what happened at the field.”

  I almost jump in and tell him it wasn’t his fault, but doubts about the platonic nature of his coaching are not easy to gloss over and I wonder if he will give me some kind of clue about the truth. At least if I knew what Bas really wanted I could figure it out for myself.

  “I feel terrible that I made Tanner think I was coming onto you. I wasn’t trying to cause problems. Your posture really was off.” Bas looks away, his head dropping. I don’t want to, but I see the guilt in his eyes. The odd thing is, I believe him. I don’t think he was trying to come onto me, but he wanted to be there with me. He wanted to touch me. My hand tightens around the mouse, but when he looks back up, his tortured expression eats at me.

  “I would never try to step in on Tanner. He’s my best friend. I was trying to show you…I mean, I wanted to help you. Touching you, it wasn’t to be suggestive. I had to…to fix your posture, I mean.”

  “Bas,” I say softly. He doesn’t look at me. I touch his forearm softly, causing him to look up at me. “It’s okay.”

  His expression turns confused. “That’s it?”

  I shrug as casually as I can manage and say, “If you were trying to flirt with me, I’d hope you would have taken a different approach than pushing and poking me into the right position. Then, again, maybe that’s why you’re single.” I smile to make sure he knows I’m teasing, but I’m afraid it looks as shaky as I suddenly feel.

  Bas chuckles and a little of his anguish falls away. “If I was trying to flirt with you, you’d know it,” he says, his voice suddenly serious.

  “Good to know.” I don’t know why my voice sounds so flimsy. I try to shrug it off and continue. I look over at Bas, wanting to reach out to him in comfort, but not letting myself give in. “Listen, Bas, I’m sorry for the way Tanner reacted. I think he’s having some serious trust issues right now, and believe me, you’re not the only one paying for it. Just give him some time to cool off and realize you guys are too good of friends to let this come between you.”

  The concerned look that Bas is suddenly wearing takes me by surprise. “What did Tanner do?” he asks.

  I look away, not sure I should tell him. I don’t want to do anything else that will push them apart. Plus, I don’t want to talk about it. Just thinking about it makes my body tense up. Telling myself to focus on something else now, I click on the file explorer to find the pictures I wanted to look at. Bas reaches over and takes my hand off the mouse. He doesn’t let it go immediately. Only when I look over at him with a panicked expression does his hand drop away.

  “What did Tanner do? You look like you’re about to cry.”

  “I am not.” I try to look away, but Bas refuses to let me escape. He pulls my chair around so I have to face him. He’s not going to give up. I know I probably shouldn’t, but I say, “He took my phone and read my text messages, the ones to you mainly.”

  Bas’s eyebrows rise in surprise. “Wow. I wouldn’t have expected that from Tanner.”

  “Me either.”

  “Arra, I’m sorry,” Bas begins, “this is all my fault.”

  “No it’s not. Tanner just needs to work through some stuff, I guess. I just hate the idea of him being jealous over nothing and ruining his friendship with you.”

  “Yeah,” Bas says, “over nothing.”

  I look over at him again. The pain in his voice spears me and I crumble. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”

  Bas looks up and meets my gaze. “Wasn’t it, though?” he asks.

  I open my mouth to agree, say that Tanner is imagining everything, but I can’t. Bas’s eyes lock with mine. Just as I saw through his pretenses a few moments ago, he sees through mine. I feel bare under his gaze and I speak without thinking. “It wasn’t nothing.”

  The breath Bas releases is slow, but unsteady. I am terrified that he will respond to what I just said. Maybe he is scared too, though, because he breaks his gaze away.

  “I’ll talk to him, okay? Apologize, do whatever it takes. He’s my best friend. I’m not giving him up that easily.”

  “Thanks, Bas.”

  Expecting that he will go back to his computer now that we’ve hashed things out—sort of—I block Bas out of my thoughts as best I can. I turn back to the computer to open up the pictures, feeling suddenly desperate to escape him. I click on one of my favorites and try to decide where to start on making the collage. I need a background that will match all the pictures. Focus on that. Focus only on that.

  The space around me suddenly feels crowded. I turn and jump when I find Bas’s chair squished up next to mine. He’s staring over my shoulder at the screen. “Wow,” he says, “these are great. Did Sibeal take these?”

  Pushing my chair back a little so he doesn’t have to climb over me—and so I can put some distance between us—I look back at the screen. “Yeah. She took them yesterday. I had no idea she was such a great photographer.”

  “Well, she had a beautiful model to work with,” Bas says without looking at me. He doesn’t need to look at me. I can hear how much he means it in his voice.

  Bas reaches over me suddenly and starts clicking through the pictures. I am still stuck on his comment. I try to tell myself it was just one of his rare, offhanded compliments, but it’s so much harder than usual. Maybe it’s the fact that he’s so close, his body crowding in front of mine that makes it that much harder to pull away. I don’t think I’ve ever noticed the scent of his aftershave before, or that he has freckles on the tips of his ears. Before I know what I’m doing, my fingertip brushes the ridge of his ear.

  Bas jumps at the contact and turns around. His movement puts his face right next to mine. Intelligent thought becomes a jumbled mess. My breathing picks up. So does Bas’s. “You have freckles on your ears,” I say like a giant dork.

  Bas chuckles. “You have freckles on your nose.”

  “Do I?” My naturally light brown skin usually doesn’t get freckles, so I am honestly surprised. It’s enough to pull me out of the moment at least a little. I must be spending way too much time outdoors lately.

  “They’re hard to see, but yes, you do.” Bas’s finger comes up and lightly brushes along the bridge of my nose. “Right there.”

  My breathing stops. Again.
“Oh.”

  “Bas and Arra, are you too actually working on something?” Ms. Carpenter calls from her desk, jerking me away from Bas and thankfully breaking the moment.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Bas answers as he sits back. “Arra is just helping me with the vectors I’m working on.”

  Ms. Carpenter shrugs and goes back to staring at her computer. She’s not a very hands-on type of teacher. When Bas seems sure she isn’t going to bother us again, he turns back to me.

  “The pictures are amazing. You’ll have to tell Sibeal I said so.”

  When Bas finally makes a move to go back to his own computer, I realize I don’t want him to go yet. “Speaking of Sibeal,” I blurt out, “maybe you could help me with something.”

  “Like what?” Bas asks, obviously curious, and clearly glad I called him back.

  I know Tanner will be pissed if I let Bas in on what’s happening, but I don’t have to tell Bas everything to get the help I need. “Did you know Sibeal has a twin sister?” I ask Bas.

  He shakes his head in surprise. “No, wow, I had no idea. Where is she?”

  “That’s what I’d like to know. When I tried to ask Sibeal, she wouldn’t talk about her.” I pause, not sure how Bas will react. I need his help, though. “I think something bad happened to her, and the way Sibeal acted, she seems scared that something might happen to her, too.”

  “What do you want me to do?” Bas asks.

  “Well,” I begin, “I think it happened when they were in Ireland the last time, but I can’t find any information about their family. I was hoping you’d know where to look for news that happens in small Irish towns.”

  A cheeky grin creeps onto Bas’s face. “As a matter of fact, I do.” He shoves my chair out of the way and takes up center position at the computer. “My cousin, Noel, works for a newspaper in Dublin. He’d know how to find out if anything happened to her sister while they were there.”