by Rue Volley
He grabbed the handle and opened the door. A woman stood at the head of the class in a black pair of dress pants and a white button-down shirt. She stopped talking and turned to face us. Her blonde hair was pulled up in a bun on the back of her head with a pencil sticking through it. Her oversized chocolate brown glasses sat on her small nose and threatened to slide down, but she reached up and gave them a tap, putting them back in place.
“Miss. Hull.” Mr. Jenny said, and she smiled, placing a hand on her hip. “Come on in and take a seat.” She looked out into the room and spotted an empty chair. “There, over by the window.” She raised a hand, and I gave Mr. Jenny one last look as he released me from his protection and closed the door behind him. I made my way to the empty seat without looking at anyone. I sat down and placed my hands on the desk. I spotted the large book in front of me and pulled it forward, quickly opening it, but totally at a loss as to where we were.
“Miss. Navarri?”
I looked up and Miss. Hull smiled at me. “Page fifty-seven. Today we’re talking about the energy that sparks life.”
“Like Frankenstein.” Some boy said from the back of the class, and everyone laughed. Miss. Hull laughed, too. I was glad to see that she had a sense of humor.
“Yes, like Frankenstein. Although the story is fictional, the science behind it is valid. All life is energy; it’s all around us in everything that we do and thousands of electrical impulses fire off inside of us every single moment. It makes the ability to do this, possible.” She lifted up her coffee cup and then with one swing she dropped it to the floor, and it shattered. “And, that which released energy as the coffee cup was transformed into something new.”
“Sacrilegious,” I whispered, mourning the loss of her cup on the floor.
She started to walk down the aisle in between the high desks. “Energy fuels our bodies and is what drives us. Every action, every reaction, and every emotion.” She stopped and looked at me. I focused on my book. “So, your assignment is a simple one. Read chapter thirteen; then I would like for each of you to write a short essay on how energy drives you and the world around you.” The bell rang as students moaned. She spoke above the chatter. “Due Friday and no extensions! This essay can be as short as one page, it isn’t the end of the world, people.”
I stood up and accidentally dropped my book. I leaned down and just as I was about to pick it up a hand swooped in and snatched it up for me. I stood up as Thorn did, face to face and a little too close for comfort. He held the book to his chest. I didn’t take my eyes off of it.
“Here.” He held it out to me, and I took it. “Thanks,” I mumbled. I walked past him, and he followed. I stepped through the door and turned my head one way then the other. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the schedule Mr. Jenny had given me, and Thorn leaned over my shoulder.
“I can show you where that is if you like.”
I tapped the paper in my hand and finally turned to face him.
“Listen, I don’t know if someone dared you to be nice to me or what, but the jokes over.”
He pushed his bangs out of his face and shook his head. “Dared?”
“Yes, I just…why are you talking to me?” I tried to keep my voice down, but the fact that he was paying attention to me was confusing at best.
He placed his hands in his pockets and shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe I thought you needed a friend, sorry.” He walked away from me, and I rolled my eyes, feeling terrible for lashing out at him. I ran to catch up and noticed the grin on his face when I spoke. “Thorn.”
He turned and faced me, crossing his arms over his chest. “Yes, Echo?”
“I…listen. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t assume anything, but you…well, I just got here, and this is all very new to me. I’ve never gone to a school. I’ve always been homeschooled with tutors.”
“Cry me a river.” He said without smiling. I sighed. “Okay, yeah. I deserve that; it’s cool. See ya later.” I walked away from him, and he caught up to me and took the paper out of my hand. I stopped and crossed my arms over my chest.
He pointed in the other direction. “It’s that way.”
“Of course it is. That sums up my entire life. If it’s right, I go left, if it’s up, then I go down.”
He started to laugh, and again I noticed his teeth, straight and white. Utterly perfect, like the rest of him. “We all have an internal compass; you just have to listen to it and let it take you where you’re supposed to go.”
I smiled. “Mine’s broken in like a million pieces.”
“Nothing a little duct tape can’t fix, right?”
I tilted my head, and we started to walk in the other direction. I guess I didn’t expect him to be so informal. I know that was a horrible judgment on my part.
“So, how do you like it so far?” he asked.
I licked my lip. “The school seems fine.”
“No, I mean Port Royal.”
I paused and glanced up at him as he strolled next to me. “I don’t know; it rains a lot.”
He grinned. “Yeah, I guess it does. So you don’t like the rain?”
“I, well, it’s okay I guess. I just never expected to miss certain things.”
“What things?” he asked, sounding like he was genuinely intrigued.
I shrugged my shoulders. “You just never miss the sunlight until it’s gone.”
He stopped and looked at me. “Yeah, I guess that’s true.”
I got lost in his eyes. He narrowed them. “What?”
I shook my head. “Sorry, it’s just, well, I’ve never seen eyes like yours.”
He blinked a couple of times. He stopped and handed me the paper.
“Well, this is where I get off.”
“Huh?” I asked.
He leaned up toward me and placed his hand on the wall next to my head. I felt my heartbeat speed up, and his eyes skirted over the throbbing vein in my neck. He licked his lip and quickly stood up straight. “I have advanced math.”
“Lucky you,” I said, letting my heart slow down. He rubbed the side of his neck and we spoke at the same time.
“Thank you,” I said while he talked over me. “Do you like coffee?”
Again we spoke over each other. “You’re welcome, Echo.” He said while I talked over him.
“Yes.”
We both smiled.
“There’s a coffee shop three blocks from here; we can meet out front at lunch if you want to.” He spoke without missing a beat.
“Are we allowed to leave?” I asked, scanning the hallway like someone may be listening.
He bit his lip and then released it. “Do you always do everything you’re supposed to do, Echo Navarri?”
I hesitated but finally answered him. “Not always.”
He leaned up into my face. His deep blue eyes penetrated me. “Good.” The bell went off, and he stood up straight. “Damn it,” he muttered to himself, and I grabbed the door handle and opened it up, only looking away for a second, but when I looked back, he was gone. I narrowed my eyes and entered the room knowing that I wouldn’t be able to concentrate on anything but the thought of seeing him again.
9
I stood out front and waited. Ten minutes turned into twenty, and before I knew it lunch had ended, and Thorn never showed up. I felt so disappointed, but I had to shake it off. I had no idea what had happened, but the insecure side of myself had plenty to say. I was sure he had changed his mind, or maybe I had been right from the beginning and his interest in me was a dare.
God, I was so stupid to believe him.
I spent my last three periods pretending like I was listening when my heart and mind wandered. All I could see were his eyes, and slowly but steadily the hurt turned into anger until finally the bell rang and I was free.
I stepped out into the gray mist and accepted what was t
o be. I came here with zero expectations, and instead of hope, I should have stuck with reality. All I needed to do was get through two years of this and then I could move on and be whatever I choose to be, live wherever I want to live, and leave Port Royal behind.
Leave boys like Thorn behind.
All this talk about returning home and accepting things as they were may have been a weakness. I had cried with a total stranger and allowed a boy to fluster me. Apparently, my grief was affecting me in the worst possible way, and I was in desperate need of my medication to help even me out.
Again…I was so stupid to believe that I could just stop taking it and everything would be okay. That’s not how it works.
I pulled out my phone and scrolled through my numbers. I found Molly and called her, hoping to hear her voice on the other end of the line, but instead it was her voicemail.
“You’ve reached Dr. Molly Brindle. Leave a message.”
“Molly, this is Echo, Echo Navarri, I, well. I’ve run out of my medication, and I think I need a new prescription. There’s a pharmacy here in town. If you could call it in that would be awesome. I just, I’m having trouble sleeping and…well, I’m just having trouble. I’m in Port Royal. You knew that.” I paused and then pressed the button on my phone. I was rambling again.
I tucked my phone back into my pocket, walking along aimlessly, trying to shore up this sinking feeling in my gut. Going back there tomorrow would be agonizing, but I needed to move on. I really did.
Before I knew it, I was standing in front of the cemetery, and oddly enough it seemed appropriate for my mood. I walked through the open gate and noticed a flock of blackbirds taking off overhead, abandoning an old tree void of leaves and what seemed to be any signs of life. I continued along the winding cobblestone path until it dropped me off where I needed to be.
I sat down in front of our family’s mausoleum and extended my legs out in front of me. I dropped back and stared up at the churning gray clouds in the sky. I used to love the rain, but I suddenly found myself missing the bursts of sunlight on my skin. My conversation with Thorn Vega would always haunt me. I had taken the sun for granted as I had other things in my life.
Like my sister. I missed her. Every day, every night…every moment my mind allowed her smile and laughter to sink back in. I know it may seem selfish of me but having a distraction today, even for a few hours, was like a vacation. I had spent almost a full year thinking about her and everything we lost when she left us.
Left me.
Maybe it would have been easier if her body was right here in this cold stone box in front of me. At least then I could properly say goodbye and mourn her as I should. Instead, I’m left with nothing. No closure, no proper goodbye, just the memory of her disappearing into a blue mist as I cried out in terror.
I closed my eyes. I had counted the tombstones on my way back here.
“Twenty-six graves.”
“Twenty-seven.”
The familiar voice came from behind me, and I rolled over, pushing myself up onto my knees.
“I counted twenty-six,” I said with a glare.
“Twenty-seven if you count the one that has the couple in it.”
“Couple?” I asked.
He thumbed behind him. “Yeah, newlyweds.”
I rolled my eyes. “How romantic.”
“Are you okay?” Thorn asked me with a look of concern wrinkling his brow.
I pushed myself up and onto my feet. I brushed the leaves off of my socks and then stood up straight to face him. “Why would you care?” I asked with zero concern for his feelings.
He took a step toward me, and I stepped back. He stopped. “Listen, I’m sorry about today. I really am. I didn’t want to stand you up.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “But you did, and that’s okay. Really it is.”
“No, it isn’t. It was rude and hurtful. So, I apologize, Echo. I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“You know what they say about want.”
He narrowed his eyes. I sighed. “You can’t always get it.”
He snapped his fingers. “That’s a song, right?”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “I guess I’m supposed to be impressed that you know who the Rolling Stones are? Good job.”
He shuffled his feet and allowed me to take verbal jabs at him.
“I’m sorry.” He spoke soulfully. I felt my anger subsiding, but he didn’t deserve that. I paused and studied his facial expression. He looked genuinely sorry for not showing up, but it wasn’t like it would end the world. “You didn’t hurt me.” I looked down at my feet and dug the tip of my boot into the dirt.
“I did, I can tell.”
I tilted my head. “You have no idea how I feel.”
He shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe you’re right.”
I lifted my hand. “What are you doing here, anyway?”
He scanned the cemetery and then let his dark eyes settle back on me. “Like I said, I was worried.”
“That doesn’t answer my question, how did you know I was here?”
He shoved his hands deep into his pockets and deflected my question. “They say the dead can hear you.”
“What?” I asked while my arms relaxed.
He nonchalantly adjusted his stance. “Yeah, the dead. They can hear you. All you have to do is think, you don’t even have to speak the words. It’s not words that show how you feel, it’s the emotion, right?”
“You’re taking our assignment too seriously. Of course, it’s the words. How else would I understand what someone was trying to say to me?”
He grinned. “What?”
“Our assignment, the one in biology, about energy and all of that. I mean, I get it. There is a reaction to every action, that’s science, but this thing about emotion…”
“You don’t believe in it, do you?” he said.
I shook my head. “I believe in what can be proven.”
“I see.”
I watched him scan the cemetery with those soulful eyes then they landed back on me. I cleared my throat. I honestly believed every word I said to him.
He didn’t appear to be upset, but something had shifted between us, or maybe it was my overactive attention to detail. It could be my greatest asset and most devastating flaw. There were things in my life that I wished I could let go, that last night with my sister being one of them. Thorn broke through my internal monolog.
“I don’t blame you for not believing in more.” He seemed ready to concede.
I found my hand waving out to my side before I could rein it in. “Well, I love fantasy. Trust me; I’ve read a ton of it.”
His eyes lit up. “Paranormal?”
I cleared my throat and shrugged my shoulders. I didn’t want to come off like I was a fangirl of all of these creatures that clearly couldn’t exist. “Sure, some.”
“Like what?” he asked. I watched his hands disappear into his jacket pockets.
“Well, I tend to read books that include things like fairies, elves, some werewolves, and a vampire, here and there.”
He lowered his head, and I detected a slight grin. My back stiffened. Of course, he would find it silly. I quickly made it appear less important to me than it actually was.
“It’s not like I believe any of it. Like I said, if it can’t be proven then it isn’t true.” I let out a small chuckle. “Like vampires, come on. They don’t exist.”
His eyes darkened. “How do you know?”
A white puff of smoke escaped my lips. “Um, well, I guess I don’t, but if they existed don’t you think they would be in charge of everything? A creature like that would have such a crazy advantage over humans.”
His eyes lowered to my lips, and it made me self-conscious. I played with my hair, twisting a thick strand between my fingers. I swallowed hard, sta
nding my ground as he took a couple of steps in my direction, then he halted. “In what way?” he asked. I crossed my feet, and his eyes lowered. It made it easier to concentrate.
“Well, in every way imaginable. Something like that would have had access to tons of information. It would know everything about us.”
“It?”
I nodded. “Yes, a vampire would be classified as a it.”
He pulled one hand out and waved it with a smile. “What?” I asked.
“No, go on.”
I narrowed my eyes. “No, you think I should call them something else, don’t you?”
His lips pursed and then his whole expression changed. “They look human.”
“But they aren’t, at all.”
He nodded to me. “How do you know?”
I stammered. Again, I didn’t know. “I’m just, well…I guess I don’t know that either. Listen, I’m not an expert on something that was made up.”
He leaned forward and his eyebrow arched. “Every story is based on something that really happened.”
I laughed. “Well, in this case, I think it was a late night meal and an overactive imagination.”
He straightened up. “Well, I’m glad you’ve figured it all out, Echo. It must be nice to be so smart.”
The thin line between my eyebrows deepened. “I haven’t figured anything out and why do you care? They aren’t real.”
He tilted his head back and closed his eyes, then opened them and they landed right back on me with a renewed sense of purpose. At this point, I felt like he may be trying to antagonize me.
“Oh, I bet you have. I mean, you only believe in things that can be proven while you sneak off and read books about things that you clearly don’t believe in, fantasizing about creatures that go bump in the night.”
My hand rested on my hip. “It’s called entertainment.”
He laughed. “Or maybe curiosity.”
I shook my head. “No, well, yeah. Who isn’t curious about things like that?”
He grinned. “See, you call them things. You just refuse to humanize this poor creature. I guess you’d be the one with a wooden stake and a hammer?”