by M. W. Muse
“Never.”
She opened her eyes and sighed. “I-I know I wasn’t going to fall. I’m just scared of heights. Sometimes I get carried away and don’t think about that until I find myself in a scary situation.”
“You don’t have to explain anything to me, baby,” he whispered. “I’m just relieved that you’re not scared anymore.”
When the ride was over, they quickly got off and made their way over to Calli.
“I feel better, but you look like crap, Legacy,” Calli said as she sat next to her.
“I forgot I was scared of heights until it was too late.” She shrugged and rubbed her shaking legs.
Calli laughed. “Legacy, you were strapped in. I doubt you were going anywhere.”
“She wasn’t going anywhere,” River said as he stood in front of Legacy, watching her.
Calli looked up at River and then to Legacy. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have laughed. I didn’t think you were being serious. I just figured you got sick or something.”
“I’m fine. We should probably make our way back to bus. It’s almost time to leave.”
When they got on the bus, River kept his protective eyes on her. He seemed tense, so she figured she should do something to help him out.
She leaned across the hall toward him. “Do you still think you could take me?”
River looked puzzled for a split second, like he had thoughts racing through his head, and then he smiled. “You’re talking about beating me again, aren’t you?”
She nodded. “I was making the basket shake, and you weren’t able to stop it. I think that proves that I’d win.”
River laughed. “I could have made it stop, but I didn’t want to take the chance of scaring you even more.”
“Likely excuse.” She smiled.
“And I didn’t want to take the risk of showing other people what I could do,” he whispered.
She laughed. “Like that’d stop you if you thought I was in danger.”
River’s smile faded. “If you were in danger, it wouldn’t have mattered,” he said, gazing into her eyes. Then he smiled again. “Besides, I wanted you to be the one to make it stop. It was a good learning experience for you…so you’re welcome.” He laughed.
“Thanks, but we both know that I’d still take you.”
River leaned closer with a crooked smile on his face. “Legacy?”
“Yeah?”
“The next time you ask if I could take you, can you please elaborate on what you mean before my imagination runs wild? We may just be friends, but I am still a man.”
She gasped and blushed. “River!” she whispered heatedly.
“Ummm, I’d say I’m sorry, but I’m not.”
“What are you two whispering about?” Calli asked as she leaned around Legacy to look at River.
“Nothing,” she said.
River chuckled, but didn’t say anything.
That night, she dreamed the same dreams. But when River charged for Adin in his hurricane form, she tried pushing air against him to keep him from coming for Adin. It didn’t work. River charged without her slowing him down at all.
She woke up a little perturbed that she was still having these dreams with little additions being added to them as time passed, but she also thought about being stuck on that ride with River. He said he could have stopped her from what she was doing, but he hadn’t. She wondered if he truly could stop her. A hurricane was bigger and more powerful than a tornado. Maybe he was right. Plus, he was closer to ascending than she was. He would ascend next week. She still had another seven months to go.
As she got ready for school, she quickly realized that tonight would be the first time Adin and River would be around each other since River’s jaded attempt at pushing Adin’s buttons. Maybe that was why she kept dreaming that River was coming for Adin. She knew Adin wasn’t putting up with River anymore, so maybe in her mind, River was just retaliating. These were just dreams, so maybe her mind was dealing with their anger for one another.
School went by very quickly. When she got back home, she got ready for her evening with Adin…and River. She was glad she needed to do some homecoming preparation tonight. Otherwise, she’d be forced to sit with the two of them through the whole game.
She was still fretting over the three of them being around each other when she heard Adin knocking on her door.
She ran to get it, and he was glowing.
“I’ve missed you, sweetheart,” Adin said as his wrapped his arms around her.
She giggled into his chest. “We’ve seen each other every day.”
“I know, but only for a few minutes here and there. That’s not enough.” He chuckled.
“I agree.” She rubbed her hands up and down his back while he kissed the top of her head.
“You ready?”
“Yeah.” She squeezed him again and pulled away.
Adin walked her to his car, and they headed to the game. He put his hand on her knee and stroked it gently while they made small talk. After a few minutes, though, she knew she needed to bring up something that wasn’t really small in her mind.
“Adin?”
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“River is going to be at the game tonight.”
“I figured he would be,” he said calmly.
She nodded.
“Why do you bring it up?”
“Because I don’t want you fighting with him.”
Adin chuckled. “Legacy, I’m not going to just walk up to him and knock him out. I’m not some barbarian.”
“I’m not saying you’d do that, sweetie, but I know you’re not going to put up with him anymore.”
“No. I’m not.” He shook his head.
“Just try to be nice to him.”
“Legacy?” He shook his head. “No, I’m not going to be nice to him.”
“Adin, he’s been doing much better than he was. He’s been helping me, and he hasn’t even tried to touch me.”
Adin sighed. “What do you mean he’s been helping you?”
“Well, we were on the Ferris wheel yesterday, and I freaked out because I’m scared of heights. I was making the wind blow the basket in all directions, and he helped me calm down so it would stop shaking.”
Adin shook his head with a smile on his face. It wasn’t a happy smile, though. “And you think Venus is playing me.”
“I know Venus is playing you.”
“And River is playing you, too, sweetheart.”
“I’m well aware of River’s motives, but he’s not crossing any lines.”
“Hmmm…not sure I agree with you on that. He can cross a line without getting physical with you.” She shook her head and looked out the side window. Adin sighed as he rubbed her knee. “I won’t start anything with River, but Legacy, I’m not going to tolerate his behavior if he acts inappropriately toward you.”
“Okay.” She took this to mean that Adin wasn’t going to act like River was one of his buddies like he had before, but at least he wasn’t going to go out of his way to cause problems with him.
They were quiet for awhile before Adin spoke again.
“How are your dreams coming? I’m sorry I haven’t asked you about them lately.”
She shrugged, but smiled. She remembered wanting to talk to Adin about them before, but they always seemed to talk about Venus or River instead.
“They’re confusing me. I keep dreaming about you telling me to be careful with 1887 and lightning glittering down from the sky. In the other one, we’re in Florida with red warning flags out by the ocean, and a hurricane is in the Gulf. You want us to evacuate, but as we start to run, Medusa appears in front of us with Venus by her side. ‘Everything isn’t always as it seems,’ Medusa tells us and her wavy hair turns into snakes. When the snakes come for us, the hurricane turns into River, and he throws himself in front of the snakes, yelling at his mom. Medusa screams at him, causing the ground to shake. Then River turns to you and screams, ‘I will tear you apa
rt!’ Then he turns back into a hurricane, charging for you. I try to push him away, but it’s like I’m not doing anything at all. When River gets near you, you turn to me, hug me, and whisper, ‘I will always love you, princess,’ just before I wake up.”
Adin furrowed his eyebrows. “You trying to push River away is a new element.”
“Yeah, that started last night after the Ferris wheel incident.”
“I wonder why?”
“Umm, well, River and I talked last week about our abilities, and he commented that he’s stronger than me. We joked around about that, but when we were on the Ferris wheel and River told me that I was the one making it shake, I asked him if he’d make it stop. He tried, but he said I kept fighting against him. He talked me out of my hysteria, allowing me to be the one to stop what I was doing. Afterward, I joked that I was more powerful than he was because he couldn’t stop the wind that I had blowing everywhere. I think that’s why I tried blowing the wind against him in my dream.”
Adin nodded. “You talked to him about your abilities?” he asked slowly.
“No! Oh, no. I didn’t talk about specifics. He doesn’t know…you know.”
They arrived at the game and got out of the car. Legacy had planned on talking more about her dreams when they got seated, but before they could make their way up the stands, River was walking toward them.
She mentally braced herself for the dreaded encounter. “Hey, River.” She half-smiled at him as he walked right up in front of her.
“You need to go talk to Calli.” He sounded urgent. Calli must be driving him crazy about the homecoming preparations.
“I brought the homecoming agenda for the run-through. She’s so worried about everything being perfect next week. I wasn’t going to forget the—”
“Legacy,” River said, shaking his head. “She’s been crying. Zach just broke up with her.”
Legacy gasped, and it immediately began to rain.
Chapter Fourteen
Legacy started fanning her face, trying to catch her breath, and the rain stopped.
“Where is she at?” she whispered.
“She’s out by the field house. Zach—”
Legacy turned away from River and took off. She heard Adin and River jogging behind her. When she rounded the corner, she saw Calli sitting against the back of the building with her arms wrapped around her knees and her head down.
Calli was crying uncontrollably. Seeing her crying stopped Legacy in her tracks. Her hands flew up to her face, and she felt herself starting to cry again. She was fighting back the tears and trying to keep her emotional state from manifesting again, but she wasn’t having much luck. She slowly walked toward Calli while her own tears streaked down her face, but she was doing something right—it wasn’t raining.
When her numb body reached her BFF, she dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms around Calli. She turned around and held onto her while they both cried. Legacy tried rocking her to soothe her, but it wasn’t helping.
“We should take you home,” she whispered.
“I-I-I can’t.”
“Calli, you can’t cheer tonight. Your coach will understand.”
“But w-we have to do the r-r-run-through.”
“I can stay and do that, and River can take you home.” She looked up at River to make sure that was okay, and he nodded.
“N-n-no. I’ll be f-fine in a minute.” Calli pulled away from her, trying to catch her breath. Legacy stared at her, but she had her hands covering her face. After several seconds of calming down, she started to get up, so Legacy stood up, helping her. When Calli was back on her feet, she glanced over and saw Adin and River a few feet away. She looked at Legacy and sighed. “C-come with me t-to the restroom, okay?” she whispered.
Legacy nodded.
They walked around the field house and into the restroom. Calli worked on cleaning up her makeup while she smoothed her hair.
“Do you want to talk about it now?”
“N-no. I’ll start c-crying again.” She was still struggling to catch her breath.
After they cleaned themselves up, they left the restroom. Adin and River were still in the same spots. Legacy was sure that neither would have said anything.
She kept her arms around Calli and walked her over to the cheerleading squad with Adin and River following. They quickly ran through the homecoming agenda, so everyone would know their places and understand the events of the evening. They finished just as the game was about to start, so they left Calli to cheer and headed for the stands.
Once they were seated, she turned to River.
“What happened?” Legacy barked.
River sighed and squeezed the bridge of his nose. “When I got here, Calli was in the parking lot fighting with Zach. She was yelling at him about some woman he went out with. I saw her push him, and he grabbed her arms.”
Legacy gasped, and Adin stroked her back. River cut his eyes over to Adin and then back to her. “So I ran over there, grabbed the back of his shirt, and yanked him back.” River took a deep breath, shaking his head. “He cursed at me and yelled at Calli. He said it was over, and he left.”
Legacy shook her head, staring at River.
“She started crying, so I held her and walked her to the field. She didn’t want anyone seeing her upset, so we walked over to the field house. After she cried for awhile, she asked if I’d get her something to drink. On her way back, I saw you walking in, so I told her I was going to get you.”
“Thanks,” she whispered.
River nodded.
“I can’t believe Zach would do this to her…and right before homecoming!” She shook her head in total disbelief.
Adin was still rubbing soothing circles on her back when he said, “I can.”
Legacy turned to him. “Why do you say that?”
He glanced at River and looked back into her eyes. “Because he acts inappropriately toward other women. A man who does that usually has an agenda.”
Adin’s eyes cut to River again, and River glared at him briefly before they both turned their eyes back to her. She knew River understood Adin wasn’t just talking about Zach’s agenda.
She couldn’t look at either one of them, though. She had to watch Calli. It didn’t take long before she started crying. Legacy stood up, and Calli ran off the tracks. Legacy ran down the bleachers with Adin and River ran right behind her. When she got down, Calli was talking to her coach, so she stayed back. She saw her coach hug her and leave, so Legacy walked up to Calli.
“I can go home,” she mumbled.
“You can ride with us.”
“I can’t leave my car up here.”
“I’ll drive it then. I don’t want you driving.” No way.
Calli nodded, and Legacy put her arms around her and walked her to the parking lot. When they got to her car, Adin opened the passenger door for Calli and followed Legacy to the other side.
“I’ll follow you to Calli’s house,” Adin whispered as he bent down and kissed her forehead.
“I’m not sure how long I’ll be staying over there.”
“That’s okay, sweetheart.”
Adin opened the door for her to get in, and he followed her out to Calli’s house. When they pulled in, she saw River pass and pull into his driveway, but then he ran over to Calli’s house.
Legacy guided her distraught BFF inside, and the guys followed. Once inside, Calli turned to her. “Can you get me something to drink while I change out of my uniform?”
“Sure thing.”
Calli walked upstairs while Legacy went into the kitchen. When she turned around, Adin and River were both staring at her. They looked so concerned, and she knew it wasn’t because of Calli. She shook her head and felt her eyes moisten.
“It’s not me you should be worried about,” she mumbled, looking down.
When she looked back up, they both still looked worried.
“We’ve both been through this before. She’ll be fine. I’ll be fine.�
�� She shook her head and looked up at the ceiling while her tears leaked over.
“Sweetheart, please don’t be upset,” Adin whispered as he stepped closer to her.
She shrugged. She didn’t trust her voice not to break, so she didn’t speak. Besides, she needed to gather her strength for Calli.
Adin stepped closer, and she looked over at him with a sad smile. “I’ll be upstairs.”
“Okay,” he whispered.
She started walking toward Adin and River with the intention of walking past them, but she stopped right in front of them. “Please don’t start anything while I’m upstairs,” she whispered. “I’m going to have my hands full with Calli, so I don’t want to have to mediate some testosterone-fueled territorial dispute.”
She looked both of them in the eyes while she spoke, and they both furrowed their eyebrows and shook their heads at her like that was an outrageous concept. But she knew better. She pursed her lips and raised one eyebrow. They both sighed and nodded.
“Is there anything that I, ummm, we can do, sweetheart?”
“Yeah, we need chocolate ice cream. And lots of it.”
She walked upstairs, and Calli was crying on her bed. They spent the next several hours talking and crying. Not only was Calli upset about her breakup, but she was mortified that it happened at school.
“I’m glad that River was there for you.”
“Yeah, if I wasn’t in total shock at Zach grabbing me, I probably would’ve been a little more grateful that he’d stepped in.”
“Zach had no right to touch you.”
“I know,” she whispered. “But he didn’t hurt me, and I don’t think he meant to scare me. I honestly think, when I pushed him, he grabbed me to stabilize himself.”
“Maybe, but he shouldn’t be going out with other women when he has a girlfriend!”
“I know.” Calli started sobbing again.
They talked and cried for another couple of hours while they inhaled bowls of ice cream. When Calli started to calm down, Legacy felt it was time to brave the next kink that this breakup created.
“I’m going to ask Adin if he knows anyone that can take you to the dance.”
“Legacy, I don’t even want to think about next week right now. If I show up with some stranger, everyone will know that…” Calli started crying again.