by M.E. Timmons
Chapter 22
Jack and I made up the next day at breakfast after apologizing profusely to each other, though I made no promise to stay away from Adrian and Jack stopped asking me to. I think he realized that I wasn't going to give in and he didn't want to fight anymore. It was nice to have my best friend back.
I went back to the infirmary after breakfast, and when I saw the cuts on my arms they were healed over. There were still sensitive pink scars running down my arms, but that was all that remained, so I didn't need any more bandages and Dr. Hughes didn't give me more cream. She said that it had already done as much as it could, so it wasn't necessary. When I asked her if the scars would go away, she said no, the cream didn't help with that, but she could make something else that would. I told her not to bother, thinking it might be good to have a permanent reminder of what happened.
I spent the afternoon with my roommates, who didn't even mention what had happened. We hung around in the common room and watched TV. It was nice to be able to laugh and have fun for a while, and to forget about all of my worries. I still ended up thinking of Adrian, but not as much as I would have if I was alone. I was still anxious to talk to him, but I hadn't found out where he was. Jack had confirmed that morning that he had moved out of his room, but he either didn't know or wouldn't tell me any more than that.
Monday finally arrived. I was anxious for the time to pass quickly because I wanted to get to Calculus. I even barely paid attention in History, even though Ms. Coleman was talking about Isadora for a change, instead of Amun. I think she was talking about a time when she was a slave in ancient Rome, and she fell in love with a gladiator or something. I'm sure it was very interesting, but I just couldn't concentrate.
I decided to draw in Skills Development, mostly because I could do it without thinking, which left my mind open to more pressing issues. I did try to draw the Calculus classroom so I could see where Adrian would sit, but I drew my English classroom instead. Clearly, I still had a lot of work to do. It was frustrating me that I was having so much trouble doing it right, and Mr. Ramirez assured me that it was normal to take years to fully develop and control an ability. That didn't make me feel any better.
The rest of the morning and early afternoon continued to move extremely slowly until it was finally time for Calculus. I had come up with a plan so that I wouldn't have to worry as much about Adrian avoiding me. Instead of going in and sitting down, I waited for him to arrive outside of the classroom. When he finally got there he completely surprised me. Instead of trying to walk by me as I expected, he came right up to me and hugged me, which he had never done before. He was careful not to touch my arms, so it was a little awkward.
"You're alright?" he questioned, and I nodded. "Good. Do you hate me?"
"Of course not, Adrian," I assured him.
"You probably should, you know. Any sane person would. I'm really sorry." I could tell he meant it.
"Don't worry about me," I said. "You should worry more about yourself. You need to learn to control your temper before it ruins your life."
"It already has, Juliet. I can't live with myself like this, and I don't know what to do. I never want to hurt anyone ever again. I don't even know what came over me on Friday. I just saw you hugging that guy and I got angry, and it took hold over me before I could control it. It could happen again at any time. I should be locked up." He was almost panicking.
"Adrian, you know it's not your fault. It's just part of what you are, and you'll get over it in time like everyone else."
"By then it could be too late," he said, and I could see the fear in his eyes as well as in his aura.
Mr. Dawes, the Calculus teacher, poked his head out the classroom door. "Class started five minutes ago. Get in here, both of you," he commanded. He waited until we were in our seats before resuming the class, which left us no chance to talk again.
When class was over Adrian was forced to go back to his solemn isolation by Paul, who had come to get him. He gave me a quick kiss goodbye and slipped a piece of paper into my hand before he exited the room. I looked at the paper when he was gone, and saw that he had quickly scrawled on it where he was living, which happened to be on the fifth floor of the north wing. He included the room number and a warning that there was usually someone around to make sure he didn't sneak out.
I found Jack in the cafeteria where he was eating and working on an assignment at the same time, though he stopped doing both when I sat down.
"Did you hear?" he asked. "A couple of vampires got in trouble today for feeding on other students. I think one of them got kicked out of school." Vampires not being allowed to feed on other students at school was one of those rules that was strictly enforced. Parents wouldn't feel too good about letting their kids go to a school that allowed vampires to feed on them, especially because it could become addictive to the one being bitten.
"Well, at least the school gossip no longer relates to me," I said, smiling. "Did the students give consent?"
"Of course they did. Apparently it feels really good or something. A lot of people were involved. Remember Kyle, the guy who was with us on our first day? He was involved. The headmaster herself caught him and a vampire in an empty classroom upstairs during lunch time today."
"Sounds like quite the scandal," I commented. I could hardly imagine Kyle, who was in half my classes, being into something like that, but I couldn't help but be glad the attention of the school had shifted from me. I could already tell that less people were looking at me, and there were a lot of eyes on a table of vampires in one corner of the room. They didn't look too happy.
When I finished eating I went to the north wing to try to see Adrian, but the place was swarming with teachers, which I figured had something to do with what Jack had mentioned, so I went back to the south wing instead. I found Heather sitting alone on a couch in the common room reading a book, so I joined her there.
"Hey Juliet," she greeted me, putting her book down. "Did you hear about the vampires?"
I smiled. "Yeah, Jack told me about that at supper," I answered.
"You must be glad that everyone has something else to talk about."
"Yeah, it's a bit of a relief," I said.
"That's good. Actually, there's something I wanted to tell you about. Mrs. Bainbridge met with Amun. I didn't hear their conversation, so I don't really know exactly what was said, but I think it happened earlier today or maybe sometime yesterday. I heard her mention it to Victor this afternoon. It seems like all of your teachers have been talking about you."
"Do you know anything about what Amun said?" I asked. Even though I had different beliefs, I couldn't help but be a little curious.
"Yeah, the headmaster was quite clear about his opinion. He confirmed everyone's suspicions. He said that you are Isadora, and you took away your memories and powers sixteen years ago. He also seemed to think it best not to tell you so that you wouldn't have the burden of knowing, but I figured I should tell you anyway. I'd want to know if it was me."
I couldn't help but laugh. "You can't be serious," I said.
Heather didn't laugh. She continued to look quite serious. "I'm telling the truth, Juliet. You really are a goddess. You may not believe it now, but someday you will."
"Would you believe me if I told you that you were a goddess?" I asked, still smiling at the absurdity of what she was telling me.
"Probably not," she admitted. "Of course, I don't look like you, and I'm not as powerful. I also have a normal aura. It's different with you though. There's actually a lot of evidence that you're choosing to ignore, and even more than you've told me about. I heard Ms. Coleman saying you have the keys to the three villages on Asantis. Is that true?"
"It is, but it's not like I've always had them. They were given to me on Christmas, so it could very well be a mistake. Maybe Amun is just having a little fun by tricking people."
"I kind of do
ubt that, silly. Can I see them?"
"Sure," I said, and I pulled the chain from around my neck, where I kept it whenever possible. The three keys were still there, looking every bit as beautiful as they did when I had first seen them. Heather held them in her hand as if they were the most delicate things on Earth when I passed them to her, just like Ms. Coleman had.
"They're incredible!" she said in awe. She ran her fingers over the intricate pattern on the white key. "I can't believe you didn't tell me about these!"
"Well, I was sure you'd see it as more evidence, as you clearly do. To be honest, I haven't really thought about them much since I got them."
"But they are more evidence! I don't understand how you can possibly deny that you're a goddess."
"Keep it down," I said, looking around us to see if anyone was listening. Luckily there were only a few people in the room, and most of them seemed preoccupied. A bushy-haired girl reading a book a few feet away looked at us funny, but she went back to reading when she saw me looking back.
"Look, Jules, I'll keep this to myself. I understand that people may see you differently if they know the truth, and you're my friend. You can trust me. Sometime you're going to have to face the truth yourself though, whether you like it or not. Personally, I think it's awesome. Just think of all the amazing things you've done and what you're capable of doing."
I sighed. "Even if it were true, it wouldn't make any difference. I'd still be stuck just being me, at least until I died."
"Yeah, I guess that's true, and we can hope that you don't die any time soon. You might want to stay away from Adrian to avoid that happening."
"That's what everyone tells me, but I can't do that," I said. "He has no intention of killing me anyway. It's not his fault if I get in his way."
Heather shook her head. "For such a smart girl, you can be really stupid sometimes."
"You're probably right about that," I agreed.
Over the next week I noticed something that bothered me. Pretty much all of my teachers treated me differently than they had before. It was subtle, but it was happening. I even noticed changes in their auras when I was around, and their emotions confused me. There was generally a lot of fear and awe. Even if I was a goddess, I couldn't understand their fear. From everything that I had learned in History, I knew that the gods were not at all dangerous. I thought perhaps it was just a general reaction to being around someone they thought was powerful. I would've found it amusing if it wasn't so disturbing.
I first noticed the change the day after I talked to Heather. Ms. Coleman called on me more in History when she asked questions. I didn't even have my hand up, but I knew most of the answers because of all the time I spent in the library. Still, it was a little unnerving. She even asked me a question that she didn't know the answer to, and she seemed to expect me to answer it. I had no idea what the answer was, of course, and she seemed disappointed.
It happened again in Physical Defence. Victor usually paired me up with another girl around my own size, which generally worked well for me. I was getting stronger and faster, but I wasn't exactly ahead of the class, and I still got my butt kicked almost as often as not. That day, however, he paired me up with a guy named Lucas, who was probably the best fighter in the class. He was also gay, so I didn't have to worry about what he thought of me. By the end of the class I was bruised and sore, and Lucas kept apologizing to me for hurting me. I had to wonder what the heck Victor had been thinking. I hoped my getting body-slammed multiple times was enough to convince him I was normal. It certainly convinced me.
It kept going on like that. It was like they were testing me to see if I would do something extraordinary, and I kept disappointing them. After a few days they seemed to realize that, but I could still tell they were paying a lot of attention to me anyway. I mentioned it to Heather one day at lunch time.
"Yeah, I've noticed that too," she said. "They give you a lot of special treatment. It's like they think that if they're good to you you'll reward them or something when you get your powers back."
I rolled my eyes. "Do they honestly think that?"
"I don't know. They talk about you a lot though. I hear them all the time in the staff rooms exchanging stories about what you've been doing, even though it all seems pretty normal. To be honest, I don't get it any more than you do. It's like you said before, it doesn't change who you are now."
"Honestly, I don't care that much about what they think of me, but if I keep getting paired with Lucas in Defence I'm going to have to start complaining."
Heather laughed. "I'm glad it's you and not me," she said. "You're a better fighter than I am."
Besides having to worry about what my teachers were talking about behind my back, I also worried about Adrian. He was still in isolation, so I only saw him in Calculus, and it seemed to be taking a toll on him. He was either moody or silent most days, but he still talked to me. He said he liked having a room to himself, but he didn't like not being allowed to wander around like he used to, and he missed being able to see me. I tried to go to his room a few times, but there was always someone there guarding the door. The school was pretty serious about its punishments.