“The prince did say I needed a new plan.” I freed myself from D’s grip, my anger fading.
I didn’t know how the whole friendship thing worked, but this was a challenge I couldn’t pass up.
The plan was simple. Befriend her.
Find her weakness, make her vulnerable, and then kill her. When I arrived at school the next day, reporters had surrounded the grounds. I heard Abigail’s name floating around as they discussed her heroism to the cameras. What the hell was going on here? What did I miss?
I snapped my fingers and found myself outside our classroom. “Abigail,” Sarah was saying, “I didn’t know they were reporters, and you didn’t say not to tell anyone you saved us.”
There was no way Abigail could have saved them, and if she did, how did she do it? What kind of a human was she, anyway?
“Sarah, it’s all right. I’m fine,” Abigail sighed, lifting her head. She didn’t sound fine to me.
Only a few students paid attention when the teacher began teaching. Abigail lifted her head to look at the board. Before I knew it, the school bell was ringing for lunch.
“Remember to do your homework!” the teacher called as students filed out. Abigail, her friends, Tristan, and I were the last students in the room gathering our books.
“You want to get some lunch, Abby?” Tristan asked. “Or I can grab you something.”
“I’m fine. Go on ahead,” she said. “I’ll join you later.”
Tristan hesitated, showing me he didn’t want to leave Abigail behind, but when Danny nodded his head toward the door, Tristan didn’t argue. They all looked regretfully at her before they walked out of the classroom.
Befriend her. I repeated the words in my head before I stood and made my way over to her.
The moment I reached her table, Tristan appeared in the room, invisible.
He was everywhere!
“It seems it’s just you and me now, Miss Cells. How about that tour?” I asked, and once again I took a seat beside her. I pretended not to notice Tristan.
“It’s just you, actually. I’m leaving,” Abigail said as she turned to look at me.
“So was that a yes to the tour?” I brought it up again.
Abigail stood. “I take it you either haven’t heard the news or you don’t care.” She started packing. “You aren’t grilling me with questions, so which is it?”
“Oh, I heard about what happened. It’s everywhere.” I stood and stepped beside her. Tristan also took a step closer, but I continued to ignore his presence. “I heard you’re the new Wonder Woman,” I added.
“Unfortunately,” she said, annoyed. “I just wish…” she paused, her voice trembling. “Sorry, I can’t think of the accident without feeling sad—all the people who died and those who were hurt…” Her voice cracked.
This friendship thing was going to be more difficult than I thought. I had to listen to her whining?
“How did you do it?” I asked, following Abigail to the door. “You were in the backseat, and Jake was unconscious. The van was seconds away from Jake’s car and—” I paused, catching the surprised look on Abigail’s face.
Oops.
Abigail jolted to a stop and turned to me. “How did you know that? Even Sarah and Danny didn’t see what happened because they were too busy freaking out.”
“I…” I was typically skilled at lying, but at the moment, my mind froze. “I supposed that was what happened?” That was the best I could come up with?
“Were you following us?” she probed.
“Yeah, I’m a spy.”
Suddenly, I was pinned to the classroom wall with Abigail’s forearm pressing hard against my throat. How had she pinned me so fast? “Are you a spy?” she demanded.
I could have easily broken free, but I didn’t. Instead, I faked pain and acted as if I were trying to escape from her grip. I didn’t even want to think about what was going through Tristan’s head at the moment. To think she did all that in heels.
“I…I…” I pretended I was choking. “Abigail, you’re—”
“Who are you? Did someone send you here after me?”
I’d give the girl one thing: she was different, entertaining even. “I…no…” Her arm tightened around my neck.
“Then why did you say you were?” she demanded again.
I’d had enough. I swiftly grabbed her by the waist and broke away from her grip, changing our position and pinning her to the wall instead.
“I am not a spy!” I shouted. Our bodies were so close now that the fabric of our clothes touched. “I was only kidding! Where the hell did that come from?” Come to think of it, how did she learn to do that? She was stronger than she looked. I read from the book Daligo gave me that she trained with some military guy, but I didn’t think it was anything serious.
“Kidding?” Abigail hesitated. She seemed distracted by our proximity to each other. “Why…why would you kid about that?” I could hear the thumping of her heart, each beat faster and louder than the last.
“I…” I didn’t know how to answer her question. “Because I…” My eyes met hers. “Because I…” I could feel her breath against my lips. “Because I…” Her brown eyes looked so confused and…beautiful.
That thought shocked me, and I immediately pulled myself away. Where the hell did that thought come from?
“I’m sorry about that.” She picked her bag up from the floor. “I heard spy, and I assumed you were one of the paparazzi.”
That was her excuse? “So you go all karate crazy on every paparazzi guy you see?”
“Well, if you hadn’t freaked me out by knowing what happened, I wouldn’t have gone all karate crazy on you.” She sounded vexed. “You freaked me out.”
Then, I did something I never thought I’d do.
I laughed.
A real laugh; it sounded so alien to me.
“You nearly choked me to death because I freaked you out?” I asked, still laughing.
What the hell was happening to me?
“Now you’re just exaggerating,” she said, and then after looking at me, she too started laughing. “Okay, so maybe I overreacted. Just by a little bit.”
“You think?”
“You know you still freak me out,” she said. “I’m still wondering how you knew all that.”
“You show me around campus, and I’ll tell you.” This was befriending her, right? Not blackmailing.
“Well then, Mr. Chase, this is the chemistry lab, and that concludes our tour,” she said, already laughing again. She knew how to play this stupid game better than I did. I couldn’t help but laugh with her.
“I must say, that was a nice tour.”
“I know, right? I should open up my own touring agency.”
Why was I still laughing? Now I was freaking myself out.
“That’s a nice sound. You should laugh more,” Tristan said.
I had completely forgotten that Tristan was in the room with us, and the moment I heard his voice, I got so livid that the next thing I knew, Abigail was screaming because the glasses on the lab shelves had shattered.
I had no idea why I did what I did next, but the moment the glasses exploded, I used my body to shield Abigail, protecting her from the airborne shards.
“Oh, my God. Gideon, are you all right?” Abigail asked, spinning me around and searching for any injuries. “What happened? You saved me.”
“I’m fine,” I said, not really sure if I was. Did I shield her because I wanted to befriend her? That must be why. “Maybe there was a chemical reaction or something?”
Tristan stood beside Abigail, his face unreadable. I was sure he was just as shocked as I was that I had protected Abigail.
“Come on, let’s go get a teacher,” she said, opening the door for us. “Are you sure you’re all right? I can take you to the nurse if you’re not.”
Was I all right? Because in my perfect world, I didn’t laugh, and under no circumstances did I save people.
MIND THE GAP
“Great! Now I’m becoming one of those guys
with hearts and flowers and… feelings.”
Melody Manful
Three days!
It had been three days, and Abigail Cells was still alive!
Yesterday after my attempt to befriend her ended up with my saving her, she calmed down a little around me. And now as I sat with her and her friends, including Tristan, she didn’t look like she minded having me around.
With a little magic, I made sure she forgot about my knowing how she saved her friends, so she didn’t ask me about it any further. History class was in a few minutes, so Tristan and Abigail decided to rehearse their Titanic presentation. Danny, Jake, and I suddenly realized we hadn’t prepared for the project. The guys started freaking out, talking about how Mr. Bernard was going to give them an F.
“We are toast,” Danny moaned as he pulled his schoolbag away and snatched Tristan’s textbook.
“We’re using that,” Abigail protested.
“Really? All the extra after-school work and you’re still not done? What are you two doing, writing a freaking novel?” I asked, and her friends laughed.
Abigail looked offended. “At least we have a novel. What do you guys have?” she asked.
“We have something,” Jake said. “It’s a surprise.”
Tristan and Sarah tried to get us to tell them what it was, but we refused because even we didn’t know what it was.
“Gideon, what is it?” Abigail asked, slightly lifting her eyes and catching my gaze, and then it happened—I babbled.
“We…hmm…we’re just messing with you. We don’t have anything.” I was completely and utterly—well, I didn’t really have words to excuse my behavior.
“Way to keep a secret, man,” Danny said as the bell rang for class to start. It was no surprise that Tristan and Abigail got an A. Actually, Mr. Bernard had said, ”A-plus-plus,” and then he gave Jake, Danny, and me an F because we didn’t have anything. I’d written The Titanic is sinkable on a piece of paper, and we had read it out loud in unison.
After school, Tristan and I invisibly followed Abigail to the community library where she read to the after-school children.
“I know what you’re doing, Gideon,” Tristan said. “You’re trying to befriend the girl just so you can—”
“Kill her faster?” I finished Tristan’s pathetic assumption with a wicked smile. “Give yourself a pat on the back, handsome. That’s correct.” Abigail looked so happy reading for the children.
“Gideon, don’t hurt that poor girl because of me.”
“Do I need to take a seat for this?” I asked. “Is this the part where you lecture me about good guy stuff?”
“Please don’t hurt her,” Tristan pleaded once more as if he didn’t hear me.
“This is really sad,” I whispered, more to myself than to him, as I saw how distressed he was over Abigail’s life. What about his life? Right, he didn’t care about his life. “I’d love to stand here and chat, but I’m on a mission,” I said with my eyes on Abigail.
“Gideon, what are—?” Tristan didn’t finish because I disappeared behind one of the shelves, made myself visible, and then quickly rushed into view.
“Is there room for one more student?” I asked the moment I reached the area where Abigail sat with the children. Abigail looked up quickly when she heard my voice.
“You’re too old, aren’t you?” one of the children asked in a tiny voice that made me want to slap the hell out of her.
“I’m sure there’s room for one more. Class, this is Gideon.” Abigail made space on the floor for me to sit beside her. Tristan remained where he stood, staring at me without even blinking.
“You seem to be everywhere,” she said the moment I sat down.
“I came to borrow a book and saw you guys,” I lied.
“And here I was thinking you were allergic to books,” she teased.
“Now that you mention it, I think I’m allergic to school books.”
Abigail was about to say something when one of the boys asked, “Is Abigail your girlfriend?”
“Yes, and I’m going to kiss her right now.” I made a slight movement toward Abigail, and all the children started making noises of disgust.
“Ewwwww!”
Abigail smiled and then quickly looked away from me.
I winked at Ben and Felix, who stood quietly off to the side, appearing amused.
“I have a question. How does it feel to fall in love?” a little girl asked. Two of her front teeth were missing.
How the hell would I know?
Everyone was quiet, so I knew I had to answer.
“Well,” I cleared my throat and tried to remember all the cheesy sayings I had heard about falling in love. “It’s unexplainable.” I looked at Abigail, which turned out to be a stupid decision because when my eyes met hers, I felt a stir of emotions in my chest. “And unexpected,” I whispered to myself.
CHASING DAWN
“Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.”
Lao-Tze
I remembered when Thursday mornings meant getting breakfast at the town square just before I left for Earth. And by getting breakfast, I meant killing innocent creatures for the fun of it.
This Thursday morning, however, the moment the sun rose, I stormed out of my room as if someone was after me.
“Wow, Gideon, slow down. Where are you going?” Valoel asked the moment I rushed down the stairs.
I stopped. My entire family was in the living room, and all of them stared at me.
“I…” I looked from my father to my mother and then to Valoel. They wore the same look on their faces—surprise. “School. I’m going to school. You know, to try and kill Tristan’s ènas and stuff.” And then without waiting for them to respond, I raced out the door.
“Is he all right?” I overhead my mother asking.
“I don’t know. I think so,” Valoel answered.
“Can you find out if he’s okay?” My father asked, and not wanting to hear more, I flew into the air.
When I arrived at school, I stopped in front of the main gate before making myself visible. Since I couldn’t sense Tristan, I knew Abigail wasn’t at school yet.
I paced in front of the main gate. The students who passed either smiled or stared at me. I had formed a plan—follow Abigail to the library, and when everyone was busy having fun, kill her unexpectedly so Tristan wouldn’t know what was coming. I could pretend to be involved and let the children play games that would get them to laugh, which would also encourage Tristan to laugh and feel happy. Just when he would least expect it, bang! I’d kill Abigail.
Five minutes passed as I paced, just waiting for her—the longest five minutes of my existence. I was about to give up when I spotted Abigail’s limo pulling into the parking lot, with Tristan invisibly beside it.
When her limo stopped and Abigail got out, her eyes quickly found me. She smiled and waved. I did the same, until her mother got out of the limo and signaled for me to come over.
“Mom, this is Gideon. Gideon, my mom,” Abigail introduced.
I stretched out my hand and greeted her. “Nice to finally meet you, Mrs. Cells,” I said politely, and Tristan, who stood beside Abigail, smiled at me.
“So, you’re Gideon,” Mrs. Cells said, looking from me to her daughter. “The boyfriend from the library?”
Abigail blushed. “He—”
Her mother cut her off and turned to me. Suddenly, I felt as if I were in a spotlight. “A librarian called yesterday to remind Abigail to bring her boyfriend today because the children requested it,” Mrs. Cells said. “A boyfriend whom I was told is named Gideon.”
I did
n’t know what to tell Mrs. Cells, and the situation would have been much better if Tristan wasn’t standing beside Abigail and grinning at us. “Mom, would you just—”
“So, are you and my daughter dating?” she asked, ignoring Abigail.
Based on the expression on Mrs. Cells’ face, I knew she wanted me to say no, but I was pretty sure no would be the wrong answer. I breathed in. “I…Abigail says I’m a jerk, and unless I can prove otherwise, I can’t answer that question.” After I said this, both Abigail and her mother gawked at me.
“Honey, is he a jerk?” Mrs. Cells asked with a teasing smile.
We both looked at Abigail. “Hmm…he is…well, you know, he’s…don’t you have work, Mom?” Abigail’s mother and I laughed.
“All right, I know when I’m not wanted.” Mrs. Cells turned to me again. “I’ve got my eyes on you, young man.” She gave Abigail a goodbye kiss on the cheek and reentered the limo.
Abigail and I stood and waved as it drove away.
“That could have been worse,” I whispered with my eyes on the limo.
Abigail looked shy and awkward as she responded, “Way worse.” We started heading into the school with Tristan close behind us.
The day went well—too well. I spent every moment with Abigail and didn’t get any chance to kill her because Tristan was everywhere.
When school was over, I found myself at the library once more. One moment Abigail had been leaving school and saying goodbye, telling us she was going to the library, and the next moment, I was telling her I wanted to join her because the children loved me. What I didn’t tell her was how much I didn’t like them back.
Felix and Ben had both stared at me when Abigail said I was going to be riding with her to the library. Inside the limo, Abigail kept looking at Ben and then back at me, as if she were waiting for something to happen. I asked her what was wrong, but she said it was nothing.
Tristan followed us invisibly to the library.
The book Abigail wanted to read to the children had been delayed in shipping, and thanks to me and my big mouth, I suggested we make up our own story.
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