Tale of Life (Essence Series #2)

by Todd, E. L.

  Uncle Scott leaned forward. “So, my son, Calloway, attacked Hawk for no reason? He left the school dance, followed you to the parking lot, and assaulted Hawk randomly?”

  She shifted her weight. “Yes,” she said quietly.

  “Why would he do that?” Uncle Scott pressed. “What was his purpose?”

  “He was jealous of Hawk,” she said. “That I went to prom with him.”

  Calloway could help it—he laughed. His date to prom happened to be Weston, the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and that never would have happened if he was still dating Beatrice. He would have worn a ridiculous suit and had a miserable time. He was glad their relationship was over. Now he finally saw Beatrice for what she was—a coward.

  Uncle Scott leaned back in chair and stared at Beatrice for a moment. His face changed from anger to sheer disappointment. “And that’s what happened?”

  “Yes,” she whispered, avoiding his gaze.

  Uncle Scott shook his head but said nothing more. Aunt Grace blatantly glared at Beatrice, furious that she would do this to Calloway.

  Principal Charles cleared his throat and dismissed Beatrice and Hawk. “You may go—both of you.”

  They left the office and returned to the lobby, disappearing from Calloway’s sight. He didn’t look at Beatrice when she walked away. As far as he was concerned, she didn’t exist. If she ever needed his help again, even if Hawk was beating her, he wouldn’t come to her aid. He was officially done with Beatrice Reese.

  Principal Charles stood up from his desk. “Are there any further questions?”

  “No,” Uncle Scott said. “But I sincerely hope you are a better principal than you are a father.” He turned to the door and opened it for Aunt Grace, who left the room without saying goodbye, an action she herself considered immensely rude, and walked into the hallway. Calloway was the last to leave.

  “Thanks for trying,” Calloway said after they were out of earshot. “We did our best.”

  “I can’t believe that girl!” Aunt Grace snapped. “That she would do that to you after you dated for months. I’m glad the brat never came to dinner.”

  Calloway smiled. “It looks like I dodged a bullet.” He wrapped his arm around his aunt. “Let’s go home.”

  “This better not ruin your college admissions,” Uncle Scott said. “I would be livid.”

  “It will be fine,” Calloway lied. In truth, he didn’t know what was going to happen. A suspension as a result of a fight was a serious misdemeanor, but he didn’t want to tell his family that—they already felt horrible.

  They were about to leave the building when Calloway heard a voice behind him.

  “Calloway?” She sniffed. The voice was full of tears, crackling with the sound of emotion.

  Calloway turned around and saw Beatrice standing behind him. Aunt Grace and Uncle Scott stared at them both, waiting for their interaction. “What?” he said harshly. The sight of her face ignited a rage within him. Never had he been so angry before. He clenched his fists at his sides like he was preparing for a fight. “What do you want?”

  “I’m sorry about everything,” she said as grabbed his arm.

  Calloway jerked it away savagely, unable to control his ferocity. He never wanted her hands on his him again. Every memory of their previous kisses made him want to vomit. She had always been embarrassed of him but now it was his turn to be ashamed—he was too good for her. “Don’t ever touch me again!” he hissed. “And don’t speak to me—ever.”

  “Wait!” she said. “I’ll tell the principal everything. I just wanted Hawk to leave first.”

  “How admirable of you,” he said sarcastically.

  She stared at him for a moment, still crying hysterically.

  “Am I supposed to be grateful?” he asked. “That now you decided to do the right thing when all of this could have been avoided? Leave me alone, Beatrice.”

  “Let me talk to him,” she said. “Hold on.”

  She knocked on the principal’s door and he opened it a moment later.

  “Hawk was lying,” she said without preamble. “I was just too scared to tell the truth when he was standing there.” She wiped the tears from her eyes. “I’m so sorry. Hawk was making me leave the dance against my will and Calloway saved me, pulling me away to safety. I’m so sorry about lying before.”

  Principal Charles stared at her, his look changing into one of annoyance. “Are you speaking the truth now?”

  “Of course!” she said. “Hawk threatened to hurt me if I told the truth.”

  “Okay.” He sighed, clearly disappointed that this was the real story. Calloway noticed he didn’t seem surprised, however. He probably knew how much of a jerk his own son was. “Thank you, Miss Reese.” He stepped toward Uncle Scott, who had his arms across his chest with a scowl etched onto his face. “It seems that I owe you an apology.”

  “Yes, you do,” Uncle Scott said.

  Principal Charles nodded. “All the charges will be dropped and Calloway’s record will remain clean.”

  “And Hawk will be serving the same punishment?” Uncle Scott asked. “In addition to being disciplined for lying about it?”

  The principal nodded. “Of course.”

  “I want proof that this incident is going on his permanent record,” Uncle Scott snapped. “If you give him any special treatment I will file a report to the school district. I suggest you don’t call my bluff.”

  “It will,” he said. “His punishment will be most severe.”

  “It better be,” Uncle Scott spat, his anger seeping out like a toxin. He turned away with Aunt Grace and left the building, leaving Calloway standing alone with Beatrice. The principal returned to his office a moment later.

  “I’m so sorry.” She sniffed. She wiped her tears away. “You forgive me, right?”

  Calloway stared at her for a moment, affronted that she would even ask that. The falling tears had no effect on him. He felt no pity. “No.”

  “But I told the truth!” she said. “I told them what really happened.”

  “Only because my uncle called you into the office!” he snapped. “I was already suspended and you didn’t speak the truth. And you only did it because Hawk wasn’t here. You’re a coward, Beatrice!”

  “You don’t know what he’s like,” she cried.

  “Yes, I do!” he snapped. “And you know him better! You are the one that left me for him, completely aware of his violent tendencies. I would have protected you with my life, Beatrice, but not anymore. I learned my lesson. You aren’t a good person that does evil things—you’re just evil.”

  Calloway turned away and left the office, leaving Beatrice standing alone, drowning in her own tears of regret. He grabbed his backpack from the car, kissed his Aunt Grace on the cheek, and then returned to school and made it to his second period class.

  When Calloway walked into the library during the lunch period, Easton and Breccan were surprised to see him.

  “What are you doing here?” Easton asked.

  “The charges were dropped,” Calloway answered.

  “How did that happen?” Breccan asked.

  Calloway ran his hands through his hair. “Beatrice finally admitted the truth. After Hawk left, of course.”

  “And let me guess,” Breccan venomously. “You forgave her and everything is just dandy between you two?”

  Calloway shook his head. “No,” he said. “I’ll never forgive her for what she did. I told her to never speak to me again.”

  Easton stared at him. “You are serious?”

  Calloway nodded. “You were right about her,” he said. “She was going to let me stay suspended and do nothing about it. She doesn’t really care. And I told her I wouldn’t help her again—she’s on her own.”

  Easton clapped her hands together. “Finally!” she yelled.

  “You’re not as dumb as you look.” Breccan smiled.

  “It’s nothing to be excited about,” Calloway said solemnly. “I was hopi
ng I was right about her—that she was a good person. But you were right—people don’t change.”

  Easton looked at him. “I’m sorry, Calloway, but I think you made the right decision.”

  “So, does that mean Hawk is in trouble?” Breccan asked.

  “I think so,” Calloway said. “Uncle Scott said if he doesn’t receive the same punishment that I did, then he’s complaining to the school board.”

  “Yes!” Breccan said. “Go dad!”

  Calloway laughed. “You should have seen him, Brec. He was livid.”

  “I’ll have to take your word for it,” he said. “I can’t image him getting mad—I just can’t.”

  “Well, he was furious,” Calloway explained.

  “So, that’s a whole week without Hawk?” Easton asked.

  “I hope it’s two,” Breccan said. “His punishment should be longer since he lied about it. Plus, he was harassing another student.”

  “I hope so,” Calloway said. “But I suspect he will be even worse when he returns.”

  “Whatever,” Breccan said. “School is almost done. Soon, we’ll never have to see that jerk again.”

  “Or Beatrice,” Easton added. “It’s hard for me to look at her without wanting to stab her like a Hara-Kir.”

  “That’s a little creepy,” Breccan said.

  “I know it is.” She smiled.

  “No fantasies about killing Beatrice,” Calloway said. “She’s out of our lives forever—that’s good enough.” Calloway noticed that Breccan and Easton seemed to be back to normal, and he assumed they had worked out their differences. He wanted to bring it up but decided against it, not wanting to poke an open wound.

  “How is the Kirin Book?” Calloway asked.

  Easton shrugged. “I haven’t made much progress,” she said. “The pages I’ve deciphered are useless because the information is redundant—we already know how to kill them. The more I read through this book, the less useful I think it is. It hasn’t detailed anything real about them. For instance, why do they look human? I imagined beings who worked with dark forces to be more monstrous, not human like, and the book hasn’t explained where the portals are or what the other world looks like. You would think that they would include that.”

  Breccan shook his head. “I agree,” he said. “It doesn’t make sense. You would think that Hara-Kirs would be more accurate about their own culture. They sound stupid. ”

  Calloway felt his heart freeze. While the book contained important information, most of the knowledge wasn’t useful—it was limited, definitely not written by a Hara-Kir. “What if it wasn’t written by one of them?”

  Easton, who was calm just a moment before, met Calloway’s gaze with a worried expression. “What are you saying, Calloway?”

  “That my father wrote it—not a Hara-Kir.”

  “Why would you think that?” she asked.

  Calloway leaned over the table and lowered his voice. “It isn’t detailed enough to be written by one of them. It sounds like it was written by someone who studied them, and since my father possessed the book and was fighting against the Hara-Kirs, it could have been him.”

  Breccan shook his head. “Then why is it written in the symbols of the Hara-Kir? Why wouldn’t he just write it in English?”

  Calloway thought for a moment. “So humans couldn’t read it,” he said. “They might have thought he was crazy.”

  “But he obviously knew where the portal was so why didn’t he detail it?” Easton asked. “He doesn’t mention it once. I don’t think you are right, Calloway. I’m sorry,” she said in a gentle voice. “I know you want to believe that your father was this exceptional Hara-Kir hunter but I don’t think he’s responsible for everything.”

  Calloway sighed. “It’s still possible,” he said quietly.

  “Anything is possible at this point,” Easton said. “I’m even more anxious to travel through the portal now, just to find the answers to all of our questions.”

  “I feel the same way,” Calloway said. “Maybe we shouldn’t wait until we are done with the book—let’s do it now.”

  “No,” Breccan said quickly. “We may as well finish the book—you never know what might be in it.”

  Easton nodded. “Breccan’s right,” she agreed. “We need to wait.”

  “Okay,” Calloway said.

  When the lunch bell rang, Calloway attended his afternoon classes until he reached his last period of the day, photography. When we walked inside Beatrice was looking at him. He didn’t meet her gaze and avoided her look as much as possible, still too angry to even consider acknowledging her. When he sat down, he realized Hawk was absent, not sitting in his usual seat.

  “This is nice,” Breccan said as he leaned back in his chair. “I don’t even have to worry about a helmet.” He ran his hands through his hair, knowing that a pencil wasn’t going to be chucked at his head.

  Calloway chuckled. “This is going to be a wonderful week.”

  “Yes it is, my friend.” Breccan smiled. He turned around and smiled at Hawk’s friend, Tommy, who just glared at him. “Hey,” he said before he turned back around. “Nice to see you.”

  “We don’t need more enemies,” Calloway said.

  “I’m not worried about it,” Breccan said. “Hawk is our only problem—but not for this week.”

  They started their computers and began to work on their collage project. Now that Beatrice was his ex-girlfriend—someone he disliked—he didn’t want to finish the assignment. He would rather receive a failing grade than submit anything with her face on it.

  “What are you doing?” Breccan asked, looking at his blank screen, realizing that his cousin was blatantly not working on his project.

  “I’m not doing the assignment,” he said calmly. He opened the file that contained his pictures and deleted every one that depicted Beatrice—which was all of them.

  “But you are going to get a failing grade,” Breccan said apprehensively.

  “As long as I pass the class, I don’t care,” he said. “And I’ll still pass.”

  “How do you know?”

  “I calculated my grade in my head,” Calloway explained. He sat back in his chair and watched his cousin work. Every few minutes he felt Beatrice stare at him from across the room, but he never returned her look, not wanting to look at the face that betrayed him so many times. Initially he was heartbroken over their breakup but now he didn’t care—he was just angry.

  When the school bell rang, Mrs. Ezquibel addressed Calloway. “The principal would like to see you,” she said. “Please see him before you leave campus.”

  Calloway felt his heart stop. Why did the principal want to see him? Did they reverse the punishment because Hawk came up with a ridiculous explanation that the principal, his father, believed?

  “What’s that about?” Breccan asked.

  “I don’t know.” Calloway sighed. “But I have a feeling that it isn’t good.”

  They left the classroom and walked across campus until they entered the school lobby. They waited for several minutes before the principal emerged from his office and approached them with his hands folded together.

  “It has come to my attention that my son was the one responsible for the destroyed camera in your photography class, which your guardians were required to pay for. Is that the truth?”

  Calloway was speechless. Of all the things he was expecting the principal to say, this wasn’t one of them. “What?”

  “Did Maurice destroy the camera?”

  Breccan snorted loudly at the sound of Hawk’s first name and he laughed uncontrollably for a moment. Calloway elbowed his in the stomach, halting his chuckles.

  Principal Charles stared at him. “Did I say something funny?” His blue eyes formed crystal icicles, ready to stab Breccan directly through the heart. The principal held his tongue but his look communicated every angry thought he had.

  “No,” Breccan said quickly.

  The principal glared at him fo
r a moment longer before he turned to Calloway. “Please give this to your aunt and uncle, along with my apologies.” He pulled a check from his pocket and handed it to Calloway.

  Calloway stared at the check blankly. The total amount was two thousand dollars.

  “Can you do that for me?” The principal asked.

  Calloway blinked a few times before his mind started to work again. The entire situation was confusing to him. Hawk broke that camera months ago and now he was finally being punished for it. Calloway didn’t understand how this came about. Did Hawk confess? The idea was so ludicrous that Calloway shook his head.

  “Well, I’m glad that we straightened this all out,” The principal said, placing his hands into his pockets. “Please accept my apology on behalf of my son.”

  “Sure, said Calloway, nodding his head.

  The principal turned away, heading back toward his office. “Have a good afternoon.”

  “Wait!” Calloway said.

  Principal Charles stopped and faced Calloway once more. “Yes?”

  “Who told you the truth? Was it Hawk?”

  “No.” The principal sighed. “I wish it were him.”

  “Then who was it?” Calloway asked.

  “Beatrice Reese.”

  Flying Solo

  “Beatrice?” Easton, who had been eating a sandwich, spit out her food when Calloway told her the news. They went to Togo’s and grabbed sandwiches before they came to the Headquarters since Calloway could purchase food at a discounted rate. Breccan already finished his. “Beatrice told the principal about Hawk? That he was the one who really broke the camera?”

  Calloway pulled the check from his pocket. “He’s reimbursing my aunt and uncle for the fee,” he said as he held it in the air. “Now they’ll get their money back.”

  “Dad is going to be so happy,” Breccan said. “It will definitely pull him out of his bad mood.”

  “At least Aunt Grace didn’t work for nothing,” Calloway said sadly.

  “I wonder what they are going to buy,” Breccan said. “Hopefully they’ll get a new car.”

  “They didn’t win the lottery,” Easton snapped. “It’s just two thousand dollars.”