The Riser Saga
Page 4
IT WAS JUST A SMILE! STOP IT! I needed to clear my head.
I needed to focus on something else.
“Maybe Chelsan would know.” Jill’s voice cut through my inner hysteria.
Know what? Great. I hadn’t been paying attention at all.
“Chelsan?” Mr. Alaster smiled at me with eagerness.
“Yes?” I asked. I could tell Mr. Alaster immediately knew I had no idea what he was talking about. His face fell slightly as if he couldn’t fathom how anyone could not have been engrossed in his lecture.
“I think she was too busy drooling over Ryan to pay attention.” Jill laughed. And the class laughed with her.
Was I that obvious? Oh man, if Jill noticed my red face and sweats, Ryan unquestionably did. Thank goodness I had resisted my urge for a second sneak peak!
“I wasn’t drooling.” Did I really say that out loud?! I wanted to crawl under my desk and die.
“I see.” Mr. Alaster realized that this was a feud between teenage girls and didn’t want to have anything to do with it. “Let’s continue forward shall we? What religions took the biggest fall after Age-pro?” He droned on and the class quieted down from Jill’s outburst.
Nancy tried to give me non-verbal support in the form of an encouraging smile, but nothing would make me feel better. Nothing except making Jill feel just as humiliated. I searched the room until I found the perfect thing.
A dead fly on the windowsill.
I brought it to life.
I started slow, just an irritating fly buzzing around Jill’s face. She discreetly waved it away. Then I amped it up. I made it fly directly in her ear. SWAT! I kept the fly sitting in her ear as if her swat had injured him. This freaked her out to the point of standing up in class trying to rid herself of the fly now stuck in her ear. Everyone stared in amusement.
“Jill? What’s the problem?” Mr. Alaster asked.
Here goes. The fly raced out of her ear and flew around her face, up her nose, out of her nose, in her hair, in her clothes until Jill was flailing her arms and whole body in panic. She looked like a frenzied animal being attacked by an invisible force.
“GET IT OFF ME! GET IT OFF ME!” she wailed.
I made it land on her cheek.
WHACK! Jill’s best friend, Joan, hit the fly with her reader thereby smacking Jill directly in the face.
I made the fly fall to the floor, dead once more.
Everyone stifled his or her laughter for fear of Jill’s wrath, but I smiled as broadly as I could.
I win.
“Jill, you may want to go to the nurse, your cheek is looking a little red.” Mr. Alaster looked as though he was trying to hide his own amusement. A lot of the teachers in the school liked Jill less than I did. Her father’s influence in the government made it impossible to give Jill anything less than a B. Our Math teacher freshman year tried to give her a D and needless to say he was fired the next day and replaced with a teacher that let her pass with flying colors. The teachers that didn’t hate her simply sucked up to her any chance they got. Owen Forester (Jill’s dad) was second in command to Geoffrey Turner himself, which meant he had influence in over-population “perks.” Perks that included owning more than one hover-car, landscaping that fudged the “planting a tree every twenty feet” law, free passes to Virtual Reality Bars, just to name a few. And Jill’s favorite teachers always cashed in any chance they could.
Jill gave Joan a look that could kill and made her way toward the exit just as the bell rang for the class to end.
“Is it that time already?” Mr. Alaster seemed disappointed to let us all go. It felt like leaving someone in mid-sentence.
Everyone started getting out of their seats and exited the classroom.
“Wait for her to leave,” Nancy warned me and we pretended to gather our things a little bit more slowly than we normally would. “Okay, she’s gone.”
Everyone had left, including Ryan. I didn’t even want to think about ever seeing him again for fear of dying of embarrassment. Why did I have to open my big mouth?
Nancy and I headed for the door. “Do you like Ryan?” she asked.
I tried my best to act shocked and appalled. “No!”
Nancy laughed out loud. “You totally do! That’s cute.”
“Cute?” I said in exasperated disgust. “More like tragic. Guys like Ryan don’t like girls like me.”
Nancy rolled her eyes and practically guffawed. “Oh, please! Girls like you? Attractive, smart and have a personality? You’re right, you should just give up on guys right now.”
“Easy for you to say. You have money.”
“Ha! I’ll give you some. See how much it makes a difference in your love life.” Nancy smirked.
“Being friends with me is what’s messing up your love life. You may not care about money, but everyone else does,” I said. Which was true though Nancy didn’t like hearing it.
She opened the door and we entered into the crowded halls.
And that’s when I ran straight into…
…Ryan.
I hit his chest full force. How could I not have seen him? How could Nancy not have warned me? That’s when I saw the triumphant smile on her face and knew she did it on purpose. She had angled the door exactly so he’d be out of my view.
“Sorry,” I sputtered.
Ryan actually smiled. I wished he wouldn’t do that. It made my stomach churn in horrible ways.
“No problem. I actually wanted to talk to you for a minute. Can I walk you to class?”
My brain froze. What was that? Say something. Now would be the time to say something.
“She’d love to. Chelsan, I’ll meet you later for lunch, okay?” Then Nancy eyed Ryan with a knowing smile, “Unless you have other plans,” and she was off.
And I was alone. With Ryan. And I couldn’t make myself say a single word.
Ryan’s face seemed almost apologetic as if my silence was a reprimand for something he’d done. “You must think I’m a jerk.”
Really? Nothing? I couldn’t even make something up, like, ‘nice shoes.’ Anything?! It was like my mouth was paralyzed.
“Look. I’m really sorry I started ignoring you after tutoring last year. Jill’s crew made it difficult for me,” Ryan said sheepishly.
What was going on? Was this some sort of horrible prank where I’d start being nice to him and he’d laugh and tell me what a moron I was?
“Are you serious right now?” Wow. I really said that. And I said it so rudely. Ryan looked like I had punched him.
He shook his head and actually looked embarrassed. “You’re right. I’m sorry I bothered you.”
And he started to leave. To leave!
And I was still standing there, like someone had turned me into a statue. Come on! Do something!
“Ryan, wait!” Good. That was good.
Ryan turned around and he actually had hope in his eyes. Real, honest hope.
“I’m not used to people being nice to me,” I said with as much sincerity as I could muster.
Ryan’s face was immediately ridden with guilt. “I’m sorry,” was all he could say.
He said it so sweetly my gut twisted with sympathy. “It’s okay. It’s just that in the past when people have been nice to me, it’s been because Jill put them up to it to humiliate me in some way.”
“I’m sick of Jill and her team of morons.” Ryan practically spat out Jill’s name to my pleasure. “Can I walk you to class?” He looked at me with those big brown eyes and I hoped my face wasn’t turning bright red.
“Sure.” Was this really happening? I still couldn’t wrap my head around it. It had to be some kind of trick. I resolved myself to not get too excited until I was sure Ryan was on the level.
“Physics, right?”
He knew my schedule, which could be very bad or very good. Bad because Jill told him my schedule, so this would all be a part of the plan, or good because he knew my schedule… which meant he actually paid attention to what
I was doing and where I was going.
“Yeah.” Good. Cool and not too desperate. Like I wasn’t about to vomit from nerves.
“Chelsan!”
I turned around to see Bill standing in front of Ryan and I like he was the Sheriff of Nottingham and Ryan was Robin Hood.
“Is he bothering you?!” Bill was actually angry. I had never seen him like this before. I was so surprised by his behavior I didn’t know what to say. Unfortunately, he took that as a yes.
Bill slammed Ryan up against a set of mahogany lockers, pinning him with his arm. “Leave her alone.” Bill was a couple inches shorter than Ryan, making him six-one, which was nothing to scoff at, but he was much more muscular and Ryan looked like a fly trapped by a spider.
My mouth had literally dropped. And as much torture as it was seeing Ryan wrongfully accused, it was almost a little exciting to see Bill so protective of me. I knew we were buds, but I didn’t realize how far he would go to keep me safe. He was actually being violent. The angriest I had ever seen him was when Jill rigged it for him to be Homecoming King, and even then he had barely raised his voice.
“Bill. He’s not bothering me, I swear! Let him go.” I finally found my voice.
“Are you sure? It looked like you were about to vomit.”
Seriously? That actually showed?
“I’m sure. He was just walking me to class.”
Bill let Ryan go with an apologetic shrug, but his eyes were still fuming.
Ryan, meanwhile, had let this whole event take place without so much as a peep or a struggle.
A crowd had started to form and everyone waited with anticipation as to what would happen next.
Ryan straightened his shirt and combed his hand through his hair as if contemplating what his next move should be. Then he turned to me and did something that made every fiber of my being melt and tingle all at once.
He kissed me.
I felt like I was going to explode and collapse. There was no way my knees were going to function much longer if he kept this up.
Ryan pulled away, his hands cradling my face. He smiled. “See you later.”
And then he was gone, down the hall, past the shocked observers and out of sight.
My whole body was shaky, including my brain. But as out of control as I felt, I didn’t want the feeling to end. In fact, it just hit me that Ryan was gone. Hey!
“Chelsan?! What are you doing with Ryan Vaughn? Are you guys dating or something?” Bill was looking at me with an emotion I couldn’t quite place. One second it looked like anger, the next like I had killed his puppy.
The bell rang for class to start. The crowd dispersed, heading to their respective classes.
“No, Bill, Ryan and I aren’t dating.”
“Then why did he just kiss you?” Bill was returning to his calmer demeanor as if me admitting that Ryan and I weren’t dating comforted him in some way.
“I dunno, maybe because you slammed him against the lockers? He had to save face somehow.” Damn it! That was probably it! It wasn’t me that he wanted, he just didn’t want to look like a wimp in front of the school. Uuugh! I felt like crap now.
Bill’s face flushed with embarrassment. “Sorry about that. I really thought he was messing with you.”
“It’s okay. At least I know that you’ll always have my back.” And I meant it. Knowing that was the only thing keeping me from crawling into a hole and dying right now.
“Always.”
The halls were empty.
“Better get to class.” I smiled at Bill and he smiled back.
“I’ll pick you up from work and drive you home. What time are you done?”
“Nine o’clock.”
“See you then.” Bill hurried toward his class until I was alone in the hallway.
With a deep and loud exasperated sigh, I made my way to Physics, knowing that the rest of the day would be spent re-playing Ryan’s kiss. Well meant or not, it was still achingly unforgettable.
The rest of school was highly uneventful. At lunch, Nancy made me give her a play by play of the Bill and Ryan showdown. She was most interested in the kiss, which apparently had spread throughout the high school pipelines like wild fire. I didn’t go into too much detail, but I admitted that it was nice. Nancy seemed a little disappointed by my lack of enthusiasm, but I didn’t want word to get around that I was as flustered about it as I was. The only nice thing about the whole dramatic event was that Nancy appeared to have forgotten all about the conversation we were supposed to have about my gift. A small relief. I knew it was coming, but at least I wouldn’t have to deal with it today. It would give me a chance to do the research about this new study myself and hopefully have more answers.
Besides, I was still paranoid about the whole Ryan thing. I needed more information before I moved forward. Ryan may want to have nothing to do with me after Bill smooshed him against the lockers. Most likely he was licking his wounds and would never see or speak to me again.
Probably for the best.
I took the Hover-Shuttle to work. Mel’s Ice Cream and Sodas. It was still within my safety zone of the trailer park and it also happened to be the most populated by students from my school. They just loved to come in and have me serve them (like having money didn’t already equip them with a hefty superiority complex over me).
Mel’s was located on a beautiful cobblestone road lined with maple trees. Even though the need for roads and highways weren’t necessary since all the vehicle traffic was sky level, they were still used as landing stations, decoration for shoppers, and more importantly, historical landmarks. I had to play sick my sophomore year when my history class took a field trip to a freeway called the 405, supposedly when people still drove land cars it was one of the busiest streets in the country and, according to my teacher, it was mainly a parking lot in its busiest times. As over-populated as our planet was, traffic wasn’t really a problem since we had seven levels of hover airspace. Sometimes there were so many hovers above one area that it looked like cloud cover, blocking out the sun completely, ‘But at least the cars are moving,’ my mom always said.
Mel’s was one of the many little shops that were reminiscent of small cottages. The rooftops were thick clay tiles that gave the street the appearance of something out of a storybook. I had to admit there were worse places I could spend eternity.
I entered the shop, which was packed with people. I nearly cringed when I saw Jill sitting in the corner booth with her pack of hyenas. There was no way I was getting out of a confrontation with her. Not after the whole Ryan thing. She’d feel like I was encroaching on her territory.
I made my way past the red and white striped booths and black Formica-topped tables, lifted the flap of the bar, dropped it behind me, waved at Roger behind the cash register and walked into the back of the ice-cream shop. Mel, the owner, was sitting at his desk in the corner doing paperwork with his usual large grin. He was heavy-set in a jolly way, balding (a rarity, but Mel started Age-pro at thirty-five and he was scared of hair implants), small features that made him look like someone placed a tiny face on a large round canvas which happened to be his mug. Mel was just about the nicest person I’d ever met. He considered his employees his family since he had none of his own. I’d do anything for Mel, including taking Jill’s abuse so as not to disturb the other customers. Oh boy. Better mentally prepare.
“You okay, Chelsan? You’re not catching what Jenny has are you? Just terrible, she’s been puking up a gut for two days now. You’d think with all the diseases they’ve cured, the flu would have been one of them! At least you can’t die from it, I suppose, but still... I sent matzo ball soup to her house this morning. I hope she gets better soon.” Mel looked very disturbed at Jenny’s bad health.
“I’m fine. I better get out there. Roger looks like he’s going to explode.”
Mel chuckled and nodded toward the giant-sized fridge next to me. “Better pull out more shake mix. I think we’re running low out there.”
Roger finished helping a customer and turned to me with a groan that could only come from someone who has worked in the service industry. Roger was a few years older than me and lived at a trailer park a few miles away from mine. He was a good solid guy, always helped anyone in need, volunteered for just about anything: just someone you could count on. His brown hair was short and curly, his face delicate, almost feminine-like in a pretty-boy kind of way. Very popular with the ladies. Even Jill would sometimes stoop to flirt with him.