The C I N Series Bundled

by Christina Leigh Pritchard

  “You’re pretty handsome in a tux.”

  He smiled, tightening his grip. “I’m trying to impress you, is all.”

  “Doing a pretty good job,” I whispered. My voice cracked. What was it with me and crying lately? As nice as Tobey was, I still felt a twinge of guilt for feeling the way I did for someone else besides Alex. Why did my mind go back to him? Alex didn’t love me. His heart belonged to Amie. I was just a second option; a “for now” romance.

  “Which room is yours?”

  I pointed at the door. He guided me inside.

  “Is this your closet?”

  I nodded.

  “Let’s see.” Tobey surveyed my clothes. “You’re not very girlie, are you?”

  I chuckled.

  “This one,” he said. He pulled out the dress Ally had suggested I wear. It never ceased to amaze me that she had such taste, especially when she never wore anything hip. “Let’s clean the mud off you.”

  I grabbed new undergarments and made my way down the hall towards the bathroom. It made me laugh at how foolish I’d been, believing Anna about a race of Epochs, living under the school, really? The worst part, I searched the walls each time I entered the showers.

  “Looking for your secret entrance?” Tobey laughed.

  “Stop,” I responded. He guided me into the shower. His eyes bore into me. I could feel them on my bottom. It made walking difficult.

  Tobey pulled back the curtain. I stepped into the shower. He stood, waiting.

  “Do you think I’m going to let you watch?”

  He smirked. “You can’t fault me for trying.”

  “Close the curtain.” I jerked it from him. Butterflies invaded my stomach. I could see his silhouette, which meant he could see mine. He stood, staring straight at me. Every time I washed a body part, he saw, he knew. “Don’t you know it’s rude to stare?”

  Tobey said nothing.

  My knees weakened. Even though he was outside the curtain, I felt as if his hands were on me. Was it possible to feel that way? I knew I had a wild imagination lately but, the way he touched me, I felt it with every caress of my bath sponge. Sometimes I tensed, feeling him squeeze my sides and bottom. I liked the way the sponge felt along my neck and under my chin.

  “Are you finished seducing me yet?” Tobey called, tapping the curtain. I jumped, flipping the water off. “I can’t take much more.”

  “You’re the pervert staring through the curtain.”

  “I’m helping.”

  I held back my laughter. “Hand me a towel, Mr. Helpful.”

  “What do you need a towel for?”

  “To cover myself.”

  “No.” He pulled the curtain aside.

  “Tobey!” I screamed, wrapping the vinyl around me. “Are you crazy?”

  He snickered, holding a towel in his hand. “I wasn’t going to open it all the way, just enough to hand you this. You’ve got a dirty mind, Lisa.”

  “Humph.” I snatched the towel. He peeked around the corner as I covered myself up. “You’re obnoxious!”

  “I know.” He smiled, guiding me to my room. I stood behind the privacy screen that Ally placed in our room. He handed me my things, one piece at a time, my undergarments, my slip, the dress. “I need you to find my heels.”

  “There’re only flats and some ballet slippers in your closet.”

  “That’s because all my shoes are at Aunt Millie’s house. Check the other closet. That’s Ally’s stuff. She’s got everything.”

  I stepped out from behind the screen in a peach satin gown that sat just above my knees. My hair was wet and I didn’t have any make-up on. Tobey glanced up, his eyes widening. “You’re stunning.”

  I blushed, sitting at the vanity. I blew out my hair and Tobey watched as I applied eye liner and powder. He leaned over, wiping a smudge of lipstick from the corner of my mouth. I smiled, taking his hand.

  He slipped a pair of silver heels onto my feet, watching me closely. “Are you sure you don’t want to kiss me?” Tobey sat on his knees, his lips parallel to mine.

  My chest felt heavy with every breath. I touched his cheek. There was a roughness to his skin, triggering a desire I’d never felt before. He grabbed me, pressing his body into mine. My heart fluttered as our lips touched.

  “We’re going to be late for the prom,” I tried to say through kisses. He let me speak one word at a time. “Every…body…is…prob…ably…wait…ing.” Forget it. Talking was a waste of my breath. I pulled Tobey closer, my kisses firm against his lips.

  I stood, pushing up my dress. His hands caressed my outer thighs, his fingers tightened. Tobey looked into my eyes. My knees collapsed underneath me. I fell into his lap, kissing him.

  Adrenaline coursed through my veins. I wanted him to rip my dress right off. What was wrong with me? I’d never felt this full of passion before. Tobey picked me up, setting me on the bed. His hands rested on my knees, his eyes focused on mine. He leaned back on his heels and stared up at me.

  I was breathless and my hands trembled when I leaned on them. What was he waiting for? Why wasn’t he taking my clothes off? “Tobey,” I tried to say. He shook his head.

  “Wait,” he said.

  “For whaaat?” I groaned. I leaned forward. He pushed me back onto the bed. “Tobey, stop.”

  “You stop.”

  “I don’t want to,” I said, trying to grab him.

  Tobey stood, offering his hand. “We’re going to be late for the prom.”

  Every part of my body ached in ways I’d never felt before. Was he freaking kidding me? “How can you just stop like that?”

  He kissed my lips, holding me against him. He whispered in my ear, “We’ve got plenty of time for that. There’s no reason to rush into things.”

  “Ready, Lisa?” He arched his arm. I glowered. “We didn’t have proms in my day.” He admitted. “This will be fun. I’ve always wanted to attend one.”

  There weren’t words left in my vocabulary to speak. From my belly button down, I ached and I blamed Tobey.

  DANCE, DANCE, DANCE…

  Ally and Donna had organized the dance in the cafeteria. I’d never seen it look so beautiful. Glitter floated in the air and the plain chairs were dressed in white covers tied back with large bows. The silver was wrapped in linens and balloons floated on the ceiling with strobe and disco lights filtering through them. Candles lit the tables and rose petals covered the floor. The place was packed with people I’d never seen. There was a group of Hispanics whom Francisco conversed with, a large tribe of Native Americans and the footballers from that high school in Lynnfield. A gaggle of girls with blonde hair stood close to the footballers. The warehouse kids infiltrated the Lynnfield group, avoiding the tribe.

  Kimi and Charles touched shoulders, leaning against the wall. They didn’t smile but kept their focus on Tobey and me. Tobey could waltz and swing dance. It was fun; different, but fun.

  Everyone stopped. Reginald and the groupies entered the cafeteria. Some clapped. Celeste twirled, causing laughter.

  “There’s Celeste!” The blonde girls said.

  “Celeste!” One of the footballers hooted. “Woot, Woot!”

  A Native bowed as she passed by.

  I narrowed my eyes. Celeste had been around a long time to have known all these people. Who was she? Why was she so important to the others? For the past three years, I thought she was another warehouse kid without powers. That was another thing Alex accidentally, on purpose “forgot” to tell me about. I’d broken up with him, so why did my mind keep going back to him? Wasn’t Tobey better than Alex? He didn’t withhold secrets from me even if they were things I didn’t want to know.

  “May I have this dance?” Charles offered his hand to me. I hadn’t even seen him come over to us. I curtsied, taking his palm. His feet graced the floor. I couldn’t even feel myself move. It was as if we were one as he led us through a mass of other dancers. “Why were you so late?”

  “Hello to you, too,” I said.


  Charles spun me. He caught me in his arms. “Be careful.”

  I nodded. “Always.”

  “It looks an awful lot like you’re falling for the enemy.”

  I jerked away. “This dance is over.”

  Charles nodded, bowing. “Careful,” he whispered once more.

  Michael crept up behind me. His chin leaned on my shoulder and he swayed us back and forth to the music. “You’re being fought over by the two Johns.”

  “The two what?”

  Michael bit my ear.

  “Hey!”

  He laughed, covering my hands in his. “The two Johns: Dr. John, or Tobey, and John the Puritan or Charles.”

  “What’s their back story?”

  “I don’t know that much about them.”

  “Michael,” I said. “Please just tell me. I’m a big girl; I think I can handle it.”

  “If you insist,” he said, twirling me around to face him. “John the Puritan, Charles as you know him, was a sailor who came over to the Americas befriending Anna’s village. She nursed him back to health and in the process, fell in love with him. They married and had a little girl—Kimi.”

  “What about Tobey?”

  “I’m getting to it, patience, woman.”

  I smacked him. His shoulders slumped forward.

  “A few years later, Dr. John arrived with medicine and the full-fledged puritan movement. He somehow manipulated Anna into changing him and then he killed her village by giving them diseased blankets. Any who didn’t follow in his beliefs was killed off or sent away.”

  “That doesn’t sound anything like Tobey. Are you sure you didn’t mix up the stories?”

  Michael frowned, brushing a strand of hair out of my eyes. “You look beautiful tonight.”

  “Thanks.” I smiled. “You don’t look too bad yourself.”

  “I’m sorry about Alex. Hopefully Anna will release him. She always said she was fond of him.”

  “I sure hope you’re right. I need some punch, would you like something?”

  “No, I’m good. Thanks for the dance, gorgeous.”

  Michael wouldn’t let me go. I had to pry myself from his grip.

  “I have very bad timing, don’t I?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I can’t seem to get to you before another man leeches onto you. First Alex and now Tobey.”

  “I’m not with Tobey.”

  “I know you, Lisa, like the back of my hand.” Michael pressed his forehead against mine. “I know you better than you know yourself.”

  He was right. In my mind, I already belonged to Tobey. “I need some punch.”

  RENOVATIONS

  I took a deep breath and poured myself a second cup of punch. It was spiked and slipped down my throat like silk. Everything Michael had said about Tobey churned inside my stomach. Had Tobey really done those horrible things? Maybe it was another false story to scare the others into obedience. I could understand the need for order.

  Two footballers stood across from me, pouring punch. They spoke to Celeste. “This place looks great. When did they do the renovations?” One guy asked.

  “Oh, about ten years ago,” Celeste said.

  “The bathroom looks incredible,” another said.

  “Yeah, unless someone told you, you’d never realize the old walls were covered in an expensive wall surround made of plastic. Crazy huh?” Celeste shook her head. “The things this world invents. I never tire of it.”

  I dropped my cup. Red punch splattered, staining my dress. My heart pounded. Celeste lied to me. Tobey lied to me. I grabbed Celeste by the arm, jerking her out of the cafeteria. “You’re a stinkin’ liar.”

  “What are you doing? Let go of me, you loon!”

  “I asked you if there was a secret entrance in the bathroom and you acted stupid.” Did that mean Tobey was really Dr. John? Was he that great of a manipulator that I had been fooled into believing his lies? My stomach grew sick. I wanted to vomit and then sob out my humiliation. “Where’s the entrance?” I shoved Celeste into the first shower stall.

  “It’s not here.”

  “Show me.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I said show me or I’ll do something we’ll both regret.”

  “Lisa Brown!” Celeste exclaimed. “There’s nothing left for anyone to do to me that’ll cause me regret.”

  Pain flooded my body. “I’m sorry, Celeste. I know the last thing you want is to see the Epochalites but I need to see that they’re real. Our whole world is in jeopardy and if I just saw the entrance I’d know who to believe.”

  She frowned, crossing her arms. “The truth stares you in the face but you don’t want to believe. If there was this so called race, do you know what would happen if you opened the entrance?”

  “They’d make you become like them,” I said. “You’d be ugly and untouchable.”

  She wiped a tear from her eye. “So you did read Amie’s journal.” Celeste dug under the sink pulling out two razor blades. “Get to work, Lisa.”

  “What?”

  “Cut through the wall surrounds and see for your own self whether or not there is a secret entrance. I’m going back to the prom.”

  “You’re helping me.”

  She shook her head. “I can’t do that.”

  “I’m not going inside—just want to see the loose tile, that’s all.”

  “It’s never enough with you people!” She exclaimed.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “The clues are in your face. You don’t need to keep searching and searching for the answers but you must because each time something appears to contradict the truth you’re justified in believing this fantasy of yours. All humans have the same ideals. I grow sick of it.”

  “Are you not human?”

  Celeste froze. “I was once a long time ago before—”

  “Before what?”

  Her head dropped. “Before I was ashamed, I was human.”

  “And now?”

  “And now I’m broken and forever doomed to remember my past mistakes.”

  “Celeste,” I whispered.

  She refused to listen. “I’m leaving!” She shouted, disappearing down the hall.

  I took a deep breath, slicing the walls with the razor she gave me. To my surprise, it cut through as if I were cutting vinyl floor tiles. I ripped the surround away from the wall exposing a small area of black and white flowered mosaics. Mold sat in the grout. I cringed, slicing the surround off in sections. My dress stained and my heels off, I tugged on piece after piece until all the shower stalls were without their covering.

  “Now, where’s the loose tile?” I surveyed each stall, my heart racing. Had I done it again? Imagined something that was not real? So what if there had been renovations done on an old building? Tobey was not Dr. John. Dr. John was exactly what Tobey said he was: a fictitious character made up to insight fear in the others. Anna was the villain. She held Alex captive. She was the one imprisoned; only dangerous persons were stuck in jails. She gave me the journal of lies about Epochs.

  Pig did sit by the journal and insist I read it. I wasn’t dangerous, but Tobey stuck me in the cell along with Anna. Why didn’t I trust either of them? Was Tobey genuine? He had to be. There was no secret entrance to an underground city of Epochalites. That was ridiculous.

  “Still refusing to accept the truth?” Celeste asked. I turned around. She leaned against the door frame. “Tobey’s looking for you. I told him your shoe broke and you’d be right back.”

  “Tell me,” I said. “I need to know.”

  “You already know. You’re weak, and a disappointment to my whole family.”

  “What did you do that was so shameful?”

  She narrowed her eyes at me. “I didn’t want to do it, okay.”

  “Why did you, then?”

  “Someone threatened my life. So, I did what I had to do to survive. Once I rebelled, I was shamed in front of
my whole family then banished to police Lynn. Talk about pathetic. When I couldn’t even do that properly my family sent my sisters to keep me in line. I’m like a freakin’ prisoner. I hate it.”

  “What did you do?”

  “What did you do that makes you so broken?” Celeste shot back. “Enough about me; what’s your story?”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “My mother was raped by Frank and I hate him. Anna says that’ll be my demise. She said she’ll win over me because he’s my only dark thought.”

  “You’re focused on the wrong emotion. You’ve had a chance to kill him, right?”

  I nodded.

  “Did you?”

  “No.”

  “Then he’s not the emotion you’re going to have to fight. She’s using that to throw you off course. What else is there?”

  “I dunno.”

  “You’d better figure it out fast. Anna uses the same tricks over and over. It never ceases to amaze me how each time, even with warnings from me, the other beginnings fail. That’s why I won’t tell you anything. You’re going to have to figure this one out on your own.”

  “I don’t want to figure it out on my own,” I said. “Maybe that’s why they all failed.”

  Celeste raised her eyes. “Excuse me?”

  “Maybe if you helped them instead of just warning them they’d be alive instead of dead.”

  She shook her head. “That’s a lot to take in.”

  “Help me, Celeste,” I said. “I need your help. I don’t want to die.” Tears escaped, trickling down my cheeks. “I know we’ve never really hung out or anything but I’m not like Anna. I wouldn’t ask you to ever do something cruel. I probably would never ask anything of you.”

  “See,” she cried. “You already asked me to do something evil.”

  “What?”

  “‘Help me, Celeste!’” She said. “‘I don’t want to die’ says the new beginning. But, if I help you, and you live, then Anna, my best friend, dies!”

  I lowered my gaze. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I understand, I get it and don’t want anyone to die. There has to be a way for all of us to live through this.”

  “You’re a strange girl,” Celeste said. She closed the bathroom door, locking it. “It’s a chipped tile, not a loose one. The entrance is right in front of your eyes. Look carefully and you’ll see what I mean.”