by Unknown
“Can you please toss it down lady? I have to hurry!” The little girl called.
“Sure.” The girl in the tree stopped where she was and threw down the kite, aiming so it wouldn’t get stuck in the lower branches. The little girl ran off to the side to catch it.
“Thank you lady! Bye!” Then she ran off into the trees to the right of where James was watching. With a glance back up at the tree he noted that the girl was heading back down now, going rather fast. He was about to get up and head back to the koi pond when there was a screech from the girl and he saw that in her hurry she had stepped on a dead branch which fell to the ground with a thud, leaving her dangling in the air.
She tried to regain her footing but it was no good, and her hold on the branch above her was weakening. He bolted out of the bush and ran towards the tree, leaving his backpack in the bush behind him. He was still quite far away when her hand finally lost its grip on the branch above her and she started falling through the thick branches of the tree, screeching as she fell.
When he was about 10 yards away though something strange happened and he stopped where he was, mouth agape. She had been plummeting to the ground just a moment before, but now she was gliding down in a slow fall. As though she had a parachute on her back.
But there was no parachute, there was no rational explanation for what he saw and yet there it was right in front of him. She kept screeching and was waving her arms as though this had never happened to her before, which was highly likely James thought. The girl wasn’t facing him so she didn’t see him, and he quickly dashed back to the bush were his camera lay inside his backpack.
He took a moment to steady his breathing and his rapid heartbeat, then as fast as he could whipped out his camera, pointed at the girl gliding through the air, and snapped as many pictures as possible. By the time he felt satisfied with how many pictures he had taken of the miraculous gliding girl, she was no longer screeching or waving her arms.
But instead her movements were more graceful through the air and he could hear her distant laughter. He smiled to himself and headed back into the bushes, leisurely pushing through to the koi pond once more, the girl’s joyous laughter echoing in his head.
***
Rose ran, her feet pounding against the smooth polished floors. The hallway was empty and she knew she was late, but this was a distant thought in her head. She had just flown! Or glided? Either way something incredible had just happened and Rose felt like she was floating on a cloud. She screeched to a halt and threw open the door to her English class. The teacher had been reading from the textbook. He halted and looked up at her, as did the students.
“You’re late Ms. Belmont. Not something I would expect of you.” Mr. Dezzle said, one thick eyebrow lifted up quizzically.
“I’m so sorry Mr. Dezzle, it won't happen again.” She blurted, feeling her cheeks turn red. She felt everyone’s eyes on her as she walked through the rows of seats and finally sat down, pulling out her English textbook.
“Alright, we’re on page 56.” With that he resumed his reading. Rose followed along at first but then found herself staring out the window at the bright blue skies. It had felt so good, gliding through the air that morning. Rose glanced down at the necklace around her neck. It looked just like it did last night, but nothing else had changed since yesterday in her life. It was impossible, but just maybe the necklace was special in some way. She held it, fingers tracing along the engraved pattern. She looked up sharply as she heard Mr. Dezzle clear his throat. He was looking at her with a tired expression on his long face. Rebuked, she put the necklace into her pocket, and then followed along with the reading.
When the bell rang for lunch break Rose practically flew out the classroom. She ran through the halls headed to the library. Inside the large room she saw that it was mostly empty as most of the students were eating in the cafeteria. Just to be sure though she climbed the banisters to the upper level and walked to a secluded spot hidden back behind the bookshelves. She stopped and sat down on the smooth hardwood floor pulling the necklace out of her pocket.
“How do you work?” she asked it, not expecting an answer.
“Did you try plugging it in?” Replied a voice behind her and she whirled around shoving the necklace in her pocket. There was a guy there, about her age, with a mop of unruly brown hair and light brown eyes. He was leaning against the bookshelf watching her, smiling in amusement.
“You don’t need to bother hiding it. I already saw.”
“I’m sorry who are you?”
“James Rochester.” he held out his hand. She hesitated then shook it.
“Rose.”
His pale face turned serious and he reached into the backpack he carried on his back pulling out a wad of photographs.
“This is you, isn’t it?” He handed her a picture and she felt her shoulders tense up. It was of Rose gliding in the air after falling out of the tree that morning. Her back was to the photographer but you could see her black hair, blue sweater, and grey skinny jeans that she was still wearing at the moment. There was no denying it was her, so she didn’t.
“Yes. How did you get this? Who gave it to you? Was it a little girl?”
“No. I took it myself. How did you do that? It’s the necklace isn’t it?” His brown eyes glowed.
“I...look it’s not really any of your business. You should just forget about it and go to your next class.” She put the photograph in her pocket and started heading out the library, passing through the rows of bookshelves.
“I could help you.” He called from behind her. She could hear his footsteps following her.
“I don’t think so.” She shook her head and started walking faster down the stairs to the bottom floor of the library. He caught up to her and moved in front of her, effectively blocking the way.
“Look, I won't tell anyone about it. And I know I’ve seen the symbol on the front before somewhere. I just can’t remember where.” He paused, looking down trying to remember. Then looked back up. “I could take it home and get a closer look at it then let you know.” Rose shuffled to the side and shoved her way past him.
“Are you kidding? That’s even worse than letting you help. I’m not leaving this precious necklace with some weirdo stalker who takes pictures of people when they're not looking.” She huffed as she reached the bottom of the stairs and walked to the exit.
“Hey, I’m not a stalker. And maybe you should be more aware of your surroundings! You’re lucky I’m not a reporter or anything.” He yelled from the stairs. Then winced as a lady whacked him on the head as she passed, holding a finger to her lips. He stayed there watching her, and rubbing his head, as she stormed out the library. He would have to try again later, because there was no way he would pass up this adventure waiting to happen.
***
At lunchtime Rose sped through the cafeteria, grabbed a container of microwaved ramen, and headed to the science building. It was a large building toward the South end of the campus, and by the time she got there she was out of breath from climbing all the stone steps.
She pushed open the large wooden door and was greeted with a blast of cool air from the AC unit overhead. She paused for a moment there; the cool breeze blowing in her face, then sped down the hallway. There was a lab in the building set up for students to use, even if they didn’t have a science class.
This was where people went to do experiments in their free time, if they were into that sort of thing, or use one of the many microscopes. There were three people there now, but it was a large room so she wasn’t worried about that. She walked to the opposite side of the room and pulled the necklace out of her pocket, standing in front of a microscope. She put the necklace on the tray then turned on the microscopes light, looking into the microscope as she did.
She took a few moments to adjust the focus till she could see the stone in the center of the necklace clearly. The metal surrounding the stone had a few little scratches, but the stone itself was perfect. S
mooth and shiny, with intricate silver markings that weaved throughout the surface of the stone, creating a sort of pattern on the surface.
There suddenly was the sound of the door opening and someone walking in. She looked up, and it was him again. That annoying guy from the library, and he was walking in her direction.
“Have you been following me?” She asked; quiet enough so that the others in the room wouldn’t hear.
“No. Well kind of. Look I just really think I can help you find out where that necklace is from. You just need to trust me when I say I won’t tell anyone and I won’t try to steal it. And by the way, you’re not using the right kind of microscope for that.” He stayed at a distance, as though worried he would scare her off.
“What?”
“Look I’ll show you.” He came over and held out his hand. “I’ll give it back in a second.” His eyes seemed serious, she noted. She hesitated a moment, then placed the necklace in his palm. He smiled and walked to the far corner of the room where there were larger microscopes on the counter.
After setting it up he placed the necklace inside and stepped back gesturing for her to look at it. With a dubious frown, Rose looked into the microscope and was surprised to find that he was right. With this microscope she could see everything so much clearer.
Now she could see that the patterns were not random but engraved into the stone and were symmetrical swirls of silver color. She gasped at the skill and tools that must have been needed to make something so intricate and beautiful.
“What is it?” James asked.
“Here look!” She moved aside and James rushed to look.
“Oh wow! There’s no way that could happen naturally! The pattern is so small and detailed! Do you know what kind of stone this is?” He asked, turning to look at her.
“No, I have no idea.”
“Do you know where you got it?” He turned off the microscope and pulled the necklace out of the tray, handing it to her.
“No, I’ve had it ever since I can remember. I always assumed it was from my parents but I’m not sure.” She looked down at the necklace in her hands.
“Could you ask them?”
Rose looked up, surprised by the question.
“No, I’m an orphan. I never knew my parents.”
His eyes widened
“Oh, I’m sorry I had no idea.” a pause “Would anyone at the orphanage know something about it?”
“Oh. I didn’t think of that. I could ask Ms. Leven.”
“We, could ask Ms. Leven?” He asked pleading with his eyes.
“Fine. You can help me figure out the necklace.”
“Yes.” He pumped his fist and smiled at her, dimples appearing in his cheeks. Rose laughed and put the necklace back in her pocket. “Do you want to meet at the library tomorrow at lunch then?”
“Sure. That works for me.” He answered holding out his hand.
“I’ll see you tomorrow then.” They shook hands.
Chapter 3
The next day Rose was relieved when she made it to her first class without running into James again. She sat at her desk writing out her assignment when a thought occurred to her. She glanced over at the English teacher. He was busy looking over some papers scattered on his desk. Good. Kelsi, her best friend, sat at the desk next to her. Her curly blonde hair tied up in a fancy updo with braids. She was, oddly enough, actually focused on her work.
“Kelsi,”Rose whispered, reaching across to poke her on the arm. Kelsi looked up from her paper eyes wide.
“What? It must be important if you're willing to risk talking about it now.”
“Do you know a guy named James Rochester? About 5 ft 8, brown hair and brown eyes.”
“Why do you ask?” Kelsi smirked. Rose felt her face getting hot.
“It’s not like that.”
“Why not? He’s a really nice guy and he’s single. Also, you're blushing.”
“He’s not really my type. We’re just...working on a project together that’s all.” Rose replied, ignoring the comment about her blushing.
“Oh. Well other than what I already said, I know that his family is super rich and wanted him to study law. When he first started here he did, and he was also on the track team. But halfway through the year he quit studying law and also quit the team. Everyone was really upset. You never heard about this? It was pretty big when it happened.”
Rose nodded no.
“You need to get out of the rock you’ve been living under. Anyways I guess his parents aren’t happy about it but they don’t say anything. He’s in the photography program now.”
“Why did he quit?”
Kelsi opened her mouth to respond but was interrupted by someone clearing their throat.
“Is there something you would like to share with the rest of the class ladies?” Mrs. Loretson asked, hands on her hips. Rose and Kelsi simultaneously nodded no.
“Well then please, work on your assignments individually.” After she turned around and headed to her desk at the front, Kelsi hurriedly scribbled a note on a piece of paper and passed it to Rose.
“No one knows,” it said. Rose leaned back in her seat, absorbing this. Then diverted her attention back to her paper, determined to ask James about it later.
***
At the library Rose sat near the doorway, reading a book and glancing up anytime she heard the door open.
“Whatcha reading?” A voice asked behind her. She whirled around and got out of her chair, knowing who it was.
“Moonraker’s Bride.”
“Never heard of it,” James said while pushing her chair back in place.
“It’s kind of old. But it’s a really good book.”
“Interesting, maybe I’ll check it out sometime. So what’s your plan?”
“For what?”
“Figuring out the deal with your necklace.”
“Oh, well I’m not sure really. But we could start by researching. Maybe there’s a book here that might help.” She shrugged.
“Well, I guess it’s worth a shot. Lead the way.” He said, holding out his arm for her to go ahead of him.
“Ok, let’s try checking on the computers if there are any books about weird stuff happening, maybe something will involve a necklace,” she said. They walked over to the computer stations, each sitting down and logging in. Rose began her search by opening up a search engine and typing in “necklace that makes people fly”. She sifted through hundreds of jewelry sale listings, frowning with each new page. Her eyes started to glaze over and she was about to call it quits when something caught her eye. It was an ad about a necklace with a purple stone in the center. She clicked it and was amazed when a picture of her exact necklace showed up.
“Uh, James. You should see this.”
He wheeled his chair closer so he could see her screen.
“Hey, that’s your necklace! What does the listing say?”
“Looking for a rare necklace with a purple stone in the center. This is a long lost family heirloom, which is very precious to me. I’m willing to reward whoever finds it.” Rose read, her voice growing steadily more excited. There was a phone number at the bottom of the page and she reached into her bag for her phone.
“Wait stop.” James said grasping her arm still looking at the page. She looked back at the webpage and saw that a chat window had popped up. It showed that the person on the other end was typing. They both waited, holding their breath. Words finally appeared.
“Hello! I see you have found my ad, if you have found the necklace please do not hesitate to tell me. My name is Lars; may I ask your name?”
Rose moved to answer but James was still holding her arm, his grip firm yet gentle.
“Don’t answer it.”
“Why?” She asked, looking up at him. He turned his face away from the screen to look at her and she saw he was serious.
“They’re trying to hack into this computer. Look you can see there’s a new symbol down in the taskbar, it's try
ing to download a new program,” He said pointing down to the bottom right corner. “There’s something weird about this ad anyways. I think you should avoid using this computer again. And don’t look up information about the necklace at home. Because this just seems...I don't know, off somehow.” He let go of her arm then. Her skin tingled with receding warmth where his hand had been.
“But I can’t just ignore it. It says it's a precious family heirloom. This could even be…” She stopped, not able to voice it.
“Your family. I understand. But this could be a trick. If this guy knows about what the necklace can do, he might be lying so he can get it for himself.”
“Oh, yeah I guess you have a point.”
“Hey, you know what I have an idea. I have a friend who is good with this kind of stuff; we could show it to him and see what he thinks. Maybe he can even check online and find who the phone number belongs to or something.”
“I don’t want more people knowing about this than necessary.”
“Oh don't worry about that.” He said waving his arm. “I’ll just tell him I asked a girl for her number but I don't think it’s really hers.”
“Is that something you would normally do? He might be suspicious.”
“Nah, but he won’t really notice.” He laughed, though his eyes were still watching her computer screen. Rose found herself staring at the curve of his face, his hair falling around his ears, and his strong jaw line.
“Why did you quit the track team?” She asked, surprising herself.
“How do you know about that? Have you been snooping?” He asked looking down at her smiling.
“No. I’m not a stalker like some people.” Here she playfully punched his arm. “It was pretty big when it happened, I heard about it.” She lied.