Celestial Beginnings (Nephilim Series)

by Damiels, Rebekah

  Trinity looked up at her friend and again noticed the dramatic physical differences between the two of them. Where she was average height with more than enough curves, Nicci was more on the shorter side and skinnier than Trinity liked to see her. She always admired Nicci’s golden locks, wishing she had a different color other than mud.

  The physical differences weren’t the only ones. Trinity was more laid back and tried to make the best with what the world gave her. Nicole, on the other hand, was strait laced, and was always worrying about something that she needed to fix. The only problem with this was that Trinity never failed to do something that would concern her, even with the smallest things.

  “If I get locked out, I have a spare key. If that doesn’t work, I know where you keep yours.” In an afterthought she added with a smile, “Plus…being cold doesn’t make people sick, bacteria do.” She chuckled when Nicci shook her head in exasperation. Taking another sip of her drink, she set it down before continuing. “You can’t live your whole life on “what ifs” Nic. Where is that gonna get you?”

  Settling back, she made herself comfortable at the table. She was trying hard not to concentrate too much on the smell of the muffins. Jeez, she was hungry! Just as the thought crossed her mind, her stomach growled. Nicci must have heard, because she rolled her eyes and walked over to the oven and checked on the muffins before taking them out.

  Walking back with a plate of muffins, Nicci finally answered, but it was an answer Trinity already expected to hear. “Safe, that’s where.”

  Looking over as Nicci sat down; she finally paid closer attention to her friend. “Hey! Are you okay today? You look kind of tired.”

  Nicci ran her hand through her short blond hair. “Thanks a lot!! Is that your way of saying I look like crud?”

  “You know I didn’t mean it like that.” Nicci remained silent and brooding. Exasperated, Trinity knew what would make her friend talk. “Fine, don’t tell me! If you do though, I’ll tell you about my dream last night.” She’s always had the most interesting dreams and Nicole loved to listen to her tell about them. When they were kids, she used to call it her story time. Trinity sat back and gave her friend the half smile that said, “I have a secret…”

  “Okay” Nicci said, taking the bait. “You first.”

  Trinity was already shaking her head “no” before Nicci finished talking.

  Nicole finally caved and slouched back in her chair. “Ugh, it’s no big deal! It’s just this case I’m looking into. Everything seems fine, but there is something off about the kid. Every time he looks at me it’s like he is trying to tell me something, but every time we talk, he says everything’s okay. Maybe I’m just being crazy.” She finished out of breath.

  This sobered Trinity out of her care free mood. It always happened when they started talking about Nicci’s work. She knew the work her friend did was good, but it just brought back a lot of memories she would rather not remember. “You know what you’re doing. Trust your instincts, they hardly ever steer you wrong.” Pausing to take a bite of muffin, Trinity then asked with a partial mouthful, “Have you talked to him alone?”

  “Yeah, but whenever I do, he seems so nervous, then he gets defensive and storms off. I don’t know! I’ll figure something out though, don’t worry.” She ran her fingers through her hair again, something Trinity knows to be a nervous habit of hers. She eyed her suspiciously, knowing there was more, but decided to keep quiet. Moments later her friend’s face lit up.

  “So…tell me what makes the notorious sleepyhead look like she didn’t sleep a wink last night.” Trinity couldn’t help the blush that rose up her cheeks or the grin that started to form. Nicci suddenly sat up strait. “Oh, this is gonna be good!!”

  “It’s nothing really, just a good dream.” Trinity cleared the frog that suddenly was in her throat and tried to finger comb her hair. “Do I really look that bad?”

  “You know you look fine, stop stalling.”

  Trinity sighed and continued. “Well, parts are starting to become fuzzy, but I was with…” She waved her hand in the air as if to help her think of the words. “I was with a man and we were…” She decided to just come out with it. “Oh fine, I had a sex dream. Well, not technically any sex, but a lot of foreplay. It was a great dream, what I can remember, but now I am tired and frustrated and feel I could snap at any moment.” She was out of breath from trying to say everything in one breath.

  Nicci had long since thrown her hand over her mouth. Of course she was trying hard not to laugh, the little wench! Pretty soon the hand was not enough, and she let out a snort before falling into a round of giggles.

  “Yes, yes, hardy har har.”

  Nicci put one hand to her chest and held up the other one palm out. “I’m so sorry, it’s just…” Her ongoing occasional giggle defied the word of apology. “It’s just, you are the last person I would see having a dream like that.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?” Trinity scowled.

  “Oh, don’t take it the wrong way! It was nothing against you, but you are always with the here and now. It seems you never fantasize about anything. Maybe your subconscious is trying to make up for lost time.”

  She frowned, wondering if her friend had a point.

  “Aren’t people that have sex dreams supposed to be in a better mood?”

  Nicole’s words brought her back to the conversation. She had wished this wouldn’t have come up. It was going to be tricky to explain. Trinity started picking apart her muffin more than she was eating it now. “I don’t know! When I woke up, it felt like I had lost something. The feeling won’t quite disappear.”

  Nicci just looked at her before she gave a slight nod. “I think I know what’s wrong.” When Trinity just raised an eyebrow in question, she put her hands up, palms out, and went on. “Just hear me out. You woke up frustrated and alone. Maybe your mind is telling you that it’s time to jump back in the saddle, find a man.”

  Trinity checked her watch. Whew, she wouldn’t have to lie. Standing up, she distractedly answered. “It’s time for me to go.”

  “Look, I’m serious Rin!! It has been a long time and now you are dreaming about being in bed with random strangers. Maybe you woke up on the “wrong side of the bed” because you missed that connection you had in the dream with mystery guy.”

  “I’ve been there already, and I’m not ready for another relationship right now.” She shut her eyes to ward off the memories.

  “Not everybody is Seth, Rin! There are some good ones too. You just have to look for them. You’ll never find them if you don’t open up someday.”

  Trinity gasped at his name being mentioned aloud and lashed out. “You’re one to talk. You have never given any man a chance, ever. And opening up? As far as I know, your therapist and I are the only ones you’ve opened up to. I already tried that once and look where it got me!”

  She managed to squelch the shudder that started in her body. Being reminded of things in her past made her go a little crazy sometimes and do stupid things, like wig out on her friend. She really didn’t want to have this conversation again but she also had to leave before she was late for work.

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. You’re just worried and I took it out on you when I started to panic.” Walking around the table, Trinity wrapped her arms around Nicole.

  “It’s okay.” “Really, it is.” Patting Trinity’s arm, she said assuring.

  Looking down at her watch, she started moving to the door so she could get back into her home and get her stuff. “I really do have to go. It doesn’t set a very good example to the students if the teacher is late the first day.”

  “Yeah, I have to get to work as well.” Nicci stood and started gathering up her sweater and purse.

  Trinity made it back to her side of the house and quickly grabbed what she needed. Locking the door as she left, they met again out front. They were walking to their cars and Nicci obviously thought of something she forgot to ask beca
use she paused before going around to the driver’s side. “Oh yeah, how good looking was your mystery guy?”

  “It sounds so bad, but most of what he looked like has faded, making me forget a lot.” She paused trying to remember more. “I think he had dark hair.” Trinity perked up when she recalled another detail. “Oh, but I definitely remember his eyes!” she said pointing to Nicci. “They were a gorgeous green.”

  “Hmm, that’s nice. I’ve always been partial to blue eyes myself, but whatever.”

  Trinity really had to haul it to the school before she was late. She was about to get in when she heard Nicci’s best Mom voice. “Bye! Have a good day at school, dearie.”

  Trinity just laughed and waved goodbye thinking how nice it was to have a friend like her. She was a little infuriating at times, along with argumentative and pigheaded, but irreplaceable, none the less.

  ******

  Trinity started off towards school going over what she was going to talk to her students about. Being the first day and all, she didn’t have to get too involved in the information yet.

  Man, she needed to unwind. It had just hit 7am, but it felt like she had already had a full day. From this morning’s romantic escapade to the third degree about finding a man, and all the way to Seth getting mentioned. This did not bode well for the day to come.

  She did need to start trusting people a little more again though. It was hard, when she still didn’t have closure from her past mistake. Seth decided to run away after everything. She guesses he preferred life on the move over jail time. It was hard for her to ever completely relax when she had no idea where he was. Plus, she knows that not every man is like Seth, but then she remembers how he was a good guy at first too.

  She was just not ready to date. Men were trouble, plain and simple. Maybe she should get a dog. No, they are too much like men. They both need too much looking after and DAMMIT, she wanted someone to finally be there to look after her.

  Since she was ten years old, she had always been taking care of someone else. She loved Nicci, but, being the older one, she took responsibility for her. Even when they were sent to the Keltners’, the foster family they eventually ended up with, she never let go enough to fully trust them. Who would blame her? She was surprised that Nicole let go as much as she did after everything she’d been through.

  Since finding someone to take care of her wasn’t going to happen in the near future, she would just settle with her heated throw to keep her warm at night, and her pint of mint chocolate ice-cream for comfort.

  Pretty soon, Trinity pulled into the parking lot of the school. Looking down at the clock, she realized she only had a couple minutes to spare. She finally found a space to park and high-tailed it inside. Out of breath, she stepped into the teacher’s lounge just as other’s were leaving. After a few how are you doings and how was your break, she managed to get what she needed and make it to her room with just a minute to spare.

  Her beginners’ class was filled with people she had never taught before, unlike the advanced class she had in a few hours. That didn’t mean she had no idea who these kids were. A lot of them she recognized from being in the hallways or from gossip told by the other teachers.

  Here we go, she thought as the bell rang.

  “Welcome everyone! I trust you all had a good summer break?” There were a few muffled responses, and all she could think was, “I know what you mean kids.”

  When she was about to say more, the door to the room came open and a few stragglers stepped in, two girls and a boy.

  “You’re late.” Yay, Captain Obvious. Taking a deep breath in, she was determined not to let her bad mood ruin the start of her first day.

  “We know; we’re sorry.” One out of two girls spoke up.

  “We got lost!” The other one whined.

  Now that just takes the cake. Trinity leaned against the side of her desk with a knowing look on her face. “Stay right there.” She pointed at the late comers that were trying to take a seat. “What are your names?” Leaning around her desk, she grabbed her roster. In the process, she caught sight of something that made her a little uneasy, but decided to address it in a minute.

  The boy that had been silent for the whole time finally spoke up. “Hugh Donovan” There was no worry or remorse in his voice, and he said it while looking Trinity strait in the eye. Oddly enough, it gave her a little more respect for him. The girls on the other hand were a nervous wreck, and she could tell that all they wanted to do was sit down and disappear. Well, they picked the wrong day to pull this.

  “Alicia Browning” the first girl that had spoken said almost at the same time the other girl spoke up, “Stephanie Roberts”

  Trinity looked down at the roster and smiled when she found what she suspected. “Stephanie, it says you are a junior here, it that true?” When she looked up, she closed her folder and put it on the desk behind her.

  “Yeah” Stephanie stated, clearly confused where this was going.

  “Did you just move here?” Trinity asked, already knowing the answer. “What about you two, are you new to the school?”

  They all gave the answer she knew she would hear, “no”.

  “So, you really got lost?” Trinity asked in a knowing tone.

  The whole class was whispering at this point, and she knew the kids were getting pretty embarrassed. The girls anyway, Hugh looked like he could stand there all day and not care. Never the less, it was time to bring this to an end.

  It was Hugh that finally spoke up when no one else would. “No, we did not get lost. We were in the halls talking and didn’t realize how fast the time went by. We will try to not let it happen again.”

  Now she knew she liked this kid. “Thank you Mr. Donovan for your honesty.” She let the last word drag on. “You may all have a seat.”

  She stood up and turned to the class to start, but felt she needed to clarify something first. “I am not a hard teacher to please.” The girl, now known as Stephanie, rolled her eyes at that statement. “I expect two things, honesty and respect, and I do not tolerate a lack of either one. If you are going to be late, fine! Don’t let it happen too much, and don’t come in and give me a cockamamie excuse. Tell me the truth and I will reciprocate much better than what just happened there.” She looked around the class, the first day butterflies slowly subsiding. “If you want respect from me, then show me the same courtesy.”

  When she looked around, she saw that a lot of the kids’ faces that were wary before were starting to turn around. Trinity then smiled, and knew what she had to say to seal the deal.

  “In the fairness of honesty, I have to admit something.” This got all the students’ attention. “I was almost late myself. It was difficult returning to the routine of waking up early and being here by a certain time. I procrastinated on leaving my house, and as a result, you might have seen me running through the parking lot to get inside.” She ended with a smile and noticed that quite a few students were chuckling at her statement.

  “On another note…” she said, walking back to her desk. With a cool shiver, she grabbed the peach rose that was on her desk chair and held it up. With a forced smile she asked, “Did one of you put this here?”

  There were a few kids that shook their heads, others just stayed silent and looked around to the other students. “Then, does anyone know who did put it there?” When there was no answer yet again, she planted a fake smile on her face. “Well, if you find out whom, tell them “Thank You” from me.”

  She couldn’t put the rose down fast enough. That thing was going in the trash the moment the kids were out the door. It brought back too many memories. Seth would always give her a different rose for a different occasion; therefore she couldn’t stand the things. She was trying not to put too much thought into this though. Her imagination could be running wild because of her memory getting jarred this morning. It could be from anyone, she told herself.

  Most of the kids were smiling, ready to begin. Except for Stephanie
, who she feared she would have issues with in the future. Hugh was also not smiling; he was looking at her with his eyebrows scrunched together. It was the same look someone gets when they were trying to figure out a problem. What made Trinity uncomfortable was that he was staring at her. She never liked to be an open book and now she suspected she would have to be more careful around this boy. He could possibly see things that she didn’t want other people to notice.

  “Okay, now….it’s time to begin.” She clapped her hands together. “You are all in Photography 1 right now. If you are not supposed to be here, I’m sorry that you can’t stay, hope you enjoyed the show, but you need to go to your appropriate class.” When no one stood up right away, she smiled and continued.

  “Okay, great! I’m Ms. Bradshaw. We are going to spend time learning about photography, its history and its present purposes. Then we will learn how to use all the equipment and chemicals in the darkroom.” As she said this, Trinity gestured to the right indicating a black circular door on the wall. “After all that, we’re going to take some photos with our cameras then develop the film and the prints ourselves.” She was now getting animated as she spoke. “I’ll even teach you a cool way to make a camera out of an oatmeal canister. After that, you’ll need to bring in a non-digital 35 millimeter camera. That will be what we use this semester. If this is a problem, come to me, and we will work something out.”

  The butterflies in her stomach were all but gone. She had forgotten how much she enjoyed this part, watching the excitement on kids’ faces for something that she was so passionate about. “Most of all, we’re gonna have fun!”

  An idea came to her that might help with the issue of keeping the kids’ attention this week. “As of Monday, we are going to be learning about photography’s history and what the first cameras were like.” The students started to groan, obviously wanting to jump right into the darkroom. “Hey, this is something that if you want to be any good at, you have to understand where it came from to appreciate it more.”