by bret Wellman
One by one the stars had popped up across the sky. It was amazing really how many there were. Back at the government buildings there was too much light pollution, there were no stars there at all. Here there was nothing to stop the stars from cascading across the sky. Out here in the quiet and fresh air I was surrounded by nothing but beauty. Between the forest, Brianna, and the stars, I couldn’t think of a better place on earth.
When we got back inside Adrian and Lillie were placing shiny black tiles on one of the walls in the kitchen, Spencer was in the living room playing video games. I looked around but didn’t see Josh or Rachel, they were probably up stairs keeping to themselves.
I pulled out my homework and propped up next to Brianna on the couch. I was trying to read my government book but soon found my eyes kept wandering to the TV screen.
Brianna had a book of her own she was reading. Lillie had been collecting books for a library upstairs. Right now the room was a random slush of books piled across the floor. Nobody had started construction on shelving yet. Brianna must have gone in there and taken one of the books. I glanced at the cover and wondered how many copies of “Of mice and men” were left in the world? With the way the government treated history, not many.
I tried to do my homework for another half hour before excusing myself to my room. Under the glow of a lamp with the TV only a low rumble through the wall, I could finally get some reading done and actually wrote out a few pages of the book report. My goal was to get the thing over with as quick as possible so I kept on reading and writing as the clock ticked on and my eyes grew heavy. It was after one in the morning when I finally put the work away and clicked off the lamp.
Chapter 13
The next couple of days were a little rocky, Blake and his friends were growing restless. I was shoved on three different occasions, twice there was one of Spencer’s friends there to shove the person back, the third time I was out numbered five to one. So far that had been the extent of the damage, there were a few times that it almost came to blows but no one had crossed that line… yet. It seemed inevitable, something was coming. Things couldn’t keep escalating forever, at some point they had to blow. A vast number of the people seemed to be taking up Blake’s side and pestering me whenever they could, they were like piranhas with the scent of blood. I’m pretty sure they didn’t even know what they were getting worked up about, hell I didn’t even know. You could say it was over Brianna but it wasn’t, Blake probably felt threatened by me. People like that are insecure, they need to know that they are in charge, his insecurities were leading him to come down on me.
Back at home the brick patio was growing day by day and it was beginning to look like it might be finished by Friday. Part of me wished that it would go on forever, it felt good working with Brianna to make everything match up.
Friday morning we were met by a pack of football players when we pulled into the school parking lot. Blake looked to be in the lead, flanked by two douches of equal strength and size. I idly wondered if they knew how bad it would be for them to try and fight us.
“I’m not going to hold back on these guys.” Brianna said. “I don’t care if it draws attention.”
“I’m sure everyone would overlook a little girl throttling three giant football players.” Spencer laughed.
I didn’t want her anywhere near those guys “I will take care of them.” I said.
Spencer was still laughing when he put a hand on my shoulder. “I have a better idea, let me handle this.”
We opened the doors and stepped out into the musty morning air, the three of us squaring off with the big football players.
“I’m getting sick of playing games.” Blake said.
Brianna crossed her arms “Then leave us alone.”
“I don’t like you.” He said, ignoring her and talking straight to me.
“Listen to this cowboy!” Spencer said.
Blake took a step forward. I took a step to match, I wasn’t going to back down anymore. He fell back with his friends, bullies are cowards.
“If you don’t leave, you’re going to be sorry.”
“Leave?” I said, astonished. Did he actually think he could get me to, what? Leave, leave town? Did people actually do that?
“I have a better idea” Spencer said “we are having a little party tonight.”
What was he doing? “Spencer.” I said, urgently glancing over at him whilst still keeping one eye on the football players.
“Relax” He said. “So anyway, we are having a party and I just thought of a good way to settle this little debate of ours.”
“And?” Blake asked.
“And I think we should have a little competition, say my family verses you and your friends in a little football game? Loser leaves town.”
Blake smiled, it was a wicked grin, an evil grin “So you want to face us in a football game? If we win you leave town?”
“Wow you are a smart one… did I stutter?” Spencer asked.
“I don’t know man.” said one of Blake’s friends.
I watched him glancing back and forth nervously between the other two. Blake shoved him hard in the shoulder. He was puffing out his chest trying to look tough, he looked furious that one of his friends had broken his composure.
“Pull yourself together, how can we lose?”
“How about this, if we win only Blake has to leave town.” Spencer said. His eyes were locked on the nervous kid.
The three of us were far more relaxed than the football players. To the untrained eye we looked confident that no one would dare start a fight with us. To somebody with keen senses, they would have seen how Brianna’s feet were positioned against my tire, ready to throw her forward at any sign of trouble. They would have seen how I stood slightly behind Spencer and to his right. Nobody would be able to attack him without also giving me a free shot and nobody could get straight at me.
“You’re on!” Blake said at once “Just make sure preppy and skank over there are in the game. I wouldn’t mind dealing out some pain before I send you on your way.”
He looked so angry, how could someone be that mad all the time?
“See you tonight Blake!” Brianna said in the fakest, cheery voice I have ever heard from her. She grabbed both me and Spencer by our wrists and started to pull us toward the school. “I just want to punch that guy.” She said when we were out of ear shot from the others.
“I will be passing around directions later on today.” Spencer yelled back. “Don’t get scared and back out now.”
“Sounds like you’re going to get the chance Brianna.” I said. “I hope you know what you’ve gotten us into Spencer.”
“Don’t worry so much William.” He said. “Live a little.”
“Okay fine, but how are you going to explain this to Adrian? He already has plans for the house and I doubt he will want any of this attention on us.” I said.
He thought about it then laughed a little. “It’s the price he will pay if he wants us living there.”
He broke away from us before I could retort. We watched in astonishment as he ran up to a group of girls and wound up walking away with his arms around two of them. Brianna shook her head before turning away to head into the school.
“Have you ever played football before?” she asked.
I thought back, I couldn’t remember a single time that we had. You would think that our care takers would have had a football competition at least once. After all, it was a contact sport and they loved those. “I guess not.”
“Me either, do you think we can beat them?”
“Considering that none of us have ever played football before and they are a football team? I think we have a chance. You know, us being highly disciplined and all.”
Brianna laughed and looked at me thoughtfully. “Good. I think we should cheat.”
She was probably right, we were going to have to cheat if we wanted to win. I had seen a few football games on TV, which was about the extent of my knowledg
e. There would be no other way to win against a trained team.
“Hey, what’s up guys?” Neal came striding up from behind us, he looked worried. “I saw you in the parking lot, what did Blake say?”
I shrugged “Not much, he’s kind of an idiot.”
“Are you ready for the big party tonight?” Brianna asked.
Neal stiffened “There is a party tonight? Uh, yea sure, I guess.”
“What do you mean, you guess?” I asked “Get pumped up, it’s going to be a good time.”
He gave a weak smile and mumbled something about homework before randomly walking away.
I watched Brianna watch him, a look of astonishment on her face. She cracked a smile and then started to giggle. “He’s not very good at interacting with others, is he?” She asked.
“Nope” I said “He just needs a little more encouragement, that’s all.”
She looked embarrassed for laughing at him and began to blush. “I’m sure.”
As we made our way to class, Brianna seemed to have her head in the clouds. Every now and again she would throw out a suggestion of one of her friends to set Neal up with and then almost instantly change her mind before I could respond.
“What about Jessica? No, she would never go for it. Stacy maybe? Maybe not. Sam could be good… Sam could be bad.”
She looked shocked to realize that we were standing outside of her classroom. “Oh I’ll figure it out eventually.” She said. “Wait for me before you go to lunch ok?”
I nodded and she slipped into class.
First hour was abuzz about the party. It seemed like everyone was going, Spencer had spread the word to a large number of people and from there it had went around like wild fire. The only person who didn’t seem excited was Neal. He only gave me short yes and no answers to any question I asked and avoided conversation like a plague. He was back to being down on himself, my pep talk was wearing off. At least it sounded like he would show up at the party, from what I could pick up that is.
“I’ll be there ok?” He said when we were walking to lunch. “It should be fun right?
“You know it will be, Spencer is pretty much inviting every single person in the school.”
I really wish he had run it by Adrian first, as far as I knew he might pull out a gun and kick everyone off the property. Oh well, this was Spencer’s deal and not mine. If he wanted to square off with Adrian and throw a huge party when we were trying to hide, he could go right ahead. I wasn’t getting involved.
I spotted Brianna standing outside of her classroom talking to some shaggy haired boy. Neal kept walking. A weird feeling crept into my stomach and chest. For someone so disciplined as I, the power of this feeling was overwhelming. The kid gave me a dirty look as I walked up. When Brianna spotted me she smiled and excused herself from the conversation.
“Who was that?” I asked as she took my hand and started toward the lunch room.
“That was Billy, he was our neighbor back in the trailer park. He’s a nice boy.”
“I don’t like him.” I said.
She just laughed “Oh shut up!”
When we got to our seats the lunch table was churning with excitement for the party. Word had gotten out about the high stakes football game and people were planning on arriving early. Nobody wanted to miss the game.
By the time lunch was over I was beginning to grow anxious. The whole school would be crammed into our yard and every eye would be there watching to see who gets banished from the county. Things were getting out of hand. Not to mention what Adrian was going to do to us when he found out about the bet.
My anxiety only grew as the day went on until the final bell rang and I practically ran to my car.
“Slow down speedy!” Brianna called when I was half way across the parking lot. “What’s the rush?”
“I guess I didn’t realize I was going so fast.” I said. “I’m just in a hurry to get our patio done.”
“I hope it turns out nice.” She said while turning to sit on the hood of my car.
“Me too.” Though it wasn’t done yet, we only had a little bit left to do. From what we could tell so far it actually did look pretty good.
When Spencer got to my car we hopped in and I punched it home. There was heavy cloud cover and a light drizzle splattered against my windshield as I pulled into the driveway. Brianna followed me out back to the almost finished patio. We stopped to admire a newly added section.
“What do you think?” Josh asked.
He was standing next to a wall that formed a half circle around our patio, it came up to just past his waist. The majority of it was topped off with a granite counter top. I walked up and looked over the smooth transition as the bricks curved around the patio, it was seamless. In the dead center of the wall the countertop parted to be replaced by a grill. Four knobs stuck out of the wall below the grill and below that was a small wooden door, I imagined that was where the propane tanks would go.
Josh rested against the far side, lining up and cementing in one of the last bricks. He ran his finger across the brick, a hot flame licked a symbol along its surface. I noticed that all the other bricks were similarly marked.
“It took me all day to build.” He said cheerfully, coming around to our side of the barbecue.
“It looks wonderful.” Brianna said. “Now all we have to do is place the last few bricks into the patio and it will be complete.”
“Sorry we couldn’t get it done sooner.” I said.
“Are you kidding? You guys have done so much in the past week.”
“We should be all done in an hour or so.” Brianna said, wrapping her arm around my waist. Every time she touched me it left my entire body tingling. I don’t think that is normal for an assassin to feel.
The patio looked vibrant, even with the pale sky over head. It made our back yard more filled out. The bricks were lined up in a large circle, there was plenty of room for a picnic table to be set in the middle. The weapons shed was to our right, it had been painted up to be bright red. Beyond that the forest towered over the yard and stretched all the way around the house. This was our own private sanctuary.
“Things are turning out nice.” I said.
“Just in time for the party.” Josh added.
I stopped and looked at him. No one had mentioned the party yet. “Who told you about the party?”
“Adrian.” He said it as if the whole party was Adrian’s idea. “He has been planning it all week, says he wants to meet as many people from your school as possible. That way he will know who to watch and what not. Personally I can’t fathom how he can track all those personalities from one party but then again I seem to always be saying things like that when it comes to mental users.”
“Who to watch,” I asked. “What do you mean?”
“He wants to know who is nosy and who might start running their mouth and starting unwanted rumors. I think that was part of it, to be honest I tried not to listen as he was talking. I haven't spoken to the guy since we moved in and I wasn’t about to start then. That didn’t stop him from talking though, just went on and on about personality traits. "If you ask me he probably wants to use them for something, human sacrifice I bet.” He paused to think for a moment. “He said he can predict the future, if he knew enough of the people involved. It was about then I came out here and started work on this. The guy makes me mad, probably because he tricked us into moving here, point is I can’t really stand him.”
“Would you like to help us finish it?” Brianna asked. I looked to see what he thought.
He glanced up and shook his head. “Cant, Lillie has big plans in preparation for the party. I’m afraid that my afternoon is already booked… she wants me to scrub the bathrooms. Not that I mind Lillie, I know she is a mental user but she ain’t bad. She has really been working hard to help us settle in. Rachel and I decided to give her a break.”
When Brianna and I started to place the first pavers down Josh headed into the house.
&nbs
p; As I lined up a brick I was wondering why Josh would turn soft on Lillie all of a sudden. And then I thought of something that hadn’t occurred to me, we shared a bond. Each and every one of us had gone through a similar experience growing up, it was hard to stay mad at somebody you felt a kinship with.
“What was your worst moment when you were growing up under the Kingdom." I asked, watching a scar on her thumb as she placed the paver. “Out of everything.”
The question lingered in the air like a cold breeze. I half wished I hadn’t said it, that I could take it back so we could talk about something less painful.
She looked away for a moment before turning back with a haunted look in her eyes. I thought she was going to speak but didn’t, she turned back and began placing another brick. Her jaw was set tight, I could see her clenching her teeth. It felt like forever before she even said anything, when she did she took a long stressful breath.
“When I was ten years old they found my biological parents.” She whispered. “I was allowed to leave the government building and go live with them for a month.” She was very guarded as she spoke, almost as if she were trying to distance herself from her own words.
“They let you leave?” I didn’t mean to interrupt her, but I couldn’t help it. For the government to let her leave, that was unheard of.
“It was the greatest moment of my entire life to date.” She said with a sigh. “I got to go to a real elementary school. Mom packed my lunch every day. Oh and the home cooked meals, William you wouldn’t believe them. I got to taste my mother’s hand made food, which made it even better, like I could taste the love in it or something you know? I went to bed full with a bedtime story from dad every night.”
“I can’t believe they let you leave…” I was truly astonished. I wished she would stop there. And we lived happily ever after, the end. If that were the case she wouldn’t be here right now and this wouldn’t be her worst memory…
“I never even questioned it.”
I started to talk but she cut me off.