“I will try,” Greystone said. “Good night.”
He faded from sight. I let go of Miles and Raven. The others turned to their bedrolls, tucking themselves into their blankets and drifting almost immediately off to sleep.
Rather than following suit, I rose and went to Cara. She was standing near the mouth of the cave, staring out into the blackness of night. She didn’t turn at my approach.
“I’m sorry for being so upset when I woke up,” I said to her solid back. “I was still in shock. I was upset.”
Cara didn’t answer, just kept staring out into the blackness of night.
“I know you’re my friend, Cara,” I said quietly. “I know why you kept Terrence a secret.”
I put a hand on her shoulder. I could feel her trembling slightly beneath my fingers. She still didn’t turn. I stood there for a moment longer before returning to my bedroll and drifting off to sleep.
LIFE REBUILT
SARAH
THE NEXT FEW DAYS WERE a whirlwind of activity, both on Earth and in Midrealm. Each of us deleted every online profile we had. Facebook, Twitter, everything. I got a few concerned texts from friends, wondering what was happening. I made up a story about online bullying from people making fun of my “sleep disorder.” I told them that my parents had made me delete my online presence in response. Soon the texts died off.
Raven told her parents, in no uncertain terms, that she didn’t want anything to do with Medicorp’s clinical trials. Her mom was upset, but her dad respected her decision, and in the end they both dropped the matter. For reasons I didn’t know, Blade hadn’t had to worry about his parents bringing him to the hospital. And in what was nothing short of a miracle, Miles had kept his bizarre sleep schedule from his mom the whole time. Tess’ parents hadn’t brought her in either, because she’d been the one person on a somewhat normal schedule.
In Midrealm, we were traveling across open country with no roads, and barely even footpaths to lead us southwest. We saw no one as we walked on, day after day. The country was open, brisk and peaceful. The seasons were easing from spring into summer, giving us nice, warm weather and clear skies above. I could feel a spring in everyone’s step that hadn’t been there since the siege began weeks before.
And so, for the first time in weeks, our lives returned to normal—somewhat.
After two more days in the hospital, and still with no signs of anything wrong, the doctors were forced to let Raven, Calvin and me go on a Saturday afternoon.
I had been home for an hour, lounging around in my room and enjoying a moment of relative quiet, when my phone buzzed with a text. I picked it up and felt a familiar thrill as I saw Kurt’s name.
Hey. Heard u were getting out? Still want that movie? Maybe tonight?
A tiny smile crept into the corners of my mouth, but it was quickly doused. I checked the time. It was two in the afternoon. I needed to be in bed by 8:00pm latest to get to Midrealm on time. But if we saw an early show, there wasn’t any reason for me not to go out tonight.
My fingers flew across the touchscreen of my phone. Maybe. Gotta check with parents. One sec.
I darted downstairs to find my mom sitting in the kitchen with a mass of bills laid out before her. She looked up as soon as I reached the doorway.
“What is it, sweetie?” she asked. “Are you feeling okay?”
“I’m feeling fine,” I said. “Great, actually. I wanted to ask you something.”
But suddenly, I was a mass of nerves. I could feel a slight blush creeping up into my cheeks, and my fingers became an awkward, fidgeting mess.
My mom cocked her head and arched an eyebrow. “What is it?”
“Well…” I said uncertainly. I took a few hesitant steps forward and pulled out a chair to sit across from her. “Okay, listen, I know this is kind of last minute. But I was wondering if I could go see a movie tonight. With a friend.”
Her eyebrow reached harder for the ceiling. “A friend? Not friends, plural?”
“Well, no,” I said, feeling my blush spring into full bloom. “Just one. It’s…um…you remember Kurt Masterson?”
The smirk I’d seen building in her mouth came out to play. “Sure I do.”
“Well, he kind of asked me if I wanted to see a movie,” I said in a rush. “And I’d like to. And I don’t know, I figured I’d just like to go out and relax for a few hours. Get out and do something. I’ve been in a hospital bed for almost a week.”
My mom didn’t nod, but she didn’t shake her head either. “Mm-hm.”
“So, what do you think? Could I go? I’ll be back before eight. I swear.”
In a spectacular display of bad timing, my dad chose that exact moment to walk into the kitchen. He went over to the fridge and pulled out a big, clear container of lemonade, reaching for a glass. My faint hope that he hadn’t overheard anything was dashed when he looked questioningly over his shoulder at the two of us. “Be back from what?”
I sighed and looked at my mom pleadingly, but her smirk only grew as she gave her head a tiny shake. Apparently I was on my own.
“Well, daddy,” I said, putting on my best winning smile. “Kurt kind of asked me if I’d like to see a movie tonight. You know, to celebrate my escape from the hospital.”
My dad didn’t respond as he finished pouring his glass of lemonade. He still didn’t answer as he returned the lemonade to the fridge and then leaned against the counter, turning to look at me with a face I couldn’t read. “I see. And I’m assuming your answer is yes?”
“Well, I’d definitely love to,” I said, nodding. “But I wanted to check with the two of you.”
“Mm-hm,” said my dad, taking a long sip of lemonade.
“Do you really think that’s smart, what with your recent spell?” my mom asked.
“I gave that a lot of thought,” I lied, immediately kicking my mind into overdrive thinking about it. “But the way I see it, I don’t have a problem with, you know, falling asleep suddenly. It’s more of a problem waking up. And even with that, I’ve been fine for the last three days. It’s not like I’m going to pass out in the middle of our date.”
My face ignited immediately, and I’m sure my skin was red as a tomato.
“A date, huh?” my mom said, her mouth twitching like she might lose it at any second. “I thought you two were just going to hang out.”
I calmly rested my forehead against my left hand, my left elbow propping me up against the table. “Okay, so, that’s totally not what I meant. We’re definitely just hanging out. The word just kind of…slipped out.”
“I don’t know, you sounded pretty certain about it,” my dad grumbled from the counter.
I looked up at the two of them. “Okay, well, I guess it’s pretty obvious that you two don’t want me going anywhere,” I said, feeling anger and resentment creeping into my voice. I stood, pushing the chair away from the kitchen table with a harsh scraping sound. “So I guess I’ll just head back to my room and tell Kurt no thanks.”
My mom’s face lit up at my reaction, and she burst into laughter. “Oh, sit down, Sarah,” she managed to get out between chuckles. “We’re just giving you a hard time. Of course you can go, if you want to.”
“She can, huh?” asked my dad, the words muffled behind the glass of lemonade.
But I barely heard him. “Are you serious?” I asked my mom, my hands gripping the back of the chair. “I can go?”
My mom shook her head and rolled her eyes. I’d been told I looked exactly like her when I did that. “Sweetie, you’re practically a grown woman now. As long as you take care of yourself and come home on time, of course we trust you to go out on your own.”
“We do, huh?” my dad muttered.
I ran around the table and gave my mom a hug. Then I straightened and went to my dad, wrapping my arms around his portly middle. His reluctant arm snuck around my shoulders to return the hug.
“Thanks so much, you guys,” I said, hoping they could hear how earnest my words were. “
I really feel like I need this after the last week. And you know Kurt. He’s a really great guy.”
“Sure he is,” said my dad. My mom shot him a look. He shrugged. “Okay, okay. Fine. I hope you two have fun. But I want to talk to him when he gets here.”
I laughed and gave him another hug. “Of course you do. Don’t hurt him, though.”
“I make no promises,” he said sullenly.
I fled from the kitchen before either of them could change their mind and pounded up the stairs. I whipped out my phone and texted Kurt: We’re all good. I’ve got to be home before eight, though, so let’s see a five thirty show?
It was only a few seconds before he answered. Sounds good. See you at five.
I couldn’t stop myself from doing a little happy dance in the middle of my room, grateful that no one could see me.
Kurt showed up right on time. After agonizing over the right outfit to wear—finally settling on a pair of jeans, a light blue t-shirt and a darker blue sweatshirt, all of which I considered to be terrible choices that would ruin my night—it’s entirely possible that I spent the last fifteen minutes leading up to five o’clock just staring at the clock on my phone, watching the time tick away. Right as the phone switched from four fifty-nine to five o’clock, I heard the doorbell ring downstairs.
“I got it!” I screamed, much louder than I’d meant to. I fled down the hallway and took the stairs two at a time, landing on the first floor in a thundering crash of feet on wood.
Of course, my dad was already at the door, and I felt myself blush even as I felt a pit grow in the depths of my stomach.
My dad turned as I arrived, giving me a warm smile. “Hi, sweetie,” he said. “I’m just going to give Kurt a little rundown. Why don’t you run out to the car, and he’ll be right along?” Behind him, Kurt’s face was a pleading mask.
I scowled at him. “Dad, he doesn’t need a rundown. We’re going to see a movie, and we’ll be back before eight.”
My dad nodded, his face a perfect mask of innocence. “Oh, of course. I just thought that some ground rules would—”
I stepped forward, shocked by my own boldness, and seized Kurt’s hand. “So he needs ground rules, but I don’t? Because I’m just a girl?”
My dad’s mouth fell open, but nothing came out. Finally he swallowed and stammered, “Um, of course that’s not what I—”
I leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. “Awesome. In that case, I already know all the rules. See you in three hours!”
I pushed past my stunned father and a shocked Kurt, dragging him by the wrist down the walk toward the street. I heard no sound of the front door closing behind me, and when we reached Kurt’s car, I turned to see my dad still standing in the doorway with his mouth agape.
“Love you, Daddy!” I said with a bright smile and an enthusiastic wave. “Unlock the car,” I muttered to Kurt out of the side of my mouth.
He fumbled with the remote, and I felt the door locks slide open. I pulled my door open and sat down. Kurt, to his credit, politely closed the door behind me. He turned to give my dad one last uncomfortable wave before taking his place behind the wheel and pulling the car out and away from the house.
“Wow, so that was unusual,” Kurt said, his voice breaking into a nervous huff of laughter.
“Oh my God, right?” I said, giggling. “I don’t know what I was thinking. My dad’s probably going to kill you when we get back.”
He glanced at me nervously. “Um…seriously?”
“No, not seriously,” I said, smiling. “He’s actually super cool. He’s probably just nervous because…” Suddenly embarrassment shut me up, and I looked out the window to hide it.
“I guess you don’t go out with people very often, huh?” Kurt asked. “I asked around a little bit. No one could remember the last person you went on a date with.”
He was asking around about me? I tried to ignore the butterflies that flitted madly away in my stomach at that thought. “I can tell you,” I said. “It was Tommy Brighton. We were both fourteen, and my parents were with us the whole time. They drove us to the arcade.”
“An arcade?” said Kurt. He laughed, flashing his million-dollar white smile. “Okay, that’s officially a lame place to hang out with a girl.”
“Depends on the girl, I guess, but yeah, I wasn’t super excited,” I said, smiling at the memory. “I mean, Tommy’s really nice, but he had no idea what he was doing. Neither did I. There wasn’t a second date.”
Kurt glanced at me. “But you considered that one a date, huh?”
I blushed. “Okay, maybe not really a date. I don’t think that counts.”
Kurt just smiled.
The rest of the car ride was silence that was comfortable at first. But soon I began to feel like I should be saying something else. Fortunately, the ride only lasted another few minutes before we pulled in the parking lot of the Park Theater. We looked at the theaters in the marquis. I tried to find an action film that I thought Kurt would enjoy, but he insisted on a cheesy-looking rom com for me instead. He also insisted on buying my ticket. I protested half-heartedly, but to be honest it was kind of nice.
I kept looking around while in the concession line, half afraid and half hopeful that someone would look over and see the two of us out together. On a date. Because whatever I said to my parents, one thing was for sure: I definitely considered this a date.
“Who are you looking for?” Kurt asked.
“Oh, no one,” I said, quickly turning back to him with an embarrassed shrug. “I just haven’t been to see a movie in a while. School keeps me pretty busy.”
Not to mention fighting in a war against evil creatures in another dimension, I thought privately.
“Yeah, and it must not be any easier now that you’ve got the sleep thing,” he said, his eyes drifting away.
My heart sank. Did that annoy him? Did he think I was a weirdo, like so many other kids in school seemed to? But if he did, why would he ask me out to the movies?
“It’s definitely not good for a social life,” I said lamely, shrugging and looking away again.
He must have spotted my embarrassment. “Oh, hey, I’m not making fun or you or whatever,” he said. “It doesn’t bother me.”
“It doesn’t?” I asked, hating how shy I must have sounded.
“Not even a little,” he said, shrugging. “So you sleep a little extra. So what? I’m jealous.”
I laughed. If only he knew. “You definitely shouldn’t be jealous. I wish I didn’t spend so much time—”
I stopped suddenly. I’d almost said I wish I didn’t spend so much time in Midrealm. That was bad.
“—sleeping,” I finished awkwardly.
He shook his head, grinning. “You’re funny.”
I was rescued by the person in front of us leaving the line, bringing us to the counter. Kurt ordered us a popcorn and two drinks, and again he insisted on paying. I smiled and thanked him. He’d shelled out almost twenty bucks on me so far. With a shock I realized how much money guys must spend on girls after taking them out on just a few dates.
“Tell you what,” I said suddenly as we walked away from the counter toward our theater. “I really appreciate you spotting me this time. But next time, I pay for everything.”
Kurt laughed. “No way! What are you, some kind of women’s lib nut?”
I started, taken aback. “Um, no. I just don’t think it’s right for you to have to pay for everything all the time. Fifty-fifty seems fair.”
He waved a hand, dismissing me outright. “It’s no big deal. My parents are really the ones paying for everything, and it’s not like we’re hurting for money. I was raised traditional. Guy pays for all.”
I set my mouth in a firm line. “Well, that’s fine, but I was raised to be fair. So if there’s going to be a next time, I’m paying for it.”
He shook his head. “I don’t need you to. Just let me take care of it.”
“I’m not doing it because you n
eed me to,” I insisted. “I’m doing it because I want to.”
We reached the theater door. He pulled the door open for me, and I allowed myself to be ushered inside. “Well, let’s just see,” Kurt finally said grudgingly. “Who knows? Maybe you won’t even want to go out with me again.” He flashed another one of those million dollar smiles.
I smiled back. “Okay. Fine. We’ll see. But I’m not letting it go.”
He sighed and shook his head as we found two empty seats in the middle of the theater.
I couldn’t honestly tell you what movie we saw. I barely payed any attention to it. The whole time, I was thinking about Kurt sitting next to me. He held the popcorn in his lap, and every time I reached over to grab some I half hoped he’d take my hand and hold it. About a half hour in, I put my hand on the armrest between us. Still, his hand didn’t move. Soon I realized that my palm was getting all sweaty against the armrest’s upholstery, so I turned it palm up to cool it. That didn’t work, so I wiped it on my pants and then put it back, palm up.
Finally, when there was only about half of the movie left, Kurt reached up to munch some more popcorn. When he put his hand back down, he put it in mine.
Instantly my whole body flushed with embarrassment and excitement. My heart was thundering in my chest so loud, I was glad the movie was there to mask the sound. We finished the rest of the movie that way, neither one of us moving our hands, neither one of us looking at each other.
The final shot faded to black, and the credits began to roll. I shot out of my seat in a flash, pulling my hand from his. I was so flustered, I totally forgot to bring my soda and left it in the armrest. Kurt got up more slowly and followed me out of the theater.
“That was fun,” he said as soon as we were back in the lobby.
“Sure,” I replied. Too quickly, too eagerly. I didn’t even remember most of the movie. Who had been in it again? For the life of me, I couldn’t remember.
“So, it’s quarter after seven,” he said. “I guess I’d better get you home.”
“We could hang out for a little bit,” I said. “Grab an ice cream or something. It’s only about ten minutes back to my house.”
Wyrmspire (Realm Keepers Book 2) Page 3