by Jack Chaucer
"Because she dropped acid during detention yesterday and now Lucy-in-the-Sky-with-Diamonds Janicek has a three-day suspension ... that's why," Valerie hissed, injecting extra venom into her last two words.
Mr. Richardson shook his head, wondering if he had gotten out of his car and stepped into some alternate universe on this drizzly Tuesday morning. Then he refocused and finally took command of the situation as the spectators murmured around them.
"No matter what happened, I saw you both throw punches and now you can both go to Principal Wheeler's office to face your own punishments. Let's go!" he ordered.
The girls scowled at each other but complied. After grabbing their packs, Candace went first through the door, followed by Mr. Richardson and then Valerie.
Melanie, meanwhile, hung back with the curious horde of onlookers and quickly became the star witness, providing them every detail of the punch heard 'round Lakeview.
...
Lynn gave Nicole all the time she needed to recover from her LSD trip. Sheer hunger spurred Nicole to respond to the smell of pancakes and find a way to walk to the kitchen table just before 10 a.m.
"Good morning, Nikki," her mother said, surprisingly pleasant considering the circumstances.
"Pancakes?" Nicole asked, her previously dry mouth now watering. She hoped the savory salve of hot butter and maple syrup would be enough to heal the metallic wounds to her taste buds inflicted by Adam’s tainted sugar cube. "I don't deserve pancakes, Mom. I'm on suspension, remember?"
Lynn put the spatula down and gave her daughter a huge hug — much bigger than the one she got when she returned home safely from Mount Washington in late August.
"Ms. Alvarez told me Adam tricked you into taking LSD before detention," she said softly. "It wasn't your fault, Nikki."
"LSD? Are you shitting me? That's what I was on?"
"Yes," her mother confirmed.
"And Adam admitted to that?"
"Eventually, yes he did."
"What an asshole," Nicole said, putting her hand on her achy head and plopping onto a stool beside the island in their square-shaped kitchen.
"Have some of these, dear, and you'll start feeling like yourself again," Lynn said in a reassuring tone as she removed the lid from a plate that kept three buttered pancakes warm and ready to eat.
"Thanks, Mom," Nicole said, pouring syrup all over them. "I'm insanely hungry."
"You should be."
"All I've had to eat since breakfast yesterday was one sugar cube laced with LSD. I can't believe I just popped that thing in my mouth without even thinking."
"How could you know it was LSD, Nikki?"
"I should know enough not to trust Adam yet. He keeps getting me into trouble. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about detention, but Ms. Alvarez just kind of sprung it on me and I thought that was totally unfair."
Nicole thoroughly enjoyed the pancakes and let her mother do the talking for a moment.
"I just wish you had told me about Adam. I wish you felt you could share what's going on in your life with me more than you have lately," Lynn said. "I love you, Nikki. I'm on your side and I want to help you. Being 17 is not an easy time. It wasn't easy for me a long time ago and it's probably even harder today."
Nicole's iPhone rang and she saw that it was her best friend calling. Nicole covered her mouth before saying, "Oh my God, Mom. I haven't even told Candace what happened yesterday and that I'm suspended until Friday. I've been so ... so out of it."
"She knows. She called last night while you were asleep and we chatted. Just answer it," Lynn said.
Nicole took a deep breath and picked up the phone.
"Hi, C.C., I'm so sorry I didn't call you to tell you sooner."
"Don't worry about it, Nikki. You needed to sleep it off and recover. How do you feel this morning?" Candace asked.
"Still really weird, but my Mom made me pancakes."
"Ooh, that sounds good," Candace said, though she sounded a little distracted. "Are you sitting down?"
"Yeah, why?"
"I got suspended, too," Candace said with a semi-embarrassed laugh.
"What?" Nicole gasped, then mouthed the info to her mother, whose eyes popped open. "Can I put you on speaker so my mother can hear this, too?"
"No, she'll hate me!"
"Too late," Nicole said, punching a button on her phone and smiling in anticipation of a juicy discussion.
"Your Mom told me how I was level-headed and used good common sense last night on the phone, and then I go and get suspended the very next morning," Candace said.
"What for? Let's hear it, C.C.," Nicole replied as Lynn just listened with her eyes wide open and her mouth covered by her hand.
"I got in a fist fight with Valerie Moore before school even started."
"Holy shit, Candace!" Nicole shrieked.
"Wow ... these suspensions are as catchy as the flu," Lynn quipped.
"Yeah, I confronted Valerie and Melanie about all the crap they've been blasting out on Tumblr, Facebook and Twitter about you, Adam, the LSD and the three-day suspension."
"I haven't even looked at any of that yet, but I'm not surprised ... well, maybe I'm surprised at Mel," Nicole said.
"Valerie got in my face and pissed me off, and before I knew it I shoved her really hard."
"Then what happened?" Nicole asked excitedly.
"She tried to punch me in the face, but I nailed her first — right in the gut!"
"Oh my God, C.C.! I don't believe it."
"Never been in a fight in my life until today," Candace said.
"Sounds like you won," Nicole said.
"Yes and no. I got suspended for starting the fight because I pushed her first. Valerie only got detention."
"Sounds like she got her pride bruised though," Lynn pointed out.
"Yeah, she had that coming for a while now," Candace said proudly.
"Thank you so much for defending me, girl, while I wasn't there. You really are a true friend, suspended or not," Nicole said, almost tearing up.
"You're welcome, Nikki. Maybe we should get together for a suspension party," Candace said with a chuckle.
"Hey, totally ... that's an awesome idea," Nicole replied, grinning at her mother. Lynn shook her head, but she smiled a little, too.
"I just want you girls to know that I do not condone drug use or fighting, but given these special circumstances, I would be more than happy to invite you over for a suspension dinner tonight, Candace," Lynn said as Nicole beamed.
"My day is suddenly free, so consider it a date," Candace said with a laugh.
"Great. We'll see you around 6 then?" Lynn asked.
"Yes, see you then," Candace said.
"OK, and try to stay out of trouble until then," Nicole quipped.
"I will. Bye to you both."
"Bye," mother and daughter said in stereo.
They shared a playful smile. It felt good to be in harmony again.
CHAPTER 14: TALKING ABOUT TRIPS
Lynn had decided to work the second day of Nicole's suspension and take the third off instead. She wanted Nicole to feel fully recovered before embarking on a mother-daughter getaway to New York City. They planned to drive down Wednesday night and stay at a hotel so they could go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the morning, have lunch in Little Italy and maybe visit the 9/11 Memorial before heading home.
The weather forecast also had been a factor in Lynn’s decision. Thursday was supposed to be sunny, warm and clear. On Wednesday, Nicole looked out the window of her second-floor bedroom and watched the rain drops pelt her car in the driveway. The downpour matched her mood as she auto-dialed the boy who had drugged her 48 hours before.
"Hello Nikki," Adam answered, as if nothing had even happened.
"I told you to call me Nikki because I thought we were going to be friends, but then you trick me into taking LSD on an empty stomach, get me suspended for three days and don't even bother to call or text to apologize. I'm the one who picks up th
e phone and calls you."
"I figured you might be pissed off and I better let you cool off," Adam replied.
"No, it works quite the opposite way actually," she corrected him. "The longer you let it go and don't deal with me, the more pissed off I get."
"Oh. I mean ... I thought you had fun with it. You were so funny and awesome to trip with," he countered gingerly.
"I remember some of that, but I also had some horrible hallucinations later on that scared the shit out of me. Not to mention the fact that I was nauseous for hours with no relief because there was nothing in my stomach to throw up."
"Oh, sorry about that."
"Are you?"
"Yes, Nik ... Nicole, I am."
"I hope you really do mean that, but I'm not sure I trust you anymore. I'm naive. I always give people the benefit of the doubt. I didn't know sugar cubes could be laced with LSD. It would've been nice to know you were handing me drugs so I could've at least made a choice."
"But if I had told you ..."
"That's right, I would've said no," she finished his sentence.
"And we wouldn't have had so much fun together," he noted.
"Getting high on drugs is not my idea of fun, Adam. I would've preferred to spend detention doing something productive, like reading books maybe. Have you read any of Cheryl Strayed's book yet? The one I let you borrow? I do remember you telling me that you planned on reading it."
"No, not yet."
"Thanks for being honest about that at least," Nicole said, softening her tone slightly. "You've got all this time off from school, Adam. This is the perfect opportunity to start reading it. Once you do, I'll bet you'll be hooked and want to read some more. Then maybe you'll be excited to go hiking again some time. You might even learn some things about yourself."
"I guess I should then," he said.
"I won't say another word about the book. I've twisted your arm enough. Now it's up to you, Adam."
"OK ... do you want to hang out tomorrow before we have to go back to school on Friday?" he asked.
"No, I can't. My Mom and I are driving down to New York City tonight and spending most of the day there tomorrow. I need to get away from here and see something different. I've gotta get my shit together. I don't think you understand, Adam. This suspension is really going to set me back — three days of work to make up. I mean ... this is my senior year. I want to get into a good college next year."
"Do you want to hang out today then?" he persisted.
"I don't think that's a good idea," she said firmly. "I'll see you at school on Friday, but I don't want to have lunch with you. I need some time to refocus on school and my other friends right now — the ones who don't use drugs; the ones I can trust."
The silence grew more awkward by the second.
"Do you still want to be friends?" he finally asked her.
"I would like to, Adam, but I need some time to think about everything right now. Am I getting my message through to you? That acid trip really messed me up."
"Oh."
"I prefer hiking trips, not deceitful drug trips ... just so we're perfectly clear," she added angrily.
"OK then, bye," Adam said tersely before hanging up.
"Adam?" she asked, then tossed her iPhone on the bed in resignation.
Nicole involuntarily glanced at the calendar on the wall but quickly shook her head and refused to let certain fears creep back into her mind.
"No! I don't feel like saving the world anymore!" she shouted.
CHAPTER 15: 9/11
As Nicole and her mother strolled quietly through a long, rectangular room of Oriental paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, one image grabbed the teen's eyes and refused to let go.
"Cloudy Mountains" the sign beneath the painting said. A range of jagged peaks, rising up out of a nebulous garland of trees and misty clouds, spanned the breadth of the 5-foot-long, horizontal hand scroll. Mounted in a beige frame exactly at Nicole's eye level, the image hypnotized her with its raw, mysterious beauty.
Then, fearful that the after-effects of her recent LSD trip might begin distorting the painting, she forced herself to look away and read the description beneath it. Fang Congyi, a Daoist priest from Jiangxi, China, used calligraphy ink and color to create the image in the second half of the 14th century, Nicole read. Congyi lived in Shangqing Temple on Mount Longhu, or Dragon Tiger Mountain, the dominant peak in the painting.
"According to Daoist geomantic beliefs, a powerful life energy pulsates through mountain ranges and watercourses in patterns known as longmo, or dragon veins," Nicole read. "In 'Cloudy Mountains,' the painter's kinetic brushwork, wound up as if in a whirlwind, changes the mountains with an expressive liveliness that defies their physical structure. The great mountain range, weightless and dematerialized, resembles a dragon ascending into the clouds."
Sure enough, the most eye-catching feature of the painting was the dark, dragon-like spine, climbing and veering off into left and right peaks that evoked dragon wings. The only thing missing was the dragon's head.
Again, Nicole looked away before an acid flashback could provide that. She felt angry at Adam for scarring her mind, altering her sensory perception and ruining her ability to relax and enjoy a work of art. All of her efforts to become his friend and pull him up the mountain — which appeared to be heading in the right direction until Monday — now seemed like a lost cause. It was as if they had reached the first rocky ledge with a great view and he decided to jump off right there instead of continuing the ascent.
Nicole sensed her mother approaching, shook off her blues and flashed her a smile. She wasn't going to let Adam drag her off the ledge, too.
"You must really love this one, Nikki," Lynn said. "I've already navigated the entire room and you've been standing in front of this painting the whole time."
"Have I?"
"Yes."
"I guess it just blows me away that I could have something in common with a 14th century Chinese priest," Nicole said. "Mountains move me, too."
"Ah, but can you move mountains?" her mother asked playfully.
Nicole thought about that question for a moment and didn't feel like answering in the same cheerful tone.
"No, apparently I can't."
...
Candace glanced at her wristwatch — 12:13 — and opted to walk past the girls' bathroom on her way to lunch. With Adam and Thomas both suspended until tomorrow, she felt stupid for even checking her watch, much less hiding. It was Nicole's nightmare after all and she was suspended, too, amazingly enough.
Fresh off her own one-day punishment for fighting Valerie, Candace smiled while recalling the fun she had Tuesday night at the suspension dinner party Ms. Barrett threw for her and Nicole. They feasted on chicken tacos, chimichangas and other delicious tapas Lynn had prepared, and washed it all down with virgin strawberry margaritas. Lynn shared stories of her own rebellious teenage years and how her mother had grounded her twice during her senior year in high school — once for hosting a raucous party while her parents visited Cape Cod; another time for smoking pot outside a school dance. She always managed to get caught, Lynn lamented.
Candace had walked about 30 feet past the girls' bathroom in the mostly empty corridor when the school's fire alarm buzzed so loudly that she jumped in place with her heart in her throat. As nearby classrooms emptied students into the hallway, Candace noticed the 12:14 on her watch and instinctively darted backward against the current of teens and teachers.
The alarm's rapid five-buzzer bursts, interrupted only by a split-second of silence, cut through Candace's core and made her heart pound almost as loudly. She barreled through the bathroom door and found no one inside. She opened a stall, closed it, locked it and climbed on top of the toilet.
Candace's fingers shook as she squatted down and used her iPhone to text Nicole. She didn't want to talk for two reasons: one, she wanted to hear what was going on; two, she didn't want to be found in case someone was walking around wi
th a gun and hunting potential victims. The creepy stare of Thomas Harvey haunted her as she typed furiously on the tiny virtual keyboard.
Nicole's iPhone pinged as she walked down the grand stairway with her mother just outside the Met, near the busy intersection of Fifth Avenue and 82nd Street. A bright mid-day sun blazed overhead as Nicole shifted the sunglasses she had just put on to the top of her head and checked her iPhone.
"Oh my God!" she shouted, freezing on the fourth step above the sidewalk and sitting down.
"What is it, Nikki?" her mother asked, stooping beside her.
"I just got a text from Candace at school. She's hiding in the girls' bathroom scared out of her mind!"
"Why?"
"Because the fire alarm went off right at 12:14 and she's afraid of getting shot!" Nicole yelled, raising a few eyebrows on the people walking up and down the stairs near her.
"Oh no!" Lynn said, recalling what Candace had told her about Nicole's dream. She had decided not to discuss the details of their phone conversation with Nicole until her daughter had fully recovered from the LSD trip, but now the fear of a school shooting suddenly became real. Candace was not one to cry wolf, Lynn knew.
Nicole's fingers shook, too, as she texted her friend back. "What's happening? Please tell me U r OK!"
The ensuing moment of terrifying silence ripped Nicole's heart to shreds and filled her eyes with tears.
"I should be there with her, Mom," she said, her voice cracking.
"Nikki, calm down, it's going to be OK," Lynn attempted to assure her with a hand on her shoulder.
"If anything happens to that girl, I'll never forgive myself for being a million miles away when it happened," Nicole stammered through sobs.
"Please don't get all worked up when we really don't know what's happening, Nikki," Lynn implored her and tried to hug her, but Nicole was in no mood to be smothered. She pushed away the embrace and focused more obsessively on her phone.
"Well that's what's killing me right now ... not knowing ... and she said the alarm went off at 12:14! Oh my God! Those sick, twisted pieces of shit!" Nicole shouted.
"What do you mean?"
"12:14, mom ... Newtown! It happened on December 14th!"
"But today is ... oh my God ... 9/11," Lynn said, a sickening chill running through her body now.
"See, I'm not crazy! My dream warned me this would happen and that time was running out. The teacher even wrote the exact time on the blackboard — 12:14!"