“Did you say his name was Willian? Is he about this tall,” she put her hand up over her head to indicate his height, “with dark hair and brown eyes?”
“Yes. Don’t tell me you’ve seen him!” Juila accused.
“I met him last Thursday when he was enrolling and then again on Friday when I showed him around the school. I wish I would have put the pieces together faster so I could have forewarned you he was here. I’m sorry Jena, I didn’t know.”
“Hey, it’s not your fault, you have nothing to apologize for,” Jena said as she reached out and touched Sofia’s arm to console her.
“We should get going, Behn’s probably waiting for us, Jena,” Juila spoke up. She hugged Sofia and watched her friend go across the parking lot to go to her own car.
Juila was eager to get home and see if there were any updates on the Roanoke community since they had been taken home the day before. Even as they walked across the parking lot, they kept up a vigilant search around them for Willian.
Fortunately, they met at Behn’s car without incident. Behn looked at them strangely which led Juila to believe Luke must have said something to him. It was not until they were on the main road to their home that Behn said, “Is anyone going to tell me what happened today?”
Jena shook her head and softly spoke, “Willian is here.”
Behn’s eyes grew wide as he looked back at Jena in the rearview mirror. “Your boyfriend from Tuala is here on Earth?”
“Unfortunately,” Juila affirmed.
“What does he want?” Behn asked.
“Me,” Jena answered flatly.
“What do you want?” Behn asked.
The numbness of surprise finally wore away, and Jena yelled, “I came to Earth to find myself! Willian had no right to follow me here and cause a scene like that. I’ll never forgive him for displaying such abhorrent behavior and acting like he owned me.”
Juila was relieved to finally hear her sister stand up for herself and see Willian for the selfish boy he was. “We could only wish he got the idea and decided to go back home.”
“Wishful thinking, Juila. You didn’t see his face as she looked at me. This is far from over.”
“What are you two going to do? This doesn’t sound like it’s something which should be played out at school.”
“No kidding!” Jena agreed wholeheartedly.
“We should try to find out where he’s staying and confront him there,” Juila suggested.
“How? We have no idea where to start,” Jena replied dejectedly.
“We could use the elemy to search for him,” Juila began.
“No, I want to talk this over with Mom and Dad before we do anything. They said they were working on breaking the betrothal. I want to have confirmation of it before I speak with Willian again. I want to see the look in his eyes when I tell him we are finished, and now he can go back home in humiliation.”
Behn thought about how he would pose his next question. Finally, he decided the direct approach would be best when he asked, “When Juila’s telepod got misdirected, you mentioned something about being betrothed. Are you saying you and Willian are engaged to be married?”
“Yes,” she sighed. “It was arranged when we were six anons old. It was an odd situation because we were already so old, but Elder Debbon insisted this was what his vision had been about. Jehoban approved of it, so here we are. Both of us are miserable, and now Willian is going to extreme lengths to hold onto something which was doomed from the moment he decided to be jealous of me and my gifts.”
Behn frowned and looked over to Juila for clarification.
“Willian was always trying to compete with Jena when they were learning to use their birth crystals. He has developed a terrible habit of speaking down to her trying to make her feel guilty for learning faster and better than he could. He thinks he should naturally be better at everything because of who his father is.”
“Oh,” Behn whispered quietly as he focused his attention on where he was driving. The situation was much more complicated than he had originally believed. If Willian were simply a boyfriend, then breaking up should have been easy. To know they had entered into an agreement, sanctioned by Jehoban, well that made the situation rather difficult.
Juila agreed with Behn’s simple statement. She was going to have her work cut out for her to get Jena’s situation straightened out. She was not about to let Willian continue to ruin everything good in her sister’s life.
Chapter Thirty-Six
BEHN PARKED IN front of the house and followed the girls inside. Even though he had planned on going home to check on his sister, he never even considered leaving when he could tell the girls were so upset. What did surprise him, however, was how quiet the house was when he shut the door behind him.
Juila and Jena were thankful for the peace and quiet. They walked slowly through the foyer. “Is there any news, Rasa?” Juila asked as she looked down the hall expecting to see her mom show up because they had come home. Her parents had come home after they had gone to bed, so they still did not have any updates. She returned her gaze to where Rasa was seated on the couch with Gevena.
“Everything went smoothly. Elder Daven set up a patil for Vinia to use in her house. Your dad’s at work and Amanda went to her mom’s house for a little while,” Rasa replied with a sigh of relief.
“Wait, what’s this about Vinia?” Juila asked.
Behn also perked up and leaned forward to hear the news about his mother.
“The people agreed to allow Vinia to lead them now that Grobin is gone. Vinia and Danika moved back to her old home and is going to be the go-between with Elder Daven, wise-woman Copa, and Roanoke’s people.”
“That’s great!” Juila exclaimed. She was really glad to hear the situation had worked out well for Behn’s mother.
He could hardly comprehend what had just happened. Suddenly his mother had her own home again as well as access to a patil. It was possible for them to remain in contact with her even without the ability to travel to Tuala. This was fantastic news which he could share with his siblings. He was certain it would cheer up Valentina. Maybe she would want to go back to their old home to visit.
“What about Ozias?” Juila suddenly asked as she looked around as if expecting him to suddenly appear. He had made it clear that he was interested in herself; she hoped he would discover a new focus.
Rasa chuckled as she correctly read Juila’s concern. “He went with your Dad. Riccan mentioned he had a plan for him, so I expect you probably won’t be seeing him anytime soon.”
“That’s one less thing to worry about,” Juila sighed as she wilted against the back of the couch next to Gevena.
“What else is there?” Rasa asked in concern as she watched Behn seat himself across from them with a troubled expression.
Jena plunked herself down on the couch next to Rasa and announced, “Willian made a scene at my school today.”
“He finally found you, I see,” Rasa confirmed.
“You knew he was here?” Jena and Juila asked in unison.
“Yes, I helped him come. His father asked Elder Wilken to allow Willian to use his Ascension Gate. I originally thought it was a bad idea, but Willian had changed so much in the week he helped Elder Wilkin, I believed he could work out your issues.”
“I certainly didn’t see any difference in him,” Jena stated hotly.
“That’s unfortunate,” Rasa replied as she wondered what had gone so wrong. Willian had been so confident in his personal changes. Apparently, he had been overly optimistic.
“So do you know where he is?” Juila asked. “We’d like to talk to him outside of school, obviously.”
“I don’t know myself, but I can probably find out.” Rasa was already thinking about contacting Shemalla and finding out the names of Willian’s foster family. Surely they lived nearby if Willian were able to go the same school as the girls. If they could meet him privately, maybe they would have a chance of working out thei
r relationship before discussions of breaking the betrothal went any further.
“We’d sure appreciate it,” Juila told Rasa. “Do you know when our mom is planning on returning?”
Jena was wondering the same thing. She needed to clarify her own situation with Willian before she could make any plans to confront him. She glanced over to Behn, who had taken a seat across from her, and wondered what he thought of this whole situation.
Rasa raised her shoulders slightly and said, “Amanda left a few hours ago. I can’t imagine she’ll be too much longer.”
Behn shifted his gaze to Rasa and asked, “You saw Val when she first got home on Sunday. Do you think anything happened to her in the transfer which would cause her to have a migraine headache? She’s missed two days of school now. Could there be something wrong with her?”
Rasa glanced nervously over at Juila before she shook her head and said, “I’m sure the two things are unrelated. Give her a little time to readjust and then she should be back to normal.”
“That’s just what I told him, too,” Juila confirmed. She hated keeping the truth from Behn, but she also knew what Behn’s reaction would have been had he been told. Besides, she said to herself; it was up to Valentina what to tell her brother.
“Can I use your patil?” Rasa asked suddenly.
Juila looked at her strangely and nodded. “Sure, come with me.”
Rasa waited until they were in the office before she said, “Make sure you keep an eye on Valentina. We don’t want her to start cutting herself off from life over this incident.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” Juila agreed. “Do you really want to use the patil, or did you just want to talk to me alone?”
“I may as well send a message to my contact while we’re here. She might even be around her house and be able to give us the address of where Willian is living. I really hope Jena will hear him out. You know I’ve never been a fan of his, but after the time he spent working in Manzanit I saw significant changes in his attitude.”
Juila scoffed rudely. She walked away from Rasa and pushed on the latch to open the secret compartment where the patil was located. “I’ll leave you alone to send your message,” she said as she left the room in a huff.
In her mind, Willian had already used up more than his share of chances where her sister was concerned. Jena needed to have her final say about the relationship, and then Willian could go back home and leave them alone. He should have respected her privacy and allowed her to come to him if she wanted to fix their relationship. Just the fact that he practically ambushed her and created a scene spoke volumes for where his mind was at in reconciling.
Very soon after Juila returned to the living room, so did Rasa. She held out a piece of paper to Jena and said, “This is Willian’s address and phone number. I’ll let you decide what you want to do with it.” She turned her attention to Gevena and asked, “Gevena, do you want to walk in the gardens with me?”
The girl understood their need to give Jena some privacy with her decision. From the short time she had known the two girls, she admired and respected them greatly. Her own situation with her father and Politun gave her more insight to the tough conversation Jena was going to have with her verbally abusive boyfriend. She stood up and nodded. She fell into step beside Rasa as they exited the house through the patio doors.
“What are you going to do?” Behn asked.
“I should go over there right now and confront him, but I’m too scared. I really wanted to talk everything over with Mom and Dad before I met with him.” She held the note in both of her hands and kept reading the address over and over. The reality of Willian living on Earth only a couple of miles away made her slightly nauseous.
“Rasa suggested you talk things over with him before you decide to throw in the towel,” Juila sneered. “I think you already know what I think of her idea.”
“Well, now, just wait a minute, Juila. Maybe Willian has had time to consider what his life would be like without Jena. It is possible he wants to try to make an effort.
Juila goggled over Behn’s statement, “I can’t even believe you are trying to make excuses for Willian, especially after what he pulled today! Maybe you should keep your unwanted opinions to yourself.”
“Juila, don’t be mad at Behn. He does have a point. I’ll ask Mom to drive me over there tonight.” Jena sighed as she realized the inevitable had come about and now she was going to have to face it.
“I can drive you over there if you want?” Behn offered.
“Traitor,” Juila hissed as she jumped up from the couch and stomped out of the room to go upstairs to fume alone.
Jena frowned at her sister’s treatment of Behn as she watched her retreating back. She turned back to Behn and said, “I’m sorry for Juila’s behavior. She and Willian have a long history of feuding which has made her very bitter toward him. Please don’t take anything she says to you seriously.”
“I heard that!” Juila yelled down from the top of the stairs.
“And you know I’m right,” Jena yelled back.
Behn and Jena chuckled as Juila’s response was slamming her bedroom door. Behn asked again, “Do you want me to take you over there right now?”
“I suppose,” she answered as she pushed herself off of the couch and sighed deeply. “Thanks for doing this, Behn. I’ll talk to Juila about apologizing to you when this is over.”
“There’s no need for that, Jena. She’s just trying to look out for you. I’d do the same for my siblings. Now let me see that address so I can figure out where we’re going.”
Jena handed over the paper and opened the front door for Behn to leave first. She looked back up the staircase wishing Juila would have offered to go with her. She knew this was something she had to do on her own, but it still would have been nice. Her only consolation was that their mental link was stronger than ever and Juila would only be a thought away. Considerably heartened by this thought, she hurried after Behn and got into the front seat beside him in his car.
With her limited knowledge of the layout of the city, Jena soon became lost as Behn traversed the streets with confidence. She looked out the passenger window without really seeing anything other than the thoughts in her head. Every mile they drove brought her closer to the most important conversation she would ever have in her life. She hoped she would be able to keep her calm and remember the things about Luke which she loved and Willian did not possess.
Jena’s attention was brought back to reality when Behn slowed the car down to a crawl as he tried to find the correct house on the street. She took a deep, calming breath and hoped Willian had already decided to go home after what had happened at school. She knew it was a cowardly thought, but at the moment she lacked confidence in herself.
“This is it,” Behn announced as he pulled close to the curb in front of a small house. He turned to Jena and put his hand on her knee to offer comfort, “Speak from your heart. If you want to give him another chance, then that’s what you need to do. As much as I care for Juila, I know she can be very vocal about her opinion. Juila doesn’t have to live your life, you do. Remember that, Jena. This is your life and your future you’re talking about.”
“Thanks, Behn. I really needed to hear that,” she said as she patted his hand. “I’m ready.”
“Do you want me to wait out here or do you want to call me when you’re ready to be picked up?”
“Oh, I hadn’t considered that part! How far away from your house are we?”
“We’re on the opposite end of the school district here. I’d say it’s probably a twenty-minute drive. I don’t mind waiting, or I could even come inside with you if you wanted.”
“Oh, Behn, I don’t know what I want. Maybe we should just go back home!” Jena could feel herself beginning to panic over the thought of confronting Willian. She was passive by nature, and this definitely put her out of her comfort zone.
“Sorry, Jena, that’s not one of your options right now.
I can see you are scared, but the best way to handle that is to tackle it straight on. Here’s what we’ll do. I’ll walk you up to the door. If Willian seems to be happy to see you, then I’ll come back to the car and wait until you are finished so I can drive you home. If Willian is still upset from earlier today, then we can leave. What do you think?”
“Fine,” she said flatly. She was slightly heartened by the idea of having a friend by her side for the initial meeting. Maybe this would turn out better than she envisioned.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
BEHN OPENED HIS door and walked around to Jena’s side to open her door. She seemed to be having trouble mustering the courage to get out of the car, so he offered his hand to help her out of the seat. Jena chuckled at him as she took his hand. Behn could feel her hand trembling in his, and he gave hers a slight squeeze before letting it go.
They walked up the sidewalk to the front door together. When Jena merely stood at the door, Behn took the initiative to knock. They could hear a dog barking inside, and they both wondered whether or not anyone was home. Someone hushed the dog from inside, and then a woman opened the door with a pleasant expression on her face as she held a black Pomeranian in her arm.
“How can I help you?” she asked.
“My name is Jena Stel, and this is my friend Behn Wilson.” Jena gestured over to Behn while she kept her gaze locked on the dog rather than the woman. She instantly looked up at the middle-aged woman and said, “I was told this’s where Willian Potts is living right now and I was wondering if he were home.”
“Oh, yes. Come on in. I’ll get Willian.”
“If it’s okay with you, we’ll wait outside until Willian sees me.”
“We want to make sure Willian’s in the mood to talk with Jena before I leave her alone with him,” Behn put in helpfully.
“Ah!” Melissa said with raised eyebrows. Inside she was chuckling at how dramatic teenagers could be with their interactions with one another. “I’ll be right back then.”
Ascension Vision- The Levels of Ascension Box Set Page 22