Authors: J. F. Jenkins
Appointed (4 page)
What could he say to make her feel better that wouldn't be a lie? As much as he wanted to tell her that wasn't true, he didn't know for certain. “If they didn't want anything to do with you, they wouldn't have fought so hard to protect you this fall.”
“Before disappearing completely, you mean?”
He shrugged. “If that's the case â and I don't think it is â it'll be their loss.” He let the conversation end there. “I'm sorry my mom is so⦠the way she is.”
“You don't need to apologize or make excuses for her. I get it.”
He nodded, hoping she did. As much as he wanted to press and make sure Cheyenne was, in fact, okay, he decided to stay silent. Some of their best moments together were when they were being quiet. Sometimes there was no need for words. Any further explanation he gave for his mother's behavior wouldn't have made things better anyway. The obsession with Cheyenne being Divine was getting old fast.
Being of the Divine gave Cheyenne a lot of political power, a higher status, and made her like a princess. He could see why his mother was excited to have one of her sons date someone of such standing. The woman took it to a whole new level, though, and he couldn't help but wonder if there was more to it than he knew. Whatever the case, Zes needed to nip it in the bud quickly before his mother drove Cheyenne away.
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The distraction of having everyone over for Christmas Eve dinner was enough for Anj to stop thinking about his waking vision from the day before. Not only had he not been dreaming, but he'd seen something from the past. As far as Anj knew, he could only see things from two different time frames: the future and the present. So how was he all of a sudden seeing things from the past? And more importantly, why?
He'd tried not to think about it too much, to avoid worrying his mother. She could tell when something was wrong way too easily. Being with his grandparents was hard, though. Their presence brought back a lot of memories about his father, and that made him think about his vision all over again. When they left, it was a bittersweet moment for him.
That night he expected to have a vision or visit with the Elders. Nothing came, and he slept deeply. It'd been a while since he last had such a pleasant sleep without any kind of magical assistance. Upon waking, the experience left him slightly disoriented. He wasn't used to such good rest.
After feeling around for his clock, he pressed the button on the top.
“10:35 a.m.,” the automated voice said.
Anj closed his eyes and groaned. “I'm late.”
He quickly got out of bed and threw on a fresh pair of jeans and a T-shirt before rushing downstairs into the kitchen. His mother was already cooking breakfast. The smell of eggs, bacon, cheese, and cinnamon all blended together.
“You should have woken me up,” he said in the doorway while he tried to figure out how many people were in the room and where they were. Two people were by the stove. He just about died from shock when he figured out one of them was Jewl and not Zes, like he had originally thought. She sneezed and gave herself away.
“Jewl, honey, can you please hand me the salt,” his mother said. There was a pause. “Anj, you can sit down if you want. When I went in to check on you this morning, you were sleeping so soundly I didn't want to disturb you. Besides, you hardly ever sleep in.” She paused. “I always tell him, he never sleeps enough.”
“Don't worry, I will defile your eggs with ketchup,” Jewl added.
He went to his usual seat in the kitchen, wanting to pinch himself because he must have entered some kind of alternate dimension. Why were those two getting along? Had his mother finally come around to the idea? Or was she just having one of her good days?
“Hi, um⦠” a familiar voice said from across the table. It belonged to a young man, and his voice cracked slightly as he spoke.
Anj suppressed a groan. “Hi, Teague. I didn't realize you'd be joining us today.”
“You said I could come over for the holiday so I could give you presents. Actually, you said to come over whenever I wanted. Am I wrong?” Teague asked, his voice shaky as though he were nervous.
“No, you're right, I did say that. How about calling next time though, so we can have a little warning first?” Anj was trying hard to not have a short temper with the boy. Rumor had it he was sixteen, but most of the time he acted like he was twelve. He more or less drove Anj up a wall, but Anj had never been good at being patient.
“He's adorable,” his mother said. “Jewl tells me he's her little brother.”
“Yep!” Teague said with an awful lot of enthusiasm.
Someone must have clued him in on the secret. I'm pretty sure he didn't know that bit of information the last time we spoke.
Anj rubbed at his eyes, removing the crumbles of sleep from his eyelashes. “Are the others awake?”
“I sent Cheyenne down to get your brother off his lazy butt,” Jewl said. “That was about an hour ago, though. She probably got sucked into the black hole that's his bedroom.”
Anj shook his head. “I
told
him to clean. I hear the TV on. My guess is, he's looking for a good save point on his game.” Footsteps came up the stairs, and soon after a hand ran through Anj's hair in a playful sort of ruffle. He recognized instantly that it belonged to Zes.
“You know me so well. I just got done with this epic boss battle I had started when Chey came down, and then there was about another half-an-hour's worth of cut scenes andâ”
“Sweetie, you know we don't like to hear about your video games,” his mother said. “Can you please go set the table?”
“Yeah, no problem,” Zes mumbled.
More like
she
doesn't enjoy hearing about what Zes did
. Anj didn't quite understand video games. He'd tried to play a few of them, but the fast movements gave him motion sickness. There were a few he enjoyed, the ones which were deep in story and involved a lot of reading and strategy, but those took up a lot of time, thus making it difficult to use his magic to see. He tended to only use it for small amounts at a time, saving it for things like reading for school or staring at Jewl.
On average, he had maybe an hour of sight a day, and maybe an extra half an hour if he ran himself completely dry. But one of his favorite things to do when they were younger was sit, listen to Zes play the game, and have his brother read the text as well so Anj could follow along with the story. He loved the music, and sometimes Zes would take the time to describe the kind of monsters he fought against or what the scenery looked like. The two had so few hobbies in common, Anj needed to take advantage of the ways he could connect with his brother whenever he had the chance.
The table set, they ate breakfast, mostly making small talk. Teague proved himself useful by hogging the conversation. Anj's mother couldn't get enough of the kid. He made a note to invite Teague over more often.
Soon it was time to open presents.
They all settled in front of the tree, and Anj took a moment to admire its beauty, using his magic to do so. There were multicolored lights on it this year. An arrangement of personal ornaments hung on the branches, and wisps of tinsel added a mystical touch. The tree was fake, but there was a soft pine spray covering it, adding a little touch of holiday spirit. Following tradition, Zes handed out all the gifts from under the tree, putting them into nice, neat piles. Then the opening began.
Three new audiobooks from Jewl, a pair of sunglasses with hologram eyes on the lenses from Teague, a beautiful coffee-table book full of landscapes and places of the world from Cheyenne, a gift card from Zes to get more audiobooks along with a note that he'd have Anj's real present for him later, as was their tradition. The things they sometimes got for each other were not always the kinds of things their mother would approve of, with her overprotective nature.
Anj himself was not good at shopping, so while his brother gave everyone else deep and meaningful gifts, Anj had given out gift cards. Except to Jewl, who also had a private gift coming. Teague didn't have any gifts from anyone, but he didn't seem to mind. The polite thing to do would be to give him a belated gift once they got back to school.
From their mother was the usual round of new clothing, more books for Anj, video games for his brother, and new music. Each year she bought them each a big present, too, which was generally reasonably expensive.
“You got me a tablet? Wow,” Zes said after the sounds of paper ripping had ended.
“Tablet?” Anj asked, because for the most part, new technologies were lost on him. He knew about laptops and digital music players. In fact he had each of those and found them to be great tools. But
tablet
was fairly new terminology for him. He'd heard it a few times but never quite understood what it meant.
Zes was flipping the box over in his hands, shuffling the contents inside. “It's kind of like a laptop, only it's flat, and there isn't a keyboard. They're touch screen. I showed you them last time we were at the mall.”
“Oh, that thing.” Anj shrugged. Not something he was interested in learning how to use. His phone had a touch screen, and that had been a huge leap and a headache to learn. The feel of solid keys was much preferred.
“Thanks, Mom!” Zes said, and it was clear he was beaming.
Their mother placed an envelope into Anj's hands. “And this is for you.”
Curious, Anj opened the envelope and pulled out a piece of paper. First he ran his fingers over it, trying to see if maybe it was written in braille. Next he smelled it to see if there was something unique about the paper, but he couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. He turned on his sight spell, gave himself a few seconds to adjust to the flood of colors, textures, and depth washing over his eyes, then read the words.
“We're happy to announce that you have been accepted as a recipient of a guide dogâ¦?” Anj raised an eyebrow and read the words a few more times to make sure he hadn't blended any of them together or mixed up any of the letters. He glanced at his mother and saw a huge grin on her face.
Zes was also smiling. “We're getting a dog?”
She nodded. “I thought a guide dog would be a good option for you when you go off to college. You'll have time to get used to him over the next few months.”
“Wow, I don't know what to say,” Anj said, truly speechless. They'd never had a pet of any kind in the house. It wasn't exactly practical for him to get a guide dog. He'd been managing with the cane for so long just fine, but the gesture was sweet all the same. Still, his emotions were mixed.
“We'll start the classes over break. It'll be wonderful.”
“Thank you, Mom.”
“Merry Christmas, sweetie.”
“Merry Christmas.”
****
Later that night, Anj and Zes sat out on the four-season patio. Their mother had gone to bed around an hour ago, and their respective girlfriends were bonding in the living room. As part of the Christmas tradition, they each got into their sleep clothes for the night and a mug of something warm to drink, and then found a place to sit. Zes had a cinnamon herbal tea, and Anj had decaf coffee. While Anj would have preferred regular, their mother refused to keep it in the house because caffeine might stunt the boys' growth.
“All right, ready?” Zes asked as he handed his brother an envelope-shaped present.
Anj nodded and gave Zes a small, poorly wrapped box about the size of a baseball. “On three, okay? One, twoâ”
“Three,” Zes said, and they both ripped the paper off their presents.
Now that they were alone, Anj didn't feel many reservations about using his sight spell. His mother didn't like it because she didn't want him to become too reliant on the gift, a sentiment he shared. But this was a special moment.
Under all of the wrapping paper, there
was
an envelope. He tore it open and peeked inside to find tickets, two seats for the orchestra located downtown. He loved downtown. Their mother, of course, thought it was too dangerous for him because he didn't know his way around and there was so much going on at once. But that was part of what made it fun for him. Gazing up at the huge skyscrapers and taking in the sounds of the street were highlights for him. And the orchestra was by far his all-time favorite place to visit when there.
“Wow, Zes, this is wonderful, thank you,” he said with the deepest sincerity. He was even more touched by the gift when he noticed the tickets were to a special sampling of movie scores, one of Anj's favorite things to listen to. The two made eye contact, and then he watched his brother open the box with his gift inside.
“Yeah,” Zes said, his voice trailing off as he focused on getting the tape off the top. “I made sure the dates lined up for when the school goes to the city over break. That way Mom can't stopâ” He finally got the box top open and pulled out the contents, a rectangular obsidian pendant hanging on a silver chain. It looked a lot like a dog tag, only without all the letters printed on it. “What's this?”
“A necklace.”
“Right, but I mean, knowing you it's not
just
a necklace.”
Anj nodded, smirking. “Yes, you know me well. It has a match that I have so no matter where we are, we'll be able to talk with one another. With you going off to some big school next year, I figured it would be more convenient than a cell phone.”
“We're both staying at Vala for college. Wasn't that the plan?” Zes ran his fingers over the smooth stone. “It's beautiful. I feel something strong in here. There's powerful magic.”
“Yes, and more than a simple communication spell. That might be all I'm able to use, but your magic is so much stronger than mine. Since it's earth-based, though, you also get an extra advantage. If you look in the pendant, it will show you whatever you want to see, and you can use its power to travel through glass mirrors.”
Zes stared down at the pendant while playing with it. “Sounds complicated. But I like it. It looks cool too. Thank you.”
“You're welcome. I figure when you go away, then you can also use it to see Cheyenne. Just don't get creepy and stalker-like with it,” Anj teased.
“I'm not going away. I told you. I want to stay here for college too,” his brother insisted.
“Oh, I know. I just⦠”
have seen you go off to a bigger school, a normal one.
But Anj couldn't say that. “You're so smart, Zes. You can go to any school you dream about. Sometimes I think you hold yourself back too much for my sake. With what you want to study, it would make more sense to me. That's all.”
Zes laughed. “You want me to go. Is that what you're saying? Go on, be honest. You're kicking me out!”
“Are you kidding me?” Anj threw a piece of wrapping paper at his brother. “The last thing I want you to do is go away.”
“I'm kidding, but in all seriousness, I like it at Vala.” Zes brought his legs up underneath him.
Anj nodded, feeling the same way. He loved the school. It gave him a sense of belonging and security he'd never had anywhere else before.
“So we're finally getting a pet!” Zes changed the subject. For some reason, he didn't like to talk about what was going to happen after they graduated.
Anj sat back in his chair and rolled his eyes. “Yes, finally. Though the idea kind of makes me nervous. It doesn't seem all too practical to me.”
“But it's a dog! How long have we been asking her for one of those?”
“A while.” But it was more like Zes had done all of the asking.
Anj liked animals when he felt safe around them. Most dogs made him nervous because they tended to jump and lick a lot, two things he wasn't fond of. Gooey, slimy tongue was not a sensation he enjoyed. He liked cats more, because they were easier to take care of, independent, and came to him for attention. Still, the company would be nice. A guide dog would be well-trained, so it would put most of his fears at ease, right?
Zes sipped his tea. “I feel like she's making progress. Letting go a little bit. Do you think graduation has something to do with it?”
“Maybe. I still can't believe that's five months away.”
“Do you feel ready?”
“Not quite, but almost. I need to tackle being eighteen first, and then I can focus on graduation.”
In March the twins would officially be adults, and that was the part that Anj was having a hard time wrapping his head around. Eighteen would mean complete control of his life would be his. He was excited to get out into the world on his own, even if it was a scary thought. There'd never been a moment in his life when he'd been completely on his own, and now one was fast approaching.
I might not have to be alone thoughâ¦
Anj bit his lip, his mind running over the words Jewl had told him not too long ago. “Do you think it's delusional to know you're with the person you want for forever, at a young age?”
“No, I mean, when you know, you know, right?” Zes ran a hand over his lower lip, a classic sign that he wanted to say something else but wasn't sure if he should. “Why do you ask?”
“Jewl brought it up. She thinks it might be, so I'm trying to figure out what that means exactly.”
“Girls are cryptic and weird. She's obviously thinking about it too. Maybe she's scared. But again, why do you ask? Are you thinking about, you know, proposing or something?”
I already have the ring.
“Something along those lines. I thought I'd ask for your expert opinion.”
Zes shrugged. “You love her, right? If you think she's it, then ask her. If there's a doubt in your mind, then don't. Kind of like with everything else in life, all of those other leaps you can take⦔
“Right, of course.” He frowned a little, wondering if Zes was alluding to something. His words were a bit cryptic, which meant he was keeping a secret. Zes was a horrible liar.
Do I dare pry? Not tonight. Just in case it's something bad; I don't want to spoil a good evening.
“You don't need to rush it, anyway. I mean, you just got back together, like three days ago? Don't pressure yourself so much.”
Easier said than done.
“You're right. Merry Christmas. Should probably go see our women, huh? Before they start getting too chatty.”
Zes coughed and shifted in his chair. “Uh huh!” He paused. “Just let me add one more thing. I think the same things about Chey that you do about Jewl, so don't feel like you're weird or anything.” He clapped Anj on the shoulder gently. “I'll send Jewl this way, how's that? Thank you again for the necklace. Merry Christmas.”
“Thank you,” Anj said, grateful for so many things his brother did for him. “I'll get breakfast in the morning, since I didn't today.”
“Deal. See you then.”
Anj turned off his spell and relaxed in his chair, reacquainting himself with the darkness. He heard his brother leave, some muffled voices as he went to collect the girls, and then several footsteps walking about in the house quietly. While Zes and Cheyenne went downstairs, Jewl came to join Anj on the patio. She trailed her hand over his shoulders, announcing her presence silently. He reached out to wrap his arms around her waist and pulled her to sit in his lap.
“There was no almost-homicide, right? I know you aren't exactly Cheyenne's number one fan,” he said before kissing Jewl's cheek.
“We're friends now.” She rested her head on his shoulder, cuddling in close.
Coming from Jewl, that was saying a lot. The girl didn't have friends. In fact, she made it a point to not make any. Outside of the twins, she tried to keep her close social circle limited. There were a lot of girls who followed her around and tried to be her “bestest friend ever,” but that was mostly because they wanted to get close to him. After all, Anj was the most popular guy in school. Being on her good side might get them an in with him, especially with how often the two broke up. But his eyes were only for her.
Anj closed them, tilting his head back. “Good. Zes is smitten with her. She might be around for a while. It's so much easier with you two getting along. Maybe we can do more things together.”
“Maybe, but don't push it too much. We're friends, but she still irritates me sometimes. Besides, I don't know if they'd come up for air if we went on a double date.”
“They haven't been too awful these past few days. I told you things would simmer down once they weren't so new. You know, when the glamor of first love finally wears off.”
“I don't know if simmering down is what I would call it, but at least they're keeping their romance private. Anyway, you wanted to see me?” She stroked the stubble on his chin where he'd missed shaving.
He took her hand in his own, thinking about the ring in his jeans pocket that he'd been set on giving her for months now. Anj had bought it over the summer, while they were broken up even, knowing that when they finally made up again, it would be for good. She was the one, but his stomach was in nervous knots. How she would react was still a mystery.
Swallowing, he forced a smile. “You didn't think I'd honestly only give you a gift card to the bookstore, did you?”
“You're not exactly the best shopper on the planet. But yeah, I was a little jealous you got Cheyenne a gift card
and
a selection of lotions, bubble baths, and other delicious-smelling body products. I know how much you hate going into those stores,” Jewl teased, and he knew her lips were pouting. They were puckered and plump when he kissed them.
He shrugged innocently. “It didn't feel right to only get her a card any more than it does you and Zes. You should know me better by now than to think I wouldn't get you something else. Besides, I wanted to spend more time with you.”
And for a few minutes, all they did was cuddle quietly in the chair. He listened to her soft breathing and the relaxed beat of her heart and wondered if she knew how fast his was beating. His free hand still fingered the ring in his pocket. Something about the moment didn't feel quite right. Either that or he was letting his nerves get the better of him.
“Your present this year is a two-parter. One, I will tell you anything you want to know without any games. Two, I realized that I've never gotten you something to show off to your female admirers,” he said, and reached into his pocket.
She laughed. “Don't you mean
your
female admirers?”
“To flaunt at them, then. I'm trying to say I got you something pretty.”
“Something pretty? That's new.” She sat up, and he loved the tone of happy surprise in her voice. Her whole body seemed lighter.
Maybe now?
No, later.
He moved his hand around to the other piece of jewelry that sat in his pocket. Anj hadn't bothered to wrap it. The gift would be more special without her having to get around his poor wrapping skills, and he hated using bags. He gripped the smooth, black, silk cord of the necklace he'd bought and pulled it out to show her. There were two necklaces, actually, as they came as part of a set, two steel puzzle pieces that were cut to fit together. Each piece hung on a cord. One was coated in a black metallic paint, and the other was in silver. The silver one had a diamond in the corner, and that was the one he gave her.
Jewl laughed, and he couldn't tell if that was a good reaction or not. “You're giving me a cheesy couples' necklace?”
“If I was going for cheese, I would have gotten a heart shape or a lock and key, or there was one I saw that had peanut butter and jelly on toast. Okay, so maybe it's a little cheesy, but I still meant it when I said I wanted something that showed you were mine. I think this does it nicely,” he said, trying to remain cool and not show how worried he was over her possible rejection of the gift.
“It's beautiful,” she said, taking it from his hand. He helped slip it around her neck, making sure it was fastened.
“So then you
do
like cheese?”
She kissed his cheek. “I like what it means the most. It's fitting, too, the design. We are definitely a puzzle. And it's beautiful, and it makes me happy that you would wear it too. I know that's not something you'd do lightly.”
“No,” he whispered. “It's not.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“I'll cash in on my other gift later.”
“Perfectly fine by me.”
It gave him more time to talk with the Elders.
I'll hear them out before I make any more moves,
he decided.
