Connor (6 page)

We practiced and practiced, time flying by, and before we knew it, it was 3:00 a.m. on a school morning. I was only going to get about four hours of sleep, but it was worth it. We decided to call it a night.

“We should meet up like this more often to practice,” I suggested. “I need some catching up to do.”

“Yeah, the rest of us used to meet, but then we concentrated more on finding out about how we happened. Eventually, our practice lessons slowed down until they completely stopped, you know,” he said, leaning against the gazebo, twirling some grass in his hands.

“Hey, did this ever scare you? I mean, did it feel wrong, or were you just okay with it?” I asked, not able to keep my arms still, still gloating, so I crossed them as I stood across from Tony.

“I was always okay with it, calm when it came. It felt right to me, as if I finally found what had always been missing, the true me. As a kid, I always felt different, you know. That's why I got into trouble a lot. My dad did say I was always looking for trouble.” He smiled. “Not trouble, Pops, just me.” I had a feeling that last statement was not for me but what he would like to say to his dad. I stood there waiting as he stared off, deep in thought. “It was the other three that seem to have an issue. You?” he asked.

“I was actually fine with it and wanted more of it. That is, until the night I met the others. Meeting them made it real to me, forcing me to face that this is bigger than just I am. In the beginning, I didn't think through the seriousness of it,” I said.

“I feel you,” he said. “For a while, I was getting bummed out about this business. The others never seemed to get into it as much, so I played it cool. Now that you came along, it feels new again, you know, so meeting up sounds good to me.”

“I do, trust me.”

“Cool, but remember, be careful. We don't know who else may be involved. See you in school tomorrow. I might even say hello to you. You never know,” Tony said.

“Oh please, you have been dying to talk to me.” I stood there arms still folded, trying hard to act cool when he stepped to me and leaned in close to my face. Oh, is he going to kiss me? This is it. I swallowed hard, held my breath, and closed my eyes preparing for it.

Feeling his warm breath on my face, he kissed my forehead. “I have seen you checking me out. You can't keep your eyes off this.” He gestured toward his body, rubbing his chest with an obnoxious leer that made me want to smack him. As if that was not bad enough, he had the nerve to wink at me.

That was it. It is official. I hate little boys and their silly little jokes. He obviously amuses himself, so why do I need to stick around and be a spectator? On that note, I abruptly turned around and walked off, somewhat embarrassed for being too eager and offended by the game. He was not going to ruin my overall blissful night.

“Come on, Connor, I was playing with…” I didn't even hear the rest. The door shut before he finished his sentence, and by the time I reached the top step, my grin was back.

“Why are you grinning like that? Where were you? You were out back with some boy, weren't you?” Ebony attacked me at the top of the stairs; she was practically in my face so I had to step back. Where did she leap from, the ceiling? Ugh, what a way to ruin a night.

“What's with the interrogation? I don't have to…,” I said, attempting to get a word in.

“I bet you were. Listen, Connor.” She sighed, “I know you don't know much about boys, but you cannot let them have their way. They should treat you like a lady.” She reached for my hands. Was she seriously trying to be a civilized human being to me, an actual big sister? Yet somehow, when she does, it comes out Stepford-like, robotic, and simply unnatural. I was slightly scared for my life, not really, but it was impossible for me to take her seriously.

“I was not out with some boy. I was in the basement studying.” Good one. I do that from time to time. She never goes down there. One scary movie about basements, and she has been done with them ever since she was a kid.

“Good, because I don't want to go to a school where my sister has a bad reputation. I would hate for you to have to switch schools,” she said, trying to sound sincere.

Well, there went that tender moment. First off, I would not switch schools even if I had a reputation, simply for her sake. I would stay there and make her life miserable. I stepped back from her again and folded my arms for the second time tonight, but this time it was out of sheer annoyance.

“I'm only looking out for you,” she said in a high-pitched tone, sounding offended that I snubbed her affections and advice.

She is so self-centered. No matter what is going on in your life, somehow she turns it around to make it about her. The sad part is she doesn't even realize it.

“Yes, Ebony, I am feeling all tingly inside from this oh-so-touching, moving moment,” I said as I clutched my heart with my right hand, gracefully placed my left hand against my forehead, and fell against the wall, mocking her.

“Oh, you are so dramatic. You really need to grow up,” she said, walking off.

After that, I got ready for bed but barely slept that night. All I could think about was finally for the first time in my life, I, Connor Esquibel, am not just the middle kid but somebody extraordinary.

I thought about telling Angela and Hope, but would they understand and how much would I tell them? What answers could I give them?

What if they thought I was weird or somehow found out about the others? No, I will wait until I knew more. I felt so guilty not telling them. In due time, I told myself, and I drifted off to sleep.

The next day at school was the same as every other day. Madness. I watched people dash to and from classes, the lunchroom, hearing lockers slam as students hurry off to their next destination or, for some, begrudgingly, to the principal's office for their daily scolding with such intensity, but not me. Still in good spirits from last night, I was strolling along on cloud nine.

Like usual we, meaning Angela, Hope, and her boyfriend, Stoney, and I were hanging out by the lockers between our next classes, getting out books when Angela asked why I was so chipper. Usually, Angela's boyfriend Bobby would be with us, but he was working on a science project today.

“I told you, guys, she has a man. You little sneak. Who is he? Does he go to our school? Why are you holding out?” Angela was about to lose her mind not being in the know, gripping her books so tightly, I swear I heard “Help me.” I protested and swore it's not true, right when someone walked over midsentence interrupting me. “Hey, Connor, what's up?” Flinching, I turned around, and it was none other than Tony. His right shoulder parked it against the locker next to mine. He smelled nice as usual, not that I cared, after last night's joke on my behalf.

Could he not have picked a better time? Great. Now they are going to ask me crazy amount of questions.

“Hey, what's up, funny man?” I said, refusing to look at him but in my locker as if it captivated me with the mind-blowing wonders it held of photos, books, and notes. Knowing full well, he waited until all my friends were around to come over.

“You left your book behind after class today.” He handed me an unrecognizable book, but there was a note sticking out the top. I grabbed the book and pushed the note down quickly so nosy 1, 2, and 3 wouldn't see it.

“Hey, thanks. I didn't realize I left it,” I said with a raised eyebrow, giving him the stink eye. I guess texting was out of the question, I thought, hoping he could read my mind.

Angie stepped so close to him, she broke all personal space rules, practically pinning him against the locker, eyes about to pop out of her head, turning on the charm. “Hello, I'm Angela. This is Hope, and in the rear is Stoney. We call him Step because he is the best on the step team.” If she smiled any harder, we could see all her teeth, even the ones in the back. I think she was actually salivating from this unexpected turn of events, proving she had been right all along that I had been hiding a boyfriend from them.

Hellos were said, and the guys did their hand dap thing. Tony seemed to be taking it in stride where I would have made my exit a while ago. Why are my friends so embarrassing?

“I didn't know you and Connor were in any classes together. Which class is it, exactly?” Angela grilled on.

“Back off, Angie, like you know everyone in my classes,” I said, trying to push her back, but her feet were rooted firmly onto the ground, not moving.

“Being that I'm in most of them, I should know,” she said, not skipping a beat when she answered me but continued to stare at Tony. “So which class were you saying?” Oh, help me, she is in journalist mode. The other two in the back were useless, just letting her run with it.

I nudged her back harder now, threw the book in the locker, thanked Tony, and turned to walk off. Angie yanked me back by my waist and held on to me. I looked down at the floor, hoping it would somehow open up and swallow me.

“We're not in any classes together. She takes a class before me. Our moms know each other,” Tony graciously said. I turned to face at him, like the rest of the vultures behind me, and mouthed, “Good one.”

“See you around, Sci-fi,” he winked back with that oh-so-devilish grin of his, strolling off.

“Seriously,” I said, before I knew it, not playing that one off at all.

“He is cute, Sci-fi. Didn't know you liked the athletic type,” Hope said. “Maybe we can do a triple date?” Hope and Angela ran with that idea about where, when, even outfits were discussed. I had to put a stop to it and quick.

“Wait a minute, guys, Tony and I are just friends. Besides, he has never asked me out, so cool it.” It's true we are just friends, and he may have a girl. I didn't tell them that, or that would have been another big deal.

“Oh please, it is obvious he's into you. The way he strolled over to you, grinning like that. Trust me, I know what I am talking about. Why don't I go talk to him and set this straight?” Angela said as if she came up with the most brilliant idea ever.

“You're too pushy, Angie, and you're no better, Hope. Stoney, help,” I begged.

Stoney took his leave. “Sorry, ladies, I am out of here. This girl drama is not my thing.”

Yeah, that's questionable. I slammed my locker shut and said, “Absolutely not both of you. Just leave Tony alone.” I realized they were not listening to me but instead staring past me with astonished expressions on their faces.

I turned around to see what was so mesmerizing. They were staring at my locker pushed inward from my own doing. I broke my locker without even trying. Oh crap, what do I even say? I planted my face against it and sulked.

Someone touched my back. I slowly turned back around to see it was Hope. I stood there, not knowing what to say as they stared at me like I was some sick puppy. Cautiously, Hope spoke up first. “It's okay, Connor, we will leave Tony alone. We didn't mean to upset you. Is your hand okay?”

Angela reached for my hand, but I pulled away and pretended to wince. What else was I supposed to do? Now they're going to think I'm some crazy person. They kept gawking at me. What do I do? What do I say as we just stood there? I was at a loss for words.

The bell finally rang, thank goodness; the period between classes was over. I told them I'm going to the nurse and would see them later. Feeling eyes on the back of my head as I, for the first time today, hurried up. Like Tony said last night, we need to be careful.

I practically had to beg the nurse to wrap my hand, even though she didn't see anything wrong with it. I told her it would help me psychologically, but I'm sure what she would rather do is get me psychologically tested. She wrapped, I pretended to wince, and off to classes I went.

Once I left the nurse's office, I went straight to the principal's office and explained to Mrs. Potts, the office administrator, that my locker had a huge dent in the middle of it skipping the “I did it” part to the “I don't have a clue” ending.

The expression she gave me told me she didn't believe me at all, but since no further explanation came, she eventually got up and told the vice principal, who said he would look into it but for now to call environmental services.

When she opened the principal's door, I saw he had company as usual. I glanced at her desk and saw she had some files of, I'm sure, the repeat offenders. When she returned, I thanked her then took my leave.

Instead of heading straight to my next class, I headed back to my locker, feeling compelled to go back for the book Tony gave me. At the scene of the crime where my locker was murdered by my own doing, I carefully opened it, retrieving the book and pulled out the note. What was so important that Tony could not wait to give me or call me later about it?

We are meeting again this Friday, two days away. What is with Fridays? I'm screwed. Stoney's step team has a big competition that night, and we had plans to go out after. Once again, I will have to make an excuse and bail out afterward.

“Back to class, Connor,” I heard someone say to the left of me. It was Ronald, the hall monitor. You have to love them; if it were not for hall monitors and their authority, schools would be in such chaos. I laughed aloud, not meaning to, and was met with an ugly expression of disapproval.

I gently closed the locker, waved good-bye to Ronald, who was walking off while jotting in his notepad, something about my locker no doubt, then took off running toward my next class.

My run was cut short when I bumped into the same grungy kid who had been watching us last week on our way to the lunchroom. The one Hope not so discreetly pointed out.

“Sorry, I didn't see you there,” I apologized, backing up. He had the same scowl on his face like last week. He didn't say anything as I bent down to pick up my note.

Something strange about him caught my eye. He was standing in front of me, glowing. His, a faint grayish glow unlike our blue, was glowing brighter and brighter.

Why is he even glowing? Then it hit me that the hall monitor didn't say anything to him because he couldn't see him; only I could as the others showed me the first night we met in the cave. A chill ran up my spine. I stood up quickly. I had a bad feeling about him.

We lingered there, staring at each other, not moving. It started to feel hot and uncomfortable in the hallway. I could smell him and could see the beads of sweat dripping off him. He breathed so loudly, it frustrated me.

His eyes glowed light brown to almost transparent; that's when something inside me took over. I slammed him up against the locker with one arm and told him to stay away from me or he would regret it.

I don't know what came over me, but I couldn't help it. I didn't want to help it. I liked it. A burst of energy exploded inside of me, causing havoc to my organs. Everything rapidly churned faster and faster. I thought my body would explode right until I couldn't take it anymore, then finally a rush ran through me. For a minute, I felt high, light-headed, allowing him to get the best of me.

He flipped me so quickly, my back was against the locker. He punched me in the gut, but then I kicked him in the groin. He let go of me, doubling over, so I uppercut him in the chin. He flew off his feet, hit the floor hard, and slid to the other side of the hallway, slamming his head into a locker. I ran over to him, but he managed to kick my legs up from under me. I fell back, knocking my head against the tile floor.

He picked me up by my collar and slammed me against the locker again and said, “Not before I kill you first. You and your boyfriend Tony,” then he threw me down the hall, but before I could get up, he was gone.

I was trying to slow my breathing down and control my rage. My hands fisted and ready to pounce anything that came my way. I took my frustration it out on the nearest locker, denting another one.

Realizing what I did, I checked my surroundings, and luckily, no one was around. How did no one hear that?

I grabbed my phone to message Tony, telling him I needed to see him ASAP. We agreed to meet in the haunted bathroom after school.

I went to the nearest restroom to check myself, but I was fine, not a scratch or a bruise anywhere on my body. I managed to pull it together long enough to finish my last two classes of the day. By the time the second class ended, I felt more like myself.

I messaged Angela and told her I had a project to do after school and would call her later. She tried calling me, but I refused to answer and subject myself to unanswerable questions. She sent me a message she wanted to meet, but I told her again I would call her later.

Tony met me in the bathroom as promised, but we decided it was better to go the cave so we didn't have to worry about anyone overhearing us. We decided it was best to go undetected as we headed to the cave. We made sure no one was around when we opened the door to sneak in the boiler room. Mr. Johnston was not here, thank goodness.

Making it to the cave, Tony sat me down and asked me to explain from the beginning; he sounded more worried than I did. “What exactly happened? I even want the tiniest details.”

I started from the beginning and told him all I remembered, even confessed my locker crime.

“Where was he coming from, and why didn't you tell me some guy was watching you?” he asked.

“I'm not sure which direction he came from, only he was there. I do not know for sure he has been watching me, only that one time he was watching me, if that makes any sense,” I said.

He was pacing back and forth. “We knew there would be others out there, but I never sensed him,” Tony said.

“He can't be like us, right, because his glow was different, right? Maybe we can only sense each other and not others unlike us.” This was the craziest conversation I have ever had, “others like us” or “unlike us.”

“Connor, can you sense me?” he asked. “What?” I asked, half paying attention.

“Can you sense me? Do you know when I am around?” he asked.

“No, maybe because I'm new to my abilities and they're not fully developed yet,” I said.

“Okay, think back. The day we met at school, why did you come outside?” he asked with such seriousness.

“Because I wanted to leave.” It made sense to me. “Anything else?” he asked.

“I just had a strong urge to, I guess.” “What did that urge feel like?” he asked.

“It felt like a pull or strong desire, why? What does it feel like to you?”

“I guess the same way, but since it has happened to me a few times already, I know it is coming from one of us,” he explained.

“Maybe he is like us but different, if that makes any sense. Oh, wait a minute,” I said, standing up walking closer to Tony. “I did have a strong urge to return to my locker, but maybe the urge was this kid. He was by my locker, and funny I ran in that direction afterward. I could have easily gone the other way. Actually, I should have, it would have taken less time to get to class. It was the same feeling when I met you.”

“Then that is it. It doesn't make anything definite about him, but, Connor, you have to be more careful especially after the locker incident. What was that about?” Tony asked.

“Girl stuff.” I was not giving him the full scoop. “I don't know. It just happened. I have slammed that locker a million times, and that has never happened before. I guess we have to be more conscientious now.” Then it clicked. “Tony, how does he know about you? I mean, I saw him when Ronald couldn't, so he knew I was different, but you?”

“I have a feeling he knew about us long before you saw him today, Connor, or at least suspected. Otherwise, he would not have been watching you last week or been by your locker today.”

“We have to be more careful and more concerned as to who else is out there,” Tony said, then started mumbling aloud to himself, deep in thought again.

He turned his attention back to me. “I want to meet him, this kid. You need to point him out to me. He may be able to give us some answers, or at the least, more heads are better than one. You get the concept. Well, ask him questions after I pound his face in first. Why didn't he come to me?”

Tony was adamant and beyond pissed, but after talking some sense into him, he finally compromised after calming down. We decided to talk to the others about it on Friday.

Later that night from home, I called Angela and Hope on three-way to explain everything was fine. After a million questions, they relaxed and decided they would not sell me to the circus and make money off me as the strongest woman alive. We laughed about it and said it was probably a fluke, and that was that.

This may be tougher than I thought. I hated lying to my friends, but if they freaked over a locker incident, just think how they would react if they knew everything. I felt it best not to let them in on my secret, at least for now. Plus, after what went down today in school, it would only put them in danger.