Crimson Echo (13 page)

            Though I was hurt be the distance he kept putting between us, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. He looked like a scared little boy standing on my deck. It was
a side of Kane I had never imagined ever seeing. His strong, powerful façade was down and all I could think about doing was hugging him and reassuring him that it would all be okay in the end.

“Can I ask you a question?” I didn’t wait for him to respond. “Why are you doing this to yourself? I mean,
I can tell that some part of you cares for me, but you keep pushing me away. One of these days you’re going to push me away and I won’t come back. Either you want me around or you don’t. I’m not some ragdoll that you can drag carelessly through the mud.”

“Are you giving me an ultimatum?” He sounded shocked.

“Take it however you want to.” My voice was cold.

“What is that?” He eyed the book in my hand. “Tristan, what is that? Where did you get it?”

“It’s a book that I found at an antique store.” I said bluntly.

“Let me see it.” He reached for the book, but I quickly hid it behind my back. “Let me see it now.”

“No, it’s mine.” I slowly backed away from him.

“I’m not going to keep
it, I just want to look at it.” He held out his hand and after a moment’s pause I handed it to him. He swiftly thumbed through the pages and then stopped in the middle like I had done earlier and then softly closed it.

“What did it say? It told you something didn’t it?” I prodded.

He shook his head. “It’s empty. There aren’t any words in it. What kind of book has no words?”

“Apparently this book has no words.”
I sighed, not letting on that I knew anything.

“I’ve only heard rumors of such a
book existing.” He stared at the cover and traced the raised emblem. “How did you come to acquire this?”

“I already told you, I found it.” I repeated.

“Did it say something to you?” He asked nonchalantly.

“Yes, but only a couple sentences.” I admitted.

“What did it tell you?”

“At first it said there was a prophecy and then there was something about a woman and a kingdom.”

“What about the woman and her kingdom?”
he prodded.

“It didn’t say. She is supposed to rule over it or something like that. I
t didn’t make a lot of sense to me. Look at it again, maybe it will tell us more about her.”

            He opened the book back up and stared at the first page in deep concentration. He flipped to the next page when nothing happened and
then on to the next. He grew more frustrated with each sheet of blank paper.  He decided to go straight to the middle where I had found the entry and waited for something to happen. After several painstakingly long minutes the page still remained blank and he gave up.

“There’s no use. It doesn’t want to show me anything.”

“Kane, just forget about it. It’s not going to show you when you’re frustrated. I think it only works when you’re calm. It has a mind of its own anyway.”

“Well, I needed to talk to you about some things while I’m here. Do you want to take a walk?” His eyes were pleading.

            Kane lead the way down the old wooden steps of the balcony into the backyard, past the gate and into the field of wild daisies behind the house. He looked out of place as he traipsed through the flowers. Though the beauty of the vast field of daisies surrounded us from every angle, it still couldn’t compare to Kane.

“The real reason I came to see you today…” He paused. “What are you doing for lunch tomorrow?”

“I’ll be eating in the cafeteria like I always do.” I said frankly. “Why?”

“Would it be too
much to ask if we ate together tomorrow? You’re in no way obligated to say yes.”

“What?” My head spun. “First you want me to stay from you, then you want me around, then you don’t, then you want to eat lunch with me. You’re so confusing!”
I huffed.

“I’m sorry.
I just thought I could keep an eye on you without looking suspicious.”

“So, you’re doing this for my own good?” I asked sarcastically.

“Yes, I suppose I am. If it’s a problem…” I cut him off again.

“No!” I answered quickly. “It’s not a problem. I’m sure we have room for one more at our table.”

“Perfect. I’ll see you at lunch then.” He smiled and ran through the fields with blinding speed. He must have been the star of the track team at school, I thought to myself.

           That night sleep didn’t come easily for me. The anticipation of my lunch date with Kane had my whole body on pins and needles. Sleep wasn’t something I had experienced since I had met Kane. My gut told me there was something wrong with him and he had even said it himself
once or twice, but I couldn’t bring myself to listen to either form of warning.

           I tossed and turned all night like I had done every night for the last couple of months and it gave me plenty of time to mull over every which way lunch could possibly go. My favorite scenario was Kane professing his love to me, but I wouldn’t hold my breath for that one to actually play out. It was a little after three when my mind settled down and I was finally able to fall asleep.

            The apparent buzzing sound of my alarm clock roused me from what little sleep I actually got. I eyed the red numbers and groaned as I beat it mercilessly. I sat my feet on the floor and rose from the warmth of my blankets like a zombie and shivered as the cold morning air hit me.

            It wasn’t until I was in the shower that I remembered Kane would be sitting with me at lunch. As I applied my deodorant I worried how the rest of the group wo
uld feel about Kane joining us, but I couldn’t keep my mind focused on anything for longer than a few seconds. I hurried through my morning routine, only slowing down long enough to comb through the wet tangles in my hair.

           
After I was fully dressed and had my breathing under control I sprinted out of the front door. Lucky for me, both of my parents had already left for the day. As I sat in the driveway in my car I tried to calm the nerves that were proving to be quite bothersome. I had to hold my knees steady to keep them from repeatedly knocking into the stirring wheel.

            The drive to Emporia was excruciating, I was stopped by every traffic light in town and as luck would have it I had to take a detour off of the highway
and travel down back roads the entire time. Normally I wouldn’t mind the back roads, but today I was anxious to get to school and even more anxious to see Kane. The talk we had yesterday gave me a glimmer of hope that there could possibly be something between us in the future.

            When I finally arrived at Emporia and pulled into my usual
parking space I breathed a sigh of relief. The anxiety had already began to settle in my chest and then I looked up only to see that Kane’s black Range Rover wasn’t anywhere in sight. His absence made me grow more agitated by the second. He said he would be here today, how could he flake out on me?  Just then my phone began to buzz and I frantically searched for it in my bag.

            I quickly flipped my ce
ll phone open and read the text. It was from Faith. She sent a ‘BFF 911’ message. Faith had used the code so many times I knew it could wait, so I ignored it. Besides I had more pressing matters like stalking Kane Evans. I still couldn’t figure out what it was about him that drew me in, but I couldn’t help myself.

            I waited in my car as long as I could without being late for my first class. When he didn’t show I gave up and headed toward the front entrance. I was greeted by Kane’s mom and immediately became nervous
as I read the gold name tag she wore on her lavender dress.

           
It was the first time I had actually seen Kane’s mom and she was nothing like I had imagined her to be. She had dark wavy hair, brown eyes and a bright smile. She was slender, but her features were rounded. I don’t think she know who I was as I smiled politely and hurried to my first hour class.

           My morning classes passed surprisingly fast, but the knots in my stomach never went away. All I could focus on was the fact that Kane hadn’t shown up for school today. Part of me worried if he was okay and the other part of me had decided that I had had enough of his indecisive behavior.

            The lunch bell rang and I gathered my books and walked toward the door. To my surprise Kane was standing in the hallway beside the door frame waiting for me with a smirk. If I hadn’t been so relieved that he was okay I might have kicked him in the shins. His eyes spark
led today— He was in a good mood. He took my books and carried them as he walked beside me.

“I can carry my own books, thank you.” I tried to snatch them away from him, but he wouldn’t let me.

He laughed as I awkwardly side-stepped through the hallway and reached for my books one last time. “Are we still on for lunch today?” He smiled widely showing me all of his perfectly straight, white teeth.

“I guess so, that is if you haven’t decided against it already.” I cut my eyes at him.

“Ouch, you’re in a pleasant mood today.”

“Sorry, I was just worried about you. When I didn’t see your car in the parking lot this morning I kind of panicked.”

“You don’t have to worry about me Tristan. I can take care of myself.” He flexed his muscles jokingly.

I rolled my eyes. “Are you
sure you’re ready for this? There’s bound to be questions as to why you’re suddenly sitting with me? People are going to think we’re together now, you know that, right?”

“Are we together?” He asked nonchalantly.

“I don’t know, are we?”

“Do you want to be together?”
Another nonchalant question.

“I think so.” I said hesitantly.

“You
think
so?” He asked.

“I definitely want to be with you, if you want to be with me too.” I felt the lump in my throat.

“Then it’s settled.” He smiled and wrapped his free arm around my shoulder. “You’re mine.”

            We made our way through the lunch line, not paying attention to anyone around us, though I could feel a thousand eyes boring right through my back. Kane was perfectly calm and attentive to every shift I made. He filled up a tray with food and handed the lady at the cash register a crisp fifty dollar bill.

            The tray had more food than either of us could eat, but I had a feeling that Kane didn’t do anything on a small scale. I could see Faith from where we stood in the line and her face showed everything she couldn’t say from across the cafeteria. I knew she would be the hardest to convince to go along with the whole idea of Kane and I being together— which was a shame since she was the one pushing me to date him in the beginning.

            We sat down at the table with our tray full of food and I observed the looks on my friend’s faces, which ranged from horror and shock to joy and admiration. I sat on the edge of my seat waiting for the shock of it to settle in. I looked to Kane who was sitting comfortably in his chair
unfazed by the whole situation— either that or he was putting on a good show for everyone.

            It didn’t take long for the awkwardness to wear off. Kane nudged me and then scooted the pile of food toward me. I picked out an orange and peeled it slowly, still feeling everyone’s eyes on Kane and I, I decided to strike up a conversation. Kane took a bottle of soda from the blue tray and took a long swig. I felt bad for him, here he was sitting at a table with a bunch of strangers and no one was saying anything.

“I hope you don’t mind Kane joining us for lunch. I invited him and figured it would be okay.” I smiled pleadingly.

“I don’t mind.” Everett spoke up. “I’m Everett by the way.”

“I’m Kane. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He shook Everett’s hand.

“Oh,
I’m sorry, I forgot to introduce everyone. That’s Chelsea and of course you know Faith and Everett.”

Faith curled her lip and rolled her eyes at me. “Did you not get my text this morning?”

“I did, but I was late for class and didn’t have time to respond. Can we do this later?” I jerked my eyes toward Kane who was sitting perfectly still except for his hands that were spinning the bottle cap from his soda.

“So Kane what grade are you in?” Chelsea asked fluttering her lashes.

“I’m a junior. Same as all of you, right?”

“Yep, one more year and we’re out of here for good.” Everett hurrahed excitedly, which made Kane laugh.

“What are your plans after graduation?” Kane looked around the table waiting for a response.

            Faith ignored him completely and Chelsea and Everett fought over who could tell him first. All in all I was pleased at how well he seemed to fit in, even if Faith was acting like a spoiled little child.
Just then a large crowd of people made their way toward our table. The stampede was led by none other than the resident villain Harmony McMicheals.

            Harmony and her band of robots all pulled up chairs and crowded around our lunch table. In the ten years that I had known her she had never spoken so much as a single syllable to me, let alone
acknowledge my presence. She scooted in close on the other side of Kane until she was practically sitting on top of him. Kane seemed amused by her, which only irritated me more.