Double Life - Book 1 of the Vaiya Series (18 page)

Noticing Darien and Spencer Gordon’s bowling
scores, Eddy grinned. Darien was ahead by thirty points and he’d
likely win as he had a knack for the game, and, unlike many people
who either grew lazy or played sloppy when they were winning,
performed his best when ahead.

Nothing against Spencer, he just thought
Darien needed the encouragement from winning. Darien had been a
little dispirited lately, likely because of the football game this
Friday, though it could be something deeper, for he’d never seen
him so worked up over sports before.

Whatever the case, as Darien made his second
strike in a row, Eddy smiled as he reached into his pocket and
pulled out his cell phone to check the time. His smile quickly
faded, though, as he flipped open his phone and stared at the
screen. He’d missed a call from Ian.

Even though normally this would be weird, as
Ian thoroughly despised talking on phones and only did so as a last
resort, since they were both at the same party this was downright
bizarre.

Glancing briefly at the time, Eddy called him
back, but only got loud static. Hanging up and trying again, he got
the same result. Typical. Ian’s phone always seemed to have
something wrong with it. Still, the scratchy static in the
background was something new. It just proved his point even more.
His friend needed a new phone.

Frustrated, Eddy gave up and headed over to a
large wooden table near the staircase to get some food. After
stacking a paper plate with pretzels, several red apple slices, a
handful of gumdrops, and three of Hazel’s mom’s famous triple
chocolate cookies, Eddy poured himself a glass of red punch and
then chatted with a couple of girls he’d never talked to much
before--Alena Benton, a blonde-headed cheerleader who, when she
wasn’t exercising, doing anything from stretching to sit-ups to
push-ups to workouts he’d never even heard of, was playing violin
or working out a new diet plan, and Dana Marlow, a somewhat
reserved girl with braided brunette hair who frequently griped
about the quirks of her family members and how they forced her to
do so many meaningless chores.

After they’d exchanged cell phone numbers, he
parted from them and sat down next to Tianna around a dark maple
wood table overlaid with a black tablecloth and decorated with
orange napkins imprinted with ghosts.

Popping a cherry gumdrop into his mouth, he
saw Tianna blush as if he’d violated a social norm, Hazel and
Amanda, across from them, exchanging surprised glances with each
other before resuming their conversation.

“What’s wrong, Tianna, are the red ones only
for girls?” he asked grinning, after swallowing the gumdrop.

Tianna just stared at him awkwardly as if not
understanding his question, before leaning over and secretly
whispering into his ear, “Eddy, you do realize this is the girl’s
table, don’t you?”

He laughed, not a bit intimidated by her
nervous tone. “Yeah, so?”

A flicker of annoyance swept over her face.
“Why aren’t you with your guy friends? Wouldn’t you rather hang out
with them?”

He just smiled, her anxiety affecting him
less than a feather brushing against a basketball as he responded
sarcastically, “Yeah, of course, but they’re currently unavailable
at the moment.”

“Why’s that?” she asked pointedly, not
seeming to enjoy his sense of humor.

He just smirked. “Cuz Darien’s currently
bowling, Jason’s still playing ping pong, and Ian’s …” here he let
out a soft laugh. “The kid could be anywhere by now.”

Thinking over his friend’s disappearance with
mixed emotions of humor and slight concern, Eddy casually took a
bite out of the chewy moist cookie, enjoying the milk chocolate
chips, fudge swirls, and small brownie pieces melted into it.

As for Tianna, she took a small sip from her
glass of red punch and just watched him in disbelief, while Amanda
laughed at Eddy and then refocused, rambling excitedly to Hazel
about the latest Disney movie she’d seen.

But Eddy, paying them little attention, mouth
now stuffed with pretzels, reached into his pocket and pulled out
his cell phone. Calling Ian again, he was once more met with no
response--just heavy static.

“Having trouble calling someone?” asked
Tianna uneasily, as she gave him a weird look. Setting her hands
gently on the table and nervously swinging her feet back and forth,
she accidentally kicked Amanda, who suspended her rather one-sided
dialogue with Hazel to glare playfully at her.

“Yeah. I keep trying to call Ian but all I
get is static. It’s like he’s in another world or something.”

Worry swept over her like an eagle swooping
on its prey, her face hinting at a darker meaning to his words than
he’d intended. Staring at him coldly, she just shook her head. “I
told you we should’ve looked for him.”

A grin flickered across his face. He found
himself deeply amused that she was so concerned for him; she acted
as if she were Ian’s mom. Yet, despite the humor in the situation,
Eddy also found himself becoming slightly irritated that she
continued to bring up the same topic repeatedly. There had to be
some way to get her to change her tune.

“Ah, quit worrying, Tianna. He couldn’t have
gone far--I drove,” he said, smiling. “Unless he’s become a car
thief, I’d say he’s still here.”

As Tianna considered his response with a
disgusted frown, Hazel put up her hand gently to stop another one
of Amanda’s rants, and gazed at Eddy with a puzzled look. “So why’s
he trying to call you anyway?”

He turned her way, curious that she knew what
was going on as Amanda had been chatting with her the entire time.
Perhaps she had only pretended to be listening. “Well, I’m guessing
he’s still upset about losing the ping pong tournament,” he said,
leaning back on the velvet-padded chair while taking a swig of the
scarlet punch, the flavors of apple, cranberry, orange, and ginger
ale swirling in his mouth.

Hazel eyed him skeptically. “So he wants to
rant about how he lost to Darien?”

“Probably,” Eddy replied indifferently, badly
wanting to end this conversation so he could talk about something
more exciting. “Or maybe he wants to brag about how much weight
he’s lifting in the gym. I don’t know.”

Hazel lowered her eyebrows, clearly annoyed.
“You’re changing your story, man.”

“Yeah, I know, but Ian’s unpredictable.” He
thought back to their argument earlier that day about Alan.
Although Ian and he shared many of the same interests, had somewhat
similar temperaments, and both enjoyed many of the same sports,
sometimes his friend made no sense.

Looking at Hazel, he hoped she’d accept his
words now and move on. However, after gauging her dazed facial
expression, which he still couldn’t quite interpret, he saw she was
still completely unsatisfied with his words. Maybe Hazel really did
like his friend?

Though this possibility was amusing, the
conversation was really starting to get old. That none of the girls
seemed intent on starting a new one only aggravated him
further.

“What, Hazel?” he finally asked, upset, as he
folded his arms across his chest.

But Hazel just gave her a distant stare, her
tone seething with disgust. “So you honestly think he’s skipping
the party just to exercise? Can’t he do that anytime?”

“Well, yeah,” he murmured. “Maybe he’s in the
bathroom then--I don’t know.”

“For forty-five minutes? I doubt it.”

Frustrated, and noticing he was digging
himself into a deeper hole, he pushed his plate to the side, while
setting his hands firmly on his knees. Now more than ever, he was
convinced that Hazel was attracted to Ian. Why else would she keep
such close tabs on him? “Ok, ok, I honestly don’t know where he’s
at ... but if he wants to be by himself, we should leave him that
way.”

“Then why did he call you if he wanted to be
alone, huh?” Tianna asked, sarcasm brimming in her voice.

“Ian’s strange sometimes,” Eddy quickly
retorted. “Get to know him better and you’ll see what I mean.”

But Tianna looked entirely dissatisfied as
she merely rolled her eyes at him. “Fine. But if he’s not back in
ten minutes, we’re looking for him, Eddy.” She softly brushed her
wavy brunette bangs out of her eyelids. “And when we find him, he’s
going to have a lot of explaining to do.”

Boom. Ian jolted awake from the loud thunder,
his eyes immediately flashing open, as he stared around the room in
shock. Impossible … it couldn’t be; he was back in the attic at
Hazel’s house. But how?

Picking himself off the floor in awed
silence, he stumbled down the staircase, like a grandma wearing
rollerblades, and entered the weight room. The room was untouched;
the skateboard and weights were right where he’d last seen them, as
if he’d never left.

So had that whole thing just been a dream
then? Had he merely fallen asleep in the library? Pulling out his
cell phone, he flipped it open, glad to see it finally functioning
properly, and glanced at it--weird, Eddy had called him.

Pressing the send button, he noticed three
missed calls from Eddy and shook his head in distress. Just great.
His friend wouldn’t let that go without a fight. Not answering a
phone or texting back within a certain period of time was not a way
to get on Eddy’s good side.

Exiting out of the call screen, Ian quickly
glanced at the time. To his horror, it showed 8:45. He’d been
upstairs for about an hour, all alone, all by himself … and at a
party. It couldn’t get much worse. There was no way he’d get out of
this one, unless he could come up with a really good explanation
for what he’d been doing the whole time. This wasn’t going to be
easy.

But before he did that, he needed to make
himself look presentable, as he had been in an attic, after all.
There was no way he wanted Kenn to see him covered in cobwebs.
Looking around him for a mirror, he immediately spotted a square
one in the corner of the room and stepped towards it, glad to have
found one so quickly.

As he approached the mirror, however, he
caught a glimpse of his reflection and gasped, panicking, his heart
falling off a cliff. In front of him stood a young man wearing a
dazzling emerald cloak, a regal long-sleeved green tunic, which
came down to his ankles, and a pair of black leather boots. This
was a nightmare.

His tunic resembled a royal dress, his cloak
looked like an illustration pulled straight out of a fantasy book,
and his skin smelled like woodland flowers due to bathing with
elven shampoo fit only for girls. It was actually real--all of it.
If he hadn’t teleported back, he would’ve been interrogated by
Master Thargon in the morning and would’ve likely been tortured or
even murdered.

Thoughts swirling like a raging tempest, he
didn’t even hear Eddy’s voice and characteristic plodding until it
was almost too late. Eddy was right outside the room and fumbling
with the doorknob. Any moment he’d be inside.

Frantic, no time to prepare, Ian acted on
impulse when the door to the weight room suddenly flew open.

“Happy Halloween!” he yelled, leaping out in
front of Eddy and unknown to him until now, Tianna. Not letting
this new development faze him though, he burst out into evil
laughter, as he nimbly popped up the collar on his cloak, his white
teeth glistening with villainy.

Witnessing this in shock, Eddy stood
stupefied, his eyes stuck open as if they’d been glued. Horrified
was the best word to describe his look of utmost confusion. “What?”
He tried to draw in a breath but coughed instead. Tianna, behind
him, seemed equally astounded.

“Just playin’ a little prank,” replied Ian,
still chuckling, hiding the swarm of emotions that sought to engulf
him, “though I didn’t think it would take you so long to find me.
You can’t imagine how bored I was.”

Despite Ian’s reassuring words, both of them
still looked bewildered. Straightening out the sleeve on her
magenta dress, Tianna struggled to make sense of the situation. “I
can’t believe you did this, Ian,” she murmured, her face unusually
stern. “This is so immature.”

Ian just smiled. “Perhaps, but it was totally
worth it to see the look on both of your faces.”

But Tianna barely heard his response, as a
look of wonder suddenly dawned on her face as if she were seeing
him for the first time. Trotting up to him with the playful
eagerness of a sprite, she touched his smooth cloak, eyes widening.
“Whoa, where’d you get that? It’s beautiful.”

Startled by her emotional turnaround, he
blushed. “I can’t tell you.”

But she wasn’t even listening. “And what’s
that underneath?” she asked, as she unclasped the onyx brooch on
his cloak and drew it back, touching the silky tunic underneath in
awe.

Annoyed beyond reason by her disrespectful
behavior, he fumed inwardly, as he impatiently waited for this
clown show to end.

However, rather than ending, it only got
worse. “Cool dress, Ian,” she said jokingly. “How’d you manage to
sneak that in here?”

“It’s not a dress,” he blurted out, cheeks
burning. “It’s a proper tunic … you know, what guys in the medieval
ages wore.”

“So you’re a knight then?” she asked, before
smiling shrewdly, a twinkle in her olive eyes. “Or perhaps a
prince?”

At the word “prince”, Hazel’s teasing remarks
about him being Prince Charming echoed through his mind again, and
he fought back a deeper blush. “No, I’m not a prince, Tianna,” he
argued rather mildly. “If anything it’s more of an elven vampire
costume.”

“Ooh.” Tianna held back a smirk, deeply
amused. “So you’ve invented a hybrid. Too much Twilight and Lord of
The Rings, eh?”

“Actually, I take that back,” replied Ian, in
humiliated haste. “It’s really just an elven costume.” To even
think of himself pretending to be a character from the Twilight
series was more than he could handle right now.