Feathermore (2 page)

I glanced back and was surprised to find him still in the same spot, looking at me. My lips pulled at the edges, and I managed to smile back at him.

“
You know him?” I asked Claire, failing in my feeble attempt at nonchalance.

“
No,” she said. Then she brightened. “Oh, look, there’s Nate!” She let go of my arm and handed me my books before hurrying away.

I shamelessly stole another look down the hallway, but he was gone. There was a weird buzzing energy inside me. Excitement, maybe? No one ever moved
into
our nowhere little berg; it was usually the other way around.

As usual, Nate was leaning against our lockers, his nose in a car magazine. He lifted his eyes from the page just as Claire launched herself at him. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. One week apart, and they acted as if they hadn’t seen each other all summer.

“
Gross.” I glanced around, scouting to make sure no teachers were looking. When they finally came up for air I said, “I don’t know how you do it, Nate. She spent the whole week whining about you being gone.” I slid my books into the locker and arranged them neatly by height. “Oh, I wonder what he’s doing now,” I said, mimicking her. “Oh, I hope he’s safe.” I rolled my eyes.

“
You’re just jealous,” she said, sticking her tongue out.

I laughed, mostly because of the mouse like way her nose wrinkled up. I walked past them and toward class. I lost myself in thoughts of the encounter with the new kid, hearing Claire’s giggles coming from behind.

First period, the class I paid the least attention in, was world history. The first day of the year was always rough, and today would have been no exception, but the exciting prospect of seeing
him
again kept me awake, alert, and alive, ready to listen to Mr. Morris’s every droning word about pre-Roman Europe.

Nate, Claire, and I had been inseparable since the beginning of high school. In fact, those two were already glued together well before I even met
them
. People often made fun that I was the eternal third wheel on their bicycle built for two.

I found my way to the last row and took the seat closest to the window so I could enjoy the view of the clear blue water in the bay. Wishing it were still summer, I gazed out at the boats on the water.

“
Can’t we sit closer to the front?” Claire hissed. “We look like hermits back here.”

“
Be my guest,” I said, my eyes still glued to the boats. “I like it back here.” It was true. Being able to see everyone gave me some sense of control—no sneak attacks could come from behind. Maybe being tormented by Amy all these years was starting to leave a scar after all. Claire sighed loudly, prompting me to look at her as she sat down at the desk in front of me, pouting. Nate took the seat beside her.

As I busied myself pulling out my notebook from my backpack, I caught a glimpse of Claire and Nate. Their mouths had dropped in unison, and their eyes were locked on something in the hall, seen through the glass of our now closed classroom door. There was nothing but a blank wall outside.

“
Are you guys okay?” I asked.

They closed their mouths and nodded, trying to make it seem as though all was well. Claire opened her notebook, while Nate leaned back on his seat, entwining his fingers behind his head. But their expressions remained strange. They were always the very picture of calm, peace, and tranquility, but right now their eyes showed a mixture of surprise and anxiety. Almost crackling with tension, they looked at each other but didn’t say a word.

“
Seriously guys,” I said, “what’s up?”

The abrupt opening of the classroom door captured everyone’s attention. I jumped in my seat, banging my knees against my desk, half expecting to see a blood-crazed zombie come lurching in. But it was only Mr. Morris, fumbling through an apologetic explanation instead of enjoying his prerogative to be late.

The clamor subsided as Morris began the usual introductions and explanations, with the usual little chirps and flutters from the class interrupting his routine speech. A minute or two into this, the door swung open again, and
he
walked in, with his backpack slung over one shoulder.

I looked down at my notebook and tried to hide the smile that crept over my face. From the corner of my eye, I saw Nate and Claire staring at me, but I was too excited to pay them much attention. The latecomer handing in his tardy slip was far more interesting.

“
Oh, so the new kid is late on his very first day,” Mr. Morris joked as he placed the slip on top of some scattered papers on his desk. He looked over his roster. “Don’t worry, you get the standard punishment: staying awake for the rest of class.”

A few alert kids, including me, chuckled, but we all stopped when he spoke again: “All right, everyone,” he continued while the new kid stood next to him, looking a little self-conscious. “Our newcomer’s name is Avan Thomas. Someone, please let him sit down without making him feel awkward.” Avan took a step forward.

I gave him a quick overall glance again, and then my eyes ran back to his face, where, to my surprise and discomfort, they met his. I turned away, pretending to be casual, pretending that his being here didn’t faze me in the least, but I still felt strangely embarrassed. I was relieved when he put those eyes to work scanning for an empty desk—which happened to be the one beside mine.

Before sitting down, he smiled and insolently saluted everyone who had been staring. I giggled under my breath as Mr. Morris went on with his droning.

After searching his bag, Avan reluctantly turned my way. I felt every muscle in my body stiffen up. He was about to tap my shoulder when Claire grabbed my arm so hard, she almost pulled me out of my seat.

Way to go, Claire—make me look clumsy!
I thought. Though I have to admit, if there was a wall in front of me, it was a good bet I would walk straight into it.

“
What!” I hissed in an exasperated tone.

“
Pay attention to class,” she said, giving my arm a final squeeze.

I looked at Avan and gave him an apologetic smile. I waited for him to continue with what he was going to say, but instead he looked away and at Nick Frost, who was sitting on his other side, and leaned over. After a short whisper, Nick dug into his backpack and pulled out a pen, which he handed nervously to Avan. No one ever talked to Nick. He had transferred from Hollow Falls public school in sophomore year and had instantly been treated like a leper. I guess the curly red hair, acne, and thick-framed reading glasses didn’t help his case.

As I looked forward, trying hard to listen to what was in store for the rest of the year; I could see some of the girls in class turn around and bat their mascaraed eyelashes at Avan. Some were whispering to each other, while others just “happened” to look his way. Could they perhaps be a little more obvious? He had been in the room for all of three minutes, and he already had half the girls drooling over him. I looked at him from the corner of my eye. He
was
dreamy.

It was pretty clear that he would not be another Nick Frost.

Close to the end of class, while Mr. Morris was still busy scrawling unreadable hieroglyphics on the chalkboard, Avan finally spoke to me.

“
Hi.”

I turned to find him smiling at me, his dark hair falling over his blue eyes.

“
Hi.” My voice trembled. Why was he making me so nervous?

“
You’re still awake,” he said, doing a mock stretch and messing up his hair with his hand. He had a thick black leather bracelet on his wrist—the very one I was always eyeing at the local Hot Topic store.

“
Barely,” I said, laughing. “I’m Jade.” By instinct, I suppose, I stuck out my hand.

“
Avan,” he said, shaking it.

I could never have prepared myself for what happened next. The instant our hands touched, an explosion of light blinded me. My hand tensed up so hard, my joints hurt. Through the dazzling brightness, I could see the charge in his blue eyes. The image before me changed into one of me floating in the sky, falling . . . until I reached
him
. I felt his hand go limp, and I instantly let go, realizing that I was holding my breath.

I took a deep breath, and the blazing light slowly dimmed. It took some time for my eyes to adjust, and a little bit longer for my heart to stop trying to jump out of my chest.

After a first period that had proved to be anything but boring, the bell rang.

“
That’s quite a grip you’ve got there, Jade,” Avan said, rubbing his hand in make-believe pain and smiling nervously as he got up.

“
Y-yeah,” I stuttered. Trying to lighten the mood, I added, “I work out—what can I say?”

Had he felt it, too? Had he seen the bright light? I looked nervously at Claire, who had turned to face us. Her eyes looked ready to pop out of their sockets.

What the hell had just happened?

Any trace of that girlish excitement was wiped away by what I can only call an instant transformation of my
being
.

Avan got up and walked toward the door, melting into the eager, boisterous throng of dismissed students. He was tall enough that I could see him out in the hall, making a quick study of his schedule before disappearing down the hall.

It felt as though I sat still forever at my desk before I dared to sling my messenger bag over my head and look at Claire. Everything now felt normal; all systems seemed to be working fine. This heartened me. Claire looked at me and then to where Avan had disappeared.

“
You have no idea what you’ve just done,” she murmured.

2 THE DEEP END

“
What is your problem, Claire?” I asked through clenched teeth. “Why are you being so weird?”

She looked at me, and her features suddenly softened. She smiled and waved me off as if I were crazy. “Look, the guy seems nice,” she said. “But I don’t think he’s your type, you know? Talking in class and getting into trouble isn’t worth it.”

I rolled my eyes. “Seriously?” I said. “You and I talk all the time. What’s so different now?” I could feel that the topic was somehow upsetting me.

Claire and Nate led me out of the classroom and onward to next period. I was a little uneasy about standing up and taking the first few steps, not knowing if more blinding lights in my head would again reduce me to Jell-O. The hallway was still busy with students greeting each other, excited to catch up with friends they hadn’t seen in months. Adding to the clamor was the clatter of lockers opening and slamming shut.

“
Since when do I have a type?” I said. “It’s not like I’ve had boyfriends or anything. I would think that file is still open for further investigation.” Apparently, I still had all the charm of a Siamese cat. My trademark sarcasm seemed to have come away from the experience unscathed.

“
What Claire is trying to say, Jade, is that the new kid doesn’t seem to come from the right kind of crowd for you.” Nate said. He seemed to think it important that he go on the record as siding with his girlfriend.

Crowd?
How would either of them have the foggiest notion what kind of “crowd” was right for me? It seemed as if they were trying to convince themselves more than me. Claire gave a sort of noncommittal nod, and we continued walking toward our next class.

Suddenly, the first day back at school was proving to be relentlessly difficult. At lunch, we went to the courtyard and sat under my favorite oak tree. I was halfway through my sandwich when the mind-flooding voice came through, loud as thunder, with nothing I could do to resist it. I got only a dim understanding of what I was being told again: the same strange word with the same sense of hearing it as a warning: “
K
i-sikil-lil-la-ke
.” I squinted and shook my head. Claire and Nate looked at me in unison with arched brows.

“
Are you okay?” Nate asked. I must have nodded, because he continued, while attempting to touch my hand, which immediately darted away to hide behind me. “You sure don’t look too well.”

“
Yeah . . . just a headache.” Like my hand, my mouth seemed to be working independently of me. I set my tray to the side and put my head down on the wooden picnic table. I felt the warmth of Claire’s hand on the back of my neck and jerked away.

“
What?” she asked, putting her hand on my shoulder. But no light blinded me this time. There was only a sense of peace. I lay back on the grass with my head on my arm and closed my eyes.

* * *

A small shake woke me from the light sleep I had fallen into. Nate was gone, and Claire was looking at me with concern.

“
Are you
sure
everything’s okay?” she said. I opened my mouth to tell her, but would she even believe me? Could she possibly? “Do you want me to walk you to the Nurse office?”

I shook my head and looked at my watch. “I’ll be okay,” I said as I picked up my lunch sack and books, and we walked past the cafeteria and back toward our lit class. I hurried in and sat down in the far left corner. By now it would not have been a stretch to complain of a headache. It seemed that the dam holding the force of what I had been resisting all morning just crumbled. Usually, the voice was always fleeting, but its effects lasted quite a while and sapped me of any vigor. All I could do was rub my temples, sigh, and wish I could be in my bed.