NEWBORN: Book One of the Newborn Trilogy (2 page)

Breathing deeply to calm my nervous heart, I
walk forward. The hallway has other apartments branching off of it.
A communal bathroom is ahead. I dart inside for a second to check
myself.

I stare into the mirror. A thin, pale,
brown-haired girl stares back at me. She looks ill. I am ill. Or I
think I am. The anxiety sickness, perhaps. My stomach is still
aching painfully. It’s not hunger – it’s like hunger, but not. It’s
like I’m hungry but I know I’ll throw up whatever I eat. Sighing, I
gaze into my eyes.

My eyes are uniquely bright. For a while it
freaked people out at home. I thought it was funny, but in the end
I caved and bought a pair of colored contacts. Somehow they dim the
brightness so I look normal.

Other eccentricities? I like perfume. Like
Mom I have a tendency to put on too much. I practically douse
myself, but I choose scents that make it not overwhelming. Combing
my long hair with my fingers, I take a last look in the mirror
before leaving dorm building C.

The sunlight has dimmed outside, yielding to
a cloudy sky. This is of no surprise to most people in this part of
Washington State because it rains so much here. Olympia is near the
base of the Olympic Peninsula, which is the rainiest part of the
United States. In all months except August and September, it’s
bound to rain at least every other day and often more.

It hasn’t started raining yet. I stroll away
from my dorm, trying to distract myself with the lush scenery. It’s
not working – I’m still wondering what Dad might be saying to Mom
back in my room. Geez, I hope they leave before my roommate gets
back. What an awkward introduction to my life.

As I approach the main section of campus,
signs begin popping out at me. The college recreations building
passes me on the right while the communications building passes on
the left. A little after that, the activities building passes me on
the left while the seminar buildings pass on the right. Finally, I
arrive at Red Square, the center of campus. On three sides
surrounding me are the Daniel J. Evans library, lecture halls, lab
buildings, and more seminar buildings.

At the base of Red Square is a long driveway
that curls around like a horseshoe. It’s from here that most of the
students are flooding the campus, pushing trolleys and carts and
bearing trunks between them. Vehicles line the horseshoe like
insects. Without thinking, I make my way to the horseshoe.

In the center of the horseshoe is a pleasant
little forest. But it doesn’t catch my interest for long. For now
I’m surrounded by people, mostly my age and of every breed
imaginable: Jocks, goths, hipsters, nerds, and bookworms like me. I
should get out of the high school mindframe, now I’m a college
student.

But I can’t just yet, because there’s
somebody I can’t quite place. He’s tall, blond, and getting out of
a cab in front of me. My first instinct is goth, because he’s
wearing what looks like a cape, but he can’t be a goth. No goth
would smile so widely while retrieving a snowy white owl in a cage
from the backseat of the cab. He’s gorgeous, this boy. I fear I’m
staring.

I see I’m wrong. It’s not a cape he’s wearing
but a robe – a smart, enveloping black robe with a short, thin
stick in one of his front pockets. With the help of the cabdriver,
the boy lifts a trunk from the back of the cab. Slamming the trunk
closed, the cab driver leans on it, looking impatient. The blond
boy looks flustered now.

I make my way to the cab, through the crowd
of people and other vehicles until I’m beside the odd looking boy
and the cab driver. The boy turns to me. “Excuse me,” he says,
“Could you lend me a hand?”

“Sure,” I reply, gazing into dazzlingly
turquoise eyes. “With what?”

“This,” answers the robed boy, and plunging
his hand into his pocket he brings forth a handful of paper and
coins. “Can you count out $80.19?”

“Um, I guess,” I say, amazed by this. Is he
foreign? He doesn’t sound foreign. His accent is American. I look
into his hand. Geez, a couple of these coins I’ve never seen
before. They’re large, like half-dollars, and bizarrely designed.
Not wanting to keep him waiting, I take a few twenties from the wad
of paper money and the dime, nickel, and pennies to match. “There
you go.”

“Thanks,” says the boy profusely, beaming at
me as he hands the money over.

Taking his pay, the driver allows his eyes to
trace the strange dress and appearance of his customer one last
time before jumping back in his cab and taking off. The boy and I
are left in the middle of the road with a trunk and an occupied
bird cage. Err, excuse me –
owl
cage.

“That looks heavy,” I say, gesturing to the
trunk. “Need help?”

Stowing the remainder of his paper and
coinage in his robes pocket, the boy grins at me. “Gabriel White,”
he says, extending a hand. “And no thank you. This thing’s got
wheels on one end which makes it quite manageable.”

I shake his hand. “Nora Saynt-Rae,” I tell
him.

He gazes at me thoughtfully. “Hyphen?”

“My parents insisted on it,” I say. “Well,
Mom did mostly. It’s like she knew the marriage wouldn’t last. That
was her way of keeping a piece of me.”

“Oh,” Gabriel says, registering this.

Oh shit.
Too heavy, too fast?

I pick up the owl cage. “I can get this.
What’s his name?”

“
Her
name,” he begins, “is
Merrifeather. She’s friendly.”

Huge amber eyes blink at me. She’s a pretty
owl. What a bizarre pet. “Do they allow owls here?” I ask, gazing
around as though expecting to see owls in cages erupting from car
trunks and back doors.

“They do now,” Gabriel says. “Thank you for
your help with the money, Nora. I won’t intrude on your day any
longer.” Picking up his trunk at one end and taking the cage from
me, the boy walks away.

I want to call after him, to tell him not to
go, but I don’t know how. How can I make this more than just the
casual meeting it is? I realize there is – quite simply – no other
way to go about it.

“Wait!” I yell after him. I’m in the middle
of the street, bouncing on the balls of my feet and looking like a
fool. “Wait!” I hurry to where he is turned, objects still in hand,
a half smile etched on his face.
Holy bejesus is he pretty.
Those teeth are so white! That smile so effortless! His hair so
–

“What?” Gabriel asks, his smile
faltering.

Oh shit
! I’m gawking. “D – Do you want
to get food later, or something?” I stammer.

A brilliant, full smile breaks across his
face. “Later? Why later?”

“I don’t know,” I gasp. “I just thought
–”

You’re sounding like an idiot, Nora,
my alter ego tells me.
An idiot. Get it together.

I’m trying!
I tell her back.

“Let me put this stuff in my room,” Gabriel
says, “then we can go. I’m hungry as a beast. Want to help me find
my room?”

It’s all I can do to stop myself from jumping
up and down with excitement. “S – sure,” I stutter. We’re walking
across Red Square. “My Dad signed me in,” I tell him, breathless,
“so I’m not sure where to get your key.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Gabriel says airily.
“I already have my key. And I know where my dorm is.”

I almost stop in surprise. “How did you get
your key early? I tried doing that and they said they don’t allow
it.”

Gabriel winks cheekily at me, hoisting the
owl cage over a low lamp post as we walk. “I have my ways,
Nora.”

“Want me to get that?” I ask, reaching out
automatically for Merrifeather’s cage. “I don’t mind. Really, I
don’t.”

“Fine, then,” Gabriel says reluctantly, and
hands over the cage.

I’m surprised to find it light. Feather
light, in fact. Hoisting it high, I peek inside. “Hi Merrifeather,”
I say to the owl.

Merrifeather hoots gently at me.

“Told you she’s friendly,” Gabriel remarks.
“I’m actually surprised she’s in such a good mood. Usually she’s
furious after being cooped up for a while. Must be you, Nora –
you’re bringing out her good side.”

I can’t help but notice people staring at us
as we walk. I’m not surprised. I understand. Here
I
am –
rather plain looking, in my opinion – walking next to a stunningly
gorgeous blond boy dressed in long black robes and carrying an owl
to boot. I see a girl openly pointing from across the commons.
Gabriel is not noticing the attention he’s receiving. Is he always
this oblivious?

“Are you from around here?” he asks, turning
to me, turquoise eyes sharp.

I shake my head. “Not from Olympia, no.”

“Washington, I mean,” Gabriel says quickly,
sounding agitated. “I mean Washington.”

“Oh,” I say, taken aback by his sudden
intensity. “Yes – I’m from Washington.”

“What town?” Gabriel asks quickly.

I stare back at him. “Baring. Why?”

“Baring,” Gabriel repeats, ignoring my
question. “Baring – I’m not sure where that is. Is it on the
Olympic Peninsula?”

I almost want to laugh at his ignorance, but
think better of it. He seems in a pretty serious mood all of a
sudden. “No – it’s closer to the center of Washington,” I say.
“Southeast of Seattle.”

“Ah,” he remarks, looking let down. “I see.
That doesn’t help me much.”

I gaze at him in surprise. It’s as though
he’s speaking more to himself than me. How odd is that? Does he
even know I heard him say that? I hope he’s majoring in psychology
because he could use some insight.

“What –” I begin.

“Never mind,” Gabriel says, smiling down at
me and seeming to snap out of his reverie. “I’m hoping to meet
people from the peninsula is all. It’s a fascinating place, don’t
you think?”

“I guess,” I say, staring at him.
What the
hell?

A cry rings the air as Merrifeather’s cage
bangs into the side of a bench. Tensing in horror, I gaze in at the
petrified bird. “I’m sorry!” I apologize loudly. “I – I wasn’t
looking where I was going. I’m so sorry, Merrifeather!”

“She’s alright,” Gabriel says, gazing into
the cage himself. “Just ruffled up a bit, aren’t you, sweetie?”
Merrifeather glares at him before turning around in her cage to
face the other direction. Gabriel sighs. “She does that when she’s
pissed off,” he says matter-of-factly. “Has since she was a
chick.”

“I think she’s adorable,” I comment, staring
at her fluffy, white plumed feathers. Just as I say this, a lone
amber eye opens to glare at me angrily. It closes again and she
resumes her stance.

* * *

Gabriel and I are walking to the dining hall.
We disembarked only after depositing his stuff in his room – a
single, and admittedly much nicer than mine even while it shared a
bathroom with four other singles. Merrifeather glared at us until
we left, unforgiving of the recent, unfortunate incident.

“Can I ask you something?” I say, allowing
myself to ask the question I’ve been meaning to ask since we
met.

“You just did,” Gabriel says. “But if your
question is whether you may ask a second question, the answer is
yes.”

I ignore his word maze. “Why do you look the
way you do?” I ask, gesturing to him. “The robes, the owl, those
bizarre coins I saw… I didn’t see anybody else today with any of
those things. Why?”

“We live in a society that demands
conformity,” Gabriel says grandly. “We pretend this is a nation of
individuals. The truth is that if you want to get ahead you have to
act a certain way, dress a certain way, and live a certain –”

“That’s not what I’m talking about,” I
interrupt. “And I agree with you, but you’re – you’re
different
. I can’t quite put my finger on it, you just are.
I want to know what’s different about you. Since we met I’ve been
trying to figure it out, but I can’t seem to. So now I’m
asking.”

Gabriel slows and then stops, his gaze
finding mine. His eyes are turquoise, like a lush field of green
melting into an ocean of deepest blue. I’m lost in the sea of his
eyes for a second, but then his lips quirk upward. And I’m lost in
the white of his smile so devastating my heart clenches in my
chest.

“Do you really want to know?” Gabriel
asks.

Staring back at him, I nod.

He lets a long, delicious second pass before
he speaks again. I’m okay with that. The longer I can melt in his
gaze the better. “Then you will have to wait,” he says softly,
making my whole body tingle without even touching me. “I
do
have a secret, just like everyone else. You will have to learn
patience before you learn it.”

“Okay,” I whisper, my heart thrumming in my
chest. “I – I will be patient, Gabriel. I want to know.”

He blinks once. “Then maybe – just maybe –
you will.” With that he continues forward in the direction of the
dining hall.

For a second I’m rooted to my spot, unable to
move, enveloped by the presence of his capture. But then feeling
sets in again. I remember my pulse, and I’m able to run after him.
I decide that I
will
find out his secret. I
will
discover it.

For now I know he has a secret, I know I must
know it.

* * *

The dining hall is spacious and inviting.
It’s divided between a cafeteria style buffet and a sitting area.
The sitting area is considerably larger, and now a mess of students
and parents are enjoying a last meal together before parting. I
don’t regret not asking my parents to the dining hall.

After swiping our student ID cards at the
front, Gabriel and I make our way inside. Soon he’s busy at the
salad bar and I’m heading right for the main dish. Yum! Spiced
salmon – it looks delicious. Eating here every day is going to be
amazing! Loading up, I get a pop and find a table by a large
window. From across the room I watch as Gabriel makes his way to
the fried foods counter. Moments later he’s sitting down opposite
me, a boyish grin plastered across his face.