Reborn (8 page)

Chapter 9

We
sit down on the edge of the bed. Suddenly it feels weird—sitting on someone
else’s bed, someone I don’t know—even though moments ago we might have ended up
making love on it.

“Ever
since the night we found Dark Angel, I’ve been able to heal quickly,” Jimmy
explains, not meeting my eyes.

At
first I don’t know what to say. Although he doesn’t press me, Jimmy won’t stop
fidgeting—shaking his leg and flexing his fingers. Next to him, I am stoic and
still, but my insides feel like they’re being crushed.

“Why…why
didn’t you tell me?” I finally ask softly. In my head, I continue the train of
thought: We could have avoided so much pain. We could have never stopped being
friends. No—we could have
been together
. But I know he’s not really to
blame. I was afraid, too, and I didn’t have to push him away like I did.

“I
guess I was just…afraid.” He steals a glance at me. His careless dark hair
hangs in front of his eyes, and I fight the urge to brush it out of the way. “I
thought it would freak you out. I thought you would refuse to believe it, even
if you saw it with your own eyes. I was afraid of rejection. Which I got
anyway,” he realizes as an afterthought. He smiles, but it’s a resigned, sad
smile.

“I
was afraid, too,” I tell him. “There’s something I have to show you. Will you
help me with this zipper?” I ask and readjust my position so that my back is to
him.

“Um,
this wasn’t exactly the response I was expecting,” he says, although I can feel
his fingers brush the zipper.

“It’s
not what you think,” I laugh. “Just do it.”

Once
the zipper is down, I stand up and lower the dress until it’s at my hips. I
keep it wrapped around my waist. Moments ago we were tearing off each other’s
clothes. Now, not only is my naked back exposed, but I feel like I’ve ripped my
heart out of my chest and am about to offer it to him, bloody and still
beating. I let those delicious recent memories resurface, recall his eager
tongue and tantalizing touch. Soon my wings take shape and unfurl from my back.
I cross my arms over my breasts and look over my shoulder at Jimmy. Underneath
his unkempt hair, his eyes are huge, his mouth parted in astonishment.

“This
is what he gave
me
.”

“You’re
telling me he left us
both
with—”

“Jimmy,
are you in there?”

The
sound of Anna’s angry voice on the other side of the door cuts him off. We both
look at the door in panic.

“Peter
told me you were up here!”

Jimmy
jumps to his feet. “Wait, Anna!” he tries to warn her, but she’s already
pushing open the door.

She
sees me first.

“Oh,
my God!” she cries, covering her eyes with her hands. “Seriously? You guys are
fooling around in here! Wait a minute.” Anna peaks at me through her fingers.
“Siobhan, what…what are
those
?” She slowly lowers her arms and looks to
her brother for help. Her gaze drops to his exposed chest. “But I…we saw you
cut yourself…can one of you please say something? What’s going on?”

“Just
give me a second.” I have to block out her ranting so that I can calm myself
and retract my wings. I quickly pull my dress back up.

“Need
help again?” Jimmy asks hopefully.

“I’ll
get it.” I reach around and yank the zipper up myself. “It looks like Jasper
left me and Jimmy presents,” I tell Anna.

“Wait.
Who’s Jasper?” Jimmy wonders.

“He
couldn’t have done that—no way,” Anna says at the same time, furiously shaking
her head.

I
plop down on the black bean bag chair by the window, and Jimmy and Anna sit on
the floor. I tell them everything. I tell them how the wings sprang from my
back when I ran off after we found Jasper. How they only emerge in response to
strong emotions. How I can’t control them.

“It
all started that night in the woods.” Anna closes her eyes as though that will
help her absorb everything.

“And
Jimmy,” I add, looking at him to pick up the story. He explains about his
body’s uncanny ability to heal itself, quickly, and from
any
injury.

“Wait.”
Anna snaps out of her moment of reflection. “
Any
injury? How do you know
that?” she demands.

He
shrugs. “I was curious at one point over how far I could push it.”

Anna
closes her eyes and takes a deep, calming breath. When she opens them, I think
she’s going to berate him some more, but instead she asks, “Why would Jasper do
this?”

“Back
up a minute. Who the hell is Jasper?” Jimmy says in exasperation.

“Right.
Sorry.” I explain that our Dark Angel is now my World Myths and Legends
teaching assistant.

“He’s
your
TA
? This is fucked up.”

“No
wonder you want to talk to him!” Anna realizes. “You want to find out who—well,
what
—he is. How he did this to you guys. Why he’s at our school.”

“It
could be just a coincidence, right?” My voice is hopeful.

“Of
course,” Anna says quickly. “I’m sure it’s just a coincidence.” She exchanges a
brief but grave look with her brother, and the solemn lines of their mouths tell
me that neither of them actually believes this. “If you do end up talking to
him, just be careful.”

“We
can go with you if you want,” Jimmy adds.

“Thanks,
guys. I’ll be careful—I promise.” I take my phone out of my purse when it
starts vibrating. There’s a text from Tanya:

where
r u? curfew?!

“Crap,
it’s almost two.”

“So?”
says Jimmy.

“Our
new house mother instated a two o’clock curfew on the weekends.”

“That
sucks.”

It
does, but I realize I’m ready to go back, anyway. Now that my skeletons are out,
I feel lighter but used up, too—my closet a gaping, empty hole. I blink against
the invisible lead weights pushing on my eyelids.

“Come
on.” Anna gets up. “I’ll give you a ride home.”

“I’m
coming, too.” Jimmy follows us out the door. Outside the bedroom, the party
dwindles, but there are still some stragglers having the kinds of deep
conversations you can only have in the wee hours of the morning.

“Aw,
you’re leaving!” Peter calls out after us as we’re heading out the front door.

“We’re
taking Siobhan back to campus. See you at home,” Anna tells him.

“Right.
It was lovely meeting you!” He envelops me in a languid, drunken hug.

“You
too,” I say and pat him awkwardly on the back before we pull away.

***

“Do
you mind waiting for a few?” Jimmy asks his sister when her truck is idling at
the curb.

“I
guess not.”

“Thanks
for the ride,” I tell her. Jimmy and I get out, and he walks me to the front
door of the sorority house. For a few minutes our eyes play hide-and-seek,
looking back and forth from the doorstep to each other.

“I
almost forgot how beautiful your eyes were.” The next time our gazes meet,
Jimmy holds mine steady.

“Thanks,”
I say, my cheeks heating up. “Someone told me the other day they were
turnip-colored,” I add, recalling Patricia’s intrusive stare.

Jimmy
raises his eyebrows and shakes his head. “They look like…Neptune,” he says and
reaches out to tuck a wisp of my blonde hair behind my ear.

“Actually,
Neptune’s more of a light blue, because of the methane clouds.”

“You
just had to science it up. I was trying to be poetic.”

“I
see. In that case, they can be Neptune violet,” I assure him with a smile.
Jimmy gives a short laugh. He rubs the back of his neck and rolls the tension
out of his shoulders.

“So,
your wings…do they respond to
any
strong emotion?” he tries to ask me
casually. “Is that why you ran out on me?”

I
look down at my sandals again and nod. “I’m sorry. I know I should have just
told you, but
I
was scared, too.”

He
caresses my cheek with his hand, and I gaze up into his face. I’ve always loved
looking at his face. His square jaw and stubborn pout give him a look of
perpetual defiance. I can dive into his hazel eyes and find out exactly what
he’s really thinking and feeling. He’s not flawless or classically handsome—like
Jasper—but I like that about him. He has a wild streak, but he cares and loves
honestly and completely. I feel like whatever we’re in, we’re in it together.

“I’m
sorry about…I’m
so
sorry,” I whisper, closing my eyes but at the same
time pressing my cheek into his rough hand.

“I
know. I’m sorry, too,” he says, and when I open my eyes he’s leaning in to kiss
me.

“Siobhan?”

Ugh.
Interrupted, again.

Only
this time the voice belongs to Max.

Jimmy’s
lips stop centimeters from mine, and we look up to see Max stopped on the
grassy slope leading up to the house. A girl I don’t know stands behind him,
looking from me to Max in confusion. He climbs the rest of the way up to us.

“Who’s
this guy? Is he the reason you haven’t been responding to
any
of my
calls or texts?”

“What?
No, Max—Jimmy has nothing to do with that,” I exclaim. “But we should talk.”

“Duh!
Do you know how
crazy
I’ve been without you?” He seizes my upper arm,
and I let him because I’m too startled to react—he’s never laid a hand on me
before, and I’ve certainly never seen him this angry. His eyes burn into me
like blue flames. “I missed you. I missed you so much, Siobhan. I thought you
left me,” he whimpers, his fingers digging even more tightly into my arm.

“I…I…”
Here it is, the opportunity I’ve been waiting for to break off whatever this is
between us, but somehow I can’t make the words come out. I feel another pair of
eyes on me, and I look over his shoulder to see his companion staring at me,
unblinking, with eyes the same bright blue color as Max’s.

“Max,
who is that?” I ask instead. The air around us thickens with anticipation and
dread.

“I’m
his cousin Vanessa,” the girl wheezes. She points at me with a trembling hand.
I can barely make out what she whispers next, but it sounds like, “The
butterfly goddess has returned.”

Butterfly?
My wings…

“You
told
people about me!” I explode at Max. “Max.
Max
!” I shout, but
he’s unresponsive, still gazing at me with those hurt puppy dog eyes.
“Something’s wrong with your cousin. Look at her!”

“It’s
no longer safe for you here!” This time when she speaks, it’s in a voice that
doesn’t belong to her—deeper, more resonant, and filled with terror. Her
electric blue irises have rolled into the back of her head, replaced by the
whites of her eyes splattered with spidery red veins. She pushes Max out of the
way. It forces him to release his grip on me, but then her own hands grab my
shoulders and shake me. “You must get out. Get
out
!” the voice bellows,
and she collapses onto the ground.

Chapter 10

“Vanessa!”
Max shouts, finally emerging from his
daze, but she has already hit the
ground, her eyes closed. We crouch down on either side of her. Jimmy looks on
with concern but stays back.

Vanessa’s
face glistens with sweat. I press my warm hand to her cold, clammy forehead.
“What’s wrong with her?” I gasp. “Should we call an ambulance?”

“No.
She’ll come to,” Max assures me, taking her delicate, pale hand in his own.
It’s not just that she’s pale—her skin is as white as chalk. She looks dead.
“It was just a vision, that’s all.”

“I’m
sorry, a…a
what
?” I don’t bother concealing the doubt from my voice.

“A
vision,” he repeats. “I’ve told you like a hundred times, the women in my
family are psychic.”

“I
didn’t think you were serious!”

“Why?”

“Oh,
I don’t know. It sounds sort of
crazy
!” All of the emotions from tonight
are pouring out of me like lava from a volcano. I can feel my wings nudging
against the fabric of my dress, dying to rip through it and expand.

His
face seems to say,
That
sounds crazy?
He jumps and looks down at
his hand holding Vanessa’s. Her hand flexes almost imperceptibly, and then her
eyes flutter open to reveal black pupils ringed with bright blue. I take deep
breaths to calm myself.

“Max?”
she croaks. “What happened?”

“You
had a vision. Then fainted,” he tells her, placing his other hand behind her
head to help her sit up.

“I
had a vision? Oh, God,” she moans and claps her hand to her forehead. “I’m so
embarrassed. I’m really sorry,” she says to me. Her brow furrows in confusion.
“Sorry, who are you again?”

“I’m
Siobhan. Max’s…friend.”

“Friend?”
Max echoes through gritted teeth. Stalker Max stirs behind his clear blue eyes.
I ignore him.

“Are
you okay?” I ask Vanessa. “This is my sorority house. Would you like to come
inside and get a glass of water or a snack or something?”

“Thanks,
but no. I’ll be fine.” Vanessa carefully stands and brushes herself off. “I’m
used to it. You must think I’m crazy,” she realizes, suddenly clamping her
mouth shut as if she’s said too much.

“No.
No, of course not. I’ve seen some strange things.
Much
stranger than
this.”

“Hope
I didn’t say anything about my super-secret identity.” Vanessa gives a weak
smile and a short, uncertain laugh. Max looks at me in panic.

“It
was nothing,” I assure her. “You just told me I had something really important
to do.”

“Oh.”
She doesn’t look convinced.

Max
places a comforting hand on her back. “We’d better get back to the dorm. I’ll
see you later?” he asks me. Vanessa starts out, but he lingers behind, waiting
for my answer.

I
look him straight in the eye, so that there’s no doubt over what I’m about to
say. I shake my head. “No, you won’t. Max, I hate to do this now, after what’s
happened, but…it’s over.”

He
frowns, his lower lip trembling like he’s holding back tears. “Alright,” he
concedes. “I’ll leave you alone. But it’s not over,” he adds before turning to
follow his cousin. I open my mouth to call out to him—to say what, I don’t
know, maybe his name—but only a hoarse breath escapes my mouth. I purse my lips
back together until they meld into a frustrated white line. Deep in my gut I
know what I just did had to be done, but an image of Max gazing down at me in
bed, his face flushed with reverence and desire, floats up from my memories.

“What
was all that about?” Jimmy’s question jolts me back to the present. “Did you
just break up with your boyfriend?”

“Max
isn’t my boyfriend!” I erupt. I pull away from him and stomp back up to the
front door of the house.

“Hey!
Hey,” he says, holding up his hands in surrender.

“I
know, I’m sorry,” I say. Tears well up in my eyes. These wings wouldn’t be such
a problem for someone who wasn’t so damned emotional about everything. “Did you
hear what his cousin said?” I ask. My stomach churns at the thought of her
white eyes and demonic voice. “She told me I’m in danger. That I need to get
out.”

“You’re
not actually taking her seriously,” Jimmy exclaims in disbelief. “She probably
just had a fit or a break down or something.”

“But
I run into Jasper for the first time in six years, and now this girl who’s
supposed to be psychic tells me it’s not
safe
for me here? This can’t
just be a coincidence.”

“You
think this has something to do with—” The front door swings open with a loud
squeak, and Jimmy and I jump.

Farrah
walks out into the hazy porch light.

“Here
she is,” Farrah says to someone behind her. “Just out here chatting with one of
her many admirers.” She gives Jimmy a sickeningly sweet smile. “I’m Farrah.
Siobhan’s already mentioned me, I’m sure. I’m the one holding the girls to a
new schedule.”

“Jimmy.”
He nods at her. I catch his eyes appreciating the flimsy pale pink dress
clinging to her trim figure. I can’t blame him, but I also can’t help the pang
of annoyance shooting through me.

A
man appears in the doorway behind her. He’s looking back at something over his
shoulder, so at first I can only see half of his face. But it’s a beautiful
half. Smooth black skin, high cheekbone, square jaw and a shaved head, which I
don’t usually go for, but it works on him. He has broad shoulders and bulbous
arm muscles straining against the fabric of his tight white t-shirt. I wonder
if Jimmy notices me checking him out. As my eyes trail down his body, I notice
one of his large hands clasps the end of a gold cane.

I
glance down at my phone. It’s twenty after two. “No boys allowed in the house
after two.” I beam innocently at Farrah.

“I’m
showing Hef out now,” Farrah assures me. “Hef, this is Siobhan, our amazing
social chair. This is Hef, my boyfriend.” I cringe inwardly. I hate it when old
people call each other boyfriend and girlfriend. Okay, they’re not that old,
but still.

Hef
turns to me and smiles, and I have to swallow my gasp.

“It’s
nice to meet you,” he says to me, his voice rich and deep. “Goodnight, Farrah.”
Hef pecks her on the cheek. He drags himself down the doorstep with his cane,
and Jimmy and I part to let him through.

“I
guess I should be off, too. I’ll text you.” Jimmy looks like he’s going to kiss
me, but then glances at Farrah and thinks better of it. He settles for an
awkward wave.

Farrah
holds open the door for me, and we go inside. Meeting Hef makes me see another
side to Farrah, a side I don’t want to admit is there. I want her to be the
gorgeous, prying, deceptive house mother that I hate, that I expose to everybody
who flocks so blindly to her assuring words and venomous smile. The left side
of Hef’s face is damaged beyond recognition. The dark skin is covered with
welts and scarring, and the eye is almost sealed completely shut. It’s hard to
believe it belongs to the same face as the other half. He’s like the Phantom of
the Opera or something, without the luxury of a mask. If Farrah loves him,
maybe she’s not as shallow and uncompassionate as I’d hoped.

“Am
I in trouble?” I ask her before she goes into her room.

Farrah
shakes her head. “I’ll give you a pass. But next time, I won’t be so generous.
I like Victoria, but she’s been too lax in her duties. You girls lack
discipline. I’m trying to remedy that.”

“Discipline?
We’re a sorority, not the army.”

“In
the times ahead, you’re going to need it.” Her words send a chill down my
spine. They remind me of Vanessa’s. For once Farrah looks and sounds like—well,
maybe saying like she cares is too much to ask for—more like she’s being
straight with me. “You’re going to have to trust me on this one,” she adds
before disappearing into her room.