Reckless Magic (8 page)

I wondered if a black car was part of
the dress code as Aunt Syl drove up in her cherry red convertible.
I smiled widely, happy to not fit in and jumped in the passengers’
seat. I only felt slightly embarrassed for getting picked up from
school, as we drove away, leaving the looming towers of Kingsley
behind us for now.

“
How was your day?” Aunt Syl
asked, glancing at me from behind her oversized sunglasses. Her
shoulder length hair whipped around her face in the wind, but she
barely noticed.

“
Oh, you know,” I sighed,
thankful to be on my way home.

“
I don’t know actually,”
Aunt Syl gave me a longer look, and I realized she was looking for
assurance that I would be allowed back tomorrow.

“
Well, I didn’t set anything
on fire,” I gave her a smirk, keeping the exploding fern episode to
myself. Aunt Syl smiled slightly back; she always put up with my
sarcasm.

“
Well did you make any
friends?” she questioned further, very maternally.

“
Um, yeah, one. Her name is
Lilly Mason and we sit by each other in most of our classes,” I
prayed she didn’t ask about the rest of my class, I had no idea
what I would tell her.

“
Well that’s nice,” she
paused, glancing at me quickly. “What about the boys?” a
mischievous grin flashed across her face and I couldn’t help but
smile too.

“
Oh, I don’t know….. there
are some good looking boys, but they all seem too immature,”
Kiran’s perfect face passed through my mind, but I shook it out
quickly, remembering his antics.

“
Sounds like high school to
me,” she smiled bigger, “So what do you want to do for dinner?” I
realized then, that she was dressed nicely, in a light blue short
sleeve blouse and black pencil skirt with killer heels,
precariously pressing on the gas. It was a nice change from the
doctor’s scrubs she was usually in.

I sometimes found it hard to believe
we were related at all. Aunt Syl, or Dr. Sylvia Matthews was very
tall, very tan, and very blonde. I was naturally tan as well, but
only moderately tall. And as blonde as her hair was, mine was
black. She made me keep it long, something about my natural color
and volume being a crime to cut short, not that I minded; at least
I could hide behind it. My eyes likewise were black, or nearly
black; and hers were crystal blue. She looked like the stereotype
California surfer, and I looked like the Adams family. How we could
both be related to my mother was beyond me, but since I’d never
even seen a picture of my mother I guess I didn’t really know how
it was possible.

“
I’m in the mood for steak,”
I sighed whimsically.

“
Steak it is. But first,
pedi’s. Unless of course you have homework?” Only Aunt Syl would
put a pedicure and steak dinner before homework.

“
No, nothing I can’t finish
later,” I lied, but honestly who really expected me to learn the
entire French language in one night? I looked down at my beloved
back pack filled with so many odious books. I had enough homework
to last me several weeks, a few hours of procrastinating would not
get me any farther behind than I already was.

“
Great,” she headed in the
direction of her favorite nail salon and I laid my head back
against the seat and relaxed, for the first time all day,
completely.

----

After a pampering spa pedicure, and a
giant steak dinner at our favorite Omaha steak house, I sat down to
what looked like hours, maybe days, of homework. Aunt Syl had been
called to the hospital and so I had the house to myself, like
usual. Her on-call schedule had given me a lifetime of freedom; I
was used to solitude and independence.

My house, a cozy Tudor style, four
bedroom, three bath, sat in the middle of one of the most beautiful
neighborhoods in Omaha. All of the houses were built in the same
style, but each looked uniquely different; located in a
neighborhood named Happy Hallow, sitting almost exactly mid-town.
The trees were tall in this part of town, and overshadowed most of
the houses and streets.

Although Aunt Syl made enough as an ER
doctor so that we could almost live anywhere in town, she preferred
it here, as did I. The neighborhood was safe and since there was
only the two of us, we didn’t need anything bigger.

Sitting at the desk in my room,
overlooking the street, I could see my yellow Land Rover looking
back at me. I stared back longingly, one day I’d be able to drive
it again; hopefully one day soon.

I had never been the child that needed
much discipline and Aunt Syl had never been the type of adult to
really administer much anyways. I did, however, lose my car after
getting kicked out of the third prep school. I couldn’t really
blame her.

I tapped my pencil on the desk
rapidly, knowing I should get to work, but lacking the will power.
I had done everything I could think of to avoid French; but I was
running out of options. I did the dishes, even though we ate out. I
worked through my yoga dvd twice and I even finished every other
bit of homework I had, which was a considerable amount.

French was too overwhelming, and after
just finishing Calculus my brain was fried. Besides, I really was
going to need a tutor. A pit began to form in my stomach as I
remembered the students in my French class, mentally picking them
off one by one. French 101 was an underclassmen class, and the
majority of the students were freshman, I learned from Lilly during
8th hour Chemistry. So not only was I unable to function normally
at school, I now needed tutoring from a freshman….
awesome.

I could ask Kiran. Or Talbott. My
stomach tightened at the thought of asking either one of them for
help. Talbott seemed harmless enough, but his devotion to Kiran was
disturbing. The way in which he followed him around and could be so
protective of him was not normal. I thought of Lilly and hoped that
eventually his loyal energy transferred to her.

That left Kiran. Barring the fact that
he would even talk to me again after I threw him down the hallway
with my unexplainable electrical powers, we hadn’t exactly gotten
along. Something about him both excited me and terrified
me.

And with swirling thoughts of all of
his exciting and terrifying attributes I drifted off to sleep at my
desk. I couldn’t escape him; he was even in my dreams. Even
subconsciously I knew that I was dreaming, but there he was staring
at me, as real as anything else.

He moved closer to me and I instantly
felt the electricity coursing through my veins, only since this was
a dream it was even more intense. I turned and ran away, but he
chased me. I could hear him only steps behind.

In my dream we were in a forest. The
trees were thick and the ground uneven. It was nighttime in my
dream as well, but the stars were bright enough to light the
landscape even through the thick canopy above.

Although I was running, I wasn’t
scared. I knew that I was running because Kiran wanted to ask me a
question, and I didn’t want to answer it. But he was too quick for
me.

He grabbed my arm and the force of the
electricity from his touch pulled both of us to the ground. I found
that we were now in a meadow, both laying on our backs looking up
at the million stars lighting up the sky.

I wanted to get up and run again, but
I couldn’t. My limbs felt weak and although the electricity hadn’t
left my body yet, it was at a dull humming, keeping me very
conscious of Kiran’s hand intertwined with mine.

My hair was fanned out all around me
and I noticed that I was in the shorts and tank top I was in while
I did my homework. There was a warm breeze that swirled around us,
lifting my hair off of the ground and then laying it gently to rest
again. I could feel Kiran’s eyes on me.

I looked over at him, unable to speak
a word. I was transfixed to the ground, but it was not an
unpleasant feeling. Kiran reached over with one hand, still holding
my hand with his other to brush the hair away from my
face.

“
Eden,” he whispered in a
hypnotic voice. “Will you please tell me what you are?” he smiled
so sweetly that I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to tell him what I
was, because I knew that I was something, something different,
although even I didn’t know what it was.

I opened my mouth to speak, but no
sound came out. He leaned closer to me and I inhaled his
intoxicating aroma, something earthy, something herb-like, but
something sweet as well. He placed the palm of his hand against my
cheek and electricity surged from his touch. The feeling was heady
and overwhelming.

I wanted to struggle, to get away from
him, but I couldn’t move. It felt as though someone was invading my
mind, or my soul, or both. It was all very confusing because of the
intensity of the pulsing. I began to tremble under the force of
it.

Suddenly I heard a deep and commanding
voice, “Eden, wake up,” And I did. But seconds before I regained
consciousness, I lifted my head to see Principal Saint standing at
the edge of the meadow, dressed all in black and with a terrible,
foreboding expression on his face. He was the one who commanded me
to wake up.

8.

With thoughts of my bizarre dream from
the night before swirling in my head I stepped out of Aunt Syl’s
car a little unsteadily. Not only was my body psychologically
shocked from the sense of realness my dream from the night before,
elicited, but I was also physically exhausted. My body was weak and
tired; and my head felt very cloudy from the dull sense of
electricity pumping slowly through my veins.

Slowly, I took the long walk up the
hill towards the Administration Building. I knew students were
passing me as they hurried to class, but my feet felt slow, the
electricity was making me feel wobbly. At the top of the hill I
took a left on the brick path towards the English Building, and to
my surprise Principal Saint was standing on the path, blocking the
way.

“
Eden, can I speak with you
for a moment?” his entire presence exuded a dignitary like respect,
and I was sure people did not tell him “no” very often. Despite the
request, he stepped in front of me, as if to give no other option.
At that moment, however, all I wanted to do was get to class and
sit down. I entertained the thought of walking right past him,
pretending I didn’t hear. “Please, it will only take a second,” he
asked again. He must have seen me hesitate.

“
Have I done something
wrong?” I asked out of habit.

“
Not that I am aware…. have
you?” he flashed me a smile, he was making a joke, but I was too
exhausted to respond. He continued, “I am only concerned that
Kingsley might be a bit overwhelming for you at first. Are you
feeling alright? Has anything strange happened that would give you
cause for concern?” His voice was slightly strained and I could see
real apprehension in his eyes. All of a sudden I felt like he was
something to be concerned about. This was getting kind of
creepy.

“
I’m fine thank you,” I kept
it short and to the point. The last thing I want to do was confide
in the principal of the school from hell.

“
Of course you are,” he took
a quick look around us before finishing with, “If you ever need
anything, or if you ever have questions about anything, please feel
free to find me immediately.” Before I had a chance to respond he
walked away back towards his office.

That was strange. I wondered for a
second if he somehow knew about the weird things going on with me;
but then I shook it off. How could he? I had never told anyone, not
even Aunt Syl. The only thing that could really have alerted him
was the mysterious exploding plant, but I was not even sure if he
saw what happened; although it was extremely out of the ordinary….
I had to admit that.

I continued on towards class,
realizing now that I was the only student left standing outside. I
tried to pick up my pace, but after my brief encounter with
Principal Saint, I was more unstable than ever. Not to mention, the
pulsing electricity steadily growing stronger; my blood felt like
there was a current of energy rushing through it.

By the time I entered the English and
Arts building I could barely stand up. I needed to empty myself
completely before I continued to class. I looked around quickly.
There were no students in the lobby, but I was afraid to cause a
scene just in case. My fingers crackled with the sound of
electricity and my skin felt hot from the climbing temperature
underneath.

As quickly as I could I ducked into
the theater doors, across the hall from the marble staircase. I
took a moment to let my eyes adjust to the darkness and started
frantically looking around for a place to dispose of my building
energy. A sudden burst of electricity surging through my heart made
me double over in surprise. I tried to stand up, but only half
succeeded. As fast as I could I hurried down the aisle, looking for
anything that could be quietly destroyed.

On stage I made out the form of an
almost hidden tin trash can, and as I heard the last bell ring,
informing me I was late for class I took the stairs on the side of
the stage two at a time and headed straight for it. Looking around
once more to make sure there were no onlookers, I pointed my hands
towards the bottom of the can, hoped for a quick second there was
nothing disgusting in it and released the energy.