Tompkin's School (For The Extraordinarily Talented Book 1) (7 page)

“Holy crap!” Lee said in utter shock.

“Looks like Kain’s not the only one who can dive,” Leslie commented.

“How can I follow that?” Kia laughed, calling from the edge.

“Just jump!” Kain called.

Kia braved herself and then jumped into the cold water, screaming the whole way. We all laughed as she reemerged with wide eyes.

“Cold, cold,
cold
!" She gasped, “You guys are crazy.”

“It wasn’t that bad,” Kain laughed.

“Whatever,” Kia laughed, sending a huge splash of water at Kain.

“You’ll pay for that!” Kain playfully threatened and pulled Kia back into the water.

We stayed a little longer and then decided to head back to the school.

Once I got back to my room I grabbed my toiletry bag and took a long hot shower. It actually turned out to be a great first weekend at the Academy and I was impressed. Although it was definitely different than what I was used to, it was still an adventure being in this new environment. There were a few things that just didn’t make sense, like why I felt a sudden surge of pain whenever I looked at that Amadeus guy. Did he know that he was doing that? Or was it a reaction that only I felt? And if so, why?

After I finished, I put my hair up into a clip and put on some light makeup. I changed into some white shorts and a pink halter top and sat down on my bed with my laptop to check my email. Just then Kia entered the room, still dressed in her bathing suit and wrap.

“Where’ve
you
been?” I asked.

“No where,” she shrugged, tossing her bag onto the bed.

I raised an eyebrow, smiling. She looked up in my direction and smiled.

“Some of us went to get ice cream at the café,” she said, taking out her toiletry bag.

“And by
some of us
you mean…” I teased, “you and Kain?”

She whirled around, a look of shock sweeping across her face as her eyes grew wide.

“Now why would you say that?” She asked, feigning innocence.

“Oh, I don’t know,” I laughed, “maybe because you
like
him?”

“I have no idea what you‘re talking about,” she replied, spinning on her heel.

I laughed as she headed back out the door to the bathrooms. I found the situation completely hilarious. I mean some girls would get weirded out if one of their friends liked their brother, but I could care less. If she could stand his crazy mood swings then please be my guest.

Of course, I would make relentless jokes about the matter if they did start dating, but that was quite besides the point and I was pretty sure that Kain was well aware of that fact. Not that it would be any different for him if the situation were reversed and I dated one of his friends.

So, the next couple of weeks went by faster than I could’ve imagined and soon it was September. Kia and I both kept busy with the drama club and Ms. Morgan had us practicing every single day for our autumn productions. Kain and the others kept even busier as they prepared for the first basketball game of the season. Kain would be playing shooting guard this season as one of the basketball team’s starter, along with Lee, Laurent, Duran, and Amadeus. I cringed when I heard Amadeus was on the team.

I still couldn’t keep my composure around that dude. How was I supposed to enjoy watching the games with him causing me to get a fever and a severe headache all the time? I tried to explain it to Kia, but it was ridiculous to think that another person could be causing these reactions. Pain killers seemed pointless because whenever I looked away from him the pain would go away. How could anyone explain
that
?

Drama practice ended late today, so I decided to pass on the socializing and just get a quick bite to eat and go back to my dorm to sleep. I grabbed my bag and took the back route to the café. I just really didn’t feel like running into anyone and having to talk to them like my normal self. I didn’t know what was wrong with me, but I felt so disconnected from what was going on around me. It felt like I was just a stranger inside my own body and I was watching a movie. It sounded silly, but that’s exactly how I felt.

I opened the café’s backdoors to find the whole basketball team in there, just back from practice. Great. I would just have to get my food to go because I was definitely not in the mood to handle Kain’s moodiness, let alone Amadeus’ unintentionally torturous glare. I took a to go box off the counter and went to the food line.

“Hey, Izzy,” Kia’s voice called from behind me, “you left in a hurry today. Are you gonna stay and eat here with the guys?”

“No, I’m a little tired,” I replied, “I think I’ll just go back to the room.”

“I’m going to join the guys,” she said.

“Have fun,” I smiled.

“Practice has been hard, huh?” She commented.

“Yeah, but it’s fun!” I replied, trying to sound natural, “I’ll see you later.”

She waved as I headed for the exit.

I got back to the dorm in record time and went straight to the huge black drapes and pulled them over the glass wall to prevent the sun from coming through. I already had a headache, I didn’t need the sun adding to my stress. I put on some quiet music and then turned to my food. Just then, I realized how hungry I was and dug into the most delicious enchiladas on the planet.

Before I knew it, I was sound asleep and swept into my own subconscious. I was acutely aware that I was asleep, which was a strange feeling because normally I never remembered it.

I was enveloped by a darkness I had never seen before and I felt a strange surge of anger that seemed to entice me. I began to embrace the shadows as I took in my surroundings. After a moment I started to feel a strange tingling sensation from my hands and looked down to find that my hands were on fire! This made no sense because I didn’t feel it burn! In fact, I didn’t feel anything.

Suddenly, I woke up with a start, my body covered in perspiration. My breathing was uneven like I had been running a thousand miles. I was definitely getting sick. I pulled my feet over the side of my bed and noticed that Kia was already asleep. How late was it? I made my way to the window and opened the curtain to look outside. I couldn’t see anything, it was so dark.

I needed to sleep more if I was going to get up in the morning, so I laid back down on my bed. As soon as I did, my eyes immediately closed as if I had no control over them.

At first it was just darkness like the last time, but then a small light began to shine in the midst of it. But it meant nothing to me. Suddenly, it seemed as if I wasn’t alone anymore, like I could feel another presence inside my dream. It was like a pull of some sort. I heard a deep growl and my head began to burn with rage and I felt my body thrashing in pain. I needed to wake up! Why couldn’t I just wake up? I felt like crying out and once I thought I really had, but why couldn’t anyone hear me? Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up…

“
Wake up, wake up…
”

“Izzy.”

I heard my name and tried to answer, but I couldn’t. I was so stiff and my brain felt like it was filled with a bunch of concrete blocks playing hockey.

“Izzy,” the voice said again, “come
on
!”

I felt my whole body move like somebody was trying to shake me awake.
My eyes slowly opened and it took me a minute to adjust to the brightness.

“Oh my
god
!” The girl shrieked, “Are you
okay
?”

“What?” I asked, lamely.

Gross, my voice sounded like I had swallowed glass.

“Your eyes are all bloodshot, I mean seriously
bloodshot
.”

“Yeah,” I croaked, realizing that it was Kia who was standing over me, “-didn’t sleep so great.”

“You’re telling me,” Kia replied, worriedly.

“Hmm," I sighed, slowly sitting up.

Surprisingly my body didn’t hurt at all. What had I been dreaming about? As far as I could remember it was just a bunch of nothingness. But I do remember my whole body throbbing. Must have just been a dream, though.

“What time is it?” I asked.

“Eleven thirty,” she said.

“
What
?” I exclaimed, “I missed all of my classes!”

“Not drama club,” she shrugged, “but maybe you should skip that, too, if you’re not feeling so good.”

“Oh, man I can’t
believe
this!” I cried, jumping off the bed and rushing to my closet.

“Don’t worry, Iz,” she laughed, “I called the nurse this morning, she took care of it so no biggy.”

“How could you let me sleep in so late?” I exclaimed.

“I tried to wake you up earlier,” she replied, “but you were sleeping like a rock. You didn’t move an inch.”

“Really?” I stopped, “I don’t remember what I dreamt about, but I do remember tossing and turning all night.”

“Not an inch,” she said, “it was actually a little creepy how still you were. But you were tired.”

“Weird,” I shrugged, looking in the mirror and seeing that my eyes were no longer bloodshot.

“Do you feel better?” She asked.

“I feel perfectly fine,” I said, smiling as I realized my headache was completely gone.

I felt so much better than fine, it was like every single bit of whatever funk I was in yesterday had completely vacated my body! Amazing.

“I’m
starving
,” I said, “let’s go get food and then head to practice.”

“Okay, whatever you say," she shrugged.

“Don’t worry so much,” I laughed, “I feel fine! But thanks for caring.”

“Don’t mention it,” she smiled, “okay, so I’m really glad you’re better because crabby Izzy I can’t really deal with.”

“Cute,” I teased, “come on.”

We left the dorm and took the path towards the café and as we passed the pathway leading to the boy's dorms I felt a hand grab my shoulder.

“Can I speak with you?”

I looked up to see Kain with a very perplexed look on his face.

“Sure,” I said, “what is it?”

“Sorry, Kia,” he nodded, “can we meet you at the café?”

“Um, okay,” Kia replied, “see you later.”

“Later,” I waved as she turned to leave, “what’s up, Kain?”

“Okay,” Kain began, nervously, “this is going to sound crazy and I don’t really know what to make of it, but⎼”

“You’re rambling.”

Kain let out an exasperated groan as he ran his hands through his unruly black hair and furrowed his eyebrows in frustration. He abruptly stopped his slightly manic pace and held up a finger as he prepared to say whatever was on his mind. Good god, man, just spit it out already! It looked like he was going completely nuts.

“So,” he began, his eyes begging me not to think he was crazy, “I don’t think that kid Amadeus is quite right.”

Wow. Where’d that come from? I didn’t think Kain had any issue with Amadeus. They were even roommates, not to mention that they did play on the same team more than occasionally.

“I mean, he seems like a great person,” he added, “and a great player, but there are a few things that just…don’t seem right.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Well,” he said, “for starters he’s been talking in his sleep for the past few nights.”

“So...” I shrugged, “it’s annoying you?”

“No. Well, yes, but that’s not it," he continued, “It’s what he says in his sleep that‘s…well it’s disturbing.”

“Wow,” I replied, “it’s disturbing
you
so that must mean it’s pretty creepy. What kind of stuff does he say?”

“Some of it sounds pretty cool,” he commented, “I mean if it was a story or a movie, maybe even a video game. But other things he says…”

He shifted his feet, trying to word everything correctly.

“It’s not as creepy, until it actually happens,” he finished.

“Wait,
what
?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he said, letting out a laugh, “it actually happens. It’s like he’s predicted the future or something. In his sleep. And not just that, it‘s all about us!”

“That’s ridiculous!” I laughed.

“Seriously, I’m not making this up,” he said, “just listen.”

“I am and it sounds absurd," I replied, crossing my arms.

“Okay, well listen to this,” he continued, “the night before yesterday Amadeus was muttering in his sleep about how you would make your appearance on the first quarter, whatever that means, through the back doors of the café and leave abruptly. And that’s exactly what happened.”

“That doesn’t really prove anything,” I pointed out.

“Okay, well,” he paused, probably grasping at straws, “did you sleep okay?”

“What does that have to do with anything?” I asked.

“Everything!” He exclaimed, “Listen, along with all that other crap he also said that at dusk your “inner truth would ensnare you” and a darkness would envelope you. So, did it?”

“Did
what
?” I replied, getting frustrated.

“Did your inner truth ensnare you?” He asked, “In other words, did you sleep good, or was it darkness and pain?”

I stopped. I couldn’t remember the specifics of my dream, but I did remember being in pain.

“Maybe,” I shrugged, “I don’t remember it that well. Let’s just get to the café, I’m really hungry.”

“Fine,” he replied, leading the way down the path.

“Maybe invest in some earplugs,” I suggested.

“Hm," he smirked.

“How’s basketball?” I asked, trying to change the subject.

“Fine," he said, “how’s your drama club thing?”

“Fine," I replied, “I think Laurent and his brother are planning to have that party at the lake next week.”

“Isn’t it for that Thursday night through Friday?" He asked.

“Yeah, we get Friday off for teacher analysis or some other nonsense," I replied, that’s the weekend after our birthday!”

He shrugged.

“We should go,” I suggested.

“To the party? Yeah, it should be fun,” he replied, “just don’t mention our birthday to anyone.”

“Oh, Lee already knows,” I said, as we entered the café.

“
What
?” He groaned.

“He asked when my birthday was,” I explained, “and I told him. That’s probably why he asked Laurent to plan the party for that weekend. Well, that and the fact that it’s a three day weekend.”

“Great,” he sighed.

“We’re turning sixteen, how can you not be excited about that?” I asked, following his example as he took a food tray.

“Easy,” he replied., “just don’t.”

“Wow, what a brilliant answer," I said, rolling my eyes.

We got our food and scanned the crowded cafeteria for our group. We spotted them at a table next to the glass wall and crossed the room, setting our plates down at the last two remaining seats.

“There you guys are,” Kia said, her smile widening ever so subtly when Kain sat down next to her.

Okay, so maybe it
would
be a little weird for me if Kia and my brother got together, but whatever. I would just have to get over it if that ever happened.

“Hey, do you guys realize what next month is?” Leslie asked, gaining our attention, “Basketball season officially begins!”

“Yeah, we know,” Lee laughed, “it’s what we’ve been practicing 24/7 for.”

“It’s coming up really soon," Laurent commented.

“We definitely have to kick practices up a notch," Duran replied.