“What is it, Adin?” Arena leaned closer to peek at the letter.
“An acceptance letter to the same college I attend.” Candace answered.
A wide smile quickly spread across my younger sister’s face. “You can finally go to college just like you’d always talked about! I’m proud of you, Adin.” She gave me a hug that only reached my chest.
There were moments that I forgot my sister was only eleven-years-old. I was able to talk to her about things I couldn’t even talk to some of my friends about. “Thanks, Arena.” I rubbed her head.
“Awww, you guys are so cute.” Candace came over and bearhugged us both.
“I can’t breathe.” I squeaked half-jokingly.
She laughed and released us. “I actually have more to explain about the letter, Adin.” Candace turned to me.
I knew there had to be some sorta catch. “Alright.” I tugged one of Arena’s pigtails. “Time for bed, shorty, it’s getting late.”
She gave Candace and I another hug before retreating to her room.
“Let’s talk in the kitchen. I’m starving.” I made my way there.
“Fatty.” She commented behind me.
“You’re the one eating my grapes!”
She popped another one in her mouth. “And they’re delicious.”
That’s how our relationship was; hurling insults at each other with implied love. After my father’s funeral, she would show up at my house often to play with me. At first, she acted as a pseudo big sister, but eventually, we grew to be best friends. I was mature for my age back then taking care of my family, but then again, I really didn’t have a choice. But if I was smart, Candace was a genius. No, really, she had an IQ of one hundred and forty or something. Addison College had recruited her since middle school.
She would be starting her junior year in the fall. It made me realize how much I actually missed her. Hell, she was practically family. But I wasn’t going to let her know that; she’d just tease me.
“So, besides coming here to harass me and inhale my grapes, what’s up with the letter?” I raided the refrigerator while she sat at the kitchen table behind.
“Oh yeah! I just remembered. How was your football game?”
“We lost.” The bitter taste of the loss still clung to my mouth. Deciding on an apple, I joined Candace at the table.
“As long as you tried your best, you have nothing to regret.” She made eye contact.
I knew they were just hollow words, but they made me feel a little better. “Thanks, Candace.”
The twenty-year-old nodded. “Anyway, I know you’re eager to find out what I have to tell you, it’s kinda complicated.”
I nodded back at her.
“Okay, so basically, you know how Addison College is super hard to get into, right? Well, like the letter said, they’ve had their eye on you for a while –”
“Yeah but, that’s only ‘cause my dad worked for them, right? It’s not like I’m some prodigy like you.”
“Well… that’s partly true, but you’re not totally pathetic.” She smirked. “Adin, if they felt you had no talent, then trust me, they wouldn’t give you a second thought.”
“Stop, you’re making me blush.” I gave a stupid grin.
She got serious all of a sudden. “Your father was working on something when he passed away. He was actually the lead scientist on the project.”
I never really knew the exact details of my father’s work and was too busy taking care of my family to think too much about it. Even before he died, he was always working, so I always felt like the man of the house. Addison College was in New York, so he’d be gone for months at a time. I had virtually no time for friends and simple things like video games. Maybe that’s why I resented him growing up. Maybe even a little now.
“I know you were never really interested in your dad’s work, but he was a pretty big deal.”
“Makes sense why he was never home… How do you know all this anyway?”
“I’m on the student council at Addison, so I’m privy to more information than most. But what he was working on Adin, was huge.”
That kind of surprised me. “How huge?”
She thought about it for a moment. “Godzilla huge.”
“Okay, but what does that have to do with me?”
“Yeah well, this is the complicated part. When your father passed away in the lab explosion, a large amount of the research was damaged and lost. They were able to recover just a small fraction and had to start from scratch. They’re moving at a snail’s pace, though. In almost a decade, they’ve been barely able to replicate what your father did in just a few years.”
I whistled. “I guess he really was amazing.”
Candace smirked again. “This is where you come in. From what little they have recovered; your father’s notes mention your name. Several times, actually.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. What do I have to do with what he was working on?” I frowned, barely knowing what type of scientist my father was, let alone be involved in his work. “And if this project is such a big deal then why are they only contacting me now, a decade later?” My head was full of more questions and speculation, but I kept them in check long enough to let Candace answer.
“Well, to answer your first question, I'm not exactly sure. As I said, I’m privy to more information than most, but the project is highly classified. And to answer your second question, your name has only been recently discovered.” She took a breath. “But they're so desperate to further the research that they're grasping onto anything that even remotely has a chance of helping. In all actuality, you may have nothing to do with your father’s research at all, but they damn sure want to find out.”
I was still trying to digest everything my best friend was saying. “Well even though I feel a little used, I'd be a fool not to accept their offer, right?”
“Right.” Candace answered with a smile. “Plus, you'll get to spend more time with moi.” She added, eliciting a small smile from me; I was basically getting my best friend back.
“You spoil me too much, Candace.”
“I know, but you're so darn adorable.” She stood. “It's getting late; I should get going.”
“You’re not going to wait for my mom? You know she'd kill you if you stopped by without saying hi.”
“I know, I know, but I really did only come to deliver that letter to you, Adin. My bus actually arrives pretty soon.”
There was a lone charter bus that came to Maple Hills twice a day. It would take you to Miami international airport almost two hours away.
“Well, I still appreciate you making the trip all the way down, so as a thank you, I'll escort you to the bus stop.” It was a short walk from the house, but I didn't feel comfortable letting her walk there alone.
“My, my, what a gentleman.”
“I know, right?” I gave my best, charming smile.
We spent the walk there in a comfortable silence. One of the things I always liked about our friendship was no need for unnecessary chatter. As we reached the bus stop, I glanced up at the star-filled sky. One of the perks of being in a small town like ours was that you got to see a lot more of them.
“You know, looking at the sky like this makes me realize how much I miss it here.” Candace suddenly announced, also gazing up.
“Yeah, I don’t imagine New York’s polluted sky to be quite as sexy.”
“No, it’s not.”
I studied her face out of the corner of my eye as she continued to admire Maple Hill’s night sky with her large, round eyes. Maybe she was just homesick? One thing about Candace was that you could never exactly tell what she was thinking, and I knew her better than... well anybody. “Hey, is everything -”
A bright light interrupted me mid-sentence.
She turned to me as the bus pulled up. “It was good seeing you and Arena. And make sure you give your mom a big hug for me.”
“I will.” I responded somewhat awkwardly, never
good at goodbyes. What did you do with your hands?
The bus honked at us to speed up our little farewell.
“Hold your balls!” She screamed back. “People these days, can’t they see we’re having a heart-wrenching, emotional farewell?” Candace huffed and smiled at me.
I couldn’t help but laugh; this was the Candace I remembered. “Get out of here, crazy.”
She grabbed me in a sudden embrace. “It really was good seeing you again. You better get your ass enrolled at Addison as soon as you possible, you hear me?”
“I will.” I stood there and let her hug me, feeling like she needed it for some reason.
She released me without saying anything more and made her way on to the bus. As it started up, I waved at her even though she wouldn’t look back. Some philosophical thing about always looking forward, who knows. I continued to watch the bus as its lights eventually faded from view and darkness once again enveloped the area. I barely noticed it though as my thoughts were focused on my new unbelievable situation.
I would finally be able to get out of this town! But what was this business with me and my late father’s research? I had a million and one questions for this Dean Dexter. Either which way, it was safe to say my life was going to get a lot more interesting, or chaotic, whichever way you looked at it. Despite my anxiousness, I smiled. Even a little chaos was better than being bored, right?
Chapter 3 - Partay
I didn’t really feel like going to school the next day. Undoubtedly, all that was waiting for me were looks of pity and empty praise. The loss was still fresh in my mind, but alas, I had a perfect attendance record to keep. I was one of the few kids in the town who actually took school seriously. I mean, knowledge was power after all. The day went by without much incident, but just as expected, I received a wave of condolences, telling me how it was just bad luck how we’d lost the football game.
I knew they meant well but didn’t feel like hearing it. I didn't believe in bad luck anyway. It was your own skill that determined whether you failed or succeeded, not luck. I actually missed Shawn’s ramblings at times like these. But for some reason, he wasn’t in school that day, which meant I’d be walking home. To make things worse, the sun was out and angry, making me sweat all over, despite only walking for a few minutes.
I tried mentally escaping like they told you to do when you were in an undesirable situation. So, shutting my eyes, I envisioned myself eating ice cream in an igloo but still felt like passing out in the Florida heat. Someone save me. Just when I was about to commence melting, a car’s horn sounded next to me.
“Hey, buddy, need a ride?”
I blinked my eyes, but he was still there; Taylor Louis in the flesh. I stood rooted in place, staring at him in his red Tahoe. Our last meeting had been a lot less… friendly, but he was acting the total opposite of that. Well, it's not like it'd been personal; we weren't enemies or anything.
“So, can I take your silence as a yes?” He laughed.
“Oh, uh, sure, I’m down.” Even though I was a bit confused by his presence; there wasn’t a real reason to turn down the offer. Plus, if I stayed in the heat any longer, I’d be resembling scrambled eggs in no time. Hopping in his car’s passenger seat, I was immediately grateful as the air conditioner blasted me right in the face with cold bliss, making me let out an involuntary sigh.
“Ha, you really were dyin’ out in that heat, huh?” Taylor drove off.
“Ha, yeah, you saved me back there.” I really was thankful but was much more curious as to why he was still in my town. “I thought your team already went back to your district?”
“Nah, we’re here for an extra day, so I wanted to meet the guy who was able to knock me on my ass.” He his head turned to me and smiled. “You got some guts, man. I don’t think I’ve ever been hit that hard, and some big dudes have hit me.”
I smiled wide at all the praise, feeling like it actually meant something. I mean Taylor wasn’t just anyone, he had been on the cover of magazines and even on TV; he was a local hero in our area.
“Oh, my house is just up here, make a right at the stop sign.” I was so focused on the conversation, I barely noticed we were near my home.
“Nah dude, I’m taking you to a little party the team is havin’. We got some chicks there, and they are fineee.” He continued down the road.
“Oh…” I guess this wasn’t the worst way to spend my day. And I liked fine girls.
Eventually, we pulled up to some buildings that looked empty. There were alleyways in-between them that also looked deserted.
“The party’s here?” I knew this town like the back of my hand, so knew we were in an area with mostly abandoned apartments and buildings.
“Yeah, bro, we're set up in a little, abandoned spot right up the way.” He got out of his truck.
Plenty of kids in this town used the empty buildings for many things. It was our own little getaway from the adults. I followed close behind and examined the surrounding area. There were large, green dumpsters lined up on both sides of the alley and trash scattered all over the ground. A vague memory played in my mind of coming out here with a girl my sophomore year. While lost in the rather enjoyable vision, I bumped into something.
Taylor Louis had drawn to a halt in front of me. I figured we'd already reached the spot when he pivoted towards me like a flash of lightning and threw a punch right at my face. His giant-sized fist grazed my forehead as it whooshed by. Luckily, I saw it in time, so I had just enough time to step back to avoid a direct blow. And thank God it wasn’t, because being hit by those boulders he called fists wasn’t going to do my face any favors.
“What the hell are you doing!?” I yelled breathlessly, checking my face for any damage and discovered a gash above my left eyebrow, blood trickling down from it in a slow stream.
“I’m just payin’ you back, man.”
Something about the way he answered so calmly set my Spidey senses off. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up in response. “What the hell are you talking about? I didn’t do anything to you!” I still couldn’t believe he had intended to bash my face in!
“You did plenty.” Dust kicked up from the ground as he slowly circled me, causing him to resemble a shark circling its prey.
Humans were interesting creatures. Despite our high level of intelligence whenever we were confronted with danger, we resorted back to our primitive ways. Algebra didn’t matter now. The fact that I knew the square root of Pi was useless to me. We were animals again, in our purest form. My fight or flight response kicked in as my muscles tensed up and my breath became heavier. Whether I was ready to fight or fly, I didn’t know, but fighting this Hulk of a human seemed unwise. Fight or flight? Maybe there was a third option.
“This is stupid, Taylor, do you really wanna risk getting in trouble and blow your chances at a scholarship?” I still didn’t know what his vendetta was against me, but just needed him to believe this was a lose-lose situation.
“You’ve already managed to do that! You made me look bad in front of the scouts that came to see me! Even my teammates are calling me soft. All because of you!”
I studied his face as he continued circling me, the calmness he displayed earlier gone now, in its place a menacing snarl. He lunged at me a second later, but I had my guard up and sidestepped him. A gust of wind ruffled my shirt as he flew passed me. Taylor was fast for his size, but not faster than me. Reasoning with him clearly wasn’t going to work; he had only one thing on his mind.
“Stay still and take your ass-whoopin' like a man!” He was becoming more and more agitated as the seconds ticked by.
As I mentioned before, I took boxing lessons off and on since childhood, so I sort of knew what I was doing. The few fights I’d had, I’d won easily, but I had a feeling this one wouldn’t be. Taking a deep breath and steeling myself, I got in my boxing stance, raising both fists. The pen mightier than the sword, my ass. Sometimes you have no choice but to fight.
“So,
you decided to stop being a wuss, huh? Don’t worry; I won’t try to mess you up too much. I have a reputation to keep. The people love me around here, ya know?” He smiled a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
Before I could respond, he closed in on me, fast. I jumped to the side as he swung wildly at me, nearly losing balance as my foot slipped on a burger wrapper that littered the ground. But I quickly gathered myself and bounced from foot to foot as he prepared himself to attack again. My strategy was to keep moving and find openings to strike. There was no way I could have a slugfest with someone of his size. Speed was my advantage, but instead of rushing, he approached me cautiously this time.
Taylor launched a right hook that I managed to block. Each rock-sized knuckle slammed into my forearms as the force of the blow knocked me back. He immediately followed up with a vicious uppercut that I dodged by leaning my head to the right. Countering, I threw a straight jab at his stomach that felt more like punching a brick wall. He barely reacted, however, and continued advancing towards me. Taylor Louis was relentless in his attacks as he sent another flurry of brutal punches that had me bobbing and weaving.
A straight jab that I bent my knees and dipped my head to avoid. A left hook aimed at my body I twisted away from, feeling his fist graze my rib-cage. The maneuver put me on my heels, retreating the only option; he was just too big. I staggered forward as my back suddenly hit one of the giant, green dumpsters that filled the alley-way and barely managed to raise my arms in time to block as he sent down a thunderstorm of combinations. Each brutal shot that rattled off my arms had me wincing and grunting.
Despite the predicament, I tried to remain calm, knowing panic would be my downfall. I had to use his aggressiveness against him. Taylor continued his unending attack, but I could barely even feel the blows anymore, my arms completely numb. A moment later, my eyes opened wide as he winded up for a haymaker to finish me off. Now’s my chance!
Sixty-Seven Salamanders Page 2
