After everything had been loaded neatly in the dishwasher, I wished Sophie a good night and headed upstairs. My room was on the far right end of the hall. I pushed the door open and switched on the light. The bulb glowed to life and brightened the inside of my room. It was relatively small compared to the one I had had in my parents’ house in Indianapolis, but I felt comfortable here. It had been my little hiding place throughout the past few years. Whatever happened outside in the wide, wide world, I had some space that nobody could touch without my agreement. I felt safe.
The wooden shelves threw geometric shadows on the beige walls. They were untidy and filled with tons of books. A small desk and a chair stood opposite the window. More books were strewn on them along with CDs and clothes. The broad iron bed was situated on the left wall next to a closet. It didn’t match the rest of the furniture.
I sat down on the bed and pulled the soft light blue blanket around me. The room needed tidying, I unwillingly admitted to myself. Clothes were strewn everywhere. Books I hadn’t finished lay on the bedside table, on the floor, on the window sill. I stood up and started by picking up the one that lay on the bedside table. It was a romance titled Dreaming of you. It was about a girl, Ellen, who always fell in love with the wrong boys until she met somebody and boom—love at first sight. I had borrowed it from Amber, and I strongly intended to give it back to her without finishing it. Ellen was pathetic in her whining about how bad the boys treated her. It was her own fault she was never treated with respect. She never told the guys that she didn’t like the way they treated her, she just moaned the patience out of her friends until none of them were left.
More and more repulsed by the dumb main character, I stuffed Amber’s book into my bag with the other things I needed for school the next day. Then I swooshed through the room picking up the dirty clothes. I threw them into the washing machine on my way to the bathroom.
A few minutes later I stepped out from under the hot shower, wrapped a thick, fluffy towel around my body and brushed my teeth, my eyes nearly falling shut without my permission. The warm water had made me drowsy. I dragged myself to my room and fell onto my bed. Rain started to dribble down the window. The sound made me even sleepier and I drifted away to the land of dreams in no time.
* * *
The shrill sound of the alarm clock made me sit upright. My right hand killed the noise while my left arm pushed my body out of bed and to my feet. I browsed through the contents of the closet and soon headed downstairs, fully dressed. Sophie was waiting impatiently at the open front door, rhythmically tapping her left foot on the floor.
“Coming,” I called on the way to the kitchen. I nearly fell into the fridge as I hastily pulled it open to grab a yogurt. While shutting the fridge, I turned for a spoon and found one in the sink. I quickly rinsed it and put it into my pocket, then hurried to put on my shoes. I grabbed the cat and placed him on the other side of the threshold. Then I closed the door behind me.
“Have fun catching mice!” I called after Nigel as I sprinted to Sophie’s car behind her.
I ate the yogurt on the way. Sophie eyed me disapprovingly.
“If you make a mess in my car with your breakfast, you will clean it.”
“We are late already. What would you have suggested? Start cooking oatmeal, wait until it cools to an adequate temperature for eating and then arrive an hour late? Or school without breakfast?” I snapped at her. Tired and hungry as I was, I couldn’t stand somebody griping at me.
“Have a nice day.” Sophie said as she stopped in front of the school.
I licked the rest of my breakfast off the spoon, wrapped it in a tissue and pocketed it.
“Bye,” I called as I jumped out of the car and slung my bag over my shoulder.
Angel
I was sprinting from the parking lot to the school building. I was late already. The ground under my shoes was moist from the rain. It had rained the whole night and it was uncomfortably wet for the season.
“Hey Claire, who is chasing you?” I heard Gregory Milton-Davis yell from somewhere behind me. I slowed and filed in behind the others that were hurrying inside the school building. Gregory caught up with me before I reached the door. He was only a few inches taller than me, but a lot broader. His shoulders had exploded into a broad muscular form over the summer and he looked good. I wasn’t the only one to notice the difference. Three girls were giggling, taking turns looking at him. I recognized two of them but I didn’t know the third one.
“You!” I nudged him with my elbow. “Did you notice you’ve become so attractive over the summer?” I pointed at the giggling girls.
“Careful, lady, or I’ll tell everyone, that you are desperate for an invitation to prom,” he laughed in a self-confident manner.
“Thanks Greg,” I answered, black humor surfacing in my voice. “I guess then I’ll just tell everyone, that you need a dancing instructor. I know somebody who’ll be only too happy to offer the service.” I nodded at the giggling girls again. Not knowing what to answer, Gregory sped up a little. I had to hurry up to keep up with him.
We made it to class just in time and sat down.
“This sucks! It’s the first class on the first day after the summer, and we start with physics. Why does it have to be physics? Why not biology?” Amber threw a black curl over her shoulder and flashed one of her breathtaking smiles as she joined us.
“I’m glad it’s not history,” I answered, turning around. “Hi Amber.”
“Where were you on Saturday?”
“Oh no, I forgot…What did I miss?” We had planned a picnic in the park.
Amber flashed an enthusiastic smile before she started to vividly retell Saturday’s events in every detail.
“Jenny brought Sam with her. I didn’t know they were a couple …must have happened during the summer.”
Jenny was a drama queen. I was sure everybody in school knew by now that she and Sam were a couple, just as everybody would get all the details when they broke up. Amber and I agreed it was only a matter of time—a drama queen is always waiting for her great scene. “We thought, maybe watch movies next week. Are you in?”
I nodded. I wouldn’t miss a movie night with my friends.
The bell rang and Mrs. Peterson entered the room enthusiastically.
“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I know you have been enjoying your freedom for the past few months, but now you are back to reality.“ She reminded us of classroom rules and reminded us of the importance of Senior year before transitioning to physics. ”Open your books. Page forty-three”
The room filled with animated conversation and the rustling of paper. It felt like no time had passed. We could have been sitting in this room all summer. If it hadn’t been for new gray strands in Mrs. Peterson’s hair-do and other slight changes like Gregory’s broader shoulders or Jenny’s sudden affection for Sam, I wouldn’t have noticed any difference.
* * *
“Greg was watching you the whole period,” Amber commented once class was over.
“Hey, you were supposed to concentrate on the principles of physics,” I joked.
“That’s exactly what I did,” she threw back at me, “I learned a lot about magnetism.” She winked at me. “He’s still looking at you, like you’re his magnet and he’s being pulled towards you.” Her voice was melodramatic. She grinned and waved at Gregory.
“You’re stupid.” I hated it when she tried to put meaning into people’s simplest actions. “Greg and I are great friends, as you might have noticed in the past two years.” I shot her a warning look. “Don’t go making a scene if he happens to look in my direction …he has eyes, he needs to look somewhere if he doesn’t want to close them,” I muttered to her while Greg was making his way our direction.
“Hey guys!” Lydia joined us. “What are we discussing?”
“Greg’s been looking at Claire oddly during class. I’m sure she bewitched him before they came in the classroom. They entered together, you mu
st know.” Amber said dryly before I could open my mouth to speak.
“Oh no, not again,” Lydia complained, “Claire, you can’t walk around bewitching people.” She laughed, and Amber joined in as Gregory was close enough to hear their words. I couldn’t suppress a grin.
“What are you laughing at?” Gregory looked at the three of us, helpless.
“We are discussing the improved effect you seem to have on the girls around you,” Amber shot at him before I could stop her. Gregory shifted uncomfortably. I gave an unenthusiastic laugh.
“We’d better hurry up, girls!” Greg changed the topic, “It’s time for a little improvement of the effect we seem to have on our teachers.”
“Oh no …history,” I groaned. I hated history. No matter what I did, I wasn’t able to memorize any numbers or names or dates. It was no good trying. And we had Ms. Weaver, she was a depressing person. Always moaning about what had gone wrong in history. She never pointed out anything positive about historical events. Everything was bad—bad, bad, bad. It was unnerving.
The morning hours dragged by. I found my mind wandering, lingering nowhere specific. The day was like any day at school. Stretching endlessly, without particular meaning for my present life, except that today every teacher was talking about the significance of our last school year and of how we should do everything we could to succeed, starting today.
* * *
Lunchtime was too short to get a proper update on everything that had happened during the summer.
“I learned a lot there, honestly.” Amber declared. She had been to a summer camp for young actors somewhere in Chicago for three weeks. “I could improve my monologues, I’m rather good now. At least Mr. Landon said so.”
“So you are going to try out for a role in the school play this year?” I asked. Amber was a talented actress. She had been too modest to audition for a part in the play last year. Maybe she would give it a try this year if we encouraged her enough. “You really should. I’d love to see you on stage.”
“Let’s see what the play is this year.” Amber winked. “What have you been up to anyway? I haven’t seen you since the last movie night.” She shot me a questioning look.
“Nothing special,” I defended my absence. “I helped Sophie around the house and stuff.”
It hadn’t taken too much time cleaning the house and mowing the lawn, but I had needed to spend a little time on my own. It was always like this in the summers. They reminded me of my parents and the great times we had had. “Sophie’s giving one of her parties this Saturday. Semester is about to start and everybody’s back in town, so if you want, come.” I got to my feet and wanted to hurry off to the next class, but I turned back again. “You too Greg.” He gave me a wide smile and jumped to his feet.
It was nice of Gregory to accompany me to the next class. He had a different class and the room he should have headed for was located at the other end of the building.
“Thank you for the invitation.” Gregory said. I felt his gaze from the side and decided not to look at him.
“You’re welcome. Bring some friends if you like.” We were nearly there. “I’ll find the way to the classroom on my own, Greg. See you tomorrow.”
He waved at me—“See you!”—and jogged in the other direction.
The classroom was nearly full. I spotted Lydia in the far corner and headed over to sit next to her.
* * *
The sun was breaking through the clouds in orange rays. The ground that had been moist in the morning was dry now.
I was walking down the street with Lydia. She lived a little farther down the same street I lived on. She was very quiet, it was unusual even for her shy nature.
“The first day wasn’t too bad.” I tried to start a conversation.
“Hm…” was the only thing I got from her.
“What’s up, Lyd?” I asked, wondering what was going on in her head.
“My mum has been bugging me lately. She wants me to start working right away after graduation.” Her head shook in disgust. “I don’t want to work in some restaurant or elsewhere, Claire! I want to study Mechanical Engineering.”
“Then you should.” I encouraged her. “Just because she never made it to college…”
“That’s not the problem.” she interrupted.
“Then what is?”
“It’s ludicrous…”
“I won’t laugh, I promise.” What on earth could her mother say to make her question her dream.
“She says—well, she says it’s not a job for a woman.”
I couldn’t believe it. This was ludicrous!
“Lyd, you can’t take that seriously. You want to study Mechanical Engineering—you do it. Don’t think about it at all. Your mom is old fashioned.”
Lydia smiled at me. She was a brilliant girl, she should study whatever she liked. It would be a waste if she didn’t.
We reached Lydia’s place and she turned and headed for the door.
“See you, Claire,” she called over her shoulder.
“Yeah, see you!”
I walked down the street taking in my surroundings. Everything looked a lot like summer still. The trees were green and the grass was lush and the air was warm. My fingers played with the sleeve of my shirt. It was pretty old. Sophie had worn it for years before I had rescued it from the thrash. I didn’t know the color it had originally had. I guessed a dark bluish green, but it was so washed-out and faded it looked more like a greenish gray. When I stood in front of our house I decided I didn’t want to be home yet. Sophie would still be on campus. I started walking again, and I instantly knew where I would go.
It took me only fifteen minutes to reach the wrought iron gate. It squeaked when I slowly pulled it open. My shoes made loud noises on the gravel path.
The graveyard was not big, but big enough to walk more than a minute to reach the center. Big trees stood between the graves, shielding them from sight. Some of the trees must have been quite old considering their size. It was a peaceful place. Hardly anybody came here. Most graves were old.
I slowly walked down the path until I saw the stone angel. It stood there motionless and silent as always. The harmony of the image was amazing. The faded stone angel grieving over the even more faded gravestone in the middle of a blur of green. The branches of an ancient willow hung to the ground beside it.
I moved towards the angel cautiously, trying to not make a noise. I didn’t want to disturb the peaceful harmony of the angel’s grief.
How can something so sad be so beautiful, I thought to myself.
“How can something so beautiful be so sad,” I heard a soft voice from behind me. I jumped. Slowly I turned around. I hadn’t expected to meet anybody here. Nobody ever visited that grave.
There he stood, leaning against the trunk of the willow. He was tall and broad-shouldered. His clothes were sporty: jeans and a dark gray sweater. Nothing special or peculiar. The hood of his sweater was pulled up, hiding his face in shadows. His arms were folded across his chest. He dropped them slowly.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you,” he said. He slowly walked towards me, looking at the ground as if he was afraid to meet my gaze.
“It’s okay,” I answered automatically, “I just didn’t expect to meet anybody.” He was standing a few feet away now, looking at his sneakers. Silence filled the air around us and made me feel uncomfortable.
I tried to avoid it stretching too long. “I didn’t hear you coming.” Not the very best way to start a conversation, I thought.
“I have been standing here for a while.” Strands of dark hair moved under the fringe of his hood as he shifted his weight. “You only had eyes for the angel.” He looked up. I was slightly shocked. His face was strikingly beautiful. High cheekbones, straight nose and full, palish lips. “But I can understand. The beauty of his appearance is heartbreaking.” Of your appearance, I corrected in my head.
He took a step closer and offered me his outstretched hand.
<
br /> “My name is Adam Gallager.”
Too perplexed to say anything, I reached out and shook it once.
“And you are?”
“Claire…” I shook my head and felt my mind focus itself a little. “Claire Gabriel.”
“It’s an honor to meet you, Claire Gabriel.” He indicated a bow.
As he looked up again, he met my eyes. My heart missed a beat. His eyes were the most compelling thing I had ever seen. They were a light shade of green, similar to the first grass in spring, but a lot paler. I had to remind myself to close my mouth.
“How come you are standing in the middle of the graveyard on a beautiful day like this?” he asked lightly.
“Long story,” I answered, both hoping and fearing he would want to hear it.
“I have time to listen,” he offered.
I was tempted by the strange trust I felt towards him, but I knew better than to spread the whole story of my life in front of a stranger just like that.
“What are you doing here, anyway?” The words came out a little too harsh. “I mean—You said, you had been there for a while before I came here. I didn’t see you.”
A light breeze ruffled my hair. It was the heat of late summer in Illinois that drove tiny droplets of sweat onto my forehead. Or was it Adam, who was gazing at me as if he was still waiting for my story. It seemed like the world had stopped and started turning another way. I wiped my face with the back of my hand and looked away, awkward.
“I was standing on the other side of the willow at my Gran’s grave when I heard your steps. Usually nobody comes here, so I just had a look around the tree and there you were.” He gave an apologetic shrug. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
White (The Wings Trilogy Book 1) Page 2
