Palatinii Cycle

by G'vonni Avner

  “You know, if I didn’t see you date about five girls over spring break alone, I wouldn’t have ever guessed that you were straight,” Emily said.

  “Hey, I didn’t date five girls,” Tyson said. He started to speak but was interrupted by Emily.

  “Date, sleep with, who cares what you call it. Either way, it was gross. Right, Katie?” Emily’s words snapped as they left her mouth.

  “Sorry?” Katie asked. “I spaced out a bit.”

  Emily looked at Katie for a moment before Tyson started to speak again.

  “Hey, I’m not that kind of guy,” he objected, defending himself.

  “Let’s see, star of the football team, and you’re not even a quarterback, your mom owns a company that makes you the richest kid in school, you can show up late to classes and don’t get assigned detention,” Emily was counting on her fingers. “Shall I go on?” she said with a wide, sarcastic smile.

  “No, no,” Katie stopped Emily, pulling her hand down, “Give the poor player a break.”

  “I just want to say that I don’t hang out with any of the other guys on the team, I don’t have any of my mother’s money, just what my dad left me, which wasn’t that much, and I had detention last weekend.”

  “Oh, your first?” Katie said. “I wanna hear about this one.”

  “Doesn’t matter, it was boring, and now I’m graduating so it won’t happen again,” Tyson replied. “And I didn’t sleep with those girls. We were just hanging out.”

  “Whatever,” Katie said. “I wasn’t there and whatever happened, happened. I’m over it, Tyson’s over it, so let’s just all be over it. If that old shrink from the school hears us, he might stalk us until he diagnoses us with gossip syndrome or something.”

  Emily and Tyson laughed. Nobody at the school liked the psychiatrist that worked there. There had been a suicide a few years back, and he insisted that he saw each student about it.

  They later discovered that the student who committed suicide was the only student who was seeing the psychiatrist at the time and was on medication.

  “He might be crazy, but he helped me when my brother died,” Emily said.

  A little over a year ago, Emily’s youngest brother died in a car accident. Emily was driving at the time, so she felt responsible, even though it was the other driver that caused the accident. They sentenced the driver to twenty-five years in prison for child slaughter. During the ensuing months, Emily rarely talked and the closest thing to a smile on her face would be a grimace when something reminded her of her brother.

  Katie and Tyson supported her as much as she would let them and were only two of the many who were worried that Emily wouldn’t make it through. But about four months ago, Emily arrived at school almost as if she were an entirely different person. She was cheerful and full of determination. She wanted to live again. When asked what had happened, Emily replied by saying she had “found a way to move on”.

  When pressed further by her friends, not knowing if she was all right, wondering if she was sick or if it was some new coping mechanism, she started to joke around about feeling depressed. Now and then she and Tyson would joke about it, but Tyson didn’t press further, which seemed to make Emily happy.

  “I have to go,” Katie blurted, looking down at her phone. “Sorry, but my dad wants me home early today. He says he has a surprise for me!” she said excitedly. “Probably a graduation present!”

  “Little princess gets a new car?” Emily asked.

  “I doubt it,” Katie said, “My parents may have money, but they would never let me become some spoiled rich brat, even if I wanted to be, which I don’t. That’s Tyson’s job.”

  “Hey!” Emily laughed and put her free hand on Katie’s shoulder, more serious for a moment, “You know, I was only joking.”

  “I know you were,” Katie replied, “But others don’t. I hear them saying things now and then. Not even about Tyson, just about me.”

  “Well, who cares?” Tyson asked. “You’ve made it this far, you don’t need them anymore. You have us.”

  Katie glanced at him and smiled. “I know, thank you,” she hugged Tyson. “I’ll see you two tomorrow for breakfast at the diner,” and with that, she walked away towards her car, climbed in, and drove off.

  Tyson and Emily continued to walk through the parking lot, which was packed with students, but emptying by the minute.

  “God, that friend-zone must really suck!” Emily said in a mocking tone.

  Tyson looked at her, confused. “What are you talking about?”

  “Seriously?” Emily stared at him with such annoyance and arrogance that Tyson almost felt as if he were looking up at her, even though she was inches shorter than he was.

  “That obvious?” he asked, looking away, defeated, and sighing. He wondered why she sounded so bitter but brushed it off.

  “Yeah,” Emily laughed. “For over a year now, at least. Why haven’t you asked her out?”

  “I don’t know,” Tyson said. “I don’t want things to be awkward, I guess.”

  “But if you two were dating, you would have been Prom King and Queen,” Emily replied.

  “We’re not that popular,” Tyson said in disgust.

  They were almost through the parking lot. Tyson didn’t live far from the school, so he never took his car there and Emily didn’t have a car, and hated the bus, so she always walked home.

  “What are you talking about?” Emily asked. “You two are the most talked-about people at school. Sure, you don’t hang out with any of the guys on the football team because you think they’re jerks. And the only reason anyone says anything bad behind your back is because they are jealous.”

  “People talk behind my back?” Tyson asked, genuinely surprised.

  “Never mind,” Emily said quickly. “All I know is that you’re super cool and Katie is one of the most beautiful girls at the school. You two are perfect for each other.”

  “I haven’t let myself think much about it,” Tyson confessed. “We’ve been friends for so long, it would be weird if we started dating. Yeah, I would probably like it. But would she?”

  “Uh, yeah!” Emily said with an exaggerated nod that nearly caused her to drop her books.

  “Here, let me carry these for you,” Tyson said, grabbing the books out of her hand. Tyson was already carrying a backpack and a large gym bag over his shoulder but carried Emily’s books with ease.

  “Katie’s dating Edgar now,” Tyson said. “And she’s dated other guys before. She’s obviously not interested.”

  “She would say the same about you,” Emily replied. “Besides, Katie isn’t dating Edgar anymore.”

  “What?” Tyson asked. “They were dating yesterday.”

  “And last night Katie caught Edgar cheating on her with Monica. So they are never getting back together. Like ever,” Emily said.

  “Is Katie alright?” Tyson asked.

  “Yeah, she said that he wasn’t treating her well before that, anyway. She also wasn’t sure if she wanted to date him again after they broke up the first time,” Emily said. “Katie basically found out why he was acting like an ass. Apparently, Edgar was really into Catherine, so he went out with Katie to make her jealous, but never caught Catherine’s attention, so he tried to use Monica to get Catherine jealous. But Catherine already told Edgar that she needed time to think about it when he first asked her out, which really means that she wasn’t interested. So Edgar was trying to juggle three women and got none. They say he will be in the hospital for a couple of months.”

  She said this all quickly and was now trying to catch her breath.

  “How did he end up in the hospital?”

  “They beat him up,” she said nonchalantly.

  “Seriously?” Tyson asked, incredulous. “How badly?”

  “No,” laughed Emily. “I was just kidding, don’t take everything so seriously, Tyson. He got a slap or two in the face, but he’s fine.”

  They walked on in silence for a bit. They
left the main grounds of the school and continued down the sidewalk. There weren’t many cars around, and no one was walking down the road. It was unusual, especially after school. Tyson and Emily didn’t notice.

  “Hey, Emily, wait up!” they heard a voice from behind.

  Tyson and Emily turned around to see who had called her. A rather skinny male ran up to them. He was pale and freckled and wore dark skinny jeans. His hair was short enough that it stood up on his head without being told to.

  “What do you want, Vince?” Emily asked, annoyed.

  “Look,” he started to speak, then hesitated for a moment.

  “What is it?” Emily asked.

  Vince took a deep breath and said, “I’m just going to say it. The reason I acted the way I did was because my buddy, Alger, said he would give me twenty bucks if I could get in bed with you.”

  “Oh, wow!” Emily said angrily. “Twenty whole bucks! Even I’m not desperate enough to do something like that for twenty bucks. How do you feel, Vince? Richer than Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg? Like you’ve now accomplished something with your life?”

  Vince sensed that he had said something stupid and spoke with less confidence this time, “It wasn’t too hard for me to do. I mean, look at you,” he smiled as if hoping he was complimenting her. “If there’s one great thing about you it’s that you’re so hot that you’ll never have trouble getting guys. And it’s not like I’m the only one who has done something like this to you. I’m sure you used to it by now.”

  “Oh, okay! Makes sense now!” Emily said with a large, fake and cheery smile.

  “R-really?” Vince stammered.

  “No!” Emily screeched at him and slapped him hard across the face.

  She slapped him once more on the other side and Vince staggered back and put his hands to his cheeks.

  “You crazy bitch!”

  Those were the wrong words to say.

  Tyson threw a powerful punch at Vince that hit him hard on his nose. Tyson thought he may have felt Vince’s nose break but didn’t care. All he wanted was to avenge Emily. He had always thought it was sick how much bullshit she went through and how many guys took advantage of her.

  Vince fell to the ground, his nose splattering blood down his front.

  Tyson was breathing hard, not from exertion, but adrenaline, fueled by his anger. His knuckles had blood on them.

  “You didn’t have to do that,” said Emily, but sounded pleased all the same. She and Tyson looked down at Vince in disgust. He was slowly starting to get up while covering his nose with one hand. Blood leaked through his fingers.

  “Don’t come near me again,” Emily said and then pulled Tyson away from him. They continued down the street. When Tyson looked back, Vince had just managed to get up and was walking the other way.

  “We could get in so much trouble,” Emily said. “I haven’t lost control like that in years.”

  Tyson said nothing.

  They kept on walking until Emily broke the silence.

  “I really hate him.”

  “So do I,” Tyson replied.

  “I can see that,” said Emily. “You almost looked more pissed than me.”

  Tyson cracked a smile. He liked Emily for many reasons, but one of the main things he admired about her was how resilient she was.

  “And by the way, where the hell did you learn how to punch like that?” asked Emily, impressed.

  “I’m on the football team,” he replied.

  “Yeah, not the hockey team,” Emily retorted.

  Tyson shrugged. “They’re both sports.”

  “Well, I appreciated it,” Emily said. “It’s nice to know that you have my back like that.”

  “Of course,” Tyson said.

  Emily looked back for a second. The street was now empty. “I know you live at the end of the street, but do you mind walking me home?”

  “Sure,” he said, completely unaware of the girl who was watching them from a distance.

  They continued to walk down the road. Their observer kept watching them, but stayed out of sight and did not follow. When Tyson and Emily were out of sight, she walked down the street. She was attempting to behave normally, seem like someone on a casual stroll, but she kept looking back as if she were waiting for something

  And then it came. A white car drove down the street. Katie was driving it. She had forgotten something in class and went back to pick it up. The girl smiled. This was what she was waiting for. The girl put out her arm and Katie felt her car slow down to a halt. She hadn’t touched the brakes herself.

  Katie pushed on the gas but nothing happened. She then noticed the girl and rolled down her window.

  “Can I help you?” Katie asked.

  “Hello, Katie,” the girl replied. Katie thought the girl’s voice sounded familiar. Plus, the girl seemed to know who she was, so she asked, “Do I know you?”

  “We’ve met,” the girl answered curtly.

  Katie eyed her warily, “When? And where?”

  “A while back,” the girl answered. “We’ve known each other for a very long time. But you wouldn’t remember. You wouldn’t remember how we used to be best friends.”

  “What are you talking about?” Katie asked. Her hands became slightly clammy. She was nervous. She tried to drive off, but the gas pedal still didn’t respond.

  The girl looked up at the sky. “You’ve forgotten everything, then. That makes things easier.”

  “What have I forgotten?” Katie asked, scared but also curious.

  “That I have been your best friend since before you were born. That I almost killed you and Tyson as children but I, having had a good heart, let you two live. That day wasn’t your day to die. And neither is today. You will learn soon enough, Katie. And soon enough, you will remember. And you will see what I see.”

  “Okay, what the hell? I’m done with this,” Katie yelped and drove off. This time the car moved. It skidded down the road. Katie looked in the rearview mirror, but the girl was already gone. She knew the girl. Katie couldn’t quite remember how, but she knew her.

  Her phone rang. It was her father.

  “Hey, dad,” she answered.

  “Are you almost home?”

  “Yeah on my way, I forgot something at school. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

  “Is everything alright?”

  Katie hesitated.

  “Sabrina,” she breathed. She remembered. She remembered that day.

  There was a moment of silence on the phone.

  “Come straight home and don’t stop for anyone,” her father said. “Your mother and I need to talk to you.”

  2

  The Queen’s Plan

  After her brief stop on Earth to speak to Katie, Sabrina returned to her homeworld. The hallway she appeared in was dimly lit. The walls were made of stone, as were the black and gray tiles beneath her feet.

  Despite the dark coloring of the room, the hall had an eerie green hue to it, so slight it was barely discernible.