My plans crumbled around me and I sagged in defeat. I wouldn’t be stuck with Chloe, who was beside me, but Dylan happily sat across from me, knowing luck always managed to throw us together.
“No arguments. Think of this as an opportunity to make a new friend.”
“Ms. G, you do know that we’ve all been stuck together since kindergarten, right?” Andrew asked.
“Not all of you have and that does not mean you’re friends. After high school, you will have to work with not only people you have never met, but also people you don’t like.”
Chloe half raised her hand and asked, “What if someone ends up with a partner they’ve already worked with?”
“Then lucky them,” Ms. Garcia said, smiling as she gave her standard response when someone wanted to make things more complicated. She handed the bag to the first student. “Tyler, pull a name and pass the bag.”
The paper bag made its way down our side of the U and when it came to me, I pulled out a folded green sticky note then handed the bag to Chloe. She pulled out an identical piece and opened it immediately. I peeked at the name she had. Micah. Across the room, Dylan looked at me hopefully.
I unfolded my paper. Dylan.
I glanced back up at him. For a moment, I saw him as he was four years ago, when he passed me a note, asking me to the movies. He’d been on the scrawny side and his hair had hung around his face in a mop of curls, but he’d been the cutest boy in class. He’d been a boy who made me smile when he said the sweetest things.
That Dylan was gone. The one staring at me now was a completely unknown person.
I shook my head and he slumped back in his chair. I wouldn’t be doing his work again for him, though I had no clue how I’d get out of it. Chloe leaned over my desk to see my paper, and when she saw his name, she gave me a big smile. She thought I should be happy to have Dylan. Maybe I should have been.
Ms. Garcia asked Tyler to call out the name he pulled and she recorded it on her computer. The next person followed. When my turn came, I hesitated. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t be with him anymore. I crumpled the paper in my hand.
“Ms. Matlin?”
Chloe nudged me with her elbow. Ms. Garcia was staring at me. I looked at Chloe, silently begging her to understand then turn back to Ms. Garcia.
“Micah.” I felt Dylan and Chloe’s surprise and something else, too. The stinging heat of anger. Someone in the room was not impressed with my partnering with Micah. But there wasn’t anything I could do except wait to see what name Chloe called out.
She gave the same long pause I did before finally calling out, “Dylan.”
I’d never been so glad she was my sister.
The rest of the pairs were assigned and Ms. Garcia handed out the rubric she would be using to grade the projects.
“Mr. Paulson has generously allowed us access to his film students, and is encouraging them to help you for extra credit. Presentations will begin the third week of May, and the sign-up sheet will be posted next week. Every class until presentations start is for you to devote to your project. If you choose to use the classroom, wonderful. If your project requires you work elsewhere, please inform me, so I do not count you as absent. Good luck.”
Chaos erupted as everyone began moving at once. Desks shuffled and bodies bumped against me. Beside me, Chloe stood and, before she moved away, leaned close to my ear. “You so owe me.”
I nodded, still frozen in my seat, watching Dylan. When Chloe reached him, he seemed to argue with her. Probably asking to switch partners. She shook her head and made some gesture to Ms. Garcia.
“Are you even awake?” a gruff voice behind me asked. I twisted around. Micah looked anything but happy to be talking to me. Well, at least I knew who was angry about our pairing.
“Yes, sorry. I was just thinking,” I said lamely.
“That’s surprising.” He rolled his eyes and pulled out Chloe’s vacant chair. He threw his books on the desk and sat down. There was no way I could miss his implication.
“What does that mean?” I asked, startled by his attitude. He obviously didn’t like me, although I’d never done anything to him.
“Nothing. Let’s get started.” He opened his binder and flipped through his notes. My own were in front of me, but I had barely a third of what he did and I’d actually been enrolled all year. I felt some relief knowing that he was an English buff. Maybe the project wouldn’t be the disaster my last one with Dylan had been.
“I ranked the projects I’d like to do, and thought the character interview would be a good one. What did you pick as your top choice?” He looked at me expectantly.
“What?” I glanced at his assignment sheet with penciled in numbers beside each option then at my own unmarred page.
“Ms. Garcia said to number our top choices so we could get started quicker.”
“Oh, uh…” I had totally spaced. I’d been so focused on figuring out who to partner with I hadn’t even thought I might have been missing instructions. “The interview sounds fine.”
“What about the movie trailer? Or the puppet theater? Maybe the game show?” There was an odd look in his eye, but I couldn’t figure out what it was.
“Sure, any of those sound good.” I had no idea what the possible projects were and felt guilty. This was the type of thing I’d wanted to avoid with Dylan. Micah could choose the project and I would just go with it. Pacifying people was much easier than arguing over petty things.
“Great. It’s much easier knowing you don’t have your own opinion.” He glanced back at his notes and I just sat in shock. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why he was being so rude. “We’ll do the interview then, with a character from A Streetcar Named Desire. I’m thinking I can have a script together by next week and then we can schedule with one of the film students. I guess that means you’re thinking the same thing.”
He glanced at me and I wanted to argue, if only for the sake of my pride, but my mouth simply hung open. No one had ever been so rude to me. I couldn’t even remember a single person being even a little mean to me. I wasn’t popular, but everyone liked me. It was part of my gift. I made them feel good, so they wanted to be around me even if they weren’t interested in talking to me.
The bell rang and he sprang out of his chair, grabbed his books, and took off out of the room. Apparently, we wouldn’t be getting together to work on the project after school.
“Hey,” Dylan said, coming up behind me.
He placed his hands on my shoulders and I stiffened at the contact. His touch burned me from the inside out. I tried to focus on breathing normally, on finding the source of his emotions, but it passed through me so quick I couldn’t even get a glimpse of it.
“You’re really tense. Maybe you can ask Ms. Garcia to let us switch partners. Micah’s so serious. He needs someone like Chloe to help lighten him up.” He began rubbing my arms.
I scooted out from under his touch and shoved my binder into my backpack. “Sure, why don’t I try to talk to her alone though?”
“Good idea. She definitely likes you more than me, especially after I blew off that Great Gatsby paper. I’ll see you at lunch.”
“Um hmm.”
He leaned down to give me a kiss and I shifted so his lips grazed my cheek. He left and I watched the door swing shut behind him then yawned and widened my eyes, trying to wake them up. He’d completely drained me and I still had over two hours until lunch. I had no idea how I would make it through another two classes when all I wanted to do was lie down and sleep until next week.
“Lily, is everything all right?” Ms. Garcia said from her desk, looking up at me all concerned. “You seem a little distracted lately and it can’t only be because you don’t like Shakespeare.”
“Yeah, I’m okay.” I tried to move, to be natural and act anxious to get the day over with like everyone else, but I couldn’t. Hiding my ability had never been that important to me, and while our close friends knew about it, most people simply
didn’t believe in what I could do. Ms. Garcia was new enough to the school that she probably had never even heard the rumors about my sisters and me. I wanted to keep it that way. I liked that she treated me normally.
She got up from her desk and came around to perch on the edge of mine. “You’ve seemed very withdrawn the past few months. If something is going on at home, or with Dylan…”
“No, I’m just tired. Really. I’ll try to get more sleep tonight.”
“This is more than simply being tired, Lily. Last year, you were a completely different student. You were always on top of things, eager to learn, an amazing role model for your classmates, and for your sister.” There was no need for her to call Phoebe out by name. “Are you sure there’s nothing more going on?”
“I’m sure. Honestly, it’s lack of sleep. That’s all. I need to get to bed earlier.”
“If you’re sure. I want you to know, though, that you can always come talk to me if you need someone to listen.”
“Thanks.” I tried to give her a reassuring smile, but it felt disjointed and she wasn’t buying it considering the expression she wore. She glanced at her computer screen then back at me.
“I’m glad you ended up with Micah. He’s needs someone like you in his life right now.”
Someone like me. The healing me? Or the opinionless, messed up me?
Dylan met me at the entrance to the cafeteria and I swung my backpack onto my shoulder between us, trying to keep him from touching me again. I needed my energy to make it through the rest of the day.
“What did Garcia say?” he asked.
“I tried, but she said if she changed it for us, she’d have to do it for everyone.” I gave a casual yawn and hoped he didn’t try and ask her himself.
“What a bitch. You should have dumped that in your locker,” he said, gesturing to my bag as we made our way into the line.
I shrugged and gripped the bag tighter. Typically, I avoided eating in the cafeteria. It was like a wading pool of emotional problems where everyone congregated. Dylan and I had our favorite spot to sit under one of the trees in the back courtyard and the endless space allowed me to feel more of myself. But being alone with Dylan outside wasn’t any more appealing than the crowded lunchroom. I glanced around, trying to avoid his gaze and my eyes stopped on Micah. He sat at a back table with a couple other kids. “I’m going to talk to Micah. We didn’t set up a time to meet.”
“What the hell?! Can’t you just eat lunch with me?” Anger sparked his words and I shifted a step away from him. He stomped off and my body sagged in relief. The mood swings were always the hardest to prepare for.
I placed a ham sandwich and apple on my tray, punched in my lunch number, and headed straight for Micah. I didn’t really want to talk with him again, but if Dylan saw that I wasn’t it would only cause a bigger problem.
Sliding onto the bench across from Micah, I gave my brightest smile. “Hi.”
He glared at me over the top of the book he was holding before going back to reading. So, that’s how he was going to be.
“I was thinking about the character interview and it’s a good choice.” I tried for a friendly tone. Maybe he thought I was bitchy like Chloe and Phoebe had a tendency to be.
Silence. He didn’t even seem to hear me, but I could feel the annoyance rolling off of him.
“You mentioned filming it. Do you know any of the film students? My sister’s boyfriend, Nathan, is in that class. Maybe he could do it for us.”
No response. He was ignoring me. He wasn’t even pretending to listen.
“So, we didn’t set up a time to work on our project. I thought after school today would be a good time to start.” Another yawn took over me and this time I didn’t mind, because it brought his head up from his book.
“Look, Liz-”
“Lily.”
“Lily. I don’t care if you know one of the film students, or if you suddenly love my choice of projects. It’s real cute that you think you can help, but I don’t need you dragging down my GPA. Just show up in class and I’ll tell you what to do.”
Okay, I was officially offended. It was something I tried to avoid, because I could usually tell the other person was just being overly emotional. But Micah was entirely flat, as if he didn’t feel anything other than annoyance from my presence at his table.
“I’m not stupid, you know,” I said, finally finding my voice to defend myself.
“Sure. Whatever.” He turned back to his book.
I felt like I was ten again and Phoebe had just told me I was the ugly sister.
“Why are you being so rude to me? Why don’t you like me?” Well, that came out completely pathetic.
He sighed and put his book down. “I don’t dislike you. I just hate getting stuck with lazy partners.”
“You haven’t even given me a chance to do anything!”
“I don’t need to give you a chance. I know you.”
“You don’t know me! Today is the first time we’ve even talked.”
“I have three classes with you and it’s the same in each one. You’re completely spaced, half asleep, and your sisters are always lending you their notes.”
I wanted to yell that I was exhausted because Dylan kept sucking all of my energy out, that I was spaced because I was trying to figure out what was happening to Dylan. Instead all I said was, “They borrow my notes.”
“Lily,” Dylan’s voice came from behind me and Micah and I both looked up at him. “I’m sorry about storming off. I just wanted to spend some time with you.”
“It’s okay,” I said, my fingers tingling as Dylan’s hurt reached me. I clenched my hands into fists, trying to resist the urge to heal. “Micah’s busy reading, so I’ll come eat with you.”
“Why don’t we just sit here?” He sat next to me, an inch away. One inch that carried the burning from my hands to the entire right side of my body and caused my stomach to churn.
Micah’s face was back in his book, I silently munched on my sandwich, and Dylan filled the silence with endless complaints about how the last project we’d worked on had lowered his GPA by two points. Just what I needed to instill confidence in Micah.
I finally shoveled my food into my mouth, not caring that I resembled a chipmunk with cheeks stuffed. I just wanted to get away from both of them. Dylan was doing a good job of not showing how furious he was, but the heat of it on my skin grew every second.
The afternoon warning bell rang and I stood up, holding my tray with both hands, careful not to bump Dylan. But he took it from me and stacked it on top of his own, then holding it in one hand, he looped his free arm around my shoulders and gave me a squeeze. The pleasure I’d once felt at the action no longer existed. His anger rushed through me, ripping my heart apart. My shoulders ached with the transfer of his negative energy and a slight gasp escaped my lips. It lasted only seconds, but when it ended, I sagged against him, barely managing to stay standing.
He glanced down at me, concern filling his eyes. “You need to get more sleep, babe.”
I nodded absently and reached back to snag my backpack from the bench. Micah’s eyes caught mine, and there was a curious look in them. Did he know what had just happened? Unless he knew about the gifts my sisters and I had, he’d have no clue. And since most people had finally put it down to gossip, it was more likely he didn’t know. Besides, Dylan knew about my healing ability and most of the time even he had no idea when I was healing him.
Spanish class was the only thing that kept me going for the rest of the day. Immediately after lunch, Mr. Mason decided to show us a Spanish language film and I was able to sleep for the entire hour. At the end of class, I asked to borrow the movie over night so I could watch it again because it had been so interesting. He handed it over eagerly, hoping I would share it with Phoebe, who had been conveniently sick during her Spanish block.
I begged a ride from Phoebe after school and, once home, collapsed in bed, utterly exhausted.
Chapter 2<
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I slept straight through my morning alarm and woke just after ten. I had a vague memory of Dad checking on me and of Chloe reassuring him that I’d be fine.
The thought of going to school for afternoon classes crossed my mind, but the risk of running into Dylan was enough to keep me home. Instead, I watched the Spanish movie from Mr. Mason and then let soap operas suck the brains from me. I wondered what Micah had thought when I wasn’t in class, but he already had a low opinion of me, so what did one day matter? Besides, he hadn’t said we would be working on the project today.
“Hey, skipper,” Chloe said as she came into the living room. She tossed her backpack on the end of the couch and sat down next to me. She grabbed the remote and muted the volume. “You missed some excitement with your boyfriend today.”
“What happened?”
“Oh, Dylan just had some kind of mental breakdown.”
That had me sitting up instantly. “What do you mean?”
“Lils, it was so freaky. We were eating lunch and talking about our project. He asked about you and I said you were at home then he started yelling about not giving a shit about the project and flung his tray at the wall. He kept asking why you weren’t here, until Mr. Arnold came in and took him to the office. I think he spent the rest of the day with the school counselor.”
“Oh God.” I groaned and dropped my head into my hands. I should have been there. I could have stopped it from happening.
“What’s going on with him, Lil?”
“I don’t know. He’s...he’s so different from the way he was. I mean, he’s always angry and...I just don’t know how to help him.”
“Lily, you always know exactly what is wrong with everyone. And then you fix them. You have the easiest gift of all of us.”
Heal Me (A Touched Trilogy Book 2) Page 2
