Kaleidoscope

by Mindy Hayes

  I looked out of the corner of my eye to see him with lifted eyebrows and a hint of a smirk on his face. “What are you going to show me?”

  “It’s better if we don’t talk about it and you just see them for yourself.” I kept my eyes back on the road.

  “Them,” he said flatly. “Calliope, are you going to show me something dirty?” he teased.

  “What? No, you perv!” I punched his shoulder. “Just prepare yourself okay? Open your mind to all possibilities. It’s going to be really hard for me to tell you this and I need all of your support.” His stare was even more skeptical now. Before he could say anything, I said, “Don’t ask any more questions. Just sit there. Please. I don’t have the patience to argue with you right now.”

  He was silent for a minute, a serious expression on his face. “You’re not dying are you?”

  Breathless laughter escaped my lips. It kind of felt like it but “No,” I amended.

  He sighed. “Gosh, Callie. Don’t scare me like that.”

  “You thought I was dying, really?”

  “Well, you’re being so secretive. It’s making me really nervous.”

  “Then think a little less depressing and more unbelievable okay?”

  I felt him shift and peered over at his anxious face. I could see the wheels turning in his blue eyes as he tried to piece together what I had told him so far. Whatever was flipping through his mind, it wasn’t going to be even remotely close to the truth.

  “At least give me a hint.”

  “Nothing I can say to you will hint at what I’m about to tell you, okay? It’ll only confuse you. Now hush. You’re making me more nervous.”

  Up on the road, I drove into the canyon. It wasn’t more than fifteen minutes from school, giving us seclusion and practicality so he could get to his dad before he started to question his whereabouts.

  When we pulled up to the trees, Cameron didn’t move. “C’mon,” I prompted as I got out of the car. He slowly exited the vehicle, apprehensive, as I knew he would be. He paused by the passenger’s side of my Cabriolet. I snatched his hand and pulled him into the trees. His steps weren’t willing. He was basically dragging his feet along the dead leaves and grass. My patience was being tried.

  “What? Are you scared of me now? It’s just me. C’mon, Cam.”

  “Callie,” he murmured. “Where are we going?”

  “To a place where we can’t be interrupted,” I said without looking at him. “Or seen.”

  “You’ve officially freaked me out,” he emphasized.

  We were deep enough now. I was just praying Kai or Declan wouldn’t show up. Not that I’d ever seen them anywhere in the trees except for by my home, but I wasn’t prepared to show them my ears yet. I needed my human moment to freak out first. I faced Cameron. The look on his face wasn’t making this any easier.

  “Please, Callie, the suspense is killing me. What’s so important that you had to isolate us from the rest of the world?”

  I took a deep breath, unbraiding one braid at a time as I tried to calmly explain. “There have been some changes in my appearance over the last couple days. Something that isn’t exactly normal.” I kept my gaze firmly planted on him and gained the courage to pull my hair back, unveiling the new addition to my body.

  Cameron’s eyes swelled out of his head. “Calliope, what happened to your ears?”

  I dropped my hair and took a step toward him. “Cam, I’m just as freaked as you are right now, so I’d like you to tone down the piercing shrieks just a notch.”

  “Calliope,” he said it this time in awe and amazement. “How? What did you do to them?” He gently pushed my curls back, revealing them once more.

  “Me?” I pointed at them crossly. “You think I would have done this on purpose?”

  Cameron looked at me blankly, completely speechless, but he didn’t retreat. He stayed standing in front of me, my unwavering constant. I prayed he would stay that way after this.

  “Cameron, what has pointy ears, wings and is about three inches tall?” His expression twisted as he tried to put together what I was telling him. I waited for some recognition to appear on his face; something to tell me this wasn’t that farfetched. But who was I kidding? This was crazy.

  “Are you seriously trying to tell me you’re a faery?”

  I sighed; relieved I didn’t have to say the words myself and nodded.

  He laughed humorlessly. “You’ve got to be kidding me! What?” Cameron looked at me with a puzzled smile. “Callie, you’re joking with me, right? You got me real good.” He didn’t wait for me to correct him. He laughed easily now, his expression relaxing. “You really had me going. Those are some amazing costume ears. I really thought—”

  “Cameron,” I asserted. “Touch them. These are my real ears.”

  His face fell and his laughter became uneven huffs of air. I took a hesitant step toward him, measuring his degree of uncertainty, hoping he wouldn’t run away from me and he didn’t. Slow even breaths calmed his amusement. His laughing stopped altogether and he bit his lips. One of his hands slowly lifted to my face. The touch of his fingertips softly trailed up my cheek to my ear. They were cautious as they inched their way up and around the curve. I watched his eyes, so unsure and nervous. He pinched the point.

  “Ouch!”

  “Holy crap!” He jumped back, stumbling over his feet. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. . .”

  “Cameron,” I cautiously said, his name the only familiar thing that had fallen from my lips.

  His breathing accelerated, his eyes were wild with uncertainty. “I. . .I. . .you. . .you. . .” He couldn’t speak. He couldn’t look me in the eyes. Maybe this wasn’t the wisest decision. He blinked as if he thought every time he reopened his eyes my ears would be gone. “Cal,” he breathed, shifting one step back. “What in the. . .”

  “Cameron, please don’t run,” I begged, hands outstretched to him. I couldn’t bear to see his back fleeing from me now.

  He shook his head and finally met my eyes. “Run? Callie, I wouldn’t ever run from you. But I mean. . .c’mon. . .this is insane.” Cameron’s light sapphire eyes traced every feature of my face.

  I stayed quiet. If I gave him a little more time to let his mind process this, just maybe, he could think it was possible. I needed him to believe me. I needed Cameron.

  “You have pointy ears,” he said slowly.

  I nodded, but he shook his head.

  “How. . .what. . .how. . .” I swallowed ready to start explaining when he slowly said, “Your eyes.” His eyes bore into mine. “They are really green. I’ve never seen them so bright.” His eyes squinted as they explored me. The only sound I heard was his quiet quick breaths. “And they are. . .bigger.”

  My heart jolted. “What?”

  “Your eyes. They were never this big. They’re not unnaturally big, but they were definitely smaller before.”

  “My eyes?” My eyes had changed too? Oh no. . .What if my wings had started to grow in? I reached back, but felt nothing, only the smooth cotton of my sweater.

  “I noticed something was different on Saturday, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. And I’ve never seen them so green. Maybe it’s the lighting.” He closed his eyes, shaking his head once more. “But you’re not three inches tall. . .” Cameron was even more baffled now.

  “Well technically no faery is. Or so I’m told. Those are called pixies.”

  He didn’t look amused. “Well thanks for the term rundown.” I shrugged. “Callie, how is this even possible? How do you know that you’re a faery? Maybe it’s just some rare human deformity.”

  “It’s not a deformity, Cameron,” I assured.

  “You don’t have wings,” he fought back.

  “They aren’t far behind these.” I pointed to my ears. “And who’s to say what features a faery possesses anyway? No one actually believes they exist. The only knowledge everyone goes by is in storybooks and Disney movies.”

  “How. . .” He wasn’t grasp
ing this. I couldn’t blame him. But at least he wasn’t running.

  “Would you believe me if I told you my dad was a faery? That he could back up my story. Although, if he knew I revealed this to you, he’d probably kill me.”

  “Your dad,” he said skeptically.

  I nodded, letting him soak in the information. This might take more convincing than I thought. Maybe I shouldn’t have told him so soon. I should have waited. He couldn’t deny it if I had wings. I couldn’t deny it if I had wings. But had I revealed myself in full faery form he probably would have fainted and that wouldn’t be safe this far up the canyon.

  Cameron didn’t speak for what felt like an eternity. In reality it probably wasn’t more than a minute, but time wasn’t flowing normally in my mind.

  “Cameron, speak,” I pleaded.

  He breathed out a low huff of air. “Whoa. . .so what? You’re like half faery, half human? Are you even human at all?”

  I lifted my shoulders meekly. I didn’t even know anymore. Was I still a human? Gosh, I still wanted to be human. Even just to keep a sliver of whom I thought I was. But as I thought about being human, standing in the shade of the forest, I felt less human than ever. The trees fought for my allegiance.

  Cameron must have seen something in my eyes. He stepped towards me and cupped my face in his hands. I wanted to touch him back, but I didn’t want his hands to leave my face. “Callie, you’ve been my best friend for six years. Though this makes me question your sanity, I see that you believe what you’re telling me. I want to believe you.”

  I felt hope and it pricked the back of my eyes, glazing them with moisture. He pressed his lips together and fixed me with a sympathetic gaze.

  “You can’t expect me to take in all of this and automatically accept it, but I’m willing to try,” he said.

  I nodded and reached one hand to rest on his waist to save me from my weak knees. “I know. . .okay.” I could live with that. I could live with even an ounce of hope that I had someone I could go to who never lied to me, who never kept anything from me, someone I could trust one hundred percent.

  I swallowed down my emotions, reigning in my tears. He must have noticed my shaky emotional state and our very close proximity because he looked down at my hand on him and then went comical on me.

  “Callie, this is cool. Own those pointy ears. You’re a faery!” He threw his hands in the air.

  “Shut up,” I laughed.

  “What else do you want me to say? My best friend is a faery. Who else can say that?”

  “Nobody and neither can you,” I stressed.

  “Like I would actually tell people. I’d rather not be sent to the loony bin with you.”

  “I wouldn’t have to be sent to the loony bin if anyone caught sight of my fae features.”

  The significance of my words flashed in his eyes and he nodded. “You’re right.” He looked at me in all seriousness. “You’d become someone’s science experiment.”

  The thought made me cringe. To think of myself as anything but normal, human. And to think if my identity was put into the wrong hands that my own kind would turn against me and view me as a freak, merely something to experiment on. I would no longer be a someone, but an it.

  He said firmly, “I won’t ever let that happen to you. You don’t have to worry, Cal. You know your secret is safe with me.”

  I nodded and breathed through my consuming panic. I knew I could count on Cameron. It was touch and go for a moment, but I knew I loved him for a reason. “Thank you, Cam.”

  His eyes drank in my appearance, studying all my new features. I couldn’t say I hadn’t done the same thing to myself. Every time I looked in the mirror I had to stare for a few moments before it clicked in my head that it was me, like a drastic new haircut you’re not used to. When his eyes met mine again he asked, “Now what? How long have you known?”

  “That faeries exist or that I am one?”

  “Both! How long have you kept this from me?” He was offended now. I hadn’t expected that emotion.

  “Well. . .I’ve known about them for a little less than a month now. They’ve been telling me I’m one for about the same time, but I didn’t truly believe it until Saturday night when I saw these.” I gestured to my ears.

  “Saturday? I was with you Saturday,” he realized.

  “My hair was down. I didn’t notice them either.”

  He shook his head. “You can’t hide those forever, Calliope. Someone will eventually see them.”

  “I’m just going to have to be very careful. I was able to do it all day today. I’ll figure out how to do it every other day.”

  Cameron looked unconvinced. He folded his arms across his chest, taking a strong stance. “I don’t like the sound of that. That wouldn’t last forever. I noticed them this morning. There’s no telling who else could.”

  “I know,” I sighed in frustration, throwing my hands up. “But what am I supposed to do?”

  “You’re a faery. Can’t you disguise yourself or something?”

  “No,” I said, discouraged. “At least not yet. But if I did I would have to make myself invisible. You wouldn’t be able to see me unless I wanted you to and what’s the point in that? I wouldn’t be able to live a real life.”

  “There are others,” he stated, deadpan.

  It didn’t surprise me that Cameron trusted me enough to believe me, but it was unexpected how well he was taking it. He accepted it a lot better than I did, that’s for sure.

  “I’ve met two so far, but supposedly there are thousands more.”

  A blank stare crossed his face as if he’d just seen a pig fly and then he was back in problem solving mode. “Don’t they know anything you can do? Can’t they turn you back into a human?”

  “They are faeries, Cameron. Not wizards.”

  “But your dad. . .he looks human. Why can’t that be you?”

  My dad. Why hadn’t I thought of that? He left the faery world to be human. I just needed to ask him how he did it.

  “That’s it, Cam. You’re a genius! I don’t know why my dad and I hadn’t put that option together.” Surely we were smarter than that. But maybe he didn’t put two and two together because it wasn’t possible. My hope instantly dwindled back down.

  “Let’s get you back. Your dad is going to wonder what’s taking you so long. I don’t want you to have to lie more than you already are.”

  “My dad can wait. I want to help you.”

  “I mean it, Cameron,” I said, walking back toward my car. “We’ll set up another time to talk about this. If you don’t make it to help your dad, he’s going to want to know why and I don’t want to be the reason you have to lie.”

  He snagged my arm and turned me to him. “C’mere.” He grabbed my shoulders, pulling me to his chest and enveloped me in his warmth. “Take a breather okay? You’ve got yourself all wound up.”

  I chuckled. “You try finding out you’re a faery and take it completely rationally.”

  He laughed into my hair. “I’ll try that.”

  When I got back home, all was quiet. It was a little after four and I hadn’t expected to see my mom, but after just getting my ears I wouldn’t have put it past my dad to be sitting at the kitchen table anxiously waiting for me to come home. Maybe he had thought better of it today and decided to give me more space. Since I couldn’t ask my dad about getting rid of the faery genes, I had to turn to the next best thing. I just hoped they were around.

  Chapter Eleven

  When I reached the small clearing that had become our mutual meeting ground, I saw Declan perched on a boulder, his gaze drifting back and forth, surveying the area. He was a still silhouette of muscle and dominance. After the conversations we had over the last few weeks, I knew better. He wasn’t all-intimidating or a threat. . .to me anyway.

  “Declan?” He turned where he was standing and smiled gently down at me.

  “You just can’t get enough of us, can you, princess?” Kai emerged from behind
a tree, causing me to jump back.

  “Must you always appear out of thin air?”

  “I like to keep things interesting.” That impish grin formed on his striking face, but rather than irritating me it caught me off guard, causing my breath to catch.

  I swallowed and gained back my composure before it became too noticeable that he had ruffled me. “Well, I guess it’s my turn to make things interesting.”

  Declan’s face tilted, intrigued, while Kai cocked an eyebrow as if he didn’t believe I could possibly entertain him. I did what I did for Cam and pulled my hair back.

  “I knew they’d come in,” Kai said smugly. “It was only a matter of time.” He leaped behind me, but I chose to ignore his whereabouts and turned to Declan for guidance. He hopped off the boulder and meandered gradually over as if measuring his steps one by one. His cautious strides evoked the nerves in my stomach to run wild.

  “Declan,” I encouraged him to say something, anything. He was still too quiet for comfort.

  “You’re finally starting to look like you should,” Kai spoke up over my shoulder, covering the silence. “You still look half naked without the wings, but you’re getting there.” He materialized in front of me. I controlled the urge to step back. Of course he’d be the first to check my back for my wings. “You’ll get there.” He moved away from me and dropped to the soil, propping his lean back up against a near tree trunk then pulled out some sort of flute, blowing into it, creating a flowing erratic melody.

  When I looked back to Declan he didn’t look happy. I sort of expected him to be happy about this. I was becoming one of them. It was difficult to read his expression. Although he wasn’t happy, he didn’t look mad either. He looked. . .saddened. As if my turning into a faery was a negative thing.

  “Declan?”

  “Kai is right,” he agreed. “You’re starting to look like you should. They look as if that’s where they always belonged.”

  Declan’s face didn’t look very convincing, unless looking like I should was a bad thing.

  “When should I expect my wings?” I shifted my eyes between the two Keepers, steering the topic.