Agendas

by J. F. Jenkins

  She scowled and turned away as he proceeded to take off his pants. A few minutes later she could hear him splashing around in the water, and when she returned her attention to him, she found he was thankfully at least wearing his boxer shorts.

  “Does it feel as nice as it looks?” she asked.

  “You have no idea, but you could, if you wanted to be daring,” he said.

  “You just want to see me strip.”

  “Please,” he scoffed and rolled onto his back.

  Cheyenne hesitated a moment before deciding to at least remove her blue jeans. I've walked around in a swimsuit before. This is nothing different.

  “So you do have a spine,” he said with mock marvel and moved closer. He splashed her playfully before moving away.

  “More than you think,” she said and chased after him.

  For a while, the two played and splashed in the water like children. This was a nice side of Denver, and she loved experiencing it. Unfortunately, he quickly ruined it, which was just like him. He had a tendency to spoil everything good.

  Right when she was enjoying herself and starting to feel more relaxed than she had in ages, he tripped her in the water and used his hands to playfully dunk her. When she came up for air, he did it again and held her under.

  He's trying to kill me, she thought as she struggled underneath him. He was so strong and overbearing it was useless to fight him. Time dragged forward slowly as each second felt like a minute and each minute felt like five. She stared up at him, and she could have sworn he was saying something, chanting perhaps. The words were muffled as they filtered through the water, but his voice spoke in a steady pattern, his face focused.

  Just as she was about to pass out, she took in a breath of the freshest air she had ever breathed. How was she breathing under water? She didn't know, and she wouldn’t remember because after that breath, she blacked out and the whole experience became like a faded memory.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Football games were quite possibly the most interesting part of the school's culture. The team prided itself on its ability to lose. In fact, it made a point to at every game while trying to get the worst score imaginable. Cheyenne had never watched so pitiful a game before. It was painful to watch, but she seemed to be the only person who was having a hard time with the experience and not enjoying it. Everyone else cheered during every moment of the game from the edge of his or her seat.

  “So explain to me why they do it this way,” Cheyenne quietly requested of Zes. She was afraid of speaking too loudly for fear of insulting one of the other spectators with her naivety.

  “Because we have an unfair advantage over them. Think about it. We've got so many different species on our team and they all have different physical attributes. Some are naturally a lot stronger than others. It wouldn't be right. The schools we compete against are normal humans. We don't want to stick out,” he explained. He glanced over at his brother, who was a few seats down talking with a group of students.

  “Isn't losing a lot sticking out?”

  “Not as badly as winning a lot would. Especially with all the drug scares and regulations going around right now.” He rolled his eyes. “Back when football was first introduced to the school, we could get away with winning on a somewhat regular basis. Then people got suspicious over just how hard our guys hit, and that was the end of it. Now people think we suck. It's cool. It's only with the sports. Our academic teams are amazing.”

  “Do you participate in any of those?”

  “What? No, I don't have time. My mom wouldn't like it at all. I mean, if I did a club, who’d take care of my brother?”

  This answer surprised her. Anj was more than self-sufficient. “That's stupid. I think you're both old enough to not need to babysit each other. Besides, who says you can't do something together?”

  “We'd never agree on a club. Anj likes theater, but he doesn't have the time to devote to it. I'm more into knowledge bowl and science and…” He trailed off with a quiet laugh.

  “Nothing to be ashamed of,” she said with a small smile.

  “I agree. Besides, everyone knows nerds will one day rule the world.”

  She nodded with a laugh and turned her eyes back to the game. Once more, one of their team members was plowed over by the opposition. She winced a little and then turned away. The social aspect was more interesting. Besides, she didn't like violence.

  “So after the game, what do you guys usually do?”

  “There's a gathering in the dining hall for ice cream. Can't go tonight. Mom's coming by for the parents’ thing tomorrow morning and staying with us. She's not in an ice cream mood. That's what she told Anj on the phone at least. Chances are, we'll catch you at pictures. She takes up a lot of time.”

  “Oh, that's fine. I'll just hang out with Halyn and uh, well…” She wasn't sure how to refer to her parents, who were sitting a row behind her and making it hard for her to talk openly. “You know.”

  Zes glanced over his shoulder at the couple and waved weakly at her father, who didn’t return the gesture. This made him crouch down. “There's always next—” He stopped and bit his lower lip. “We'll probably come back to visit next time, so next year might be a possibility?”

  The twins were seniors and going on to the real world, something easy to forget since she did have one class with each. She was envious of them. Going out to reality sounded a lot better than staying trapped in her prison.

  “Of course. I'm not letting you guys get away that easily,” she said.

  A smile spread from one ear to the other on Zes's face. “Good, because I don't want to be let go of.”

  Final score of the game was seven to the other school's eighty-eight. Surprisingly, not a record. The football field was a few blocks north of the main campus and through the woods. A road led out through the trees, along with a number of paths. The group returned to the campus with the masses to enjoy the social in the dining hall. Upon arrival at Lord Reyld's Manor, both of the twins suddenly stopped, each frowning.

  Anj forced a smile on his face and separated from the group to greet a short, plump woman in her mid-forties with long, dark wavy locks and the boys' dark chocolate eyes.

  “Mom!” he said with a great deal of forced enthusiasm. “I hope you haven't been waiting long. The game went a little longer than we were anticipating.” He bent over to hug her and his whole body jumped slightly as she enveloped him in a bear hug.

  “Not long at all,” she said after finally releasing him from her grasp. “Anji, darling, it's sweet that you want to see me, but you should conserve your magic as much as possible. You know you shouldn't use it as a crutch.”

  “Yes, Mother,” he said tersely and faced the others. “This is my mother, Cynthia. Mom, these are my friends. You remember Jewl, yes?” Anj continued to make polite introductions while Zes silently went to gather up their mother's numerous bags. Not once did he touch or greet the woman.

  “So nice to meet you all,” she said. Her eyes moved across the small group. “I look forward to talking more tomorrow, but I'm so tired. I work at the local hospital and just finished with my rounds, you see.” She returned her undivided attention to Anj and beamed up at him. “You’ll fill me in on everything tonight though. After all these years, I think it's time you tell me a bedtime story instead of the other way around.” She laughed and Anj joined in rather weakly. “He’s a wonderful storyteller.”

  Cheyenne nodded. “Yes, definitely.”

  “It was lovely to meet you. Come on, Anji, escort me.” Cynthia gave Cheyenne a rather curious look before going over to Zes. She finally acknowledged his presence and gave his arm a squeeze as she spoke with him privately. He nodded at her and began to carry her things to the dorms.

  With a quick nod, Anj offered his mother his right arm and with his left waved a quick farewell.

  “One of these days I'm going to turn her into a toad,” Jewl said. “They'll be back. I can almost guarantee it.”

/>   * * * * *

  The twins didn’t join them for the ice cream social as Jewl had predicted. Instead, Zes walked into the dining hall solo, immediately sitting down at their table and bypassing all the treats.

  Halyn's parents were now with them as well. The only one who was missing a parental figure of some kind was Jewl, but if she cared, she hid it well. Though Cheyenne would probably go into shock to find out the girl actually had a heart that didn't revolve around Anj. Even then, she doubted her capability to love. Jewl treated him like more of a possession sometimes.

  “She wouldn't let him off her short leash, huh?” Jewl asked in between licks of her vanilla cone. “Let me guess, that much sugar before sleeping will only give him a tummy ache?”

  Zes waved his hand at her. “I didn't ask. She told me as soon as I was done with my homework for the weekend I could do whatever I wanted. I had to get out of there, but I'm not hungry and I'm kind of tired. Maybe I should have just gone to bed.”

  “Don't worry about it,” Cheyenne said.

  He nodded and leaned forward in his chair. Jewl did something surprising then and offered him some of her cone.

  “It's your favorite. A little buzz will make you feel better.” She was being caring and nurturing?

  Zes shook his head. “It's got your germs all over it.”

  “Like you haven't already gotten them through proxy?” She rolled her eyes. “Fine, be that way, but if you change your mind, you might want to do it sooner rather than later because they're closing up shop in about twenty minutes. There—”

  “Yes,” Zes said quickly, cutting her off. She grew quiet and licked her cone, still trying to tempt him with it in her own subtle way by flaunting and making loud “mmm” sounds as she ate. He began to eye it, slowly succumbing to her will. “I'll be right back.”

  Halyn giggled and whispered something to her mother, who also giggled. The two were practically identical from appearance to personality. Halyn's mother, who went by Kaloni, was just as adorable and sweet as her daughter. She had beautiful, long, black, soft hair that flowed down her back. She was even more petite than Halyn, the small girl towering over her mother. Inoke, her father, was a lot more subdued, but cheerful all the same. They made the picture-perfect family Cheyenne had always dreamed of.

  “Mom says they brought gifts for you all as a thank-you for helping me get along so well in the school.” Halyn motioned at her friends.

  A small blush spread across Cheyenne's cheeks. “Thank you. That was sweet of you.” She didn't feel as though she had done anything worth earning a gift. Halyn handled everything so well on her own.

  Inoke pulled a bag from under the table and started to pass out small gifts, each neatly wrapped in a different decorative cloth. Cheyenne's present was in a soft shade of purple with the outline of a bird drawn in a deeper purple. “We hope you like them. We wanted something to help you with your different and unique abilities you will be studying.”

  Zes returned with a mass of ice cream in a bowl topped with raspberries. He stared down at the green and blue cloths holding the gifts for him and his brother.

  “What's this?” he asked, setting his ice cream aside so he wouldn't spill it on the presents.

  “Gifts,” Kaloni said with a smile. “For you and your brother. Yours is the green one.”

  “Thanks,” he said and carefully put them in a safe place.

  “You can open yours if you want,” Kaloni said with a big and excited gesture.

  Cheyenne slowly began to unwrap the cloth and found a white gold necklace chain holding a single black pearl pendant. The pearl was nearly an inch in diameter and flawless. It looked expensive.

  “Oh, wow,” she said breathily. “I—thank you.” She didn't want to accept the gift, but she knew it would have been rude to turn it down. She wasn't sure what it would do for her as a nymph, but she would save her stupid questions about it for Halyn after the parents went home. She didn't want to insult them by asking.

  Jewl's gift was wrapped in a pale, petal-pink cloth with the image of a sun drawn on it. She held up the cloth to examine it before looking down at a small wooden box. She opened it and peered inside before closing it again without revealing the contents to anyone. She smiled at them before turning to Zes. All the while she clutched the small box closely.

  “I'll wait for my brother. Thank you,” Zes said. He gave Halyn's parents a smile before returning to his ice cream.

  “We should go back and sleep. The trip has left us tired,” Inoke said.

  “Actually, I should probably head back too. I have a lot to do tonight before bed and I don't want to get in too late,” Zes said.

  Cheyenne followed their lead and stood up, taking a moment to stretch. It had a been a long week for them all. She still had more than enough energy, perhaps too much to be able to rest, but if she had to, she’d force herself to get some sleep. All she had to do was find a way to calm the butterflies in her stomach. Jewl was the last to stand but the first to leave the table, still clutching her box to her chest.

  The Alpay family was next to leave, which left Zes, Cheyenne, and her parents in an awkward situation.

  “I, can we…” Zes paused and glanced nervously at her father before swallowing hard. “Can we talk for a few minutes?”

  “Sure,” Cheyenne said with a shrug.

  “Just us?”

  She glanced over at her parents. Persephone nodded at her, though Erik was less than thrilled with the idea because he kept glaring at Zes. Her mother nudged him and rolled her eyes. At least she didn't hold the same negative feelings her father did about the twins. He was more at ease with Anj gone and may have possibly liked Zes, given some time.

  “Thanks,” Zes whispered and was about to grab Cheyenne's forearm to lead her along, but stopped when he glanced over at Erik again. Instead, he simply motioned for her to follow, and her parents both trailed behind, always keeping them in sight.

  “I wanted to talk with you about tomorrow, and I didn't want to worry them. Looks like they are anyway,” he said quietly, trying to keep the conversation private.

  “I think you make them nervous,” Cheyenne said with a laugh.

  “Why? I'm not going to do anything.”

  “Probably because you're so cute. You know how parents are about attractive boys after their daughters.” She couldn't believe she just admitted that out loud.

  “I'm not. Anj is a lot cuter than I'll ever be,” he said.

  “You're identical. For the most part. You've got those little pointy things, but otherwise you look the same,” she teased and gently brushed the hair covering his horns.

  “He's cuter. Have you seen him pout? He has the big-puppy-eyes thing down, plus there's his mysterious sex appeal that makes women crazy.”

  “He's a little too mysterious, to the point where I want to throttle him.”

  “You're not the only one,” he muttered.

  “All right, so what did you want to talk about?”

  “I…” He paused and stared down at his hands and fidgeted nervously. “My mom's a little weird. I don't know if you noticed or not. I mean, she's cool and she thinks you're great, but she might say some stuff. It might make you feel odd or uncomfortable. We lost Dad, and things haven't been the same since. She likes to baby Anj, and I get to be the one who takes care of everyone. I mean, it's cool, but stressful. Anyway…” He glanced at her briefly.

  “She doesn't like a lot of people, and that's a whole other story entirely, but she likes you. I'm not gonna lie, it's because she knows you're one of the Divine. She didn't understand why Anj wasn't taking you to the dance. She—”

  Cheyenne grabbed his arm. “It's all right. I get where you're going with this. I'll try not to let it bother me too much, but it only would because of what it does to you two.”

  He nodded slowly with his eyes closed and swallowed hard. “I'm glad you get it. A lot of people wouldn't have.”

  “Don't be so pessimistic.”


  “Sorry, she—”

  “Brings out your worst? I've noticed. Every time you talk about her you get really sad.”

  He nodded again. “It's hard. Look, I don't want to leave this on a depressing note. I mostly just wanted you to know that no matter how hard she tries to shove us apart, it's not because of me. In fact, it's the exact opposite of what I want, and that's probably why she does things. We don't get along. Remember, it's not some kind of hidden message. Because I really…”

  “You really…” she prompted. Her heart pounded in anticipation of however he was going to finish the sentence.

  “I really mean the opposite,” he finished.

  Did she feel disappointed or relieved? She couldn't tell.

  “I never would’ve thought you were capable of something so mean anyway,” she said with a smile.

  “I want it all to be perfect for you. I know it's a silly school dance, but you've been so stressed out and I want it perfect so you can have one night, one moment, where you can enjoy a protective bubble of happiness. And I—” He stopped. “I should probably get going and shut up already for real now. I'm sure your parents want to hog you. I'll see you tomorrow. Thanks for understanding.”

  He left with a small wave, and her parents came up behind her quickly, never giving her the chance to be alone to linger in the moment.

  “I still don't like him,” her father said.

  Her mother rolled her eyes. “He's sweet and nothing like his brother. You dislike him because it's obvious he’s into your baby girl.”

  “It's not just that. I have a problem with her getting involved romantically with people who deny the importance of the Divine. It doesn't work out well, and I'd rather she not have to go through the heartache,” he said.