Mom is still at the sink, dad is still holding the bottle of aspirin. I try not to look directly at them as I pour myself a bowl of cereal. Out of our kitchen window I can see into the living room of the Taylor's house. It looks like they're dancing.
For the first time since yesterday afternoon, I smile. As frightening and depressing as this whole thing is, there's also something vaguely exciting about it. If nobody else around here is moving, I basically have access to everything. Nobody can stop me. As long as I'm in denial I might as well have some fun.
I go out through the garage, get to the end of the driveway, and stop abruptly. I have no idea where to go. Lucy would have all sorts of ideas of crazy things to do if she were in this situation. Whenever I have time to myself, I usually just read or practice my ballet in our basement. I guess technically I could go steal some clothes from a store or try a beer somewhere, those are things I would imagine people my age would want to do, but they don't really sound appealing to me. I guess this is why I don't have very many friends. I decide to head toward my high school, there's bound to be something interesting in there.
I pass more car collisions and several kids who have fallen off their bikes on the way. I see cats in the middle of grooming themselves and dogs sniffing other dogs. That answers my question about the animals being affected. There are a lot of other people outside, but I don't pay too much attention to them.
When I get to the school, it's eerily quiet. I'm used to cars constantly driving in and out of the parking lot and tons of students talking and laughing. I see my friend Mia outside the front doors. I instinctively start to wave at her, but then I avert my eyes and walk past her. I don't want to see her face. I don't want to see anyone's motionless face, it'll remind me of this bizarre predicament I'm in.
I walk down the hall and see a huge poster of Shayla Kingsbury, a girl who used to make fun of me in middle school for reading books about dragons. She's running for homecoming royalty. I've had to walk past this ridiculous poster for the past three and a half weeks and I cringe at it every time. Before I even process what I'm doing I grab the sides of the poster and rip it off the wall, but then I immediately feel bad so I go to the art room for some tape to put it back up. So far this reckless, go do something crazy thing isn't really working out for me.
I make my way over to the gym, surprised to find it full of people.
"Oh yeah, they were having a pep rally," I mumble to myself, remembering how disappointed Lucy was that we'd be missing it to take our driver's tests. I gasp when I turn around and notice the cheerleaders. Two of them are held up in the air by the others, their arms outstretched. I shudder to think what would happen to them if something knocked the formation over.
I look over at the bleachers. Hundreds of students are in the middle of clapping, shouting, and cheering. Their animated expressions somehow make the gym seem even more silent than it is. There needs to be noise in here.
I run to the top of the bleachers and cross over until I get to the sound booth. The guy running it looks extremely bored. I move his hand aside and scroll through the list of music. I settle on a lively hip hop song that immediately starts blasting through the gym.
I run back down to the gym floor and again face the mass of students. If I'm going to do something I've never done before, this is the time to do it. The beat of the music is pulsing through my body, but still I hesitate. I've only ever danced in front of my privet ballet instructor. Well, except for the dance recital I was in when I was seven where I fell off the stage and ripped my leotard down the back. That recital is the reason why I no longer dance if front of people.
I take a deep breath as I look at the bleachers full of people. They can't actually see you, Annie, I think to myself. Of course, there's the possibility that they can, but I try not to think too much about it.
I dance. I turn, leap, sashay, kick, and do several pirouettes. I work in some more modern movements I've been practicing. I very nearly run into the cheerleaders. When the song ends I feel exhilarated. Nobody laughs or cringes at me. Nobody does anything. I run out of the gym before my excitement fades.
I do a few cartwheels in the hallway as I head to the library. I make my way up to the fantasy section. There are hardly ever any people up there because, as Lucy would say, "fantasy books are for little kids." But this time I see a couple people apparently living out a fantasy of their own. I blush a little as I look at the boy and girl embracing and kissing. If I had to be frozen for an indefinite amount of time, I guess making out with someone would be a pretty good predicament to be stuck in.
Suddenly I have an idea that makes me reel with giddiness. I rush out of the library, out of the school, and four blocks down the street until I get to Kevin Nelson's house. I know exactly where it is; I used to ride my bike by it all the time. The front door is unlocked and I step right in, a little shocked at my own audacity. As many times as I've ridden by, I've never actually been inside his house.
Kevin's mom is sitting down in the front room looking at her phone and his little brother is in the kitchen standing in front of an open refrigerator. I slowly close the refrigerator door, noticing that some of the food is already starting to smell. I make my way upstairs and find Kevin's room, but he's not there. I see his blue striped shirt among some other clothes strewn on the floor. I love it when he wears that shirt.
My sister always asks me why I like Kevin so much, especially since I can count the number of times I've had an actual conversation with him on one hand. It's usually something along the lines of:
"Hey Annie, do have an extra pen?"
"Yeah. You can keep it if you want."
"Cool, thanks."
I've had a crush on him since 6th grade when I saw that he was reading the same book as me. I guess I like him because we're similar. He's reserved but nice, and he doesn't seem to get all wrapped up in the drama of high school. And he has a really great smile. Lucy thinks he's weird. I think he's cute.
I walk back down to the main floor. I start to wonder if maybe he's at the pep rally, but I'm pretty certain he wouldn't be interested in going to something like that. Then I hear a faint noise coming from the basement. I walk down and find Kevin sitting on a couch in front of a large TV, holding a video game controller. The TV is playing the theme song to some mythic-looking game. The screen shows that he's lost one life and that he needs to select the play button to continue.
I feel my cheeks flush as I take in his dark curly hair, upturned nose and brown eyes. I sit down next to him on the couch. It smells a little like wet dog. I steady my breath and start to lean into him, but every time I get close to his face, I start giggling. Finally, I gather my courage, turn his face to mine and kiss him on the lips. In next second I jump up from the couch and run across the room.
After a few moments I peek back at Kevin. He's still on the couch, his eyes glazed from staring at the screen and his lips slightly shiny from my lip gloss. I start to laugh. It's a timid, nervous giggle at first, but soon I'm hardly able to catch my breath from laughing so hard.
What was I expecting? I think. That my kiss would magically wake him up like Sleeping Beauty? I'm hysterical now, and my laughter turns into sobbing. I clutch my sides, trying to keep myself together. I don't know what I was thinking. I don't know why I thought I could just walk around pretending nothing was wrong. I can dance in front of hundreds of students, but they'll never respond. I can spy on people frozen in their own homes, but they'll care that I'm there. And I can sit here and kiss Kevin Nelson all I want, but he'll never kiss me back.
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The Restrainers: Third Book in The Amplified Series Page 13
