by Sophia Sharp
The cafeteria was absolutely packed, so much so that the line of kids waiting for hot food stretched outside the building. Thankfully, I noticed a second, much smaller line inside, leading to a food station called “Fly-By.” A short description at the bottom of the sign said that salads and cold meat sandwiches were available, and, while not as appealing as whatever hot food was being served, was definitely a viable option if I wanted to avoid the wait. I went to the second line, and within minutes had been given a decent sized sandwich and cold can of cola. As I came outside, I glanced at the other line, which now stretched even farther back.
It was another beautiful sunny day, so I chose to eat outside. A light breeze ruffled my hair and flapped at the edges of my jacket, but I didn’t mind. I walked toward the square, which was surprisingly bereft of people at the moment. I guessed that it would fill up as more students were served their lunch.
A small cluster of kids sat around one side of the fountain, and I hopped up onto the ledge on the other side to eat my lunch. From here, I could see nearly the entire open square, along with all the streets that led out and away from it. Sure enough, it wasn’t long before the whole area was filled with kids. I ate my sandwich slowly, enjoying the warm rays of the sun while people-watching. Deliberately, I forced myself not to think about everything that had happened with Liz and the crystals, and instead just focused on what was going on in front of me. It was a pleasant way to spend a few minutes.
After some time, the bell sounded to indicate the end of lunch. I sat still for a few minutes, watching as the crowds slowly dissipated. I had already checked where my next class was, and it wasn’t far away, so I had the luxury of not being forced to hurry.
Just as I was about to get up, something bumped into my shoulder, and not softly. I looked over, and saw, of all people, Rob smiling at me. For a long moment, I didn’t know what to think. My mind just froze. The memories of what happened with Chris, what Liz told me about Rob, and what happened at the party raced through my mind in an incoherent mess. Again, I realized, somewhat belatedly, that I was caught just staring at Rob, not knowing what to say or what to do. He had an uncanny effect on me.
He didn’t seem to notice. “I saw you in class earlier,” he said.
“Oh?” I said weakly. I didn’t realize he was there. And since I had seen everyone in my small English class, he could only have meant science class, where I had gone scarlet-red in front of everyone at Mr. Stannis’s introduction. My heart jumped to my throat, and I felt short of breath.
“Yeah. I tried catching up to you but Stannor got you first.” Stannor? Was that the nickname for the professor?
“I… didn’t see you there,” I said meekly. Much too meekly. Rob was off-limits, and there was all that had happened with Chris. Why did he still make me feel so flustered?
“I was trying to get your attention all through class, but you were so busy writing notes.” He barked a laugh. “You must be a good student, eh?”
“I… guess so.” Was that what the prickly feeling was? Rob looking at me?
“Well, we should study together some time.”
I opened my mouth to reply, but before I could even squeak out a word he was already gone. I stared after him, flabbergasted with the entire sequence of events. How was it fair that a single guy could make a girl feel so utterly discombobulated? He turned and looked at me over his shoulder. I quickly looked away. Too late. He had caught me looking. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him smile, and then continue on his way.
With a start, I realized that I was the last person in the square. Grabbing my bag hastily, I ran in the direction of my next class.
I collapsed onto my bed after an exhausting day of class. I was tired. But, it was a good type of tired; a very familiar type of tired. It was the weariness that came after a good, productive day where you knew you had accomplished a lot.
My last two classes had been Art History and then the very abstract Theory of Knowledge. Art History wasn’t bad. I discovered while reading the syllabus that I had covered nearly all the topics in my old high school. However, Theory of Knowledge threw me off guard. It was entirely intangible, and had to do with things such as How People Come To Know Things That Are True, as was written on the chalkboard in enormous letters. The professor was a younger guy, maybe in his mid-thirties, and entirely eccentric. I couldn’t make sense of anything he was saying as he introduced the course. He spoke of things like epistemology and cultural philosophy – in short, the sort of things I had never heard of and didn’t think I would enjoy very much.
Still, the day itself was a great way to get grounded in academic life. I needed something like that to take my mind off things.
I lay down for a short nap. I was startled awake later by my phone buzzing. It was already dark outside. I reached over for it, and had to groan. The pain behind my temples had come back, nearly as strongly as when I’d awakened in the forest. It took a few seconds for me to steady myself, but I finally picked up my phone.
The buzzing was a notification of a new text message. And, interestingly, there were a bunch more unread ones right there with it. My phone must have been going off every few minutes while I was asleep. I had slumbered right through it.
The latest was from Kyla:
U promised to call! What’s going on? How’s life? Anything exciting? Do u want to come back yet?
I smiled. It was always good to be reminded of back home, and Kyla did just that. I realized that I did owe her a phone call, and one that was long overdue. How could I possibly explain everything that had been going on? Maybe it was better to just avoid talking about that. It would be good to hear her voice.
I’d call her once I’d looked through my phone. The other texts – a total of eight, altogether – were also all from Kyla, saying more or less the same thing. Except for one. This one was from Liz, and was very simple:
How are you feeling?
I frowned. Did she mean how I was feeling about everything that had been revealed to me, or how I was feeling health-wise? It was an odd question, and seemed a little out of the blue. Fine, I texted back, ignoring my current headache. I didn’t want to draw more of Liz’s attention to myself right now, before I’d had time to really think about everything she showed me. It was time to call my best friend.
I dialed Kyla’s number, and brought the phone to my ear. It rang once, twice, three times. I waited. The phone kept ringing, until I was sure I was going to get her answering machine. Sure enough, after another few rings, her familiar message started to play: Hey, you’ve reach—
“Hello?” a breathless voice on the other end answered. I recognized it immediately. It was Kyla.
“Hey,” I said.
“Oh my god, Tracy? I knew it was going to be you! I left my phone upstairs, and I was down in the kitchen, helping my mom…” I settled comfortably back as Kyla kept talking. She had a way of saying absolutely nothing in the greatest number of words, and I loved her for it. Just hearing her voice was a comfort.
“…and I’d been trying to get in touch with you over and over again, but your phone must have died, or something, because like half my messages said they don’t get through, and for the other half you never reply, but oh my god it’s good to hear from you, fiiinally! You won’t believe what’s been going on here. Class started, and everything was totally boring without you, but then Justin asked me out! Justin! Can you believe it?” I smiled. Kyla had been mooning over Justin for at least the past six months. He’d been frustratingly oblivious to it. “Anyway, that was just this week, and we haven’t gone anywhere yet. But, our first date is on Friday! There’s like a party going on that night, but he said he’d get me before that, so I totally don’t know what he has planned, or what he wants to do, but I’m so excited!” She stopped and took a few deep breaths. “Oh my god, but I’m talking too much. What about you? How are things with you? How’s the new school? Met any cute boys yet? You totally kept me in the dark for way too long, and now you go
tta dish everything!”
“Well, actually,” I started to say, but was interrupted by a knock at the door. That was weird. I wasn’t expecting anybody. “Hold on,” I told Kyla, “there’s somebody here.”
“I’m waiitiing,” she said shrilly.
I went to the door, fumbling it open with one hand while I used my shoulder to flick the light on. I still held the phone to my ear with my other hand.
The door opened and there stood Rob. I nearly dropped my phone. He smiled knowingly at me. He was wearing a bright blue hoody. Even through the thick fabric I could make out his very athletic body. His eyes absolutely shone, as always.
“Uhh, hold on a sec,” I said to Kyla. “I’ll call you back.”
“Tracy? Tracy! Tra—” her voice cut off as I ended the call.
“Well,” Rob asked, raising his eyebrows suggestively, “aren’t you going to invite me in?”
“What are you doing here?” I hissed at him, ushering him quickly through the door. If anybody on the floor had seen him… Chris was on the other side of the hall, for crying out loud! I slammed the door shut, and prayed that nobody had noticed.
“You said we should study together,” he shrugged, as he walked in a wide circle around my room, inspecting all my belongings, “so I thought I’d come by.”
“You said that,” I corrected him. I didn’t like the way he was looking so keenly at all my stuff. It felt like he was trespassing in my life. Well, at least I’m not breathless around him anymore, I thought.
He spun around on one heel, looking right at me. He looked the picture of innocence. “Me, you. What’s the difference? Maybe I just wanted to come by.”
“Why would you want to do that?” I asked slowly.
“I never got a chance to apologize,” he offered.
“Apologize? What for?”
He took a deep breath, and for a long moment looked uncomfortable. It was odd, seeing him like that. Strangely, it was a little bit appealing. It made him seem more real, more human. Not like the Adonis I had made him out to be. “I’m sorry for… the way I treated you at the party.” He seemed to be forcing the words out. “I shouldn’t have yelled. I don’t know what came over me. Sorry.” He exhaled the breath he held, and looked at me expectantly. Like he was waiting for something. I didn’t know what to say.
“It’s… no problem?” To be honest, I had forgotten all about that, and it was surprising to think that he still remembered something that must have been so insignificant in his life.
His face lit up, and he was back to his old, confident self. “I was hoping you’d say that. So, Tracy, what’s up?” He sat down leisurely on the edge of my bed.
I blinked. I didn’t know what he was expecting. But, his presence was making me uncomfortable. It was just the two of us, in my little room, and I barely knew him. Apparently, he didn’t have the same problem.
“Something’s on your mind,” he said with surprising perceptivity. “I saw it when you were in class, and at lunch earlier. I thought you might like to talk to someone.” He motioned over to his side. “You can sit down, if you like. I can… I can go over there.” He nodded to my chair after I didn’t move. “Come on, I know something’s on your mind. You wouldn’t have gotten so tied up with Liz and the others otherwise.”
“How do you know about that?” I asked cautiously. I still hadn’t moved from the door.
“I’ve been around them for a while, and I know when something’s going on. I saw them earlier today, and they were the most excited they’ve ever been. But then I found you, sitting all alone and looking so glum by the fountain…”
“I wasn’t glum!” I defended.
He shrugged. “Either way. Something’s going on with you and them. Liz, Madison, Ashley, and Eve just disappeared last night, and nobody knew where. And when I came by your room, you weren’t here either.”
“You came by my room last night? Why?”
“I had a suspicion that, err, something might be amiss. I was relieved when I saw you in class today.”
“Wait a minute,” I said. “Who are you to take such a keen interest in my life?”
The corner of his mouth twitched up in a mischievous smile. “I like to take care of people who are special to me.”
My knees became weak, and I stumbled forward, nearly falling on my face. I disguised the movement by pretending I had meant to walk to the chair. I sat down heavily, not taking my eyes off Rob. “What do you mean?”
He chuckled. “Oh, come on! Don’t act coy. I wasn’t the only one to have felt something that morning we first met. We had a… moment, didn’t we?”
I coughed. Did we? I thought I’d imagined all that, getting caught up in Rob’s stunning looks and air of confidence. But here he was, sitting on my bed, a scant five feet away from me, on a dark September evening, admitting that he felt something too? This threw a wrench into everything.
“…Tracy?” he prodded gently, and I realized I hadn’t spoken for a long time.
“Oh! Um, well, I don’t really… I don’t really know how to reply to that.” I blushed, and looked at my feet.
Rob smiled, and, of all things, looked relieved. “I’ll take that as a maybe.” His eyes twinkled. “You know, I wasn’t sure about coming here. I was so worried I’d be making a fool of myself.”
“No! Don’t say that.” Somehow, his sincerity made him all the more appealing. The insecurity, the uncertainty, it made him… more like me. Suddenly, I saw past all the outside appearances. I saw past his beautiful eyes, past his magnificent body. Past his strong voice, and past his show of confidence. I saw the young man sitting there, waiting on me, and admitting that he… well, that he liked me.
He smiled. “So, you’ll give me a chance?” he asked shyly.
“What about Liz?” I asked.
“She’s just a friend,” he answered. “Even though she does sometimes act very possessive.”
“But I heard you on the phone. The other night, when I called her? You were the one to pick up. Right?”
He nodded. “Yes, but, like I said, just a friend. There’s nothing going on between us.”
“Are you sure? I wouldn’t want to be stepping on any toes.”
“Trust me.” He leaned forward, looking at me intently. At that moment, I felt something I’d never felt before with a guy. I felt like he was there for me. I felt like he was somebody I could talk to, about everything and anything, and he would listen and take care of me. And that’s all I really needed at that point. Somebody I could talk to, who was here in the flesh, and who wouldn’t laugh or make fun of me. Somebody I was safe with. Even with Chris, it wasn’t like that. “And Tracy? If you want me to go, you can just say so.”
“No,” I whispered, just under my breath. “I want you to stay.”
Our eyes met. We were five feet apart, but I felt something take over, a gentle force that picked me up and lifted me out of my seat. I floated through the air, slowly gravitating toward him, our eyes still locked together. It was like what I felt with Chris, just before I kissed him, except this time it was more right. More intense. I sat on the bed beside Rob, breathless yet again, with my mind blank and his eyes on me. My hand touched his, but I didn’t pull away. Neither did he. Slowly, as if underwater, I moved my head toward him, my lips slowly parting for a kiss…
Crash, bang! A loud blast from outside shook the entire building. Suddenly, the power went out.
“What was that?” I asked, looking around wildly.
We were cloaked in solid darkness. Uneasy memories of the void came back, unbidden.
“I don’t know,” he said, feeling for my hand and taking it. It was slightly reassuring, but still the memories of floating through that horrible, dark emptiness persisted. I bit them down hard. This was nothing like that, I told myself.
An alarm sounded from within the building, loud enough to pierce through the door to my room. It was loud and extremely obnoxious. And slightly frightening.
“What is that
?” I asked.
He grunted. “Fire alarm. We have to get out of the building.”
He stood, pulling me up with him. The room was absolutely dark. The only things breaking through the black were the small power lights of my computer and phone. Thankfully, I knew the layout of my room well enough to navigate us to the door. I felt around for the handle, found it, and pulled it open.
Outside was mayhem. With the door open, the sounds of the alarm were no longer being buffered. They were loud enough to cause me to put my hands over my ears. A lone emergency light shone at the end of the hall, barely illuminating the scores of kids rushing down the halls. Most of the doors were open, except for one: Chris’s, at the very end of the hall.
“Come on,” Rob said, pulling me forward. “We don’t want to be the last ones out.”
I let him lead me into the swarm of passersby. In the darkness and commotion, it was hard to tell anyone apart, as all that was visible were the general shapes of their bodies. I passed by Chris’s door, stopped, considering, then turned back. What if he were still inside? The stream of people continued by me, and I realized I had lost Rob. That made my mind up. I banged on Chris’s door. There was no answer. I waited a few seconds, and tried again. Maybe he wasn’t even here? The alarm continued ringing in the background, warning me to hurry out of the building. I felt time being cut short. I tried a third time, but then realized my folly. If he really was inside, and couldn’t hear the alarm, then it was unlikely my knocking would rouse him, either. Just as I was about to turn away, the door opened, and a dark, shrouded shape emerged.
