by Alicia Fabel
11
The girls walked in awkward silence out of the quad and past the admin building. The rec field between them and Cinnamon Grove was littered again with students. Most of them were in some state of draping themselves across the bed of white flowers, while relishing the sun on their skin. Annessa didn’t realize she’d slowed to watch three guys playing ball until one of them noticed her. The other two twisted their heads around to look too, as if they’d felt a disturbance through the triplet force. They were identical, from their ash brown hair to their square jaws and cocky smirks. Three pairs of hazel eyes scanned her from head to toe. Given that she’d been eyeing the brothers, she probably shouldn’t be irritated by that. But she was.
“You’re that strange girl from this morning,” said Trip One. “Guess you’re not a spy since you’re still walking and breathing.”
“Do you ever leave the court?” Annessa asked.
“Sure.” All three flipped their seductive switches on at once. Did they have any idea how creepy that was? “With the right motivation. You offering?” They sauntered toward her.
“I’m offering to hand you your asses if you even think about touching me,” Annessa warned when Trip One raised a hand like he meant to run a finger through her hair. He dribbled the ball mindlessly with his other hand.
“Slow down, girl,” he said unfazed. “I’m not that kind of guy. You gotta buy me dinner first.”
Sam muttered something under her breath about death wishes.
“Do girls actually go for him?” Annessa asked her.
“I don’t understand it, but yeah.”
Trip One passed the ball through his legs in what was probably supposed to be impressive. “Yeah, they do. I excel at two things, Beautiful. And handling a ball is the other one.”
Annessa waited until he passed the ball around himself and then she stole it. While he and his brothers gaped, she crossed the court and laid it up. Then she sneered at the three idiots. “If your other skills are as good as your ball handling, I think it’s safe to assume the ladies aren’t lining up for any encore performances.”
Sam was practically laid out with fits of laughter.
The triplets hooted. “Damn, girl. You play?”
“No. Not at all.” Annessa rolled her eyes. “You’re really just that bad.”
“Sam, your girl is cruel,” one of the trips complained.
“It is well deserved, Barret,” Sam retorted.
“Okay, okay.” Barret relented. He gave Annessa a repentant smile. “I shouldn’t have disrespected you like that… But for real, we should get together and do something.”
“I’ll tell you what,” Annessa said. “You block my next shot and I’ll consider it.”
“Deal.” Barret and his brothers moved into place.
“Oh no. Your brothers don’t get to help you,” Annessa said.
Barret gave her a strange look and then his brothers converged on him. Right before her eyes, they stepped inside him like ghosts possessing a person, and then there was only one.
“He’s a rifter,” Sam explained.
“You’re new to guild life,” Barret concluded.
“And you can rift into three copies of yourself.” No wonder he had a vanity issue.
“Actually…” Six copies of Barret stepped out of the original. “Plus there’s one more of me sitting through statistics right now.”
“You’re so dumb,” Sam said. “How many times have you gotten busted for sending a rift to class this year?”
“I don’t know why it’s such a big deal as long as I’m hearing and seeing it all.”
“Because you suck at multitasking,” Sam said. “Do you have any idea what Professor Holland is teaching right now?”
Barret shrugged. “Who cares? I’m about to win a date with your friend, which is much more important.”
“You’re awfully confident,” Sam said with a smirk.
“Why shouldn’t I be?”
“Because my friend is about to destroy you,” she flipped her long black hair over her shoulder with some of the spunk Annessa remembered from their childhood.
Annessa smiled sweetly when Barret scrutinized her closer. He didn’t seem worried. He was an idiot.
“Only you, no cheating and using your rifts,” Annessa said.
“Around here, using your art isn’t cheating,” Barret argued. “But don’t worry. I won’t need more than me for this.”
Annessa squared up to the line, her back to Barret. He started to move in, one hand angling for her hip.
“Barret, I’m only gonna tell you this because you’ve been nice to me,” Sam said from the sidelines. “Don’t try anything stupid. She likes to play dirty.”
“And you call me a cheater,” he mumbled but kept a reasonable space between their bodies.
“Kinda bummed she told you,” Annessa pouted for his benefit.
“Didn’t want you getting kicked off campus on your first day,” Sam explained. “I like having you around.”
Annessa met her eyes, and for a moment, it felt like the past year hadn’t happened.
“Now, teach him a lesson,” Sam called.
Annessa swerved and ducked low, taking advantage of her shorter height. He moved to cut her off, thinking she’d take it in to the net again. Just like she’d wanted him to think. But she didn’t need to lay it up. He clearly underestimated her, and she didn’t need to draw this out. When he moved back, she did too, creating just enough space between them to throw it up for an easy three. As soon as Barret realized what she was doing, and that his momentum was going the wrong way to get a hand on the ball, he sent out a rift. The cheating bastard. Barret’s copy managed to brush the ball with the tips of his fingers. Just enough to change its projection. The ball hit the rim and rebounded right toward Barret.
Annessa had forgotten she wasn’t exactly without help, either. Zoom must have decided to even the playing field. The wisp snatched the ball’s shadow and shot it back for the net. Barret didn’t see it coming any more than Annessa had. But it didn’t matter. The ball swooshed through the net. She half expected someone to protest, but Sam whooped and Barret sighed and offered a gracious smile of defeat.
“Don’t suppose you’d go two out of three?” he asked.
“So you can throw six rifts at me?” Annessa shook her head. “Nope.”
“So, you’re really with Elion?” he asked out of the blue.
“What? No.” Annessa protested.
“Good. Then I won’t give up.” Barret winked.
“Why did you think that I’m with Elion? You don’t even know me.”
“True,” Barret conceded. “But I have a rift out there hearing all sorts of things right now. By the way, you do not have a fan club among certain female circles.”
“I’m not worried,” Annessa assured.
“Even if that circle is headed up by a platinum blonde, who practically shared a cradle with the Academy’s own Prince Elion?”
Annessa tensed but was fairly certain she kept her face blank. “Not my business.”
“So you’re saying I really do have a chance,” Barret said.
“You don’t quit do you?”
“Not unless it involves a book,” Sam said.
“Thanks for the entertainment, Barret.” Annessa tossed the ball to him.
“You going to be around tomorrow?” he asked.
“Possibly.”
“If you are, I’ll let you play with my ball.” When Annessa scowled, he held up the basketball. “What? I was talking about this. What did you think I was talking about?”
Sam shook her head and pulled Annessa away before she took the bait.
“He’s your friend?” Annessa asked.
“When you show up with no clue about the arts and guilded community, most of the students decide you’re not worth their time. Or they go out of their way to make you feel like you’re two inches tall. Barret took me under his wing, so I wasn’t alone.”
&nb
sp; “What about Elion?” Annessa asked.
“He wasn’t around much. He had some things to deal with.” Sam stuck a fingernail into her mouth. Annessa pulled it away before she could chew it off. She hadn’t considered that Sam had been alone that whole time too. Alone and living in a crazy world where the impossible was all around her. All that time, Annessa had just assumed that Sam and Elion were off having a happily ever after. Of course, they’d wanted her to think that, but still.
“Was it bad?”
“Sometimes,” Sam admitted. “But Poppy helped me out a lot too.”
“That’s the busybody ghost from earlier, right?”
“That’s her,” Sam said. “She’s a pain in the neck, but I love her. I would not have adjusted so well without her.”
“She must not be around if you’re talking about her like that,” Annessa observed.
“Revenants have to cycle back to the Otherside, or they deteriorate into a twisted and nasty being that doesn’t reflect the person they used to be.”
“The other side of what?”
“No, that’s what it’s called—the Otherside. It’s where revenants who haven’t moved on stay. Like a lobby or something.”
“That’s where my mom is?”
Sam slowed just inside the grove. “Nessa, I…”
“She’s gone, isn’t she?”
“Yeah,” Sam said, shoulders slumping.
“Did she move on?”
“No.” Sam met Annessa’s gaze with glassy eyes. “I banished her before I left Florida with Elion. After everything that had happened…” She hesitated for a small moment before hurrying on, “I didn’t have a choice. She stayed too long on this side and was becoming something dark. She was scared, Nessa. I was scared too.”
“And she’d made you promise that if anything like that ever happened, you’d banish her,” Annessa provided.
Sam looked surprised. “You knew?”
“She told me one time.”
“You didn’t tell me that.” Sam wrapped her arms around herself.
“It was back when you were still learning how to stay present when a ghost possessed you. So you didn’t hear when she told me, and I didn’t want to talk about it after. I didn’t think you would either.”
“No, I wouldn’t have,” Sam admitted. “You should know that I banished her before she could do anything bad, though. So she’s in the good place.”
“You can see her in that place?”
“At first I’d catch glimpses of her, but not anymore. I saw enough to know she’s happy, and she doesn’t hate me.”
“You thought I would hate you if I found out what you’d done, didn’t you?” Annessa asked.
“Honestly, yeah. But I’d also learned other things by then too—things about the Academy that I couldn’t tell you,” Sam said. “So I couldn’t explain why I’d done it, and I knew you’d never be okay with that.”
“Honestly, I still don’t understand what happened. One day everything was right in the world, and the next it was upside down.”
“It was like that for me too,” Sam said.
Only Sam had been pulled into the Academy. At least Annessa still had her home, the beach, and Jess. For a few months until the accident, anyway. Sam had been on her own.
Annessa touched her arm. “I’m sorry for what you went through.”
“It’s okay,” Sam assured. “Well, it wasn’t at first but it’s okay now.”
“After all that, you still don’t wish you could walk away from all this?” Annessa waved her arms to indicate the Academy.
“Don’t worry about me Nessa, really. I’m happy with my choice.”
“I couldn’t do it,” Annessa proclaimed.
“I know.” Sam tucked her arm through Annessa’s. “That’s why we’re going to make sure you can walk away when this is over. I just wish we’d done a better job of protecting you in the first place.”
“Don’t,” Annessa said. “I can’t honestly say I’m going to forget it all because I can’t. But I’m starting to get why you guys did why you did.”
Sam swiped tears.
“No, don’t do that,” Annessa protested. “You know how I get when you cry. If you cry, I cry.”
“I’m not crying,” Sam insisted, blinking furiously.
“Agh,” Annessa looked into the sun and bit her lip. She really hated crying. “Come on, the Marks have like a dozen containers of ice cream in the freezer.”
“That sounds awesome.” Sam said. “And then we need to talk about Ian before you offer up your mind into his hands.”
Annessa didn’t bother telling Sam that she wouldn’t change her mind. She was planning to ask Ian first thing in the morning to teach her how to shield. Elion simply wasn’t an option. Heck, she’d beg Ian if she needed to.
12
Ian swung his door open, blinking sleepily, and growled, “What?” His blond hair stuck out at all angles as if he’d slept on his head. All he had on was a pair of jeans, slung low on his hips, and a small, flat pouch that hung around his neck by a leather cord. When he spotted Annessa, he did a double take.
“Morning, Princess,” she greeted cheerfully.
“Oh hell. You’re a morning person.” He leaned against the half open door like it was holding him up. “What do you want?”
For you to teach me how to shield. If I’m going to be around psychics, I don’t want them rifling through my head.
No. Go ask your boyfriend.
Despite knowing what he could do, Annessa wasn’t prepared for the reply in her head. She jumped.
Even half-asleep that seemed to amuse Ian, but he still didn’t seem up for negotiations. “If you want to come back later, when it’s not shit o’clock in the morning, I’d be more than happy to teach you to ride, though. Goodnight.” Ian batted the door closed before turning to fall back into bed and bury his face in his bedding.
Annessa caught the door and let herself in.
Ian groaned, “Whyyy?”
“How do you sleep in those jeans?”
“I don’t,” came his muffled replied.
“Then why…”
Ian turned his head so she could see half of his face and gave her a pointed look.
“Never mind,” she said, grateful he’d slipped them on before answering the door. Oh mercy. The alternative scenario began playing out in her head. And she was fully aware he was in her head too, seeing the whole imagined thing. It was like some kind of horrifying nightmare train wreck, and she couldn’t stop it. Nor could she run away fast enough.
Ian started laughing while Annessa’s face flamed.
“It’s not funny,” she said.
“On the contrary.” Ian laughed some more, but he also rolled over. “But don’t worry, that’s not the worst thing you’ve thought in my presence.”
She had a feeling things were going to go sideways quick. “Can you get out of my head? Please?”
“Not with your mind that open. But you don’t have to be self-conscious about it,” Ian told her. “You weren’t yesterday. I could hear it all then too, and it was just fine.”
“Yesterday I didn’t know.”
“Yeah, that always seems to be the tipping point,” Ian relented. “Ignorance is bliss and all that.”
“Will you teach me?”
“Elion would be a much better teacher.”
All the reasons that was a bad idea floated through her mind. And for some reason, knowing that Ian was a spectator made her focus on the bits that she wanted to keep from him the most.
“No,” Ian dug his fingers into his eyes. “I will not be able to unsee that.”
“I’m sorry. I’m not trying too… I’ll just go.” And throw herself into the river. Except, all of a sudden her thoughts felt cloudy. Like they were were falling into the distance. Confused, Annessa tried to summon them back.
“Please don’t,” Ian said. “I think we’d both rather keep those thoughts out of focus right now.”
; “You’re doing that?”
“Yeah. It’s like throwing a sheet over something you don’t want to look at.”
“So that’s all? I have a shield now?”
“I won’t be able to shield your thoughts forever,” Ian said. “Just long enough for you to calm down and stop summoning your most private moments.”
“I wasn’t trying to summon them. I was trying not to think them.”
“But that’s still thinking them, which brought them out for the whole class to see. You have to learn how not to think about something.”
“How do I do that?” Annessa asked.
“By focusing on something else and thinking about something without fully forming the thoughts. Let your thoughts be more of an impression or feeling than fully developed images and words.”
“Will you teach me? Please?” Annessa pressed her hands together in front of her. “You saw why asking Elion would be complicated.
“Saints alive, stop thinking about him, you’re pulling the sheets back.”
“What am I supposed to think about?” She asked, panicking.
“How about I teach you to ride?” he suggested.
“How does that help me?”
“It will give you something else to think about.”
“Can I ride by myself?”
“Not at first,” Ian sighed. “I kinda like my bike in one piece. But yeah, eventually.”
“And I’ll learn to shield too?” she persisted.
“Yes, all right? But I think it will work best if we do that while multitasking so you can work on shifting your thoughts.”
“You don’t mind?” Annessa asked.
“Oh, now you care?” Ian flopped back over onto his messy bed. “If I say, yes I mind, are you going to drop it and let me sleep?”
“How can you go back to sleep after all this?”
“Easy. I’ll close my eyes.” He shot her a dirty look. “Although, I’d probably have nightmares now.”
“Well the answer is no. I’ll probably keep begging, but I still kinda hope that you don’t mind.”
