by Kay, Jenna
* * * *
“Boo,” a voice whispered in my ear.
I let out a gasp of surprise, dropping the cans of green beans I was busy stocking onto the floor.
“Brenton!” I shrieked, punching his arm. “You scared the crap outta me!”
Laughing, he grabbed me by the waist.
“Sorry, sorry, I was just tryin' to surprise ya.”
Relaxing, I gave him a crooked grin. “Well, you did a good job of it. You also caused me to dent these cans.”
He bent over and picked up the cans, shooting me a curious look.
“Since when do you stock shelves?”
“Since Casey decided to skip work,” I answered, rolling my eyes. “He told Mr. Baker that he had urgent business to take care of.”
“And Janey?”
“Janey didn't answer the phone when Mr. Baker called her to come in.” I pushed wild strays of hair behind my ears. “I've been alone all night, which is fine—we haven't been busy anyway.”
“You should have called me,” he said. “I would've came right over and helped ya out.”
“You needed to work at the garage tonight,” I scolded, wrapping my arms around him. “Besides, I'm pretty sure you'd have been a distraction.” I kissed his chin, and in return I got his dimpled smile.
“I've gotta surprise for you,” he announced unexpectedly, reaching into his back pocket.
“What is it? What is it?” I asked eagerly.
He grinned coyly. “Hold out your hands and close your eyes.” I did what he said, grinning from ear-to-ear. Something light weight and square rested against my skin.
“Open your eyes,” he whispered.
Opening my eyes I was shocked to see a small black jewelry box occupying my hands. My heart skipped a beat and my legs turned to Jell-O. What was it? Immediately I was afraid to open it, afraid of what was in it.
Please oh, please don't be an engagement ring!
Not that getting engaged to Brenton was a bad thing, it was just that I wasn't ready yet. Plus getting engaged in Baker's Supermarket was absolutely not the way I'd imagined that special moment.
“What are ya waitin' for?” he asked, breaching into my thoughts. “Open it.”
With shaky hands I lifted the top—and blew a sigh of relief. What I had thought was in the box was, thankfully, not in the box.
Lifting the dainty gold chain from the box, I stared in awe. A beautiful golden sunflower pendant dangled from the chain. It was simply the most amazing piece of jewelry I had ever laid eyes on, not just because it was my favorite flower, but because it was from the most important person in my world.
“Oh Brenton, it's...it's...” Momentarily speechless, I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him.
When we broke apart he asked, “So, ya like it?”
I nodded, still admiring it. “You did good, Sparks. You did good.” Now I'll admit I'm not a big jewelry wearer. To me, stuff like that is just a waste of hard-earned money. However, I would treasure this piece of jewelry because it was from Brenton. I was sure he'd worked real hard to pay for it.
“I was thinkin', ya know, if you didn't already have something, you might could wear it tomorrow night.”
“It will go perfect with my dress!” I exclaimed.
A look of pure satisfaction conquered his handsome face. “Great. I take it you are ready for tomorrow night?”
“Are ya kiddin'?” I replied with mock sarcasm. “I've been waiting my whole life to go to a school dance decked out with paper mache turkeys, streamers, and spiked punch!”
Picking up on my witty satire he rolled his eyes. “Clare—”
“It's just a dance,” I interposed, shaking my head.
“It's more than just a dance,” he said, his tone turning serious. “It's our first dance.”
“So?”
He shrugged. “It's special.”
I laughed. “Brenton, there's a whole list of first things that totally suck. What if tomorrow night is one of them?”
He grinned. “Yeah, OK, I know it's lame, but could you be a little more excited—for me?” He flashed his trademark puppy dog eyes that always turned my insides to mush.
I sighed. “Fine. I'll get real excited...for you.”
“Thanks!” he expressed, kissing my cheek. “Oh, gotta jet. I'll be at your house around five-thirty tomorrow.”
“Five-thirty?” I questioned. “Why so early? The dance don't start until seven-thirty.”
“It's a surprise,” he told me with a wink, and then he walked out the doors.
Laughing and shaking my head, I placed the necklace into the front pocket of my work smock. With a sigh, I started stocking the shelves once again, bored out of my mind. The dull music that Mr. Baker tortured everyone with had turned off, so the only sounds that could be heard were the clink of cans hitting the shelves and the hums of the freezers.
All was quiet until a voice cut into the silence—a voice that wasn't Brenton.
“That was so touching.”
Startled, I dropped another can onto the floor for the second time that night. Turning around, I saw Nick standing at the end of the aisle, hands in his pockets. He was staring at me with dark, vacant eyes. The last time I'd seen him was the night I went to the movies with Kora and Janey, almost a week ago. Thinking on that night caused shivers to flow down my spine.
“Nick, where did you come from?” I glared at him as I inwardly racked my brain, trying to remember whether or not someone walked in during my conversation with Brenton. “How long have you been here?”
Totally ignoring my questions he said, “Must be nice to be going to a dance with someone you love. Someone who means everything to you and someone that you would do anything to be with.” His tone was flat and soft, very unusual for him. He was wearing all black clothes, which was also weird, considering he always dressed in preppy designer labels.
“Nick, I'm really busy here,” I told him. “What do ya want?”
Something about the way he was looking at me caused my heart to thump madly in my chest from a fear deep inside me. His face was the palest I had ever seen, and his eyes had darkened to almost black, with dark circles underneath them.
He continued his strange jabbering.
“Taking that special someone you love to a fancy restaurant, filling a limo with rose petals and a bottle of wine. Taking pictures so the folks will remember the special night. Dancing with friends and dancing some more at an after party—”
“Nick, really,” I interrupted, hoping to completely stop the conversation. “I've got so—”
“Then when the after party is over,” he continued on, “you take the one you love to your house and up to your bedroom where you make all their dreams come true.” He paused, narrowing his eyes at me. “Truly a night to remember.”
Suddenly my hands began to tingle. Looking down at them I'm relieved to see that they are not glowing. I was not in any danger. Still, why the tingle?
“Are you OK?” I questioned, regarding him with suspicious eyes. “Have ya been drinkin'?”
He gawked at me, like I had offended him. “No! I stopped drinking a month ago—hey, you think Kora would be happy about that? That Davis guy don't drink, so I figured if I stopped then she'd dump him and take me back.” He waited for me to answer, a thirsty expression clearly evident on his face.
I stared at him wordlessly, not believing that he was still carrying a torch for Kora. I also knew that I had better not push his buttons, especially since demons had recently surrounded him.
Even though I had decided to turn my back on being a Seer, I could not turn my back on my cognition. I still had information that real evil, supernatural evil, existed in our world.
Swallowing my heart that had jumped into my throat, I forced a smile.
“That's great that you stopped drinkin'. You...you should be proud of yourself.”
For a second I saw a flicker of hope in his eyes, but then it quickly faded back into deep sadn
ess. He sneered, shaking his head at me.
“Princess, you are such a bad liar.”
Not knowing what to do or say, I watched as he walked quickly away from me and out the front doors, the bell clanging loudly. Confusion matted thickly across my brain.
Why was Nick still stuck on Kora? He had moved on to Daria, who had already dumped him. Anyway, why would Kora care that he had quit his drinking? She had moved on to Kevin, who was the exact opposite of Nick. Plus, she was the happiest I had seen her in a long time.
Oh well. Not my problem.
I continued stocking shelves until closing time—no one else entered the store. After clocking out and heading home, I made up my mind that there was nothing I should worry about. I pushed out all the confusion I held inside my head.
People can take care of themselves. They can handle their on problems.
I wanted so badly to believe my own thoughts, but deep down I knew that they were all lies.
I was lying to myself.
* * * *
Rain hits me hard against my face as I run, dodging tree limbs as I pass. I was pumping my legs as hard as they would go, and my heart was beating so fast I thought that at any moment it would burst out of my chest. The ground felt mushy under my bare feet, the sky continuing to unload heavy amounts of water onto the earth. Trepidation scores through my veins as a deep sadness begins devouring my soul. Tears fall down my face like waterfalls, and I release a loud sob that echoes throughout the dense woods.
I can hear someone chasing after me, and I know that whoever it is has done something terribly wrong—I can feel it.
Pain. Sadness. Guilt. Confusion.
Whoever is running after me has caused so much destruction, so much misery and chaos, that my whole life, my whole world has completely come undone.
I suddenly come to a clearing, halting my steps before running off into empty air. A drop-off about thirty feet down greets me, telling me there is no escape from my pursuer. Looking down, I notice a creek, its waters flowing fiercely, the storm succeeding in deepening its depths.
I sense someone standing behind me. Slowly I turn around to face them. I can't see who it is for the darkness has completely swallowed them, hiding them in a trench of blackness. All I can see is something shine where a person's hand would be, some kind of object I can't explain. Since I had stopped running, I finally notice that my hands are burning so furiously that I bite down hard on my bottom lip to keep from screaming.
Lightening strikes a nearby tree, and the force is so great that the ground trembles under our feet. The rain is pouring even harder now, stinging my eyes. I can barely see in front of me.
“What have you done?” I scream at the one standing in front of me, the shiny object shaking in their hand. I know that something horrible has just taken place. I can feel it, like someone's life force has been dimmed forever.
Then, before I even know what's happening, I'm falling off the ledge and into the rocky creek below.
I woke up before I could hit the ground, screaming at the top of my lungs. My window was wide open and I could hear a raging storm beating roughly against the house. My ears were popping and my clothes were stuck against my skin due to heavy perspiration. My hands continued to burn but I didn't bother looking at them—I already knew that they were glowing.
“Clarity, what's wrong?”
A.C., dressed in her flannel pajamas, busted into my room, a look of shock mixed with fear masking her face. Flipping my light switch on, she rushed over to me and embraced me, rocking me back and forth like I was a terrified child. Unable to contain myself, I cried, hugging her with all the strength I had left.
A few minutes passed before I got myself under control. I laid back on my pillows; my eyes staring at the ceiling while A.C. pushed wet strands of hair out of my face. She grabbed my blankets that I had thrown off me from the floor and covered me, then swiftly walked over to my window and closed it—I still had no idea how or why it had been opened. She stood in front of the window, quietly looking out at the stormy weather. Glancing over at her, I could see that her whole body was a massive tremble.
“A.C.?” I whispered shakily.
She jumped, as if my voice had just interrupted a deep thought. Walking over to my bed she sat down on the edge, a look of concern flickering in her eyes.
“Are you alright?” she questioned, her eyes blood shot from working too much and lack of sleep.
I nodded. “Yeah. It was just a bad dream.”
She opened her mouth as if to say something, but then quickly shut it. Leaning over she kissed my forehead and smiled.
“You know I love ya, and you know you can talk to me about anything.”
“I know. I love you, too.”
She stared deeply into my eyes. “Is there something I should know?”
I stared back into her sleepy brown eyes, eyes that regarding me with love.
“It was just a dream. No biggie,” I told her after a few clicking moments passed. I rolled over and closed my eyes.
She stood up and sighed. “I'll be in my room if you need me,” she said reassuringly, turning off my light and closing my door.
Curling up into a fetal position, burying my face in my pillow, I listened to the wind and rain battering the outside world. My hands had stopped burning after a few minutes, but I could feel a familiar presence in the room as a hint of lavender perfumed the air.
Sam.
“I know you're here,” I said against my pillow, not bothering to lift my head.
Expecting to hear his voice, I instead received a long silence, which let me know that he was honoring my wish of him leaving me alone. I rolled over onto my back and stared once again at the ceiling. Hot tears stung my eyes, and I felt a sob threatening to burst out of me.
“I know you're here,” I repeated, swallowing back the sob, “and I know you're my guardian angel, but you just better give up on me. I'll never be what He wants me to be.”
Sam spoke softly, his words cutting deeply into my heart.
“I love you too much to give up.”
I pinched my eyes closed, letting my tears descend slowly down my cheeks.
Didn't God get it? Didn't God see that I just wanted to be normal?
I didn't ask to be different—it wasn't my fault if I let God down. It wasn't my fault if I let Sam down. It wasn't my fault if I let the other Seers in the world down.
“I didn't ask for this,” I said through clenched teeth, “and I don't want it.”
Pulling the blankets over my head, I tried to hide from my reality; I tried to hide from the whole outside world. The storm outside eventually stilled, and the familiar presence disappeared along with it. The lavender scent was the last to go, fading slowly from the air until it was completely gone.
I. Was. Alone.
Chapter Eighteen
“A.C., hurry up!” I cried out, catching sight of my digital clock. Brenton would be arriving at any minute to pick me up for the Thanksgiving dance and A.C. was still putting the finishing touches to my hair.
“Take a pill, Clare!” she bristled back. “Patience is a virtue—you should learn to practice it.”
I rolled my eyes. “Whatever.” I tapped my high-heeled foot impatiently against the floor. I was so anxious to see what A.C. was doing to me. She had turned my chair away from the mirror so I couldn't see my reflection, and that had been almost two hours ago!
“Can I at least see what I look like before he gets here?” I was getting more and more antsy as the seconds passed by.
Another few seconds later, A.C. took a step back from me and proclaimed, “Done!”
“Finally!” I retorted, turning around in the chair.
A whole minute went by in silence before I realized that the person in the mirror was me. I couldn't help but stare at myself in amazement. My hair was half-up, half-down, with loose curls flowing down my back. Whatever eyeshadow she had used was smoky in shade, making my brown eyes sparkle even more than usua
l. My lips were the fullest I'd ever seen them, a glossy pink making them shine. All the work she'd done with my hair and face went together perfectly with my dress. I looked like an entirely different person.
A.C. frowned when I did not say anything.
“Is it too much?”
“No—I love it.”
She smiled, then suddenly exclaimed, “Oh! There's one more thing.” I watched as she picked up the sunflower necklace Brenton had surprised me with the night before. “This is the finishing touch.” She clasped the dainty gold chain around my neck, and then studied my reflection with a bit of rarity.
“What?”
“Nothin',” she replied, adding, “It's just that you look a lot like your Mama.”
I smiled at her. “What about Daddy?”
She scrunched her face.
“Not so much in looks but more in the attitude department.”
I laughed a sad laugh. “I miss them, A.C.”
“Me too, hon.”
“A.C.?”
“Yeah?”
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Thank you for fixin' my hair and doin' my make-up. Thank you for...everything.”
She gave me a knowing smile.
“My pleasure, kiddo,” she said, hugging me.
I felt a little uncomfortable being so open, having a moment with her and sharing my feelings. It had been a long time since we'd had a sharing moment like that—actually we had never had a sharing moment. Ever. She had been brave for taking me in after the death of my parents, and she had tried real hard to play the role of a parent, but no matter how hard she tried, she knew they were irreplaceable. So after awhile she became more of a friend than parent, which was OK with me because she was way too young to be a mother figure. She partied, dated, stayed out all hours of the night, not including the nights she worked.
The doorbell rang and we broke apart quickly.
“He's here!” I squealed, sounding like a boy-crazed freak.
