Bloodlines: Everything That Glitters

by Myunique C. Green

  I felt it only right that I continuously nod and get up from the floor. I brushed my pants off like I had landed in dirt and smoothed my shirt. A high-pitched ring rang through my ears and the voices were back. Once again thoughts consumed my mind and I figured I must have been back to ‘normal.’

  My headache was even more extreme now that I had tried to crack my skull on the hard floor. The nurse held out two pills and a plastic shot of water, I took the pills and gulped them down with the water. “Time to go,” I said heading for the door.

  Before I got any closer the nurse held on to my arm, “Are you sure you don’t want me to call someone to come and get you? You should probably go home for the day.”

  I thought it over briefly, I really did not want to be here and an excuse from the nurse was always legit. I decided against it thought because I wanted to make a promise to myself that I would see this whole school thing out. I shook my head, “I’ll be fine.” I forced a smile and walked closer to the door.

  “I’m going to stay here and translate for Dominic,” Bethany said from behind me. “See you in class next period.”

  “Suit yourself,” I responded, walking out of the nurse’s office.

  I seriously wonder what that was all about? I thought as I entered the mass of people walking to and fro.

  Through the crowd, I caught sight of Ash charming some strange looking sophomore with red hair and deep freckles. I paced swiftly to the small circle that had started to form around Ash and stepped into the middle of it. “Hey did you remember to pick up that wart cream this morning?” I announced loud enough for only the huddlers to hear. Crawling under his skin was my specialty, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Ash forced through clenched teeth. He yanked my arm and pulled me to the side. “Take it back and walk away,” he said angrily.

  “Why? I’m weeding out the losers for you. You’d do the same for me right? I’m simply returning the favor,” I responded, patting his shoulder. “By the way, mom called, she said she couldn’t find your size in the disposables so she just got you the cloth diapers instead.”

  “She’s joking!” he declared suddenly, with a shy chuckle. The damage was done though, the girls walked off in every direction shaking their heads. “Why the hell did you do that?”

  I laughed out loud and walked away in the same manner the girls had and shook my head. “Doesn’t feel too great when the shoe is on the other foot does it?”

  “Revenge will be sweet, so be ready for it,” he threatened, turning his back and walking to class.

  I shrugged and continued walking, I could totally handle anything he dished out and then come back three times worse.

  ***

  The air was cold in the stuffy classroom; I blankly jotted down intangible notes as the teacher began explaining the assignment. Somehow I knew I was on the verge of a breakthrough with the thought sorting, I just felt it.

  Usually the voice would join me at school and drag on about different plots of world domination, but today she was quiet. It would be so much easier if I had help, I thought to myself, silently wishing I could handle removing the clarity just to hear my brothers’ thoughts. A low growl rumbled in my throat, this was frustrating.

  Behind me someone ripped a page out of their notebook and slid it through my chair. I casually grabbed the note and read it. Roses are red, Violets are blue and I would really like to speak with you. It was signed by Wade- the weird kid that bumped into me in the hallway yesterday. I wondered what it was that he could possibly want to speak with me about; he’d never wanted to talk before.

  I shrugged and put the note in my binder, giving a small nod then went back to barely writing notes. My mind ventured off with ten more minutes of the teacher dragging on with the boring lesson. More visions of Nikko danced across my mind, they were always enough to make me want to run an ad in the paper to find him.

  Class couldn’t end fast enough, I wanted to know what it was Wade wanted to talk about. Anxiety built up as I waited for the last three minutes of class to end; I gathered up my books into my backpack and got up from the desk- behind me Wade was doing the same. “So what’s going on?” I asked, stepping around the desk.

  “The hallway,” he replied pointing to the door.

  I walked over and out of the door then stood against a random locker, the students in the hall walked briskly to their different destinations, paying us no attention. “Yesterday when I bumped into you in the hallway, I saw some stuff and the only reason I bring it up is because I know you won’t think I’m being weird. I know what you are, Alizarin.”

  I paused for a brief second and wondered over the things that happened that day; he’d barely touched me at all so it couldn’t technically be called a bump. “Stranger things have been said, what am I and what are you?” I responded trying to sound casual, but the words nearly jumped from my mouth.

  Wade looked down at the ground as if all of the words he wanted to say had fallen down there. “You’d think I would have had enough time to come up with a way to tell you,” he said lowly.

  Anticipation built up from the pit of my stomach, I actually wanted to know what he knew and how he knew it- hopefully it would answer a lot of the questions I’d raised. I slowly started to murmur, I’d deal with the migraine. He had taken long enough.

  “You don’t have to do that,” he said looking up to meet my gaze.

  I lost myself for a moment as I stared back into them. I couldn’t help but lean forward to look deeper into them- nearly forgetting about everything else for a second. “Dude, what color are your eyes?”

  “Not a normal human color, I can tell you that much for sure,” he smiled. “They’re royal blue.”

  “They’re awesome,” I replied with a hint of jealousy. I snapped back to reality. “Walk and talk with me, what is it I don’t have to do?”

  “You don’t have to say that.”

  I relaxed my body, confused that he knew about the clarity too. “So, is there an easier way?”

  “There are a pair of listening ears. Madison Park is right down the street, maybe ten minutes from here. I’ll be there at 3:00. I can tell you everything I know.” A second later he stalked off down the hallway.

  “What was that about?” Ash questioned, walking up from behind me.

  “So you’re the listening ears? Doesn’t surprise me at all. What did you miss?”

  “I heard the whole thing. I just wanted to see if you would be honest and tell me,” he smiled, “I’m also really just curious as to what he knows.”

  I stared off into the crowd as I wondered over it too. “You and me both, brother. I know you’re not going to want me to drop you off at home so just keep your distance; I don’t want him to pause off from telling me again. I gotta get to class.” I turned my back to him and walked off in no rush whatsoever.

  This was my most dreaded class of the day but luckily it was also the last. The bell rang just as I pushed the classroom door open and wakened into class. Bethany looked up from her phone and smile; the teacher did the same. I walked to my desk and sat down in the snug chair and table concoction; I was totally gaining weight now that I had gotten lazy and stopped working out.

  My thoughts gradually drifted off as the teacher got up from her desk to begin the lesson; since I had decided to put my powers to good use, I was now an ‘A’ student all across the board, it was naturally called cheating of course, but no one would ever be able to prove it.

  I felt a little different today though, like I sort of wanted to pay attention in class and learn something the old-fashioned way. I directed my thoughts and attention toward the teacher; she was merely reading directly from the textbook sprinkling her own words in every now and then.

  Opening my own book I followed along attentively and asked questions about things I didn’t understand -or pretended not to understand- just to keep my mind focused. This was a strange yet interesting sensation, learning
and listening.

  By the end of class I was surprised at myself; I was smarter than I gave myself credit for, if I applied myself to anything I did I was sure to come out on top. I sulked a little when I realized how close my words came to something my mother might say -and probably has said- and that was never cool.

  The final bell rang in no time; I never realized how fast time would fly if I paid just a little more than the usual attention in class. Bethany rushed over to my desk as I stuffed the homework packet in my backpack; it never occurred to me how we had become so close over the last few weeks, we talked, texted and hung out nearly every weekend nowadays.

  I never bothered trying to stay out of her head, she usually had a lot of words left unsaid and that always upset me, even more than the words her self-doubt was nearly intolerable and I was having the hardest time trying to break her out of it. She was a pretty girl and had features most people would kill for, but she covered it with long black hair and huge dorky looking glasses- most of the time I was a little embarrassed to be seen in public with her.

  So much potential, so little confidence, I thought to myself disappointingly.

  People could say the same about you, the voice replied. You’re never going to be human, Alizarin.

  You don’t know that, I answered.

  “Hey did you get my message? I was telling you about the place that was hiring,” she practically whispered into my ear. I would have to tell her about her tone one of these days; even Corey spoke louder than her.

  I got up from the desk and flung the backpack across my shoulder. “Yeah I got it, I was gonna go before class this morning but I couldn’t afford to be late again. I’ll go check it out tomorrow, it’s the weekend so, no worries.”

  “Yeah ok, so what are you about to do right now?”

  “Meeting a friend for food and fun,” I lied.

  I saw the disappointment drift across her face; she was probably thinking that we would be hanging out again this weekend. My weekend was actually pretty full however, not that I didn’t want to hang out with her, but I’d rather spend time with someone else and I didn’t have a positive way of telling her that without totally hurting her feelings.

  “Oh, I thought that we might hang out. There’s this place I’ve been wanting to go to for a while, just never had anyone to go with.”

  Ash was standing outside the door, he was anxious as well as I, he cleared his thought behind me and I turned to look at him. “Hold on,” I mouthed.

  “I’ll text you if they bail out on me, then we can totally go to that place,” I said, giving a reassuring smile.

  When she smiled back I knew that had just made her day again, she nodded and pointed at Ash, “Okay, well your brother is waiting.”

  I walked out of the classroom and into the hallway, walking briskly through the crowd. Today was the day; someone would finally tell me what I was, I was just hoping it was something I wanted to hear. Ash walked quietly behind me, keeping up with me as we weaved in and out of the crowd. “Where is Corey?” I said, pausing for second to examine the area. People bumped into me carelessly as I looked around for our missing passenger.

  “Is that her?” Ash pointed to an empty area in the hall.

  I turned to face the direction he was pointing into and sure enough it was; she was standing in the middle of a small circle of extremely good-looking guys, I found myself slightly jealous as I looked at the plastered smile she had spread across her face. I walked over to her group, nearly forcing my way through two tough guys. “Sorry to interrupt your party here, but it’s time to go.”

  “Yeah I’ll be right there, geesh,” she replied annoyed.

  I rolled my eyes and stepped out of her circle. “Five minutes or you’re walking home.” I called behind my back as Ash and I continued to the car.

  When I got outside Corey was jogging to catch up. “You don’t have to be a crab about it, did you get a little jealous back there?”

  I turned around and looked at her, was she serious? “Okay, who are you and what happened to the shy person crying about her missing sister that walked into that school?” I said, stepping closer to her. Anger slowly rose inside, I heard the quickened beat of my heart as I dared letting the fire erupt from me. Say one more thing, I mentally dared.

  “I’m sorry, I don’t know what made me say that,” she whispered, covering her mouth with both hands. “It wasn’t me Aliza, I swear.”

  “Please, do not say another word to me,” I fumed. “I’m dropping you off at home, I have to go somewhere.” I got into the driver’s seat and started the car, briefly looking into the rearview at Corey; I was still a little upset about what happened.

  “I’m sorry, Aliza,” she said again, with her head low. “I know no one could ever be jealous of me,” she continued.

  I rolled my eyes and maneuvered out of the parking lot, I waved at Bethany through the glass as I passed her getting into her car. Ash nudged my shoulder; he wanted me to disagree. “That’s not entirely true Corey, you’re a beautiful girl. I’m sure you made a lot of other people jealous today.” I replied, looking back up into the rearview again and spreading a warm smile.

  I sped down the winding roads, there were only a few cars going this way; everyone else lived in the opposite direction, closer to the town center. We rode in silence, which only made the fifteen minute drive seem longer; I was anxious to get to the park, I clenched the steering wheel firmly, turning my knuckles white.

  Finally we arrived at home. Without bothering to park in the driveway, I pulled up to the curb of the street and unlocked the door for Corey to get out.

  “What time will you guys be back?” Corey said, one foot out of the door.

  “We won’t be long,” Ash replied.

  “Why can’t I come?”

  I searched my brain for a good reason that she wasn’t invited and a way of telling her that wouldn’t hurt her feelings. “Didn’t know you would want to run errands with us all day? I’m sure you had a pretty stressful day at school, lots of weekend homework.”

  She looked at the ground then stepped out of the car. “Yeah you’re right, I should probably start on it now.”

  “See, we’re totally looking out for you.” I said. Once she’d closed the door I sped off down the street, not caring if she got into the house safely or not. She closed the door and walked around to the front and waved.

  “So why don’t you want her to go with us?”

  I looked at him and put the car into gear, “Three is company. She can’t hear from a distance like you can, and although she’d be able to tell me what he can do, I think he’ll probably tell me that himself.”

  Ash just shrugged and looked out of the window. “How many of us are there?”

  “For all we know there could be millions, not like Corey would tell us any different. But I guess it doesn’t matter since I don’t trust anything that comes out of her mouth anymore. She’s hiding something from us and I know it.” Heat flushed over my body, I wanted so badly to unleash the blaze that was building up; it seemed to be the only way to relieve the stress. I imagined the rush of being fully flamed and free. I hadn’t had a chance since that day I showed Ash in my room.

  “I don’t see what you see, you have to believe in the possibilities. It was really random and you ought to know that she wouldn’t say anything like that by now.”

  I gazed at the yellow lines in the road; I could taste the anticipation in my throat; what if he just told me stuff I already knew? That wouldn’t be helpful at all.

  “What if he tells you what you already know?”

  “I was seriously just thinking that, it wouldn’t be helpful at all. Can you hear me?”

  He shook his head and continued looking out of the window. “I haven’t really heard you in a while.”

  “That’s the way I intend to keep it,” I replied. That was one thing I was hoping that he would be able to tell me, if there was a better way to weeding thoughts without mumbling like an idio
t all of the time.

  We were close now; I saw the plush green grass of the park as I slowed down before turning into the entrance. “Let me out right here,” Ash said, opening the door before I came to a complete stop. “I’ll be close, let me know if you need me. Code word, robots.” He shut the door behind him as he headed off to a swing set.

  The park was nearly empty because there was a chance of rain and the smart people had decided to stay home. But still, there were a few people running around on the track with their dogs. I spotted Wade standing under a gazebo with his back to the road; his short black hair whipping gracefully in the breeze. The gravel crunched under the tires as I pulled into the grass next to the gazebo. Wade turned around as I stepped out of the car.

  “Hey, glad you could make it.” he smiled brightly.

  I stepped over the rocks and stepped up onto the platform. “So lay it on me, what do you know?” I watched his smile fade and he took a seat on the bench.

  “Okay, right to the point then, have a seat.”

  The wind whirled warmly through my hair and I smelled the pre-rain air. I’d rather stand but for the sake of being nice I walked over to the bench he offered and sat down beside him. I could sense his discomfort as I scooted closer.

  “Well let me just start by telling you what I am. I can sense the intentions of others, so I know your brother is here listening. Also, when I touch things or people these visions pass through my mind. Well not just with my hands really, if anything touches me at all. When I unintentionally bumped into you yesterday, I saw the fire and a girl, I also saw the mind reading and the struggles you have with it,” he fidgeted with his fingers for a moment before continuing, “A guy, Joseph I believe, after you had sex with him he was temporarily thrown into a state of delusion. Your powers are not like anything I’ve ever seen.”