Hidden Realms

by Dean Murray

  Allison’s mocking smile faded. She whipped her hair over her shoulder and sat down next to me as she placed her lunch tray on the table. “Gee, Xoe, thanks for reminding me, and don’t call me Al,”

  Gym was the bane of Allison’s existence, as was my habit of calling her Al. She wasn’t into sports of any kind, though she would probably be pretty good at them if she actually tried. Contrary to her tastes as a seemingly traditional girly girl, she was one of the toughest people I had ever met, and would probably kick butt at some of the more aggressive sports if she actually tried. She was definitely not a book to be judged by its cover.

  Unlike Allison, I actually liked gym. With my height and a fair amount of coordination, I'm decent at sports, and gym doesn’t require hours of boring teaching. I have trouble sitting still for too long.

  Allison turned to Lucy. “So Xoe and I are going shopping this weekend. You in?”

  Lucy turned a speculative eye to me. “Xoe? Shopping? My how the times have changed.”

  I pursed my lips into an exaggerated pout. “I need new socks.”

  Lucy laughed. “Ah, the truth comes out.” Then turning back to Allison added, “I’ll come. I need a new toothbrush.”

  Allison crossed her arms and glared back and forth between us. “You're both updating your wardrobes if it’s the last thing I do. I feel less fashionable just sitting near you.”

  Lucy rolled her eyes at me as Allison changed the subject to how her day had been so far. As Allison prattled on, I looked over my shoulder to scan the cafeteria for the creepy staring guy. I spotted him almost immediately sitting with Max, a J.V. soccer player, and yep, still staring.

  Noticing my distraction, Allison took a break from her monologue to turn and follow my gaze. “Who’s the hunk?”

  “That creep has been staring over here since we sat down,” I grumbled.

  Allison smirked. “He's hot, maybe you should go teach him some manners.”

  I raised an eyebrow at her comment. “I will never understand your taste in men. He looks like an overly-primped jerk.”

  Allison raised both of her eyebrows in surprise. “My Xoe, you sure are feeling judgy today. That's supposed to be my job.” She rose from her seat and looked over at Creepy Guy.

  Realizing her intent, I reached for her arm and tried to pull her back down. “No way Al,” I chided. “Don't even think about it.”

  Ignoring my comment, Allison pulled her arm away from me. With a mischievous smile, she hustled away from our table, then waltzed right up to Creepy Guy. She sat down on the other side of his table, facing him and Max companionably.

  I shook my head and turned back to Lucy. We exchanged similar looks of resignation.

  I sighed loudly. “And so it begins.”

  Lucy began to reply, then quickly turned her gaze down to the tabletop. I turned partially around to see what had interrupted Lucy. Allison was walking toward us, leading Creepy Guy by the hand. They came to stand at the head of our table.

  Allison twined her arm through Creepy Guy’s, which remained limp. “Girls, this is Dan. He’s new here.” Allison nodded in Lucy’s direction. “That’s Lucy,” then nodded to me, “and that lovely example of radiant good cheer is Xoe.”

  Allison released Dan’s arm and took a seat next to Lucy, leaving only one option for Dan. I had a moment to glare at Allison for her cruelty, then Dan sat next to me with a quizzical look, like he didn’t quite know what I was. I quickly turned away and found my gaze wandering back to Max, who was now sitting alone, looking confused. He stood and walked straight out of the cafeteria like a sleepwalker. I stared for a moment at the now empty doorway, wondering what had gotten into Max to make him act so strangely.

  When I turned back to our table, I noticed Dan's gaze had drifted to Lucy. The look he gave her was far different from the confused one he had given me. He looked at Lucy like she was a piece of meat, and he wasn't even trying to hide it.

  I expected Lucy to be squirming under the pressure of Dan’s gaze, but instead she offered him a coy smile. My mouth fell open in surprise. I’d never seen Lucy flirt before, and I couldn't believe she'd chosen that moment to start. Dan didn’t really seem her type, though I didn’t actually know what her type was. Lucy, like me, didn’t date a lot.

  Allison, on the other hand, I was used to. She flirted up dates on a regular basis, and had no problem talking to guys. She was born to flirt, and flirt she did.

  Before I knew what had happened, Allison’s flirting magic had involved Dan in our shopping plans for the weekend, which had been altered to movie plans . . . gre-at. I would have rather gone shopping, and that was saying a lot. Dan had not made a good first impression on me.

  My own thoughts began to tune out the conversation as Allison continued to quiz Dan on where he was from and any other inane fact she could think of. I felt uncomfortable sitting next to Dan. Waves of creepiness emanated from him. Okay, so maybe “waves of creepiness” was a little dramatic, but there was something very strange about him. He made my skin crawl. He shifted so that his elbow brushed mine, and struggled not to rub the goose bumps that instantly erupted on my arms.

  I scooted away and watched him have a seemingly normal conversation with Lucy and Allison, while I tried to pinpoint what had me on edge. Listening to him talk, he seemed perfectly normal, but his face shattered the illusion. His gaze never left Lucy, even when he was answering one of Allison’s questions. It was like he was trying to memorize every small detail of her face. It was downright unnerving.

  The bell rang, startling me. I stood abruptly and gathered up my uneaten lunch, grateful for once that lunchtime was over. Ignoring Dan, I said bye to Lucy, then grabbed onto Allison, who was entering Dan’s phone number into her cell. As soon as she finished, I hurried her away from our table, leaving Dan and Lucy behind. I could feel the electric pressure of Dan’s eyes on us the entire way.

  “Isn’t he gorgeous?” Allison swooned once we were out in the hall and clear from Dan’s gaze.

  “What?” I questioned, lost in thought.

  “Dan! He's gorgeous, or weren’t you at the same lunch table as me?”

  Allison liked Creepy Guy? Was she blind? The way he looked at Lucy had been pretty hard to miss. “Are you kidding? He’s a total weirdo. Did you see the way he watched Lucy? Why did you have to invite him this weekend?”

  “Oh Xoe,” Allison responded, “ever the pessimist. Just give him a chance. It’ll be fun.” She paused for a moment and squinted her eyes. “And yes, I noticed the staring, but it doesn’t mean he likes Lucy. It could mean anything.”

  “I didn’t mean it that way,” I clarified. “It was eerie. He hardly blinked. He looked at her like his favorite possession.”

  Allison frowned as a girl trying to get to her locker bumped into her. “Maybe he was just nervous.”

  “That was so not nerves,” I argued. “That was stalker potential.”

  “You’re being paranoid, Xoe. He just didn’t know how to act. It’s his first day at a new school. I’m sure he’s fine,” Allison paused. “You don’t have to come on Saturday if you don’t want to.”

  I set my jaw stubbornly. “No, I’ll be there.”

  I was coming all right. I’d be damned if that creep was going to cause me to stay home on a Saturday, even if I had to sit through an entire chick-flick. Plus, how else was I supposed to keep an eye on him? Now, if only the feeling of doom in my gut would agree with me.

  We made our way to the gymnasium, then headed straight to the girl’s locker room to change. The gym somehow seemed even older than the rest of the school. You could feel the years of tears and sweat that had gone into the place, giving it an almost electric buzz. The walls had received the same lovely paint treatment as the rest of the building, and the gloss on the hardwood floors had been all but worn away by the thousands of feet that passed before us.

  Our school was small enough that our gym classes were co-ed. It had been an issue with some of the parents, as apparentl
y it was taboo for boys and girls to see each other in gym clothes, but common sense won out. I would never understand parents. The co-ed classes were fine by me. The more competition, the better.

  I changed my clothes quickly, grateful that we were allowed to wear our own sweats. The uniforms the school supplied were reused each year and came in our school colors of yellow and green. Yuck. How yellow and green went with our school mascot, an eagle, was beyond me. I let my dingy gray tee shirt fall over my plain black sweats and tied my hair in as much of a ponytail as its length would allow. I turned to Allison as I sat to tie my Nike tennis shoes, to see her dressed in pink shorts and a fitted white t-shirt, with a look of grim determination on her face. To Allison, preparing for gym class was akin to preparing for battle. We walked back into the gym as Mr. “Call me Mitch” Walters was announcing that today was volleyball day. Most excellent.

  Brian Fletcher was chosen as one of the team captains. Brian and I go way back. He’s my next-door neighbor and has been since I moved to Shelby. I’ve been friends with him about as long as I have Lucy. Brian’s smiling brown eyes landed on me as he chose me for his first teammate. I jogged up to stand beside him and ruffled his curly brown hair with my hand. Brian didn’t only choose me because I’m his friend, I also kick butt at volleyball, and he’s almost as competitive as I am. To say we like to win is a vast understatement.

  Allison was usually chosen last for team sports. She tends to close her eyes and flinch any time a ball comes near her. When the choices were down to Allison and a small nerdy boy I didn’t know, Brian finally put Allison on our team. She shuffled up to stand by me as Brian ran to the ball rack to grab a few volleyballs.

  Play began and I was up to serve first. I hit the ball overhand, aiming right at the small nerdy boy. He ducked out of the way, not even trying to hit the ball. Point one for us. So maybe I played a little dirty. So what? My teammates never complained.

  After we started to play, time went by in a flash, and we totally crushed the opposition. Soon we only had 10 minutes of class left, not enough to play another game, so “Mitch” told us just to get changed and hang out until the bell rang.

  No one takes showers after gym class. It may seem kind of gross, but if you could see the rusty, grime-infested showers in the Shelby High locker rooms, you would no doubt understand. The consensus was that you would come out dirtier than when you went in.

  Having changed back out of our gym clothes, Al and I went to stand near the door to talk to Brian. We had barely reached Brian when Cindy Miller swayed up to us. As gym was the bane of Allison’s existence, so Cindy Miller was the bane of mine. Cindy was every guy’s dream and my worst nightmare, rolled up into a slim brunette package.

  Completely ignoring Al and me, Cindy walked up to Brian. “Nice game,” she purred. “we should practice together sometime.” As she spoke, Cindy casually brushed imaginary lint off Brian’s shoulder.

  Brian looked at me pleadingly, trapped. I tapped Cindy on the shoulder, turning her to me with a look of distaste in her large brown eyes.

  “What?” She asked with as much snark as a single word could possibly possess, snarling her glossed lips.

  “Oh, I thought you were asking Brian for some playing tips,” I replied sweetly. “I was going to tell you to keep your head down. It’s rather large and blocks your teammates’ view of the ball, though the same tip could apply to your butt as well.” I gave her my most innocent smile.

  Catty, I know, but Cindy had it coming. Last year she spread a rumor that Allison was bulimic, and purposefully dumped a soda onto me during lunch. So me-ow. Cindy gave me a murderous look and walked away as Allison burst into laughter.

  Brian put his arm around my shoulders companionably. “That’s why we love you, Xoe.”

  The bell rang and Brian gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, then practically skipped away to his locker like an excited puppy. He had English with me next. Now don’t get the wrong idea, Brian and I were strictly friends. We had more of a brother-sister relationship. People talk, as people tend to do, but we’d never crossed that friendship line. I said goodbye to Allison, then headed to class.

  I reached my English class and snagged a seat near the back, though the very back row was already full, so I had to settle for the second to last row. I was patiently waiting for the “excitement” to begin when, lo and behold, Creepy Guy, I mean Dan, walked in. He walked right toward me, then took the open seat to my right. I froze, like a mouse trying not to draw the cat’s attention. He glanced at me, as if to say something. With my heart pounding in my ears, I ignored him, keeping my eyes toward the front of the class.

  Brian came rushing in and took the seat on my other side, oblivious to my predicament. As class began, I noticed Dan sneaking more puzzled glances at me. Squinting his pale blue eyes, he would tilt his head slightly, almost like a dog. My wardrobe might have been a little out of style, but was it really that puzzling? Did I have something on my face? The weird looks were starting to get to me.

  Brian passed me a note while the teacher’s back was turned. I opened it and read, “What’s with that guy?”

  I gave Brian an exasperated look and shrugged, relieved that it wasn’t just in my head. I turned my eyes to the front of class and prepared to wait out the rest of the torturous hour.

  When the bell finally rang, Dan reached out as if to grab my arm, with a calculating look in his eyes. I quickly turned away from him to Brian, and practically dragged Brian out of class. The look in Dan’s eyes as he'd reached for me had been completely alien, like he had dropped his already poor mask of normalcy. Whatever lurked behind those icy blue eyes wasn’t something I knew how to deal with.

  Brian and I stopped in the hall, safely away from the classroom, to discuss the creepiness of Dan. With a nervous look over my shoulder, I dragged Brian a little farther away from the classroom, just as Dan exited and walked past us. “Allison invited him to the movies with us this weekend,” I whispered, making it clear by my tone that the movie date was a bad thing.

  Brian frowned. “That does not seem like a good idea. I’ve got a bad feeling about him.”

  At least someone agreed with me. “You know how Allison is . . . ”

  Brian smiled ruefully. “Yeah, I guess you didn’t have much choice. I could come with you, just in case.”

  “Really?” Maybe things were looking up. “We’re going Saturday evening.”

  He cringed. “Oh. Sorry Xoe . . . football practice.” He shrugged and bit his lip. “I could cancel . . . ”

  “No, no it’s okay,” I assured. “I’m sure we’re just being paranoid.”

  Brian nodded slowly, still hesitating. He nodded again and stood up a little straighter, as if making up his mind. “C’mon, I’ll walk you to class.”

  Brian and I walked in silence the short distance to my geometry class. He stopped me before I walked into the classroom. “If you change your mind and want me to come, just call.”

  I had begun to say thanks just as Allison whipped by us, grabbing my arm and dragging me into the classroom. I waved to Brian as he turned to go to his next class.

  Allison and I snagged seats in the back just as the bell rang. She turned to me and opened her mouth as if to speak, but the teacher began her lecture, sealing any chance Allison had to talk. Assuming she was probably going to talk about Dan, I didn’t really mind. Allison crossed her arms and slouched down in her chair, seeming more than a little sullen. I looked out the window to our green surroundings and daydreamed for the rest of class, glad that I was no longer in the same room as Dan.

  After geometry, Allison had to rush to her yearbook committee meeting and I went to find Lucy. Lucy was already waiting outside the school entrance when I arrived, just like she always was. We started the short walk to our houses in silence, passing through the parking lot in front of the school, then veering away from the road to cut through the woods. We could get home following the road, but taking the trail through the woods cut about ten minute
s off our journey.

  Before Allison got her car, she would insist on the longer route of paved road whenever she came home with us, as Allison isn’t big on the woods. They get her shoes dirty.

  Lucy and I walked along companionably, shaded by the pine trees that bordered either side of the partially grown-over trail. A narrow strip of deep brown soil was all that was left to show us the way, though we'd walked it so many times we didn’t need the trail to lead us home. I looked up through the trees to find that the sky had actually cleared up some. The warm sunlight leaked down to hit my face as we walked. I smiled and took a deep breath of moist, mossy air, then looked back down at the ground just in time to notice and hop over a puddle of water on the trail.

  I continued walking, paying more attention to where I was stepping, thinking that though it was pleasantly sunny, something felt slightly off. It then occurred to me that the woods were overly quiet. The usual ambiance of birdsong, and the scuffling of small creatures through the underbrush were completely absent. I stopped and scanned the area. Nothing moved. Lucy stopped a few feet ahead of me and looked back questioningly.

  All of the tiny hairs on my body stood on end, as if my skin were charged with electricity. Lucy slowly turned to fully face me. She glanced around us, then noticing the eerie silence, her eyes widened. I nodded to the trail, signaling that we should continue walking. We started off again without a word, trying to step as lightly as possible. Instinct told me to stay as quiet as I could, like a rabbit trying to avoid a predator.

  Suddenly a blue jay flew overhead, screeching out warning to all of the seemingly absent birds, then flew on away from us, leaving a weighted silence behind. My palms began to sweat. We walked for several minutes with only the sound of our footfalls and heavy breathing to let us know we hadn’t gone deaf.

  Lucy began darting nervous glances at me. I stopped again and gave her my full attention. She mouthed, “Should we run?”

  I began to shake my head in reply, when suddenly there was a loud crack to the left and behind us, as if someone had stepped on a branch. We both froze, neither of us so much as breathing. Lucy kept her eyes on me, at a loss on what to do.