Secret of Words

by Allyson Huber

  “What is the Larta?” I force myself to play along, half-distracted by a car driving by. The driver was a dark-haired man though, so it wasn’t this Liza woman I had to meet.

  “The Larta is an organization of people who live in Lybrazil. They are the main enemies of the Ones of Within, and the Larta are trying to destroy Earth with technology. Basically, they give the Earth destructive technology with the hopes that humans here will destroy each other with it. The Ones of Within’s purpose is to oppose them and save the Earth.”

  “You just said Aughmortor doesn’t have technology.”

  Shay sighed, running a hand through her hair. “Yes, I did. When I said they give technology to the Earth, I didn’t mean directly. Changes in Aughmortor affect the outcome of how things go on Earth.

  Dusk started to fall and the sky turned a murky gray, changing from the streaks of beautiful color from before. It was getting late, and I needed to get home before Dad’s girlfriend came to our house for dinner. This playing along thing could only go so far before it was getting ridiculous. Maybe, a different time I could poke more holes in their story, but today was not the day.

  “Well, I have to go,” I said finally. This was a waste of time, and I should’ve left when I had the chance.

  “Wait!” Emilie said, grabbing my arm.

  “What?” I asked, pulling my arm away roughly and taking a few steps away from them.

  “Please, you have to listen to us! There isn’t much time!”

  “It was interesting, really. I’m fascinated by your vast imagination,” I said sarcastically, shoving my earphones back in my ears.

  “You have no faith,” Shay said with a reserved, scornful expression on her face. So much for holistic and nurturing. Maybe, she was a fantasy author or something and trying to troll me with her nonsense.

  “I have better things to do, sorry.” I firmly answered her and started walking away. Their story was interesting. I couldn’t deny that. But, of course, it wasn’t true. Shay thought I had no faith. “Yeah, I have no faith because if I did … I would just be let down.” I whispered, too quietly for them to hear.

  “Natalie, you will learn to believe us in time.” Emilie’s voice trailed off, faded, and muffled.

  I turned around, glaring directly at her. The anger I’d held back since I’d gotten home leaked out of my lips before I could stop it. The need for someone else to hurt, to understand, took over. “Don’t bother to talk to me on Monday. I’m not going to listen and no one else will, sorry to break it to you.” I didn’t turn around again as I began to run back to my house. The ground pounded below my feet, and a cloud of fog entered the air when I let a sigh, realizing the harshness of my words. I didn’t want to be mean to her, and I automatically regretted my words. Maybe I would make it up to her on Monday.

  There was an unfamiliar car in our driveway, probably the girlfriend … just my luck. While I’d been listened to a stupid fairytale, she’d gone into the house without me.

  “Dad?” I called, my voice echoing down the long hallway.

  “Hi, Natalie! Finally, you’re here. There’s someone you have to meet.” Dad said, in a stupid, overly happy voice. I sighed, my eyes narrowing. Wasn’t he stating the obvious?

  “I’m coming. One sec.” I untied my shoes and put them beside the door next to the umbrellas. A pair of black high-heels were already there and my dad’s brown, business shoes. Was I up for this?

  I didn’t think so; the conversation with Shay and Emilie had stolen all my patience and I was tired, so tired. But, for my father, I put on a winning smile and entered the kitchen casually, my hands stuffed in the pocket of my coat. My dad was sitting at the wooden table and in the chair beside him, where my mother used to sit was his new girlfriend. She had long blonde hair to her hips, deep brown, almost black eyes, and flawlessly tanned skin. She was wearing a dressy black shirt, a flowing gold skirt with a black floral pattern, and looked as though she was in her late thirties.

  “Natalie, I’ve been so excited to meet you.” Liza said, smiling sincerely at me from her seat. Seeing her, smiling like a fool, while taking my mother’s seat almost made me want to claw her across those perfect cheeks. Feeling my anger overwhelmed me for a second. Why did I feel so angry? I think it went back to how my relaxing time had turned out.

  Instead, I played a ‘Nice to meet you’ card with a handshake and settled down into my chair. How much had she known about me? My father?

  “Liza ordered pizza if that’s okay?” Dad asked.

  “Sounds good.” Truthfully, I didn’t think if I could eat anything anyways due to my lack of appetite, but I would have to choke down at least a slice or two to appease my father.

  “How was your day?” Liza asked me.

  “It was good, just a normal day at school, really … I’m glad it’s weekend though.”

  “Your Dad tells me you like music.” Liza didn’t even bother to comment on what I’d said before changing questions but that actually gave me a small smile.

  “Yeah, I listen to lots of music.” Like every other teenager on the planet.

  “That’s nice.” She nodded enthusiastically. “I’m a preschool teacher.”

  Like I really care. I took a deep breath, trying to curb my negativity. I needed to put on a good front for Dad. “That’s cool. Teaching is hard, and it requires a lot of patience.”

  “It’s a lot of work,” Liza admitted, tapping the table nervously with her fingertips. She seemed almost lost about what to continue with. “What classes are you taking in school? Are you a sophomore? Junior?”

  “No, freshmen. I’ll be fifteen in about two weeks.”

  “Oh, you look older in person. Wes showed me pictures.”

  “How about we play a game?” Dad interrupted as I gave him a sideways glare. Apparently, it seemed like he’d known this woman for much longer than I had if he was showing her pictures of me.

  “Okay. What game?” A few seconds after the words left my mouth, the doorbell rang loudly, drawing Dad up in a snap.

  “I’ll get it. You two pick a game.” He raced away, practically spitting dust from his heels.

  “What about Clue? Or Exploding Kittens?” I asked, exasperated, partially because my father had left me with her and partially because we didn’t have all that many board games to choose from and I certainly was not going to choose Monopoly. It took no less than five hours, and I hoped she would be gone well before that.

  “Clue will be fun!”

  “Okay, sounds good with me.” I muttered, taking out the Clue board and dusting it off. We probably hadn’t played a board game in the past three years unless if playing it with Dad’s business friends counted.

  “So, did anything interesting happen today?” She asked while I started taking out the pieces.

  “My English teacher gave me a flier about an essay writing contest,” I said, carefully leaving out that I had also met two delusional people who believed parallel universes actually existed. That didn’t seem like a great topic to bring up on the first meeting with my Dad’s girlfriend.

  “Do you think you’ll participate?”

  “No, I really don’t think I will but I might give it a try if I have time” It was a little awkward talking to someone who hardly knew anything about my life.

  “Well, at least you’re keeping the option open. That’s more than I would’ve done as a teenager.”

  Dad walked in, holding a large pizza box and a two-liter bottle of soda. I was glad they ordered pizza since we had nothing worthwhile to cook other than TV dinners in the refrigerator.

  “We ordered half-pepperoni, half-cheese. Is that all right?”

  “Sure, whatever.”

  I poured us all glasses before sitting down at the table and picking my character. Believe it or not, Liza ended up being a decent Clue player. I was pretty sure Dad gave her way too many hints, though. Eventually, around ten, she left. I gathered up the plates on the table and put them in the sink that was already fi
lled with dirty dishes again.

  “See? That wasn’t so bad.” My dad said, giving me a wary glance as he turned on the water and picked up a dirty plate.

  “Whatever you say,” I replied.

  “I’ll do the dishes,” he said

  “Okay, thanks.” I walked into my room and drearily examined the mess. Today had been a very long day. I lied down on my bed. My head turned to the ceiling, and I closed my eyes for a moment. Before I knew it, I was back to thinking about the conversation earlier. Emilie and Shay’s words were so unbelievable and the way they had wasted my time was still annoying. Emilie said she would be leaving soon and she was looking for a lost friend? But who was that? I’d never met Emilie in my life before today, so I couldn’t be any ‘lost friend.’ Emilie was like a mystery I couldn’t figure out. To be honest, they interested me. I couldn’t understand why they had come into my boring life and how they believed such crazy things, but part of me wanted to pick their brains and see what made them tick.

  Most of the time, kids tried hard to act normal, but Emilie was the opposite. I think she tried to contradict every possible stereotype I could come up with. Yet, she’d even said around Shay that they were really trying to act normal … which made no sense since they were accomplishing the exact opposite. Teenagers generally tried to act the same, talk the same, and behave the same. Emilie was just hard to figure out- I mean, all power to her if she wanted to break the cliché high school trends, but did I really want to be associated her? I had never been a popular kid, and I could care less for reputation, but becoming friends with another loner would make me even more vulnerable in this new high school. Besides, who wanted to be friends with someone who actually believed in parallel universes and magic? I found myself ruminating for hours before eventually falling into a restless sleep.

  Chapter Three

  The morning slowly crept up on me as I lied in bed before I forced myself to greet the Saturday morning sunlight encroaching into my bedroom. My eyes remained fixed on my dull, white ceiling as everything from last night came back to me all at once. Naturally, I didn’t want to get up since it was the weekend, but I didn’t think I would have much of a choice today.

  “Natalie! Are you awake?” Dad called from somewhere in the house.

  “Now I am,” I muttered under my breath, sighing.

  “I just wanted to take you to Starbucks,” He said from outside my door, giving it a light knock before walking away.

  I loved going to Starbucks, but usually, Dad went to work early in the morning before I got up. Yep, he even worked on Saturdays. Starbucks was only a few blocks away from my house so I could walk home if he needed to leave before I was done.

  “Coming!”

  I sat up, rubbing my eyes, before quickly dressing in a red and black plaid blouse and a pair of straight-leg blue jeans. My dirty blonde hair was messy, despite my efforts to calm it. This morning, there was a ridiculous amount of hair sticking up off the top of my head and refusing to be tamed. With a sigh, I brushed them down the best I could and swept my bangs to the side of my face.

  “Natalie?” Dad called again. I sighed and walked away from the mirror, figuring I wouldn’t really meet anyone worth dressing up for anyways. Being a low-maintenance girl, my priorities weren’t on looking perfect.

  “One sec!” I hurried out of my room and headed to the front door, where my father waited. While I played the elusive, unfriendly teenage role, I was actually kind of excited about spending quality time with my father. Besides, there was nothing that could get me moving in the morning faster than the prospect of Starbucks, and he knew that.

  His blonde hair was neatly combed back, and, like always, he was wearing a business shirt and pants. I had no idea how he could live in business clothes as often as he did. Every time I wore a dress or something remotely professional, I ripped it off the moment I got home. Dad sometimes reminded me of those guys on commercials, trying to sell products with an overly white smile, gelled back hair, and polished shirt, and khakis. Of course, I never mentioned that to him, but it was still something I thought about from time to time.

  “Why are we going to Starbucks?” I asked. Dad rarely stayed at the house past eight on Saturday mornings. Besides, if he wanted to play nice with me today, he shouldn’t have put me on the spot last night with his new girlfriend.

  “Just wanted to spend a little time with you.” Dad smiled at me hesitantly, but I knew, deep inside hiding behind that one million dollar smile, that he had deeper motives. Nothing with my father was ever that simple, it seemed like these days.

  “Oh.” I tried to smile back at him while attempting to shove my pessimistic attitude aside. We got into the car, and I automatically turned up the radio like I always did and cranked it even higher as it started playing. Dad turned the volume down a little as I turned to look out the window, watching the leaves twirl to the ground.

  “So, did you like Liza?” Dad asked nonchalantly as he pulled out of the driveway.

  I turned to glance at him, noticing that his eyes were suddenly focused on his driving; in other words, Dad focused on anything but looking at me.

  “Sure, it’s cool.” I turned my head so he couldn’t see my smirk. ‘Cool’ didn’t describe the experience of last night at all. ‘Cool’ described nothing. I wasn’t ‘cool’ with hanging out with his new ‘girlfriend’ yet.

  “Come on; you must have an opinion.”

  “Does my opinion matter?” I asked casually, even though I knew the answer like every other teenager does … No. Dad glanced over at me a few times before focusing on the road again.

  “It does to me.”

  “Well, this whole move was about change, wasn’t it? Maybe this is the type of change we need.” I dashed over the question, skimming around safely at the edges.

  “Natalie, I’m asking you what you want.” Dad peered over to assess my expression again.

  “I want you to watch the road.” Our car swerved, barely missing the shoulder of the road, as he directed his attention back to driving.

  “You can do better than that.”

  “I don’t fully understand what you’re asking me to say.” I lied because lying was the easiest way to get myself out of this conversation.

  “I want to know your opinion on this dating thing. I know that we don’t always talk about things, but this is important to me. This is a big change for our family.”

  “Uh… I just met her. What am I supposed to say?”

  “Anything but that.” Dad sighed as we pulled into a parking spot, and silence fell between us. I opened the car door, closed it gently behind me, and started walking towards the Starbucks.

  “I have to leave soon,” Dad informed me, “And this conversation is not far from over.”

  Of course, his priorities remained on getting to work before nine, so he could sit around his desk with his secretary and plan out his busy schedule for next week, forgetting to mention anything involving me. Again. Then, he would stick his feet up on the desk, flip through a few pages of legal material for his next case, and ignore the fact that back at the house I would be home alone, wishing I was anything but.

  “Whatever you wish.” Maybe, I needed to give my father a break. Sometimes, I found myself stuck in my pessimism, and I could really lay on my frustration thick. He was, after all, at least involving me somewhat in the conversation, which he hadn’t done with the moving decision.

  A few people were in line already, and the rumbling sound of the machines rang through the Starbucks. The familiar scent of coffee invaded my senses in the most tantalizing way. I could already taste the decadent caramel on my tongue and the strong taste of coffee beans awakening the sleepy synapses in my brain. I loved coffee, all kinds of it

  My father sat in line while I looked at the lines of treats one by one. There were many delicious options, but the pumpkin loaf was probably the best choice during the winter time, in my opinion.

  “Get whatever you like.”

&nb
sp; “Thanks.”

  “No problem.”

  That right there pretty much summed up the father-daughter relationship of the twentieth century or, at least, the only one I can mention.

  We ordered and waited patiently for our drinks to come out.

  “This is nice. We haven’t been to Starbucks in a few weeks.”

  “Yeah …” The conversation had taken a turn for the uncomfortable. Maybe it’d just been uncomfortable from the start. Our drinks were placed out on a nearby counter once they were finished. We quickly grabbed them and headed over to an empty table to sit. I quickly pulled out my pumpkin loaf and ripped off a bite. I ate it slowly, savoring each morsel of spiced, fall goodness.

  “My blueberry muffin is good. How’s your pumpkin loaf?” My dad was trying to make conversation out of something hardly worth conversing about, but I had to give him credit for it. Usually, we spent our time at Starbucks, scrolling on our phones or reading the newspaper. Maybe, having a woman in his life would be a change for the better in our relationship. I was still frustrated, but with time maybe it could all smooth out. Maybe, living in Virginia wouldn’t be so bad either.

  “It’s delicious.” It seemed like an insufficient reply, the kind that made someone automatically shut down into formality. “Thanks for going to Starbucks with me.” I said, my voice taking the new professional edge further. Part of me kicked myself for this response, but it was too late to take it back. I promised myself that when I saw him later, I’d pull myself together and make more of an effort.

  “No problem.” He replied, distracted, before checking his watch. “Natalie, I have to get to work. I didn’t mean to rush this, but I’m already late and today is important. Aria’s going to be angry.” My dad stood up and threw away the remainder of his food. Aria, his secretary, was an unpleasant, sour woman that turned her nose up every time someone was late. I knew this because I’d personally met the woman against my best interests and wishes.