* * *
"Anali, this has gone on for too long. We need to do something!"
I hung up my towel and went into my bedroom as quietly as possible. What in the world were they talking about? Combing out my hair I sat on the bed and listened. It's not eavesdropping if people talk loudly enough for you to hear them.
"Gavin, I'm as concerned as you are, but please try to understand how many changes she's been through. Sapphire suddenly has all these powers, finds out there are evil beings after her, she's expected to save magical creatures she's grown up believing aren't real, her name has changed, and now she's living with an uncle she never even knew existed," Anali said.
"Living with me is not a bad thing!" Gavin yelled. Oh, crap, this isn't good. I thought about closing my door to give them some privacy, but I wanted to know what they were arguing about.
"Of course not, but, honey, it is a big change. She needs time," Anali said.
"It has been weeks, and Taliesin says he still doesn't feel any Phoenix power from her. We need to get her help." I didn't know Taliesin could do that. Is that why he would stand so close to me during class?
"What kind of help? We can't take her away right now, we have to stay here." Anali started to sound frustrated.
"I don't know, but maybe we should talk to her about it?"
"Gavin, she barely knows us. Let her have her space. I'm sure she knows things aren't quite right. When she's ready, she'll come and talk to us about it."
"I'm her uncle, she should feel safe with me."
"You being her uncle doesn't magically fix everything!" Uh-oh, now Anali was mad. Thank goodness my empathy had died down to almost nothing.
Their bedroom door slammed shut and while I could hear their voices I could no longer tell what they were saying. I sat in the bay window and pressed my head against the cool glass. I had never heard them fight before and now they were fighting over me. My stomach felt sick with guilt.
After a while their bedroom door opened and Gavin's heavy footsteps echoed through the house. The silence that followed the shutting of the front door settled over the house and suffocated the normal happy emotions. I saw Gavin walking down the street, his hunched form lit up by the street lamps.
"He'll be fine," Anali said, from my doorway. "He goes for walks when he gets upset. It gives him time to think and figure out what to do."
I nodded, my eyes glued to the street.
"Sapphire, Gavin will come back." Anali placed her hand on my shoulder. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"No," I said, but vowed to do better to get past my fears so Gavin wouldn't be mad and they wouldn't argue over me. I didn't want them to regret taking me in.