Suppliant

  Chapter 7

  “How in the heck did you do that?” I don’t bother asking Damien until we’re alone at the entrance of the pier carnival.

  “Do what?” The smile lights his face like a Christmas tree.

  “You should have seen her face.” I ignore his denial. He knows darned good and well what I’m talking about. Though my visions are new to me, they’ve so far been true; I know this to be a fact.

  I remember back to my vision about the book at the library. I’m still freaked out about the fact that I’m seeing things that I shouldn’t be able to, but I figure this has something to do with my absentee birth parents.

  That’s another reason I desperately need to find them. Maybe they know something about what’s happening to me.

  “I bet you loved it. To see the queen bee shot down and made a liar,” Damien says, bringing my attention back to the matter at hand.

  “You know it.” For the first time in what feels like forever I smile, truly smile. I’m happy from the inside out. I feel like I could soar through the clouds at any time.

  Damien hands our entry tickets to the carnival worker. I hadn’t thought to purchase a ticket yet. I need to pay him back for that later.

  Damien pulls me to the games. I lose at the first three games before I can convince him to switch gears and ride the rides instead.

  We get in line to take a ride on the Ferris wheel. I know that someone like him can’t really like me, “the mutt of the school”. But I sure think it’s romantic at the moment.

  As we reach the top, my stomach drops. All I can think about is the view and how pretty it all is. The sun is going down in the sky, and it leaves a mix of yellow, orange, and purple clouds. It looks like we’re sitting in heaven and looking down. I can’t imagine being a bird and seeing this view anytime I want.

  I glance at Damien who is focused on my face. I want to ask him what he’s staring at, but I don’t have the heart. The wheel starts moving way too soon.

  Once we’re back on the ground I feel much more like myself. All of that ooey gooey romantic stuff is forgotten as Damien gets a funnel cake to share.

  I know that they are horrible for you, but I can’t help it. How can I turn down the crispy hot dough of a funnel cake dusted in powdered sugar? My mouth waters just thinking of it.

  After devouring a third of the funnel cake, I excuse myself to the ladies’ room. I’m consumed in thought as I turn the corner of the circus tent when I look up and see Brad Francetti blocking my path. Brad is a senior football player at my school. He’s huge.

  He grabs my arm and spins around, dragging me behind him. It only takes a few seconds for us to pass the restrooms and enter a tent from the back.

  As we get inside, I look around. It’s a mirror maze, from the workers’ perspective. My curiosity peaks as I’ve never been in a mirror maze before. Something tells me that after tonight, I will never want to go in one again.

  Brad comes to a stop and releases my arm. My immediate reaction is to rub the spot that he’s surely left a bruise on. His big, muscular frame moves out of the way to show Sally Hansen standing there with a sinister grin on her face.

  “Layla Sanders, the mutt of the school.” She spits as she proclaims me the mutt. What kind of respectable woman spits?

  “Sally Hansen, the evil bitch.” I know that I shouldn’t have sneered at her, but I can’t help it. She flicks her wrist, and Brad back--hands me in the mouth.

  “Watch what you say, mutt.” Her face lights up at the trickle of blood that forms in the corner of my mouth due to my split lip. That’s when I realize just how sick Sally Hansen is.

  What kind of person likes causing pain to others? Serial killers and psychopaths come to mind. She must be mentally ill. I frantically glance around for a way out of this situation, but all exits are blocked. Sally is directly in front of me, and three football players are surrounding me. There’s no possible way I can escape.

  Sally strikes me. “That is for getting in my way with Damien.” She kicks me in the stomach next. “And that is for moving my purse. By the way, how did you pull that one off? I could have sworn that I had you.” A creepy smile lights her face. Just looking at her makes me sick.

  “As if I would ever tell you.” I glare at her. It just excites her more. She lets out a string of curses and doesn’t hold back on her anger. Before too long, I’m swaying on my feet.

  My arm is aching so badly that I think it might be broken. The swings keep coming from all angles. The football players are having some fun with me too. What did I do to deserve this, is the last thought I have before I black out.

  ...

  I wake up in my bedroom. Panic slices through me at my current state of well--being, and how I would explain my bruises to my parents. I look down, feeling my whole body for the aches and bruises.

  What am I going to tell people? I better think of something, but right now is not the time, a yawn escapes as my head hit the pillow again.

  ...

  The buzzing of my alarm clock, mixed with the bright sun’s rays pull me out of sleep. My head is throbbing and my body is aching all over. I know I will feel better after a shower, so I pull myself out of bed and head for the bathroom.

  After taking a shower and getting dressed, I find myself standing in front of the mirror. My lip is swollen and split. There is a faint bruise on my left cheek from getting slapped, and the rest of my bruises are covered up by my clothing.

  I stretch my arm, thankful that it’s not broken. I will have to come up with a cover story for my face. I spend a few minutes extra putting on my makeup this morning. I have to make sure that the bruise on my cheek isn’t visible. I take a step back to admire my work. After a full body check, I approve my appearance.

  The only thing that sticks out is my busted lip. I will tell my mom and friends that I had a bad dream last night and woke up on the floor. I know that they will believe it because it has happened before, though I haven’t hit my lip on the way down.

  ...

  “What in the heck happened to your lip?” Ava pulls me aside at lunch. “I saw it earlier, but didn’t want to bring it up in front of everyone.”

  I tell her my made--up story about hitting my lip when falling off the bed, and she doesn’t give it a second thought. I’m glad that everyone thinks I’m such a klutz that they don’t question my story.

  “Did you hear that Sally Hansen and a few of the football players never showed up to school today?” Mads asks as we join her and Damien. I shoot a look of concern at Damien. I want to ask him about last night, but I can’t chance someone hearing our conversation. “I heard that she was so embarrassed about her purse that she didn’t want to show her face here again.”

  “I heard that she went to the carnival at the pier last night and got into a fight with some girl from another school. The football boys backed her up, but they ended up getting kicked out for fighting,” Ava responds.

  I sink into my thoughts, tuning them out. I just want to get a few minutes alone with Damien to ask him about last night. What really happened after I passed out? How did I get home without my parents freaking out at my injuries? I have never been in a fight before and I consider myself lucky to have gotten away with only a few bruises.

  I stop my hand from rubbing my temples. I took some medicine this morning, but my head is still throbbing. It will probably take me a few days to get back to normal. I excuse myself to the restroom, and Damien follows.

  Seeing this as my chance, I turn to him. “What happened last night?”

  “I went looking for you after ten minutes. I found you in the back of the mirror maze tent passed out on the floor, so I took you home,” he says.

  “What happened to Sally and the football players?” I ask.

  “I don’t know; there was no one there but you when I got there,” he says.

  “How did you get past my parents?” I ask.

  “They were in bed.” He
shrugs and then turns to walk into the boys’ bathroom, leaving me staring at the wall.