Chapter 21
School was back in session. Break had been over for a couple weeks, and everyone was settling back in with the normal school routine. The bell rang, signaling the end of sixth period. Holidee, Rip, and Rebekah packed up their things and walked out of the Spanish classroom.
“Hasta manana!” Holidee waved good-bye as she walked up to ‘A’ building, where the gym was. She had gym seventh period during the second semester. Luckily, though, Tom was in her class. She felt closer to Tom ever since she found out about his dad. Tom hadn’t had much of a life or a family, but he always tried to smile. She walked into the girls’ locker room and changed into her gym clothes. Then she walked out into the gym and joined the other kids forced to take this class. She joined Tom, who was talking to Ty about baseball.
“Yeah, baseball conditioning starts here in about a month.”
“Wow. Seems a little early.”
“Not really. We’re already lifting.”
“Hey, Holidee!” Holidee smiled.
“Hi. Talkin’ about baseball?”
“Yeah. You play softball?”
“No.” Holidee smiled. “What are we supposed to be playing today?”
“Volleyball. That should be interesting.”
“Yeah. No one ever hits the ball right.” They laughed. The gym teacher blew his whistle and they all lined up. After they stretched and ran, he divided them up into teams and they started playing. Holidee and Tom happened to get on the same team. The teams were made up of five to six people. They would play another team and then rotate. They took a five-minute water break. A cheerleader with blonde hair and blue eyes walked up to Holidee while she was talking to Tom.
“So you’re dating Zeke?” She circled Holidee with a smug look on her face. “Poor taste if you ask me.” She looked like a Barbie doll and almost every guy wanted a date with her. Almost every guy. Holidee smiled.
“He doesn’t think so.” She stopped walking around her and glared.
“So then it’s true?”
“What? That I’m dating Zeke? Yeah. It’s true. Been dating him for a few months now.”
“It won’t last that long.” Holidee put down her water and glared at her. Tom was watching from a distance. He did not want to get involved.
“What’s your problem?”
“Oh, nothing. Just stay out of my way.” She half smiled and walked away. Holidee turned toward Tom.
“Her name’s Olivia. Everyone knows she thinks Zeke is her man.” Tom rolled his eyes and Holidee laughed. “She’s tried every year to get him to go to the dances with her. He’s always refused in a heart beat.” Holidee smiled.
“You’d think people would have better things to talk about.” Tom smiled. The whistle blew and they all went back to playing volleyball again. They rotated one last time and Holidee saw that they were playing Olivia’s team. She was tall, so they started her in the front. Holidee shook her head, determined to out play her. They played for what seemed an hour. Holidee saved every ball Olivia had hit over. Olivia was getting livid. Holidee smiled. Then, when Holidee was in the front row, Olivia leaned close to her.
“I’m gonna make your life a living hell.” Holidee smiled back at her.
“Honey, I’ve already been there.” Olivia looked at her in disgust and they continued to play. Then the whistle blew and everyone stopped playing. Holidee turned to go change, but Olivia threw the volleyball up in the air and spiked it over the net, hitting Holidee square in the face. Holidee fell down. She could already feel the swelling in her face.
“Holidee!” Tom ran over to her. Olivia flipped her hair over her shoulder and walked away.
“Bitch,” Holidee muttered.
“You okay?” Blood started running from her nose. Tom ran and got some paper towels. “Here.” Tom looked at Olivia’s back and shook his head. “She’s a foul creature.” Holidee nodded, holding the paper towels to her nose. The gym teacher came out and told Holidee to go to the nurse. Tom took her. They stopped, however, halfway there. Holidee pulled Tom into the girls’ bathroom. Then she touched her nose and it stopped bleeding. She looked in the mirror and saw her eye blackening and her cheek swelling. She touched them with her hands and they glowed blue. Then the blue disappeared and her face was back to normal. She looked at Tom.
“There. That should do it.” She smiled at Tom. “Just wait when she sees me with no swelling.” Tom smiled.
“C’mon. Let’s go. The bell rang. Zeke’s probably waiting for you outside.” Holidee nodded and they ran back down to get their stuff. They didn’t bother to change. Then they met Zeke out front. Holidee explained their tardiness and they walked home.
“Now you may never get it right-”
“But I can try.”
“Yes you can. Where’s your sister?”
“She couldn’t make it today. She wasn’t feeling too hot.”
“Oh. Well, I hope she feels better.”
“Me too. Whenever she feels sick, I feel a little of it too. It’s a twin thing, I guess.”
“Okay, so let’s try again.” Crix took a piece of paper and cut his palm. Rip put his hands on Crix’ palm and closed his eyes. Rip felt a small surge go through him, but it never reached his hands. He opened his eyes and sighed.
“I get so close.” Crix nodded and healed his palm. Rip sat down on a stool in Crix’ classroom and leaned his head on his hand. He looked at the mug of coffee sitting on the table. The coffee in the mug started whirling around in a circle. Then it parted and swirled on opposite sides. Crix walked up behind him and stared in amazement.
“How’re you-” The coffee splashed together and spilled over on side. Rip turned around.
“Sorry. You scared me.” Crix just looked at him.
“How did you…?” Rip wasn’t enthused.
“I just told it to move with my brainwaves. It’s not too hard. I’m sure you can do it.”
“Yeah, but, not like that. I don’t use my brainwaves. I use my hands. You don’t. You figured out a way to move things with your mind. That’s amazing, Rip!” Rip smiled at the compliment.
“Really? You think so?”
“Yeah. Moving things is another skill. You achieved that. Maybe you can’t use your hands to do things, but you can try with your mind. Try healing a cut with your mind.” Crix cut his hand as Rip hopped off of the stool. He looked at the cut and concentrated. He imagined the skin on Crix’ hand to pull together and stop the bleeding. Then he commanded it to heal. Slowly, Crix’ cut healed. Crix looked at his hand and then at Rip. He laughed and picked Rip up in a bear hug.
“You did it! Rip, you actually did it! You overcame the impossible and healed me!” Rip smiled as Crix put him down. Rip looked at Crix with gratitude. Crix treated him like a son. He never scolded him. He always praised him. Crix clasped a hand on Rip’s shoulder. “We’ll work more tomorrow, okay? I don’t want to push you too hard.” Rip smiled.
“Okay.” Rip gathered up his stuff. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then.” Crix waved good-bye as Rip left. He ran home, excited to tell his mom what he had learned. When he got home, however, his dad was there, not his mom.
“Why’re you home so early?”
“What do you mean?”
“Shouldn’t you be conditioning for baseball?” Rip forgot to tell his dad that he wasn’t going to play baseball this year. He wasn’t looking forward to this conversation.
“I, uh, I’m not going out this year.” Rodger just stared at his son. “I’ve been working on my Oceain skills with Crix. You should see…” Rip got quiet from the look on his father’s face.
“You’re what?” Rip shrank about twelve inches as his dad towered over him. “With who?”
“Whom, dad.”
“Don’t correct me! Why are you practicing your Ocea…and not playing ball? What has he done to you?”
“Who? Crix? Dad, he’s only been helping me. Nothing else.” Rip walked past his dad.
“You’re playing ball.”
Rip hated it when his dad made his decisions for him. He always did what he told him, but he had had enough.
“No!” He twirled around to face his dad. “For the first time in my life I made up my mind on my own! You’re not going to tell me what to do! This is my life, not yours! Crix accepts who I am and what I decide to do with my life! Why can’t you?! He’s more of a father to me than you’ll ever be!” Then Rip stormed upstairs and slammed his bedroom door shut. Rodger stood there, dumbfounded and livid. His son had never yelled at him. Never. And he mentioned Crix. That meant only one thing. Rodger had had enough. He was going to tell Crix to butt out of his family’s life…forever.
“Rip? Are you okay?” Rip was sitting on his bed, staring out the window. Rebekah had found out what had happened from her parents’ yelling that had carried up through the vents into each room. Rip didn’t answer. Rebekah placed a warm hand on his arm and he turned around, anger fading from his face.
“Why can’t he accept me for who I am?” Rebekah shook her head.
“I don’t know, but Mom’s madder than…well, they’re having a little speal right now.” Rip shook his head.
“It’s not fair! I try my best at everything, and it’s still not good enough.” He paused. “Sometimes I wish Crix was my dad. Holidee’s lucky.” Rebekah looked at him, with sympathy in her eyes.
“Rip. Holidee’s parents died. Crix is all she has. She has no family. She had no friends when she came here, either. I’m sure she had her bumps in the road before she became happy again. We have our family, and dad loves you, no matter how much he yells. You’re his son. Nothing can change that. Nothing. But no matter what happens, you’ll always have me. I will always be here for you.” Rip looked at Rebekah, with tears in his eyes. Rebakah smiled and wiped the tears off of his face.
“Thanks, Bek.”
Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Rodger and Ali were arguing.
“Don’t you think he’s turning our kids against us?”
“No, Rodger! Get over yourself for one minute! Our kids are happy! Their eyes are twinkling with knowledge for the first time! They’re learning, Rodger! For the first time something doesn’t come easy to them. They have to work for it. Rodger, I need them to learn about this part of them. I need them to, so that I don’t feel like a failure. We’re lucky to bump into Crix. He knows what he’s talking about. He knows, Rodger. So stop accusing him of brainwashing our kids and enjoy the time you have left with your son! Because after he turns eighteen, he may never come back home, because of you.” Then Ali walked out of the kitchen and upstairs. Within minutes, Rodger’s whole family had turned against him. He sat down at the kitchen table, astonished.