Chapter 7-Rumor
Thanksgiving was a bit awkward for me this year as both of my parents were home and they decided to spoil me. My mom went all out and made everything from scratch. Normally she would just order the whole feast in and it never quite tasted the same. The weirdest part about the whole thing was that she spent the entire time making polite conversation with me, even though her eyes remained cold. Was she actually putting forth an effort? Could the wall that had built up between us ever really come down? I had no idea.
It was the day after I gorged myself on pumpkin pie and now I was tired, bloated, and lost in thought. All of a sudden, my bedroom door opened and Zilla walked in. She had her long blonde hair in a high ponytail, a Hawaiian print sundress with black leggings, and a pair of ballet flats. I must have looked completely guilty of something because she started frowning at me. “Hey girl, what are you doing still in bed?”
“I didn’t get very much sleep last night.”
She smiled. “Well rise and shine cupcake! You look like you could use some serious sunlight and fresh air. We’re going down to the “You’re Crazy It’s Winter Beach Volleyball Tournament”. I know Luke plays on the team, but we are going to support the players in general. You don’t even have to look at the d-bagel if you don’t want to. What do you say?”
I didn’t want to get out of bed, but I needed badly to kill some time. Otherwise, I was going to be pondering what fate had in store for me for the rest of the day anyway. “Sure,” I said giving in.
“That’s it bestie. Get dressed and meet me downstairs,” she said squeezing my arm.
I glanced over at the clock which said 11:30 a.m., no wonder she seemed a little worried that I was still in bed. I wasn’t actually sleeping though. I just wanted to stay in my pajamas all day. I hurried to the closet and threw on an outfit similar to the one Zilla was wearing.
The point of today’s tourney was to play volleyball while pretending it was still summer weather outside, even though it was freezing. The results were always the same. Some people couldn’t last more than five minutes and left with their blue lips and teeth chattering, while our group always stayed until the end. It was our rule.
I curled my hair a bit more and took the two strands of my bangs in the front, fluffed them a little, and clipped them in the back. No reason I couldn’t look girly today, I thought. So I threw on some makeup too and headed downstairs.
“Well, well, well, what have we here,” Zilla said snickering. “Somebody is all dressed up. Plan on running into Cole today, do we?”
“Not funny Zilla. Besides, we aren’t even dating. We’re just at the talking right now.”
“Talking huh? Call it what you want, but there was definitely more then talking going on at your birthday party. So tell me, how was it?”
I was still figuring out how to respond to Zilla’s question when I heard my mom. “How was what?” she asked inquisitively.
“The party,” I replied a little too hastily. “It was fantastic by the way. I guess we should be off though,” I said pulling Zilla by the arm. “We are going down to the tournament today, be back for dinner.”
“Don’t be late,” I heard her yell back.
“Geez Zilla. That was a close one. Next time you want me to spill the beans let’s try to make sure that none of my family members are within ear shot of the conversation,” I suggested hopping into her car.
“Sorry,” she replied guiltily.
Our drive to the event didn’t seem to drift any further from the Cole topic then I hoped it would. To make matters worse, when we picked up Alyssa and Jett, it was all they had to talk about too. I humored them and answered as best I could, carefully leaving out the part about my neck since even I still didn’t know what was up with that. When we got to the beach it was just as crowded as I thought it would be. The game had already begun and our team had scored several points so far. Luke locked eyes with me as soon as we took our seats and at first he gave me the wannabe sexy smile I’m normally used too cringing at. Then, as if he remembered something funny, a very unsympathetic smirk crossed his lips.
As I looked around I noticed Joanne and her group of cheer dorks staring at us. They all huddled together in a circle and when they broke apart, they began laughing and pointing my direction.
“Wonder what they’re so giggly about,” I said sarcastically. “They’re retarded, they’re they’re retarded,” I said doing my best cheerleader impression.
The whole group burst into laughter.
“Geez, Callie, are you planning on joining their squad? You could ya know because you sound just like them,” Alyssa said before blowing a big bubble from the wad of gum in her mouth.
“You better watch it or I’ll personally sign you up, and Jett too,” I said reaching out and popping the sticky orb with my finger. “I’m sure they’re just dying to have two more goobers on their team.”
Jett looked utterly offended that I had called him a goober, but then he smiled and pumped his fist in the air. I noticed Zilla out of the corner of my eye and she seemed distracted. “I’ll be right back,” she said standing up, “I’m going to find out what the deal is.”
I tilted my head back and enjoyed the warmth of the sun as it wrapped around me like a blanket. A chilly breeze from the ocean lapped at my skin. I wish I were still at home in bed or maybe just lying on the beach, I thought. I leaned back into the bleachers and closed my eyes breathing in the fragrant air. A surge of energy pulsed through my body and when I opened my eyes, I was standing on a deserted beach. I immediately sat down and wiggled my toes in the sand, just how I like it. I looked out across the horizon at the endless abundance of water. I didn’t recognize this place. Which make it odd that I could have dreamed it up so vividly. The pristine white beach, the aquamarine water rolling tiny waves against the shore, the tall coconut trees swaying to and fro, and it was all part of my imagination. It felt so real. I got up and walked to the water to dip my toe in. This can’t be a dream. I spun around looking everywhere for a way out when I caught sight of a tall gray figure lurching my way. It took long strides though one of its legs seemed broken as it dragged the appendage through the sand. I panicked and took off the opposite direction. There had to be an exit.
All of sudden it felt like the world was tilting. I dropped to my knees and gripped my head in my hands as everything shifted to darkness. I awoke to Zilla shaking me furiously and it took me a minute to register what she was saying.
“Callie, wake up. Are you okay? Callie, wake up, NOW.”
“I’m okay. Just dozed off is all.” I noticed a bluish light zoom away into the distance and my stomach started twisting and turning. The creature was back.
“You’re not okay. You’ve been passed out for about fifteen minutes. You didn’t look like you were breathing and you were limp.”
“So I sleep like a crazy person, no biggie.”
A very unhealthy grimace was all I received in response to that. She stared at me for awhile probably trying to decide which conflicting emotion to go with and then she said, “I found out what everyone was laughing about. You’re not going to like it though.”
“Give me your best shot. I’m sure it can’t get any worse than it already is, right?”
She looked down avoiding eye contact. “Yeah it can. Take a deep breath and don’t freak out here in public okay? If you want to do some permanent damage we’ll come up with something good like put a snickers bar in his gas tank or whatever could be equally appalling.”
“What do you mean his?” I asked scrambling to my feet.
She pulled me back down to a sitting position. “Let me finish before you try to go postal. It seems that your scumbag ex told everyone that you two did the horizontal mambo, for lack of a less gruesome term.”
“WHAT? He told everyone that we had sex?” Talk about the lowest thing anyone could do to another person. I felt like colla
psing right there and crying. How could anyone be so cruel? After the initial humiliation receded I said, “That son of a bitch. When I get my hands on him he’s going to wish he was never born.” Just as I said it he glanced over his shoulder and saw the expression on my face. He knew the jig was up. Maybe he thought it wouldn’t get back to me or maybe at the time he was too mad to care much, but at that moment with the murderous look I was giving him, he paled. Heat began bubbling up inside my body, my face felt like I had just stuck it in boiling water and my hands starting stinging
“Callie, what’s up with your skin?” Jett asked a little frightened.
“What do you mean?” I replied through gritted teeth.
“You’re turning all red. Did you forget to put suntan lotion on before we came out here?”
I lifted my hands to my face and gasped. They were red. I’m not talking sunburn red I’m talking flaming orange red. Like a magician who just lit their hand on fire for an act. I shuddered and wiped my hands on my dress. It was like an invisible calm washed over me after that and the redness disappeared. When I looked around all my friends were staring at me horrorstruck. “What?” I asked. “Sometimes I have an allergic reaction to the sun, but it’s never been this strong before,” I said hoping I sounded convincing.
Fortunately it worked because moments later everyone was indulging themselves in whatever conversation they were immersed in before the whole incident. My issue with Luke and weird skin tone no longer a topic for discussion. I locked eyes with Zilla. Her face was scrunched up like she was trying to figure something out, but I couldn’t process that now. I had bigger fish to fry. She must have known what I was going to do before I did it and she didn’t bother protesting. In fact, she turned her head to purposely avoid my gaze. Maybe she knew it wouldn’t do any good or maybe she just knew it needed to be done. I got up and cat-walked my way toward the volleyball court. Making sure to swing my hips a little and catch as much attention as possible. I guess it wasn’t that hard to do with everyone already talking about me behind my back. It was halftime and Luke was trying to pretend not to notice me. Even while his back was turned he knew I was standing there.
“What do you want Callie?” He asked in a shaky voice. His being a little afraid of what’s to come was good. I could work with that.
“Oh, poor Luke, you’re not afraid of little ole’ me are you?” I asked grinning. “Don’t be such a wussy. I just want to talk to you alone, after the game. Come by my house at about three and no is not an option or I‘ll tell everyone here, right now, that you have a tiny penis. Which, I guess I can do now since we supposedly had sex, not that you would probably even know where to put it.” His eyes turned a dark stormy color and he shivered.
“I don’t have to do anything you say, especially after you blew me off several times, but since you asked so nicely I guess it’s the least I can do.” We were both angry and neither one of us was backing down.
“See ya soon,” I said blowing him a kiss, turning around, and walking away.
The drive home was excruciatingly quiet. There were only a few failed attempts from Zilla at trying to figure out what I was going to do with Luke when he showed up and several volunteers to help kill him and do away with the body. All of which I declined regretfully. I knew my parents weren’t going to be home since they said they were going to grocery shop and I also knew I had to take care of this problem by myself. Now I just had to come up with a plan and a good one, because I needed to make it abundantly clear this time that I didn’t want to ever see his face again.
I paced the house. There was 15 minutes left before he showed and I still no idea what I was going to do. I’ve always been the type to shy away from confrontation so this was way out of my league. I’ve been pretty feisty with him so far, but maybe we could just talk it out and I could tell him politely that I don’t have any type of feelings for him. That might work, but what if it doesn’t? What if he starts spreading more rumors about us? I would be too embarrassed to go back to school. Maybe I could quit and have my mom home-school me instead? I would still be able to hang out with my friends, but not have to be humiliated. I wish Zilla were here to back me up. What a stupid idea it was to do this at my house with nobody else around. I was about to call and cancel when the doorbell rang.
I checked out my reflection in the antique gilded mirror in the hallway and went to open the front door. He had on a pair of tight fitting jeans with a black striped collared shirt and he was holding a single white rose in his hand. He smiled at me and handed me the heavily perfumed flower. “I picked this just for you.” Considering this was the nicest thing any guy had ever done for me, even if he had lied about us having sex, I tried to return his politeness. “Thanks, why don’t you come inside and sit down so we can talk?” He nodded in agreement and followed me into the kitchen plopping down at one of the bar stools. I kept my back to him as I put the flower in a crystal vase my mom had stored underneath the sink. Once finished I turned around to face the music. He was watching me with intense fascination, probably trying to figure out how this was going to go down.
At first I had planned to continue being nice, but then I remembered how Joanne and her groupies made fun of me and decided against it. “You’re an asshole,” I said hotly. From the look on his face I don’t think he expected this type of reaction from me. “You have been cheating on me since we first got together and when I finally dump you, this is what I get. You could have done or said anything else, but this was crossing the line Luke. Did you expect me to just run back to you with open arms after this stunt?”
“I did it because I had too,” he yelled. “I wanted you to be with me and only me. I was going to break it off with Joanne just to prove how serious I was, but then you starting swapping spit with that dude from Destiny’s.” He got up from the chair, came over to where I was standing, and put his hand on my arm. I tried to brush him off, but couldn’t.
“Look Luke, you and I aren’t going to work out. In fact, I think we both knew it was doomed from the start. I don’t have feelings for you that way and never have. Can you please let go of my arm it’s starting to hurt.” He tightened his grip a little. I was definitely going to have a bruise after this. He reached around with his other hand and forcefully grabbed a chunk of my hair while pulling me closer. I winced and he smiled. He backed me up against the kitchen counter and tried to kiss me. I wriggled underneath him hoping he wouldn’t be able to make contact with my lips, but the hair tugging grew more forceful and I went sort of limp. He leaned close to my ear and whispered with fierce intensity, “This is how you like it huh? Don’t try to play dumb, I saw the way you and that guy were making out. You’ll never be free of me Callie. You’re mine, end of story.” I felt tears stinging at my eyes and wished I could just slump down on the floor and cry. He grabbed my hands and held them behind my back while simultaneously using his free one to venture the length of my body, stopping to grope various spots. I cringed from his touch and began to panic when I realized just how trapped I really was. A flush of anger went through me when his hand slipped underneath my shirt. A familiar stinging sensation coursed through my body and he let go of me suddenly, stumbling back. I eyed him carefully, trying to figure out what might have just happened, but I think I already knew.
He looked up from staring at his palms, utterly terrified. They were red and looked like they had been third degree burned, the skin peeling and wilting in certain places. I lifted my hands in confusion and saw that they were on fire. Fire? I freaked out, tripping over my own feet as I ran to the sink trying to put out the flames, but they only felt like they were getting stronger. After his initial shock wore off, Luke came after me with a vengeance. He tried to grab me again, but cried out when his flesh make contact with mine. The more aggressive he got, the more parts of my body became engulfed in flames. When he tried to back hand me I ducked out of his reach, kicking him
hard in the shin and making him cry out. I didn’t know what was causing the flare up, but it felt like every part of my body was alive as I reached out and shoved him with both hands as hard as I could. He started screaming as his body hit the floor like a sack of potatoes and slid across the cold tile. His shirt was ablaze and he rolled around trying to put it out.
When he finally went still I couldn’t tell if he was breathing or not so I inspected his body. His shirt was covered in burn holes and parts of his hair were singed. Smoke wafted off him in thin wisps and I could see the open flesh wounds underneath where the flames had licked his skin. His eyes were open, but unresponsive when I bent over to check his pulse. Still alive. I sat down next to him on the floor and waited. The burning sensation that engulfed my body had faded by the time he finally spoke.
“What happened?” He asked hoarsely. I could tell it was a struggle for him to even talk, like he just swallowed a frog or something.
“I don’t know exactly,” I said trying not to stutter. I had to be strong and not show any weakness even though my hands were trembling and I felt close to passing out. “But I think it’s best if you leave and consider this over, because if you so much as whisper a word of this to anyone or even speak my name, I will come after you. And next time you might not be so lucky.”
He looked utterly stricken and sick. He was afraid of me now and for good reason. This wasn’t the first time this weird power had taken over causing him harm, but I hoped it would be the last. I thought he was going to hurl on the kitchen floor when I helped him to his feet, but he didn’t and instead took off at a high speed to the front door. I watched him get in his car and peel off. As soon as he was completely out of sight I slammed the front door, raced upstairs, and threw myself onto the bed. I sobbed silently until I fell asleep.
When I woke up it was staring to get dark outside. The orange pink light from the fading sun filtered through my window. It was almost time for dinner and yet my parents still weren’t home. I wanted to call Zilla and tell her everything that was happening to me. I needed a friend badly, but I knew she wouldn’t believe me and I couldn’t think of a good way to prove it to her anyway. I tried unsuccessfully while sitting on my bed to summon the fire again. I focused with all my might, conjuring up an image of the bright red orange flames lapping my fingers. I even went so far as to try all of the magic words I could think of growing up from movies. Like abra kadabra, open sesame and pretty much about anything else that sounded lame, to no avail.
I got up and paced the length of my bedroom several times. Nothing was helping calm my shoddy nerves and I desperately needed something to soothe me. Maybe some of that mandarin orange tea my mom keeps in the cupboard above the sink would help. I started off down the hall towards the kitchen when I heard a rustling sound behind the door to the basement. My parents always kept this room locked and I wasn’t allowed to go in there. They said it was because snakes found their way in and they didn’t want me to get bit. When I was younger this had scared the wits out of me, now it didn’t seem all that bad.
I hesitated for a minute and then rested my ear up against the door. All was quiet again. My parents still weren’t home, but that noise sounded like something or someone was down there. I waited another long moment and when I heard movement again I decided I’d better investigate. I pulled two bobby pins out of my hair and began tinkering with the lock. It didn’t take long before I heard the sound of a click as I undid the padlock and opened the door. I leaned my head in a little and called down, “Anybody home?” I received no reply.
I descended the creaking wooden steps carefully and when I was halfway down reached up to pull the string that turned on the light. I gasped as the room was illuminated and had to grab the railing before I tumbled the rest of the way down. The room was circular and painted black with weird symbols written on the walls in white paint. The floor was mostly black carpet except for in the very center of the room, which had a small cement circle with tile flooring and a drain of some sort. A chair was mounted to the cement. It looked like one of the kinds that they put people in when they’re going to be put to death, leather restraints and everything.
There was a fridge in the very back of the room and a desk on the far right with a computer. Papers were scattered over the top and a fan was blowing them around. That must have been the noise I heard. There was a tall floor to ceiling shelf lined with books that looked older than dirt. The binding on each one were still in tact, although a little rusty and most of them I could tell were in a different language. Along another side of the wall was a long rectangular table filled with candles of various colors, a lighter and several other oddities.
I stood frozen to the last step of the stairs for such a long time that I finally decided I better hurry up and exit. I walked over to the desk and briefly glanced at the papers trying not to shuffle them around too much. There was a very tall thick book titled “Fuoco Perenne” wedged off to the side. It didn’t look at all familiar, but seemed to be in Italian and definitely unreadable to these untrained eyes. Foreign language was not my forte. I ran my finger gingerly along the cover and spine of the blue leather which was pretty in an antique sort of way. I pilfered through the rest of the documents until one in particular caught my attention. It was handwritten on very old cream colored paper and torn in half, as if someone wrote it and then decided they’d rather trash it. I picked it up and before I could even start reading it I heard, “Callie we’re home.”
Panic threatened to overwhelm me as I folded the piece of paper carefully, tucking it into my bra or “boob pouch” as I like to call it. I eyed the book too, wishing I could take it with me, but realized I’d most definitely get caught. I’d have come back for it. I whipped around and silently tiptoed my way back up the stairs noiselessly flipping the light switch back off and after shutting the door, I slipped the padlock back on. I raced to my room and shoved the folded paper underneath my pillow, just as my mom walked in. She wore that impatient expression she gets when she has to repeat herself. “Didn’t you hear us call? We’re home now so come down and have some dinner.”
I tried to make eye contact and not show how guilty I felt. “Okay, be there in just a sec.” She turned around and left the room.
###