Life Lines

10: Just Enough Time

Chapter Ten

It had to be the nastiest sound ever. I didn't hear the door open at my back, and I didn't even notice the room fill up with Elite or the door closing again. All there was, was the cough and the fact it wouldn't stop.

What I did notice was Jesse being brushed away and strong, suffocatingly warm arms wrapping around me in an embrace. The smell was familiar, lavender vanilla dryer sheets that his mother made herself.

The panic eased off, as did the cough that simmered down to a sort of wheeze.

"Tally, you need to take deep breaths. The last time I checked, you grew out of your case of childhood asthma."

I wanted to shove him away and get as far away from these people as possible. I didn't want any part of whatever was going on. And there was something going on because I could feel it. I let myself bury my face in his dark green polo as I finished getting my breath under control.

"Her dad never should've let her come to school," I heard someone say.

"It's only going to get worse," someone else said.

Cecil sent them a warning message in the form of a rough jerk of the head. Or at least that's what it felt like to me. He drew me away from the crowd and over to the row of windows. He opened one, the old thing groaning in protest as he shoved it up. Paint chips went flying, spraying the sill and floor. The sticky morning air hit me again, bringing in the smell of freshly cut grass and mint.

After a few more minutes of breathing it in, I was ok. I tentatively took a step back, glancing around the room at all the familiar faces. They were all Elite, every single last one of them. And they just weren't from my class but from some of the lower grades as well.

"What the hell is going on?" I asked Jesse, unable to bring myself to look at Cecil.

"We can't tell you just yet," he said apologetically. "I'm sorry."

"Why not?" Caroline said. "She's clearly one of us."

"No she's not," Keenan said, stepping up so he was in the front. "She's still human. She can't know anything until she's completely one of us."

"Did you not see that?" she protested. "She's manifesting. It's only a matter of time..."

"Enough, Caroline," Jesse snapped. "Keenan's right. We follow the rules, just like the ones before us. She cannot know until she has the colors."

"She has the call," another girl, I thought her name was Iva Mae, said. "I could hear it all the way outside."

"Doesn't matter," Jesse said. "There's still a possibility she could die."

"Excuse me," I said, rather shrilly. "'She' is still in the room. I just want to know what the hell is going on with me."

"Tally..." Cecil reached out and tried to take my hand. I took another step away from him and glared. He was hurt but what the hell did he expect?

"Don't even get me started on you."

He looked down but not before showing I'd yet again, wounded him. Where the hell was the cold demeanor? Why was he acting like it was just yesterday we were best friends?

"Don't be angry with him," Jesse said. "He was only following orders."

"Oh and that's supposed to make it better? I don't even know what the hell that means but it's a crap excuse."

Jesse sighed, invoking the known Southern tradition of meaningful sighs. This one said 'I've been through this so many times I could rip my hair out if I have to do it again' and it irritated me. "We'll tell you everything once..."