Chapter Twenty-Three
Rebuilt
I knock on Evelyn's door at exactly 5:30 the next day. I straighten my skirt with my uncasted hand and stick my hand back in my coat pocket to keep it warm.
The door opens and Evi, carrying a large tote bag and with her hair in a braided bun, grins at me and steps out of the way to let me in. "Party's downstairs."
I pause in the middle of taking my coat off, and then burst into laughter.
Evi is laughing too. "Sorry, I had to say that!"
We had decided to throw a small party at AIGEA. By we, I mean Tara, Chaste, Evelyn and I. After we got clearance from Mr. Pulcher, we persuaded Carlos, Sadie and Laurie to come as well. (After we invited Laurie, she demanded that Becca also be allowed to go.) We decided to hold the party in the not-so-secret-anymore room so none of the other students would show up.
The purpose of the party is to celebrate Jared's defeat and the end of the kidnappings and honor Smith and Jocelyn. We also invited Mr. Pulcher to host the main event, where he'll tell us everything he knows about the pendant.
After we got back to the school at 2 a.m. four days ago, Evelyn told everything Tara had told her to her dad, who helped bandage and clean us up. He also took me to the doctor for my arm, and it turned out I'd fractured my funny bone when I'd landed on it. When the doctors has asked what happened, Mr. Pulcher lied for me and said I'd fallen down some stairs. Which, let's be honest, is a lot more believable than "Her friend used a magic necklace to amplify his super strength and escape from a metal chair he was trapped in while she was in close proximity, and she flew ten feet and landed on her side."
I got a cast and a sling on my arm, and when we got back to the school we found Carlos, shadows under his eyes, pacing and waiting for us. When he saw my cast he cursed some more and apologized several times.
"Shut up," I said. "I'm exhausted, you LOOK exhausted, we need a good night's sleep. Go lie down."
After assuring him that I didn't blame him, he reluctantly accepted and retired to his dorm room.
Mr. Pulcher made me call my mom and explain that I'd fallen down some stairs at Evelyn's. I had pleaded with him and asked if I could tell her the truth, but he shook his head. "No. Not now."
So I lied to my mom again. And even though I assured her I was now fine, she insisted on coming and picking me up. That was an exhausting and apologetic car ride, but I was more than grateful to swan dive into my bed once I was home.
The night passed and I felt extremely refreshed after I woke up at 3:00 the next day. Mr. Pulcher, bless him, had excused the five of us and all the kidnapped kids from school.
After the rest of the school found out (enough of) what happened, things were surreal. Everyone was congratulating us. Doting moms and mustached dads were hugging us and thanking us, to some chagrin of their kids. Even some of the people who had nothing to do with the kidnappings were smiling at us and thanking us.
And almost as soon as it had appeared, the attention faded. I don't think any of us minded, though. Life feels more real when you're ordinary.
So we decided to do something ordinary: throw a party. Because ordinary doesn't mean boring, not at all. And four days later, here I was, just a happy, ordinary human, walking with my tote bag-carrying best friend to our secret private party.
"So what's in the bag?" I asked as she flipped on the storage room light.
"You'll see."
I rolled my eyes. "Why can't you just tell me?"
"It's a surprise! You'll see." She found the shelf, opened it and it creaked open, the staircase unfolding in front of us. Music cascaded down from the room and I smiled.
Although the room was the same as always, there were changes. A cozy fire burned in the fireplace and several table lamps lit the corners of the room, like always. However, the beanbag chairs were shoved into a corner and black curtains covered the nonfunctional windows. A table near the opposite wall was stacked with chips, cookies, and liter bottles of soda, and a speaker system that had been recently set up was playing ambient, sunny music.
On the far wall a framed picture of Smith was hanging, equidistant from the wall and a picture of Jocelyn Channing. Neither picture was a professional headshot: the one of Smith showed him grinning with his arms around two people on either side of him who'd been cropped out. The one of Jocelyn showed her at a concert, the lead singer playing an acoustic guitar onstage behind her.
The last difference was the seven other people in the room, more than I'd ever seen before. Carlos was standing in the corner, looking slightly awkward, but then he met my eyes and quickly came to join me.
"Hey," I said.
"Hi."
"I'm going to get some chips," Evi announced as she set the tote bag in the corner and was gone as soon as the words left her lips.
I looked up at Carlos and we smiled at each other again. "How's the party?" I asked.
"Okay."
I sigh. "It's supposed to be happy, but those pictures on the wall are depressing."
He shrugs. "They deserve it."
"Yeah. Definitely." I look up at him and see him glancing around the room. "Want to talk to some people?"
"Yeah." So we did.
The party was nice, and we talked to everyone. I introduced Carlos to Becca and Laurie and Sadie, the latter of which seemed to really like him.
"Want to get some snacks?" I asked Carlos.
"Sure."
Sadie smiled and went to talk to Tara.
I poured some root beer into a cup. "I think she liked you."
He looked surprised. "Really?"
I nodded. "It's....not that unthinkable."
"Oh. No, it's just...I mean..." he coughed. It was the first time I'd seen him get flustered or stumble over words. I wished I hadn't introduced him to Sadie.
"Evelyn, what's in the bag?" Chaste shouted from across the room.
"Oh yeah. Ari, this is for you!"
I whipped around. "For me?"
"Yeah. I thought it would be appropriate." She reached into the bag and pulled out....a picture of Josh's head.
Taped to a dartboard.
Everyone in the room burst into laughter.
"Aww, Evi, you shouldn't have!" I grinned.
She turned and hung it on the wall. "Would you like to do the honors first?"
Normally, I'm awful at darts. But when I pulled my arm back and released a dart, I managed to get it to stick- right between Josh's eyes.
"Bullseye!" Evelyn cried and gave me a high five.
"Who's next?" I asked.
For a while, we threw darts at Josh's face. It was strangely satisfying, at least for me. At one point Carlos ripped the picture with a particularly vicious throw. "Oops," he muttered, looking not at all vicious as he stood back and ran a hand through his hair.
"Oh well," Evi shrugged.
"Hey, can we get Mr. Pulcher now? I want to know about the pendant," Tara says.
"Sure, I'll be right back," Evelyn says before darting down the stairs.
Nine of us gathered around Mr. Pulcher, who sat in front of the fireplace as he held the pendant.
"I don't know everything about this," he said as a disclaimer. "I don't know where it came from or who made it. But I do know a few things.
"There are many different abilities. But ones you might expect to find often, such as strength and invisibility, are actually fairly rare. And there are different capacities for abilities. Some are less powerful than most. But a select few are more powerful. These types of abilities have the potential to improve greatly with practice. There are a few other subtle differences between these and regular abilities, but I don't know what they are."
"Sorry to interrupt," Chaste says "but would you say being super zen and focused when using your ability is a subtle difference?"
"Yeah," Tara piped up.
"Yeah," I contribute, remembering the first day when Chaste brought up this exact thing to me.
"Yeah," Carlos says hesitantly.
Mr. Pulcher looks slightly taken aback. "Uh, yes. I would say so. Are you saying the four of you have experienced that?"
"I think so," Chaste tells him. Tara, Carlos and I nod in agreement.
"Well then, I'd definitely say so," Mr. Pulcher says. "Anyway. This pendant has always symbolized four people of four different abilities: simulation, speed, strength, and stealth. The people with these abilities are very powerful, and when they all join together, the pendant compiles the four abilities and creates an unstoppable force."
"The wind bomb," Chaste whispers.
"The force can only be created, or controlled, when all four people are present. Additionally, the ability to use the pendant is hereditary, and when a new generation is born who can use it, the old generation can no longer use it."
I gasp. This means that my dad did have speed like me. And he must've been able to use the pendant.
More than ever, I just want to tell my mom the truth. She deserves to know everything that's going on.
"The pendant glows a certain color when one of the individuals who can use it touches it," Mr. Pulcher continues. "When it hasn't been used for a long time, it sporadically glows white. Although I don't know why this is, I can guess it's because the maker didn't want it to get lost."
That explains the light that I saw coming from the janitorial room.
"And that's all I know about it," Mr. Pulcher says.
"Do you know what it's called?" asks Tara.
"I don't believe it has a name," he says. "I've just always seen it referred to as 'the pendant'."
He stands up with a grunt. "Well, if that's all, I should be getting b- oh! Ariah, there's something I need to talk to you about." He leads me away from the fireplace with a hand on my shoulder.
"What is it?"
He gives me a warm smile. "I think you'll like it."
***
After Mr. Pulcher left, the mood of the party fell. Now soft, slower music was playing for the speakers and all everyone was doing was eating and talking quietly. Becca and Laurie left after Mr. Pulcher, saying polite goodbyes to everyone. Carlos was talking to Chaste, and Sadie was sitting by the fire, glancing at him every so often. Tara and Evi were chatting like old friends, which made me smile. I remember how Evi felt about Tara at the beginning of the year.
I stare into the jumping flames of the fire, thinking. I've come to the conclusion that winter is my favorite season.
Then my pocket vibrates. I take my phone out and see that I've gotten a text from my mom.
My mom.
I uncross my legs and jump up. Interrupting Evi and Tara's conversation, I say, "This was really fun, thanks guys."
"Are you leaving?" Evi asks. I nod.
She reaches out to hug me. Tara does the same. "I'll see you on Monday," she says.
"See you."
I say goodbye to Sadie, which she politely returns, before going up to Chaste and Carlos. "Bye, guys."
"Aw, you're leaving?" Chaste wraps me in an enthusiastic hug.
"Yeah."
"I'll walk you out," Carlos says.
I smile. "Okay."
We walk side by side to the white room with the elevators. The hall is silent.
I turn to Carlos and open my mouth to say goodbye, and then close it. I don't know why I don't want to say the words. What else would I say? So I remain silent.
"Does Sadie really like me?" he asks, out of nowhere.
My heart sinks. Why, out of all the things he could've said, did he choose that?
"I think so," I say reluctantly. "She kept glancing at you earlier."
He drops eye contact and looks at his shoes.
I try to ignore the anger twisting in my gut. "It's not a bad thing. She seems really sweet, and she's quiet like you, and she's gorgeous..." Why am I still talking?
"I don't like her."
"Oh."
"I- um. I actually like someone else. You, I mean. I like you." He pauses. "I think."
He looks so flustered.
A smile breaks out on my face. "I like you too. I think."
He smiles back. "So, I'll see you on Monday."
My mouth drops open. "Hold on. You can't do that! We can't admit we mutually like each other and then just leave it at that!"
"Oh. Sorry...?"
I feel my legs move toward him. I feel my arms reach up and my hands rest on his shoulders. I feel my head moving closer, and then I feel my eyes close and my lips touch his.
He's warm and soft and for a second I'm frozen, just like that.
Then I feel him kiss back.
His lips move over mine gently and his hands reach my waist.
Slowly, we move back and my eyes open hesitantly. He's smiling, and seeing his eyes light up makes me want to kiss him again even more.
"Thanks," he says, and it's so strangely polite and out of place that it makes giggles bubble from my lips.
"You're welcome. I want to stay with you longer but I really need to get home to my mom."
"So now we can leave it?" he asks teasingly.
"Yes, now we're allowed to say goodbye," I grin. "Bye."
"Bye, Ariah."
I watch him as I leave for as long as I can, and then I speed up the stairs, through the door, past Mr. Pulcher, out the Pulcher front door, down the street and all the way to my own front door.
I open it and enter the living room to see my mom sitting on the couch, reading. She looks up from her novel and sees me. "Hi, Ari. Did you have fun at the party?"
I grin. "Mom, there's something I have to tell you."
She stands up, slight concern on her face. "What is it?"
I take a deep breath. "It's a really long story."
***
(Author's Note: Well, there we have it. I hope you liked the ending. I do. Although at points it was difficult, I finally finished this story, and I had fun doing it. I learned some things, and I've definitely improved as a writer along the way. Acknowledgements go to my mom and my sister, who always like to read my stuff, and everyone who read even one chapter of this story. I appreciate you for giving it a chance.)