Chapter Nine
"Last coffee of the night." Julie put a very simple decaf café mocha in front of one of our regulars. "Thank you, Simon, and have a good night."
"And thank you, ladies." He tipped his fedora and Julie followed him to the door to lock it.
After she flipped the open sign off, she sank down in the nearest chair and propped her feet up.
"Thank god that is over."
I chuckled and started wiping down the counter. "Got to love the end of a tournament. Everyone wants to drive straight through so they need their caffeine fix."
"Can't they get it from Starbucks?"
"If they did we wouldn't have this." I picked up the overflowing tip jar and shook it.
She smiled at me and jumped up, jogging over to look at it.
"The usual bet?"
"Sure. I have nowhere to be."
"You mean you're not going anywhere with your guard dog later?"
I frowned as we wrote our guesses on slips of paper. "What do you mean?"
"He sat in the corner booth for a good portion of the night. Don't tell me you didn't notice."
I folded the slip and looked up at her. "Nope. Who was it?"
"Don't know. Never seen him before but I refreshed his drink every hour. And he was Elite."
I started taking the bills out of the jar. Julie knew what Cecil looked like, knew what all the Elite in town looked like. She'd even seen Union when he waited for me to get off the day before but he wasn't Elite. I wondered who it could be.
"Huh. What'd he look like?"
"Mid to late twenties. Brown hair with a gray streak by his left temple. I thought he looked a little young to have gray hair but these days you never know. His eyes were dark, like most Elites but I couldn't really get a lock on the specific color." I nodded. "I figured he was a long lost friend or something. Especially when Cyrus sat down with him."
I looked up at her sharply, the money between us forgotten.
"What?"
She didn't seem to notice the change in my tone or demeanor. She was counting out the coins she'd poured onto the counter. She was always better at counting the coins than I was. I had a tendency to get distracted or lose count. But not her. Math whiz.
"He was here for a couple of minutes. Geeze, Nat, you're not very observant today."
"I'm a little distracted."
She smiled and fished two more pennies out of the jar. "Boys, school, or the game?"
"Golf is off for a week since school's starting tomorrow."
"So that leaves boys." The pile of pennies she was compiling was shoved to the side and she started on dimes. When we were done counting, we'd roll them and Amanda would change them out for cash. "Come on, tell me. I know it has to be good if it involves you. Everyone knows you don't date."
"I do too date."
"Owen was a perv and Shane was just trying to get laid." She looked up at me, her eyebrows raised. "They don't count. Besides if you mush them together you only have a total of one month worth of dating time."
"Whatever."
"So, who's caught your interest? Or is it still Cyrus?"
"The new kid, Union Davidson."
"Ah, tall, boyishly handsome, and mysterious. What do you know about him?"
"Not much."
"But you like him."
"I think right now I could go either way."
"Date him casually and find out."
"That's the thing. I have...people telling me not to."
"Who? Your dad?"
"No."
"Then who?"
"Cecil and Jesse."
She stopped counting for a second and looked up at me. "Cyrus talked to you? Nat, why didn't you tell me?"
"It's not that big of a deal."
"Sure it is. The two of you used to run around here like you owned the whole town. I've never been a fan of his but..." She frowned. "Jesse said you shouldn't?" I nodded. She sighed and propped her hand on her hip. "Then you shouldn't. If he says this guy is bad news then I have to agree with him."
"Why?"
"Jesse is very open-minded. He doesn't judge someone on what other's say and I know your opinion of him isn't...sparkly. But if he says this guy's bad news then I think you should listen on some level."
"I want to form my own opinion."
"Then do it, just proceed with caution."
*
The first day of school.
Normally I would've approached this day with my friends by my side, my car packed full with them. But I never got a text from Allie the night before. So I stayed away, my father looking extremely surprised when I walked through the front door at ten o'clock.
I pulled into my assigned parking spot and just sat there for a moment, staring out the windshield at the sprawling campus in front of me. The place was old, parts of it falling apart. They were constantly remodeling, the school board refusing to tear it down and build a new one. The teachers were tired of the leaking roofs, the barely shutable windows, and the threat of asbestos. Not to mention the stone carvings that had a tendency to fall the several feet to the ground. In fact, yellow caution tape surrounded the school, warning students and teachers to remain several feet away except for the various entrances.
"I'm in hell," I muttered and got out of my car.
"Only one more year, Nat." Schylar came up next to me from behind and slung an arm around my neck. "Then you'll never have to see this place again."
"I can only dream." I reached up and took his hand, allowing him to push his fingers in between mine. "Do you think they'll ever replace this place?"
"No." Chris stepped up on my other side, wrapping his arm around my waist. "They'll let it fall down first. My grandfather tells me stories about going to school here. It's creepy." He kissed me on the cheek. "Have a good night?"
"Oh yeah. I ended up watching Breaking Bad with my father. It got awkward."
Schylar chuckled. "Did he give you the 'don't do drugs or I'll kill you' speech?"
"Um, no. My uncle gave me that speech when I stupidly listened to you and asked my father if he was a hippie."
"Yeah, see, I still don't know why he got upset about that."
"Maybe it was because you gave me the marijuana plant to give to him for his father's day present days after."
"Dude," Chris leaned around me and looked at Schylar, "that was not nice."
Schylar just chuckled. "We were seven. I didn't even know what it was."
"Where'd you get it?"
"Cousin Sid. He used to have a pot farm out in the woods."
"Oh," both Chris and I said.
"Yeah." He looked around, scanning the people trickling in from the parking lot and the hordes coming off the buses. "We missed you last night. That bounce house was one hell of a ride."
"I didn't want to step on Allie's already sore toes."
"Aw, she was just upset. She's jealous you're turning Elite. That's all."
I looked up at Schylar. "Is that what the tongue lashing was for?"
"She just doesn't want to lose you as a friend," Chris said, frowning at Schylar when he didn't answer my question. "She can't be too mad if she's still planning your birthday party."
"How do you know she is?"
"Got the invite this morning. Check it out." He took out his cell and showed me the picture invite.
"Funny. I didn't get one," I said.
"It's your birthday. You don't need an invite to your own party."
"How am I supposed to know where it is?"
"Your dad is bringing you," Allie said walking toward us. "He called and demanded to know what I was planning. I didn't appreciate that too much and a heads up would've been nice."
"Sorry," I said sheepishly. "It slipped my mind."
"Mmhmm."
"Allie, don't be such a bitch."
We all ended up staring at Schylar. He'd said it so nonchalantly that it really didn't have any malice or humor. It was just said as a statement, like the sky was blue or birds could fly. I punched him in the side lightly and he looked down at me, rubbing the spot.
"Ow." It was the smallest, mousiest noise he'd ever made.
I hugged him automatically and he hugged me back.
"Don't coddle the string bean. He called me a bitch."
"Well, you can kinda sorta be one on occasion," Chris said. "Last night being a perfect example."
"You're only saying that because you're in love with her."
Allie automatically looked surprised and slapped her hands over her mouth. Our little group stood there frozen for a few moments, everyone running over exactly what Allie just said. Schylar and I looked at Chris but he was staring down at his feet, his cheeks a flaming red.
"I'm sorry," Allie said. "I didn't mean to say that."
"Chris..." I reached over to take his hand but he just flinched and started walking away.
"Nice going, Allie," Schylar muttered while letting go of me and jogging off after his tennis partner.
We stood there staring at each other.
"I didn't...I'm sorry..."
"Jesus, Allie," I said. "Where the hell did that come from? Don't you have a sensor button?"
She dropped her hand, looking a little hurt and very angry.
"It's the truth. You should open your eyes a little, see everything that's around you. Maybe you'll see something you didn't notice before."
"My eyes are pretty damn open."
"Yeah?"
I nodded. "Yeah and I don't like what I see at the moment."
Normally Allie would come back with a barb, she was hardly ever someone who was at a loss for words. She didn't say anything as I walked passed, heading in the direction Schylar and Chris had.
Even though it was morning, the temperature was warming up, making the air hot and sticky. Sometimes it felt like I was swimming through barbeque sauce...
"Natalie!"
I don't know how I managed it but I jumped in the middle of walking, flinging myself around to see who called my name. Union jogged the last couple of steps to catch up to me. It was funny, the way he was standing and the light just the way it was...but I could've sworn the line along his jaw was more green than black. His eyes appeared dark where they were just a light green the day before. And he looked...scarier.
This had to be a hallucination.
Or maybe a trick of the light.
Whatever it was, my eyes were starting to get dry from staying wide open to stare. The smile on his face seemed hard, like I could cut my finger on one of the wrinkles that surrounded his mouth. They were supposed to make him look boyish but now...
Finally my eyes blinked and all the little details I'd noticed were gone. It was just the boyishly handsome guy I'd met a few days ago standing in front of me.
"Hey."
I squeaked. My voice actually squeaked. That hadn't happened since I hit puberty. He frowned in obvious confusion and leaned in to kiss me on the cheek. But I leaned back in response, my feet acting on their own and taking a small step back. That worried him, two lines forming between his eyes as they crinkled together.
"Are you ok?"
"No," I said bluntly. "I'm not."
"What happened?"
"I just—um—I have to go."
"I'll walk with you."
"Ah, no." I started backing away slowly. "Actually, I'm supposed to check in with the nurse."
Where the hell had that come from?
"Of course. I could walk you..."
"No, no," I smiled, the gesture genuine—sort of. "It's ok. The whole thing is embarrassing enough as it is."
"Oh. Ok, well then, I'll see you in homeroom."
We had the same homeroom? "Ok."
I turned around, both my eyes and my mouth going wide in wonder at how rude I was being. Everything got worse as I literally ran into the building, looking for the only person who could explain what the hell was going on with me.
And I found him.
He had the same locker as last year and surprisingly he was alone at the moment. I ran up next to him, my breath coming really fast, my lungs feeling like they couldn't get enough oxygen.
"I need to talk to you. Now."
Jesse looked over at me, his face creased into a frown but the second he saw how upset I was, the frown ironed out to a look of concern.
"Alright." He looked around the hall, like he was expecting the social police to step up and arrest him for talking to me. "I think Mrs. Harroman's English room is unoccupied."
"I'm seeing things. Creepy things," I blurted.
"Oookkkay." He reached out to take my wrist but rethought that, gesturing instead for me to go into the empty room. I walked in and noted the space still smelled like stale French fries and paste. "Have a seat. You look like you're about to pass out."
I sank heavily into one of the seats and stared up at him. He took the rickety seat next to me, dropping his messenger bag on the floor next to him. It was then that I noticed that the door was closed and the tension and panic I was feeling five seconds ago got worse.
"Natalie, you need to breathe. Your face is as red as a cherry."
The breath I didn't know I needed sucked into me. I blinked a couple of times, trying to get it together. This losing my cool thing was so unlike my normal self it was scaring even me.
"Now," he said calmly, "tell me what happened."
"It was um—" I let out a breath and looked at him "—I don't really know how to describe it."
"You said you were seeing things. What things?"
I flinched and looked down at my hands. "I don't know how else to say it but—it was like seeing something, a side of someone, that wasn't really there."
"Who, Natalie?"
I looked up at him, his dark eyes gentle, trusting. It was like they were telling me I could trust him with what I had to say. But everything I knew about him went against that. Jesse was the bully when we were kids, going by Jarret back then. He'd actually put a lollipop in my hair in kindergarten. Then of course he seemed to mellow out as we got older, getting the acne problem and no one would talk to him.
I couldn't trust him. He'd picked on me. Worse even, he took Cecil away. More than likely he'd think this was all some sort of joke and then go running to tell his Elite friends about the crazy Abernathy girl.
As if he sensed my change of heart, he shifted back into calming mode.
"You can tell me, Natalie."
"I changed my mind. I'm sorry I bugged you." I stood up but he caught my hand, making the cough I'd managed to keep down most of the morning come up and sit at the back of my throat. But still I held it in, unwilling to let it out.
"What you're going through—I did too. It's normal."
"It's not The Sickness," I said, my voice rough from the forced down cough. "I don't have The Sickness."
"Yes, you do." He stood up, towering over me by a good five inches if not more. "I think it's time you admit that."
I shook my head. "No. There is no way I can have—The Sickness—I don't..."
I couldn't keep it in anymore, the cough becoming too much. Just like it had at the bar, it ripped out of me. I was sent into the worst fit yet, unable to catch my breath on any capacity. Even after Jesse let go of my hand and tried to make me sit down again, that horrible barking cough continued.