Chapter Fourteen
That question pretty much put the brakes on our conversation and his anger. The only reason I'd asked was to make a point. I already knew he knew. Everyone in the Elite world knew and it would be foolish of me to believe he wouldn't.
What I was surprised about was how angry and hurt I got when we both stood there for a solid couple of minutes, staring at each other. He knew and he hadn't told me. Just like my uncle. But Uncle Clay had a valid reason; my mother had asked him specifically not to tell me.
Cecil didn't have that.
"I guess we both have a reason to be mad at each other." I shoved my hands in my pockets and started messing with the stone Apollo gave me. "Does this mean you're not going to the party on Saturday?"
"No, I'm not." My heart plummeted. "But neither are you."
I looked up at him quickly and frowned. Of course I was going. It was one of the things Andrzej told me was on the list of things I needed to do. "What do you mean?"
"We have a tournament next weekend. It's in Florida. Charity, remember? You signed up about a month ago, you and your dad."
I grimaced. "That's right. I forgot. Crap. Ah...they told me I had to go..."
He watched me flounder around the kitchen, looking for the schedule for the event. The tournament I was supposed to be in this passing weekend was technically the last one of the summer but the one for the coming weekend was a long standing event for various charities. My father usually played for a charity for orphaned kids. Since my mother was one, my father took an active role in the event and had asked me to be his partner this year.
"You can relax," Cecil said, pulling me to a stop after I passed him for the umpteenth time. "Did they not explain all of this to you?"
"I sorta left before I was supposed to. Andrzej was freaking me out not to mention Janus acted like he knew my mother better than I did. Which I guess is true on some level because he knew she was Elite when I didn't." I looked up at him and my eyes narrowed. "Explain that to me."
"Explain what?"
"How you could know something that important about her and not tell me. She was my mother after all."
"Did you get upset with everyone over this or is it just me?"
"You said you'd always be there for me and would always tell the truth. In case you were wondering, knowing my mother was Elite was something you should've shared."
"Tally..."
"Four birthdays, three graveyard visits, one Senior Introduction Cocktail Party...you failed to mention to me that little fact about my mother. Not to mention you weren't there for most of them. Choosing Assarion was a mistake but you..."
"I was there. You just didn't always see me. I was there even for the moments you didn't expect me to be."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means I was there and I wanted to tell you but..." His eyes flicked between mine. "You know how hard it was for you to write me that one little note at your party? It was ten times worse for me. Especially on our birthday."
"If you were there than why didn't you ever say anything? How hard would it have been for you to scribble me a note and stick it in the pile of gifts or even mail it..."
"Are you listening to yourself? Do you really think that's the kind of news you send to someone in the mail or in a birthday card?" He shook his head. "You're mad, I get it. But I couldn't tell you like that. It would've been—horrible of me to do it that way. I was waiting until you were Elite. I was planning on telling you on our birthday this year but I..."
"You got tired."
"Yeah I got tired. I didn't sleep because I was afraid you would...something would happen to you while I was sleeping. I've always been there for you, Tally, even when you couldn't see me and I'm sorry you had to find out about your mother from somebody else. They told me you weren't supposed to know but I wanted to tell you. There were a couple of times I almost did like that first year after I turned Elite when you were at the graveyard by yourself..."
"Wait." I waved him to a stop. "How is that possible? Were you following me?"
He shrugged. "Not in a stalkerish way. I was there before you and stayed while you were there. I kept an eye on you, Tally, these past four years. What do you think I was doing? Granted I missed a few moments like the Elite fiasco but I know last year your date to your birthday party spilled his drink on your floral print dress. It wasn't the most flattering print with those medium sized rose buds but you made it work, just like always. I know no matter how hard you tried to get the liquid out, it still stained. The year before that, you made out with Shane in the movie theater, five rows down right in the middle, instead of watching Transformers. I know he broke up with you later that night because he wanted something more than you were willing to give. DO you want me to continue?"
I was pretty much in wide eyed wonder. But he took that as I sign to finish.
"You weren't alone in that graveyard, Tally," he whispered. "I would never abandon you to face that by yourself. And I wanted to tell you...so many things because you were just going on and on about what you did that year and how I wasn't there. You said it wasn't fair and you were right. It wasn't. Nothing about the past three years has been fair."
The startings of tears prickled my eyes. "It was you...the roses..."
He nodded. "That first year I hid in the tree. It was horrible sitting there, listening to everything you said. And this year...I knew it would be worse so I stayed far enough away that I wouldn't hear how much this whole thing was hurting you. You have to believe me when I say this wasn't how it was supposed to turn out. Both of us were supposed to be Elite at the same time but everything was thrown out of whack for some reason..."
Most of my anger was gone and this talk had the feel of another one we'd had while I was turning Elite. Staying mad at him had never been easy. Right now was the same with so much sincerity shining out of his eyes it would blind even the most honest person.
"I'm sorry. I had no right to keep something like that from you. I should've found a way to tell you the second I knew."
I nodded and looked down at the countertop, at how the various flecks of blue marble fit together like a puzzle to form the slab of stone. "I'm sorry too. I didn't mean to choose Assarion, I swear. I just..." I looked up at him. "I was confused. I didn't really know what to believe at the time."
"You were questioning me and that's my fault. The whole thing with you being Assarion, I was a little shocked, is all. I'll get over it eventually. You know that."
Not really but I guess it would take time. What else would take time was getting used to talking to him again, possibly being around him. It was weird how we'd fallen back into that groove of saying just about everything but still dancing around the one topic we really needed to discuss.
"There's something else we should talk about."
"Besides how useless that book is going to be?" He walked over and picked it up. "I can't believe they think you'll figure out all of this by reading a book. I know it took practice and someone to help me in order to figure it all out."
It was like our little heart to heart was nonexistent. But that's how he always was. Nothing fazed him for long before he got tired of it and moved on to something else new and shiny.
"And you think you'd be better."
He nodded while he flipped from page to page. "Who better to help you than the other half of your powers? I'd be better than this book at least. Take this section on the angha. This book doesn't even tell you half of it..."
"Cecil." He looked up at me. "Enough. The book is like an introductory type thing. Andrzej is supposed to be helping me. He can neutralize my powers, help ease me into it so I'm not flashing to the future every couple of seconds."
"And where is he?"
"He's..." I scratched my head. "I told you. I left the Schola like I wasn't supposed to..."
"He can't predict you like I can. He should've pegged you as the fleeing type the second he met you."
"He wasn't expecting me to actually find a way out. For the most part, he's been pretty spot on about things when it comes to me but he's...when we got back he was a little distracted."
"Got back? Are you talking about from seeing Poseidon? Why would he be distracted over that?"
Maybe it wasn't a good idea to tell him about what I possibly saw when I was down in Neptune's palace but I trusted him. Cecil knew more about these things than I did so I decided there couldn't be much harm in telling him.
"They called me an Oracle and then Hades asked me a question..."
"Hades." Cecil narrowed his eyes. "Is that why he summoned me down to the Pacific?"
I nodded. "I was there. He wanted to show me..." I sighed. "It doesn't matter what he wanted to show me because it happened but not really. It was just a flash of the future if you'd actually showed up which you didn't thankfully. He would've figured out more than he needed to. But we're talking about Andrzej not Hades." I looked pointedly at Cecil. "I saw what happened to him. He's..."
"A werewolf." He swallowed. "So you saw the past."
I nodded hesitantly. "I don't know how..."
"It's simple really. Sometimes our Particulars...I wouldn't say rub off on each other but...now that we're both Elite and have full access to what our Particulars can do, it was a possibility that we can either enhance each other's abilities and sometimes use aspects of the other's abilities if we're in close proximity."
I stared at him. "That's complicated."
He nodded in agreement. "Yeah. But back to Andrzej..." Concern made his brows furrow. "At least they told you what he is. That'll help later."
"They didn't. He did and it doesn't mean I completely believe it. All this is just a little passed unbelievable and close to insane. I don't really remember what I saw, only the feelings associated with it."
"That only means you were in the middle of having..." he glanced down at the book, drumming his fingers on the soft brown leather "...the Future Time Particular, if they're a girl, are considered oracles."
"They told me that part, yeah."
"Which means you'll have true visions, ones that will never change but are doomed to come to pass."
"Yeah, see, I don't know what that means."
"I know it's a lot to take in..."
"It's more than a lot. It's too much. A person can only take so much..."
He shoved away from the island and walked over to where I was standing. "Just think about it in small measurements. Oracles are rare, special. But we already knew you were special." I looked up at him and he was smiling softly, like he was trying to deliver this news as gently as possible. "More than likely you can't remember what you saw about Andrzej because you were in the middle of having your first bits vision."
"Bits vision? That makes it sound like candy and what happened was anything but sweet."
"Oh I don't doubt it. More like a jagged little pill."
"Why couldn't I stay human? Why couldn't they get someone else who was born a minute after you?"
"Because..." He tucked hair behind my ears, a rather juvenile gesture but calming all the same. "You're you and there is no one in the world, Elite or human, that can replace you. Just think. Out of all the humans on the Earth, you and I can't be replaced."
"You mean like that Batman action figurine you had when we were kids?"
"Yes. The very one you conned me into burying in the time capsule when we were six. Didn't you put a My Little Pony in there?"
"Shut. Up. You're ruining it."
"Ruining what?"
I stared at him for a good long couple of minutes, about to make an ass out of myself if Kells was wrong. "There's something I've been meaning to tell you. For three years actually. Now's a good enough time as any, right?" I swallowed gathering all the courage I had and said, "I..."
My voice box locked up and a searing pain ran up the back of my neck to the base of my skull. It hurt so bad no amount of pain killers could get rid of it. The hallway light behind me flicked on and the sound of my father's sluggish footsteps followed.
"Crap," Cecil whispered.
It was all he managed to get out before my father came through the doorway, looking sleepily at his feet, not even noticing us yet. Quickly, yet painfully, I tugged Cecil down so he was kneeling on the floor at my feet and surprisingly out of sight. Only problem now was the box of opened gifts at the end of the counter and the book I'd brought home.
"Dad."
He grunted a hello and went straight for the coffee pot like I knew he would. My father was by no means a morning person. He was usually barely functional even though he always got up so early. It would take a lukewarm shower in order to wake him up completely.
It gave me enough time to put everything back in the box and hand it to Cecil.
"Put some water in that for me, please?"
He handed me the coffee pot and turned back around to face the machine. I shot Cecil a warning look before doing what my father asked, hoping to god he wouldn't notice I was completely dressed and appearing to be doing absolutely nothing in the kitchen at the crack of dawn. He may not be paying much attention now but when he thought back on it, he might notice things he hadn't. Plus he was a dad so I knew he had radar for boys in his house at early hours of the morning.
"Here, Dad."
"Thank you, sweetheart." He yawned and started pouring the water. "What are you doing up this early?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." I jerked my leg away from where Cecil was tracing the lines on the top of my left foot.
"Your uncle said something about weird hours but until I've had my morning coffee, I couldn't tell you for sure what it was he said." After he finished with the coffee pot, he turned to face me, still yawning and folded his arms over his chest. "How was your birthday? Everything you imagined?"
I smiled tightly and pointed down at Cecil so he would stop messing with me. There was no doubt he was grinning because he used to do this all the time when we were kids.
"It was definitely interesting to say the least."
He nodded and scratched his head. I was starting to wonder if anyone had done a study of men in the morning because my father was currently very fascinating. Then again it might just be I was studying every move he made for any indication he knew Cecil was in the house.
"Alright. Well, I'm going to take a shower." He headed for the doorway. "And Tales?"
"Yeah, Dad?"
"You really didn't think I wouldn't notice, did you?"
My eyes popped wide. "What do you mean?"
He turned around at the doorway and looked pointedly at me. "Cecil, stand up."
Out of the corner of my eye, more like the bottom, I saw Cecil staring in the direction my father was standing. He very slowly stood up and placed his hands on the island casually.
"Hey there, Mr. Abe."
My father gave him a brief smile. "Stay for breakfast. The three of us need to have a chat."
"But, Dad..."
He gave me a very paternal look, one I knew better than to go against. "He stays or he'll never be allowed back in this house again."
"Ok." I was in the middle of objecting but Cecil sounded more than happy when he said that two syllable word. "Do you want pancakes? Sausage? Bacon? How about some eggs?"
"No reason to over compensate, Cecil. I already know." He thought about it for a second. "But eggs do sound nice."
"Ok."
My father left and the second his footsteps changed over to the carpet on the stairs my voice box unlocked. I promptly smacked Cecil on the chest and turned to face him, shoving him a little to make my point.
"Ok? Ok? All you have to say is...ok? And what does he mean he already knows? What exactly does he know?"
He took my hand where it was braced on the island and squeezed my fingers. "That I love you. He knows that I love you."
Without any preamble, he leaned down a little to my level and kissed me. I never thought you could get lost in a kiss. Seriously, I used to believe it was silly but I was starting to think if you kissed the right person everything did sorta melt away.
Maybe this was why my mother gave up being Elite for my dad. Maybe my father made her feel this way and somehow she couldn't imagine lying to him about all the Elite stuff. Everything between them would've been easier if he just knew or was Elite himself. But my mother had a particular way of doing things.
Then it occurred to me I was thinking about my parents while kissing the boy I loved and I was a little grossed out. You weren't supposed to think about your parents at a time like this.
"Eggs," I blurted out.
I'd pulled far enough away that I could slap a hand over my mouth, hiding my surprise but it shinned brilliantly through my eyes because he had the same amount of shock radiating from his.
"What?"
"I'm sorry. It just..." I pulled my hand down a little and tried not to be too tongue-tied about it. "It just slipped out."
"You were seriously thinking about eggs..."
"No," I said quickly. "No, no. For some weird reason I was thinking about my mom which led me to think about my parents as a whole and then I realized..."
"You're rambling."
"I'm sorry." I didn't really know what to do. If he was another guy, I would know exactly how to smooth this over but since it was Cecil...I felt like I was supposed to be doing one thing but something else was happening all together. "I've messed this all up, haven't I? I'm sorry. Crap..."
He scoffed a little and shut me up by kissing me again. Eggs and parents were both forgotten for a few more minutes. Just like with the real kiss we'd shared yesterday in my room at the Agora, tinges ran amuck across my skin and it got to the point where I could feel the lines shifting and changing position.
It didn't get weird until I swore I felt the ones on his cheek move underneath my palm. But the thought of shifting lines left my mind as his grip tightened around my waist, drawing me even closer until I couldn't be moved any nearer.
Then all of a sudden, he broke his lips away from mine and hugged me. We were already pressed together as much as possible, the hug should've been suffocating. But since we'd been so far apart for the past three years...
It wasn't suffocating at all.
It was comforting.
We both took deep breaths and he even buried his face in my hair sending my nerve endings in a frenzy when he breathed out. I, of course, had my nose and face buried in his shirt, the teeth on the zipper of his jacket biting into my cheek but I didn't care. He smelled...incredible. So much it made me smile a little and nuzzle my face further into his shirt.
"I'm going to ask this before you can't answer," he whispered. "Go out with me."
I frowned into the soft red cotton that looked dark pink because of my current lack of light and thought about that. "Go out with you?"
"Yes. Go out with me, be my girlfriend."
"That sounds so weird." I tried not to laugh at how strange it sounded, mostly just because it was coming from him. Over the years, he'd said many things to me but this one took the cake. It was definitely new.
"Is that a no?" He pulled back a little to look at me but I wouldn't lift my face from his shirt because I was smiling so big. "Tally..."
Finally I looked up at him. "Took you long enough to figure out, didn't it? Schylar said you were dense but I didn't think you were that thick."
"You're insulting me while I'm trying to ask you out? Didn't your mother teach you not to be so mean?"
"Didn't she ever tell you I was going to say yes to that question whenever you got around to asking it?"