Chapter Fifteen
"Nivek?" I stared at his black eyes. I couldn't stop looking; hypnotized. I've seen them before. I know I have. His name repeated in my head, over and over. A peculiar name I have not heard of before. "Nivek."
"Trinie. I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you," he said as he started to walk toward me.
"Protect me? Who are you to protect me?" I asked, watching closely at his every move.
Nivek reached the edge of the bed and sat down. He extended his hand over to my face. I couldn't help but flinch and turn my head away. He froze for a second and reached for my hair, sliding his hand from the middle of the length of my hair to the tip as gently as he could. He raised the tip of my hair to his lips and closed his eyes. Then he opened his eyes and let go.
"I just wanted you to be happy," he whispered.
There was a long pause. I didn't know what to say. I didn't feel awkward by his side at all. I really don't know why, but it felt normal to be with him. His slightly slumped shoulders seemed defeated. Nivek returned his gaze toward me.
"I'm sorry." He lifted his hand again, but this time, toward my chest. His warm hand briefly brushed my collar bone as he followed the chain down unto the moon and star. His eyes shone with sadness and restlessness. It was like he had something to say.
There was a shuffling of feet in the hallway. Nivek dropped his hand from my necklace as Tom and Kit stepped inside the room. Tom glanced at me, then to Nivek.
Kit cleared her throat. "If you don't mind us interrupting your private session, there are people hunting Trinie somewhere outside, you know."
Nivek looked away from me and I sighed, which was weird because I wasn't hit with a little pang of hurt that he looked away. I just sighed because again, it felt... normal, like I've done it a million times before.
Maybe I have.
I continued to look at Nivek. "Who are you, really?"
He didn't look back. "You wouldn't understand."
"Well, frankly, I don't understand most of what is happening in my life right now. It wouldn't hurt to say another thing that I wouldn't understand," I replied with a hint of anger. I felt my eyebrows narrow. I didn't know why I was so angry.
Nivek stood up abruptly, pursed his lips and bent his head down, his chocolate brown hair covering his eyes as he fixed them on the floor. He turned and started to walk out of the room. Without thinking, my hand extended out in front of me, toward the stranger.
Don't go. Please.
"Ke-- Nivek!" Kit called. She ran after him, her ears high and alert.
Tom rubbed the back of his neck, looking at my extended hand. He closed his eyes, dropped his hand, and turned toward the door.
Flustered, I dropped my arm and jumped out of the bed. "Wait--"
Tom looked at me over his shoulder and I automatically froze. This person, who bullied me for as long as I can remember, seemed like a different person. His gaze toward me was dead serious, not like the Tom I know who always had life in his eyes which contained many quite hurtful jokes. He turned and walked out of the room.
Everyone felt off and different all of a sudden. Maybe even Kit was different from what she seems. The way she hides secrets from me; the way she avoids important topics. Then this random stranger pops up and Tom is not being Tom.
Everything felt like a lie.
I stood there, my vision getting blurry. It felt like a fog swept through me, sweeping me away from this life and into another. No, maybe it was just me wishing I was in another life. A life without these fakes and these lies and these secrets.
Who am I?
"Trinie!" It was Kit's voice. I suddenly realized that I was sitting on the floor. I tried getting up but my legs shook under me. I fell back down, my arms extended in front of me, the floor cold under my palms.
"Kit..." Warm tears slid down my cheeks. My breaths became short and I struggled to breathe. The tears wouldn't stop flowing out.
I felt her fur brush on arm, but my vision was too blurry. She was just a ball of white blur. "Trinie. I know you're confused and scared, but you have to be strong right now. You have to get up. We're not safe here."
I covered my eyes with my arm, feeling the heat of my tears. My emotions were as she described it. I was scared and confused, but most of all, I felt lost. I wasn't sure who to trust anymore. I wasn't sure who was my friend anymore. Thinking all this didn't help me. I just cried even more.
"Trinie..."
I sniffled and started to stand. Either way, Kit was right. I have to be strong. If I can't become strong, then I can't face my parents. I have to find them and survive, for them. I looked at Kit, who was still blurry. Even if I have to do it alone.
Kit gasped. "Trinie!"
I ignored her and left the room. I headed down the stairs, looking around for the mystery guy, but all I saw was Tom staring blankly out the patio. I walked up next to him, watching the wind blow ferociously through the leaves of the tree in the middle of the yard.
"So, Tom, mind telling me what's going on?" I asked.
Tom didn't reply.
"How did you know Kit? Why are you here? Was that guy your friend?"
He sighed and turned to face me. I did the same, challenging his gaze.
"I'm a guardian, too. Like Kit and--" Tom stopped and looked around the house.
"Kevin?" I finished, suspicious.
Tom sighed. "Yeah. Kevin."
"But... At school..."
"I know. I know. I'm sorry. I just needed to do it or I--"
"You needed to do it? By making fun of me all these years? I thought you were a guardian, Tom," I said, squinting at him. "Aren't guardians suppose to help me?"
"I know. I just--" He stopped and took a deep breath. "I couldn't get too close, Trinie."
"Why not? Isn't that the exact opposite of what you should be doing? I've been suffering, Tom! People looked at me like a freak! From the beginning, I thought you were a friend, like Kit and Kevin! But no, you were just like everyone else!" My vision began to blur again. Dark shadows from the corner of my eyes pulsed.
"No! Trinie. I really was trying to protect you. You have to understand--"
"What don't I understand, Tom?! I'm lost and scared. I don't understand anything anymore!" I shouted, my anger causing a painful pounding in my head.
Tom put both his hands on my shoulders. "Trinie, please, listen to me."
I pushed him away and stepped back. I tried to turn away, but he grabbed my arm tightly and used his other hand to cup my cheek. For a split second, I saw him glance at my necklace. Then he quickly looked into my eyes and his face changed into sorrow.
Before I knew what was going on, my cheek was on Tom's chest.
"I like you!" he shouted. His heart was beating fast. "I couldn't get too close because if I did, Trinie, I couldn't help but want to get closer to you. You don't know how long I've been watching you." He choked out a chuckle. "Not the creepy way, I promise. You don't know how much I wanted to tell you this."
He dropped his arms around me and I took the chance to look up at him.
"My purpose, Trinie, is to protect you. Like what a guardian should. By watching you, I realized that you look much more sad when you're being ignored than being teased." He smiled. "It's probably because when the Lington sisters did it, you expected it, even though you weren't close to them. So I tried it."
I looked at him in confusion.
"You already knew who I am when I entered the same school as you. Wouldn't it make you sad when a person that saved you in elementary school started avoiding you?" He shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. I watched as he started getting pink. "So... I finally confessed, huh?"
I covered my mouth, suddenly realizing what he just said to me. He avoided eye contact and we both started laughing.
"Yeah, I know. It was stupid of me." Tom held the eye contact this time. "I'm sorry."
I shook my head. "No, I'm sorry. I said harsh things to you."
"Nah, I deserved it." He glanced again at my necklace and smiled. "You don't have to reply to my confession, by the way. Just pretend I didn't say anything, okay?"
I opened my mouth to reply, but he stopped me.
"Come on, let's get something to eat!" He took my hand and we headed to the kitchen. "So, anything you'd like? I'm not bragging or anything, but I'm one heck of a cook."
"Hmm.. Can you make pancakes?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
Tom grinned. "Sure thing."
He opened and closed lots of drawers and managed the kitchen with amazing familiarity. Then, I realized...
"Tom, is this your house?" I asked.
He had a spoon in his mouth and didn't turn around. "Mm-hmm." When one of his hands was free, he took the spoon away from his mouth and pointed it at me. "And you've been sleeping in my bed. My back has been aching from sleeping on the couch."
I gaped at him. "What?"
Tom turned his back to me and continued what he was doing. "And Kit couldn't change your smoked clothes so I had to help."
My jaw hit the floor. "What?!"
I saw the back of his neck turned pink, but when he turned around to wash the spoon, his face wasn't giving anything away. In fact, he smirked. "There was nothing to see anyway, Stuffed Animal Girl." He winked.
I grabbed the faucet neck and directed it to him. He spluttered and slipped and fell on the floor, drenched.
I stuck my tongue out at him. "That's payback."