Crimson Echo (22 page)

“Hey, it’s Tristan, right?” I heard a bubbly voice ask from in front of me. “Hello?”

“Oh, Harmony, it’s you.” I snapped out of my day dream only to find her wide eyes staring me down intently. “When did you come in?”

“It doesn’t matter.” She tossed her blonde hair behind her shoulder. “I wanted to talk to you about your friend. Do you think he’s available?”

“Everett?” I asked confused. “I don’t think he’d be interested, he kind of plays for our team.”

“No, not him silly.
I want to know about Kane.” I half tuned her out as she droned on and on. I just think we would be perfect for each other… He’s handsome and I’m… well, I’m gorgeous. You see how that works out, don’t you? So, I was thinking maybe you could be a doll and put in a good word for me or even ask him out for me. Oh, you didn’t think you actually had a chance with him, did you?” She laughed as she played with her hair again.

“I’m sure you could ask him yourself. I’m dying to know what he’ll say.” I mocked her as I swung my hair behind my shoulder and faked a laugh.
It was obvious to me that she had either not seen my
very
public display of affection with Kane or she just didn’t care.

“Well, I’m just saying, you two really don’t complement each other and I’m
only saying that as a friend.”

“He like totally complements me all the time.” I said in my
best Valley girl voice and raked my hands through a section of my bangs.

“You’re obviously touched.” She laughed sarcastically as she turned back around to face the front of the class. “You poor thing, you should really get some help.
Oh and just a friendly warning,” she smirked over her shoulder. “He’s mine.”

            I slumped down in my seat and imagined the many ways that I could put Harmony Lockhart in her place. I even wondered if I could talk Kane into turning her into a goat, but saner heads prevailed. I still wasn’t through with her
, though I knew it was mostly the leather talking.

            I was on the edge of my seat, practically shaking with anticipation as I waited for the bell to ring.
A few classes later and it was lunch time, I was relieved because Kane’s scent had almost worn off of my jacket by then.

“Looking for someone?” Kane whispered as I
frantically searched for him in the crowd of students.

“Hey,” I turned around
to see him smiling. His eyes sparkled back at me. “How long were you watching?”

“Not long.” He wrapped an arm around my shoulder and I simultaneously reached up to hold his hand. We were like a well oiled machine— I began where he ended and it just worked. “How was class?”

“Umm, it was interesting to say the least.” I looked up at him and smirked.

“Interesting how?”

“Do you remember that girl Harmony?”

He nodded.

“Well, it seems you have a stalker.” I rolled my eyes. “She wanted me to ask you if you were single and maybe put in a good word for her.”

“What did you tell that poor girl?” 

“I told her you were dating the bearded lady and that it was a strenuous relationship seeing as how she’s always on the road traveling with the circus.”

“That’s really what you said?” He looked at me suspiciously.

“Alright, I told her to ask you for herself.”

“You could have just told her that we are together.”

“I want to see her face when
you
tell her we’re together.” I said pointedly.

“Sounds like you have some competition.” He laughed.

“Oh, you think so?”

“I think you have something on your face.” He caressed my cheek. “Never mind, that’s
just your five O’clock shadow.”

“Bite me!” I tried to
look angry, but I couldn’t keep a straight face.

He
bared his teeth and pretended to bite my neck.

            After we had made it to the cafeteria Kane seemed a little uncomfortable as he guided me through the crowd. He kept me close by his side as we made our way into the lunch line. We filed in behind a couple of students that I didn’t recognize. Kane knew them right away, so I figured they must have been in some of his classes.

            He made small talk with them for a few minutes before introducing me as a friend of his. Even though I knew Kane was mine, it still hurt a little that he hadn’t introduced me as his girlfriend. The girl that he was talking to kept staring at me suspiciously, I figured it was my choice in clothing today, I guess I did go a little overboard with the leather.

“I saw your friends when we walked in.” Kane murmured when the line began to move.

“You did?” I twisted a strand of hair into a knot nervously. “Did they see us?”

“Yeah, they saw us. Have you even spoken to them since…?” His words trailed off.

“No,” I shook my head. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to say to them. What if I slip up, what if they can tell that I’m not telling the truth? I just don’t know how to act around them now. Faith was always the ice breaker and now… she’s not here.”

“You’ll be fine and I’ll be right there with you if you need me. As far as the iceberg, I’m sure I can take over where she left off.” He hugged me and smoothed the hair between my shoulder blades.

“Ice breaker,” I laughed into his shoulder. I had to laugh or I wouldn’t be able to do anything else but cry. “It’s called an ice breaker.”

“That’s what I meant.”

            The line finally moved again and I grabbed a tray and filled it with enough sweets to keep me in the dentist’s chair for a few years. I lined the Styrofoam squares with cookies, cakes, cherry jello, an ice cream sandwich and a small amount of macaroni and cheese— I tried to convince myself that the dairy that went into making the macaroni and cheese would be a good source of protein.

“Are you stress-
eating?” Kane asked as he eyed my unhealthy selection of junk food.

“Maybe,” I scrapped my finger through the chocolate frosting on the cake and then licked it off. “Is that a problem?”

“What’s going on with you today? First it’s the leather and then the kiss and now the attitude. Are you feeling alright?”

“I’m feeling perfectly fine. I just thought I would change it up a bit. Old Tristan was so stale and boring, don’t you think?”

“No, actually the old Tristan was fine just the way she was and I’d like her to come back if you don’t mind. Either way you definitely need to bring her back before we get to the table and before you utter one word to Chelsea or Everett. I don’t think rocking the boat would be a good idea after everything that’s happened in the last week.”

“You’re probably right. I don’t know who I was fooling with this anyway.”

“Just tone it done and give them some normalcy for a couple weeks at least.” He pleaded as we walked toward Chelsea and Everett.

“I already said I would, okay? Can we just drop it?” I whispered through clenched teeth.

            Kane sat his tray of food down on the table first and he was also the first to speak. Chelsea and Everett were taking to him better than I thought they would have, especially since Faith was no longer here to push us together and convince everyone else that it was a good idea.

“Hey guys.” Kane smiled warmly.

Everett smiled back. “Hey Kane, how’s it going?”

Kane nodded. “How are you all doing?”

“We’re taking it one day at a time.” Chelsea bit her bottom lip and frowned.

“Did Faith say anything to you before the accident? Why did she decide to leave in the middle of the dance like that?” Everett lowered his voice barely above a whisper.

Kane gave me an apprehensive look and held my hand underneath the table.

“She didn’t say anything really. We went to the bathroom together and then she disappeared after that. I figured I had just lost her in the crowd and when I couldn’t find her Kane and I decided to go looking for her, but we never found her and then we had to hear about what happened to her on the news.”

“Have you heard anything about a funeral?” How would they…” Chelsea stopped herself before she got too graphic.

“My mom said it would probably be this weekend. I don’t think they’ve decided on whether she’ll be in a casket or… well, you know.” Kane answered.

“Where did you two go after the dance? We never heard from you until… until today.
I mean, it would have been nice to get a call to know you were alright.” Chelsea sighed. “I’m glad you’re okay and I’m glad you had Kane to make sure of that, I just wish you would’ve called.”

“I have to take the blame for that one.” Kane stepped in. “
My apologies. I took her up to Portland the next day to keep her mind off of what happened.”

“Oh,” Everett smiled. “That’s so sweet. Faith would be happy to know her predictions about the two of you have come true. It’s a shame she couldn’t have seen her own future.”

“It is a shame.” Kane hung his head. “Tell me more about these predictions she had about Tristan and I, now I’m curious.”

“Kane, it doesn’t matter. We’re together now and that’s all that matters.”

“No, I want to hear what she saw.” 

“I’ll tell it.” Chelsea whispered, like she was telling a dark secret. “When she first came to us about these dreams she was having, we were all a little skeptical about it and then
all of the sudden one after another started coming true. She predicted things that she couldn’t have known.”

“Like what?”
Kane indulged her.

“Well, you two for instance. She could have never known that, especially since she had never met you. She predicted
things like rises in the stock markets, presidential elections, earthquakes, tsunamis, births and sometimes… deaths. This is why we can’t understand how she couldn’t have seen her own death coming.”

“The news lady
did
say that it looked like alcohol was involved. You can never be sure what’s going through someone’s mind when they’ve been drinking.” Everett added.

“Let’s not talk about this anymore, it’s too depressing. I don’t like to remember her that way.” I cut the conversation off before they could come up with anymore theories.

            Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Harmony making a mad dash toward our table. She really was beautiful. It’s too bad she has such an ugly personality. Her prowess was unmistakable. She was feline in the way she walked, like a lioness that had stalked her prey and was going in for the kill.

            Kane noticed her too. He sighed and gave me a look that let me know he wasn’t happy that I hadn’t settled my conversation with her this morning. I couldn’t deny the fact that I liked to see him squirm and seeing her face when he told her that we are together would only be icing on the cake.

“Hi losers… and Kane.” She batted her eyes and took a seat beside him.

“Harmony,” Kane smiled. “And to what do we owe this honor?”

“Honor,” Everett scoffed. “More like what crime did we commit to have to endure such a punishment?”

“Can it
Thumbelina!” Harmony hissed.

“Let her speak.” Kane hushed everyone at the table.

“Thank you. I just wanted to let you know that when you’re done hanging around with Mary Sue and her band of misfits, I’ll be waiting.” She brushed his hair away from his face.

“Okay, I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you.”

“My pleasure. Oh and Kane, the Halloween dance was a hit. It was the best party I’ve ever been to.” She smiled and then turned and walked away.

“You’ll keep that in mind?” I glowered.
“So much for telling her that we are together.”

“I barely had a chance to get a word in.” He looked to Chelsea and Everett for backup, but they had already turned away to make sure they weren’t involved in any of it.

            I crossed my arms across my chest and cut my eyes at him. My plan had obviously back fired. I don’t know what I expected to happen— maybe I thought Kane would let her know that I was everything he would ever need and I would feel some sort of validation. I realized that being with him should have been validation enough though.

            Chelsea and Everett pretended to have their own separate conversation and acted like they had no idea what was going on, but I could tell they were still listen just to make sure they didn’t miss anything. I looked over at Harmony, who looked rather pleased with herself and it took all of the strength in me to stay in my chair.

            After a few minutes of silence on all of our parts the bell rang and we all got up without speaking. I knew the tension in the air was because of me, but I didn’t care. I wanted Kane to know that I wouldn’t settle for being his secret girlfriend.

“Tristan, don’t leave mad. I’m sorry for what I said… or didn’t say. I would never do anything to hurt you.” He tried to stop me.

“You don’t know how many years she’s tormented me and you’ve just handed her another years worth of torture on a silver platter.” I clutched the strap on my back pack and gritted my teeth.