Falling Awake (17 page)

***

“Nathan, you’re not saying it right,” I told him, for what felt like hundredth time. We sat at a small round table outside of a cute little café, which was situated right outside of the Hotel, under a green striped sun umbrella.

It was only the two of us because the rest of my group decided they were way too cool for studying, and ditched us to wander around the streets of Paris. I hated them for leaving me with Nathan, and I secretly wished that they would get lost. Well maybe just a little bit lost, then eventually find their way back.

“Je vais avour le poulet.”

You don’t have to say it with such an American accent, and you don’t actually pronounce the T. I blew out my cheeks. “Let’s take a break,” I suggested.

“Okay. This is boring anyway. Why would I even need to speak French when I live In America, and I’m American?” he asked me with a look on his face that said this is the most ridiculous thing he’s ever had to do in his life. It was like sitting with a Cave Man.

“Uh, I don’t know. Maybe because you’re in Paris.” I threw up my hands in frustration. “Just go and get us a drink Nathan. I’ll fill all of this in, and we’ll just skip the oral part.”

“That’s the last thing I want to skip,” he said with a snicker, and I glowered at him, until at last he left.

A dull ache throbbed insistently behind my eyes, and I brought my fingertips to my temples rubbing them in small circles. After waking up last night to a searing darkness bearing down on me, I forced my eyes closed until I was sure Mellissa was the only other one in the room with me.

I couldn’t say for definite that the strange shadow like person was in my room, and hadn’t just extracted its self from my dream, but it freaked me out and I couldn’t relax enough to fall back asleep after that. The lack of sleep was now catching up with me, in the form of a growing headache.

Nathan came back with an ice tea for me, and what looked like a coke float for himself. I took a sip of the cold refreshing peach flavoured tea, and scribbled down the last of the completion form.

The day was hot. I was wearing my white strappy sundress that flared out a little from the waist and ended just above my knees, and I wore my hair out, kept away from my face by a braid that I plaited to act as a headband.

“You look nice,” Nathan said impishly, and I glared at him through my eyelashes until he looked away, slurping loudly at his drink.

“Wanna split a ham Panini?” he asked me, rubbing his stomach. “I’m kinda hungry.”

“I’m vegetarian.”

“Oh right. Well maybe they do like a mushroom Panini. Free range or something.”

I rolled my eyes. “God forbid the mushrooms haven’t been able to grow freely.” He was dumber than I originally thought.

“There, I’m finished.” I threw down my pen and leaned back in my chair.

“Mr Kelly will know this is all rubbish though when he asks you what you’ve learned, and you sing him the American National Anthem,” I said sarcastically, and when he broke into a laugh, I couldn’t help but smile with him. 

Shortly after, we left the Café at lunchtime and everyone met back at the Hotel for something to eat. The rest of the day was spent on a tour of the nearby attractions like the Louvre Pyramid, and the Louvre Museum which most of the students thought was boring, Mellissa included.

Me though, I found it beyond fascinating. Especially when the tour guide of the museum told us about the 666 theory which was associated with Satan. Apparently, the Pyramid was built with exactly six hundred and sixty six panes of glass, but in the end, it was confirmed that there were exactly six hundred and eighty nine panes. The conspiracy didn’t end there though. It was suggested that the pyramid was dedicated to a power mentioned in the bible, that is the great beast of the apocalypse. Normally, even though it’s fun to hear, I would dismiss this as absolute rubbish. But since Caleb, I wasn’t so quick to snub it.

The entire structure was based around the number six, and six was after all associated with the devil. Well I knew more than everyone on the tour. I knew that the devil was real.

After dinner I was exhausted. My feet hurt, and I was tired. I arranged to meet Ressler at nine, at the front doors of the Hotel, and I had no idea how I was going to get myself out without Mellissa wondering what I was up to.

The trip chaperones walked the halls of the Hotel every hour, so I would leave fifteen minutes before, to make sure I wouldn’t be caught, and make a quick exit from there. I couldn’t be bothered to change, so I freshened up instead, and brushed my hair through to revive it.

“I’m going to Skype Drake tonight,” Mellissa said, pulling her laptop from her suitcase and plonking it on the bed in front of her.

“Drake knows how to Skype?” I asked with humour in my voice, and a smile on my face. For someone reason, I found that amusing and somewhat unbelievable that he would bother himself with something that seemed so ordinary compared to someone like him, who was so extraordinary.

“Yes he knows how to Skype,” she said defensively. “And I’m going to show him exactly what he’s missing. I’ve brought my all in one lace and silk bodice.”

“God that’s groce. What time are you planning this sex cam session so I can get the hell out of here?” Through my disgust, I was secretly thrilled she had given me the escape I was looking for.

“We’ve agreed eight thirty.” That was perfect. Right on time.

“I’ll just go and hang out in the lounge area. Watch some TV or something,” I lied. I had no idea where Drake lived, and I wondered where he would be Skyping her from. Would it be Caleb’s place? Would Caleb be there? The anticipation was too much and I knew I had to speak to him, like right now.

“I’m just going to go call my dad,” I said, slipping into my flats.

“Tell him I said Hi.”

“Will do.” I slipped out of the room and downstairs to the lobby, phone card in hand. I did call my dad, I called him first and he assured me everything was fine at home and that Gracey sends her love.

Then, as I dialled Caleb’s number, my palm was slicked with sweat as I held the receiver to my ear. It rang and rang until finally, the sound of Caleb’s voice broke through.

“Hello?”

“Caleb, hi. It’s me”

“Pria?” He said it as a question.

“I called your cell last night, but I kept getting your voicemail. Is everything okay?”

His voice was like music to my ears. I’d missed him so much in just only two days.

“Everything’s fine. The signals not great here. Sorry, I never realised you tried to call, and I never noticed a voicemail.” I bit my lip at the lies that flowed so freely from my mouth. Everything wasn’t fine. I was pretty sure someone had been watching me from my own room, and I never checked my voicemails since I bought the phone. I couldn’t understand why people insisted on leaving them when there was such a thing as a text message.

“How’s Paris?” he asked, and I could hear voices in the background.

“It’s great yeah, it’s beautiful. A lot of really beautiful buildings. I went to the louvre today. It was interesting.” I was rambling, but I had to give him something. “And Nathan?” He sounded more concerned this time.

“Oh, he’s fine. He hasn’t bothered me. We’re getting through our study sessions easy enough.”

“Not too easy I hope.”

“Mellissa’s Skyping Drake tonight.”

“So I’ve heard. I won’t be here though. I’ve got more important things to do. I’ll talk to you about that though when you come home. Not over the phone.”

I wondered if that meant something had happened, or he’d found something out. “Okay, and my dad he’s safe?”

“Yeah he is. Try not to worry about him.”

I nodded and before I could stop myself, I blurted out, “I miss you.” The statement was met with silence from the other end of the phone and I banged my head with the palm of my hand, mouthing the word idiot as I waited for any kind of response. “Just enjoy your trip.” That was so not what I wanted to hear.

“Okay,” I said, and I pressed the phone to my ear as if that would bring him closer to me, and I listened to the steady rhythm of his breathing, wishing I could listen to it all night.

“Pria…”

“Yes?” I held my breath waiting for what he was about to say.

“Nothing,” he eventually said. He exhaled a sigh. “Call me tomorrow.”

“Right,” I said, then hung up, wishing I never made the call in the first place.

I felt so empty after hearing his voice, and now I had nothing of him.

After saying a quick hello to Drake over the web cam, I managed to evade any chaperones in the hallways, and once in the lobby, I waited until the receptionist disappeared into the back office before dashing out through the front doors where Ressler was already waiting.

“Hey.” He was leaning against the brick wall of the Hotel. “You’re early.”

“Yeah. I just needed to make sure I could get out. Is there someplace else we could go? Someone might see us here.” I glanced nervously behind me at the glass doorway, expecting it to burst open any second.

“I know just the place,” he said, grabbing my hand.

We walked for about fifteen minutes through the bustling old world streets, until we stopped at a bench and sat overlooking the River Seine. The River glowed and sparkled in the moonlight. It looked surreal, illuminated with wavering streaks of gold from the buildings that lined the river, and the many bridges that arched gracefully over it. The full moon reflected itself in the calm rippling water, and I snapped a picture to show Caleb when I got home, it was so beautiful.

“What’s up then Pria? I’d like to think you called me for my company, but I’m guessing that’s not it.” He leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees. I took in his grey sweats and white long sleeved tee, the familiar arch of his lean body and the silver bracelet that hung around his wrist, shining against his tanned skin. Something stirred in me, a feeling I was becoming to know all too well, and I tried hard to supress it, looking out instead over the river as a small boat sailed lazily past us.

“Someone was in my room last night.”

“What?” he said, turning his head to face me.

“I was outside in the courtyard of the Hotel, and I looked up to the window of my room, empty room by the way, and someone was standing there looking at me.”

“Are you sure it wasn’t just Mellissa?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Why would Mellissa just stand there in the dark staring at me?” I snapped. “And no, it wasn’t her because she was on the phone to Drake in the lobby. I passed her when I went up to see who it was.”

“You went up there yourself? Are you crazy? That could have been anyone up there. That was probably exactly what they wanted- you alone. Why didn’t you just call me? I would have come straight over, you know that. Oh Caleb is going to kill me now,” he huffed.

“Calm down will you? There was no one there when I got there. It was weird. Where could they have even gone? I went straight up there, and I passed no one.”

“But you definitely saw someone?”

“What? You think I’m making this up?” I drew my eyebrows together in offence, but I knew what he meant, because I had thought the exact same thing. Did I really see someone, or did I just imagine it?

“No, I don’t think you’re making this up. I’m just asking how sure you are of what you saw that’s all.”

“I’ve thought about that, and I’m sure. I know what I saw,” I said, nodding my head with positivity.

“And it was definitely your room?”

“Ressler, really?” I was irritated, and he shrugged his shoulders, putting his hands up as if to say, what I have I done wrong now.

“What? I’m just making sure.”

“It was my room and there was someone in it. And do you know what? For all I know, they flew out the freaking window because they done a pretty good job of vanishing into thin air.”

“How do you know they didn’t just take the stairs while you were on your way up there?”

“Because I took the stairs.”

“Okay, the lift then?”

“I don’t know, I can’t explain it. It was creepy. Even though the room was empty, I didn’t feel like I was alone. I felt like someone was watching me, someone nearby.”

“I could always stay in your room, you know, just to really be sure nothing happens to you.” He wasn’t smiling and I wouldn’t be surprised if he was being serious.

“So not happening…but at least you’re taking this serious,” I said in sarcasm. “Sorry, I was joking. Well partly, but I am taking this serious.”

“I’m scared Ressler.” And I realised that was the first time I had admitted that aloud to myself or to anyone else.

Since Caleb came into my life, I’d been sucked into a whirlwind of so many unbelievable situations, I felt like I hadn’t stopped to take a breath or to really think clearly.

“You don’t need to be afraid; do you honestly think we would let anything happen to you?” I looked into his eyes and I knew no matter which direction Caleb and Ressler’s friendship turned because of me, they would always be there for me. They were like my guardian angels, and I knew at that very moment that I loved them both. Maybe not in exactly the same way but I loved them nonetheless.