Falling (The Falling Angels Saga) (3 page)

I collected my things slowly, buying time to come up with an acceptable excuse as to why I’d thrown my hat in the ring to run for class president. My brain, normally filled with enough correct answers to give me a four-point-oh GPA, chose that moment to fail me. Ashley poked her head back in to see what was keeping me.

“Coming,” I called, and without a clue as to what I was going to say, I moved out into the hall. As soon as I was out of the room, the two girls closed in, practically pinning me to the wall outside the classroom door.

“I thought you were my friend!” Ashley charged in a loud whisper.

“I knew better,” Heather added. The students working their way to their next classes gave us a wide berth. Heather shot the stink eye at anyone who dared stop to gawk at us. This was private Poplarati business. Keep out.

“I welcomed you into our group,” said Ashley, poking a finger into my chest.

“I knew you were a shark,” Heather countered.

“You broke my heart, Fredo!” said Ashley, her voice taking on a tone that suggested she was either genuinely hurt, or a really good actress. I opted for the latter.

“Lord of The Rings?” asked Heather, staring at Ashley, her face looking as though she’d just sucked down a lemon.

“Not Frodo,
Fredo
. It’s from The Godfather,” I said, explaining Ashley’s analogy. “A metaphor.”

“Oh. Right. You broke her heart,” mimicked Heather, regaining her rhythm, although I’m sure the word ‘metaphor’ was wasted on her. “You didn’t break
my
heart,” she added. “I knew better.”

“Explain!” Ashley demanded.

“It was a joke,” I said, grasping for a lifeline. Yes, I know it was the oldest and lamest excuse in the high school excuse book, but I was struggling to come up with something,
anything,
and it was all I could think of.

“It’s not a joke. It’s embarrassing; one of my best friends is now running against me for office,” said Ashley, her eyes getting big and watery. “Embarrassing,” she repeated.

I found it amazing how easily Ashley could pull out the Best Friend card whenever it suited her purposes. “I know. You’re right. You have no idea how bad I felt when nobody got it. But it was a joke, and I was too embarrassed to say it wasn’t.”

Neither girl responded. They were both staring at me, and I realized my excuse was working. They were intrigued enough to hear me out.

“I thought everyone would laugh when I said I was going to run against one of my best friends.
And
the most popular girl I know. It sounded funny in my head. And before I knew it, I’d been nominated.” I eyed each of them cautiously.

“Why didn’t you decline the nomination?” Ashley demanded.

“Yeah,” Heather said, throwing in her two cents.

“Like I said, I was embarrassed,” I said softly, putting on a little performance of my own. “We were in front of the entire junior class. I… I just couldn’t. I know I owe you an apology,” I said, making my voice crack as if on cue.

“When I called you last night you called me a B! You weren’t in front of the junior class then.”

Uh-oh! Didn’t know about last night. Last night my dark half was still running the show. “I think you got a wrong number,” I said weakly, realizing my dark half had done quite a bit more damage than I’d thought.

The second bell sounded.

“Look, I’m going to withdraw today. No harm, no foul, right?” I was smiling again.

“Plenty of harm,” said Ashley in a seething tone.

“You’re right. But I’ll make it up to you,” I said. “You’ll see.”

“How?” The word hovered in the air between us for several seconds, like a bubble waiting to burst.

“I’ll find a way. Now we better get to class. Wanna hug it out?” I knew Ashley was big on hugging. This was my peace offering.

“Maybe later,” she said, finally backing away and allowing me some breathing space. I could tell she was on her way to forgiving me; she just needed to play it out a little longer. The attitude still coming off Heather, however, suggested she’d never be ready to forgive. No biggie. Ashley carried way more weight with the Poplarati than Heather. As far as I was concerned, I’d dodged a bullet.

I stumbled through the rest of the morning like an elephant trying not to step on eggshells, approaching each of my classes with an air of caution. I felt clumsy and awkward, having no idea what I’d said to anyone on Monday.

Maudrina joined me out on the quad for lunch, away from the cafeteria and the reproachful stares of the Poplarati or anyone else I might have wronged during my dark day.

“I told her I’d withdraw my name,” I said as I bit into my turkey wrap with honey-mustard dressing. Maudrina shot me a look. “I’m not doing it just for Ashley. No way do I want to run for class president,” I added emphatically.

“Why not?” asked Maudrina.

“What do you mean ‘why not’? If I run against the Poplarati it means I’m no longer a member of the Poplarati. Duh!”

“Oh,” she replied, taking a sip of her cranberry juice. There was a lot more to that
oh
than she was letting on.

“I don’t know about you, but I enjoy being accepted by the in-crowd.”

She nodded. There was a lot more to that
nod
than she was letting on. Sometimes Maudrina said more being quiet than she did while she was talking, especially when she didn’t agree with me.

I sighed. “I thought this business with Satan was behind me.” I slumped forward as the weight of all that had happened since I woke up came crushing down on me. “First, I lose an entire day, and then that girl, or whatever she was, shows up in the stairwell. He’s coming for me, Maudrina,” I said darkly. “I can feel it. And this time there’ll be no stopping him,” I said, the self-pity working its way into my voice.

I didn’t want to feel sorry for myself. Satan had warned me in my dreams that I’d crossed the tipping point. The point of no return. It was survival instinct that allowed me to ignore what was right before my eyes and think I could still beat him. But now I knew better.

Maudrina placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. “If Ibwa sent that girl to warn you, that means you
can
stop him. He wouldn’t have sent her if all was lost.”

She was right. Ibwa was a demon in search of redemption who helped me during my trip to hell. I couldn’t have succeeded without him. I looked into her eyes. Pity-eyes stared back. “But we don’t know that it
was
Ibwa who sent the girl. I’ve been fooled by Satan before,” I said, referring to the cryptic note I’d received a few months back that I
thought
had come from Guy.

“It sounds to me like it’s time to pay another visit to Aunt Jaz.”

The mention of Aunt Jaz brought a smile to my face. Maudrina’s supposedly crazy Aunt Jaz was an insider in the Glendale occult community. She was also one of my favorite people in the entire world. I glanced over at Maudrina. She was smiling as well. “Yes, it does,” I said. I began rewrapping my turkey wrap.

“What are you doing? Lunch period’s only half over.”

“If we’re going to see Aunt Jaz, I want to save my appetite,” I said, and she laughed. Her laughter was like a healing elixir, massaging the knots from my neck and making the dark clouds that had appeared over my life part just a little bit. But like all medicines, I knew the effects would only last for so long.

Maudrina called Aunt Jaz, who was pleased to hear we were coming over. She told Maudrina she’d cook up something special for the occasion. Good thing I’d passed on lunch.

At the end of the day, I decided to stop off in the math lab before heading out to let my teammates know I wouldn’t be participating in mathletes that afternoon, but also because I was feeling guilty about snubbing Tran and Jenny in stat class earlier in the day. I wasn’t on their bad side—yet—and I didn’t want to get there. I already had enough mess to clean up.

I pushed open the math lab door and walked in. There were seven of us on the team. That day, the room was jam-packed with students, looking more like a New York City subway car at rush hour than a classroom. Many of them I recognized—Albert Findley and Rebecca Martz from the debate team; Alicia Soo and Jose Rivera from the science club—and many I didn’t, but familiar or not, the unmistakable aura of geek saturated the air around them.

I could tell from the hush that fell over the group upon my arrival, and the collective sparkle in their eyes, they’d been waiting for me. As I cleared the doorway and stepped into the room, the geeks let loose with a near-deafening cheer. Tran pushed his way to the front of the crowd, triumphantly pumping his fist in the air.

“For she’s the jolly good fellow!” he cried.

“Oh, my!” I mumbled under my breath, as I realized there was more mess to clean up than I’d originally thought.

“H… hi, everyone. It’s umm… not my birthday,” I said, trying to make light of the situation. I knew why they’d come, and yet a tiny piece of me held onto the thought that this had to be a mistake.

The students erupted in joyous laughter, as if I’d suddenly become the world’s funniest comedian. I caught a glimpse of Mrs. Brewster peeking out between students in the back of the room. She seemed to be enjoying the moment as much as the students were.

“I… umm… have something to say,” I said in a somber tone. I couldn’t lead them on, no matter how much it would hurt to see the expressions on their faces turn from triumph to disappointment. They were looking for a representative in the school election, someone to give them a voice in a world where they felt voiceless. That person wasn’t me.

“Quiet down!” hollered Tran. “Megan Barnett has something to say.” No one had been talking when he barked out the command. It was Tran’s way of seizing control of the moment.

The room seemed even quieter than before. The soft whir of the air conditioning came at me like the blades of a helicopter, pounding the air. All eyes of my classmates were on me, hungry for words of wisdom they weren’t going to get.

That’s when I heard a new sound. It started as a low rumble, as if there was a freight train bearing down on us from somewhere in the distance. It was so faint, at first, only I heard it, but as the rumbling gradually grew louder, the expressions on the faces around me began to change.

The floor began to quake beneath my feet.

“All right, everyone,” called Mrs. Brewster from the back of the room. “Remember last year’s Great Shakeout? Time to put those skills to use.” I had to hand it to her. She was speaking calmly, even though there was panic in her eyes.

As everyone got into
drop, cover and hold
positions, the shaking increased, the room vibrating as if we’d just stepped onto an amusement park’s wild ride.

I’m causing this.

It was a ridiculous thought. Ludicrous. I hadn’t been angry. I didn’t have any of the sensations in my belly I’d had last summer on that stifling hot day when all the weird phenomena had occurred back at the wave pool, and yet I knew without a doubt that I was the cause of the earthquake.

The right side of the corkboard jerked loose and fell from the wall with a loud
smack
, leaving the board listing to the side like a sinking ship. The sudden sound made several of my classmates cry out involuntarily, something they’d try to live down in the days and weeks to come:
I was only pretending to be scared to get a laugh outta you guys. Shoot!

“Get down, Megan,” called Mrs. Brewster, the panic in her eyes finding its way into her words. I was the only one still standing. She signaled to me with both hands. “Get down!”

Several Math Lab posters fell from the walls, hitting the floor with a sound akin to smacking gum. But with panic setting in, those innocent little smacks probably sounded like explosions.

I had to get out of there. I knew the longer I stayed the worse things would get, and things were pretty bad already. If the earthquake increased in intensity, some of my classmates were going to get injured. I cast Mrs. Brewster a withering glance and bolted from the room.

“MEGAN!” she screamed.

I stepped out into the corridor, allowing the door to ease shut behind me. None of the rumbling occurring in the math lab accompanied me into the corridor. The hall was peaceful, quiet. The tiny earthquake was happening in one room and one room only.

I knew it!

My heart thundered in my chest as I realized I was totally out of control of my abilities. Not only had I lost an entire day without warning, but also the ability once triggered by anger was now triggered by…who knows? I had no idea what emotion, if any, had triggered the earthquake in the math lab.

I moved down the hall, away from the math lab, accompanied by a chill that slid up my back like a nor’easter slamming into a tiny New England town. It drove into my bones like an arctic wind. I was shaking visibly, shivering, my teeth gnashing together like those chattering teeth sold in novelty stores.

I had to get out of the building.
I have to! Now!
I moved as quickly as I could without running. I feared if I started to run, I might never stop.

*

We were seated at Aunt Jaz’s tiny dinette table that was several odd shades of green. Me, Erin and Maudrina. I’d called Erin and asked her to join us. Even though she’d opted not to come back to G.U. for the fall semester, she was still one of my closest friends, still part of this mess.

The aroma of pungent spices hung in the air. My stomach growled like a gentle cat. As troubled as I’d been when I arrived, I was still hungry.

“I don’t know how you can see things any differently. He’s won,” I said, the trouble I was feeling inside working its way into my voice. “I might as well start choosing my wedding colors. Red for sure.”

Aunt Jaz’s kitchen walls were covered with lime green flowery wallpaper that brought to mind images of the sixties. The counter tops were Kelly green Formica; the fridge was mint green. Aunt Jaz was an eccentric. I loved that about her.

“We don’t know anything for sure, Megan. That’s why we’re all here. To figure it out,” Maudrina said in a soothing tone.