Glimmer

(Zellie Wells Book Two)

By Stacey Wallace Benefiel

Published by Stacey Wallace Benefiel

Copyright © 2010 Stacey Wallace Benefiel

All rights reserved.

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For Mom and Dad

I ran from my house out into the frozen December air, my breath visible. Avery, my boyfriend of almost eight months, was waiting for me in his dad’s red pickup. Okay, technically he’s my boyfriend of six months since we were broken up in June and July because he thought I killed his dad with my psychic powers, which, P.S. I totally didn’t, but I try not to dwell on that.

A blast of heat hit me as I opened the passenger side door. “Morning!” I said, flinging my backpack on the floor and hopping up into the seat. 

He brushed a strand of my long red hair away from the corner of my mouth and gave me a quick kiss.  “Hey. Where’s Mel? She’s not coming with us to school?”

“Nah. Aunt Hazel got into town last night. There’s a lead on Benjamin and she wants Melody to help her.” I put my seatbelt on over my teal puffy down jacket. “Dad dropped her off at the lodge before he went to the church this morning.”

“Really?” He raised his eyebrow at me. “I thought your sister had her Lookout status revoked for the school year?”

“As it turns out, Aunt Hazel is also very good at playing the annoying little sister role and between her and Melody, Dad didn’t stand a chance.  When he was on the phone with Aunt Hazel, I could hear him saying, ‘but, yes, but...’ until he finally just agreed to let Melody go with her for the day.” 

Aunt Hazel was Grandma Rachel’s Lookout, like Melody was mine.  Every Retroact, someone that can rewind time, needs a Lookout to aid them in their rewinds. They also protect the outside world from having knowledge of The Society: a group of women with magical abilities that has been around for centuries. The main problem with Benjamin, a supposed Retroact that butted in on my first solo rewind, is that he’s male.  The Society had never heard of the existence of a male Retroact until him.

“What’s our favorite rogue Retroact up to these days?” Avery asked, backing down the gravel driveway in front of my house.

“Wreaking havoc in Sacramento and Los Osos from what I hear. He hijacked two rewinds from way better Retroacts than me. Allegedly, he’s in Bend lying low.  That’s where Melody and Aunt Hazel are going to go look for him at least.”

“Excellent. More alone time.”  Avery grinned at me, a mischievous glint in his deep brown eyes, and put his hand on my inner thigh.

I scooted towards the door. “Not while you’re driving!  Keep your eyes on the road and your hands on the wheel.  According to the Oregon driver’s manual--”

“Stupid fricken’ driver’s manual,” he muttered under his breath.

“Whatever. It’s my knowledge of the driver’s manual that’s going to get me a 98 out of 100 on the test.”

“Why 98 out of 100?”

“I can’t see the two questions I miss.” I stuck my tongue out at him. I was going to be done with Driver’s Ed in a couple of weeks and would be able to get my license in January. I couldn’t wait.

I had been signed up to take Driver’s Ed last summer, but after my big psychic meltdown, my parents shipped Melody, my best friend Claire, and I off to live with Aunt Hazel in Portland for the summer. 

Of course, that turned out to be fortuitous because I got to meet Grandma Rachel. Mom’s mom was supposedly dead, but really she was alive and kicking some major butt as a Retroact in Los Angeles.  She cleared up a ton of confusing questions I had about my abilities, especially the part about me not actually killing Avery’s dad, but I still had a lot to learn. 

So, mastering the skill of driving got pushed down on the priority list and Avery just drove me everywhere. Not that it wasn’t nice to have Avery drive me places, but I wanted to be able to get myself around too.  Also, he’d be in a lot less danger if I didn’t have to catch a ride with him to get to a rewind.  My having a license was going to be better for everyone in my life.

Avery smirked. “I bet your mom would glimpse the driver’s test for you, or your grandma, tell you which questions you got wrong.”

I wrote my name with my finger in the condensation on the windshield, ignoring that little remark.  “When are you going to get rid of this truck anyway?  I thought we agreed that you needed to be driving something less red and truck-like.”

In the vision I’d dreamt every night since Avery and I had gotten together, he died lying on the road next to this truck.  The sooner this stupid truck was gone, the better.  I didn’t know if it would improve the outcome of Avery’s future, Grandma thought it was unlikely, but why not take as many precautions as we could?

“I know, I know.  After Christmas, I promise.” He flipped the defrost on. “Although, it would make more sense for me to keep it through winter. It sure handles great in snow.” He swiped the windshield with his forearm and then cranked the defrost to high. “Not to mention it’s paid off.”

I knew the real reason he didn’t want to sell the truck, that’s why I didn’t bug him about it too often.  It was one of the only connections he had to his dad in the physical world.  I broached the subject carefully. “What did your dad say the last time you talked to him?”

“About the truck? He didn’t say too much. Something about me learning how to change the oil myself.” Avery glanced at me, testing the waters. “He was more interested in talking about the baby.”

“Oh.” I rolled my eyes. My mom was almost six months pregnant with Avery’s dad’s baby.  It was a boy. At least there was way less of a chance for it to be a Retroact.  I still wasn’t sure I would wish my abilities on anyone. 

Mom had moved from the Adams’ house in Rosedell in September when Avery’s mom, Becky, came home from the Bend psychiatric hospital. Now Mom lived by herself, kinda, out at the Adams’ cabin in the foothills of Mt. Scott. 

Avery and Mom met a couple times a week at the cabin so he could communicate with his dad. Yes, his dead dad.  My mom, while not a Retroact (that power skips a generation) has the ability to talk to spirits. That’s what I mean by her kinda living by herself.  She’s at the cabin with her ghost baby daddy. My dad, Pastor Paul, is super happy about it. Ha.

Avery claimed that his dad was more pleasant in the afterlife.  More content. I’d never talked to Mr. Adams through my mom out of respect for Dad. The two of us had an unspoken agreement that if I was touching my mom, he’d disappear to wherever it was he went so I didn’t have to see him. I had a right to be mad at him and he knew it.  My parents were getting a divorce because of him, after all.

“Zel, I know it sucks for you, but it sort of doesn’t for me,” Avery said. “They’re really excited for the baby...and I am too.” He looked at me and gave me one of his irresistible crinkly-eyed smiles, patting my thigh tentatively.  I was almost able to forget what we were talking about. “Y’know, I never got to have a sibling like you do.”

I rolled my eyes again.  “Yes, my relationship with Melody is magical.”

He squeezed my leg. “You know what I mean...this little baby; he’s going to be your brother too.”

“Half brother.” I wished he wasn’t so psyched about something that was seriously screwing up my life. “Anyways,” I said, “we’re gonna be almost seventeen years older than him. It’s not going to be like growing up together.” I sighed.  “I bet they ask us to baby-sit all the time.”

“So, what, they can have a date night?” Avery put both hands on the steering wheel, obviously pissed that I was ruining his big brother fantasy. “My dad’s still dead.”

Here we went again. “And my dad’s newly single despite that fact,” I shot back.  We had this fight at least once a week and I was so over it. I moved all the way to the door.

We drove the rest of the distance to school in huffy silence.  Avery parked in his usual close-in spot in the dinky Rosedell High School parking lot. Over the weekend, the city had plowed and there were huge mounds of snow and wet rotting leaves in several of the spaces.

I jumped from the truck and landed in a dirty snow and leaf pile. Awesome. There’s nothing like walking around in squishy cold shoes all day long. I slammed the door behind me and headed for Claire, who was waiting at the bike racks.

“Hey!” Avery called. “I love you and your stubborn ass! See you at lunch, honeybear!”

I considered rewinding the last five minutes and finishing my fight with Avery, trying to get him to see my side, erasing the use of “honeybear” for sure, but I was almost to the bike racks.

“What’s up H.B.?” Claire grinned. “Aww, did you two have a fight?”

I smirked. “Yes, want to venture a guess about what?”

“Well, let’s see, is it one of the twelve things you guys have going against you?”

“Why yes, it is.” I stuck my tongue out at her.

She pretended to aim a dart and throw it. “Ghost baby daddy?”

“Bullseye.”

We walked to our lockers. I took out my AP History book.  Claire had choir first period and Avery had English.  The three of us didn’t have as many classes together this year.

I felt Avery come up close behind me.  I turned to him, our mouths nearly touching. “What?”

He kissed me. “I couldn’t wait until lunch.” He took off down the hall, looking back over his shoulder, smiling.

“I’m still mad at you!” I yelled after him, but then I smiled too.

“You guys make me throw up in my mouth a little, you know that, right?” Claire asked. She checked herself out in her locker mirror, one of her many daily rituals, running a brush through her black shoulder length hair.

I snorted. “We’re not as bad as you and Jason were.”

Claire looked at me from the mirror as she moved on to adjusting her eyeliner. “He Who Must Not Be Named and I were a flame that burned hot and strong...until he opened his mouth and everything he said was so stupid that the flame took itself out.”

“If only they’d just keep their mouths shut.”

“Holla.” Claire closed her locker door and turned to me. “I’ll see you in French.” She gave me a hug good-bye.

“Ouch!” I let go of her and dropped my books. Clutching my head, a vision crackled and sparked behind my eyes, short-circuiting my ability to concentrate on what I was seeing. The pain was excruciating.  Wait, why was there pain? I fell to my knees on the ground.

Claire knelt beside me. “What’s wrong? Should I go get the nurse?” She pulled at my hands. “Look at me!  What can I do?”

I clutched my head tighter, squeezing my eyes closed. I felt extremely hot. I could see her in my mind, coming in and out of focus.  I couldn’t tell where she was or what was happening. “Just...hold on.  Don’t get the nurse...I’m trying to...you’re in here...”

“Hush,” she whispered, “people are looking at us.”

The halls became congested as other students stopped to stare.  Only a few said anything.

“Is that girl okay?”

“She doesn’t look so good.”

“I didn’t think what’s-her-face could get any paler.”

Claire hovered over me, blocking me from view. “Come on,” she coaxed, “try and stand up. Let’s go to the girl’s room.”

I shook my head. “Wait.  The pain’s going away a little.  I can see...you...and Benjamin?”

“Am I kicking his ass?”

I managed a weak smile. “No, just talking.  Actually, you both look happy...and you’re both in...formal wear?  That can’t be right.  Benjamin’s too old to go to prom.” I opened my eyes enough to see and stood up.  The vision was over. My head throbbed a little, but the pain was gone for the most part.

The bell rang.

Claire shot down the remaining looky-loos with a glare. “Move along people.  Nothing to see here.” She took my arm and led me to the nearest bathroom. Stooping to look under the stall doors, she made sure we were alone before she spoke. “What was that?”

“I don’t know, but it killed.” I splashed water on my face and then dried it off with the paper towel she offered. I looked in the mirror.  There were broken blood vessels in both of my eyes. “What the hell?”

Claire sucked her breath in through her teeth. “Oh, man. That looks horrible.” She got closer to the mirror, studying my reflection. “Do they hurt?” 

I opened my eyes wide.  I did look pretty horrible. “No, not much.” I winced at the brightness from the overhead fluorescent lights. “I still have a headache though.” I pressed my temples with my fingertips. “I’m not sure I can handle school today. Do you think you can go get Avery?  I need him.”

“Sure.  He’s in English?  Mrs. Woodbury?”

“Yeah.  Thanks. Tell him I’ll be waiting by the truck.”

Claire rummaged around in her red vinyl tote and took out a pair of black Fendis. “Here, put these on. You don’t want to scare the 7th graders.”