Authors: Lilian Carmine
Crap. They knew I’d had my hands on the song? But I tried to play dumb anyway. “Thanks for what? It’s Seth’s song.”
They both laughed at the same time.
“Yeah, yeah, right. We know there’s a little Seth in it, but we suspect you must have helped quite a lot!” Harry said, glancing sideways at me.
“Well, I just pointed out some little things. It is Seth’s song!” I repeated firmly.
“Okay. Whatever you say, Joe.” Josh smirked.
We arrived at my classroom door then.
“Here you are, safe and sound. Thanks for pointing out those ‘little things’ for the song! We appreciated it,” Josh said, patting me lightly on my shoulder.
“Sure, no problem. Thanks again for escorting me here. You really didn’t have to. I’ll see you guys around.” I smiled and stepped into my classroom.
Josh waved me goodbye and Harry nodded slightly, with his face a little down, avoiding direct eye contact. He had a little smile at the corner of his mouth. He was so adorably shy! I entered the classroom, smiling happily. I was really glad they liked the song.
The rest of the day passed by fairly fast. I shared some classes with Tiffany, a few with Seth and Josh together, and one with Harry. They always greeted me happily and arranged to sit in a chair next to mine. Which attracted a few more envious stares from other girls. It turned out I was gathering quite an awesome group of friends in this school! The only thing that could possibly top that would be Tristan’s arrival on Saturday.
And with that thought in mind, I drifted into a haze throughout all my classes on Friday. I was so anxious about Saturday that I didn’t pay attention to anything else. In the afternoon, some guy from school maintenance went to our room to fix the broken bed next to the wall, and at night Mom called to let me know she was coming at midday tomorrow. Then Saturday finally arrived! (Oh joy!) I was so anxious I woke up really early, even though I didn’t have to. I stared at the ceiling for like a hundred hours, until I gave up and got out of bed, deciding it was best to get ready and wait outside the school.
It was a pleasant day, a bit windy, but not too cold. The school had a huge campus with landscaped gardens, small fountains, big lawns and lots of beautiful trees everywhere.
At some point, I’d found this really private place on campus, with an amazing, impressive oak tree set alone in the middle of it. It seemed like a lovely spot to spend some time. I explored more of the grounds the whole morning, and just before lunch I bumped into Tiffany right outside the cafeteria.
We had lunch together and I told her my mom and half-brother would be arriving shortly. She clapped her hands, excited by the news. Tiffany was always in a cheerful, overexcited mood. It was hard to feel gloomy around her; she radiated joy and positive vibrations like the surface of the sun.
She waited with me by the front doors, the same place I’d dropped her Gucci bag on my first day at school. She was sitting on the small brick wall by the side of the steps, legs crossed sexily, and I was standing at her side, staring fixedly at the road, waiting for any signs of my mom’s car on the horizon. I tried to act relaxed, but inside I was squirming with anxiety. In fact, I was more than squirming; I was raging with nervousness.
Tiffany chatted excitedly, her hair bouncing wildly in the strong wind, oblivious to my jittery nerves and shaky mood. “So, tell me, Joey, is your brother as feisty as you are? Should I be putting my Gucci bags away? I can’t have mud on any of my babies again, you know!” she teased.
“Well, you’ll see for yourself soon enough, Tiff,” I said, giving her a vague answer. But before Tiffany could come up with another question, my mom’s car appeared at the bend of the road. “Here they are!” I said, beaming happily and pointing at the approaching car.
My mother’s car stopped a few feet away from us, and I walked slowly towards it. Suddenly the level of anxiety multiplied a hundred times over, making my palms sweaty and my heart pound fast. I saw Tristan looking up at the school from inside the car. The thought of talking to him again made me feel so nervous, I was almost sick to my stomach. I didn’t have time to think about anything else, because Tristan opened the passenger door and stepped slowly outside, carrying a small backpack over his shoulders.
He was wearing black jeans, not too tight, not too loose, and a dark green T-shirt that made his eye color turn into a deep shade of green too. I thought nothing could ever top that ocean blue shirt I’d seen him in over a week ago, but boy was I wrong! Deep green definitely suited him. He had a black beaded wristband on his forearm. His black hair was all untidy because of the wind, which worked nicely in his favor. I knew he didn’t like messy hair, but it looked so good on him that I had to mentally thank the Gods of Wind around us.
Tristan turned in my direction and gave me that bright, open, warm smile of his. It made my legs a little wobbly. Without even realizing what I was doing, I closed the few steps between us, running to hug him so tightly that I even heard a light “Oof!” from him. I wasn’t thinking straight. I just wanted him close to me. It was such an overwhelming urge; it took over my entire body and mind. Never in my life had I had acted like this before! Never had I allowed myself to feel such uncontrollable emotions. Was it the bonds of the spell forcing me to act this way? Making my brain go all crazy, fuzzy and inadequate?
I felt Tristan tense in surprise under my hug, and the moment we touched this vibrant jolt of electricity passed through my entire body. It was like a heavy discharge of accumulated energy residue. So it really was the spell affecting my actions, I thought. It was forcing the need for close contact, to unload whatever it was we had been charging up all week long when we’d been apart.
I let go of him quickly, startled by that weird reaction. I think he also felt it because his eyes were wide and he was clearly in some sort of shock. Before we could gather our wits and say anything, we heard Mom yelling from the other side of the car. “How about me? Don’t I get a hug too?” she asked happily.
I ran round to my mom, overflowing with joy, and gave her a crushing embrace as well. I had really missed her! I glanced sideways at Tristan, waiting at the other side of the car while I wrapped my arms around her. He was watching us with a slightly puzzled expression.
Tristan remained a little distant from me while we unpacked the car. I think he was a little freaked out with what had just happened a few seconds ago. Once we’d finished unloading, we walked to the school steps, where Tiffany was waiting for us.
“Hey, Mom, Tristan, this is my friend Tiffany,” I introduced.
“So nice to meet you, Mama Gray! And … Tristan.” Tiffany looked at Tristan with raised eyebrows, clearly very impressed with what she was seeing. Who wouldn’t be? He looked amazing. Damn him!
He nodded his head politely, taking one of Tiffany’s hands in his and kissing it lightly. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, miss.”
Tiffany froze with her hand in his, staring at him in surprise. She thought he was making fun of her, but he had such a serious straight face on. I decided to intervene before Tiffany became suspicious.
“Don’t mind him, Tiff. Tristan, stop it! Always goofing around, that brother of mine!” I said, waving his hand away from hers and nudging him in the side.
Mom gave a nervous little laugh, and tried dispersing the awkwardness by changing the subject. “So, let’s get these bags inside, shall we? I called the secretary yesterday and they gave me his dorm room number, so we need to get him settled in now. We’ll see you later, Tiffany,” Mom said in one rushed breath.
Tiffany smiled, a little confused, and nodded. “Of course. I’ll catch up with you guys later, then!” She waved us goodbye and jogged up the steps ahead of us.
We all entered the school through the massive front doors, and only when I saw Tiffany disappearing round the corner was I able to breathe properly in relief. “Tristan, try not to do
that
again, will you? That’s not how kids greet each other nowadays!” I said, walking by his side.
He frowned, not understanding what he’d done wrong back there. “How do people greet each other now?” he asked, bewildered.
“You know … just say ‘Hi’. Some people don’t even do that,” I muttered.
“Well, that’s just rude,” he stated, frowning, and then he stopped at an intersection, looking around in bewilderment. “This place is huge! What did you say my dorm number was, Mrs. Gray?”
“Oh, I wrote it on this note,” my mother said, fumbling with the piece of paper as she added in an urgent whisper, “But Tristan, you should call me Mom here, remember? Ah, here it is,” she said more loudly. “It’s Room 101, Block B, on the second floor. The secretary told me I needed to sign some consent papers first … and she said they were sorry for the mix-up. I didn’t quite get what she meant, but I’ll sort out whatever it is now that I’m here.”
I glanced at her nervously. Gosh. Room 101-B.
“Yeah, about that, Mom. Room 101 B is my room too,” I said, watching her reaction.
“Oh, goodie, they have co-ed dorms here! What luck, huh? Now you can share a room together and look after each other! So, show us the way, Joey! Come on! These bags are really heavy!” she said, huffing and looking ahead at the hallways.
“Huh … So, okay, follow me. This way,” I said, gesturing ahead. I decided to tell her later that it wasn’t a co-ed dorm room. If she wasn’t making a big deal about it, I sure as hell wasn’t going to, either!
We walked straight to the east wing, and up the staircase to the second floor. I knocked softly on the door before entering our room, Tristan and my mom following behind.
Seth was on his bed, leaning against the headboard as usual, legs casually crossed, reading a book. I walked in and introduced my mom, and then Tristan as my brother and our third room-mate for the year.
Seth stood up and greeted my mom, and then held out a hand to Tristan, who looked smugly at me, silently saying, “See? People do still shake hands, at least.” He shook Seth’s hand firmly.
Seth watched Tristan stow his bags in the room with a cautious side-glance. I noticed Seth was feeling intimidated by Tristan’s confident stance. Tristan did have an impressive presence. My mom was busy inspecting the room, the wardrobes, window views and bathroom, so I just sat on my bed and let her roam around. Then I thought it would be a good thing to leave the boys alone for a while, and asked my mom if she’d like a tour of the school grounds. She agreed happily and was ready to leave in a heartbeat.
“You get settled, Tristan. Unpack your things and I’ll give you a tour tomorrow, all right? We’ll be right back,” I said, waving him goodbye. He nodded calmly, sitting on his bed at the other side of the room.
As I closed the door I saw him looking at Seth with a strange expression.
While I showed my mom around, I tried to explain the co-ed dorm situation. At first she looked deeply disgruntled, but then I pointed out that she’d been quite okay with it just a few minutes ago, and that she had no reason to be upset about it now. And then I reassured her that Seth was a really cool, decent, respectful guy, and so was Tristan, so she had nothing to worry about. After a few minutes of intense persuasion, she agreed to sign the consent form in the admin office. I was mentally jumping up and down with joy. I couldn’t let her see how thrilled I actually was that she’d let me stay with the boys! It was too good to be true!
When we got back to the room, we found Tristan and Seth getting along just great. They were laughing happily about something, but as soon we stepped inside, they turned it down, and changed the subject fast. Seth’s initial distrust and intimidation were completely gone from his eyes now.
My mom soon started asking a bunch of “casual” questions to Seth, then, which could have been interpreted as mild curiosity, but I knew damn well that she was in fact giving him a light interrogation because of the room-mate deal. He didn’t seem to notice it, though, thank the gods! After a while Mom seemed satisfied with Seth’s “debriefing” and quit with all the weird questions. Then she jumped up, smacking her forehead loudly.
“Tristan, I was almost forgetting! Please, get Joey’s birthday present! I want to see if she likes it!” she said in excitement.
Tristan smiled and grabbed a white box from inside his suitcase, handing it swiftly to my mother.
She thrust the box into my hands, bursting with good cheer. “Happy birthday, munchkin!” she said with a wide grin.
Seth raised his eyebrows, and gave a yell of complaint. “Hey! I didn’t know today was your birthday!”
I took the box from my mom, thanking her with an eye roll. “Yeah, sorry about that, Seth. I just don’t like celebrating my birthday, is all. It’s no big deal.”
“She never lets me buy a cake, or call her friends, or throw a party!” Mom whined at my side. “I have to put my foot down on the presents, though. If it was up to her she’d let the day pass by like it was any other normal day!”
“It is a normal day, Mother! What’s so special about birthdays anyway? So I was born this day, eighteen years ago. Do we have to keep remembering this for the rest of our lives? And the celebration? What is that for? Congratulations, you’ve managed to live for yet another year. That’s just ridiculous!” I said, exasperated. They all laughed at my pouting face.
“All right, dear. We understand you don’t celebrate birthdays. But this one is special! It’s your eighteenth birthday! Would you open your present already?” Mom said, patting me condescendingly on the shoulder.
I huffed, annoyed, and put the box onto my bed, lifting the top lid off. I took this beautiful dark-red dress out. It was such an amazing dress! I stroked my hands over the soft silky fabric. It looked expensive. I couldn’t picture myself in that dress. It was too much for me. The dress was just so elegant, and extraordinary. And I was just so … plain me.
“Gosh, thanks, Mom. It’s beautiful!” I said sincerely. She didn’t need to know that I would never have the courage to wear it.
“Isn’t it? When I saw it, I just had to buy it for you!” she said, radiating happiness.