Wraithsong (3 page)

“
Sonia, I’ll leave it up to
you to decide whether or not you want to go. I’m not going to force
you, but if you turn nineteen and decide not to enter the Dynasty,
you’ll be on your own.” She sounds very frustrated.

“
Why did you wait so long
to tell me about all this?” I try to sound reasonable, but instead,
there’s a whiney tone in my voice.

My mom takes a deep breath
and then exhales. “Sonia, you’re acting like a five-year-old, and I
expect more from you. Besides, some things aren’t up to me. The
rule is that I’m not supposed to tell you anything until you turn
eighteen, and then you have a year to decide whether you want to go
to the Academy or not. I’ve already given you a head
start.”

I glance at her and then
back down at my homework. “I know I’m acting—not myself, sorry.”
Usually I’m much better at controlling my emotions, but lately, my
emotions have the upper hand.

She sits down on my bed
next to me and takes my hand. “You don’t have to decide right this
moment. Sleep on it, and we’ll talk about it in a few days, all
right?”

I puff. In reality, I’m
afraid of the future because I have so many questions, yet so few
answers and I feel like the decisions I make over the next few
months will alter my life forever. “I just—”

Suddenly, my mom’s phone
rings from the kitchen. “Hold that thought.” She runs out to the
kitchen and I soon hear her talking on the phone to whoever is on
the other end of the line.

Sitting alone, I wonder why
there are so many secrets. My friends don’t seem to have these
types of secrets in their families. They all know their extended
families and live normal lives, or at least that’s how it seems.
“Kensington,” I say out loud as I try to imagine how my trip to the
tiny town might be. Then I think of Wraithsong Island off the coast
of New Hampshire and figure that my life will never be the same
again.

“
Who was it?” I ask when my
mom returns.

Her face is a pale gray.
“It was my eldest sister,” she says. “Something has happened to one
of my other sisters.”

“
What?” I say.

She says tearfully, “She’s
vanished.”

“
How?” Having never met my
aunts, I have no real connection with them, but I can’t ignore her
pained expression.

“
It’s uncertain at this
point, but the police have been notified.”

“
Maybe she just—ran away,”
I say.

“
No, my sister would never
run away, especially not when it’s so close to—” she lets her voice
trail off.

“
Do you need to go visit
your family? I’ll be fine for a few days.”

She rests her chin on her
clenched fist. “I’ll need to think about it.”

“
If you’re worried about
leaving me—” I say.

“
No, it’s not that. If
there were any sign of foul play involved, I would be worried about
leaving you, but there isn’t.”

“
Even if there were,
they’re thousands of miles away,” I say.

“
I know, but you never
know.” Her eyes get a worried look.

“
If you need to leave, I’ll
be fine. I can have Ashley stay with me for a few days.”

“
I’ll think about it.” She
stands up, her expression extremely worried. “I need to run an
errand right now, if you don’t mind.”

“
Okay, I’ll just finish my
homework. Will you be all right?” I place my hand on her
shoulder.

“
I don’t know, but this
might change everything.” She walks out of my room before I’m able
to ask another question.

After my mom leaves, I
think about what she said earlier. I have something called
flair
, and that has
something to do with my ability to control people. After today, I’m
certain that if used inappropriately, this ability can cause a lot
of damage to others and myself, and though I want to understand it,
my mom’s definitely not going to tell me. I’ll just have to be more
careful while I wait.

My summer looks a bit
bleak, and just to make my last few weeks of school miserable, I’ll
be pulling up weeds with a complete stranger. Anthony’s probably a
mean old guy who has green thumbs
and
fingers
and
toes, and spends all his free
time conversing with shrubbery.

Chapter 2

Strolling down the larger
of the two aisles in the school’s greenhouse, I study the plethora
of flowerless plants while I wait for Anthony to arrive. He’s late
and I hate it when people are late. I can’t think of anything more
annoying or disrespectful. My fingers grace the tips of some dark
green leaves. How can anyone tell the difference between these
plants? They all look the same to me. I pull off my button-up
shirt, preparing to weed.

Today turned out quite
satisfactory for me, though kind of creepy. My mom was right about
the fact that Savannah would come and apologize to me, but what I
hadn’t expected was
how
apologetic she’d actually be. I laugh to myself
as I remember what happened.

“
Sonia, I’m so very sorry
about yesterday,” Savannah said, approaching my old beat-up, still
garlic-reeking locker. “And all the other times, I just feel
horrible. I don’t know what came over me, and I don’t even remember
why I’ve been so rude to you all year. You’re one of the sweetest,
most beautiful girls in school and all I can figure is that I was
extremely jealous of you. Will you forgive me—please?”

“
Sure, Savannah, I’ll
forgive you. No worries.” I started to step away, smiling, feeling
like I was walking on air.

Savannah moved in front of
me, clenching my hands in hers. “I’ve also told Principal Jenkins
that it was all my fault. I…I hope that was okay with you,” she
said, her eyes sincere and pleading.

“
Oh, all right,
good.”

“
Is there anything else I
can do for you?” Savannah asked.

“
No, not that I can think
of,” I said as I pulled my hands out of her grasp and started to
walk away.

“
Well, if
there is
anything
I can do, you’d tell me, right?” Savannah
followed me down the hallway, causing many of the other students to
stop and stare. It was embarrassing.

“
Yes, of course,” I said,
thinking that this new Savannah was almost worse than the old mean
one. I finally got rid of her when I went to my social studies
class, but at lunch, Savannah approached me again.

“
Please let me buy you
lunch,” Savannah said in the food line. “And can I sit by you?” Her
request filled with desperation for my approval. “Please? I’d be
honored.”

I tried to stifle a laugh
and Ashley became speechless—something I thought was
impossible.

“
What did you do to
Savannah?” Ashley asked, once we had successfully dumped
her.

“
I don’t know. Maybe
Principal Jenkins talked to her or something,” I said, shrugging my
shoulders. What was there to say anyway? I’ve never told Ashley
about my strange abilities, mainly because I don’t want my friends
to think I’m a freak, which I kind of am. “Hey, your highlights
look amazing by the way,” I said, trying to distract her. Usually
her hair is dark brown, but now, sun-kissed, it brought out the
golden hue in her hazel eyes.

By the last period,
Savannah, almost stalker-esque, annoyed me. “Can I help carry your
backpack?” she asked me, popping out of nowhere. “I bought you some
chocolate, but then I realized that I didn’t know what your
favorite brand was so I picked out a few.”

“
The best thing you can do
is to just ignore me, okay?” I snapped. Immediately after I said
it, I felt bad. “I’m sorry. I just would like for you to go live
your life and be happy. I’m not mad at you, I promise.”

“
Okay, I’ll ignore you
until you say so—no problem.” Savannah walked off, her eyes pining
after me.

I laugh a little again at
the memory, though deep inside, I wish I had handled it better. I
don’t want to be mean, not even to Savannah, though it did feel
really good getting back at her for how nasty she’s been to
me.

Bushes and short trees line
the center of the glasshouse. Flowers and smaller plants run along
the outer edges and sit in wood containers on top of wooden risers.
It smells of musty, old earth, and the glass walls and ceiling
haven’t been cleaned in decades. I’m still annoyed that I have to
fulfill my punishment, even though Savannah went and explained to
Principal Jenkins that it was all her fault. I wonder if my mom has
something to do with it.

Then a thought flashes
through my mind. Maybe I could get Savannah to take this punishment
for me. No one needs to know, and I’m sure Savannah wouldn’t tell a
soul and would be thrilled to do me a favor. It would also help me
feel a whole lot better about all the mean things she has done to
me in the past.

The greenhouse is hot and
humid, but I never sweat. I’m glad I have never needed to worry
about deodorants or smelling fresh. Then again, I wonder if me not
sweating has something to do with being different. Come to think of
it, there are many little oddities like that that make me abnormal.
One of those things is that I have these silver transparent
markings on my back. I always thought they were just birthmarks or
stretch marks, but now I wonder if they also have something to do
with my other unusual abilities. I reach for and touch the top of
my back, fearing that I might be a lot more different than what I
had initially thought.

“
Are you Sonia?” I hear a
deep voice ask from behind me.

I turn toward the young man
who startled me. His light blue eyes immediately catch my
attention. They are intense, yet kind, and his gaze stuns me so
much that I forget to breathe.

“
Yes,” I
say, taken aback, holding my hand out so he can shake it. Then I
realize he’s carrying two large terra cotta pots, one in each arm.
“Sorry.” My face warms and then butterflies flutter in my stomach.
Guys don’t usually have this effect on me—actually, no guy ever has
had this sort of effect on me. There’s something distinctly
different about him, and his narrow eyes and deep voice draw me in.
I wonder why I’ve never met him before. He’s around my age, so
surely he must be a junior or a senior, and even if he graduated
last year, I would definitely have noticed
him
—and all the other
girls in school for that matter. For a moment, I struggle to find
something intelligent to say.

He sets the pots down onto
the ground, his forearms muscular and tan. “No problem, I’m
Anthony.” He wipes his dirt-covered hands on his faded jeans and
shakes my hand. “I hear you’ll be helping me over the next ten days
for an hour a day?” He runs his fingers through his blond, wavy
hair.

“
Uh…yes,
that would be me,” I say, hoping he doesn’t know
exactly
why
I’ve been sent to help him. That would be
embarrassing.

Anthony cocks his head to
the side, his eyes scanning my face as if he’s trying to read me.
“You don’t seem like a rebel.”

I cringe inwardly. “What do
you mean?” I ask, even though I know exactly what he means, and
from his comment, I suspect that he knows what I did to get
sentenced to work here.

“
I’ll spare you,” he says
with a smile. “Let’s get started, shall we? Follow me.” Anthony
heads toward the exit of the greenhouse.

I’ll spare you? His
statement is rather rude, even though he said it in the sweetest
way. Walking behind him, I can’t help but check him out. I laugh
silently at myself because I never, ever check guys out. Ashley
thinks there’s something wrong with me, but I just chalk it up to
never having met the right guy. Anthony’s loose jeans cover what I
think looks like strong legs and a firm behind, and his white and
red Liverpool t-shirt hugs his chest and broad
shoulders.

“
Did Principal Jenkins tell
you what you’d be doing today?” Anthony asks without turning around
to look at me.

“
Yes, of course,” I say,
slightly annoyed, and definitely not wanting to discuss anything
about the humiliating meeting with someone I just met.

“
Well, you’re not dressed
suitably for weeding,” he says, almost mockingly.

Immediately on the
defensive, I say, “Why do you say that?” I think I’ve done an
excellent job in choosing a comfortable and appropriate ensemble to
do all the dirty work in: jean shorts and a tank top.

With an abrupt motion,
Anthony swivels around and comes closer. “You’ll be crawling a lot,
so you’ll want long pants made of thin cotton or linen. If you wear
shorts,” he eyes my shorts and almost frowns, “the bugs are going
to eat you alive and the skin on your knees will become all scuffed
up. Do you have a sun hat? Or sun screen?”

“
No.” I wouldn’t need
either.

“
And
you’re going to get sunburned.”
He rolls his eyes.