Crimson Echo (3 page)

            Everett was more complex an individual.  He was from a wealthy, upper crust family, who expected a lot from him and he struggled with that almost daily. He came out to us at the beginning of the year after he found a boyfriend. Actually he was pushed out of the closet by some seniors, who caught them making out behind the gym—like we didn’t already know. He was so well groomed, more so then the rest of the boys at Echo High.

            Everett’s hair was perfectly placed, with golden highlights framing his blemish-free face. Sadly the relationship didn’t last long after they were outted. His parents were forcing him to go to business school or he would be financially cut off, but more than anything he dreamed of going to the Fashion Institute in New York.

“We’re doing still life drawings today, so get started.” Ms. King said buzzing around the room, placing bowls of fake fruit on each table. Mary, Echo’s head cheerleader let out an exasperated sigh as she applied her mascara.

            I stared at my blank sheet of drawing paper, then back to the dusty fruit and traced a circle onto the page. Ms. King taught us a few years back to always start a drawing with a light sketch and then go over it when it’s perfect. Chelsea caught my eye as her hand was a blur traveling across her pad, smearing charcoal into the paper. She was the true definition of an artist. It was a well known fact that she would be going to the California Arts Institute when she graduated. I envied her for finding a way out of this dreary little town. I watched as her blank paper turned into a bouquet of fruit that spilled out over the bowl.

“Hey, that’s really good Chels.” I pointed out.

“Thanks,” She shrugged, pushing her bangs out of her eyes and smudging the black pastel against her forehead.

“I heard you had a brief encounter with Kane this morning.” Everett whispered leaning across the table—always a gossip.

“News travels fast around here, doesn’t it?” I whispered back. At least no one had mentioned the fire, I noticed with relief.

“The juicy kind does. So, when are you two going on a date?”

“It’s not a date!” I scowled.

“Really, that’s not what I heard.” The corners of his lips drew up as my irritation grew. “Word on the street is that you’re his new infatuation.”

“You better fire your source. He was just being nice, nothing more.”

“Faith didn’t mention her dream, did she?”
His eyes lit up. “In her dream, a tall and brooding character sweeps you off your feet and—“

“It was silly; it probably won’t
even come true.” Faith cut Everett off and punched him in the arm.

“You know I don’t believe in that hocus pocus, voodoo crap.” I rolled my eyes.

“C’mon Tristan, you know as well as I do that all of her dreams have come true. There was the one about you getting the Eclipse for your birthday and the one about me and Shane. Then there was the one about the hailstorm last month and of course the fire.” He winced at the last part.

“Not this time. I don’t even know him and besides that, there can’t be a date if I say no and I
will
say no.”

“Suit yourself, I’ll take him.” Chelsea lifted her head and squared her shoulders, before bursting into laughter.

“I think you should give it a chance. Just let Faith tell you about her dream.” Everett continued.

“Everett, please.” Faith shook her head.

“What? I’m just saying…”

           The conversation at our table stopped after that and no one said another word.

           The clock above the door ticked loudly and the sound of someone’s foot tapping against a table kept me distracted for most of the hour. I was lost in my own head wondering what Faith’s dream was about, but not brave enough to actually find out. Even I had to admit that all of her dreams had come true, but I don’t like knowing my future before it happens—it would only drive me crazy waiting for the incident to occur. I counted the seconds until the bell rang as I stared at my blank paper.

“Class is dismissed,” Ms. King called out from behind a stack of portfolios as the bell rang. “Tristan, can I have a word with you?”

“Do you want us to wait?” Faith whispered with a forced smile.

“No, I’ll catch up.” I paced toward the art teacher—her eyes examining my every move.

“You wanted to see me?” I asked rhetorically.

“Yes,” she paused, trying to form the words delicately in her mind before she let them pass her lips.  “I’ve been concerned about you and I wanted to touch base to see how you were handling the recent events.” I should have known this was coming.

           Though I knew what she was getting at, I didn’t want to admit to her or myself that the fire at Echo High had affected me more then I knew. If I did admit it, that would only mean I was weak and I wouldn’t allow that. I could remember everything about that day leading up to the fire, but anything after that had been erased from my memory.

            I had a feeling Ms. King
felt somewhat responsible for my being caught in the fire. After all I was staying after school to help her put the fifth grade art projects in the kiln. I didn’t blame her, I knew it wasn’t her fault, but I could see the guilt and worry all over her face.

“Tristan, are
you okay? You don’t look so well.” Ms. King questioned with a concerned look. “Tristan,” she repeated. “Is everything alright?”

Lost in my thoughts, I forgot to answer her—which wasn’t good for my cause, I’m sure.

“I’m sorry. I’m a little tired today.” I rubbed my eyes.

“Are you still having the same dream?”

“No… last night was a dream-free night.” I lied, forcing a smile.

“I want you to know that I feel terrible for leaving you down there in the basement by
yourself, it was very irresponsible of me. If there’s anything I can do to help you to make it any easier, just let me know.”

“You didn’t know.” I assured her.

“Well, if you ever need to talk, I’m always here and we have crisis counselors on hand at all times. I don’t want you to think that you can’t talk to someone about what happened. No one will judge you for it, I promise.”                                              

I nodded with a grateful smile this time.

           Ms. King had been one of the only teachers to check on me to ensure my sanity throughout the last few weeks. She had gone to high school with my mom and they have remained friends all these years. I knew better then to let her know I was anything but sane. She would inform my parents before I could even turn around—I know she meant well though. I knew I wasn’t crazy, but the nightmares made me seem that way to everyone else. If I could just convince everyone I was okay, maybe they would get off my back for good.

   
      Once inside the cafeteria I scanned the crowded room looking for Faith. I spotted Ashlee and Laura towards the back of the lunch line—gossiping and I rushed to stand behind them, trying not to look like an awkward loser with no friends. When we were in elementary, the three of us were the best of friends.

           
We did everything together, I remember in the summers we would sell lemonade from my driveway and with our profits we would walk to the local candy store and buy as many sweets as we could, then gorge on them until we were practically sick. We even had a club house and we would dress in our mom’s heels and jewelry and act like we were New York socialites. That was before high school, before puberty, before they became popular and before I went whacko.

                                                           Chapter Two

                               
                              Nightmares

“You’re the one we’ve been waiting for.” The creepy lady serving food whispered as her eyes turned black. “Don’t be scared, we won’t hurt you.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand.” I stepped back and stared into her eyes. “Who are you?”

“You’ll see,” she grinned, slopping a pile of mushy corn into a square on my tray. “Seventeen years we’ve waited for you, now you’re here.”

“What do you mean? You’ve been waiting for me?” I looked around the cafeteria and back through the lunch line to see if anyone else had noticed the lunch lady with her black eyes, but it seemed as though no one else was even aware of her.

“The dark storm approaches, make sure you’re ready.” She murmured.

“The dark what approaches?” I leaned over the counter.

“I’m afraid I’ve said too much already. We never had this conversation, got it?
” Her voice was stern. “She’s such a pretty little thing... such a shame.” A frown formed on her lips as her eyes darted around the crowded room and faded back to their normal color.

“I don’t know who you are, but stay away from me!” I picked up my food and quickly walked away.

            I paced near the edges of the cafeteria looking for Faith and the rest of the group. I talked myself out of running to the bathroom and crouching in a stall until lunch was over. I didn’t dare turn around to look it at her again. The lunch room at Emporia was as big as Echo High, I was thankful for that almost immediately when I noticed how well I blended into the crowd. All of the students in the whole school were in the lunch room and it made it easier to hide from her frightening eyes.

“Tristan, we’re over here!” Faith called out from across the room.

           I turned to see where her voice came from when I ran into that familiar brick wall again. His tray collided with my shoulder and sent a bottle of water through the air. He caught the tray and bottle in one fluid motion without even looking.

“Are you following me?” He smiled.

“No, I was a…um.” My words trailed off.

“Relax, I was joking. You look like you’re in a hurry, is everything okay?”

“I’m not sure… I mean, yes I’m fine.” I tried to breathe through the panic as I turned to watch the old woman. She shook her head and brought her finger to her lips, miming for me to keep quiet.

“We really have to stop meeting like this.” He smiled.
“People will start talking.” He added with a wink.

I stared into his eyes and got lost. I couldn’t
even form a sentence.

“How’s Emporia treating you?” He went on.

“It’s okay, I guess. It’s not much different, just a lot bigger.”

“Well, try not to get lost around this place. It’s easy to do.
”

“I’ll do my best, thanks.” I felt my face flush as I stared into his crystal blue eyes.

“You might try to watch where you’re going too.” He smiled.

“I guess I’m kind of like a human bowling ball in that way.”

“It’s a good thing I like bowling. I’m Kane by the way.” He held out his hand.

“I’m Tr
istan.” I placed my hand in his. It was nearly twice the size of my own.  He sucked in a breath when we touched and his eyes shut momentarily and then opened as fast as they had closed. His hand trembled in mine and his eyebrows furrowed into hard lines. His eyes stared blankly back at me, but they held no light like before.

“Is everything alright? You don’t look so well.”

He pulled his hand back and let it rest at his side. “Yes, I’m fine.” His eyes came back into focus after a moment. It was like he was deep in thought, deliberating something awful. The look on his face was pained and he couldn’t shake it.

“Kane?”
I questioned in a hoarse voice.

“What?” He shot back.

“It’s just your eyes, something’s wrong with them.” 

“Allergies,” he turned away
from me and rubbed his eyes. “I… I umm,” he stuttered. “I’ve gotta’ go.” I watched as he fled the large cafeteria keeping his head down, pushing his way through the crowd.

What a weird kid
.
I thought to myself.

          The image of his angry eyes was ingrained into my mind. I wasn’t sure what I
had just witnessed, but I knew there had to be something off about Kane. Drugs, alcohol, demon possession, I tried to think of a reason for his odd behavior. I shifted from one explanation to the next. And what was the old lady talking about? There were too many things that just didn’t add up. Was my mind just playing tricks on me? Had I finally cracked? I knew I couldn’t keep up with the façade forever, but I had hoped I could pull it off until after I went off to college at least.

            I sat my tray of
lukewarm food down onto the table and pulled out a chair. Even here at Emporia we all sat in our same spots at the lunch table. The newness of being in a different school still hadn’t worn off yet—it felt like the first day all over again. I eased into my seat silently as Everett and Chelsea argued over a game of M.A.S.H.—it seemed they both ended up with the same husband.