Earth (7 page)

“Not even once!” We whispered to each other
excitedly.

Chapter 4

As we neared our History class we saw the
twins turn into our classroom just a few steps ahead of us. After
they both showed up in English I knew the chances were that they’d
be here too, but the knot in my stomach had me torn between hoping
they would be here and that they wouldn’t be here. Sometimes it
really sucks to be a girl.

Terra?
Jodi’s yellow thoughts broke
through mine with a touch of her hand on my wrist.

What?

Could you try to get it under control?
You’re making me queasy.

What?
I repeated, a little more than
confused.

You’re projecting and the knots in your
stomach are making me queasy!
She thought at me impatiently.
Could you get either your stomach under control or at the very
least stop projecting?!
Bright yellow.

Sorry…
I blushed again, which only
embarrassed me more. How many times had I blushed in just these
last few hours? I was careful not to look for the twins to see
where Mrs. Taylor was going to place them. If I didn’t see where
they were sat, then I couldn’t allow myself to peek at him during
class and I knew if I tried to figure out where they were placed it
would be completely obvious. So with a straight back and a stiff
neck I lead us to our usual seats. After we took our seats at one
of the long tables close to the very back of the room I closed my
eyes, taking a deep breath and centered myself, reinforcing my
shields delicately.

“Ugh, thank you! I thought I was gonna have
to take a Tums or something,” Steven said with a sigh. I glanced at
him and then noticed, out of the corner of my eye, a few nearby
students looking suddenly relieved about something, a few touching
their stomachs or foreheads. I had really let my emotions get out
of control.

“Yessss!” Jodi said in a hissing whisper.

“What?” Steven and I asked together.

“Look,” Jodi pointed to the front of the
classroom and we saw the TV and VCR combo set up in front of the
desks. “Movie day!” She said gleefully. In any other class this
meant some boring educational video that you’d be tested on at the
end, but Mrs. Taylor was an unconventional teacher and liked to
show actual blockbuster movies based on history. And more often
than not, you would have probably already seen the movie and didn’t
have to pay attention to know what it was about.

“Alright kiddies…” Mrs. Taylor called out,
pausing to let the last few conversations die down. “Since this is
the start of the holiday season, with All Hollow’s Eve just a
couple of weeks away, and since you all seem to be doing
exceptionally well on our tests and papers, I’m in the mood for
some treats!” She smiled broadly. “Today we will be starting ‘The
Patriot.’” There were a few excited murmurs throughout the
class.

The sound of books slamming shut and zippers
closing filtered through the room as Mrs. Taylor shut off the
lights. The wall was lined with large west facing windows so the
room wasn’t dark by any means, but it was relaxing. A few students
folded their arms and laid their heads down, while some others
reclined dangerously far in their chairs. I pulled my black
leather-bound journal out of my bag and set it on the table. I
tucked my left foot under me, pulled my right foot up to the edge
of my seat, and leaned over my desk, pen in hand and started to
write idly, not fully aware of what I was writing. Poetry was a
hobby of mine, not that I let anyone read it, but it did sometimes
lead to some of the most amazing spell work.

“So,” Steven whispered, scooting over closer
to me, Jodi doing the same on my other side, “are you still
anti-birthday this year?” My birthday was on Halloween. I was
afraid that Mrs. Taylor’s mention of the holiday would cause this
inevitable discussion.

“Does it matter?” I asked.

“What do you mean?” Steven asked.

“Will that stop either of you?”

“Probably not,” Jodi answered.

“Probably?” I scoffed. “Definitely,” I
muttered and they both snickered.

“What’s the big deal?” I felt Jodi nudge my
right knee, which nudged my right arm and caused me to scratch a
line through the last word I wrote. “Sorry,” and she grimaced, but
I just kept writing.

“She’s right, what is the big deal? People
love you all day and you get presents and get to do whatever you
want because it’s your birthday! I’d have three or four a year if I
could,” Steven sucked on his teeth in disgust at my lack of
enthusiasm. “Personally, I would have three or four a year,” Steven
said as he pretended to muss with his hair and check his make-up. I
laughed quietly and shook my head. Tracy sat in the row in front of
us in History and apparently heard us talking. She turned in her
chair looking at me, her hands on the back of her chair and ducking
her head to keep from bringing attention to herself.

“Really, Shay, your birthday is coming up?”
Tracy looked excited as she whispered the question.

“Maybe,” I said suspiciously.

“When?” Tracy asked.

“I don’t remember,” I lied.

“Halloween,” Jodi said and I stuck my tongue
out at her.

“We should throw you a party! A costume
party!” Tracy said, bouncing a little in her chair.

“YES!” Jodi and Steven said a little too
loudly, drowning out my groan.

“Shhh!” Mrs. Taylor admonished from the front
of the room. Tracy spun around again to face front, but not before
she winked at Steven.

“Damn it,” I sighed and buried my head in my
hands while Jodi and Steven giggled. It wasn’t that I didn’t like
Halloween, or presents or birthdays in general, I just didn’t do
well as the center of attention. If it was just going to be the
three of us, I would’ve been all for it. But now, with Tracy in the
mix, it was sure to be a crowd and my empathetic powers waged war
with my sanity in crowds.

I looked down and saw that I had finished
writing and realized I had written the blessing Steven’s aunt had
asked for for her new baby, Alexis, a week or so ago. “Oh, here.” I
tore the page out of my book and handed it to Steven.

“What is it?” He took the page in his hand
and squinted at it through the insufficient light.

“A blessing for your aunt for Alexis’ room,”
I explained and then Jodi leaned passed me, pushing me slightly
towards Steven, trying to see it too.

“Why are you giving it to me?” he asked.

“So you can do it?” My answer sounded as much
like a question as his did.

“She won’t believe I can do it!” He said
incredulously.

“Why not?”

“Because she changed my diapers as a
kid!”

“Then let her do it herself,” I said with a
shrug. Jodi had snatched the paper from Steven to read it.

“She won’t believe she can do it either!” He
said in an urgent whisper. Tracy’s neighbor, Michelle, turned in
her desk to shoot us the classic movie theater
will-you-please-shut-the-hell-up look. Steven stuck his tongue out
at her and she spun back around in a huff.

“I thought this was your mother’s sister?” I
tried to whisper more quietly. Steven was half Mexican on his
mother’s side and the one thing I learned about the Mexican
culture, other than the fact that they have the best food, is that
they still believe in mystical and magical things.

“Yeah, but they never think they can do this
stuff. You’ll have to do it,” he took the page back from Jodi and
forced it back on me. “Just tell me what you need for it and I’ll
have her buy it.”

“She’ll buy the supplies but she won’t do the
blessing?” I asked, a little astounded.

“Pretty much.” Belief is very important in my
line of work; like God, magic does not exist to those without true
belief. If his aunt truly didn’t believe she had the power to do
the simple blessing, the magic wouldn’t hold. “Don’t forget, we’re
Catholic, it’d be like blasphemy for us,” Steven said.

“But she wants it done,” I said slowly.

“Yeah,” Steven said just as slowly. “So?” He
didn’t see the strangeness in the situation like I did since I was
an outsider in his family.

“Ugh, whatever. Sage, water from the next
time it rains, and everyone out of the house, but I’ll need Alexis
nearby. So I guess they can be in the backyard or front or
whatever.” I listed off quickly, regretting tearing out the page
now.

“Um, water from the next time it rains? That
might be months from now. She kinda wanted the blessing soon,”
Steven said uncertainly.

“No, it’s gonna rain sometime this week.” I
corrected him, sliding my journal back into my bag.

“How do you—” he started to ask but Jodi cut
him off.

“Don’t ask, Steven.” We lapsed into silence
for the rest of the hour. The bell rang, startling everyone who had
become engrossed in the movie and forgot to watch the clock. Mrs.
Taylor jumped up and shut off the movie, calling over our rustling
bags and scraping chairs.

“Ok! We’ll finish the movie tomorrow and then
on Wednesday we start on the post-Civil War section.”

“Oh goodie,” I grumbled for Jodi and Steven’s
amusement. We followed the rush of students out to the hall,
stopping at my locker to throw all three History books inside. We
all used my locker the most because it was more conveniently
located than either of theirs. Jodi’s locker was out by the Gym
which was all the way on one end of campus, while Steven’s locker
was out by the art building, the extreme opposite end of campus. I
had won the “lottery” and got one right in the middle of campus on
the edge of the Student Quad.

I reached in my locker to grab my French book
when it hit me; a sudden wave of dread. I dropped my book to the
ground, fingers trembling and my mouth went dry.

“Shay?” Jodi asked hesitantly.

“Tracy,” I whispered almost too quiet for
even me to hear.

“What?” Steven asked, placing his hand on my
shoulder to shake me, but in my state the simple touch opened our
channel in a flood. In an instant he knew what I knew and all the
color drained from his face. I dropped everything, forgetting to
shut my locker, and took off at a dead run, racing to the school
parking lot.

“Steven, what the--” Before Jodi could finish
her question Steven had grabbed her by the wrist and took off after
me, pulling her along behind him.

“Something’s going to happen to Tracy if we
don’t get out there!” Steven tried to explain in a rush as we
rounded the office building and skidded to a halt on the asphalt of
the parking lot, searching desperately for Tracy. Unfortunately the
bell had only rung a few minutes ago so the parking lot was still
full of cars, making it very difficult to figure out where we
should be looking. Finally, after what seemed like too long, Steven
pointed off to the right, “There’s Nick’s truck.” Again I took off
like a shot, only to be hindered by the impatient line of cars that
snaked through the aisles.

We weaved in and out, dodging between parked
cars, trying to get closer to the truck. I felt like I was slogging
through quicksand and the faster I went the harder it was to get to
the truck. The mounting dread turned into pure panic when I saw
Tracy’s black curly hair over the roof of the car next to the
truck.

“Shay! What’s gonna happen?” I heard Jodi
call behind me but I didn’t stop to explain.

“She doesn’t know,” Steven said helpfully.
“She just knows something’s gonna happen.” He sounded like I would
have if I could’ve forced myself to speak, but I was concentrating
all of my energy on getting to Tracy. Suddenly, when we were still
ten cars away from them, I heard Nick’s voice carry back to me.

“Just get in the goddamn truck!” Didn’t he
know any other way to say that? Red colored the edges of my vision,
tinting everything around Nick and Tracy. “Now damnit!” Nick
yelled, grabbing her upper left arm and jerking her towards the
truck and shoving her hard. She hit the side of the truck with her
right shoulder and I could see her grimace of pain. I stopped
short, knowing even with his broken collarbone, none of the three
of us stood a chance against Nick.

I spread my fingers wide with my hands down
at my sides, set my feet hip-width apart and drove my energy down
past the asphalt into the ground. Steven and Jodi came up on either
side of me, each placing a hand on one of my shoulders, lending
their energy to me. This was no time for secrecy.

As I reached looking for the dormant fault
lines beneath Nick I could still hear him yelling at her and
calling her names, apparently no longer worried if people heard him
treating her this way, the arrogant bastard. I took my anger and
directed it to fuel my need, finally finding a wire-thin fault
line. I grabbed hold of it, forcing the flow of my energy into it,
guiding it to the place that Nick stood next to his truck.

I heard the crack and crumble of the asphalt
as the fault line swelled with power, having gained enough control
to keep the ground from shaking to give myself away. Inch by inch
it came closer to Nick, opening a jagged line in the asphalt as it
neared him.

“You just don’t listen!” Nick yelled, inches
from Tracy’s face, and grabbed her collar and shook her
roughly.

“That’s enough!” an unfamiliar, rough voice
called out at him. I reigned in my energy, holding the fault line
at bay just feet away from my target to look for the source of the
voice. Ian came striding through the parking lot. The anger in his
face and swelling of his shoulders made me wonder if he was just
going to pick up and throw the cars that were in his way.

“Who the fuck are you?” Nick turned to look
at Ian, fury plain on his face. Ian didn’t answer him. He strode
confidently up to Nick, balled up his right fist, pulled it back,
and fired, punching Nick square in the mouth. Nick reeled back, his
head jerking up and back as he stumbled backwards a few feet. Ian
didn’t stop though, advancing on Nick and throwing a left hook that
caught Nick on the jaw line and caused his mouth to fall open. Then
Ian threw an upper cut and caught Nick’s chin with his right fist
again, lifting him off his feet to fall to the ground, flat on his
back. I swear I heard his head bounce off the black top.