The Hybrid (20 page)

“You see what I must do?” Kayne shouted into Edyn’s
ear as he leaned down over him. “You will set the example. Everyone will know that they have no power over me,
no matter who they are.” Slowly, Kayne turned around
and began walking back toward his throne, leaving Edyn
gasping for breath on the floor behind him.

“What shall we do with him, Sir?” Threl said, as he
watched Kayne take a seat.
“Remove his wings. And hang him from the balcony. I
want everyone to see what will happen when they resist
my rule.”
The five guards turned around in unison, and headed
toward Edyn’s fragile body lying in a bloody and halfnaked
pile.
Seconds
later,
Edyn’s
screams
pierced
through the forest. And as quickly as the cries of pain and
agony had arrived, they were gone.

When the bell rang nearly an hour later, Tru gathered
her pencil and notebook and shoved them into her bag.
As she stood up from her seat, she watched Declan hurriedly ⎯ and silently ⎯ shoved his way past the other
students, and out of the classroom door. Tru was instantly intrigued. She couldn’t understand why his mood had
changed so quickly, and why he hadn’t said goodbye. It
was like he couldn’t wait to leave the room.

Tru’s next class
⎯ English⎯ with Bethany was quiet.
She hadn’t asked Tru any more questions, and Tru decided she wouldn’t bring up her absence unless someone else
did first. So, she spent the rest of class in silence, filling
up her notebook with more doodles and notes.

Math with the rest of the group, however, was a little
bit different. There were a couple of questions asked, but
to Tru’s relief, they didn’t extend much more than ten
minutes into class, and none of them were too hard to
answer. Bethany, however, hardly seemed to notice any of
them. She was barely paying attention to anything happening around her as she sat in her desk with her hand
under her chin.

A few more hours and a couple of classes later, the
lunch bell finally rang, so Tru walked to the cafeteria and
found Bethany, Danielle, and Jackie waiting for her at
their usual table. But today, instead of just seeing the
three of them sitting together at the end of the table, she
could see about six or seven more students on either side
of them, and none of their faces looked very familiar.

“Tru!” Bethany called as she stood up from the red
plastic chair she sat in to wave at Tru.
Tru quietly waved back and made her way to the long
rectangular table. When she had reached the table, Bethany put her hand gently on Tru’s shoulder.
“Everyone, you all remember Tru.” Bethany smiled at
her, and then turned back to the large group of students
sitting across from where they stood. “Tru, this is everyone.”
Tru scanned the group of people, able to recognize the
faces of a few of the girls from some of her classes, as well
as Jackie and Danielle. But when her eyes landed on the
very last person, at the very end of the table, she almost
turned around and walked away.
“Hello, Tru,” Declan said when their eyes met. He
smiled, and then looked back down at a burger sitting on
the plate in front of him.
“Declan,” Tru replied, slightly blushing, as she nodded
in his direction.
“How do you know Declan?” Bethany asked, with a
confused expression on her face.
“Tru's in my History class,” he answered, before Tru
could respond. He smiled as he spoke to Bethany.

“Oh,” Bethany paused, “well, that’s cool, I guess.” She
looked at Declan, then back at Tru. “He wasn’t rude to
you was he?” she whispered, leaning close to Tru as she
looked over at the boy again.

“No, why?” Tru asked, staring at Declan now.
“Well, he’s not exactly the nicest boy around,” Bethany
continued,
still
whispering,
now
looking
at
Tru
once
more.
“Hey!” Declan shouted. “I heard that!”
“Oh, shut up, Declan. You know it’s true.” Bethany
glared over her shoulder to look at the boy at the end of
the table.
He glared at Bethany for a few seconds, momentarily
flashing his eyes at Tru, and then quickly picked up his
small stack of books and the burger on his plate. In a hurried motion, he stood from his chair, and walked away. As
soon as he was gone, Bethany sat down in a seat, so Tru
casually sat down in the empty red seat next to her.
“So, are things between the two of you always like
that?” Tru asked. Bethany looked at her and smiled.
“Ever since I can remember. I thought we would grow
out of it when we got to high school, but,” she paused,
shrugging her shoulders, before continuing, “I guess you
can’t always get what you want.”
Tru thought for a minute. The way they acted was almost like two little kids fighting over who had the better
toy. She could almost picture Bethany sticking her tongue
out and Declan retaliating by pulling on her hair.
“So,” she paused, “do you like him?” Tru slowly unzipped her backpack that was sitting in her lap and pulled
out the muffin she had saved from earlier that morning.
Bethany stared at her like she had just seen a ghost.
Her eyes grew wide, and her mouth began curling on each
side. Her face looked as though it was going to crack.
Suddenly, she began to laugh hysterically.
“
Me? Like Declan?
” Bethany said through the laughter.
And a few minutes later, when she had finally calmed
down, she continued. “I could never like him like that!
Gross!”
“Why not?” Tru asked, not understanding why Bethany
had reacted the way she did. “He seems really nice. And
the two of you seem to have something going on.”
Bethany began to chuckle. “Because he’s my
brother!
Well, my
twin
.”
Tru’s face turned bright red. She could feel her cheeks
pulsing with heat from the blood that filled her naturally
pale skin. Tru quickly looked down at her muffin as she
twirled it in her hands. Then, desperate to keep from saying something stupid again, she pulled the muffin out of
its wrapper, and shoved it into her mouth. She looked up
at Bethany as she tried to chew the huge chunk, a few
crumbs falling from her lips as she chewed faster. Bethany smiled at her as she swallowed and then took another
bite.
“Did you really think I
liked
him?” Bethany started to
giggle again. Tru looked down at the remains of her muffin that sat gently in her hands. She wanted to laugh at
herself.
How could I have thought something so stupid? Of
course they were related! Bethany told me yesterday
that she had brothers, so why didn’t I see the resemblance when I was talking to him this morning?
Tru sat for a minute before responding. “Well,” she
finally said after her pondering had ended, “I can see the
similarities now.” She added a little chuckle at the end of
her sentence, hoping her comment would sound more
like a mistake anyone could have made.
“So, Tru,” a girl across the table began, “what happened to you?” She folded her hands just under her chin
and leaned closer to Bethany and Tru, staring intently,
waiting for a response. Tru rushed a hand to her neck,
immediately worried that she didn’t completely cover the
bruises with her foundation and sweatshirt.
“What do you mean?” Tru asked, pretending to be
slightly confused, as she leaned her elbow on the table.
“Bethany told us how sick you were. We were kind of
worried.” The girl looked around the table. Tru noticed as
four of the other girls nodded their heads in agreement.
Bethany leaned closer to Tru, pointing to the girl who
had spoken. “That’s Ashley.” Then, she pointed to the two
girls sitting on either side of her. “The red head on her
right is Shanna, and the brunette on her left is Jane.”
Ashley looked older than both Shanna and Jane, possibly
even older than Tru. She had long red-auburn hair, and
green eyes. Her complexion was fair, with a few freckles,
and her bone structure was impeccable. “Shanna and
Ashley are sisters,” Bethany continued. Tru could see the
resemblance. They had the same eyes and high cheeks.
Shanna, unfortunately, had many more freckles across
her nose and forehead. “Ashley is a senior,” Bethany continued. “Jane is their cousin.” Bethany leaned closer and
spoke very quietly. “Jane and Shanna never leave Ashley’s
side. They are practically glued to her.”
Tru tried to follow everything Bethany had said, but all
she could do was nod her head and giggle. The three girls
immediately looked in their direction.
“I’m sorry,” Tru said. “Bethany likes to tell me jokes.”
She knew it was a lie, and she had a feeling they probably
knew, too. But all they did was smile.
Tru turned toward Bethany and then looked around
the cafeteria before she spoke. When she could see that
the coast was clear, she looked at Bethany. “Is Declan
coming to your party?” she asked.
“Well, he’s definitely invited, but I’m not sure if he really wants to go.” Bethany looked down at her lunch on
the table and picked up the apple that was sitting on the
bright red tray. “Why do you ask?” she questioned before
taking a bite.
“Oh,” Tru paused, “no reason.”
“Are you sure?” Bethany looked at her and smiled.
“Yeah, it’s just that when I asked him earlier,” Tru
paused, “well, he said he was
thinking
about it.”
“That’s typical for Declan.” Bethany set her apple back
down on the tray. “He shows absolutely no interest, and
then right at the last minute he changes his mind.” She
casually turned and looked over her shoulder. Tru could
only guess that she was looking at the large clock hanging
on the wall above the red cafeteria doors behind them.
“Is there a problem if he changes his mind this time?”
Tru asked, popping the last bite of the muffin into her
mouth.
“Well, it just means that his band doesn’t get to play
anymore. I’m
so tired of him
pulling this crap.” She
looked back at Tru. Something in the way Bethaby spoke
told Tru that her brother had pulled this sort of stunt before.
“Your brother has a band?” Tru was shocked. Other
than the fact that he had been wearing a vintage band tshirt, Declan didn’t look anything like the normal musician. He looked more like the type of guy one would see
playing football, or on a surfboard catching some waves
in southern California. His style⎯ and Bethany’s⎯ just
didn’t fit in town.
“Yeah, he plays guitar. I’m not going to lie, his band is
pretty good.” Bethany’s eyes widened and her expression
made Tru think that even she didn’t believe in what she
was saying.
“Really?” Tru asked. “What kind of music do they
play?”
“Mostly rock. But it’s not the kind that you would get
annoyed with quickly.” Bethany laughed at herself and
then continued. “They play what I like to call ‘Mushy
Rock.’ You can slow dance to some of their songs, and
jam out to the ones that are more pop than rock.” She
danced around in her seat a bit and then giggled again.
“Sounds interesting,” Tru replied, smiling.
“Hey,
they
have
a
practice
session
tonight!” She
grabbed
Tru’s
shoulder
enthusiastically,
“You
should
come over and check them out.”
“Oh,” Tru paused, “well, thanks, but I have loads of
homework to catch up on.”
“Oh, sure, no problem! Maybe next time then?” Bethany casually put her hand back in her lap.
The
noise
of
the
bell,
signaling
the
end of
lunch,
pierced the air over the chatter of students.
“I wish they would change that thing,” Bethany said as
the entire table stood from their plastic seats and walked
over to the trashcans. “It sounds like a dying seagull.”
Tru turned to face her, shocked. “Have you heard a
seagull dying before?”
“Well,” Bethany paused and thought for a moment,
“no, but I imagine it would sound
something
like that.”
“Yeah,” Tru laughed, “probably.”

“Declan!” a young boy called as he entered the classroom. Declan jerked his head up from his empty desk and
gestured for the other boy to join him.

The boy walking toward Declan’s desk was tall, taller
than most of the other kids in their junior class. His skin
was a dark bronze color, though his black skin-tight jeans
and black hoody, adorned with a white spray-painted
skull on
the
front,
suggested
that
he
probably
didn’t
spend much time in the sun. His russet shaggy hair fell in
front of his deep-set hazel eyes, almost covering them
completely. He was so thin ⎯ he couldn’t have weighed
more than one hundred and forty pounds ⎯ that the
studded belt around his waist had two, man-made, and
heavily worn-out notches toward its middle to hold up his
pants.

“Hey Josh,” Declan said as they shared a quick handshake while the boy sat down atop the empty desk beside
him. He pulled his feet onto the chair attached to the desk
so that he was now facing away from the front of the
classroom.

“So what’s the deal with the party this weekend?” Josh
asked throwing his backpack into the chair where his feet
were perched. “Are we still going?”

Declan looked at the boy sitting next to him. He wanted to laugh, but Josh was his best friend. He was also a
member of his band. And his new look was, as Josh had
put it, ‘a way to give the band a tougher image.’

“Yeah Man, we’re going,” Declan finally responded as
he pulled his notebook from his backpack.
Josh jumped down from the desk enthusiastically, almost tripping on the strap of his backpack that had tangled itself around his foot. “Sweet! ‘Cause I’ve got some
great new pieces to show the guys. I think we should try
some of them at⎯”
Declan quickly threw his hand in the air, stopping Josh
midsentence. “No, Man, sorry. Bethany’s got our whole
set planned out already. ‘No surprises.’” He pointed a finger in the air, mimicking his sister.
“Are you serious?” Josh asked, leaning back against the
desk. “That bites!”
“Yeah.” Declan turned back to his notebook on the
desk. For several moments, he remained quiet.
“Hey,” Josh said, tapping Declan’s shoulder.
Declan looked up at him, slightly dazed.
“You alright?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” He placed his thumb under his chin
as he rested his elbow against the desk.
Suddenly, as the rest of the students settled into their
seats, the blaring sound of the passing bell rang, echoing
through the locker-lined corridor outside of the open
classroom
door.
Seconds later,
an
elderly,
short,
and
chubby man was making his way into the room. Josh,
seeing the teacher standing behind the podium, quickly
pushed his backpack to the floor, and sat in his chair.
“Psst,” Declan hissed, trying to gain Josh’s attention as
their teacher scrolled through the class roster.
“What’s up?” Josh
said
as he
leaned
closer
to
his
friend’s desk.
Declan leaned over the wooden table in front of him,
keeping an eye on the portly man in front of them. “Do
you know a girl named Gertrude Mason?” he whispered.
“New girl, right?”
“Yeah. What do you know about her?”
Josh shrugged his shoulders. “Not much. She’s from
So-Cal I think?” He looked at his friend curiously. “Why?”
“Does she have a boyfriend?” Declan looked at Josh
now, still leaning over his desk.
“I don’t know, Man.”
“Damn.
I
was thinking
of
asking
her
out.” Declan
leaned back against his chair, twirling a short wooden
pencil between his fingers.
Josh too, leaned back, looking at the teacher who was
now turned toward the whiteboard in front of them. “You
should.”