Beginnings (The Trifectus Series - Book One) (18 page)

I went to my locker, got my book and started heading to math.  I just knew I was in trouble.  I knew my grades were going to suffer.

I went into class and sat down.  I looked around and saw everybody looking over worksheets and their books. 

“Oh great,” I thought to myself.  “What did I miss?”

The teacher walked in and started going over the previous day’s material.  I knew it.  I learned this stuff last year at my old school.  I felt a sigh of relief as I took out my book and started taking notes.  I was saved.

The day went on and I found myself doing better and better.  I was grasping material easily, and didn’t seem to have any problems with anything. 

James hadn’t been at school all day.  I kind of liked it.  I still loved him, but knew if he were there, things would only get harder for me.  I knew it would be almost impossible for me to be at one hundred percent with him standing at my locker or looking at me in class. 

My last period of the day was gym.  I went into the locker room and got changed and came out to hear Mr. Callahan speaking.

“Today we have a free gym day!” he said to the applause of the students.

“You can walk the track, play basketball, volleyball, or anything you’d like.  Just try to stay active and don’t stand around,” he said.

I went over to Ariel, Greg and Taylor as we started walking the track.  Many of the other students decided to casually walk the track so they could talk with their friends.  It was basically a giant social hour as far as we were all concerned.  I saw Cara playing volleyball off in the distance, but I wasn’t really worried about her.

“Are you guys going to the track finals?” Greg asked.

“We made the finals?” asked Taylor.

“Yeah, it was just found out this morning.  They are having them next Saturday night.  I guess it is a huge deal or something,” Greg said.

“Yeah, I’ll go,” said Taylor.  “Do you guys want to come with me?” she asked while looking at Ariel and me.

“I’d love to go.  It would be nice to get out of the house and do something to support the school and our friends,” I replied.

“You can count on us being there,” Ariel said, smiling.

“Where has James been?” Taylor asked while looking at me.

“Let’s not talk about him,” Ariel replied while signaling Taylor to be quiet.

“No, Ariel, it’s fine.  We broke up and I’m not really sure where he is,” I said.

“Oh, I’m sorry.  I didn’t know,” Taylor said.

“It’s quite all right.  You didn’t know,” I said, smiling at her. 

We continued to walk the track until class was over.  The bell rang and everybody ran to the locker room to try to get changed as fast as they could.  You could’ve let a bunch of rabid dogs loose and they wouldn’t do as much damage as a bunch of teenagers trying to get dressed as fast as they could.

I walked out of school feeling good.  I wasn’t broken anymore; I was starting to fix myself.  I also couldn’t wait to see Marcus.  I knew he could brighten my day.

I got into the car and we proceeded to drive home.  The sun was shining down through my window as if a sign from the heavens.  I looked up and smiled. 

I arrived home and ran upstairs to see if Marcus was online.  I wasn’t sure why I was so excited to talk to him, but I was.  I wanted to see what we were doing tomorrow and whether he wanted to go do anything fun.  I still needed to explore this city some more.

I opened my computer and got online.  He was on!  I smiled and proceeded to message him.

“Hey!” I said enthusiastically.

“Hey you,” he replied back with a smiley face.

“I was wondering when you wanted to hang out tomorrow.”

“Would two work for you?”

“Yeah.  What do you want to do?”

“Just hang out and talk.”

“You don’t want to go anywhere or do anything?”

“I thought we could just hang and talk about everything.  I hope that’s okay.”

It was okay, but it wasn’t what I wanted.  I wanted to go do something, not sit on the smelly pier watching the boats go by.  I thought it was a little weird, but I just wanted to see him.  In the end it really didn’t matter where we hung out as long as we were hanging out together.

“Yeah that’s okay,” I said.  “Maybe next time we can go somewhere?” I replied with a smiley face.

“Yeah, that sounds good,” he replied back with a smiley face.

“Juliet, can you come down here please?” I heard my mother yell.

“Yeah, one minute!” I yelled back.

“I have to get going,” I told Marcus.  “I will see you tomorrow!”

I logged off and went downstairs to see what my mother wanted.

“Your father and I are going to Cheshire tomorrow for the day.  Do you want to go with us?” my mother asked.

This was perfect.  If they leave, I can sneak out and be back before they even get home.  I will get to see Marcus easier, and won’t have to worry about them.

“No, I have a lot of homework to do this weekend.  You two go on ahead and have a date.  It will be fun!” I said with a smile.

“Are you sure?  I don’t want you to feel left out.”

“Mom, I’m sure.  You guys never spend time with each other anyway.  It will be nice if you go out and just have a day to spend together.  I’ll be fine.”

“Well, okay then.  We are leaving at noon and most probably won’t be home until seven.  I will make you lunch and dinner and leave it in the fridge.”

“Okay, that sounds great,” I said, smiling. 

Things just kept looking up for me.  It wasn’t that my parents were so strict they wouldn’t let me hang out with anyone, but with all of the attacks and robberies and everything going on, they were overprotective.  They didn’t want anything to happen to me and for good reason.  I was their only daughter.

“I have some good news,” I said.

“What is that, dear?”

“Our school made finals for track.  We are having it next Saturday.”

“Oh, that is great!  Are you going to go?”

“Yeah.  I am going with a few friends to support the school and the team.”

“That is wonderful, dear.”

My mother always had these great replies.  It was really as if everything in the world was great and nothing could go wrong.  I could tell her I dropped out of school and joined a band of traveling gypsies and she would think it was wonderful.  Sometimes I wondered if she was really listening or if she just programmed herself to give these answers.  Maybe my mother was really a robot.

I went back to my room to try to decide what to wear for tomorrow.  I liked to make good first impressions and I wanted him to have a really great one.  I saw some clothes in the corner of my closet and picked them up to see what they were.  They were the clothes I wore to James’s house when he asked me to be his girlfriend.  I smelled them and I could smell him on them.  His scent laced every inch of my shirt as the aroma went into my nostrils.  I held the shirt to my chest as I closed my eyes and remembered that night.  It was one of the most magical nights of my life. 

I didn’t want to get rid of the memory of that night or James’s scent.  I folded the shirt up and placed it inside the top drawer of my dresser.  I wanted something to remember him by, and his scent was the best thing I had.

I stopped and reflected for a moment before resuming what I was doing.  I couldn’t get too caught up thinking about him again.  I was going to see Marcus not too long from now and I wanted to be my best for him.  Even though I wasn’t sure anything romantic would happen between us, I didn’t want to be sad around him.  We both waited a long time for this moment and I didn’t want to spoil anything.  I at least owed him that much.

I picked out a cute outfit but decided not to wear it or show it to my parents so they didn’t get suspicious.  If they saw me all dressed up tomorrow, they might catch on to what I was doing and not leave for the day.  Then I would lose out on this opportunity and I couldn’t risk that.  If it took this long to even hang out, who knows how long it would take if I had to bail.

I hung up my outfit in my closet and closed it so nothing would be visible.  I was so close to meeting my best friend.  My excitement was unbearable.

The next morning I woke up and jumped out of bed.  Today was the big day!  I wanted to dance around and yell, but I knew I couldn’t.  I had to stay safe.

I went downstairs and tried to act disinterested around my parents.  If I acted too happy or suspicious, I knew they would catch on.  After all, my father interrogated people for a living.  He could tell a lie from a mile away. 

I sat down for breakfast and started small talk with my parents.

“So, what are you two going to do today?” I asked.

“I have some business to attend to for a few minutes, but after that we are going to check out the town.  They have really nice shops and restaurants up there.  Are you sure you don’t want to go?  There is still time,” my father said.

“No, I shouldn’t.  I have a lot of homework to do.  I have a test next week and I want to make sure I’m prepared.  Midterms will be here before you know it.  Besides, you two need some time alone,” I replied, trying to take his attention away.

“Well, I’m proud of you for taking your schoolwork seriously to put it before having fun.  It shows a lot of maturity and responsibility,” he said.

If only he knew what I was really doing.  I felt a little bad for lying right to their faces, but I knew I had to.  I didn’t want my father to meet Marcus and ask him dozens of questions before I even had a chance to talk with him.

My parents got up from the table and started gathering their things to leave.

“Honey,” my mother said.  “I made you lunch and dinner and they are in the fridge.  If there is an emergency I put numbers on the fridge.  We will be back around seven or so.  I love you!”

“OK, thank you!  I love you too.”

I closed the door behind them and waved as they drove away.  Once they were out of sight, I ran upstairs and started gathering my things for today.  It was already eleven and I knew it would take me two hours to get ready and half an hour to even get there.  I rushed to get ready and looked at myself in the mirror.  I looked hot.  I tried to keep it conservative and nice while also making sure he thought I looked pretty. 

I looked out all the windows casually to make sure there wasn’t anybody out there.  I could see my dad having someone out there make sure I didn’t leave.  I inspected every inch outside and didn’t see anyone at all.  I snuck out the back door and started to make my way to the pier.  This was it.  There was no turning back now.

I arrived at the pier fifteen minutes early.  It smelled like old, dead fish, but I didn’t mind it too much.  I sat on an old, worn bench and looked around to see if I saw him anywhere.  I had a slight knowledge of what he looked like from the video chat we had done.  The minutes grew closer and closer to two, but I didn’t see anybody anywhere.  Other than the fishermen and workers on the boats, there was nobody. 

Five minutes passed after two and nobody was there.  I couldn’t believe he did this to me.  How was I so naive to think he would actually show up?  After it took so long to even see his face, I should’ve known. 

“Juliet?” I heard.

I looked around and didn’t see anybody.

“In here,” I heard.

I looked and saw somebody standing in an old subway stairwell. 

“It’s me,” he said.

It was Marcus.  He was standing in the stairwell opening trying to hide himself. 

“Come here,” I said.

“I can’t.  You’ll be scared,” he said.

“No, I won’t.  Why would I be scared of you?  You’re my best friend.”

“You’ll be scared because I don’t look like you.  I don’t look normal.”

“Marcus, don’t be stupid.  Just come here.”

“Promise you won’t scream?” he asked.

“I promise,” I said.

He walked out of the shadows slowly.  I instantly saw what he meant.  He was different from me.  He was an androidian. 

I was shocked but also confused.  I didn’t scream or shout or even yell.  I didn’t even flinch.  I really didn’t know what to make out of the situation.

“This is me,” he said with his head down.

I walked over to him and hugged him.

“Why are you hugging me?” he asked confusedly.

“Because you are my friend and I love you.”

He hugged me back as I felt part of his cold, metallic arm press against my skin.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked.

“I didn’t think you’d talk to me again if you knew the truth.  Most people are frightened by someone like me,” he said with sadness in his voice.

I stepped back and looked at him from head to toe.  He wasn’t entirely mechanical.  He had metal plating on his arms, sort of like armor.  He had a cybernetic eye and metal plating on his left hand and fingers. 

“How long have you been like this?” I asked.

“Since birth.  If I had a choice, I never would have wanted to look like this.  I hate it,” he said.