Eye on Orion (4 page)

Something Different

We knocked on their door a minute before seven on Wednesday night. I let Mom and Dad stand in the front while I stood on the second stair. I didn't want to seem too eager to see Jai again, even though I'd taken extra care getting dressed in anticipation of the evening. I wore something new from my shopping trip. I had put on a blue shirt only to yank it off and replace it with the green blouse I now wore. Who cared if Amira said blue was his favorite color. I didn't want to look like I was trying too hard. Besides, the green would make my eyes stand out better.

I viewed their yard. They had done amazing things to it in the few days they'd been here. Celia's parents never cared much for the landscaping. Something that drove Dad crazy, but Jai's family took much better care of it. The way they planted their flowers made me smile, all formal and uniform, with the patterns symmetrical throughout the flowerbed. It fit my opinion of them perfectly.

Their house looked like every other house on the street from the outside: normal, middle class, built before I was born, and well taken care of. Jai's mother, Delilah, opened the door and introduced herself and her husband, Marshal, to my dad who hadn't met them yet. Ushering us inside, she called for Jai and Amira to come to the door.

The inside was unbelievable. They had completely reformed it. A tasteful chandelier hung above the entryway, lighting the room with a sparkle here and there as the light reflected through the crystals. The floor in the front room was a dark hardwood, polished enough to reflect the light. A rug under the coffee table, woven with an intricate pattern of earth-tone colors, spoke of elegance and pride. The furniture, classic solid pieces, gave the impression of power and authority as they commanded attention in the room. Their decorations could have come straight from an interior design magazine.

They led us to the combined kitchen and dining room. The tile floors and marble countertops in the kitchen sparkled, reminding me of a commercial I'd seen on TV. Gleaming pots and pans hung from a rack above the kitchen counter. The table in the dining room was dark and glossy with matching chairs. Tracing the designs in the swirling woodwork on the chairs could have kept my eyes occupied for quite some time. Actual china with gold trim adorned the table with crystal goblets.

I'd dressed up to come over here, yet felt inadequate. Delilah, Marshal, Jai, and Amira looked nice, but nothing fancy. A skirt and blouse for the women, and button-up shirts and slacks for the men showed they didn't need fancy clothes to make them look great.

I slouched a bit then shook it off and stood up tall again. I didn't need to disguise my height here.

“I love what you've done to this house.” My mother complimented them. The way she looked at the home reminded me of the way I thought of Jai and Amira. Our home might not be as fancy, and I sure didn't act as polished and beautiful as Amira, but there was nothing wrong with me. I straightened my shoulders and lifted my chin.

“Thank you,” Delilah said. “It has always been a dream of mine to decorate my own place, and now I finally have a chance.” Her speech sounded more labored, but less formal than Amira's and Jai's.

I wondered why she'd never been able to do it before. Had her first husband not let her?

“You've done a great job in such a short time,” Mom said. She and Delilah started talking about decorating tips while Dad turned to Marshal.

“What do you do for a living, Marshal?”

“I work for a firm in the city, doing diagnostics on their computers. Checking for bugs and problems in their systems. I understand you own the nursery of plants here in town?”

I tuned them out and looked at Amira. She and Jai stepped forward together and invited me to join them.

“Shall we sit down and make ourselves comfortable? Who knows how long they will visit.” She took me by the arm on one side and Jai by the other and led us to our seats. Amira sat near the head of the table. She placed me on her left, and Jai took the seat next to me. I eased into my chair, wondering what to say.

Jai frowned and looked down at his plate, then took his linen napkin and arranged it on his lap. He looked at me as if he was thinking of something then smiled. That small scar made the smile just a little crooked, causing my heart to flutter. It made his perfect lips more inviting to watch. I wondered how he got the scar.

“Did you have a chance to ask about the meteor shower this weekend?” I tried to focus on his blue-gray eyes instead of his lips.

“Yes.” Amira joined in. “I have never done a hot dog roast.”

“Never? You've been missing out! How about marshmallows and s'mores?” I asked.

“I am afraid not.”

“How's that possible?” I asked, remembering the pizza. I looked at Amira and she just shrugged.

Jai paused for a moment as if thinking how to answer. “Well,” he began. “Her — our father followed a strict diet for his health. We ate the same.”

There it is again.
They don't have the same father.

“Then we'll have to make ‘em on the mountain,” I said, trying to sound casual as I thought about his comment. I glanced at Marshal to see if maybe he looked like Jai. That could be the connection; Delilah was Amira's mother, while Marshal was Jai's father. I couldn't see any resemblance between the two men though. There wasn't even a real resemblance between Delilah and Amira.

“Speaking of meals, it appears our parents have finished their conversations and are ready to begin,” he said when he saw me watching Marshal and Delilah.

They turned their heads toward Amira at the same time. Amira nodded, and they wrapped up their conversations with my parents and sat down at the table.
Why would they look at her before sitting down?

Marshal offered a short prayer. “We thank Thee for our food, our safety, and our health. Amen.”

“Amen,” everyone chorused.

The food Delilah brought in from the kitchen smelled incredible. It wasn't anything like I'd ever eaten at our house. She served a salad course, a soup course, a variety of breads and rolls, and a main dish, telling us all the while to save room for dessert. A few years ago when my uncle Pete got married, we went to the wedding dinner and enjoyed food catered by a five-star restaurant in the high-class hotel where they held the reception. That was the best meal I'd ever eaten, until now.

The guava-juice tasted delicious and smooth. It wouldn't have surprised me if it had been made fresh. I drank it all and asked for more, delighted in the aftertaste. Jai refilled my glass and his. Besides a quick “Thank you” and a mumbled “You're welcome,” Jai and I said nothing to each other for more than ten minutes. Amira seemed to be interested in the conversation between our parents, so she wasn't too talkative either.

We'd gotten along pretty well at the mall, but here, he played with his silverware, watched Amira and me as we chatted occasionally, and kept looking at his
parents
as they talked to mine. He glanced at me under his lashes, but never looked directly at me.
Why is he nervous
?

Twenty minutes into the meal and after my third glass of juice, my mind started to feel a little fuzzy. A faint haze surrounded the edges of my vision, narrowing until I could only see out of the center, like when I peered through my telescope. The conversations around me began to fade and echo then alternately got loud and garbled. I dropped my fork; the chime as it clipped the plate resonated through my mind. I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples. A sudden headache seized me, making me gasp at the pain then disappeared as soon as it hit. I jerked my head up and looked around the room.

The haze around my vision disappeared, and I could see everything with much more clarity. The conversations still sounded strange, with unusual echoes, but I could hear them all, better than before. I looked around the table at the occupants and focused on my parents as they described how the nursery business kept them busy even in the winter.

“Oh yeah, we have our own greenhouses and do our own planting,” Dad said. “We even propagate our own trees.” Almost simultaneously, I heard him say with a sigh that echoed,
“Though I'm sure you wouldn't care about that. No one does, but it is so fascinating. Wish I could quit my part time job at the grocery store during the winter to focus on my plants.”

At the head of the table Delilah's voice echoed,
“It is too bad they have to work this hard and struggle to make ends meet, while we are living a life of luxury here.”
She had her napkin pressed lightly against her mouth.

“I agree,”
Marshal's voice said, but his mouth was busy chewing a bite of food.
“And how unfortunate it is that Mrs. Adams must supplement their income by teaching piano.”

I felt outraged they thought those things about us but stunned that I could hear him speak clearly as he chewed. And how did he know my mom taught piano? I didn't remember her talking about it. My dad was still explaining how he took cuttings off one tree to graft into another.

I stared at Amira. Her mouth was closed, but her voice echoed,
“Are you satisfied yet, Jai? There is nothing wrong with these people. They do not suspect us of anything. Now may I please have your permission to develop a friendship with Holly? I am tired of all this caution. Do you still think it is necessary?”

I heard her thoughts because she was definitely not saying it out loud. I closed my eyes, pressing my fingers against my eyelids, breathing deeply to clear my head.

The conversations going on around the room slammed into each other, fighting for my attention. Everything else disappeared when Jai's deep voice said,
“I am not entirely convinced. There is something unusual about Holly.”

I bristled and looked at him out of the corner of my eyes. He was still looking down at his plate with his head tilted toward Amira.
“I allowed you to take her shopping, in order to observe her,”
his voice said.
“I receive a strange vibe from her. I cannot figure out what it is. It is unlike anything I have felt before… almost…”

“What, Jai?”
Amira asked when he trailed off.
“What do you feel from her?”

“I don't know what it is. But she knows there is something different about us. That is why I decided to try this at dinner. You hear their thoughts as well as I do, yet nothing from Holly. Why is the Densinne not working on her?”

He looked up at me. When he saw my expression, his face paled.

“Amira,”
Jai thought with a panicked tone.

“What?”
Amira sounded irritated.

“Look at Holly,”
Jai thought. I whipped my face away from Jai and looked at Amira.

“Yes, Jai, she's beautiful tonight,”
Amira said without looking at me.

“No,”
Jai insisted, sounding a little embarrassed.
“Look at her now!”

Amira glanced away from my parents and looked at me. So many thoughts ran through my mind. If I could hear their thoughts and those of my family, couldn't they hear mine? But Jai had just said they couldn't.

“What about her?”
Amira thought.

“Do you think she can hear us?”
he thought in what I assumed passed as a whisper.

“Hear us?”
Amira asked.
“Why? No one has ever been able to before.”

“I know,”
Jai whispered his thought again.
“But look at her face. There is definitely something going on inside her mind right now.”

Amira narrowed her eyes at me. I narrowed mine back.

I made a conscious effort to think the words in my mind,
“What is going on here?”

“Oh!”
Amira thought, sounding stunned.

“I can hear you. You have been listening to our thoughts!”
I accused.

Amira wrung her hands together then placed them into her lap as if to hold them still. Jai dropped his napkin onto his plate as he stood up and strode to the other end of the table. He stepped between Marshal and Delilah then leaned down to whisper.

I heard Marshal think,
“What do you mean she can hear us?”
He looked up at me as he thought it. Jai whispered again. As Marshal's expression changed from confusion to concern, I knew he believed it.