Fractured Light (13 page)

Their voices were getting closer. I frantically looked around for a place to hide, but schools weren’t designed to have hiding places. I decided my best option was to act like I’d heard or seen nothing. I turned the corner and began to walk quickly.

“Hey!” one of them shouted.

I kept moving, gripping my math book tightly.

“Wait up,” a deeper voice called.

I quickened my pace when I heard footsteps pounding the hard floor behind me.

A hand on my shoulder stopped me dead and spun me around. A tall boy stood in front of me with a crazy grin and dilated pupils. His face was littered with pimples, and if I wasn’t so frightened, I might’ve been tempted to connect the dots.

“Where you going in such a hurry?” he asked. His buddies moved behind him like a pack of wolves.

“She sure is pretty,” said a frumpy-looking boy. He held an open can in his hand, and I was pretty sure it wasn’t soda.

“I was just going back to the game,” I said and turned to leave.

Pimple-face put his hand on my shoulder again. This time he didn’t remove it.

“So you’re a student here at Lame-land?” he snickered. The other boys joined him. “Why don’t you hang out with us? You can help us decorate your own school.”

“I really have to be going.” I shrugged my shoulder hard enough to make him loose his grip.

“Whoa! Not so fast.” This time he grabbed both my shoulders. My math book crashed to the floor. “I bet you’re a cheerleader here, aren’t you? Looks like it’s our lucky day.” His friends laughed.

“Let go of me,” I growled. I would’ve given anything for it to be a full moon. I could’ve annihilated all of them. But Light was no good to me right now. I was on my own.

“Let’s decorate her,” one of the other boys suggested.

“That’s a great idea, Tek. What do you think, Blondie? You wanna show some school spirit?”

I brought my knee up as hard as I could, connecting it with his little man gems. He doubled over with an agonizing grunt.

I bolted toward the doors but was too slow. A boy tackled me from behind, and I fell to the floor, splitting my lip.

“I’ve got her!” Tek yelled. “What should we do with her, Jared?”

“Give me a sec, moron,” he moaned.

Tek rolled me over while pinning me down. Above me, the fatter kid who’s name I had yet to learn, stared as if he’d never seen a girl before.

“I’ve never seen a chick this hot before,” he said. “That’s cause you only hang out with dorks,” Tek spat. A string of spit fell from his mouth to my face.

“Please, just let me go. Please?” It was useless to struggle. The last of my energy had drained, and I could taste blood in my mouth.

Jared stumbled toward us, still hunched over. “Who has the paint?”

Big-kid reached inside his jacket and pulled out a can of black spray paint.

Jared tore it from his hand. “How ’bout that school spirit, pretty?” He bent over and began to spray paint my forehead. I turned my head to the side.

“Don’t get her hair!” Big-kid cried.

“Quit being such a jack—” but Jared didn’t finish his statement. His body flew over me, stopping only when it crashed into a wall.

Tek looked behind him just in time to get punched in the face. He toppled to my side, gasping for air.

“Get out of here before I call the police,” a familiar accent said.

This is the point where things became fuzzy. My eyes fell upon an angry Mr. Steele; his face blurred with the ones around me. I remember hearing footsteps running away and the crashing of a door, but the sounds were muffled, as if they were being filtered through a foam pad.

Mr. Steele leaned over me. “Are you all right? Do you need help?”

I mumbled something incoherent, but felt my head shake no.

“You don’t look well. Let me help you up.”

His arm slipped behind my shoulders, and as if I were a piece of cotton, he lifted me to a standing position. I couldn’t help but take a big whiff, my head only inches from his chest.

“Why don’t you come to my office and I’ll call your parents?” he suggested.

When I began to lean precariously to the right, he took me by the waist and guided me down the hall.

“By the way, don’t worry about those creeps,” he said. “I have their picture and will make sure they are severely punished.”

I followed him blindly. If only I could find my voice. I’d tell him I was okay; I just needed to get back to—was someone waiting for me?

“Llona?” My name sounded distant. Mr. Steele stopped and turned around.

“Llona, what happened?” Rushing toward us was Christian wearing his football uniform—a perfect combination of red, black, and white. For a second I thought he was going to tackle me.

“I was taking her to my office so she could call her parents,” Mr. Steele told him.

Christian didn’t seem to hear him. “What happened?” He reached up with his hand and carefully touched my lip. I flinched.

“Some boys from the other school were too rough in their celebration.”

“Did you call the police?” Christian asked.

“I took care of it,” Mr. Steele said, but it sounded almost like a sneer. I couldn’t be sure though because I wasn’t good at deciphering someone’s emotions when they had an accent. He could’ve sounded happy and I wouldn’t have known the difference.

“I’ll take her,” Christian told him. “I know where she lives. I’ll drive her straight home.”

Mr. Steele seemed reluctant. His grip tightened on my waist to the point where it almost hurt. And then just as quickly his grip relaxed. “Go ahead, Christian, but I’ll be calling to check up.” He released me. “Is that okay with you, Llona?”

I nodded. “Fine.” Christian took me by the arm and led me away.

Once outside, I inhaled deeply and let my mind clear. “Are you all right?” Christian asked again.

“Uh-huh.” I moved my neck around. It felt like I had whiplash.

“Why didn’t you talk to me back there?” he asked.

I shrugged. “I guess I was more upset than I realized.”

“What happened?”

“I went into the school to get my math book but ran into some boys. They tried to decorate me is all.”

“Mr. Steele should’ve called the police.”

“I’m glad he didn’t,” I said. The only times I’d ever spoken to police is when someone had died—my mother, my father, the red shoe lady—Cops made me ill.

Christian looked over my shoulder. “What did they look like?”

“Oh please, I’m fine. I need to get back to Matt. He’s probably wondering where I am.” Already cars were leaving the parking lot.

“That’s what you’re worried about? This could have been a lot more serious.”

“But it wasn’t.”

He let out a sigh through his nose and then pursed his lips together as if he wanted to say something. I guess he decided to go for it because he asked, “What were you doing in there alone anyway?”

“It’s a school. Why would I ever think I couldn’t go into one alone?”

“That’s not what I meant. You’re weak. You shouldn’t be by yourself.”

My heart stopped, and I stepped away from him. “What did you say?”

“I mean you look sick,” he said, a little too quickly.

“Get away from me, Christian.” I took another step back.

“Llona, please. That’s not what I meant.” When he moved toward me, I began to run.

“Llona, stop!” he called.

Gratefully, he didn’t follow. I made it all the way to the bleachers before I finally stopped, a surprising feat considering I could barely breathe. I ducked around the corner from the exit and waited for the crowds to die down. I could only imagine what I looked like.

After everyone left, I stepped out from my hiding spot and found Matt staring toward the school. His eyes widened when he saw me. “What happened to you?”

I shook my head. “Do you mind taking me home? I’ll come back for my car tomorrow.” I was too shaken to drive.

“Sure.” He quickly walked to his car and opened the passenger door. Once we were out of the parking lot, Matt asked again, “What happened?”

I took a deep breath and relaxed into the seat. “A couple of kids from the opposing team ambushed me, but Mr. Steele chased them away.”

“Wow! I’m so sorry. I should’ve gone with you.”

“How could you’ve known? It’s not a big deal.”

“Are you for real? Most girls would be bawling their faces off.”

I shrugged. “There’s nothing I can do about it now. Besides they were just stupid boys.”

“Yeah, but what if Mr. Steele hadn’t come by?”

“But he did. I’m not going to get upset over a ‘what if.’ ” I probably should’ve been upset, but all I could think about was what Christian had said.

“You’re a different girl, Llona. You know that?”

“I know.” “That’s a good thing. You’re one of the few who will actually make it far in life. Not just survive but really succeed.”

I stared at him. “Do you really mean that?”

“Of course.”

“I think that’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.”

He smiled.

“Did we score again while I was gone?” I asked.

Matt proceeded to give me a play-by-play of the last few minutes of the game. “I must admit, I had more fun than I expected. Thanks for inviting me.”

“I’m glad you came.”

Matt nodded. He tapped his palm on the steering wheel to music just barely playing through the speakers. “By the way, did you get your math book?” he asked.

I moaned. “I did, but it got knocked from my hands. What am I going to do?”

“You can borrow mine. I’ll bring it by tomorrow.”

“Don’t you need it?”

“No. I get math. You can borrow it.”

We were almost to my house when I noticed a car in our driveway: Jake’s girlfriend. I thought they were going out. “Can you drop me off at Mueller Park? It’s just a few blocks away.”

“Why?”

“My uncle has a date over and I don’t want to bother him quite yet.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“There’s a trail that practically leads to my backyard. I’ll sneak in my window.” I wanted to wash the paint off my face before Jake saw it and freaked out.

“Do you want me to join you?”

I looked out the window to the darkened trees beyond, wondering what my chances were of meeting tree-creature again. It was only ten o’clock, I told myself, as if that mattered. “No. That’s okay.”

Matt parked his car next to the entrance to the canyon. “I feel funny dropping you off here, especially after what just happened.”

“You saw how close it is to my home. I’ll be fine. Thanks for going with me tonight.” I jumped out before he could protest any further.

I walked up the trail until the light from Matt’s car disappeared. I hadn’t realized how dark it was until his headlights were gone. I felt for my watch, hoping I could use it for light, but then I remembered I’d left it at home.

I remained still, listening to the night’s gentle symphony: crickets chirped, water babbled, leaves rustled, and the wind sighed through the tops of the trees. Its melody soothed my nerves and for the first time in a long while I felt at peace.

Because I couldn’t see as well as I’d hoped, I considered cutting over to a trail that ran parallel to the road. It was in the opposite direction from my house, but it was close enough that light from the street lamps should make it easier to walk. Once the trail ended, I figured I could just walk on the road back to my house. It also happened to cross over a thin finger-like appendage of Mueller Park Lake. During the day it was a pretty cool place to visit, but I’d never seen it at night. Now’s a good as time as any. And hopefully by the time I returned, Heidi would be gone.

I cut through the trees, pushing my way through heavy vegetation. Normally, this wouldn’t have bothered me as I was used to being outdoors, even at nighttime, but for some reason my heart began to pound and sweat pooled in my pits. Maybe it was the fact that I couldn’t hear the crickets anymore, or maybe it was the wind that had suddenly stopped blowing. Whatever it was, I was really starting to freak out.

I picked up my pace, shoving one branch after another out of my way. The night grew inexplicably cold, chilling my skin. A sound, like claws on bark, pierced the silence of the night. I froze.

A twig snapped to my left.

And then another.

“Hello?” I said.

“Hello?” A mocking voice echoed.

Move! I screamed in my head. My body responded sluggishly, moving up and around a thick bush. Behind me I could still hear the snapping of twigs picking up its pace in response to my own hurried movements.

“Llona,” the voice, a high-pitched, almost whining sound called.

I couldn’t tell which direction it was coming from. It seemed to be floating around me, teasing me as if we were playing hide-and-seek. And I was terrible at hiding, but “it” was doing a great job of seeking.