Lucas Ryan Versus: The Hive (The Lucas Ryan Versus Series) (5 page)

“I’ll pick you up at 6:30, Romeo,” Taylor said, walking up to me. I barely heard him.

“Okay,” I blinked. My hand tingled with static.

“Swift! Get your golden boy muscles over here!” Coach Kitna bellowed. He stood tall in the middle of the field, with a whistle in one hand, and a clipboard in the other. Taylor watched me for another moment before tossing his water bottle to Morgan. She scooped it up with an awkward smile born of embarrassment. Taylor ran off in the direction of his team and Morgan’s eyes followed. He turned around, running backwards with ease.

“Proud of you, Luc!” he called out. It filled me with pride. Only Taylor could make me feel that way. One of his many hidden superpowers, I guess.

I pointed at him with a dizzy smile across my face. “Bring the thunder, Thor!”

LEVEL 06:
Crushcrushcrush

Walking up to the school entrance and hearing the first hint of music pouring from the doors, almost made me forgive Taylor for being late. Football practice had run long and he barely had time to cleanup before tonights concert. I raced through the front doors, heading straight for my locker, trying to shake off the last few hours of my day.

“Pick me up,” I said, under my breath.

After football practice I made my way home with my head in a fog. I was still on a high from my run in with Olivia, but I couldn’t shake the feeling of having my hand stuck to that mysterious rock earlier. I spent two hours pacing my bedroom. My neighbors, the Anderson’s, spent two hours watching me with expensive binoculars, pace my bedroom. I didn’t care though, I was too haunted by my secret. What was it? What did
it
want with me?

“Wait! Where are you going, Luc? The auditorium is the other way!” Roland called down the school halls. His warning only made me run faster.

“Lucas?” he called out, again. Morgan watched me worried, but never relinquished her position by the side of Taylor and his freakishly well-defined arm.

“I’ll just be a minute!” I yelled over my shoulder, in a full sprint.

Taylor pulled the twins toward the music. “Come on you two. He’s a big boy. He’s just nervous about tonight.”

“I guess,” Roland shrugged.

“Tickets are on me,” Taylor smiled. He marched for the auditorium doors. Morgan melted and followed without hesitation. Roland slowly did the same.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

With three quick spins of the dial on my locker’s combination lock, I frantically opened its door. I wasn’t ready for what I saw. The stone was now the size of a brick, and had sunk almost the entire way through the bottom of my locker. It was darker now, beyond black. Thin silver ridges were cut like lightning all over it. These new ridges were moving in a serpent like motion, just under its glossy surface. Their movement was creepy and unnatural. The lines swam through the blackness slow and beautiful. I rubbed my eyes, trying to focus harder on this strange jewel.

“What are you?” I whispered.

~ Pick me up. ~

“I can’t.”

~ Pick me up. ~

“Am I going mad?” I was losing it. I couldn’t afford to do that though. Not tonight. Not
her
night. From down the hallway the auditorium doors flew open, unleashing the rumble of drums and music. My chest filled with a heavy urgency as Olivia and her bandmates called to me.

My hand gripped tightly around the edge of my locker door. “I have to go.”

~ Pick me up. ~

“I can’t. I need to see her.” Great, I was pleading with a piece of science fiction in my high school locker. Yup, I was crazy. Straightjacket time. No one would ever believe this. Not even Roland, and he was the biggest sci-fi geek in the Southwest. Would anyone understand?

~ She will. ~

“What?” I whispered. This impossible thing was talking to me. Not aloud, but in my head. Oh God...I was going nuts. I leaned my head just inside the locker opening.

“What did you say?” I asked, again. My voice was soft and shaking.

~ Olivia will understand. ~

I froze with fear. “What are you?”

~ Pick me up. ~

I began to shake.

~ Tell Olivia. ~

“What?”

~ Trust no one else. ~

“Okay.” I slammed the locker closed with a metallic crash. My heart was beating at twice its normal rate and picking up speed. I ran down the hall in a half crazed panic. I almost ran back out the front doors of the school, but forced my sneakers toward the auditorium entrance. With a lump in my throat, I slowly reached out for the door handle.

“Where do you think you’re going?” a familiar voice cursed. Reality slammed back into me as I recognized the voice in a matter of seconds. I let a long, annoyed breath escape my lips and rested my shoulder against the faded wood of the door.

“You can’t go in there!” Felicity cursed.

“Felicity, not tonight...please. I can’t do this tonight,” I warned, in a forceful whisper.

“I don’t care. You’re not allowed in there!” she said, way too loud. I turned to find her hateful eyes staring at me.

“Why not?” I asked.

“You didn’t pay!” she shouted, and stuck her bony little finger out. It pointed at a giant jar that was halfway full with money. In thick red ink were the words,
Science Club - $2.50 a ticket.
I forgot that this after hours concert was a benefit for the school’s Science classes and wouldn’t you know it, little Miss-Know-It-All just happened to be the Science Club president. My eyes rolled around their sockets as I took a step closer.

“Well?” she cursed again, with her hand outstretched in my direction. I looked at her long and hard as I imagined a runaway bus smashing through the front of the school, and parking itself on top of her dizzy head of blonde curls.

A crooked smile settled along her lips, “If you want to see your girlfriend, you have to pay.”

“Evilicity...” I grumbled, to myself. From behind me came the crunch of Olivia’s guitar and I caved in. I handed Felicity a twenty dollar bill, “Here.”

She smiled politely and slowly counted out my change. She took longer than she needed too. Anything to get under my skin. How I loathed thee!

“Thank you for your support,” she said, smugly. I tried my best to ignore her when the door flew open behind me. Taylor stood tall with a surprised look on his face.

“There you are, Romeo! Come on, I already paid for your ticket,” he said, with a smile. He placed his hand on my shoulder and pulled me through the doorway.

“Evil!” I yelled, as my eyes caught Felicity’s. She waved at me with a wicked smirk and a giggle. Where was that bus when you needed it? I disappeared into the auditorium as the door promptly closed. I didn’t have much time to sulk over Felicity’s dirty little trick because the moment the first wave of music hit me, I was hypnotized.

The auditorium was awash in a sea of colored lights that flew around the room and filled my eyes with anticipation. I could feel the rhythm of the music building in my chest. It tickled with each pulsating beat. Two hundred kids bounced up and down with every crash of the drums. Hands reaching for the ceiling and heads twisting above their shoulders. The twins, Roland and Morgan ran up to Taylor and I with big wide smiles.

“Lucas! About time!” Roland tried to holler over the building roar of the crowd.

“Yeah, I had to check on something,” I said, stressed. Morgan sensed the stress in my voice and slid her long hair behind her ears. Taylor watched closely as she leaned into me.

“Luc, she sounds amazing tonight. Relax. Just have fun. Be the Lucas we know and love,” she said, proudly. The sentiment surprised me. She looked up at Taylor who tried to act as if he wasn’t listening to her every word. Taylor nodded in agreement and pulled his eyes from Morgan. I shrugged, nervously.

“Really?” I gulped. That’s when I caught my first glimpse of Olivia on stage. Her hair was slicked back with purple streaks running along the sides. Her guitar hugged her body loosely, over an outfit that had been ripped and torn in all the best places. She strummed the guitar strings with aggression and stomped her booted foot with the pounding beat of the bass drum. She looked like a rock-n-roll dream.

“Be yourself,” Morgan stated, again. She pushed me forward with a laugh. I stumbled down the isle, trying to avoid each bouncing body in front of me. Olivia started singing and I became paralyzed. I couldn’t move an inch as her eyes scanned the crowd. Her voice sang through the speakers with ferocity. I stood still, caught in the web of her pout, and that’s when it happened. Her stare found mine, and she smiled. I looked behind me to be sure I wasn’t getting things mixed up. When I turned back to her face, she smiled even bigger and nodded my way. Holy crap...did I just dream that? She smiled! At me!

“Be yourself,” I said like a robot, and waved to her slowly. From the stage she turned her body in my direction, never letting go of my stare. Her right arm shot out, pointing above her head toward the roof and with a flick of her wrist, the rest of the band stopped playing. All of the music halted, except the throbbing beat of the drums. She wrapped both her hands around the microphone, staring deeply into me.

“NOTHING COMPARES TO, A QUIET EVENING ALONE.

JUST THE ONE-TWO, I WAS COUNTING ON.

THAT NEVER HAPPENS, I GUESS I’M DREAMING AGAIN.

LET’S BE MORE THAN...THIS!”
she sang, with her sultry voice.

She sang to me...ME! My head pounded with excitement. I felt like throwing my hands in the air and screaming in victory. If only it had lasted.

~ Tell her. She’ll understand. ~

Oh crap, the impossible voice was back in my head. My posture shrunk with the thought. Just ignore it...you’re not going crazy.

~ Pick me up and tell Olivia. ~

I tried with all my might to shake the ‘crazy’ to the back of my brain. I stepped forward and smiled at Olivia. She winked back at me. If I had not been lost in the moment, I might have noticed the unwanted attention that my personal serenade was generating. From across the room, a pair of hurt eyes carved into me. I was on cloud-nine, but I would soon find that this particular cloud was quite crowded.

The concert lasted another hour and I loved every minute of it. Every song, every squeal of her guitar, and every thunderous drum assault. Sadly though, I couldn’t tell you the name of any of the songs, or how many songs were played. All I could remember was Olivia’s smile.

“Luc, we have to get home soon,” Roland said, worried. “We’re already like, five minutes late.” He turned to his sister, “Mom’s gonna kill us, Mo!” He quickly paced the length of the school parking lot back and forth.

“Take it easy, Roland. Let’s give Olivia and her band a few more minutes,” Taylor tried to ease his worries. My friends had been overly patient waiting with me for Olivia. They were the best friends a guy could have. Taylor was probably the only one of them really there to support
me
though. Morgan stayed to soak up every moment she could with Taylor, and Roland only stayed because his sister made him.

“Come on, Luc...you’ll see her tomorrow,” Roland pleaded, watching the clock on the screen of his cell phone. Taylor and I both shot him an annoyed glance. I noticed that the school parking lot had shrank down to just a few vehicles. It wouldn’t be much longer, so I let them off the hook.

“Thanks for hanging out guys, but you can go home. I’ll be all right,” I said.

Roland whipped around, relieved. “Really?”

“Are you sure?” Taylor asked, concerned.

“Yeah. Get them out of here, I’ll walk if I need to,” I said, with a friendly smack on his back.

“Okay, Luc, I get it. We’re cramping your style,” Taylor teased. He nudged Roland to climb into his truck as I blushed, stupidly. Taylor’s truck was exactly like him; big, sporty, and strong. Roland hopped in quick and Morgan followed with a wave goodbye.

“Remember...be yourself,” she said, softly. I gave her a quick smile and a wave.

“Call me if you need a ride and I’ll come back after I get these two home,” Taylor offered.

I shook his hand, “Thanks, T.”

They drove off and I stood alone in silence. Fifteen minutes later the school doors flew open, startling me a little bit. Olivia and the rest of her band, marched out into the failing light. Olivia carried her guitar case in hand. Sarah Jane, her bass player and sometimes hairstylist, enjoyed a fresh piece of gum before blowing a pink bubble and popping it. Gwen Davis, the other guitarist and self proclaimed psychic, stared at me hard. She stomped by me with a look of suspense and disgust. I quickly stopped my eye contact. And finally, Linda Perry, the drummer and music fanatic. She handed Olivia a bright blue mp3 player and bounced on by me.

I watched them all, silent and still. Each girl jumped into their vehicles, first sliding in their individual band equipment, carefully. They were all gone in seconds, all of them except Olivia. She stood just out of reach, watching me with curious, colorful eyes.

“Lucas Ryan.” She stepped toward me and a lump found its way up into my dry throat.

~ Tell her. ~

My mind ignored the voice that echoed inside my head. No time for that now. No time for crazy. I had to find something to focus on...I decided on her eyes. They were now an unnatural shade of purple that matched the streaks in her hair. Call it her hobby. Some people collected stamps, others hoarded shoes. Olivia Weaver collected colored contacts. She has done it since before I knew her. Come to think of it, I couldn’t remember what her original eye color was.

“You were amazing tonight,” I said, as calmly as I could while looking into her stare. She looked back at me with no smile in sight. Something felt wrong. Something felt off. Maybe I was coming on too strong.

“You enjoyed the show?” she asked, but it sounded more like a fact. Slowly, I nodded yes. She looked down at what I was wearing, the T-shirt she had given me this past afternoon. Her band T-shirt. One eyebrow raised on her face and her eyes filled with a new brightness. Her lips bent upward, readying themselves to smile.

“I see the shirt fits perfectly.”

“Um...yeah.” Why hadn’t I said something more witty, or normal? I was trying too hard. I needed to settle myself. I pointed to the image of the girl on the front of the shirt, trying my hardest to erase the last thirty-seconds.

“She’s cute,” I said, unsure. Olivia stepped closer to me, reaching for the face of the girl. Her finger traced the outline of the girls cheek.