Rewrite Redemption (7 page)

I was up half the night obsessing. Since it was such a relief to have something to focus on other than the accident, I threw myself into it full force. I exhausted myself with theories, but I kept ending with my original conclusion. It had to be a student and they had to be a Shadow. There was just no other explanation.

I looked like hell the next morning with huge circles under my eyes. No one noticed. Compared to my brother, I looked like I’d just gotten back from a three-month vacation in Maui. Everything’s relative, I guess.

I cued up some music and hit the sidewalk an hour before school started. I wanted to be early to screen people going in the door. When I got there, I staked out a tree by the front entrance, scanning everyone who walked by. Not even a blip. I saw a few cute girls but all I did was look. Girls were the last thing on my “playlist” these days. I had way too much shit going on.

Dude
, I said to myself.
You’re pathetic.
 

I checked my phone for the time and saw that the bell was ready to ring. Majorly disappointed, I went inside. The early morning had been a waste. But the moment I set foot in the door, my disappointment vanished. I felt it off in the distance. It descended on me like a cloud of salvation. My muscles relaxed and a wave of calm washed over me. The lottery was still a possibility. I’d staked out the wrong entrance, that’s all. I still had a shot at fourth period.

I zombied through my first three classes and headed for room 217 the second the bell rang. I was the first kid in the room. I presented my paperwork, assuring the teacher that, yes; I’d seen the textbook before. No, I didn’t need after-school assistance to catch me up. I almost high fived her when she finally released me.

Trying to look casual, I grabbed a seat in the back, eyes locked on the door and everyone who passed through it. Not him, not her, not her, not him. I was starting to get a little worried. But seconds before the bell, in rushed a couple of girls, and a wave of power swept over me.

Nice!

The first girl was blonde, hot, and dressed to kill. I focused on the waves of energy radiating from her direction thinking
this
could be interesting. Then a smaller girl appeared from behind her and stopped short as if she’d hit a wall. Her book bag crashed to the floor. She clutched her chest and let out a gasp with her mouth in an O.

And the power practically lifted me out of my seat.

Every cell in my body electrified and stood at attention. It waved over me, sending synaptic brushfire through my nervous system. I was so startled; my own energy slipped a little—my bad—and probably slammed right into her.

She turned and tore out of the room.

Abruptly, the connection snapped like a rubber band. I slumped in my seat, gasping for air. Luckily, no one noticed, since everyone was focused on the fleeing girl. This all took place in the span of, say, five seconds. But it was one of those gonna-crash-my-car-slow-motion scenarios, where it seems like ten times as long. And to make things worse, I was almost certain I gave the kid a power-slam.

My bad, my frickin bad.

The blonde tossed her stuff on a desk and glanced at the teacher, who nodded. The blonde grabbed the fallen book bag and took off after the other girl.

I just sat there, stunned. I couldn’t frickin believe it! It was the little chick. I didn’t even get a good look at her. I just saw a haze of sloppy, non-descript, no-color clothing, an oversized, black hoodie, and big, ugly glasses. The energy pouring off her had been so strong; it was all I could do to absorb it, much the less notice details.

I didn’t even hold in my own power—what a wuss. It was just so unexpected. And I swear, I would never have thought energy of that magnitude could come from someone so small and inconsequential. And now I’d scared her.

Smooth move, Constantine.

I had to grip the sides of my desk to keep from hauling-ass after her. But I stayed glued to my seat. No way did I want to call attention to the fact that her exit had anything to do with me. I might have won the lottery, but I hadn’t cashed in the ticket yet. And until you have the money in your hand, you don’t have the prize. So I just sat there, trying to figure it out.

I knew it had to be a student, but I expected someone bigger for one thing, older for another. And not to be sexist, but power that strong, I figured it
had
to be a guy. Instead, it was some shrimpy, little chick.

About thirty minutes later, the blonde returned, handing the teacher a note. The teacher nodded, and the blonde sat down looking anxious. She slid me searching looks every few minutes from behind a curtain of hair. I smiled, trying to look harmless, but she completely avoided eye contact. She bolted the second the bell rang so there was no chance to talk to her. I was losing my game left and right. I used to be pretty good with chicks before.

Of course,
everything
was different before. 

“The hell?” Lex stared at me anxiously as I slumped down the wall outside Spanish. “What was that? Are you okay?”

I couldn’t speak. I held my finger up in a wait a minute motion while I took a couple of deep breaths. Something really strange had just happened, and I didn’t have a clue what it was. I was lightheaded and disoriented…to say nothing of majorly confused. I needed to go home. I needed my tree.

“Are you going to Oz?” she asked, concern pouring off her. “Are you?”

“I don’t know,” I managed to sputter out. “No, I don’t think so. I’m not shimmering or anything, right?”

“No, but you’re white as a sheet.” She took my hand and pulled me up off the floor. “You’re okay, though, right?”

“I think so. I will be. I’ll explain in a minute. But first, I need a tree.”

“No problem,” she said, steering me down the hall and out of the building. 

A teacher saw us leave and followed, probably ready to read us the riot act. But when she looked at me, she got concerned and asked what was going on. “Are you feeling okay?”

Lex took charge as usual. “She has cramps really bad, Ms. Summers. I think she needs to go home.”

“Autumn Jones, right?” she asked. “I’ll call your parents. Is there anyone home?” She looked down at me all maternal-like. Sometimes teachers could be okay.

“My dad,” I managed to answer. It wasn’t even noon yet so Sam should be able to drive a few blocks. I wrapped my arms around my middle.

“I’ll stay with her till he comes,” offered Lex.

“Thank you, Alexandra,” Ms. Summers said. “I’ll make the call. If I don’t come right back, that means he’s on his way. When Autumn gets picked up, come to the office, and I’ll give you a pass.”

“Thanks, Ms. Summers,” we said in chorus. She waved and went back inside.

“Give me a minute to recharge,” I said, heading for the closest tree. Lex followed silently. She was good about giving me space when I needed it. I leaned against the tree with relief, my cheek against the bark to absorb the most energy. I stood there for about a minute just soaking up the calm. Then I turned and gave Lex a weak smile. “Okay, I think I’m stable.”

She held her hands up, palm out. “All right, already, spill.”

“You know that energy thing that happened yesterday and then again this morning when we got to school?” I began.

“Yeah…”

“Well, as we got closer to Spanish, it began to build.”

“Elaborate.”

“Grow, expand. It got stronger and weaker, back and forth all morning. It rocked to have the static buffered, and after a while, I just went with it. I felt better than I ever have at school, as if I had a tree with me, nothing scary at all. I mean, it was calming. But when I walked into Spanish, BAM, something hit me like a wall of electrified water. It was the most intense thing I’ve ever felt.”

“Shut up,” she said, arching her eyebrows. “Did it hurt?”

“No, it didn’t hurt at all—quite the opposite, actually.”

“Then why’d you run out of the room?”

“It was so unexpected. I felt totally out of control…like I was going to get yanked into a trip or something. I panicked.”

“But you’re okay.” She narrowed her eyes at me.

“Yeah, I think so.”

“What was it like?”

I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to find a coherent explanation. Then I pointed to the tree. “Tree energy is slow, steady, and even. It’s powerful, but smooth and comforting, like a humming, vibrating, electric blanket. It grows and expands, but it’s always steady, never shocking. What I was picking up all morning was like that…calming and soothing. But when I got to Spanish…”

“It was different?”

“Yeah, way different,” I nodded. “It was direct, intense, and sudden. It almost knocked me off my feet. It felt good but it wasn’t calming. It was—I don’t know—exciting, stimulating. It’s hard to describe. It felt good, but the kind of good you don’t want to feel in public.”

“Really?” She drew out the word and smirked.

I instantly knew what she was thinking. “Yes,” I said, “but it wasn’t like
that.
I mean, located
there
. This was a whole body feeling, like all my cells were having a good time.”

“Sex is a whole body feeling.”

“Yeah, but it’s concentrated down there. This wasn’t. Besides, that’s not the point. No matter
how
good it felt, I can’t have something controlling me like that…or someone.”

“You think someone is causing this?”

“Not for sure. But as we were walking to our seats, when you moved out from in front of me, there was this new guy sitting there.
That’s
when it hit me.”

She closed her eyes, probably reviewing the scene. “Oh yeah—in the back…tall, big shoulders, dark hair…possibly hot.” She looked at me. “You’re right, there was a new guy.”

“Exactly.”

“In fact, I was checking him out as we walked in. But then you had a spaz attack so I—”

“Where’d he come from?” I interrupted. “He wasn’t there yesterday.”

“Well,
new
guy,” she stated the obvious. “You sure it was him?”

“It had to be. It got stronger as I walked into the room but it was manageable. The moment you moved from in front of me, it hit me hard. It was him.”

“Whoa,” she said, dropping down beside the tree trunk. “This is big.”

“Ya think?”  

 “So, WTF?”

“Beats me,” I said, sitting down beside her. “I’m really freaked. What do you think the deal is? What if he’s some kind of alien or something?”

“Like from another planet? That seems unlikely—”

“Yeah, well, maybe
I’m
an alien. It’s the best guess we’ve ever come up with for my strangeness. There has to be some explanation.”

“It wouldn’t matter…not to me. It would be cool. You would still be you and Ipod would be in sci-fi heaven.”

“Yeah, well, there’s something different about this guy, and maybe I’m just the only one who can sense it.”

“You go home.” She laid her hand on my arm. “If you picked up something from him, maybe he felt you. He certainly had to be curious as to why you looked at him like that and ran out of the room. Unless he was doing it deliberately.”

“Deliberately? That’s kinda creepy.” I wrapped my arms around myself.

“Deliberately doesn’t have to mean bad,” she said. “Don’t pre-freak.”

“He could be anything,” I said, with a shiver.

Lex just looked at me for a moment without saying a word.

“What if he’s—I don’t know—dangerous?” I asked. My mind started whacking out on all the possibilities. “What if he’s, like, from the dark side or something?”

“The dark side of what?” she asked, arching her eyebrows.

“You know, like vampire dark.”

“Please…besides, he had a tan. Aren’t vampires supposed to have really white—?”

“Whoa, what if he’s after me? What if he’s
looking
for me? What if he
knows
?”

“You mean about…”

“Yes!”

“How could…”

“How should I know?” I asked, my tempo increasing along with my volume. “This is
so
not cool. Something’s going on here and we’re completely in the dark. How can I go back to that class if he’s going to affect me like that? What if—”