Shared Skies (14 page)

“
Gaiah! I was just
thinking about you. Well, how are things with Alasdair and
Kaley?”

Gaiah was impressed at the casualness of the
question. Kaley’s encognating had made him believe the whole
situation was perfectly normal.

“
Oh, it's all good, I miss
you though. How are you managing?”

“
The kitchen doesn't seem
the same without you in the armchair. But I bet you don't miss that
miserable school. I'm glad you're out of it. You'll be pleased to
hear, I got the agency to send a housekeeper, who keeps food in the
fridge and everything ticking over, so don't worry about
me.”

“
Yeah, good idea. I'm
delighted to hear it. Are you working on anything new?” The life
and energy apparent in his voice as he described his new piece told
her even more than his words about how focused he was on his work.
He signed off by saying that he had to go now, as the CD was coming
to an end and he had to get another one on straight away as silence
would break his impetus.

“
Love you, bye,” she said
as they hung up. She was glad he was in a good place now, but a
strange sadness weighed her down. So much was going on in her life
that he just wasn't part of.

She showered, pulled on a soft tracksuit,
snuggled into a huge, multi-coloured, fleece dressing gown and went
back to her grandparents. Alasdair and Kaley had moved the food
into the living room. It was a warm, terracotta-coloured space
dotted with glowing, wooden lamps. The furniture was soft and
comfortable. Gaiah settled herself on a long sofa, while Kaley put
on a dvd.

“
This is called
The Holiday
,” she said.
“Nothing too taxing, and Alasdair can always read his book if it
gets too girly.”

The log fire crackled as they ate. By the
time they had finished eating and Cameron Diaz was meeting Jude
Law, Gaiah was dozing. By the time Kate Winslet was meeting Eli
Wallach, Gaiah was sound asleep. She barely felt her grandparents
cover her with a quilt and the sound of the closing door was just a
distant click fitting into her dreams.

***

Gaiah woke feeling refreshed and focused.
She knew that there really was absolutely nothing she could do
about whatever the Gaianans expected of her, just nothing. So she
resolved, at least, to try and sort out her confusions about Graeme
and Neal, and of course, apologize to Cassie.

By the time she was dressed in simple jeans
and sweater, Kaley and Alasdair were already in the kitchen.

“
Good morning, dear, good
sleep? Help yourself, there’s some porridge on the stove and the
cream is in the fridge. We are thinking of arranging for Renny to
stay a night or two with us. To get you started on controlling your
encognating. What do you think?”

“
That’s fine with me,”
said Gaiah, happy to have any plan of action. There was a prolonged
shimmering by the door of the kitchen.

“
That’s the equivalent of
knocking, if you’re using an occupied door,” explained Kaley. Renny
appeared. Today, her look was American high school prep–white
shirt, short-sleeved angora jumper and short, checked skirt, black
tights and boots.

“
Hi, everyone. Oh,
porridge, electric! Can I have some please?”

“
Of course.” Kaley ladled
out a bowl of the steaming, creamy mixture, handed it to Renny with
a bowl of brown sugar. “But eat quickly; you really don’t want to
be late again today!”

They weren't. They had
double economics first class, and Mr. Hill expanding on ‘price
volatility in markets’ gave Gaiah time to think about what she
wanted to do. First, Graeme. She brought his face to mind and
smiled. He
was
gorgeous, charming and funny. I don't believe all those
stories.

Hell, I’m eighteen. I
don’t know anyone here, why should I be worried if some girls are
jealous. I liked the look of him from the moment I saw him in that
shop, why shouldn't I go out with him?
She
searched her mind.
There wasn’t any
reason.
She smiled.
There, that was sorted.

Now she turned her
attention to the problem of Neal. According to Cassie and Donald,
he had been a normal, rather nice boy, then he became a cold and
distant loner, shunning his friends. Could this just be normal male
teen behaviour? Plus he had a very unhappy home life which can only
have been getting worse as he got older.
Or is he an Or’kan occupied?
The
thought sent a chill through her.
It might
explain how strange I feel when he looks at me.
She remembered her heart leaping as he stood next to her in
class. She mentally shook herself.
Forget
it. That’s mad.

And anyway, is he really
the guy from Inverness?
When she tried to
remember it seemed hazy. And that odd remark he´d made about
staying away from Graeme. What was that about? Well...was he
jealous? Maybe he always felt left out or something?
Maybe I can be the person to break through his
barriers; after all I’ve just been through the same thing, well,
more or less. We could be friends, couldn't we?

For some reason this thought made her breath
catch. It felt dangerous, but why? But she couldn't lose anything
by trying, could she? Right, she had a plan for both guys. She was
pleased with herself and gave Mr. Hill her full attention for the
rest of the class.

Maths class was next, and Mrs. Kane was
already going in the door by the time they arrived up from the
annexe. Gaiah scanned the room quickly. There was no sign of Neal.
Donald was in his usual place, and Graeme was sitting at his desk,
his hair flopping silkily over his eyes, his denim sleeves rolled
up showing his tanned arms. His face lit up when he saw Gaiah, but
there was no chance to talk. Mrs. Kane had decided to quiz them all
on what they had done yesterday.

Gaiah looked over at Donald and smiled but
his smile in return seemed rather strained. When the bell went for
break Donald stood up and muttered. “You two going to the
canteen?”

Gaiah had gone over her timetable with Kaley
that morning, so she answered promptly. “No, we’re on a short day
today, so we’ll be heading home.”

“
Okay.” He turned to
go.

“
Donald, what’s wrong with
you?” Renny stopped him. “Yesterday, I thought you were going to be
our new best friend, and today it’s like you can’t get away from us
fast enough.”

“
Well…it’s just
that…Cassie rang me last night, and she was upset. She said Gaiah
had turned on her, before you all left yesterday. I know you two
are like the hottest thing that has happened to this school and
all, but Cassie’s really nice and-” Gaiah interrupted.

“
Oh God, I know! I was
such a bitch yesterday, where is she? I really want to
apologize.”

“
Really?” His face
brightened. “You’ll find her in the art room, that’s down in the
annex past your economics room and just beyond the bathrooms.
They've been having an exhibition there for the week. Hey, that’s
cool, see you tomorrow.” He left with a smile on his
face.

Renny was still smiling at being described
as one of the hottest things in the school. Gaiah was acutely aware
of Graeme, still sitting in the back of the room. Now, he got up
and ambled over to her. He looked nervous, and his dark eyes were
serious as he said, “Well? Did you get my note?”

Resolution made, Gaiah didn’t hesitate.
“Yes.” She smiled up at him. “I did, and that would be great.”

A triumphant grin spread across his face and
he punched the air. “Wonderful! Let’s make it soon. We´ll chat
about it later.” His eyes were shining as he reached out a long
tanned hand and pushed some loose hair back behind her ear. Her
whole body jumped at his touch, and he smiled again.

“
See you tomorrow, Gaiah.”
His voice was low and intimate, and he walked out of the room.
Renny shook her head admiringly. “Wow! He’s some mover, isn't he?
When do you plan on meeting him?”

“
Oh, I don’t know, some
weekend? I’m not in a huge rush, it’s just nice to know he wants to
go out with me.” Gaiah knew her big grin was taking away somewhat
from her cool demeanour. “Hey, I need to go find Cassie and
apologize. I’ll only be a few minutes, do you want to come or go to
Kaley? I’m sure she’ll be outside now.”

Renny arched a plucked eyebrow. “I’m
sticking with you, Gaiah, you know that.”

They had no trouble finding the art room;
the door was decorated with full hand prints in brilliant colours,
and covered with a coat of varnish. “This is brilliant.” Gaiah held
the door open and they stood in the doorway to admire it.

“
It was Neal’s idea about
four years ago.” Cassie told them from behind a long table where
she was rearranging her display in the exhibition. Renny went to
look out the window into a small volley ball court to allow Gaiah
time to apologize.

“
Look, Cassie, I’m really
sorry for being so up myself yesterday. The truth is…I was feeling
miserable. I missed my dad, and there was too much going on. I
thought you were really nice, hoped we’d be friends, but then I
upset you with this Graeme business. So I’m sorry for biting your
head off.”

Cassie put down the painting she was holding
and came over to Gaiah. ”Don’t worry, I’m sorry too. It wasn't your
fault Graeme asked you out. I shouldn't have said anything.
Friends?”

Gaiah’s wide smile was almost an answer in
itself. “Yes! Of course. Now, can I see your work?”

Renny joined them and Cassie showed them
four beautiful pastel abstracts. Shades of light grey and pink in
swirls and waves, merged with dark silver, giving way to pale blue
and a misty white. “It’s based on a highland dawn.”

“
I love it,” said Gaiah.
“God! The art department here is really good. As far as I could see
in my old school everyone shared five tubs of acrylic paint and a
block of plasticine.”

Cassie laughed, “It’s great here, they’re
really supportive. Come and look at the rest.” She led Renny over
to admire some vibrant batiks, but Gaiah was drawn to the end of
the room by some large pieces.

”
Oooh! These are
incredible!" She drew closer, the work enthralled her. Four large
sheets of thin copper, each about two foot square, were mounted on
pieces of polished wood. They were all worked into a developing
pattern of curves and circles, undulating and intertwining and
connecting. Some areas of the sheets were polished to a glowing
sheen and others were treated so they were pitted and dark. One
thin gold line flowed around and through each piece, slowly fading
and merging into the brightest and largest portion of the polished
metal. What was it? How was it affecting her so? Her heart seemed
to fill up with…what? Recognition? Loss?

“
These are Neal’s pieces.”
Cassie’s voice cut into Gaiah’s wonder.

“
Neal?” Gaiah was stunned.
It was the last thing she would have expected from that brooding,
sullen guy. Yet, the more she looked at the work, the more she was
sure there was an awful lot to the person who had created
them.

Cassie stood admiring them too, her own
pieces forgotten. “He’s brilliant and should go to an art college.
But he won’t even discuss leaving here with the art teacher.”

Gaiah was sure there was
some connection she could make with Neal. Anyone who could create
work like these, had to have the heart and soul of an artist.
Surely
that
was
going to be their point of contact? Cassie was staying on to fix
her pieces, so Gaiah and Renny said goodbye and headed out to Kaley
who was waiting in the car.

On the way home, Kaley told them she'd
spoken to Renny’s family, and they had agreed Renny could stay for
a while. “You do need to synchronize your Earth sleep, and it’s
important for Gaiah to start on her encognation training. Alasdair
and I are shifting to Gaiana briefly this evening. I’m leaving
pizza for the two of you, and we’ll be back in time to bring you to
school.”

“
That’s cool. I can’t wait
to start learning how to 'suggest' properly.” Gaiah buzzed with a
new vitality as if yesterday’s misery and exhaustion, and even the
chat with her father, had cleared away the last of ‘London Gaiah’.
Now ‘half Gaianan Gaiah’ was a much different proposition. She
enthusiastically quizzed Renny and Kaley about Gaiana.

“
What was it like to grow
up there?”

Kaley answered this one. “Much the same as
Earth really, but with the vast difference that there is no
violence or poverty. Everyone is free to choose their own
life.”

“
That's almost
unbelievable. Of course, it's fantastic, but if everyone always has
everything, isn't it a bit boring?”

Renny jumped in. “Powers no! We still have
all the normal problems: love, relationships, work. These things
don't go any smoother at home than they do Earthways. Plus we have
always had to deal with Or’ka.”

“
God, yes–that must be
awful.” Gaiah changed the subject quickly, the last thing she
wanted was to think about was her, apparently inevitable, part in
dealing with Or’ka. “Hey, here's something else I was wondering
since our first talk. How long do Gaianans live?”

Kaley's reply amazed her. “Over a thousand
Earth years. We have all the same body workings and functions as
Earth people, but obviously at a much slower molecular rate. Our
manipulation of energy and atoms allow for a far more advanced
medical system. Though there are always things that even Gaianan
doctors can't cure.”