Telesa - The Covenant Keeper (39 page)

I was exhausted. My every pore cried for sleep. But it was a long time coming. I lay in bed staring at the ceiling but all I could see was flames. As a factory tank burned. What had I become?

* * * *

School looked exactly the same as when I had left it. I parked under the mango tree by the tennis courts, remembering with a thrill the day Daniel had first kissed me on the forehead underneath its rippling shade.
Focus Leila. Get with it. You’re not here for Daniel. He’s not for you. He’s not for you.
It was my mantra. Maybe if I said it enough, my heart would believe it?

I was concentrating so hard on my shaky resolve that I almost missed it when Maleko called out to me. “Whoa hey Leila, is that you? Wait up!”

I half turned as the exuberant boy ran up behind me. Taking one long look and then coming to an abrupt halt with a look of uncomfortable awe on his face. He whistled long and low. “Damn girl what did you do?”

Confused, I shook my head. “What do you mean?”

He looked searchingly at me again before a smile I had never seen directed at me before lit up his eyes. Appreciative eyes. That raked me up and down. “Leila, you are looking good. Your long break must have done something to you. Where have you been?”

I shrugged and kept walking. “Sorry gotta run Maleko, the bell’s gonna go and I have to check in with Mr Raymonds before I can go to class. We’ll talk later?”

Maleko was acting very un-Maleko–like, and I wanted to get away from him as quickly as possible. I left him standing there, still gazing after me with that admiring look in his eyes. “I’ll be waiting Leila!”

Shaking my head, I rushed to catch the Principal with the note from Nafanua justifying my long absence. Again Mr Raymond didn’t seem to be too concerned with disappearing and reappearing students. More tired sighs and harrumphs. A reminder to keep out of trouble, stay off hard labor, don’t skip class. It was all over in less than five minutes and I was safe to get to my first period. Geography.
Daniel, where are you?

Mrs Jasmine had begun her droning lecture on the weather conditions in the Australian outback when I slipped into the classroom, finding a seat beside Sinalei. I felt him before I saw him, sensed his presence at the other side of the row. I tried to resist looking at him but within minutes I had turned. Our eyes met and caught each other captive. My breath was an indrawn hope. His eyes were unreadable. He didn’t smile. He didn’t frown. He just looked at me. What were my eyes saying I wondered? Were they telling him how much I loved him? How much I longed to reach out and entwine my fingers with his?

After class, we met halfway in the hall, an invisible barrier between us.

“Leila.”

“Daniel.”

He spoke with supreme politeness. “How are you?”

“Fine. Thanks.”

“So you’re back.”

“Yeah. Back to school.”

“For how long?”

“Huh?”

“How long? How long are you back for? Don’t you head back home to the States soon?”

“No.” I swallowed and nervously pushed my hair off the side of my face. “Plans have changed. I’m sticking around for a while. Probably a long while.”

No
, I wanted to scream,
I can’t ever go back home
.
I’m a freak remember
?
I’ll lose my temper one day and blow up my school or something, and a team of mad scientists from The X files will swoop down and lock me away forever
.
No, I’m stuck here forever
. Those are all the things I wanted to say. But didn’t.

“Danny, you’ll be late for our practice. I’m waiting babe.” It was Mele. Slipping her hand into his, fingers curling into the empty spaces that had once belonged to mine. I was stunned. Daniel didn’t pull away from her. He didn’t let go of her hand. He smiled at her. A half smile that had once quickened my heart rate and set my world alight.

I felt sick. Empty. Mele was pulling on Daniel’s hand and he was turning to follow her. “Good to see you’re well, Leila. See you around.” They walked away while I tried to pick up the shattered pieces of my heart that lay like a million glass fragments on the ground all around me. Catching the cruel sunlight, blinding me, burning me raw.
No
, I whispered to myself,
no burning, Leila, no burning.
I wanted to run back to the jeep, I wanted nothing more than to leave school immediately and get as far away as possible from the reality that confronted me. Daniel and Mele. Mele and Daniel.

I walked in the opposite direction, wanting to get as far away as possible from the encounter. But there was no privacy to be found. Simone caught me. And his eyes lit up with sincere pleasure. “Leila! I wasn’t sure whether or not to believe it. Maleko said you were back. You’ve been gone for ages. We thought maybe you’d gone back to the States early …” his voice died away as the same look of surprised awe as Maleko’s crossed his face. Trust Simone to be direct though. He put one hand on his hip and his tone demanded truth. “Leila, what in hell have you done to yourself girl?”

I was nonplussed, my hurt at seeing Daniel and Mele momentarily forgotten, brushed to the back of my mind. “Why do people keep asking me that? Whaddya mean? I haven’t done anything. I’m still me. Same hairstyle, same face, same me.”

Simone shook his head. “Nope. That’s crap. Leila, you were okay-looking before, but now, you are something else entirely. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but you’re different. Something about you is different. What did you do?”

In reply I just rolled my eyes and then pulled him over to sit with me in a corner of the classroom. I knew Simone well enough to know that he wouldn’t let the issue go and the only way to distract him would be to really give him something to look at. I inched up my uniform skirt and showed him my tattoo. “You’re right. There is something different. I got a
malu
done. That’s one of the reasons I was out of school for so long.”

His squeal of excitement had heads turning our way. “OHMIGOSH girlfriend, no way! No freakin way!”

We talked and it felt great to be catching up with teenagers in the ‘real world.’ Where things like lightning strikers and fire summoners had no sway. Where I could feel, for a brief while, like a regular person.

School. Although everything seemed the same, some things were different. The school was caught up with preparing for its annual culture night. Every student was assigned to one of four ‘houses’ – Vaea, Stevenson, Williams, and Calliope. Each house had to present an assortment of traditional skits and dances. Everyone was busy with learning songs that accompanied the skits that were all based on early myths, and periods were shortened every day so that there was time for the practices. Ms Sivani assigned me to be in Williams House. I was glad because that was the same as Simone. But when we got to the sweeping
tamaligi
tree where the practice was being held, I wasn’t glad anymore. Because a familiar figure caught my eye. Daniel stood at the front of the seated group of about eighty students. He held a guitar loosely in his hand. My heart sank even further when I saw Mele in the group. Laughing delightedly with her friends. I groaned. Simone gave me a sideways glance.

“Problem, Leila?” the usual teasing tone was missing. So I was more honest than I usually was with him.

“I don’t want to be in the same house as those two. I hate seeing them together. I hate it.” I spoke vehemently, fists clenched.

Simone’s eyebrow raised in question. “But Leila, you’re the one who dumped him. Everyone knows you didn’t want him.”

My reply was agonized, “No! I did not dump him. And I do … I do …” My words trailed and I took a huge breath to steady my emotions. Because although I did want Daniel more than breath, more than fire wanted oxygen, I couldn’t. I couldn’t want him. I couldn’t be near him. And if that meant seeing him with Mele, than that was as it should be. I turned a smile on Simone. “Oh, never mind. You’re right. Me and Daniel were a passing moment. And it’s just silly for me to get bothered if he’s moved on with Mele.”

Simone now raised both eyebrows questioningly. “Moved on with Mele? Where did you get that from ? She wishes.”

Simone was interrupted by the lead teacher calling everyone to sit. Practice needed to start and our conversation was forgotten. A senior student led the singing practice. Samoan group singing is like nothing else in the world. Everyone follows the commands of the
faipese
, the conductor, who is a complete comedian. Ours was a slight sixth former who walked with a limp. He used his whole body to lead the songs, calling for the group to clap out intricate beats in time with the music, dancing, and pirouetting as we sang. It was an exhilarating experience to be part of the music. Everyone swayed in unison, clapped and laughed together at the right moments. I had never felt so caught in oneness. Even though I didn’t know the words, it made no difference. After the singing, the girls took to the field in the sun to dance. I sat back with the rest of the boys, excused for today. The dance was exquisite to watch as their hands moved through the air, telling a story. It wasn’t difficult to pick out who the lead dancer was. Mele’s grace was unmistakable as she danced in the front line. I sighed, even an idiot like me could see what a natural dancer she was. No wonder Daniel was with her now. I looked over where he stood with the other prefects in the shade. He was looking at me. Again our eyes caught, again sadness and longing wracked me. Resolutely, I turned my eyes back to the dance.
Focus, Leila, focus.

When the dance ended, the boys moved on to the field, taking their shirts off as they went.

Lined up in rows, sun glinted on brown skin and muscle. And, at their lead, was Daniel. The familiar tattoo that I had once felt under my fingers, rippled as he led the boys in a slap dance. I was awestruck. No European dance routine could compare to the amazing sight of forty bronzed Polynesian ‘warriors’ pouring fire and passion into their war dance.

Beside my ear, Simone laughed. “Beautiful aren’t they?”

The dance ended with a roar as the lines charged forward and the boys flourished in a final challenging stance before returning to the shade, sweaty and laughing. Everyone except Daniel. He walked to pick up the guitar leaning against the tree, returning to sit on a wooden chair in front of us.
What was this
? Simone leaned over to answer my unspoken question.

“The house item ends with a duet number. Daniel’s singing about the legend of Sina and the dolphin warrior.” Knowing I had no clue what that was about, he continued, “According to legend, Sina was the daughter of a high chief from the coastal village of Nu’umanu. Her beauty and gift for dancing the
siva
was legendary and many warriors came from faraway islands to try for her hand in marriage. But she fell in love with a Tongan warrior named Vaea, which angered her father big time. There was a war, lots of killing, and Sina was taken captive by her own people and out to sea on a canoe to get her away from Vaea. He swam out to sea to try to be with her and turned into a silver dolphin that swam alongside the boat. And she was heartbroken and leapt into the ocean to be with him, changing into sea foam, forever dancing on the waves. Legend tells that every full moon, Sina and Vaea are changed back into human form for one night only and he sings to her on a golden shore in the moonlight while she dances.”

“That’s so beautifully sad.” I exclaimed.

Simone rolled his eyes. “I guess so, but so unrealistic, like most legends. Because you just know what they’re
really
getting up to one night a month on a moonlit beach – singing and dancing, my ass!”

I punched him lightly on the shoulder, “Simone! Keep the legend clean thank you very much.” Our banter was cut short, however, as the teachers called for silence so that Daniel could begin. Simone whispered in my ear.

“He’s going to sing for our House item while one girl dances.”

I knew the answer but I couldn’t stop the question. “Who?”

Simone shrugged. “They haven’t picked a girl yet, but of course it will be Mele. She’s always the
taupou,
the lead dancer every year.”

The whispered conversation stilled as Daniel began to play. A sliver of hurt spliced through me. He had never mentioned to me that he played the guitar. But then all thought fled as he began to sing. The words were Samoan, the melody unknown, but the song heartbreakingly familiar. The whole field hushed as he sang. Of heartache. He had loved. And lost. And the world had emptied of color and meaning. When the song ended, the silence ached with sadness, bittersweet. Then applause rang out, prompting a half smile from Daniel as he stood to walk back to the side.

Everyone clapped, except for me. I was stunned. “Simone, I didn’t know he could sing like that.”

Simone threw me a sly glance, “Yeah he’s a dream isn’t he? Too bad you won’t get to see what it feels like to have him sing you a love song ay? Seeing as how you kicked him to the curb.”

I pretended to ignore him as we walked back across the field towards the classroom. But Simone was not fazed as he continued, “Yeah, Daniel’s the best musician in the school, he writes a lot of his own songs. But this year is the first time we’re going to use one of them for a solo like that. Usually the
taupou
dances while the whole house sings, but Ms Sivani has us going for a more modern, artistic feel this year. Gotta admit, it should look really impressive when Daniel sings to the
taupou
” he gave me one of his devious grins, “Mele will LOVE it when he sings to her, a dream come true for her ay?”

A grimace was my only answer. The thought of Daniel singing while Mele did her super-duper graceful number in front of him had the heat surging and all I wanted was fire to burn the picture away, not good! I pulled myself together as I gathered my things and headed to the jeep. Simone was staying for netball practice and didn’t need a lift, but I did promise to pick him up in the morning.

“I will never forgive you if you don’t give me a ride in your Wrangler, Leila, absolutely refuse to be your friend ever again” was his stern threat as he farewelled me. I laughed. And then stopped. There were four boys standing beside my car. My pulse quickened and my steps slowed. Daniel? But it wasn’t him. Instead, it was Maleko’s eager grin that welcomed me, he and Sam – the hulking ex-prisoner – were waiting for me with another two boys from the rugby team.