The Hybrid (22 page)

“Show yourself, Airi! I know it’s you!” Tru shouted
back as she sat in the damp grass. She knew she must
have looked like a crazy person, shouting and yelling at a
bunch of trees, but she didn’t care.

The voice remained silent. She knew it had to be Airi.
No one else knew about Tru and Edyn’s encounters. But
as Tru thought about it, she realized that the voice hadn’t
quite sounded like Airi. The voice sounded like an older
woman, someone angry and desperate to be heard.

Tru waited on the ground a few more minutes before
standing up. She had to make sure the voice was gone.
When she felt it was safe again, she stood up and brushed
off her jeans. Carefully, Tru looked at the path that led to
the meadow, and then turned to glance back at the house
behind her.

“Wait a second,” Tru said to herself aloud. “How did
this woman know I was coming? She’s been watching me
the entire time. So, he has body guards now?”

Tru took one last look at the path that disappeared just
a few feet past the line of trees, and then turned around
and walked slowly toward the house. As she put her hand
on the door, she remembered something that the woman
had said. “‘Every second you spend with him makes him
weaker,’” she repeated aloud.

What does she mean by that?
Tru thought.
How could
he be getting weaker? I haven’t seen him in almost a
week!

The warm air from inside the house enveloped her
body as she pushed open the glass door. Until that moment, Tru hadn’t realized how truly cold it had been outside. She wondered why it didn’t seem to affect her at all.

“Grandpa?” Tru asked when she entered the garage,
moments after closing the sliding door behind her.
“Yes?” he said, looking up from his workbench against
the far wall of the two-car garage.
“Is it alright if I make dinner tonight?”
“That sounds wonderful.” He looked back down at the
small clock he was tinkering with. “What are we having?”
As Tru turned and headed for the door, she glanced
over her shoulder at her grandfather. “It’s a surprise.”
He chuckled quietly, and then smiled up at his granddaughter. “Have fun.”
Tru left the garage silently, and then made her way
toward the kitchen. Once there, she hurriedly got to work,
pulling pots and pans out of cupboards and food out of
the refrigerator. And about thirty-five minutes ⎯ and a
surprisingly
clean
kitchen ⎯
later,
Maggie
walked
through the front door.
“Something smells delicious!” she said as she walked
into the warm kitchen. “Who did all this?” She looked at
the table full of food as she hung her purse on the coat
rack by the door, Ben quietly walking behind her.
“Trudy asked me if it would be okay if she made dinner
tonight. I thought it was a good idea,” he said. Tru hated
the nickname, but she ignored it this time.
“Have a seat,” Tru spoke as she piled the dirty pots and
pans into the empty sink. “I hope you like Baked Ziti.” It
was her best dish⎯ the only thing she could make without burning ⎯ and vegetarian, a dinner she could actually
enjoy for once.
Tru waited for her grandparents to sit in their seats
before she dished up each plate: baked ziti, a roll, and
some mashed potatoes. When each plate was full, Tru
took her own seat, and watched Maggie and Ben carefully.
“Wow,” Maggie said when she took the first bite. “It’s
really wonderful, Tru. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Tru smiled, before sliding a bite of
food into her own mouth.
The rest of the evening was filled with casual small
talk,
laughter,
and
the
sound
of porcelain and silver
clanking together. Maggie shared that she had run into an
old friend at the store ⎯ the reason for her being gone
longer than she had planned. Grandpa Ben explained to
his wife why the sink in the bathroom had been clogging
up lately, and that he would fix it in the morning. And
when everyone was finishing up, Tru rose from her seat,
and began clearing the table, carrying the dishes over to
the counter above the dishwasher.

“I’m sure, sweetheart.” Her grandmother took the dish
from her hand. “You made the dinner, so your grandfather and I will clean up.”

“You’re welcome.” Maggie patted her on the shoulder,
smiling, and then turned towards the sink full of dirty
dishes.

Tru quietly left the kitchen, hearing the faucet flick on,
and then made her way across the hall to her bedroom.
After gently closing the door behind her, she turned off
the light, and lay down against her warm mattress.

“Good morning, Grandma,” Tru said as she opened her
bedroom door the next morning. She skipped lightly past
her grandmother, who sat at her usual spot at the kitchen
table with a magazine in one hand, and a pair of shiny
silver scissors in the other.

“Good morning,” her grandmother replied, cutting into
the magazine page as Tru grabbed a plastic-wrapped muffin out of the breadbox on the counter. Tru turned toward
her, catching a glimpse of a smile on her face, as she continued to clip coupons.

Tru looked down at the pair of skinny jeans she was
wearing as she casually tugged at the light blue, baby doll
top she had paired them with. It had taken her nearly an
hour to find the right thing to wear, but she knew it was
worth it. She didn’t want Declan to find any reason to
change his mind.

“This old thing? I just threw on something clean.” Tru
turned toward the entryway front door, and as she walked
to the small coat hanger beside the front door, she could
hear the faint sounds of her grandmother giggling.

“Have a nice day!” the woman called out as Tru threw
her backpack over her shoulder and opened the door. She
couldn’t help but giggle under her breath as she walked
out onto to the porch and down the pathway to the sidewalk. She knew Maggie knew she had other clean clothes,
ones that Tru would have normally worn, but Tru didn’t
care.

The walk to school was the same as it always was
⎯
boring, lonely, and silent⎯ but it was good to get out into
the fresh air. Tru couldn’t help but take a quick glance at
the tall pine trees that lined the street to her left. They
towered over her, beckoning her to enter them. But as she
slowly halted to a stop, she shuddered, looking away as
she shook her head furiously.

When she arrived at school a few short minutes later,
she waited on the large set of cement steps leading up to
the main hallway. She waited for about fifteen minutes,
hoping she would catch Declan on his way to his first
class, but there was no sign of him. But the first bell still
hadn’t rung yet.

Maybe he’s the type of person who shows up right before the bell rings,
Tru thought as she scanned the front
of the school.

Her body whipped around at the sound of her name,
instantly feeling slightly dizzy. She could see Bethany
running toward her in her strappy wedged heels from
across the street. Danielle and Jackie were following close
behind her, struggling to keep up in their matching wedges.

“Oh, hi,” Tru replied, slightly flustered as she waved at
the three of them. “What’s up?”
“Declan told me to tell you that he has to cancel your
date tonight,” Bethany said, slowing down as she grew
closer to where Tru was standing. She focused her attention at the ground, avoiding Tru’s eyes even as she stood
less than two feet away from her. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Tru knew she was lying to herself. She
knew it wasn’t okay. But there really wasn’t anything she
could do about it now. “But why didn’t he just tell me
himself? I gave him my number yesterday.” Tru quickly
glanced around the front of the campus again. “Where is
he?”
“He’s with our dad today.” Bethany finally looked back
up at Tru. Her timid expression had changed immediately
to an annoyed look. “They do this all the time. Declan
calls it ‘male bonding.’ Dad calls it a ‘sick day.’ Dad randomly comes over and picks him up and the two of them
head off. I never know what they are really doing when
they leave, but whatever. It’s annoying, and there’s nothing I can do about it.”
“Oh,” Tru replied. Her voice was barely audible. The
truth was, she was a little disappointed, and she didn’t
really want Bethany to see how hurt she really was. “It’s
okay.” Listening to Bethany ramble on about the subject
made Tru want to walk away from her. But she resisted
the urge. Instead, the two girls walked up the damp stairs
together, parting ways in the narrow hallway when the
bell finally echoed through the locker-covered walls.
The school day went by slowly. Every class seemed like
they were never going end. Sitting through the hour of
English was the worst part of the day. Tru ⎯ as well of
the rest of the class⎯ was asked to jot down notes on a
Shakespearean play about people who were bad at taking
notes.
After finding out her date with Declan had been cancelled, Tru’s day dragged on and on, like watching thick,
sticky mud slowly running down the side of a large mountain. She had one thing to look forward to all day, and
now that it had been taken from her⎯ like a carpet being
pulled from under her feet⎯ she felt lost.
When the final bell rang, and school was officially over
for the day, Tru casually meandered out of the classroom,
pushing through small groups of students as they lingered behind. Once she made it out into the studentfilled, red and white hallway, Bethany, who had been
waiting by the classroom door, typing rapidly into her
open cell phone, quickly accompanied her.
“Declan texted me during class.” She shook her small,
pink, bedazzled phone in the air. “Here,” she said as she
shoved it in Tru’s direction.
“Tell Tru I’ll see her tomorrow,” Tru read aloud after
grabbing the phone from her. She looked up at Bethany
as she passed it back to her. “So he’s coming to the party?” She could feel the ghost of a smile beginning to appear on her face.
“Looks like it.” Bethany gracefully took the phone back
and quickly threw an arm over Tru’s delicate shoulder.
“Gosh. You must have made a really good impression on
him. You’ve been here about a week, known Declan for a
day, and he’s already making plans to see you! That does
suck about tonight though.”

The two girls pushed and shoved their way down the
hallway and to the main entrance located toward the
middle of the building. And when they were outside, in
the refreshingly cold air, Tru could see Jackie and Danielle waiting on the bottom step, both with a cellphone in
their hands.

Tru hurriedly followed behind the three girls, trying to
keep up with their long, trot-like strides. But Tru hardly
seemed bothered by it. The entire way down the sidewalk,
she kept her mind busy, thinking about the text she had
read. She hadn’t even realized until they had reached the
corner of their street, that Jackie and Danielle had disappeared at some point, and that she and Bethany had been
walking in
complete silence.
Then
suddenly,
Bethany
stopped.

“Tru,” Bethany said, grabbing the girl’s arm, causing
her to turn and face her. “I need to warn you about Declan.” She looked Tru straight in the eyes. Her face was
expressionless.

“Warn me? About what?” Tru wanted to laugh. And
she was almost positive Bethany could tell, but she hurriedly brushed away her skeptical expression, and cleared
her throat.

“Well, when Declan likes someone,” Bethany paused,
putting both hands on Tru’s shoulders, “he can be a little
forward.” She laughed a little as she spoke.

“What do you mean?” Tru asked. She could feel her
eyebrows coming together in the center of her forehead.
She was confused. Declan hadn’t struck her as the kind of
person that would easily rush into things. He seemed
more like the kind of person who would sit back and
watch other people go crazy over the little things. He
seemed like the kind of person who would let things happen the way they were meant to. Especially since he had
acted so nervous when he tried asking her on their date.

“He moves fast.
Really
fast.” She released Tru’s shoulders and they continued to walk down the street, both
staring blankly at the ground. Tru could sense that Bethany felt awkward talking about her brother’s personal life,
making Tru feel uncomfortable that she was listening to
his secrets being revealed. “When he likes a girl, he really
let’s that girl know it, in more ways than one.”

“Oh,” Tru replied. “I understand.” She thought she
knew what Bethany meant, but she couldn’t be totally
sure, and she knew she couldn’t ask.

“Can I ask you a question?” Bethany turned to face her,
but continued to walk in a straight line. It was amazing
how skillfully she walked in her heels. It was like she was
walking
on
her
own
personal
catwalk
made
of
fluffy
clouds that prevented her from falling. She seemed to
gracefully glide on the air.

Tru stopped dead in her tracks, as Bethany looked at
her. For a moment, Bethany continued to stroll down the
sidewalk, hoping Tru would eventually come out of her
shocked state to join her side once more. And when Tru
remained motionless, she stopped.

“Yes,” Tru lied. She looked down at the ground, wishing Bethany wouldn’t be able to see through her, as she
ran to catch up to her.

“Really?” Bethany looked shocked. “I never would have
guessed. You look so ⎯” she paused, trying to find the
right word, “
innocent
.”