The Exception

Chapter 6

Crystal stood up from the base of the large tree where she was sitting, and started to walk towards James's house. She ducked under large branches and pushed smaller ones out of the way. Finally, she made it to his front door.

She stepped inside the house, still wondering why her watch wasn't working. James was still sitting on the couch.

"Hey," James said, as he saw Crystal enter.

Crystal ignored him. She was too focused on her watch. She pressed the button again, seeing if it would work now.

"What did you have to go do?" James asked.

Still nothing.

"Nothing. Just looking around, I guess," she said, her focus on continuously pressing the button on her watch. She pressed it harder and harder, tension building up inside her.

"You guess?" James asked.

"Yeah, sure. Whatever." Crystal impatiently said as she walked towards her room. She stepped inside, and immediately shut the door, so James couldn't get in. She didn't want to have to deal with any more questions.

<Why isn't it working?!> she thought, irritated at the fact that she didn't know why. <It's not broken, but it's not working on James! I just don't get it.>

She lied there a while, defeated. Her thoughts raced as she wondered why it wasn't working. She thought of it all as she wondered why James was so special.

<Did he build a force field around himself? Is he just a heartless robot who can't love? Is he doing this just to annoy me?>

She decided to stop thinking about it as she walked into the living room and angrily plopped down on the couch.

James laughed.

"What?" Crystal snapped.

"Nothing," James said, smiling.

"Tell me!" Crystal said, anger and impatience rising in her.

"It's just that, whatever you're doing, you're getting so frustrated about it, and it's funny to me," James said.

"Oh, whatever," Crystal said, a disgusted look on her face.

"What are you doing, that's making you so frustrated?" James asked.

"I told you. Nothing." Crystal snapped.

They say there for a while in silence, with nothing to say to each other.

After a while, James said, "I like your necklace," he said, pointing to the heart shaped necklace around her neck. The center was a bold red, with silver around it, designed to look like lace.

Crystal didn't say anything, still a little annoyed with him.

"Where'd you get it?" he asked.

Crystal decided to stop holding a grudge and said, "Well, I don't know. I've had it for as long as I can remember. Maybe my parents gave it to me, but I don't know. I just don't remember."

"What happened to them?" James asked.

"They died in a car crash," Crystal replied.

"Oh, I'm sorry," James said.

"It's fine," she said. "I don't remember them, or the car crash. I was in that car when it crashed, and I got a huge concussion, and couldn't remember anything before that."

"Not a single thing?" James asked.

"Nope," Crystal said. "Well, I remember all the things I've learned, I guess. Like all my knowledge is still there, I just don't know where I got it from."

"That's horrible!" he said. "What's the earliest thing you remember, then?"

"Well, it was right after the car crash. I was fifteen. I woke up in someone's house. Apparently, it was my parents' friend. He was really nice. He showed me where to go to get to my house and was really helpful," Crystal said. "But there was this one boy in the house..." she trailed off. "He was staring at me, like I was some sort of freak! He was my parents' friend's son. He just wouldn't stop staring at me. Like he just couldn't believe it. Anyway, I don't know why, but that part just sticks out in my memory for some reason."

"Oh," James said.

"I don't know why that part sticks out so much. It's no big deal. I doubt he even remembers me now," Crystal said.

"You never know. He might. I mean, if he really thought you were a freak, he'd remember you," James said.

"Yeah I guess," she said. "It makes me upset that I can't remember anything, but besides my parents, I doubt there's anything worth remembering."

"Don't say that!" James said. "Maybe you went on some great trips, met some great friends, had a few relationships, learned amazing things, seen some stranger things, I mean, I don't know, but maybe the first fifteen years of your life held some of your best memories!"

"Yeah, I guess," Crystal said.

"So, what were you outside doing?" James teased.

"James, seriously, stop." she said, standing up and walking to the kitchen.

"I've noticed that when you get mad you walk away," James said, following her into the kitchen. "What's making you so mad? I mean, besides me?"

"James, I'm not kidding, stop. It's annoying," Crystal said, walking behind the kitchen table.

"Just tell me," James said.

"Nothing," she said.

"Seriously what?" James said, trying to be annoying.

"I said, nothing," Crystal said, the anger rising within her. She glared at him as a warning to stop.

"Can't you just tell me what you were doing?" James said.

"NOTHING!" Crystal snapped, throwing her arms down in frustration. As she threw her arms down, she felt a tingly feeling in her hands, like something rushing through her. She looked over to see the chairs next to the table flipping over, with a crash on the ground, only one remaining up. Some of the pans of the counter moved an inch or so. A gust of wind spun around her and then pushed away from her in all directions. James felt some wind go through his hair as it blew towards him. Then everything stood still. The world around her seemed to freeze as Crystal tried to believe what her eyes just saw. She looked over at James. His eyes had widened, and his mouth had slightly opened. They stared at each other for a while, not saying anything. Eventually, Crystal said,

"Was that me?"