The Life of Jezebel Firetongue

28

Jake and I were on a boat, rocking slowly in our own little clear space while a storm brewed outside of it. I was holding onto Jake's hand, and I knew this was his boat.

I heard my name being screamed above the storm and I whirled around. It was Terence, swimming to the boat and the calm waters I knew I was creating. The storm was drowning him. He was going to die.

I ran to the side of the boat, still clutching Jake's hand. As I watched Terence swim, I realized that Jake was the only thing tethering me to the boat. But if I let go of his hand, the boat would crash, and Jake would die. Could Jake swim with me? Something told me he couldn't swim in this dream. I started searching the boat for a line, something to save Terence, something to keep him alive...

Then I jumped to my feet and found myself standing on my hotel bed, fully dressed. Terence's name was halfway out of my mouth, and I bit it back quick. Jake was watching me sleepily. "I don't want to get up yet," he moaned plaintively.

With a sigh of relief, I sank back down onto the bed. Jake rolled back over, still clutching the note Dr. Davis sent along last night. The mutant who had delivered it hadn't even shown their face. I had given to Jake because it included him, and he hadn't said a word. Jake just went to bed and fell asleep reading it over and over. Now, I considered something that could break him when this had just weakened him.

"Jake?"

"Mmmm..."

"Hey, I'm going to see Terence."

"What?" Jake sat up and glared at me. "Why?"

"I just...feel bad for dumping him so bluntly and..."

"No."

That clenched it. I stood up and started packing things into my backpack before slinging it over my shoulders. "'I'm going to see Terence' was a statement. It wasn't up for discussion."

Jake stood up and ran in front of me. "Wait. I'm sorry."

I rolled my eyes. "Thank you for giving me your blessing. Now, get packing and meet me outside of town in an hour." With that, I went to the door and yanked it open.

I looked back at Jake, who had his hurt-puppy look back on. Guilt hit me hard. He was broken enough; I didn't have to be rude to him for saying something stupid. "Sorry Jake. This is just something that I have to do. See you in an hour?"

Jake nodded hesitantly. "Yeah. See you in an hour."

I smiled. "Thanks Jake!" I called before shutting the door. I turned and trotted away, ready to search for Terence.

I found him at an art museum. Terence was sketching a modern art sculpture that looked like spaceships in a time warp. He was adding little items here and there, sketching and erasing for a perfect picture. "Terence?"

He turned and his eyes brightened. "Jez!"

I smiled and sat next to him, studying his sketch. It was featuring me in the middle of a twisted rocket ship, Jake hanging onto its tail pipe and Terence in front of it. His metaphor sketch seemed better than my metaphor dream. "Good work," I complimented him.

"Thanks. So, what are you doing here? Aren't you leaving today?"

"I..." How do I do this? This seemed like such a good idea until I got here. "I wanted to say...I'm sorry for being so spastic."

"Spastic?" Terence repeated with a smile. He turned to a new page and started doing a flawless sketch of me with the art museum background behind me. "How so?"

"First I saved you from those guys, and then we kissed, I tried to run, then I stayed, showed you that I'm a freak, and then I got angry and told you I don't love you. That's a little spastic, isn't it?"

"Well..." Terence started sketching roses all over the floor of the picture. He reached for a package of colored pencils and started filling in the roses with yellow. "It was a troubling night. After all, you were kissing me and Jake saw."

"What makes you think I care?"

"Because you're crazy for him. That's why you don't like me. You love him."

I jumped. He said it so easily; you would think he was reciting the alphabet. "That's not true! He likes me-"

"-and you have trouble reciprocating his feelings," he interrupted.

I scowled. "How do I fight back when you use your big college words?"

Terence rolled his eyes. "You know what that means. You're just afraid to reply." He finished coloring the sketch of me and turned to a new page. This one was a landscape of broken trees surrounding a fire. The fire was reaching out into the spaces between the trees. A heart was in the middle, broken and dying.

Before I knew it, I started commenting on the picture. "How do you know my heart's broken? What do you know about the way I am?"

Terence finally looked up. "Sometimes..." he whispered. "You can just hear a broken heart beating by standing near it. And then you want to mend it, with every ounce of strength you've got." Terence went back to his sketch. "You love Jake, Jez. But you don't know what to do about it now."

"What do you suppose I do about it, Dr. Love?" I snapped.

"Tell him your story. The whole thing. If he reacts well, then you know he's worth it. After that, you need to decide how you feel. I think you should give him a chance. After all, Jake's tough too, and he's understanding. He can mend a broken heart, and protect you if you fall. You would have trouble doing better. What more can you want?"

I blinked. Terence was right. Impossibly, he was absolutely right. "Thanks Terence. You're right." I reached and took his pad, turning it to the back and wrote my email on it. "We'll keep in touch. I won't be able to live without your intelligence and advice."

Terence smiled, giving me a hug. "Promise to email me?"

"Pinky promise," I replied.

"Wow, you sure? That's some legit stuff."

"Of course." I turned and started to leave, before turning back around at the door. "Talk to you later."

I loved every syllable of that phrase.