Crazy Love

Chapter Six: Something Weird This Way Comes

Chapter Six: Something Weird This Way Comes

By the time the last bell rings, I’m ready to just go home. I didn’t have anymore creepy encounters, but everyone was staring. Well, the guys were. Staring, and smiling, and smacking lips. I don’t need this, and I couldn’t figure out what the hell everyone’s [problems were.

After school me and Lily decide to go get a smoothie and head over to the park across the street from the school. It’s blistering outside, unusual weather for early fall, and the heat on my face as I lay on one of the play-things warms the chill from every sip of smoothie. I like the peace, the quiet, and I send out a silent prayer to mother nature for letting me have this moment.

“Did you notice anything really weird today?” Lily’s voice is like daggers that stab through my peaceful bubble.

“You’re going to have to be more specific.” I mumble, opening my eyes to look at her while I use my hand to shield the glare of the sun.

“Like…just all the guys. I mean, Grady—and then Jake!” She’s gesturing frantically with her hands and little drops of her smoothie fly through the air.

And then the worst possible thing that could happen right then, did.

The world went in slow motion as the class flirt, Kyle Morrison—and Lily’s on again off again boy—walks up to us. We’d passed him a little while ago while walking to our spot, and Lily’s left eyebrow had gone up and she had put a little more sway in her walk. Showing him what he was missing.

But now, again like in slow motion, he’s headed toward us. The way he’s leaning back a little, his mouth tilted to the side—it’s the Kyle face. It’s the face that gets Lily back into his grip, and the face that all the other non-Lily’s fall for. And he was directing it at me. I can see silent chaos begin to develop as he slides in on the bench next to me, his hip touching mine and his arm sliding playfully across my shoulders.

“Hey, Violet.” He says smoothly. “You look absolutely gorgeous today.” He hitches his index finger inside the sleeve of my loose sky blue crop top. “I think blue is your color.”

Lily’s mouth is agape. I try to shrug off his arm and slide away. “I don’t know what your playing at Kyle, but this is a new level on the douche scale. Leave.” I tell him.

His arm gets tighter on my shoulders and I can feel him gripping my shoulder like a stress ball. Kyle chuckles, leaning closer and letting his lips graze over my cheek. “Oh, baby I can show you something else that will be on a whole new level.”

Lily’s mouth is no longer wide open, but set in a thin hard line, her eyes like slits, making her look more like an angry cat than I ever knew she could. I’m desperate to show her this is all him, so I brace my arm against his chest and push him away again.

“Stop. Now!” Kyle grips my shoulder tighter, and I can see the little half-moon imprints his nails are making on my arm. “I’m serious! Lily, please do something.” Before I can even get the words out of my mouth, Kyle is suddenly drenched in icy mango sweetness, Lily’s now empty Styrofoam smoothie cup over turned in her grip above his head.

“What the hell!” Kyle exclaims, and I use the chance to put some distance between us. I move to stand near Lily, whose eyes are still a pool of ice cold fury directed wholly at Kyle. But he doesn’t even notice her. As he finishes sputtering curses and trying to wipe the smoothie off his overpriced black Abercrombie t-shirt, his gaze meets mine and mine alone—like the girl who just poured a smoothie over his head didn’t even exist.

“I know you want me, Violet. And I want you, so so bad—” I make a face and move further away as he gets closer “—And mark my words, Vi. I will have you. No one else.” His face widens with another beaming white toothed smile, except instead of smug this one is desperate—and threatening.

“Let’s leave.” I tug on Lily’s arm. “Now, please!”

She nods, still not saying anything, and grabs her bag and keys from the table.

A couple minutes later as we ride in Lily’s car to my house, she’s still silent.

“Lily, you know that wasn’t me, right? I don’t know what’s up with him, but you have to believe I’d never do anything like that to you!” I tell her, desperate.

Her facial expression softens and she glances at me sideways, her hands no longer a death grip on the wheel. “I know, Vi. And I know he’s a douche bag but that…stung.” Her voice almost breaks on the last word.” Before I can say anything she continues. “And I know it’s not just me anymore. Something weird is going on. Like, twilight zone weird.”

“Yeah…” I trail off, my mind buzzing.

 ****

A week later, Home was now my haven, which it rarely was, especially after my dad got his promotion, my mom got a raise and my sister got a boyfriend. Tyler sits on the floor of my bedroom that Monday night, pushing the buttons on my graphing calculator like it’s a game. “Winning!” He squeals.

“Yay!” I smile back, then focus my attention back on my history homework. My phone suddenly buzzes from where it sits on my nightstand. I grba it and flip it open. On a little digital screen, my phone reads something that can’t possibly be true. I have 20 unread messages and about 15 voicemails.  Most of them were numbers that didn’t have an ID from my contacts

 All the voicemails had a similar tone. Not a good thing.

“Hey, Violet, this is Link from geography….I was wondering…..”

“Well, Hello Miss Eden (insert jock-like jeering in the background) you looked excellent today…I was thinking me and you…..”

“Hi. This is Marc. From uh, poetry club. I, um, wrote something for you…..your hair in the moonlight like the light of the plasmaverse….”

I hit end and took out the battery from my phone after listening to that last one. This was crazy, and my head felt like it was going to explode. This had to be a practical joke, or something, right? Some big prank on me that the schools population of guys were in on…..?

 But something told me that wasnt it. Something wierd was going on, and no matter how much I wanted to deny it, it'd been happening ever since the scene with Damina in the clinic a week ago. 

 I sat on my bed, twiddling my phone in my hand and chewing on my lip. My head was a highway of sound, paranoia and questions buzzing through, making it impossible for me to form a straight thought. 

Get through the tomorrow, Violet. Just start with that.

I’m walking through the halls a couple days later, ignoring the unsettling male staring. Though the hairs on the back of my neck tingle, I have to hold it together if I’m going to figure this thing out. Lily is somewhere else, so now its only me on my own as I nearly run into Quinn in the middle of the hallway. The staring no longer matters as he stutters out the beginning of an apology just before he raises his head and his eyes meet mine. He turns away but before he can get to far, my mouth blurts, “It wasn’t a choice.”

He stops. His back is to me, and for several agonizing seconds he doesn’t say a word. Then, slowly, he turns around. And he looks me in the eye. “What?”

I take a deep breath and shift my binders to my other arm. I meet his gaze head on, knowing I have to explain myself. “At the party…uh, that night. You told me to tell you that the choice I made was a mistake.” I pause. “But I didn’t make a choice. I may have climbed into Ian’s car that night, but I didn’t choose him.” I look at the ground. “I…don’t want to get back together with him. I just…” Suddenly I feel like an idiot. Babbling and mumbling about how even though I climbed into my ex’s truck that night, I don’t want to be with him. “I don’t know what I want.”

I fight tears of frustration at myself and when I look back up and meet his gaze his whole expression has softened. Hesitantly, he reaches a hand out and his fingers barely caress my face when the bell rings, and shocks us both back into reality. Whatever world of soap opera honesty we had just entered, it was gone. And I don’t think I would see it again.

Quinn retracted his hand at the sound and drew in on himself. With one more look, he nodded. And then turned and walked away.

I guess that was the most I could ask for.