HEART OF ICE

CHAPTER 17

The walk to school was a tense one. I was drowsy, confused, and admittedly a little moody. From the outside, I probably just seemed like a pretty average teenager on the second day of school. If only my life were that simple. I wasn't talking very much. Moe wasn't either. He walked along beside me, holding his bike on the outside of our group. He hadn't felt right about riding his while my own bike was down for repairs. There was also the fact that Alejandra was walking with us that morning. Moe wasn't about to miss out on time spent near her.

I glanced at Alejandra occasionally as we made our way steadily up Melody Lane. Gone were her warrior's tunic and pads of thin armor. She'd replaced them with dark, denim jeans, casual, maroon-colored boots, and a dark-green sweater under a soft, trendy-looking black coat. She was easily the coolest-looking person in the group. Her gaze was fixed forward on the cold sidewalk stretching ahead of us. Her body was moving along beside me, but her thoughts were far away. I imagined she still spent a lot of time thinking about her father. I did the same after my parents disappeared. Now, I could barely remember their faces.

A strange and surprising question suddenly appeared in my mind. It made my pulse quicken for a moment. It seemed silly. It didn't even make sense. There was no way it was possible. But what if...Were those my parents in the airport?

"Christopher," Alejandra suddenly exclaimed. "What are you doing?"

I blinked, my attention snapping back to the reality around me. I was alone on the sidewalk. I spun around to look for the group who were on the other side of the intersection. I'd crossed the street like a zombie, my brain too lost in itself to even have bothered to check for cars. Orion shook his head. The dwarves had been walking behind Moe, Alejandra, and me. "Well, thank goodness there weren't any cars," he said.

"Sorry. I guess I'm more tired than I thought," I said as I watched the others cross the street.

Orion looked at me with a curious expression. He could tell that wasn't entirely true. "Apparently."

"Are you going to be okay," Alejandra asked.

"I certainly hope so. It's just going to be a very long day, I think."

"Well, at least there's no weird vans chasing you this morning," Moe said brightly.

"You're not at school yet," Orion said, looking around suddenly as we continued up the block.

That wasn't the last time that day the black vans would be brought up.

The first bell of the school day rang loudly up and down the the crowded hallways. Battling tides of conversations coursing between a concert of some locker doors opening and other being slammed shut were barely interrupted by the shrill ringing sound above everyone's heads. Teachers already at their classrooms were standing in the doorways greeting passing students then loudly warning others about one obnoxious behavior or another.

I did my best to ignore the noisy scene around me as I arrived at my locker. I felt the awkward and curious gazes that lingered on me a little too long. The incidents of the day before were still fresh on the minds of the Trinity Public High School student body...and staff. I glanced over my shoulder as a teacher walked slowly past me. Brian Gresso, a junior history teacher and the school's tennis coach, didn't say anything to me and looked away when he noticed I was looking back at him.

I rolled my eyes when I turned back to the narrow, rectangular cabinet of scratched, rusty steel. The hinges on the door squeaked when I opened it. The paint on its surface was dry and stained. A piece flaked off under my fingers. Mine wasn't the only one like this. Every locker on the second floor and many on the third were in almost the same conditions. These were the underclassman lockers. The seniors and some of the juniors had their lockers on the first floor. They were newer and shinier. The even coats of paint on each one were clean and glossy inside and out. The hinges didn't squeak and the handles never got stuck. It was the high school version of luxury real estate.