Ember Gods

Chapter 23

Jacob stared at his reflection in the mirror Wednesday morning. His skin, normally tan, was pale, and there were dark circles under his eyes.

"Dude, you look really bad," Matt said, walking in and grabbing his deodorant.

"Just a headache." Hopefully nothing more than that. Getting the flu right now would be bad. Jacob did his hair, careful not to move his head too quickly—it would make the pounding worse. "I don't think staying up all night, then sleeping an hour, then playing a hard game of basketball really helped. I'm probably coming down with something."

"You stayin' home or coming to school?"

Jacob put the styling gel away. "Coming. Can't miss again." He made sure Hazel had some honey in her container before tucking her away in his backpack.

The ride to school was quiet—Matt turned his music down, which Jacob appreciated. He sighed with relief as the painkillers finally started working.

Tani met them in the school parking lot. Jacob stared at her, a weird sensation hitting him in the stomach. He felt a fleeting sensation of vertigo. Something was wrong with her. He peered at her, trying to figure out what was going on. Then he stepped back in shock when he realized the air around her face swirled red—puffing like steam, making bright red patterns. He watched as the brilliant color slowly got brighter.

She put her hands on her hips. "Stop staring at me like that."

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yes. Why?"

"There's this red . . ." He stopped. She'd only think he was crazy if he voiced his thoughts. "You just look different."

"Well, Teegan was a jerk this morning. I mean, he was a complete jerk."

Tani went off on something about Teegan not letting her borrow one of his books or his phone or something. As she spoke, the colors swirling around her became even more vivid, and Jacob had a hard time keeping up with what she was saying.

"Where's Josh?" he asked, holding the door open for her.

"Already here. He had an assignment due before class."

She entered the school, and Jacob stepped in behind her. One look into the hall had him backing out, though.

"Hey, Jake—come on. The tardy bell is going to ring soon."

He couldn't believe it. Every single person had a different color swirling in the air around them—a girl with bright purple. Two guys laughing together, both a shade of green. Jacob swallowed and choked on his saliva, trying not to freak out. He looked at Matt and Sammy—holding hands, talking as they caught up with Tani and Jacob. The air around them both was green.

Jacob turned to Tani—the color around her wasn't red anymore, but now peach—close to her skin tone. She stared at him funny, like he was a disgusting bug.

"You can't see?" Jacob asked. "You can't see the colors around everyone?"

She shook her head slowly. "What's wrong with you?"

Jacob shook his head. He had no idea.

***

What was wrong with him? That question circulated in Jacob's mind the rest of the day and starting into the following. And it didn't help that the Makalos had no clue, either. They asked him to start talking to his classmates to figure out what was going on. So, on Monday, he approached a girl whose air was deep blue.