Eli raced Levi through the water. While the older Coates brother was stronger, he had more muscle mass to move through the pool. Eli won by a narrow margin, despite his more hydrodynamic body. His victory should have come more easily.
“What’s going on with you? Is that… Elijah Peter Coates! Are you smiling?” Levi asked with a laugh as he pulled himself from the pool.
“Nothing’s going on with me! I’m just happy!” Eli told his brother, directly into his mind. But it was true; the younger brother wore a broad smile as he did the backstroke across the pool.
“Eli and happy don’t usually go together. Make headway with the books? Is it a girl?” Levi watched his brother for a tell, as he toweled himself off.
“What? Why can’t I just be happy?” Eli swam another lap with the weight of Levi’s gaze on him. “Okay. I’ve nearly completely translated the second journal. Valentina’s been helping me. She can read in Russian!”
“Oh, those magic words! Valentina!” Levi laughed. “So you’ve been hanging out with her?”
“Sort of. Not many of my students come to class consistently. But Valentina is there every day. She brought me tea last week. I brought her coffee on Monday. She confided something in me too.” Eli was practically beaming.
“Oh, she told you a secret?” Levi took a seat on the bench, throwing the towel over his shoulders. “Was it a juicy one?”
“She’s not really blind. Her dad makes her fake it. She’s so sweet, and her eyes are this deep rich brown. I look at her, and I see this… mark, or scar, or something on her nose. She always tries to cover it up with make-up. I want to ask her about it, but I see her eyes, and forget whatever I was going to ask.” Eli gushed. He swam to the side of the pool, resting on his arms.
“You have a crush on her!” Levi called out. The flush on Eli’s face told it all. “Oh! We’re going out for drinks! We have to celebrate this!”
In the locker room, Eli’s phone had a message waiting from Valentina. The brothers fought over reading the message. Each brother only dressed in their pants, they wrestled each other for control of the phone. Finally Eli was able to wrest the device away from Levi.
“Eli, the world I couldn’t figure out was ‘bailaika’. It’s a Rus folk instrument.” She had written.
“Look at that smile! Put your shirt on, pull up those suspenders, and let’s grab a beer. My treat!” Levi tossed Eli his shirt.
An hour later, the Coates brothers found a table at a local pub. Levi was already drunk and quizzing Eli on the details of three weeks of friendship. Eli paced himself, only nursing one drink in the time his brother downed four.
“So! When are you going to do it?” Levi asked, slamming down his empty beer glass.
“Do what?” Eli asked mentally, but blushed physically.
“You know! Put yourself inside her!” Levi’s volume was starting to attract others’ attentions.
“What?! Levi! She and I…” Eli shouted inside his brother’s mind. Levi did not appreciate it.
“No! I mean like we do.” Levi cut Eli off. That line drew even more looks. “You know, like now.” The drunken Levi tapped his temple to try to clarify himself.
“I don’t know, Levi. She’s sweet, and maybe you are right, and I have a crush on her. But sharing this… Its special and I need to know that I’m sharing it with someone special. Besides, Valentina is still dating that William Duke.” Eli sighed, both mentally and physically.
“Oh, yeah? Then why are you getting this message and not him?” Levi handed Eli’s phone over, showing him the open message from Valentina.
“Eli, I need you. Please hurry.”
YOU ARE READING
Looking For A Legend (Book 1)
Mystery / ThrillerA young telepath is unexpectedly left with leading his class when his teacher takes leave. One of Elijah's new students Valentina leads him down a path where mysteries only get more mysterious and nothing is as simple as it looks.
