The Angel Prophecies: Opal Sky

20. The Worst Memory

I barely slept, thinking of the right words to say to Artie. The last thing I wanted, was to go to school, but we had to keep up appearances, to throw Abaddon off.

I made my way to English class, the only one I had with Seth, and I sat at the opposite end of the room. I couldn't help but think of the day I asked the teacher to be moved as far from his desk as possible. It was when I thought he'd chosen Ruby over me. I'd felt so hurt, lost and confused. Now, I was restless, anxious and everything felt so surreal.

So much had happened since that day , when the worst thing I had to worry about was why Seth wanted to be with Ruby. As terrible as it had felt, I longed for those simple days again, when normal things were my biggest concerns.

I still kept my distance from Seth, because we had no idea who might be working with Abaddon. We wanted to give the appearance that we were all just a bunch of friends, so sometimes I hung out with them at lunch, but Ruby was always around. I hated watching them together, pretending to be sweethearts, even though I knew it was a pretense. Thank goodness for Calli and Sophie. They kept me busy and focused on more important things.

Most days at school dragged on, but today seemed to whizz by. I knew it was because I was so nervous about seeing Artie. I dreaded the thought of facing him, but at the same time, I was looking forward to it. Remembering him, not only brought back my guilt about what happened, it also brought back the feelings of love I had for him.

Calli offered to bring me to the island, since she lived next door to Artie. We stopped by home, so I could let Grams know I was going to the island and grab a warmer sweater, since I'd be riding Tyler's bike back home.

I ran upstairs, dropped my bookbag on my bed and retrieved the amulet and the two stones I'd gotten from the well. I'd hidden them under a loose floorboard in my closet.

When I got downstairs, Grams was sitting in her rocker, watching T.V. while knitting dishcloths.

"Hey Grams, I'm going to the island with Calli."

"Are you finally going to see Artie?"

"How do you know about him?"

She looked at me over the top of her glasses. "It was my job to know everything about you, in order to protect you. "

"Yes, I'm going to talk to him. I hope he can forgive me."

"I'm sure he will dear. Are you going to be home for supper? I'm making hodge podge."

"I wouldn't miss it." I'd grown to love having supper with my family. We had good conversations, and lots of laughs. It was the one time of day we were all together.

"If you work things out with him, you can bring him over. I'd love to meet him. "

"I'd like that. Oh, and can you tell Tyler I'll drive his bike back ? I forgot it at Seth's." I blew her a kiss and headed out the door.

"Thanks for giving me a ride to the island." I said as I climbed back into Calli's car.

"No problem. It's great to have time with you. It's crazy how quickly things can change."

"I'm so scared to face Arty. What if he hates me?"

"I'm sure he doesn't hate you," she answered hopefully. "He's just angry, and he's spent over 100 years waiting for answers."

"I know, but you and Seth both explained things to him, didn't you? And he didn't seem to accept you're explanation." I tucked my hair behind my ear, and looked out the window.

"Yeah, but maybe he just needs to hear it from you," she suggested as she turned onto the causeway to the island.

As we crossed the bridge, my heart started beating faster, and I felt a wave of nausea.