Destiny Rising

Chapter 16

I spent the next couple of days pretty much confined to my room and had teachers e-mailing me my assignments. By Saturday night, I had a serious case of cabin fever. I wanted out, but my parents had been keeping an unusually close eye on me, and I wasn’t allowed out until I got the all-clear from the doctor. f*******: was alight with news of my disappearance and the new couple of Troy and Darci. Some people even fueled a rumor that I had run off because I was pregnant with Troy’s baby and was embarrassed over it. Others speculated that I had tried to hurt myself. Jasmine was trying to keep the rumors under control and that my disappearance had nothing to do with anyone else. I wanted out of the house, so I could deal with these rumors directly. Instead, I was going through comment after comment on f*******:. It was beyond depressing having everyone bully me online when I couldn’t easily defend myself as I could face-to-face. On Sunday, I was briefly allowed out of the house to have my shoulder looked at, and the stitches removed from my arm. Thankfully, the doctors gave me the all-clear to go back to school. Monday morning, I dressed in a navy blue sundress that came to my knees and a cropped sweater that had ¾ length sleeves, with simple white flats. As I pulled into the lot and parked my car beside Michael’s, I felt as though all eyes were on me. Michael was, of course, waiting there for me and helped me out.

“You look fantastic.” He said, linking his right hand with my left and shouldering my bag.

“Thanks.” I replied, “Everyone is staring at me. I had honestly hoped everyone would be past this by now.”

“They’re not all staring.”

“What, can you read minds too?”

“No, but I can read people’s emotions. Mostly, they’re just curious about your disappearance and how you feel about Darci and Troy.”

“I don’t care about Troy that way anymore. But I feel like he might get hurt because of me.” I said as we walked towards my locker.

“So, you felt it. Darci’s lack of soul,” he said.

“Ya, I felt like she didn’t belong here. But at the time, I thought it was just me being jealous or something.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll try my hardest to keep your ex-boyfriend from getting hurt. At least not severely hurt.” He mumbled as I shut my locker and spun the dial.

“Michael!” I exclaimed.

“What?” he asked, confused. “Dark magic or not, nobody deserves to be treated like that.”

“Awe, that’s sweet. But still, don’t talk like that.” I replied.

“Why?”

“Because it got you me.” I smiled and leaned up to give him a quick kiss.

“Yes, it did.” He smiled back at me, cupped my face with his palms, and leaned down to kiss me again.

“Excuse me.” Someone tapped my shoulder. Turning, I saw it was a wide-eyed grade 10 student. She was taller than me, but only by what had to be an inch or two. She was full-figured but seemed to be confident despite her size. She had pale skin, bright blue eyes, and short hair that was as black as a raven’s wing. She wore a pale pink tank top and black cargo shorts with pink and black Airwalk high-top sneakers. I’d seen her around the school but never talked to her.

“Yes?” I asked

“Um…is it true that you ran away and had a secret abortion?” She asked.

“No, I was not pregnant,” I told her tightly.

“Then why did you run away?”

“I didn’t run away, I was in an accident and went away to recover,” I stated.

“Oh. I’m Duvessa Akeldama, and have just heard what people said.” She said

“That’s alright, it’s not your fault.” I answered “But from now on, don’t believe everything you hear. Okay?’

“Okay,” Duvessa said and scurried off as Jasmine came down the hall around her

“Wow,” Jasmine said as she joined us, and Michael slipped his arm around my waist and pulled me close to his side.

“What?” I asked

“Pretty sure that girl had stars in her eyes.” She replied as she held her books close to her chest.

“Really? I don’t know much about her.” I confessed as I shrugged and leaned against Michael with my good hand.

“I don’t know much about her either. Just that she’s quiet, and I see her from time to time in the library. I think she’s a drama student though.” Jasmine replied as we started to move down the hall.

“Hmm”, Michael mussed.

“What is it?” I asked quietly.

“Nothing. I have to head to the gym. See you at lunch.” He said and leaned down to plant a quick kiss on my cheek before strolling off to the athletics building.

“Okay. Spill.” Jasmine blurted out the moment Michael was out of sight.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I replied primly, and moved in the direction of the music building for Vocal Class.

“Oh, you do so know what I’m talking about. You and Michael. When did that happen?” She pestered as we strolled out of the locker hall and into the sunshine-filled quad.

“If I tell you, will you fill me in on what I missed last week?” I asked as I let my eyes dart around to take in our surroundings. Students were dotted throughout the open area, either alone or in groups. Some were chatting, while others had textbooks and notebooks open in front of them finishing homework or studying.

“Of course. Now tell me please.” She pleaded

“Alright,” I said and took a deep breath, then took a seat on a stone bench under the shade of an Oak Tree. “You remember that Friday of the Long Weekend when we were in Port Stanley. Something happened, and I freaked out, got in my car, and disappeared?”

“Ya, it was really weird how that water just floated out like that.” She replied and sat beside me.

“Well… I just drove down to Big Beach and went for a walk. I walked down to the cliff, climbed up onto a boulder, and sat down. I watched the boats sail by, and families playing on the beach and in the water. I felt so scared and lonely. I had no idea what was going on, and I just needed to talk to someone. I was scrolling through my contacts and landed on Michael’s number. I didn’t even know he was in there.” I sighed and leaned back against the tree.

“Um, yeah. That was me. I put his number on your phone.” She confessed

“What! When?”

“About 2 weeks ago, after the dance. Kiara dared me, and you know you can’t back down from a Kiara Dare.” She said wide-eyed and apologetic.

“That’s okay.” I assured her “I was just surprised to see his phone number.”

“Oh, okay. Well? What happened after you called him?” She inquired eagerly.

I was about to respond when the warning bell rang out. “Later, I’ll tell you everything later,” I said, bouncing to my feet and taking off across the quad. I managed to slip into the music studio just as the final bell ended and Mrs. Beccarea was about to shut the door.

“Nice of you to join us today, Miss. Tallulah.” Mrs. Beccarea said “Please take your seat.”

I just smiled and made my way to the Soprano section. Unfortunately, to get to my seat, I had to pass right by Kiara in the Alto section. As I did, something made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. That sensation was so new and strange, but it felt as though maybe her powers were trying to call out to mine. As our eyes locked upon each other, it looked like she recognized me and was about to say something. But before she could, something flashed across her eyes and they went blank. She went to brush her black bangs out of her eyes when I noticed a symbol on her wrist. It looked like a crest of some sort, but I couldn’t tell what. I took my seat and quickly sketched out the crest as Mrs. Beccarea started our vocal warm-ups. I figured that Michael must know what it meant. After our warm-ups, we got to sit around and pour over music books to select the solos we would all have to sing as our final exam. While looking through the book “Phantom of The Opera”, I noticed Kiara sitting alone on the floor in the far back corner of the studio. What caught and held my attention was the way she was sitting. Normally she sat with her knees up to hold whatever she had in front of her. Instead, she sat with her legs crossed and back flat against the wall. 3 books laid unopened before her and she had her head tilted forward, so her hair concealed her face. Holding the book to my side, I walked towards where she sat. When I reached her side, Kiara had yet to move an inch. I gently crouched and reached forward to brush her hair aside. But what I saw wasn’t her face. It was distorted like someone had laid a mask over her face, but the features didn’t quite match. She looked at me blankly for a moment with soulless black eyes. Suddenly, her features twisted, and a fire ignited in her eyes.

“Kiara? Are you okay?” I asked quietly. She didn’t reply, she just growled and launched at me and shoved me into the shelf where the clarinet cases were. I hit the shelf and slid to the floor, before I could even so much as draw in a breath, Kiara had backhanded me across the face. Then she was on top of me with her hands grasped around my neck. I clawed at her hands while trying to get them to loosen even just a little, so I could inhale. After I had hit the shelf, it got the attention of the class. So, a couple of guys were trying to pull Kiara off of me. When they finally succeeded, I rolled to my side coughing and gasping for air.

“Chris and Spencer, please escort Miss. Ember to the principal’s office.” Mrs. Beccarea said over everyone talking at once. “I will call, so they know you’re coming. As for you, Miss. Tallulah, kindly explain to me what you did to provoke Miss. Ember?” She asked me

“Nothing. All I did was go over to ask her if I could browse through the “Les Misérables” book she had.” I replied as Angela helped me to my feet.

“Miss. Lange, please escort Miss. Tallulah to the nurse’s office. I will have the principal see you there.” Mrs. Beccarea said as Angela and I left the room and headed to the staff building where all the teachers had their offices and the nurse’s office was located.

“Oh my,” Nurse Holiday said as we entered, “Mrs. Beccarea just called over about what had happened.” And ushered me over to one of the curtained-off beds.

“I’m fine,” I replied automatically as I perched on the bed.

“I think not.” She said as she probed my shoulder and head “Miss. Lange, you may return to class. Miss. Tallulah, please lay back while I get an ice pack for your shoulder and head.”

I did as I was told and laid back on the bed. She came bustling back into my curtained area with two ice packs. Nurse Holiday was fretting around about the positions of the ice packs, when the principal, Mr. Auckland, strolled in.

“Well, Miss Tallulah, it’s your first day back, and you’ve already gotten in trouble.” Mr. Auckland said

“Um, excuse me?” I answered, stunned by what he said.

“You heard me, your trouble. Going over and starting that fight with Miss Ember, then blaming her for it.” He stated

“Mr. Auckland, I honestly didn’t do anything. All I did was go over to Kiara and ask if I could borrow the Les Misérables book. Then she flipped out on me!” I exclaimed.

“You’re lying!” Mr. Auckland yelled.

“Mr. Auckland!” Nurse Holiday gasped as I turned red in the face. “You cannot speak to a student like that.”

“It’s my school and I will do as I please.” He scoffed at her before turning his gaze back to me. “As for you, Miss Tallulah, you have been expelled from Aliquid Academy. Hope you like public school.” He sneered, then turned and strolled right out of the Nurse’s office.

I just sat there utterly stunned. What just happened? Did I just get expelled? I couldn’t believe it.

“Nurse Holiday,” Ms. Toomer, the vice-principal, said as she knocked lightly on the open door. “I’ve come to escort Miss Tallulah to her locker, then off the property.”

“Yes, of course, Ms. Toomer,” Nurse Holiday replied, and helped me to my feet.

Ms. Toomer and I walked in silence to my locker, and then to my parked car. She took my textbooks and student card. But before I could have slid into my car, she pulled me into a hug.

“The storm is coming. Make sure you’re ready for when it hits.” She whispered, then pulled away and disappeared back into a building.