Water and Ghosts

Chapter 11

When I wake up, I smile the second I remember what happened last night.

I cannot believe Nigel kissed me.

I cannot believe I kissed him back.

I can’t and don’t want to believe in ghosts and oh my gosh last night was just… crazy.

I cannot believe that happened.

I groan and get out of bed, dressing for the day. Jeans and a long sleeve deep purple shirt. I redo my hair like I had it last night and put my shoes on. After checking my closet for the Cactone flower, which I put in a glass of water and hid, I head downstairs.

“Good morning,” Grandma Colette says when I walk into the kitchen. 

“‘Morning,” I reply, opening the fridge. I pack my lunch just in time for Nigel to walk into the house. He smiles at me and winks when my Grandmother isn’t watching, saying, “Good morning.”

“‘Morning,” I say again.

“Are you ready to go?”

I zip up my lunch box and smile. “Yup.” I turn and hug Grandma Colette. “Bye. Love you.”

“Love you, too, Aqua dear,” she says affectionately. And then Nigel and I walk out the back door.

He casually takes my hand once we’re out of my grandmother’s yard. “Are you okay?” He asks me, his eyes telling of his worry.

I nod. “I’m fine. Last night was just… a shock. Sleep helped. Sugar would help even more.”

“Are you asking me out? Because if so, my answer if heck yes, I’ll take you to Sugar Aplenty and get you five bags—”

I laugh, doubling over. “Five bags of candy? Are you crazy? You would never get me to sit down ever again!”

He grins at me. “Oh, so you need four bags of candy.”

“How about one small one,” I say, rolling my eyes and giggling. “You’re just trying to get me on a sugar high, is that right?”

“I am a little curious as to how you would react, not going to lie.”

“I’ll save you the suspense: bad,” I say with widened eyes, emphasizing the word. I’ve been on a couple of sugar highs in my life. Every single time, my dad called an O2 day for either both of us, or just me. Just to get me out of the house.”

Nigel laughs. “That bad, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, now I have to see it.”

“Shut up.”

He laughs again, and I can’t help grinning. Nor noticing that my heart is beating at an unnaturally fast rate.

“Alright, next question,” Nigel says. “Do you want people at school to know that we… went out? Are dating?” His voice turns nervous.

Are we dating?

I frown. “I… I don’t know. I’ve never…”

I’ve never dated before. I don’t know if we’re dating. I don’t know if I like you or Glenden. I think it’s you, but I don’t know. 

Nigel smiles at me in understanding, and lets go of my hand. “I understand. It’s my first time too. We can keep it under wraps for now, if it makes you more comfortable.”

I smile gratefully.

“So what are you going to do during first period, since you no longer have cross country practice?”

“What else? Sit in the commons and read.”

Nigel makes a face like oh right, of course; how stupid of me as we enter the building.

A boy I’ve never met walks up to Nigel. “Bro, why didn’t you tell us you were going out with the new girl.”

My heart pounds harder.

Nigel frowns. “What are you talking about?”

“Katy Klein caught you two kissing.” The boy glances at me.

I think I am actually going to die.

Of embarrassment.

Right now, in the middle of the school.

Instead I walk away, to my usual table, and sit down. I immediately fold my arms on the table and bury my burning, surely tomato red, face.

I hear Nigel sit down next to me, and feel his hand on my back. “I’m sorry, Aqua. I should have known that the whole school would know by now. The people in this town love to gossip.”

I sit up and look over at him. “I know,” I say quietly. “I’m just…”

“Embarrassed?” He asks, but his tone is harder. “Aqua, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”

Yeah. Sure. Even though the entire high school student body knows that we kissed, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about.

I just nod in reply. “See you in second.”

Nigel looks like he wants to stay and talk about it, but he stands up and walks away, leaving me alone.

I wipe the single tear away from my cheek before pulling out my book and ignoring everyone around me. Once everyone is gone, with the exception of a few people, I slump forward and rest my forehead on the table.

I think the people in this town need to learn how to keep some things to themselves.

“I’m cancelling Wednesday nights,” I hear someone say. I look up and see Glenden staring down at me. His expression is closed off and cold.

One I recognize.

“Okay. Um… How are you?” I ask, my voice oddly high. I don’t want one of my only friends to ignore me again. Not after the trip that improved our relationship.

“Fine.  And you?” He asks curtly.

“Miserable,” I say. “Do you have a solution for the potion?”

He works his jaw, and my heart plummets in my chest. Hurt slams into me on all sides.

“You know what,” I snap angrily before he can say anything, “you can work on the project alone. I don’t need to help someone who is just going to ignore me whenever he gosh darn feels like it.” Without another word, I grab my bag and stand up. “Be a dear and tell all of our teachers that I’m absent today.” And then I hurry away, running out the door.

“Aqua!” Glenden calls after me, but I ignore him. I close the school doors behind me and run from the building.

Tears blind me, but I know where I’m going.

Home.

I dropped my stuff off at home before grabbing my bag of Volantes Sugar and sprinkling it over myself. I appeared back home in an instant. 

I almost fall to my knees at the sight of it. The familiarity of it. All of the memories I made here crash into me, all at once. The wonderful and the good and the bad and the terrible.

But I don’t walk towards my house.

Instead, I turn to the moat. I harden my anger and hurt and use it to focus. I grab hold of all of the water.

And I lift it from the moat, making a halo of water over my house.

And then I let it go and I watch as the water, for just a second, levitates in the air.

And then it all falls to the ground, shattering into the moat, spilling over the sides and crashing against my ear drums.

For the next hour I play with the water, throwing it up and catching it with my ability alone. I know this is dangerous, but I honestly wish Cyra would find me. I’m restless. And I’ve waited long enough to get my revenge. I’m ready.

I’m strong enough. 

And besides, if I’m strong enough to take down Cyra, then I’m strong enough to face the truth of if ghosts are real or not.

And I’m starting to think they are.

After an hour of standing out in the open, panting from exertion, I finally give up. I slowly trudge to my house, up the winding stairs, and into my bedroom.

It looks exactly the same as I left it.

With tears rolling down my face and my heart aching for my parents, I curl up on my childhood bed and cry myself to sleep.

When I wake up, the first thing I realize is that I’m not where I fell asleep. I’m in my room at Grandma Colette’s house.

I jerk upright in bed, my eyes flying open.

Nigel is sitting in a chair next to me, and he sighs in relief, actually sagging.

I lean back against the pillows. “How—”

“Colette went and got you, but never mind that. Why did you leave school?!” He stands up. “And then go to your house without telling anyone?! Do you have any idea how worried we’ve been? I’m pretty sure Colette almost had a heart attack when I came home and asked to see you but you weren’t here.”

Guilt grips me by the throat, making it so that I can only swallow. I don’t say anything as Nigel continues talking angrily.

“Seriously, Aqua, what were you doing?!”

“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I just needed some time to myself, to think. I figured school wasn’t the best place for a mental breakdown.”

Nigel sits back down, sadness taking over his features. “But why didn’t you tell me?”

I swallow and look away. I don’t have any answer he wants to hear. “I’m sorry,” I say again. “I don’t think it will happen again.”

“It definitely won’t, since you’re grounded for life,” Grandma Colette says gravely from the doorway. My eyes dart over to her.

“You of all people should understand me missing my mother,” I say, feeling betrayed, somehow. Can’t I be uncontrolled sometimes?

Grandma Colette flinches. She walks into the room and sits down on the edge of the bed next to me. “I do understand, Aqua, I do. Okay? But next time you have to tell me where you’re going.”

I shake my head. “There is no telling, there’s only asking. And you would have said no. So I didn’t bother.”

She doesn’t argue, at least. When I won’t meet her gaze, she stands up and walks out of the room.

“Aqua?” Nigel asks hesitantly.

“Yes?”

“Why were you embarrassed this morning?”

I sigh. “I went from living with one other person— my father— in the middle of nowhere to living with my grandmother in the middle of a town. I’m used to having privacy. I’m used to taking things slowly and thinking things through. I’m used to being in charge. And since I’ve moved, everything has changed. I just managed to ignore it for a month.”

Nigel is still frowning. “But… were you embarrassed because of me?”

Suddenly realizing this is why he thought I was embarrassed, I hurry to say, “No! No, of course not, it’s just… I don’t know.”

“And… are you okay with the whole town knowing that we’re dating?”

I think about it for a moment, but I honestly can’t tell. But I don’t want to hurt Nigel, so I nod. He smiles then, relieved and happy.

“Good.” He stands up and presses a kiss to my forehead. “I’ll see you later, okay?”

I smile back at him— he knows exactly what I want. “Okay.”

“And don’t ever do that to me again.”

I chuckle once. “I won’t. I promise.”

Nigel nods, satisfied. He walks out of the room, looking back once as he closes the door behind him.

My smile remains, even if mostly faded. I close my eyes and sigh.

Nigel is my best friend— he understands me. And he’s never ignored me.

But he doesn’t empathize with me. Not like Glenden.

I growl at the thought of his name. “Get out of my head,” I murmur to myself.

If he’s going to be nothing but a jerk, then I’ll do a better job of forgetting about him this time.