I awoke with a mind brimming with memories (the swimming, the talking, Riley’s sculpted body glistening in the moonlight, the soft look in his eyes that I’d always hoped for but never dared to expect), but I was certain it all couldn’t have been anything more than another sweet dream mocking my hollow life. Such things didn’t happen to people in the real world, and certainly not to me. And so, when that little crack of sunlight spilled through my window, I rolled out of bed sluggishly, wistfully certain it was a Tuesday morning like any other.
My morning shower was like a sudden jolt of lightning. Something about the warmth of the water cleared my head, and it hit me—my life had changed. Subtly, minorly, almost undetectably, I was a different person than before. The old Andi Slate was no more. Last night hadn’t been a dream. Overcoming my fear of sea, being held in Riley’s strong arms, getting pulled into that divine kiss that shook the sky—it had been a dream fulfilled.
Heartened by the thought, I became a little more daring than usual as I dressed for school. A chartreuse tank top—glittery, even? Today, it was possible. Black short shorts and sandals? Well, why not? I could make it work. Today I felt like I could wear a yellow fedora with a pink flamingo feather stuck in the brim and still feel good about it. Riley would see it for what it really was: me being me. And the more me I was, the more he’d love it.
Dad noticed something was up the moment I climbed into his car for the ride to school.
“Someone’s in a good mood,” he offered cautiously.
A good mood? Just ‘a good mood’ didn’t begin to do it justice. More like a state of utter bliss. I played it cool, though, and just shrugged. “I guess.”
“Well, I’m happy you’re feeling better, honey.”
I nodded absently. My mind was elsewhere. I was just a car ride away from seeing Riley again, after all.
I told myself that I had no fears of him being absent from school this time. Not after how obviously difficult it had been for him to part with me last night before my parents got home. Like removing suction cups. It had been excruciating for me as well, but I knew if my folks found out I’d had a boy over, much less left the house with him, they would have made my life all the more unbearable.
I’d made sure Riley had taken my number, though when I’d asked for his, he only vaguely suggested that there were better ways to call him. I wasn’t sure how I could manage that without a number, but the sudden realization that his digits would be stored in my phone if he’d called or texted since last night, had me diving into my backpack to dig it out.
But when I found it, there was only an unread text from Bree, time-stamped 7:42 p.m. yesterday:
‘What did u do to Vik???’
My mouth fell open. I texted back furiously, ‘Me??????’
Her reply came almost immediately: ‘nm’
I glowered down at the phone, but before I could think of a suitable retort, another text from her came through: ‘r u ok?’
I frowned in uncertainty. I was more than okay! I was better than I’d ever been in my life. But did Bree deserve to know that after the way she’d treated me? I considered for a few moments before I answered, ‘I’m fine.’
Again, her response was immediate: ‘Sorry bout yesterday :( :( :( Buy u lunch???’
And just like that, our fight was over. I had my best friend back, and Riley and I would be together again in mere minutes. I smiled serenely out the car window at what I knew was going to be a gorgeous day.
Riley was waiting at the desk beside mine in English class and the sight of him almost made my heart stop and start over again once more. But he looked… different than usual. There was something hidden behind his halo of perfection, behind his infinite, emerald green gaze. Lurking in his eyes was the look of someone taking a few nervous steps into a foreign land after only having observed it from afar.
When he saw me, a cocky smile lit up his face. It was overwhelming. I forced myself to return his gaze instead of looking away as undeniable feelings of unworthiness sprang up in me. For a moment, I wondered if it would all crumble away like the dilapidated stone ruins of my long-ago dream. Would Riley’s shining smile twist down into the disgusted grimace he always used to wear?
“Andromeda,” he greeted me softly, his voice still somehow managing to come from all around me. Heads began to turn—was the new boy, the hot boy, really talking to Andi Slate like that? Andi the outcast, the ugly duckling, the scaredy-cat? Instantly the whispers began.
“Oh, hi Riley,” I said meekly, returning his smile. I took a deep breath and sat beside him, acutely aware of the eyes around the classroom following me and the fingers already hitting the cell phones, beginning a text-storm of gossip that would follow me for the rest of the day.
“You look cold,” said Riley during a lull in class as Mrs. Phillips left to take an important phone call. “Are you alright, milady?”
Milady. He’d just called me ‘milady,’ and in public! “I’m okay,” I said, which was the understatement of the eon. If I was shaking, it was only from how thrilled I felt. Though maybe it was a little cold in the room.
“I guess it’s kind of chilly,” I admitted. Whether it was true or not didn’t matter. Only seeing the look of concern on Riley’s face did.
“Here,” he replied immediately as he slipped lithely out of his jacket. “I do not truly have need for such a garment. Wear it,” he commanded.
I could almost hear the clack-clack of texting gossipers hitting a fever pitch.
An hour later, French class proved just as strange and wonderful. “Now, let us go over zis week’s vocabulary,” said Monsieur Cousteau. “We are reviewing ze—how do you say, ze ‘infinitive verbs.’ Now, let us begin with the word ‘aimer.’ What does eet mean?”
It was as if Riley wanted to answer without words—our desks were so close together that he didn’t even have to scoot nearer to put his arm around me. I tensed, surprised, and I blushed. Aimer, I thought, rejoicing in his strong arm wrapping me in a protective half-embrace.
To love.
~*~*~*~
To my chagrin, Riley was summoned to the vice principal’s office during our break after second period. He’d skipped school yesterday, after all.
“I will abide by their foolish human rules,” he said with irritation as we parted, “if it will prevent any future complications… though I would much rather remain with you.”
Even being separated from him for a short time threatened to yank me right back out of my newfound ecstasy, but at least I didn’t have to spend snack break alone.
Bree’s face lit up when she saw me. “Andi!” She rushed over, taking a huge bite out of a Pop-Tart and staring me down like a detective about to grill a suspect. “I’ve been stuck at emergency play practice the past couple hours—”
“Emergency play practice?” I echoed. “There’s emergency play practice?”
“You’ve never seen how wicked bad a play can go, have you?” asked Bree.
I shook my head.
“Consider yourself lucky,” she said darkly. “Anyway, apparently you’ve been having quite the morning, yourself.”
It was a tiny bit embarrassing—I’d been focusing so intensely on Riley that I hadn’t even noticed Bree’s absence from my first two classes. As long as I didn’t bring it up, she didn’t have to know.
“So… what the heck is going on?” she asked, and I could sense her caution. “Yesterday, you’re crying your eyes out, but now I’ve been hearing about jackets and arms and great romantic timing in French class all morning, and everyone’s asking me about it, but I don’t want to say a single word until I’ve heard the whole thing from you. So…?”
She lifted questioning red eyebrows at me. What could I say? I’m sure I blushed.
“So, wait… so you and Riley… you guys are… dating?” she asked, detective Bree on the case.
I couldn’t help it. I beamed.
Bree gave a short, shocked laugh. “Wow,” she said. “I mean… well, if you’re happy, then that’s great!” She gave a sincere shrug. “But seriously, Andi, don’t take any crap from him,” she warned, but there was playfulness to her words. “You are way more important than any old Riley Bay, so if he acts up, you send him to me!”
Oh, Bree, sweet, dependable, loyal Bree. If only she knew just how much more important old Riley Bay was than insignificant Andi Slate. But I nodded, and despite it all, I just couldn’t stop smiling.
“So, are you going to tell me what happened?” she asked, finishing off her second Pop-Tart.
“Well,” I said, but stopped myself. I had to be careful about the way I explained everything. As infected by my happiness as Bree seemed to be, I knew how much Riley had fallen in her estimation after New York, and how weirdly worried she could get about me. So no bringing up the prophecy that had brought us together, or stuff like the fact that I was now dating an ancient godlike superbeing in human form. Probably not the most comforting things to tell Bree. Instead, I opened with, “You know how I’m afraid of the ocean?”
Bree nodded.
“We went swimming,” I said meekly, my face flushing at the memory. “He took me to the beach. And while I was with him, I… well, we went swimming.”
Bree gaped at me. Closed her mouth. Gaped again, then decided to take a sip of pop. “You’re serious, aren’t you?” she said finally, looking floored. “You? In the ocean?”
I grinned.
“Andi, that’s… wow!” She laughed, sounding relieved. “Wait. Swimming or… ‘swimming?’ ” she asked with an eyebrow waggle that made me scream and laugh, a flush rushing to my face. Anything that might have been left from the strange rift between us was closed. It was so good to have my good old Bree back.
“Swimming-swimming!” I whispered, exasperated but endeared.
She laughed, but studied me for a moment, wonderment in her eyes. “I don’t know, if he seriously got you over your hydrophobia, he’s something else… I don’t suppose he’s actually some kind of angel?” she teased.
I looked away quickly but couldn’t stop grinning. Close, Bree, but no cigar.
The bell shrieked before she could press me for more, and I sighed heavily in reply. It was time for my least favorite class of the day. I’d long given up hope that Mr. Cho would return to rescue third period any time soon. The best I could wish for was the principal realizing the epic levels of Ms. Epistola’s awfulness and kicking her vapid butt to the curb before she wrecked our GPAs for all eternity.
And of course I was right, when we arrived, Mr. Cho wasn’t there.
But neither was Ms. Epistola.
And for that matter, neither was Vik.
It took me a few minutes to realize anything was amiss while I was distracted by my reunion with Riley at our desks, but Bree’s lingering look at Vik’s empty seat beside her told me enough.
No Epistola and no Vik with no explanation? Bree must have been wondering the same thing that was in my mind: was there a connection here? There had to be, with how much Ms. Epistola had wormed her way into Vik’s life. Riley, too, looked as though he were in deep contemplation.
Without a teacher, the classroom erupted into chaos. The principal, Mr. Pence, showed up and tried to disperse the bedlam of our unwatched class. “Everyone,” he shouted futilely into the cacophony of gossip, games and texting, “remain quiet! A lack of teacher is no reason to act like undisciplined delinquents!”
There was no response, and after five minutes, Mr. Pence surrendered to the classroom’s madness, started up Finding Nemo and slammed the door, presumably leaving to pour himself a hard drink and wonder how he got stuck with a post at Portsmouth High.
“You know,” said Bree wryly as we watched CGI sharks darting after two tiny CGI fish, “I think I’m learning more about marine biology from this movie than I have from Ms. Epistola all year.”
~*~*~*~
“Why wouldn’t Vik show up?” I asked. It was lunch, and we were sitting at our usual spot in the cafeteria. Riley sat where Vik usually did, looking confident and at ease as always despite the occasional cautious glance from Bree.
Bree shook her head. “I don’t know for sure. He’s been acting a little weird the past couple weeks. It could be—”
“Ms. Epistola didn’t show up either,” I broke in intelligently.
“I noticed,” said Bree, her voice tightening a little. Beside me, Riley said nothing. He was watching us with what appeared to be only mild interest. Bree continued, “I know you hate her, Andi, and I get that. Whatever else you think she is, she’s a terrible teacher. When she’s not rehashing stuff we already know, she’s going on about Great Old Ones and all that loopy stuff.”
Riley perked up suddenly. An intense green fire seemed to ignite in his eyes.
Bree continued, oblivious, “…but I think something else could be going on too. With Vik, I mean.” She hesitated as if unsure whether she should continue and then sighed down at her pizza. “He was wicked upset yesterday. I tried to talk to him after school, but I couldn’t get much out of him. He wouldn’t even look at me, and then he just ran off to go to tutoring.”
With Epistola. It was all I could do to keep from gagging.
“Andi,” Bree said, her voice small. “What happened between the two of you?”
The fire in Riley’s eyes roared, flashing bright with alien power. “The two of you?” he repeated.
“Nothing happened,” I answered quickly.
Bree shot Riley a look, but then focused back on me. “Something must have happened to make him blow me off and then not even come to school today.”
“Well, it’s not my fault!” I scoffed.
Bree shook her head slowly, her gaze falling again. “I just… I’ve never seen him so upset before.”
I tried to ignore the faint twisting feeling that returned to my stomach at the memory, and I heaved a sigh. “He asked me out,” I confessed. I felt Riley’s entire frame tense at my side and I rushed to add, “I told him no.”
“That boy,” Riley said slowly, his words dripping with displeasure, “sounds presumptuous to me. Perhaps even disrespectful to you.”
“No, he’s my friend,” I insisted. “And I think he only did it because he’s all mixed up right now. Like some kind of cry for help.” I shook my head and put a pleading hand over Riley’s. “Honestly, I think he’s in trouble. With Epistola. She’s messing with his head. He’s been spending way too much time with her. And he had tutoring with her last night and now they’re both not here? What if she’s done something?”
Riley didn’t look convinced, his eyes remaining narrowed and his hand stiff under my fingers. “What is the worst this teacher could do to the boy?” he asked dismissively.
“You should call him,” Bree interrupted suddenly, swallowing a spoonful of applesauce. I’d almost forgotten she was there. “I tried like three times last night, but he wouldn’t pick up. But maybe he’d answer for you? I mean, he could just be sick. But if you really think he could be in trouble…” She shot Riley a cold stare. “Andi’s right. We don’t know. Something could’ve happened to him.”
But no matter whose cell phone we used—mine or Bree’s (Riley just stared at me when I asked for his)—Vik’s phone only went straight to voicemail. The three of us sat there mostly quiet for the rest of lunch as all the other students laughed and talked or asked each other out to the Pumpkin Ball, stammering and blushing. High school went on, a carefree bubble around us, even as a deep stifling fog lingered over our table.
Before we knew it, the bell was ringing again, calling us to the next little slice of school.
“Andi,” Bree said, before we parted ways in the hall. “We need to find him, alright? We need to find Vik as soon as we can. Ask your parents to talk to his.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “And if you can get your boyfriend to help…”
“If it’s important to Andromeda,” said Riley on my other side, not even acknowledging Bree’s furtiveness, “then I will do so.” As thrilled as the sentiment made me, there was something distant about his tone that had me suspecting his mind was elsewhere.
“Good,” Bree replied. “I’ll try swinging by his place after school, alright? I’ll see you guys in Algebra 2, but call me after you talk to your parents tonight and tell me what you find out. Okay?”
“Right,” I said. Bree gave me a curt nod and went off to Economics, leaving me and Riley in the hall.
I moved to continue to class, but when I realized Riley wasn’t following me, I turned back in confusion. He seemed to be in his own little world. His flawless face was wearing an expression of deep concentration.
“The boy is gone,” he muttered, remaining stock still. “And this is the same boy who possessed the Necronomicon?”
I frowned. “But it got stolen.”
He didn’t seem to hear me, his eyes smoldering as he went on. “He is on intimate terms with this teacher, who you say has spoken of my brethren…”
The word ‘intimate’ almost made me gag, but before I could protest I noticed that all the other students had cleared out of the hall.
“Riley, we need to get to History,” I urged.
“History?” he laughed, a low rumbling sound under his breath that felt like it came from all sides of me. “Don’t you see, little one? It is all coming together.”
“What is?” I inquired.
“The cultists in New York,” Riley reminded me. “I could not help but wonder why they would ambush us. Yet if this woman speaks of my family—of the Great Old Ones—and the Alignment approaches… No, it is too much for simple coincidence. She may not be a mere scholar.”
“What are you saying?” I knew he was right on the money about Ms. Epistola possibly having nefarious connections, but I wasn’t sure what to think of what that implied about Vik.
Riley shook his head. “It is too soon to say anything definitive about her. Perhaps… yes, that would be our best option.” Riley grasped my hand. “We must go to my uncle at once. He will have means to unveil answers.”
The tone in Riley’s voice bothered me. Did I detect a quiver of uncertainty? But with him holding my hand, I felt as though nothing could go wrong. That was, until Mr. Dunleavy stepped out into the hall and chastised us with a sharp, “Children? Will you be joining us any time before the next ice age sets in?”
Riley’s hand tightened painfully around mine, but I shot him a pleading look. “We can go after school,” I muttered under my breath.
Everyone was staring at me as we trudged into the classroom. At first I flushed with embarrassment, assuming they were doing it simply because we were late, but then I realized it was because Riley was still holding my hand. What did they all think had kept the two of us so long after the bell rang? I flushed with something else then—a feeling entirely new to me.
Joyful pride.