Chapter Fourteen

 

During the journey back to the present time, the entire hike to Volcano House, and the whole return trip to Hilo in Auntie Lulu’s Firebird, I thought of little beyond the cave in Bora Bora where Gaia and Hydros had found us and tortured Skye, eventually breaking her spirit until she agreed to join their cause. Now, she seemed a mere fragment of her former self, as twisted and evil as Gaia because I had failed to prepare her for the encounter. Unfortunately, like Pele had claimed, it was too late for me to change the past.

But when Lulu pulled up in her driveway and I noticed the chipped paint of her white lattice fence, the reality of the present rushed back in full force. I had never finished that project, had never apologized to Sully…all because Lulu had spontaneously decided to visit her sister.

It seemed like forever since I’d last spoken to Sully, like ages had passed instead of the couple of days I’d spent working with Pele. Without a word to Lulu, I threw my bag on the bed and dashed to the public library, anxious to get there before it closed. Trails of sweat streamed down my brow while I logged into the computer, hoping he’d still want to speak to me after my unexplained avoidance, even if the computer terminal seemed about the least private place for us to talk.

When the video link fed through, Sully looked surprised and slightly upset. I figured he had every right to be mad after I’d unintentionally blown him off. But I never suspected there was more.

Not until it was too late.

“Nice to hear from you,” he said, his voice unnaturally sarcastic.

“Ohmigod, Sully! You wouldn’t believe what I’ve been through.” I sighed, launching into a lengthy explanation of my recent problems. In hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have begun our conversation with complaints about wasting my time and accomplishing next to nothing. I should’ve asked about him, doted on him, and mentioned how much I missed him. But I didn’t. And I’d live to regret that mistake.

“Worse, Pele’s hiding something from me. I know she is,” I said, drumming my fingers on the tabletop, dwelling on my own concerns. “If only I could get her to reveal everything to me. But how?” I wondered, like I held a discussion with myself.

When Sully emitted a heavy, bored sigh, I realized my error. “So enough about me. How are things with you?” I asked, focusing my attention on his pale blue eyes.

Sully shifted uncomfortably in his chair, appearing distracted. He ran his fingers over his light brown hair and fidgeted with his hat, like its every position felt awkward upon his head. I blinked, reading his moves. This wasn’t him trying to focus, like the time he revealed the fire goddess’s identity to me. Something weighed on his mind, something I suspected he’d rather I didn’t know.

“Something’s up,” I told him. “I can tell, so don’t try to hide it.”

His eyes looked everywhere but at my face on the computer screen. After an unusually long pause, he replied in a falsely casual tone, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

I snorted. “Whatever, Sully. Out with it. Tell me what’s bugging you.”

“Huh?” A nervous expression passed across his face, feigning ignorance.

My stomach flipped upside down. Why hadn’t I seen this earlier? I cursed myself for getting so wrapped up in my own unsolvable issues. “You’re acting weird. I know something’s bothering you, so just tell me already. What is it? Did something happen to Micah or Cam?”

Sully shook his head silently.

“Then it’s you, isn’t it? C’mon. What happened? What’s your big news?” Maybe I’d misjudged him. He obviously had something important to share. Was it something about his new job? Or his plans for the summer?

Summer…that was it! My eyes brightened and I perched excitedly on the edge of my chair. “You finished final exams, didn’t you?” I guessed, irritated with myself for forgetting something that important. “I completely forgot to wish you good luck!”

“Well…yeah…I did,” he stammered. “But that’s not it.”

“Oh, come on, Sully. I don’t have the energy to play this guessing game. The past few days, I’ve spent most of my time spying on my mortal enemy and the girl I destroyed, talking to an ancient woman who loads me with chores, trying to decipher the cryptic messages of a temperamental goddess, and stealing my sleeping bag back from a stray dog who’s always looking for treats.” Subconsciously, I peeked over my shoulder, wondering if anyone overheard our conversation. Fortunately, the librarians appeared absorbed with their tasks of helping patrons locate particular books and use the self-checkout machines.

“Seriously,” I prodded, flashing him my most convincing smile, “I could use some good news to ground me for a change.”

Sully pinched his eyebrows together in confusion, pausing for a moment before speaking. “Y’know, Jordan, I don’t pretend to understand who you are or what you’ve been doing.” His voice carried a cool, distant tone. Even his words sounded a bit too formal for Sully. How long had he rehearsed this speech?

I flinched, my optimism suddenly fading. An unsettling discomfort filled my gut and I held my breath, waiting for him to continue.

He sighed. “I don’t know what I expected when you left, but I guess I thought you’d actually miss me while you were gone. Instead it seems like…” He was reluctant to finish his thought.

“Seems like…?” I prodded.

“I dunno exactly. It’s just different now. You’ve got loads of your own stuff going on and it kinda seems like we’re drifting apart.”

“So what are you saying?” I asked in a flat tone. I bit my lip to keep it from trembling.

“Look, Jordan. Distance relationships are hard. I just thought we could beat the odds and make things work, but I guess I was wrong.”

“Sully, please. Don’t do this to me. I haven’t been gone that long.”

“Still, Jordan. You say you’re so busy, but really, how hard is it to make a little time to talk to me every day? I’d understand if you met someone else—”

“But there isn’t anyone else,” I interrupted. For a second, I thought about Tate’s kiss after I dug him free from the avalanche, but decided that didn’t count. It was a spontaneous, incidental act to express his profound relief and joy that he survived. Nothing more.

“It’s not that I don’t like you, because I do,” Sully explained slowly, carefully choosing every word. “It’s just that part of me expected you’d only be gone on a short vacation. This’ll be the summer before our senior year, and I thought you and I would…well, you know…”

“Spend it together?” I wagered. My heart sank deeper within my chest.

“And with you in Hawaii,” he continued, having difficulty meeting my gaze. “I know you’re busy with your stuff, but it doesn’t sound like you’ll be coming back anytime soon. If at all.”

“Let me ask you one thing, Shayne,” I said on one of the few occasions I’d actually used his real name. “Is she someone I know?”

He blinked. “What?”

“Oh, please. Enough with the formalities already. You met someone else, right?”

It took him an awfully long time to respond. “Um…yeah, I suppose.”

“So, is she someone I know?” I repeated.

“I…uh…guess so.”

“It’s Karli, isn’t it,” I said, thinking fast. Chances were, once I’d left he’d gotten back together with his ex pretty fast. I knew from the first time I’d met her that she didn’t like me, especially not when her boyfriend had shown a little too much interest in helping me meet his circle of friends at the lunch table.

“No, it’s not Karli,” Sully admitted. “She’s still with Justin.”

Well, that’s good at least, I thought, remembering the smug smile she wore after Mr. Mendoza flunked me from Driver’s Ed for my stint of panicked driving. It was an honest mistake—I’d simply thought I had spotted Skye standing alone on the hillside in the rain and needed to escape immediately. Mr. Mendoza hadn’t found it the least bit funny, however, so he took over the wheel instead. In the back of my mind, I was relieved to hear Sully hadn’t chosen Karli. He deserved someone nicer than her, someone who appreciated his good points instead of always putting herself first.

“Not Tessa. She’s probably still with Micah,” I said, thinking aloud. “Is it Isa?” I could see him attracted to her pretty, typically soft-spoken personality. I’d bet she’d be really sweet if she didn’t spend so much time hanging around with Karli and Tessa.

“Nope,” he replied, his expression growing more uncomfortable.

I scrunched up my nose, surprised I could think beyond my jealousy to guess who else he’d like. “Hmm, don’t tell me. I bet it’s…”

Suddenly it hit me, the truth striking me right between the eyes. “It’s not Bethany, is it?”

“It just kind of happened,” he explained, apologetically. “We were at a bonfire at the beach and we kind of ended up together, I guess.”

“Kind of?”

Sully frowned. “I know what you’re thinking—but she’s changed. She said she didn’t mean to hurt you, it’s just that she’s—”

“Available,” I interrupted. “And I’m not.” I heaved a deep, disappointed sigh.

Sully might have claimed he liked danger, but that word described the polar opposite of Bethany Donovan. So, when it came down to it, Sully really wanted someone who was around. And perhaps that was exactly what drew him to me in the first place—I was always there. At Micah’s, at school…and now I wasn’t.

I got it. But that didn’t mean I liked it.

“Don’t do this to me, Sully. Not now. You don’t understand what I’ve been through lately. I just got back from Atlantis.”

“Yeah, I went there once, too,” he admitted casually, almost like he forgot that he’d broken up with me. “But I went so fast through the tube that I missed seeing all the sharks.”

I blinked, completely baffled. “What are you talking about?”

“Atlantis, right? The hotel on Paradise Island in the Bahamas. Did you get to try the water slides through the shark tanks?”

“No, Sully, the real Atlantis. Before it sunk beneath the sea. Sully, I almost died.”

“I know. It’s a pretty intense ride, isn’t it?”

I shook my head, baffled that after all he’d witnessed, all he knew I’d been through, he still didn’t fully understand. “And I went on the Titanic.”

“Huh,” Sully said, scratching his head. “Didn’t know they released it again in theaters.”

I was tempted to say it wasn’t a movie but the real ship when I decided my point was irrelevant. Things were over between us. I’d had a second chance with him and blew it. And despite the ordeals I’d endured, he didn’t believe me, didn’t believe the reasons I messed things up between us, and probably never would.

“So I guess this is good-bye,” I admitted with regret. Tears built in the corners of my eyes.

Sully frowned. “Just remember, if you ever need anything, Jordan, anything at all…”

A sad, crooked smiled crossed my face. Even when he was dumping me, he still acted helpful.

“Good-bye, Sully,” I whispered before I logged off, afraid I couldn’t keep the tears at bay much longer. This whole breakup would be worse if he actually saw me cry.

After Sully hung up, I laid my head on my arms across the keyboard and sobbed until the librarian kicked me off the computer five minutes before the building closed.