Chapter 19: Chapter 19
I really do think its only a coincidence, Linda prompted, deciding to fill the silence Id cast over us. Smiley and teasing shouts fluttered in the background. Those people in the news fell into coma doing nothingnone of them were working or overexcited or anything. They just fell, all of them doing meaningless things. I opened my mouth to add something but she cut it with a pointed tilt of her head. And I know what youre going to say but just one of them was readingthe woman you told me yesterday. The rest were watching TV or listening to music. I think a few of them were at the cinema, toobut not reading.
I shook my head with a sigh. I dont know, Linda. Theres something weird with them, I I dont know how to explain it, but I feel it in my gut.
Well, Ill give you that. If you wouldnt have told me, I think I wouldve never noticed anything.
Because people dont open their eyes to the realities of others.We are too busy with our own.
How many times hadnt I slithered by that shy boy at my old school and hadnt bothered in saying hi or giving him a smile? Hed always wandered school alone, with no friends filling his empty sides, slumped. The blue in his eyes had been overshadowed by a dark storm of sadness. A sadness that had weighed my heart down every time Id spotted those sullen pools in the hallway. Id known he avoided the crowds, hanging out in the bathroom during lunch time, and Id known that those sullen pools had gotten deeper, fathomless, and out of reach over the days. Guys hadnt bothered him. Girls hadnt spoken to him. No one had showed any sign of awareness in his presence. Hed been like a ghosta ghost no one had taken their time to acknowledge.
Until one day.
Mrs. Morrison, our English teacher, strode into the classroom, halting everyones frantic chatter. Her lips were pressed tightly, and her face was paler than usual. I thought she was sickan upset stomach perhaps. She had the same look a person had before throwing up. But then, her words broke through the narrow space of her mouth, and the light in the room seemed to dim. My breath caught up in my throat for a few heartbeats.
His name was Sam. Sam Collins. He liked playing the electric guitar, going to wild concerts, and he dreamed about having a band someday. Possibly landing a record deal later on as well. Everyone in school seemed to know him, as if hed been part of every group, every social circle. An article in the school newspaper was everything that had taken to finally acknowledge him. And his death. A death that had been given by his own desperate hands in solitude.
And that smile Id always wanted to give him would forever remain in my lips, unused.
Maybe all of this persistence had something to do with the remorse I couldnt seem to push away. I didnt want other names haunting the depths of my mind. I know reading isnt an evil-starred thing, and that everyone has their own obsessions to handle, but this is different, Linda. There is something wrong with them, and I dont know how to prove it, but its all connected with those people in the news.
Dafne, I understand
Dont give me that I-get-it-but-youre-crazy tone. I know what I'm saying, I said. Youre the one whos always arguing we should grasp the inner nature of things intuitively, to trust our third eye or whatever they teach you on those meditation classes. Well, I'm doing it now and look what youre doing
I wasnt trying to
You agreed with me on this before. You saw all the weirdnessstill see it. So why are you backing down all of a sudden? Is it because youre afraid? I asked her. Believing a lie is simpler, I guesssafer.
Please, dont start with your psychological archery, she said with an exasperated sigh.
My what?
You always do that when you want to break through someones armor with the arrow of your tongue. She lowered her eyes, her foot tapping the ground impatiently.
I swallowed back a laugh. Did the arrow hit the center?
The tapping increased, the tip of her shoe beating the ground as if running for its life. In her mind though, I figured she was running away from the words about to tear loose from her mouth. She halted her leg shaking and uncrossed her arms. Maybe I just wanted to enjoy my spring break without a bee in my bonnet. She groaned, looking at me. Is that a crime?
Oh. Of course not, I told her ashamed for pushing her so hard. I forgot about your cruise trip, Im sorry. Her parents had been saving up for the last three years to go to Bahamas as a family. Lindas older sister was going to join them in Florida for a week of battery reactivation and fun under the sunwhat everyone looked to when given the chance to get off of the working wagon. And Linda had been excited over sailing turquoise waters bordered by sugar-white beaches and splaying palm trees. She needed the break. Her heart was still too dented because of the bitter hailstorm Brad had caused inside of her, and soaring above the ocean while soaking up some vitamin D was positively the best therapy for her.
I, on the other hand, was adding more turbulence in her head with my worries and ruining her whole experience. So much for being a good friend. I wanted to know I wasnt alone in this, thats all. I added with a sharp tinge of regret in my tone.
Youre not alone in this, Dafne. Youre not getting crazy or anything, but what can we do? Its like searching for a needle in a haystack. Where do we start searching? And what are we sear She trailed off with the sound of keys rattling behind her. A guy was battling with the keyhole of the car where Lindas back was pressed. It was an old one, probably from the late eightiesan era where automatic door locks still were a half-baked idea.
Oh, sorry, Linda told the guy, unstitching herself from the car in a flash.
No problem, he said with a shy smile, barely glancing at us. But that glint of time was enough to recognize those eyes.
Hey! I called before he would slip inside the car. Hed already won the battle against the keyhole. He stopped and turned to look at me, surprise and confusion swimming together in his hazel eyes. Something mustve snapped him out from the bafflement though, because he shook his head a second later and proceeded to slip inside again.
Hey! I tried once more and closed the distance with the window opposite to his. I bent forward and tapped the crook of my finger against the class. Can I talk to you? I looked at him with beseeching eyes, softening the planes of my face to that dainty expression I knew no guy could fight.
His hazel eyes widened, surprise and confusion spinning in them again. He turned back and pushed his door open. I straightened and found Lindas lips mouthing what are you doing a few inches from me. I smiled and told her under my breath, our search just started.
She frowned and aimed her brown-black eyes on his, which looked even more baffled under the sun, like dry leaves fluttering restlessly over moss. Were you talking to me? he asked me, his voice fading with uncertainty.
Was that so shocking? Yeah, why the surprise?
He waved his eyes around and stopped on mine. Because you never talk to anyonebesides your friend, he added with a polite smile for Linda, as if remembering she was there next to me.
It was true. I couldnt remember the last time Id spoken to someone in school willingly and not because the circumstances had forced me to. He mustve been wondering why the sudden change. Look, I saw you the other dayactually, for several daysreading inside the school and everywhere and I was wondering if, I dont know, youve felt an urge or something weird going on inside of you that pushes you, um, to pick up a book.
Excuse me? he said, looking at me as if I was an alien from planet Mucus. Is this a joke or something?
Linda stepped closer to the car. What she means is that She paused, trying to formulate some logical explanation, and gave up. Weve been seeing a lot of people reading, okay? Like, more than usual. And some of you have this look, as if you're under a spell of the Wicked Witch of the West and She stopped, noticing the guys face had gone more incredulousand fearful. I didnt need to read minds to know he thought we belonged in a mental institution.
I looked at her with my eyebrow arched and mouthed, Wicked Witch?
She swallowed and flushed a deep pink.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone