Fluorescence: The Complete Tetralogy (29 page)

Jane’s eyes widened. “What? You told them about—”

“No. No. I just told them enough to keep them off my
back. Enough to keep them from asking too many questions.
Enough to make them understand how much I needed to leave school today.”

“Thanks, Brian, for doing that. Telling the truth helps, even if it is a little distorted. To be honest, I’m dreading our court date. It will be here before I know it. Less than two weeks. I just hope everything goes well.”

“Don’t be so worried, Jane.” I put my hand onto her shoulder and smiled genuinely. “I am more than thankful for what you’ve done for me. I can’t imagine any other kid my age being so lucky. I know you’re a good mother. Be yourself and the judge will see that, too.”

Chapter 11

W
aves of dark hair danced around Alice’s face, roused by a gust of brisk autumn wind. She swept the stray locks
behind her ears. Her toes curled into the sand and she gazed
off into the distance. A quiet sigh slipped from her lips, and
she closed her eyes and leaned her head against my shoulder.

We sat barefoot on the beach, watching waves crash
against the shoreline. I inhaled deeply, the breeze teasing my
nostrils with a salty sweetness.

People walked their dogs along the water, some tossing flying discs for them to catch, others enjoying a jog. Children bounced beach balls at the water’s edge. Others built sandcastles in the fading light of dusk.

I took Alice’s hand into mine and cupped it tightly in my lap. Taking her to the beach was my attempt at helping her to focus on other things. Fresh air. New sounds and sights. Anything to get her out of the house—out of the downward spiral of depression. Anything to keep her mind occupied.

She had wanted to shut me out, and that had hurt.
Depression is a difficult beast. It causes a biological change in the brain and has to be dealt with carefully, and in our case,
without
medical attention. We had to make sure Alice was eating properly and keeping up her strength. I had to
get her out of the house and keep her moving, looking forward
, forgetting what had happened.

The Jamesons knew I needed to spend extra time with Alice and adjusted their strict curfew for that reason. But then work got tough. Things added up and my ability to pay attention to anything other than my two biggest worries quickly dwindled. I worried about Alice and the court day constantly.

If it took an hour every day of just sitting silently beside her on the ocean shore, holding her hand, and providing a shoulder for her to cry on when she needed it, I’d do it. I’d
do it for as long as I had to. Whatever was necessary to bring
my Alice back.

. . .

I took a deep breath and exhaled, brushing my hair back
with a comb, checking the mirror to make sure my tie looked
straight. I’d outgrown the suit I’d worn at last year’s dance, but thankfully Thomas had one I could borrow that fit. With a few adjustments.

Court day fell on a Monday, two weeks before Christmas break. I was nervous as hell. Nervous about what I might say… or
forget
to say. Nervous the fluorescence would flare
up and send the judge into a frenzy. Nervous the idiot Saviors
would yank me out of the courtroom and then plop me back down, making
me
look like the crazy one.

Alice texted me first thing in the morning a genuine (non-depressed) text. The first in almost two weeks. It lifted a weight off my shoulders. It gave me confidence.

She’d finally come around.

ALICE
: I hope everything goes well. I’ll be thinking about you

ME: Thanks. I’ll be thinking of you, too

ALICE: Thank you for everything…

ALICE: I love you :)

ME: I love you, too!

Maybe she’d have me back tomorrow.
Permanently
.

Maybe.

If
everything went well.

Kareena’s father arrived early, before the Jamesons and me. We met outside the courthouse where he gave me a quick briefing and told me not to worry about anything. In the courtroom, he reviewed my case with the judge and then asked me a few questions about my mom’s history. I told the judge how she had attempted suicide once before—when I was younger—and how I had stopped her then, but had been too afraid to go to the police. The judge sympathized with me.

I told him I’d gotten a job as soon as I’d been able to in order to get out of the house and take responsibility for myself. Make money. Afford transportation. He also asked me about my motorcycle, whose property it was and how I’d acquired the money to pay for it, considering a kid my age could not legally be bound by a loan. So I told him the truth—something I hadn’t even told Alice. Jane had sponsored me and I had paid her back for it in full already.

I’d mentioned it to my mother a while back, but she’d wanted no part of it. I had no choice but to go to Jane; she knew where I was coming from and how badly I needed the help.

“You’re very responsible for a young man your age,” the judge said with a tilt of his head. “It’s a shame more teenagers don’t take life quite as seriously as you seem to be doing.”

The compliment caught me off guard and I couldn’t help but crack a smile.

“Though I regret finding you in court under such unfortunate circumstances. Children need to grow up in reliable and safe environments. This doesn’t seem to be the case for you with the severity of your mother’s mental condition escalating.” He adjusted his glasses, propped an elbow on the desk in front of him and rested his chin in his hand. “Let me ask you something, Brian.”

“Yes, Your Honor?” I tangled my hands together to stop myself from fidgeting.

“From what I have been told about this case, you and the petitioner’s daughter are… how do I put this plainly? Involved?”

I swallowed hard and glanced at Kareena’s father, who
had an unemotional look on his face. He shrugged, gesturing
for me to hurry up and answer.

“Um… yes.”

“And if you and the daughter have a fallout, how do you think that may affect your home situation, should I choose to honor this petition today?”

I straightened up in my seat. “Well, if you’ll forgive my presumptuousness, Your Honor, I don’t believe that will happen.”

“Nothing is set in stone, son.”

“True, but I’m doing the best I can. I don’t have to be a scientist to know most high school relationships don’t last all that long, but we’ve already been together for over a year. Since the beginning of our relationship, I’ve set out to put
more effort toward graduating, studying for my classes, showing
up on time. Giving a damn about my education even
though I never
had before. I work a real job as hard and as long as I’m allowed, just to save money to
pay off
my motorcycle. Things were getting bad back home and I never had much of a reason to try before I met Alice.”

The judge’s eyebrows rose and his jaw eased open. “I see,” he replied with a nod. “Quite a thoughtful response. Thank you for answering with honesty. It has put your case in perspective for me.”

I held my breath while the judge leaned back in his chair and rubbed his chin.

“Very well. I have decided to honor the petition and award
full guardianship and its responsibilities to the petitioner.”

Yes!
I heaved a sigh of relief.

“That girl’s mother,” he said, pointing at Jane, “truly believes in you. I hope for both her and her daughter’s sakes that things work out.”

“Me, too. Thank you, Your Honor.”

“Thank
you,
Brian, for upholding a respectable image for young people today. I’ve heard good things about you from the Jamesons. It seems you’ve been an influential role model for their son.”

Hearing that made me feel so much better about myself.
I’d never thought I was being a role model by any means. I was just living—being me—and trying to keep Alice in my life the only way I knew how.

. . .

“I’ll miss you, Brian,” Peter murmured, staring at his feet and scuffing his shoes against the driveway pavement.

“I’ll miss you, too.” I offered up a hand and we fist bumped.

“Before I forget… let me get something from the house.” I ran back inside and grabbed a box off the couch.

“I got this for you,” I said, handing Peter the large cardboard
box.

“Wow! A present! What is it!?” He set it down onto the driveway and dropped onto his knees.

“Merry early Christmas, Peter.”

He ripped the long strip of tape off the top of the box and pulled open the flaps. His eyes widened.

“YES!”

Half the street probably heard his excitement.

He plunged his hands into the box and lifted out a shiny metallic blue skateboard with a red bow attached.

“My very own skateboard!? And it’s the same awesome color as your bike, too!” He hugged it tightly and beamed. “Thanks, Brian! You’re the best brother ever!” He got up and reached his arms out to hug me, still holding tightly to the skateboard and bopping me in the kneecap with it.

“Hey. There’s more.” I motioned for him to check the box again.

He dug down inside and pulled out a helmet, and then elbow and knee pads. All part of the deal I’d made with Sue and Thomas. He could have a skateboard if I got the protective gear to go with it. Peter was more than mature enough to handle something I’d had even before I was his age. I’d never even had any of that protective stuff when I’d hit the concrete. Talk about growing pains.

“Can you help me put these on before you go?” Peter held up the elbow pads.

“Sure. I’ll even show you a little bit of what I used to do. I’ll make sure you get off to a good start.”

“Yessss!” Peter jumped up into the air and ran around in a half circle, flailing his arms excitedly. “I can’t wait to show Matt!” His huge toothy grin was contagious.

I helped strap the elbow and knee pads onto him and then hopped onto the skateboard deck to show him a few tricks. He squealed and shouted as I did a grind on the street curb and then a few ollies—little hops that brought the board off the ground. Neither was a big deal really, but it impressed him. I didn’t want to screw up and faceplant in front of his parents. It had been a while since I’d been on a skateboard.

I surrendered the board back to him and let him try. He stepped up onto the deck and I explained how to balance and center his weight properly so he wouldn’t fall. I walked beside him as he kicked forward to gain speed, and then I had to jog after him. The kid was a natural.

He hit a small pothole and toppled forward. I lunged and
snagged him by the shirt, catching him before he hit the ground.

“You gotta watch for those,” I said.

“Yeah. Thanks for saving me.”

He chased after the board as it rolled down the street.

“Stay on the curb while you’re learning, okay? Don’t play in the street when there’s cars. Keep an eye out.”

“You sound like my mom,” Peter said, walking back toward me. He set his board down on the grass at my feet and polished the deck with the side of his hand.

“Sorry, but I care about you.” I chuckled. “
We
care about
you. I want you to be in one piece when I come back to say hi someday.”

“Yes!” His arms shot up and he bounced in place. “I can’t wait until you come back to see me! Can you bring Alice if she’s not sick? She seemed really nice.”

“Sure. I’ll try.”

Peter shrugged and kicked a rock down the driveway. “So, are you gonna marry her?” he asked.

“Alice?”

“Yeah.”

“I hope so.”

“Cool. Maybe I can come over and play with
your
kids.”

His words made me laugh out loud. “I think it’s going to be a while before any of that happens. Hopefully.” I meandered over to my motorcycle and picked up my helmet off the seat. “Well, I gotta go, Peter. I’m sorry. I hope you like your board. Be careful.”

“I will!” He came over to me and stood by my bike. “I’m going to miss you, Brian,” he said softly, frowning. “You’re the coolest guy I’ve ever known.”

My heart sank, but I forced a smile so I wouldn’t bring him down. “I’ll miss you, too. You’re a good kid. Don’t let
anyone
tell you otherwise. Got that?”

“Yeah.” Then he shuffled closer and fidgeted.

“Go ahead. Give your bro a hug.” I bent over and wrapped
my arms around him. He hugged me tight and I ruffled his hair with my fingers. “Take care of yourself. If you ever need anything, your mom knows how to reach me.”

In only two months, the kid had grown on me. So much
so, in fact, that if someone bullied him in school, they’d have
a much bigger kid to deal with now.

Peter wanted to meet Alice again. It made me feel terrible, but it wasn’t possible. I couldn’t even tell him the real reason why. We couldn’t risk starting him until we knew the truth behind the fluorescence and what the Saviors wanted out of those who had been implanted with it. Peter was too important to me.

Chapter 12

“
H
i,” said Alice, standing up from the grass as I pulled into the driveway.

“Hi.” I slid my helmet off and tucked it beneath my arm. A twinge of emotion made my throat tighten.

She opened the garage door and I walked my motorcycle
inside.

“So… this is different, huh?” I said, dragging a hand through my hair. “I guess I don’t have to go home now.”

“This is home,” she replied softly, almost smiling.

I flipped down the kickstand and parked my bike near the wall. My stomach twisted into a knot of anxiety and excitement. I wanted to take Alice into my arms. Embrace her tightly. Kiss her deeply. But the thrill became stifled by awkwardness. Maybe it wasn’t right or I was overstepping my boundaries now.