Lucas Ryan Versus: The Hive (The Lucas Ryan Versus Series) (4 page)

LEVEL 04:
Connection

Stepping through the auditorium doors, I searched the giant room. Most of the overhead lights were turned off, leaving all the seating in shadows. The stage was alive with multicolored lights that lit up every corner of it. The band was casually tweaking their instruments and positions of their equipment.
She
...was nowhere to be found.

Off the right side of the stage stood Mr. Stein, the schools eccentric music teacher. He was sipping on a cup of coffee and bored out of his mind. He supported every kind of musical expression, but preferred that is was written hundreds of years ago and performed with a full orchestra.

“Come on girls! We only have another fifteen minutes before the Drama Club needs the auditorium,” he announced, through a long yawn. The girls in the band ignored him with a laugh. I kept searching the dark corners of the room. She had to be here somewhere. It was her band, her gig. No luck, she wasn’t here. A lump in my throat appeared as my anxious nerves faded away.

“Oh well, maybe next time,” I whispered. My relief was more than obvious. I whipped my phone out and inspected the mysterious yellow scar pulsing on my screen. It was luminous in the hardly lit room. My mind started racing with questions again. What had I found? Was it really trying to communicate with me? Was I borderline insane? I needed to get back to my locker. I spun around to begin my journey back to the insanity in my locker, but my turn was stopped abruptly as I smashed into someone rushing through the doors and towards the stage. My phone flew out of my hand, along with the contents that the stranger was carrying. A stack of black and white T-shirts rained all around me, and to the floor. One flipped over my shoulder and rested there as I tried to focus.

“Watch it!”

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention,” I apologized, embarrassed.

“No kidding!” she snapped.

I froze in place as I realized who I had just bumped into, “Olivia.”

“You need to watch where you’re going!” she cursed. Her long, dark hair was tied loosely in a messy bun on the back of her head. Two black sticks stuck from the roll of hair like an X. Some of her bangs fell past her angry green eyes.
Green,
I thought to myself. She picked green today. Her nose was adorned with a small, silver stud on the left, and her lips were a dark red frown.

“I don’t have time for this!” she continued to snarl. Her brow tightened as she watched me frozen by her features. I reached down, picked up a couple shirts and handed them to her. She quickly snatched them from my hand. It snapped me from my zombie-like state.

“Hi,” I choked. She glared at me. She was so beautiful, even though she looked as if she might hit me. She said nothing and looked around the floor. She settled the scattered shirts into a loose pile.

“I’m Lucas.” My voice almost failed me. Embarrassment washed over me. She huffed and a small puff of air made her bangs dance in front of her face.

“Can you see my phone? I need my phone,” she said.

My eyes searched the shadowy floor. “Uh...here...” I reached down and found both our phones lying next to each other. I smiled when I noticed she had the same exact brand of cell phone as me. She must enjoy her gadgets too. I handed it to her with a nervous smile.

“Sorry again.”

“Lucas Ryan...right?” she asked, as her eyes searched mine. I nodded yes, but said nothing. She slipped her phone in the waistband of her jeans.

“The boy with two, first names,” she teased, still wearing her pout.

“That’s me.”

“We had Art class together last semester,” she said, as fact.

“I think so.” I played dumb. She sat three desks from me and loved to draw and sketch. She hated working with paints and always nibbled on the ends of her pencils. She never talked to anyone during class and finished the semester with an A-. Her favorite color was black. She preferred her music loud. She started playing guitar in the 5
^th
grade. She loved two things in this world and two things only; her music and her younger sister, Sophia. Yeah, it was safe to say...I remembered her.

“You’re that computer genius kid, huh?”

“I guess,” I answered, blankly. It could have been worse, she could have used the word
nerd
. She looked at me hard.

“You coming to the show tonight?”

“I wouldn’t miss it.” I sounded way too eager. She looked at me for a long moment. In that moment, a connection was made. It was a thin one, but it was there.

“You can keep the shirt.” She walked past me quickly and ran up on stage.

I pulled the black T-shirt from my shoulder and glanced at it for the first time. It had a picture of a little girl with pigtails in her hair, holding a single rose. She looked sad. Below her, in dark red writing was the name of the band...
Sister Red
. I studied the little girl closely. She looked awfully familiar.

From the stage the sound of a crashing guitar chord filled the room. It vibrated with a violent crunch that held there for a long moment. A few buzzing seconds later, it began to fade. Olivia stood at the front of the stage with her black and purple guitar slung across her shoulders. She was looking directly at me, almost through me. Her red lips pushed against the microphone in front of her.

“Nice to meet you...Lucas Ryan,” she sang, deep and haunting. I stood silent with my heart pounding in my chest. Olivia Weaver, the lead singer and founding member of Sister Red, my secret crush since grade school...knew...my...name.

“You too,” I mumbled.

LEVEL 05:
Higher Ground

~ Pick me up. ~

My eyes began to blur as I spent another long minute staring at the outside of my locker. I had wasted ten minutes just standing here, staring. My brain ignoring the constant messages whispered inside of it. I barely made it through my last few classes of the day. Now, as the school halls emptied, the mystery in my locker seemed to fill my every waking thought.

“Luc, you coming?” Roland asked, with a smack to my back.

“What?” I stuttered. Roland continued his stroll toward the school doors.

“Taylor’s waiting on us. It’s showtime!” he laughed, and scooted through the doors, leaving me in my personal
Twilight Zone
episode.

“Football practice,” I nodded. I had almost forgotten. Our little gang never missed a practice. I took a long, deep breath and ripped open my locker door. “Whoa.”

My secret stone had almost doubled in size. It even looked blacker, if that was even possible. A slight bend had begun to sink into the bottom of my locker. Its weight must have increased immensely.

~ Pick me up. Pick me up. ~

“That’s unbelievable...” I reached out and placed my hand around it. It was now the size of a box of playing cards and as cold as ice. It sucked my hand to it like a powerful magnet. Its freezing surface stunned me.

~ Pick me up. ~

My pulse doubled its pace. I tried to lift it up, but found that I couldn’t. The harder that I tried, the heavier it felt. I could probably pull the school’s flagpole out of its concrete home before I would be able to make this crazy thing budge. Its weight had increased so much in just a few hours, I was amazed. I pulled at it, in vain, one last time.

~ Pick me up. ~

“Pick me up? Yeah right!” I pouted. I tried to release my grip, but found my fingers welded to its surface again. Last time I had held it, I had to pry it from my palm and I barely managed to do it. Now, it was impossible to do. I began scratching at my hand, trying with all my might to unwrap my fingers from the stone. No use. I was trapped and growing scared.

“Great!” I yelled. It echoed down the empty hall. There was no way out of this. With a soft thud, I rested my forehead against the locker door. Taylor and the gang would start to wonder where I was at if I didn’t show my face soon. How would I explain this?

“Come on...think,” I said. My head continued to bounce off the locker surface repeatedly. In my mind, I begged the mysterious rock the same thing, over and over again...
please let go, please let go, please let go
. All I heard in response was...
pick me up.

“Ugh! Let go!” I ordered, again. Nothing changed.

~ Pick me up. ~

I can’t!
I was going crazy in my head. I was stuck inside my open locker and talking to myself. This wasn’t normal. The moment began to suffocate me.

“Please let go of me. I need my hand back,” I tried to reason with it. Nothing, no response. I felt insane talking to it, but I was quickly approaching the end of my emotional rope. A long, sad sigh slid from my mouth. I was now feeling the moisture of a nervous sweat breaking all over my body. Maybe it would help.

With a final gasp of hope, I asked it one last time. “Please let me go...I need my hand back...I wish I had my freedom...”

A burning sensation rolled over my knuckles and wrist. Instantly, my hand was free. I clutched my fist to my chest, amazed that it had let go. My palm was coated in fresh sweat. I stared at it hard, studying a stunning side effect. Inside my palm was a lightning storm of bright gold lights, that raced around, tracing the lines of my hand. They danced just under the skin, painlessly. It was unbelievable. I pulled my fingers together into a hard fist, and the lights died away. I closed my eyes and shut the locker door in a loud crash.

“See, I just needed to sweat my way out,” I convinced myself, with a grateful smile. The happiness melted away as I turned around to find I wasn’t alone.

“Did you just say you sweated your way out of your locker?” Felicity asked, disgusted. Not her, not now. Her face crinkled up as she waited for my response. Her twisting curls dangled along her big brown eyes. I slid my backpack over my shoulder, still holding my hand in a sweaty fist.

“I guess so.”

She looked at my closed fist. “You are a strange, strange boy, Lucas.”

“Wow Felicity, you sound like you’re crushing on me a little!” I teased. I couldn’t help myself. One of my greatest joys in this world was getting a rise out of her. She flinched violently in an over exaggerated spasm at my suggestion.

“Dream on!” she cringed. I started to laugh. She turned around and stormed off toward the exit. I quietly followed her with a smile on my face. She made her way to her parents car in the parking lot. I threw her a polite wave, and she stuck her tongue out at me and climbed into the passenger side of the vehicle. I laughed even harder and stole a quick glance at the palm of my hand. It was normal again. I gently rubbed it with my other hand and made my way to the
Holy Lands.

Desert Vista High School was home to the big and brash
Thunder
football team. Their football field was big, green, lush and touched by the divine. Most students referred to the field as special or blessed. I just called it, the
Holy Lands
, the highest grounds
.
A thunder God’s territory. Taylor’s territory. I called him Thor for a reason. With a football in his hands, he was unstoppable. Legendary. He was so good at the game that the local sporting scouts had been following his football career since he was twelve.

One of the biggest games of the year was this weekend and the entire school, community and state of Arizona would be watching his every move. The team practices after school had become like a pep rally on steroids. More than half the students were here.

“Luc!” Taylor called to me from the field. He trotted up to me with a bottle of water in his big strong hand.

“Hey, T. It looks like half the school’s here this afternoon.”

He shrugged, “Oh well, whatcha gonna do?”

“Sorry, I’m a little late...I was...”

“It’s fine.” He took a long drink from his bottle. From over his shoulder I could see Roland and Morgan off in the distance. Roland was tapping away on his black laptop, trying to block the afternoon sun from its screen. He wasn’t having much luck with it. Morgan stood still, watching Taylor and I with giant doe eyes. She softly shifted her weight to one side and waved our way.

“I hope you didn’t get in too much trouble today.” Taylor looked at me worried. He was always looking out for me. The big brother I never had.

“Nothing I couldn’t handle,” I joked. My mind raced back to earlier as I stood in the school hallway, staring into my open locker and my hand locked inside of it. My smile faded. From behind us, a crowd of smitten girls approached us. They squealed with nervous excitement.

“Good,” Taylor smiled, with relief. As he did, he was surrounded by the infatuated group of girls. They were all attractive and willing to flaunt that fact in front of him. He was used to the behavior by now, but still found the attention uncomfortable. He’s spent the last few years dealing with the perks of his celebrity, and it didn’t hurt that he was so freaking good looking.

“Ahh...Big Country! You look like you’re ready for the big game Friday night,” one of the more obvious girls announced, with a wicked smile. The rest of them giggled on cue. Taylor tensed over, instantly. He secretly hated his fame.

“Yeah, I guess,” he mumbled. His head lowered a little and he quickly stole a glance over toward Roland and Morgan. The twins sat in the grass watching every detail unfold. Roland had a silly grin on his face. Obviously, he enjoyed Taylor’s celebrity, even if it was only from the outside. Morgan on the other hand, looked like someone had punched her in the stomach. She hated Taylor’s popularity with the girls of the school. She hated his reputation as a ladies-man, but the thing she despised the most was, she was 110% head over heels, in love with him.

“What are you doing after the game, Country?” another girl flirted. The nickname returned and so did Taylor’s emotional wall. He put on a large, but fake smile. I sighed watching his ever growing nervousness. The crazy thing was, everyone had tagged him with this reputation of the ultimate player, heartbreaker extraordinaire, but nothing could be further from the truth. Sure, he had his fair share of dates and temporary girlfriends, but he treated every last one of them with absolute respect. He was a complete gentlemen. Chivalries last remaining soldier. I respected him, completely.

“Well, Country, what’s your plans for the weekend?” I prodded, with a mocking tone. His steel eyes looked at me with contempt. He never liked when I used his nickname in public. I smiled bigger knowing I was pushing his buttons a little. His face filled with a wry smile.

“Call me,” he winked, and handed his phone number to a girl. I don’t think he even knew which girl he handed it to. He was just showing off. Proving that he was in the ‘big leagues’ while I spun my wheels chasing after a girl that barely knew I existed.

“Oh...my...gawd!” The girl grabbed the paper with a scream, and the group of girls ran off delighted.

“Show off,” I said, and punched his arm. He laughed, lightly.

We both made our way towards the familiar patch of grass where Roland and Morgan waited. I figured I’d share the exciting news of my day...well, some of the news.

“So, you’re not going to believe what happened,” I bragged.

“What?” Taylor asked, with his eyebrow raised.

“I did it. I talked to her.”

“Olivia?” he gasped.

“Yes.”

“You finally found your nerve?” he laughed, aloud. “It only took you four years!”

“Shut up!” I turned red. “Her band is playing tonight. We’re all going,” I insisted.

“We are?” he asked, testing me. The twins walked up, Roland with a smile and Morgan wearing a pout. I pulled from my back pocket the folded up flier and handed it to Roland. I followed it up with a confidant wink.

He snatched up the paper with a loud cheer. “Unbelievable! You did it! You finally did it!”

“It was amazing, Ro, we bumped into each other in the auditorium. She even knew my name!” I said. Morgan’s eyes rolled around in her head just long enough to look away from Taylor and find my goofy grin.

“See, I told you, Luc. You could do it. You just needed the right push,” Morgan said, as fact.

“Thanks, Mo,” I smiled.

“No biggie. After all, she’s just a girl,” she said, and then found Taylor’s eyes again.

“Just a girl?” I mocked.

“Uh oh,” Taylor mumbled.

“And a strange one at that,” Roland added. I knew he was just giving me a hard time, but it still hurt a little. Why were the Saint twins ganging up on me? And before I could stand up for myself, Morgan came to my rescue.

“Be nice, little brother. He can’t help it,” Morgan warned, softly. “I know how that feels...” she mumbled, even softer. I think I was the only one who heard her. Her yearning eyes found Taylor’s again. He returned her glance, puzzled. She blushed.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Roland continued. “She’s absolutely gorgeous, but what’s with the dark and gloomy vibe?” Roland motioned with his hand and pointed across the football field. I turned to find Olivia exiting the school, guitar in hand and a sulk in her step. My mouth fell open.

“She’s an artist, Ro. She has a deep soul. She’s real...” I drifted off. Roland and his sister shared a goofy smile with each other. They had been witness to my crush for too long. I ignored them and took a tiny step toward her, ready to call out her name across the grass. She was much too far away to hear me, but I didn’t care. My right hand began to tingle and I glanced down to see the spinning fireflies under my skin again. Quickly, I shoved both of my hands in my back pockets. Roland watched me as if I was insane.

“Lucas, I love you like a brother, but sometimes...you’re strange,” he laughed.

I smiled, “So I have been told.”

Olivia walked across the parking lot as a bundle of questions entered my mind. Did I really make an impression on her today? Did she find me annoying? A thousand
what ifs
haunted me. She paced back and forth, circling the parking lot. Whoever she was waiting on was obviously running late. Even from this distance, I could tell she was not happy about it. Maybe I should call out to her...maybe just a wave.

“Earth to Lucas. Hey brother, can you hear me?” Taylor snapped his fingers in front of my face.

“He’s lost, Tay. We’ll never get him back. Not today. Especially not tonight,” Roland joked, from behind me.

“Be nice you two,” Morgan warned, politely.

With a loud screech of its tires, a weathered sports car slid into the parking lot. It was dark gray and idling loudly. Whoever was behind the wheel honked the horn twice.
BEEP! BEEP!
Olivia looked annoyed with the driver, but slowly reached out for the car door. I stepped forward, forgetting my friends completely. If only she would look my way, turn around and see me. Just for a tiny second, so I could wave to her. I closed my eyes and wished that she’d at least give me one last look. A quick gust of wind brought the smell of the football fields freshly cut grass into my nose. A calmness settled inside my chest. When I opened my eyes she was staring directly at me. She was easily 150 yards away, but there she was, eyes wide open. Locked onto me like laser beams.

I mouthed one single word, silently, “Hi.” My right hand began to vibrate as if I was still grasping the magical stone from my locker. She cocked her head and pulled out the two sticks that were holding her long hair in a messy bun. Dark brown hair fell all around her shoulders and back. She was a dream. Her hand raised up and offered me a slight wave just before she entered the car. I stood mesmerized. The rumbling car spun its tires again and sped out of the parking lot.