Radium Halos (10 page)

Whenever I
stepped inside, I couldn’t believe the massive size of each room,
with twenty foot ceilings, walnut floors and working fireplaces in,
like, every room. Brent’s mom liked antique stuff so she’d filled
the house with old and new. It looked pretty cool, but I doubt
Brent and his brother ever got to run or play inside.

“His mom’s a
fashion designer,” I told Kieran. “She wants Brent to have our grad
party here. He only agreed, if it’s in the gym.
He’s,
” I
shot Seth a warning glare, “not into showing off, but would do
anything for his mom.” Brent was a really sweet guy, and always had
my back. So I returned the favour.

“Wait till you
see this billion dollar gym. It’s freakin’ aw—”

I nailed Seth
again in the chest, harder this time.

“Okay!” He held
his hands up in surrender. “Just make this bug crawl a bit faster
and pull around back.”

I drove to the
end of the drive and parked the car in the lot at the side of the
gym.
This place is totally brag-worthy
. Massive, with an NBA
sized basketball court, a weight room that made any gym seem cheap,
ten person sauna, and probably more I’d never noticed. It put the
only school in town’s gymnasium to shame.

Brent stood
outside with his back against the brick. When I stopped he strolled
over and put his hand on the bug. His fingers were spread wide, his
brows scrunched together in concentration. He’d touch the car, pull
his hand away and then touch it again – from one end of my little
car to the other.

“Sheesh, Zoe.”
He chuckled. “You got trash in your front trunk, crap under the
driver’s seat and I think there’s a mouldy sandwich.”

Seth laughed.
“What feel-boy? You can’t see it clear enough? I can sure smell
it.”

Brent kept a
straight face. “Things so mouldy I can’t tell if its food or if
it’s your mother’s underwear from last time I took her out for a
drive.”

Kieran and I
died laughing. “That…is disgusting!” I choked out.

Seth swung his
door open and set his long legs on the pavement. He stood and
stretched, inhaling deeply. “Smells like money,” he mumbled. I
heard him clear as day. He pointed to Brent. “I’m gonna let that
one slide only ‘cause I know I’ll kick your ass when we get
inside.” He grinned and crossed his arms over his chest.

I jumped out
and swung my worn seat against the wheel, grabbing it just before
it hit the horn. For a little old car, my horn blasted like a
semi-truck’s.
Not so good for the elephant-ear girl.

Kieran brushed
against me as he squeezed by. “Ta.”

I fought to
control myself.
One word and I’m mush?

“T-The girls
here, yet?” I asked Brent trying to distract myself.

He tipped his
head back. “Yeah, they’re playing around in the gym. Rylee’s built
some wicked obstacle course. She got all excited when she found the
storage room with the gymnastic equipment.”

“Awesome!” Seth
slammed his door. “What have they all done?”

“They kicked me
out.” Brent shrugged. “Said they wanted to surprise us.”

“Did you peek?”
I lightly tapped his wrist with my finger.

Brent pretended
to stare up at the sky. I tapped harder. “Maybe a couple of times.”
He laughed. “Come on, aren’t you loving the skills?”

“Yeah!” Seth
bellowed. “This is going to be amazing!”

“I don’t get
how doing exercise is going to change things?” Kieran asked.

“It’s not the
working out.” Seth flexed. “But it does help with attracting the
ladies.” He relaxed his stance when he caught my glare. “Watch us
on the stuff and see what happens. Let’s go! No time like the
present to change the world.” He ran over to the door, disappearing
behind it.

We followed,
but at a slightly less neck-breaking speed.

“Any changes,
Kieran?” Brent asked.

“I wish.”
Kieran sighed. “It’s daft but I got nothing.”

I loved the
bounce of Kieran’s words as he spoke. Imagine having his voice on
the radio. I’d listen to it all night long. Shame I had to listen
to annoying humming sounds from inside the building and every bird
and animal in a five mile radius along with Kieran’s accent. Nearly
walking into the door, I caught myself just in time.
Nobody
notice, please.
Inside, I blinked, my eyes adjusting to the
gym. My ears picked up strange building noises immediately. The
purr of the fans, the whirring of the electrical power to the
lights, an air conditioner…everything I’d heard outside, only
louder now.

Rylee came
running over to hug each of us. “I got a little carried away.” She
pointed behind her. “If Brent’s dad doesn’t care, we could keep
this up for a while and practice our skills here.”

Brent shrugged.
“Not a problem.”

“How long’ve
you been here?” I asked. She’d hung climbing ropes, built an
obstacle course, gymnast spring mats at one side, a punching bag
and some other hitting bag beside. Rylee pushed a red button on a
remote in her hand and the Rocky soundtrack started blaring out of
the speakers. I jerked in surprise.

“Too loud?” She
mouthed and hit the volume button down a tiny bit. “Better?”

“Sorta.” I
walked towards the wall console and manually turned it a few more
notches down. Rylee went over to Seth and began talking excitedly,
pointing at all the equipment. In one corner, Rylee had erected a
twenty foot pole diagonally into the air with stacked blocks and a
ladder.
Not lookin’ too stable.
I stared, wondering what the
heck she planned on having us do with it. Heidi sat stretching on
the blue mats.

Seth clapped
his hands loudly together. “It’s time to turn ourselves into
superheroes.”

We all laughed,
Kieran loudest of all. “What’s yer plan?”

Seth’s face
remained serious. “We’ve got these super senses. They’re going to
make our physical attributes stronger, as well.”

Heidi patted
him on the back, and teased, “Wow! Three syllables. I think that’s
the biggest word you’ve ever used.”

Seth beamed as
he elbowed Heidi. She had to jump out of the way or fall over.
“See, it’s working already. I’m getting smarter as we speak.”

Brent and I
looked at each other and rolled our eyes.

“I saw that,”
Seth said, but I could hear there was no anger in his voice.

“How d’you
figure? That yer sense are going ta make you stronger?” Kieran
leaned against a wall, his arms tucked snugly against his
chest.

“Let me show
you.” Seth stepped forward and grabbed one of the long, thick ropes
hanging from the ceiling.

Heidi wrinkled
her nose and coughed. “Not to be the kid with the photographic
memory,” she said, “but these super senses might interfere with
physical prowess because of the endocrine system’s reaction to the
heightened stimuli. Like a disproportionate overload, and,” her
eyes flitted over each of us, “Oh, never mind.”

We all stared,
open-mouthed.

“I’m just
guessing.” She grinned, probably because she’d grown used to our
confused faces. “So, where do we start?”

“Everywhere…Anywhere,” Seth replied. “Pick a station and start.” He
pointed to his right. “Try the rock climbing wall and see how easy
it’ll be for you, now. Or have a go at the punching bag…whatever.”
One hand still on the rope, he reached above it with his other hand
and began climbing. In a flash he reached the top, grinned down at
us, and swung his body to move the rope back and forth. In reach of
the adjacent rope, he grabbed it with a free hand.
What the –?
How’d he do that so fast?
He slid down the two, one hand on
each side, his feet set so the ropes slid around his ankles. When
he dropped to the ground he laughed. “See? Easy as pie.”

“I don’t
believe you.” I walked over and grabbed his wrists. “You’ve got to
have blisters and rope burn from sliding like that.” Flipping his
hands over so the palms where up, I stared in amazement.
Nothing
. No burn, or redness, nothing.

He held a rope
out to me. “Try it.”

“I can’t climb
up there. I can’t even do a chin up.” I grabbed his hand and looked
at it again. “You’re hands are probably used to this so it didn’t
hurt them.”

“They’ll start
hurting, but it takes longer than normal. I’ve been doing some
stuff at the park since the night at the mine. The crazy-strong
smell thing stinks, but the stuff that comes with it…you gotta try
it to believe it.” Seth started up the rope again. He had tanks for
biceps, but it looked like an invisible line pulled him up.

Super-strong
boy can kiss my butt
. Still curious, I walked over to the
boxing bag. I rubbed the back of my neck, not sure how to hit the
thing.
This is stupid
. Seth probably planned some stupid
joke.

Ticked, my
fingers curled and sucked my breath in. I could hear the others
trying their stations. Rylee talking under her breath and wondering
if Kieran had his eyes on her. Heidi talking quietly to Brent about
this idea being a shot in the dark.

Seth’s
face
. My fist shot out and hit the bag, pretending to punch
him. It squeaked back and forth in protest. I punched it again and
tried doing that thing Rocky does in his movies.
Hit, hit,
hititty hit.
Shocked, I managed to hit it dead center every
time.
Take that Mr. Balboa.

As it swung on
its little lever, a sound resonated against my ears. My head tilted
to the side and I squinted.

A noise so
unique it changed the way I heard things – the way I processed
sound – forever.

My fist
continued striking the bag as fast as it could, but the bag itself
moved in slow motion. Or so it seemed. Exhaling the breath I didn’t
know I’d been holding, I tried alternating both hands and let it
rip. I never missed.
Totally
awesome
.

My knuckles
felt as if they were starting to split but I wanted to keep going.
When my arms began to weigh a hundred pounds each but the muscles
had turn to Jell-O, I knew I needed a break.
Jell-O now,
tomorrow they’re going to be lead.
I let them drop to their
sides.

“Guys, are you
getting the same reaction as I’m getting?” Brent called out. “It’s
weird and totally amazing.”

“I-I think so,”
I said and moved to a station where Rylee had made some laser-thing
with ropes. Each rope had a million little bells that probably
sounded like sweet music to everyone ears but more like the bells
of Notre Dame Cathedral while standing under the bell to me.

Heidi came
over. “You need to figure out how to get through without touching
the ropes and setting the chimes off.” She lightly tapped the rope
closest to her barely making it moved.

Dull sounds of
the metal resounded off the gentle shake of the ropes as they hung.
Just figure a way to manoeuvre a way through. That’s all
. I
bent and lifted a leg to squeeze through the first two ropes
closest to me. Over, under and keep my balance.
No matter if I
stand on one foot, a tippy-toe, or whatever -- focus on your
center.
Over, under, balance. Over…under…balance.
“This
one’s kinda fun,” I said and turned to Heidi to see if she wanted
to try. I blinked in surprise. “How’d I get so far?”

Heidi grinned.
“I was just about to ask you the same thing.”

Easy as
pie
. Strange for someone who’s only physical activity consisted
of gym class and walking. I slipped through the last section,
amazed the simple tension of the ropes made the little bells move
in such a way it gave me a different line of vision. “Give it a
try.”

Heidi took a
deep breath and swallowed. She made it through the first two and
ever so slightly rubbed her shoulder against the next rope. Barely
a touch but the bells went off like a crazy house.

Covering my
ears, I swung around. Waiting for the noise to turn manageable, I
watched Rylee at the punching bag, Brent climbing some boxes, and
Seth scratching his head. Each of them were grasping the same
things I’d just realized. Everyone, but Kieran. He stood observing
us, his mouth hung open.

“Hey! Watch
this,” Brent shouted. He’d climbed up the boxes and then the wonky
ladder by the pole Rylee had set up. After touching the pole with
both hands a couple of times, he then stepped on the metal and
suddenly slid all the way down – like he was surfing. He jumped off
at the end and fist pumped. “Freakin’ amazing! Holy crap!”

If he can do
it...
While everyone hooted and ran over to ask him questions, I
tightened my ponytail and crawled onto the boxes. On the rickety
ladder my palms grew damp and I could feel sweat start along my
hairline. Noise from all around bounced inside my head.
Maybe
this is a little too crazy
. I paused near the final rung,
unsure. The pole seemed pretty narrow, and it looked so shiny –
almost slippery.

“Go for it,”
Kieran murmured quietly.

I glanced down
at him. He smiled and mouthed, “You can do it.” He must have
realized I’d hear it.

Determined, I
set my right foot onto the slim pole, leaning against the wall
unable to move. I wiped my hands against the side of my pants. I
couldn’t hear anything coming from the pole. No noise like I had
heard from all the other equipment I’d tried. Lips pressed tight, I
tried to think of something that might help. I stared down at my
hands, my thumb playing with my high school ring on my right hand’s
ring finger. An idea popped into my head.

Bending down I
clapped the pole with my hands, letting my ring clang against the
metal.
Metal on metal.
The pole vibrated and a shudder ran
down its length. No one

even noticed.
No one, but me.

The vibration
created a rhythm and as I stared in disbelief, I could see the
slight movement created a larger surface as it shook.
Bigger
equals better balance. Perfect – I hope.
I hit it again, and
jumped on before I lost my courage.