The 13th: Destiny Awaits (16 page)

“It seems that way.” She had thought it would be awkward to talk with him, but it was actually quite easy and effortless. Maybe because they weren't face to face, or maybe they were friends, just a little bit, and maybe their relationship wasn't a completely pretend one.

“I can come over and we could have a short meditation.”

“It's late and there’s school tomorrow...”

“Yeah.”

It was now her turn to say goodbye and maybe add, ‘see you tomorrow,’ but... What Tyler had said about Ethan, about his breakdown. “Ethan...”

“Yes?”

Did she dare? He might take offence if she did, which might not be that bad. At least she wouldn’t have to avoid him anymore. “I heard something.”

“Yes?”

“About you.”

“How awesome I am, right?”

“You...” She had to clear her throat to continue. “You had a nervous breakdown.”

Silence stretched over the line, but she could hear his breathing.

Maybe it hadn’t been such a good idea. “Ethan... I'm sorry... I...”

“It's okay.” Ethan’s voice sounded thin. “Could you wait a minute, please?”

The muffled sound of steps and the door opening. More steps before sounds of loud talking drifted to Kate's ears followed by slam of a door.

“Kate, are you there?” Ethan asked, his breath rushed.

“Yes.”

“The technique itself is a little complicated, I would have to show you in person, if you are willing.”

“Huh?”

“Tomorrow after school in the dojo. You are feeling well enough for the dojo, right?”

Kate’s forehead wrinkled. Did this mean that he couldn't talk now? But why? If he had just scolded Mandy about it, why couldn't he discuss it over the phone with her'? Not because of Mandy, but because -- who else was there? His parents? “I guess.”

“Well, see you tomorrow, then.”

“Mandy,” Kate called as she quickened her step to catch up with the tall blonde zigzagging among other students occupying the school hallway.

“Kate.” Mandy stopped, half-turned around and waited for her. “You look well.”

“I feel better.” Kate came parallel with Mandy and they resumed with their walk. “And how are you?”

“Fine.”

“Yesterday...” Kate wrapped her fingers around the strap of her messenger bag. “Yesterday I put you in a tight spot.”

“Huh?” Mandy tilted her head sideways, the short curls that framed her face swinging with her motion.

“Ethan scolded you.”

“Oh, that.” Mandy waved her hand before her face. “It was nothing.”

“What did he say?”

“Nothing much, just to be more discreet with other people's affairs. But you two seemed so close, and we thought Ethan told you about it.” Mandy wrinkled her button of a nose. “He's so stingy. Not with money, though, with information.” She stopped and faced Kate. “Like you.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you.” Mandy bestowed a small smile on Kate. “Tyler told me how you are; even worse than Ethan. Well, here’s my class.” She pointed to the door two steps away.

Kate's fingers slid down the strap of her bag. “Hey, Mandy.”

“Huh?”

“Was there anybody with Ethan when he scolded you?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course.” Mandy frowned. “Why?”

“I was on the phone with him at the time and I thought I heard somebody.”

“Me, probably,” Mandy said. “I have to go now.”

“Yeah, yeah, see you later.” Kate lifted her hand in a goodbye, then watched Mandy disappear among the people pouring into the classroom. So nobody was there in the room with Ethan -- that is, nobody Mandy could see. It could have been that girl, Yuki.

The bell rang, and the late-comers rushed across the hallway past the students who had already finished their classes, but like her were lingering in the hallways. She couldn't go home yet; she had promised Ethan that she would wait for him to finish his last class. She directed her steps to the library.

Her gaze absently trailed over the beige lockers, some of them dented and with doodles on them, as she browsed her mind for any good reads to help her pass the time. Maybe Cadfael.

“Hey,” a girl yelled behind her.

Kate grimaced. She knew that voice. It was Sandra's. The last person Kate was willing to spend her time with. Without turning, she hurried around the corner, hoping to escape the thunder of feet behind her.

“Hey, stop.”

But Kate refused to. She passed the large double-panel glass door, the entrance of the school, the plaques and cups displayed in the showcase opposite the entrance, and then another row of lockers.

The sound of heels against the linoleum increased in volume and tempo, as if Sandra had started to run. Kate glanced over her shoulder. Sandra was really jogging behind her, Kate, the school outcast. And on school grounds.

Sandra grabbed the fabric of Kate's black hoodie and doubled over, inhaling air in big gulps. “I said, ‘stop.’”

Kate shook off Sandra's hand. “And I should obey you why?

“Why are you being difficult?”

Kate's brows rose up. “Are you serious?”

“Don't be such a drag.” Sandra grabbed Kate's hoodie again and straightened.

“Get your hands off me, please.” Kate tried to pry Sandra's fingers off her. She could perform one of the moves Ethan taught her, but she suspected that would only get her a trip to the principal’s office, and then her dad would make a fuss about it and maybe even try to push her into the psychiatrist's chair again.

“I want to talk to you.” Sandra tugged her toward a staircase which, because of its proximity to the teachers’ lounge, was mostly used by teachers.

Kate had no interest in discussing anything with Sandra. “Aren't you afraid that your friends might see us?”

“And then they will think we are total besties? My friends know better than that.” Sandra's eyes darkened and sharpness appeared at the corners of her mouth as she pushed Kate against the wall.

“What do you want?” Should Sandra's attitude scare her? Irritation crept over Kate, making her face strangely stiff. She just wanted to be left in peace. Why couldn't she be left alone?

“You know what I want.”

“Ethan.” Where Kate was concerned, Sandra could have him.

Sandra's eyes narrowed, but her voice was soft when she spoke up, “Until now I’ve been nice to you, but if you don't break up with him, I might make sure --”

“You will make sure what?”

They both looked up the stairs.

Ethan strolled down the stairs with a stack of papers in his arms, the ice in his blue eyes obvious despite the glasses obstructing them. “You will make sure what?”

“Nothing. We were just chatting.” Sandra moved away from Kate, flicked her long hair off her shoulder and twirled a strand around her finger.

“Why are you putting up with this?” Ethan stopped a stair above Kate.

“Ethan.” Sandra's hand touched Ethan's shoulder and slid down his arm. “I was thinking we could go out for a drink after today's training.”

“I don't think so.” Ethan moved away from Sandra, scowling at her for a short second before his gaze focused on Kate again. He shifted the papers into his left arm, grabbed Kate's arm and pulled her away from the stairs with him. He whispered, “Why don't you fight back?”

Sandra was like that to her because of Ethan. “And what do you expect me to do? Slap her?”

“We’ll talk later, then,” Sandra yelled, but Kate didn’t have the slightest idea if it was meant for Ethan or her.

“Just tell her to stop,” Ethan said.

“And that will, of course, do the trick.” Kate hauled her arm out of his grip. It wasn't that bad, she could survive it, this year and a half before graduation. And it wasn’t like when she had first started high school and four older girls, Clover their group was called, with the help of their jock boyfriends, had terrorized the school, every year picking a new target among the freshmen. She could remember how they had harassed a freshman in front of the school, pulling her hair and insulting her while they shoved her around. The girl's eyes had darted around, her mouth silently asking for help, but everybody had hung their heads down and scurried past, including Kate. Luckily a new basketball coach got involved and put a stop to it, permanently.

Kate glanced over her shoulder at Sandra, who was already halfway through the big glass door. She had almost forgotten about that incident, about the bullied girl, but now when she thought about it, that bullied blonde looked suspiciously similar to Sandra.

“Are you even listening to me?” Ethan's fingers curled around Kate's shoulder and shook her.

“What?” Kate pressed her lips together and busied herself with readjusting her bag's strap to avoid making an eye contact.

“I don't know what do to with you.” Ethan's fingers glided along the curve of Kate's shoulder and then caressed the nape of her neck.

A small tremor shook her frame, and she had to close her eyes at the longing and delight twirling inside her, demanding that she lean into the warmth of his hand, demanding that she stop fighting the pull she felt in his presence. She couldn't do that, but she couldn't step away from the brush of his hand either. Her eyes opened. Her teeth bit the inside of her mouth until she tasted copper. “What's that supposed to mean?”

He shook his head and gave her a gentle squeeze before he released her. “You'll wait for me in the library, right?”

“That's the plan.”

He nodded and, with a wave of his hand, continued his path to the classroom.

She watched him for a second, then turned on her heel and sauntered to the library, which was silent as always and almost empty, with a few faces that by now had started to look familiar to Kate. One or two even nodded to her as she passed the desks set in neat rows before the librarian's workstation.

She liked the library, the smell of paper and dusty books that sometimes made her sneeze, the small noises: turning pages, pencils scratching, whispers, and chairs creaking. They gave her a strange comfort, a false sense that, despite the solitude, she wasn't alone. It gave her more solace than the telly or radio she used at home as background noise.

She found her usual spot, the desk half-hidden between two rows of bookshelves, tossed her bag on it and sat down in the red plastic chair. She intended to immerse herself in a story, but instead she pulled
The 13th Guidebook
out of her bag together with a notebook stacked with papers. She might as well study the Ritual of Warding and try to memorize the procedure. If she wanted this to succeed, she would have to perform it quickly before her mother started to question it or freak out.

She had already prepared the essential four narrow slips of paper, each with its own symbols: Purifying, Seeing, Bordering, Warding, and Conclusion, lined up in a row. Bordering had a different arrow bolded on each paper, representing the directions North, South, East, and West. And now she tried to memorize the spell she needed to chant while placing the papers. The handbook recommended the use of Latin names for the purity of the chant, since it was the original language of the spells, first written by the Awakener Aurora, who according to the book lived around 500 BC in Old Latium, the archaic city of Rome.

Ambitus Aparctias Sanctimonia Animadverto Tutela Peractio. Ambitus Apeliotes Sanctimonia Animadverto Tutela Peractio. Ambitus Notos Sanctimonia Animadverto Tutela Peractio. Ambitus Zephyrus Sanctimonia Animadverto Tutela Peractio
. She repeated the words, using the pronunciation she had learned on the Internet, until the syllables stumbled over each other and consonants and vowels meshed into an incomprehensible mess.

She took a short break and she was about to start again when Ethan appeared at the beginning of the row of bookshelves. She shoved the handbook and notes into her bag and stood up. She hadn't told Ethan that she already knew the names of the spells she needed for Warding and that she didn't need their little deals anymore.

He pushed the backpack higher on his shoulder. “Ready?”

“Yeah.” She passed him, careful not to make any contact.

He looped his arm around her like always.

She shook him off and fiddled with her bag to justify her gesture.

“So I was thinking we could go to your house, practise meditation and work on your out-of-body movement, and then we would go to the dojo.”

“To have a lesson with Sandra and Julie?”

“Yes.”

The library door slid open, and they walked through it onto the hallway.

“You really have to do something about that girl,” Ethan said.

“You mean Sandra?”

“You have to stand up to her.”

“And how am I supposed to do that?” Kate's step slowed down. “Say, ‘Sandra, please stop?’ Like that would have helped.”

“Make sure that she gets you mean business. What's the worst that can happen?”

He had no idea. It could become like it was before Tyler had declared her under his protection, when she was 'accidentally' tripped or shoved down at least once a day, when she found garbage shoved through the cracks of her lockers, and when people whispered insults to her as she passed them. Compared to that, being ignored and having to suffer Sandra's aggression was like a walk in the park. Of course, Sandra's hostility had gotten worse since she had zeroed in on Ethan, but it was still something that Kate could easily endure. “If it’s so easy, why don't you tell her to stop stalking you?”

“I did, didn't I?” He stopped.

She faced him. “Like you mean it.” Until now it looked more like he enjoyed her attention, only pretending to dislike it for appearance’s sake.

“I do mean it.”

“Yeah, right. Sometimes it makes me wonder why you even wanted fake dates with the way you let her hang on you.” She pushed up her chin and scowled at Ethan. How dare he lecture her when he was doing the same thing? First he needed to sweep his own front step.

Something flashed in his eyes and a grin stretched his mouth. “Don't tell me you’re jealous.”

“Me, jealous?” Kate scowled. She was
not
jealous. “When I don't even like you?”

“What?” The smile was wiped off Ethan's face and replaced by a frown. “You don't even like me?”

Kate grimaced. The words had slipped out of her mouth, and if she could have, she would have taken them back, but she refused to deny them or to tell him the truth. “It's not that I dislike you.”

“You don't dislike me,” he repeated in low voice. “Wow. I didn’t see this coming.”

He appeared hurt, but... He had said that she meant nothing to him, she had heard him clearly. Why did he pretend to be hurt now? -- Of course, he needed to play his role to the bitter end, didn't he? And here she was feeling sorry for him. How stupid of her. “What? Should I fall head over heels for you? You look good, but not that good.”

“Nanael told me that she gave you the names of the spells,” Ethan said quietly as if he were talking to himself, then his eyes burned into her. “So this is how it is? Now that you don't need me anymore...”