The Hybrid (21 page)

Tru sat through the remainder of the day, barely paying any attention to her teachers. If there was a new assignment, she was going to miss it. She had other things
on her mind, and the last thing she wanted to think about
was school.

So when the last bell of the day finally rang, she quickly
gathered her things and hastily shoved them into her
backpack. She anxiously strode out of the classroom, with
her nose pointed directly at the linoleum floor.

As Tru made her way out of the long, crowded hallway
and to the sidewalk outside, she listened to the noises of
the students around her. Most of them were chatting
amongst themselves, making plans for afterschool, laughing. The voices were hard to distinguish from one another.
Except for one.
This voice stood out above the others. Tru recognized it

the minute the young man said her name. But she decided to ignore it, continuing to walk toward the sidewalk,
with her head still intently focused on the grey cement in
front of her.

“Tru!” he called again, as a hand gently grabbed her
shoulder. Startled, Tru stopped and turned around to see
the hand’s owner.

“Didn’t you hear me calling you?” Declan asked, smiling as he released her shoulder from his grip.
Tru looked down at her worn-out sneakers, and then
back up at Declan. “I thought you were talking to someone else.” Tru immediately looked past Declan and saw
Bethany standing just twenty feet away, leaning on the
brick wall next to the stairs that led back up to the main
hallway.
“How many other Gertrude’s go to
this
school?” Declan
shrugged and looked around at the other students as they
made their way off campus. Finally, his eyes landed on
Bethany.
Bethany, seeing the two of them glaring at her, quickly
joined Danielle and Jackie, and strolled away, glancing
over her shoulder as she disappeared behind a row of
parked cars.
Tru’s eyes quickly made their way back to Declan as he
turned around to look back at her.
“Don’t mind her,” he said. “She likes to shove her nose
in other people’s business.” He casually crossed his arms
over his chest, adjusting his backpack that was hanging
from his left shoulder.
“Oh, I don’t mind. Your sister is really nice.” Tru forced
a smile.
“Well, don’t tell
her
that. She already has a big head.”
He started to chuckle. Tru quickly caught on to his joke
and began laughing with him, hoping it was believable.
“So,” she paused, looking at Declan curiously, before
slowly moving toward a bench next to the sidewalk to sit
down. “What exactly did you want?” She tried not to
sound rude⎯ or nervous⎯ but it wasn’t normal for guys
to come up and talk to her. Declan slowly took the seat
next to her, sliding his backpack off of his shoulder, but
still not making any eye contact.
“Well,” Declan finally said, looking down at the ground
as he shuffled his feet against the cement. “I was wondering if you would like to go out with me tomorrow night?”
He looked straight at Tru now, squinting as he waited for
an answer. Tru could tell by his expression that he was
worried she was going to say no.
Tru’s cheeks began to feel warm. Slowly, she took a
deep breath before speaking. “Like on a
date
?” The words
barely squeaked out.
Declan smiled. “Yeah, like a date.”
Tru hesitated. She wanted to say yes so badly that the
word practically burned the inside of her mouth. But
something inside of her was telling her to be terrified. The
truth was, if she
were
to say yes, her date with Declan
would be her first. Ever. And that was something Tru
wasn’t sure she was ready for.
What if he tries to kiss me when he walks me to my
door? Will I be bad at it? But then again, what does Declan see in me that made him ask? He must have found
me some-what interesting.
Tru knew she wasn’t the most attractive looking girl at
the school, but she wasn’t unattractive either. She was
tall. She had beautifully long, wavy brown hair, and she
ate vegetarian food, so her body was lean and toned. Her
skin was fair, but not so pale that she appeared ghostly.
But her self-confidence and social skills usually turned
guys off. So what did Declan see in her that others didn’t?
“Sure,” Tru replied, with a little too much enthusiasm.
“Really?” Declan asked, in shock. His eyes instantly
grew wide, and Tru could see the faint outline of a smile
on his face.
“Uh huh,” Tru said, nodding her head and smiling
from ear to ear.
“Oh, okay,” he paused, standing from his spot, still
staring at Tru as she remained seated on the bench, “then
I’ll pick you up at your house around seven-thirty?”
“Sure, sounds great.” Tru couldn’t help but chuckle a
little bit.
“Great,” he repeated, slinging his black backpack over
his shoulder once more. As he began to walk away from
the bench, he turned back around and added, “see you in
class tomorrow.”
Tru nodded and smiled back as she pushed a lock of
wavy hair behind her ear. But in all the excitement, Tru
realized she had forgotten a pretty big detail. “Declan!
Wait!” she shouted, pulling a scrap piece of paper from
her bag, along with a pencil, as she stood from the bench.
“What’s up?” he asked, a slightly confused expression
on his face as he watched Tru gliding toward him.
“I forgot to give you this.” Tru quickly scribbled a couple of lines on the torn paper before she passed it to him,
her hand shaking. “My number and address. You might
need them.”
Declan took the tiny piece of paper happily, smiling up
at her. “Yeah, those will come in handy.” He carefully
pushed the paper into his front pocket. “Thanks.”
“See you tomorrow,” Tru replied.
The two silently waved goodbye to one another, and
soon, Declan was disappearing behind the short row of
SUV’s and sedans that Bethany had disappeared behind
just moments before. Tru looked around hoping none of
her new friends had witnessed their encounter. When she
was sure the coast was clear, she quickly turned away
from the school, and began her silent walk home.
Somehow, Tru had managed to walk right past the
edge of the forest that contained her secret meadow,
without so much as a glance as she passed it. She hadn’t
even thought about it once that day until she was standing motionless in front of the clear sliding glass door in
her grandparent’s living room.
The memories of Edyn came flooding into Gertrude’s
mind. But with each flashback, she began to feel confident that each memory she had of him were just dreams,
like a story she made up, adding a new chapter every time
she fell asleep.
Tru looked out of the door, and across the lush green
backyard. Casually, as if she had just remembered a funny
joke, she smiled, and then picked up her backpack that
she had carelessly thrown on the floor next to the couch,
and walked to her room.
“Trudy?” Maggie called from the kitchen. “Is that you?”
“Yeah, Grandma, I’m in here.” Tru sat down on her
plump bed and unzipped her backpack. Her smile grew,
and soon, Tru realized that if she continued thinking
about what had happened with Declan just a few minutes
before, she might not be able to stop.
“Well, you look awfully happy,” Tru’s grandmother
said as she walked into the room and casually sat down
on the bed next to Tru.
“Yeah,” Tru replied, unable to explain more. She was
slightly afraid if she said it aloud, the whole thing would
turn out to be nothing more than another daydream. The
muscles in her cheeks began to ache from all the smiling.
“Well that’s good. It’s nice to see you smiling.” Maggie
patted the young girl on the shoulder and then rose slowly from the bed. She was getting older, and Tru could see
that her joints were finally starting to show it. “I’m going
to the store. Did you need me to pick up anything while
I’m there?”
“No, thank you,” Tru replied, then turned to her gaping
backpack once more.
“Okay,” Maggie said as she walked to the door. “Call
me if you change your mind.
As her grandmother walked into the entryway, Tru
listened carefully to the shuffling sound that her orthopedic shoes made against the carpet. Tru could tell she was
at the door when the jingling sound of the car keys echoed
through the house.
“Goodbye!” Maggie called while the front door slowly
creaked to a close.
While her grandmother was gone, Tru decided to focus
on more important things, like homework. So, she removed her binder and a pencil from her backpack, and
decided to start with the easiest subject: Math. No matter
how
much she
learned,
Tru always
remembered that
mathematical equations always had only one right answer, much unlike English, where anything could be right
as long as it was backed by evidence from the textbook.

It took Tru a little bit less than an hour to finish all of
her homework. The majority of it was spent writing the
rough draft to a research paper for History that was due
the following week. She had also managed to finish copying the notes that Bethany had lent to her the day before.

Slowly, Tru began gathering her books and the papers
that had been strewn across her bed and about half of her
bedroom. Carefully, she piled up the loose sheets and set
them neatly on the nightstand. And just as she was about
to lean back against her headboard, the phone on the
kitchen wall rang, startling Tru just enough to make her
catch her breath as her body tensed. It had been so quiet
in the house that she had almost forgotten what noise
sounded like. Quickly, Tru ran to the yellow phone hanging on the wall, catching it on the fourth ring.

Unable to come up with a good response, Tru simply
replied by saying, “Oh, so do you.”
It seemed odd that Bethany was calling her. Tru didn’t
even remember giving the girl her number. It also seemed
strange that she didn’t just walk over, seeing as how they
lived so close to one another. But then again, calling
someone who lived less than five houses away
did
seem
like something Bethany would do.
“So, what’s up?” Tru inquired after a few moments of
silence.
“Did he ask you?”
“What do you mean?” Tru asked, not quite understanding.
“Declan!” Bethany shouted through the phone.
Tru pulled the
phone
away
from
her
ear,
unsure
whether or not Bethany would yell into it again. “Oh,” Tru
hesitated. Her face immediately began to take the shape
of an over excited little girl once again. “Yeah, he did.”
“So, what did you say?” Bethany sounded like she had
been waiting to ask these questions for a while. It was like
her life depended on hearing what Tru had to say.
“Yes,” Tru replied. The word came out more like a
question, like she didn’t believe she said it herself. But
Tru was a little worried that her response would someday
be used against her.
“Now why wouldn’t he just tell me that?” Bethany
shouted.
“Maybe he wanted it to be a surprise.” Tru said casually, understanding now that Bethany had asked Declan a
different version of the same questions. But Tru didn’t
know what else to say.

“Hmm,” Bethany said quietly, before continuing on
with her monotonous questioning. “Did he tell you where
you’re going? And when?” She barely took a breath between her sentences. “Is he picking you up?”

Tru waited silently for a few seconds, just in case Bethany had something else to add. And when she remained
quiet on the other end, Tru answered, “tomorrow at seven-thirty. But,” she paused again, thinking, “he didn’t tell
me where, sorry.”

Bethany stayed silent, processing everything. Tru hated silence. But then, startlingly, there was a long sigh that
pushed its way through the receiver. “It’s okay.” Bethany
finally said. “I was just hoping he picked out a good place.
Well, I have to go. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Mhm,” Tru replied, starting to somewhat enjoy the
girl talk. “Bye.”
Tru swiftly hung up the yellow phone, and then walked
leisurely back to her room. When she reached her bed,
she sat down, pulling the covers over her lap, and leaned
against the headboard.
Why is Bethany so curious about my date with her
brother? Why didn’t she just ask Declan herself? Does it
really matter where we were going?

Tru quickly glanced out of the window and to the backyard. It was starting to get dark, and her grandmother
still hadn’t returned from her shopping trip. Grandpa Ben
was still tinkering away with something in the garage. If
Tru was going to do something,
anything at all
, this was
the perfect opportunity.
Quickly, Tru jumped from her bed and ran to the sliding glass door in the family room. Slowly, she took a long,
deep, uninterrupted breath, and pushed the door open
with ease. Continuing to face the trees before her, she
closed the door, waiting until she heard it click behind
her. When Tru was sure the door was shut, she made a
mad dash for the path that led to the hidden meadow.
But, when she reached the edge of the trees, Tru stopped.
She knew it was a bad idea. But looking up and smelling
the piney scent of the trees that stood less than a foot
away from her, flooded her brain with images of Edyn.

Tru slowly took a step onto the dirt path, just past the
edge of the grass. The dirt was mostly mud now, but it
still felt familiar, and greatly missed. Suddenly, as Tru
looked up at the towering trees once more, a gust of wind
burst through the air, knocking her to the ground, as if
she had run herself into a brick wall.

“Can you not see that you are hurting him?” a strong
⎯
and very loud⎯ female voice shouted through the trees.
“Every second he spends with you makes him weaker!”
The voice grew louder. “He’s more vulnerable than ever!”