One Touch

17: Two Cotton Doves

“Energy can be in many forms,” our Physics teacher said, presenting a line of pictures on the Smartboard. “Thermal energy is an important one. It produces heat. There is sound and light energy, static and kinetic energy…”

Science was an interesting subject, a phenomenon that might not be true at all. It was based on theories and labs, studies and research, and basic laws that could be proved wrong in the future. It was fascinating, yet scary once you go in depth. I was one of the only students listening.

Atlanta was super happy and delirious with her date, and she said Ronald would give it another shot. I wasn’t sure how Caspian took that news, but he didn’t watch over them like a stalker. Atlanta spent an hour rambling about it when she came over to my house on Sunday.

“Dude, are we going camping next Friday or Saturday?” Zavian asked Caspian, shaking his shoulder.

“We have plans on Friday,” Amber said, making goo-goo eyes at Caspian. “Right, babe?” Yuck. It sound very wrong coming from her, like sugar and salt mixed with vinegar.

Caspian was monotonous when he said, “Most likely Saturday.”

Zavian’s face drooped. I nudged him with my elbow and nodded to Amber. He bit his lip. “Amber?” he said, and she looked back. “It’s been quite a while since you dropped by. Freckles misses you.”

“Freckles?” she said, confused. “You mean, your poodle?” Zavian smiled when she remembered. “Sure. I’ll come by and pet her.” His smile dropped. “What? What else were you expecting?”

“I’m reconstructing the treehouse. Thought maybe you can lend me a hand,” Zavian said. Amber told him they weren’t kids anymore, and he smirked. “Are you sure about that, Amber?”

She rolled her eyes. “Fine. Today after school.”

Zavian couldn’t believe she agreed, and his wide eyes turned to me. I gave him a thumbs-up and he beamed. “Let’s get this science s**t started,” he said, hyped.

A happy Zavian was much easier to work with, and he cracked jokes all the time. Amber and he must be great childhood friends, although I couldn’t guess what happened after that margin. Sitting beside him wasn’t the most terrifying thing. God bless.

“Your full name is Zavian Andre Deangelo?” I said in surprise. He nodded, saying he hated it. “It’s not that bad. My full name is ‘Evelyn’, and I think that’s awful.”

“Evelyn?” Zavian repeated. “That’s a beautiful name. It’s much better than ‘Eve’.” I muttered a thanks and he chuckled. “‘Eve’ suits you though. Eve Evans, Evelyn Evans.”

“Eve Evans. Let’s leave it at that,” I said.

“Eve before everything, but comes after the word. New Year’s Eve, Christmas Eve,” Zavian listed. “Thanksgiving Eve, Halloween Eve.”

I laughed, shaking my head. “You’re joking, right? I can’t comprehend your stupidity, if not.” He assured me he wasn’t, and we laughed together. I never thought I’d be this free with a member from the kingdom. Ever.

“Unless something is exploding,” Caspian said, turning around in his chair to face me, “I want to know why you guys are so loud.” Then there was him, a member from the kingdom I couldn’t stand or understand.

“Yes, something is exploding,” I said. He waited. “Your anger. Why are you so angry? We didn’t set your hair on fire, did we?”

“Well,” he said, folding his arms on the back of his chair. “Some of us are trying to work.” Work? Ha. Amber turned around, nodding with agreement.

“We’re done our work. Right, Zavian?” I said. Zavian said yes, and I looked back at Caspian. “See? I’m sure if you put your mind to it, you’ll get it done.”

He tilted his chair back so his eyes were right in front of mine. My breath caught in my throat. “Doesn’t mean you have to scream for everyone to hear.”

“You’re the only one bothered by our conversation,” I said, and he notified me that there was no talking in class. “You’re a hypocrite since you’re speaking to me, too.”

“Then stop talking to me, and I’ll stop as well,” he said. Amber and Zavian shared a look as we fought.

“You were the one who started,” I retorted with a scowl.

“You just talked to me again,” he pointed out. I said I didn’t. “You did it again.” I shut my mouth all together. He smirked in satisfaction and faced the front. Jerk.

“That was some serious heat,” Zavian whispered to me. "Never thought Caspian would get into something like that.” I didn’t know about the Caspian he knew, but the Caspian I knew was cruel and malicious—in addition to confusing and frustrating.

When I thought I had enough drama for today, dance class happened. Dance class always introduced drama, and it pounced at me like a black bear with bared teeth and awaiting claws. Haiti and Luna grew distant with me, and I found myself happier without them. The minute I stepped in, they rushed to me and started talking to me as if we were all good friends again. After all the apple-polishing was done, they asked me for money. It was blunt and hit me like a rubber band rather than a sharp knife.

“I’m sorry, guys. I don’t have money on me now,” I told them. Haiti put on the puppy face but I wasn’t foolish to fall for such a deceptive gesture. As I walked away, I heard them gossiping about me but I pretended not to hear.

But the words rang in my ears repeatedly as I met Atlanta on the other side of the room. She doesn’t need us anymore. Why would she? She’s got the Barbie doll right there. She’s got all the fame she needs. She’ll probably use Atlanta and make the best of it.

“Are you alright?” Atlanta asked, surveying me. She was such an angel, I couldn’t help but wonder if Haiti and Luna were right. They couldn’t be. “Eve, what’s the matter?”

The door opened and Eddie came in, trailed by Caspian and Amber. Caspian seemed to be in good spirits, for whatever reason. There was a glow along with his usual daunting expression, but it was hard to tell on a face like his.

“Alright guys, new plan for the week,” Eddie announced, opening up his Mac. “We have learned the basics of regular dancing, so we’ll move onto the first steps of ballroom dancing.” Girls crooned over this type of dance and Eddie grinned at their excitement. “There will be several portions each pair will do, but all of us will get familiar with all portions before we decide that.”

“When is the salsa coming?” one of the boys in the classroom asked.

“Next week,” Eddie answered. “Now, we’ll watch a video of the simple waltz. I will show you personally after the video.” He put on the video and I paid careful attention. Ballroom dancing wasn’t too intense, and the waltz was doable. I would mess up with the footing for sure, but it was worth a try. We were told to grab a piece of masking tape from the table and draw a square on the ground. We had to use the box method to help us.

“Have you done ballroom dancing before?” I asked Zavian. He said he knew how to do the waltz, but nothing beyond that. I sure hoped six months of time would be enough to get us prepared.

I practised on my own for several minutes before I practised with Zavian. If the box wasn’t there, I would've ended up somewhere out the classroom.

“Doing great guys,” Eddie told us towards the end of class. “Good for the first day.” He complimented the emotion put into Atlanta’s dance with Ronald. They had shy smiles on their faces and their eyes were lost in each other’s. I wondered if that would ever happen to me. Eddie moved over to us and I stopped before he criticized me. “Why’d you stop?” he questioned me. I shrugged. “Come on, mi amor. Dance.”

Zavian and I clutched hands as we started from scratch. We collided within five seconds and Zavian pulled out his phone while I found my footing. We had zero teamwork in dance class, it was piteous.

“Zavian, off the phone,” Eddie warned him. Zavian went to go put it in his bag while Eddie gave me contemplative look. “You need a new partner, Eve. I’ve thought about this for the past two weeks and decided we need a better game plan.”

“Who’s it going to be?” I asked. Zavian wasn’t awful, but wasn’t encouraging or supporting. It felt like I was dancing with a robot.

“There are few boys who fit the height requirement for you, but I thought about it well,” Eddie said. “I’m sure you have potential, but you need help.” I hated dancing in general, but I was willing to practice. Anything to not fall on my butt during the competition. “Is Caspian okay with you?”

“I’m okay with anyone as long as—” I was prepared to agree, until I skipped back to the name that left Eddie’s lips. “Wait, who?”

“Caspian,” he said. I didn’t know how to react. “I’ll call him over and we’ll figure this out.” I couldn’t stop him, although I wanted to negotiate another offer. Caspian walked over and stopped beside Eddie. “Amber’s a spectacular dancer and I’m sure she and Zavian can manage,” Eddie said. “Caspian will help you with the dance moves. Like a tutor.”

“I’d rather not,” I began. “Is this mandatory?” I looked at Caspian, but he was unreadable. “He agreed to this? I’m sure he’d still want to stick with Amber.”

“I don’t know who else to pair you up with,” Eddie said, shrugging. “He’s a great performer. You’ll do fine.” It wasn’t that he was a good dancer, it was Caspian. I would’ve been okay with anyone else.

“Don’t you want to stay with Amber?” I said to Caspian, giving him an obvious hint. “You don’t want to work with a klutz like me, do you? Do you?” I wasn’t making this guy budge at all.

“We talked over it and he told me he doesn’t care,” Eddie said. I went deadpan and Eddie grinned. “You’ll do fine. Now that’s settled, let’s call it a day.” Eddie left us and finally, some emotion skirted across Caspian’s face: amusement.

“Listen buddy,” I said, pointing a finger at him. “I thought you were the one who didn’t want us to get all touchy-touchy, so I don’t know what’s up but we need to make a better decis—”

“I can’t say no to the Spanish hottie, can I?” Caspian said, an edge of contempt to his voice. I was irked, though he wasn’t mocking me. “Guess both of us should suck it up.” He patted my head and walked away, leaving me stunned.

* * *

Mom and Rick weren't home today after school. It was unlikely to find a day when both were absent during midnight to have dad come to my bedroom. I wanted to ask him for an alternative arrangement, but I felt unimportant at the moment.

I finished dinner and splayed on my bed as the ticking clock echoed in my ears. The short hand aligned with the twelve-hour mark on the clock and I sat up.

I awaited this moment almost every night, looking out my window and searching for those dots of red light. It was empty and serene out on the streets, and I could see the faint shine of the eyes. They were there.

I hopped out of bed and made my way to dad’s bedroom. I knocked two times and heard his voice a few seconds later.

“Come to my bedroom,” I said through the door. “I’ll show you the red eyes. We made a deal.” I heard him grunt and waited as he took his time. I tried to be patient, but when he stepped out of the room with his equipment, I rushed to my bedroom.

Dad was slow to follow, but he wouldn’t let me hold any of his equipment. I switched off the lights and draped the curtains over the window. He set up whatever he needed to, and I waited until he was done. I couldn’t identify half of his equipment. He had three sets of binoculars, varying in colours, shapes, and sizes. He had a magnifying glass the size of a whole hand. The lenses were tinted violet, a bluish purple.

“You can’t see them right away,” I told dad, sliding one-half of the curtain to the side. “Try to blend in the shadows, because I don’t even know if that thing can see us.”

The red eyes were visible to me, but dad couldn’t see anything with his bare eyes. I sighed, not wanting a repeat of what happened with mom. Dad picked up the first binoculars and pointed them out the window.

“Specify where you see them,” dad said. I described the location of the red eyes and the silhouette of the body that blended into the darkness. “Hand me the blue filter.” Filter? I picked up the navy binoculars and he replaced them with the ones he had in his hands.

After several attempts and using several equipment, his forehead was moist with sweat. I asked him if he discovered anything, and he replied with a single ‘I’m not sure’. Dad lifted from my bed and exited, leaving behind his utensils. He returned with an army-style pair of binoculars, but they took the shape of goggles and had turning mechanisms on the frame. As much as I was intrigued, I pictured dad differently now than I ever did before.

“Dad, did you invent all of this? I mean, did you make it all?” I asked. He was in deep concentration as he looked out the window, and I sat against the window sill. They were probably modified versions.

“This is an unfinished filter,” dad scowled, taking the army-goggles off. “The eyes are not red.” What? I knew what I saw, they— “They’re white. The colour of a dove or cotton. Two cotton doves. They’re undetectable to the human eye.”

“But you do see them, right?” I said, a nervous thrum cascading through my body. “Why do I see red? Why am I the only one who can see them? I don’t understand!”

“I don’t know, but this is peculiar,” dad said, his face grim. “White eyes are definitely odd, and you’re right, there is a body out there.” Dad set up some sort of stand on top of the windowsill. He placed the filter onto the stand, like a camera, and clicked it into place. “Do me a favour and do not move this. I will get it when no one is home.” I nodded, and he held my eyes sternly. “Do not touch it.”

“I promise,” I assured him. He pressed a button on the filter and pulled the curtains over the whole mechanism. Once he left, I slipped into my blankets.

It was hard to sleep with a baby-sized lump behind my curtains, but I wanted to help dad to the maximum if it meant I’d get answers. I wanted to make him curious, give him more things to research about, and make him proud. I wanted to complete that Energy Gods module just for him.

That night, I had no doubts about dad’s psychotic mindset. He wasn’t a psychopath. He was much, much more than that. He was gifted, but I started to wonder, was I as well?