One Touch

4: Speed of Light

Dad and I were the only ones in the house today, the way I liked it since it gave me a chance to talk to him without being interrupted or heard. Like every other time, he blocked me off and I retreated to my bedroom.

Haiti was on the phone letting out a wrangle of problems she was having with her six siblings. Haiti always called me to rant about some subject revolving around her family. She called me more often these days, and I tried not to think that being friends with Atlanta was the reason.

“Michael almost squirted me with Kool-Aid, like, can you imagine how hard it is to get my wings right?” Haiti muttered. She was an absolute fanatic when it came to make-up, but she wasn’t a professional.

“Get Sierra to do it,” I told her, and she huffed on the other side. Sierra was the most girlish and annoying child in Haiti’s family. She was rude to everyone who appeared to be flawed.

“Nah, that devil won’t even let me in her room,” Haiti said. If Haiti had asked Joy, she would’ve done it in a second. Joy was the most supportive sister I had met before, the cherry on top of a delicious cake.

But Joy was the eighth child in Haiti’s family that died several years ago. Haiti was never comfortable talking about Joy, but I saddened at the thought of her. I was told Joy was killed or found dead. But no one knew how she died or who killed her. It was all baffling.

“By the way, how far did you guys finish the Physics project?” Haiti asked.

“I gave Atlanta the package to finish off the title page. I’ll have to go get it soon,” I replied. On the thought of Atlanta, I spread the curtains apart to look out my bedroom window.

Under the beating sun, I saw the twins with a large cardboard box in their hands as they attempted to open it on their driveway. It was too small of a view to see what exactly was going on.

“Okay, and Luna was wondering if she can borrow your Chem notes for the unit test on Friday,” Haiti continued. Chemistry notes? Didn’t I already give her the homework answers? “Eve? You there?”

“Yeah. I’ll get them tomorrow,” I said. We ended the call and I sighed while putting it back on the receiver.

I didn’t have a problem helping my friends with their schoolwork, but if Luna needed something from me, she should give me a direct phone call rather than telling Haiti. Haiti wasn’t a messenger between us, but she acted as if she was from the time we became friends. I decided not to think about it too much and hopped down the stairs to go check what the twins were up to on their driveway. I admit I was acting like a stalker, but for years of loneliness this posed as a golden opportunity to spend time with someone.

Across the street, I heard voices and a few panicked shouts as I saw Atlanta balancing herself on what looked like a skateboard. As I walked closer, I realized it was a hover board, a blue one in particular. She saw me heading over and waved her arm while Caspian looked up from the instructions manual in his hand. Atlanta got the hang of the hover board by the time I reached them.

“Eve, this is so cool!” Atlanta gushed, her arms out and examining the position of her feet on the hover board. “We got this off of eBay. Used, put goes pretty smooth.”

“You’re a quick learner,” I complimented, watching her teeter back and forth without falling. She nodded, but her full concentration was on the steering.

Caspian hadn’t spoken or moved yet. Again, he gave me that peculiar look, as if he didn’t know who I was and what I came here for. He knew, but he didn’t want me there. “Why’d you come over?” he said, proving my statement. Atlanta gave him a light punch on the shoulder, warning him to be nice or else.

“Actually, I came over to see if Atlanta’s done with the title page for our Physics project,” I told him. He couldn’t say anything to that, so it was a good excuse to come over.

“Yeah, I finished it,” Atlanta said, dropping off the hover board. “Let me go get it. You can go on the hover board if you want, but Caspian can't.”

“Like that’ll stop me, brat,” Caspian said to her and she stuck out a tongue at him. Atlanta disappeared into the house and silence formed between Caspian and me. I slipped my hands into my pockets, not wanting to start a conversation.

“So, how are your friends at school?” I asked, not sure why I decided to talk after all. It popped out of my mouth despite my attempt to stay silent until Atlanta came back.

“Are you asking me contemptuously?” he said, and I trained my eyes on the ground. It was a little sarcastic, but I didn’t think he’d figure that out.

“You got along pretty well with the school’s kingdom of self-absorbed swines,” I elaborated. Not until I finished did I realize that came out a lot harsher than I meant it to.

He wasn’t the least bit fazed. “Not surprising, you put me in the same category,” he said. What? I didn’t mean him included. “It’s not our fault we’re that gorgeous.”

I laughed, not loud but light enough to show my sarcasm. “I never imagined you to be cocky.” I couldn’t imagine him being the kind of person who cared about his looks.

“I’m not,” he said, putting a foot on the hover board. I slid it out from underneath his foot. “Don’t be such a goody two-shoes with Atlanta. I told you not to get too close to her.”

“I can ride on it because she gave me permission to,” I told him, positioning myself over the hover board. “She gave me that privilege and not you.”

Caspian let out a mocking laugh. “I’ll have fun watching you fall.” Yeah? Then let him watch me so I could prove…what did I want to prove?

All I knew was that I had never used a hover board before, and I never thought I would. The first time I’d seen it, I’d written it off as incompatible for my liking. Right now, I had to make a point by riding the stupid thing, ride to knock off that daring look on Caspian’s face.

I started with one foot on top and glided an inch forward. I took the risk to place both my feet on the hover board and managed to balance myself to a decent stance. I tried to avoid Caspian’s intense observation of my every move. I tilted forward the slightest bit and the board jerked forward, throwing off my posture as I leaned back to even out the movement. I lost control as I fell back and the hover board wheeled forward. I screwed up.

In an instant, before I could break my skull on the driveway, there was a flicker of movement and I was held mid-fall. It took me two blinks two realize what had happened as the hover board rolled away from my feet and onto the street.

“I know, I’m a failure,” I mumbled, as Caspian supported my weight. I stood upright but was still much shorter than he was. “How’d you get here so fast?” It was surreal how I saw nothing but a wave of light when I was caught.

“Reflex,” he said. He didn’t let go, and I looked back at him in confusion. Why wasn’t he letting go? On top of that, didn’t he say he’d like to see me fall? What did he save me for?

a tingle of warmth spread across my skin where it met with his hands, and I felt a pulling in my arms, as if my nerves were the strings of a guitar and being stroked. Caspian’s hands tightened and I tried to tug away. With the way he looked at me, as if he’d discovered a disturbing, mind-blowing fact, I asked, “What happened?”

Caspian let go and went to retrieve the hover board that had stopped on the other side of the curb. “As soon as Atlanta gives you the project, leave. I mean it, Eve.” I didn’t know what was more surprising to hear, him saying my name for the first time or the intensity of his voice. It was genuine, but reluctant at the same time. I couldn’t decide which one was more.

Atlanta returned with the package in hand and went over some corrections she made in the project. I thanked her and took the package, hesitating before I went back to my house. Caspian shot me a short glance, giving me a nervous jump. As I was about to leave, a car rode up the driveway and stopped. Odelia stepped out with a leather handbag and sunglasses.

“Oh, Eve. Hello,” she said when she noticed me. I smiled in return and she walked towards me. “I have to discuss some appointments with your mother but I couldn’t get a hold of her. Do you know when she is available?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know, to be honest. She’s always busy.”

“Oh, I see.” Odelia put a finger to her chin in thought. Her gaze went to my house across the street. “We need to book another appointment to check on your father. When is the most convenient time?”

“Dad?” Oh yeah, I had forgotten she was the new psychiatrist. I wasn’t too fond of booking anything for dad, because it would cause nothing but trouble for him. “How about the coming weekend? I’ll let my mom know.”

“Oh, that’ll be very helpful,” Odelia said putting a hand on my shoulder. “Thank you. Now, you kids continue playing, doing whatever you’re doing—”

“We got the hover board,” Atlanta interrupted. “We’re riding the hover board. We’re not five anymore.” Atlanta could easily resemble a young, bee-like child.

“Wonderful. I’ll be in my office if you need me,” Odelia said. Once she was out of sight, Atlanta pulled on my arm and I fell forward.

“What was that about?” she asked with curiosity. “Why do you need to book an appointment?” She sure was a Pandora. “What’s my mom doing?”

“Atlanta, it’s none of our business,” Caspian told her, and he guided her back so she wasn’t holding my arm anymore. “She has to go.”

“But I’m curious,” Atlanta said stubbornly. She saw my rigid position on the driveway and must’ve realized Caspian was right. It was personal. “Sorry, Eve! I was…I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay,” I said, rubbing the gravel with the tip of my shoe. “A lot of people wonder about my dad. They think he’s some kind of psychopath who talks gibberish.”

“I’m sure everything will be alright for him,” Atlanta assured me. I hoped for the same thing, but I didn’t believe there was something wrong with him in the first place.

“He isn’t a psychopath, I just want you to know that,” I said. “But he keeps making fictional theories about our world. It’s weird, but I’m curious at the same time.”

Caspian’s sullen face dissipated into curiosity, his brows furrowed attentively. “What fictional theories?” he asked.

“You know, the usual fairy tales and monsters. He believes that mermaids and fairies exist but our ability to detect or see them has weakened over the years.” I recollected all the intriguing information dad had spewed recently. “He claims that centaurs once existed but evolved to other creatures we see now.” It sounded crazy in my head.

“That’s insane…” Atlanta started, but continued, “…ly cool. He’d make an amazing storyteller, or author. Had he ever tried doing that before?”

I sighed. “I don’t know. He could be making up things and none of us would know. He was a book worm, an absolute reading freak. But I don’t know what he is anymore.”

Atlanta patted my back. “Can I be honest? I would love his kind of mind and thinking about all that.” She gave me a weak smile. “It’s like being gift.” Until Atlanta brought it up, I never thought my dad was gifted in that retrospect. It was nice to hear someone say my dad wasn’t a psychopath, and it was even better calling him gifted.

Perhaps he would know about those red eyes I kept seeing every night. Each day, it got harder and harder for me to believe that they were an illusion, or a dream. They were motionless in the empty night, and directed at my window. I couldn’t go by a day without searching for them, and when I find them, I’d shut the curtains in terror. I had tried to tell mom or Rick about it, but they were too busy in their own lives to pay attention to me.

Perhaps Dad might have something to say about it, but I didn’t know if he was the right person to go to. But, why wouldn’t he be? What I saw each night was a mirage of some sort, or a prank. But every day? I needed to talk to him about it if no else would believe me. I didn’t want to make a fool of myself with anyone else.

Someone was out there following my every step. But what did they want from me and why was I the only one able to see them? Why was no one else in the neighbourhood seeing those blood red eyes?

And it only happened during the night as I went to bed. Next time, I had to take a picture from my camera or man up to get down there and uncover who those eyes belonged to.