One Touch

10: Strand of Silver Hair

“I am discovering something odd.” Odelia was sipping a cup of tea in our living room that afternoon, and mom sat in front of her with wide, compelled eyes. She put her tea down on the coffee table and said, “He has a strong belief for this theory. A mythological creature.”

“A creature?” mom repeated in fascination. For a few weeks now, I had noticed that mom’s respect for Odelia had grown dramatically. Odelia came back with progressive results every time she had an appointment with dad.

“Of some sort,” Odelia said, her lips tugging down into a frown. “He wouldn’t explain further about any details of the creature. I believe he’s a mythologist.” No, he wasn’t a mythologist. He was something else.

“Is it a mythological creature or a random, fantastical one?” I asked. Odelia hesitated, her face scrunching pensively. “What did he say about it? How do you know that?”

Mom put and hand on my arm. “Now, Eve, we can’t trouble our psychiatrist. I’m sure she has her own procedure for this." But I wanted to know how Odelia was successful in uncovering these little facts.

“No, it’s alright to be curious,” Odelia said, giving me a small smile. “I better get going. I have another client waiting for me.”

“Of course,” mom said, standing up and opening the door for her. “You’ve been a lot of help. Thank you so much for the information.” Yet, not even that information was enough to complete the case. “Can we book the next appointment on Wednesday next week?”

“Perfect,” Odelia agreed, and slipped on her shoes. “Oh, Eve, why don’t you go visit Atlanta? She’s been alone all day. She’d like a friend.” I glanced towards the Cages’ house.

“Be back by dinner,” mom encouraged the idea. “I might have to go to work in between, so keep your phone with you.” I was about to complain about her constant work, but stopped myself. It couldn’t be helped.

When I knocked on the Cages’ front door, there was no reply. I knocked once more, resulting in eerie silence. I knocked harder and the door opened. I was revealed to a shirtless Caspian who was buttoning his jeans in the process of opening the door. I stared with my mouth ajar, half surprised and half awed by what I had seen before Caspian slammed the door as soon as he saw me. It took mere seconds for his eyes to widen and pierce before he reached for the knob in a frantic attempt to shut the door.

I stood there in a complete daze, and it took minutes for the door to unlock once more. Caspian had a shirt on this time, and an unpleasant snarl as he asked me what I wanted.

“You know, if you’re upset about what happened, you shouldn’t have opened the door while you were half naked,” I blurted. It said a lot the moment he slammed the door in my face. He didn’t want ugly girls looking at him, and I by no means was willing to take another look.

“Thought mom was at the door,” he told me. “Why’d you come here?” When I told him why, his lips pursed. “Fine. You know the drill, and the conditions we talked about.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yes.” I added with sarcasm, “Mr. Over-Protector.” I slipped past Caspian and headed upstairs towards Atlanta’s room.

I opened Atlanta’s door, and saw her wearing gigantic headphones with an iPhone sitting on the pillow beside her. When she saw me, a smile lit up on her face, forcing my own out.

“I’m so sorry, Eve!” she exclaimed, taking off her headphones and jumping out of her bed. “Sorry for whatever happened. Oh my God, it’s been so long. Come here—” She grabbed me in a hug but I tore away.

“I can’t touch you,” I said, and her smile fell. “I mean, Caspian won’t let me be with you unless I make sure we don’t touch. For some reason.” Understanding flashed on her face and she patted the bed. I sat beside her.

“I have so much to tell you. No one else would listen to me and care,” she murmured, pulling her knees up on the mattress. I nodded, telling her to go on. “Whatever happened that day with Caspian, and in the rain…I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologizing. You have no reason to,” I assured her. “But a lot has been going on. Fill me in about your little boo.”

She was confused for a second, but then a shade of pink bloomed on her cheeks. “Um, with Ronald, it’s a weird story. We were partners for biology. I suck at it, so I always asked him for help. I’m just a clumsy disaster so I messed up with all our labs and it was bad. Pretty bad.”

“Let me guess,” I stopped her. “He started to help you out and you were keen to learn and improve so it all worked out in the end.”

She shrugged. “Yeah, you got it. The thing though, is he never looked at my appearance.” Her fingers made circles on the bed. “He did say I was cute, but the thing his, he finds my innocence and personality cute. Not my literal appearance, like everyone else.”

“So, you like each other?” I said, even though the answer was clear. “That’s a green light Atlanta. Just go for it.”

All of a sudden, all the light left her face as her eyes became sad and dull. “No, I can’t.” Then the memory of her rejecting Ronald came to mind. It wasn’t an official rejection, but both she and Ronald ended up hurt. “Caspian is right. I can’t be with him.” Hell to Caspian. She dug her face into her knees. “I can’t be with anyone.”

I didn’t know how to comfort her since I didn’t know what Caspian’s problem was. What their problem was. “Well, you can be with me,” I said. She gave me a weak smile. To clear the sorrow floating around us, I asked her what her plans for the weekend were.

“We have family coming over,” she replied. She didn’t sound excited. “It’s not the best thing in the world since we see them all the time. There’s nothing new.”

“Hey, it’s better than red-eyed nights,” I said, nudging her.

She asked me to explain what that meant and I hugged myself. This might be the time to tell her about the red eyes. Taking a deep breath, I spilled out my story about the creepy red eyes watching me sleep the entire night through my window.

“I know you think I’m crazy,” I said, sighing. Atlanta listened attentively with eager eyes. “I don’t know if it’s an illusion or not. When I take a picture of them, they don’t appear on the screen. The digital image will not show the red eyes, but there they are, right out my window.”

“Eve, that’s so weird,” she said, and I nodded. “You should see my mom. Not like you’re insane, but I’m sure she can help you out.”

“Nah. I’ll be fine,” I said. I didn’t need to go through the same thing dad had been through. “But goodness, I sure hate the colour red now.” The sight of anything red reminded me of those stupid eyes.

My gaze skirted around her bedroom, amazed once again at everything I saw. I complimented it, changing the subject. My eyes fell on the hairbrush sitting on her dresser, and the sample module flashed into my mind.

No, don’t think about it. I couldn’t help but wonder about that list of samples Rick told me to get from the Cages. The hair would be easy to get, but I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t snoop into my friend’s privacy like this. But the thought of completing that mission was more overwhelming and I stood up. I roamed around her floor, examining all the objects in her room to look natural.

“Nice hairbrush,” I said, picking it up. “You have beautiful hair.” Atlanta thanked me, and I put it back, pulling out a single strand of hair from the bristles. Why did I feel so guilty?

We talked for a bare amount of time before someone knocked on the door. The time wasn’t enough, and even if it was, it flew by like a flock of birds at a sunny bay. Where had it gone?

“Wow, he usually never knocks the door,” Atlanta said when Caspian’s head popped in. “What do you want?” she asked him. Caspian’s eyes landed on me and stayed there. I began to fidget and Atlanta must’ve noticed. She threw a pillow at him. “Go away.”

The pillow dropped to the floor and somehow within seconds, it ended up back on Atlanta’s bed. Wait—what? How did that happen? I looked from the pillow to the ground, trying to figure out what sorcery took place.

“Your time is up,” Caspian told us. “Eve has to go home now.”

“We never agreed to a time limit,” I complained.

Caspian held the door frame, about to leave. “Well, that’s the third condition. I’ll see you in the hallway.” Oh yeah, I have to report everything to him now. Urgh. What a chore.

After our goodbyes, Atlanta went to go take a shower and I took slow steps into the hallway. It was dark, although a faint light gave the walls a dull glow. I saw Caspian at the end of the hallway, leaning back on the wall with a foot against it.

“We talked about school and weekend plans,” I informed him, walking faster. I was close to the exit, hoping he wouldn’t give me much trouble. “That’s it. Bye.”

Before I could pass him, he pivoted in front of me. His arm stretched to the doorframe, creating a borderline to keep me in the hallway. Ah, of course this wouldn’t be easy.

“Explain,” he said. His voice was calm, like he had all day to stand here and listen to me.

“We talked about Ronald,” I started, and saw the immediate change in his mood. “About weekend plans. She told me your family is coming over. That’s it.”

Caspian didn’t look convinced. I waited for him to say something, but he remained silent. “That’s all?” he said, and I nodded. “You didn’t touch her, or she didn’t touch you, right?”

“Almost,” I said, and added with pride, “But I pulled back. I know my conditions and I was living up to them.” I played with the collar of my shirt when he wasn’t as proud. “So…we’re done?”

His gaze fell and he tilted his head. “Is that a strand of hair on your sleeve?” Huh? My glance shot down to Atlanta’s hair in my palm. Crap.

“Must be mine,” I said, brushing it off. I watched it fall to the ground as if it was a beloved item I had to sacrifice.

“Are you getting weird like your brother?” he asked. I furrowed my brows, shaking my head. “That might as well be Atlanta’s hair.” I kept my mouth shut. I knew he was joking, but it still made me nervous.

“It’s mine,” I lied.

Caspian squinted at me, and to get an even better look, he leaned in. A faint smell of sage and oranges hit me, and I recoiled. “Don’t move,” he snapped and I froze. He studied me, and I wondered what was so appealing.

“What’s the big idea?” I said, trying to catch my breath. He always found one way or another to invade my personal space. His scent and fierce gaze were hard to ignore.

He leaned back and the air was void of tension again. “You didn’t smell or touch my hair,” he concluded. “So you must still be sane.”

I glared at him. “Is this some kind of game to you?” I said to him.

“Yes, one hundred percent,” he assented. He smirked when my features turned to disbelief. He put a fist to his mouth to hide his amusement. “It’s just really fascinating to see you with that expression,” he said, his voice low and full of marvel as he moved towards me, “every time I—”

“Okay, I get it!” I said, ducking away from him. “Don’t forget you have a girlfriend, so you can’t be all up in another girl’s space.”

Caspian frowned. “Not like I find you attract—”

“I know that, okay?” I budded in. If he finished that sentence, I knew it would prick me like a dozen thorns. I didn’t need him damaging my self-esteem more than he already had. “Beside, you keep telling me to stay away from Atlanta, but why don’t you too?”

“Just leave,” he said, darkness engulfing his face. I didn’t budge at the sudden bitterness of his tone. “Leave.”

“I will,” I said, huffing. “God knows what’s wrong with you and your mood swings. Please don’t give me too much grief and I won’t bother you either. Can that be another condition?”

Caspian made an abrupt step forward, and I took a frightened step back. “I said, leave.” I pushed through him and stormed downstairs.

What was wrong with him? After every encounter between us, it always left me with that one question. Why did he act the way he did, when his words were malicious and revolted against me? I was thrown around like a doll, but I could only wish I had a better grip on the situation.