Star Bright

As the sun began to rise in its orange glow over the surrounding tree line, Cathleen’s eyes were wide open and staring up at the ceiling. She had gotten very little sleep over the last few days. A multitude of questions continued to spiral around the inner most portions of her head. The biggest of them being why both Davis and Lance had suddenly appeared in her life and what they wanted from her. But also competing for attention in her thought, was the memory of Lance’s strong lips pressed against her own. Just thinking back on it caused her to feel weak in the knees at times. That preciously irreplaceable memory was certainly worth the trouble she had put up with for the next several days.

Maude had hounded her ever cense the day after Lance had given her the ride home, wanting to know every single detail of what had happened. Cathleen had explained to her just about as much as she thought was essential. There was no mystery to her as to why she didn’t tell Maude about the kiss. Her friend would have no doubt thought that it was something that was completely bonkers. And maybe it was on many levels. It certainly didn’t fit into acceptable trends of normalcy to kiss a guy she had only met just that day, and one whose motives for her were still as of yet unknown. But then again, there was very little about Cathleen that fit into normalcy, so she supposed there were times when exceptions could be made.

Maude, for certain, was suspicious of her story. And rightly so. Her best and only friend after all was far from stupid, even if her attire gave one the impression that she was. She had repeatedly thrown odd curve ball questions out of the blue at her in the hopes that she would somehow slip up and reveal what she suspected that she was hiding. It hadn’t worked yet, though. Cathleen was still too much on edge to fall for any sly tricks. Plus, she knew Maude’s personality inside and out, so there was no way that she could slip something unexpected by her. That hadn’t stopped, nor would it likely ever, stop her from trying until her overpowering sense of curiosity was satisfied.

Normally Cathleen would groan from immense displeasure at the thought of a Monday, easily the worst day of any week for her, at school. But this one was far from different. Unless something unexpected came about, she would see Davis, and hopefully get some of the answers to the many questions that were burning away at her mind. She was out of bed in a flash and had dressed for school in normally the time it took for her to just brush her hair.

It came as a complete surprise to her mother to actually see her sitting at the table before her. Sitting across from her at the table, sipping a cup of steaming coffee, she stared intensely at her. Cathleen did her best to ignore her mother’s gaze as she wolfed down a bowl of cereal. All her best efforts were pointless though, because her mom clearly wasn’t satisfied with the awkward silence that was lingering in the air between them.

“You’re up early.”

“Big week ahead of me.” Cathleen answered bluntly. “I’ve got two tests to study for.” That part was true. Cathleen had discovered long ago that the best way to eliminate any chance of guilt from lying was to carefully omit what she would have to lie about, and sprinkle a little bit of truth to go with it in order to evade any curious questioning. It normally worked like a charm. Today, though, it didn’t.

“Is something wrong honey?” the concern was clearly evident in her mother voice.

Cathleen placed her spoon down and looked across the table at her mother. “Nothing’s wrong, mom. I just have a lot of questions that I need to get answered.”

Again, she didn’t specify what kind of answers she was looking for. This time, it worked. To a certain degree. Her mom set her cup down and reached across the table to gently grasp her hand.

“Sweetie, you know…if there’s something bothering you…”

“Nothing’s bothering me.”

Ok. That was a straight up lie. But Cathleen was too flustered at the moment to really care. She just wanted to say whatever it was she needed to say to get her mom to just leave her alone. Obviously, that wasn’t what her mother wanted.

“Cathleen, I…I know we don’t talk a lot, or spend much time together, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t care about you. I mean, if you’re having problems at school, maybe…”

“What? Talk about it?” Cathleen growled, her eyes narrowing. “What would you know about what I deal with every day? You don’t look anything like me.”

“That doesn’t mean that I don’t know what it’s like to be a teenager in high school.” Her mom tightened the grip around her hand. “If you want to talk to me, about anything that’s bothering you, I promise I’ll try my best to understand.”

“You’ll never understand.” Cathleen snapped, jerking her hand away. “Don’t you get that yet? How many times do I have to tell you that I don’t want your help?”

“I’m just…”

“Forget it.” Cathleen jumped out of her chair, grabbed her bag, and ran out the door. She didn’t even try to pay attention if her mom was calling out for her. Even if she was, Cathleen didn’t want to listen. She was tired of her mom always trying to butt into her life. And more importantly, she was tired of her trying to pretend that she had even the vaguest understanding of all the agony and torment that she went through day in and day out at the wretched hell hole. She felt the heat rising from her cheeks as she sprinted down the gravel road to the bus stop. There was nothing more that she wanted to just get away from that house which didn’t feel very much like a home to her. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she barely noticed that there was something in the middle of the junction right where the roads merged. When she actually noticed it, Cathleen was completely taken off guard by the fact that Davis was waiting at the road just beyond the boundary to her parent’s property, straddling his large and powerful looking motorcycle. Seeing him didn’t stop her pace, it only made her walk faster.

As she drew closer, Davis patted the back seat of his ride. “You need a lift?”

Cathleen stopped just beyond the obvious length of his reach. The faint smile on Davis’ face faded as he looked at her. She suspected that the look she was giving him was anything but friendly. Being directly hostile wasn’t exactly in her nature, but she was tired of being left in the dark about what was going on. Cathleen wanted answers.

“No more games Davis.” she said. “What do you two want with me?”

Davis nervously looked down at the hand bars of his bike. Even from where she was standing, Cathleen could see the way his eyes gazed off into empty space, and knew that he was working through his mind a reasonable answer. “Cathleen, I don’t think this is the best time to answer that question.”

That evasion just about floored her. To say the least, it nearly made her head explode.

“No!” she said, take a few steps towards him. “I want answers, right now.”

“It’s not as simple as that. This has to be taken slowly and with care, trust me.”

“Trust you? Trust you!” Cathleen gasped. “Why should I do that? You lied to me.”

Davis’ twilight blue eyes fixed on her. He appeared offended by the accusation. “I’ve never lied to you, Cathleen.”

“Yes you did!” she screamed at him. “You did lie to me. You told me that you were the only one.”

“No, I didn’t. I said that I had never met a girl like you before.” Davis folded his arms across his chest. “And unless my understanding of anatomy is completely off, last time I checked Lance was a guy.”

Thinking back on his words, Cathleen had to accept that those had indeed been Davis’ words. He had her there, as much as she didn’t want to admit it. That still didn’t take away that feeling of betrayal that Davis had caused her. She hated it, and she just knew that the evidence of that was clearly visible in her hurt eyes. Davis slowly climbed off of his bike and cautiously approached her. Cathleen took a step back from him, and he stopped.

“You didn’t come here by chance, did you?” Cathleen asked weakly, unable to bring her eyes to look up at him. “You…both of you…came looking for me.”

“It’s something like that.” Davis whispered.

“Then the story you told me, your parents, your aunt, it was all just…”

“No.” Davis said in a low, strained voice. “There’s nothing that I haven’t told you that wasn’t true. My parents really did die when I was just an infant. And my aunt…”

Hearing the way that his voice was choking up, Cathleen felt an irresistible urge to look up at Davis. She was shocked to see that his eyes were glistening slightly. It was only then that she realized that it might not have been that long since Davis’ aunt had passed away. Seeing the clearly visible signs of emotional cuts that ran deep in him, all of the anger she had felt towards him disappeared in that moment. For reasons that she really couldn’t explain, Cathleen felt herself drawn to Davis. There was a desire to wrap her arms gently around him and tell him that everything was going to be ok.

Davis noticed that she was looking at him. He coughed slightly and quickly rubbed his eyes. “Listen,” he swallowed hard. “Everything is happening too fast right now. Cathleen, please, I just need you to wait a little bit. I promise that I’ll tell you everything very soon.”

She didn’t want to wait. But, at the same time, it just didn’t feel right to badger Davis right at that moment. Plus, she suspected that any attempt to force information out of him would get her no where. Cathleen was torn between wanting to find out what was really going on and being nasty to Davis. Frustrated, she threw her bag down and turned away from him. Even though she couldn’t see him, she could hear the gravel crunching under his footsteps as he approached her. A warm tingle began to pulse against her chest as she sensed his approach. It was her family crystal again, and she just knew that it was responding to Davis’ proximity to her. Without even looking over her shoulder, she knew that he was reaching a hand out for her.

“Don’t…”

“I just want to help you.”

She whirled on her heels and glared at him. “If you want to help, then tell me what the hell is going on! Tell my why whenever you or Lance gets near me my crystal sends these odd tingles through me.”

His arms shot out and grasped her shoulders tightly. Cathleen was startled by the unexpected move, and for a moment she was terrified that Davis would try to kiss her the same way Lance had. Being kiss off guard by one boy was confusing enough, but to have two in just a week’s time would be too much for her. Nervous tingles continued to radiate from her crystal into her, growing more intense with each passing moment. Cathleen was afraid because she didn’t know what would happen next.

“Hey.”

His voice gave of a faint echo, one that seemed to call out to her. Cathleen tried to fight against the almost magnetic like pull that began to draw her eyes to his. But nothing could stop the force that enveloped her, and she locked gazes with his dark blue iris. The instant she plunged into their magnificent wonder, all the tension in her body faded.

“You need to calm down.” he assured her. He started to breath slow and steady. “Breath the way I am. Focus on the core of the feelings, and block out everything else. Just give it a moment, and it will pass. I promise.”
In that seemingly infinite space of time in which they kept their eyes locked, Cathleen felt a gentle warmth radiate from Davis’ hands. Across the span of several deep breaths, everything that felt wrong with her body just seemed to right itself. The tingling subsided, and a sense of normalcy returned to her. Staring deeply into his eyes, she could feel as well as see how his kindness made his face even more attractive than she had first thought. The long strands of his silver hair that dangled around his face were beginning to glisten in the light of the rising sun, giving his features a distinct glow. Davis blinked, and the spell broke.

Cathleen suddenly looked around her, as if she had awoken from a dream. She tried to move her hands, and was mortified to see that they were resting on Davis’ hips. Even touching him there, she could tell how firm his body was. Jerking her hands back sharply, Cathleen broke herself free from Davis’ grip and looked away from him. Embarrassment flooded through her as she thought of how his body had felt. This time, he stayed exactly where he was, just waiting.

“What…what did you do to me?” she asked, slightly afraid of the answer.

“Exactly what I was trying to do. Calm you down.”

Cathleen shot him a questioning look. “You mean you can control it? You can make the crystal stop?”

“It’s more like channeling than stopping it. And to answer you’re other question, yes. I can control it.”

Cathleen’s attention was on full alert now. She closed the distance between them, the familiar sense of strength returning to her. She focused that growing strength at Davis. “Then show me, tell me how to do it.”

Davis shook his head slightly. “It’s easier said than done. This not like turning on a light. It takes time, dedication, and above all patience.”

Cathleen growled from behind her clenched teeth. This wasn’t what she wanted. Davis had started this, and now he was acting like she should just ignore what he had done. Well she wouldn’t. “Look, either you show me how, or I’ll go to Lance for help.”

An agitated look came over Davis’ face by her demand. It was clear he hadn’t been expecting that.

“Damn that hot headed idiot.” Davis growled.

Cathleen felt a little bad for having to force Davis into that position, but his constant evasion to even her simplest requests was leaving her no choice. Because she knew that if Davis didn’t help her, then Lance would. Ever since that day almost a week ago, the strong touch of Lance’s lips would creep into her thoughts, as it was doing right that moment. Cathleen’s lips quivered slightly at the memory. She forced herself to push it aside before it could grow any stronger. Thinking of Lance at the moment wasn’t a good idea. Plus, she remembered very well that he had said that Davis and he were best friends. She really didn’t want to cause any problems between the two. But she couldn’t just stop herself from thinking how each of them had a unique affect on her. As she thought more on that, the aggravated look on Davis’ face vanished, and he was his normal self once more.

“Alright,” he said. “If you let me take you to school, I’ll do what I can to help you. But don’t think that you’ll get it overnight.”

That seemed as reasonable of an offer as any. Cathleen nodded without a word. An uneasy silence fell over them as she picked up her bag and followed Davis to his bike. Just like Lance had, he offered her his helmet. She took it without question as she mounted the seat just behind him, certain that Davis knew what he was doing. Just as he kicked the engine to life, Cathleen noticed the vague outline of the school bus approaching. Davis told her to hold on, and gunned the engine. A lump formed in her throat as she felt the inertia of their sudden acceleration push against her.

The rush felt very similar to what had happened on Lance’s bike, which was why she clutched tightly to Davis as they shot past the bus. Their speed was far too fast for her to catch any of the faces of the kids inside, but she was sure that they were gawking. After all, how often did someone see a pair of pale skinned kids with silver hair come streaking by on a motorcycle?

Cathleen tried not to think too much as they drove to school. It worked, to a degree. Instead of pondering questions about everything that was going on, her mind focused on the present. Specifically, her body pressing against Davis’. Davis, being smaller than Lance, obviously had a different feel. That didn’t stop Cathleen from realizing how ridged and tight the muscles of his back were. He certainly hadn’t been lying about growing up on a farm. Only someone who did a lot of weight lifting or manual labor could possibly have a body like his. Thinking of that, she began to wonder why both he and Lance had felt, even if it were just space of an eye blink, that they were as hard as steel. That was definitely going to be one of the mysteries that she was going to have to pry out of him.

They rode the rest of the trip in complete silence, which Cathleen actually found to be quiet enjoyable. There was a sense of freedom being out on the open road on the bikes, and it was quite to Cathleen’s liking. Davis remained silent even as they pulled into the school’s parking lot. Once he had pulled his bike into a parking space and killed the engine, she heard him clearing his throat.

“Um…look, I…”

“Yes?” Cathleen said, pulling his helmet off.

Davis climbed off of the bike and looked at her with those almost puppy dog like eyes. “I’m sorry, for not telling you about Lance. It was just that, we both thought it would be better if I was the one who contacted you first.”

“So what?” Cathleen asked, also stepping off the bike and handing him his helmet. “You were waiting to spring this big surprise on me later.”

“No, I was afraid that if we both came to you at the same time, that you would be a little overwhelmed. Lance is, well, he’s kind of hot headed and bit stubborn at times. Sometimes he charges right into things without really thinking them through.”

Davis, Cathleen thought in the back of her mind, you don’t know the half of it. Thinking of her self professed red eyed bodyguard, Cathleen ran a finger across her lips with barely any awareness of what she had done. Davis noticed the action, but quickly dismissed it.

“But he’s got a good heart. I’m sorry if he scared you or anything.”

“He…didn’t scare me that much.” What he had done after had made their initial tension little more than an afterthought. “But he did tell me that he was my bodyguard. Do you know what he meant by that?”
A mood set over Davis’ face immediately following that question, and Cathleen wished that she hadn’t asked the question. For the first time since she had met him, Davis looked mad.

“Lance.” he growled through clenched teeth. He shot a look at her, and marched towards the school.

Cathleen debated on whether to follow him or not. On one hand, the desire to find out what Davis and Lance were hiding from her was becoming an increasing itch under her skin. On the other, she didn’t want to alienate herself from Davis. She decided that the present moment wasn’t the perfect time to hound him. She would try to get something out of him later. A hand slapped her shoulder, and she let out a startled shriek that caught the attention of everyone nearby.

Whirling around, Cathleen was taken off guard to see Maude standing behind her, hands on her hips and looking less than happy to see her.

“So first it was Mr. red eyes, now you’re taking rides from that Davis guy? Is that how it’s working now? He takes you to school, and the other one takes you home.”

Cathleen felt slightly hurt by Maude’s accusation. She really felt that she hadn’t done anything to really deserve such hostility from her only friend. “Maude,” she said. “He was waiting for me right outside my house. What was I supposed to do, just tell him to leave?”

“I don’t know. Maybe you could have.”

“Maude, what’s gotten into you?”

Maude shrugged her shoulders. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe it has something to do with my only friend suddenly having two guys who she barely knows chasing after her, who she’s also accepting rides from. And she keeps running off with them while I’m left to sit back and wonder why I’ve suddenly become a fifth wheel.”

“That’s not fair at all, Maude.”

“Then why don’t you explain to me why you haven’t told me about anything that’s going on?”

“Maude, I hardly know what’s going on. Neither of them are telling me anything. I’m still trying to figure it all out.”

Maude grumbled and looked away, clearly annoyed. Guilt formed a nervous knot in her gut the more she thought about what she was keeping from her friend. Things between them had been straining ever since the day Davis had appeared. The last thing that Cathleen wanted to was to push away the only person in the whole world her age that had treated her like a human being rather than a freak.

“Maude,” she said, stepping next to her friend. “I’m not trying to blow you off or anything. I just need to figure out why those two look almost exactly like me and what they want. Please, Maude, you’re the only person that I can really trust.”

Maude looked at her out the corner of her eye. “I still say that taking rides with them is a really dumb idea. You don’t even know them.”

Cathleen smiled weakly at her. “I know, but I can’t find out what they know if I just run away from them. So, can you just wait a little bit until I find out what they’re up to? You know I’ll tell you the second I find out.”

Maude frowned, clearly not to happy about the position she had just been put in. Despite that, Cathleen saw her flick aside her clump of purple hair before facing her. A smile weakly formed at the corners of her lips. “Alright, fine. I guess if I don’t then no one will.”

Cathleen gave her a warm hug. “Thanks, Maude. I knew I could count on you.”

“Ok. Ok. Fine, just don’t go getting all sappy on me.” she said, pushing her away. “And be careful.”

Cathleen smiled. “You know I always am.”

Maude rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right.”

The ringing of the first bell once again ended their interactions with each other. Cathleen and Maude ran side by side as they rushed to make it to their first hour classes on time. For the most part, everything was relatively normal for Cathleen as she rushed through the halls. People made their odd jabs and name calling at her, but she hardly took any notice to any of it. There were a lot more important things on her mind that worrying about what some idiots thought about her. She thought about going to her locker for just a moment to see if Davis was there, but she had a gut feeling that he wouldn’t be there, so she brushed the thought aside. By a stroke of luck, Cathleen managed to get to her class and into her desk just as the final bell rang. From there, the rest of the morning went by as normally as it could have. When the bell for lunch rang, Cathleen couldn’t remember anything she was supposed to have learned in the last few classes. The only thing that she was certain of was that she would see Davis again, and hopefully get him to talk.

That didn’t happen though. As she and Maude headed out to their usual eating spot, Davis was nowhere to be found. Cathleen swept her eyes over the surrounding masses, trying to spot either his pale figure or his shiny hair. After several failed attempts to find him, she felt Maude nudge her shoulder and motion towards the table. Reluctantly, Cathleen followed her. As they sat down, Maude casually twirled her fork in between her fingers, one of the hundred useless talents she possessed.

“Upset?”

Cathleen kept looking around them, hoping that Davis would somehow just magically appear from out of nowhere. But he didn’t. Hanging her head in a dejected manner, Cathleen stared across the table at Maude. “I was just…I’m trying to get some answers out of him. I wanted to talk to him when he came. But it’s like he keeps trying to avoid anything I ask him.”

“Well, seeing as how it looks to me like he’s nowhere to be found right now, I’d have to agree with you on that.”
Cathleen shot Maude a dirty look. “That’s not funny.”

Maude shrugged her shoulders. “I’m not trying to be funny. I’m just saying that there are not a lot of reasons why he wouldn’t be here. I mean, it’s not like there’s anyone else he would be hanging with.”

Right after she had said that, Cathleen felt a strong jolt go through her. It was so powerful, so unexpected, that her body spasm several times. Maude noticed the shakes, and her joyful face instantly became stone cold with worry. “Cat, you ok?”

Cathleen wanted to answer her, but she felt her head becoming faint and dizzy. Bracing herself against the edge of the table, Cathleen started to breath heavily. Maude’s concerned look worsened, and she started to stand up to call for help. Just as her mouth began to open, Cathleen shot her hand out across the table and grasped hers.

“Maude, wait…”

“Cat, what’s wrong? What’s happening? You want me to…”

“Just wait.” Cathleen murmured. “Wait.”

Cathleen was about to answer her, when she remembered what Davis had told her earlier. Fighting against the rising panic, she began to force herself to take slow and steady breaths. As she fought to bring her breathing under control, Cathleen focused her mind to block out everything that was around her. She centered all of her attention onto the trembling that was coming from the center of her chest. It felt erratic, completely off. Cathleen continued to breath deeply as she placed more and more of her attention on the rhythm of her own heartbeat. Once she had the pace of her heart mastered, she began to will the pulses to course in synchronization with it. She struggled at first to make it work, but after a short time she managed to master their mutual flow. With a few more controlled breaths, Cathleen willed the pulses to stop. And much to her surprise, they did. A ragged sigh of relief passed her lips as she absorbed the understanding that she had stopped jolts all by herself. Without any more guidance from Davis.

Cathleen opened her eyes, and saw Maude staring at her. Her eyes were wide with shock, something she had only seen once before in her friend, and that had been when she had seen her for the first time. It was unsettling.

“Maude, what…”

Maude slowly pointed a finger at her. It was clear to see that she was shaking. “You…you’re hair.”

Cathleen grabbed ends of her hair and pulled it in front of her face. Like always, it was glistening slightly from the sunlight beaming down on her. But other than that, it didn’t look any different. Confused, she stared across the table at her friend. “What about my hair? What happened?”

“It,” Maude paused, as if trying to come to an understanding herself. “It changed.”
Cathleen cocked her head. “What do you mean it changed?”

“I don’t know.” Maude said. Her pointed hand nervously tapped the dyed portion of her own hair. “It…something happened. It was like a flash or something, and parts of your hair turned purple.”

Shocked, Cathleen looked at her hair again. It was still the same. Which left only two possibilities. Either Maude was crazy and seeing things, or something had happened…when those odd sensations were coursing through her. Cathleen very much doubted that it was the first possibility. She nervously touched her family jewel, concerned that it would spark off the jolts again. It didn’t. Looking over her shoulder, she watched the faces of the surrounding student body. When she realized that none of them had seen what had happened, a great bit of the tension in her body faded. Still, she lowered herself so no one could even have a hope of seeing what she was saying.

“Did anyone else see it?”

“No. No one saw anything.” Maude answered with a few concerned glanced around them. “You know I’m not making this up.”

“Maude, I’m the last person in the world that you need to worry about sounding crazy to.”
Maude appeared very relieved to hear that. So was Cathleen, cause the truth was that she was scared, which was only getting worse with each passing day. With this new bit added to the pile, it was a wonder why her head hadn’t simply exploded from the strain. One thing above all was certain. She was tired of these mysteries. She needed answers, and she needed them right away. What happened next could have been described as creepy, if Cathleen wasn’t already completely crept out.

Glancing over Maude’s shoulder, Cathleen looked far beyond her out into the parking lot. And spotted a pale figure moving through the parked cars. Cathleen knew without even really seeing him that it was Davis. Her eyes narrowing, Cathleen calmly rose from her seat. Maude turned around to see what was happening. When she did, her friend quickly looked back.

“Cat.”

By the tone of her voice, Maude clearly didn’t know what to say about anything. That was fine, because Cathleen didn’t see how anything she said at the moment would make any sense. “I’ll be right back.”

She took off in a brisk walk, hoping that Maude wouldn’t follow her as she went to confront Davis. By the time she had passed into the empty first hall that lead out to the parking lot, Cathleen was certain that Maude had opted to remain at the table. As she stormed out into the parking lot, she spotted Davis standing near where his motorcycle was. Cathleen homed in on him like a magnet, determined to reach Davis before he had a chance to attempt a getaway. No matter what he said, this time she wasn’t planning on leaving until he revealed some of what she knew he was hiding from her.

As she weaved her way through the lot full of cars, Cathleen lost her stride momentarily and nearly fell down when she spotted Lance. The bigger boy was casually leaning against his bike facing her, although it was apparent that he had yet to spot her. All of his attention was focused on Davis, who appeared very adamant about something. As she closed the distance between the two, Cathleen began to make out the very loud, and angry words that Davis was leveling at Lance.

“Dammit Lance! Do you have any idea how much you’re screwing this all up?”

Lance seemed like he was about to give Davis a not so nice answer. With his bright red eyes, it was easy enough for Cathleen to see that he had noticed she was coming up behind Davis, without him having even the slightest clue that she was there. Chuckling softly, Lance silently rested his hands on the back of his head and stared at Davis. This only infuriated Davis even more.

“Don’t ignore me, Lance. I’m trying to talk to you.”

“Boy.” Lance grinned. “Sure lit a fire under your ass this time didn’t I?”

“I’m glad you think this is funny! I thought we had been over all this before…”

Lance’s eyes darted from Davis to Cathleen. She wasn’t far away from them now, but she stopped before coming too close to alert Davis. How she was able to pull that off without him noticing was yet another mystery that burned inside her for answers. Lance focused his attention back on Davis, clearly not wanting him to notice her either.

“If we had just done it my way, Cat would already know what’s going on. She wouldn’t be standing around feeling like her whole world’s crashing around her without any clue as to why.”

“She deserves to come into this easier than we did. I want to give her the chance to decide when she’s fully ready to accept it.”

Lance quit smiling suddenly and lowered his hands. His large face hardened, causing Cathleen to get goose bumps. Lance was acting almost the same way he had when he threatened those jocks. It was very unsettling. “Right.” Lance growled in a threatening voice. “Like the way you gave me a chance?”

Despite the bigger boy bearing down on him, Davis stood his ground without a flinch. “It’s not the same thing, Lance. And we both know that. You had already crossed that line at the time, same as me. But Cathleen’s still a sleeper, but she’s almost…”

Davis stopped in mid-sentence. Cathleen saw his body shudder, and he slowly began to turn around. When he finally laid his eyes on her, and that she was standing almost right behind him, he made a surprised face that looked like he had been caught doing something very bad.

“Almost what?” Cathleen asked, clenching her teeth to hold back her anger that she was deliberately being left out. “Almost what Davis?”

“Cathleen…” he took a cautious step back, which only angered her more.

“What are you two talking about!” she demanded, her voice starting to show signs of strain. She pointed an accusing finger at Davis. “What’s a sleeper, and what does it have to do with me? What is it that you’re hiding from me Davis?”

Davis brought his hands up defensively and he backed away from her slightly. “Cathleen, wait a minute.” His voice was trembling, evident that he had just been caught in a situation that he was trying to avoid. “Just calm down.”

“No, I won’t!” she screamed at him. “I want to know what’s going on!”

“What’s going on here,” Lance said with a smirk. “is that Davis here is upset because I went an saw you without letting him know. He’s jealous.”

Cathleen wanted to yell at Lance too, but she was cut off by Davis as he turned to face him. “That’s a lie and you know it.”

“Is it?” Lance asked with a shrug of his shoulders. With a broad smile, he cracked his knuckles loudly. “Then why do you look so freaked out? Why are you so mad that I went and saw her without telling you? Upset because I didn’t give you free reign? Or is it more like one of those, ‘I saw her first’, kind of things?”

“That’s not true.”

Lance brought his hands up and cracked his knuckles. “Yeah, I’ll beat. We can settle this real easy, buddy. You want to fight for her?”

“She’s not some kind of prize to be won!” Davis snapped, his own fists clenched tightly.

Lance rolled his eyes. “Oh sure. Don’t even try to play that Mr. innocent game with me. How about getting serious. Why don’t you cut the bullshit and tell her the truth, Astreaus.”

An odd look washed over Davis’ face. It was one of complete shock, as if one of the biggest secrets of his life had just been shown to the whole world. It faded quickly, but what replaced it made Cathleen’s skin crawl. Davis’ body began to tremble and his face contorted into a nearly savage like expression. She easily imagined in the next moment Davis launching himself at Lance viciously.

“Don’t you ever call me that.” Davis, Astreaus, whatever his name was, growled at Lance. “Don’t ever call me that again.”

“Why?” Lance replied back with a snap in his voice, clearly all the humor drained from him. “Why are you afraid of it? It’s your real name.”

“It’s only a memory.” Davis warned. “Nothing more than that, Lance.”

“It’s Karhasi, and you know it.” Lance, Karhasi, expressed with a thump against his chest. “There’s no denying it anymore, not for you, not for me. And pretty soon, not for Cat. You’ve made sure of that.”

“What the hell are you two talking about?!” Cathleen finally shrieked, catching both of their attentions. “What is going on here?”

Lance, Cathleen chose to identify him by that name because that’s how she knew him, shook his head slightly. “I really wish that I could tell you, Cat. But I can’t.” he pointed a finger at Davis. “You see, he’s the one that wanted to go looking for you. He’s the one that wants to break it to you gently. So if you want answers, talk to him.”

Lance calmly walked over to his bike and started the engine. Before he threw his helmet on, Lance locked eyes with her. “Here’s something else for you to think about, Cat. Did you know that when he came back after that first day you two met, he didn’t even tell me that you were a girl? I had to find out by sneaking away from him and going to see you for myself.”

Lance gave her a faint smile. “Damn near had a heart attack when I did. But I’m sure you almost had one too.” He lightly tapped his lips to emphasize exactly what he was talking about.

Cathleen felt her face growing hot from the memory of that experience, but also from the ocean of deception she had suddenly found all around her. She wanted to scream something at Lance. Whether she wanted it to be a plea for more answers, a curse word, or anything else, Cathleen had no idea. But Lance didn’t give her the chance. Throwing his helmet on, the big boy kicked the engine to life and shot off out of the parking lot. Even with the hum of the engine filling her ears, Cathleen could distinctly make out Lance’s hearty laugh, as if this was all some big game to him. And just like that, he was gone.

Slowly, with her mind and body shaking from the fear of the unknown and anger, Cathleen turned to face Davis. His twilight blue eyes were wide with shock, as if he was still trying to make sense of what had just been said. Even looking as stunned as he was, Cathleen was barely able to maintain the fire growing within her at not only him, but Lance as well.

“Is that true?” Cathleen demanded. “What are you trying to do? Tell me.”

“Cathleen…it…”

“Tell me.” Cathleen repeated herself, her voice low and flat. “Tell me now.”

“Cathleen, you have no idea…”

“Tell me!” she shrieked. “Why are you doing this?”

Davis suddenly moved towards her, catching Cathleen off guard. In the time it took for her to back up a single step, he was right in front of her. Cathleen almost did a double take from the unexpected action. One second he was almost twenty feet away, the next he was right in front of her, as if appearing out of thin air. She blinked, not entirely sure if she had seen was real. With a trembling finger, she gently poked Davis’ chest. It certainly felt real enough. Still recovering from the shock, Cathleen looked up at Davis, and instantly became ensured in the hypnotic gaze of his dark blue eyes. She wanted to scream at him to stop, to throw a punch that would break his nose, do anything that would make him feel pain for deceiving her. He had already done this to her once before, and she didn’t want it to happen again. But she was trapped, frozen where she stood. The anger at him still smoldered throughout her whole body, but it was contained to the point where she couldn’t act.
Davis placed his hands on her shoulders so softly that she could only feel the tingling of his comforting touch. The way he did it made it feel as if he were trying to prevent himself from doing something wrong. He drew closer, his eyes now encompassing her entire existence.

“Cathleen, your entire world is about to be turned upside down.” he stated to her in his calm, slightly echoing voice. “And there’s nothing that you can do to stop it. Those strange feelings you have flowing through your body, and your crystal, are only the beginning. However hard you think your life has been, it’s about to get a lot harder. And I am trying to make that transition as easy and painless for you as I can.”

Her lips trembled. Unable to move, and not knowing what to believe anymore, that was all she could do.

“When I first found out the truth, it nearly destroyed me. Everything I had ever known, believed, or even loved was gone in an instant. Everything had been a lie, a lie I had lived my entire life by. If Lance hadn’t been with me, the shock and the misery of it all would have overwhelmed me. I would have killed myself. You have to believe me when I say that I am trying to save you from that awful fate, because you’re living the same lie I was. I don’t want you to die Cathleen, you’re too precious…”

Even though her body was frozen, two visible streams of tears were seeping down the sides of her face. Davis stepped back from her, and the hypnotic hold over her fell away. Cathleen’s quick slap across the side of his face took Davis completely off guard. He stumbled slightly, but made no move to cover his face from a potential follow up blow.

“Davis,” Cathleen pleaded to him. “I need to know what’s going on. What was all that about living a lie?”

Davis continued to back away until he was standing beside his bike. “Cathleen, even if I did tell you right now, you wouldn’t believe me. You’re going to have to see for yourself.”

“When?”

“Soon. Very soon.”

“Where are you going?”

“To talk to Lance, to make sure I smooth things out between us. A fight between us is the last thing that will help you right now.”

“Then take me with you.”

“I can’t.”

“Why?”

Davis’ gentle eyes pleaded with her as he readied his bike. “What I have to talk to him about is just between us. You’ll understand before too long.”

“When will you be back?”

“Tomorrow.” he answered. “You’ll see me in school tomorrow.”

“Why didn’t you tell Lance I was a girl?” Cathleen blurted out. She clamped a hand over her mouth the instant the last word had left her lips. She had no idea where that question had come from, especially compared to all the others that were racing around inside her head. In fact, it seemed rather trivial, but for some reason she had been unable to stop herself from asking it.

Davis stared at her, completely unmoving, his jaw hanging slightly. Even from the distance they were at, she could see fear flash in his eyes. Swallowing hard, Davis quickly looked down at the pavement.

“I don’t know.” he replied weakly. “It was just that, when I saw you walk through that door…”

He left it there. To Cathleen’s shock, Davis straddled his bike and kicked it to life. Cathleen was so taken by surprise from the unexpected action that she had only just started to move when Davis shot out of the parking lot. She ran a short distance after him, trying to scream his name but unable to find the strength to make even a peep. In a flash he was gone, more to flee from her than to chase after Lance she suspected. Standing there at the edge of the parking lot, all alone, Cathleen could do nothing except stare in the direction the two boys, who were the center of everything that had suddenly thrown her life off track, had gone.

She had gone to face them to find answers. And had been left only with more mysteries.