LS: The Beginning (28 page)

Lisa interrupted, laughing. “What was your answer?”

“What do you think?”

“It depends. I can’t see a normal guy refusing a proposal from
a gorgeous girl like her.” She chortled. Even Lisa acknowledged Julie's beauty.

“That’s it: a normal guy. I’m not normal,” I stated.

“So do you like her?” she inquired.

“Define like?”

We'd reached the shop where I could buy some beach wear, but
we sat in the car, finishing our conversation. It was the only clothing
shop that was open on Christmas day. Most shops in Sloutenville closed on festive days.

“I mean do you see yourself going out with her?”

“No, I don’t, and of all people you should know that,” I said, giving her
a disappointing look. “Never mind, let’s go get the outfits.”

Immediately after we left the shop, Derrick called to inform us about a
change in the party’s dress code, from costumes to formal wear. Apparently, some students couldn’t get a costume on time. The venue was shifted to a prestigious hotel, forcing me to sneak
into my house and get dressed for the occasion. Quite ironic, isn't it?

***

“This is it,” Lisa said as we arrived at the venue of the party.

“Impressive, but the attendance is low,” I said.

“Don't be surprised if you find all the college students in there. Not everyone has a car. Wait! Do you think our college is meant for only kings and queens?”

“No, I was thinking more of princes and princesses,” I said.

Lisa laughed really hard; her sparkling white teeth were all I could see. She looked for a good space, to park the car, and then we proceeded to the entrance of the hotel.

A lady at the reception directed us to the hall of the event. The interior decor of the hall was magnificent; it had a golden theme. Also, I noticed a DJ stand at the end of the hall. There were hardly any chairs in sight. Everyone was standing and either nibbling the refreshments or chattering with acquaintances. Lisa and I collected glasses of wine and moved to a corner in the room.

The party seemed
promising at first. Lisa enjoyed the music more than anything else, but when guys started hovering round her like flies, it
became bothersome. She didn’t like the attention. There was this one guy whose masculine figure made me jealous. His ocean colored eyes stared into Lisa's eyes. “Would you like to dance?” he said, stretching his arm out to her.

Lisa blushed. “I'd love to, but we are about to leave.” She stressed the ‘we’, hoping to make her point.

He smiled and placed his rejected hand in his pocket, turning and walking away, maybe to see if anyone else would be interested in his proposal. As he strode out, Lisa said, “I want to go home now, but you're free to stay if you want.”

“Same here; I'm not really a party person. We'll have to inform Derrick before we leave, and I think you should be the one to do so.”

“Why? He's your friend.”

“If I go tell him, he'll think I'm the reason you’re leaving,” I explained.

“If you insist,” Lisa said as she wandered over towards Derrick. I wasn't interested in eavesdropping on their conversation, so I left the party and waited for her outside.

After a few minutes, she strolled out and called, “Let's go”

Before getting home we stopped off to buy some fireworks so we could use them to end the day. We arrived at Lisa’s house, to witness a flurry of snowflakes
falling from the cloudy sky. We'd forgotten to take an umbrella before we left
that morning, and Lisa couldn’t leave the car because she had now discovered she was allergic to
anything related to cold substances; even when she took a bath, the
water had to be boiling hot. She never used the swimming pool at
her house: the Jacuzzi was her substitute.

“It’s okay. Step outside, or don’t you trust me? I won’t let anything harm you,” I
assured her.

“I know, but …”

“Don't worry, just step outside,” I said.

As she stepped outside of the car, I switched into my supernatural state and glanced at the side mirror as my eyes turned blue, my face grew ashen and senses sharpened. Then, I looked at Lisa and focused on her movement, forming a shield over her head by
diverting every single snowflake that fell towards her as she walked to the
front door. She arrived at the door exactly the same way she’d left the car;
her clothes remained dry.

My head throbbed as I experienced nausea for the first time. The ache seemed to have started immediately as I stopped controlling the ice. I placed my right palm on my forehead, attempting to reduce the pain.

After some agonizing minutes, the pain subsided and as I bent down to pick up the
fireworks we'd bought, a red liquid dripped from my nose and landed on my right hand. I was bleeding. This was impossible. I'd never had a nosebleed before. I retrieved a tissue from a packet that kept in the glove box of the car and cleaned my nose. Then I looked at the side mirror, surprised to see a scared pallid face staring back at me. I shook my head and placed the tissue below my nostrils until there wasn't a drop of blood left.

“That was amazing, but what took you so long?” Lisa asked as I came into her room.

“A friend called,” I lied; I couldn’t admit I had a nose bleed. It would have made me feel incompetent. “Should
we go release the fireworks before it gets too late?”

She grimaced. “But I can’t go outside.”

“Oh yeah, we’ll wait until it stops snowing, then we can go outside and light the fireworks,” I suggested.

“That's a good idea,” Lisa said.

We chatted, sitting on her bed until it stopped snowing. Then Lisa and I went to the only place in the estate where we could find grass, beneath her balcony. I fixed the bigger fireworks in the
grass

“Are you ready?” I asked.

“Yeah, I am,” she replied. “Let's lie down for dramatic effect.”

I smiled and dashed to her room to get a blanket. "Oh, that’s nice,” she said.

"Not yet."

I placed the blanket on the floor and waved my hands over it. Flowers without stalks appeared on each end of the cloth. They were made of ice.

Lisa's flushed. “Aw," she exclaimed.

She waved her hands over the cloth, and small flames appeared inside the icy flowers. Strangely, they didn't melt. It was as though the flowers conducted the heat, just like a lantern would.

We lay down on the blanket, a few meters away from the fireworks. Lisa blinked her eyes as the bottom end of the fireworks ignited. They flew high, creating brilliant sparks in the sky. The sound they made deafened me, and probably Lisa too. However, the flashes of different colors of light were an amazing view; it looked like a flowerbed of lights. We watched the lights blossom in the sky and smiled at each other in admiration. It was indeed a memorable moment.

I remembered when
my dad would come home for Christmas and we would light the fireworks
together using matchsticks. Those were the few times we shared together, before he would run off to another country with the excuse of work.

Lisa and I went back into the house as soon as the fireworks show was over, and went straight to her room. I couldn't stand the cold.

“Close your eyes,” I requested.

“Oh, I hate surprises,” she growled, reluctantly closing her eyes.

I lifted out a case from my pocket and opened it, facing her direction.
“Open your eyes. Merry Christmas, dear,” I said.

“Aw,” she exclaimed. “This is so beautiful. Thanks.”

I smiled. "You're welcome."

Inside the case was a necklace
with her name as the pendant. I had refined the diamond, encasing ice in
every letter. Lisa had informed me she’d always wanted a necklace
with her name as the pendant, but she’d never gotten one. It seemed difficult to believe,
knowing the wealth her family possessed; she could get almost anything she wanted.

“In that case,” she said, moving toward the drawer near her bed. She
removed a box, wrapped with a white paper and sky blue ribbon. “Here, Merry Christmas.”

“You shouldn’t have.” I took the small box out of her hands.

“Go ahead, open it,” she demanded.

Inside the box was a white leather wristwatch with diamonds on its edges. It was extremely beautiful. I thanked her by giving her a
cold
hug, and she
returned the action by wrapping her arms around me. The day had ended perfectly. It served its purpose of being a joyful day.
However, within my titanic well of merriness was an apprehensive soul; the abilities that gave me unimaginable skills were also the same abilities
that could make me ill. What an irony!!!

Chapter Fifteen

A New Year. A New Surprise

Time: a common fact of nature. It either moves slow or fast. Some
say it moves fast when one's having fun. Certainly this implies
this year was fun for me. It was the last day of the last month of the year. Not everyone lived to see this day, those who did were thankful
to whomever or whatever they believed got them there. I was glad my family, friends, and I were listed among the living.

***

“Stop that,” Lisa said as I tickled her immaculate white
foot.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

Lisa was lying on the bed using her
laptop.

“Chatting with Calvin,” she answered.

“Cool. Send my regards.” I tickled her once more.

“I’ve already done that, but if you don’t stop I’ll …”

“What will you do?” I said, annoying her with my continual tickling.

She turned back to face me. Her eyes were red and wide. I had really
provoked her. All I wanted was to play with her, but obviously she didn’t
see it that way
.

“Leave me alone,” she yelled. Her voice echoed around the floor.

It affected my eardrums, causing me to withdraw. I had never seen her so
angry – verbally, that is. It meant she was in control of her actions and really wanted me to leave.

“I’m sorry for disturbing you. I’ll leave you alone.” I had a funny reaction toward life: big things didn’t get to me but little
things did. I stood up, placed my clenched fists into my pockets and left her room, heading for the front door. I retrieved my jacket from the
cloak rack
beside the threshold and as I reached for its knob, Lisa intercepted me. Her eyes were
watery, her expression regretful. She inched closer and reached for my jacket.