Pulse of Heroes (37 page)

“Don’t, Elliot. Let it go. I’m leaving,”
Michelle said, protecting Rion by putting her body in front of him.
Elliot hurt deeply. Had he really lost her? He wondered, looking
out the window because he couldn’t take seeing them like that.
Michelle turned to face Rion and pecked him on his good cheek,
which pained Elliot more than she would have guessed. “But I want
both of you to know that the only person who gives me permission to
do the things I do and make the choices I make is me. Not you.”
Michelle turned to look back at Elliot, who was feeling hurt and
shamed all at once. He could plainly hear the pain behind her
anger, and it was his fault. Rion, on the other hand, was surprised
to hear such words coming out of the little girl in front of him
and wondered again if he had miscalculated her. It was at that
moment that Elliot realized how much he did want Michelle to be
his. Her words were evidence to the strength she held within. He
had always felt it there. He didn’t want to lose her, he was sure
of it now, and there she was slipping away from him. And to make
things worse, she wasn’t choosing a mere human over him; that would
at least make him feel satisfied in the knowledge that a regular
man could never offer her the things he could, but she was choosing
someone of his kind, someone who he himself respected, someone who
was his equal.

Michelle walked out of the classroom and
headed out through the front door, quietly closing it behind
her.

Michelle couldn’t face going home after she
left
Hekademos
. She had way too much adrenaline pumping
through her veins to be able to close herself up in her small
bedroom, let alone sleep. Even thinking about it made her feel
claustrophobic. She had no idea what time it was, because she had
yet to find a way to have her parents activate her brand new cell
phone without arousing suspicion. When Michelle passed by
Samantha’s house and saw that the light in her bedroom was still
on, she decided to knock. Sam opened the front door, surprised to
see Michelle, and immediately asked her what was wrong as she
pulled her into the house while looking down both sides of the
street to make sure that no one followed her.

“Tim’s upstairs, but he’s just about to
leave. We studied for four hours,” Samantha said in a low voice.
Michelle promised that she would tell her everything later, but her
head was pounding and she just wanted to close her eyes. Samantha
suggested she sneak into her mother’s bedroom and nap there because
she was out doing another night shift. Michelle stretched out on
the queen-sized bed as quietly as possible.

Thoughts and emotions of horror and relief
shot back and forth in her mind. Horror from seeing Elliot and Rion
use such violence on each other, and relief that Elliot was back
home. Relief that Elliot had displayed such jealousy over her, and
then guilt for feeling just that. And what about Rion? How did he
fit into the picture? She really wasn’t sure. Michelle almost
closed her eyes completely when she heard a knock on the door. When
Tim walked in, Michelle was laid out flat on her stomach with a
large fluffy white lace pillow on top of her head and all he could
see were the ends of her wavy hair across her neck and shoulders.
He gently sat down next to her on the side of the bed and she let
out a sad groan.

“That bad?” he asked, to which Michelle’s
body tightened because she had thought it was Sam she had heard
entering the room. She wondered if Sam was working against her and
had told Tim that she was there. Michelle peeked out from under the
pillow and he smiled at her warmly. She groaned again, only this
time it was over Tim and his sunny disposition. No drama, just a
regular, dreamy guy who any other girl would be doing somersaults
over. Why did she have to fall prey to someone like Elliot, she
thought, returning Tim a tired smile. Elliot was different and
beyond beautiful. He was strong and sensitive at the same time, and
he had stories to tell, stories that she could listen to for the
rest of her life. And he had magic on his side. Elliot was
mysterious and there was something dangerous in his wild and
unpredictable ways, something that excited her, but something that
she wanted to conquer nonetheless. Elliot made her heart race like
no other guy had ever done, and her body craved to be near him. In
fact she had dreamt for months about what it would be like to kiss
him.

After protesting that she only lived four
houses away, Michelle let Tim drive her home anyway. When he pulled
up to the driveway he began asking her something, but she was in no
condition to deal with another uncomfortable situation. It was all
too much for one day. Tim tried to inquire as to whether she had
plans for the Prom just as Michelle happened to see her father
looking out at them from the bedroom window. That got Tim moving,
and he was safely on his way before Michelle entered her front
door. Michelle looked at the stairs leading up to the second floor
and for some reason they looked extra long and steep. She was so
tired that climbing them seemed nearly impossible.

Michelle lazily pushed open her bedroom door,
hoping to see Crumb already sacked out on her bed. But instead of a
fluffy cat, she saw her Italian books and notes neatly stacked on
top of her bed. Only then did she remember that she had forgotten
to grab her stuff when she left
Hekademos
. In the heat of
the moment all she had cared about was getting out of there and
leaving Elliot and Rion to deal with the aftermath of their battle.
Now, staring at the pile, she wondered if Elliot was still in her
room, and if he was how should she react? Truth was that after
scolding him she regretted it almost immediately. But it was just
too much for her to see him attacking Rion like that. And besides,
he deserved it for running off on her the way he did. But Michelle
still wondered if she would have been as harsh if she hadn’t been
trying to protect Rion. Maybe if Rion wasn’t there she would have
thrown her arms around Elliot’s neck and let the weight of her body
hang on him as if she were an anchor, making sure that he never
left her again.

Michelle took a deep breath and stepped into
the room. Elliot was standing at her window. He was looking outside
and she knew that he saw Tim drop her off. But Elliot had no
grounds to mention anything about Tim, even though he wondered if
Michelle had finally given into his charms. For a second, Elliot
felt jealous that Tim was a normal young man without any
complications and, unlike him, he was safe and healthy for
Michelle. Michelle quietly closed the door behind her and sat down
on the edge of the bed, never taking her eyes off Elliot. He hadn’t
looked at her once, and she knew that he was ashamed. Elliot
worried about how Michelle might perceive him after seeing him in
such a rage. After a long silence, Elliot finally turned around to
face. Michelle’s heart skipped a beat as soon as his eyes found
hers. She had no control over such things. She was still angry with
him, yet felt grateful that he was there so close to her. Crumb was
the one that finally broke the silence, meowing a slight greeting
from on top of her dresser where he was perched, anticipating.
Michelle knew that animals could sense tension, and there was no
mistaking it in this situation.

“Michelle, I’m really sorry,” Elliot said
quietly after he figured that things were still salvageable because
they had both laughed at the cat. Michelle took a few steps towards
Elliot and looked at his face. His muscles were still rigid and his
eyes had not returned to their usual blue. Elliot froze when she
gently brushed a few strands of his hair out of the way to reveal
the gash on his forehead. To her amazement, it was already healing.
Elliot gave her the tiniest of smiles and reminded her that they
heal fast. And before she could even think about asking, he told
her that Rion was going to be ok too and that he was sorry for what
he did.

“You hurt me,” Michelle said without a shred
of shame, but she turned away from him anyway because if she
continued to look at him for another second she would just start
crying. Whether it would be out of happiness, sadness, or pure
emotional exhaustion, she couldn’t tell, but cry she would and she
didn’t want to.

Michelle sat back down on the bed and hugged
one of her pillows. She had no idea where to start, or what she was
supposed to say. Elliot sat down next to her, wrenching one of her
hands away from the pillow so he could hold it. Michelle’s hand was
like that of a child in his, and he engulfed it protectively. He
needed to feel her, even if it was just her fingers, and he wanted
her to remember what it felt like when they held hands. Michelle
began feeling an amazing sensation of well-being spread across her
body, and her head felt light and airy. All she wanted to do was to
lie back and fall asleep. She wanted to leave the talking for
another day. When Elliot felt Michelle’s muscles relax he gently
lowered her down until she lay flat. He then lay down next to her.
When he turned off the small lamp the glow-in-the-dark stars came
to life in lime green above them. Michelle asked him if he was
hypnotizing her and he told her that he wasn’t, but he was altering
her physiological chemistry. Elliot knew that Michelle had been
through a lot, and he couldn’t stand to see her so freaked out and
sad.

“I wish I could feel like this forever,” she
dreamingly repeated what she had told him before. When Michelle
felt her state of being returning to normal her hand searched for
his, and once finding it she held it tightly and asked him not to
let go.

“For how long?” he asked her, and gave out a
small laugh when she answered “For a long time.”

He told her that he would do his best, but
that even he would get tired eventually. Did she love him, he
wondered. Michelle was thinking the exact same thing herself. She
had never even thought about that word, let alone attaching it to
any guy. She loved her family and she loved Samantha. She
definitely loved Crumb and maybe Francesca too, but how could that
word apply to what she felt for Elliot? Michelle didn’t want to
think about it anymore because it scared her. What if Elliot didn’t
love her back? But she so wanted him to. She suddenly had an
uncontrollable urge to put her arms around Elliot and hold on to
him. She wanted to feel the warmth of his body blanketing her.
Would he let her? Would he jump away from her like he did before?
Or was the whole idea stupid and would only make things worse than
they already were? Michelle took her chance and turned to Elliot
who was now looking straight into her eyes.

“I want you to,” he said. Michelle inched
close to him and nuzzled up against him while burying her face in
his chest. She loved his scent. Elliot put one arm around her and
held her. When she looked up at him again, Elliot was casually
smiling back at her and his eyes were no longer aglow. She
stretched her neck and reached out to his lips with hers. And when
they finally met Elliot engulfed her in his arms and pulled her up
on top of him. Startled by the sudden movement, Michelle gave out
something that sounded like a squeak and pulled away from his face
in surprise. But before she could say anything Elliot raised his
head and in a swift movement pulled her down towards him. He was
strong. There was no resisting. Not that she wanted to. When his
lips parted hers and their tongues met he kissed her strong. His
breath was hot and sweet and Michelle took it in, kissing him
passionately and deep as if her soul was being fed by him. She was
no longer tired and she only wanted more. When she came up for air
and opened her eyes, she was staring directly into Elliot’s eyes
which glowed again but gently. They were beautiful. Michelle held
Elliot’s face in her hands and kissed him again and again,
surprised to feel warm tears escaping from her eyes and running
down her cheeks.

“I’m sorry,” Elliot whispered into her neck
and then kissed her tears away. Michelle felt light headed again
and asked Elliot if he was doing that to her. He explained to her
that when he kissed her things just happened without him
controlling them, but he also told her that it could just be the
rush of so many emotions. Elliot slowly moved from underneath her
and helped her get comfortable on the bed. He began stroking her
hair.

“You need sleep. You’ve been through enough
for one day. Xander told me that you fainted earlier, is that so?”
Michelle had no explanation for what had happened earlier, besides
that she must be overly stressed over finals. Elliot took a lot of
the blame for her stress and asked if she would let him help her
fall asleep. But Michelle didn’t want the night to end and pulled
him towards her lips again. He eventually broke away from her and
assured her that there would be many more kisses to come.

“More than you can count,” he laughed, and
Michelle lay back down so he could put his hand on her forehead.
Elliot’s eyes glowed brighter and as if by magic Michelle found it
hard to keep her eyes open. A few seconds later she was engulfed in
a sweet slumber. Elliot pulled her blanket over her and then placed
Crumb by her side. Michelle hugged and nuzzled her little cat,
smiling in her sleep. Elliot watched over Michelle for a while, and
when he was satisfied that she was sleeping soundly he kissed her
on her forehead and left.

Michelle leaned against the brick wall of the
mini-mart down the street from Meadow High School and waited for
Elliot. It was the first time that he had offered to pick her up
from school, which signaled to Michelle that their relationship was
moving in the right direction. They had yet to talk about why
Elliot had left town so unexpectedly, but Michelle wanted to wait
until her finals were over. She was just glad to have him back and
she didn’t want to screw things up. When Michelle spotted Elliot’s
Explorer round the corner her heart began pounding with levity.
Elliot couldn’t help but smile when he saw her waving at him so
excitedly. Her smile was that infectious, and her eyes made him
yearn to be next to her.