Pulse of Heroes (7 page)

“But Mom,” Michelle continued. “The teacher
would never believe I was sick. Never. Not after all I’ve done.”
She was looking down at the floor in embarrassment. Her mom assured
her that all would be taken care of, and that in the bigger picture
of life, if she had to repeat a class or attend summer school
neither one of those things would mark her or blemish her future.
Her mom gave her another Tylenol to reduce the fever and placed a
wet towel on her forehead, then sat by her side until Michelle was
asleep again.

When Michelle woke up, she could hardly
muster a sound out of her parched and painful throat. Her mom was
worried that she had caught strep throat; after all, it was the
season for colds and flues. Michelle couldn’t believe her luck, and
wondered if God or some other magical being had answered her
prayers and caused her to fall sick, just so she could avoid her
midterm. She knew that it was just a silly thought, but nonetheless
she felt relieved, even if her sore throat was still begging for
it’s own type of relief.

By the time Michelle asked about school, her
mom had already made the proper phone calls and told her that she
was not the only sick kid that had called in that morning. Some
unlucky ones got it so bad that they had been forced to cancel all
the arrangements they had made for the formal that evening. “At
least you didn’t have to cancel anything or call a date to tell
them you couldn’t go.” Her mom continued, “Can you imagine the
disappointment that a date would feel getting such a call, and
could the parents get their money back for the limousine service
and…”

Michelle couldn’t take it anymore. “Mom!” she
yelled, her poor throat trying to hold on to any vocal cord that
was still working. “Why don’t you rub some salt on it too?”

Her mom looked a little hurt, but then
realized why she was upsetting Michelle so. She apologized and
Michelle accepted. Then her mom smiled at her and joked, “You know,
gargling with salt is not such a bad idea.” They both laughed.

The doctor visit was miserable as usual. They
got there early, only to wait with many other sneezing and whizzing
patients, both young and old. While looking at a toddler who
miserably fought to breathe out of his snotty nose, Michelle
thought that even if you weren’t sick when you went to the doctor,
you sure weren’t going to leave the office healthy. When they were
finally called in, Doctor Hudson did the routine check up and took
a throat culture to test for strep. She would have the results
tomorrow. Meanwhile she prescribed Michelle a cough elixir with
codeine and a week’s worth of antibiotics, to take only if the test
came out positive. Otherwise, it was the standard ‘rest, drink
fluids, and take a fever reducer when necessary’.

Since they were already out and it was only
10:30 AM, Michelle’s mother asked her if she felt well enough to go
the mall with her. If not, she would drop her off at home first,
then head back out. Although Michelle didn’t feel all that well,
she enjoyed being with her mom, especially as she was doting over
her like a mama cat over a crying kitten. Nope, she definitely
didn’t want to stay home alone. They headed towards the mall in
Napa, which was buzzing with people and activity. It was several
days before Christmas and everyone was in a panic to buy the last
few gifts. Michelle enjoyed all the excitement. The stores were
covered with Christmas lights and decorations, and everywhere she
looked the displays of goods looked better then ever. The usual
Christmas music that they played over the sound system suddenly
sounded like it belonged. When they had first begun playing the
Christmas tunes it was in mid-October and she couldn’t stand them,
in fact they drove her crazy, and yet there she was suddenly
humming along to them.

Michelle’s mom had to return something at one
of the big department stores. Up the escalators they rode to the
second floor, when Michelle became a bit dizzy. The line for the
returns window was so long that people had to snake back and forth
like at the bank. Looking at the line and noticing that Michelle
looked a bit pale all of a sudden, her mom suggested that she wait
for her at the coffee shop across from the theater entrance.
Michelle felt bad abandoning her mom to the nightmare line, but she
could feel that her body was pushing itself to the limit and needed
to rest before she fell flat-faced on the floor in front of
everyone. She thanked her mom for the twenty-dollar bill she handed
her, and made her way down to the Sweetnothings Café. Her body
collapsed into the small wire bistro-style chair that was far from
being comfortable, but it was better than the floor.

Michelle sat waiting for her name to be
called when her drink was ready. She had ordered an eggnog latte,
but was already regretting it because she remembered that dairy was
not the best idea when one had upper respiratory ailments. But it
had smelled so good and scrumptious when she was walking down
towards the café; she had wanted one before she even knew what it
was. Her name was finally called. She also bought herself one of
those Madeline cookies, just because it was there next to the cash
register. She didn’t even like them and they were way overpriced,
but their mind games always worked on her. She was a sucker.

An early matinee must have just ended,
because by the time Michelle sat back down at her table there was a
small crowd in front of the theater. Maybe she should have gone to
see a movie instead of having coffee, but she would never want to
go alone, and besides her mom could be done any second. Wishful
thinking Michelle thought, it would be a Christmas miracle if she
got through that line in less than an hour. Michelle was trying to
get a better look at the movie posters to see what was playing when
her eyes landed on a familiar face. Yes, it was him. Tall and
slender, impeccably dressed, grayish golden hair, deep-set eyes and
skin that although wrinkled by age, looked almost translucently
glowing. Xander. She was sure of it. What if her mom returned to
see her talking to him and asked where the two had met? No! That
meeting cannot, must not take place. Michelle almost jumped out of
her chair, but where would she go in such a public space. For a
moment she even thought about ducking under the table. Get a hold
of yourself, she thought to herself. He can’t see you from where
he’s standing.

But just as she lowered her guard, Xander
started walking towards the café. Michelle looked behind her. No,
there were no restroom doors anywhere. She scanned the cafe,
desperately trying to figure out a way to blend in with some of the
other customers; she didn’t recognize anyone there. And it was too
late anyway. If she made a quick move now she was sure to draw
attention to herself. If only she had a book or a magazine to hide
behind. Xander was about to enter the ‘order’ line, and Michelle
was sitting to the left of the metal divider, the first table in
his line of sight. But he walked right past her and went on to
order his drink. Wow, she thought to herself, how lucky she was,
not even a nod of recognition. It was as if she wasn’t there at
all.

Michelle exhaled in relief. The danger was
over. She reached for her drink only to see that her hands were
still shaking so hard that she almost tipped her cup over. She
immediately hid her hands inside her pockets, hoping that no one
else caught sight of her wiggly fingers. She then watched Xander
walk past, his back turned to her. He was carrying one of those
cardboard drink trays and it seemed to be full. Why did he need so
many drinks, Michelle wondered? Who cares, just as long as he goes
away, and quickly, before her mom gets back. Yet her curiosity got
the best of her and she continued to follow him with her eyes.
Xander turned right and disappeared into the central court. Maybe
he didn’t recognize her. Michelle considered that it had been
Halloween after all, and she had been wearing tons of makeup with
her hair painfully pulled up into a tight bun so her crown could
fit on her head. Yes, she was being paranoid after all. There was
no possible way he could have identified her.

Michelle heard her name being called, and it
startled her so badly that she physically jumped out of her seat.
This time she did knock her cup over, but luckily it was empty. Her
mother was motioning her to hurry up, pointing at her wristwatch
for added urgency. It was close to 1:30 PM and neither one of them
had eaten any lunch. Michelle wasn’t hungry after having her sugary
drink, and she was still sick and couldn’t taste much anyway. But
her mom was hungry and wanted to get something to go before driving
back to Willow’s Creek. Michelle tried to think up any excuse to
tell her mom not to go to the central court where all the food
vendors were, but she couldn’t come up with anything. She reminded
herself that even if Xander were there, he obviously wouldn’t
recognize her now if he hadn’t just a few minutes earlier.

Michelle and her mother were standing in line
at the Gyromaniac; generic Greek food at it’s best. While her mom
was ordering, Michelle scanned the busy room for Xander. And just
as she feared, there he was in the far left corner close to the
shoe repair kiosk. But what really shocked Michelle more than
seeing Xander again was who he was with.

Xander was standing and talking to a group of
young guys. Some were casually seated on the bench sipping their
drinks, obviously the ones he had purchased from Sweetnothings
Café. Michelle squinted her eyes, trying to get a better look at
them. What was Xander doing with a bunch of young guys, she thought
to herself, and who are they? She’d never seen any of them around
before. She could almost make out a few of the faces from where she
was standing, but passersby kept walking into her line of view.
Something wasn’t quite right about the picture, but Michelle
couldn’t put a finger on what it was. Her mom finished paying for
her order and started heading in the direction where Xander was
standing. Michelle followed her, but everything in her body wanted
to run in the opposite direction. Why did they park on that side of
the mall? Could she convince her mom to leave from another exit?
What kind of reason could she come up with, and quick? It was too
late. In a few seconds she would pass by Xander; her only hope was
that he wouldn’t turn around and recognize her. As she got closer
to the group, her eyes widened in amazement.

Xander was surrounded by the most drop-dead
gorgeous guys she had ever seen. There were six of them and each
was uniquely handsome; no, not handsome she thought. Absolutely
beautiful. They looked to be in their early or mid twenties, maybe
their late teens; it was hard to tell. As she passed them by,
Michelle couldn’t help but turn her head back to get one more look,
especially to see the person Xander was talking to, because her
view had been obstructed earlier. And just as she placed her eyes
on him, the most beautiful guy of all was suddenly looking right
back at her, as if he somehow knew the exact moment to meet her
gaze. Did she stop walking? Was she even breathing? Michelle
couldn’t tell what was happening to her. Every inch of her body was
trembling. Not the kind of trembling that is seen visually; it was
different. More like a soundless murmur or a hum running through
her body. Look away, she kept thinking. Look away. But her eyes
were locked on his. His eyes were deep and blue, dark blue,
unusually so. They were unlike any blue eyes she had ever seen
before. Michelle wondered how it was that she could see them so
clearly from so far away. And what was that scent? It was so
familiar, right at the tip of her tongue. Xander turned to see what
his companion was staring at, and by doing so blocked her view of
the guy she was so fixated on. Somehow everything clicked back into
place, and she was back to her old normal self. No more humming or
buzzing, and nothing to smell but the warm grease arising from the
food court. Oh no, she thought, did Xander finally recognize her?
Now she was really shaking and trembling. Am I going to faint, she
thought? She had never fainted before. How frightening.

Michelle heard her mom calling her name and
she turned around to see her standing by the glass exit doors. “I’m
coming, Mom,” she called back, but her voice came out only as a
whisper. Michelle walked towards her mom, all the while trying to
figure out what had just taken place.

When she got to the doors her mom looked at
her full of worry. “Lets get you to bed, sweetie. I should have
never dragged you out here.” Her mom put her arm around her and
they exited the building together.

Still, Michelle couldn’t make sense of what
had just happened. Was she imagining everything? Was it all in her
head? She must be burning up with fever. She turned around to get
one more look from the outside through the glass doors, but all she
saw was Xander standing in the middle of the hallway staring in her
direction. There was no one around him; he was alone.

When her mother finally left her alone in her
room, Michelle began to try and make sense of all that had happened
that day. Sipping on a warm cup of mint and lemon tea seemed to
make everything a little better, more palatable. She thought about
the obvious things like the fact that she had gotten out of taking
her Italian midterm, and the fact that since she was actually sick
there was no way she would have been able to attend the winter
formal, date or no date, so she shouldn’t feel too disappointed.
When she was done thinking about school and everything that related
to it, she finally let her mind rest on the most important
development of the day: Xander and his group of boys at the mall.
But Michelle didn't get too far with her thoughts on the matter,
because five minutes later she was deep in sleep.