Sojourner (21 page)

“I understand, Ms. Moon.   But I am still obligated to tell him.  This is far beyond the realm of a callous prank.”  Sure, like he would know.  Or maybe he did.  He knew my combination.

Before I can offer another argument, Principal Williams is already dialing Jimmie’s number.  I perch on the edge of the chair, awaiting the inevitable freak-out from Jimmie’s end, but the phone just keeps ringing.  We haven’t bought an answering machine because we use the cell phones so much more than the house phone.

“Do you know any other way we can reach Jimmie?” Mr. Williams asks, hanging up the phone.

Although I hate to lie, in this case, I’ll take my chances.  “No, I don’t.”  I chew my bottom lip, wishing this whole nightmare would just blow over.

Mr. Williams takes a deep breath and frowns.  “Ms. Moon, do you feel well enough to stay here?  I know you’ve been in and out of the hospital recently, and the last thing I want you to do is miss school, but I would understand if you are too upset.”

“I’ll be fine,” I say.  Anything is better than facing Jimmie with this news, even going to class.  “May I go?”

He nods.  “Just stay away from your locker.  I’ll send an email to all of your teachers apprising them of the situation so you can borrow books if necessary.”

“Thank you.”  I rise from the chair and pretty nearly bolt out of the office.  As the first bell rang some time after I got to the office, the halls are now deserted, which is a relief because I know that what just happened is probably spreading through the school like mono with new gruesome details being added with every telling.  In fact, the only person I even see in the hall is Gail who is picking up the absentee slips.  She offers a smile that seems to be genuine.

“I’m glad you’re back, Lizzie.”

That’s a first, I think.  Then again, maybe she feels at least slightly guilty about me falling over the rail.  Who knows?  I’ve learned that most of the people I meet aren’t who they seem to be.  Then again, maybe she’s going to ease up on me because of Lev.  Whatever the reason, it’s a relief.

Mr. Maguire is already in the middle of a lecture when I slip into the classroom, and although some of the teachers have heard about my locker, I’m guessing he’s not one of them.

“It’s so good of you to finally join us, Ms. Moon.”  Then he turns back to the notes he’s scribbling on the board.  Although I’d wondered if Lev would show up, his chair still sits empty.  Griffin’s, on the other hand, is occupied, and he’s staring at me.  Although he’s usually the first to offer what he feels is his “sexy” smile, this morning, I’m guessing he’s just not feeling it because he doesn’t smile at me as he takes out a sheet of paper and scrawls a note to me and slips it on my desk. 

I slowly unfold it.  “How are you?”

“Fine,” I write and pass it back.  Then I look up to see if Mr. Maguire is anywhere close to us.   He’s coming this way. The note lands back on my desk.  The flying motion of the paper captures his attention, speeding his steps to my desk, and before I can put it away, the teacher grabs and unfolds it.  I hold my breath, hating what is coming.

“Well, well, Ms. Moon, Mr. Hauser, what do we have here?”

He peers down at the writing and then begins reading in a very melodramatic voice.  “I’m sorry.  Really, Lizzie, I am so sorry.”

He arches an eyebrow at Griffin who now tries to look out the window.  His back is rigidly straight and he grits his teeth.  Maguire is getting to him.  That much is obvious.

“So, Mr. Hauser, exactly what is it that you are sorry for?”

“None of your business,” Griffin growls, folding his arms across his chest.

“Wrong.”  Maguire levels a lethal stare at him.  “This is my class, and what you do in this room is my business.”

Griffin jerks himself from the chair and heads toward the office.

“Where do you think you’re going, Mr. Hauser?”

“To talk to Mr. Williams,” he growls then slips out the door, slamming it in passing.

“Why don’t I join you?”  He walks to the door and then turns back for a moment.  “Read Chapter 12 and be ready for a quiz.”

Luckily for the rest of us, the bell rings before Mr. Maguire can return so we practically fly out into the hallway to escape.  Although I keep expecting Lev to show, he doesn’t.  Celia, however, keeps popping up everywhere, and I get the feeling that is to make sure I’m all right.  Still, a part of me worries about Lev, considering what Celia has said.  Figuring that at school the damage to my life will be things that happen in my locker, I force myself to focus on other things the rest of the morning.  Since Lev is nowhere to be found, I sit at Shelly’s table.  Both girls are a bit quiet at first and I feel them both staring at me a whole lot more than normal.

“What?” I finally demand.  “You two have been staring at me the whole time I’ve been eating.  What’s going on?”

Shelly pulls the peel back from her orange and then half looks at me.  “Bree and I heard you took a spill over the rail at the falls and that Lev fished you out.  Is that true?”

Here we go, I thought, miserably.  “Yeah.”

“Was he with you when you fell?”  She pulls one section of orange from the rest and eats it.

“No.  He was on an overnight fishing trip with his dad.  They heard screaming and saw my body moving down the river.”  My voice sounds detached, and I’m beginning to wonder if I’m going to have a multiple personality disorder after all this.

It’s at that moment that I spot Lev and Celia wandering into the cafeteria where Lev gets a plate for his salad.  My breath catches, but he doesn’t even look at me.  Then I feel myself sinking back into the despair.

“I’ll be right back,” I say, rising.  My feet propel me to the salad bar, but even as I’m standing in front of him, I seem to be invisible.  I keep waiting but even as he starts past me, his eyes don’t meet mine.

“Lev?” I whisper.

He stiffens at the sound of my voice.  “Elizabeth.  You should go back to your friends.”  Then, after that little warning, he starts to walk away.  His whole body tenses beyond belief.

“What if I want to be with you?”

“You can’t.”  He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.  He starts to walk away but I step in front of him.  “Not right now.  I have some stuff to sort through.”  He closes his eyes for a second, opens them and looks past me as he walks away.  I look for the shimmering but at this moment with tears in my eyes, I can’t see anything.

Chapter Fourteen

I don’t remember much past running into Lev at lunch.  The classes blur together, and the rest is hard to care about.

Bree and Shelly have picked up on the silent breaking within me but neither understands.  They think it all has to do with Lev.  During English, when we’re supposed to be writing a script for a commercial, they prattle on and on while I say nothing yet feel everything.

Mr. Maguire strides down the hall after school and stops right in front of my locker, leaving me no choice in whether or not I want to talk to him.  As most of the students have already gone, I feel awkward just standing there, shuffling books.  Besides, I know that Celia is waiting for me.

“Ms. Moon?” the teacher finally says, shoving his hands deep in his pocket.

“Yeah.”  I grab my coat, hoping that will make him keep whatever he says short and sweet.

“Mr. Williams has briefed all of us teachers about your situation, and I’ve been thinking.  I know you told the police that it was an accident when you fell over the falls, but is it possible that Gail and Griffin intentionally staged it?”

A shudder rips through me, and my shoulders tense.  “You weren’t there, Mr. Maguire.  Griffin did everything he could to keep me from falling.”  I frown, suddenly unsure where all of this is going.

“Perhaps he did.  But if he and Gail planned for you to go over the rail, it would be almost impossible to pull you up.”

I step back until I feel the locker pressing against my spine, telling me there is nowhere else to go.  “I don’t think that’s what happened.  I think Griffin tried his best.  He’s not the one behind this.”

He shrugs.  “Perhaps not.  But I’ve still alerted the office of his potential involvement.  It’s better just to be safe, Ms. Moon.”  That said, he turns away and heads back down the hall, leaving me stunned.

Was it possible that Griffin was dangerous?  Had I underestimated him?

On the way to meet Celia at her car, Lev and I brush past each other, and I wonder if those other lifetimes had been this hard.  Had I loved him then, too, and was that why his memory refused to die?  My feet seem to trip over themselves as I pass my open locker.  The metal shelves have been cleaned, but I think of how blood traces glow with Luminol and ultraviolet light.  Nothing can be hidden for long from those who seek it.  The truth, they say, will set you free, but I don’t feel it.  I suddenly think about me being stuffed in there, my limbs broken at odd angles to accommodate the space, a noose around my neck.  And my blood stippling the cold metal like raindrops on leaves.  Some freedom, I think and shudder.  Sometimes freedom is just trading one prison for another.

I get into Celia’s car and she shakes her head.  “Okay, Lizzie, things seem to be worse between you and Lev.  I didn’t believe that was possible, but he’s not talking, and I’m thinking you’re not going to either.”

“It doesn’t matter.”  I rake the hair from my face and pin it behind my ears.  I want that to be true, but at the same time, more than anything I want Lev.

“It doesn’t matter?”  She points outside where Lev walks.  “You sure about that?  Look closely because right now he’s suffocating under the guilt you smothered him with.  “That’s why he wouldn’t let me sit with him?” 

“Bingo.”

My stomach aches.  I think it’s stress, and right now I’m wishing I didn’t know all the answers for all the good they’ve done, alienating me from the one person I truly care about.

“What do I do?”  I lean against the seat as she pulls out.  “Has it always been like this between Lev and me?”

“No, this is the first time he’s been so protective, and he’s taking a big risk.  The closer he keeps you, the more he feels and the less able he is to keep his head on straight.  It would be funny really if there weren’t so much at stake.”

“I’m scared,” I whisper, turning toward the window as the landscape blurs.  “Because I wonder if he’ll change his mind at the last moment like in my dreams.  But I can’t stand the thought of being without him either.  It’s like my world doesn’t exist in his absence.”

“He’ll be there when you need him,” Celia argues.  “I’ve known him for 350 years, and I can tell you what he’s going to do nine out of ten times.”

“What if I’m the tenth?” I whisper, closing my eyes.

“Then Lev may as well destroy himself because he won’t be able to take watching you die again.”  She pulls into my housing addition, and we fall silent.  By the time she accelerates into my driveway where both my Jeep and Jimmie’s truck sit, we’re each lost in our thoughts.  I glance at our house and dread going inside because if Principal Williams actually did reach Jimmie, he’s going to be so angry.  Not that Jimmie could have accomplished anything by going to the school except raising more of a ruckus.