The Hybrid (30 page)

Tru immediately
felt
embarrassed.
She
had been

standing there, completely silent, staring at him like a
fool. She could feel her cheeks turning red once again.
“Uh, yeah. I’m fine,” she replied, snapping out of her
trance-like gaze.

“So, what’s up?”

Tru cleared her throat, surprised at how nervous she
still was around him. “Oh, uh, Bethany wanted to know if
I could come and help set up.”

“Oh! Yeah!” Declan said. “Sure, come on in.” He slowly
moved to the side as Tru walked through the open door.
“She’s in
the
kitchen.” He
pointed
a
thumb
over
his
shoulder.

“Okay, thanks,” Tru replied, looking back at him. But
he was no longer standing there. He had already started
walking down the porch steps, and toward the bus with
the other young man.

“Hey, Josh! Wait up!” Declan yelled, as he began running down the path to the driveway. Tru watched him
until he vanished behind the open door.

Slowly, Tru walked toward the kitchen, leaving the
front door open behind her, looking at the overly flashy
decorations that Ms. Meyer had obviously taken such care
in arranging, as she meandered through the large house.

“Bethany?” she called looking into the empty room in
front of her as she rounded the corner between the entryway and the beginning of the kitchen.

“In here!” Bethany replied. Tru couldn’t tell where exactly her voice was coming from, but it sounded muffled
and far away. Slowly, Tru walked farther into the kitchen
and saw an open door on the other side of the room that
looked like it led out to the garage. Cautiously, she walked
toward the opening.

“Bethany?” Tru said again. Warily, she walked down
the small flight of steps and into the Meyers’ large, three
car ⎯ and extremely well organized ⎯ garage. Once at
the bottom of the stairs, Tru could see Bethany’s legs at
the very top of a ladder, leaning into a large, three-tiered
shelf filled with boxes.

“Hey Tru!” she said, climbing down from the old, rickety ladder with an enormous box in her lengthy, but thin
and fragile looking arms. Tru noticed that the box had the
words
‘balloons
and
streamers’
written
in
big
black,
sharpie letters across its side. “Good thing my mom owns
a flower shop, right?” Bethany added, out of breath.

As Bethany walked closer to her, Tru noticed how
dressed up she looked compared to her own casual style.
She was wearing a flowy, dark midnight blue, empire
waisted dress that looked like it would look perfect on a
bridesmaid at a wedding. It looked as though it was made
of satin, possibly even silk, and ended just above her
knees, making them look about a foot longer than they
normally did. The light in the garage would occasionally
bounce off the dress, revealing the small flecks of glitter
that completely covered the fabric. Her satin, strappy
heels matched the color of her dress perfectly, except for
the small broach on the top of each of them that looked
like it was made of small diamonds. Tru looked up at her
heavily made-up face, smiling, hoping she wasn’t staring
for too long.

“Yeah.” Tru added a giggle, and Bethany did too. “Is
that heavy?” Tru asked, offering a hand toward the box.
“A bit. But I think I’ve got it,” Bethany replied, carrying
the box up the stairs and into the house.

 

Tru followed slowly behind her. “Where
is
your mom?”
she asked.

 

Bethany shrugged her shoulders as she reached the last
step. “Away for the weekend.”

“And she let’s you have parties like this?”
Bethany smiled, “all the time!”
Tru looked at her curiously. “Wow.”

“Well,” Bethany said, setting the box on the kitchen
floor, “the girls should be on their way back soon. They
were getting some food and drinks for tonight.”

“How many people are coming?” Tru asked, looking at
the three cases of Coke that were already sitting on the
floor next to the refrigerator.

“Oh,” she paused, looking up into the air, “pretty much
everyone in our grade. Plus almost everyone in the senior
class too.” Bethany smiled as she looked back at Tru. “It’s
going to be so much fun!” She clapped her hands together
excitedly.

“Wow,” Tru replied. She really didn’t know what else to
say.
The high school was small. There were only about one
hundred people in the junior class alone, and the biggest
party Tru had ever been to was her cousin’s sixteenth
birthday. There were maybe thirty people at the house
that night. Tru was terrified at the fact that there would
possibly be more than two hundred people at Bethany’s
house tonight.
“Yeah, a full house!” Bethany cheered, energetically.
Tru suddenly
became
uncontrollably
nervous.
The
fairy that had almost exposed Edyn’s family had probably
no more than twenty people around him.
Tru
was going
to be
trapped
in a house, with hardly any extra breathing
room if she needed to make a quick escape. The news of
the ‘new girl’ turning into a fairy would spread like wildfire, and Tru wouldn’t even be around long enough to see
their reactions.
“So,” Tru continued, “what can I do to help?”
Bethany slowly took a pair of scissors to the box, cutting through the old duct tape that held the top closed.
Tru glanced inside the box as Bethany pulled back the two
flaps.
The box was filled to the top with every possible color
of balloons, each color in their own individual bags, and
rolls
upon
rolls
of
every possible color
of
streamers
known to man.
“Pick out some fun colors ⎯ go crazy!” Bethany said,
holding up a roll of hot pink streamers. “I still need to
decorate the living room and the backyard, so take your
pick.”
“It won’t be too cold outside tonight?” Tru asked, looking at the box.
“We have about four different space heaters out there.
I think that should be fine, don’t you?” Bethany smiled,
waiting for an answer.
But instead of responding, Tru grabbed a roll each of
the purple and blue streamers, and one bag of yellow and
one bag of green balloons. “Show me to the yard!” she
said with a huge smile on her face.
“Awesome!” Bethany cheered again. She quickly handed Tru a roll of clear packing tape, and led her out to the
backyard.
The first thing Tru saw upon entering the yard, was a
large, kidney bean shaped, pool. The rest of the backyard
looked like an outdoor version of the inside of the house.
The lawn had been freshly cut, the flowers were all in
bloom ⎯ surprising for this time of year ⎯ and the
quaint white gazebo behind the pool looked as though it
had never seen a drop of rain since it had been built. Everything looked too perfect, almost like a picture out of a
magazine.
Directly in front of the pool, was a small stage, with a
drum kit set up on top of it. In front of the drums, on each
side of the stage, were two large, black amplifiers, and
two microphones cradled in their stands.
“Oh, look! You’ll be able to watch the band set up their
equipment!”
clapping
her
Bethany started
bouncing up
and
down,
hands with
excitement,
when
they
had
moved across the stone patio.
“Yay!” Tru cheered, not quite as enthusiastically and a
little
on
the
sarcastic
side.
She
was
slightly
nervous,
though she hoped it wasn’t showing.
Tru loved Edyn. She knew that for sure. But seeing Declan again, and being so nervous around him, almost
made her wish she could have them both. Declan was just
as gorgeous as Edyn. He played the guitar and had a great
personality. But Tru didn’t know much more past that.
What did they have in common? And as Tru looked at the
stage, she couldn’t help but wonder if she should at least
give Declan a chance.
“Well, I’m going to finish the family room then! I’ll be
back to check up on you!” Bethany was a ball of energy,
bouncing off of everything she touched, and she always
had a smile on her face. It made Tru wonder if she ever
became tired from all the cheerfulness.
“Okay,” Tru said as Bethany waved at her, turning to
walk back inside the house.

27
Bonding

“Was that her?” Josh asked as nodded his head toward
the front of the house. He quickly picked up the two guitars that were resting on the front seats and hopped out of
the bus.

Declan poked his head around the side door as he
leaned over his knees to toss a couple of cables into an old
milk crate near the back of the bus. “Yeah,” he said with a
smile on his face. “That was her. What do you think?”

Josh looked toward the front door, making sure no one
was eavesdropping. “Not
my
type, but cute.”
“Well, good. I’m glad she’s not your type, Hound Dog!”
Declan jumped out of the van, shoving his friend teasingly.
“Does she have any hot older sisters?”
“I don’t think so. Sorry man.” Declan grabbed the milk
crate full of cables and placed it on the damp cement
sidewalk before jumping back into the van.
“Damn. This whole being single thing is kind of a
bummer.”
Declan laughed, though it was slightly muffled by the
metal shell of the vehicle. “You need to stop being so
picky. You know my sister’s been harassing me about
you.”
Josh threw a guitar strap over his shoulder, relieving
the weight on his hands momentarily. “Again ⎯ not my
type.”
Declan shook his head as he flung a few more cables
into the crate outside. “What is your type then?”
“Dude, c’mon. We’ve been friends for how long now
and you still don’t know this?” Josh poked his head into
the van to look at his friend.
“If you tell me ‘your mom’ one more time ⎯ I might
have to sock you.”
“I can’t help it man. She’s
hot
.” Josh leaned away from
the door, noticing how Declan had stopped moving. “Fine. It doesn’t have to be her. Just find me someone that
looks like her.”
Declan hoped down from the van once more, leaning
against the side door before he spoke. “Bethany! Just give
her a few more years!”
“I’ll think about it.” Josh shoved Declan’s shoulder as
Declan reached for the crate on the ground. “Maybe.”
“Whatever,” Declan replied, walking up the pathway
toward the front door. “Are Chris and Tyler still out
back?”
Josh followed closely behind him, struggling momentarily with the two guitars he was carrying. “I think so.”
The
two
boys
walked through the
house,
carefully
avoiding anything breakable as they did so. When they
reached the backyard, Declan’s eyes immediately landed
on Gertrude. He could see that she was facing away from
the house, close to the fence on the opposite side of the
yard. Declan smiled quirkily, enjoying the idea of being
able to watch her while he set up his equipment.
“Yo, Josh! Declan!” Chris shouted from the top of the
stage. He was in the middle of adjusting his drum kit as
the two boys began walking across the patio. “Where have
you been? We pretty much finished everything out here
while you two were out front flirting with one another.”
“Silence, employee!” Josh shouted jokingly as he ran
up the stairs to join the other two on the platform. “It was
all part of our plan!”
“What else do you need us to do?” Declan said as he
slowly made his way up the stairs.
Tyler looked up from the amplifier he was kneeling in
front of. “Check to see if we have another aux cable. This
one is shot to hell.”
Declan lifted the crate of cords in the air. “Way ahead
of you.”
“See I knew you were useful!” Chris shouted. He was
not one for keeping his voice down. And out of the four of
them, he was the one who always said what was on his
mind, no matter what kind of company was around them.
“Just be grateful my mom let you come back here,”
Declan said, putting a hand on Chris’s shoulder. “She
wasn’t too happy about replacing the carpet.”
“
One
little fire and people look at you like you’re a pyromaniac!” Chris replied.

“She has a good reason for looking at you like that.”
Declan looked at the heavier set boy standing in front of
him.

Chris’s style was all his own. He wore basketball tank
tops and army printed shorts almost everyday that looked
like they were about two sizes too small. His black hair
was short and spiked, his ears and eyebrows pierced, and
his combat boots were never laced up. People would say
he looked like a slob, but Chris would always argue that
he was just being the ‘rocker that he was.’

Tyler was much different. He was tall and skinny, and
always wore a buttoned-up, short sleeve shirt, tucked into
a belted pair of well-fitted jeans that made him look like
he was attending church everyday. His hair was gelled
away from his face, but not spiked like the others. He
hardly looked like he belonged in the group at all. But he
was the bass-wielding technician of the group⎯ a necessary piece of the puzzle if you asked any of the others.

Josh looked over at Declan before covertly nodding his
head in Tru’s direction. “There she is man. She’s waiting
for you.”

“Would you stop it? She’s right there! I’m sure she can
hear you.” As Declan looked over at Tru, she turned
around and looked up at him, smiling. The rest of the
group looked at her as well, staring in complete silence.
“See?” Declan added when Tru turned away. He punched
Josh’s shoulder, hoping he would get the point.

“Hey!” Josh shouted. “No reason to be abusive!”

But Declan wasn’t paying any attention to him anymore. His focus was on Tru, who was still slowly making
her way around the fence, ripping small pieces of tape off
of the giant roll she was carrying, before sticking them to
a stream of ribbon and pressing the tape to the white
fence. Declan smiled as he crossed his arms over his
chest.

“You must like her,” Tyler whispered, placing a hand
on Declan’s shoulder.

 

“I hardly know her though,” Declan replied. “I just met
her a few days ago.”