When Lightning Strikes (Lightning Series Book 1) (13 page)

Jamie jumped a little. “Yeah, wouldn’t miss it.”

♦

Julie’s shower was already going in the bathroom later that evening. She’d forgotten her robe and walked back down the hall to get it.

“This is bullshit! The rules are bullshit!”

She stopped short when she heard Jamie swearing.

“Quiet—you have to be quiet. I know this is hard, believe me, but you have to calm down now.” Her mom’s voice sounded desperate. As her voice grew quiet, Julie leaned against the doorway, ear pressed to the wood. “No one cares about individuals. They are worried about the whole group. Look at me. You know I would go with Julie in a heartbeat, but I don’t want to give you and your father up.”

Lir’s voice was stern. “Julie will be fine. She won’t remember any of this. You can’t let her see you this way. She won’t understand. You’ll only make it worse for her.”

“So I’m supposed to avoid her forever since I can’t control myself yet? She will never understand. I don’t understand.”

“Quiet, Jamie. You don’t want her to hear you. It isn’t forever. Just until 18 when we are certain that she has no ability. Then we can tell her what’s going on, and she’ll have a choice to make. The Academy will be there for her. I will make sure of it. She has to wait one more year. It’s one more year for all of us, and then your mom and I can move away again. It isn’t asking too much with so much else on the line.”

How could he guarantee that she would go to the Academy in a year? Why did they have to wait until she was 18? Why wouldn’t they tell her?

“Yes, but she doesn’t know that. And the stupid elders would be mad if we told her. It isn’t fair to do this to families.” Her brother’s voice was lower now. Julie pressed harder, ignoring her pinched ear.

“You know, of all people, Mom and I agree, but it’s the way it’s done. We won’t be the ones to change it. We couldn’t years ago either. It will have to come from everyone, and right now it doesn’t affect them like it does the few families that go through this.”

“I know this, but I don’t know how much longer I can do this. Julie is my sister. I have always been there for her. How can I keep doing this? You keep telling me it will get better, but it doesn’t.”

“I’m going to go get some tissues.” A board creaked as Andromeda got up.

Heart beating fast, Julie raced back to the bathroom. In the shower she thought about what she heard. None of it made any sense. Lots of things didn’t make any sense. Why did she never think about any of them?

Her school and the small number of students. Kara and the others being so spacey at times. Her mom staying inside, being obsessive about doing stuff for her and Jamie, and finding new hobbies every week. The conversations that people had around her where she felt she was missing some vital piece of information.

She started crying. Was she going crazy? Her chest tightened. Then she felt the smooth water running over her legs. It was like silk, the water making little random trails down her skin.

Julie blinked. Why was she standing there all soapy?

She rinsed her face off. Her eyes were sore like she had cried, but she hadn’t cried today. Yet, thinking back, there were other days where her eyes felt sore like this. Was it the salty air? Was she crying and couldn’t remember? It was crazy to think that. Maybe she was losing her mind.

She put her forehead against the smooth, cold stone in the shower and stood there for a few moments, letting the water trail down her back and sides. She was tired. Muriel worked her hard, and she went to sleep early a lot of nights. Her days were so busy with school, dancing, studying with Kara, and then coming home for dinner and bed that she barely had time to think. When she was home, her mom pulled her into whatever project she was working on that week. Darcy and Mandy were complaining that she wasn’t texting or emailing them enough.

She toweled herself off and went back to her room to call her friends about her birthday. It wasn’t exciting, but they would want to know. She wanted to hear from them. Atlanta was like a dream to her now, so far away from her life that it didn’t seem real. She was drifting further and further from that life and her friends every day.

“Honey, are you still up?” Andromeda came in the room and put her hands on her desk chair.

“Yes, just finishing up chatting with Darcy and Mandy.”

“I know it’s your birthday, but it is a school night. You need to get into bed now.”

“All right. We were pretty much done anyway. Let me say bye and sign off.”

Her mom squeezed her from behind. “Happy birthday again, dear. I hope you like your new moped. I know it isn’t a car, but you know how we worry about you two driving right now.”

“It’s cute. I love it. Do you think Kara’s parents will get her one now too? She loved mine.” Her mother squeezed her shoulder.

“I think they might, but it’s up to them. Are you done yet? I know you’ll think this is odd, but I wanted to tuck you in tonight. You know how I get on your birthdays.” Julie looked up into her green eyes as they welled up. Of course, they may have been like that when she walked in—she couldn’t tell anymore if her mom was crying or not. “You two will always be my babies.”

Julie sighed and closed her laptop.

She lay down and touched a hard object under her pillow. It felt like a book. Andromeda came over to tuck her into bed and sat in there a few minutes talking before leaving to shut the lights off. Drowsy, Julie pulled out the book from her pillow. It was the red notebook her mom got her in Atlanta to start a diary. She never had.

How did it get under her pillow?

She thumbed through it quickly in the moonlight and saw a few pages with writing. Her mother must have written something in it before giving it to her. Funny that she didn’t remember that. She tried to make it out in the gloom but couldn’t see well enough to read anything. Tired, she decided to look at it in the morning. It was probably another one of the weird things her mom did lately.

She put the book on the small table beside her desk. She thrashed around in her bed a lot that night, her dreams filled with blue eyes. Julie didn’t notice when her arm hit the table while dreaming or the diary sliding between her bed and table during the night.

♦

Chapter 11: Finals

≺≻

A
week later, Kara and Julie were studying at the coffeehouse for one of their last tests before finals week. Since they came in every day, the owner had started saving them the table by the window in the front and let them text their coffee order on their walk over so it was ready when they arrived. Sometimes she even threw in an extra treat. She had a soft spot for the kids who went to their school since it was her alma mater too.

Her parents didn’t mind her hanging out with Kara. They seemed relieved that she made a friend so quickly. Andromeda only left the house now to go out shopping or go to the beach with her and Kara.

Julie stared out the window at the arched brick building across the street. People went in and out of there every afternoon, even some kids her age, but there was no sign like it was a store. Kara didn’t seem to know what it was either and got kind of spacey when she asked her. She liked Kara, but she had a habit of drifting off into daydreams or something when they were talking. Especially when it was interesting.

“Do you mind if I sit here?” A familiar voice interrupted her thoughts.

“Hey!” She jumped up to give Jamie a big hug. “Of course you can sit here with us.”

This was one of the few times she had seen him since they got here. Her mom said he was busy with school and hanging out with new friends too. She seemed to be the only one in her family that thought it was strange Jamie and she no longer hung out. Weren’t they friends too? She gulped down the painful thoughts. He was here now.

“Kara, this is Jamie, my brother. He goes to the other school on the island,” Julie explained as he pulled up a chair.

“Hey,” Kara said cheerfully. “You must know my cousin, Melissande. I think she is in your class too.”

“Yes.” Jamie face reddened, and his mouth pinched into a frown. “She’s your cousin, huh? I can see the resemblance, even though she has brown hair and eyes.”

Julie stared at him. She couldn’t tell if he was blushing or angry. Maybe it was both. He knew this girl’s eye color? He had dated a girl for three months once, and she broke it off after he couldn’t tell her the color of her eyes when she closed them.

Who was this Melissande? Maybe she explained some of the reason why he wasn’t around.

Kara shrugged. “Yeah, but we don’t hang around much anymore. We used to be best friends.” Her smile faded, and her expression became blank.

Jamie stared at Kara for a few moments longer, waiting for her to go on. Then he looked at Julie, raising an eyebrow.

Julie whispered back to him so she wouldn’t interrupt Kara’s daydreaming. “Nice but spacey.”

He nodded and looked back at Kara, his expression thoughtful.

“Do you have a test coming up too?” She decided to ask instead of talking about Melissande anymore. She didn’t want to scare him off now that he was volunteering to spend some time with her.

“Yeah.” He let out the breath he’d been holding. “History.”

He pulled out the book from his bag and held it up. Kara, out of her stupor now, and Julie smiled at him and held up the same book.

They all left together before dinner. Julie told him all about Muriel and her new school. He didn’t say much about his school, only that hers sounded a lot more fun. He seemed lonely. Maybe he was having as hard a time adjusting to the island, even with all his new friends.

A week went by, and Jamie came every afternoon to study with them. Julie was happier than she could remember in a long time. He always seemed to bring out the best in people, and all three of them spent a lot of time laughing together instead of studying.

“Well look who is hanging out with the fine arts school rejects.” A sarcastic voice cut across their laughter.

Julie looked up to see a tall, lithe boy about her age, with black hair and gray eyes, standing next to their table at the coffeehouse. He would be cute, except his face was too haughty. He reminded her of someone, but she couldn’t remember who.

Not for the first time Julie wondered about the other school across the island from her house and school. Why had she never gone? Why was she only wondering about it now? The thought of going to the other school sent a shiver down her spine, though she wasn’t sure why.

“Hey, Rory.” Jamie sat up straight, like he was ready to jump up.

Julie stared at her brother. His smile was gone. He didn’t look at the other boy.

“Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friends? Melissande thought she saw you in here through the window with two girls from the other school, but I didn’t believe her. The great Jamie, hanging out with freaks?”

“Umm…” Julie started. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but she wasn’t going to sit here and be called a freak by whoever this Rory was.

Jamie touched her hand and shook his head no. His face was white, and his eyes were wide. He silently pleaded with her not to say anything.

Was he scared of this boy? Whoever this boy was he had to be pretty scary to intimidate Jamie. Her brother had always stood up to bullies.

Julie glanced at Kara for help. Her friend was looking at Rory too. Well actually she was looking past Rory’s shoulder staring at the wall behind him with a glazed look. Julie sighed.

“This is my sister, Julie, and her friend, Kara. Kara is Melissande’s cousin.”

Rory nodded. “That’s right, I haven’t seen you in a while, Kara. You do look a lot like Melissande except for the blond hair and all.”

Jamie cleared his throat, clearly unable to think of anything to say. Julie narrowed her eyes on Rory. She had the feeling he knew exactly who Kara was. It was like he was carrying on separate conversation that only he and Jamie understood. Everyone was quiet for a moment while the arrogant boy smirked at them.

She needed to fill the silence before she was tempted to hit Rory. “Do you want to join us? We are studying for the history final.”

Rory stared at her like he was surprised she could talk. His stormy gray eyes pinned her like she was a bug he could squash. She stiffened. Instead of answering her, though, he looked back at Jamie.

“Well anyway, once you get through being a good brother, why don’t you join us at the beach tonight? My mother insists that you come this time. I would invite your sister and Kara too, but it’s for our class.” He laughed.

“Sure.” Jamie quickly got up from of his chair. “Why don’t I walk with you now? Marian will have something I can borrow again, and it will save me a trip home. Your mom is always helpful.”

Julie stared as he left in a hurry, picking up his bag and waving at her without even saying goodbye. Were they friends or what? She could swear Jamie didn’t like him, but he dropped her like it was nothing to run off with the jerk. She couldn’t work it out. Her brother never acted like this. In the past he would at least have told Rory to be nicer to his sister or else. Jamie’s not sticking up for her and then wanting to leave with the jerk who was rude to her was wrong. She was too shocked to feel angry.

“Kara, do you know who that was?” She watched as Jamie followed the other boy across the street into the building with no sign.

“Sure. That’s Rory. He goes to the other school. He was the first to leave our class to go.”

“What is that building they’re going into?”

“I don’t know.” Kara’s eyes glazed over again.

Julie sighed. There was no use talking to her about some things. The girl would say the most cryptic things at times and then zone out. No matter how many times she brought up a subject, Kara would space out again and again. She would have to ask her brother next time she saw him.

Jamie didn’t come back to the coffeehouse anymore. He started staying out late again with his other friends, and Julie never got a chance to catch him alone. In the evenings, he spent a lot of time talking to their father in his office. Whenever she entered, they stopped talking immediately and welcomed her in, but she couldn’t help but feel like she was interrupting something. She didn’t want to ask him in front of Lir even though that was the only time she saw him. Once finals started, she was too busy studying and forgot.