Winter of Discontent (Four Seasons Book 1) (9 page)

Chapter Fourteen – The Climb

Erik

Enders looked a little shocked. I don’t think for one moment he’d figured I would take on that side of the Wall.

‘What’s the matter, Enders? Scared?’ I laughed.

‘Don’t be ridiculous. I’m the strongest climber in the school. I just don’t want you hurting yourself,’ he said mockingly.

‘Right then,’ said Marty, ‘let’s do this. First to the top wins, or the last man clinging. On three then – one, two, three.’

We both set off up the Wall at a pace but it was clear by the halfway mark that I had him beat. As we approached the overhang, I stopped and waited for Enders to catch up.

I’d never stood up to any of them before, I’d never challenged anyone and I’d never shown anyone what I was capable of physically. This was different though. He’d gone too far when he involved Sarah in his bullying; I was never gonna take that lying down. I wanted to beat him but I didn’t want him hurt. I was actually starting to think I should have stuck to the kiddie wall and just beaten him to the top. This was dangerous, I knew it and more importantly, he knew it. I knew he would let me take the overhang in the belief that I’d miss and fall; but that was never gonna happen.

‘Last chance, Enders. Apologize now or we take the overhang without a harness.’

‘Fuck you!’

‘Fine. Don’t say I didn’t give you a chance.’

‘A chance? It’s you that doesn’t have a chance. No way you’re gonna make the overhang.’

‘Five minutes ago, you would have said there was no way I would have gotten to this point ahead of you. Never underestimate people you really don’t know.’

I leaned back slightly looking up toward the edge of the overhang; this was gonna be easier than I thought. With one pretty effortless leap, I left the safety of the handhold on the Wall. The group that had gathered below were silent, but for one almighty gasp as I caught the first of the handholds available on the other side of the overhang.

I hung there for a moment, adjusting my hands to get a better grip. Then, to further gasps below, I let go with one hand. I was showing off and although it felt good I was pretty ashamed. After all, I wasn’t in any danger. I hung there for a moment and then called down to Enders.

‘Last chance, before I climb!’

I knew from the look on his face there was no way he would follow without a harness. I was giving him a chance to back out but I was enjoying every moment of his embarrassment. He looked at me for a moment, looked up at the overhang and then looked down to the ground. It was a hell of a fall. I would be barely bruised but it could well kill him and he knew it.

‘Fine. I apologize,’ he finally announced grudgingly.

‘I’m sorry. I didn’t hear you from up here. What was that?’

‘I FUCKING APOLOGIZE!’ he shouted.

I couldn’t help but grin. I could see Sarah’s face, she was smiling – clearly she had heard it.

‘
He’s apologized. Will you please come down now? Safely
!’ she Whispered.

For Enders, the climb down the Wall must have seemed an eternity. Beaten at a physical challenge by a geek. It was gonna be a long time before he lived that one down. I decided to continue the climb up the Wall. I could have called for a rope and come down the easy way, but in truth I wasn’t an easy way kind of guy.

Chapter Fifteen – Karma

Sarah

The following day all the geeks could talk about was how amazing Erik was for making the leap to the overhang without a harness. All the jocks could say was how lucky he was.

Erik was really cool about it. He didn’t brag, or gloat the way Enders would have done if the results had been reversed. If anything, he tried to get people to forget about it – not by wiping their memories, though. He knew he’d done the one thing he had tried so hard to avoid; he had drawn attention to himself.

Simon Jenkins was the most impressed of the geeks. He was a thin, weak-bodied guy but he had a strong mind. Of all of them, he was probably the one that had been bullied and beaten the most during his life. You’d think this would make him inclined to keep quiet, to not goad Enders about what had happened, but that wasn’t the case. He reckoned that just about every beating he’d ever had was as a result of not keeping his mouth shut. I reckon this made him much braver than those that beat him. I reckon that if they’d ever come up against someone they knew they couldn’t out-box, or out-wrestle, they’d have run a mile rather than take a beating. I think the geeks saw what had happened the day before as a victory for all of them.

By the time Kacey and the girls arrived, just about everyone had heard about the Wall.

‘So what you been putting in his coffee, Trump? Anabolics?’

Kacey was grinning, so she was either genuinely impressed by what he’d done or she was hiding her annoyance really well. To be fair, she had actually been trying to be less of a bitch lately. It didn’t always work, but she was trying.

‘You still on for float duties after school?’ she asked.

‘Erm … yeah, sure.’

I’d forgotten that we had volunteered to help decorate the Thanksgiving float. Britney had managed to get out of it by faking an appointment with the orthodontist. Kacey said that if it was a real appointment, then it was the fifth she’d had that year, with the other four coming at a time when hands were asked for on other projects. I hadn’t minded offering to help; I thought it would be fun. However, I wasn’t dating Erik then. What I really wanted to do after school was spend the evening making out, but I couldn’t let Kacey down, not when she was making such an effort.

After what Erik had told me about their history, I wondered how I was ever gonna make peace with my relationship between the two. I didn’t know what it was about Kacey that drew me to her but I just knew we were meant to be friends. Knowing that, I decided I would try to get them back on speaking terms; after all, they were good friends once upon a time.

When school was out, I met Kacey in the Art room. We had been put on flower-making duties; all crêpe paper, scissors, and pipe-cleaners. We’d been fooling around, joking with the others about who’d get the job of dressing as the turkey. Kacey had said she didn’t mind if it was her, as long as one of the football team gave her ‘a good plucking’ first. She could be really witty; I liked her so much when she was in this mood. Unfortunately there was a really good chance it wasn’t gonna last.

In my capacity of peacemaker, I took it on myself to convince Erik to volunteer as well. Not making flowers, I hasten to add; he
was
trying to reinstate his geek status, but that would have been taking it too far! To say Kacey wasn’t pleased to see him could easily have been described as an understatement.

‘Hi, Kace, how you doing?’

Erik seemed really uncomfortable; it was clear he was only doing this to please me.

Kacey didn’t respond. She just threw me a look that would curdle cream and turned back to what she was working on.

‘So what have they got you doing?’ I said trying to lighten the mood.

‘Well, I offered to help paint the float but the jocks figured the brushes might be a bit heavy for me.’

Erik grinned – it was so endearing.

The jock squad had seen what he’d done on the Wall yesterday but they just couldn’t get past his geek image.

‘Well you should have thrown a can of paint at them. In fact, if you still want to I’ll come help you pick it up. I wouldn’t want you to sprain yourself,’ I teased.

Erik nudged me lightly on the arm; ‘look’ he motioned, nodding toward Kacey.

‘Something funny, Kacey?’

She turned to look at me, clearly stifling a smile.

‘Just the thought of geek boy here trying to take the lid of a tin of paint. Pains me, it really does.’

The laughter and smiles were genuine now; probably for the first time in a very long time.

‘Come on, I think we’ve done enough for one day.’

I was happy to help out but I wanted to get some time alone with Erik too.

We cleared away the materials, put the completed flowers neatly into a box, and left everything out of the way at the side of the hall. No doubt we’d have to do some more tomorrow but for now it was time to go.

As we left the hall and made our way out to the parking lot we passed by the jocks.

‘Hey, Zauber,’ called out one. ‘Let us know when you finish with her and we’ll come show her how it’s supposed to be done.’

‘Why is it some people never learn?’ Erik said quietly.

I had a hold of his hand and I could feel him tensing up. I could feel his anger.

‘Ignore them, Erik. Please. Just ignore them.’ I tugged lightly at his jacket. ‘Come on. Let’s go. You have nothing to prove. We both know that.’

He nodded reluctantly but I knew he didn’t want to back down.

We would be about halfway across the grass toward the parking lot when Erik suddenly stopped.

‘Watch.’ He smiled.

He turned toward the jocks who were still slapping themselves on the back for how amusing they were. Lifting his left hand just slightly, barely noticeable really, he stood completely motionless. He had a look on his face I hadn’t seen before; it was like he was no longer there. I wanted to say something to him but I feared if he lost concentration he might break. I turned from him to the jocks. All of a sudden, without any warning or explanation, an unopened can of paint suddenly blew open like a fizzed-up can of Coke. The contents, bright yellow, burst like a mini explosion, spewing over everyone within ten feet. Funnily enough though, the only people within ten feet were the jocks.

‘Erik!’ I squealed playfully. ‘That was so cool!’

That was the first time I’d actually been impressed with his magic. There was no way anyone could link it to him. We were clear across the field, they were no longer looking in our direction, and were just so angry about being covered in paint they didn’t give us a second thought. I knew Erik shouldn’t practise, not even minor spells, but that was just so, well, so karma.

‘Not a word when you meet my dad. OK?’

‘Meet your dad? When?’

I know I’d hoped to meet his family but having Erik actually say it out loud was more daunting than I thought it would be. His dad had met me before but I had no memory of it. Although he’d sworn never to do that memory wipe thing to me again the thought of what he’d done still made me really angry. I tried to shake it off. I was totally and completely smitten with Erik and I didn’t want anything to get in the way of us being a couple.

‘I was thinking tea on Friday. If you want to, that is.’

Erik smiled at me in such a way that how could I say no?

‘Friday it is then.’

Chapter Sixteen – The Family

Sarah

Friday afternoon came around all too soon. I couldn’t quite believe just how nervous I was. The little memory I did have of the afternoon of the photograph didn’t include the kind of stomach-churning somersaults that I had right now.

I had taken a clean top with me to school and changed into it before I met Erik by the bus stop; it was gonna be hard enough to control the nervous sweating without wearing a shirt I’d been in all day. I wanted to make a good impression on his family; I wanted them to like me. Let’s face it we hadn’t gotten off to the best of starts. I’m not quite sure how I’d feel if I had to prepare tea for, and be polite to, the girl who had knowingly set out to humiliate my son.

The journey out of town varied between fifteen and twenty minutes depending on the time of day and most students got off somewhere in-between. This meant that for the back end of the journey, about another twenty minutes, Erik and I had the bus pretty much to ourselves.

‘Nervous?’ he smiled as he held my hand tightly.

‘A little.’

I couldn’t have told a bigger lie at this point. My nerves were just about on breaking point; I started to feel physically sick and very nearly told Erik I had changed my mind and wanted to go home. This was silly, though. I did actually want to meet them; properly that is, with me remembering it, as well as them. As this thought crossed my mind I started to feel the anger I always felt at this issue. I tried to settle down my breathing; getting worked up about something I couldn’t change was not gonna help things. I’d had Erik’s reassurance it wouldn’t happen again and I had to let it go if we were gonna move forward.

I don’t know if it was Erik the person, or Erik the Warlock but he clearly sensed just what a big deal this was for me.

‘They don’t bite you know – that’s just Vampires.’

‘What? You
are
winding me up, aren’t you? There is no such thing as Vampires.’

Erik laughed at this. He had such a great laugh.

‘This might be normal for you but I’m bricking it here.’

‘Come here.’

He pulled me closer to him and wrapped his arms tightly around me.

‘Nothing bad is gonna happen, I promise. I will never allow anyone to hurt you, ever. Not even my own family.’

His words were softly spoken but so reassuring. It was crazy just how quickly I’d fallen for him. I felt like I’d known him all my life, like every part of me was somehow linked to every part of him.

By the time we reached Erik’s house, I was wound up like a drum.

‘Relax.’ He smiled as he took me by the hand and into the lounge.

‘Hey there, I’m Jared. Erik’s older, better looking, and far more charming brother.’

That made me smile, made me feel more comfortable. His dad, however, wasn’t nearly as warm.

As we walked into the kitchen, Erik introduced me.

‘Dad, this is Sarah.’

‘Yeah, right,’ he replied, barely looking up from the food he was preparing. You could have cut the air with a knife. The look on Erik’s face scared me a little. It was plain to see his disappointment at his dad’s reaction. The last thing I wanted was to cause trouble for him but in truth, apart from a stupid childish mistake that Erik had been able to get past, I hadn’t really done anything to deserve this. I pushed on though. I needed to show I was making an effort to make up for before.

‘Erik tells me you’re a lawyer, Mr Zauber.’ I smiled as warmly as I could. Still nothing. ‘He said you’re also a Bulls fan. They’ve had a shocking season – I reckon it’s about time Marrott called it a day.’

Mr Zauber turned towards me at this point. He didn’t look pleased. He paused for a moment; I could feel my chest tightening as I struggled to breathe out.

‘Shocking? Shameful more like.’

I let go and breathed a huge breath out.

‘So you’re a Bulls fan?’ he asked.

Oh shit
.
I didn’t want to start the evening with a lie.

‘Not really,’ I said almost apologetically. ‘I’m more of a 76ers fan.’

‘Oh right. Well, it could have been worse – at least you’re not a Lakers fan.’

I got half a smile at this point, so figured I’d stick to talking sport. I had quite an interest in basketball and football although athletics was really more my thing.

‘My dad was raised in Philly so I didn’t get much of a choice of teams. We moved around a lot with his job but we’d always make it to a game when we were over here.’

‘Yeah, Erik said your dad’s in the army. Must be tough not having him around.’

‘A little bit. My aunt is great, though.’

I felt my grip on Erik’s hand start to loosen. It felt like his dad was starting to warm to me now and I was starting to relax.

‘We’re having Italian; I hope you’re not vegetarian?’

‘That’s great, Mr Zauber, thank you.’

‘Call me Logan’ he said, smiling as he finally held his hand out to shake mine.

I could have done a little dance around the kitchen table.

‘
Feel better now
?’ Erik Whispered to me.

I was too nervous to even Whisper back. What if they could hear me? Erik had said they had this telepathic ability but he hadn’t explained quite how it worked, how you stopped others listening in. I just smiled up at him.

Over dinner I managed to score points with my knowledge of football and sports in general. They might have been Warlocks but when it came down to stereotyping girls as knowing nothing about sport, it appeared they were just men after all!

‘You haven’t told us anything your mother, Sarah.’

For such a confident guy, Jared hadn’t spoken much over dinner, and this question kind of came out of the blue.

‘Not much to say really. I don’t know her; she left us when I was just a baby. We moved around a lot with Dad’s job but Aunt Suze helped raise me when he was stationed in the US. She’s not actually my dad’s biological sister. Her family adopted Dad when he was a little boy.’

‘That can’t have been easy for either of you.’

‘It was OK for me, I didn’t know any different. I think it must have been hard on my dad though. He’s never dated anyone else. Not once. I think he must be kind of lonely.’

It was a bit eerie the way they were all listening so intently but I figured they were just being polite.

Although things seemed to be going well, I was a bit disappointed when after just a couple of hours Erik’s dad suggested he drive me home. To be honest if I had to leave so early, I would have much rather walked home slowly with Erik than take a quick fifteen minute drive back. However, I was so pleased things had gone well that I didn’t want to rock the boat by refusing.

‘I’ll come with you,’ said Erik quickly.

‘There’s no need!’ his dad snapped sharply.

‘It’s OK. I’ll see you tomorrow.’

I tried to sound upbeat. Erik looked really annoyed and I didn’t want him falling out with his dad.

The journey home was pretty quiet for the most part. We’d have been about five minutes from home before Logan started to talk. And when he did, I wished he’d stayed quiet.

‘For Erik’s sake, I’ll be polite and make conversation with you when he’s around. But be under no illusions. I don’t like my son dating you.’

I was stunned for a moment. I wanted to tell him to fuck off but I didn’t have the nerve.

‘I know things started badly with the photograph but Erik and I have gotten past that now. I understand why you don’t like me but you should at least give me a chance.’

‘You misunderstand, Sarah. I don’t dislike you, I don’t even know you. But I know my son and you are not what he needs right now.’

Suddenly the look on his face changed. He looked just like Erik had earlier that day at school. I looked down and could see he had stretched his hand out to me, just slightly, like Erik had.

‘What have you done?’ The panic in my voice was audible.

‘What I swore I would never do again. You will remember everything I’ve told you tonight but you will be physically unable to tell anyone. Especially Erik.’

I didn’t feel any different. Surely his spell had failed. Maybe it had been that long since he’d practised magic that he’d not done it right.

I didn’t know what to say, so I said nothing. Instead I just got out of the car and went running up the path and into the house.

‘Hey there,’ called Aunt Suze, as I went running upstairs. ‘Come in here and tell me all about it.’

I walked calmly back downstairs and into the lounge. I decided I would tell her what he’d said. Not about the spell of course but about thinking I wasn’t right for Erik. I’d show him. His magic wouldn’t work on me.

‘So come on then. How’d it go? Did they all fall in love with you?’

She beamed as she spoke, clearly expecting me to say yes.

‘Well, I wouldn’t say they fell in love with me.’

‘But it went well. They liked you, you got on OK?’

‘Yeah, it was great.’

I couldn’t believe it. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get the words out. I felt what he’d said but it was like I couldn’t even think the words.

‘So why don’t you look happy about it?’

‘I’m just tired. It’s been a long day. I think I’ll go to bed, if you don’t mind?’

I hugged Aunt Suze tightly then went up to bed. I was really upset that once again his dad had played a part in doing something to me without my permission. In some way I felt violated. I was a good person. I didn’t understand how he could be so mean. He’d seemed to genuinely like me once the ice had been broken. I just didn’t get it, what had I done wrong? I tried really hard to shrug it off but I was only sixteen and when I couldn’t reason it out I ended up just crying myself to sleep. I was gutted.