Chapter 3

Delia woke up the next morning feeling groggy and disoriented. There was a dull ache behind her eyes and her tongue felt fuzzy. She was tangled up in her purple sheets and had almost strangled herself with them in her sleep. She tried yanking the sheets off and instead rolled over and fell off the bed. She hit the ground with a loud thump and proceeded to let out a stream of curses. She groaned and stood up. “What time is it?” she muttered to herself. She glanced at her clock on the bedside table. “Damn it! It’s already ten o’clock?!” She opened her door and ran out into the hall to Darren’s room.

She pounded on the door and yelled, “Darren, are you in there?! We’re late!” When he didn’t answer the door she barged in. She found him snoring, laying with his head and arms reaching the floor. Delia looked around Darren’s room and realized it must have been months since he had cleaned it. His walls were white, and they were the only bare surface. Everything, his desk, his floor, and his dresser were covered with CD’s, clothes, papers, and books. She wrinkled her nose at an old apple core sitting on his nightstand. A pile of coffee mugs, plates and bowls took up a corner of the room. Their mother had been remarking for weeks on how all their dishes were going missing. Darren was snoring heavily and Delia tried everything in her arsenal to wake him. She shook his shoulder, splashed water on his face, and even slapped him.  Finally Delia leaned over and pinched his nose until he couldn’t breathe anymore. Darren gasped and shot up.

            “What’s going on!” He yelled looking around wildly, without seeing where he was. “Don’t hurt me please! Please just leave me alone.” He begged and closed his eyes, as if expecting a blow.

            “Darren it’s okay, just breathe. It’s me.” She touched his shoulder tentatively.

 He opened his eyes. “What the hell happened last night?” he squinted at her and then cradled his head in his hands. “I have such a bad hangover.”

“Yeah I guessed you would have one, seeing as how you were passed out when I picked you up last night.” She said bitingly.

“I was?” He looked up at her shocked. “I don’t remember anything. Except...” He paused and rubbed his eyes. “Except these weird guys kept following me and Ben.”

“What?” she wrinkled her forehead, “What weird guys? Colin didn’t mention any weird guys.”

“Colin? He was there?”

“Yeah, you don’t remember? He’s the one who called me when you passed out.”

“Wow.” Darren whistled. “That guy is really cool. You should ask him out!” He smiled.

“Look,” Delia opened one of his dresser drawers and threw a pair of pants at him. “Just get dressed and let’s get going, okay?” She pulled out a T-shirt and tossed it to him while avoiding eye contact. She jumped over the mess on the floor and made her way to the door. “Hey wait!” Darren exclaimed, “Are you going to ask him out?”

“Look, can we just talk about this later? We’re already late.”

“Fine. I’ll be out in a sec.”

Delia turned and walked back into the hallway. She opened her door and walked into her room. She rifled through her closet and grabbed the first dress she saw. Normally she wouldn’t wear dresses to school, but she had to admit, she was kind of nervous about seeing Colin. She liked to think of herself as a rational, sensible person when it came to boys. She hated it when her friends lost themselves in their relationships. She didn’t want to be that girl, who obsessed over her crush. But she did take a couple extra seconds in front of the mirror to swipe on a coat of lip-gloss. She also tried out a trick she’d been working on for a while. She let both hands hover over her scalp and closed her eyes. She concentrated, and an electric current passed through her hair, separating each knot and tangle. She opened her eyes. “Cool.” She exclaimed, and ran her fingers through the silky smooth waves. She brushed her hair a couple more times until she was satisfied with her appearance. She grabbed her book bag and walked out her bedroom. Darren was downstairs in the kitchen, sitting at the granite counter and munching on a piece of toast while reading the paper. “Come on Darren.” Delia said, grabbing an apple from the fridge. He stood up and put his plate in the sink. “Here.” she said, tossing him the keys. “If I try driving again I’ll probably get arrested.” He nodded and put on his backpack and they walked out the front door. Darren laughed. “I don’t believe it, mom actually left you the car.” Darren and Delia’s parents were public-interest lawyers who worked at different offices in Sacramento. They were usually gone by 6:00 a.m, so Darren and Delia had been responsible for getting themselves to school on their own for years. Usually they just took the bus, but seeing as how they were so late they didn’t have time to wait. He walked over to the curb and unlocked the front door. “Yeah, she probably felt guilty after I yelled at her last night.” Delia sighed. Darren opened the front door of the station wagon and climbed into the driver’s side. He turned to Delia as he put the key in the ignition. “You shouted at mom last night?” He shook his head “What did you yell at her for?” He started the car and pulled away from the curb.

“She didn’t care that you were in trouble, and that really pissed me off.” Delia said hotly, “So I bitched at her when she didn’t lend me the car to pick you up.”

He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it, and shook his head angrily. Darren drove the rest of the 10 minutes to school in silence. Delia wondered if she had upset him somehow. She glanced over occasionally, and his jaw was clenched and he gripped the steering wheel with intensity. He finally spoke when they were in the school parking lot. “Delia,” He began, “I don’t want you fighting my battles for me.”

“But--” Delia started.

Darren put up his hand to stop her. “Enough. “Mom and Dad can be angry with me all they want, but I want you to stay out of it. I don’t want you getting sucked into this nonsense.” Delia thought about arguing some more, but she decided to drop it for now and just agree, otherwise they were going to be late for third period. She got out of the car and started running across campus without looking back at Darren. Her third period was Biology, which was in the B-building and was the farthest away from the parking lot. She had to be very careful and avoid the Detention Sweepers. They were kind of like extreme hallway monitors, and were made up of the biggest a*s-kissers and dweebs in the school. Delia particularly loathed Rachel Markinson, a girl she had known since 2nd grade. Rachel was rail-thin, had a pinched face and stringy brown hair. Rachel had hated Delia for years ever since they had shared a mutual crush in 3rd grade, and the boy had chosen Delia. On Valentines Day in 3rd grade, Rachel had hidden a lavender-scented bright pink card in the boy’s desk. The boy (Tom Wethers, who moved to Colorado the following summer) had proceeded to retch and exclaim, “Ew, what is this smell?” Meanwhile, he had sent Delia a single red rose and had asked her to be his Valentine. Rachel turned beet-red when she saw it and stomped out of the room crying. Rachel had loathed Delia since then.

            Delia ducked behind the library as two Detention Sweepers in their orange sashes passed by. She peered around the corner and watched them leave. She then ran and hid next to a tree outside the cafeteria. She spotted Rachel walking the steps up to the A-building, and breathed a sigh of relief when Rachel passed by without seeing her. Delia then made her way to the B-building and waited outside her Biology classroom. She paused and looked inside.  Her teacher, Ms. Meckles, an overweight 70 year old woman who wore a different wig everyday of the week, was standing with her back to the rest of the class in front of the white-board. Ms. Meckles used to be a hippie back in the ‘60’s and had become very forgetful and out of touch with reality because of all the acid she did. Delia figured she could sneak into the class without letting Ms. Meckles know she had been absent. She made sure Ms. Meckles’s back was turned, and then shot towards her desk in the fourth row closest to the door. She sat down and ignored the urgent looks from Vicki, who sat across from her.

“Where were you?!” Vicki hissed. “I looked for you in homeroom.”

Delia glanced at her and subtly shook her head. “Shhhh.” she whispered. Ms. Meckles turned away from what she was writing on the board and faced the class.

“Everyone knows the stages of Mitosis, as I have written here,” she pointed at the board with a yardstick. “But what is their function?” she looked around the room for any hands, and jumped when she saw Delia sitting in her seat.

“Delia Stavros? When did you get here?”

Delia widened her eyes innocently and folded her hands on her desk. “I was here all along, Ms. Meckles.”

“You were? I think I marked you absent.....” she rifled through the papers on her desk looking for the attendance sheet.

“You did? But I raised my hand when you called my name.” Delia smiled sweetly.

“Oh, okay. I suppose I just forgot to mark you present.” She murmured. “I’m sorry, I’ll write it down right now.”

“Thank you.” Delia smiled. Normally she wouldn’t feel right taking advantage of her teacher like this, but she couldn’t have another tardy this semester or she’d get suspended. She’d seen Vicki do this to Ms. Meckles from time to time and it seemed easier than the alternative. But she still felt guilty, so she made a mental note to give Ms. Meckles some flowers at the end of the school year to thank her. With that in mind, Delia relaxed and sat for the rest of class doodling in her notebook. She kept writing the symbols from her necklace over and over again. She couldn’t understand why they felt important to remember, but she memorized them anyways. She wondered if they were an Alphabet from an old language, maybe Medieval Latin or Aramaic. She couldn’t place it; they seemed so familiar even though she knew she’d never seen them before. She liked studying languages, and was fluent in French, Russian, and Greek. With her knowledge, she knew that it was three words derived from a Latin root. She wondered if she should ask Colin what it meant, or if he even knew. When the bell rang it was time for lunch, and she gathered up her things and waited for Vicki to do the same. Vicki grabbed her arm and pulled her aside as they walked into the cafeteria.

“What happened to you? I called you like five times this morning!”

“Sorry,” Delia grabbed a tray and slid it along the counter with the rest of the line. “Darren and I had a rough night, so we overslept this morning.”

“Rough? What do you mean? Is he okay?” Vicki always had had a soft spot for Darren. In fact, Delia had it on good authority that Vicki used to have a crush on him before she found out about his sexual orientation. But now that Vicki knew, she and Darren were just good friends. Delia knew that her concern was purely platonic. Delia nodded and grabbed a turkey sandwich, a pear, and a bottle of water from the counter. “He’s fine. He just took something, maybe a little ecstasy or cocaine....” She looked up guiltily at Vicki. Vicki’s jaw dropped and her eyes widened. “E?! Damn...the worst I’ve ever done was weed.” she giggled. Delia shot her an angry look while she paid for her food and Vicki did the same. She waited until they were out of the cashier’s earshot before continuing.

“It’s not funny Vicki.” Delia sat down at a table and Vicki followed.

“I never said it was,” Vicki placated her. “I’m just surprised. I never thought of Darren as the type to take drugs.”

“Well, from what he’s told me, I don’t think it he took it on purpose.” She took a bite of her sandwich and chewed. Vicki raised her eyebrows. Delia swallowed. “Look, I don’t want to talk about this anymore.” Delia and Vicki’s friends suddenly appeared and congregated around their table already absorbed in their own conversation. Rebecca Sanders, Angela Santos, Damian Fauss, Kyle Mallory, and Leo Finley. They were the group Vicki and Delia hung out with at school and at parties. Delia could always depend on them to make her laugh. Rebecca was Vicki’s older sister. She was a year older than them, but she and Vicki could’ve been twins, they looked so alike. They were both the typical California Beach Bunnies, blonde, blue eyes, and skin that looked tan even in the middle of winter. Angela was Brazilian with long raven-black hair and honey colored skin. Damian was tall and pale with a shock of deep red hair. Kyle was pale like Damian, but had chestnut brown hair and hazel eyes. Leo was Filipino and had defined muscles from years of track, basketball, and soccer. Rebecca and Angela both gave Delia a hug before sitting down across them. Kyle ruffled her hair and smiled.

            “Hey Stavros we missed you in 1st period. Were you playing hooky without us?” he winked.

            “Of course not, Delia’s the star-student.” Rebecca teased. “She wouldn’t miss a class if she was hit by lightning.” everyone laughed.

            “Come on guys,” Vicki complained. “It’s not like that, Delia had a rough night, and she had too--”

“It’s nothing.” Delia interrupted. “I just overslept.” She looked down at her food and started picking at it. Rebecca wrinkled her forehead and looked at Kyle and Damian in confusion. They both shrugged and changed the subject. “I hate Mr. Ableman.” Kyle groaned. “He’s so uptight. He needs to undo that bow tie of his and cut loose.” He started pushing people’s trays to the side to clear a small space in front of him. He pulled out his Macbook laptop from his canvas book bag and starting typing right on the table.

            “What are you doing?” Angela asked, pushing her tray back across the splintered wood.

            “I have to finish this English paper before 5th period.” Kyle cracked his knuckles and put his chin in his hands. “What was Moby Dick about?” He asked.

 “It’s about a sea captain and his obsession with killing a white whale.” Delia answered. Kyle nodded and started typing again. “Wait,” Delia asked. “What did you do in Mr. Ableman’s class this time?” She raised one eyebrow.

  Angela laughed. “Oh you should’ve seen Kyle. Mr. Ableman sent him outside five times because he couldn’t go 10 seconds without talking.” Damian nudged Vicki and grabbed a sip of her diet coke.

            “It’s true. We timed him.” She teased before taking a bite of her taco. Delia smiled and munched on some of Vicki’s chips. The conversation drifted away from there and Delia settled in. She listened and contributed, but her mind was miles away. She couldn’t stop thinking about Ben and what had happened to him. Neither she nor Darren had heard anything from him since yesterday. She was worried that maybe he was dead, or passed out in a gutter or something. She had tried his cell a couple times when they had gotten home last night, but it had been sent straight to voicemail. Darren seemed fine though, he was convinced Ben was just asleep at his apartment. She wasn’t so sure. She couldn’t shake the feeling something bad had happened to him.

            But she also wondered why Leo was so quiet. He hadn’t spoken a word since they had sat down and usually he was the person in the center of attention. He was usually talking and cracking jokes, but his head was bent over his tray and he looked sick. At one point Delia managed to catch his eye, and she mouthed. “Are you okay?” He just shook his head and mouthed. “Tell you later.” Delia zoned out again and started picking apart her sandwich instead of eating it. Her stomach hurt and she didn’t feel like she could force anything down. When the conversation veered into deciding whether Angela should get her belly button pierced or not, Delia suddenly felt nauseous and had a vicious headache. She rubbed her forehead and was overcome with pain in her belly and in her temples. Vicki noticed and touched her elbow. “What’s wrong?” she asked. “Nothing.” Delia managed to say. “I just have a headache.” She grimaced. She looked over, noticing Leo in the same situation as her. He was almost doubled over in pain. The others stopped talking and noticed Delia and Leo’s expressions of distress.

            “Are guys okay?” Damian asked. He put a hand on Leo’s back.

            “What happened?” Angela asked.

Vicki just shook her head and looked concerned.

“Maybe something in the food was rotten. It could be food poisoning.” Rebecca said. Leo moaned in agony.

“Okay that’s it. We’re taking you guys to the nurse.” Kyle grabbed his stuff and stood, pulling Leo gently up to a standing position. Rebecca and Angela got up as well. Damian leaned over and started helping Delia up too. But Delia shook him off and sat back down. “I’m not going to the nurse.” She refused any more offers of help and just shook her head no. Delia had always hated nurses and doctors in general, and couldn’t stand to be in hospitals. It was an irrational fear she had acquired when she was six. She had come to visit her grandma in the hospital after a heart attack. Her parents had told her to sit quietly in a chair next to her grandma’s bed while they talked to the doctor. The nurse came in, injected something into her grandma’s arm, and seconds later her grandma died. Delia had watched, helpless, as her grandma went into cardiac arrest. The doctors and nurses came running in but it was too late to save her. She had remained convinced since then that the nurse had killed her grandma.

            The others couldn’t convince her to come with them, so they each hugged her and asked her to get better, and Damian slipped an Advil discreetly into her hand. Since pharmaceuticals were not allowed on school campus Damien always kept a few with him just in case of times like these. With one hand wrapped around her stomach she popped the pill in her mouth and sipped quickly from her water bottle. Vicki rubbed her back while Delia broke out into a cold sweat. Delia felt like she was going to vomit.  She wondered if she was hallucinating when suddenly it felt like a black mist was enveloping her mind, filling every nook and cranny, as if it was searching for something. She thought she might be going crazy as she sensed a malicious, if primitive, intelligence. She tried to push it out, to keep her mind secure, but it invaded her thoughts. She felt unbelievably cold. She decided there was nothing she could do but wait for the mist, or whatever it was, to pass. She sipped her water and breathed slowly. Vicki watched her intently and kept an arm around her shoulder. After a few minutes the feeling passed, as if whatever the mist was looking for it couldn’t find. Delia shook herself and tried to cover her revulsion, but she had never felt so invaded in her life. She turned to Vicki and started a conversation, albeit a very stilted one. Whenever Vicki asked her a question Delia would respond in curt one-word answers. Vicki knew Delia felt bad, but she eventually got fed up and kept silent. Vicki then looked over Delia’s shoulder and grinned. Delia noticed the look. “What is it?”

“Oh nothing.” Vicki grinned. “I just think your mood is about to improve.”

Delia turned around and saw Colin and Darren walking towards them. Colin and Darren were carrying trays laden with food and were talking and laughing. Darren sat down next to Delia and Colin sat down across from them. Darren smiled, all his anger from that morning vanished. “How was third period little sis?” Delia glanced across the table at Colin, who smiled, and turned back to Darren. “Fine. I got by without Ms. Meckles realizing I was gone.” Darren laughed. “I remember pulling that stunt back when I was a sophomore.” Colin smiled and popped a French fry into his mouth. “I was just talking to Darren about what happened to Ben last night.”

“Really?” Delia took a sip of water, feeling a little better. “ What happened to him? Is he okay?”

“Yeah.” Darren said. “Tell her what happened Colin.”

“So after you and Darren left, the bouncer at the club tells me that he found this drunk guy passed out in the alley. He said it was the guy who showed up with you.” Colin pointed to Darren. “So I go to check it out, and it’s Ben. He must’ve taken some E too, stumbled around, and collapsed outside.”

“Wow.” Delia fiddled with her napkin. “What happened after that?”

“I cleaned him up, then sent him home. He was supposed to call you guys. Didn’t he?”

“No.” She furrowed her brow.

“Maybe he just overslept and forgot.” Colin shrugged.

“Maybe.” She sighed. She didn’t really believe that. There had to be a reason why Ben hadn’t called. Something about Colin’s story, even though it sounded plausible, didn’t ring true in her mind. Ben wouldn’t have just gone home without letting Darren and Delia know what had happened. And he wouldn’t have left Darren alone unless he was forced too. He was even more protective of Darren than Delia was. She was worried about him, and decided to swing by his apartment after school let out.

“Anyways,” Vicki said. “Are you guys going to the dance on Friday?” She looked at Colin and Darren.

“Can’t.” Darren said. “The school doesn’t allow same-sex couples to go.”

“That sucks. I hate how this place is so ignorant for a San Francisco school. San Francisco is supposed to be open to diversity. We even have the Castro!” Vicki angrily bit the end off of a carrot stick. Vicki had two moms, so the school’s policy was a sore subject for her.

“You said it Vicki.” Darren nodded. “But unfortunately there's nothing I can do about it. So, to make a bad situation better, I am volunteering my services to you and my sister as a chauffeur and chaperone. ”

Vicki brightened. “Thanks Darren that would be appreciated. But what about you Colin? Are you going?”

“I don’t know.” He glanced at Delia. “I haven’t decided yet.”

“Well Delia’s got a hot date.” Vicki elbowed Delia. “Shut up!” Delia blushed and elbowed Vicki back. “It’s not a ‘hot’ date.” she explained to Colin and Darren. “It’s this guy Vicki decided to set me up with.” she rolled her eyes. “And considering the last few guys you’ve chosen for me, I’m not optimistic.”

“Oh really? Who’s this guy? Do I need to act all big-brotherly and defend your honor?” Darren asked.

“No." Delia smirked. "All I know is that his name is Bryan Chaunders. Oh, and according to Vicki he’s in a band and plays the drums.” Delia mumbled.

“Bryan Chaunders. Doesn't sound familiar, I guess I don’t know him. Does he go here?” Darren asked.

“No. He goes to St. Peter’s. I think he’s a junior. He's cute, funny, interesting, and I can totally tell you two are going to click.” Vicki snapped her fingers. “You guys are going to be the next Brangelina. It’s inevitable.”

“Well, that being said.” Colin abruptly  picked up his tray and got up from the table. “I’m done. I’ll see you guys later.” He walked away. They all watched him go, wondering why he left in such a haste.

“Was it something I said?” Vicki asked. Delia and Darren shrugged.

The bell rang and ended their conversation. Vicki and Darren started walking to the music hall because they had choir together. Delia headed the opposite direction to European History, feeling a little queasy still, when Colin caught up to her.

“Hey. Are you okay? You looked a little sick back there.” He smiled crookedly at her.

“I’m okay.” she smiled back. “Why’d you leave so quickly?”

 Colin took her books and held them for her as they walked.  “So, you’re going to the dance with some guy named Bryan?” He avoided her question completely.

“Yeah, I don’t know. I’m not sure if I want to.” They reached her classroom and stopped outside the door. They still had a minute left before the bell rang.

“Well, if it makes a difference, I’m going.” He gave back her books.

“I thought you said you hadn’t decided.” She raised her eyebrows.

“Well I guess I made my decision.” He winked. “I have to get to my class. But I’ll see you later.”

Before he turned away, he paused, and in one fluid motion brought his hand up and tucked a few loose strands of her hair behind her left ear. She blushed and glanced down at her feet. He smiled again and then walked down the hall to his Spanish class. He left her standing there, surprised and confused by that simple gesture.

                                                            *****************************

Colin hurried down the hallway. He knew he had exactly 39 seconds to get to his class. He was cursing himself. He knew he couldn’t let his guard down like that. He had a job to do, and according to his superiors he couldn’t get emotionally involved. But he couldn’t help himself. She was different from the others, and he wanted to tell her the truth. He shook his head to clear his thoughts.

He reached his classroom 2.5 seconds before the bell rang. He sat down at his desk and steadfastly ignored his teacher Ms. Molina’s efforts to direct him to the front of the class. “Colin.” She said pointedly while staring him down. He groaned and walked up to the board and started copying down the homework assignment. Ms. Molina picked on him since the semester started because she had a small crush on him. She thought she was incredibly attractive because she was Latina, and wore revealing, brightly patterned dresses. But the sad truth was she had a beak nose, her eyes bugged out, and her figure was rather large. After he finished at the board he walked back to his seat and effectively tuned out the rest of the lecture. He was already fluent in Spanish, but then again, no one was supposed to know that. He spent the time with his eyes closed with the appearance of sleep. But what he was doing was a training exercise he had been working on. He cleared his mind and focused on Delia. She was four classes down from his and across the hallway. Using his Second-Sight he could picture where she was sitting. She was bent over her textbook and reading an entry on the Roman Empire. Second Sight was a basic technique that they were taught, usually used to extract information from someone if they wouldn't share it willingly. It gave the user complete access to someone's mind, which is exactly what he did now. He could sense her stiffen, as if she felt his presence. He pressed forward, pushing past her memories and musings, feeling for the tenor of her mind. Something was wrong. It seemed off, somehow. He felt the cold that still lingered in her mind and swore inwardly. They had been there first. They knew. Of course they did.