The Revealing

Monday, September 15, 2014

“Wake up! It’s time for school!”

I heard Damian shouting down the hallway as he came closer to my room. Why am I the only one in this house who actually goes to school? It’s just unfair. I grabbed the pillow, put it on my head and tried to drown out the noise of Damian’s voice; however, the closer he got, the more annoying he became.

“I thought bunnies were early risers!”

“Well, you thought wrong!” I pulled the covers over my face when he snatched the pillow away.

“Come on! We are going to be late, and I don’t want to keep my fans waiting.”

I tried to pull the covers back, but he was too strong and too energized. “I don’t want to go to school!”

At that point, I think that Damian had had enough of his patience worn out, because he picked me up off the bed. His hands were cold touching my waist through my thin shirt. He carried me downstairs. The whole time, I was out of it, but I was still squirming. I recognized where he was taking me—to the showers. I immediately knew what his plan was.

I squirmed and contorted my body to try to get out of his grasp. It didn’t work. He brought me to the closest shower and turned it on.

“Damian, this is a big mistake you’re about to make.” I squirmed more, but he just tightened his grip on my waist. “Bunnies don’t like to get wet!”

The running water of the shower drowned out the last words of that sentence as he tossed me into it—with my clothes on. However, I didn’t mind, because the alternative would have been worse. The water was surprisingly warm.

“If you’d like, I could help you with your attire for today,” he said.

I glared at him through the running water. I threw a loofah at him, and he dodged it just before it smacked his face. He raised his hands in surrender and then shouted over the running water, “You can disrobe! I promise I won’t look.”

Ha! Like I would get naked in the shower with him here. He was just going to have to face the consequences and mop up after I dripped all over the floor. I washed my hair and then, unfortunately, had to do what I dreaded: I finished my shower with my clothes on the floor. The curtain had never felt more transparent in my life. I spent most of the time covering myself. It was the most awkward shower I had ever taken.

After I finished, I realized that Damian had brought me down there without a towel. The only other option was to put my dirty, soaking clothes back on. I didn’t think that was a good option, so I sighed and said loudly, “I need a towel.”

Then a hand slimmer than Damian’s handed me a towel without moving the curtain. I took the towel, wrapped it around myself, wrung my hair out and stepped out of the shower. I was happy to see Willow and not Damian standing in front of me with a change of clothes. I was sure that if he picked out my outfit, I would have a bunny costume as my only choice. We went down to the dining room to eat breakfast. The room was already packed full of girls. I turned toward Willow. “Do the boys and girls have separate eating rooms?” The thought had occurred to me after my first visit to the gym, but I’d never thought to ask the question.

She nodded. “Most of these kids are majorly hormonal, and encouraging any unwanted interaction is not a good idea. Normally, the only people they are allowed to be with at this age is their guardian and their parents.”

I smacked my forehead with my hand. “So that’s why I wasn’t allowed to have friends as a kid, only Mason.”

She smiled at the sound of his name. He came over to sit with us.

“Hello, ladies.” He grinned and sat down beside Willow, but not before discreetly touching her shoulder. That must have made her die inside. Unfortunately, because Damian decided to be a jerk yesterday and volunteer for Obsidian protection duty, Mason had to take his place in the field, because Car couldn’t do it alone.

“I’m sorry about my doorknob of a brother.” Willow nodded toward Damian, who was across the room, scarfing down six pieces of toast before we left for school.

I laughed at how animated he looked. There was something wrong. Peridot was missing. I should have been feeling only anxiety and unhappiness; however, I felt lighter than ever. Something alien was at work. I glared at Mason because he obviously had something to do with this. I’d expected to have nightmares about Peridot last night, but I’d had no dreams. It was as if someone were blocking my grief.

Mason shrugged as if he knew what I was thinking about but didn’t know the source of the blockage. Then Lisa came over to our table, looking as sad as ever. However, her expression looked a bit forced, as if she too wasn’t feeling any grief but didn’t want to show that. I looked toward Willow, but she was no help. If she was feeling any grief, it wasn’t going to be the strongest emotion in her system at the moment. I finished my small breakfast of one piece of toast and a boiled egg, grabbed my backpack, stood up and went to get my light jacket, which I’d left in my room.

Damian was one step behind me the whole time. I tried to ignore him, but his presence was too overpowering. I turned around, and he didn’t see me stop and bumped right into me. His chest smacked me in the face. Another thing that smacked me in the face was his smell. He smelled good. My brain was swirling. I was so engulfed in his presence that I didn’t realize he was trying to get my attention. I tried to snap back into reality, and when I did, his face filled my vision.

“There you are, Bunny. Is there a reason you stopped walking?”

He was generally concerned about his assignment, but I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of getting to me that easily again.

“Yes. Why are you tailing me? I barely have time to lift my foot before yours fills its place! I need space—at least a couple more centimetres than you’re giving me!”

I felt bad for losing my temper. I guessed that was where all the grief and worry decided to go. He took a step back.

“Are you sure that’s what you want? They snatched your baby cousin away from you. I was following you to see if you were okay. Are you okay?”

I lifted my eyes to his, and they started to water, so I turned my head away and kept walking to get my jacket. Unfortunately, my tear ducts let one tear escape, and it slid down my cheek. I prayed that he didn’t see it. I opened the door to my room and grabbed the jacket, which Willow had helped pick out. It was a light blue jean jacket. I looked in my mirror to fix my hair. I had shorts on because it was warm that day; they were white and had a ripped pocket. I wore them with a black tank top and a golden necklace—not a thick chain that would had stood out, but a loose, long one that made the outfit pop. Willow definitely had an eye for fashion. She’d even had time to fix my hair, so it had just the right amount of wave. I put on my jacket and pulled my hair from underneath it. Damian was behind me.

“Damn, Willow’s got a gift. You look pretty good.”

Astonished by the compliment, I smiled and thanked him. I then put on my shoes and followed him out the door.

The drive to school was horribly awkward, silent and tense. Finally, Damian broke the silence.

“Well, are you ready for Romeo and Juliet, Obsidian?”

I looked at him from the back seat. “No. I hate drama.”

Willow gasped. “How could you hate drama? It’s so much fun!”

I raised an eyebrow at her. “I don’t like to be the centre of attention, and every time you speak in drama, that is what you become.”

Damian laughed. “Oh, right, because no one pays attention to you unless you have something to say. In that case, you are deciding to grab attention. Even when you do talk, though, you sound like a mouse, so not many people look your way anyway.”

I nodded, but he was driving, so he didn’t see me. I said, “Yeah, that’s about right.”

He burst into full-blown laughter, which was odd. “Jeez, figures someone as pretty as you wouldn’t know it.”

My eyes nearly popped out of my head, and Willow’s head whipped around to stare oddly at her brother. He was just as amazed, more like freaked out, at what had just happened.

“You know, because you can’t deny that you’re pretty, because that would just be fishing. It’s just a fact, nothing more. Besides, I like girls who have a little more going on in their head than you do.”

At this, all the amazement leaked from my eyes in a couple of tears. I quickly wiped them away before he saw them. Normally, I wouldn’t react this way to something stupid that he said, but his voice was so cold and forceful, as if he didn’t even need to convince anyone of his words, as if it were obvious. Willow smacked her brother so hard it was as if his arm dented.

“Jerk!” she shrieked. “Don’t worry, Obsidian. You are smart.” She looked at her brother and then back at me. “Very smart! He is just too dumb to see that.”

Right. “Whatever,” I said as I turned my head and looked out the window, watching the trees and signs go by until we got to school. It was quiet. I stepped out of the car and tried to close the door, but something blocked it. I opened the door wider to see what it was, but there was nothing there. Maybe the seat belt had gotten stuck between the door and the seat. I tried it again, and it closed.

“All right! Class time. Let’s dig in to Romeo and Juliet!” Willow was jumping up and down.

“Wait—you’re not in our English class,” I said.

She smiled. “I am now! I wanted to be closer to you because I don’t trust Damian not to do anything stupid or embarrassing.”

I beamed back at her. I walked in pace with Willow, and Damian kept his distance. Maybe he felt sorry for what he’d said. I highly doubted that. We got to class two minutes before the bell. I took my seat and waited for Willow to use her silver tongue to talk her way into the seat beside mine. It worked. I didn’t know why I was surprised; after all, it was her gift, and I’d seen her do it before, in music class.

Damian, oddly, was not instep behind us at all. He was 10 minutes late for class. The way he strolled in casually was irritating, especially since all the girls sighed and all the boys sat taller in their seats to try to assert dominance. It was fascinating to watch. He gave Mr. Watters a look as if to say, “Hey, my bad,” and then sat down in his seat across from mine.

Mr. Watters had set up the desks in groups of four, facing each other, because we were working in groups today. Mr. Watters put Willow, Me, Damian and Car in a group, but Car wasn’t there that day, so it was just the three of us. I was pretty sure that Damian had had something to do with the seating arrangements. Though it didn’t seem possible that he could have done anything, I was still suspicious.

“All right, class, get your books out.”

Mr. Watters’s voice was so loud that it made Willow and me jump and squeak at the same time, which made Damian laugh hard and loud. Mr. Watters made a remark toward Damian, and he quieted down. This time, Mr. Watters toned down his volume, probably due to the squeaks that Willow and I had let pop out of our mouths.

“Today we are going to assign parts based on how I think you will do, not on how you do right now. We are going to run lines, and everyone is going to play the part until we find the right pair for Romeo and Juliet.” He saw Willow grimace. “Don’t worry, Willow; you will not be partnered with Damian or Car. I’m not that twisted. All right, so for now, Jeremy, you are Romeo, and Willow, you are Juliet. Obsidian, you are the nurse.”

My eyes widened. What was he thinking? “I would much rather play a tree, to be honest.”

Damian laughed. “That is the perfect part for you—all stiff and vacant.”

I glared at him.

“Are you going to let him get away with saying that, Obsidian?” Mr. Watters looked at me expectantly.

“Sure, it’s not like it bothered me. I have to care about his opinion for it to bug me.”

The class let out oohs like fourth graders.

I’d had enough of stupid Damian’s attitude. I was just going to stop trying with him. Damian put his hand on his heart as if he’d just been shot there. “That’s not what you thought last night.” He winked at me.

The nerve of that guy! There was nothing going on between us last night—or any night, for that matter. Willow joined my side.

“Nothing happened last night, Damian. If you remember anything, it must have been in your dreams, because that is the only place you could ever get a girl like Obsidian, and I’m not so sure that you could get her in your dream world either.”

Once again, the class, and even Mr. Watters this time, oohed. Then Damian said something so rude and barbaric that I wouldn’t have thought he could muster up the courage to say it.

“That’s right, because she is too easy anyway. I like a challenge.”

The whole class fell silent. I did something that I didn’t think I could do: I reached over and slapped him hard. His cheek was turning red by the time I was out the door. Walking away from the classroom, I could hear Willow’s high-pitched voice screaming at Damian to go after me and apologize. I could hear chairs moving out of his way. He was coming after me.

There was no way I could look at him without falling apart, so I wouldn’t. I started to run, first at a slow pace. Then, when I could hear him closing the distance between us, I pushed myself harder and ran down the stairs out the door. I began picking up my gifted speed. There was no way he could catch me now. I ran as fast and as far as I could. I reached where my favourite house was. I used to drive there with my mom. I thought I had a relative around there somewhere. I slowed to a stop at the little house. I would bring Carson in the car with me when we went, which was easy to do since no one saw him anyway. The house had a white picket fence. It looked like a little cottage from fairy tales.

I ran past this house of memories—happy ones clouded by the death of my parents. I ran to the old tree that I used to climb as a child, pushed my feet in the ground and jumped higher than I’d ever jumped before. It seemed the memory loss from the elder attack had worn off, because I remembered everything as if it were a brand-new wound in my side. I jumped onto the thick branches I had climbed as a child. I got to my hideout, a nook in the tree that had no branches but had a flat platform where I would lie down and look at the stars. Carson and I would sit on this platform and look for shooting stars.

I stretched and listened to the sounds around me. I could hear birds, and dogs barking in the distance. Incredibly, I could hear Damian grunting and panting, still running after me. How could he even know where I am? Never mind that. First, I need to make sure he can’t find me.

“Come on, Obsidian! It was just a joke. I’m sorry!”

He wasn’t sorry; he just wanted to stay out of trouble.

“Just come out so I can apologize. Willow will kill me if you come home upset, and Car told you that you need to stay in school, where it’s safe. If you’re not going to come out for me, at least come out for him.”

I understood his point. While Damian could be a real donkey butt sometimes, Car had never done anything to hurt me. He didn’t deserve to stress over me. I came out of my nook in the tree. Damian was standing at the bottom of the tree, and when he saw me, he smiled and jumped up to where I was sitting.

“Good news,” he said.

“You’re moving to a different country?”

He chuckled. “I found you, my little bunny. I am also almost one hundred percent positive that Mr. Watters is going to make us the stars of the play, given the little dramatic outburst.” He smiled.

I arched a brow. “Why do you continue this weird charade? I am not your little bunny, nor do you see me as a little bunny. You are a jerk and a flirt, and I have had enough of you! And another thing: I refuse to be Juliet. She is probably going to have to kiss Romeo, and I’m not going to let my first kiss be a stage kiss. Just not going to happen!”

He dropped his condescending smile with a curious expression. “You have never been kissed before?”

I just realized whom I had confessed that to. I looked down at the ground, and he let out a weird sound from the back of his throat.

“Well, a tree is just about as romantic you can get with me,” he said.

I didn’t understand what he said, so I looked up at him to see what he meant, and then he smiled at me, leaned in and kissed me. Because I was a hormonally driven teenager and because no matter how much of a jerk Damian was, he was still extremely attractive, I responded. It was a curious thing, the kiss. He was right; the tree was a romantic place for a first kiss. However, he and the situation at hand weren’t romantic.

Wasn’t I just running away because he called me easy? Now here we were, two people kissing in a tree. How cliché. He pulled away and smiled at me. It wasn’t an “I tricked you into kissing me” type of smile. It wasn’t a Damian type of smile at all. It made his eyes crinkle at the corners. I could see a resemblance to Car. It was a real smile, and it made him even better looking than he already was.

“You, Obsidian, are by far the most interesting girl that I have ever met.”

That made my heart skip a beat. He brushed a stray hair away from my face and then kissed my forehead. That made my heart skip two beats. He grabbed my hand and looked me in the eyes. “All right, let’s go before Car finds out what happened and starts to get worried.”

I jumped down with him. I didn’t understand how Damian kept up with me all that time. I mean, how could he have possibly found me there? But he had. Nothing mattered now other than the fact that he had come after me. He’d climbed into a tree to come get me, and then he’d kissed me. We were running back, and he was holding my hand. I had time to think over what had just happened.

I realized I’d just let him steal my first kiss. As we ran at his pace back to the school, I grew angrier. Does he think he can just kiss me, and I’ll forget everything he said to me that made me run away in the first place?

At that point, any normal boy’s hand would have already broken, but Damian wasn’t a normal boy. He was strong, and he could probably take anything I could throw at him. Eventually, the pressure of me squeezing his hand got to him, because he pulled his hand free, which took some visible effort. “What’s your problem, Obsidian?”

I glared at him. As if he doesn’t know what my problem is. He was probably looking at the kiss as some kind of victory over Car. I turned my head and refused to answer his question. I refused to give him the satisfaction of affecting me again.

“Jeez, you’re moody.” He ran his hand through his thick, wavy hair. “Never will I ever understand the complexity that is a woman.”

At that comment, I whipped my head around to give him the death stare I had grown accustomed to giving him. He sighed. “What now?”

“You’re just a jerk, Damian, if you don’t understand the stupid thing that you did this time!”

I ran ahead of him, speeding up to a pace I knew he couldn’t match. I heard him calling me bipolar from a distance. I rolled my eyes and kept a steady pace, slower than earlier but still faster than Damian. I got to the school, tired from running, and plopped down on the curb outside the school to wait for Damian.

Eventually, he came, and he looked finished with running. I could probably have done that again, but he would probably have had some trouble. I cooled off from the running, realizing that he probably actually didn’t understand the complexity of me and why I was angry. I looked at him and laughed. He doubled over, panting and dripping with sweat. I, on the other hand, already felt my energy returning.

“Aw, are we a little tuckered out, Damian?” I laughed again.

He straightened and looked at me. “Ha-ha. Okay, so running isn’t my strong suit. You probably know that by now.” He coughed.

“Looks like you, sir, need a rest after chasing me all day. Do you want me to get you a blankie for a nappy?”

The baby talk made him smile, which was completely the wrong emotion I was trying to unearth.

“You, Obsidian, are the weirdest girl I ever met. Now, let’s go inside and get assigned our parts for this play.”

My humour faded, replaced with anxiety. That was probably why he was smiling—because he knew how uncomfortable this situation would be for me. He put his arm around my shoulders, casually ignoring the last 20 minutes. We walked back into the school, and I shrugged his arm off before we walked into class. The last thing I needed was people jumping to conclusions. My face was still beet red, though.

I sat down next to Willow. Her expression was full of curiosity, and her face was riddled with questions I knew I would be answering later—probably in detention. Damian and I must have been gone for more than 40 minutes. I looked at the clock. We had been gone for 20 minutes. It had felt like much longer. How would Damian and I have been able to make it to my tree and back within 20 minutes? It seemed impossible, but the proof was staring at me as plain as the face of the clock. I looked over at Damian, thinking he’d had something to do with it, but his face was just as stunned as mine was. Other than the weird thing with the time, nothing else seemed out of the ordinary—until Mr. Watters looked at me and spoke the words that I had been dreading since we re-entered the classroom.

“Obsidian, I have the perfect role for you, mostly because it was inspired by you.”

I sighed. “And what is that, Mr. Watters?”

He smiled. “You will be Juliet, but instead of being in love with Romeo, as Shakespeare intended, you will hate him.”

I smiled at that. “And who, might I ask, is my Romeo?”

Mr. Watters laughed because he could hear the tone in my voice already. “None other than Damian. Oh, and your nurse is Willow.”

I turned toward the person who would be playing my best friend in this play and in real life as well. She smiled back eagerly. I snagged a look at Damian to see that he was already looking at me. I made accidental eye contact, and he puckered his lips and sent an air kiss in my direction. I was annoyed. It was a good thing my acting skills wouldn’t be in question, because I genuinely was in an aggravated state when I was around Damian. Pretending I hated him would not be a problem.

“All right, everyone else, your parts were assigned in the previous twenty minutes of class, when Damian and Obsidian were not present. Now I will be rewriting this play to fit the needs of my new Romeo and Juliet, the star-crossed lovers who became that way because of force.”

My face blanked. I raised my hand, interrupting Mr. Watters again. “Wait—we actually end up falling in love? What happened to the hating idea? I liked that.”

Mr. Watters patiently responded to my rude outburst. “Well, Juliet doesn’t like Romeo, but Romeo would die for Juliet, and eventually, when he saves her from Paris, she falls for him.”

My jaw dropped. The appealing part of this version had been the fact that I wouldn’t have to kiss him. As if Mr. Watters had read my mind, he said, “If you’re not comfortable with a stage kiss, I can alter the version. Again, it wouldn’t be the first time it needed alterations.”

I looked at Willow, who reassured me that it was okay to say no if I was uncomfortable. I was about to refuse, but Damian had to say something. Apparently, no conversation was truly over till the peanut gallery had spoken.

“Don’t worry, Bunny. I understand if you’re too scared to kiss me. I mean, look at me. You can turn it down. I won’t judge.”

At that point, I couldn’t refuse the stage kiss, because Damian was challenging me—I could feel it. So I did something that surprised myself, Damian and Willow.

“I’ll do it, Mr. Watters. It’s not a problem.”

My fate was sealed. I heard Willow mumble, “This is going to be interesting,” under her breath, but I ignored it and focused on staring Damian down, accepting his challenge.