Chay laughed. “Good.”
Xavier kicked the bottom of my seat three more times during the class period. Each time, he handed me a folded piece of paper with a note scrawled across it. Finally, growing tired of the game, Chay grabbed the last one, wadded it up, and threw it back at Xavier. I heard a faint chuckle behind me. Next to me, I heard a curse.
***
I heard the sounds first. Then, my vision started zoning in and out. It narrowed into a circle, becoming smaller and smaller until it was as if I was looking through a periscope. The sides were like static on a television.
My stomach burned. It felt like it was squeezed in a vice, and someone was cranking and cranking the handle until they couldn’t tighten it anymore. I leaned over in pain, my arms wrapped around my middle. A vision. I hated having them at school.
Me. Wait, I don’t see visions about myself. But that’s what I see—me.
I shook my head to erase the image. It was as though I was looking at my reflection in a mirror. My palms grew sweaty and it was hard to breathe, like something heavy was sitting on my chest.
Me talking. I can’t hear what I’m saying. I can’t see who I’m talking to. I back up, holding my hands out, palms first as if in surrender, holding someone off.
My head pounded in time to my heartbeat, the blood rushing so loudly behind my ears I couldn’t hear the noise of the other students in the hall. They bumped into me, jostled me, pushing me out of the way. I stood in the middle of the hall, concentrating on the vision. They always told me something. There was a reason I was having a vision about myself. I just needed to concentrate and let the vision tell me what I needed to know, what I needed to do.
I felt a hand grasp my shoulder, and I jumped. I looked up expecting—wanting—to see Chay. It was Xavier’s face that looked down at me with questioning eyes.
“Are you okay?” He gave my shoulder a small squeeze.
“Yeah. What?” I pushed the images away and locked them in my brain. I’d worry about the vision later, when I had time to concentrate on what I saw and decipher it.
“It’s like you zoned out. You’re just standing here, doing nothing. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. I’m just tired is all. Ready for class?”
“Sure,” Xavier said, looking into my eyes like he could read all my secrets.
“Let’s go then. It’s weekly torture day.” I took a step away from him so his hand would fall from my shoulder.
“Huh?” He looked at me in confusion.
“The test. Our weekly torture.”
“You mean we have a history test every Friday?” A look of horror marred his gorgeous face.
Whoa, gorgeous? I shouldn’t be thinking that. I shouldn’t be noticing at all.
I nodded. “Yes. In calculus, too. Every Friday.”
“Great. Weekly tests. This school just gets better and better. Where’s Chay?”
“He had to get to his next class early.”
“So you’re forced to carry your own books,” Xavier said with a smile.
“Mm-hmm. They’re heavy, too.”
Before I could stop him, Xavier slipped my book bag off my shoulder and swung it over his.
“No, no, that’s okay. I didn’t mean for you to carry them.” I reached for my bag.
“I got ‘em. Let’s go get the test over with.”
I turned to follow Xavier to class. I saw Chay watching us from the end of the hall.
Great. This isn’t gonna make Chay jealous. Nope, not at all.
***
Chay picked me up at four Saturday afternoon. He still hadn’t told me where we were going. We stopped at a little café by the Waterway to have lunch, sitting at a small table overlooking the river. The ice was just starting to thaw from the harsh Michigan winter, and we could see patches of deep blue water peeking through.
The sun was big and bright in the baby blue sky. Lazy, fluffy white clouds floated by. It was deceiving, though. It looked like a mild day, until you went outdoors and the brutal cold stole your breath. I hoped whatever Chay had planned was inside.
I was thankful our table was close to the café’s stone, floor-to-ceiling fireplace, where a small fire burned. The sound of the crackling wood and the dry warmth of the fire relaxed me, and I didn’t want to leave when we’d finished eating.
“So? What are we doing today?” I asked for the millionth time after we left and got in the car.
“You’ll see,” he answered for the millionth and one time, driving to the mystery destination.
I peered out the window when we pulled into the zoo’s parking lot and drove to the garden’s entrance. “Ice skating?”
The zoo had a small ice rink in the middle of the gardens. Large pines draped in colored lights surrounded the rink. The days were still short and when we reached the ice rink, dusk was already settling in. The lights made the scene look magical. The colors reflected off the ice, creating multi-colored crystals.