touch

Beatriz lounged on a neighboring locker when I finally got to school. She looked mildly amused.

“You’ll never guess what rumor is floating around school,” she said. Peeling off a few layers, I half-listened to her. “Apparently, I’m gay and have a girlfriend. One I totally admire, especially her sense of fashion.” I pulled out what I needed for first hour and closed the locker, giving her my full attention. “It’s you!” she laughed.

Given my weekend, I’d forgotten about the boy at lunch. Though I liked that Beatriz took the rumor with a sense of humor, the timing of it couldn’t have been worse for me given my mom’s anger over my lack of effort to choose. We started walking through the crowded halls.

It’d be a lot easier to choose a boy if I could actually spend time with them outside of school. Sure, I should have used summer, but I’d thought I’d have plenty of time and pushed it off.

“It doesn’t really bother you does it?” Beatriz asked and for a moment was confused. She added, “A rumor today is forgotten tomorrow. It’s no big deal.”

Understanding, I smiled and assured her it didn’t bother me.

“Great. We should hang out after school sometime. I think you’d like my brother. He graduated last year.” She studied my face for a moment and added, “We could spread your interest in him and put an end to the rumors.”

I upped the wattage on my lackluster smile and shook my head at her offer assuring her the rumor didn’t bother me. But I did wonder if I could talk mom out of the chanting thing so I could go out at night. It wasn’t as if they were really protecting me from anything. Morik visited me at will it seemed. They didn’t know that though. I thought of all the things I missed about the night. To see the stars again… I hadn’t seen them in years.

“Okay. You could still just come over to hang out,” Beatriz offered again, a persistent glint in her eye.

I gave my standard lame answer. “It sounds fun, but my great grandma and great aunt live with us and I have to go home right away to help out.”

Already grumpy because of the pressure from mom and walking to school, the reminder of all the things I couldn’t do until I made my choice put me over the edge enough to allow an epiphany. My mom thought the chant kept me safe from Morik, who already knew where we lived. I couldn’t tell her I already met him and he continued to talk to me every day. No, she’d flip and we’d move again.

Morik, the dealmaker, was the key. I could make a deal with him to remove the sleep spell. But I needed to be careful. I didn’t want to make a deal that would hurt anyone else like Belinda had. So maybe only temporarily remove it.

First, I needed to find out what Morik valued, other than a companion. He said that he could only make deals of equal value. And making a temporary deal with him would help prove his story, at least the part where he could make deals.

I wanted to believe him just so I had a reason and explanation for everything. But he’d been wrong with how many of us were alive so I hesitated to believe the whole thing even with the possibility that Gran and Aunt Danielle being twins confused him.

My plan sounded good, but the more I thought on it, the more I worried. I was considering making a deal with a creature that walked Clavin in front of a moving car breaking his leg. Then, that same creature threatened Clavin’s other leg. Did I really want to mess with that? I liked my legs just the way they were.

“What about after that?”

I looked up at Beatriz, confused again. I really needed to pay more attention.

“After you help out at home… We’re usually up until ten or eleven.”

For a moment, I thought she wanted to know what I’d do after my legs were broken. “Not tonight, but I’ll talk to my mom and see if I can maybe work something out. Soon.”

I just wanted a small taste of what it would be like to be a typical teen before I went and got myself knocked up. The irony of my thought wasn’t lost on me as I walked past a senior well into her third trimester.

When Morik joined me for lunch, thanks again to Beatriz, I initiated the conversation I’d been plotting over the last few hours. “You said you weren’t upset with Belinda when she didn’t choose you. But what about the others? Did you ever get upset with them? Or maybe do something to their husbands to help along their passing?” I needed to know what type of… er, person, he was.

He gave me a dark disapproving look as if I just said something rude.

“No. The rules are clear. They have a free choice.”

I expected his denial. “Why did you hurt Clavin then?”