CHAPTER 25
Calling on You
We walked into the coffee shop hand in hand as curious passers-by gawked at the couple who arrived in the shiny, red Ferrari. I was used to that by now, no longer embarrassed by the attention. To my delight, I saw my Brit Lit neighbor camped out at a table strewn with books, diligently pecking away at the keyboard of her laptop. I interpreted this as a definitive sign that we were meant to be friends and squeezed Ty's hand in excitement.
"That's Karen, the girl from my Literature class that I told you about," I whispered.
He nodded in acknowledgment. "Let's go sit with her."
"Let's," I agreed.
We approached the table and she didn't look up, obliviously engrossed in her studies. This was good. "Hi, Kah-ren," I interrupted, trying hard to make the r roll off my tongue the way she did.
"Oh, my gosh. How long have you been standing there? I'm so sorry," she said, suddenly flustered.
"No worries. We just got here. Do you mind if we join you?"
"Of course not," she responded, quickly gathering her books and putting them in a neat pile on the floor next to her chair.
Ty pulled out the chair directly across from Karen and waited for me to be seated before taking the chair next to mine.
"Karen, do you know Ty?"
"I know who you are, of course, but we've never been introduced. I'm Karen Canta."
"It's nice to finally meet you, Karen Canta. Essie's spoken of you often," he drawled, rising slightly to extend his hand, demonstrating his old-fashioned southern manners. When she extended hers, he clasped it and made eye contact. "There's no need to be nervous. I just know that we're all going to be great friends."
"Great friends," she repeated submissively, not able to look away.
"Great," I chimed in. "Um, Ty, let's go get our coffee."
"Sure," he agreed, letting go of Karen's hand and turning his attention to me.
"Be right back, Karen," I smiled.
When we were out of earshot, I squeezed his hand tightly. "You just dazzled her," I declared.
"She was nervous and I wanted her to get past that quickly so that she could be herself around us. Plus, I wanted to be sure that she'd be a good friend to you. Now, she will be. You're not mad, are you?" he asked innocently.
"No, I'm not mad," I sighed. "It's just different when you do it to someone I know."
"I'm sorry."
"You don't need to apologize. I know you're just looking out for me," I said, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Hey, do you think we could trust Karen with your secret? I could really use someone else to talk to."
"Not just yet, Ess. Let's give it a little while. And we'll have to discuss it with Mara, too."
"You're right. I just miss Jane."
He hugged me tightly. Without letting go, he ordered our coffees when the barista was available.
We spent the next hour talking and laughing with Karen as though we had all been friends for years. I didn't want to leave but I knew I should get home to start dinner. Before we walked out, I offered, "You know, I study every day right after school. If you're interested, you should come over."
"I'd love that. Studying is so boring when you're all by yourself."
I smiled, satisfied. "See you in class tomorrow."
"Okay, bye."
On the drive home, we discussed the fact that I had already informed Jane of my interactions with angels, a matter about which Ty was unaware. I wasn't trying to hide it from him, I just hadn't thought to mention it.
"It started back when I first met you," I explained. "I was always suspicious that something was going on with you so, naturally, I shared those feelings with my best friend. I had no idea at the time that I was falling for an angel. Had I known everything in the beginning, I probably wouldn't have shared, at least not without making sure it was safe for her to know. Is it safe for her to know?"
"As long as she doesn't say anything to anybody, she'll be safe for now."
"For now?"
"I'm sure she'll be fine. Don't worry about it. But the less people that know, the better."
"Why did you say 'for now'?" I pressed.
"Prior to the final battle, there's always the risk that humans with knowledge of the angels could be hunted and destroyed by some of our kind in order to ensure our anonymity."
"Why would they need to be destroyed?"
"Our cloak of anonymity is the only thing keeping our presence hidden from this world. They would hunt us if they discovered our abilities, ? la X-Men. Also, if humans were aware of our objective, we wouldn't be able to operate unhindered. It would be mass hysteria along the lines of the witch hunts of the 1600s. We function as intended because most people don't believe that we really exist."
"You said 'some of our kind'. What does that mean exactly?"
"Inhabiting a human body makes us vulnerable to the same character flaws that plague the rest of humanity. A person motivated by power and greed is capable of anything."
I mulled that over, reasoning that a person who would acknowledge that would not likely be the sort to engage in such evil behavior, despite Michael's warnings.
"Do you know when the final battle will occur?"
"Not exactly. But I do know the signs that lead up to it, and several of them have already taken place."
"Holy crap, Ty! Should I be worried?"
"You never need to worry as long as you're with me. Never," he repeated, clutching my hand reassuringly.
Ty dropped me off at my house where Axl was waiting patiently for me on the porch, wagging his tail briskly. He followed me into the kitchen, always looking for a treat, or any morsel that might accidentally fall on the floor during dinner preparation. My time in the South had taught me that you could make a decent casserole out of just about anything that happened to be on hand. Tonight it would be taco casserole, the kids' favorite. As I stood at the stove, browning the ground beef, I thought of Michael's statement that I was meant for him. Between averting a brawl and then seeing Karen at the coffee shop, I hadn't had time to consider his words. And, he knew that I recognized him the day I applied for the job. I needed to talk this through with Jane, but when I called, her phone went straight to voice mail.
"Darn," I said quietly, looking at Axl. He looked back at me as though he understood my frustration.
Then I remembered that Karen had given me her number a while back. I wondered if there was a way to discuss my dilemma without revealing any angelic secrets. I found the torn piece of paper on which she had scribbled her number in my Brit Lit book, added it to my contacts, then pressed it. She picked up before the third ring had ended.
"Hello?" she greeted me in the form of a question.
"Hi, Karen. It's Essie."
"Hey, Essie."
"Listen, I know I just saw you but I could really use someone to talk to right now. Is there any way you can come over?"
"Sure. What time?"
"If you haven't eaten dinner yet, you can come over now and join us. If you like taco casserole, that is."
"Love it. Just tell me where you live and I'll be there in a few minutes."
I gave her directions and finished putting the casserole together, then stuck it in the oven to bake. As promised, I heard Karen's knock a mere ten minutes after we hung up.
"Thanks so much for coming," I said as I opened the door and invited her in. "I know we haven't hung out yet, so I hope you don't think me strange for inviting you over to talk out of the blue, but I felt like we were going to be friends the first time I met you. It's just that I'm always with Ty or at work or studying and..." I stopped myself. "I'm sorry. I tend to ramble when I'm nervous."
She laughed. "I do the same thing, so don't worry about it. But why would you be nervous about talking to me?"
I paused for a moment, wondering how to phrase my reply. "I guess it's because I don't really know you and I'm a pretty private person. There's only one person on earth that knows everything about me and that's Ja
ne. But she lives in Massachusetts and it's been hard having so much happening in my life and no one here to talk to face to face."
"I thought Mara was your bff. I always see you two together."
"I love Mara. She's like a sister to me. But I can't discuss certain things with her because she's also Ty's twin sister and they're really close. They share almost everything."
"Understood," she said, shaking her head contemplatively.
The door opened just then and almost hit us.
"Oh, my goodness. I'm so sorry, girls," my mother apologized as she closed the door behind her. "I wasn't expecting anyone to be standing right here."
"It's okay, Mum. Karen just got here. Speaking of, Mum, this is Karen. Karen, this is my mother, Caroline."
"It's nice to meet you, Ms. Caroline," Karen jumped in with a big smile.
"Well, it's nice to meet you, too, Karen. Are you staying for dinner?"
"Yes, ma'am."
That was the magic word. Mum loved how so many kids in the South used ma'am and sir. I'm sure Karen would be welcomed in her home forever after that.
"Dinner's just about ready," I informed anyone who was listening.
"I'll be back in just a minute, sweetie. I need to change out of my work clothes."
"Okay, Mum."
"I'll give you a hand with dinner, if you need it," Karen offered.
"Thanks," I smiled. She was a nice girl.
When dinner was through, I gave Karen a quick tour of the house and we went to my room, Axl following closely behind.
"So, what's going on?" she asked as she made herself comfortable in the cushioned window seat.
"Boy trouble," I revealed.
"I'm listening."
"Michael Powers told me this afternoon - in front of Ty, mind you - that he and I were meant to be together and I haven't really had a chance to process that."
"Oh, my gosh, Essie. Right in front of Ty? What did he say?"
"I think he said, 'I told you so'."
"Where were you?"
"We were here, studying, Michael and I. He's been tutoring me in Statistics. Ty stopped by unexpectedly right at the moment that Michael had taken hold of my hand. But all he was doing was reassuring me. Ty got upset and they almost got into a fight. Anyway, Ty told Michael to just admit how he felt about me and he did."
"Again, oh, my gosh. Well, Ty seemed okay at the coffee shop."
"Yeah, he's fine now. But I'm not. I don't know what to do. I work with Michael at the nursery, plus I really need his help with Statistics."
"Can I say something that's not at all helpful?"
I laughed. "Sure."
"I wish I had your problems. I mean, Ty's the cutest, richest, most popular boy in school and Michael is definitely the sweetest. And also totally cute. There, I said it. Back to you. How do you feel about Michael?"
"Michael's great. Really great. Honestly, if I wasn't already dating Ty, I could definitely see myself with Michael."
"How do you feel about Ty? Do you love him? Is he 'the one'?"
"Karen, I'm sure this goes without saying, but I'm going to say it anyway. This conversation stays between me and you, right?"
"I swear," she said, making a little cross sign over her heart.
"Okay. Thanks. I do love Ty. At least I think I do. But I've never been able to tell him. He tells me all the time, but I just can't get the words out and I don't know why. He says and does all the right things. He takes me everywhere. We always have fun. And except for one incident when we first started dating, he's a perfect gentleman."
"Has that ever happened before, where you can't say 'I love you'?"
"I've never had a boyfriend before Ty."
"Wow. Never had a boyfriend, then you end up with the two most eligible bachelors in all of Effingham County. How did that happen?"
"I have no idea."
At that, she got up from the window seat and bounced on the bed next to me, putting her arm around my shoulder. "Let's think about this logically. Now that you know for sure how Michael feels, do you think you should continue to work and study with him? You've already admitted that you'd be dating him if you hadn't met Ty first. How would you feel if Ty was studying and working with a girl who liked him? I'm not saying that you'd let anything happen, I'm just saying that you're adding unnecessary stress to your relationship with Ty by being around Michael."
"I hear you, but I don't think I'm ready to give up my job just yet. And I need the help in Statistics."
"I'd want to be around Michael Powers as much as possible, too," she said with a wink.
"It's not like that," I protested. But if I was at least going to be honest with myself, it was like that. Is it possible to love two people at the same time? Now that I knew how Michael felt about me, it was easier to allow myself to admit my feelings for him. The feelings that I had the first time I dreamt of him and the first time I saw him. The feelings that I had when he caught me and held me in his arms. The feelings that I had watching him build a fire for me. The feelings that I had when he looked into my eyes.
I sighed heavily. "Karen, what am I going to do?"
"I don't know, Essie. You have a lot to think about."
I changed the subject after that and asked Karen every question I could think of to get to know her better - questions about her family, music, college, childhood, favorite foods, boys she liked, high school, movies, celebrities, cars, and sports. Turns out, she was adopted and had only been living in the States for five years. Her command of the English language was impressive, especially when compared to some kids I knew who were born here. Also, I learned that her last name, Canta, means "sings" - Karen Sings. I loved it! We talked until we both couldn't stop yawning.
When I walked her to her car, Karen gave me a hug. "Thanks for inviting me over. I'm sorry I wasn't much help with your dilemma, but I'm always available to talk."
I was so happy to have another friend besides Mara here in Eden. "See you tomorrow," I said as she closed her car door.