Chapter Seven
The wooden swing seat creaked as I sat down and swayed back and forth under the oak in our backyard. I stared out into my new territory, my curiosity like water, drowning me under its influence. My body was numb to everything else but the heartbeat of the trees. I clung a little tighter to the ropes attached to the swing, hoping I could teach myself to control the power, anchor myself and become immune to the pull.
Hands pressed against my back, swinging me higher as my dad’s voice broke through the silence behind me. “Remember when we used to come out here and I’d swing you to your heart’s content? You’d giggle and smile and—”
“And everything was simple,” I finished for him.
He waited and then said quietly, “Yeah.”
I let him push me for a little while longer, taking comfort in his silent presence. He’d built this swing when I was ten. I’d begged him almost every day for years to get me this tree swing. Finally on my tenth birthday he nearly had to drag me out of bed to swing me for the first time. Had I known why he was waking me at six in the morning I might have been a little more swayed by the idea. We spent nearly the whole day outside on the swing.
“I don’t want you to be mad at me, Calliope,” he said after a few minutes.
“I’m not mad at you,” I said immediately, and then realized it wasn’t completely the truth.
“You haven’t spoken to me in days.” I hadn’t? “The silent treatment is getting a little old.”
“I wasn’t trying to ignore you. I just needed space.” I needed time to put all the pieces of my life back together in a different puzzle—a jigsaw puzzle, without the guidance of a picture to go off of.
“How’s school?” he asked, changing the subject.
“Small talk? Really?” I chuckled lightly.
He sighed. “Being a faery can’t be the only thing we ever talk about now. It’s what you are, but it’s not everything.”
I nodded. Even though it felt like everything now, I knew someday this would be normal. Someday I would wake up and it would be a day just like every other to me. I’d come to terms with my new body.
I let my feet down to stop the swing and then turned to my dad standing with his arms crossed over his chest. “What do you want for dinner?” he asked and I let out a breath of soft amusement. Someday this would be normal. I guess I could try to make someday today.
“What about some chicken alfredo?” I suggested, moving beside him.
“That sounds delicious. Why didn’t you think of that?” he joked with a small smile.
“Daaad.” I nudged him playfully with my shoulder and walked by his side to the house.
It had been a few days since I let the forest control me. As soon as the urge became too powerful to control, I got in my car and drove away. I never knew my destination. Sometimes I ended up at Cam’s house, but I never got the nerve to actually go to his front door. I simply looked at his house, wishing I could just talk to him. But most of the time Isla was there or his car was gone.
He didn’t need to declare his love for me. He didn’t even need to get rid of Isla. I just wanted someone besides my dad to talk to. Someone that wasn’t a part of this new world. Someone who would understand why I was so dang freaked out.
There were times when I ended up at Lia’s house. Typically, she was studying or reading, so I’d hop on her bed and click on the TV, if for nothing else but to simply have the noise to drown out my thoughts.
“You all done with your homework tonight?” Lia asked.
“Yup,” I lied. I still had a little bit, but I couldn’t do it at home and I couldn’t tell her that. I guess I could have brought it to her house, but when that pull is tugging at me, nothing logical really crosses my mind.
“Dang my ambition to go to an Ivy League. We have a never-ending pile of homework. I swear I’m never done.” She exhaled.
“Oh, but think of the opportunities you’ll have because of your determination.”
“Yeah, yeah.” She nudged me and nestled further into the pillows of her bed beside me. “Matt called home yesterday.”
“Yeah? Did he just sit there and rub in how incredible Rome is?”
“Basically.”
“Has he gone to the Colosseum yet?”
“I think he did that in the first week.”
“Lucky punk.”
She peered over at me from her books. “He wanted me to tell you hey and that he misses you.”
I nodded. It only took a couple of weeks and my life had flipped to a life so unfamiliar. “I miss him too.”
“Me too,” she said quietly and nuzzled closer to me, resting her head on my shoulder.
That night I lifted my window open to let in a breeze. It felt so stuffy in the confinement of my little room. I was about to pull the covers over my head to block out the world when I thought I heard my name. I sat up in bed and turned my head to my open window.
“Calliope?” There it was again.
When I got to my window, I lifted it higher and stuck my head out to scan our yard, but there wasn’t anyone in sight, only the swing wavering and the leaves rustling.
“Calliope, back here,” the voice hissed. It came from the far trees. “There you go,” the voice applauded. “Come down.” The voice wasn’t a shout so I knew my hearing was getting even better.
I wasn’t sure why I did it. It could have been anyone out there calling to me. I couldn’t really tell whose voice it was, but I had a feeling it was Declan and I wanted to see him again.
The floor creaked beneath my feet as I tiptoed to the back door. I waited before going outside to see if one of my parents would wake up, but after a minute there was nothing, so I cracked the door and slipped outside.
When I reached the tree line I didn’t have to call out to him. His tall, broad figure appeared and I nearly gasped. I was expecting him, but I wasn’t.
“Declan, you scared me.”
He chuckled quietly. “I’m sorry. That wasn’t my intention.”
“What’s going on?” I looked him over. His chest wasn’t bare anymore, which was only slightly disappointing. It was also relieving that he wore a cream woven top so my heartbeats wouldn’t race so swiftly. I hoped that wasn’t something they could detect. They weren’t vampires. It wasn’t as if they could sense the flow of my blood, but who knew?
“I didn’t know you came to see us. I thought we truly scared you off, but then tonight Kai mentioned that you came a few days ago and you didn’t come back. I wanted to check on you to make sure you were all right.” The sincerity in his silky voice was refreshing. I hadn’t felt truly cared for in quite some time.
I smiled. “I’m still in one piece. No wings or ears though. Apparently that’s just appalling to Kai,” I said, shaking my head.
“Oh, don’t worry about him,” Declan brushed off the comment. “He’s like that all the time. You get used to it.” His blue-green eyes nearly glowed in the dark.
“I feel like he’s someone no one should have to get used to.”
Declan chuckled again. It was such a happy sound, but he didn’t continue. He seemed content just watching me, the curiosity of the unknown. There were so many things we didn’t know about each other and yet, I felt safe. I was outside in the middle of the night, talking to a strange man in my jammies. I was still in my pajamas. Shifting, I folded my arms across my tank top, realizing that in a hurry to come outside I hadn’t thought to put on a bra to cover myself. The thought instantly made me uncomfortable. I couldn’t handle the silence. “Is that all? You were just checking on me?” I prompted.
He shifted from one foot to the other. Was he nervous? “Well, yes and… and I wanted to make a meeting time so I didn’t miss you the next time you decided to wander in and visit us.”
A smile tugged at my mouth. He wanted to see me again. “Well, tomorrow’s Friday. I can come after school.”
“I’ll be in Faylinn again.” His shou
lders slouched. “What about the next day? Sometime in the afternoon?” he asked, hopeful.
“Okay,” I agreed. I was already looking forward to it. Where did my sudden change in attitude come from?
“You promise?”
“I promise.” I smiled when a pleased grin grew on his face. “I should probably head back to bed. I’ve got school in the morning.”
“I understand. Have a lovely evening, Calliope.” He bent his head in a slight bow. “Get some rest.”
“Thank you, Declan. I will.”
He lifted a hand to wave, but didn’t head back into the trees. I scurried away on my tiptoes through the grass in my bare feet. I hadn’t even thought about shoes. Where is my head? When I reached the sliding door, I turned to wave. He waited by the edge, his tall form shadowed by the trees, until I was safely inside.
That night I fell asleep with a smile on my face.
“Are we still on for tomorrow?” Cameron asked as I pulled some books from my locker after school to study over the weekend.
I’d forgotten about our third-wheel date, but I didn’t dare let him see that. It wasn’t as if I’d made any plans. Well, I did with Declan, but that was earlier. I’d be done with him before it got dark. “Yup. What time am I meeting you?”
“Oh, I’ll come get you. You don’t have to drive.”
Did he honestly not see how awkward that was going to be? Was I really supposed to sit in the backseat while they snuggled up front? I was going to feel more out of place on this third wheel date than I had since I found out about Faylinn. I didn’t want him to see my apprehension though, so I agreed.
“Good. This will be fun. Isla’s really looking forward to it.”
Why? I mustered up my best genuine smile. “Me too.”
He nudged my side. “It’s okay if you’re not, Callie.” Though he still had class, he walked me out to my car. “I won’t be offended. I’m still making you go, but I won’t have my feelings hurt if you don’t want to be best friends with Isla.”
“What? No. I’m fine. I like Isla,” I stumbled over my words. Why did I stumble?
He chuckled. “Uh huh… we’re best friends, Callie. I read you like the palm of my hand.”
I shrugged. What else could I do?
I threw my bag in the front seat of my car as I plopped into the driver’s side. If he could read me like the palm of his hand then either I hid my feelings for him really well or he didn’t reciprocate my feelings and chose to act oblivious. I hoped it was the former.
“I’ll see you tomorrow around 6:30ish.” He closed my door and leaned through the open window. “Drive safe.”
When I looked to him, his face was mere inches from mine, close enough to kiss and for the first time in our years of friendship it became instantly awkward.
“Always,” I said as coolly as I could manage, but I didn’t turn away. I wouldn’t back down.
He blinked. Had I imagined it or had he been thrown by our proximity too? Being close to him always felt natural before, but this time something broke, like the wall of friendship we had been able to uphold all of this time had come crumbling down.
I couldn’t do it anymore. I turned back to my steering wheel and twisted my key forward, the engine humming to life.
He cleared his throat, stepping back. “See ya,” he said and waved as I drove away.