Finding Eden (10 page)

“
Who was?”

“
You.”

“
Me?”

“
Yes.”

He rolls his eyes and I
can't help but notice he's still holding me in his arms, my head
gently cradled in the crook of his arm, seedlings growing.

“
I'm never leaving
you alone again,” he says.

The look in his eyes
scares me, not because I fear for my safety, but because I fear for
the safety of others.

I don't argue with him.

The next day at school
Sahariel is back to following me around. Brock and Evaughn don't say
anything, she just smiles and nods at me as we sit down to eat lunch

“
Oh, did you hear,”
Brock says, “there was a gas leak yesterday. A couple teachers
got all high because of it. Pretty funny.”

I don't say anything; I
just look at Sahariel and am startled to see a livid expression on
his face. I hear him say something that sounds like, “of course
it was a gas leak,” but he says it so quietly I can't be sure.

“
Yeah, Mr. Torres
was freaking out with a bad headache and everything,” Evaughn
comments on her band director.

“
How did it happen
anyway?” I ask.

“
No one knows,”
Brock says, “especially since the pipes were checked last
week.”

“
Yeah, that is
weird.”

“
Probably a prank,”
Brock says.

“
It wasn't a very
nice one,” I say, “someone could have been hurt.”

“
It was just a
prank,” Evaughn says.

“
Yeah, but it
wasn't a very nice one.”

Brock and Evaughn look at
me carefully.

“
Are you okay?”
Brock asks.

“
No,” I say,
“well, yes, I am. But I was affected by that prank yesterday.
It was horrible. So to me it wasn't really a joke. I didn't find it
funny. At all.”

“
Sorry.”

“
Yeah,” Brock
says, “sorry.”

I let out a sigh.

“
It's okay,”
I say, “it just sucked.”

The bell rings a little
while later and I slowly get up and dump my tray. Sahariel follows
me, keeping a small distance between us that frustrates me. I rub my
temples trying to stave off a headache.

“
Please don't do
that,” I say.

“
Do what?”

“
That,” I
motion at the distance between us, “don't walk behind me like
that. It annoys me.”

“
Oh,” he
says.

He takes the steps
between us as if he were walking on eggshells. After a long couple of
seconds, he's finally walking in stride with me again like he did
before.

“
Are you okay?”
I ask.

“
Not really.”
He says.

“
Do you want to
talk about it?”

“
No.”

I frown at him as we walk
into art class. With only a few months left in the school year most
everyone is busy trying to finish their paintings. A few people are
scrambling about, muttering obscenities under their breath, trying
their hardest to finish even though they're not even close to
completing their projects.

“
I'm really glad
I'm finished,” I say, “I don't like being under a time
crunch.”

“
I don't think
anyone does,” Sahariel says, “but some of us don't have a
choice.”

I look at him and expect
him to explain, but he never does. He just sits there and broods next
to me while I doodle on a notepad to ease the time away. A scene
begins to take form, somewhere I know I've never been, yet feels
extremely familiar.

There are trees. It's a
forest maybe. But there is a clearing and in that clearing there is a
fire. Three men stand around the fire. I don't know who they are, and
they're too small in the drawing to have faces, but in the drawing
they're being watched.

“
What did you just
draw?” Sahariel asks.

He's become suddenly
alert, almost angry at me for drawing such a picture.

“
I-I don't know.”
I say.

“
Where did you see
this?”

“
I d-don't know,”
I say, “I don't rem‒”

“
You have to
remember.” He whispers harshly.

“
No I‒”

“
Yes, you do,”
he says, “You have to have seen this somewhere.”

“
Why are you so
angry?” I whisper, “I don't know why I drew this. Stop
and listen to yourself. You're not making any sense.”

I pick up the drawing and
hold it up and look at him, a questioning expression on my face. How
could he be so mad at me over a drawing? I look at the drawing and
try to figure why I drew it.

Is it from a dream?

I continue to stare at it
until I feel Sahariel get up from his seat, the chair scraping
against the ground with a squeal. He doesn't say anything as he gets
up and I watch as he leaves the room. I frown at the drawing,
genuinely wondering what I had done wrong.

Class ends and I pack up
my bag, still unsure about why Sahariel is mad at me. Hell, I'm not
even mad at him, I'm just really confused. I drive home and see dad's
car in the driveway. I park next to his car, jump out and walk into
the house, trying to be as quiet as possible.

Walking into the house, I
cringe when the door closes a little harder than I'd like it to and
the sound echoes past his office and up the stairs.

“
Yes... thank you
for informing me... it's great news... yes... thank you for calling
me... uh-huh... thank you, goodbye,” I hear dad in his office,
the click of the phone as he hangs up. I walk past the door to my
dad’s office to the stairs, trying to be as quiet as possible.

“
Eden, can you come
in here please?” I hear him say as I pass the door.

I slowly push the door
open and it creeks a little. Dad looks at me over a pile of papers in
his hands, an unreadable expression on his face.

“
Can you sit down
for a minute?”

“
Uh, sure,”
I’m confused, but I sit down across from him and try not to
fidget, “what’s up?”

“
I received a
letter from your school today,” he begins. I try not to look
horrified.

“
Okay?”

“
I also just got
off the phone from Julliard,” he says.

He clasps his hands in
front of himself, the odd expression still on his face. Why do
parents emotions have to be so complicated?

I don’t say a word.
I just look at him; nothings clicking into place.

“
You’ve been
approved for early graduation,” he says finally, “The
call was about you being accepted.”

“
They called?”
I ask, “Did you bribe them?”

“
No, I didn’t
bribe anyone,” he says.

“
Then how did I get
accepted?” I ask, “I didn’t even apply.”

“
I must admit
that’s my fault,” dad says, “I had them hold a
place for you since you were seven.”

“
Dad!”

“
What?”

He manages to look
slightly ashamed.

“
You’re
unbelievable,” I say. I try to glare but smile instead.

“
I know,” he
says, “so, dinner tonight or another night?”

“
Do you have time
tonight?” I try not to sound too hopeful.

“
Of course I do,”
he says, “now, I’m going to make a reservation for seven,
so you’ll have a few hours to get ready.”

“
Oh my god.”
I say with a huge grin, “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

I leave his office almost
unable to walk without hopping slightly. I need to go shopping since
the last time I went out for a fancy dinner was when I was twelve,
and I think that outfit would be a bit dated. I grab my purse and my
cell phone, intent on calling Evaughn as I step out the door.

I walk out of the house,
my purse dangling on my elbow. My eyes, despite my clumsiness, are
glued to my phone as I’m dialing Evaughn’s phone number.
I walk down a step and slam into something, my cell phone clattering
to the ground. Then I feel the tug on the back of my brain.

A hand reaches down and
picks up my phone and a familiar smoke smell scent enters my nose.

“
Here you go.”

“
Thank you,”
I say.

I look up at Sahariel,
goose bumps receding from my body.

“
I'm sorry,”
he says, “you know, for earlier. I'm just stressed out is all.”

“
It's okay,”
I say, “just don't do it again.”

He laughs.

“
Understood,”
he says.

I hear the front door
open behind me and I freeze.

“
Eden, I just
wanted to tell y‒” I hear dad say.

I cringe and turn around
slowly, embarrassingly aware of the small amount of space between
Sahariel and me. I look at dad and he just stares at Sahariel.

“
Good evening,
James,” Sahariel says.

I look up at him. How
does he know my dad’s first name?

“
Hello, Sahariel,”
dad says.

My head whips around and
I stare at dad, my mouth hanging open.

“
I guess it’s
about that time then, huh?” Dad asks.

“
I’m afraid
so,” I feel Sahariel shift behind me.

“
Wait. What?”
What the hell is going on? “You two know each other?” My
eyes dart back and forth between the two men.

“
Sahariel, would
you like to join us for dinner?” Dad asks.

“
I think that would
probably be best,” Sahariel says.

“
You two are
insane,” I say and step away from Sahariel, my mind moving at a
hundred miles an hour, never stopping on one idea for more than a
millisecond, “I’m going shopping.”

I walk away from them and
to my car. As I’m driving, I call Evaughn, telling her I have a
shopping emergency. An hour later I’ve picked Evaughn up and we
are at the mall ready to shop.

“
Maybe it’s
some sort of business thing,” Evaughn suggests as she looks
through racks of dresses, “I mean, your dad is a lawyer and
all, maybe he is hiring Sahariel as an aid or something.”

“
Yeah, maybe,”
I hold a dress up to myself, “how about this one?”

Evaughn looks at the
shimmery, emerald green dress that I’ve held up to myself, “How
nice of a restaurant are we talking about?”

“
Uh,” my eyes
graze the ceiling, “the guys would require a tie sort of
fancy.”

“
Then yeah,”
she says, “that dress is perfect.”

I smile at her and we
make our way to the shoes to find some that match.

“
So,” I say,
“I was approved for early graduation.”

“
That’s
great!” Evaughn gives me a huge smile.

“
I’ve also
already been accepted into Julliard,” I try not to be
embarrassed.

“
Are you serious!”
She’s says, “I didn’t even know you had applied.”

“
I didn’t.”

“
Then how?”

“
My dad.”

“
Oh,” she
says in revelation.

We look through the shoes
silently for a few minutes

“
Okay so how about
these?” I model a pair of shoes for her.

“
Those are
amazing,” she says, “you’re going to look great.”

“
Thanks.”

With the dress and shoes
paid for, I drive Evaughn home and head back to my house. My father’s
Lexus is still in the driveway, and despite the fact that there isn’t
another car in front of the house, I know that Sahariel is still in
the house, in my dad’s study. I walk inside and clomp up the
stairs, letting them know that yes, I am home, and no, I’m not
happy.