OF DAWN AND DARKNESS--Ch.8 Chapter 8--Briar Rose I want to be left alone, my whole entire world has been turned upside down in a matter of hours. And its not even noon. I hear a sort of whispery echo that is something my mother says to me every day, but this is not my mothers voice I hear, Stay out of the shadows Briar Rose. For some reason fear crawls up my spine sending chills all over me. I dont like the way it feels--evil-ish. I have to shake it off, although after the events of the day, it is really hard to do. I try to think happy thoughts, like my next class for instance, literature class, but I find myself not even looking forward to it. I sit towards the back of the class after finding out we dont have assigned seats. Right now I just want to sit and try and pull some semblance of understanding as to why I was never told I have a brother. And how can I have a brother that is the same age as me? I hear a voice in my head, one that I recognize as being Arkanes. Briar, Im not the same age as you, I am six years older than you. Yet another unbelievable thing. As if he were sitting right in front of me I yell at him, Then why are you in high school and in almost all of my classes except this one?! Im glad there are only a few students in the classroom with me and all had their iPods, with earbuds in their ears. They do not hear me, only the teacher seems to hear me, a man whom I have never seen before. I hear Arkane again. He chuckles. Im in the class with you now. I changed my schedule. Look at the door. I do as he asks, and naturally there he is. I dont care who hears me anymore. Why are you doing this? His voice is lower than mine, as he sits down next to me at a back table. Why not? I get to spend time with my sister whom I havent seen since . . . I interrupt him . . . Last year. I dont even like you. I cross my arms and stare at the teacher who seems to think this is rather amusing. I see nothing funny about it. Arkane looks sad, at least his face does. I cannot tell anything with how dark his eyes are. So I just ask, because no one in my family has dark eyes. They are all green or blue, hazel or sea-colored like my mother seems to think mine are. Why are your eyes so dark? No one in my family has dark eyes. Theyre not, Briar. He reaches towards his eye like he is about to pluck it out and I cringe away from him. After everything that has happened today, I almost expect him to pluck it out. He laughs. You honestly think I am going to pluck my eye out? At this point today, anything could happen. He reaches again and removes the dark brown contact from his right eye and I see he has the color of Moms eyes, but on the darker side of emerald. Theyre absolutely beautiful. Arkane, why do you wear dark brown contacts over such beautiful eyes? His face lights up. He puts his contact back in. I have to. Some can see things through my eyes. They are not the someones that need to. Its more of a protective shield. You, however will be able to see through, now, to who I am. Try it. I look into his eyes and see the beautiful dark emerald behind the brown. They are the color of the greenest emerald jewel. I want to ask him again why he is still in high school, but six years older than me, but Sam and Jasmine walk in about then. Sam is worse. He comes in looking pale. He sits on the other side of me and Jasmine sits on the other side of Arkane. Something has happened between the two of them, and it is not good. The teacher continues to stare at the four of us. Talk about creepy. Trying to forget the weird, staring teacher, I turn my attention to Sam. He has his head down on the table. His emotions broadside me. Its more than his shoulder. He wont even look at me. I stare across Arkane to Jasmine. I try to convey to her my question without talking, pointing between her and Sam and then shrugging my shoulders. She glares in Sams direction, crosses her arms and sits against the back of her chair a little roughly. She is obviously mad, and it seems like she is mad at Sam. Why? I have no idea. Sams emotions suddenly engulf me, making me feel like Im drowning. I let out a slight gasp. That catches his attention. He finally looks at me. I place one hand on his hurt shoulder. My hand begins to warm like it did earlier when he held it, but this time the warmth seems to come from him and I both. There is a sense of slight relief, maybe the warmth is helping the pain, in his heart, and his shoulder. His eyes lock on mine. I nod in understanding. We both get up and walk out of class. We have five minutes before the warning bell, and five minutes more than that before we are tardy for class. There is a bench at the end of the row of lockers outside our classroom. He takes my hand and leads me to it. We both sit down. Trying to gather his thoughts, he stares down at the floor for a moment. My thoughts are so focused on him, I actually see what he is thinking. Jasmine is mad at him, because he knew that I was Arkanes sister, but she would not allow him to explain to her that he had only known about it since the first incident this morning. For some reason, he is afraid of losing me to this bit of truth, which in my line of thinking is a little bit overboard for him. I grab his hand as something triggers and he realizes, as do I at that moment, that we can now read each others thoughts. Yet another mind-blowing revelation for today. It sort of winds me. I dont want to only use thoughts to communicate. I want us to speak to each other. I couldnt be silent if I tried. This gets a chuckle out of Sam, better than he was. Wearing a confused smile, I speak my thoughts, as I hold to his hand. Jasmine told me something this morning, and the way everything has happened today, I am inclined to believe her. Sams eyes begin to get watery, as he stares off away from my gaze. My fingers cant help but brush his perfect white-blonde hair away from his amazing indigo eyes. It is a stunning combination with the coral shirt he is wearing. He sniffs and clears his throat before taking back the subject of his gaze. What exactly did Jasmine tell you? My smile couldnt help but spread across my face, remembering her words. Well, she said you might just kill her if she told me, so, promise you wont? This gets a hearty laugh out of him as he promises, I promise I wont kill her, might glare at her though. He looks into my eyes and then away quickly. Will you promise me something, Briar? He sniffs and clears his throat once more, staring at the floor, then. What do I need to promise you, Sam? He hesitates. . . . . That you wont walk away from me if I tell you something. Everything suddenly gets quiet and all the students disappear, literally. Did you do that? Sam shakes his head. I think Arkane has a little more control over things than I do. Times standing still isnt it, Sam? I believe it is. Arkanes doing it, isnt he? This is real, isnt it? I actually have a brother I have never known, who I could have known and not hated from the time I saw him. My tears are about to fall, I cannot hold them back much longer. A rush of emotional pain and heavy sadness fills me, on top of what I already feel and its not Sam. Its Arkane. I cant think about Arkane right now. I hate him and I like him all at one time. I have to figure out what is going on right now before I can move anywhere near to fully accepting Arkane. I have to block Arkane right now. I hope he understands. He answers as I hear him in my mind once again. I do understand, Briar, I will do my best to leave you alone, just please dont block me out of your life. I have always loved the fact that I have a little sister. That thought makes me smile, and in return, he smiles too. Surprisingly he closes his own mind to me, letting me know he understands. I am surprised I can do the same. I turn my attention back to Sam. He is still looking down at the ground. I want him to tell me what he was about to. I take Sams arm, and hold it palm up as I run my fingers lightly up and down. It gives him chills as I watch the goosebumps pop out on it. I giggle, as he flinches every few seconds, but continues to allow me to do it. He finally speaks. Do you have any idea how much that tickles? I give him a sideways grin. Yes, its obvious the way the goosebumps popped out on your arm. He reaches further up my arm to wrap his hand around to my elbow. He stares into my eyes. Briar, do you promise me? His eyes glance away from me once more. Yes, I promise I wont walk away. I dont want to, I need some kind of anchor right now, but I want the truth more than anything. I hope I get the answer I want. Briar, just ask. Im scared to ask. And you are killing me with what you want to ask and you wont do it. Sams eyes are getting red. His emotions broadside me again. I finally say it. Sam, why do you stay around me so much? Not that Im complaining, are you my bodyguard or something, because that is basically what you did earlier. Is that the only reason you stick around? Are you paid to do that? Sams look, is almost comical. His jaw drops, he starts to say something, then decides not to, then decides once again to say something. Thats what Jasmine told you?! He is furious, and now is ready to yell at Jasmine. I have to calm him down. No, no, thats not what Jasmine said to me. He immediately calms. Oh, okay, so why did you ask that? I hesitate, because now Im not sure I want to know. . . . Because I dont . . . He puts a finger to my lips. I look down and once more just fold my hands in my lap. Stay here Briar, Ill be right back. Hes gone and back rather quickly. He brings out his notebook and shows me the conversation between he and Jasmine earlier, when I walked out of English. Go check on her. Find her, please. Why should I? Why wont you just give in? Because I dont want to be WRONG! He leaves his finger pointing to the very last word. Is that it, Briar? Is it because you dont want to be wrong? I look up at him as he closes his notebook. Tears start leaking down my cheeks. He reaches up and wipes them away as I speak. You said this morning, you can act with the best of them. Is that all this is? Is it all an act? What do you believe Briar? Do you believe this is all an act? But, all the girls, you could have your choice of any of them and not to mention they would love you to pick one of them. Answer a question for me now. Okay, what? Why do you think I havent picked one of all of those other girls? I dont want to answer him, so I just shake my head as I look down at the floor. He taps under my chin with his finger and tilts my chin up so I have to look him in the eyes. Open your mind to me, Briar, please. I do as he asks and looking into his eyes there is so much he shows me, running quickly through all the fun times we have had since he moved into the neighborhood the summer of fifth grade year, then flash forward to this morning after first class. This goes through my mind in slow motion. It stops as his lips touch my forehead and he whispers, maybe. I begin using maybe in different sentences, all relating to everything that has happened in the past two hours. I do this to aggravate Sam, but he is so patient. Maybe having an older brother isnt so bad. Maybe he cares about me as much as my friends do. Maybe he would do anything he can to help me. Maybe I want to get to know him. I feel another set of emotions spin through me, but they are Arkanes as he comes into my mind. He hears everything I say, and gives it conclusion. Maybe my little sister will give me a good chance. Im one of the good guys. A few more tears fall and I laugh slightly as they do. I relay a message to him. Everyone deserves a chance, and I will give you one. Thank you, Briar Rose. He closes his mind once again to me. I take Sams hand and smile up at him. His eyes glisten slightly, as our wrists and fingertips touch. He shifts his fingers so our hands are now clasped together. I speak whats on my mind. Maybe this is no longer an act. Maybe it wasnt an act to begin with. Maybe . . . He unclasps our hands and places a finger on my lips and finishes the sentence I started. . . . I finally get my wish after seven years. No, this was never an act. The first day I met you I thought you were so pretty, and I was ten. Now I see how beautiful you always have been. Why do you think I have greeted you that way for the past two years, each time I pick you up for school. My day goes from upside down to right side up in a matter of minutes.
Posted on: Tue, 03 Dec 2013 08:02:24 +0000
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