Here is another chapter-though it's crappy and partly 'filler'-before I go on my brief hiatus. Exams await.
*****
It was usual for Jess to dread going to school every morning. Heck, it was usual for every child in the world to dread waking up for classes.
However, today, the dread was worse. It pressed on her more heavily than before. She had to sit on her bed for a few minutes to gather herself together.
You can do this, Jessie. You can do this. It's just school. Nothing more.
The moment she closed her eyes to relax, her mind went back to the previous evening. After her calming exercise in the back garden, Doudall had called and asked for her mom's number. She'd given it to him. Half an hour later, her mom had called her with the house phone, and told her to get ready for the little reunion with the Tons. That meeting was today. This evening. Doudall had called again minutes after her mom had broken the news to her. He'd said the inevitable.
They were related by blood. His parents had confirmed it. In fact, his dad had already begun sprouting out a story or two about his early days with Kennedy and Kyros, the eccentric duo.
The eccentric duo. No doubt, Mr Ton was talking about her father and uncle's abilities. It made her wonder how much he knew. But that was the least of her worries right now.
For now, she wanted to curl up on her bed and scream, "I hate my life!" to whoever was out there.
Guy was consistently knocking at the door. Zoe had already called on the house phone twice. There was no avoiding it.
She fell back on her bed, grabbed a pillow. Covered her face and screamed into it. There. At least, she'd tried to release a little frustration.
Something struck her memory. She rushed to her study table, opened a top drawer, took out two books, and put them into her handbag. Then, with a dull expression, she left for school.
The first two periods went like a breeze, mostly because Jess couldn't concentrate. Her thoughts were scattered abroad. Besides the Doudall-is-my-cousin thing, seeing Sophia's guy friend resurrected other buried worries. Sophia's words. Her meeting with "Tristan". The mark, and the voice from the fog. Casmir Lucassen and the Shifters. The psychic killers. In addition, the weird stories she'd noted from Abrasions From The East and The Hyde Syndrome.
The moment the bell rang for recess, she shot up from her chair with her bag and books, and hurried out of class. When she reached the lockers, she spotted Doudall and looked away immediately.
Her heart went thump thump thump as she shoved the books in her hands inside her locker, and slammed the door. She strode out of the classroom block and to the library. Mrs Castellanos was seated at her table. She flicked up one eyebrow at her approach.
Jess slammed the two books on the table. "I'm done with them."
"The return of these books are long overdue. Do you know that?" She adjusted her clear glasses on the bridge of her nose, and examined the books. "Lucky for you, no extra charges on damages. But there are charges for overdue returns. You held them four days longer. Two thousand bucks per book."
"Two thousand?!" Jess' mouth fell open. She was aware of the charges but not the amount. "This is robbery."
"It's not. You should know the rules of the library. Fines are paid for overdue returns."
The girl tossed her hair back, and placed a hand on her left hip. "I have to say that this is a criminal act hidden under institutional diplomacy. I don't agree to this, but I'll only pay so you don't think I'm a 'penny wort'. At least, I can see where the school gets part of its funding."
Maria flicked up a brow in question. "Penny wort?"
"My own version of 'churchrat'," she explained while retrieving her purse from her handbag. "So, card or cheque?" She flashed a gold card between her fingers.
"Cash." She opened the book to check off the books in the 'Borrowed' column. Then, opened another and waited so she could fill in the section for paid fines.
Jess frowned at the woman's answer. "I only have what I can give." She exchanged the card for a chequebook she carried about some days. "Four grand, you say?" She tore off the top sheet, ignoring Maria's hard stare, and even took a pen from the penholder on the table without asking for permission. After filling in the cheque and signing it, she handed it to her.
"There. Tell Polka I had no cash." She turned to leave, while speaking. But stopped to add, "Or I'll tell him myself when I stop by his office to ask him why he extorts money from students through the library."
Maria watched her walk towards the shelves. She shook her head, sighing deeply. After clearing off Jess' debts, she closed the book and put it back in a drawer.
Jess stopped at the same shelf where she'd taken the other two books from. Her eyes scanned the words on the spines. Plain-looking books. Dull covers. Ordinary words with deep meanings. Strong energies oozing out of them.
This brought to remembrance something that had happened when she was eleven.
She had been struggling with hydrokinesis, and already given up. While staring glumly at a pond in the garden behind their beach house in Delaware, Ken had come up to her side. She was sitting on a smooth rock serving as a stool; he was standing beside her. They stared at each other's reflections.
"Why can't I get it right?" she'd whispered. "Why can't I control water?"
He'd remained silent, not answering.
She'd looked up at his face. Not in the reflection. "I'm not as powerful as you are, am I?"
Without looking down at her, still staring at her reflection, he'd said, "Everything has energy, Jessie. No matter how big, no matter how little. Even people have energy. It's the basis of aura reading. You can feel it."
Her gaze returned to the clear surface of the fishless pond. "But I can't feel anything."
"You can. You let your emotions bother you. Fear is what is stopping you from reaching out to the energy in that water. Conquer your fear, then you will feel the power." A firm but gentle hand on her shoulder. "Feel the energy. Use it, control it."
Worry filled her eyes. "What if I never learn?"
"You will." A warm smile. "With time."
Back in the present, Jess closed her eyes and took one deep breath. Focus. Everything has energy. Even these books.
She got a very strong sensation on the left side. Her arm reached forward, her fingers grasped the spine of a book and pulled it out. She opened her eyes. And read the title.
Marmara's Tales.
Curious, she flipped through the pages. A number of diagrams flew by. Good. Pictures to help her understand what she read.
Something told her Mrs Castellanos would be very hesitant to let her have this book. Then, she asked herself, Why did they let them stay here if they are afraid of these books falling into the wrong hands? Not that she was an evil person, but the librarian felt she wasn't fit to read any.
