Mark of the Seer (5 page)

She grimaced. “You're a joke, Clarity. I don't know what Brenton sees in you.”

Suddenly Kora stood to her feet, startling me and the other girls. “Look,” she said, getting nose to nose with Daria, “why don't you and your little idiots go sit down before we have a problem, Diarrhea.”

Great. Kora brought out her pet name for Daria.

Daria stood firm, but her friends took a couple steps back. “Face it, Kora,” she hissed, crossing her arms. “You're poor white trash who sleeps with anything that has a pulse. All because your daddy left and didn't love you.”

Kora retaliated with equal animosity. “Face it, Daria,” she spoke softly, “you like it when your daddy tucks you in at night...” She paused, then said in a malicious whisper, “And you absolutely love it when he gets tucked in with you, and...”

I jumped from my seat and positioned myself in between them. I could not let this face-off continue, not in the direction it was heading.

“Stop it! Both of you, just stop. Daria,” I said, glaring at her sternly, “this is so stupid. Grow-up and leave it alone.” I could feel the anger rising in my chest. Daria stared defiantly at Kora and then at me.

“OK,
Clearity
,” she spat, turning on her heel and walking away, her cronies following a step behind.

I looked at Kora, taking my seat.

“Did you not hear me tell you to ignore them?”

She smiled as she took her seat. “I heard you, but what kind of fun would that be just to ignore them?” She cocked an eyebrow. “Besides, I won that battle.”

I sighed dramatically. “Yeah, but one day fists are gonna fly and noses are gonna bleed.”

Her features hardened, and she gazed into the empty air. “That's what I'm counting on, Clar-bear. That's what I'm counting on.”

I shook my head, amazed at her stubbornness. Here we all were, seniors in high school, and they're still acting like a bunch of infants. What were they gonna do, fight with each other for the rest of their lives?

In my head I pictured Kora and Daria as ninety year old women living in a nursing home, chasing each other using walkers and swinging their bedpans at one another. The picture I formulated in my brain was so hilarious I giggled to myself, getting a peculiar look from Kora.

“What are you thinkin' about?” A male voice asked behind me. I didn't need to see to know who the voice belonged to.

“Brenton,” I said, grinning, turning around in my seat. “You're in here, too?” Right after I asked that question, I felt like a moron. Of course he was—he had already taken the seat behind me!

“Yep,” he answered politely, not calling me out on my “duh” moment. “How's it going so far, uh?” He gently massaged my shoulder.

“Well, you missed the first bout of the year between Kora ‘The Mouth’ and Daria ‘The Chest’.” I rolled my head to the side. “Other than that, same ol' same ol'.”

Kora squinted her eyes at me. “Hey, why am I known as ‘The Mouth'?"

Mischievously, I told her, “Because that's the only big thing on you.” I gestured at her chest. “I mean, really, Kora. You seem to be missing something right around your chest area...”

“Stop,” she interrupted, clamping a hand on my mouth. “That's enough talk about my boobies and lack thereof. Not everyone can have cleavage as perfect as yours.”

I winked at her, taking her hand from my mouth.

Brenton intentionally cleared his throat, gaining my attention.

“So,” he began with a dimpled grin, “if you guys are done talkin' boobs, how about you let me see your schedule, Clare.”

Kora and I both laughed as I handed over my schedule—and then something strange occurred.

The air had turned unusually warm, not hot and sticky, but just warmer than usual. The scent of lavender filled the air, covering up the nasty foot smell in the classroom. The chatter and noise all around me turned into echoes. A girl laughing, the pencil sharpener running, the scrape of a chair being moved on the floor—all echoing in my ears, as if I was in some kind of deep tunnel. I looked around, noticing how nobody was being affected but me.

That's when I saw him.

He was standing just outside the door, standing as still as a statue. His hair was a glossy black and his skin was barely above a pale shade. He was dressed in jeans and a black t-shirt, looking like the average, normal teenage boy. Except I knew there was absolutely nothing normal about this boy. I could tell that by the way his eyes glowed a bright blue; Eyes that were staring straight at me.

“Hey, we got lunch together, Clarity,” I heard Brenton say somewhere deep in the tunnel, but I didn't acknowledge him. Not because I didn't want to, but because I couldn't. It was like I was in a trance, just at the sight of this strange but gorgeous boy. People were walking into the classroom, walking past him as if he wasn't there. I found that to be strange as well, because this guy was a total hottie!

I tried to speak but found I could not. My tongue felt as if it had grown twice its normal size, feeling way too heavy to occupy my mouth. Next to me, in the background, I could her Kora talking, probably to me. I didn't say anything back. I just felt it necessary, in some odd way, for all my attention to be directed at this boy...a boy I'd never seen, nonetheless.

His mouth moved as I heard my name being whispered. It was the only sound that I could hear clearly through all the echoes and noises around me. The weirdest thing was that when his mouth moved, whispering my name, it sounded like he was right next to me, even though he was standing outside the door. For a second I thought I felt warm breath on my ear, hearing my name from the most beautiful voice I'd ever heard.

“Hey, Clarity, didja hear me?” Kora asked, and just like that, everything snapped back to normal. The tunnel was gone along with the echoes, the temperature normal. All the noises were clearer as my head cleared along with it. I let a breath out, long and hard, not realizing I'd been holding it. I turned my attention to Kora.

“W-what'd ya say?” I asked clumsily.

“I said Kevin's in here, too.” She through a thumb behind us, her eyes gleaming with excitement as I looked back to see him next to Brenton.

Brenton's expression was full of concern. “You OK?” he asked me.

I smiled, nodding. “Yeah,” I lied, “just tired is all.” I turned back around, my eyes searching for the boy at the door. To my disappointment, he was gone. The bell rang and the teacher bustled in the room, grabbing chalk and telling everyone to settle down. Getting right down to business.

I spent the next hour wondering about what had just happened to me. There was something strange about him, and I knew I was going to have to find out exactly what it was.

No matter what, I had to find out about that boy with the glowing blue eyes.

Chapter Four

The school day went by in a turtles pace, and now that I'd made it to work it felt like time had stilled. To my distinct annoyance Janey Thomas, my fellow cashier, was asking the most popular question of the day.

“What's going on between Kora and Kevin?” she asked, flipping her strawberry blonde hair over her shoulders. “I saw them at lunch today and they were, like, acting like the best of friends, which is so totally weird because they've never even looked at each other, let alone talked to one another. Then Casey tells me he saw Kevin walking her to her car after school. Plus the whole school’s buzzin' about how she's cheating on Nick. So, what gives?” Her hazel eyes extensively bored into mine, showing suspicion.

My head was spinning as it tried to digest Janey's fast moving mouth. She didn't just talk—she talked a
lot
, and that was just the way she was. And truthfully, with all she said and asked, I had no clue on what was going on with Kevin and Kora. So I quickly decided to clear Kora's name of her alleged cheating.

“I don't know what's going on between Kora and Kevin, but I do know she's not cheating on Nick.” I paused, glancing up from the magazine I had been flipping through. “She broke up with Nick Friday night.”

Her eyes grew wide, her mouth agape. “She broke up with Nick?” she questioned, astonished with my admission. I nodded my answer. “Wow,” she expressed, clucking her tongue, “I didn't know she had it in her.”

“Janey,” I said, my eyebrows shooting up in double arches, “he was a total jerk-wad to Kora. It's a good thing she dumped his sorry, self-centered, conceited butt.”

“No, no, no,” she replied, instantly regretting her choice of words. “I didn't mean that breaking up with him was a bad thing. I think it's been a long time coming! I just didn't think, ya know, in Kora's position, that she could afford...ya know...with all the security and stuff Nick gave her...”

I knew exactly where she was going.

“What you're trying to say,” I interrupted, a weary smile caressing my lips, “is that you didn't think she could break away from all the meaningless crap that Nick showered her with because she's...
poor
.” I whispered the last word.

Her face flushed, immediately embarrassed.

“Y-yeah, well, yeah.”

I glanced back down at my magazine. “Well, she surprised us both—she's stronger than she lets on. Besides, all the material stuff Nick gave her was just him trying to buy her love. That's it.” I wasn't surprised at all with Janey's way of thinking—her upbringing had been the exact opposite of Kora's.

Janey lived on the rich side of town in a three story mansion. She drove a brand new Mercedes convertible and had three of her daddy's credit cards in her purse. She didn't even need a job. The only reason she worked was to show her parents that she could work a “normal” job that “normal” people worked.

Kora, far on the other hand, lived in a run-down trailer park close to the county line. The trailer was a two-bedroom, one bath mess of mold, dirty dishes, and carpet with holes in it. Also, it harbored a recliner with a permanent drunk woman passed out in it, usually holding a lit cigarette. Kora also had a “normal” job working forty-plus hours a week at the Garlandton Theater to support herself and her mother, since her mother could not hold a job because of her many addictions.

So in this bleak reality, comparing two very different and opposite lives, Janey would never understand where Kora comes from and vice-versa.

A moment went by before the bell by the door rang, a signal to us workers that we had company. It was Casey, Janey's boyfriend, walking in for his shift (thirty minutes late). Now all three of Baker's employees were present, not counting Mr. Baker, who was “busy” in his office.

“Hey, guys. I'm here,” Casey announced, giving Janey a quick kiss on her cheek. His platinum blonde hair was styled in messy spikes.

I checked my watch. “Wow, Casey, I'm impressed. You're only thirty minutes late today.”

He grunted, shooting me with a sour look.

“Why are you so late, sugar plum?” Janey asked him, her voice nauseatingly sweet.

He sighed as he put on his yellow work smock. “I got detention for being late for Calculus.”

“On the first day of school?” I questioned, baffled. “Just how late were you?”

“Um,” he stammered, calculating his thoughts, “maybe. Twenty minutes?”

Janey and I responded using the same words simultaneously. “Twenty minutes? Are you insane?” We looked at each other, then exploded with laughter.

“That was friggin' weird,” Casey told us.

“
You're
friggin' weird,” I shot back sarcastically.

I watched Janey and Casey a minute as they put on a show of kissing and baby talk, making me gag. Putting my magazine down, I crossed my arms at my chest.

“Ya know,” I began, glaring icily at the two of them, “seeing you guys together reminds me of something...something important.” I paused, my finger tapping my chin, my eyes staring into the empty air. “Oh yeah,” I said, looking back at them with eyes made of icicles, “I'm seriously ticked at both of you for stranding me here Saturday...by
myself
...to do
everything
...by
myself
.”

Janey was the first to react. “Wait, Clare, I had a legitimate excuse. I had to babysit my little sisters because mom and dad had business to take care of that day.”

I stared at her skeptically.

“Honestly, I had no choice! So please, don't be angry with me. I'll make it up to you. Please, don't be mad!” She clasped her hands together, as if begging me for forgiveness.

She had a major problem with insecurity, which I could not comprehend because she was beautiful and rich. But her insecurity blinded her from her true self, causing her to be shy and not have many friends. That was why she was freaking out at the moment, because she thought I was actually mad at her, which I really wasn't. I just loved giving her a hard time.

To put her mind at ease, I laughed and grabbed her praying hands. “Okay, listen. I'm really not mad at you. Seriously, don't leave me hangin' like that again. I'm used to
that,
” I pointed at Casey, “skipping out all the time.”

“Hey,” he said, puffing his chest out. “I really was sick.”

Janey snorted. “Yeah, from a hangover.”

“Speaking of Saturday,” Casey said quickly, intent on changing the subject. “Did you guys see Don Freeman today? His hand is royally busted! There's no way he'll be playing football this year.”