Realm of the Goddess (2 page)

“Your daughter has many difficulties ahead of her,” he said.

“Yes, just like every other person,” my dad muttered under his breath, clearly not very impressed.

“Do not turn away from your destiny, my child. You cannot fight it.”

We began to walk away when he called out once more.

“Take this talisman. It will keep you safe.”

I couldn’t help myself. I turned around to see what he was talking about. A pendant hanging from a braided black cord dangled from his hand. Against my better judgement I walked back to him and took a closer look. It was a little skull made from mother-of-pearl. I had to touch it, and when I did it felt cool and smooth. I loved skulls. Skull earrings, necklaces, anything. I really liked this pendant.

“Take it, my child. It will keep you safe.” I took it from his hands and turned back to look at my dad.

“Can I keep it, Dad?”

“Oh, alright, if you really like it.” He turned to the old man. “How much is it?” he asked, fishing in his pocket again.

“It is priceless. There is not enough wealth in the world to buy this pendant, but it belongs to you, my child. You must take it,” the old man said. I knew he was trying to sound mysterious and was probably hoping that we would give him a generous amount.

My father shook his head, took a few twenty rupee notes out of his pocket and pressed it into the
sadhu
’s hand. As we were walking away I could feel his eyes following me for a long time. I knew he was blind, but it felt like he could still see. A strange feeling stayed with me all day. That night I had a hard time falling asleep. When I eventually did, I had a nightmare. I was on a battlefield, killing demons with my sword.

Chapter Two

The sound of
the school bell shook me out of my reverie. I was still sitting at my desk in history class, and my test was in front of me. It was blank. I hadn’t answered any of it and time was up. I stood up abruptly, knocking over my chair in the process. It crashed loudly to the floor, and of course every pair of eyes in the room turned to me. I could feel the blood rushing to my face. Mr. Burke came over to me, his face a question mark.

“Callie, are you okay?” Then he looked down at the test in my hand. “You didn’t answer any of it.”

“I’m...I don’t feel so good, Mr. Burke. Is there any way I can write the test later?”

Mr. Burke looked at me for a moment before replying, “Yes, of course, Callie. But maybe you should go see the school nurse.”

I nodded and picked up my things. I needed to get home and just sleep. I went up to the second floor to get the rest of my books from my locker. I would have to do some catching up this evening. Hopefully Ben could fill me in on whatever I was missing today. The bell rang for lunch just as I reached the lockers, and students were streaming out into the hallway. I was still worrying about my history test, so I was really startled when I felt my locker door hit something hard and then I heard someone swearing. Confused, I looked down and found myself gazing into the brownest eyes I had ever seen. They belonged to the face of a boy I didn’t recognize. He still had one hand inside the locker and didn’t look too pleased with me. I felt a rush of guilt as his other hand flew to his head and he grimaced.

“I’m so sorry...I didn’t see you there. Are you alright?” He pulled his hand out of the locker while he gingerly touched his forehead with the other. It was bleeding. Great. Now I felt awful.

“I think I’ll live,” he said, one corner of his mouth tilting up in a most appealing way. He looked at his fingers, which had a smudge of blood on them. I pulled a pack of Kleenex from my locker and offered it to him.

“I’m so sorry...” I said again, clearly unable to say anything more coherent. He was really tall, I observed while he dabbed at his forehead with a wad of tissues. “Do you think you should go see the nurse?” He was still bleeding.

“Nah...I’ll be fine, it’s just a little cut.” Of their own volition, my eyes wandered down from his face and I noticed the ends of what looked like a tattoo peeking out from under the neckline of his blue T-shirt. They were some sort of swirly lines, the black ink standing out prominently on his brown skin. I couldn’t help wondering what the rest of the tattoo looked like.

“By the way, I’m Shiv,” he said, crumpling up the now bloody ball of tissues. It looked like the bleeding had stopped.

“I’m Callie. I don’t remember seeing you here before.” I knew most of the kids in our grade. It wasn’t a very big school, and a lot of us had gone to the same elementary school.

“We just moved here a week ago. So I’m still finding my way around.” He looked at me with a mischievous glint in his eyes. “I’m going to get my books out of the locker now,” he said, bending down but keeping his eyes on me. “So don’t say I didn’t give you a fair warning.”

God, his eyes were delicious. I felt like I was drowning in a pool of hot chocolate.
Get a hold of yourself, Callie.
I didn’t normally swoon over boys, but I had to admit there was something about Shiv. And it wasn’t his exotic looks, the dark, smoldering eyes or even the black hair that curled enticingly at the base of his neck. After all, thanks to my mom’s Indian side of the family, there had always been plenty of eligible boys paraded in front of me since I’d turned sixteen. But none of them had interested me even the slightest bit. Most of them seemed to me like momma’s boys, incapable of finding a girlfriend on their own. Plus I had always been too focused on school to pay attention to them. Thankfully, my parents treated all interest from the Indian aunties as nothing more than Bollywood-style entertainment. But there was something about this guy that had me all hot and bothered.

I shook myself mentally. What I needed was to pull myself together. Shiv was looking at me expectantly and I realized he was waiting for a witty retort. Unfortunately, I had none so I just gave him a watery smile and blurted out the first thing that came to my mind. “Why don’t I show you around? I mean, it’s the least I can do, considering that I wounded you.”

Really, Callie?
I said to myself.
That’s the best you can do?

His eyes brightened and he smiled again. Something warm and fuzzy bubbled deep inside me. Well, maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea. I would show him around, he would say or do something asinine and I would get over the instant crush that I seemed to have developed in the last fifteen minutes. End of story.

He got his books out of the locker, slammed it shut with a resounding clang and stood up. We walked together toward the plaza where all the ‘cool’ kids hung out during lunch. I was strangely curious to see how the Bitch Squad would react to him. That was my personal name for Dahlia Evans and her groupies. I didn’t even know all their names, but they hung around Dahlia all the time like bees swarming around their queen. More like Queen Bitch.

As I walked toward the plaza and saw Dahlia and her entourage, I just wanted to see her face when I walked in with Shiv. I checked him out surreptitiously, trying to see him the way Dahlia might. She would see a tall, gorgeous hunk with dark tattoos on his neck and arms. I realized now that there were more swirly lines showing from beneath the sleeves of his hoodie. Once again, I found myself wondering what they looked like.

Dahlia looked up when she saw me approach. I wish I had a video camera to record the way her mouth shifted from its usual disdainful droop whenever she saw me to a slightly open look of disbelief when she noticed Shiv standing next to me. I couldn’t help myself. I moved the slightest bit closer to Shiv as we walked right past them to where Ben was sitting with his basketball buddies. Ben was my best friend, had been ever since that day in grade two when he had stood up to Dahlia for me. Dahlia and I had history; I’d hated her since elementary school, ever since she took my lunch box, in which my mom had packed my favorite chutney sandwiches. I loved the potato slices, layered with spicy tamarind and cilantro paste, topped with the salty Amul cheese slices, my favorite cheese from my years in Kolkata.

It was hard at first, after we moved. I had to leave behind all my friends, my cousins and all the things I knew and loved. But I had made friends quickly and adjusted well. But Dahlia, who was used to being the center of attention, didn’t appreciate the newbie from India with the weird lunches. So she took my sandwich and held it up for everyone to see. She called it a puke sandwich, squeezing it until the green sauce dripped on the floor. I didn’t know what to do, especially when everyone turned to stare and talk about puke. That’s when Ben had stood up and walked over to Dahlia. He took the sandwich from her and bit into it. Then he proclaimed that it was the yummiest he’d ever eaten. That was ten years ago. Ben and I had been inseparable ever since. He practically lived at our house, having developed a taste for my mother’s spicy Indian cooking. And he always looked out for me.

“Hey guys,” I said now, walking up to them. “This is Shiv. He just moved here.” The guys all shook hands, mumbling introductions. I could see Ben sizing him up. He was always very protective of me, especially when it came to other guys. Everyone would always tease us about our close relationship, but I never saw Ben in that way. He was my best friend, and nothing was worth jeopardizing the closeness we shared. But I couldn’t deny that I enjoyed watching other guys squirm under his intense glare when they first met him. I watched Shiv now and I couldn’t help feeling impressed. Ben could be intimidating to those that didn’t know what a softie he really was. At six foot two and with a muscular build, he was quite the imposing figure. But Shiv returned his gaze with an equally unwavering look. He was asking Ben about the basketball team and I noticed that the other guys were warming up to him. But I could read Ben’s face well enough to know he wasn’t going to make things easy. I decided to rescue Shiv before things became awkward. Just then the bell rang conveniently, signaling the end of the lunch period.

“Guys,” I said, “sorry to break this up, but I promised Shiv I would show him where the chemistry class is.”

We took off down the hallway toward my next class. I felt a small thrill knowing that I would spend the next period with Shiv in chemistry and that Dahlia would be there too. I knew it was petty, but I deserved to watch her squirm a little. I was enjoying the anticipation on her face when we walked in, so I didn’t notice Mr. Burke standing outside his history class until I nearly bumped into him. He was glaring at me.

“Miss Hansen, I’m surprised you are still here.” He looked at Shiv and something in his face changed. It was barely discernible, but I caught it nonetheless. “And who is this?”

Shiv put out his hand immediately. “Shiv Kapoor. I just moved here. It’s my first day. Callie offered to show me around.”

“Did she now?” Mr. Burke said, looking unimpressed. He turned his gaze back to me. “I take it that you’re feeling much better now? Then you must be well enough to come to my office after last period.”
Great. Now he’ll never let me take that test again. Just what I need.

“Yes. Mr. Burke. I’ll be there.” I could feel my face getting warm, and I really wanted to just go into class. Mr. Burke gave me one last look of disdain before turning around and heading into his own classroom.

“I hope you’re not in trouble because of me,” Shiv said as we walked in.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s fine,” I said, walking over to my usual seat. I looked at the empty seat next to me. It didn’t look like the kid who usually sat next to me was coming today, which was no surprise since he had only shown up a few times since the beginning of the semester. I gestured to Shiv that he could sit next to me. I had just taken out my chemistry textbook when the clattering of high heels signaled the arrival of Dahlia and her entourage. I wondered how they were still in this class since all four of them seemed to share a brain.

Dahlia walked past me, slowing down just long enough to take a good look at Shiv. Her gaze lingered at the base of his throat, where the dark blue swirls of his tattoo were visible. I watched her mouth go from a sexy pout to an awkward grimace when she realized that Shiv gave her nothing more than a fleeting glance and then turned back to me. Twice in one day. That must have been a record for her. I had a strong urge to let out a hoot of laughter, but I managed to control myself. During the entire period Dahlia and her friends whispered to each other and shot darts at me with their eyes. Shiv was blissfully oblivious to the turmoil he was causing. No doubt the Bitch Squad couldn’t figure out why on earth he would want to sit with me. I had never enjoyed chemistry more.

Afterward, I showed Shiv to his next classroom and then didn’t see him for the rest of the day. I was preoccupied with why Mr. Burke wanted to see me as I walked down the stairs to his office on the lower level. He was on the phone when I knocked, so he gestured for me to sit down. I looked around while I waited. His office held an eclectic array of décor from all over the world. There were tiny statuettes of gods and goddesses from different cultures lining the shelves on one wall. A stone tablet engraved with what looked like Sanskrit words perched on a metal base on a little table next to his big desk. I wouldn’t have pegged him for a mythology buff, but then again, I only saw him in history class. He finished up his conversation and hung up.

“So, Miss Hansen. You said you were feeling unwell earlier today, so I agreed to give you another chance to write the test.”

“Yes, and I really appreciate it. I was going to go home, but then I started feeling a bit better and decided to stay,” I said.

Mr. Burke looked at me skeptically for a moment. “Miss Hansen, I feel that your work hasn’t been up to your usual standard. I read your last essay and frankly I was not impressed. It lacked focus, and you rambled on quite a bit. I know you have your sights set on a good university, so I will give you a chance to pull up your grade.”

I gaped at him in disbelief. I always got good grades and worked really hard for them. I had no idea what he was talking about. I did not ramble.

“I will let you do some extra credit work,” he was saying, ignoring my shocked expression. “You will come to my office every day after school and work on the assignments I give you. Is that clear?”

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. As I got up to leave, I was bristling with resentment. I would have to cut back on my after-school tutoring hours. I’d been saving for a car for summer, and now Mr. Burke was messing everything up. I stomped all the way home, glad that my parents weren’t back yet. I just needed to be alone to figure out how I would deal with Mr. Burke and my plummeting history grade. I ate some crackers and hummus then got ready for work.

The tutoring center was a ten-minute drive from my house and when I got there the place was already humming with kids of all ages. I walked up to the reception desk to sign in and say hi to Carla, the owner. Then I went to my usual room to spend the next three hours helping my students with their math homework. On the way home I stopped for a latte because I knew I would have to stay up late doing my homework. By the time I got home it was getting dark and my parents’ car was in the driveway. I was lucky they shared a ride to work at the university and I could use the extra car. But that would change in the fall when my dad started his new job and my mom would have to use her own car. Now it looked as if I would have to get used to riding the bus everywhere. When I walked in I found them chatting excitedly. It sounded like she was making dinner plans for the weekend.