Silent Echo (28 page)

“Fun? Are you kidding me?”

But Leucosia had vanished from the screen, and Portia figured that she might as well unroll the parchment that she kept in her night table drawer.

Induce Growth of a Flower before Your Very Eyes.

That certainly wasn’t screaming “fun” to her.

Stop the Rain from Falling upon You and Yours.

Intriguing…but when she looked outside, it was a perfectly clear night.

Command Respect, Aretha Style.

Now that sounded like fun.

Dionysus must have put that one in there.

She hopped out of bed, grabbed a hairbrush, and started to sing an earth-shattering and cathartic rendition of the Queen of Soul’s best-known song
.

She must have been louder than she thought because halfway through her parents barged into her room and joined in on her impromptu performance. At first she was a bit put off by their guest appearance—I mean, who wants to see their mother screaming out “R-E-S-P-E-C-T” while their father is doing something that’s sort of a half shimmy, half seizure?

But after a few minutes of singing and dancing around with them, Portia gave into the sheer joy of the moment, basking in the love of her parents, allowing herself to feel once more like a child.

She had a feeling that this moment would officially mark the end of what was, despite its impediments, a very happy childhood.

The morning after Portia tried to convince him that she was a Siren, Felix awoke and wondered if he had dreamt the whole thing. But as he went about his morning routine, he couldn’t stop mentally interlocking the pieces that fit her story so well. The way the other boys had suddenly started falling all over themselves every time she walked by. The way Max admitted to him just the other morning that he was powerless to stop her from flirting with Daniel Becker. And all the time, he,
deaf him
, was able to see the situation objectively.

He was not relishing going to school that day, especially after having totally bailed on Gabrielle last night, even for a late-night video chat. But he had missed enough school while he was with Dean, and frankly he was worried about Portia. She had been so convinced of her own story, so convincing.

He couldn’t help but notice how easy it was for him to slip right back into the “thinking only of Portia” mode. Maybe now that they had reopened their lines of communication, things could go back to normal with them. Maybe even progress past normal.

But with barely one foot through the door at RPA, ‘normal’ was nowhere to be found.

The area around Felix and Portia’s lockers was littered with boys. Some were waiting for a turn to write on her message board. Others seemed to be just waiting. The air was charged with a blend of testosterone and desperation, the combination of which Felix actually found nauseating.

A tap on his shoulder interrupted Felix’s assessment of the situation, and he turned around to see Jacqueline and Charlotte. On the periphery, he caught Gabrielle shooting him a nasty look and storming off. But he just couldn’t muster caring at the moment.

“What the hell is going on here? Ce n’est pas possible!” questioned the French girl.

Felix liked Jacqueline but had had to spend a great deal of time acclimating himself to reading her multilingual lips.

“Your guess is as good as mine.” He hoped he sounded believable. If Portia really was going nuts, then the situation needed to be treated delicately, without the addition of unsolicited judgments and idle gossip.

“She’s not even here yet,” Charlotte chimed in, “and they’re already lining up. I just don’t get it.”

What’s to get?
he thought to himself.
Her research paper went to her head and now she’s convinced herself that she’s a Siren and has probably been flirting relentlessly with like every one of these guys…

The threesome turned back toward the bizarre scene. Daniel Becker must have arrived super early, as he held the first spot just in front of the locker. Right behind him, Felix was disappointed to see that Luke and Lance had muscled their way in for a prime location. The twins had a glazed look in their eyes and weren’t even talking to one another. It was the first time Felix had ever seen them maintain a modicum of silence. Zachary Wilson’s head popped out of the crowd, and the rest of the boys just kind of blended into each other, a messy sea of suitors, all vying for a dose of Portia Griffin.

When she finally sauntered in, ear buds dangling from her ears, Felix noted an arrogance about her. There was an exaggerated sway in her hips, a haughtiness that sent shivers down his spine.

He wondered if lithium would end up being the prescribed drug as his heart wrenched at the sight of her.

“Hi, boys,” she purred as she navigated the crowded path toward her locker.

The boys began clamoring for her attention, a hungry pack of dogs competing for a raw steak. Trying to speak above one another, they inched in closer, each one trying to outwit the other.

A slow grin came to Portia’s lips as Felix followed her gaze to the approaching Max Hunter.

“Whoa, ease up there, fellas.” Felix read Max’s lips, sensing that the guy was feeling a greater unease than he was letting on.

Portia pushed her way through the throng of boys.

“Hi, Max.” She fingered the collar of his shirt, flaunting crimson painted nails. “I was just thinking about you—I guess it’s this song that reminded me of you. Remember when I admitted to you I was an Ella Fitzgerald fan? Did you know there’s actually a site where people post their own songs that they’ve written posthumously just for Ella? Kind of like ‘Ella Fitzgerald Fan Fiction.’ ”

Felix had trouble making out the word “posthumously,” but still he was only too aware that something was very off.

“Well, this one really got me,” Portia continued, her eyes bright and dewy, “so I decided to make my own recording of it. Wanna know what it’s called?” she taunted.

Max took the bait. “Sure.”

“You Can Take It Slow, Baby,” Portia said, revealing a magnificent mischievous smile.

“I beg your pardon.” He looked around to find that everyone was observing their interaction.

“You know, as in the best kind of all-nighter. It actually reminded me a bit of a Cole Porter track—you know, all that hidden subtext. Maybe they should add this one to the RPA musical…” Portia pulled the headphones out of the iPod and turned the volume all the way up. The halls of RPA were suddenly draped in the velvet of her recorded voice.

“You can sing out slow, baby,

You can start at the top,

But once you sing down low, baby,

I’m gonna beg you not to stop…”

Portia couldn’t resist the urge to join in. She began harmonizing to her own voice, edging in closer to Max.

“You’ll reach octaves high, baby,

Notes you never thought you’d get,

And when you can’t go on, baby,

I will make it a duet…”

Her voice completely surpassed the legendary Ella’s, mesmerizing all who were present. Felix didn’t have to actually hear the sound that was coming out of Portia’s mouth to know that she had sparked a car chase that would undoubtedly result in someone crashing. He glimpsed Luke and Lance elbowing each other aggressively to gain a better vantage point. In fact, all the boys were trying to elbow their way in for a better view.

She’s actually playing the role. She is so convinced that she is actually fooling them all…

Meanwhile the swagger in Portia’s hips grew more exaggerated as her eyes became a lusty storm of sapphires. Max was practically foaming at the mouth.

“…And when the record’s done, baby,

We’ll just play it again…”

The left hook to Lance’s face was completely unanticipated. Luke landed the punch right onto his brother’s nose, and the twins fell to the floor, wrestling furiously, punching and kicking. Felix ran over to try to break up the fight.

But everyone else was ignoring the brawling brothers, refusing to be even momentarily distracted from Portia’s performance.

“…’cause if you think we should stop, Baby,

I say, ‘No, I’ll tell you when…’
”

Daniel Becker was suddenly on the floor, wrestling it out with the O’Reillys, screaming out some kind of expletive and declaring that he had dibs. Felix had to do something to break the spell. A split-second opportunity arose for him to shoulder his way in closer to Portia, the ringmaster of this circus gone awry.

“Snap out of it, Portia!” he screamed, simultaneously signing at her, his hands right up in her face.

“Portia,” he spelled her name out with superhuman speed, having formed his fingers around the familiar letters a million times before. “Please stop. You’re out of control.”

Portia danced in closer to Felix, throwing him a challenging look.

“—Cuz you can take it slow, baby,

You can sing and croon,

And when you hit those notes, baby,

You can watch me swoon…”

“It won’t work on me, Portia. I’m not interested. Where are you? Where is
my
Portia?”

His words were the magic clap of the hypnotist. She stopped singing, her head practically doing a three sixty, taking in the chaos around her.

In earnest, she signed to Felix, “Please get me out of here.”

Felix shot Max a final look of pity before grabbing Portia’s hand and heading for the door.

♪

“OK, so let’s say for one crazy moment that you are actually what you say you are,” he signed when they were finally settled on the top bleacher at the football field, “then what’s with all the Jekyll and Hyde stuff? Wouldn’t you just be, like, Goddess-like all the time?”

And so in a torrent of emotion, Portia signed out the entire harrowing tale of how Ligeia, Parthenope, and Proteus were trying to take her over in order to take revenge on Leucosia. She had to respell the names for Felix several times before he finally got them right. When she told him of Proteus’s shape-shifting abilities, he began to laugh as he had done the day before. But she remained steadfast, and his laughter disappeared just as quickly as it had come. He didn’t offer any reaction after that, reserving all of his questions for the end.

When Portia was finished unloading all the details, she was completely spent. The only thing she had omitted from her recap was the plan to take Proteus down on the anniversary of Ligeia’s death, afraid that Felix would try to thwart or, worse yet, aid her efforts. This was her battle—well, hers and Leucosia’s—and she certainly wasn’t going to put Felix in harm’s way by getting him involved.

“So are you gonna abandon me now that you know just how much of a freak I am?” She delivered the question jokingly, but inside she was quaking with fear.

They sat in silence for a prolonged moment until finally he reached for her hand.

“You’ve always been a freak, Portia,” he teased her playfully, “a bird-loving, book-reading, soccer-playing, music-obsessed, silent—but now vocal—freak.”

She had to admit, he did have her number.

“But you’re
my
freak,” he continued. “And I’m not going anywhere. I promise. I’m not saying that I’m ready to jump on the whole Siren vs. Shape-shifter bandwagon, but I will try to help you through whatever it is you’re going through.”

Flooded with relief that Leucosia was no longer her sole ally, Portia pulled him in for a hug.

She tipped her forehead gently against his and they sat for a minute, feeling each other’s warmth, the sweetness of each other’s breath. A slight drizzle interrupted the moment, forcing them to draw apart and start gathering their things together.

Glancing at his watch, Felix couldn’t believe that they had already missed first period.

“Shit, we better go.”

But she wasn’t ready to face everyone yet. “You go—I need a few minutes to pull myself together.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, go ahead. I’ll be in soon.”

He grabbed his bag and gave her hair an awkward tousle before heading off. As she watched him approach the school, Portia felt a sense of peace that she had not felt for weeks. At least he would try to be there for her. To understand.

The rain had started streaming down, and suddenly she remembered something from her homework list:

Stop the Rain from Falling upon You and Yours.

Closing her eyes, she tilted her head to the sky and sang. She sang for Felix, who could never know the glory of her voice. Who would never know how much she loved and respected him. Who couldn’t see how beautiful he truly was to her.

She sang because she couldn’t protect him from the heartache and the confusion, but at least she could protect him from the rain…

♪

Max avoided Portia for the rest of that morning, seething about the way she had made such a spectacle out of herself. She had become a field of land mines that he was tired of navigating.

So why the hell was he?

When Felix had finally dragged her away that morning, Max was mercifully released from the spell of her song. He had stormed off into the men’s room, where he proceeded to kick in the door to one of the stalls with such force that it immediately came off its hinges.

“Hey, Max, what gives?” It was Mr. Woods, his music teacher.

“Oh, hey, sorry. I’m just blowing off some steam. I’ll fix it…” Max tried fidgeting with the door hinges but they weren’t salvageable. “Well, I’ll make sure it gets fixed, Mr. Woods, don’t worry.”

“You wanna talk about it?”

“No, I don’t want to bloody well talk about it!”

The teacher took a crack at fixing the door himself, but the task proved too challenging for him, too. “It’s that girl, right? That one I’ve seen you in the music room with? I’ve heard through the grapevine that she’s become quite forward with the boys.”

Max was surprised that his music teacher had his finger on the pulse of the social drama at RPA.

“Yeah, her name is Portia and she’s like this…like this disease or something. It’s like I know she likes me, but then these moods come over her where she starts throwing herself at other guys. Right in front of me! And I want to dump her. I do. But I can’t. I literally cannot. I don’t think I could live without her at this point.”

“Probably not.” The certainty with which his teacher spoke to the matter was annoying but before he could protest, “Hey, Max, why don’t you try playing fire with fire?”

Max looked up, wondering at his teacher’s strategy.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, have you ever noticed the upright in the far left corner of the dining hall? It’s actually pretty close to where the sophomores sit.”

An idea began to gel in Max’s head. “Mr. Woods, I do believe you have something of the devil in you.”

“You should only know, Max.” The teacher shuffled the boy into the hallway. When he was alone, Proteus looked into the mirror and traced his finger along the raised arc on his blue-eyed face.

♪

Max waited until the dining hall was filled to capacity. Bypassing his usual table without even a curt greeting, he wondered if Portia even caught the snub. At this point, he didn’t care. He was on a mission.

Sitting down at the Story & Clark, he noted that the instrument was not nearly as high-end as the Steinway in the music room, but it would do well enough. A couple of quick chords confirmed it—he was on his game.