The Evensong (5 page)

AGENTS
OF
CHANGE

“Red will be your main color, but that’s just the accents. We’ll all be running free of constraints when this happens.”

I looked at the thin piece of red cloth Rene slid across the table. I picked it up and rubbed it between my fingers, hardly listening to what else she was saying. She picked the wrong time to talk to me about the coming of age ceremony—it was raining again.

“Riley? Did you hear me?”

“No,” I admitted as I dropped the cloth, meeting Rene’s gaze. She gave me a disappointed look and resumed writing on the paper she had in front of her.

“This has to be organized.
Soon.
I know you don’t feel all that well, but just bear with me for a moment,” she said, still writing.

“What else do you want to know?” I asked, gazing out the window as the rain poured down in sheets.

“Food stuff. You’re all right with the strawberries? Orange water cream?”

“Yeah.” I was being absentminded, but I trusted her decisions. She was running the thing anyway.

“All right. I guess I’m done with you for now,” she said, taking the cloth back in her hand. “But do me a favor for tonight.”

“Okay,” I replied, pausing before I stood.

“Make a list of the people who are going to be there. Anyone from town, you know—friends.”

I just looked at her for a second, wondering if she was joking. “Friends in town?”

“Meryl’s one of them,” she pointed out. I scoffed at that, knowing this list was just a joke, but I agreed to do it anyway.

I scrawled out a list of names when I went back to my room. It included every female in the house, and Meryl. That’s it. There was no one else to invite to the little party afterwards; it would just include the boys from home. I wondered if the list would be different had I went to the public school in town. Probably not since I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone what I could do. So I would have to settle for this, like I would have had to do in any other situation.

When I’d finished the list, I lay down on my bed, holding a pillow as I stared out the window. My headache was slowly ebbing away, though I wished it hadn’t been there to begin with. If I were in any other place would this have happened? Was I doing something to cause it?

I couldn’t think of any good reason, and Rene really couldn’t give me any insight. Talking about problems like that wasn’t nearly as bad as it used to be; before it was like talking about sex or something. Even Justine had trouble going to anyone with her questions. At least Rene posed as a mother figure, not just a guardian.

That got me thinking about my parents, the biological ones. I remembered them vaguely, though unfortunately my aunt’s memory was more profound. She always told me my mother was too young to have a child. “She’s just a baby like you,” she used to say. I hardly understood this then, but I accepted it without much questioning. Too many questions and my aunt would insist I be quiet.

I remember wandering around the grocery store the day I got lost. One minute auntie was standing beside me, the next I was suddenly alone in the dairy section. I must have walked around the store for half an hour before someone tapped on my shoulder. At the time, I thought Rene was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen with her long brown hair, going down to her waist and her big blue eyes. Maybe her smile is what comforted me most.

No one questioned me leaving with her. It must have looked so natural, a young woman carrying out her daughter, small arms around her long neck. I hardly questioned anything at first, until she took me to the house and explained things.

Thunder suddenly cracked over the house, and the lights went out. It left the room a shadowy gray, and my head throbbed a few times. I pressed my face into the pillow and sighed, looking up when I heard my door open. Alysana walked in, smiling slightly as she closed the door behind her.

“Hey,” she said quietly. I smiled in reply as she sat next to me, staring out the window. “I’d say we go out somewhere, but this weather’s pretty bad.”

“I bet the swamps are awesome right now,” I said, grinning. Alysana wrinkled her nose.

“Hell no. I’d prefer a café or something.”

I thought about it for a minute, looking out at the gale. “Is a bookstore okay?”

Alysana knew what I meant when I suggested the bookstore. It wasn’t the most sociable hangouts, but we went there all the time. It was old and huge, holding shelves upon shelves of all sorts of books, all genres. There was a small café in the back, but we usually got lost among the aisles, crouching on low stools as we flipped pages.

I clutched the hot tea I had bought as I waited for Alysana. I was anxious to go looking through the volumes, and since there were a lot of people here today, I wanted to find a secluded corner, too. No one really spoke much, so the rain just filled in the silence with its dull drone and the occasional roll of thunder.

“You didn’t have to wait,” Alysana said when she stood next to me, coffee and sugar packet in hand.

“Come on, we always disperse at the same time,” I replied as we walked back into the store.

“True—hold this?” She held out her coffee, and I held it with my free hand while she poured in the sugar and stirred with a wooden stick. She tried it once before deciding it was okay.

“Okay, I’m good,” she announced. I smiled and took another sip of mine, looking towards the shelves.

“All right—let’s go. I’ll find you if I see anything interesting,” I said.

“Okay, same here,” she replied, already off to the right. I took the left, heading towards the mythology section.

I passed through the huge paperback sci-fi section, briefly glancing at a few things before moving on. I casually walked by other people, heading deeper into the maze and hoping to find an aisle to myself.

I finally found the mythology shelves, and two other people were hovering around. One had already occupied the only stool. Pausing, I wondered what to do. I wanted books here, but I didn’t want to stand by and wait to sit down.

Scanning the spines, I plucked out a few titles, not really thinking it over. I piled four books in my arm and walked away, turning down the next aisle. It may have been fantasy, but surprisingly, no one was here. I plunked down on the rickety stool and put the books on the floor next to me. Balancing my tea in one hand, I opened the first book in my lap. I started flipping through, gradually getting immersed as the store quieted.

Only the sound of the rain became apparent over the small noise of my flipping pages. I had picked up a book about Morgan Le Fae, and I was entranced with the beautiful illustrations. Most of the pictures were lined in gold leaf, and it subtly caught the light, further pulling me in.

After fifteen minutes, I was pretty oblivious to everything around me. I got sucked into the reading and the facts, hardly aware of much else. The rain was forgotten, and the last of my headache was diminishing when someone else walked into the aisle.

I was almost in a projection-like state, and I jolted back into normal thought. Trying not to be obviously put off, I glanced through my hair, immediately regretting it. The stranger—the one everyone was talking about—had wandered into the aisle. I clenched my teeth, holding back a few choice swears. I couldn’t just get up and leave; he’d probably already seen me by now, and if I was thinking correctly, he might even just follow me. Judging by his actions the last time I’d seen him, he seemed like the type that would bug on purpose. I stayed put and kept my head down, concentrating on a spot on the page.

I couldn’t see him past the curtain of my hair, but I could tell he was still coming closer. There was no reason to be so nervous around him—I should have just left.

“Morgan Le Fae, huh?”

I looked up when he spoke and found he stood next to me, hovering over. His hair was wet and dripped in spikes in front of his eyes.

“Yeah,” I replied, shutting the book.

“You as interested in her as you are in the swamps?”

I shrugged, at a loss of what to do. “I just picked up the book.”

He nodded, glancing down at the pile I had next to the stool. He used the toe of his worn shoe to push aside the top book, exposing the next.

“The Elementals,” he said, reading the title. He looked surprised. “Interesting.”

“Like I said, I just kind of picked it up,” I said, gathering up the books. Putting them back would be a reason to leave.

“So you like that kind of stuff?” he asked, slowly walking after me into the next aisle.

“Sort of,” I lied. It was like an automatic response; a tactic to keep my secret safe. He leaned against the shelves while I put the books back, struggling to keep my cup of tea upright.

“Your name’s Riley, right?” he asked as I put
The Elementals
back on the shelf.

“Yeah,” I replied, now forced to look at him. “I’ve heard a lot about you, but never your name.” He just smirked a little, and I put the last book back. “So what is it?”

“What have you heard?” he asked.

I sighed quietly, taking a sip of the cold tea. He knew he was avoiding my question. “Different things. You’ve inherited some huge house—you’re twenty-three.”

“Wow, word travels fast,” he laughed. “That’s it?”

“Yeah.” Besides the fact that everyone called him strange.

“It’s not really a huge house,” he commented, shrugging. “Bet it’s the same size as yours.”

I looked at him quickly, wondering if he was just guessing. Judging by his slightly amused look, I had a feeling he’d seen the house before.

“When did you see it?” I asked.

“Sharon was giving me the grand ol’ tour and we passed by your place. She said it’s a boarding house of sorts.”

“Sort of,” I replied vaguely. Since when was Sharon carting people around town? It was small enough that a new person could find their way around alone.

“Well if you’re living alone in a house that size, I’d still say it’s pretty big,” I replied.

He shrugged. “You’ll see. I’ve been meaning to ask you about the swamps anyway.”

I shifted a little uncomfortably, wondering why he was singling me out. “What about them?”

“I just wanted to take a walk through them with someone who knows the area. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone else who might go there at leisure.” He smiled slightly, reminding me of a cat in the way his eyes tilted. They were a gold color, hidden under the strands of his drying hair. I had to look away when I realized I was just sort of staring.

“Maybe when it’s not raining,” I replied.

“Tomorrow? I know it won’t rain tomorrow, not until nighttime at least,” he suggested.

“How would you know?” I asked, my tone a little sarcastic.

“Believe me,” he said simply. “So I’ll see you on the trail near your house—I’ve walked there before. Twelve tomorrow.”

I paused, seeing as I hadn’t exactly agreed to anything, yet he was planning everything out.

“Sure,” I heard myself say. He smiled and stood up straight, shaking the hair out of his eyes.

“See you then,” he said, and backed out of the aisle, disappearing to the left.

So I’d agreed to meet him at the swamp, and to do what? Talk and walk? It already sounded like an awkward situation, and I realized something: I still didn’t know his name.

I rushed to the aisle and looked down the way he’d gone. The aisle was empty but for a few other people, and I knew I wouldn’t find him in the rest of the store. I silently cursed and walked away, out to search for Alysana.

I’d barely started looking when Alysana ran up to me, grasping my upper arm as she pulled me aside.

“Finally saw the guy—the one who just moved here,” she said, looking towards the entrance of the building.

“So did I, we just had a great discussion back there,” I replied.

She looked at me sharply. “You did? About what?”

“Walking around the swamps. I guess I’m going with him tomorrow,” I said, suddenly feeling embarrassed.

Alysana laughed and tried to keep quiet when the cashier looked our way. “Guess there
is
a perfect guy for you, huh?”

I kicked her shin lightly as we made our way out. “I didn’t say it was something special. It just kind of happened.”

“Uh-huh. So what’s his name?”

I sighed as we stepped out into the rain, which was only a light drizzle now. “I don’t know, I asked but he avoided the question, and I eventually forgot about it.”

That got Alysana laughing again. “That’s priceless, Riley. I guess he’ll have to stay a stranger till then.”

COMING
AROUND

“You’re going walking with the creep, better be careful,” Hunter commented as he drifted by Omar’s room. From the bed, I just shook my head, determined to ignore the slew of jokes coming my way. All evening, everyone in the house was cracking jokes towards me or asking ridiculous questions. They were becoming just like the people in town: gossip fiends.

“Don’t worry, I’ll bring pepper spray or something,” I called.