Sleep Tight, page 20
“Come on Tally,” Ava said gently. “You know why.”
Tally scoffed. “No, I don’t know why.”
Ava sighed. “Should I say why I think you might know?”
Tally looked at her hesitantly. “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
“Fine. Tally I know you like Balin. I see it every time he comes into the store. Your eyes follow him around and when he talks to me you look at me as if you could kill me.”
Tally blushed furiously, her entire face turning red. “I don’t like him, Ava.”
“Tally it’s okay.”
“No. It’s not okay.” She practically spat. “It’s not okay because I don’t like him at all. No, I love him! But all he ever does is look for you. It’s always you for him. You’re all he ever talks about.”
We all stayed quiet. Her sudden outburst and confession surprised all of us. A small bell rang, and we all turned to the store’s door. The older woman from before was standing there now. She smiled at Tally and then at us.
“Who are your friend’s sweetie?” She turned to Tally. “Should I get them some lunch too? I have plenty of soup left.” She smiled eagerly at all of us.
“No granny, don’t worry about them, they’ll be leaving soon. Please go back inside.” Tally smiled warmly at her.
“Well alright but you let me know if you want me to bring more soup out. Nice to meet such fine young men.” She winked at us before going back inside.
Ethan leaned into me. “I’ve never been hit on by an older woman before.”
“Oh, I’m used it.” Blake said casually.
I snickered as Ava turned her attention back towards Tally. “What do you mean I’m all he ever talks about? Does that mean you have spoken to him recently?”
Tally gave a bitter laugh. “Why do you care?”
“Tally please,” Ava shut her eyes, her patience running low. “Just please tell me if you have heard from him recently or if you know where he is.”
“No.”
“I promise you have nothing to worry about with me. I don’t see Balin in that way at all. I don’t even see him as a friend.” She sighed. “Look I really am sorry that he won’t give you a chance because he thinks he’s in love with me. I wish I could help you and make him see that you are right there in front of him.”
“I don’t need your pity or your apologies.”
“No, you don’t but I want to give it anyways. Please he knows something about my mom. Where is he?”
Tally stayed silent as she studied her soup. She finally looked up at Ava. “I don’t know where he is. We haven’t spoken and I haven’t seen him in weeks.”
Ava looked at her suspiciously. “Are you sure?”
Tally crossed her arms across her chest looking offended. “Yes, I’m sure. Why would I lie?”
Ava studied her face for a while before answering. “Okay I believe you. Thank you Tally.” She got up and turned not even waiting to see if we were following behind her.
I rushed over to her side. “You don’t actually believe her, do you?”
“Of course not.” Ava stared straight ahead. “She knows where he is and were going to follow her when she gets off of work.”
We moved the car away from the Bookstore and parked further down the street. After hours of being in a car stuck with Blake and Ethan making jokes about me and Ava sitting in a tree, I was ready to choke them both and was turning around to the back seat to start with Blake when Ava suddenly yelled out.
“Look! There she is.”
Tally stepped out of the store’s front door with Nora right behind her. They spoke for a few seconds before Tally turned and began walking up the street.
“Does she have a car?” I asked.
“I think so. But she’s past every car now and is still walking.” Ava said confused.
“Looks like were stalking her on foot.” Ethan said as he got out of the car.
Ava grimaced. “Please don’t say it like that.”
“Well, that’s what we’re doing right? It’s a fact.”
“Yeah, but it just makes us sound creepy.” Blake said.
Ava nodded. “Agreed.”
We followed at a very far distance, Ava didn’t have the ability yet to be silent like we did. The streets were now empty, the sun already long gone. The moon was bright above us though. It was perfect in case we ran into any Kryps tonight.
We were now at the edge of town and where Tally was walking into was nothing but darkness and trees.
“She has to be meeting him this time.” Ava whispered as we watched Tally be swallowed whole in the dark. “What girl would go into the woods at night by herself?”
“Maybe you are right, this is just weird.” Ethan commented.
“Let’s hurry up and catch up to her. Ava, try to be as quiet as you can, you can hear everything in the woods.” I led the way into the forest.
As we stalked deeper in, I realized Tally was nowhere in sight. I looked from left to right but nothing. No one was ahead of us.
“Shoot, did we lose her already?” Ava whispered.
“I think so,” I answered back. “Let’s split up and see if we can find her again. Whoever finds her will text the others.”
“I’ll go with Ethan, and you can go with Ava.” Blake said quickly. “And break.” He dragged Ethan away before I even had a chance to say anything.
“That wasn’t obvious.” Ava said.
“Sorry about that.” I cleared my throat uncomfortably.
Ava simply nodded and turned walking in the opposite direction. I followed right behind her. We walked in silence for ten minutes before I got a text from Blake saying they hadn’t found Tally yet. I replied letting him know we hadn’t either.
“Well, wherever she went I don’t think we will find her. Something is going on with her though. Who just walks into a forest and disappears? Something is not right here.” Ava finally said.
“I agree. She knows something.”
“I hope she’s alright.”
I scoffed. “Why? After the way I saw her treating you I would think you wouldn’t even care. Actually, I think you shouldn’t care.”
“Maybe you’re right but I just can’t help it. Especially coming out here alone at night. She might not be my favorite person or even my friend but that doesn’t mean I wish her harm.”
“I think you’re too nice.”
“Really? No way.”
“You are. You’re a much better person than I’ll ever be.”
“Why do you think that about yourself? Do you really think you aren’t a good person?”
“I don’t think. I know. There’s a lot of things I should care about, but I don’t.”
“Well things are different. You don’t have to care about things to be a good person. I’m sure you care about people though.”
“Not really.”
She turned to me and laughed. “That’s a lie.”
I looked at her. “It’s not. It’s true.”
“No, it’s not,” her smile disappeared. “Blake.”
“What about him?”
“You care about Blake, right?”
I laughed. “Right now, I’m not so sure.”
“Come on Elijah I’m serious.”
“Okay, yes I do.” I admitted.
“And Ethan?”
“Yes.”
“Olivia?”
“Yes.”
“Wendy?”
“Yes.”
“Cass?”
“Alright yes, I get you. But I only care about the people close to me in my life but that’s normal. You care about everyone.”
“I wouldn’t say everyone…”
“Well almost everyone. I don’t know how you do it.”
She opened her mouth as if to say something but then closed it instead.
“What?” I asked curious to know what she was thinking.
She stopped walking and faced me. “You shouldn’t put yourself down like that. You are a good person. You care about the people in your life and that’s enough. You don’t have to care about the whole world to be a good person. That’s exhausting.”
I smiled down at her. “I knew you liked me.”
She rolled her eyes. “Just because I think you aren’t a bad person doesn’t mean I like you.” She laughed. “Get over yourself.”
That laugh. It was perfect.
I looked up at the moon and smiled. “I want to show you something.”
I lifted my hands with my palms facing up in between us and stared into her eyes. “What’s your favorite animal?”
She hesitated for a second unsure where I was going with this. “Wolves.”
I nodded and as her green eyes looked into my brown eyes, light shined across our faces. She looked down and gasped. On my palms where two miniature wolves made entirely of silver light. They jumped up and down and then began chasing each other, playfully nipping one another.
Ava laughed and clapped her hands together lightly. “I had no idea you guys could do something like this.”
“Pretty amazing right?”
“It’s magical.” She breathed.
She was fixated on the tiny wolves in my hands. I moved back slightly and threw them off my hands and as they reached the ground, I made them grow into full sized wolves.
I lifted my hands and twirled my fingers around making butterflies appear next. My fingers kept twirling around as the butterflies divided into more and more until there was hundreds of them circling us. They flew around us while the wolves continued to run around now chasing the butterflies.
She stuck her hand out and a butterfly gently landed on her palm. She gasped. “It’s warm.”
She looked up at me, the light of the butterflies illuminating her face. It made her look like an angel.
“Perfect.” I whispered.
“They are.” She said as she studied the butterfly in her hand, the light making her glow.
“Right. They are.”
Her green eyes now bright with excitement looked up at me. “Thank you for showing me this.”
“My pleasure.”
“Hey, what are you guys doing over there?” Ethan called out.
The wolves disappeared first, then the butterflies followed bursting into a silver rain gently falling on us.
“Nothing.” I quickly replied.
“Did I just see butterflies flying around?” Blake had a knowing smile on his face.
“No.”
Ethan turned to Blake. “I think we just ruined a moment.” He whispered.
“You did, not me. I would never ruin a moment between these two.” Blake grinned at us.
I was starting to question why I was keeping either of these two in my lives.
“You guys find Tally?” Ava asked trying to change the subject.
“Nope. She’s gone.” Blake said.
“It makes no sense. We have no idea where she could have gone.” Ethan added.
“Yeah, we were thinking the same thing.” I said.
“I bet you two were.” Blake said as he winked at me.
Ava cleared her throat. “Alright well let’s not keep standing around here in the dark. Let’s go.” She walked ahead of us.
“Remind me to kill you later.” I hissed at Blake.
“You got it, sir.” He replied cheerfully.
When we got back to the house Ava quickly got out of the car before any of us and almost ran into the house. Great. Blake was making her feel uncomfortable.
No. What was I saying. As much as I would like to blame him, I knew it was me who was making her feel that way.
When we walked in mom and dad were already talking to Ava. I hadn’t even realized they were here.
“Hey when did you guys get here?” I asked as we approached them.
Mom looked up and I knew from the look on her face that something was up.
“What’s wrong? Did you guys find Layla?” I asked.
She shook her head. “No not yet I’m sorry Ava.” She looked at Ava and then back to me. “We have to speak to all of you. Now.” She grabbed Ava by the shoulders and gently led her into the dining room with everyone else close behind.
Jesse and Daniel were already seated at the table. They stood up immediately when we walked in and went over to Ava.
“Where have you been?” They both asked her.
“I’ll tell you later.”
The hint of a blush was creeping up onto her cheeks.
“Everyone have a seat.” Dad said.
We all sat down and looked towards the front of the room where mom and dad stood. Dad crossed his arms, looking tense and uncomfortable. He was now sporting a full beard after weeks of hardly being home. He looked so much older.
He turned to Ava and her brothers. “There’s something we haven’t told you guys and that’s our fault. We apologize now. We held it off thinking we could protect you guys and hoping that we could stop it as long as possible. You guys were still getting used to us and then what happened with your mom.” Dad shifted and rubbed the back of his neck.
Not even I knew what he was about to say.
“The council of the Enlightened wants us to host a ball. Here. In a week.” He finally said.
“Excuse me who?” Jesse questioned.
“We have a council. Members of our society are chosen by your family to help advise and lead with them. Your family from the start wanted to make sure that they didn’t have complete power and wanted everyone to feel like they were being listened to, so they established the council.”
“Why are we just hearing about them right now?” Ava asked.
“Ava we are sorry, but we didn’t want to burden you with so much all at once,” Mom said. “We’ve known about the ball for a month. Once the council heard of your return, they immediately started planning it. They wanted it to happen almost right after you guys were back, but we told them no and kept pushing it back, but we can’t do that anymore.”
“They want us to have one so that you can be introduced into our society. They also want to meet you and plan to do that at the ball.” Dad said.
“No, I don’t want to go to a ball. Not right now and not ever. How can we go to one while our mom is still out there?” Ava demanded.
“I know the timing is awful. But we can’t hold it off any longer. When it comes to the council, they only take no as an answer so many times. We have no control over this. Not even you have control over this. I told you that your family wanted to make sure that you guys didn’t have complete power so the council can make rules that even you guys have to follow.” Dad answered.
“This is ridiculous you can’t be serious?” Daniel stood up.
“I know this is hard to take and hard to accept.” Mom said.
“Accept?” Jesse stood up now. “This isn’t fair. How can a group of people we don’t even know try to tell us what to do?”
“I know. Trust me I know how frustrated you feel right now.” Dad said in a calming tone. “And there is something else.”
“Oh, great more bad news.” Jesse said.
“Well, I don’t think it’s bad,” Mom said. “The council is sending us help to look for your mom. See they aren’t that bad.” She tried to lighten the mood.
“Help?” Ava looked up at mom expectantly.
“Yes, a group from California.”
A knock at the door had us all turning.
“That must be them.” Dad quickly walked over to the door and opened it, letting in our new helpers.
From where I was sitting, I saw Ava clearly. As the group walked in Ava suddenly stood up and gasped.
A young Asian guy who had walked in first stopped and stared at Ava. Clear recognition in his eyes.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Jesse whispered.
“No way.” Daniel added.
“What? What’s going on?” I asked completely confused and more than a little curious to know who this guy was and if Ava knew him.
“Ava?” He looked her up and down, blinking rapidly almost like he thought he was in a dream.
I turned to Ava. “Do you know this guy, Ava?”
She nodded slowly. “I do. That’s Kenji. My ex-boyfriend.”
My ex-boyfriend was standing in front of me.
Of all the places and times and ways we could have crossed paths again and the universe decides that this is the best scenario.
Kenji Nomura. My very first boyfriend. The one who made me believe I knew what love meant.
We had dated for a year when I was fifteen and he was sixteen. We had a mutual friend at the after-school club we both attended. Before that friend had introduced us, I hadn't even realized he existed if I was being honest. I might have seen him around but never took notice of him.
And now I cursed the day that friend introduced us. That may be over exaggerating.
Oh well. He broke my heart.
Everyone was now looking at me and Kenji. Why did I have to open my mouth and say he was my ex?
Think next time Ava. Think! Now I put myself in an even more awkward position. Maybe if I had kept quiet, he wouldn’t have said anything. And Jesse and Daniel wouldn't have said anything if I gave them the right look.
I’m sure me staring at him wasn’t helping me. He was staring too, those dark eyes drilled into me. But Kenji looked different. He still had that kid face but now he had a slight stubble on his face, probably growing it out to help him look older. He was taller too. His long limbs were no longer skinny. No, he had gained muscle since I last saw him.
I wondered if I looked the same to him. I’m sure I did look the same. Still the same height. My hair was the same. I might have lost some baby fat but that was it. How embarrassing to see your ex and they looked so much better than you did.
“It is her! I knew it. See I told you Kenji there was no way that your Ava Luna and the Ava Luna everyone had been looking for were two different people.” A voice came from behind the group.
I cringed at the words “Your Ava”
I was not his.
Another taller guy stepped out from behind the small group and smiled wide at me. That’s when I realized it was Nikko Nomura. Kenji’s cousin. I had met him twice while we went out.
“Ava! Come here!” He rushed forward and picked me up in a bear hug.
That’s right, I almost forgot how bubbly and affectionate Nikko was. I always liked him.
