Legs desperately pumping, throat burning, lungs huffing in and out. He glanced across at her as she twiddled her fingers, speeding up so that all he could see was her hair swishing in the back. He looked at his goal so desperately and thirstily, the gnarled hand magically formed in the grass only to begin reaching up for his foot went unnoticed. With one great tug he fell into the leaves, struck by the heady mixture of decay and freshness the rain had brought to the scent of the forest.
She ran back to him, more anger than worry on her features. He tried to get up and brush off, but his cheeks darkened when he fell again. She started growling.
“I swear, I didn`t mean to, but I just can`t seem to get up. It`s really not my fault! I-“ She whirled around to face him and put a finger to her lips, then rotated so she again faced the tree. Her growl grew stronger, a haze of pink mist surrounding the tree. She spoke in the tongue of her people, and blue spots sparked around the tree. Its leaves rustled, and a creaking branch came down to his level. He stared at it with wildly, eyes darting from it to her.
She smiled. “It is going to apologize properly. You need to shake hands.” He looked at her in complete bewilderment, then tentatively offered his hand, and jumped when the tree shook it. She looked at it more strongly, and it shuffled out of the clearing.
Catching his gaze still on the tree, she smiled and caught his hand. Laughing, she pulled him forward, and they both ran off under the trees.
Two noses were pressed at her bedroom window and observed Alyss mumbling in her sleep. “She has awoken,” the left one said, “The binding is losing its grip of her.” They both looked at her expectantly. A sparkling purple aura surrounded her, slowly dieing down again.
“It has begun,” the voice on the right said with authority. Both disappeared into the night.
CHAPTER NINE
Party Time
The week moved too slowly, the excitement of the party making everyone restless in their classes. The day finally came, though the sun had barely swallowed the stars when Jackie showed up on Alyss`s stoop. There was a cursory “Hi,” as she was unceremoniously pulled out of the house and dragged to the car. “What are you doing!?” Alyssa demanded.
“Fixing your look. If the last week is anything to judge by you’ve probably only got street style or preppy happening in your closet and we need to set you up for something that screams party today and then we have to glam up the rest of your image. I`m thinking clothes, hair, and nails would be good for a full look.”
The other girl groaned as the car flew through the turns and twists of the road. “That sounds really fun and all but kind of excessive. Besides, I don’t think I have the money to pay for all that nonsense.”
“Call it a treat,” the driver grinned at her in the mirror, “And besides I probably missed your birthday back when I’d never met you so this could be called an IOU or something. Mostly though it’s something I’m going to do either way so I figured it would be fun to bring a friend along for company. And I want to go to the party with you but I don’t want to ruin the aesthetics standing next to a person in a different style so this is a fun thing that also solves lots of problems and is a total win-win.”
“You are never going to let me live down my fashion faux paux on the first day, are you?” Alyss grimly clutched the handle bar above her door as the car sped far beyond the speed limit. “You really have no right to say anything, going twenty above the limit is much worse than under dressing,” she added dryly.
“Meh, I`m a car kind of girl,” Jackie responded, eyes shining. “This is one of my favorite models out there. I saved up forever to get this thing!” She patted the dashboard fondly, cooing, “Aren`t you a nice girl, Ruby?” Alyss choked with laughter in the passenger seat. “The car has a name! A name! You`d think she was talking to a baby,” she laughed, wiping away in imaginary tear.
“Yeah, well,” Jackie replied, stung. Their speed slowed down to the limit. “Hey, why did you come here so late in the year? I know you said it was something about your parent’s jobs, but aren’t companies usually willing to adjust transfers around the school year? Or like your dad could have come ahead with you and set up the new place while your mom waited for the transfer date or whatever the problem was,” Jackie asked.
Alyss was silent for a moment, staring out the window. The scene came back to her so clearly. The doctor said I would get better if I weren`t in such a damp climate, he said we have to move to a drier area. Ugh, I don`t get why you never care about anything. I`ve almost died a few times from my asthma attacks, and all you care about is going to work and keeping the house shiny clean. Why don`t you care about your daughter at all? Why didn`t you care when I brought a boy into the house? Why don`t you care about anything that matters?
“Alyss, are you okay?” Darien asked, coming into the room. “Yeah, sure, why not,”? she blew him off, stomping away. “Hey, this is serious! I want to know what`s wrong with you right now,” he asked with clear concern.
“They aren`t doing anything,” she tossed a pillow at the floor. “The doctor said we have to move but they can’t be bothered because ‘their lives can’t revolve around my needs and I should just
