‘Okay, thanks.’
I continued down the hallway, followed by the weight of my brother’s stare. He probably thought I was trying to get out of work, which wasn’t a bad idea. I chucked my bag on the bed and rummaged through Hugo’s nightstand until I located the tube of medicine. I worked the cream into my back, but it felt as if someone was digging long fingers between my shoulder blades, attempting to separate muscle from bone.
I gave up with the cream and stumbled to the bathroom on a quest for aspirin. Just as I reached for the medicine cabinet, another shock of pain doubled me over. I gripped the edge of the counter and straightened. My gaze flicked to the mirror. For a moment, I almost didn’t recognize the face staring back. I was crazy pale, even for me, and my skin made the hazel color of my eyes look dull. But then I noticed something else. Another chunk of gray was poking through my disheveled hair.
What kind of sickness produced symptoms like these? There had to be some reasonable explanation. I was just stressed. My body was worn down. I needed a weekend of sleeping in and watching mindless movies. Then I’d be back to normal. I jabbed my fingers through my hair until the discolored strands disappeared beneath the surface of the black.
But it didn’t matter. I knew it was still there.
And I was beginning to get just a little concerned.
Katie was waiting for me in the school’s main lobby the next morning, holding a chicken biscuit in her hand. The sight of warm food made my mouth water. My breakfast had consisted of a bag of potato chips and three protein bars. I eyed the foil package innocently.
‘Is that for me?’
‘Of course. You’re always in a better mood after I’ve fed you.’
I grabbed the biscuit and hugged Katie at the same time. ‘My hero.’
‘Hey, I’m doing this for my benefit, not yours. I’ve seen how you get when you’re hungry.’
Katie tapped endlessly on her phone as we strolled to our lockers. She opened the door with one hand and pulled out a book. I managed to sneak a quick peak in her locker mirror. The two gray streaks in my hair were pretty well hidden. That was a relief. So was the fact that my back pain had disappeared, along with the image of the dancing girl. I’d actually slept most of the night. But something new was bothering me.
I took a bite of chicken biscuit, and I was surprised at how unsettled it felt in my stomach. I chewed in silence, letting my mind wander back to the day before, and the talk about the Circe de Romany.
Katie pocketed her phone. ‘You’re really quiet today.’
I raised an eyebrow.
She smirked. ‘Okay, quieter than usual.’
‘Maybe.’ I paused a moment. ‘Um, Katie?’
Apparently something in my expression was amusing. She twisted a strand of hair around her finger like a gold ring and winked at me. ‘Um, Sebastian?’
‘I was just wondering if you heard any more about the Romanys?’
Her brows lifted. Yes, she was definitely amused. ‘I have. Why?’
I played with the biscuit wrapper, choosing to stare at it rather than meet Katie’s gaze. But we’d been friends for a while, and it didn’t take long for Katie to read my thoughts.
‘Uh huh,’ she said. ‘By Romanys, you mean Josephine.’
Warm-and-cold sensations spiked through my body again. I pressed against the lockers to cover my reaction, but blurted, ‘What makes you think that? I don’t even know her!’ I abruptly stuffed a huge bite of chicken into my mouth to shut myself up.
Katie reached up and flicked a piece of biscuit off my shirt. ‘Cute, Sebastian.’ Her look made the blood rush to my cheeks. ‘But I’m sure all the guys have been talking about her,’ she continued. ‘So naturally, you’re interested, right?’
‘No. Just curious. That’s different from interested. Everyone else seems to know these people, and you’re obviously pretty close to her.’ I attempted a smile. ‘I just wanted a heads-up, that’s all.’
The heated chill passed, leaving only the warmth of embarrassment. This was almost worse than my zone outs.
‘Well, Josephine’s awesome. I totally get what they all see in her. Just remember one thing’, she jabbed her finger into my sternum for emphasis; ‘I consider myself her best friend, and I’m looking out for her. So don’t get any ideas.’
A startled laugh escaped my throat. ‘No worries there. Lost cause, remember?’
‘I’m signing you up to the audition, Sebastian,’ announced Mitchell, leaning smugly over his seat in the auditorium.
‘Don’t even think about it,’ I replied sternly. I continued to scribble in my theater notebook. ‘I’m not kidding.’
He only laughed.
I ignored him and studied my artwork. The massive circular patterns looked like batches of gray smoke engulfing the paper. Or maybe it was a representation of my churning insides. I hadn’t felt right all day. No, make that the last two days. Or whenever it was that I’d first heard about…
Katie’s phone vibrated beside me. She glanced down excitedly at the text. ‘Guess what, guys! Josephine’s in the office signing in.’
She was here.
It was as if the air had been squeezed from my lungs. My notebook dropped from my hands. Cold rushed over my skin, and I leaned forward, feeling myself in danger of falling out of my seat.
‘Sebastian?’
Ms Lucian stood over me. I swallowed hard and pried my fingers loose from the armrests. ‘I’m fine,’ I said, automatically, before she could ask. But I wasn’t. It felt like I was suffocating. ‘I’m going to check out some props for our project.’
I bolted out of the chair and up the stairs to the stage. I could feel everyone watching me the entire way. As soon as I had parted the curtains and was safely out of sight, I fell against the wall and slid to my knees. I stared into the rafters, then looked away before I imagined plunging to my death over the edge of one of the pieces of scaffolding.
Maybe I wasn’t diseased or suffering from cafeteria food poisoning. Maybe I was having a nervous breakdown. I was sick and shaky, and my body felt like I was taking a shower in alternating cold and hot water.
But why?
There was no telling what Avery and the others were probably saying about me. This was rapidly moving out of the realm of quirky. This was teetering on insanity. I put my head between my knees and prayed for the bell.
My pride sank to the bottom of my Converse as I stood in front of the call-board, staring at the audition sheet for the drama department’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. My name was in the middle of the page. Mitchell had signed me up for auditions, the next afternoon.
The fact that he’d done it while I was hiding out backstage was just plain irritating. If I backed out now, they’d never let me live it down. But I wasn’t an actor and had no intention of embarrassing myself – or Shakespeare – for that matter. As much as it stung my ego, I was going to have to bail out.
As I continued my inner debate, the door to the auditorium opened. Class was over and everyone had filed out to lunch, so I assumed Mitchell had returned to gloat. But no one appeared. Then, someone knocked on Ms Lucian’s door. Since her office was around the corner, I didn’t see who had entered. But I could certainly hear the voice.