Trapped

9. THE CONVERGENCE

THE CONVERGENCE

Oh, bother! I wanted the ground to part and swallow me whole. I must look pathetic. Why of all times did he have to appear when I just woke up?

"What are you doing here?" I mumble, rubbing out the sleep from my eyes.

Oscar corks his head, looking at me in amusement. "Do you want me to leave?"

'No, no, please stay,' I say in my head.

Gosh, he looks so delicious.
Why am I even thinking in that direction? I must be hungry.

"Ugh, how long have I been asleep?" I say, stretching.

"It's just a period left till recess. I cracked a witty joke and our geography teacher didn't appreciate my efforts to spice up the bored class, so he sent me out as punishment."

My heart warms. "You did it on purpose, didn't you?" I say softly.

He snickers.
"Pfft... Don't give yourself too much credit. I was just worried that you might be bored all by yourself. I guess I was right."

My lips will tear apart any moment now with the way I'm smiling stupidly.

"What have you got there?" he asks as he settles opposite me. He looks at the book that now lies between us.

"Great, now you're also voluntarily joining my brother's league," he jokes, feigning exasperation.

I giggle. "At least it helped me to sleep."
I pat the book and look up.

I catch Oscar staring at me. Like I'm the only thing in the world.

His hand twitches as if he is trying hard not to reach out and cup my face tenderly.

Is this what I'm thinking it is? Oh, good Lord, I can't breathe.

I clear my throat, forcing myself out of this fantasy bubble that is expanding in my chest.

"Uh," he says, breaking the awkward moment as he nods towards the Apocrypha, "What's the book about?"

I shrug. "I have little idea. I just stumbled upon it and slipped into la-la land before I could get a chance to scan through it."

"It sounds cryptic. Like it's something we're not supposed to touch. Are you sure you found it in this library?" His voice has dropped to a reverent timbre.

Like, this guy is practically vocalizing my thoughts. I glance at him.
"Yeah, I found it here. Somehow, it feels like I was always meant to find it."

Oscar rubs his hands together and says, "Sounds like a mystery we are meant to unravel."

I chuckle.
"Well, it does sound a lot better when you put it that way. It does have Bible written on it, so that's a religious text and you don't do that kind of stuff again, right?" I say cautiously.

Oscar immediately shifts his focus and looks at Dart.
"How is he faring now?"

I get his tactic. Ever since Oscar's dad, who was more or less his mentor, died, he declared a silent war against God. Stopped going to church completely. Rejected any means of hearing about God. Proclaimed himself agnostic.

I was pained because I could see that he was festering inside even though he did a good job of glossing it over with his breathtaking beauty and mad sports skills.

I pick up Dart and rub his head. "He's good now, I guess."

"When he began growling, I swear I tried to calm him down. I don't even know how his leash came off. I don't know what went wrong."

"Hey," I say and subconsciously reach out to hold his hand. "Don't beat yourself up, Oscar. It's not your fault. I shouldn't have brought Dart to class in the first place."

I am surprised at my boldness to touch his hand. My hand lingers and he doesn't pull back.
Is this what turning sixteen does to me?

"What about you? Are you fine?" Oscar asks seriously, looking into my eyes.

Suddenly, I feel down.

I'm not fine. I have been having this strange foreboding, dreams and visions for a while now and then this book that seems to call me is here. I- I'm terse.

But instead of saying that, I retreat my hand and pull out a tight smile.
"Never had a more exciting birthday!"

He looks at me like he doesn't believe me but has nothing to say.

"Um, I got you a gift too, but I wanted to reserve it till closing hours before. I think it'll be good to cheer for you now."

He pulls out a bracelet and helps me wear it on my right wrist.
It's made of colourful carved wood beads with intricate engravings on them.

Oscar knows I have a thing for antique beauty. I love science, yeah, but I lean more heavily towards archaeology, the discovery of nature in its finest, earliest form.

"This is beautiful. Thank you," I breathe with emotion as I turn my wrist to admire my newest gift.

"You're welcome," he says.

"Where did you get it?"

"I can't reveal my plug to you..." he says.

Cordelia emerges from almost nowhere and begins her usual prattle.

"Naomi! Thank goodness. I've been looking everywhere for you. Oh, Oscar, you're here." Her lips curl into a knowing smirk as she regards us.

She is carrying a bigger, sophisticated version of a lunch basket.

My gosh! Had I become a magnet pulling my buddies out of class?

"I'm right here. Is it lunchtime already?"

"Yup! I figured you must be starving. So, I raided the cafeteria. And I brought Dart's dog food too. Thank me later. Sorry about the stunt he pulled in this class, Naomi," she says to me.

"It's okay. But, will we be allowed to eat in the library? I thought it was against the rules."

"I chatted with Mr Demesi when we came in and explained to him. He permitted us, as long as we don't mess up the area. He went for a walk."

"We?" I ask.

Before I know it, I see Owen and-surprise, surprise-Jadiel prancing towards our small group.

"You guys came too?"

"The library may be spooky to some, but it's our secret cave, right?" Owen said as he gave his brother a high-five.

"Okay, at this point, I'm gonna go all emotional on y'all," I sniff.

I get eye rolls from the boys while the girls go all "Aww!"

"I'm sure you all know Jadiel," I say, pointing at Jadiel. "She just wants to hang out with us today if you guys don't mind."

"Hi!" Jadiel says shyly.
My friends greet her warmly and give her space. She seats sandwiched between Owen and Cordelia. I cherish the proximity between Oscar and me.

I smiled at our little eccentric group. Indeed, this day was turning out to be much better than it had started. We make small talk as we dive into our lunch of French fries and smoothies.

"You won't believe what I found," I say as we round up eating and shift the book towards them.

Owen's eyes go wider than saucers and he sucks in air.
"No way! Where the heck did you find this?"

"Is it dangerous?" Cordelia asks.

"No, not really, I believe. This is just like literary gold. Very rare people at the start of the century had access to it. Why is it here?" Owen says.

"We have only one way to find out," I say.

With a deep breath, I open the book to the first page.

~~~

Author's note: Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Aren't you as eager as I am for them to finally open this book and get to the bottom of the mysterious feeling they all seem to be having?

Please vote, comment and share. God bless you.