Airel: The Awakening (Airel Saga Book One)

Chapter XXVIII

Boise, Idaho—Present Day

WHEN THE DOOR OPENED and I saw Michael Alexander standing there, I stood paralyzed, hoping with everything in me that what I feared was not happening, that this was all just a bad dream. He was staring at me with an unsettling mixture of awe and disbelief.

“Your head ... the …” His voice was soft, questioning and spooked. “It’s gone. I mean, it just disappeared.” He reached out, muttering something incoherent, trying to touch my forehead. But I ducked and took a step backward. He lowered his eyebrows and folded his arms across his chest.

“Airel—”

My mind refused to function. Despite the fact that I needed it more than ever at this very moment, it hid like a stupid kindergartener on her first day of school, refusing to come out from under the bed. Should I pretend that I didn’t know what was happening? Play innocent? Or should I fess up? Still, I wondered, Why can’t I let myself bring Kim in on all of this? Why did I feel so safe around Michael when I barely knew the guy?

Maybe I knew deep down that he would understand. Maybe I thought he would understand me, if such a thing were possible. And at the end of the day, no matter how hard I tried to be indifferent about my obsession with being different, I had to admit that my needs were so very simple: I just wanted to be understood.

And if Michael Alexander was able to do one thing perfectly, it was that he could make me feel that, right down to my bones.

There was no getting around it, though—I was a turncoat. I was a backstabbing fiend for sure, because I was totally trashing the feelings of my best friend for some gorgeous hunk of Johnny-come-lately I didn’t even know. How shallow am I right now, and how much do I hate myself?

I reached a trembling hand to my forehead and touched the place where seconds ago, a large goose egg throbbed. It was smooth, cool to the touch.

Healed. 

I stood there, trying on my best impression of confused and blank. I looked up at Michael, who was standing so close to me now that I could smell his skin. “I, uh …”

Michael’s hand ever so gently touched the spot where my big welt used to be. “Does it hurt?”

“No …” I breathed, leaving all kinds of loose ends. What blanks would he fill in? 

“Weird—it’s gone. Like it was never there. You sure that doesn’t hurt?” He pressed harder to test out his theory. 

I pulled away, breaking free, and scowled at him. “Well, what of it? So it’s gone. Maybe it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was. Maybe I didn’t fall that hard anyway.” Pretty weak, lame, and worst of all, chock full of maybe. It sounded like a lie to my own ears, and from the grimace on Michael’s face, I knew that he didn’t believe a word of it either.

“Come on, Airel, what’s going on? You know more than you’re letting on, and now you’re lying to me.” He looked a little hurt.

I sighed loudly and pulled on a few strands of my hair, then shoved my left hand in my back pocket. I decided right then that I was going to tell Michael everything, that I would hold nothing back. I was afraid that if I didn’t, I would lose him.

I didn’t want to lose the potential of something with him. I thought, He might even be able to help me. But I was reaching for reasons to keep him close. I sighed again, surrendering to my lower will. “Michael,” I said, “I’ll make you a deal.”

The look on his face was equal parts sadness and joy.

“I’ll tell you on our date.” Hook, line, and sinker. “I just need some time to think things over.” I nearly begged him with my tone of voice. “Please don’t be mad. And don’t worry, I’m fine. I promise I will tell you whatever you want to know. Just not now.”

Uh-oh. I had promised. And when I promised things to boys, planets started to slide out of their orbits. This felt like the end of the world. Things were getting complicated. 

He looked at me with a calculating gaze that was covered over with a smile. “Okay.” He took my hands and enfolded them in his own. “You promise to tell me everything?”

“Yes,” I said. “I promise.”