GPFriday: Spiritis’s Semester Chapter #25

Feel free to comment below or email me at kendrabrooks@taintedtrinity.com

 

Chapter #25: Stops

 

Greeley Colorado

August 24th, 2027-CE

 

Curtis met up with Spiritis and Ashara at the bus stop the next morning as several other people started to crowd up with them. He scratched his head in confusion, “Hang on a second, I thought you caught a ride with your father, Ashara?”

“Do anyone in your family have normal names?” Chortled one of the boys in the background.

Spiritis grumbled, “Our real names don’t sound much better!” She fumed quietly to herself, “Se’ana and Relena aren’t exactly normal names either!”

Curtis arched an eyebrow, “I have always wondered. Are those family names?”

“Relena is,” Ashara replied, “Not Se’ana. No clue where that came from.”

Spiritis shrugged, “Two names jammed together in a head on collision. Not sure what my mother was thinking other than she was messed up on whatever drugs the hospital gave her when I was born!”

“I wonder what the Se part is?” Curtis scratched his head in confusion.

Ashara shrugged, “If I knew, we would have been able to call her that full name by now.”

“Ana is definitely the last name of that,” Spiritis replied, “It isn’t short or cut down from anything.”

“You sure?” Curtis frowned.

Spiritis nodded, “I have a feeling that it is Ana. Like I should have been just Ana but something else crashed into me.”

“Boom, you had another person merge into you on the way out!” Ashara laughed, “You would be that unlucky!”

“You are tomboyish enough to absorb a brother on the way out, maybe there was a Sean in there with you. After all, you wanted to change your name into Seana after you turn eighteen,” Curtis laughed.

“Just to get rid of that stupid apostrophe,” Spiritis nodded as the bus pulled up, “It’s like tripping on a verbal step every time.”

“Just as long as you don’t trip on the steps on the way up the bus,” Ashara stated as they boarded the yellow canister of a transport.

“Ha, ha, just because there is a trip in my name doesn’t mean I always trip,” Spiritis replied as they walked towards an empty bench in the back of the bus.

“Or go on trips,” Ashara quipped.

“I go on trips often, on busses,” Spiritis snapped her fingers.

“Are we in the middle of a pun war?” Curtis questioned as he sat down next to Spiritis.

Spiritis shook her head, “Just something that Ashara like to do every day.”

“It’s like a private ritual,” Ashara mentioned, “Private jokes between the two of us.”

“She does that with Jena too,” Curtis mentioned, “I don’t think that is special for you.”

“But it something we have done since we started talking,” Ashara pouted, “I doubt she has done it with Jena that long!”

“Only Jena can answer that,” Curtis shrugged, “I haven’t known the two of them that long but Spiritis claims to have known Jena since they were in diapers.”

“So, do besties trump us?” Ashara questioned in response.

Spiritis shook her head, “We are cousins. I would think sisters trump us but you have to ask Angela that, if you can find her that is.”

“Sorry,” Ashara wrapped her arm around Spiritis’s shoulders, “By the way, we are only second cousins. We are practically not related. I am competing for that bestie spot!”

“Why are you trying to distance yourself from me?” Spiritis questioned in response. “Do you have some sort of ulterior motive?”

Ashara covered her blush with a nervous laugh, “No! You are making things up! I am just letting you know the truth.”

“Then let’s be cousins. I don’t have many cousins I get along with and I like having you as a favorite cousin,” Spiritis replied as she leaned into Ashara.

Ashara sighed as the bus came to a stop, “Fine!”

Curtis scratched his head in confusion, “Am I missing something?”

Both girls shook their head, “Nope.” They replied at the same time.

Jena boarded the bus with several other people. She walked back to their usual bench but found it full of the three people. Her shoulders slumped and she walked to the back of the bus to another empty bench. Spiritis watched Jena walk back and nudged Curtis in the elbow, “Ouch!” He hissed quietly, “What was that for!”

“You putz, go back there and sit with her!” Spiritis stated in a hushed tone, “Perfect time to be a hero, compadre!”

“Oh,” Curtis nodded and got up from the seat. He hurriedly walked back to sit next to Jena before the bus started moving again.

Ashara gave Spiritis a confused look as they spread out to take the entire bench, “What was that about?”

“He is trying to schmooze his way into her heart,” Spiritis replied, “Perfect time to be a hero in this case.”

“Ah,” Ashara nodded, “And he will get another chance this afternoon when you will be conspicuously absent because you will be coming with me to sleep over at my house.”

Spiritis smirked, “Can’t wait.”

 

*        *        *

 

The sun set the sky a golden blaze when school let out. Spiritis met up with Ashara as they walked towards the edge of the parking lot. Spiritis looked around for her cousin’s black sedan, “I don’t see your father anywhere,” She mentioned as Ashara took out her smart phone and started fiddling with an app.

“That’s because he is on a business trip,” Ashara mentioned, “I am getting a ride from a ridesharing app.”

“Wait, what?” Spiritis looked surprised, “I thought my mom cleared us staying over at your house yesterday. She surely would have talked to your dad about this. He would have mentioned going on a business trip today, right?”

“Maybe not,” She shrugged, “He left this morning. It might have slipped his mind. If it did, he didn’t tell Sylvia about it.”

“Oh, that will piss off mom if she finds out,” Spiritis mentioned.

“Don’t worry about it,” Ashara mentioned.

“Well, what are we going to do for dinner?” Spiritis questioned in response, “Do I need to make something? I am not nearly as good at cooking as Angela is or my parents.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it either. I got apps with my father’s card info on it. He is okay with letting us order take out delivery. We can get something nice for dinner.” Ashara mentioned.

“So, pizza? That will work well for movies and anything you have planned,” Spiritis smirked.

“I was thinking we could get better things,” Ashara mentioned as she hailed a ride on an app.

“You know, we could catch a bus,” Spiritis mentioned.

“If you want to hike another two miles afterward,” Ashara shook her head in response, “The buses don’t run close to my house. I checked the routes. It would be nice if they did. It would allow me to bus to your house a lot more. As it stands, I would have to do a ride share or have my dad drop me off and pick me up.”

“That’s lame. It would be nice if they made everything a little bit better,” Spiritis mentioned.

“I’m sure they will catch up eventually,” Ashara shrugged, “The ride should be here in about five minutes. We will just wait here until then.”

“The buses will have left by then,” Spiritis mentioned. She cocked her head in confusion, “How are we going to get to school tomorrow if your dad isn’t there? Is he getting back tonight or tomorrow morning?”

Ashara shook her head, “No. We can order another ride share. That will get us to school on time. We might have to leave a little earlier than I normally would, that’s all.”

“You were complaining about how early you had to leave this morning. I assume you woke up earlier than usual. So you already experienced that phenomenon,” Spiritis mentioned, “Your father is okay with all this ride sharing stuff?”

“I would have to have done it anyway,” Ashara replied with a nod, “So yeah. It really doesn’t make a difference either way.”

GPFriday: Spiritis’s Semester chapter #24

Feel free to leave a comment below or contact me at kendrabrooks@taintedtrinity.com

 

Chapter #24: The Empty Room

 

Greeley Colorado

August 23rd, 2027-CE

 

Spiritis opened the door and was immediately greeted with a tight embrace from Ashara. Covered in dark reddish auburn hair, Spiritis eagerly embraced her second cousin in a tight hug of her own. It was nice to have someone over after over a month of being the solo teenager in the house, “I take it Mom and Gwen said yes to you being over for the evening.”

“I managed to talk them into letting me stay the night. I will get to bus to school with you in the morning! I had enough time to get to the house and get a change of clothes for tomorrow!” Ashara beamed with joy.

“How did you manage that?” Spiritis replied as she glanced around the room.

She found her mother sitting in the living room on her laptop, “She said you two will do your homework for the night and stay out of our hair.”

“Even better!” Ashara squealed in joy, “Pack clothes in your bag tomorrow, you get to stay at my house!”

Spiritis leaned over and glanced to her mom, “Is this right?”

“Yeah. She talked that one into us too. Only if you two are quiet, however!” Sylvia replied.

Spiritis nodded. She smiled and gave her mother a thumbs up, “Agreed!” She glanced to Ashara and said, “We should get to our room to do homework.”

Ashara nodded and the two shuffled quickly into Spiritis’s room. Ashara stood by the door and shut it as both entered the room. She placed her hand on the door and a set of gray lines raced out from her hand and surrounded the entire room, connecting at the other point. Spiritis tried to follow all the lines, but they were so numerous that she couldn’t follow them.

Spiritis was about to ask what power that was, however, her mind was quickly filled with the information, another power like the power that grants me knowledge. This one affects physical objects. She knew something else at that moment that pertained specifically to Ashara, this power to affect objects is not Ashara’s primary focus. Her focus is the same as mine, knowing secrets.

Ashara seemed disappointed when Spiritis didn’t ask what the spell was that she placed on the room, “I take it you have been playing with your powers too?”

Spiritis nodded. She was struck with a new wave of confusion, however, “But you have no mental barrier, despite your advanced knowledge.”

“Huh?” Ashara seemed confused. She glanced at Spiritis at that moment, “I didn’t realize it until now, but I can’t sense you. I am so used to not having you around that I didn’t notice your lack of presence.”

“Jena and Angela noticed it right away,” Spiritis answered.

“They have known you longer and are used to you,” Ashara nodded and sat on the bed next to Spiritis, “Other telepaths would only notice if they tried to probe your mind. They would run into that wall like a car running into a telephone pole.”

“Nice to know,” Spiritis replied.

“I hope the homework schtick was code for us talking about what is going on,” Ashara questioned, “Your mom had enough time to tell me that Angela had moved out. That’s what is getting you down. I haven’t been in her room yet.”

“Not much to see,” Spiritis replied, “What did you do to my room, by the way?”

“A little silence spell, we can be as loud as we want in here and we wouldn’t disturb a fly. If we don’t bring down the house, no one would know what we were doing,” Ashara gave her a sly smile.

“Can you say that again without looking like a sadistic serial killer?” Spiritis replied, “You are starting to scare me.”

“I am saying we can just have fun blaring movies and games on full volume and play with our powers all night,” Ashara replied.

“Every time I use my powers, things happen to me. I would rather not wake up and have something else disturbing happen to me,” Spiritis replied, “That is how I gained this block in the first place.”

“Killjoy,” Ashara pouted.

Spiritis held her hands over most of her face leaving only her eyes and nose and above visible, “More like Kill Roy,” She chortled.

“We are way too young for that joke,” Ashara smiled.

Spiritis shook her head, “We are never too young for any jokes. The jokes are just forgotten by most people.” She laid back on her bed, “I was mostly joking about our homework. We will have to work on it sometime.”

“That is being a killjoy,” Ashara commented in response.

“That is being realistic. I can’t afford to be a slacker. I will have to graduate high school sometime,” Spiritis replied.

“Yeah, but it is the beginning of the school year. There is time to be serious later in the year. You have time to slack right now.” Ashara stated, “You are only young once.

“Ha! You make it sound like I am going to wake up an old maid tomorrow,” Spiritis replied.

“Where are your hormones?” Ashara scoffed.

“In check,” Spiritis answered.

“Where is your sense of adventure?” Ashara asked.

“Not here,” Spiritis replied.

“Different question on a different subject,” Ashara mentioned, “Can we go see Angela’s room?”

“There is nothing to see,” Spiritis commented in a flat tone, “It isn’t like you are going to see a porn stash there or anything.”

“She cleaned everything out?” Ashara asked in response.

“She moved out,” Spiritis nodded, “That is what I told you, that is what my parents told you. What else do you want to know? What difference is seeing the room going to make for you?”

“I just want to see it,” Ashara replied, “I want to get a feel for the room she lived in for a while.”

“You aren’t going to get anything out of it. You never saw it when she lived here so you aren’t going to miss much,” Spiritis replied.

“You never used your clairvoyance in that way before,” Ashara questioned in response, “to get impressions of the past. To see things that happened in places in the past. You have heard the expression ‘if these walls could talk?’ Well, we have the power to make that happen. I am surprised you have never tried it.”

Spiritis shivered, “I wouldn’t want to try it in Angela’s room. I know how it looked like when she lived here. I have been in it on a few occasions. If I tried doing what you suggested, I might see some of her escapades and I don’t want to see something like that. What is seen cannot be unseen.”

“Until they invent brain bleach,” Ashara snickered, “But point taken. In either case, I have enough experience to control it. I can see what it looked like when no one was in the room. Just the expression of the objects in the room.”

Spiritis shrugged and sat up, “Why not.” She rose to her feet and headed to the door, “I can give you a tour of the room. Will opening the door break your little spell of silence?”

Ashara shook her head, “It will hold forever. I hope a murderer doesn’t move in after you move out. This is going to be a bad room if they do.”

“You are just a bastion of light and joy, you know that?” Spiritis shook her head and opened the door.

“I do my best,” Ashara smirked.

They crossed the hall to Angela’s former room. Spiritis opened the door quietly and let them in. She closed the door and said quietly, “Well, this is the place. Not much to see except an empty room, like I said before.”

Ashara looked around as she stepped into the center of the room. She could see the impressions of where the chest of drawers sat, the bed in the corner next to the long and narrow window, the nightstand, and the desk, and the tv stand next to the closet which was closed.

Ashara closed her eyes and next thing she could see were those objects in those places, the bed in disheveled form, posters of various bands on the wall, sigils on top of the chest of drawers and sage grass bundles sitting next to those sigils. A staff with a crystal embedded in the top laying next to the chest of drawers. Ashara glanced back to Spiritis, “A bit of a slob and a goth, I see.”

“So, you can see past the nothing of this empty room to the past. All I can see is the impressions on the carpet,” Spiritis replied.

“Are you trying to use your Clairvoyance?” Ashara questioned in response.

Spiritis shook her head, “No, afraid of seeing any shenanigans in progress in the past. I don’t want to see my sister in any awkward positions with any other girls, thank you.”

“Fair enough,” Ashara nodded and turned her attention to Angela’s closet. She opened the metal swing doors revealing an empty closet to Spiritis.

What Ashara saw was a different scene. Various clothes, some black and gray and some of different vibrant colors were hanging up and some laying splayed out on the floor in front of her. To the right on the shelf were several pairs of shoes and prominently in the front were a few pairs of hiking boots and high tops. Tucked away in the left-hand corner was a jewelry box. Dark cherrywood and ornate. It left a powerful emotional impression on Ashara. Many keepsakes were inside.

Spiritis sighed, “She cleaned out the place well.”

Ashara shook her head as she noticed something shimmering in the corner of the closet. She reached up on her tip toes and to the very back of the closet. It wasn’t her imagination. Something was physically there. It was a key and it looked like it went to the hole of the box in the past. She turned around and held out the key to Spiritis, “She missed something. This isn’t an empty room after all.”

“A key, what’s it go to?” Spiritis questioned in response.

“A box,” Ashara answered, “Full of especially important things of Angela’s. Her mother’s possessions. She is going to be looking for this key if she hasn’t started the search already.”

Spiritis nodded, “Let’s get back to my room.”

They headed out of the empty room and back to Spiritis’s room. When the door was closed, Spiritis snatched the key from Ashara, “Sit down on the bed,” Spiritis ordered.

“What are you going to do?” Ashara questioned, “Take the key to her tomorrow? Call her and let her know you got it?”

Spiritis shook her head, “You just wait there.” Spiritis stated as she got an idea.

She focused back to the last night of Alban Heruin in the mountains. She also prayed that Angela was not in the house or in her bedroom at her grandmother’s house. She focused on opening the bridge between her room and Angela’s room at her house. A moment later, a field enveloped around Spiritis with a gold flash. She stood in Angela’s room. She quickly found the nightstand from within the room and rested the key on it. Curiously, an ornate cherry wood body was also on the nightstand. Spiritis thought about opening the box for a moment but decided against it.

Feeling the need to disappear quickly, Spiritis returned to the center of her bridge and dispelled the portal, returning to her room as if she had never left, just like the weaker version of the bridge to Proxima back in the mountains. She glanced to Ashara who was wide eyed, “You saw that?” Spiritis questioned in surprise.

“You forget that I have the sight, I not only saw your seal light up when you used your magic. I saw that whole portal and everything. You went to her room and dropped off the key! Why? You could have been her hero by finding it!”

Spiritis shook her head, “I know her well enough to know that she doesn’t need a hero. She needs a guardian spirit, like her mother or grandmother, working a minor miracle. That or her own thoughts just making her think she was forgetful.”

“What you said to me in jest, I saw to you in compliment, you are a bastion of light and joy, Spiritis. I’m glad to have you in my life,” Ashara smiled warmly a moment later.

GPFriday: Spiritis Semester Chapter #23

Feel free to leave a comment below or email me at kendrabrooks@taintedtrinity.com

 

Chapter #23: Return to Normalcy

 

Greeley Colorado

August 23rd, 2027-CE

 

With school in session, things seemed to be returning to normal. As normal as things can be for a first year in high school and with a second cousin in the building. Jena and Spiritis got to experience what it was like having siblings in the building, although it was not the first rodeo for Jena. Curtis would expect the same thing in a couple of years, he would be the older sibling instead of the younger one.

Spiritis felt bad that she only coordinated her class schedule with Jena and Curtis as they had done since middle school. That meant that she only ended up having one class with Ray during the day. Somehow, despite not communicating with Ashara at all, she managed to have four of six classes with her and her troupe. She didn’t have any classes with her oldest sister, she chalked that up to her sister being a senior and having a different set of classes than Spiritis.

That didn’t help Spiritis’s mood. She had been seeing less and less of her sister over the past month. Angela had cleaned everything she needed to out of her grandmother’s house and moved in during that time. Spiritis felt like she had become an only child again. She was looking forward to the weekend where she could have Jena and Ashara over for a sleepover and feel a little more like a regular life again.

After school Spiritis, Jena, and Curtis headed for the bus area to get onto the bus. Spiritis heard a familiar voice call out to her, “Spiritis, wait!” Ashara called out, “Where are you going?”

“I have to take the bus home now,” Spiritis replied, “The school bus this time. Well, if I don’t then I have to catch the city bus.”

“Your family gives you some strange names! Why can’t they give you some normal names!” Razzed one of the boys that Spiritis had yet to meet.

Spiritis gave an exasperated sigh. It didn’t matter which name she used, be it Se’ana or Spiritis, she was made fun of it. Shawna would have been a better. Spiritis’s newfound power that fed her secrets gave her the answer to her strange given name, it was the combination of two names put together. It didn’t give her the why, however. Spiritis just wondered why she didn’t have two middle names or a dash in her first name instead of the weird slamming together of names. She asked her mother about it a week ago, but she dodged the question entirely.

Lines formed in front of the busses and Ashara gathered around the three, “You take the same bus?” Ashara questioned with a confused look on her face.

“You never took the bus before,” Jena nodded, “Yeah. They have routes. For the most part, we are on the same route. I get off before then because my apartment is before their stop. Spiritis and Curtis get off at the same stop as her apartment is before Curtis’s house, but his house is a short distance away.”

“I wish I could ride with you,” Ashara replied, “But my father has to pick me up.”

“Yeah, you live outside of the bus area for all the schools,” Spiritis nodded, “If you were going to my house, I would talk you onto the bus with me.”

“I can call my dad and see if that would work,” Ashara smirked.

Spiritis shook her head, “Don’t try that, we will be on the bus before I could call and clear it with my mom and get you on the bus. Just let me call her and see if it would be okay to have you over tonight. I can let you know after that.”

“How about I ask her,” Ashara offered, “And I can have my dad drive me there.”

“Suit yourself,” Spiritis shrugged, “You should know that the bus takes forever to get me home. You will be waiting for a while.”

Ashara nodded and started to walk off. She stopped suddenly and glanced around, “Where is Angela? Where is Gavin for that matter?”

“They have cars,” Spiritis replied.

“Well, Gavin could give his sister a ride home,” Ashara placed her hands on her hips, “And for that matter, Angela could give you a ride home too.”

Spiritis’s chipper mood evaporated at that moment, “About that. If you make it over tonight, we can talk about that. A lot has changed since you were last over at the beginning of the summer. We will just leave it at that.”

“As far as my brother is concerned,” Jena crossed her arms with an angry look in her emerald green eyes, “If I don’t catch him right as the bell rings, he vanishes like a fart in a fan factory! I might as well take the bus anyway. I hang out with my friends when I do.”

“Fair enough, you will have to tell me what happened between you and Angela, Spiritis. Tata for now,” Ashara waved and ran off.

Curtis glanced to Spiritis and asked, “I haven’t seen a lot of her at your house when we hang out this summer and played video games and watched movies. What has been going on between the two of you?”

“Nothing,” Spiritis replied, “Her grandmother died. She has been moving everything to her grandmother’s house as she isn’t going to sell it. She also had to take over the family shop. She doesn’t have a lot of free time anymore.”

“I bet that eats into her conquest time a lot too,” Curtis nodded as they entered the bus.

Jena shook her head, “Is that all you can think about? I bet if you devoted half of your time thinking about conquests to your studies, you would graduate high school two years before the rest of us. You have a lot of brain power locked up there, you just need to send a lot more blood north of the border, if you catch my drift.”

“Terms of endearment,” Spiritis chuckled as they squished into a bench seat, “I have been thinking that we should take the city bus instead of the school bus. The seats are better.”

“Nothing beats not having to buy a bus pass or pay for rides,” Jena replied.

“I have to have a bus pass anyway. Any other takers?” Spiritis requested.

“I have rides or walking for most of my other places,” Curtis shook his head.

“During school I mostly hang out with you and you don’t really go anywhere much anyway,” Jena replied.

“You shouldn’t be paying for bus passes, your student ID gets you free bus rides now,” Said a random student.

“Oh, cool,” Curtis replied, “Maybe we should take the city bus…”

“How does that work for the summer?” Spiritis called out?”

“It doesn’t,” Said the same deep feminine voice, “You still need a bus pass for then.”

“Dang it!” Spiritis replied, “Still need a pass for then.”

“Well, better than nothing,” Curtis shrugged, “At least we have the student ID thing going for us.”

“True. We might have to take it up some time,” Spiritis replied, “I will just have to look up the bus schedule and see if we can swing it. I just don’t want to wait around all day for a bus.”

“That’s the catch,” Jena replied, “Having to wait. I guess this is better than that.”

“Hang on,” Curtis called out hoping the same girl would answer, “How do you know about the bus system ID discount?”

“Detention,” The girl replied.

“Settles that question,” Jena replied, “considering your track record in school, Curtis, I think you will be making use of that discount soon.”

“Hey, I was thinking of turning over a new leaf this semester.”

“Great thinking, using the fall to get used to the routes and freezing your butt off in the bitter cold waiting for the bus. You should really think about doing your shenanigans now and not waiting for the city bus in the winter,” Spiritis prodded playfully.

“I thought we were compadres?” Curtis gave her a fake pout, “what happened to honor among thieves?”

“We aren’t thieves,” Spiritis laughed, “There is no honor among pranksters.”

“I thought there was no honor among hucksters,” Jena mentioned, “There could still be honor among pranksters.”

“Eh, point taken,” Spiritis nodded.

“Speaking of no honor, which bus does Ray and Robin take?” Curtis glowered.

“Hey! Don’t insult the big guy!” Spiritis spat.

“You are still on about that?” Jena replied, “That was over a month ago. Let it go already, Curtis!”

“They were gate crashers at a private party!” Curtis stammered.

“Who was it trying to schmooze Robin once Ray left to chase Spiritis?” Jena chuckled.

Spiritis laughed, “Hey Pot, the kettle has some words to discuss with you!”

“A particular color, perhaps?” Jena smirked.

“I think that Curtis secretly wants to be part of the family. We could be siblings in law,” Spiritis laughed.

“That’s not what was going on!” Curtis squeaked as his cheeks flushed a deep crimson.

“One big happy family,” Jena snickered, “If I could weasel in, it would make family Christmas an interesting time!”

“Heavy on the drinks!” Spiritis laughed, “At least when we are older and talking about everything that went wrong after this.”

“Even if it doesn’t end up like this, I am betting we will still have Christmas together, drinking about what went wrong,” Jena joined in the jovial laughter.

The bus stopped. The woman, Jena and a few other students rose. Jena sighed, “Well, stay safe and I will call later. Have fun.”

They exited the bus leaving Spiritis and Curtis alone on the bench surrounded by the other students. Spiritis sighed and stretched out on the bench, “Well, how about them Yankees?”

“That’s all you can say?” Curtis questioned as the bus started to move again.

“I assume you didn’t want to talk about Robin anymore,” Spiritis replied, “Unless you wanted some pointed on how to win her over to your side.”

He blushed again, “That isn’t what I was trying to do! I swear!”

“Why are you so defensive? It isn’t like she has the plague.” Spiritis defended.

“She’s not the one I have a crush on,” Curtis replied.

Spiritis arched an eyebrow, “Oh? Have your eye on one of the new freshmen we started the year with? That blonde girl that looks like she might be carrying a torch for you, perhaps?”

“Stop teasing me!” Curtis huffed.

“Well, you let me in on your secret then, compadre,” Spiritis goaded.

“Jena,” Curtis stated quietly.

“What!” Spiritis exclaimed.

“Be quiet, you twit!” Curtis hushed.

Spiritis shook her head in shock, “Sorry, compadre…” her voice trailed off. She chuckled in shock. She shook her head again and fixed her friend with a curious stare, “Really? Jena? Our Jena? Jena Beckhart? The Jena I have known since I was born? That Jena?”

“Is there another Jena that I don’t know?” Curtis glared at Spiritis.

“Well, there are a bunch of new faces here. You could be talking about someone else, maybe a Sophomore or a Junior that I don’t know about,” Spiritis replied, “Someone just as much out of your league if they were older than you.”

“Excuse me?” He growled.

Spiritis chortled, “I’m sorry, compadre, but we have known you since we were in kindergarten! The odds of her dating you are just about as high as you seeing a pig drive this bus! She sees you as family, dude.”

“Any way I can get past that barrier?” Curtis pleaded after a moment.

“Not unless you have a time machine I don’t know about,” Spiritis shook her head.

“You are about as helpful as an extra hole in the head,” Curtis replied.

“You can ask her out,” Spiritis replied, “Just be prepared to get shot down. You can either continue to be her friend or make things as awkward as hell. Maybe just try to play video games and watch movies with just her for a while. Look, Ashara is in town to stay for a while. I can make the excuse I will have my hands full with her now, not to mention Ray.” Curtis started to glare at Spiritis, “Don’t look at me in that tone of voice! If you are going to pursue Jena, you can’t be all high and mighty about who I date! You might be able to slide in if you take your time with Jena. But don’t try to make ‘dates’ with her. Set times to ‘hang out’ with her.”

“That sounds like such a drag,” Curtis groaned.

“Do you want to date her or be friends with her?” Spiritis questioned in response.

“You are making it sound like I will just be friends with her,” Curtis moaned in agony.

“You are going to be spending quality time with her. If it works, you will be in the date zone with her before long,” Spiritis gave him the thumbs up, “But you have to take it slow with her. She isn’t a fast-paced girl.”

“Ugh,” Curtis grumbled.

“If you don’t want to go through with what I say, then turn your attention elsewhere,” Spiritis replied, “Like that blonde I was talking about. I am sure she would say yes in a heartbeat.”

“If you were only a guy, you would understand,” Curtis replied.

“I doubt it,” Spiritis laughed, “I don’t think you and I would mesh that well if we were the same sex.”

“We would be best buds,” Curtis replied, “I can feel it.”

“I will take your word for it, compadre,” Spiritis nodded.

GPFriday: Spiritis’s Semester chapter #22

Feel free to leave a comment below or contact me at kendrabrooks@taintedtrinity.com

 

Chapter #22: Wall of the Mind

 

Greeley Colorado

July 22nd, 2027-CE

 

Spiritis awakened the next morning with a splitting headache. It was as if someone tried to plow a Mach truck of knowledge through her mind. She felt different and couldn’t explain why. Angela was right. Exploring her power was unlocking more and more with every day. Now it was unlocking something else. That knowledge that she was connected to back in Red Feather started to show itself again. I would have been okay yesterday with what Angela was suggesting. I could have gone through with it and Angela could have told me what she wanted to tell me. What she wanted to tell me did have nothing to do with this power. However, she wouldn’t have stopped with going to Proxima. I don’t know if I want to risk using the Einstein-Rosen bridge. She thought to herself, how do I even know all this stuff now, anyway?

She got a change of clothes and pulled them on while yawning. Her mind was still foggy with information crowding it. She was still sorting it out as she felt her wells of power to see how they were. Her protective well had fully recovered, the source of her power provided her with enough power to partially fill her aspect power again, not enough to fill it all the way but more than she had yesterday. Either I am getting stronger or using less protective energy is energizing my aspect power faster. She thought to herself, if I could find a way to store this aspect power somewhere, I can store some for a rainy day since I don’t use all of it every day. Can I do that? A moment later some of that knowledge returned to her, Others do it all the time… Wait, there are others like me? More than just me and Ashara?

She slipped out into the living room and found Angela in the kitchen cooking breakfast, “Hey, Angela, you stayed here last night!”

Angela screamed uncharacteristically and almost threw the pan of hot bacon across the kitchen. Her eyes were full of fear. In her entire life, Spiritis was never able to sneak up on Angela due to their telepathic powers. Angela took a few breaths to calm down, “Are you okay?” Spiritis questioned in response, “Did you get enough sleep last night?”

“How the hell did you sneak up on me!” Angela questioned in response. A moment later, Angela gave her a curious stare, “Hang on, I can’t sense you… It’s like you aren’t there!”

“You’re joking, right?” Spiritis laughed, “You can’t be telling me you lost your powers?”

Angela shook her head, “I can sense the other people in the apartment complex. I am saying I can’t sense you,” She replied.

Spiritis gave her a funny look and cocked her heat, “That doesn’t make any sense. Nothing changed with me other than a headache. I can still sense everyone just like always.”

“You must be blocking me somehow. You learned a new trick or are using your powers in some way. You wanted to get back at me for not telling you that secret yesterday. Ha, ha, very funny! You can stop it now!” Angela stated as she pointed a spatula at Spiritis with a grumpy look on her face.

Spiritis was genuinely confused, “I swear I am not doing anything! If anything is wrong, it has something to do with you.”

The smell of bacon being burnt brought their attention back to the pan. At that point Spiritis was aware that Angela was not faking what she was saying, and something had changed. What would have changed to make it impossible for her to sense me, and only me? She asked herself.

“Dang it!” Angela cursed and threw the bacon in the sink. She drained the grease into an empty can and grabbed more bacon. She glanced at Spiritis and replied, “Well, you did have your laugh. You can drop that incredibly effective block now.”

Spiritis shook her head, “I’m not doing this on purpose. I don’t know how this is working. This must be something that my power is doing. I can’t control it.”

Angela fixed her sister with a curious silver eyed stare. She saw that her sister had a worried look in her gold eyes too. She nodded slowly, “Perhaps you’re right. Pushing things yesterday might have done something. We might want to take things slowly for a while. Until you get your bearings on this at least. If you change every time you push yourself who knows what will happen if we keep tripping the light fantastic.”

Rather sudden change. Did she have time to think about the whole Proxima thing or did my newfound mental barrier scare her that much? Spiritis asked herself as she sat down at the table. Soon after the answer came into her head. It was the newfound power that seemed to be feeding her secrets. It was the latter. Angela realized that they were in way over their heads with Spiritis’s power. Spiritis only now realized how right they were.

I thought the whole Proxima thing was playing with fire, but my powers are really playing with fire. I don’t know what I am or why I have these powers in the first place. I never even thought of the why before. I don’t even know what the source of these powers are and why it chose me to have these powers. That’s a problem I need to unravel. Spiritis reminded herself.

Angela put on more bacon and as it sizzled, she commented, “Maybe we should hold off on exploring your powers for a little while. You might want to stop using them unless you absolutely need to.”

Spiritis nodded, “I think you are right about that. But that will make for a long summer. Especially if Jena and Curtis want me to try for another round of super bowling.”

“Chalk that up to a fluke,” Angela replied, “Just be your boring self. Use your powers if you need to save yourself or someone else. For now, they are not toys.”

“Copy that,” Spiritis nodded. Her eyes widened, “Did I tell you that Ashara has these powers too?”

“That is a problem,” Angela sighed, “I trust you to use these powers wisely. If you say you will. Ashara on the other hand, she likes to stick her nose where it doesn’t belong and get into trouble.”

“All that from a brief meeting with her?” Spiritis questioned in response.

“You told me stories, out of everyone in your mom’s side of the family, you and she go together like peanut butter and jelly. That doesn’t make for a good combo with these powers, but I know you have a responsible streak when it comes down to it,” Angela explained, “I’m not sure about her.”

“Ashara and her father are moving up here,” Spiritis explained.

“So,” Angela glowered, “I will be seeing more of her. How did that happen?”

Spiritis brows furrowed together in confusion, “I never thought about that before. I wonder if Ashara’s powers have something to do with that. Maybe she influenced events on a greater level than I thought.”

“She is more advanced than you. She might have progressed further,” Angela nodded.

“But we can still sense her, that is different than me,” Spiritis replied.

Angela nodded as she started to plate the bacon and moved for the eggs, “That is true. Maybe there is something different to how you two explored your abilities? I don’t know what is different between you two.”

“Well, we will figure it out,” Spiritis replied, “When she comes back. They are waiting for their house to be finished.” Spiritis rose from her chair and went into the kitchen to get a glass of water. The smell of the burnt bacon clashed with the smell of the fresh burnt bacon. It made her nose wrinkle, but she ignored it while she filled up the water. She glanced to Angela after she filled up her glass and took a drink, “Are you going into work today?” Spiritis questioned.

Angela nodded, “Yes, but you should go to the club today to hang out with your friends. I am sure they missed you yesterday. You might want to get back to your normal routine anyway.”

“You are coming back tonight?” Spiritis questioned in response.

Angela sighed, “I got to clean more of my grandmother’s house today. I probably won’t be back.”

“Angela!” Spiritis whined.

“You might have to accept the fact that I will be living there for now on. I came back last night because I said I would. But that is going to be my place from now on. I am not just going to sell it because I have a room. Here. I am sure I will be welcome here, but it might be easier on Sylvia and Gwen to move into something smaller after I am gone anyway,” Angela replied.

Spiritis fought back tears, “I don’t want to go back to being an only child!”

“You have to come to accept the fact that I was probably going to be moving out sooner or later anyway. This is my last year of high school. After that I was going to find a job and look for my own place,” Angela replied, “Things just happened sooner than expected.”

“You don’t have to grow up so fast,” Spiritis replied, “You aren’t alone in this.”

“We aren’t family by blood,” Angela argued.

“I thought we were family by bond,” Spiritis contested, “I thought that meant something more. I guess not,” She glowered in response.

The comment stung more than anything else that could have caused Angela pain. She wanted to say something, but she didn’t know anything else. She could say one thing that would convey the same pain that Spiritis just caused her. Other comforting statements might just sound empty. Without knowing what Spiritis was thinking, without those surface thoughts that Angela was used to hearing, all Angela could do was plate the eggs and rest the plate in front of Spiritis followed by the silverware. She hatted the wall of the mind that came up between them.