Rell and The Rose

Ch. 17, Rain Dance

Bastien

"Hey, Bastien! Hold up a sec!"

I cringed, wishing I'd left school as soon as the last bell rang, so that I didn't run into any of my basketball teammates or Cat. But I was surprised to see Marissa, Cat's best friend, pacing down the hallway, her wavy black hair wild in a way I rarely saw it. As far as cheerleaders went, Marissa was actually kinda cool. She played soccer and wasn't bad at Halo either.

 Still, she was Cat's best-friend, so I braced myself for some sort of cheerleader throw-down about how I was jerk-off and Cat could do so much better. Instead I was surprised when she stopped right in front of me, her eyes rimmed in red.

"Have you seen Cat? She didn't show up for school today. And she's not answering any of my texts."

Something inside me went cold. "I thought she was just avoiding me. We broke up." If felt weird to say it aloud, but Marissa must have already heard because she plowed on.

"When was the last time you talked to her?"

"At the party... in the forest."

"Did you see her leave? Because no one else did."

"I left before she did."

We both just stared at each other, eyes wide, neither wanting to say more. 

"You don't think she did something stupid, do you?..." Marissa whispered, and again checked over her shoulder. For a second it felt like old times. Cat's mom dated a revolving door of guys, one of the reasons I was over there so often. Not all of them were good guys. And usually Cat handled it all well enough... but every now and then she would do something insane, and Marissa and I were usually the ones to pick up the pieces. 

"I— she seemed fine when I saw her... I thought she was with Jack now?" I couldn't look at her as I said it, and even Marissa seemed awkward. 

"I thought that too, but he hasn't talked to her all week. I'm worried about her. Do you think we should tell someone... I mean, first Carter..." The hallways, crowded and noisy during the day, suddenly seemed to stretch out with an oppressive silence. Neither of us wanted to say what we were both thinking. 

"I don't know... do you know where her mom is?"

"Somewhere in Vegas, I think. I tried to call her, but no answer. I went by their house this morning too. Empty. Maybe Cat went to join her in Vegas?"

"Yah, maybe." 

Neither of us believed that. 

So where was she?

"I'll go talk with Jack again, and see if he knows anything else." I noticed she left me out of this venture, which was probably a good idea. I was pretty sure if I saw Jack I might accidently break his jaw.

"Hey, um, that new girl, you know Ivy, but a leper ban on her?"

My jaw tightened. A leper ban was when every single person in school was forbidden from talking to her. I'd seen it happen to people who'd done something truly despicable... but it made me uncomfortable that Ivy had chosen Rell. And it was painfully obvious why. Rell was beautiful, in a bizarre, slightly unhinged, Amazon-warrior type of way. I was actually surprised none of the other guys had risked Ivy's wrath and broken the ban. But so far, Rell hadn't broken. Actually she'd strode home today with a smile on her face. She was either stronger than I thought, oblivious, or both.

"So, what about it?" I finally said.

Marissa stared at me, that disappointed look usually only a parent could pull off. "I just don't think she deserves it, is all. You could say something to Ivy. Ask her to call it off."

I stared down the hallway. "Ivy doesn't listen to anyone, what makes you think she'd listen to me?"

Marissa rolled her eyes. "Ivy's been in love with you since the seventh grade. And I'm pretty sure she didn't put the ban on that girl just because she's gorgeous."

I finally turned to meet her eyes, a dangerous note in my voice. "Are you saying this is my fault?"

She rolled her eyes. "Nevermind. I'll see you around Bastien."

 "Yah. See you around." It was a lie. Cat and I were over. Marissa and I would not be seeing each other around.

I turned and walked down the empty hallway. Why was it that sometimes being surrounded by people, looking like you had everything handled and the perfect life, was actually the loneliest place to be of all?

Maybe Rell was lucky that people stayed away. If no one talked to you, you couldn't disappoint anyone. You couldn't hurt anyone.

Unable to take another moment in the school hallways, I threw open the doors, crossing the parking lot to my car.

The dark clouds that had creeped across the sky all day, finally began to downpour. I made the turns almost mechanically, my thoughts swirling as I thought about the girl who had come into my house. Rell. She'd survived her first day of school, despite Ivy's abuse, and somehow seemed stronger for it. 

Even if she was beautiful, there was something different and strange about her... something that made others watch her in a sort of wonder. If half the school didn't talk to her because of Ivy, the other half watched her in a sort of confused wonder and admiration. She walked through the hallways head up, and I'd never even seen her hold a phone. She addressed teachers clearly and respectfully, asking questions of things I'd never even considered, and actually wanted to know the answer. Strange questions; like how exactly did the lights work? Where did the water come from? Why, exactly, was the sky blue? I'd spent the whole day trying to figure out how to get rid of her, before something happened that couldn't be undone. Before another student disappeared.

First Carter.

Now Cat.

What if the next was Rell?

It felt as if the drive passed in a blur, until I found myself sitting in my bedroom, watching as rivelets streaked down the window. I was suddenly reminded of a different time, watching rain race sideways across the window as my mother drove the car. She was taking us deep into the forest. No matter the weather, if she said it was time, I went. Even though it terrified me. It was better to go with her. To know she was safe. 

Far more terrifying were the nights she went alone. It was one of those nights that it had finally happened. That she hadn't come back and grandfather and I had searched the forest, to find her body ice cold, laying in the snow, barely breathing.

I reached out and touched the glass, wondering what it would be like to just lay down, close my eyes and let the cold creep over my heart. The world outside was a wash of dark greys, a beautiful sort of sad. I had almost turned from the window when a movement caught my eye. The rain was so thick I almost dismissed it, but then I leaned even closer to the window, shocked.

She was out in the rainstorm.

Rell.

I waited for her to duck her head and run for the garage, maybe even to finally cry after an entire day of students ignoring her. She'd been strong at school, but it must have all been an act. This was where she showed her weakness. Instead, she tilted her head back, arms held palms up, her eyes closed and almost reverent. Her clothes were soaked, hugging every inch of her strong body. Her mouth was open, like she was drinking in the rain. Then her chest began to shake, her lips curling up in a smile, so that even from here I could tell she was laughing.

She began to spin in a circle, faster and faster, the water streaming off her in rivulets as she tilted her eyes up to the sky and laughed.

I couldn't look away.

It was like watching someone undress, intimate and personal. She continued to dance, as if the water gave her life, and for the first time I had an uncomfortable thought, one that I squashed as soon as I thought it.

She was beautiful.

I closed the blinds, went to my bed, put on the five hundred dollar headphones my dad had bought for me when he'd missed the final basketball game of the year. I blasted Imagine Dragons, trying to drown out the sound of the rain and to stop wondering what it would feel like, just for a moment, to feel that free.