LAILAH
ELEVEN
The next week, after my fight with Brayden, I didn’t spend much time with the guys.
I was locked away in a library study room or in my dorm.
If demons were going to come for me, then I wasn’t going to make it easy for them.
Weak link or not, I was going to prove I didn’t need the guys hovering around me to keep me safe.
Not having been this alone since I got to Ryevick, I was becoming homesick for the first time.
Sure, my parents and I talked on the phone or emailed when things were crazy, but it wasn’t the same as being with them.
As Thanksgiving loomed closer, my outlook grew darker.
This was one of our favorite holidays as a family.
We always cooked crazy amounts of food and would host whoever didn’t have a place to go at the diner.
I knew that everyone was noticing my spiral, but I just didn’t know what to do about it.
I had never suffered from a gloom like this before.
Even after my ex and I broke up, and I found out everything about my best friends, I just pulled away.
This was different. I was getting angry over silly little things and habits that people couldn’t fix.
I felt like in some ways I was going crazy.
Beth was certain that this was a direct correlation with coming into my powers and couldn’t tell me if it would get better or worse.
On the edge of my emotions, I could feel something else eating away at me, but I just couldn’t seem to put my finger on it.
“Knock, knock,” Cami said, cracking the door to the study room I was using. “Is it safe to come in?”
“To be determined, but I think you're fairly safe,” I responded, setting down my pen.
“Well, that’s an improvement over throwing your textbook at the door like the other day,” Cami teased, pulling a chair out from the table and sitting on it.
“Oh God, I did do that, didn't I?” I groaned, dropping my head on my arms. “Why do you keep coming back? I would just cut my losses and run.”
“Nope, not gonna happen, Lala. You’re not in control of yourself like you normally would be. How can I blame you for that?”
“Have I told you lately how amazing you are?” I asked, looking up at her with a smile.
Cami tapped her chin. “Wow, I can’t even remember the last time you told me that, so clearly it’s not often enough. I’m going to need you to step up your quota on that, like stat, little missy.”
I chuckled at Cami’s antics, making me smile bigger.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d done that.
“This is killing me. I know I’m acting like a crazy person, but I can’t seem to do anything about it.
Even Nona tried to help me with some tricks to calm my anger before I lashed out at someone, but it clearly didn’t help. ”
“Yeah, I heard about that. Brayden is fine, by the way. He doesn’t hold it against you, and neither do the other guys.”
“Oh, even Micah? I haven't seen him around since we argued that day Beth thought I ran away,” I grumbled, scribbling on one of my notebooks.
Cami leaned forward and started flipping through one of my textbooks. “So, about that. We might have all told him to stay away if he couldn’t keep to the Thumper rule.”
“The Thumper rule? What the hell is that?”
“You watched Bambi as a kid, right? Remember the bunny that he’s friends with, Thumper? There’s that part where he makes fun of the skunk for being called Flower.”
“Okay…”
Cami waved me off as she was getting to her point. “His mother told him that if he couldn’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.”
I froze as understanding washed through me like a tidal wave, bringing me to my feet.
“You're telling me that he’s keeping away from me because he has nothing nice to say to me?! That asshole treats me like shit all the time, and the one time I stand up for myself like he always bitches at me I should, he runs away?!”
“And… I owe Parker fifty bucks,” Cami muttered.
“Get out!” I snapped.
Cami looked at me blindsided. “What?”
“I am following the Thumper rule. Now, get out,” I said, pointing at the door.
The look of hurt in Cami’s eyes made me pause and gave me a moment of clarity in my blind rage, but I knew if she stayed, I was going to say something I would regret even more. Cami didn’t say anything, and the click of the door was the only thing that told me I was alone in the room once again.
I picked up my phone to see what time it was back home. Being nine hours apart made trying to connect challenging. Seeing as it was still early in the morning, I decided to chance it and see if my mom would answer.
“Hey, Ladybug, everything okay?”
I couldn’t hold in the sob when I heard her voice. “Mom.”
“Luke, I need to step into the office, Lailah called,” I heard my mom tell Dad before the noises of the diner faded away, letting me know she was alone. “Oh, Ladybug, what's wrong?”
I tried to answer her, but all the sadness and chaos I’d been feeling fell away at the sound of my mother’s words. I just let myself sob while she tried to soothe me and tell me everything would be alright.
After I’d cried myself out and felt like I could catch a breath, my mom tried again. “Tell me everything, young lady.”
It broke my heart to know that I couldn’t. I hadn’t figured out a way yet to tell my family that I wasn’t the same daughter that they sent off to school. I was blessed by an angel to hold the element of Synergy, and I was training to fight demons that were hidden everywhere in our world.
“I’m sorry, Mom, I didn’t mean to lose it over the phone like that.”
“Don’t you dare. I’m your mother, and that is exactly what I’m here for.
To be honest, I’m surprised it hasn’t happened sooner.
Did you know it took your brother only three weeks to call me crying on the phone because things were harder than he thought they would be?
Look at you, making it almost four months. ”
I smiled, wiping my tear-stained face off with the sleeve of my sweatshirt that just happened to be from the brother in question. “I had no idea.”
“Of course not, because I never told anyone but your father. Some things are meant to stay between parents and their children, just like this will.”
“I don’t know what it is, but all of a sudden, it hit me that Thanksgiving is in two days, and they don’t even celebrate it here. Then it made me think of you guys and what it would be like at the diner, and here I am studying my brains out for finals.”
“I’m sure this makes me sound like an ignorant American, but it didn’t even cross my mind that they wouldn’t celebrate Thanksgiving,” my mom said, making me feel better that I wasn’t the only one who forgot that.
“Would your friends be up to celebrating it with you? What if you did your own version? You said that the group of boys all live in a house, right?”
I could just picture it now, Sarah and Garett letting me take over their kitchen for the day to make our traditional Thanksgiving foods. All the while, the guys trying to help and ending up just arguing amongst themselves, causing more work.
“That’s actually a great idea. I’ve been a bit of a bear to them all lately.”
“Ladybug, you know when you get too stressed out it’s never good for you. It’s one of the reasons you started running,” my mother reminded me.
Rolling my eyes, I sighed. “Yeah, Mom, I know. The weather here turned this last week, and they’re saying it might snow soon. I haven’t found a place to go running inside, so I’ve been slacking off on that.”
“Seems like you might need to find a new outlet then. Do they have any fitness classes you can take? Anything to help drain all that stress out of you? I know you also used to cook, but seeing as you don’t have a kitchen, that puts a kibosh on that, doesn’t it?”
“You're right, I need to be better about finding a way to manage my stress. My friends have been trying to help, but I keep scaring them off. I don’t know how I’m going to make it up to them.”
“Sounds like a home-cooked meal might help smooth things over,” Mom said with a chuckle.
“If they’re still coming round with you acting like an ogre, I don’t think you have too much to worry about.
Not all friends are like Clara. To me, it sounds like these friends are not the type to give up on you so easily. ”
“Mom, have you always been this smart?”
“Where do you think Kyle got his smarts from? It certainly wasn’t your father, Lord love him.”
We both laughed at that and took a few minutes to catch up on other things that had been happening before she had to head back to work.
“Ladybug, I love you more than fresh brownies with ice cream.”
My eyes welled with tears at her words. My parents and I had always played this game when we were young, trying to show how much we loved each other by saying they were more important than our favorite thing.
“I love you more than sugar cookies, Mom.”
“Oh, that’s a tough one to beat, Ladybug. Fine, you win. I’ll talk to you later.”
After hanging up with my mom, I felt better and more in control of myself. It’s amazing how one conversation with the right person can change everything.
Lailah:
Hey Beth, what are the chances that I might be able to take over the kitchen this Thursday?
Beth:
Depends on why you need it.
Lailah:
Two reasons: an I’m-sorry dinner that I want to surprise everyone with and it would be Thanksgiving in the states.
Beth:
Let me talk to Sarah and Garett and see how they feel about a night off. I’ll get back with an answer soon.
Lailah:
Thank you Beth. I appreciate it.
Setting aside my homework for the evening, I pulled out a clean sheet of paper and started writing down all the things I would like to make for the holiday if I got the kitchen.
This was going to be as traditional as I could make it.
Getting lost in my planning, I didn’t realize the time, and when the door opened and someone flicked off the light, I yelped.
“Oh gosh, I’m sorry! I didn’t know that anyone was still in this room,” a gentleman in a janitor uniform said, turning the light back on for me. “I do have to ask you to pack your things up though, because the library is closing for the night.”
“Sure, no problem. Let me clean my stuff up and I’ll be on my way. Didn’t realize it had gotten so late,” I said in apology, shoving books and papers into my backpack while waiting for my computer to shut down.
“It happens more than you think, especially this time of the year. Everyone’s cramming,” he said, holding the door for me as I exited and he locked up the room. “Have a good night, and try to get some sleep.”
I thanked him and headed out into the chilly night air.
I must look awful if he told me I needed to get some sleep.
Sniffing myself, I grimaced. A shower might be a good call too.
Man, when was the last time I ate? I mused as my stomach grumbled at me.
Learning from Jay, I kept a few power bars in my backpack for cases just like this.
How major of a fog have I been in this last week?
The campus was quiet this late in the evening and the moon was high, giving me enough light to see by as I crossed the campus to my dorm building.
Swiping my keycard, I yanked open the front door and made my way up to my room.
When I got there, I noticed that my door was slightly ajar, which was strange.
I always made sure to keep my door closed, since I didn’t have the best relationship with the girls in the building.
Apparently, being close with all the most wanted men on campus made you a target and not friend material.
I pulled out my cell, Cami’s number ready to dial if I needed it, and nudged open my door the rest of the way.
Flicking on the light, I took in the room before me, and it made my blood boil.
All the calm that I had gained from talking to my mom was blown away like a leaf on the wind, replaced with an erupting volcano.
The first thing that hit me was the smell of rotten milk and garbage.
My clothes had all been pulled out from the drawers and left in piles on the floor, where it looked like someone had emptied the trash from the cafeteria on top of them.
My bed was also covered in garbage, but the final straw was to see Elle, my stuffed elephant, covered in eggshells and a brown banana peel.
Written on the wall above my bed in black spray paint was:
TRASH LIKE YOU ISN’T WELCOME HERE.
Ever since the Halloween party, the mean girls believed that I was the reason that Mallory had left school, and hideous rumors spread.
None of them came close to the truth, but they did not paint me in a good light.
I’d been surprised that the other girls of her squad had left me alone, but it seems that they were aiming for a bigger hit than normal.
My rage flowed out of me, causing me to shake, my hand crushing whatever was in my grasp.
All else was forgotten, except for the fact that my sacred safe place of a room had been violated.
I could take their snotty comments and petty tricks, but this was going too far, and I wasn’t going to stand for it.
“Lala, what the hell is going on?” someone said behind me, but I didn’t respond.
I heard more words, but I blocked it all out and plotted my revenge on those who’d dared to act against me. I was Synergy, I was the most powerful weapon on Earth, and they dared to defile my sacred space?
You’re more powerful than them. It’s time they learned what it means to fuck with a Blessed Warrior.
Cami appeared in front of me, pulling me from the voice inside my head, fear making her eyes wide as she took me in.
I could see her lips moving, but I couldn’t hear what was being said.
My gaze flicked from her back to the words written on the wall, the words that were now seared into my brain.
Turning on my heel, I started to make my way out of my room to exact my revenge, but something stopped me.
Blocking my exit was Brayden—but this wasn’t a Brayden I’d ever seen before.
Green power flickered across his skin, his eyes alight with determination, and it brought me to a halt.
My power lashed out at him, but he brushed off my attack with the flick of his hand, not backing down.
My golden power surrounded him, checking for any weaknesses, but found none, which only irritated me further.
Crush him. He is weaker and does not deserve to stand in our way.
Just as I was about to lash out another attack, his voice rang through my head, clear as a bell and capturing all my attention. “Lailah, I am not your enemy.”