"It's not right!They said that I can have the place around the beginning of September! Why's it fully booked 'til the end of the year now?" Dale took a bite on his sandwich. He had been complaining for almost half an hour.
"It's a big hotel." I said and Sonnia nodded understandingly.
"And we've been talking about it since January!" Dale went on ignoring me and Sonnia. "No, last December!"
"Others may be paying more." Michelle remarked and this time Sonnia and I nodded understandingly.
"But we are a charity concert!" Dale stopped eating. "We're not doing it for ourselves! We do it for the sake of people, this town, the beach, the sea, the world!" Dale's voice went louder at each word.
This time Michelle and I repeated what we said earlier while Sonnia added, "And we haven't got much money." Our voices laid on each other that it could hardly make sense. But it did not matter because Dale still paid no attention to us.
"We're holding the concert next week!" Dale almost shouted now. Michelle put her face back behind a book. "But now we have no place! Mr. Johnson's--" That's our music instructor. "--been calling every hotel and stadium for the last hour. And everywhere is full. Full!" It seemed he was talking more to himself. "What are people doing at hotels and halls in September?"
"What did the hotel said it was for?" I managed to cut in.
"Weddings." Dale said. "For a VIP. Everyone in America seems to want to get married next week! Cake prices will rise, just you wait!" He babbled on other irrelevant subjects. "And it's a very good time to open a flower shop now. Just because we couldn't tell the exact number of the attendances doesn't mean nobody will come! What're we going to do with all the leaflets? And do you know what I don't understand most?"
Dale piped down at this. He fixed his gaze expecting one of us to answer. We looked about timidly, but Michelle had already left our world.
"What I don't understand most," Oh, well. He doesn't really want us to answer. "is that why this guy is here?"
Dale, Sonnia, and even Michelle reappeared from the book, turned to the guy sitting beside me. I put my face in the palm of my hand, did not know what to answer as well. He had been gluing himself to me since the wind this morning, no, since last night. That Dylan.
"You know." Dylan's jowl drew into a smile. "It's very hard for me to live in this school when everybody is saying I'm gay."
He's talking to me. That demon!
"I had no more friends left but Leigh and Sonnia." He ended with a wink.
"It's okay Dylan. No matter what you are, you will always be my friend." Sonnia said very understandingly again. I was wordless.
"Are you?" Dale challenged him giving a quizzical look. "Are you really a gay? Like they all say?"
Dylan's smile broadened. "That's what people say."
"And ARE you?" Dale emphasized his question.
"I'm not denying it."
Dale, Michelle, and even Sonnia who seemed to totally believe the rumors one hundred percent just now, gaped and gawked at the demon. I just looked away with remorse.
Dale, as if the gay conversation never happened, carried on with his gripes. He put the sandwich down and covered his head in both hands, moaning. "What are we going to do?
Where are we going to hold the concert? I'm so useless, I wanna hang myself!"
"You can do it in the gym, you know." Dylan interrupted. Sonnia, Michelle, and I eye-wided with shock. What a cruel advice! The gym was a terrific dying stage, especially hanging. Unlike the normal classroom, everyone will get a good view of it. You would be the center of attention and you would stand….float high above others and making it hard for people to get your body down. A very dramatic hanging place.
Dale went white, probably had the same thought as us. But Dylan started giggling. "I mean the concert!" He said. "Not the hanging, of course."
From perplexity to shock, now everyone had an enlightenment kind of thing wore on their faces.
"I'd never thought about that!" Dale beamed and stormed out of the cafeteria. He must be going to Mr. Johnson.
"That's great Dylan!" Sonnia said admiringly. "You are always so helpful." --Even though you're a gay. She might be adding those in her thought from the look on her face.
"It's--it's--" I felt obliged to say something since Michelle put her face behind the book again. The problem was solved and she didn't need to be in this world any more. "It's the best," I paused a little. "choice for concert."
Dylan made his dazzling smile. And Sonnia blushed despite knowing by her heart that he was gay. I felt like my heart stopped dead.
The music band had the rescue later that afternoon. Getting permission from principal wasn't a tough job. However, Dale and Mr. Johnson had days of hard works to come. They had to move in and set up all of the stages and stereos, redoing all the leaflets all the while. Dale had asked me to help him with posters this time. I spent two hours in the music club after class every day to work on them.
Problems still haunted me, however. Apart from Dylan never wanted to stay apart; the wind was never in my favor, literally. There was once when the strong wind thrust a flower pot above my head. Twice that the wind tried to knock a canvas frame on me. Thrice that it almost succeed in lifting me up. There were many times when it blew all my papers around, okay I would not count that.
It was more dangerous outside the school. The squall would bring heavier and bulkier stuff such as a brick, a grandfather-clock, a rock-loaded bag (Huh?), a computer, a bathtub, a car (A Four Wheel Drive to be precise.) I was thinking that a submarine could come next. It was very specific though, only brought one at a time and only to me. Thanks. Now, it was clear that someone was plotting a scheme on me. What on earth did I do again?
But I was still safe! I was amazed at how much, accurately and professionally, I could dodge those stuff. Another reason was whenever Dylan was closed to me, the wind never showed up. And it was harder for the wind nowadays for the demon determined to glue himself to me twenty-four hours, one thousand and five hundred minutes, ninety thousand seconds. He bought a new bed and had it sent to my home, setting it up in my room. It's like we're living together! God! I wasn't sure if that's good or bad. But I'm sure I don't want him in my room!
Although the wind attack did stop, on the fourth day, it was too much to bear. I finished painting the posters early, did not wait for Dylan to finish his class, and ran home longing for some alone time. The irritation overcame the fear and I was willing to fight the wind than having to stay with the demon one more second. With him beside me, it was so uncomfortable. I felt like I heard a thrum all the time. Maybe I was getting ill. May be I was dying.
I made my way down the street with quick steps, tremulously looking to and fro, jerking at every light breeze. The sun was still high in the sky today and after a minute of running, I was out of breath. I dropped into a walk and prayed for some wind to dry my sweat.
As if answering to my plea, the wind came seizing its chance then. I swore many times in my head. Fool! Why did I ask for a disaster! I'm going to have nightmares about wind for the rest of my life now!
A muffling burble provoked me. It was as if the whole world was full of engines. I didn't know where it's coming from this time but a shadow that darkened the area told me that it was above. I looked up and despaired.
Suppose it could be a rain cloud, oh, how better would that be? Even with the thunder and lightning.
Sad news, it wasn't, and it's going to be a sad news on mum's channel indeed. The article's gonna be 'Poor sixteen-year-old girl got stabbed by an Airbus.' Yea, an AERO-PLANE! You know, demons love to exaggerate things! And now the captain and his assistants were looking at me in horror from their cockpit. I thought I could hear the passengers cried and screamed in panic too. Some of them pressed their face at the window to see what was happening. But I assured you and everyone that nobody else, and I insisted, nobody else's shit would come out as much as mine. I was the one the narrow head of the plane was aiming at after all.
But I thought before the plane could even touch me--that super fierce wind and the sight of a plane about to hit had already blown away my soul. Goodbye, fellows on the earth.Black shutters covered almost all of my sight and I slowly lost control of my body. I was fainting--that much I knew, and a hand was holding at my back, and there was the very light sea smell mix with the engine's oil,then I was gone.
I regained my consciousness in heaven. I thought it was heaven because it was so comfortable in here and it smelled so nice. I rubbed my eyes and took a better look around. There was a blue, very familiar, curtain. Heck! The heaven looked amazingly like my bedroom! They made it in the way I wouldn't have to adapt myself much with my after life? Good thinking.
"Leigh!" someone was saying. "You're awake! Thanks Satan!"
I was confounded with the beautiful face. This angel looked awfully like someone I didn't want to think of.
"Are you alright?" He kept saying. "Hey, look here. Look. Oh my, she looks like an empty shell. She must have lost her wits. Oh, Leigh! You're an idiot now!" And he wailed and moaned about.That did bring me back. I'm not in heaven. I'm still in hell with this impossible demon!
Normally, I would just smack at his face for that. Or better, sprayed a lot of holy water on him, if it really worked. But the plane and the wind did blow some part of my mind. I grasped his sleeves and said in panic.
"There's a plane!"
He smiled now. "Yes, yes. But there's no plane now, you're safe. I--I mean, a hero, a very handsome hero sent it back up into the sky. Everyone's safe too."
"No!" I went on choosing not to notice the hero-whatis he mentioned. The panic that had been delaying when the plane was about to hit me came round now. "The wind! This crazy wind! It wants to kill me! It keeps blowing thing to hit me! It must be a demon!"
Dylan pressed me to him. "Now, now, calm down." He said it melodiously and the words mollified my excitement. "Did you, by any chance, implant a powerful magnet in your body? You seem to attract a lot of things--"
"I said there's this wind--"
"Shush." He raked his fingers on my face. "Or I'll kiss you."
NO! THE HORROR!
I shut up immediately as he laid me back down on the bed. I wanted very much to be angry but he kept on saving me. No, he didn't! Oh man, It's so hard now!So, I let him pull the blanket over and sent me back into a sleep again.