I tried to coax her but she didn't want to listen and started screaming. Not knowing what else to do with her I picked her up in my arms and took her outside to a quiet place. I spun around with her quickly and stopped crying.
"Now that you are quiet, why are you crying?" I asked still upset and she looked a bit scared.
I didn't put her down because I didn't want her to run away. She continued to stare at me and she wiped her tears away.
"I don't know." she whispered embarrassed.
"Why didn't you want to be with Pen?" I asked putting her down.
"I don't know." she answered.
I sighed knowing very well that she was lying to me. I turned around and started walking to the basketball courts and she followed me.
"Choose a sport." I told her.
"What sports are available?"
"I don't know. I'm not a girl. That's why you should have waited for me with Pen."
"I'm sorry. Can you help me find her?"
I took her hand in mine and took a deep breath getting a whiff of all the different scents. I caught the familiar rosy scent and started following it. I have learnt to pick out Rose's scent and differentiate it from other rosy scents. She was playing volleyball. She looked lovely playing and from how she moved it seemed like she was an expert.
"She's over there. You can ask her what.other sports you can play if you don't like this." I said to Mel.
"Okay. See ya." she said smiling and but she made no attempt to start going towards Rose.
I turned to leave and felt her hand pull me back. I looked at her and could tell she wanted something.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"I wanted to ask. Would you mind coming over to my place this Saturday if you have no plans?"
"I'm going to be tutoring Riley, sorry."
"Oh. What are you tutoring her in?"
"Math."
"Then I can visit you instead. If you don't mind that is."
She seemed desperate. I nodded my head and she smiled brightly then finally went to the other girls. She didn't go to Penelope as I had expected. She asked someone else instead.
"What are you standing around for?" I heard Nixon asked from behind me and I turned to look at him,"Shouldn't you be playing basketball?"
"I'm in my way."
"Oh you came to drop off your girlfriend."
Girlfriend? I looked at who he.was looking at and saw that.it was Melody. I turned back to him and sighed.
"She's not my girlfriend."
"Everyone thinks otherwise." Nixon said shrugging his shoulders.
"You don't look like you are from swimming." I pointed out seeing as he was dry.
"We start practice tomorrow. I was coming to see the new basketball player."
"Let's go." I said.
Practice was fairly easy and I found it very easy to score. The next few days went by quickly. Melody ate with us in the lunchroom but she didn't talk much to the others. Back home Luke and Bella's relationship got better but the strain remained with Gill. Saturday was a very eventful day. First I tutored Riley and Ray in math then Rose came over to ask me to help her with her make a birthday present for her five year old cousin named Jerry.
"He likes things that are artsy and very colourful. The problem is that I'm not an artist." Rose explained unpacking some crayons and paints from her bag,"I was hoping you know a thing or two about art."
"Does he like anything else that we can make?" I asked smiling at her.
"He's always wanted to have a model of the solar system." she said thoughtfully looking down at the things she had brought.
She had brought a lot of things that will certainly suffice for the model. We started making the small planets of the solar system and the whole time I admired Rose's look of concentration. She looked beautiful wearing a dirty apron stained with paint and she even had spots of paint on her face.
"Dee, I was wondering if you would show me your wings." Rose said shyly as she looked at me,"But it's okay."
"Let's finish this first." I said and she nodded at me cheerfully.
We finished quickly and I stood up ready to bring out my wings as we were in a closed room.
"Dee!" I heard Sam shout,"Vermont! Dee!"
Why would he be shouting my name like that. Michelle came running into the room with a shocked expression on her face.
"You didn't tell us you were an acquaintance of the minister?!" she asked.
"Why would I?" I asked frowning,"How do you know?"
"He's right outside with his daughter and two sons." she said jumping up and down.
"I forgot she was coming." I said remembering that Mel had told me she would come over,"Let's go Pen."
Penelope nodded, packed her things and then we all headed downstairs. Why had she come so late in the day? It would have been better if she had come earlier in the afternoon then left at this time. When we got downstairs, my whole family was looking like they were disappointed that I hadn't informed them about knowing Mr Guilder. I then looked at Mr Guilder and walked towards him to shake hands with and exchanged pleasantries then I greeted his sons who I was meeting for the first time.
"Good evening." I said greeting the one sitting on Melody's right.
"Evening. I've heard lots about you."
"Really?" I asked and my eyes fell on Melody.
He just smiled at me and then I smiled at Melody and greeted her brother on her left. When I shook his hand he pulled me towards himself to whisper into my ear.
"Good grip. Don't hurt my sister. She likes you."
I moved away and saw him smile at Melody. Mr Guilder tapped the empty space beside him for me to sit and I went there without saying anything. I looked at old Luke and he smiled at me for the first time. I returned the smile and he gave me a little nod as if he was acknowledging me. Riley was also still here and she winked at me.
"The boys didn't introduce themselves, did they?" Mr Guilder asked loud enough for everyone to hear him and I shook my head,"They have a bad habit and it seems you do too."
"They said they know me." I defended myself,"Indirectly." I added as an after thought.
"I'll start then." said the boy sitting on Melody's left,"My name's Chris Guilder, Melody's older brother. It's nice to meet everyone."
"I'm Sam Guilder. Pleasure meeting you all." said the other one and I saw Sam smile from where he sat.
"Vermont McGuire." I introduced myself,"Nice to meet you."
"Where does Dee come from?" Chris asked.
"Delsaloriota." Mr Guilder answered on my behalf,"Did I pronounce it right my boy?"
I nodded and then looked down at my lap in silence.
"What's that?" young Sam asked.
"My previous last name and current middle name." I said and the room fell silent as if they were all holding their breaths.
"What happened to your last family?" Mr Guilder asked.
Bella was the one to answer first.
"It's best we don't talk about it. It's a painful....."
"They were murdered." I said as the images of the faces of my previous family flashed before my eyes.
"Our condolences." Mr Guilder said after a long silence,"Sorry to have brought it up."
"That's alright." I said,"It doesn't hurt as much anymore."
I didn't pay attention to what was been said afterwards as I took a trip down memory lane to my father's last words.
"Survive... survive and run until.....you are strong enough.....to stand on your....own....."
Mr Guilder must have noticed that I zoned out because he placed his hand on my back to comfort me but he ended up causing a different event to occur. My wings! I pushed his hand away and got up from the sofa but I fell down because I felt an electric spasm in both my legs. I didn't scream and made sure I had my back to the floor. The Guilders looked horrified and my family and friends even worse.
"Dee!" Dad shouted kneeling beside me.
He tried pulling me off the ground but I resisted and he finally realized what was happening. He looked at Bella and her eyes widened as she came to kneel on my other side. She touched my forehead and they both made me sit up against her body. She started singing to me and I stilled myself and stopped moving. I closed my eyes and concentrated on her heartbeat and voice. I could sense the fear that she felt as she run her hands gently through my hair. My wings retracted and I started to calm down. I opened my eyes and my eyes fell on a wide-eyed Rose who provided me with the familiar scent of Roses.
"I'm fine now." I said and Bella stopped singing,"I'm sorry."
"It's okay kiddo. What matters is that you are fine now." Sam said patting my thigh,"Do you want to sleep?"
"No. I want to eat." I answered smiling at him and he smiled back.
"I didn't know you would have a panic attack otherwise I would have never asked about you family." Mr Guilder said apologetically.
"I didn't know either. It hasn't happened in a long time." I said.