Andy and The Zodiac Crystal – Chapter 31

Q: What did the ocean say to the shore?
A: Nothing. It just waved!

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Andy and The Zodiac Crystal – Chapter 31

Thankfully the rest of the holiday weekend getaway proved to be much more relaxing. Other than playing some games, sitting by the fire or in the hot tub, walking around the lake, and going out to eat on our last night there, things were uneventful, of which I was totally grateful.

I had kept all of my Zodiac powers in check, deciding not to explore them any further, as I didn’t want to have any more disruptions or frustrations that might have caused me not to have a good time. Unfortunately, I still continued to feel at unease though, not only with the prophecy Delilah had told me, but also with the feeling that someone really was watching me. But maybe I was just being overly paranoid.

Regardless, we had stopped on our drive home at the same diner from our way up and I was glad to see the waitress there who I had helped. She actually greeted me with a big hug and was glad to see me as well. I was so happy to see her smile as much as she did while we were there and it definitely became one of the bright notes for the trip that’s for sure.

But oddly enough, I had noticed something strange there while eating another burger and fries. An average-sized middle-aged man sitting at the counter, consuming nothing more than a cup of coffee, had stared far too much in our direction the entire time. But what made that even more uncomfortable was when each time his gaze met mine, I felt this icy feeling go up my spine and my head begin to ache.

I guess that’s why I was rather relieved when we left and I was safely back in the car heading home, the remainder of which I fell asleep. And other than a small snack and a few hours of watching reruns on television once we were back at our house, the trip away came to a close with some much needed peace and quiet.

For some reason my first morning heading back to school after the holiday trip felt very weird though. All the events that had taken place up at Lake George had made it seem like I had been gone for much longer than I actually was. Even the walk I was presently on to the bus stop felt weird, as it appeared to take forever to get there. I’m sure part of that was due to the temperatures hovering around the freezing mark and the noticeable high winds making that feel even lower. It felt good to see Chris though when I finally arrived there, as it helped me to quickly snap out of my reflections from the trip and the slight doldrums I was feeling inside.

“What’s up chicken butt?” Chris said.

“Not much Chrissy.” I said with a chuckle.

“Whatever Andrina.” Chris responded in laughter.

“Feels weird going back to school doesn’t it?” I said as I could hear the bus coming up the hill.

“Yeah totally. I thought it was just me.”

“Wouldn’t it be great if I could somehow speed up time and we could both be on the bus ride home.”

The bus had now arrived and opened its doors. Chris and I were the first ones on and headed towards a seat near the middle.

“Who knows maybe that’s one of your abilities you haven’t tapped into yet” Chris said once we had sat down and were out of earshot from everyone else.

“Yeah, that would be something, that’s for sure…” I said thinking about how I’d love to skip several of my classes, especially Social Studies, which I always found to be extremely boring. “Hey, so did anything exciting happen since you got home last night?”

“Not really, just vegged I guess.”

“Me neither. But I’m kind of dreading school today.”

“I can only imagine given everything that happened to you on our trip. But I’m sure you’ll feel a lot better by lunch.” 

“Yeah hopefully…”

We spent the rest of the bus ride talking about plans for the upcoming weekend and Chris mentioned he wanted to continue my training. I had four Zodiac symbols I hadn’t tried out yet and although I was excited to see what they could do, I still had some fear of the unknown given some of my previous experiences with some of the other signs.

“Hey, I’ll catch up with you at lunch.” Chris said once the bus had arrived at school and we had entered the front doors.

“Ok, see you then.” I said heading towards my homeroom while he headed off to his.

While it was great that Chris was my closest friend, it kind of stunk that we didn’t get to see each other much at school. Other than lunch and PE, we had totally opposite schedules. But I must say that I was glad that kid Trevor wasn’t in any of my classes either. Actually he was in the 8th grade along with most of his friends, except there was one kid in my class who did hang out with him, and occasionally tried to be just like him. He was the one who had also called me a freak during attendance on my first day back at school. I was glad that he had only done it that one time though.

After today’s roll call was done, our schedule began with Science. There we did several cool experiments with fire showing how they can burn in different colors. Science was next followed by foreign language, which I was attempting to learn Spanish. Today I was surprised to learn from our teacher that not too long from now, Spanish might be spoken far more frequently than English in our country. After our language instruction ended, then came the dreaded Social Studies. There we continued to talk about the American Revolution and half the time I found myself dozing off. I was more than glad the teacher hadn’t seen any of that though.

When lunch finally arrived, I was starving. Today I had chicken fingers and tator tots, some green beans, a cookie, and a carton of milk while Chris had brought his own lunch and was eating bologna.

“How do you eat that anyway?” I said to Chris as he took a big bite out of his bright pink sandwich. 

“Eat what? Bologna?” Chris responded with a slightly puzzled look.

“Yeah, it tastes so gross and do you even know what’s in it?” 

“Not really, but ask me if I care because I totally like it!” Chris said as he took another large bite with a smile.

“Well it’s your stomach, not mine. Anyway, you know we got PE together after this right?

“Yup. I wonder what fun we’ll be in store for us there today.” Chris said sarcastically, as he wasn’t a fan of PE, much like I wasn’t with social studies. But ironically Social Studies was his most favorite class.

“Who knows? But since it’s so cold outside, I’m sure it will end up being something done in the gym.”

We spent the rest of lunch continuing to talk about my Zodiac training. He wanted me to try Aquarius next and we made plans to do that on Saturday near the small pond in the woods behind his house.

By the time PE arrived, I could see the dread in Chris’s eyes. We had already changed into our gym clothes, which was shorts and t-shirts, when a whistle abruptly pierced the air.

“Ok everyone, let’s circle up. Today we’re going to have a little basketball tournament so let’s not waste any time and start picking some teams.” Mr. Walsh said cheerfully.

“Yeah….” said Chris sarcastically.

“What’s that Chris?” Mr. Walsh said obviously having heard Chris.

“Nothing sir.”

“That’s what I thought. How about you be one of the captains Chris along with John, Melissa, and Vickie.”

I watched as Chris rolled his eyes, especially when he discovered he got to pick last. Vickie was first, followed by John, then Melissa, and finally him. I was a little bummed when Melissa chose me for her team as I had really hoped to be on Chris’s team.

We played five of five games on the two smaller courts in the gym where the winners would end up playing each other and the losers the same. Games were to eleven with each basket counting as one point. We easily won our first game as did Chris’s team. I felt a little nervous as my team stepped onto the court ready to face them. This would be the first time Chris and I had been on opposing sides of anything.

“Good luck.” Chris said. “You’ll need it.”

“Uh huh. We’ll see about that.” I said with a serious face, even though I wanted to laugh.

It was a close game, with the score being neck and neck the entire time. Something or should I same someone was really starting to get to me though during the game. That kid who had called me a freak in homeroom on the first day was also on Chris’s team and he kept taunting me every time I had the ball, acting much like Trevor.

He had just missed a layup with the score currently being tied at 10-10 when I caught the rebound and headed down the court hoping to get a shot off and win the game for our team.

“Come on weirdo, what you got? You gonna make the ball disappear like you said you did in the woods?” 

“Cut it out Clyde…” said Chris to his teammate.

“Aww, that’s so cute. Am I hurting your feelings too? You know his story is so fake Chris. Just admit it Andy. You’re a fake!”

“Shut up!” I said in anger.

I tried to dribble around him and head towards the basket, but he blocked my way.

“Oh, did I hit a nerve? Freak…”

I saw my chance and dribbled through his legs and then jumped up towards the basket. As the ball left my fingertips and bounced off the backboard heading into the net, a hand from behind unexpectedly pushed me with such force that I ended up crashing to the floor.

“What the hell!” I said angrily as I got up and saw Clyde standing there smirking. I pushed him back just as hard, watching him stumble backwards.

He quickly regained his balance and then took a swing at me. For a moment, I was tempted to use my Zodiac abilities but instead blocked his punch and caught him forcefully with my fist in his stomach, knocking the wind out of him.

I know this probably wasn’t showing me to be a very good Keeper of the Zodiac at the moment, as I normally am pretty good keeping my cool. But for some reason, I had allowed Clyde to totally get under my skin.

“You two, principal’s office. NOW!” said Mr. Walsh who had caught sight of the whole thing.

“You’re a dick…” I said as I left the court heatedly while Chris shook his head, obviously irritated that I had acted that way.

“Whatever freak.”

“Silence the both of you!” said Mr. Walsh as he grabbed each of our arms and led us out of the gym and down the hallway into the principal’s office. “Sit down there and wait while I explain why the two of you are here!”

He pointed to a bench in front of the secretary’s desk and then explained to the woman sitting there what happened. She then proceeded to get on the phone and talk to both the principal and assistant principal.

A few minutes later Clyde was directed into the principal’s office, while I was instructed to go into the assistant principal’s. As I opened the door with my head hanging low feeling a little ashamed, a deep voice broke the silence.

“Have a seat Andy. We have much to discuss…”

I looked up and suddenly that icy feeling ran up my spine and my head began to hurt, as I saw standing there right in front of me, the same man from who had creepily stared at me from the diner on our trip…

Peace, love, light, and joy,

Andrew Arthur Dawson