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Rosalynd could do many things that I would have liked to be able to do, above all, be secretive and mysterious.
“I don't know. But I suspect so.”
Something worried in her voice made me look up.
“Do you think she's allowed to have this book?”
Her eyes widened and she snapped the book shut.
“You won't tell anyone, will you?” She pulled the book close to her body as if I might take it away from her. “That I have this book?”
“No, I...” I began quickly. “Never.”
I had never told anyone. Even though to this day, I still wonder what secrets Alice's mother has.
Nothing Actually Happened
Alex Kozobolis
Tuesday, June 3, 1997
Entry 3
“You have a gift, and you still can't control it.”
She paced back and forth in front of me, making me nervous.
“Do you realize that you're costing me more time and energy than my damn job?”
Back and forth. Back and forth...
She acted as if I had hurt her, but it just hadn't worked out the way she had expected.
“Your father. He's to blame for all the misery in our family.”
My fingertips were prickling...
There it was again, wanting to break out of me, out of this fragile body.
“God, how could I have been so naive?”
I didn't know. She had slept with that man. A powerful male Water Quatura. And that's how we had come to be.
My sister, a regular Quatura. And me, a disaster, doomed to fail because of my powers.
Three months after my twelfth birthday, almost four years ago, it had started, and I still remember her smile.
“You're going to be something very special one day,” she had said. Since that day, I hadn't stopped feeling cold. Until now. And her smile had disappeared.
I flinched as my mother threw the cup against the kitchen wall behind me and a shard scraped along my cheek.
Carefully, I moved my hand to my burning skin and felt something wet. It hurt less than it felt warm.
My mother rushed over to me and took my chin in her hand. I would never forget the look in her eyes. No smile.
“I'm so sorry.” Remorse. Concern. “Did I hurt you?”
Silently, I shook my head.
