Close Encounters of the Bus Kind

[23]

Leslie looked immensely skeptical at that calmly considered and coolly delivered rationalization by Evangeline but the volleyball girls knew that Leslie trusted her like a second in command, or Number One, as Gina like to refer to her and Eva hated.

Despite this reassurance, Leslie still kept her distance from the other girls. While she continued to foster this concern, Erin felt a measure of relief. She hadn’t infected the others with the sight that had been tormenting her. In some ways, it felt good that others could see a little bit of what she had seen because it validated that she wasn’t crazy. But the sound still played back for her like a… broken YouTube video on loop stuck in her brain. Maybe not as poetic a notion as a skipping record, but it did the job.

One small measure that Erin noticed in watching the girls hang together was that Nadia seemed eagerly accepted by them. She was the Coach, and, despite her current appearance, she could still see that in how they looked at her. For Leslie the most, it was a sense of respect but also distance. Erin could only imagine it felt a little like being pushed into a version of Freaky Friday. Your teacher looks like one of your classmates and faces the ominous notion of going back to school for the first time since adult education night courses ages ago. Truly, Erin hated the nature of high school, especially when she was thrown deep into it with her original family.

Nadia was different. As the bus driver, Paul seemed to have a certain rapport with the girls, which Erin briefly worried about before judging he still had a true and honorable heart after all these years since high school. But their normal frantic energy and lack of discretion paired well with how he did things. Paul was always organized and deeply concerned about their well-being, no matter what games and jokes got tossed around. And, like this, she was still simply a translation of Paul.

His insistence that her good feelings come first when they had a little fun on the couch. Jumping for her when the store tile flew, while still trying to cling to her little sister. And the flower stiffly tucked away, much like the one that first opened her heart to his demure kindness. Where did they go from here?

She gathered that the girls had intuited some measure of their relationship, and they didn’t need Leslie‘s abilities to spell it out for them. They were too smart to not at least pick up some pieces. That was fine. She had been able to pick up pieces of her own about the stuff that her girls kept closeted from their families, from the team, and from themselves. That wasn’t her business unless they brought it to her. One actually had, but that was in her first year of teaching and the capstone of a veritable trial by fire.

She felt annoyed with herself for going through such a personal mental digression as Leslie was around. The poor girl now seemed to have some degree of volume control over her terrifying ability, but she still fretted that she was loudly and incoherently yelling at her. She wished she could be as calm, mysterious, confident, and collected as Luna, who seemed wise beyond her years.

Nadia also grasped the mood around her. When they first arrived at the mall, she figured she was just a tagalong, a curious case of a man in teen girl form. Marvel at how he’s never seen all these sorts of outfits. See what knowledge he has about painting your nails and bra sizes. But, more and more, that seemed like just an illusion constructed by his shoddy confidence. They genuinely wanted to see her try on this and that. Perhaps there was some novelty to Nadia‘s identity, but that wasn’t all of it. She reflected on the afternoon.

It was the true upside to what felt more like a nightmare until recently: She belonged in the company of these girls. She was one of them and they would take care of her. This feeling was so different compared to anything else in her life as a man. People depended on her, they used her, but they didn’t feel like they were with and for her. Family just used her up and discarded her. Employers pushed in a million tiny, destructive ways, removed her precious joys, and unceremoniously fired her without care. Whatever friends she could claim felt like distant mirages or frail hopes. But this group of girls, no, this group of friends treated her as an equal. And there was one she cared for like no other. She also hoped that she wasn’t broadcasting essentially loud spam to Leslie, who responded with a non-sequitur giggle that warmed all of their hearts.

The distance they had to travel to this special place where Leslie could show off her other ability seemed rather excessive but both Ginas audibly speculated between themselves that it might be some eye laser beam that cut to the center of the earth. Leslie waved a hand and made sure everyone knew that while it was cool, and needed to be kept a secret, it wouldn’t be especially dramatic. The place where Leslie decided to go ahead with the test was not too different from the abandoned Sears area, even though it was designated as being remodeled rather than outright shuttered. Anxiously, Erin checked as many corners and places as possible for another monster that might be lurking just out of sight.

It also stressed her out slightly that the seemingly random roulette of shared abilities hadn’t given them another roll since resetting things with Eva. But then nothing happened soon after arriving at the mall and there had been a lull in the ramen shop before everything with Leslie. The unpredictable nature frustrated her almost as much as not being able to wield her telekinesis. Although, watching what Luna did with Leslie made her wonder if similar training could yield comparable results.

When she was ready, Leslie stood back a ways and not far from a wall. She shook herself out and stretched her neck while hopping gently on her toes a few times like she was about to launch a practiced serve. Instead of launching a ball in the air though, she jumped up and launched herself. And hung there. Leslie spread out her arms as she dipped down a few inches and then rose again with buoyant energy.

It had been ages since Nadia watched the original Willy Wonka movie, but the sight triggered her memory of the fizzy lifting drinks. Fortunately, Leslie was in full control of her ascents and descents. She played up swimming through the air a few laps before spiraling backwards and twirling. Erin thought she looked like an exuberant astronaut in microgravity.

Showing off a little but also keeping a watchful eye over the separation between the tallest nearest shops and the mall crowd, Leslie hovered high enough in the air to make everyone worry just a little bit, especially Erin as she nervously envisioned what might happen if this power suddenly decided to quit. But she was able to bring herself back to earth without any problems. Bubbly and spitting words as fast as she could think them, Leslie spilled out her hopes and joys. There were several secluded places out in the desert where she could really stretch her legs.

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She understood, especially with an Air Force guy looking for them, that it wasn’t a bright idea to go Superman rocketing into the stratosphere like a tiny unidentified object, but she really wanted to see the clouds from above. Additionally, she understood that way up in the sky it was really cold, violently windy, and likely hard to breathe. Not at all like movies and fantasies. But she needed the safest taste of it. It didn’t need to be tomorrow, next week, or next month, but she knew with absolute certainty that simply bringing herself back to the status quo of a dam against the flood of voices that wanted to overwhelm her wasn’t enough. She needed this, as much as she needed volleyball as the one true foundation in her life.

“Different kinds of flying. The kind I could do before and the kind I can do now. Although, Coach, I totally and completely promise not to use either of my abilities on the court. No mind reading the competition and no impossible launching strikes or caught balls.”

Erin appreciated that and trusted Leslie at her word. But she wasn’t truly the Coach anymore. Leslie dipped her head and hissed, “Nesbitt should’ve been fired and arrested ages ago. She doesn’t deserve to be anywhere near our sport.” Erin readily agreed with Leslie and so did the other girls. Odessa fumed because her wealthy parents actually celebrated her during their last donation to the school. Her mother was roommates with Nesbitt decades ago and vouched for her when scandals first started to break.

It wasn’t only family shame she kept bottled up inside, but she shoved it deeper than her uncertain suspicions about her abilities. Leslie had kept it a secret, as Odessa knew she could trust her. But the problem was it didn’t feel like it should be a secret. She didn’t have anything crazy to hide, but she was afraid. And, like many of the other girls, it was a combination that strangely suited her. Not that the other girls were paying any undue attention to her, especially with how much Luna stood out.

Both Ginas had to ask the kid the obvious question percolating only in their minds.

“Luna. Are you an alien? Possibly an alien hybrid or an alien in human form here to teach us how to use our abilities for some greater purpose or as part of an experiment? Are you the one monitoring the experiment?” The two of them traded off filling in their speculative questions.

Luna simply answered, “No. No. No. And no.”

“But you have a secret, right? I mean you’re not just a normal kid.”

“I am just a kid.”

“But! You have a secret, right? What if I put you in a pot full of seasonings and raw vegetables, would you confess your secrets?” Eva grumbled.

“Only witches do that. And no. Everyone has secrets. I wouldn’t give them away for a silly reason. Sorry.”

With that, the two of them started to brainstorm other fantastical things and notions to pin on the kid. Luna gazed at her older sister with quiet insistence similar to how she tugged on her when they were stuck in the Sears, only this motion was subtle and loving, not frantic and fearful. With a deep breath, Nadia stretched out the shape of her own questions without any firm hopes that she might get the answers she really wanted.

“Why did you tell us to run away?”

To this, she actually provided a surprisingly lengthy answer. “I knew that thing was there. I knew we could escape if we just ran. It likes to chase, but it’s a sprinter. It can’t keep up. It was a safe way out.”

Nadia dropped her shoulders and shook her head with a sigh. “How do you know all this? Why didn’t you just say it?… And why are you telling us now?”

“I just know. I’m not an alien. I’m not a monster. I just want to keep you safe, because I love you…sis. I don’t want anyone to get hurt and I’m doing my best. I promise. I hope you can understand.” Her large, deep eyes seemed to plead with her across the distance. There was something familiar about her, something genuine and sincere. But Nadia wanted to lash out that someone, anyone, who might know more than they were letting on about life and death matters and still claim to love her like her sister did. But that bitterness was just a stray, cooling ember of thought, not worth holding onto. She lamented that Leslie might have to somehow feel it.

Her sister didn’t have any thoughts though, even though she clearly did. Leslie just couldn’t hear them for some reason. What was she? Why was she? She didn’t want all this confusion. She just wanted a cute little sister, and she wanted a cute and warm girlfriend. Why was it all so mixed up?

Nadia worried that the other girls might jump on her sibling with sharper questions than the Ginas and their supernatural softballs. Odessa looked like she had plenty of uncertainties brewing behind her composed façade. Eva was festering with loss and pain and Nadia could sense the same primed whip of words that the girl wanted to lash out with. She desperately hoped that didn’t portend they were setting up to feel what Leslie felt. No, it was more intuition than reading. Leslie mellowed with the kid's words, clearly torn between the debt she owed her for showing the way through but burdened by uncertainty.

And what about Erin? She appeared so uncertain about what this all meant, but her eyes on the girl were pure mama bear, eager to rip her apart if she heard something she didn’t like. Not that Nadia felt she had any kind of power over her girlfriend in confrontations, but she subtly urged her to stand down. The only question was… What to do now?

Gina‘s phone trilled, and it was a quick hunt between the girls to be the first one to answer. It was Gina‘s mom. She was checking in and informed them that they were to soon meet up for the sake and respect of the Baris family for getting Nadia and Luna back before sundown. Both of the Baris girls gave subtle, lamenting pouts about that but conceded that their time was short.

They could definitely go about speed shopping, but Odessa had a few specific locations in mind that might yield the best results, along with the fact there were places where she desperately hoped to pick up some gifts. No one had any problem with that.

As the girls stretched their legs, not quite preparing for a sprint of their own but definitely hoping to be fleet, Nadia started to hustle. Her trek was soon arrested by an insistent arm at her side.

Luna again? God, she hoped there wasn’t another monster. But when she looked over, it was Erin, clinging to her in a similar way as her sister but with much less certainty to her expression. The other girls all paused as Nadia frowned and asked her what was wrong. Erin shook her head. Not wrong but something she needed to do.

“I love you. I love you so much, and I’m sorry that I haven’t said it more. I have no idea what’s going on and the uncertainties are piling up, but I know I love you.“

She pulled Nadia into a tight, needful embrace and kissed her full on the lips.