The Scroll 19

In this section of "The Scroll," more confusing stuff is dug up by Angela Castillo. Enjoy!

* * *

Angela Castillo drove two towns over and went to the local library. She lied about her name and address, got a residential library card, and sat down at one of the library’s many computers. It was surprisingly easy. She wasn’t even asked for identification.

Angela figured she had two hours, maybe three at the most, before someone like Agent Blue and Agent Orange showed up. She brought up the internet and typed “Forgotten Wanderers ocean” into the search engine.

There were several random sites, but as she searched something caught her eye. An excerpt from one site read, “Why go with the Forgotten Wanderers? There are better was to remember our past…” Angela clicked on the link.

The site was called Ocean Sand Sky. Angela read the description on the homepage. “Welcome, wanderers in a strange world! You may be wondering why we’ve made this site. Well, we felt the Forgotten Wanderers held a monopoly of ideas. So we created this friendly forum to allow us Other Siders to talk freely. Why go with the Forgotten Wanderers? There are better ways to remember our past than tell sob stories about what happened to us. And there are better ways to plan our future than to sit watching the waves. Of course, if you are a Forgotten Wanderer, we won’t hate you. All ideas are welcome here.”

A link on the bottom of the page said, “Chat with us.” Angela clicked on it.

Angela was redirected to a live chat page. Lines of text scrolled up the page as people around the world communicated with each other. It had all the markings of a normal chat room—some chatters used strange fonts, some sprinkled their text with emoticons. Angela read:

8asnayke: I’m just saying we shouldn’t sit and do nothing! >:( This is our lives we’re talking about!

lostwandr91: But wat can we do? We r stuck here.

mysoulbutterfly: I heard the other side shapes the sand to make it more likely that you cross over. They make a pool or something. Twist the laws.

littlerabbit has logged on.

lostwandr91: Yes but that dsnt change the age limits. im 2 old.

8asnayke: And you write 2 young.

littlerabbit: hey guyz! :) Do you think it’s true? Do you think that boy has something that can take us back :S I hope so. I miss my mom & dad. :(

lostwandr91: If so, it’ll only cause more probs.

8asnayke: We should take it if he does.

mysoulbutterfly: My professor says he got a weird email. Do you think it was him?

Ember: There’s a guest online.

littlerabbit has logged off.

8asnayke has logged off.

lostwandr91 has logged off.

mysoulbutterfly has logged off.

Ember: Guest, you should forget what you’ve read here, if you know what’s good for you.

Ember has logged off.

“Hmm.” Angela didn’t know what to make of the conversation she’d read. Still, she wrote down the web address to Ocean Sand Sky. “It’s about time I logged off as well.” She turned off the computer and left the library.

The Scroll 18

In this section of "The Scroll," we find out why Leslie is so reluctant to let anyone know what's going on and why she didn't want Savannah to get involved.

* * *

The emails sent, Leslie and Gray had nothing to do but go through every-day life. They went to school the next day, and the way people stared at them made Leslie feel like she was walking on pins and needles. As they walked through the hallways, kids pointed and whispered to their friends. Leslie put her earbuds in her hears and turned on her iPod, covering the wires with her hair. The music washed over her, soothing her. Gray walked silently behind her.

No one mentioned what happened in front of Gray or Leslie until P.E. Leslie exited the girl’s locker room before Gray exited the boy’s locker room. A gaggle of girls stood huddled in the nearest corner of the gym talking in excited voices. Leslie wandered over. In the center of the group was Anne, snapping her bubble gum and enjoying her spotlight of attention.

“I don’t believe a word of Leslie’s story. I’ll bet she fought Gray, not some weird mountain lion,” said Anne, playing with her ponytail. “I mean, this is just like two years ago when their mother died. No one was there to see that either.”

Leslie felt like her entire body had turned to ice. She froze in place, not wanting to listen but unable to stop. Her heart shuddered in her chest.

“Leslie says her mom fell off that cliff by accident, but some people say her mom committed suicide right in front of her. I wouldn’t put it past her to push her mom off the edge. She’s just like the people you hear about on the news—quiet, a loner, couldn’t hurt anyone. Then suddenly, they snap.”

Leslie jerked out of her frozen state. She pushed through the girls until she stood in front of Anne. Anne just smiled and blew a big pink bubble. Leslie jabbed a finger into the bubble. Pink gum splattered all over Anne’s face.

Anne wailed. Before the sound completely left her mouth, Leslie balled her right hand into a fist and punched Anna in the face. It was a weak punch—in retrospect one of the weakest punches ever thrown at a high school—but Anne stumbled backwards and landed right on her rear. She gazed fearfully up at Leslie.

“I wasn’t the only one there,” growled Leslie. “Savannah was there too. And it was an accident.”

The gym coach and several boys pushed through the crowd. “What is going on here?” the coach demanded.

No one answered him. Leslie leaned over Anne and said in a low voice, “Don’t ever—ever—speak about my mom like that again.”

Leslie turned to go. The coach held out a hand, stopping her. “I’m going to have to call your dad.”

Leslie slouched over and put her hands in the pockets of her gym shorts. “I know. But let him know exactly what she said—that either my mom committed suicide or I killed her. Make sure he knows why I hit her.”

The gym coach let her go, and Leslie walked over to the bleachers and sat down. She wished she had her iPod. Gray sat next to her a minute later.

Class started, and the coach split the students up to play basketball. Gray didn’t move. Neither did Leslie. Leslie asked, “Aren’t you going to play?”

Gray shook his head. “Not with my side. Aren’t you?”

“No,” said Leslie, frowning. ‘I don’t think Coach will mind.”

“So you hit that girl?” asked Gray. Leslie didn’t respond. “It didn’t look like a very strong punch.”

“I’m not a very strong person.”

Gray smiled. “Maybe not strong enough to stand up for yourself, but strong enough to stand up for others.”

They sat in silence, watching the other students drill shooting hoops. Anne was gone for a long time. When she reappeared from the girl’s locker room, the skin of her face was bright red.

Finally, Leslie spoke up. “I never want Savannah to see something like that. She’s seen enough death. If—if this gets dangerous, will you help me make her stay home?”

“It won’t get dangerous. It shouldn’t, anyway,” said Gray.

Leslie gave a short laugh. She smiled sarcastically at Gray. “Cougar Girl jumped through a window and tried to kill us, remember?”

Gray pulled from his pocket the small stone panther from his necklace. “I remember,” he said. He turned to Leslie. “I promise we’ll keep Savannah safe.”