Sojourner by Maria Rachel Hooley

Author:Maria Rachel Hooley
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2009-07-13T14:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Lev isn’t at school the next day, and the whole afternoon I wonder if I’ve dreamed the conversation we had the night before. Even now it has become a memory. It seems surreal and impossible. It’s like something that could never have transpired in daylight.

I pass through the school in a daze, unable to refrain from replaying our conversation, looking for all the things I missed before, things that should be there. More than anything I fear the things I don’t understand. Why isn’t he in school? Why wouldn’t he tell me what kind of an angel he is or his purpose? And what do I have to do with that purpose?

The questions result in burnt hamburgers that night, and Jimmie opens the window to drive away the smell despite the cold winter air. He shakes his head and stares.

“Everything okay, Lizzie?”

For a moment I don’t even realize he’s speaking. Then I nod. “Oh yeah. Everything is fine.”

“You act like you’re a million miles away.” His gaze is pointed, as though he knows what’s bugging me, but I have to call his bluff on this one. Jimmie has no idea.

“I’m fine.” I start to pull out more burgers, but Jimmie points to the fridge.

“Maybe you’d better not cook. Let’s just finish off the rest of the pizza.”

Once Jimmie leaves for work, I head upstairs and find Lev standing by my windowsill. He braces his hands on the sill to peer out into the starless night. His head barely touches the glass, and I can tell by the way his fingers grip the sill he’s far from comfortable.

“Where were you today?” I ask, closing my door.

“I had a lot on my mind.” He stands perfectly still, closing his eyes. His breath is labored, and judging from his position and the strain in his voice, he seems almost…in pain. I see his pale reflection in the glass, but his expression is guarded, unreadable, careful.

“Why are you here?” My throat is dry, and I wonder why this is so difficult.

“For you.”

Unable to take the distance anymore, I rise from the bed and cross the room. Without thought, I wrap my arms around him and lean against his back. Surely doing so will make whatever answers he must give bearable.

He gasps at my touch, his shoulders sagging, and he grips my hand tightly before gently prying himself loose. He turns but takes a step back.

“What’s wrong?”

“There are things we have to talk about, things I’m not proud of.” He averts his eyes.

“Lev, if you are an angel, how bad can those things be?”

He lowers himself to the sill, half-sitting but poised, I know, for flight should this go awry. I can tell by his dark expression he’s working on how to phrase whatever response he’s come up with, but the silence bothers me. The nightmare Lev bothers me.

“Lev?”

He glances up. “My universe is different from yours Elizabeth. You mostly view events as unrelated and good and bad based on each event alone.”

“I don’t understand.

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