“PSST!
Lucy.”
I
threw my feet on the floor and turned to scream at the door to my room. I had
heard one of them trying to get my attention in such a pathetic way and was
prepared to tell them to leave me alone.
“Lucy.”
“Frankie?” It was a mix of shock and anger. I fell back on my bed and
pulled my pillow over my face.
“I
came over to see how you were doing today.”
His eagerly pleasant voice was like sandpaper on my nerves. “So, how are you doing?”
“I
am fine.” I didn’t
want to go into my morning with Frankie. I doubt he would understand what I was
feeling. He was overly optimistic. And a boy.
“Oh.
Okay.” Frankie sounded a little hard for
words. A brief relief. “It’s
just that it sounded like you were crying and normally people don’t do that when they are fine. I could be getting it wrong
though. It could just be most people I know don’t
do that.”
“No.
You got it right.” I got up from the bed. “I am not fine and I am not normal.”
I
wiped at my eyes and tottered over to the door. I wasn’t sure of the protocol of letting a boy into my room, nor
the house policy on it. Considering Frankie was the first person my age ever to
step foot inside the house, new rules were probably being written up as we
spoke. I started to drag up my manners for company but none of them seemed to
apply either. Making the task more difficult was opening my door to find no one
there. It wasn’t much of a hallway to search so I just
called.
“Um,
I am already in here.” Frankie reported nervously behind me.
I spun around fast enough to make my hair fly but did not see him.
“Where
are you?” Frankie was having that wonderful
effect of irritating me and confusing me all at once.
“Promise
not to be upset?” His voice shrank while I searched the
room for him.
“You
snuck into my room.” I had to grit my teeth. “Why would I be upset about that?”
“Because
I did so uninvited and without announcing myself.”
Frankie pretty much defined sneaking with that. “Mom
always told me I should never do that. It is the sort of thing that leads to
deviant behavior later in life.”
“Like
jumping over people’s back fences?” I closed my eyes seeing if I could find him like a bat.
“Sand
of the witch! Do you really think so?”
If he was not honestly upset now, he was a good faker. “I hope it’s not too late to do better. I only did
this to make sure you were okay. I thought it was for the right reasons. But
dad always says the road to hell is paved with good intentions.”
“I
wouldn’t know much about that!” I lunged for my bed skirt and yanked it up. For a split
second I saw a head of messy hair and huge glasses, but it vanished in the
light. I could have sworn I heard an exclamation of ‘Cap’ but nothing more. I rocked back onto
my heels and waited a few seconds. “Frankie?”
“--ricorn!” A voice came from somewhere in my room again.
A
knock came upon my door. My closet door. I cautiously walked over to it and turned
the knob. A sliver of light spread over my seasonal clothes and those that were
for special occasions. Between a purple dress and an undersized snow suit,
Frankie frowned at me.
“Please
don’t do that again.” He stepped out of my closet and looked around my room.
“Don’t do what again?”
I wasn’t sure if he heard me as he walked over
to my dresser and perused the knick-knacks I had assembled there.
“Surprise
me like that.” Frankie picked up my magnifying glass
and looked at me through it. I didn’t
think his glasses could appear bigger than they already did.
“Surprise
you?” I took the glass from him and he
picked up a fossil I had found on a school field trip. “You surprised me. What were you doing in my closet?”
“It
was the closest place I could get to.”
Frankie handed me the fossil and picked up a beaded bookmark my aunt bought me.
He twirled it above his head. “I was completely fine with staying
under your bed until you said it was okay for me to come out.”
“You
were under my bed?” I snatched the bookmark away and he
turned his focus to my bookshelf. “How
did I find you in my closet then?”
“You
opened the door when I knocked.” He answered directly, without a touch
of humor.
“How
did you get in there?” I tried again.
“Same
way I got under your bed.” As Frankie pulled one book after
another down and flipped through the pages, I realized he was speaking to me in
that completely aggravating way in which he seemed to think I knew exactly what
he was talking about. I stepped around him and took all the books from him. He
started for my night stand.
“Sit
on the bed.” I ordered. He hesitated for a second
before doing what I said. Once I put everything back in its proper place, I sat
down next to him. Not right next to him. That would not be proper, or so I had
come to understand in my books. “Frankie, I have had a really upsetting
morning, and I would appreciate it if you didn’t
mess with things in my room.”
“Okay.” Frankie nodded his shaggy head.
“Ever.” I emphasized this point, hoping that an opportunity would
never present itself again after today.
“Ever.” Frankie repeated. “What’s got you so upset this morning?”
You
interrupting me, I shouted in my head, and coming over uninvited. This was not
entirely true, and I knew it. There was no reason to take out my frustrations
on Frankie. He did say he came over to see how I was, which is more than anyone
else had ever done for me. I should cut him some slack.
“I
just found out some disturbing things.”
A big sigh escaped me and my eyes fell to the carpet as the fresh pain
returned. “Everything I thought I knew turned out
to be a lie. My family. My life. Me. None of it is what it appears.”
For
once Frankie didn’t say anything. His big eyes just
stared at me behind his thick lenses while I fought back more tears. I didn’t like showing emotions in front of strangers, especially
ones that I had thought less of for doing the same. Never mind that Frankie had
already heard me crying.
“I…I’m…”
I cleared my throat as it became suddenly hard to talk. It had been easy to say
it when I was angry, but now being a bit more mentally stable, the words were
difficult to come out. “I am a Changeling.”
I
turned to look Frankie dead in the eye, while a tear just broke over the edge
of mine.
“Really?” Frankie asked with a mix of curiosity and concern.
“Yeah.” I admitted and turned to stare at the floor in case I
started to cry more. “I just figured it out this morning
while I was–Oww!”
I
jerked my arm back from Frankie. He looked confused before I punched him in
his.
“Oww!” Frankie shouted and grabbed his shoulder. “Why did you punch me?”
“Why
did you pinch me?” I rubbed at the sore spot on my
forearm.
“That
shouldn’t have hurt you.”
“In
what world does pinching someone not hurt?”
I couldn’t trust myself not to hit him again so
I scooted further down the bed. “Does your arm hurt?”
“Yes.” Frankie whined. “But
I am not a Changeling.”
“So?”
Frankie’s mouth stopped midway and fell back open. I saw the light
dawn on him at long last.
“You
don’t know what that means do you?” He flung up his hands in a futile attempt to stop me from
grabbing the front of his shirt and shaking him.
“That
is what I have been saying for days!”
I shouted in his face.
“You
said you just found out this morning.”
Frankie pointed out and I shook him some more. “Okay.
Okay!”
I
let him go, some of my frustration spent. He pushed his heavy glasses back up
his nose and looked at me thoughtfully.
“I
thought you knew all this stuff.” I raised my hand back up at him and
his words tripped over each other in haste to come out. “Changelings are supposed to be highly resistant to physical
pain.”
“What?” I sat back down, happy to finally get answers from him. “Why?”
“I
don’t know why. Back in the day humans who
found out their children had been replaced by Changelings would apparently
torture the creat–.“
Frankie looked at me and regrouped, “They
would torture the Changeling until the Fey that took their child brought it
back. They started making them tougher so that wouldn’t happen, I guess.”
“Well
maybe that doesn’t work when the parents already have
the kid back.” I tried not to let my voice crack with
sorrow.
“Never
heard of that happening.” Frankie scratched his head. “But they don’t usually say what they do with a
Changeling once they take it back. Maybe they’re
recycled.”
I
had to push that gruesome thought out of my mind. I was having a difficult
enough time with what little I already knew. I didn’t want to speculate on what future I might still have in
store.
“So
what else do you know about Changelings?”
I realized that if I had actually taken time to read the rest of the article
that Mr. Lucian had pointed out to me, I might not have needed to have this
conversation with Frankie.
“Do
you have all your teeth?” Frankie squinted at my mouth.
“Yes.” I self-consciously sucked my lips in.
“Hold
still.” Frankie stood up and faced me. He
extended his pointer fingers and touched one to each of my temples, then
touched his thumbs together. He then did the same to my shoulders. It was
difficult not to squirm while he was so close. “Your
head isn’t disproportionate to your body.”
“Thank
you?” I didn’t
know how to take that one.
“Usually
they are.” Frankie pursed his lips. “What is the square root of one thousand seven hundred and
sixty four?”
“I
don’t know that.”
“Changelings
are normally highly intelligent.”
“Do
you know it?” I shot back feeling insulted.
“No,
but once again, I am not a Changeling.”
Frankie pointed out. “Are you sure about this?”
“It’s the only thing that makes any sense.” I sagged. “I mean why else…?”
The
tears started to creep in again and I sucked them back. Crying wouldn’t change anything, I told myself.
“I
could ask my mom about it.” Frankie brightened up. “She knows about this stuff.”
“I
don’t think we need to.” My words fell on deaf ears. Frankie was already on his feet
and racing for the closet door. He ran through and slammed it behind him. “What are you doing?”
I
opened the door to find my clothes as the closets only occupant. I moved them
around and searched every inch of the small space. Of Frankie there was no
sign. I slowly backed into my room, not sure what to do or expect. Very
gingerly I reached out and closed the door, then gave it a second before
opening it again. Nothing had changed. No Frankie; just ugly winter jackets and
outdated dresses. I closed the door and went over to my bed to sit down. I
tried to tell myself that I wasn’t cracking up but it was difficult to
believe. People just didn’t disappear into thin air. They didn’t have horns either, an annoying voice pointed out.
“Mom
says–Ah!”
Frankie screamed in response to the one that tore out of me as he suddenly
burst back through the closet door. He nearly fell over in surprise to me being
startled and jumping onto the bed.
“Where
did you come from?” I shouted and pointed at the closet
that I knew had not contained a Frankie a second ago. “Where did you go?”
“Home.” Frankie gave me a concerned look “I told you that my mom might know something about all this
stuff and I was right.”
“You
went into my closet and disappeared.”
I took a deep breath to process and remember that some very unbelievable things
had come to light recently as very much a reality. “How did you do that?”
“What?
Shadow Shift?” Frankie said it like it was the most
common thing in the world. What? Walk? Breathe? It was frustrating to no end.
“Is
that what you call disappearing into thin air without a trace?” I spat out.
“I
would call that evaporating.” Frankie ducked the pillow I threw at
his head. “I didn’t
disappear. I went home to talk to my mom and came right back.”
“How
did you do it?” I spoke the words very slowly,
enunciating each syllable.
“Shadow
Shifting.” Frankie answered just as slowly.
“And
what is that?” Speaking slow was going to be annoying
but it seemed to work.
“It
is how all Crouchers travel.” I looked at Frankie expectantly for
more. “It is hard to explain how it works. I
can try to show you. It is real easy to do once you get the hang of it. I have
been doing it since I was five.”
Frankie
was all calm happy smiles as he held up his hand to me. His cheerful confidence
was infectious and it wore away at my fear and anger. My distrust was still
intact so I didn’t actually turn my hand over to him
until we were standing before my closet.
“Just
hold on tight.” Frankie squeezed my hand and gave me a
smile. “We don’t
want a repeat of last time.”
Exciting stuff, I know. Probably confusing out of context but that can't be helped. I chose this scene because it encompasses a lot of Lucy and Frankie's relationship for the first few books but caught in its infancy. The series is called the Complications of Being Lucy and one of Lucy's biggest complications in the beginning is her friendships, or lack there of. Frankie is a stranger that has not had his social skills blunted by jaded individuals or bullies. He is young and optimistic and the opposite of Lucy who is paranoid and closed off. And as much as she would love to stay that way, situations beyond her control and understanding have forced Lucy to open herself up to the possibility of trusting another. It is not an easy transition for either one of them, and at times causes more trouble and misunderstandings than good. But the soul of the book is their connection and how it grows and shapes both them and the world around them and this, for me, is where that connection, their journey, truly begins. I hope you join them on this journey.
