Mind Over Matter..Chapter Five

Chapter Five: Sydney
         William woke up before his parents.  He sat up stiffly and stretched.
         “Couches are not meant for comfortable sleep,” he thought.
         Quietly he crept up the stairs and slipped into his room.  He looked at his bed then to his closet.
         “Go back to bed, or get dressed?” he muttered.
         He walked over to his bed and started to get under the covers when he heard his mother’s voice in his parents room.  Suddenly he remembered the condition his truck was still in and quickly, but reluctantly went to his closet to get dressed.  As he pulled on his jeans he heard the faucet to the shower turn on.
         “Good.  Maybe she will take a while in the shower so I can get out unnoticed,” he thought picking up his Converses and tip toeing out his bedroom door.  Right into his mother.
         “Mom!” he exclaimed startled.
         “Sneaking somewhere?” she asked, tying her bathrobe belt.
         “I thought you were in the shower!”
         “No, your father is.  Though maybe I shouldn’t say anything.  Since I apparently don’t know when to stop talking!” Mrs. Baker raised her voice over the sound of water.
         There was the sound of a plastic bottle dropping to the shower floor and William snorted but quickly covered it with a cough.
         “Busted,” he smiled.
         “I’m not that deep of a sleeper.” Mrs. Baker winked.
         William shifted uncomfortably, wondering if she had overheard the conversation about the condition of his truck.
         “I have to go into town for a little while,” he said, cautiously, moving towards the stairs.
         “Wait a minute William.  What about church?” his mother stopped him.
         “Aren’t you two just church hopping right now?  Since we are new here?”
         “Yes, but you could join us.”
         “I would rather just settle into one church.  You can let me know when you find one that is acceptable.”
         William’s mother looked at him skeptically.
         “Like I haven’t heard that before,” she said.
         “And didn’t I keep my word last time?  You found one and I went.”
         “I suppose.”
         “Well then, trust me this time.  But I really have to get into town.”
         William descended the stairs and turned towards the front door.
         “I expect your truck to be mud free on the inside as well William Henry Baker!” Mrs. Baker called down the stairs.
         William grimaced as he grabbed his keys and phone.  His mom never missed a thing.
         “I wonder what she would say to me interfering with a relationship?” he wondered, thinking about Callie.
         William backed out of the driveway and headed into town.  He had to have the windows rolled down and the windshield wipers continuously going as mud covered them and was running down from the top of the truck, due to the morning dew.  Thankfully, the only car wash in town was open at seven in the morning.  William pulled into the manual wash garage and turned off the engine.  He spent the next hour and a half power washing the mud down the drain.  As soon as the outside of the blue truck was spotless, William pulled out a hose that was attached to a large vacuum.  While sucking the mud debris out of the inside of the truck, William tried to think up more questions to ask Callie next time he saw her. 
         He had a few planted in his mind when the hairs on the back of his neck prickled.  He suddenly had the feeling that he was being watched.  William looked up through the passenger window but saw no one.  He looked all around him but there was no one around.  Quickly he tried to shake of the feeling, and went back to paying attention to the vacuum cleaner.  Finishing the inside of the truck, he was grateful that he had the blanket and the towel to save the upholstery from having to be professionally cleaned.  As he turned the vacuum off and started coiling the hose, he found that the unsettling feeling was still there.  He looked around himself again but saw no one.  There was no one even in the office of the car wash.
         “I’m the only one here.  There’s no one else.  I’m just still shaken from last night, that’s all,” William told himself.
         Suddenly a cell phone ringer with off through the silence.  William jumped, dropping the hose and whirled around.  He reached into his pocket but realized that he had put it on vibrate so that he would know when someone was calling while washing his truck.  The ringer was quickly silenced but not before William pinpointed it near the car wash office.  Placing the coiled hose on its hook, William slowly walked to the car wash office door.  He looked around him but there was still no one around.  The town hadn’t even woken up yet; there was no one on the streets.  William reached the office and froze as he heard the crunch of gravel behind him; as if someone had taken a step.  William looked up into the office window, as if to see if anyone was inside, to look behind him.  No one was there.  Finally he tried the door handle but the office was locked tight.
         “Wow, I need to relax,” William thought, shaking his head.
         He walked back to his truck and drove away from the car wash.  He wasn’t ready to go home yet but he decided to go back and make up for the sleep that he did not get well on the couch.  No one was home when he arrived and he locked the front door before walking up the stairs and flopping onto his bed.  William kicked off his shoes and nestled under the covers, falling asleep within ten minutes.
         When he woke up three hours later, William heard his parents downstairs.  Slowly he got up and stretched before retreating down to the kitchen.  His parents were putting together lunch when he walked in.
         “Well aren’t we Mr. Lazy Bones today,” Mrs. Baker teased her son, ruffling his hair while he got a glass of water.
         “Couches are not meant for decent sleep,” William replied, “What’s for lunch?”
         “Chicken salad sandwiches, coleslaw, potato salad, and rice pudding.”
         William wrinkled his nose at the mention of rice pudding.
         “Dessert I will pass,” he said, sitting down at the table.
         “I figured you would.  So I made you a bowl of chocolate pudding,” Mr. Baker said, setting the small bowl of pudding at his son’s place.
         “Alright!  Thanks Dad.”
         The Bakers ate their meal conversationally.  Afterwards William and his father sat on the couch to watch sports while Mrs. Baker left to meet with a couple ladies for coffee.  William spent the rest of the day watching the television with his father.  As soon as the sun went down, Callie kept to her request and called him.  She couldn’t talk because Alexander was still around at her house so she asked to meet him at the pizza shop after school the next day.  William agreed and hung up.

         When William made it to school the next day he remembered Callie’s request for him to meet her sister, Sydney.  Deciding to look for her before his final class, William pushed the issue from his mind and concentrated on the rest of the day.  As his second to last class was dismissed William picked up his books slowly.  He wasn’t sure exactly where he was supposed to find Sydney but he knew where the sophomore lockers were and decided to try there first.  Putting his books into his locker, William made his way to the sophomore locker area.
         People crowded the area, slamming lockers, and making their way to the next class.  William searched through the people until he spotted her at the far end of the hall.
         “I’m guessing that’s her,” he thought, taking in the jet black, bright green ends highlighted hair as he walked towards her.
         “You can’t miss her.”
         William smiled, remembering Callie’s statement.  He paused for a moment to take in the girl he was looking at through the crowd of people.  She was the towered over the people she stood next to, but held an average weight.  She was dressed in slightly baggy jeans held by a black leather belt, skater shoes, and a black tank top.
         Realizing he had a limited amount of time, William resumed walking; ignoring the stares of people looking at him like he was crazy when they looked at where his line of vision was headed for.  When he reached his destination, her friends looked at him curiously, before stepping aside.
         Sydney stood with her back to William as he stood right behind her.  She was even taller then he was, which did not give him more confidence.
         “It’s now or never,” he decided, firmly.
         “Sydney?” he said, getting her attention.
         Sydney turned around to look at him.  William took a step back in surprise.  Sydney looked a lot like her sister; with pretty features complimented by deep sapphire blue eyes.  She wore black eyeliner that made her eyes look more like they dared anyone to mess with her than Callie’s did however.
         “Can I help you?” she said politely, but with a hint of annoyance.
         “Are you Sydney?” William asked, feeling awkward at asking the question.
         “I am.”
         William eyes were drawn to Sydney’s one hand that was not shoved into her jeans pockets before he continued.  She had a sweat wristband on her right wrist and her fingernails were painted black.
         “I was told to talk to you,” he said, looking into her eyes, to prove that he had a reason to be talking to her.
         “By whom?” Sydney asked, suddenly suspicious.
         “By Callie.”
         Sydney’s eyes narrowed and her free hand formed a fist.
         “Callie does not talk to anyone,” she growled.
         Sydney turned away.  William was not ready to give up yet.
         “Well she’s talked to me.  A couple times actually.”
         “Whatever.”
         Sydney started to walk away and William thought rapidly of what to say to make her believe him.
         “You know,” he said suddenly, but casually, “to walk with the crowd is to blend in, to walk against the crowd is to be your true self.”
         Sydney stopped and spun around.  She walked quickly back to William until she was inches from his face.
         “What do you want from me?” she hissed angrily.
         William smiled on the inside.  He knew he had snagged her interest.  He would have to thank Callie for her statement she had given him.
         “Follow me,” he replied, calmly.
         William turned and started walking down the hall.  Sydney, torn between anger and curiosity stayed put.  William looked over his shoulder and paused.
         “Well?  Are you coming?” he asked quietly, giving her the choice.
         Sydney sighed angrily and walked after him with graceful steps.  The movement surprised William but he did not dwell on it.  He led the way down two halls before peeking into a classroom.  Finding it empty, he held the door open for Sydney before entering himself.
         “What is this all about?” Sydney demanded, spinning around to watch William carefully as he moved into the room, “who are you and how did you find out that saying Callie created for me?”
         “I told you,” William said, leaning against a desk, “Callie has been talking to me.  This past weekend to be exact.  She requested that I come find and talk to you.”
         “I don’t believe you.”
         “Why would I make this up Sydney?  To try and get into league with the sister of a girl that denies the existence of any  boy in the high school except the one she is with almost all of her time?”
         Sydney stood quietly for a moment before choosing to ignore his questions.
         “Who are you?”
         William sighed.  He knew this was going to be difficult, but he didn’t realize Sydney was going to be this stubborn.  Callie’s problem must be hurting her sister more than was known.
         “My name is William Baker.  My family just moved here not more than three weeks ago from South Carolina because of my dad’s job.  And before you ask, I met your sister at the video rental store three weekends ago.  We grabbed for the same movie and just started talking from there.”
         “Let me guess,” Sydney cut it, “You went to talk to her on the following Monday and she didn’t give an inkling of knowledge towards you.”
         William blinked.
         “How did you—,”
         “You’re not the first William.  You are definitely not the first.”
         William nodded, understanding.  Of course Sydney would have seen the scene he had gone through several times if this had been going on for a while.
         “But I did not go to talk to her,” William corrected, “I was just walking by her table.”
         “Does it really matter?”
         “No, but I didn’t want you to put me in the same group as everyone else.”
         Sydney raised an eyebrow.
         “Already you have shown me that you are not part of that group.  But tell me.  Why didn’t you just leave it at that?  Like everyone else had.”
         “Because Callie did not just leave it at that.  After I had a confrontation with a boy who warned me not to bother, I went back for my tray and Callie was trying to tell me something.  She never did say anything but she did drop a napkin on the floor which I picked up.  On the napkin she had written ‘help me’.”
         “Really,” Sydney replied thoughtfully, “May I see the napkin?  Or did you throw it away already?”
         “Actually no, I have not thrown it away.  However, it’s in my locker.  We can go get it if you are insistent on seeing it.”
         “No.  I think I believe you.  On this part anyways.”
         “Well that’s a start.”
         Sydney leaned against a desk and looked at William curiously.
         “So what exactly does all this have to do with me?” she asked.
         “I ran into her at the park Friday night and we talked again.  I committed to helping her with her problem—,”
         “Why would you do that?” Sydney cut in.
         “Excuse me?”
         William looked at her confused.
         “Why would you commit to helping her?  You don’t even know what’s wrong with her.”
         “I realize that.  But she needs help and maybe I’m just the friend—,”
         “Friend?  So this all is on no grounds of that you are interested in her?” Sydney persisted.
         William winced at her assumption.  Of course it could seem that way.  But he had already repeatedly told himself that they were just friends.  New friends, that’s it.
         “No, just friends.”
         “I see.  Alright, you may continue.”
         “Thank you!” William nodded, starting to get agitated.
         He wasn’t liking the fact that Callie’s sister was being so interrogating.  Shouldn’t she be excited at the fact that someone is wanting to sincerely help Callie?
         “That’s just it,” William realized, “She’s making sure that you truly want to help Callie.  And nothing else is behind your decision.”
         “Well?” Sydney said, breaking into William’s thoughts.
         “Oh, right.  Sorry.  Anyways, I had asked her when she couldn’t tell me what was wrong if anyone could tell me even a small clue as to what was wrong.  She told me to find you.  That you couldn’t tell me exactly what was wrong, but you could fill me in on what you have seen.  So here I am.  And now, it’s up to you to decide whether or not I deserve to know what you know.”
         Sydney did not reply and stood staring at the floor for several minutes.  After five long minutes of silence had gone by, William heard the bell for the last class ring.  He didn’t want Sydney to miss her last class and moved to leave.  Sydney snapped her head up and looked at him.
         “Don’t move,” she ordered pointing at him, “Give me another minute.”
         “But you will be late for your class.”
         “I can skip it,” Sydney shrugged, “I’m passing that class with flying colors.  Mrs. Gumble won’t mind if I miss one time.”
         “Alright,” William replied, leaning back against the desk.
         Sydney returned her gaze to the floor.  William looked around the classroom, trying to find something of interest to stare at.  He had unfortunately chosen to talk in a math classroom so nothing of interest stuck out to him.  William gave a soft sigh in impatience and started staring at the floor.
         “So,” Sydney said softly, breaking the silence and causing William to jump slightly, “You are absolutely sure that you are wanting to stick your nose into this?”
         William only paused for a second.
         “Yes, I am.”
         “You do realize that you are going up against Alexander.  One of the most wanted by girls but also the most feared by everyone.  No one even knows why they are intimidated by him.”
         “He is no different than any other possessive jerk that I have come across,” William shrugged.
         “No, he is different.  He has more power than other possessive jerks somehow.”
         “I see no difference.”
         “William!  Listen to me!” Sydney exclaimed, “If you are going to take this seriously and help my sister you have to know that Alexander is very dangerous!”
         William heard the plead in Sydney’s voice and looked at her curiosly.  Her face denied what her eyes were showing: fear.
         “He’s hurt you hasn’t he?” William said slowly, drawing the truth from her eyes, “You upset him for some reason and he hurt you for it.”
         Sydney frowned angrily and looked away.  William kept his face unchanged but he knew he was right.
         “I was spying on Alexander one night,” Sydney said, still frowning angrily, “I wanted to see if I could find out something that would tell me why Callie was with him even though I knew she was clearly unhappy.  So I was watching him through a window while he was in the library of his house.  Small library compared to ours but that’s not important.  Alexander was looking through a bookshelf when he walked by a mirror.  I thought I saw him glance in the mirror back at the window I was peering through but the action was so quick I couldn’t be sure.  Finally he put down a book he was holding and left the room.  I decided to wait for a minute to see if he would come back.
         “Suddenly, I got the sensation that someone was nearby me and I turned to my right to look.  Alexander was standing right there!  I never heard him coming!  No footstep, no breathing.  It was like he was there the whole time and I never saw him.  I gasped startled and turned to run.  But he grabbed me by my wrist and yanked me back.  I had never seen him so angry before.  I can usually stand up to people and defend myself but his eyes looked like they could kill on their own.  I was never wanted to run so bad.”
         William watched silently as Sydney closed her eyes and shivered as she remembered that night.  He was pleased she was sharing this with him but he was wondering why she was doing so.
         “He demanded to know what I was doing there.  I tried to sound tough and demand for him to let me go.  Yeah, that didn’t work to well.  I told him to let me go but it wasn’t in a tough way.  I tried to pull my arm away but he held on tighter.  For some reason my wrist where he was gripping started burning.  It hurt so bad that I had to stop pulling so he would stop gripping tighter.  He demanded again what I was doing there, and I demanded again for him to let me go.  My wrist felt like it was on fire even after he let go.  When I got home I—,”
         “Wait,” William interrupted, “You never said how you got Alexander to let you go.”
         “Does it matter?”
         “It could be important for future reference.”
         “Oh.  I threatened to call Callie on my phone.”
         “Okay.”
         “As I was saying, when I got home I looked at my wrist in the light and saw that there were bright red finger marks all around where he had grabbed me.”
         “And that would make you fear him?” William asked skeptically, “You don’t seem the type of girl that is afraid of a little physical abuse.”
         “No, it wasn’t that he grabbed me or that there were marks.  That was two years ago.  It’s because of this.”
         Sydney walked over to William and pulled off her sweatband that covered her wrist.  William’s eyes widened as he saw clear finger marks all around her wrist.  The marks were now a lighter pink but they were still clearly visible.
         “When did you say that happened?” William asked, astounded.
         “Two years ago,” Sydney replied, putting the sweatband back on her wrist.
         “That’s impossible,” William shook his head, “finger marks could not last that long unless he had acid or something on his fingers.”
         “I thought the same thing but there were no chemical burns of any kind.  And no blisters.  Just the marks and the burning.”
         “There has to be a logical explanation for it,” William muttered to himself, “a book that could explain.  Something.”
         “Trust me William, I’ve tried.  I have looked through almost every possible book that could even give me a hint to a clue.  Nothing came up except the supernatural.”
         “Supernatural?”
         “Yeah, you know.  Ghosts, UFO’s, and things.”
         “I know what it is.  But those things do not exist.”
         “I realize that.  I was just saying that it was all that came up with an answer to the marks.”
         “I see.”
         William and Sydney sat in silence for a minute.
         “So, we have to figure out why Callie is with someone that makes her unhappy.  If he was blackmailing her for anything or something like that she still would tell me.  But she can’t.  I know she has tried to though.  Several times.”
         “We?  Does that mean that you are going to help?” William asked her, elated.
         Sydney pulled her cell phone out of her pocket to look at the clock.
         “I’ll think about it,” she replied, putting her green phone back into her pocket, “and I will let you know soon what I decided.”
         William frowned with irritation and impatience but remained calm.
         “I suppose that is better than a no.”
         “Indeed.  You’re lucky you can talk with blunt honesty.  If you had have tried to lie your way through this I would have said no in a heartbeat.”
         “That’s why I had no reason to lie.  It would have gotten me nowhere but a deep hole.”
         Sydney nodded and started walking towards the door.  Quietly opening the door, she looked into the hall for anyone coming.
         “I will let you know soon.  Goodbye,” she said before quietly slipping down the hall.
         William waited until Sydney disappeared before leaving the room himself.  The conversation didn’t exactly go the way he had wanted but he surmised that Sydney would decide to help him.
         “At least, I hope so,” William thought.
         Looking at his watch, William decided to grab his books and head home.  There was only fifteen minutes left until the last class was out so there was no point in staying.
         The halls were empty and silent as William walked to his locker.  Not even a teacher was in the halls.  When he reached his locker, William was aware of the feeling that he was being watched.  He looked around carefully, but no one was in sight.  Confused at the feeling, William proceeded to get his bag and books out of his locker.  He closed his locker and turned around.  As he started walking away, looking down at his bag trying to zip it closed, suddenly something slammed him hard back up against the lockers.  William gave a small shout in surprise and gasped for air as the wind got knocked out of his lungs.  He had to blink several times before he could see who was pinning him against the lockers.
         “You!” William growled, reconizing Paul.
         “Why do you have such an interest in Callie?” Paul demanded.
         “That is none of your business.  Now get off me.”
         William dropped his bag and started to shove Paul off of him.  Paul shoved him back up against the lockers.  Paul had the advantage because he was able to lean his weight toward the lockers and keep William pinned.
         “Answer my question, Baker,” Paul said, angrily.
         “I did.  I told you it’s none of your business.”
         “You are messing around with the wrong people.  Callie is Alexander’s so I’m telling you now to back off.”
         “You can tell me all you want.  But Callie is a free person and she can do what she pleases.”
         Paul’s face was inches from William’s.
         “She’s with Alexander.  That’s proof she’s doing what she wants.”
         “She’s not doing what she wants.  She’s being forced to,” William replied, glaring at Paul.
         Paul opened his mouth to speak as the bell rang.  He looked furious for being interrupted but decided to leave before anyone would see them.
         “Listen good Baker.  Back off and get lost.  Leave Callie alone before we make you.”
         Paul released his hold on William and walked off around a corner.  William glared angrily after him, massaging his chest where Paul had shoved one of his forearms into him.  Paul’s threat had angered him more than it had scared him.  But that was not what was bothering him right then.
         “Where did he come from?” William wondered, “There was no one around and with no rooms nearby, he would have had to walk down the hall.  And I would have heard that.”
         As the hall started to fill with students, William quickly grabbed his bag and walked toward the parking lot.  Getting into his truck, William sat in the silence for a moment.  He realized that he was hitting a nerve.  His steps were going to be watched very carefully from now on, if they weren’t already.
         William felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and pulled it out.  The called ID read ‘Callie’ and William answered it confused.
         “Hello?”
         “Hey William it’s Sydney.”
         “Sydney?  How did you know Callie had my number?”
         “Lucky guess.  Listen, I heard Paul discussing you to Alexander.  He looked really mad and was telling him about what happened.”
         William gave a hollow laugh.
         “Did he mention how I didn’t seem phased by him even though he was trying to practically make me part of the locker paint?”
         “So it’s true then?  He really warned you to stay away?”
         “Threatened forcefully would be a more correct term, but yes.”
         “Are you going to listen to him?”
         “Sydney please, give me some credit.  Shoving me up against some lockers is not going to make me go back on my word.”
         Sydney paused for a moment.
         “You are definatly stepping into a dangerous game.  Sounds like fun.  I’m in.”
         “Nice to hear, welcome aboard,” William smiled, “how about coming with Callie and meeting me at Homestyle Flava tonight?  We can start putting our heads together.”
         “Sounds good.  Talk to you later.”
         Sydney hung up and William closed his phone.