Unraveling Sarah Cresley by Marisa Maichel (best summer books .txt) 📕

see me eat. I'm...I'm a..." At that moment, Shadowfang jumped onto the table and sniffed Sarah's omelet. I took a deep breath. He definitely stank. I made a mental note to look up ways to give cats a bath without being scratched up. His long fur was matted and dirt was easily seen.

I looked pointedly at Sarah. "Any chance you can take him?" Louis started protesting.

"Spunk would pulverize him, and Coffee would go nuts." She scratched his ear. He purred and tilted his head to allow her to reach the back. "Why? Do you not like cats?"

"I do like cats, but I simply am not going to be held responsible for cleaning the litterbox." Shadowfang seemed to glare at me. I did a double take. One of his eyes was yellow, the other was bright green. Huh. Ironic. He stretched and made his way over to me.

"Is that stupid cat on the table?" Father asked from the other room, and Shadowfang glared in his direction.

"Yeah, he is." I scratched the cat's chin. He promptly nipped me. "You little...!"

"Calm down, Reese, it means he likes you," Sarah said, finishing her eggs. "Besides, maybe you can teach him to go in the toilet. Some cats do that, and they can even learn how to flush."

"I hope he does that." I pulled a stray twig out from his tail. He rumbled gratefully. Sarah smiled.

"Maybe he'll be a great pet."

"I hope so, too."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Father and I took Shadowfang to the vet and they checked him for a microchip. Nothing. He appeared to be healthy otherwise, other than some fleas. They recommended flea shampoo and a special food for him to help him overall.

The pet store was full of dogs. I was aware than many pet stores allowed dogs, though, so it didn't really surprise me. Father had sent me in with his debit card and a list of things to get.

First, a cat carrier, to transport him to and from the veterinarian. Next, food and treats. I picked up several bags. A litterbox and scooper. Toys and brushes.

"Getting a cat?" the cashier said as she scanned my items.

"Oh, yeah." I paid while she bagged the stuff and left one and a half minutes later.

I fed Shadowfang a treat and gave Father his card back. Shadowfang gobbled it up, then crawled to the front seat to look for more.

Father organized the cat supplies, while I put the litterbox in an unused bathroom and filled it with litter. Shadowfang watched me with vague interest. He climbed into the box and started pawing at the sandy substance. He mewed.

Sarah had already gone home, and she was now taking a shower and getting redressed for the day. I don't know how I knew that, I just did.

"Father," I said, scooping some wet cat food into a bowl, "Is it possible to have a mental connection with your soulmate?"

"Absolutely. Why do you ask?

"It's like I can almost read her mind and tell what she's doing."

"Is it possible that you know her so well that you know what she's doing?"

"No, it's not. Normally, after a night and morning like this, she'd crawl into her pajamas and play around on her laptop. She's not doing that. She's getting ready for something."

"Is it possible that you've created this perfect picture of her, and now you're being proven wrong and you don't like it?" I had to think about that question for a minute. Was he right? Did I create a perfect picture of her in my mind before I even really knew her?

Had I been so desperate for a lover, for her, that I fell in love with her beauty and only fell in love with her after we began talking and dating? The mere thought broke my heart. A dull ache began in my chest, then moved down to my stomach, and finally, up to my head. There was no doubt in my mind that we belonged together.

I called her after a bit. She texted back and said that she was eating lunch with her mom and sister, and she'd get back to me when she was done. She mentioned piano lessons afterward. With a guy.

Reese: You're taking piano lessons? Since when?

Sarah: I wanted something to let all the emotion out, and I didn't want to hurt myself or the baby, and I've always wanted to learn how to play the piano.

Reese: Who's teaching you?"

Sarah: Some guy named Derek.

Reese: How old is he?

Sarah: Late twenties. And before you ask, he's as ugly as sin.

Reese: Good to know.

It made me feel better to know that she was not attracted to him in any way. There was little risk of losing her.

"Father, do we still have that old piano?"

"It's in the basement by the broken air hockey table."

"How do you break an air hockey table?"

"Don't ask me. Louis is the one who broke it." I heard Louis grunt from upstairs.

I headed downstairs. I rarely went into the basement, even though it was a teenage boy's heaven. There was a fridge and a huge flatscreen TV with a leather couch, a foosball table, pool table, pinball machine, and all sorts of other arcade and bar games. I bumped my leg into the pool table and cursed.

In the corner sat a very old, dusty grand piano that hadn't been used in Lord knows how long. I wiped some of the dust off with an old rag and pressed a key. A beautiful, slightly out-of-tune musical note hit my ears. I sat on the bench and got out the sheet music. I began playing random keys, barely looking at the sheet.

Father came downstairs a moment later.

"Scoot over," he said, and lifted the lid and started tinkering with the components. After two minutes, he stopped. "There. Now it should play much better." I pressed a key. Then another, and then another, and soon I was playing The Beauty and The Beast prologue. I remembered the movie from so many years ago, when I went through a brief phase where I hoarded everything Beauty and the Beast related. It was kind of ironic that I was going through a similar adventure. I would be considered a beast by human standards. A monster, a demon, or what-have-you.

I was the beast, and Sarah was Belle. I remembered that she'd once mentioned that Becket Cresley had nicknamed her Belle. Well, he was French, and Sarah was his first daughter. No doubt she was the jewel of his eye, just like I am the jewel of my father's eye. I wondered what he would think of me and if he would approve. I hoped he would. I knew that Alicia barely tolerated me for the sake of her daughter.

I carefully picked apart the musical notes, playing everything from "Dance of The Sugarplum Fairy" to the main theme of Koisuru Boukun. My fingers glided over the keys as smoothly as if I'd been playing piano all my life. Truthfully, I hadn't played in years, and I certainly didn't remember being this good.

Uncle Soren and Grandfather came downstairs after a bit to listen.

"That's very good, Reese," Grandfather said. "Why don't you ever play for us?"

"I didn't know I had this much talent," I said. "I haven't touched this piano since I was six or seven." Grandfather and Uncle Soren were impressed, as was Father. He also came downstairs and complimented me, telling me that I should record myself playing.

"I have a bunch of old studio equipment somewhere from when I worked as a music producer," he said.

"You were a music producer?" I asked, astonished. He nodded.

"A long time ago; years before you were born. It's probably all clunked out now, though, so I'll buy you new equipment. Have you ever thought of recording yourself?"

"I have," I admitted. "I want to record myself singing to see if I'm any good."

"You think too little of yourself. You are talented, and many people have told you that."

"Family members don't count."

"Don't be a Scrooge. Try thinking about yourself for once."

I mentally sassed him, and he flicked my ear. I headed back upstairs after a couple of hours at the piano, and made a mental note to practice for a couple of hours every day.

Shadowfang seemed to smile at me as I passed him in the kitchen. He'd been given a flea bath and brushed to perfection; his coat was now clean and glossy and he smelled much better. I got the feeling that he wasn't an ordinary cat.

~~~~~~~~~~

Alicia relented, and decided to let Sarah go to Denmark. However, there were some rules. Sarah and I were not to stay in the same bedroom, I had to treat her right, sex was prohibited (Father pointed out that Sarah couldn't possibly get pregnant again, to no avail), Sarah was to watch what she put in her mouth, and my family was not to go back on any of the promises we had made.

Father took some time to soothe Alicia's worries and keep her calm. The ball would take place on Christmas Eve, as always, and we would have her back home as soon as we could.

Sarah asked me to attend the winter formal with her, to which I readily agreed. Father took me to look for a tuxedo. It took a couple of days, but I finally found one that fit perfectly. Sarah had already shown me what dress she planned to wear. Unfortunately, everyone, including Ryan Arthur, was allowed to intend. His suspension was up.

I kept him at bay with menacing looks. Sarah seemed to have a wall of protection around her now wherever she went. She was friends with Ariella now, one of the most beloved and popular girls in North Hampton High School history. She also had me, and people naturally knew not to cross me simply because of the way I looked and behaved. She was also growing closer to Mason's group of friends (except for Jody), and she was held in reverence by many of the younger girls for her bravery.

She filmed herself talking about her story, even mentioning that her father was dead and her friends turned against her.

"They thought that I divulged a major clique secret, which I never did," she said to the camera. "I have my suspicions about who actually did, but I won't name names. We did all kinds of horrible stuff, and I won't say what, because I'm not feeling vindictive. It's already gotten me in plenty of trouble, and it will get the rest of girls in trouble as well."

She confessed that they beat her up shortly before she was raped. She told the camera that she was indeed pregnant, and it was the rapist's biological child.

"I don't know what I would have done without the awesome people in my life," she concluded. "I made some new friends, got a new boyfriend, and my mother and I are closer than ever. I still fight with my sister, but who doesn't?" She giggled nervously. She ended the video by playing "Strange And Beautiful (I'll Put A Spell On You)" by Aqualung, and then that was it.

Ariella got up and hugged her while I turned the camera off. Sarah had requested that only Ari and I be present. Ari had come to me, apologizing and admitting that she was torn between my uncle and Damon Sage. She decided that neither of them were right for her and dumped both of them. Friendship restored.

Although it broke my uncle's heart, he would get over it. He always got over most of his relationships, except for his one with Alga.

~~~~~~~~~~

Finally, the day of the winter formal. Everyone would be there, I'd heard. Dances had never much mattered to me, but this was important to both Sarah and Ariella, and so my presence was required. I had overheard that Father had secretly paid the entrance fee for everyone in school, which equated to well over two thousand students. That was a bit unusual. Normally, he would not care.

I drove both of the girls there, and