The Pale: Volume One by Jacob Long (portable ebook reader txt) 📕

my A outfit.”

Téa covered her smile with one hand and shook her head, and then she put her hands on her hips. “Well, I suppose the first thing I could do is take you to get your old clothes from your mom.” Suddenly, Téa gasped, and her mood flipped in sudden realization. “Oh! Your mom is gonna freak when she sees you!”

Adam brought his hands up, pleading with her. “No. No, Téa. I don’t want anyone else to know I’m here.”

To Téa, this was ridiculous. She scoffed as she spoke. “Why not?”

Adam quickly became frustrated with her misunderstanding. He flexed his fingers in the air and paced around. “Téa,” he sighed, “you accepted my return very quickly, and it is fantastic, but if my mom knew I was back . . . Jesus Christ, she’d have a heart attack. I’m just not ready for anyone else to know I’m here yet, not my mom, not my dad, and not Christina.”

Téa suddenly looked very forlorn. “Uh, yeah.” She ran her hand through her dark, dyed hair and sat back down.

Adam didn’t understand this change in her mood. He furrowed his eyebrows and sat down across from her. A dread feeling touched his heart. “What is it?”

Téa was having trouble looking Adam in the eye, and it only made Adam’s anxiety worse as she hesitated. She released a long, heavy sigh before finally speaking. “Adam . . . your dad he . . . he died. He died not long after . . . you did.”

Adam looked away from Téa as his eyes stung with fresh tears. He could’ve expected that after five years, things would be different, but it had quickly become too much. His breath was ragged as he spoke. “H-h-h-how did he die?”

“Heart disease,” Téa answered simply in a hushed voice. “Nothing . . . unusual. They just didn’t catch it in time. That’s all. He was under a lot of stress that day, and . . . I guess . . . it just kind of got to him.”

Adam nodded. He was trying to process the information in a calm and objective manner, but heart disease was no picnic, and that would mean that his mom was alone. She would have been for a long time.

“I’m sorry,” Téa breathed.

Adam sniffled sharply. “It’s fine.” His voice was raspy. “How . . . how is everyone else? Nothing’s going on with my mom, right? Nothing I should know about?”

Téa shook her head. The action coaxed a tear from its hiding place, and it fell onto her thigh. “No. No, your mom’s fine. She’s been getting along just fine. She used to call me a lot. She wants me to visit all the time. Christina is a lot better than me about that, though. It’s good.” Téa paused a moment to wipe another tear from her eye. “It’s good that she’s still trying to be social. She’s still trying to be close to the other people still left in her life.”

Adam continued to bounce his right foot tensely. “So . . . what about Christina? What has she been up to?” The smile he manufactured between his cheeks was painfully false.

Téa looked at him, understanding but unamused. She couldn’t believe he was still hung up on her. You’d think no time had passed at all. “Why?” Téa asked.

“What do you mean?”

Téa shrugged. “Why do you want to know about Christina all of a sudden?”

“What do you mean all of a sudden? I just got back. I want to know what everyone has been up to.”

Téa’s voice broke as she spoke. “I mean, why do you suddenly care about everyone you left behind?”

Adam’s heart skipped a beat, and he was struck dumb. The air was filled with a tense silence while he tried to think of a response. Meanwhile, he had to gaze into Téa’s glistening eyes. She looked to be in a lot of pain. Adam could understand why she would feel betrayed. As far as she knew, Adam was offered a job and he disappeared for five years to go do it, even faking his death. He’d willingly abandoned everyone. He wished he could tell her the truth, but he couldn’t. He just had to face the music.

“I’m . . . I’m sorry,” Adam finally said. “I’m sorry that you haven’t heard from me, Téa. I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to be here for everyone. I know it was hard on you.”

Téa scoffed. “Oh, don’t give me that! Don’t pretend that after five years, you can relate to me! You don’t even know me anymore!”

Adam was calm. He spoke in soothing tones, even managed a charming curl at one corner of his mouth. “I still know you, Téa. You haven’t changed so much as that.”

Téa glared at Adam and waited for him to finish.

“You’re still strong . . . and fragile,” Adam cooed. “You’re still smart. You still . . .” Adam exhaled sharply. “You still internalize things and try to deal with them on your own.”

His friend’s gaze softened just a little.

“You still don’t have a very positive relationship with the sun,” Adam said playfully.

Téa chuckled in spite of herself, looking away shyly.

“You’re still into hentai.”

Téa mouth dropped open in mute shock. “It’s anime!”

Adam smiled confidently. “I was in this house by myself all night, Téa. I did some looking around . . . and I know the difference.”

Téa was beet red. Her inability to speak said more than words ever could.

Adam bit his lip. “And I saw a lot more. I’m aware of how you’ve changed since the last time I saw you. I know what kind of people you do hang out with and what you’re into. I do know.”

Téa turned away again. Her eyes betrayed some shame.

“It’s okay,” Adam said.

Téa looked at Adam, a little surprised.

“It’s okay,” Adam breathed, and that was all he said. “It’s okay.”

Téa didn’t even know how to respond. Her eyes were moistened with fresh tears, but they didn’t sting like the last ones. These new tears were refreshing, and the best she’d felt in a long time. She decided to acquiesce and answer Adam’s question. “Christina got married.”

“Yeah?”

Téa nodded. “They made it official about a year and a half ago now.”

Adam sighed, absorbing the information. “I guess I . . . I guess I kind of figured.” He sniffled again. “It’s been five years, you know?”

Téa nearly grimaced. She knew he was just putting on a brave face. “It’s not so bad,” she offered. “Surely while you were away, you had a couple of special girls in your life come and go?”

Adam chuckled wryly. “Not so much. Only had one real date before I came back, and she was a real beast.”

Téa tried not to laugh at his comment, nodding with a crooked smirk.

Adam plopped back down in his chair. “Wow. Christina’s married. Kind of hard to believe. Then again, I suppose she’s much older now. Maybe she’s a lot different too.”

Téa’s eyes bounced from side to side furtively. “Not so much older.”

Adam looked at her and smiled. Of course, Téa had aged as well, and she thought Adam had.

“Who’s the guy?” Adam asked.

Téa bit her lip. “Danny.”

Adam nearly exploded, springing from the chair. “Danny!”

Téa pleaded with him from her seat. “I know you don’t like him, Adam, but they’re married now. That’s the way it is.”

Adam looked at her incredulously.

Téa continued, “He was there for her after you left for the Army, and once we thought you were dead, he was still there. He was all she had, and I think . . . that it’s a lot, Adam.”

Adam could not believe what he was hearing. Christina being with Danny Lacey was one of the nightmare scenarios the mist used to torment Adam in the afterlife, and it had come true!

Téa was trying her hardest to placate her friend. “Stop looking at me like that, Adam! He’s kind! He’s handsome! He’s good for her.”

A facial expression that Adam did not appreciate had spread over Téa’s face. It was as if she was silently musing at the idea of marrying Danny herself. The only thing Adam had heard from her about Danny in the past was at best dismissal and at worst disgust. Maybe the guy had been working out, Adam didn’t know, but he was starting to suspect that he was still trapped in the mist and it had just become more subtle with its torments.

“Adam, you have to let your hate for Danny go,” Téa said. “I know he was a dick to you in school, but that was a long time ago now, and you weren’t so innocent in that feud either. Do you even remember how it started?”

Adam had to admit that he did not, and he had the advantage of not actually living through the last five years. Still, Adam knew that if he had ever met someone whose soul was in tune with his during his lifetime, it was Christina. They were supposed to be together, and the thought of her with—Danny Lacey!—aggravated him to no end.

Adam sighed and cracked his neck.

“Oh, for the love of—look, calm down.” Téa stood and put her hand on Adam’s shoulder. “At the end of the day, do you really have a reason to be mad? You left her, Adam. I don’t understand why you’re so shocked that life here has moved on.”

Adam just shook his head, exasperated.

“Just calm down,” Téa said. “Stay here and relax a little. Surf the internet. Play a video game.”

Adam looked over at Téa’s computer. It actually gave him an idea.

“I’m gonna change into some fresh clothes, maybe get a shower in. Then I’ll go get your clothes from your mom,” Téa finished.

Adam turned his head quickly to look at her. “What are you going to say to her?” he asked.

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to tell her that you’re back. I’ll give you a chance to do the right thing for yourself there.”

Adam rolled his eyes. The right thing would be giving his mother a heart attack, sure. “All right, at least you’ll be seeing her for a change.”

Téa had turned and was walking toward her bedroom. “Ha, yeah. I’m sure she’ll say the same thing.”

The first thing Téa noticed in her room was that the top drawer of her dresser was open. Her unmentionables had been tossed around, leaving her drugs, vibrator, and birth control pills out in the open. She frowned, angry that Adam had the gall to just go through her stuff. He was such a hothead and so self-righteous.

Téa absentmindedly rubbed the welt on her head and paced back out into the living room. “Adam? When you found me, what . . . like, happened? Anything unusual?”

Adam had already powered up Téa’s computer and was stuck at the lockout screen. He turned to see her rubbing the injury he’d given her the previous night. “You don’t remember anything?” Adam asked.

“I want to know what you know.”

Adam gave Téa a look before turning back to the computer. “When I found you, that guy you were with had dosed you up with something. He took you up to this loft and . . .”

Téa moved to Adam’s side and spoke her next question accusatorially. “And what did you do?”

Adam sighed. “I went and got you out of there, what do you think I did? You’re here, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, and I’m sure you used your superior linguistic skills to win the day.”

Adam scoffed.

“Goddammit, Adam!” Téa paced away and rubbed her face in exasperation. “What about the guy I was with? Did you hurt him?”

Adam hesitated to answer, and his face told the story.

“What . . . What were you thinking?” Téa scolded.

“Hey! You were in trouble, and I got you out of there! Do you even know what he was doing when I caught up?”

“That’s not what’s important! Did you even think about the consequences?”

“What consequences? You don’t need drugs—”

“God! You just went in, swinging your fists aroun—”

“You had a problem, I solved it! End of story!”

“Not end of story!” Téa broke the chain with her volume. “You’re . . . you’re so obsessed with being the hero, but your version of a hero goes around using their strength to intimidate and force their will on others! You know who does that?”

“I did what I thought was right!”

“The bad guy!” Téa finished. “That’s who!”

His friend’s last sentence left Adam dumbstruck. He could only scoff nervously and shake his head, turning back to the keyboard.

Téa’s jaw was set, and she sighed slowly through her nose. She couldn’t waste any more time with Adam or any of his childishness. The situation had changed, and she would need to move fast to control the damage. She grabbed a new pair of underwear, pushed the rest back into place, and then closed the drawer in her room. When she passed back through on her way to the shower after gathering the rest of what she needed, she saw Adam just staring dumbly at her lock screen. “The pin is 1-1-5-1-9-9-3,” she offered in passing.

“Thanks,” Adam said, his throat dry. After unlocking the computer, he opened the web browser. He wanted to find out where Christina lived, but he didn’t want Téa to catch him doing it, so he waited