The Story Begins Page 9

  “It’s probably Melanie.”

  “Kevin, if you really want to know who is calling why don’t you answer it? Besides, if it’s someone that you need to talk to, you can always pick up after the answering machine comes on, assuming, of course, the person intends to leave a message. And if it’s Melanie, I’ll call her back. I’m too exhausted to move right now. How I feel right now is what happens when you’ve had a long day of classes mixed with a bit of Captain Ronan, and topped off with missing dinner. Captain Ronan is going to be the death of the ROTC program,” Jaden complained. Then it occurred to him that the phone was still ringing. “Why is the phone still ringing?” he asked as it dawned on him that the answering machine should already have answered the call. “Did you change the settings or is the answering machine not working?”

  “No, it’s probably...oh, there it goes.”

  Melanie’s voice came on, asking Jaden to call her back.

  “So what’s with you and Melanie?” Kevin asked, his head now propped up as he eagerly awaited an answer.

  “What do you mean?”

  “What do you mean what do I mean?” Kevin said, using an inflection that seemed to suggest that Jaden was well aware of how to interpret Kevin’s question.

  “Well, let’s see. What I meant by asking you what do you mean is exactly that, what do you mean?” Jaden retorted.

  “Guy, come on! You guys are always hanging out. Is there anything going on between you?”

  “No, there isn’t. You know I’ve gotten that question from so many people that now I can’t help but wonder if it’s possible that I’m the only guy in the entire country that can hang out with a girl without wanting anything from her at all, other than friendship, that is. And if I don’t get asked, it’s because an assumption has already been made.”

  “It’s just that you guys are like a couple.”

  “Yeah, Tina says the same thing. We do hang out a lot but it’s nothing more than platonic. It’s kind of weird though sometimes. I get this feeling that there’s more between us but I can’t quite explain it. It isn’t anything physical. It’s more like a bond that I can’t seem to put into words.”

  “Love, maybe?” Kevin suggested.

  “Possibly, but not how you’re probably thinking of it. It almost seems… ah, never mind! It’s just kind of different… kind of very different, actually.”

  “It’s love, dude. You just don’t know it yet.”

  “As per your definition, I think not. Not now, not ever… with anyone, not just her,” Jaden said, quite sure of himself.

  JADEN woke up a couple of hours later, hating having fallen asleep for he feared that those couple of hours might have now thrown off his sleep cycle. He looked over to Kevin’s bed but his roommate had left. Still groggy he picked up the phone and dialed Melanie’s number.

  “Heeeeeeellooooooo!” said a voice mellifluously.

  The voice sounded very, very familiar, seeming to reach deep within him and almost within grasp of his memory; he, however, couldn’t place it. “Hello?”

  “Heeeeeeellooooooo!” the voice said again.

  It sounded like that of a child, that of a little girl. “I’m sorry, sweetie. I must have dialed the wrong number. Bye, bye.”

  “No, you didn’t,” she said sweetly before again saying, “Heeeeeeellooooooo!”

  “Sweetie, you really shouldn’t talk to strangers. I’m going to go now, okay.”

  The voice then changed to that of an adult. “Hello?”

  It sounded like Melanie, he thought. “Melanie?”

  “Yes.”

  He was puzzled. “Did you just hear a little girl on the line?”

  “A little girl?” Melanie repeated.

  “How long have you been on the phone?” But before Melanie could offer a response, he said, “Never mind the question. A crossed line, I guess.” He then dismissed it. “So, what’s up?”

  “Nothing! I called a couple of hours ago but when you didn’t pick up, I figured you either weren’t back yet or the Captain wore you guys out with whatever he had you doing this time.”

  “Yeah, I was here but because of Captain Ronan, my limbs weren’t responding to the signals my brain was sending out. We hiked seven miles in deep snow, three of which we actually ran not walked, and then, when we got to the endpoint, we knocked out an ungodly number of push-ups with the heavy rucksacks still on our backs. That guy isn’t hardcore, he’s plain insane… but it’s a lot of fun,” he added.

  “That was fun? You’re beginning to sound just as insane,” Melanie teased.

  “It might be contagious,” he joshed.

  “Is something wrong with your answering machine?”

  “I don’t know. Seems like it. You’re referring to it taking forever before picking up, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “I am not sure.”

  “Okay. Did you make it to dinner tonight?” she asked.

  “I think you know the answer to that.”

  “That makes two of us then. You want to come over? We can do late night at Shelton Hall. I can’t wait to get a room there, it’ll be so much more convenient, especially in this cold. We’ll meet there, okay?”

  “Okay. Give me about half an hour.”

  “Okay, but please, just half an hour. I’m starving.”

  “I’m military, sweetie. I’m always prompt.”

  “Good, then. Execute, Cadet!”

  “Roger, ma’am.”

  BECAUSE the train wasn’t always punctual, Jaden arrived at Shelton Hall about 45 minutes later; Melanie, however, wasn’t waiting for him in the lobby as he expected. She must be in the cafeteria, he thought. He walked in and took a look around; not seeing her he walked back out. He dialed her number, using the common access phone in the lobby area.

  Tina picked up. “Hello!”

  “Hey Tina, what’s up?”

  “Hey you! I’m good. How are you?”

  “Good, but I’d be better if I knew where Melanie is.”

  “Oh she’ll be right with you, okay.”

  “Okay.”

  “Talk to you later,” she said.

  “Later,” he replied then Tina hung up. “That’s weird… she was supposed to put Melanie on the phone,” he said. As he looked at the phone, slightly confused, his cognitive sense was registering a glowing light of sorts materializing in his peripheral vision; he, on the other hand, couldn’t get over Tina hanging up the phone after she had said that Melanie would be right with him. Just as he was about to call her back, he was startled by the sudden appearance of a person in his peripheral vision right next to him. Instinctively he turned in that direction. It was Melanie. He stood there for a moment, quite perplexed, before saying something. “I just spoke with Tina and she said that you’d be right with me but then hung up. How did you get from Hojo’s to here in two seconds?”

  Melanie smiled, almost wryly. “She said that I’d be right with you. That doesn’t necessarily mean on the phone,” she explained, “so would it not stand to reason that she couldn’t have meant it to be on the phone?”

  “Okay,” he said uncertainly. “But how did she know that you’d literally really be right with me?”

  Her response was evasive. “The world does have its mysteries.”

  “Yeah… the world does have its mysteries,” he repeated slowly, still looking very much confounded. They walked towards the cafeteria.

  “Melanie, sweetie, I can’t be out too late tonight. I’m really tired. I thought accidentally napping for a couple of hours was going to wreak havoc on my sleep tonight but I don’t think that’s going to happen. I’ve been feeling kind of tired lately, more so than usual. Sometimes it’s like when I wake up, I feel as though I hadn’t slept at all. It’s so strange,” he complained as they walked into the cafeteria.

  “Really!” she exclaimed. “I wonder if it’s a bug that’s going around or maybe just midterm jitters.”

  He had almost forgotten about the pending exams. “Th
at’s right around the corner, isn’t it? Then it might be a combination of the impending exams, psycho Ronan and my roommate’s flu. I really hope that I’m not coming down with something.”

  LATER that night, as Jaden lay in bed, he thought back to the voice he had heard when he’d called Melanie. It sounded very, very familiar. He believed that somehow there was a childhood association there, a memory of someone or something from that time. Perhaps a playmate he once had at school, at the playground, or maybe it was a neighbor; he couldn’t be certain.

  *

  A FEW DAYS LATER: It was Friday night and Tina had just left for Todd’s place, leaving Melanie and Jaden undecided as to how they’d spend their evening. By the time they’d finally decided on a movie, the last show was already halfway through.

  “Have you ever had a girlfriend?” Melanie asked quite suddenly.

  As before, she took Jaden completely off guard with the question. “Wow! Okay! That was abrupt. Movies to girlfriends, I can definitely see the connection,” he said facetiously. “To answer your question, though, no; I’ve never had a girlfriend.”

  He had now known Melanie long enough to no longer fear that she might have wanted more than what they already had and, as such, though the question was unexpected, he felt comfortable with the subject. “Why do you ask?” he said, curious as to the answer.

  “I’m just curious,” she responded. “Is there a reason why not?”

  “Yes. Two-fold, actually. I’ve never been attracted to anyone in that regard and, secondly, even had I been, I’d never let myself get involved.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because of my,” he paused, “…troubled soul,” he finished, lowering himself onto her bed.

  “Troubled soul? Sounds like I may not know you as well as I thought I did. I’m not so sure that I like the sound of that,” she said disconcertedly. “Do I not know you as well as I believe?”

  “You do know me. It isn’t anything that is necessarily bad… well, I guess that’s a matter of perspective.”

  “What makes you call your soul troubled?”

  “I’ve always been a tad bit too sensitive to the woes of the world and it’s shaped my perspective of life, perhaps for the worse. I don’t let myself get too close to anyone, not enough to trust them wholeheartedly. It’s sad but true. So I can’t see myself trusting a girl enough to give her my heart.”

  “I don’t believe I understand why.”

  “Look at the world around us. Even blood no longer means much these days. I’ve seen and heard of too many failed relationships and wonder if it’s really worth all the heartache. I am very much aware of the fact that there are couples that do get along famously and age together, sometimes even passing within a short period of each other because of how great their love was. I also know that, unless I try, I’ll never know with certainty what my lot might have been but I’m not so sure that it’s in me to take that chance. Anyways, like I said, I am yet to meet a girl that I am attracted to in that regard. If that ever happens… well, I’ll cross that bridge if ever I get to it.”

  “Don’t you trust me?” she asked, feeling hurt.

  “You’re the sole exception.” He then thought of Alex, who had been the other exception. He knew that Alex had indeed been a friend he could have entrusted the entirety of his being to, but alas that friendship was no more.

  “You’re just saying that so my feelings may be spared.”

  “No. You are the only exception. Why or how, I don’t know.”

  “You make it sound as though you regret that you trust me.”

  “No! Not at all. I cherish that I do. It’s nice to be able to trust someone wholeheartedly.”

  “Do you trust me enough to have dated me if I were the girl at the other end of the bridge?” she asked.

  How did she mean that? He suddenly wasn’t sure anymore. Was she just curious or was he failing to read between the lines?

  “As beautiful and wonderful as you are, no, I wouldn’t date you,” he answered her, hoping that he wasn’t hurting her feelings by being forthright. He tried to discern through her rather stoic facial expression and mannerism how she took it. He could not read her. At least he was being honest, he thought.

  “You’re not going to tell me it’s because I’m like a sister to you, are you?”

  He laughed. “Guys hate it when it’s reversed,” he said.

  “You’re telling me!” she said, as though she had been down that road time and again.

  “No, it’s not that you’re like a sister to me. I’m not so sure that I could ever see us as anything other than great friends though. Ours is an incredible friendship. I don’t think that our love, such as it is, could ever transcend the bounds of platonic friendship. The world has darkened my heart and if my heart is incapable of trust, it cannot be capable of a love true, as opposed to one established upon criteria. And I cannot take from another that which I cannot reciprocate. That is the second reason why not.”

  “I’m not so sure that I understand this. You say that you trust me; that I am the only one that you trust wholeheartedly.”

  “Yes.”

  “Then, for the sake of argument, why could we not be more than friends?” she asked, looking confused.

  “I think that the love for a person who is more than a friend is different than that for one who is no more than a friend. The emotional attachment can be profound in both but I believe that in some ways, it is far more profound between couples. Or maybe it’s just as profound only in a different sense. I guess my bottom line is I’d rather a broken friendship than a broken relationship. Why the curiosity?” he asked.

  “Just very curious… I guess it might be because so many guys have hit on me but you never have, nor have I ever seen you hit on anyone else, so I was just wondering if there was a reason.”

  “Now you know. And see, it wasn’t a bad thing, again depending on one’s perspective, of course. It is unfortunate but not necessarily bad. Or perhaps it is. I don’t know; maybe I’m just a very confused person.”

  “If you’ve learned to trust me then you can learn to love someone, I’m sure.”

  “You might be right. Actually, you probably are right. But with you, I believe I didn’t even have to learn to trust you. Though I had no reason to, for some reason I’m pretty sure that I started trusting you from the very moment that you first said hi to me. But your line of reasoning is sound. I do understand what you mean.” He looked at his watch. “Oh my God! It’s almost 3:00 in the morning. I should get going.”

  “Please don’t go!” she entreated.

  “But it’s almost 3:00.”

  “I know. I’m not sure if the train is still running, and if it is it’s probably sporadic.”

  “West Campus is only about a fifteen-minute walk from here. No need for the train.”

  “You’ll be the only one out there.”

  “I’ll be fine,” he tried to assure her.

  She was adamant. “No. Stay!” He acquiesced.

  “I suppose I can crash here for tonight. I guess this is when I’m supposed to say that I’ll sleep on the floor, on a blanket, or in a sleeping bag, etcetera, but honestly I’d rather we share the bed if that’s okay with you. I won’t try any funny stuff.”

  “I know you won’t.”

  As they lay there, a thought occurred to him. “What’s Tina going to think when she walks in and sees us probably snuggled close to each other in our sleep under the covers?”

  “Nothing! Besides, she spends nights over at Todd’s place.”

  “Yeah, but they’re a couple.”

  “So are we, just not like they are. You worry too much.”

  “You’re right. I’m worrying over nothing.”

  “She won’t be back until sometime tomorrow evening anyhow.”

  “Okay. Night, night!” he wished her.

  “Night, night!”

  He reached for the night lamp beside the bed and turned off the dim light. Within m
inutes they were sleep.

  In his sleep he dreamt of a little girl he felt he had known as a child. He saw her in the distance and she glowed. Beside her stood Melanie and they smiled at him. Then out of the heavens appeared a being radiant and glowing. It began to descend upon Melanie and the child beside her. He knew not the sight of heavenly or divine but if he had to give a description of the entity, such were the only words that would have come to mind; yet even those words would have failed miserably in speaking of that which his eyes witnessed.

  He tried to call out to them that they may look above them but they already seemed to be aware of the descending being and remained steadfast as it came down upon them. Gracefully it enveloped them, causing them to vanish within its midst and then it rose higher before starting to approach him. He tried to get away but realized that there wasn’t anywhere he could have gone. It appeared as though an eternity of emptiness lay before him. The being descended upon him, coming to rest right before his eyes.

  “Do not be frightened,” it said.

  “Who are you?”

  “I was with you in ages past. I am with you now. And I am with you forever!” it said.

  “God?” he asked.

  “No,” it said, peering into his eyes.

  “If you are an angel,” Jaden said, mesmerized by that which his senses grappled with, “how poorly we have depicted your kind. Even the most creative of imaginations couldn’t even begin to comprehend, let alone describe, such beauty.”

  He felt that it smiled.

  “By thy hand was I wrought,” it said.

  Jaden felt that his was a lucid dream and said, “I wish I could be this imaginative when I am awake. Are you an angel?” he asked.

  “Far greater,” it said.

  Jaden was awestruck.

  “Learn from me now, know me tomorrow and cherish me always,” it said affectionately then vanished.

  Jaden slept peacefully.

  THE FOLLOWING MORNING: “Good morning, sleepy heads. What have we here?”

  They turned each to the other still half asleep, wondering where that came from.