Unique ~ Chapter 5

"Uhmm.... Are you sure I'm a nymph too? 'Cause I don't feel like I have any magic," I said, unsure about trying the tree thing. Kaleb leaned against the tree trunk and toyed with a crinkly red leaf. I sat opposite of him, drawing flowers with a twig in a patch of dirt.

When he glanced up at me, I noticed his eyes were now a deep Christmas tree green with reddish-brown flecks sprinkled around the iris. "I'm sure. Want proof?" he asked, and I was afraid he was going to try something dangerous again.

But I answered automatically, my voice sounding hoarse and detached, "Sure."

"Okay, then," he began, and I expected him to do something, but he asked a question instead. "Ever wonder why you're the most popular girl in school and you can't stay invisible no matter how hard you try?"

My eyes widened in surprise. "Yeah, I guess sometimes I think about it. Why?"

"It's not just because you never share you're opinions on things, it's because of other things too. You might not realize it, but you are the most beautiful girl in school." I blushed when he said this. "And that is a noted characteristic of all nymphs. Nymphs are inhumanly gorgeous and perfect in every way.

"Also, you're aura attracts people. Girls go to you for advice because of your understanding and calm atmosphere. Guys are seduced by you're mere presence. And as I said before, nymphs are all around pleasant creatures with lustful auras surrounding them. That's the reason you are classified as a nymph."

"But if we're nymphs, aren't we supposed to have wings like fairies?" I asked, thinking of Tinkerbell.

"No, nymphs don't have wings, and can only fly if they have an affinity for air. Fairies don't have power over nature, only have wings, and are around 5 inches tall. Fairies' wings and height usually make humans mistake them for mosquitoes or dragonflies, so they are often swatted at. That's why you don't see many fairies flying around. But some catipillars become fairies and survive because humans like butterflies. My belief is that we are fortunate not to have wings and small bodies."

"Oh," was all I said.

Kaleb went on, "Not to say I don't like fairies, but I'm just saying, it seems more useful to have power over nature than to be thought of as a pest..."

All of a sudden it got quiet again, our third awkward silence of the day. I was trying to digest what he had told me. Somehow, I had these "magical powers", and I was a "nymph." It just didn't make sense. I had thought magical creatures were just from stories with fairytale endings. Guess not. But the thing that was really bothering me was what Kaleb had told me before, that I was adopted and I was some sort of experiment that the nymphs created to see if a nymph child could be taken care of by humans. Obviously the experiment was a fail, I mean my family wasn't exactly the norm, but it was pretty disruptive anyway.

"I'm a failure...," I whispered quietly to myself, staring at the ground.

"What?" Kaleb asked. "Brooke, is something wrong?"

"Kaleb, I'm a failure, I ruined it for all of those other nymph kids who wanted to lead normal humans lives." My vision started to blur and I dug my fingers into the ground, my hair falling in front of my face.

"Failure? What? Brooke you're not a-"

I cut him off, "Yes I am. I always ruin everything, it's my fault. It's my fault..." I swallowed back tears. The memories flooded back into my head. "It's my fault my dad left. If I hadn't been born he wouldn't have left.... I must've been a terrible kid for him not to- not to...want...me." I squeezed my eyes shut. "A-and it's all my fault that my mom died because we had a fight that day and it was God's way of showing me I didn't deserve her.... And Grandma Clarice died because I was such a stupid selfish kid who couldn't take care of herself and I made her work too hard and-"

Kaleb put a finger to my lips. "Shhh, Brooke, It's not you're fault. Stop blaming yourself for what happened in your family."

Suddenly, I hated him, I hated everything. I hated what he thought I was. And I hated the fact that I had to act all the time and.... I hated myself. Rage bubbled and boiled inside of me about to explode. "YES IT IS MY FAULT, STOP SAYING IT'S NOT! I'M NOT THE PERFECT LITTLE GIRL YOU THINK I AM!!" I shrieked harshly and all the anger rushed out of me in a jolt. The tree Kaleb was by's branches wrapped around his arms, legs, and- neck. Squeezing tight it slowly strangled the life out him.

"B-Brooke," he croaked. I collapsed suddenly to the ground, all the energy drained from me. The tree did the same, releasing Kaleb. I heard him gasping for air like a fish, but was too tired to keep my eyes open to see if he was okay.

Warm comforting hands wrapped around my waist and pulled me to an object radiating heat. I realized this was Kaleb. "Mmm," I murmured and pulled myself closer. The heat washed over my body like a comforting blanket, relaxing my muscles and making my mind feel at ease.

"I get it now," Kaleb mumbled. "You don't love people because you're afraid that if you do, they'll leave you. And you'll get hurt again."

Tears slid down my face and I nodded, still clinging to the warmth. All that mattered to me at that moment was the warmth. Stay, my mind whispered, Oh, God please let me keep this memory of warmth and care.

"Don't worry, I won't leave you," Kaleb murmured. "You know what, Brooke?"

"Mm?"

"I- I've loved you since the day you were born and I was assigned to watch over you. Watching you grow up, that beautiful smile of yours, it was wonderful. That's why I came here, told you about who you are, so that we could be together. It's breaking the rules, Brooke, but I don't care. All that matters is that I'm with you."
He waited for my response.

This love, it felt different than Nathan's. Not better or worse, just the same, but somehow different. Kaleb knew everything about me, and understood me. In fact he was the same THING as me. Nathan only knew what I told him. But I didn't know Kaleb, so that's why I untangled his arms, stood up and said, "See you at school, Kaleb." My words sounded bleak and dry, like I was a robot.

Kaleb got up too and pleaded, "Wait- Brooke, don't go. I mean, I only said what I was feeling. I'm sorry if I went too fast...Please just-"

"I'm going home now." I turned and walked out of the woods without him following me. You broke his heart, Brooke. Why do you always ruin everything? My thoughts continued to terrorize me as I drug myself home. How could he love me? I hardly knew him even though he knew everything about me. There was no way I could love him....for now at least.

I opened the door and smelled spaghetti, my favorite. Usually I cooked the meals but today Nathan was being really sweet. Closing the door behind me I announced, "Nate, I'm home!" I bounced into the kitchen, where Nathan was stirring the pasta.

"Oh hey, I made your favorite," he said cheerfully, pointing to his work.

"I know and thank you, thank you, thank you sooooo much!" I said appreciatively and help him set the table. Soon we were sitting down and stuffing our faces.

"So, how was school today?" he asked, with a mouthful of spaghetti.

"Ugh, it was terrible! The teachers gave us so much homework. Principal P. subbed for Ms. Ruhe and gave us a whole 4-paged packet. Front AND back!" I exclaimed, shoving more spaghetti into my mouth.

"Wow, that is terrible. So is that why you were studying so hard? Did you get anything done, or were you and Emmy just talking about boys the whole time in the woods?"

I choked, "What? What boys?" Did he know? My thoughts were racing.

"Haha, I was just joking, Brookie Bear, lighten up," Nathan laughed.

"Oh, hehe," I giggled nervously. Stupid me, why did I always take things so seriously? He couldn't have known. He wasn't there. He didn't know that I wasn't really studying and I was just talking to-
Don't think about it, I shook my head.

After that, we pretty much just talked about random things like grades, school in general, supplies I needed, current drama, his work, yadda yadda yadda. After we were finished, we cleaned up the dishes and I did my homework. I was finished in a half an hour (surprising for me, I know) and I took a shower, washed my face, brushed my teeth and went to bed.

I started having the same dream again and I tried forcing myself to wake up, but I couldn't. I didn't want to talk to Kaleb, not after what had happened. But then the weirdest thing happened, a glowing angel appeared to me in the middle of the clearing. My first thought was, Am I dead? But then the angel touched the ground and walked toward me, a smile on his face. His golden blonde hair was swept to the side and his ocean blue eyes shimmered as if only thinking pure, happy thoughts.

But my heart stopped when he spoke his first words, "Hello, love," his symphony-like voice greeted. "My name is Kaiden, Kaleb's brother, and I have come for you."

Oh crap, I thought miserably. What did I get myself into?