Shattering Crystals

"What are we supposed to do?" I ask. I pinch my tenth strawberry by the stem and nibble on the bottom. I don’t know why I’m eating so many, because I never particularly liked strawberries.

"Leave this restaurant," Lorraine says, grimacing. "Seriously, this food is making me feel sick."

"But we haven't eaten anything!" I protest, looking down at our appetizers - an (almost) untouched fruit platter and a full basket of bread slices. "And that's not what I meant, anyways."

"I know," she replies, staring down at the glass tabletop. "I just feel sick."

"You always feel sick. Maybe it's not the food." I drop the strawberry stem onto an empty plate. "Maybe you caught what Lynda has..."

"Yeah... maybe." She waves her hand, getting the attention of a waiter holding a blue pencil. "Check, please."

"Are you sure?" he asks. "You've hardly eaten anything."

"Yes, we're sure," Lorraine says, desperate to leave. She looks a bit paler than usual.

"We'll be back later," I add, and I really hope I'm right. We've run out of things to eat in our hotel room. And ten strawberries are not enough for lunch. The waiter nods and leaves to get our check.

Lorraine sighs. "He just wants a bigger tip."

"Probably," I say. "But we seriously haven't gotten to eat anything... maybe you should go back to the room and I'll bring something up to eat?"

"Please come with me," she says. "What if I puke or something and you're not there to help me? And then I'll be dead."

"Fine," I say. "But once you feel better, we have to come back here."

"Fine," she agrees. The waiter comes back with our check. Lorraine leans over to read his name tag. "Thanks... Jscott?" It comes out sounding like juh-scott.

"Jay-scott,” he corrects. "But spelled J-S-C-O-T-T."

"Why is there a random J in your name?"

"Why is there a random scott in my name?"

Lorraine doesn't have an answer, so she gets out her money for the check. She gets up to leave. "Thanks, Jay-scott."

----

We're back in front of the yellow house. But this time, it's only me, Lorraine, and Lynda.

"It's not gonna work, guys," Lynda says, coughing into the sleeve of her sweatshirt. "I've already been back here."

"You've been alone," Lorraine says. "And plus, you are - were - her best friend. She knows you'll forgive her no matter what."

"I guess," Lynda responds. She walks up the front steps. "But she gives me the same answer every time."

"How many times have you been here? And what does she say?

"I've been here about five times," Lynda says, ringing the doorbell. "Every time, she just says she loves her life too much to leave."

Lorraine sighs as we wait for the door to be answered. "I think there's something else to it."

"Maybe."

We hear the unlocking of the door and it opens. A short woman with Teena's eyes is standing there.

"Oh, hello, Lynda," she says. Her voice is much higher pitched than excepted. "I'll go get Teena."

"See?" Lynda says, once the woman walks away. "She even knows my name now."

Teena comes to the door. When she sees that it's us, she sighs and shakes her head. "You already have my answer."

"Can we at least talk?" Lorraine asks. Teena appears to think about this for a minute, and then nods. She leads us around the house and to the backyard.

The climb up to the tree house is not as bad as it was last time. The tree house itself does not feel as cramped, due to the smaller amount of people.

Once everyone is seated, Teena speaks. "You know that nothing you say is going to work... I just can't go with you."

"You can't," Lorraine says, squinting her eyes, "or you won't?"

"I can't."

"Why is that?"

"My life here is too important."

"Listen," Lorraine says, her voice decreasing in volume, "all of our lives were different. But we had to leave them. Your reason isn't a can't. It's a won't."

Teena sighs again. "Let me try to explain this..." She drums her fingers against her chin. "You say it's your destiny to go."

"Yes," Lynda says. "It truly is."

"And I know you feel that it's true. That's the way I feel about living here on Earth. It's my destiny to stay."

"It doesn't make sense..." Lorraine says. "We were born here to protect us, and we were all destined to return. There has to be another reason."

Teena sighs once more. "The truth..."

"The truth?" Lorraine says.

"It's too pathetic."

"Let's hear it anyways," Lynda says gently. "It matters to us."

"The truth..." Teena replies. "It's because of who I used to be."

"What was wrong with it?"

Teena backs up against a wall and leans on it. "I don't like who I used to be. I had no one left, I was an orphan. It was Lacy who took me in, even though she was royalty and wasn't supposed to. There's nothing left for me to go back for."

"But you have us now."

"That's true," Teena says, nodding. "That's not all, though. The thing is that my powers... My powers were terrifying to me. I was the fairy of spiders - I didn't want to be a fairy as far as I can remember. But I was."

"Ew," Lorraine says. I know her hatred for spiders. She then quickly says, "No offense."

"None taken," Teena replies. "I hate it too. In fact... that's the biggest reason."

"What do you mean?" I say, speaking for the first time. I realize that I don't speak much.

"My greatest fear is spiders. I don't like to admit it... but they petrify me. I don't know what it is about them."

"I bet they can cure fears," Lynda points out. "I mean, people have magic..."

"I know that," Teena says. "But like I said, I love life too much here. And anyways... I'm fine on Earth."

"But you're gonna let us all down," Lorraine says, sending her on a guilt trip. She brushes her hair back behind her ears. "Do you really want that."

"No..." Teena says. "But let me put it this way. Think of your greatest fear."

I see Lynda and Lorraine frown as they think of their fear. But I can't seem to figure out mine. Unlike Teena, I don't fear any creature...

"Now think about being with it half of the time," Teena says, her voice growing softer. "And being threatened with the possibility of it the other half of the time."

I keep searching through my brain for what I fear most. A shiver runs down my spine as I realize what it is...

"That's how I feel."

----

"Dana, wake up!" The panicked voice is muffled, like I'm underwater. But no one would be telling me to take up. Only my mother does that, every morning I have school. "Quick, wake up!"

For a second, I'm horrified by the thought that I'm back at home, and that this is all a dream. It seems like it, anyways. Then I open my eyes to see Lorraine standing above me.

"What?" I ask, not fully awake. But then I remember what happened last time Lorraine panicked... I quickly force myself into a sitting position. Too quickly, in fact. "What's wrong?"

I can barely make out her face in the darkness, but my eyes start to adjust. I can see that her face is streaked with tears - never, ever a good sign. But there seems to be no immediate danger, because she slowly looks at the digital clock (3:14 AM) and then at our sleeping roommates (Ashlee and Dean). She leans in closer to me.

"Dana," she whispers. "I'm pregnant."