Freaks and Fortune

I didn't see Cal for the rest of the day. I sort of conducted a weak search for him, but nothing came of it. I even checked out by the road, but he wasn't there. I had a hunch that he was sitting in the dark corner of my Ivy Fortune booth, but I didn't check there. Deep down, I knew I really didn't want to find him. I wanted him to cool off. Literally.

I was ambling around, half searching for Cal and half searching for Ravi, when I was stopped by Mr. Piccadilly. My heart started racing as the tall man approached me.

For a second, I thought he was coming to talk to me about Anthony. He wasn't.

"You need a catch phrase, Ivy," he told me.
"W-What?" I couldn't stop staring at his mustache.
"A catch phrase."
"Okay... Okay, like what?"

He straightened and gave me a stern look.

"I can't come up with your catch phrase!" He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Oh. Oh, right."
"So?" he urged. "I don't have all day. I need you to come up with one soon."
"I... I don't know..."
"Preferably before you go back to work tomorrow, Ms. Bailey."

All I could think of was his perfectly oiled mustache. That, and Harrison Ford for some reason.

"H-How about... May Fortune be with you?"

He seemed to think about it for a while. Then, after a moment of consideration, he nodded and walked away. I wanted to call after him, to ask him about Anthony, but I decided against it.

Obviously, Mr. Piccadilly wasn't much of a Star Wars fan. I'd just taken the famous Jedi saying and replaced "The Force" with "Fortune."

-_-_-_-

I didn't see Cal come back into the cabin. I woke up the next morning and he was gone, his hammock as messy as it was the night before.

"Did you guys notice Cal coming home last night?" I asked Savannah and Aqua the next morning.

A girl was pulling my hair into a tight braid. She expertly tied down wispy strands with a smoothing serum. Aqua was in front of the mirror, messing with his own hair and Savannah was in the bathroom, pulling on her leotard.

"No," Aqua muttered. "I didn't. Did you, Sav?"
"No," she replied. "Do you think he stayed out again?"
"Maybe. What do you think's wrong with him this time?"

"Wait, wait..." I interrupted. "He stays out on the fairgrounds all night?"
"Sometimes. Only when he's really upset, though."
"Or really drunk," Aqua added.

"Oh, no!" I groaned.
"What?" they asked in unison.

Savannah stepped out of the bathroom. Her long brown hair was in a ponytail and her almond eyes were accented with winged black eyeliner.

"I think he's mad at me," I said quietly. "I sort of-"
"Oh, don't worry about it," Savannah snorted. "He gets pissy."
"It's probably nothing you did," Aqua said. "He can just go off sometimes."

The girl finished with my hair and headed out of the cabin. My purple and gold make-up had been finished about twenty minutes ago. I usually was the last to be ready, but today there had been extra time because Cal was gone.

"No... Guys, I think I really screwed up."

I told them about how I'd made Cal lower his body temperature. About how I'd forced him to put me in danger. Savannah winced and Aqua looked worried.

"Did he say anything to you... You know, when he left?"
"No. He just looked really angry."

Savannah shot Aqua a look and he shrugged.

"Maybe you should search for him on your break?"
I nodded.

My stomach filled with worry as I headed toward my booth. My fears were confirmed as I saw, huddled in the back corner, a quietly sleeping figure. I sighed and walked into my booth. Sure enough, it was Cal. He didn't smell like booze, so I figured that he'd just crawled in this corner out of anger, then fell asleep when night fell.

I shook him awake. He came around slowly, blinking heavily a few times before realizing that it was me. He scowled.

"Whadaya want?" he muttered.
"It's morning, Cal," I told him. "You've got shows to-"
"Whatever."

He swiftly got to his feet, swayed, and then marched off across the field. I rolled my eyes and ran after him. My heels made it difficult, but I'd grown used to running in spiky shoes on soft ground. I expertly charged towards him on the pads of my feet.

"Cal," I insisted when I reached him. "Hold on."

He turned around to face me, his eyes bleary with lack of sleep.

"I'm sorry. I won't ever do it again," I said, smiling and rolling my eyes.

He sighed and squinted at me. He cocked his head to the side thoughtfully.

"You don't get it," he said. "I'm dangerous."
"You're not that-"
"I hurt you, Ivy."
"Not very much."
"Yeah, but enough, okay? You don't understand how much danger you put yourself in."

He was disappointed in me. It was a strange feeling... My lighthearted apology turned into a heavy weight. I looked to the ground. Dead grass was yellowing under the sun.

"I can kill you. Right now, I could kill you."
My eyes shot up to meet his.
"Cal-"
"You've got to understand... This," He held up his hands. "Is not a toy. My... condition is a complete mystery. Especially one as severe as mine. You can't just do little experiments and hope for the best."
"I was only trying to-"
"What? What, Ivy? Trying to get yourself hurt? Trying to get attention? What?"
"I was trying to... to... I don't know."

"Well, whatever you were doing, you have to promise never to do it again."
"Okay."
"Say it."
"I promise."
"Good."

He blinked heavily a few times and then turned to walk away. His bare feet crunched in the grass.

"Wait!" I called out.

He turned around.

"Doesn't it feel... strange?"
"What?"
"Well... not being able to really touch anything."

Cal straightened up. His eyes widened. I could tell I'd hit a soft spot when he looked down at his gloved hands in awe.

"Uh..." he uttered awkwardly. "You've got work to do."

And he hurried off, head down, in the opposite direction.