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Rising Calm Chapter Four
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Curiously, I read the story James just finished. It’s about someone named Proserpine, but as I read it I recognize the story as one I know well. It’s Persephone, just with her Roman name rather than her Greek one. So I stop and stow the book on a hidden shelf under the counter. I read enough myths in middle school to hold me over for a while. Besides, James might want the book back sometime, and I don’t want to be the reason it isn’t here if he comes looking for it. Mr. Pelegro doesn’t come back to the shop until around seven thirty in the evening, and only then so he can show me how to close the shop for the night.
“Why do you close so early?” I ask him.
“Ah, I only close early by comparison to others. Eight o’clock is a perfectly reasonable time to shut the shop down. How many people do you know that go looking for a good book to buy after eight o’clock? Apart from myself and now you, I don’t know I single one. And if there is someone else like that out there, they can go find another store! My customers know that this is when I close, so there’s no good reason to stay open.”
I can’t argue with his logic, so I follow him around to shut off lights and turn on the alarm. Then Sophie and I (Jade left a couple hours ago) grab all of our things and Mr. Pelegro locks the door after us. He didn’t seem the least bit surprised to see Sophie in the shop, nor did he mind when I told him that she’ll often be spending her days with me as I work.
“Books are good for children,” he had told me. “And children are good for books! All books need to feel young again; to be tossed about and handled with a little less care than usual every once and a while. As long as there is an adult around to dust them off again. These books could do with some life.”
I help Sophie pile her things in the back of my dad’s Corolla. “I’ll see you Tuesday, Mr. Pelegro,” I call to him.
“I know you will, my dear. Thank you for your good work.”
I don’t think he has any idea whether my work is good or not, seeing as he was out most of the day, but I accept the compliment as I start the car and head home.
Sophie and I watch a movie before we go to sleep, though I let her stay up much later than usual to do so. James and Crispin’s appearance at the store continues to nag at me. Despite many attempts to think about something else, long after I crawl into bed my mind circles back to their inexplicable reactions to whatever it is I missed.
Maybe it’s nothing. Maybe my memory is making the encounter more vivid than it actually was. Maybe James really was surprised that Persephone had to stay in Hades for half her life.
But even as I fall asleep, I cannot convince myself that that’s the truth.
END OF CHAPTER FOUR
Ok, first off, dying to know what is so special about the three of them!!!!!Second, you are changing tenses. You use present, then switch to past about halfway through, then back to present.
Third, the part from James' point of view, while very interesting, doesn't fit with you having the rest of the story in first person. If you want to keep that part, and I think you should, the rest of the story should be in third person as well. I think Twilight is the only other story I know that is in first person, with just one part in Jacob's pov. I have to see if she had his part in first person too...let me check. I'll get back to you.
other than that, storyline is still awesome!
I thought I caught the places where the tenses switch- originally I was writing in past tense but I changed because I liked the sound of present tense more. Where did you see those mistakes, cuz they need fixing! Good catch.And I switch POV a few times, because there are some parts that just can't be told from Cara's perspective that i think are necessary. I know that authors don't really do that, but I do want the book to be in first person... so I don't know what to do about that... We'll see though! :)
I'm SO glad you're liking it! That means a lot to me.
After some deliberation I decided to put all the chapters I have written up on the site instead of just the seven I had. I'm going to post the link in a new folder if you ever want to read more!
He has plenty of time to read while he waits for Crispin to arrive.
James and the still unseen girl sit in what he considers to pass for companionable silence, neither looking up from their books until an older woman pushes open the door. Even then, James is the only one to glance over. The only sign that the girl at the counter has heard anyone enter is when she unconsciously shifts her position to sit more comfortably
James has never seen anyone so engrossed in what they’re reading. He tries to catch a glimpse of the title, but the cover is so old and worn that it is illegible. He watches as the girl begins to bounce her foot to the rhythm of some music only she can hear. He can feel the ghost of a grin on his face. Watching her, so lost in her world, is oddly relaxing for him.
So he is almost upset himself when the woman, who had been browsing the shelves, leans over the counter to interrupt the girl’s reading. The bouncing foot stops, and the girl simply closes the books around her finger so as not to lose her place and smiles up at the waiting customer.
James feels his heart skip a beat in rare surprise. Her warm brown eyes and bright smile are immediately familiar to him. Cara Weaver speaks happily to the older woman, gesturing to a section of bookshelves before leading the woman there herself. They disappear behind some shelves, but he can still hear their murmurs.
He considers pretending to be intent on his book, to act like he hasn’t noticed Cara is here, but before he can the two have reappeared. Cara has just finished saying something to make the older woman laugh when she sees him.
She stumbles a step forward, catching herself just before falling. She waves away concerned exclamations from the woman and averts her eyes from James’s own. Cara rings up the woman quickly, brushing her short soft hair shakily away from her face. The woman casts a confused glance at James one time. Then she thanks Cara, who smiles easily back at her, and she exits the shop.
Cara takes a moment to unnecessarily straighten things on the countertop before she turns slowly to face him. Her face is carefully blank. Is she happy to see him? Upset that he’s here?
“How long have you been sitting there?” she asks him finally.
James takes the time to carefully note his page number and then closes the book and places it on his lap. He wonders momentarily what to say in answer. He decides on: “Just a short while. I didn’t know you worked here.”
“I only just started,” she says with a small frown. “I didn’t know you were normally kept informed of the employees. Or is it me you’re keeping track of?”
He can hear the joke in her tone, but also the serious question behind it. “There has only been one employee for me to keep tabs on, Mr. Pelegro himself. So it’s not that I stay informed, it’s that I didn’t know he was hiring. Why would I be keeping track of you?” James answers her reasonably.
He watches as her face flushes pink and she drops his gaze. “No reason,” she mumbles.
James stares at her while she’s looking away. Crispin had tried to explain to him the odd pull he felt toward Cara when she first sat next to him in chemistry. He had been surprised that James hadn’t felt it too. What James hadn’t mentioned to his friend was that he had felt a pull, but he didn’t know if it was for the same reasons that Crispin had. It could have been the same connection Cris felt, or something else entirely. He still wasn’t sure. But here, in the empty shop, was as good a time as any to find out.
James knows that he has to concentrate much harder than Crispin ever would, so he bows his head, closes his eyes, and braces his hands on his legs. He is aware of Cara’s eyes back on him, but he pushes past it, allowing no distraction.
Just before the door to the store swings open again, James feels it. A pulsing energy thrums between them, like an invisible thread connects them briefly. Or, in this case, something bigger and stronger, like a rope. Shock forces him to his feet before he knows he’s even standing. The only other person he’d ever felt such a tie to is-
Then Crispin’s powerful presence sweeps through the room, and James loses the connection to Cara. But he felt it long enough to know, to be sure, and remorse courses through him, because this is the last thing on earth that he wanted.
The last couple of days have run together in a blur of classes, homework, and studying as I try to catch up with my classmates. Max and Jade have been lending me assignments from earlier in the semester to use as guides for current projects, Crispin has continued to give me pointers everyday in chemistry, and when I finally shot my first photography project James had spent a class period showing me how to develop film and hang it up so that the negatives dry properly.
On top of everything I had to do for school, I also had to help Sophie with her work, set aside time to run to the store for groceries and school supplies, and work on putting the house in order.
The only notable exception to the routine had been when my parents let me accept the job at The Scarlet Letter. I had stayed up late one night to catch them when they got home, which was past one in the morning, and I had explained Mr. Pelegro’s offer to them. They hadn’t understood why I didn’t accept the job on the spot, until I told them that I would have to drive there and I didn’t have a car to use. My dad had laughed and said if I gave them my schedule in advance, either he or my mother could easily leave one of their cars for me to drive on the days I had to work.
I had thanked them profusely, and the first thing I did the next day after school was call Mr. Pelegro and take the job. He’d seemed genuinely delighted to hear from me. He told me that my first day would be Saturday and hung up with a promise to see me soon.
Now it’s finally the weekend. Sophie is spending this morning at Isa’s dance recital with the Anthonys. They promised her that they would introduce her to Isa’s instructor after the show to talk about Sophie joining the class. She’d chattered excitedly about it all day yesterday.
Mom and Dad work again today and my shift began at lunch. I was worried about Sophie’s plans overlapping with my work schedule, but I talked to Jade and she’d agreed to bring Sophie over to the shop as soon as the recital was over. I’d apologized to Jade for asking for the favor, for taking up her time because of my busy schedule, but Jade had said she was more than happy to do it. So she’s borrowed my key and is waiting in my house for Sophie to arrive.
And when I had gotten to The Scarlet Letter, Mr. Pelegro was waiting to show me around. He told me how to organize and shelve the books, how to ring up customers, where the money goes at the end of the day, and then, with a theatrical bow, he had handed me a key to the shop. A few shoppers came and went, and so when he was confident that I would do fine on my own Mr. Pelegro left, saying he’d be back in a bit.
Everything was going well, really well, I had even made my first sale of the day; and then I’d seen James.
It wasn’t that seeing James ruined the day. For a moment, it had actually made it more interesting. It had surprised me, shocked me, yet I was still oddly excited that he was here. But he had seemed to be lost in thoughts of his own. And, just when I decided to leave him be, Crispin had strode into the shop and James had leapt out of his chair, looking like someone had struck him.
Before I could process the unexpected action, James had dropped his book on a table and hurried out of the store. Crispin had just given me a funny look, waved, and then followed him.
What in the name of all things holy was that about? I wonder, watching them go.
James’ expression is burned in my memory: horror, guilt, and terrible sadness played their way across his face in quick succession, all directed at me.
I stand still, trying to work it out in my mind, until another customer enters and I make myself look busy. I sweep the book James was reading off the table and carry it behind the counter with me. Maybe he just got to a weird part in the novel? Maybe that’s what surprised him, I try to tell myself. But with one glance at the title I know that’s not the case. Roman mythology. Nothing too horrifying in there.
I’m still mulling it over when Jade and Sophie come in half an hour later.
“How’s the first day going?” Jade asks, handing me a cup of hot chocolate and grinning.
“Umm…” I say. I hold up a finger to halt the questions she’s already bursting with at this simple noise. I wait. Soon we can hear Sophie entertaining herself, pattering around the maze of shelves and talking as she plays some games I’m sure she’s made up on the spot.
Now I beckon Jade to come around the counter and sit with me. “James was in here,” I say quickly, before she can ask me anything.
“James, the hot boy from photography class?” she clarifies.
“Yes,” I say.
“Best job ever!” Jade tells me. “So what happened? Something happened, right? Otherwise, why are you acting all secret-ish?”
“I don’t know,” I say, holding up my hands. “He was in here, I saw him after I helped some customer, and then he got all weird, and then Crispin came in really fast, and then they both ran out!”
“Wait, what?” Jade asks. “Define ‘weird’.”
“Weird!” I exclaim quietly. “As in, he got all serious for a second, and then he gave me this look like I was the ghost of Jacob Marley and rushed out. And Crispin, even though he just came in the store at that point, rushed right out after him.”
“Why though?” Jade says. “What happened?”
“Jade, that’s what I’m saying. Nothing! Nothing happened, except that one second everything was completely normal, and the next they were both gone.”
Jade takes a good amount of time to think it over, just like I had. And she comes to the same conclusion: “That doesn’t make sense.”
“I know. I keep thinking something had to have changed. But I swear nothing did. I saw James, rang up a customer, asked him how long he had been in the store because I hadn’t noticed him, he said ‘not too long’, looked away, stared at me as though he was suddenly afraid of me, Crispin ran in, James ran out, Crispin followed. That’s it.”
Jade scrutinizes me. “I think you look fine.”
“What?” I ask.
“He couldn’t have been afraid of you. You’re short and cute and you work in a bookstore. James Sable could not have been afraid of you.”
I tell her quietly, “You didn’t see the look he gave me.”
“No,” she concedes, “I guess I didn’t.”
We sit in silence, lost in thought, until Sophie wanders out from the shelves and settles into a chair to color on some printer paper from the back room. Jade walks off to explore the lower level of the shop, and I pick up a book to continue my reading. But it isn’t Jane Eyre that I absentmindedly begin to flip through. It’s James’ book of Roman myths. I can tell by looking at it which page he stopped on because the book has practically never been opened, so the read pages don’t lay as flat as the pages James has yet to get to.