ALLUSIVE AFTERSHOCK Read online

  “You know, Mom told me Miss Julie is going to have a practice drill first thing this morning for all you kids so you’ll know exactly what to do in case another earthquake happens.”

  “But all the talk on the news scares me. Did they ‘stablish a lible warning system like they said?”

  “The word is ‘reliable’ and I’m sure they did.” In truth, I really hadn’t a clue. All week long on the news, scientists talked about trying to establish an early warning system that would accurately estimate the magnitude of an earthquake within the first few seconds. In my opinion, a few seconds would hardly give people enough time to take cover, but I supposed a few seconds were better than none, providing you were even listening to the radio or television. The news on TV had been swarming with seismologists from all over the country talking about the earthquake’s size and the possibility of a megathrust earthquake registering as high as nine on the Richter Scale. The one we had last week only registered a six, and that had been terrifying. How would anybody survive a nine-point earthquake? I shivered a little under my towel, understanding Ambrosia’s fear, but tried my best to reassure her.

  “They also said the chance of another strong aftershock is really slim, so you have nothing to worry about.”

  Ambrosia screwed up her little face. “Do you believe them?”

  “Yes.” I hated lying to her, but in this case, I thought it would be best. I was having a hard time believing it myself but I had to try to make Ambie feel safe. Like my little sister, I needed reassurance too. I usually relied on my father for that, but since he was so busy with Courtland these days, I didn’t want to go anywhere near him.

  I stuck my legs in my jeans and stood, pulling them on the rest of the way. The gleam of the light coming through the window caught my eyes. Relieved to see the sun and the opportunity to wear something other than boots, I grabbed my black crocheted flats and slipped them on my feet. I strolled to my dresser and opened the top drawer, chose my favorite hot pink bra, fastened the hook in the front before turning it to the back and pulling up the straps. The sun had me thinking warm, so I slipped on a lightweight black tank top. I grabbed my black-cropped sweater, and shrugged into it. Wanting to change the subject, I twirled around with my arms out and asked, “So … how do I look?”

  Ambrosia smiled and opened her eyes wide, pointing her finger at me, squealing, “Hot! You look hot!”

  What could I say? Ambrosia was my biggest fan; that and maybe she’d been watching too much Glee. She wasn’t allowed to watch it, but sometimes she’d sneak in while I did and I never had the heart to make her leave. She loved the music and sometimes tried singing along. “Come on, Ambie, let’s go get some breakfast before Aaron eats it all.”

  Ambrosia giggled—mission accomplished. She followed me, grabbing onto my hand as we walked down the hallway. As we entered the kitchen, someone knocked at the front door. I glanced at the kitchen clock; seven fifteen. Max, punctual as usual, left me with no time for breakfast, again.

  Living in the Sierra foothills as we did, somewhere out in the boonies, the closest school was nearly six miles away; the closest neighbors, at least a half mile from our house. My dad hated the rush and hustle bustle of big cities. “Too much noise,” he once said. “No place to raise kids and horses.” I didn’t mind too much. I wasn’t into the social scene anyway, so being far from friends wasn’t a big deal. Max’s house and winery sat somewhere between a quarter mile and a half mile away and my house was on the way to the bus stop for him. Every day since fourth grade, he’d come by to walk to the bus stop with me, but now that we were seniors and Max had his own vehicle, he picked me up in the totally sick burgundy Chevy Tahoe that his parents had given him the day after he got his license.

  During the ride to school, we talked about everything except earthquakes. As much as I need reassurance about them, it was almost a relief not to discuss the topic as if by mere mention of the word one might start. Not wanting to jinx things, I kept my mouth closed on the subject and thankfully, so did Max.

  I glanced out the side window of the Tahoe and recognized Courtland Reese standing at the bus stop with Shiloh right by his side. The dog went everywhere with him. The driver didn’t even mind her being on the bus. A few years back, Court tried leaving Shiloh behind, but she only chased after the bus and the driver felt sorry for her. Court was still stuck riding to school with all the under-classmen because his dad couldn’t afford to buy him a car. From what I heard, his dad shouldn’t be driving half the time anyway and should just give Court that old dilapidated heap he rode around in. His dad did too much boozin’. At least, that is what I overheard my dad say.

  Court glanced up at us as we passed, his eyes boring into mine as we whizzed by. I sort of felt sorry for him as well as a little guilty and thought of asking Max to give him a ride, but I already knew the answer would be “no.”

  School was a different scene completely. Every other word passing through everyone’s lips was either “earthquake” or “aftershock.” My brain was about to explode from an overflow of the words.

  As Max and I strolled into the classroom—well, I strolled, he strutted—the cold air hit me as if I’d walked into a freezer, sending shivers through my body. Out of reflex, I rubbed my hands up and down my arms. I’d only worn a sweater, not realizing the heaters would be off. Even on sunny days, early November mornings were chilly, but usually only until about noon. The school always had the heaters on this time of year.

  “Cold, Adela?” Mr. Montgomery asked.

  “Yeah. What’s with the heaters?”

  “They’re off because one of the lines got damaged in last week’s quake. They haven’t fixed it yet.”

  Goose bumps prickled my skin and I wished I’d worn a heavy coat. No one told us the heaters weren’t going to be on. You never knew with November weather, especially early in the month. Yesterday it was seventy-five degrees in the afternoon. I thought today might only reach the low seventies, but that’s still fairly warm. The sun glowed bright but the wind coming over the ridge brought a cold front from the north. No doubt, by the end of the week the warm weather would probably disappear completely until next spring.

  “Okay, class. Pay attention. This is our first day back since the earthquake and all first period teachers are required to instruct you all on the very extensive drills set in place for earthquakes and ‘earthquake preparedness’ today.”

  Several moans erupted throughout the room.

  “Okay, that’s enough. Now listen up. Our regular curriculum is on hold until we complete the talks and the drills. This means you all got lucky because the pop quiz on Dickens I had planned for today won’t happen, so you have another night to brush up.”

  All those groans and moans quickly turned into cheers. Leaning back in my chair I listened to Mr. Montgomery explain the dangers of hazardous material spills from local refineries and fires. When he mentioned the threat of possible tsunamis on the coast, a shudder ran through my body making those tiny hairs on the back of my neck tickle.

  “No chance of a tsunami here. We’re what … two hundred miles, maybe two-fifty from the coast?” Max laughed from the row across from me and several other kids joined him. I frowned at him, thinking of all the people living close to the beach. Sometimes Max could be a total jerk, but the cutest jerk nonetheless.

  “Right, Max.” Mr. Montgomery ducked his head under one of the hanging mobiles we all made a couple of weeks ago, depicting governments in a state of anarchy. We all thought it was a juvenile project, but it turned out to be fun. “But if a tsunami occurs on the coast, a lot of people will die. Others lucky enough to survive will need support and supplies from people like us who are fortunate enough to live in a higher elevation. Are you willing to open your home to someone who might have just lost theirs?”

  “Depends on how hot she is!” Max’s lips widened into a cocky grin as his comment received another round of laughter from some guys as well as a few girls in the class. I grimaced at
him and he jabbed me in the rib with the eraser at the end of his pencil.

  “Ouch.”

  “Okay, okay, settle down. Max, keep that up and you’ll find yourself sitting in Mr. Chaney’s office.”

  I glared at Max and he looked back at me all googly-eyed, and as much as I didn’t want to, I grinned.

  “Now, moving on, if you find yourself in the situation of needing water, do not, I repeat, do not drink it from the tap because the treatment plants may be down. And do not boil water. Can anyone tell me why not? Adela?”

  Max kept his gaze on me with that dimpled smirk of his. I wasn’t sure if I should be irritated with him or amused like the other girls, his entourage. I liked to refer to them as “Max groupies.” Max always beamed his arrogant smile whenever they giggled at his charming wit. I didn’t understand why he always needed to be the center of all their attention when he had me. I glanced around the room until my gaze connected with Courtland’s. He sat at his desk in the back of the room, staring right at me. He was always staring at me. The expression on his face was blank and I couldn’t help but remember how he berated me to my horse after he saved my life.

  “Adela? Are you with us?” Mr. Montgomery’s voice shoved its way back into my head, invading … or should I say rescuing my brain from those unpleasant memories of the other day. I flinched at the sound of my name and faced forward. “Yes ... um, gas lines might be ruptured and people turning on gas stoves might cause an explosion.” I knew this next part because my dad told me. “Everyone should learn where their main gas shut-off valve is located so they can be sure to turn the gas off to the house. Oh yeah, and we should use bottled water instead of tap.” All this talk about earthquake preparedness made my stomach quiver and I suddenly wished I’d stayed home. Poor Ambrosia, she must be going through much the same.

  “Right. Now if you all …” Mr. Montgomery’s voice continued but I’d had enough talk about earthquakes and figured I was pretty safe from being called on again, so I tuned him out and thought of Big Blue. Over the past week, I’d walked him around the yard twice a day and spent almost every free moment brushing him and talking softly into his ear, but I hadn’t tried to ride him since the day of the earthquake. Considering the way Blue acted the last time, waiting to make sure he was one hundred percent ready seemed like a good plan. The fewer encounters with Court, the better. I didn’t want Courtland intervening at all, so whenever I went to Blue’s stall I only paid attention to my horse, brushing his mane, feeding him apples and carrots while he let me rub my cheek against his face and trace his star with my finger.

  Mr. Montgomery raised his voice a bit luring me back to the present. “Okay, listen up. I’m going to take roll now. Because of the earthquake, Mrs. Stock wants the attendance early today.” After Mr. Montgomery called everyone’s name and marked the absences, he scanned the room, searching for the lucky person who would get to leave and carry the sacred notebook to the administration office. “Court, you mind running this down to the office?”

  Max mumbled, “Dr. Doolittle to the rescue.”

  A couple of girls to his right giggled, but Chelsea Arden huffed out a show of disgust. Her parents owned the largest winery within five miles of Wendell’s, the one owned by Max’s parents. Not only was she the prettiest and most popular girl in school, but Max actually liked her for a while. He even hooked up with her once, but when he realized how shallow she really was, he dumped her. At least that’s what he told me. They never even spoke anymore. I was certain her ego suffered a little, being dumped by the cutest boy in school. She’d managed to stay popular with most of the girls though, and four of them had this little clique thing going. They ate together, hung out during gym together, and walked together down the halls. I very rarely ever saw one without the other three.

  I shook my head at the vision of the girls walking arm-in-arm. No one could join in their stupid group without Chelsea’s approval. Pathetic, if you asked me. The whole clique thing was so lame and junior highish. If there was anyone able to grate on my nerves, it had to be Chelsea Arden.

  As Courtland stood, the legs of his chair scraped along the floor and the back of his knees pushed it out of the way of his tall frame. His dark green hoodie hung loose and unzipped, his jeans sat low on his waist. His hair was slicked back away from his face, different from the normal way it usually fell over his forehead, giving him the appearance of an ancient Native American warrior. If I wasn’t already in love with Max and Court hadn’t been so mean to me the other day, I might actually think he was hot, the way he walked up to get the book without saying a word, his gait easy but cautious as he sauntered past Max’s desk. One never knew what Max might do and Courtland had been the brunt of his antics more than once.

  “Stop by the library on your way back and pick up a couple of the books they have on earthquake preparedness. There should be a good selection on the subject. Ask Mrs. Snow to help you; she’ll steer you in the right direction.”

  Courtland strolled out of the room while Mr. Montgomery continued his talk about earthquakes.

  Sometimes I felt sorry for Courtland, the way some of the kids made fun of his keen intuition with animals. This morning, I was still too mad at him to care much about that, though. My mind wandered back to Big Blue. I really wanted to ride him—maybe today would be a good time to do it. If Max rode with me, Courtland might stay clear. I scribbled a quick note in my binder, ripped the page out, folded it into a little square and handed it to Max while Mr. Montgomery wrote something on the board. He read it and folded it back up before sticking it under his history book. After flashing a smile at me, he nodded.

  I sat doodling on the paper in front of me, making little swirling designs I thought might look good on a book cover, half listening to Mr. Montgomery when I felt a brush of material glide over my arm. I looked up to see Courtland as he strolled past me, back from his trip to the office.

  All of a sudden, my desk jolted then scooted forward a little and the hanging mobiles swayed from the ceiling. Mr. Montgomery shouted, “Take cover, get under your desks!”

  I slipped off my chair and crouched down as my desk skidded away from me. I reached to grab the desk leg, but it went too far toward the wall and toppled over. I searched around for some place to hide as the roar reverberated through my ears. My body froze, not sure where to go or what to do as several of the other desks slid toward the wall and tumbled onto their sides.

  Someone grabbed my arm, yanking me toward the wall. Stunned at what was happening I turned to see who had my arm and realized it was Courtland. He shoved away one of the desks, which had tumbled over on its side, shouted, “Get down!” and pushed me to the floor between the desk and the wall. I grunted as his body fell on top of me.

  A multitude of screams filled the air. The rumbling sounds were worse than during the earthquake last week. I couldn’t move or breathe very well with Court’s weight on me. Somehow, he must have sensed that, because he shifted his body a little between me and the desk as my left side and arm smashed against the wall.

  “Adela, cover your face!” Court’s voice cracked in my ear as I heard a huge crash rumble around us. I hid my face in the crook of my elbow and prayed the raging noise stopped soon.

  The floor rolled and shook under me, feeling similar to lying on top of a plastic raft in the middle of a bubbling ocean swaying up and down in a continuous wavy motion, but without the fun.

  Fear raced through every bone in my body and I thought of my sister. Ambrosia was going to be so terrified! I only hoped Aaron took her hand and helped her the way I told her he would, the way Court helped me.

  I didn’t know how long we crouched down beside the desk as the world crashed to smithereens around us. It felt like nothing short of an eternity and I wondered what happened to Max.

  All of a sudden the roaring, the rumbling and the shaking stopped as if somebody pushed a button on a ride at the amusement park, leaving only muffled sounds of cries and whimpering around the room. Cour
t didn’t move off me but he shifted and I figured he lifted his head to look around.

  “Are you okay?” Courtland asked.

  “I think so. I’ll be able to tell better once you get off of me.”

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean to squash you.” He moved off me, sat back on his knees with his legs straddling mine and pulled me up to sit. I inhaled and my lungs filled with dust from all the drywall particles floating around in the air. I coughed and blinked at the horrible sight; I could actually see specks of dust settling around us as I struggled to breathe.

  “Don’t breathe in too deeply.” Court took hold of my sweater and yanked the sleeves down my arms.

  “Hey, what are you …?”

  When the sweater was off, he bunched it up and handed it to me. “Here, hold this over your nose and mouth for a few minutes until the air clears.” He did the same with his own jacket. We stayed huddled and crouched together for a few minutes. I looked up but couldn’t see anything except Court’s wide green eyes. I thought I saw fear behind them and a shiver crawled up my spine. We stared at each other. There was nothing else visible to us and no room to stand, our view and way out blocked by an eight-foot slab of … something hanging down and laying propped against the edge of the desks we were crouched behind. My lips trembled under my sweater, but then my whole body shook with fear.

  Court turned his head to the area behind him. “This way.” He crouched on his knees and crawled to the end of the slab. I followed, my eyes stinging from the dust-polluted air and the tears threatening to let loose from the realization of what just happened. I couldn’t help but wonder again where Max was. Court stood, took my arm and helped me up.