Cristal - Novella by Anne-Rae Vasquez

voice and all the
other voices in her head.
    Kill this desire to fly
close to the sun, burning wing tips,
singe away the feathers
Can this hollowness be filled
Forgiveness: another feather to fall from wing…
    “I like that song, too,” she heard Kerim say
as his voice entered her head.
    She opened her eyes. Kerim’s eyes were
closed, but he had a smile on his face. She shook her head and shut
her eyes. Her mind was playing tricks on her.
    “ No, it’s not. ”
    Her eyes sprung open and she sat upright,
turning her body toward Kerim.
    “Did you say something?”
    He opened one eye, pointed to himself and
said, “Who me?”
    She lowered the volume on her phone. “You
know what I’m talking about.”
    Kerim sat up and turned to face her.
    “Cristal, are you okay?” he asked.
    She took a deep breath, holding back the
desire to scream at him. “I’m not going to say it again. What are
you doing to me?”
    He stared at her blankly, and for a moment,
she doubted herself.
    Shaking her head, she said, “Never mind. I’m
just tired. Sorry to bug you.” Closing her eyes, she reached for
her phone and turned up the volume.
    “ I can help you ,” Kerim’s voice said in her head.
    She opened one eye and saw Kerim was leaning
back with his eyes closed. There was a smile on his face, and she
swore she could see it getting wider.
    “Help me what?” she said out loud.
    “ Get over the problem you have with learning
another language ,” he said, still in
her head.
    What? Now how did he know that? She knew he
was able to sense things about her, but how in the world would he
be able to sense she had a problem with languages? And how come she
could hear him in her mind?
    “ It just started when you had your eyes closed
earlier, Cristal ,” his voice in her
head said. “ I could hear your thoughts.
They weren’t clear, but the more upset you became, the clearer they
were. ”
    “Okay, that only half answers my questions.
How in the world are you talking to me in my head?”
    “ Not sure, but I think when you started listening
to your music, I could hear it, too ,” his voice said. “ And for some reason,
through the music, I felt I could reach you. The feeling was so
strong that I sang the message to you in my head. “
    He sat up turning to her, his mesmerizing
eyes gazing deep into hers.
    “And you heard me…didn’t you?” he asked
her.
    Her heart started beating harder, her
breathing faster. Everything around her started spinning. Kerim
grabbed her hand.
    “Breathe, Cristal, breathe.”
    She felt her hands shaking. Oh no! The plane
started rocking violently. Screams from the passengers filled the
cabin. No, please don’t let this happen again. Tears
streaked down her cheeks as she imagined the worst thing that would
happen next.
    Kerim held her hand tight and pulled her
towards him. She glanced up to see his lips so close to her face.
“Everything is going to be fine, Cristal,” he whispered, stroking
her hair.
    She could smell his scent in her nostrils.
Her body felt magnetic energy move from inside her towards him.
    Kerim pulled her tighter into his embrace.
Before she could push him away or say anything, his head bent down
and his mouth pressed down on hers. She felt her body flush with
excitement as she melted into his kiss. Her hand was on his chest,
and she could feel his heart beating hard. Her other hand found its
way to his wavy hair. Pulling a handful gently into her hands, she
marveled at how soft it felt in her fingers. Suspended in the first
kiss, tongues searching each other, their hands explored each
other’s body. While enjoying the moment, a part of her suddenly
realized that the plane had stopped shaking. She opened her eyes
and looked to see the flight attendants were running around.
    “The plane just passed through a small batch
of turbulence. Everything is fine,” the Asian flight attendant said
to them as she rushed by.
    She looked over at Kerim. His eyes were warm
and dreamy; his