Become

By Cloe Calvet

What if one thought could change everything?

Fourteen year old Onica is used to her sheltered life in Asheville NC. Everyday is the same routine, live up to her Grandmother’s expectations, placate her demanding best friend, and try to get the new boy in school to notice her.
After an embarrassing encounter with her crush Onica did what any girl would do; wish to become invisible. As Onica slipped out in the middle of class unseen she denied that the impossible had happened. There was no way she had become invisible just by thinking about it.
That evening everything changes. Going to her favorite Friday night spot, Onica observes a little boy playing dangerously close to the busy street. Overwhelmed by emotions to teach the negligent dad a lesson, Onica wants the little boy to step into traffic. She wanted it so much it consumed her every thought. Before she can snap herself out of it the little boy goes into the street and is struck by a bicyclist.
Onica is sure she is either going crazy or she has some strange powers of persuasion. Is there a deeper secret? Her best friend all of a sudden is acting strange and is turning out to be not what she seems. Even her crush seems to be hiding something. Suddenly Onica’s world became a lot more complicated.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cloe Calvet
• Release date: Jun 1, 2011
• ISBN: 9781458035417

Cloe Calvet

Grew up in Los Angeles, Ca. Moved to Asheville, North Carolina where the magic of the land and people inspired my first novel Become. My love of the metaphysical and whimsy of what if, I created characters reflecting insecurities and possibilities we all face in life. Now I live with my husband two cats and a bunny on the island of Kauai always dreaming about tomorrow.

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Become

By Clöe Dawn Calvet

Copyright 2011 Clöe Dawn Calvet

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Perhaps the only limits to the human mind are those we believe in.–Willis Harman

Chapter 1: Define

I suppose you could say I’m the type of person who lives in her head. Not to say that my existence is mundane, but nothing extraordinary has happened either. I live in my head to escape my reality. Create a better world through imagination. Be something that I am not. This way I get to be a superhero in my own mind and a normal school girl, quiet, polite, agreeable, on the outside. Dreams need that shell, that facade to protect them.

I pluck at my tights watching the dust swirl, hover and dissipate. I glance around a sea of grey and navy, our school colors. Some girls have hemmed their wool pleated grey skirts so short their boxers peek out form under them when they sit. The guys seem generally unimpressed by this preferring catching glimpses of actual lacy numbers than boxers over tights. Perhaps these girls were desperate for attention, especially the ones who forgot to wear their regulation tights. I wore my skirt just fashionable enough eight inches above the knee with navy tights no matter the temperature outside.

At Westlake Academy all skirts had to be hemmed, if you wore yours at your shins you were considered truly tragic. I pondered if the boys were jealous because they were not allowed to hem their grey wool slacks into shorts in the hot months. October was not supposed to be one of the warmer months, but this year during the day it had been seasonably warm. Even the maple leaves are protesting by staying green or burning into a crisp in the languishing heat.

I sit in the back by the bay windows for American history. I think this must be my third or fourth repeat of the subject matter since grammar school. The teacher drawls on in a southern accent that most people from Asheville seem to get rid of. Maybe he was an import from a more genteel state than North Carolina. I imagine this as I dream I’m outside among the trees. It’s not like he ever veers from the text book so paying attention to his lectures is optional in my head.

Daisy, who is supposed to be my best friend, flipped her shiny long chocolate brown hair for the hundredth time this morning. She casually leaned back and slipped a note on my desk. When I just let it sit on my desk without opening it she turned to face me with her ruby lips pursed. Her defined arched eyebrows raised and she bore through me with her amber eyes. I could almost read her mind, Open the note! it demanded.

I knew it would be about homecoming. Which was something I wanted to ignore completely. Daisy turned back around as I made a feeble attempt to pick up the note. Daisy was annoyingly perfect with her just curvy enough hips, tiny waist, flawless creamy skin, and she wasn’t too tall. I had sprouted up to 5’ 8" over summer, my size eight feet made me trip constantly, I found my body to be completely foreign, and I lost any gracefulness that eight years of ballet granted me. Unlike me Daisy kept her hair and nails perfectly manicured. She was beautiful so everyone wanted to be her friend or date her. Daisy’s downfall is at times her disposition could be icy and she could be demanding, to put it lightly.

Daisy has a good family with parents who adore each other as much as they adored Daisy. I never knew my parents. My parents perished in a small Cesna crash barely after I formed conscious thought. At age three I was sent from Charleston to live with my grandmother at her Biltmore estate. My grandmother is the very definition of grace and old money as are Daisy’s family. This is why she made sure I was in every class and social event with Daisy. She always felt that like should stick with like. I am not comfortable with all the snobbery that came with my good position in life. I discovered that I was a good balance for Daisy. In our early years together she used to throw fits and I would follow her storms with diplomacy. In this we formed an allegiance and a strong friendship. Even with all that I still couldn’t bring myself to share everything with Daisy.

I placed a hand on my forehead and slowly opened the piece of paper. Scrawled on the paper in neat cursive read, home coming shopping. I knew it. I shook my head negatively trying to decline her declaration. I was never one for school rituals unless it was mandatory. Daisy shot me a squinted eyed look over her shoulder while tapping her pen. Which meant there was no way she was taking no for an answer.

Chapter 2: Urges not Feelings

What is up with you gloomy? Daisy asked as we made our way to the food court for lunch.

I’m not going to the dance or the game. I tried to sound like I didn’t care, which was easy because I didn’t care.

We grabbed our grey colored plastic trays and headed for the salad bar as usual. Next to it a sushi bar had a generous selection, which I sometimes took advantage of the tempura shrimp rolls. There was a natural juice blend station which I went to occasionally when I didn’t feel like eating. They made the most amazing mango smoothies. Daisy liked to refer to looser row as the cattle line. It was typical school food like pizza Wednesdays and sloppy Joe Fridays. They did keep a good supply of French baguette meat and cheese sandwiches that were not bad. Mostly the cool guys grabbed these not wanting to eat ‘rabbit food.'

I told Morgan to let Jason know you were open to being asked. Daisy followed me not missing a beat clearly ignoring anything I had to say on the matter.

This put my stomach into knots and I put back the carton of shrimp roll. I sighed, made my way through the students and stood in the smoothie line.

What? He’s friendly and cute. He is the quarterback... Daisy listed many more of Jason’s assets smoothly making her way between the tangle of bodies. Meanwhile, I tried to tune her out and ordered my usual mango with lime sherbet.

He totally works out and has great abs. He drives a BMW and is a junior.

Did she ever stop? I was running out of excuses other than the truth. I thought Jason was scum. Thankfully Alice saved me.

So ladies where shall we sit today? Alice asked.

Alice’s head barely made it to my shoulders, being a petite 5’2". She was also completely into anything trendy. Her dark brown hair was coiffed like Blair on Gossip Girl complete with headband. Despite Alice being a fashion victim she was quite clever beating out two popular boys for sophomore president. Daisy had given up on telling Alice what to wear and how to look in the seventh grade. I grabbed my smoothie and made my way outside.

I’m sitting by the waterfall, the weather is too sunny to be cooped up.

Daisy and Alice trailed after me. My feet only took me one of two ways for seating at lunch. One was inside by the huge picture framed window which made me feel as if I was outside without dealing with the elements. The other was one of the lower ledges by the man made waterfall. I found the sound of the water soothing especially when I found myself stressed out, like now.

I stopped short of our usual seats. My pulse beat faster seeing Jamie Tame in my spot. He was new to our school and absolutely gorgeous. We shared a lab desk in chemistry. The irony of that is not lost on me. Any time I got near him I started to feel light headed. I’ve barely managed to make a complete sentence of conversation with him in class. I nearly black out any time his hand brushes mine, which was twice.

I had to gather myself and not seem too pathetic even though I knew I was blushing. When he looked up I looked into his fathomless ocean blue eyes and gave a curt smile. I was taught to never look away in embarrassment. I nodded my head at him while I forced my legs to move up to one of the upper level tiers. I let out a breath I did not realize I was holding in as I cursed myself for not making a better impression in front of Jamie. Seriously what is wrong with me. He must see me as a stupid mutant.

Don’t you think Jason and Onica would make a great pair. Daisy’s voice broke me out of my self depravation. Daisy was now edging to gain Alice’s support in my homecoming demise.

I dono, Alice started, he's so into sports and well Oni isn’t. She said gesturing toward me with her fork. On the outside this comment looked like diplomacy, but I knew she secretly liked Jason by the way she mooned over him in Early English Literature class.

I mean they would look good together. Daisy had an exasperated edge to her voice.

This is only Homecoming not marriage. Daisy pointed her alabaster chin skyward and wrinkled her button nose.

Alice fidgeted with her blue bow on her headband, and hesitantly asked, What do you think Oni?

Alice always choose the middle ground between Daisy and myself. She always sided with both of us when we had a disagreement. I can see why she went into school politics. I occupied myself by staring at Jamie to avoid answering any questions. His shaggy blond hair always ended up in his eyes and he always looked bemused as he brushed them out of the way. Jamie nodded easily to the guys passing by and then went back to the black leather bound book he always seemed to be reading. I imagined he was reading some romance poetry by Byron or Keats his slender fingers brushing agilely through the pages as he memorized each poem stanza by stanza.

I had a dreamy haze to my eyes when a dark cloud snapped me out of my revere. That cloud being Morgan Davies who is as slimy as he is handsome. He fancied himself a bad boy who had a habit of sticking a straw up his nose as well as having one too many drinks at any given party. He is excessively charismatic, has piercing blue grey eyes to go with his dark hair and tanned skin. He took the lead in every school play and was most likely destined to become another E true Hollywood story about an actor that lived fast and died young overdosing in front of some swank club. I understood what Daisy saw in him on the surface, inside it was too much of a mess to bother with in my opinion.

How’s my girl? Morgan looked crass as he genteelly pressed his lips to Daisy’s flushed cheek.

She was smiling until I heard Morgan whisper in her ear, My parent’s city condo will be empty home coming weekend. Her expression went completely sour for a split second before she gained her composure. Even Alice heard his proclamation and turned red.

Daisy took Morgan’s hand and pulled him to sit next to her. This left one more dark cloud obscuring my view of Jamie, Jason Ambrose Morgan’s best friend and the subject of my ire right now. I could see Alice beside me trying hard not to look at Jason’s excessively muscled body. Jason shifted his weight from left to right running his hand through his copper curly hair.

Hey girls. Jason offered a smirk in our direction.

Why don’t you join us? Alice was practically jumping out of her skin.

I scooted pulling Alice with me to make sure Jason sat next to her and not me. He took the offered seat leaving me an unobstructed view of Jamie again. A little too late. Jamie no longer lounged in my usual spot. I frowned while biting into my smoothie straw.

Jason fidgeted next to Alice as neither of them were coming up with anything to say. Morgan busied himself whispering obscenities into Daisy’s ear loud enough for all of us to hear. I wondered how Daisy would hold onto her chastity and her new beau. Why do guys force us into sexual relations on perceived life time milestones, like homecoming or prom? I just knew he was going to pressure her. Chaste summer romances did not last long in Morgan’s world. Adoration is not in this