Clouded

By MS Kaye

A Sumerian water and sky god myth collides with a modern high school.

Ayanna is a math nerd, logical and rational, even cold, but Calder makes her feel things she never had before. Somehow, she’s able to accept it when she discovers he’s a reincarnated Sumerian water god. Will she be able to accept the full truth, that the story of Enki and Inanna has been reborn in a modern Ohio high school?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Inkspell Publishing
• Release date: Sep 9, 2015
• ISBN: 9781939590503

Book preview

Prologue

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In ancient Sumeria, Enki was the god of water. He was a mediator with a sense of humor. He invented civilization and assigned destiny. He saved mankind from the great flood.

Inanna was goddess of the heavens, of love, and of war. She was playful and self-willed, a multifaceted female. She was attractive to men but not so easy to attain.

While entertaining Inanna at a feast, Enki became drunk. He gave Inanna the Me, the gifts of civilized life, the universal rules to be followed by mankind. This transfer empowered Inanna and ultimately brought peace between their people.

Chapter 1: Study of Water

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I slipped down the hall, careful to hide my shadow. I knew exactly where to walk to remain invisible. The stairwell up to the top rows of bleachers creeped me out with its confined darkness, but then it opened out on the massive room containing the school’s greatest source of pride. Camouflaged by the shadows, I stood at the railing as if at the stern of an ocean liner. Instead of brine, I smelled chlorine. And my favorite sea creature walked the deck below.

Unlike most schools, the swim team and dive teams were the stars, not the quarterback. They practiced year round. Everyone went to their meets, but only few went to practices.

Either for the purpose of conserving energy or the coach’s attempt to focus his athletes, probably the latter, only the lights directly over the pool were on, which meant the entire upper section hid in darkness, along with dark-skinned girls in dark jackets.

Calder stood to the side as the coach talked. Calder’s mood seemed to have shifted, as it often did. His expression was dull and annoyed. During most of the coach’s droning, his gaze remained diverted. He stared at the water that still rippled slightly from the divers.

Finally, the coach shut up. Calder slipped off his warmup jacket and pants, then stood on the block as he peered into the clear depths, frame limp. His teammates tucked their scalps into caps and suctioned goggles onto their faces. Calder kept his hair extremely short but uncovered, and a neat, thin layer covered his chest, not shaved like his teammates.

When he was in the water, he looked more at peace, as if all his stress dissolved in the chlorine.

After the practice let out, we both hung back. I waited to be able to slip out unnoticed, and he waited for his time alone with the blue depths.

As the coach walked out, he shut down all the lights but the minimum, and Calder walked the edge of the pool, as if daring the water to pull him under. His feet slowly and deliberately continued the entire length. His eyes focused on the shining surface, on the almost-invisible barrier of breath. Alone in the water, he revealed yet another facet of his personality, something no one was allowed to see, something he hid behind that charming disinterest. There was something more to him, and I felt driven to figure out what it was.

Calder studied the water, as if trying to understand its mysteries, trying to will it to divulge its secrets. He gazed as if he knew it intimately, as if a relationship had been forged between them, but his friend obstinately held out, refused full truthfulness. He turned the corner of the pool, circling his prey, then stopped to squat at the edge, his toes over the lip. The dive platform partially obscured his frame, but I saw as he dipped his fingertips in, shimmering the water. I could’ve sworn his lips moved as if he were murmuring a greeting or, more accurately, a tender whisper.

It felt too personal to watch, a moment between lovers.

I slipped down the stairs and out of the school, then walked through the park toward my house on the other side. Today’s snow still clung to the branches—snow in October. The temperatures were starting to drop but not into freezing. I’d never seen snow this early. It was all anyone could talk about today.

I walked up the front steps and wiped my feet at the door.

Ayanna, where have you been?

I didn’t even get the door closed before my mother’s voice rang out. She walked out of the kitchen, holding a spoon covered in mashed potatoes. She made great potatoes, but I missed her traditional cooking. We hadn’t had a meal with curry in forever.

Well? she said.

Tutoring.

Who?

I almost said a boy’s name just to watch her reaction. Jennifer. She needs help in calculus. There was a Jennifer where I’d been, but she spent the time watching her boyfriend try to beat Calder’s time in the breaststroke. No one beat Calder.

Her posture relaxed. Oh. Good. She turned back toward the kitchen. You could’ve had dinner with her if you wanted.

I rolled my eyes. White girlfriends were okay. As if I was going to find any Indian boys in Leetonia, Ohio. Before I said something that would get me a lecture, I went upstairs to do my homework.

***

Calder, Mrs. Pratt said. See me after class.

Yes, ma’am. He was slumped back in his chair with his knees to the sides.

What’d you do, Cal? the guy behind him asked.

He turned his head only halfway around and shrugged.

The class let out a few minutes later, and Calder stayed in his seat, in the same position. I picked up my books.

Then Mrs. Pratt spoke again. Ayanna, may I see you for a minute?

Confused, I turned to her.

I’ll give you a pass, she said, then shuffled through some papers on her desk.

Otherwise unmoving, Calder looked over at me, head titled back to meet my eyes, and winked. Then he turned back to Mrs. Pratt.

Why’d he wink at me? We were kind of friendly acquaintances—our lockers were next to each other, even though I’d thought they’d been assigned in alphabetical order—but that was it. I moved to stand by Mrs. Pratt’s desk. Calder remained seated, one hand rested on his upper thigh and the other on his desk fiddling idly with his pencil. He watched his pencil even after Mrs. Pratt began speaking to him.

I’m beginning to be seriously concerned about your recent performance, she said. She seemed to have forgotten my presence. Teachers did this fairly often around me.

I thought I saw the slight twitch of his lips, but he didn’t move, other than his fiddling.

Do you not understand the material? she continued.

He shrugged.

She huffed and turned to me. "If he be so willing, I’d like to see if you have time to tutor him."

Sure. In my last school, I did a lot of math tutoring, although never with a boy.

His pencil continued to flip.

Maybe you can get him to pay attention, she said. I’m at my limit.

He stood, grabbed his bag, and flung it over his shoulder as he walked for the door.

She rolled her eyes, then added to me, Thank you.

He was waiting by the door for some reason. I realized it was for me when he stayed by my side as we walked down the hall. I knew I shouldn’t have agreed to tutor a boy and risk my mother’s wrath, but I still had that nagging feeling there was something about him I needed to figure out.

Chapter 2: Limits

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Told you I didn’t get limits, Calder said as we walked.

We were working on limits in Calculus. But you know how to push them.

He grinned with half his mouth. The only limit I understand is the speed limit.

I looked at him sideways.

I didn’t say I follow it, he said, just that I understand it.

I laughed.

So your place or mine? he asked.

I hesitated.

To study, I mean, he added.

Yours. Definitely.

We walked several more steps before he answered. How about the library?

I glanced over at him. He kept looking where he was going.

Sure, I said.

Meet you at five?

All right. Now I just had to figure what to tell my mother.

Cal, someone called from down the hall.

See you, he said and walked off to talk to his friend Sean and a group of jocks.

After last period, I texted my mother that I was tutoring Jennifer again and then I started down Walnut, about—or almost rolled down Walnut. The street was almost vertical. At the corner of Main, the library faced Walnut, so the steps leading up to the door were three high in one spot and one high only a few feet away. I made it there in plenty of time to browse the time-stained shelves for a few minutes.

What’re you listening to?

I looked up to see Calder turn the corner into the aisle and turned back to the shelf I was browsing. Music.

From the corner of my eye, I saw as he smirked, and then he took one of my earbuds to listen for himself. I’d never been this close to him before. I kept my expression level. He raised an eyebrow at the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Dani California, then handed it back.

Not what I’d have thought, he said.

What did you expect? Classical? One of my playlists was named Tchaikovsky, but I wasn’t about to mention that.

Maybe, he said, but I guess with you, who knows?

What does that mean?

He grinned, and little smile lines creased his cheeks. Then he took my hand and led me to a table behind the stacks on the side of the building that was buried into the hillside. I had no idea how to react. People didn’t usually touch me.

He let go, and we took our seats in the quiet little spot, mostly hidden from view and with no window to distract us. Where he’d touched me my skin felt soft, as if I’d just put on the sheerest of lotions.

I set my calculus book and notebook on the table. What’s with this weather anyway?

What do you mean?

The temperature didn’t even reach the thirties, and it snowed yesterday.

He shrugged as he glanced away. Who knows.

When he didn’t take out his calculus book, or even a notebook, I asked, Did you bring yours?

Nope.

Limits? I teased.

I don’t like those.

Obviously. Why do you bother with advanced math if you don’t care, anyway?

He shrugged again.

I opened the book to the part Mrs. Pratt had covered today, then flipped to my notes. He moved from sitting across the table to the chair next to me while I glanced through the examples I’d copied from the board. Elbows to the sides, forearms flat against the table, he leaned forward.

Show me a few. He moved his elbow as he angled himself to better see my notebook. A subtle scent drifted from him, maybe cologne mixed with remnants of chlorine. Was it odd that I liked the smell of chlorine?

He leaned closer, and I pushed the notebook toward him as I went through one of the examples.

So the limit approaches... I looked up to see if he knew the answer.

He moved his gaze from me to the page. One.

I smiled, and he opened his mouth to speak.

Cal, someone said.

With a sigh, he rolled his eyes. I’m sorry.

A girl named Carrie, the bubbly and peppy type, sat down across from us.

Ayanna, this is Carrie, he said. Carrie, this is Ayanna. The drawl of disinterest had returned to his voice.

She barely glanced at me. Hey. Then she focused on him. Did you hear?

Apparently not.

They went for it. The words bubbled from her lips and shined like rainbows in the light.

Great. His word did not bubble.

She dropped her chin and raised her eyebrows, as if waiting for his enthusiasm to surface.

Refresh my memory, he finally said.

She rolled her eyes, smile still firmly planted. The winter semiformal, silly. It’ll be the last Saturday before Christmas. She droned on for a while with the details, and I watched the boredom overtake his face, boredom that’d been absent during my droning about calculus. He must really hate dances.

Finally, she came to a halt with the subject of streamers and dresses. So who’re you going to ask?

At this point he looked just like he had in math class, only he fiddled with my pencil instead of his. I don’t know.

"You’re going to have to decide pretty quick. I know several girls who’re just dying to go with you."

He gave no reaction.

Her eyes flickered to me. What’s her name again?

She’s not deaf.

I didn’t think she was trying to be rude but was just kind of dippy, so I helped her out. Ayanna.

That’s right. Her dippiness continued. What kind of name is that, anyway?

The pretty kind, he said.

I couldn’t stop a small smile from surfacing. Peripherally, I saw as he glanced at me, and I straightened my lips.

His tone regained some patience. I’m sorry, Carrie, but we’ve got work to finish.

Oh, okay, she said.

Despite the dippiness, she seemed sweet enough, and her perfect blonde ringlets bounced as she skipped away. Okay, she didn’t skip, but she may as well have.

I turned back to him and realized he’d watched me watch her.

Her hair is really pretty. I flipped to the next notebook page.

I like yours, he said. It’s like a lake in the moonlight after a storm. He touched the end of my braid that sat on my shoulder. Then his hand drifted back to his leg.

My hand felt shaky as I took my pencil back from him. Back to limits.

Right. Limits.

We worked on several more problems, and he asked some questions. Time passed faster than I realized, and soon the librarian kicked us out.

I told him good night at the door, then turned to trudge up Walnut Street.

He caught my hand. Are you insane?

I looked back. What?

It’s freezing and pitch-black. Do you really think I’m about to let you walk? He dragged me toward his car, which was parked along Main. As he opened the passenger door, he added, And I seriously doubt you could conquer Everest.

I sat. Can your car?

His voice rose as if he was offended. Maggie can handle anything.

I laughed as he shut the door.

The car was old, seventies I think, and still cool. The engine easily rumbled to life, but the heat never did kick on. It rumbled louder, deafeningly loud, up the hill. Calder grinned when we reached the top, much faster than my parents’ cars ever did.

Very impressive, I said.

He petted the dash. Maggie’s a good girl.

Compensation? I teased.

Compensation for what?

I blushed, and he laughed.

He turned at the park, in the right direction, then asked, Where’s your house?

Um, just drop me at the corner.

He looked at me sideways.

It’s just, my mom, um—

Doesn’t want you out with a guy.

She would jump to conclusions.

He raised an eyebrow. Especially a white guy, right?

It’s the one thing my parents are strictly traditional about. Then I added, I’m really sorry. I felt horrible.

He sighed and muttered something under his breath. I couldn’t hear over Maggie’s rumbling.

He dropped me where I asked. I kept my eyes forward as I walked away, and Maggie’s rumble sat unmoving behind me.

Where have you been? my mother said as soon as the door opened.

Did she always have to ask that? The library.

With—

A blaring engine cut her off, shaking the windows, then disappearing around the corner.

Chapter 3: Friends, Right?

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Hey.

I kept walking. If I made it out of the school and across the street to the park, he’d probably let it drop.

Ayanna, Calder called. Wait up.

I’d managed to avoid him all day. I walked out into the parking lot and wished I had a jacket, not just my sweater. It wasn’t supposed to be this cold today. I paused at the curb by the fire hydrant to make sure no cars were coming before I crossed the street to disappear into the park.

Quickened footsteps approached. Then he was in front of me. I’d forgotten what good shape he was in.

Oh, hey, I said with a smile.

He hesitated. Are you mad at me?

Why would I be mad at you? My smile felt heavy.

Why’re you trying to avoid me?

Don’t you have swim practice?

He moved closer, and his tone softened. What’s going on, Ayanna?

I dropped my fake smile. I don’t like lying to my parents.

So don’t. Tell them you’re helping a classmate. The smile lines in his cheeks creased. "You owe it to the world to share your brilliance. You know, I don’t think it’s healthy to be that damn smart."

Get Darren to tutor you. I moved to walk around him.

He cut me off. I don’t want Darren to tutor me. Then he added, Drives me nuts when he starts quoting shit in Latin.

You can handle it. I tried again to go around him.

He took my hand, and his voice was gentle. There’s something more.

I stayed faced away and tried not to show my aggravation.

Hey, he said, still with that voice. We’re friends, right?

I said nothing.

He shifted into my line of sight.

I took a breath and looked at him. I’d like to be friends, but...

He tilted his head, and his eyebrows lowered. You feel bad. That’s it, isn’t it?

You’re going to be late for practice.

I’m not some pussy, you know. So a girl’s parents don’t like me. I’m not going to break.

Just because you’re tough doesn’t make it right.

The corner of his mouth twitched.

Hey, Cal, someone called.

Calder glanced around, then back to me. Ayanna—

Sean walked up and slapped him on the shoulder. Whatcha doing with your afternoon off? Me and Charlie were talking about going out to Boardman to that new—

Sorry, Calder said. Got plans with my math tutor. He looked at me.

Calculus? Sean said. You’ve never had a problem with math.

Limits are kicking my ass.

Several more people walked up. Tara, a girl from our calculus class, was one of them. Is he coming? she asked.

I considered walking away, but I thought Calder might cause a scene. He could be a jerk like that when he wanted to be. Sometimes I kind of admired that he did what he wanted—but today was not one of those days.

No, he’s not coming, Calder said.

Come on, man. Sean slapped his shoulder again. Ya got to give yourself a rest sometimes. Have some fun once in a while.

Charlie leaned in and spoke in a conspiratorial yet not-quiet voice. Unless we’re interrupting a date.

No, I said. And I was just about to tell him I can’t study today anyway. I added to Calder with a smile, Go ahead.

His jaw clenched, and he opened his mouth.

Come on, Calder. It’ll be fun. Tara tilted her head as if she meant a different kind of fun than Sean had.

Calder’s tone turned icy. Sorry. Can’t.

Bring Ayanna along, Sean said.

I kept my smile in place. No, thank you. I have some things I need to do.

Tara flipped her shiny, brown hair. Besides, I don’t think Ayna would enjoy herself. She looked at me. No offense. Just a little too much rowdy fun for you.

I forced my smile to stay plastered to my face.

"Her name is Ayanna, Calder said. Then he said it slower like she was stupid. Iy-ah-na."

Oh. Tara flipped her hair the other way. Sorry.

Calder turned to Charlie and a couple other guys. You should get going before your afternoon of fun slips away.

Seriously, man, Sean said. You need to come. Bring Ayanna. She could probably use a break too—especially if she’s been hanging out with you.

The hardness of Calder’s jawline lessened a little. Then he looked at me. You could go if you want. He’s right—you need to let yourself relax.

I crossed my arms. And why do you think I’m not relaxed?

Tara murmured to the girl next to her, Because we can all see the pole sticking out her ass.

I kept my voice pleasant. What was that?

She smiled. Nothing.

Voice still pleasant, I said, That’s what I thought. I kept my arms crossed to fight the chill in the air and to hide my shivering. I turned to Calder. See you in Calculus tomorrow.

You’re freezing. Why didn’t you say so? He took his jacket off.

No, really, I’m fine.

That’s why your hands are shaking. He draped his jacket over my shoulders and tugged it around me. It covered me easily, even with my arms still crossed. His scent filled my head.

Charlie and Sean started talking about where they were headed and the best way to get there.

Thanks, I said to Calder.

I’ll walk you home.

Tara shifted around the guys, closer to Calder. I’m sure she doesn’t need any help. She glanced at me. That’s the one thing I can say about her kind of people.

Whatever. I was done dealing with her insults. I didn’t know her well enough to care if she liked me.

What in the hell do you mean ‘her kind of people’? Calder snapped.

You know, Arabs or whatever. They’re smart.

Her family is from India, not the Middle East. At least have some clue what in the fuck—

Calder. I touched his arm.

He looked at me over his shoulder.

Walk me home. I knew he would feel bad later if he didn’t stop now. I’d just have to ditch him before we made it within view of my house.

His expression calmed, and he turned toward the curb, away from Tara. What was his deal with her anyway?

"See you later, Ayna," Tara sneered.

Calder stopped.

There was a wooshing sound from near the fire hydrant. Then a creaky sound.

Shit. Calder took my arm and started across the street.

I pulled my arm away. What is that?

I think something’s wrong with the hydrant.

What could be wrong with a fire hydrant?

I don’t know, but I doubt it’s safe. With his hand on my back, he guided me forward. I let him—he needed to be away from Tara anyway.

Then he looked back at her. Hey, get out of there.

She and the rest of the group were staring at the hydrant. They started backing away.

Calder continued forward. I let him keep guiding me.

The sounds grew louder. More creaking, like metal grinding against itself.

What the hell? someone said.

"Shit. Get out of here," another person said.

Their footsteps moved faster.

I glanced back just as the fire hydrant cap burst off and water gushed across the road. The brakes of a passing car squealed as it spun into the path of the water. The pressure pounded the metal, denting the door and pushed the car several feet until it bumped into the opposite curb.

Dammit, Calder muttered.

Chapter 4: The Force of Nature

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Calder