LJ Idol, Season 10 Week 15: Patchwork Heart
In all of her fourteen years being alive, Rafaela had never been more excited than she was right now. Because Charlie Talent. Had invited her. To. His. House! Oh, my gods! Sure they weren't going to be alone together-it was a mini party he was putting on while his parents were away-but he had sought her out and invited her personally. She didn't think he possibly would have noticed her, unless it was to notice what a big nerd she was, with her boy clothes and her crazy black-and-gray hair and that one geeky friend and all, but he knew her name, and he said it was important that she show up.
That led to some stress, though. She wanted to wear her cutest outfit, but she had no one to try it on for-she had no girlfriends, and Noah was so adamant about her not going that they currently weren't speaking. She found something that either worked, or made her look like the world's biggest dork. Makeup was a problem because she never wore it, and she couldn't ask her mom for help because she wasn't supposed to be going somewhere she needed to be wearing makeup in the first place. She found some tutorials online that might help. As for her hair... There was nothing that could be done about it. She tried to keep it restrained in a ponytail and hoped for the best.
She slipped outside, announcing that she was headed to Noah's to study, and took the mile-long walk to Charlie's house. It took about fifteen minutes before she was ringing his doorbell. He answered, wearing a button-down Oxford shirt and that grin of his.
“Rafaela!” he laughed. “You made it!”
She giggled. “Hi.”
“Come on in!” He swept her inside, hanging her purse on a hook by the door, his arm around her shoulder, and paraded her past two girls and a guy-Missy Andrews, Paula Washington, and Bobby Lopez-to the huge oak dining room table in the next room.
“What is she doing here?” Missy stage-whispered to Paula.
“Yeah,” Paula replied, “is there a weirdo quota I didn't know about?”
Rafaela could hear them clearly, but she chose to focus on the warmth of Charlie's arm on her back.
But now that the shock of that had worn off, she noticed that all the lights in the house were out, replaced by candles. Did they do that at all the high school parties?
Charlie sat her down at the head of the table and called out, “Come on, guys, it's time.”
Dread settled in over Rafaela's stomach. “Time for what?”
Charlie pulled up a chair next to her while the other three plopped down around the table. He sat down himself so that his arm touched Rafaela's, sending goose bumps all over her body. “Just a harmless little game,” he told her.
“I don't like this.” She tried to stand, but he pulled her right back down.
“Nothing to worry about,” he said, “honest.”
Noah was right. This was a terrible idea.
Bobby handed Charlie a long, shallow box, which he set down in front of her. He showed her the logo printed on it.
“Ouija?” she observed. “Oh, Charlie, this is not harmless.”
“If it wasn't harmless, why do they sell it with the games?”
If there was one lesson Rafaela's father drilled into her head, it was that she was never to touch a Ouija board. They were doorways to worlds that shouldn't have doorways. “Charlie, you don't know what you're messing around with.”
Missy and Paula snickered.
Charlie unpacked the box, unfolded the board, and placed the planchette in the middle of it, where Rafaela stared at it as if it were going to scream at her without warning. It didn't look so scary from this angle. Maybe it would be okay...
No. There were forces beyond all control that could leap out of that board and take over her body. She declared, “Charlie, we can't.”
He responded by gently steering her chin over to his and kissing her. The heat from it melted her into a puddle of goo. She couldn't believe it! Her first kiss! And it was Charlie Talent! He pulled away and looked her in the eye. “Come on, just for a little while.”
She swallowed. “Okay.”
Meanwhile, Paula rolled her eyes. “Oh, my God.”
Missy agreed, “Can you imagine?”
Charlie rested his fingers on the planchette and told Rafaela, “Put your hands on top of mine.”
She did, and the warmth of him flowed through her, mingling with the fire that still smoldered in her lips.
“Are there any spirits out there tonight?” he asked the room.
The planchette pulled over to “Yes.”
“Are you the spirit of someone I know?” he continued.
The planchette pulled away, then went right back to “Yes.”
“Who are you?”
It dragged their hands over to L, then O, then T, T, I, and E.
“Aunt Lottie?” His hands trembled underneath hers.
The planchette said, “Yes.”
“Is that really you?” he clarified.
The planchette then swung over to “No.”
“What? I don't understand.”
The planchette headed over to Y, O, U, A, R, E, M, I, N, and E.
He read aloud, “'You are mine?' I don't get it.” He suddenly tensed up and collapsed, his head hitting the table.
“What did you do to him?” Missy demanded.
“I didn't do anything!” Rafaela insisted. “It just kind of happened!”
Charlie sat straight up, and then he stood, knocking his chair over.
Rafaela took a deep breath. “Charlie?”
“Is that his name?” Charlie replied. “It doesn't matter. We won't be using it again.”
“This is weird,” observed Bobby.
Rafaela's heart pounded. “Who are you?”
“We are the ones stitched together in this heart,” Charlie's voice replied. “We are free at last.”
“No, you're not,” Rafaela told him. “Not while I'm here.”
Charlie's body grabbed the edge of the heavy oak table and flipped it over, scattering candles, centerpieces, salt and pepper shakers, and the Ouija board, all while smashing a couple of chairs. While everybody gawked at that, he left the room. A moment later the front door opened and closed.
“This is your fault!” Missy shouted, pointing at Rafaela. “This kind of thing always happens when you're around!”
“It doesn't always happen,” Rafaela responded.
“Yeah?” Missy continued. “What about the ghost dog? Or those water baby things? Or the zombie?”
“That wasn't a zombie,” Rafaela said, “it was a revenant.”
Missy looked at Paula in disbelief before turning back to Rafaela. “Oh, it was a revenant. That makes all the difference in the world! It was the walking dead, you freak! And it only showed up because you were there!”
“You know what?” Rafaela stood up. “I'm going to fix this.”
“You better!” It was unclear whether Missy or Paula spoke this.
On her way out of the room Rafaela grabbed the salt shaker from the floor. She then headed for the kitchen, flinging open every cabinet until she found the water bottles. Grabbing one, she filled it up and headed out the front door to the house, making sure to retrieve her purse. On the front step, she set down the salt shaker (her outfit was too cute for pockets) and held her hand over the bottle and whispered, “I cleanse and consecrate thee in the name of the divine goddess, may you heal, cleanse, and purify all you touch. So mote it be.”
It wasn't hard to find Charlie. He was strolling slowly down the middle of the street, his arms spread out so he looked like the letter T, throwing his head back, and laughing. She caught up to him quickly and stood in front of him, ordering, “Stop.”
Without breaking stride, Charlie's arm shoved her out of the way and continued on.
She gritted her teeth and pursued again, this time staying out of his way when she asked, “Can we please talk about this?”
Charlie's face didn't even look at her. “There is nothing about which to talk. We are here. We have this body. We will now do as we please.”
Rafaela sighed. “So I take it we're not going to talk about this?”
“Leave me,” Charlie's voice snarled.
She unscrewed the lid to the bottle and splashed him on the face with water. He screamed and clawed at his face like it was boiling. While he was doing that, she ducked into a crouch and swept his legs. He fell onto the asphalt on his back. She quickly straddled him while he squirmed and unbuttoned his shirt. After pulling a pen knife out of her purse, she flipped it open and used the blade gently to draw an invisible circle around where his heart was supposed to be. She sprinkled the area with salt and pressed her palm against it, saying, “You, whose names are unknown to me, I call you forth. You, who have claimed this body as your own, I banish you. I send you to your true home in the name of the earth, in the name of the fire, in the name of the water, and in the name of the wind.” She wrapped both hands around the handle of the knife and raised it into the air. “Begone!” she called out.
A second later, Charlie's hands shot up and grabbed her arms. “Whoa! What are you doing, you psycho?”
Rafaela looked down at him eagerly. “Charlie, is that you?”
“Are you going to stab me?” he asked.
“No!” She folded up the knife. “I was just-”
“Get off of me!” He shoved her onto the street. When he stood up, he got a glance at his shirt. “Were you undressing me, you pervert?”
“No!” she exclaimed. “You were possessed, and I was-”
“I was possessed?” he interrupted.
“Yes.”
“Like, by a demon?”
“I think so. At least two of them.
“Like in the movies?”
“Kind of.”
He shook his head. “This kind of thing always seems to happen whenever you're around. That's why I invited you-I thought something wild would happen, like we'd see a ghost or something. I didn't know I was going to get molested on the street by the town weirdo. What did taking my clothes off have to do with a demon taking over my body?”
“They were living in your heart.” She was trying not to answer in sobs.
“You know what?” he concluded, “you should probably just go home.”
She handed him the water bottle and salt shaker and did just that. She held it together for the entire mile, and for her parents, who didn't notice her appearance, until she could finally throw herself into bed and cry like a baby.
Why did her first kiss-with Charlie Talent, no less-have to happen on the worst night ever? It just wasn't fair.
That led to some stress, though. She wanted to wear her cutest outfit, but she had no one to try it on for-she had no girlfriends, and Noah was so adamant about her not going that they currently weren't speaking. She found something that either worked, or made her look like the world's biggest dork. Makeup was a problem because she never wore it, and she couldn't ask her mom for help because she wasn't supposed to be going somewhere she needed to be wearing makeup in the first place. She found some tutorials online that might help. As for her hair... There was nothing that could be done about it. She tried to keep it restrained in a ponytail and hoped for the best.
She slipped outside, announcing that she was headed to Noah's to study, and took the mile-long walk to Charlie's house. It took about fifteen minutes before she was ringing his doorbell. He answered, wearing a button-down Oxford shirt and that grin of his.
“Rafaela!” he laughed. “You made it!”
She giggled. “Hi.”
“Come on in!” He swept her inside, hanging her purse on a hook by the door, his arm around her shoulder, and paraded her past two girls and a guy-Missy Andrews, Paula Washington, and Bobby Lopez-to the huge oak dining room table in the next room.
“What is she doing here?” Missy stage-whispered to Paula.
“Yeah,” Paula replied, “is there a weirdo quota I didn't know about?”
Rafaela could hear them clearly, but she chose to focus on the warmth of Charlie's arm on her back.
But now that the shock of that had worn off, she noticed that all the lights in the house were out, replaced by candles. Did they do that at all the high school parties?
Charlie sat her down at the head of the table and called out, “Come on, guys, it's time.”
Dread settled in over Rafaela's stomach. “Time for what?”
Charlie pulled up a chair next to her while the other three plopped down around the table. He sat down himself so that his arm touched Rafaela's, sending goose bumps all over her body. “Just a harmless little game,” he told her.
“I don't like this.” She tried to stand, but he pulled her right back down.
“Nothing to worry about,” he said, “honest.”
Noah was right. This was a terrible idea.
Bobby handed Charlie a long, shallow box, which he set down in front of her. He showed her the logo printed on it.
“Ouija?” she observed. “Oh, Charlie, this is not harmless.”
“If it wasn't harmless, why do they sell it with the games?”
If there was one lesson Rafaela's father drilled into her head, it was that she was never to touch a Ouija board. They were doorways to worlds that shouldn't have doorways. “Charlie, you don't know what you're messing around with.”
Missy and Paula snickered.
Charlie unpacked the box, unfolded the board, and placed the planchette in the middle of it, where Rafaela stared at it as if it were going to scream at her without warning. It didn't look so scary from this angle. Maybe it would be okay...
No. There were forces beyond all control that could leap out of that board and take over her body. She declared, “Charlie, we can't.”
He responded by gently steering her chin over to his and kissing her. The heat from it melted her into a puddle of goo. She couldn't believe it! Her first kiss! And it was Charlie Talent! He pulled away and looked her in the eye. “Come on, just for a little while.”
She swallowed. “Okay.”
Meanwhile, Paula rolled her eyes. “Oh, my God.”
Missy agreed, “Can you imagine?”
Charlie rested his fingers on the planchette and told Rafaela, “Put your hands on top of mine.”
She did, and the warmth of him flowed through her, mingling with the fire that still smoldered in her lips.
“Are there any spirits out there tonight?” he asked the room.
The planchette pulled over to “Yes.”
“Are you the spirit of someone I know?” he continued.
The planchette pulled away, then went right back to “Yes.”
“Who are you?”
It dragged their hands over to L, then O, then T, T, I, and E.
“Aunt Lottie?” His hands trembled underneath hers.
The planchette said, “Yes.”
“Is that really you?” he clarified.
The planchette then swung over to “No.”
“What? I don't understand.”
The planchette headed over to Y, O, U, A, R, E, M, I, N, and E.
He read aloud, “'You are mine?' I don't get it.” He suddenly tensed up and collapsed, his head hitting the table.
“What did you do to him?” Missy demanded.
“I didn't do anything!” Rafaela insisted. “It just kind of happened!”
Charlie sat straight up, and then he stood, knocking his chair over.
Rafaela took a deep breath. “Charlie?”
“Is that his name?” Charlie replied. “It doesn't matter. We won't be using it again.”
“This is weird,” observed Bobby.
Rafaela's heart pounded. “Who are you?”
“We are the ones stitched together in this heart,” Charlie's voice replied. “We are free at last.”
“No, you're not,” Rafaela told him. “Not while I'm here.”
Charlie's body grabbed the edge of the heavy oak table and flipped it over, scattering candles, centerpieces, salt and pepper shakers, and the Ouija board, all while smashing a couple of chairs. While everybody gawked at that, he left the room. A moment later the front door opened and closed.
“This is your fault!” Missy shouted, pointing at Rafaela. “This kind of thing always happens when you're around!”
“It doesn't always happen,” Rafaela responded.
“Yeah?” Missy continued. “What about the ghost dog? Or those water baby things? Or the zombie?”
“That wasn't a zombie,” Rafaela said, “it was a revenant.”
Missy looked at Paula in disbelief before turning back to Rafaela. “Oh, it was a revenant. That makes all the difference in the world! It was the walking dead, you freak! And it only showed up because you were there!”
“You know what?” Rafaela stood up. “I'm going to fix this.”
“You better!” It was unclear whether Missy or Paula spoke this.
On her way out of the room Rafaela grabbed the salt shaker from the floor. She then headed for the kitchen, flinging open every cabinet until she found the water bottles. Grabbing one, she filled it up and headed out the front door to the house, making sure to retrieve her purse. On the front step, she set down the salt shaker (her outfit was too cute for pockets) and held her hand over the bottle and whispered, “I cleanse and consecrate thee in the name of the divine goddess, may you heal, cleanse, and purify all you touch. So mote it be.”
It wasn't hard to find Charlie. He was strolling slowly down the middle of the street, his arms spread out so he looked like the letter T, throwing his head back, and laughing. She caught up to him quickly and stood in front of him, ordering, “Stop.”
Without breaking stride, Charlie's arm shoved her out of the way and continued on.
She gritted her teeth and pursued again, this time staying out of his way when she asked, “Can we please talk about this?”
Charlie's face didn't even look at her. “There is nothing about which to talk. We are here. We have this body. We will now do as we please.”
Rafaela sighed. “So I take it we're not going to talk about this?”
“Leave me,” Charlie's voice snarled.
She unscrewed the lid to the bottle and splashed him on the face with water. He screamed and clawed at his face like it was boiling. While he was doing that, she ducked into a crouch and swept his legs. He fell onto the asphalt on his back. She quickly straddled him while he squirmed and unbuttoned his shirt. After pulling a pen knife out of her purse, she flipped it open and used the blade gently to draw an invisible circle around where his heart was supposed to be. She sprinkled the area with salt and pressed her palm against it, saying, “You, whose names are unknown to me, I call you forth. You, who have claimed this body as your own, I banish you. I send you to your true home in the name of the earth, in the name of the fire, in the name of the water, and in the name of the wind.” She wrapped both hands around the handle of the knife and raised it into the air. “Begone!” she called out.
A second later, Charlie's hands shot up and grabbed her arms. “Whoa! What are you doing, you psycho?”
Rafaela looked down at him eagerly. “Charlie, is that you?”
“Are you going to stab me?” he asked.
“No!” She folded up the knife. “I was just-”
“Get off of me!” He shoved her onto the street. When he stood up, he got a glance at his shirt. “Were you undressing me, you pervert?”
“No!” she exclaimed. “You were possessed, and I was-”
“I was possessed?” he interrupted.
“Yes.”
“Like, by a demon?”
“I think so. At least two of them.
“Like in the movies?”
“Kind of.”
He shook his head. “This kind of thing always seems to happen whenever you're around. That's why I invited you-I thought something wild would happen, like we'd see a ghost or something. I didn't know I was going to get molested on the street by the town weirdo. What did taking my clothes off have to do with a demon taking over my body?”
“They were living in your heart.” She was trying not to answer in sobs.
“You know what?” he concluded, “you should probably just go home.”
She handed him the water bottle and salt shaker and did just that. She held it together for the entire mile, and for her parents, who didn't notice her appearance, until she could finally throw herself into bed and cry like a baby.
Why did her first kiss-with Charlie Talent, no less-have to happen on the worst night ever? It just wasn't fair.