Chapter 11:

And just like that my life changed. I had a goal. A goal that I hoped would be the cure for all of our woes. I gazed into the mirror the next morning. I touched the cold sparkling jewel in my forehead. It seemed as though it was now a part of me. It wouldn't separate itself until the Purity and Peace Diamond stood before me. I wondered if everything would work out just like Mo had said. It seemed so crazy, like a faerie tale or something of the like. Everyone stayed over at my house after all the trauma of our new task, a group of cursed people trying to cure themselves and others. I began packing my things. I didn't have many casual clothes, but I packed all that I owned. Calistine and Messa had begun packing as well or that's what I'd been told by Mimi, who was still in shock we were all leaving. Simeon and Veronica went home to do their packing as well. They would come back after they were finished. I threw on an old t-shirt and some jeans. It had been awhile since I'd worn this type of outfit; it was comfortable. I felt a sense of excitement and anxiousness. I wouldn't be cursed anymore, no more pain at least from not being called beautiful. But I held my breath, better not get my hopes up too high if it doesn't work. What if it didn't work? My doubts filled my head again. A knock came to the door, pushing my thoughts away from me for a minute. "Yes?"

"Arlo?" Calistine's voice was already familiar to me.

"Come on in." I smiled as the door creaked open. She entered the room in a willowy blue summer dress, another one of my mother's dresses. She looked beautiful.

"Can I speak with you?" She looked worried.

"Sure, about what?"

"About when I got drunk." She looked down at the floor, obviously embarrassed.

"I didn't do anything." I raised my hands up as if she would shoot me.

"Oh, good. I'm sorry for all the trouble. I don't remember much, so, I wanted to just clear the air." I was wondering if she had remembered the kiss or that I said that I loved her. I was sad, very sad. "What's wrong? You look like you're about to…..cry." She came and sat on the bed. Oh how wonderful she looked on my bed. I could tackle her now if I wanted to, but that would be so totally rape. "Arlo?" A tear trickled down my cheek, but I wiped it away before she saw anything. I don't know what was keeping the words from coming out of my mouth. I stood there in silence. Calistine stared at me with a worried gaze; her aqua eyes were so liquid-like. The stone in her forehead began to glow. I was worrying her. I felt a warmth come over my body. Was it from her calmness? She stood up and slowly made her way over to me. "I think I know what is keeping you silent." I melted at her words. Could she possibly know how much I wanted her? "I heard the words you said to Mimi the other day." I gulped.

"Really?" I tried to remember what I had said. Then it struck me. I said I loved no other but Calistine. I gulped again.

"How could you love me? I'm a nobody. I have nothing to give to you. So, is that the reason you wanted me living here? You loved me? We hardly know each other." The tears came. "As I've said before, I am a burden. No one wants me once they know my curse." I saw the startled look on her face as I pulled her towards me.

"I wanted you the moment we met. You are beautiful and far from a burden." I had been waiting what seemed like forever to be able to express my feelings. I almost thought for a second that this was too soon. We had a mission to attend to. I only hoped, if this worked out, that it wouldn't interfere. I felt my t-shirt dampen. She was crying.

"I've never known anyone as caring as you. All the guys I've been with have dropped me once they found out I was cursed. One did stick around afterward, but after all my illnesses he couldn't deal with me." Calistine pulled away from me to look into my eyes. "How do I know you won't be like them?" She whispered as her tears stopped.

"I know what it's like to be cursed." I answered simply. She smiled and hugged me tight.

"To tell you the truth I thought you were very adamant in catching me. I was trying to play hard to get." She laughed.

"Well that's no fun." I held her closer.

"It was for me. To watch you try your hardest. I thought you were such a player."

"I was until I decided…" I stopped my sentence before it got too mushy. She gazed up at me with smiling eyes. "I will try to make your life the easiest as possible."

"Okay. Should we tell the others?"

"No, best to leave them out of the loop for a little bit. I don't want to cause a stir on our trip." I unhooked myself from her embrace. "I want to take this slow. I don't want to overwhelm you." She nodded. "Are you all packed?"

"Yes, Messa and I are all packed. Should I check if Simeon and Veronica are here yet?"

"Yeah, I'm almost done myself."

"So, what's the plan?" Calistine put her hand on her hip.

"Well, we're going on a cruise across the ocean first. It'll take a leisurely week. Then, when we arrive on the other side, we'll rent a car or minivan, whatever, and tour the mountains. We'll search for the diamond that way. It'll be quicker. I have all the money to do it too, so, the sky's the limit. As long as I have my wallet, we'll be fine." I laughed. She nodded her head.

"It's amazing what money can do. I've never had enough to play around. This'll be quite the experience." Calistine walked out of my room, but turned around only to grab my face. She forcefully kissed my lips as if she'd been holding it in the whole time. "Oh, by the way, the kiss the other night was really hot." She waved bye as she strolled out of the room.

"Hey! You said you didn't remember anything!"

"I said I didn't remember much." She walked into the elevator, smiling. I couldn't help but laugh. Yes, I was in love with this woman, but she had a fiery side. The water stone, eh? Calm, huh? Yeah right. I bounded down the steps with suitcase in hand. I met her at the bottom.

"Beat ya!" Childish, I know. She strolled over to the couch and sat down. Messa came to join us. She looked back and forth between the two of us. "What?"

"You two seem really happy?" We both looked at each other and blushed. "Did you just have sex or something?"

"Messa!" We both screeched loudly.

"Nothing of the sort." Calistine played it cool. "I was only asking Arlo what we had in store for us. Now, go and get our suitcases."

"Ha! You at least kissed!" Calistine looked in my direction and gasped.

"What?" I asked, fearful. Calistine smiled and rubbed my cheek with her hand. She mouthed: 'Lipstick.' Well, damn we had just decided not to let the others know and now her little sister did. "Uh, Messa that's a long story, but no kissing was involved and why would you think that we're together anyways?" I laughed nervously.

"It's obvious. Sister told me she liked you." I looked over at Calistine, who was blushing furiously.

"Oh really? Well, Messa I think we should keep all of this between us, please." I said coolly.

"Sure, brother Arlo." I gasped at the term.

"And don't call me that!"

"Why not? You will be someday." I guess she had figured it all out.

"Messa we're trying to keep this a secret. I know you can keep a secret, right?" She pleaded.

"Sure. I will." She sighed and smoothed out her shirt. I sighed in relief. I hoped Messa could keep a secret. Suddenly the door swung open to reveal a very interesting sight. Veronica was wearing one of the most ridiculous outfits on the planet. A red mini skirt and silver sequined tube top as well as sequined flip flops.

"What the hell are you wearing?" I squinted at her because the lights were reflecting off of the shirt or what was supposedly a shirt.

"What do mean what the hell am I wearing? I'm wearing clothes." She spat, but then a flick of flame swirled around her hands as she entered the room.

"Alrighty then." I said cautiously. Calistine grabbed my hand. It shocked me enough to realize what was going on. Was this her calming power? I decided not to read too much into it. A figure stood at the door, his long golden hair whipped around from the wind coming through. The sun shown brightly around him. I didn't realize it was Simeon until after he stepped into the shadowed room. The light was making him seem like a god or something.

"Something wrong with you Arlo? He asked calmly.

"Well, is it just me or do you guys feel different at all?" They all looked at each other for a moment and shook their heads.

"We don't feel any different." Calistine said as she let go of my hand. "But you feel very cool Arlo." She touched my arm. "Whoa, very cool. Are you ill?"

"Nope I feel just fine." I felt my forehead. Our newly created powers were having an effect on each and every one of us. Messa turned around and smiled. I saw a pink flower in her hair that wasn't there a second ago.

"You guys are so dumb." We all looked at the youngest in our group. "Our powers are just feeling us out right now. Right now we don't have much control over them. We have to….how do you say….fine tune them to get them to work how they're supposed to." All of our jaws hung open in shock at the intelligence she had just blurted out. The funny thing was, she was probably right.

"Very well said, Lady Earth." The old familiar voice came from behind us.

"Mo? What are you doing here?" I asked, my voice a little faint. I hated when he popped up like that, scared the crap outta me.

"Well, I'll be joining you of course!" He smiled his snaggle tooth grin. "What did you think I'd give you the map? What if you didn't come back? I'd be mapless!"

"So you have no faith in us?" Veronica put her hand on her hip.

"My my….did I say that?" Mo casually replied.

"Well, it sure sounded like that." Veronica sat down and crossed her legs. "So, Arlo when are we leaving?" She gazed at me with her chestnut eyes, which unfortunately reminded me of the closeness we once shared.

"Uh….now?" I answered. They all got up from their seat simultaneously, suitcases in hand. Messa, once Mo had arrived, had charged upstairs to get the two suitcases for Calistine and her. I gawked at her strength. Where'd that come from?

"Oh, Lady Earth, let me carry those for you." Mo said almost after I had thought they were too heavy for her.

"I can handle them, old man." She replied rudely.

"Oh, touchy." Mo backed away from the girl who now had leaves blowing around her fiercely. Her stone was glowing a new shade of green, or at least one I hadn't seen before. As soon as he backed away, the leaves disappeared.

"Wow, I did that right?" Messa came out of her mood. We all nodded with wide eyes. The green emerald in her forehead stopped glowing.

"How about we leave now?" Simeon said softly.

"Sure." I grabbed my suitcase and we all headed out the door in silence. Rupert held the door open and we all crawled into my limousine. I glanced behind me at the front door where Mimi stood. I saw the red puffiness around her eyes. She had been crying. I left my suitcase on the ground and headed back to her. She wiped away a few rebellious tears. "Hey."

"Hey."

"Well, I guess this is goodbye for awhile, huh?" She nodded and I could tell she was holding back tears again. "You know how I feel about Calistine, right?" She nodded again. "We love each other and I can never love you the way you want me to. Go and find somebody else. I don't deserve you." I was trying to let her down easy. I never liked to break hearts, but it happens.

"You do deserve me! Arlo, I can't find someone else when my heart longs for you!" She replied.

"Well, the same goes for me. I can't love you when I have given my heart to someone else. It's just not right. I'm sorry." Without a second notice she grabbed hold of me. I didn't hold her back. I also reminded myself that Calistine was watching all of this. Wonderful. I pried her off of me. I had tried being nice, so, now I had to be rough. "Okay, listen to me you stupid bitch! I don't like you! I have someone else. You annoy me and whine too much! So not my type. You were hot in bed, but that's about it. You can stay here if you wish, until I get back." The tears poured out of her eyes like a running faucet. It wrenched my heart in aknot. I hated doing this, but it was the only choice she gave me. "You got all that?" Mimi ran from my sight and back into the house, sobbing. I calmly walked back to the limo and climbed in. I got evil glances at me from all the passengers. "What!?" I yelled and I could feel the iciness in my voice. They didn't say a word. That was a good thing because right now I felt really shitty. I guess Rupert took that as a cue and started driving to the airport.