The Sphere Read Free Page B

and it stopped bleeding right away. It seemed like a volcano, I know, but it wasn’t serious... Anyway, the important thing is that you’re all right.”
    Oh my God, Axel, why won’t you stop talking? If I weren’t so dazed I would look you right in the eye and ask. Of all the people in the world it had to be Axel who came to my aid.
    He keeps on talking as he sits down next to me, without stopping even for a second. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. When I open them he’s still there—I know because I can hear him, but I can’t look away from my family. How can they be so calm? Oh, hey, I’m just sprawled out over here! Something happened to your invisible daughter.
    Axel goes quiet. When I look at him it almost makes me jump. His eyes are shining, almost transparent, like a piece of hard candy... Why is he giving me such a worried look? I reach up and touch my head—am I bleeding or something? No, everything seems fine.
    “Were you really scared? It was because of the blood, wasn’t it? You fainted.”
    “Brilliant. I fainted.”
    “Yeah... I guess that was obvious.”
    Right away I feel bad for having said it. When will I finally manage to keep all these snarky things from coming out of my mouth? Sometimes I’m really a loose cannon. But Axel... well.
    “Blood doesn’t scare me,” I say, trying to get Axel to pay attention to these words and forget my previous ones. “Besides, it had to happen. Not that I fainted, I mean, well... it’s just obvious: sooner or later Mercutio had to pay.”
    “Mercutio?”
    Beneath Axel’s calm, shining eyes is a smile I can’t identify—is it interest or amusement? No doubt it’s mockery, as usual.
    “Yeah, it sticks out like a sore thumb, I know,” I say, with a sigh of resignation. “Mercutio and Benvolio. Only my parents would come up with something like that. Some names.”
    “Your parents? So they’re your brothers?
    “What do you think?”
    Okay, so the sarcasm was unnecessary. I go to stand up but I’m still a little dizzy. I don’t want to be in view of my family. It’s not likely, but they could look out at the sea and find me in their line of sight. I don’t think they’d look at me , of course, but they might look out at the sea. If they happen to see me here, talking with him... I could end up being interviewed as tonight’s special guest at dinner, and I wouldn’t like that at all. I get up. I haven’t even finished brushing the sand off my legs when the twins run past me and splash into the ocean. Smiles spread across their faces when they see us, and they give an encore of this morning’s little kiss-throwing number.
    “Your brothers are so funny!”
    “Do you really think so?”
    Axel doesn’t answer. This time I wasn’t trying to be sarcastic. The one time I ask something seriously... There’s an uncomfortable silence that lasts one or two seconds—eternal seconds, not regular ones. Axel and I avoid looking at each other. “What’s weird is that something didn’t happen sooner with those two little brats,” I say, in the most casual and relaxed tone I can manage. “They think they can mess around with anybody without anything ever happening. I guess deep down it’s really my parents’ fault.”
    “But it was the other three.”
    I look at Axel, incredulous. I can’t keep our eyes from locking onto each other.
    “How do you do it?” he asks.
    “What?”
    “Make your eyes change color. I’ve never understood how you do it.”
    “They don’t change.”
    “Of course they do. They went from gray to green and then to blue.”
    I feel really awkward. I know how much he likes the way my eyes change color.
    “I don’t do anything. They just change.”
    I look out at the ocean. Luckily my brothers are totally absorbed in their stupid splashing game. I start walking.
    “Good idea, let’s go for a walk.”
    Who said I wanted to go for a walk with you? I’m even a failure at this! I tried to do just the opposite, to