Otherwise they might have reconsidered discussing Gabriel in my presence.
“Nothing,” said Molly defensively. “He’s a legend.”
I could almost see the wheels turning in her head. I knew her fascination with Gabriel had grown in recent times, fueled by his remoteness. I didn’t want Molly to suffer the rebuff that would inevitably follow from this infatuation. Gabriel was made of stone, metaphorically speaking, and was incapable of reciprocating her feelings. He was as detached from human life as the sky is from the earth. When he looked at humankind, he saw only souls in peril, barely even distinguishing men from women. I could see that Molly was under the delusion that
Gabriel operated like the other young men she knew; full of hormones and unable to resist feminine allure if the girl in question played her cards right. But Molly had no idea what Gabriel was. He might have taken human form, but unlike me, he was far removed from anything human. In Heaven he was known as the Angel of Justice.
“He’s a little uptight,” Tara said.
“He is not!” Molly snapped. “You don’t even know him.”
“And you do?”
“I wish I did.”
“Well, keep wishing.”
“He’s a teacher,” Megan interrupted, “and in his twenties.”
“Music teachers are kind of on the fringe,” said Molly optimistically.
“Yeah, on the fringe of the staff,” said Taylah. “Get over it, Molls, he’s out of our league.”
Molly narrowed her eyes as if she’d been issued a challenge. “I don’t know about that,” she said. “I like to think he’s in a league of his own.”
There was a sudden awkward silence as they remembered my presence. The subject was quickly dropped.
“So,” said Megan a little too brightly. “About the prom . . .”
When Xavier dropped me off at home that afternoon, I found Ivy icing cupcakes. There was a smudge of flour across the bridge of her nose, and her eyes sparkled as though she was captivated by the whole process. She had lined up all her ingredients neatly in assorted measuring cups, and now she was arranging her sprinkles so they formed perfectly symmetrical designs. It was something that no human hand could have managed. They looked like miniature artworks rather than something designed to be eaten. She presented me with one as soon as I came in.
“They look great,” I said. “Can I talk to you about something?”
“Of course.”
“Do you think there’s any chance Gabriel will let me go to the school dance?”
Ivy stopped what she was doing and looked up.
“Xavier asked you, didn’t he?”
“What if he did?” I was suddenly defensive.
“Calm down, Bethany,” my sister said. “He’d look very handsome in a tuxedo.”
“You mean you don’t see a problem with it?”
“No, I think you’d make a lovely couple.”
“Maybe, if I make it there at all.”
“Don’t be so negative,” Ivy chided. “We’ll have to see what Gabriel thinks, but it is a school event and it would be a shame to miss it.”
I was impatient to hear the verdict. I dragged Ivy outside, and we scoured the beach for
Gabriel, where he was taking a walk. The shoreline wound in one direction up to the main beach, where bodysurfers rode the waves and ice cream vans set up shop beneath the palms. In the other direction, if your eye traveled far enough, were the jagged cliffs of the wild Shipwreck
Coast and a rocky outcrop known as the Crags. The area was famous for its dangerously high winds, choppy seas, and fierce rips. Divers occasionally searched for wreckage from the many ships that had gone down there over the years, but usually the only visitors were the gulls bobbing harmlessly on the water.
We spotted our brother seated on a prominent rock, looking out to sea. With the sun reflecting off his white T-shirt, he seemed to be surrounded by an aura of light. He was too far away for me to see his face, but I imagined his expression as one of deep longing. Sometimes there was an inexpressible sadness about Gabriel that he struggled to conceal. I thought it must be due to the burden of knowledge that couldn’t be shared. He was more attuned to human suffering than Ivy and I, and this couldn’t have been easy for him to bear alone. He knew all the horrors of the past, and I imagined he could see tragedies that were yet to occur. No wonder he was somber. But there wasn’t anyone he could confide in. His service to the Creator of the universe resulted in his own isolation. This gave him an austerity of manner that made those who didn’t know him uncomfortable. The young adored him, but adults invariably felt as if they were being judged.
Sensing that he was being observed, Gabriel turned his face in our direction. I took a step back, feeling that we were intruding on his solitude, but as soon as he saw us, the clouded expression vanished and he waved, indicating we should join him.
When we reached him, he helped us both up onto the rocks, and we all sat together for a while. In that moment I thought he seemed more at ease than he’d been in a long time.
“Why do I feel an ambush coming on?” Gabriel joked.
“Please can I go to the prom?” I chimed.
Gabriel shook his head in amusement. “I didn’t realize you wanted to go. I didn’t think you’d be interested.”
“It’s just that everybody’s going,” I said. “It’s all they’ve talked about for months. They’d be so disappointed if I skipped it. It means a lot to them.” I tapped him lightly on the arm.
“Don’t tell me you’re planning on missing it.”
“I’d love to miss it, but I’ve been asked to supervise,” he replied, looking less than pleased at the prospect. “I don’t know how they come up with these ideas. The whole thing seems an extravagant waste of time and money to me.”
“It’s still part of being at school,” Ivy said. “Why not look at it as research?”
“Exactly,” I said. “We’ll be in the thick of things. If we wanted to watch from the outskirts, we might as well have stayed in the Kingdom.”
“This wouldn’t have anything to do with dressing up now, would it?” Gabriel asked.
“Never!” I said, sounding shocked. “Well, maybe just a little.”
He sighed. “I suppose it’s just for one night.”
“And you’ll be there to keep an eye on things,” I added.
“Ivy, I was hoping you’d accompany me,” Gabriel said.
“Of course.” My sister clapped her hands. It was just like her to get excited once a consensus had been reached. “It’ll be great!”
Saturday evening was balmy and clear, perfect for a beach bonfire. The sky was blue velvet, and a gentle breeze from the south swayed the trees, making them look as though they were bowing to one another. I should have been feeling on edge, but in my head everything made perfect sense. I was about to cement my connection with Xavier by bringing our conflicting worlds together.
I paid special attention to what I should wear that night and chose a loose-fitting dress made of soft white crepe with a bow at the back. Gabriel and Ivy were in the living room when I went downstairs. Gabe was reading the minuscule print of a religious text with the aid of a magnifying glass. It was such an incongruous sight given his youthful physique that I had to suppress a giggle. Ivy was vainly attempting to train Phantom to obey basic commands.