“Hey, what’s the matter? Can’t sleep?” Kerim asked.
She grumbled, “I have a headache.”
She turned her head away from him. How could she tell him about her bizarre problem?
Chapter 15
In My Head
DURING HER FIRST YEAR as an undergraduate at GN University, Cristal had decided to take a class in introductory Spanish hoping to help improve her communication skills with gamers in Spanish-speaking countries like Mexico and Spain. Truth be told, she was envious with the fact that Harry had taught himself five different languages. He told her that it helped give him the advantage when playing with Truth Seekers from around the world. She was confident that she could master the language in a few weeks, given the fact she was able to read at super speeds.
Two months later, no matter how fast she was able to read through the textbooks, the words never stuck in her head. When she tried to form the words with her mouth, she couldn’t remember what the words were. It was one of her greatest weaknesses, which she never could overcome.
“Do you need help?” Ms. Cruz, her Spanish professor asked her.
She must have been surprised to see Cristal struggling. How could Cristal Hernandez, an Honors student have problems in Introducción al Español 100?
“Come to my classroom every day after school. I can help.”
Cristal was grateful and accepted her offer willingly. Unfortunately, after three lessons, even Ms. Cruz had to admit that there was no hope for Cristal. She dropped out of the class soon after. Cristal never mentioned this to anyone. Not to her mother. Not to Harry.
When other students asked her why she dropped the class, she simply said, “Spanish sucks.” Soon afterwards, something strange began happening to her. She found that when she was in a crowd of people who were speaking in another language, the sound would increase like a muddle of voices in her head—all shouting to be heard. She would cup her hands over her ears and run away to get the voices out of her head. Over time, she was able to control the “situation” by putting on her headset and drowning out the sound with music. Not just any music. Her carefully selected assortment of songs stored on her cell phone was the only way she could block out the noise.
***
On the plane ride to Tel Aviv, the voices of the passengers were getting louder and louder in her head. She glanced over at Kerim who was busy watching a movie on the screen in front of him. She reached into her bag on the floor, rummaging for her phone. Where in the world did I put it?
“Looking for this?” Dangling in front of her was her cellphone. Kerim had a mischievous grin as he handed it to her.
“Very funny,” she said, grabbing the phone from his hand.
“So what kind of music do you listen to?” he whispered in her ear.
She flashed him a disarming smile. “Sir, like I said earlier, I’m not interested in small talk.”
His eyebrows shot up and he shook his head as he chuckled into his hand. She smiled to herself as she shoved the ear buds into her ears and then hit the play button on her phone’s music player.
She could see Kerim was still talking, but she let the beat of the music from one of her favorite alternative bands, Bittersweetness, drown out his voice and all the other voices in her head.
Kill this desire to fly
close to the sun, burning wing tips,
singe away the feathers
Can this hollowness be filled
Forgiveness: another feather to fall from wing…
“I like that song, too,” she heard Kerim say as his voice entered her head.
She opened her eyes. Kerim’s eyes were closed, but he had a smile on his face. She shook her head and shut her eyes. Her mind was playing tricks on her.
“No, it’s not.”
Her eyes sprung open and she sat upright, turning her body toward Kerim.
“Did you say something?”
He opened one eye, pointed to himself and said, “Who me?”
She lowered the volume on her phone. “You know what I’m talking about.”
Kerim sat up and turned to face her.
“Cristal, are you okay?” he asked.
She took a deep breath, holding back the desire to scream at him. “I’m not going to say it again. What are you doing to me?”
He stared at her blankly, and for a moment, she doubted herself.
Shaking her head, she said, “Never mind. I’m just tired. Sorry to bug you.” Closing her eyes, she reached for her phone and turned up the volume.
“I can help you,” Kerim’s voice said in her head.
She opened one eye and saw Kerim was leaning back with his eyes closed. There was a smile on his face, and she swore she could see it getting wider.
“Help me what?” she said out loud.