The Green Light

The final bell of the school year finally rang. I climbed onto my desk, claimed my territory, and shouted: “Thank God! I won’t have to look at these teachers’ miserable faces all summer. My eyes literally hurt from looking at them. ”The whole class laughed — but Mrs. Norman, who hadn’t quite made it out the door yet, looked bothered. She threw me this awkward look. I caught her eye for just a second.

I flipped my long blonde hair back, jumped off the desk, and bolted out toward summer. I was certain, right at that moment, that my life was already complicated enough — tangled like a spider’s web. The fights with my mom. My friendship with Nomi, and all the tension underneath it. Adam versus Tom — a full love triangle. Plus hormones and a body that kept changing without asking permission. But I couldn’t have dreamed — not even in my wildest imagination — that from the last day of eighth grade, everything was about to change forever. Because what was waiting for me that night was going to be a whole lot more than just a little discovery. After Nomi and I pushed through the school gates, I exhaled. That feeling of lightness, joy and freedom. My eyes sparked with anticipation. I felt like the whole world had zoomed in on me. Without even planning it, we both knew: beach. It was our ritual — for tragedy or joy, sadness or celebration, drama or gossip too good to text. That spot by the rocks was ours. Where we told each other everything, and always had each other’s backs. We stopped near the breaking waves, kicked off our shoes and let our feet sink into the water — cool enough to cut through the summer heat. We stood there, letting the breeze from the horizon wash over us. The salty smell of the sea hit me the way it always does — like a childhood memory that lives in the body, not the brain. The rocks jutted out of the water like they were daring us to climb them. The foamy waves kept licking at their edges, and the sound of them breaking helped us find something close to calm. We stared out at the horizon. Each of us drifted into our own thoughts. And then it came again — that feeling. Like something was slightly off. Like this wasn’t the whole story. Like I was an actress playing the lead in a teen drama, and this was just the “stare at the ocean” scene. Like I was born for something bigger in the larger equation of the universe. That thought pulled at another one, which came with a strange sensation — like something whispering inside my head: Maya. You are not a regular girl. What if, in some alternate reality, I was something else? A wizard, like Harry Potter? But the truth is — how could it be me? The most average girl. There’s no way. My mom has spent my whole life reminding me that I’m just like everyone else. Maybe that’s exactly why— I didn’t get to finish the thought. Because I spotted Adam and John in the distance, heading straight toward us. An instinct went through my body — back straightened, hand through my hair, quick breath check. I felt the heat rising in my face. I could tell my cheeks had gone red, even without a mirror, even though I tried to play it cool. That’s my motto. Adam was a grade above me — he’d just finished ninth grade. Tall, almost a head taller than me, and I’m five-foot-four. Confident but not arrogant. And his jawline — oh my God. Sharp and brutal, exactly the way I like it.As they got closer, I turned sharply to Nomi. “I know Adam is into me,” I said, tucking my hair behind my ear with confidence. “He’s not my only option. You know what I mean.” “I have no idea what you mean, Maya,” Nomi answered, already impatient.I kept going: “On one hand — Adam’s jawline... And on the other hand — Tom knows how to spoil a girl.” I laughed.Tom usually didn’t go for girls our age. But he saw something in me. Nomi had been chasing him for half a year. Too much. Enough.“Wow Maya—” Nomi said. “Adam isn’t enough for you? Why do you even care about Tom?”“Tom is Tom,” I said. “He’s interesting, he’s charming, he knows how to sweep a girl off her feet, and I might want to give him a chance.” “Nomi — quiet. We’re not talking about this now,” I ordered. Nomi went quiet. Her hands closed into fists and her eyes filled with anger she tried to hide, turning her back to me. “Hey, what are you doing here?” I asked with a smile.“We came to swim!” Adam called out. John opened his mouth: “What — but you just said — Ma—” Adam cut him off. “I said I wanted to celebrate the end of the year. We got beer.” It was clear Adam had been looking for me. It was even kind of cute and made me laugh a little — even though I only smiled a smile that said I get it. We stepped out of the water toward Adam and John. A moment later Nomi called out “Adam!” flashing him a flirtatious smile while lifting her bra strap from under her shirt. “I don’t have a swimsuit, but I’m wearing a new Victoria’s Secret set I’ll have to show off to get in the water.”She said it and waited for my reaction. Adam turned to face me and gave Nomi his back. “What about you Maya? Maybe you have a new set too?” he asked with a playful smile. Nomi shoved her bag at John aggressively. “I’m going to the café nearby to grab us something to eat with the beers.”

The guys organized our little picnic. Nomi came back much calmer, carrying hot fries straight from the fryer and chicken nuggets. It was the middle of the week and the beach was almost empty so we didn’t need to hide the beers.

Music played from the speaker. I was almost done with my second beer when John started making everyone laugh, doing impressions of the teachers — the boy was gifted, honestly. Natural comedian, zero effort.

In one move he jumped on me and lifted me onto his shoulder — I felt light as a feather, he did it without any effort — and carried me toward the water at a run.

I screamed “No, stop! You’re crazy, I told you I don’t have a swimsuit!” But inside everything went wild — butterflies all over my body. I had been waiting for him to do exactly that. We swam, had a splash war, laughed so much — even Nomi forgot about Tom for a few hours. At sunset Adam and I were left alone in the water, the waves at our chests. Adam moved toward me carefully, and every small step he took hypnotized me. He was so close I could feel his breath. We looked into each other’s eyes. Everything inside me felt like a volcano about to erupt. I placed my hands on his chest. His heartbeats were so strong I could count his pulse. I took a deep breath — and his lips touched mine. They tasted salty from the sea water. The sweetest saltiness I’ve ever tasted. We kissed and time froze.

His scent from those moments is etched in my memory — body heat mixed with cologne, sweat and sea salt. I could have smelled that forever. Such a shame I couldn’t keep it in a jar.

My nerve endings tingled. My stomach ached with a sweet pain. My voice was shaky like I was cold and my whole body covered in goosebumps. It played in my favor — he thought I was just cold and hugged me tight, gathered my whole body in his strong arms. There was a storm through my whole body. I knew I had feelings for Adam but until that moment I couldn’t have imagined how strong. As the sun went down we started heading home.

I pulled Nomi aside to tell her about the kiss, and she was full of bouncy energy: “Wow Maya, I’m so happy for you guys, so are you a couple?” “So you don’t mind if I call Tom and ask him out on a date?”

“Nomi, I don’t want you to get hurt. Tom isn’t interested, let it go. I’m telling you this because I love you.”

The temptation to choose Tom was huge. My attraction to Adam was undeniable — but Adam could at most take me to the neighborhood café. Tom was like a gold credit card with no limit. Tom is 17, next year is his last year of high school. After that he goes to college and the window closes. His family owns a well-known chain of auto shops.

“I’m betting you don’t even want Tom,” Nomi burst out. “That kiss with Adam was real. I saw it.”

“It’s because of his money, isn’t it?” Nomi looked away. “I didn’t know you were like this, Maya.”I stared straight at her, eyes narrowed. “Says the girl born with a golden spoon in her ass.” “Nomi — this is not up for discussion. Get off my back.” Nomi slipped: “Since when are you the queen between the two of us?” “Oops,” she whispered, realizing she’d just given herself away.

“Since always,” I said. “And always will be.”Only Nomi knew that all my confidence was just armor. The more mine grew, the more hers shrank. And then Nomi started her stupid little scheme.

“Adam,” Nomi whispered with a sly smile, “do you believe in ghosts, the afterlife, vampires, all that?”

Adam raised an eyebrow and laughed. “Not really. Why? Please don’t start with ghost stories.”

“Really? You know there’s someone here who’s terrified and totally believes?”Nomi smiled and looked at me.“Maya?! I didn’t expect that from you,” Adam said, surprised. “You actually believe AND you’re scared? Don’t worry Maya, I’m here to protect you.”

He took my hand, spun me around in a little dance, and hugged me. I blushed — and instead of telling the truth, I lied to Adam. Said I thought exactly like him. I don’t know why. It just came out.

“Oh really Maya, so if I’m wrong and you’re not scared — then I have an interesting suggestion. Let’s walk through the Loringram Estate. Only if you have the courage, of course.” John rolled his eyes. “Guys, continue without me. There’s a delicious dinner waiting at home. Adios.” For a second I was so happy I did a little pirouette — which ended with me faceplanting into a prickly potted plant. Nomi panicked. “Nobody moves. We’re doing this — dinner on me, any restaurant you choose.”

“So Maya?” Nomi said confidently, sure I wouldn’t refuse. “We going?”

I wanted to bury myself right there. I didn’t want any part of this — and worse, at night.

But I didn’t want to ruin my image in front of Adam.

“Sure, I couldn’t care less,” I said. As we walked toward the estate every muscle in my body tensed, my jaw locked, I felt like a rock was stuck in my throat. My intuition was screaming from inside — don’t you dare go in there.

And as we got closer, at the last moment, Nomi pulled me aside and whispered: “Maya, I can cancel everything, say I changed my mind. I’ll do it for you — if you’re willing to give up Tom.

”The moment those words left her mouth something flipped inside me. I skipped lightly toward the entrance and shouted with a big smile: “Come on, let’s do this!”

Nobody manipulates me.

We entered the estate grounds — about a five minute walk to the building itself. As we moved forward I felt something was wrong. Sometimes I thought I saw someone passing in the shadows, following us.On top of my anxiety, John felt the need to remind us all of the legend of the estate. In a low, dramatic voice, eyes wide open, he began like he was the greatest storyteller:“The family that lived here was wealthy and very respected.

The eldest daughter brought her new boyfriend to a family dinner. During the dinner he let his twin brother in through the back door — and his brother cut the throats of all the servants. Covered in blood, he entered the dining room. The twins murdered the family one by one. They saved the eldest daughter for last. They hurt her until she stopped breathing. In her final moments, police entered and found the bodies. They searched the whole house and shot the twins — but it was too late. People still say they see them when they pass by the estate. Anyone who goes inside never comes out.

”One second before we entered — at the door, for just a moment, so fast I wasn’t sure it really happened — I saw a little girl in denim overalls with two pigtails, screaming: “Run.”I jumped back and caught everyone’s eyes. Either I imagined it, or I saw something the others didn’t.

We entered. Dead silence. We spoke in whispers but the echo scattered in every direction. All the furniture and rugs were covered in a thick layer of dust — so thick that every step raised a cloud.

Then Nomi suggested: “Let’s go up to the eldest daughter’s room. Where they hurt her.”

John lit up immediately. And I immediately understood what a mistake this was.

We moved toward the room in small, quiet steps. The first one to approach the entrance — calm among us all — was Adam.

The moment Adam stepped inside the room, past the doorframe, he bent forward.

We were left outside. He was blocking the entrance.

Something switched off the fear and switched on what felt like autopilot. I don’t know what I was doing. It was stronger than me. I just did it. In one turn Adam spun to face us — his two hands above his head on the doorframe, leaning forward — and he looked Nomi up and down.He licked his lips, which wasn’t like Adam at all, smiled and said: “I’ve been waiting so long for real flesh.”

John laughed loudly. “Nice one man, I almost believed you.”

The Adam who was no longer Adam shot a furious look at John, raised his hand toward him — and as if by the power of thought, threw him backwards.

John and Nomi froze. Nomi’s tears wouldn’t stop while she couldn’t move even a finger. Adam kept talking and I only heard white noise, getting louder and louder, so loud it was hard to hear what he was saying. I felt my heartbeat return to normal. I couldn’t feel anything in those moments. Not fear. Not panic. Not courage. Just an internal pull I couldn’t understand. It was pure instinct.

No emotion mixed in. I can only compare it to deep meditation — something beyond human understanding, something you can’t feel or hold or smell in a physical way. It was on the level of frequencies.

I don’t remember how I got from outside the room to Adam with both my arms wrapped around his neck — and he started convulsing and fell backwards onto the floor.Adam’s eyes opened wide. The looks inside them seemed to merge.A beam of light surrounded us. My eyes glowed with a green shimmer.A feeling of floating, and calm, and total control over the situation.

I entered Adam’s mind — just to reach the twins who had taken him over. Like he was my bridge to them.Everything happened so fast.I understood their need, like I was them myself. It was stronger than them. They truly craved to take Nomi’s head. Adam lunged at Nomi while his hand grabbed scissors from the dresser, a hungry predator’s look, his whole forehead dripping with sweat, even his smell had changed. Nomi kept screaming for us to help her, to save her. But John had already run. Only I stayed, pressed into a corner with no answers, afraid to get closer or move at all. They completed their mission.

That’s what it seemed like to them — or what the phantoms believed. I don’t know exactly how I did it, but I made those two believe they had already killed Nomi. And in great calm, I moved them through a process of purification in moments. They were no longer looking for any target.

They were complete. At peace. Like they had been released from the prison their human forms had been dragging. Not bad energy, not good energy — just pure energy that simply evaporated, like it continued on its way. I caught a glimpse of the real Adam — not much, but enough. I saw him tangled inside himself, fighting with everything he had to take control of his body back. And there was something else, something small and chilling: another Adam inside his mind. Like his dark version. The “good” Adam was trying to get out, trying to warn me about something. But every time he tried to open the door — the dark Adam stood on the other side with a satisfied smile, holding the key, staring at me. Knowing that I knew. In one moment I came out of Adam’s mind and everything returned to exactly the moment he had walked into the room — like we’d gone back a few minutes in time. Adam turned to me, took my hand, pulled me toward him, hugged me tight and said: “Okay, we’re done here. Let’s go eat.” Nomi rolled her eyes. “I thought this was going to be way more fun.” I didn’t understand what was happening. And at the same time I understood perfectly what had happened. For them — nothing had happened here. Nothing at all.

But my biggest question — the one I had no answer to — was whether I really knew Adam at all.