“I…well…problems,” was all I’d gotten out.
“Excuses are merely the cherry topping of an E. coli–infested sundae, Miss Bell.”
I’d gagged as she’d walked away.
Following that delightful encounter, Cole had ignored me at lunch.
Well, yeah. A little. He’d abducted me, trussed me up like a Thanksgiving turkey, hinted at secret things, promised to share what happened to him in the mornings, asked me out on a non-date, only to give me a big fat pile of nothing? Hello, mixed signals. But okay, whatever. I had no need of him. I’d made plans before him, and I could make plans after him.
Except, he’d been waiting for me after final bell.
He’d handed me a note, and I’d done the same to him. Not a single word was spoken. He’d been rock steady during the exchange. Me? I’d been shaking like I had advanced Parkinson’s.
Now I sprinted up to my room, locked the door and threw myself on the bed, digging the small folded piece of paper out of my pocket. I’d desperately wanted to read it on the bus, but I’d managed to stop myself. I hadn’t wanted prying eyes to catch a glimpse.
And there was no question Justin would have pried. We’d sat next to each other again, and we’d chatted, and, well, he’d repeatedly warned me about Cole.
Could no one at Asher High
weren’t
Justin must have sensed my reluctance because he’d added, “Just as friends. It’ll be fun.”
In the end, I’d said yes.
Now I unfolded the page Cole had given me, halfway expecting it to be blank, despite my threat. But, no. There were words. Before I actually read them, I closed my eyes, drew in a deep breath…held it… Whatever his answer, I wouldn’t freak…let it out. I would remain calm. My eyelids cracked open slowly....
The note read,
But, the relief was followed quickly by confusion.
Was there a strange mental connection between us? Or were we having glimpses of the future? Was that even possible? I’d never experienced anything—
Wait.
.
I hopped out of bed and logged on to my computer. A little research on clouds—cough two hours cough—and I learned about coloration, effects on climate, global brightening, and rainmaking bacteria, but not much else. Crap.
A knock sounded at my door. “Ali?” Nana said.
“Yes?” I closed the laptop, not wanting to have to explain my search if Nana peeked inside my room.
“You’ve got a visitor.”
Brow furrowed, I strode over and opened up, and a grinning Kat soared into my bedroom.
“Guess whose lucky day it is? Yours!” Despite her grin and cocky words, she looked tired, with pallid skin and dark circles underneath her eyes.
She was dressed in a long-sleeved T-shirt and jeans that lacked her usual flare. Why did so many Asher girls wear winter clothes during the summer? Kat had to be either sweltering or feverish.
“Are you okay?” I asked as I gave her a hug. At least she was cool to the touch. “I heard you were sick.”
“Sick? Me? Never! I just needed a little Kat time.” She turned to my grandmother. “It was very nice to meet you, Mrs. Bradley. You have a lovely home.” So polite she was.
“We will,” I said.
Nana gave me a thumbs-up, so proud that I’d finally made a friend, before leaving me alone with Kat.
“Your parents let you take time off just to take time off?” I asked, envious.
“Yep. My dad—and uh, my mom—say kids deserve breaks, too.”
My mom would have told her mom to wash that crazy talk out of her mouth. You should never take time off from learning.
“Are you sure you’re okay? Because I—”
“We are so not breaking out the violins and pity partying.”
I couldn’t help but snort. If I’d needed convincing that we were meant to be friends, that would have clinched it. “You just turned pity partying into a verb.”
“Well, I’m cool like that. So aren’t you curious about how I knew where you lived when you’ve never given me your address?” She pinched her fingers together. “Even a tiny bit?”
“Well, yeah. So how did you?”
With a clap and a twirl, she said, “Frosty texted me all day long, checking on me. I told him to make himself useful and find out about you. I would have texted you and asked
“Wait. Back up a bit. Are you and Frosty getting back together?” All that texting had to mean—
“No! Yes. Oh, I don’t know.” She threw herself on top of my bed, bouncing up and down. “I mean, I firmly believe that if a guy walks away from you, he should have to crawl back. Frosty hasn’t done enough crawling.”
I thought for a moment. “What if Cole was being truthful, and Frosty never actually cheated on you?” As rough as the guys were, I couldn’t imagine them lying about, well, anything. They wouldn’t care about consequences. What I
As I paced in front of the bed, I told her that Cole and I had gone for a drive. That he’d asked me slashed commanded me to meet him at Reeve’s party for a non-date, and that I’d said yes. She listened, enraptured, as if I were proclaiming that the end of the world was near and there was only one way to save herself. I didn’t mention the forest, though, or the tree trap, or the visions. As Cole had said, those were private.
“He never goes to parties, especially for non-dates,” she said, gaping at me. “I think he really really likes you.”
“Really?” Okay. How pathetic was I? “Well, it doesn’t matter because I’m going with Justin Silverstone. As friends.”
A slow smile lifted the corner of her lips. “Justin. The same Justin who spoke to you at lunch?”
“Yes.”
“When did you two have time to hook up?”
“It wasn’t a hookup. We ride the same bus and started talking.”
“Oh, sweetie…I can’t wait…this is gonna be so
, and even though you don’t know why and I won’t tell because that would spoil everything, you just made me the happiest girl in the world—and now, I’m gonna make you the second happiest. I’m taking you to spy on Cole.” Gleeful, she rubbed her hands together. “Life lesson number two. Spying is the best—and only—way to learn the truth.”
I’d been all set to interrogate her about Justin when my attention snagged on two words.
* * *
Apparently, Reeve had attended a school of beauty over the summer—which brought me to my next
. Apparently, Reeve was loaded.
She lived in a tall and sprawling mansion, with white columns, domed ceilings, chandeliers dripping with thousands of crystal teardrops, winding staircases and plush rugs with the most elaborate weave work. Out back was a pool as big as a football field. Oh, and there was an entirely separate section of the house where the servants lived.
Yeah. Servants.
Reeve dressed us in slutty, too-tight outfits and hooker heels. My “outfit,” or as I liked to call it, my Band-Aid, consisted of an ice-blue corset top, a micro-mini skirt with dark blue ruffles and ripped-up leggings. Black boots laced up to just under my knees.
With my pale skin, I’d never been one to wear makeup, but Reeve knew exactly what colors to apply to make my eyes pop, my cheeks appear rosy and my lips look like “plump candy apples all the boys will want to bite.” Her words, not mine.
Kat wore a long-sleeved top that veed all the way down to her navel, “forcing” her to ditch her bra. At least her legs were covered by a pair of skinny jeans, the lucky girl. Rather than jewelry, Reeve had given her a boy’s necktie that would play hide-and-seek with her chest.
Reeve dressed in a black-and-white polka-dot dress that flared at the hips and ended at the knees. She reminded me of a sexy seventies housewife.
Sometime during my transformation, Wren and Poppy arrived.
“I can’t believe we’re ditching the game for this,” Poppy said, gorgeous in a tank top, jean shorts and cowgirl boots.
“Better to support our friends than our team,” Wren said, “as long as you swear we’re not going to the club so that Ali can hook up with Cole and his gang of societal sores.”
Kat held up her hand, palm out. “Swear.”
As Poppy studied herself in the full-length mirror, she said, “Societal sores? Yes, they are losers, but is the witchiness really necessary, Wren?”
“I’m not a witch!” Wren said with a stomp of her foot.
“Are, too. The guy at Starbucks hit on me, not you, and you’re lashing out.”
“He totally hit on
On the drive, I spied what could have been a rabbit-shaped cloud. I told Reeve to slow down, convinced for a moment that we were going to wreck. But wonder of wonders, I must have been mistaken. We reached the club safely, no wreck, no deaths.
Kat gave her name to two ginormous bouncers I would have run screaming from in any other situation, and they allowed us to bypass the hundreds waiting to get in. We sailed inside, loud, raucous music instantly assailing my ears.