Yesterday and Today

by Phoebe Rivers

  “No!” I wanted to shout at the page. I knew that talking to Julie was a terrible idea. From what I had seen of her in my vision, she didn’t seem like the open-minded sort. My mom was insecure enough about her powers—telling a friend like Julie and having her judge her for them would make everything so much worse.

  I closed the diary in my lap and thought about why my mom hadn’t just confided in Lady Azura. She had the perfect person to talk to right there with her. Why not do something about it?

  I knew my mom would do the right thing. So I kept reading.

  August 22

  Julie has the cutest clothes, but I have the worst clothes. Everything I have is so boring. Maybe I should borrow some crazy stuff from Lady Azura’s closet, ha-ha.

  I smiled at the mention of Lady Azura’s clothes. Age had definitely not mellowed her fashion sense.

  My mom thinks Lady Azura’s clothes are weird. I used to think they were kind of cool, but Julie told me she’d be mortified if her grandmother dressed like that, so I guess they’re not very cool after all.

  I stopped smiling.

  August 23

  Turns out Eric does not like me. He likes Stephanie. I am sure of this. At the roller rink he asked her to be skate partners even though I was standing two feet away. I also heard Carly ask him what kind of hair he likes on a girl and he said “curly.” Stephanie has curly hair. So does Julie. My hair is stick straight. Maybe Mom will let me get a perm?

  I read a few more pages and then closed the diary again. Tried to swallow the feeling of disappointment rising in me. My mom wasn’t the way I had imagined her to be. I didn’t like that she was so easily influenced by her stupid friend, Julie. I had imagined her to be really confident, like Lily.

  Like how I knew I was deep down. I just had a hard time showing it sometimes.

  My phone buzzed. It was a text from Lily.

  GANG IS MEETING AT ARCADE AT 11. PLZ COME! M AND C WILL BE THERE. AM OUT DOING ERRANDS WITH MOM BUT CAN MEET YOU THERE!

  The thought of seeing Mason made my heart flutter just a little bit. Did that mean maybe I did still like him? Or was I just anxious about seeing him again after our weird good-bye outside Scoops?

  I texted her back.

  OK! SEE YOU THERE!

  I climbed out of bed and put the diary back in its hiding place under the mattress. I would read more later. Hopefully things would pick up.

  I ate breakfast and helped my dad unload a pile of wood from the back of his truck. Then he gave me twenty dollars for the arcade. I protested, telling him I only needed ten at most, but he told me to just keep the change and save it for the next time I went out with my friends.

  Since I had some time to get myself ready this time, I put a little more thought into my outfit. I decided I’d wear my black skinny jeans and a pink-and-white polka-dotted sweater that I had bought at the mall with Lily a few weeks ago. After taking a shower and dressing, I stood in front of the mirror, trying to decide what to do with my hair. I didn’t know much about hairstyling before I met Lily, but Lily had introduced me to the fact that my hair had a pretty nice natural wave to it if I used the right styling stuff. That’s usually how I wore my hair when I wanted to look nice—wavy. I started to spritz the beach-wave spray on my hair but stopped. I thought about my mom and her complaints about her stick-straight hair, and I decided I’d wear my hair nice and straight today. Just like my mom.

  It was close to eleven when I left for the arcade, but it was a short walk. The place was right on the boardwalk, just a few doors down from Scoops.

  As I turned onto Beach Drive, the wind gusted off the water, whipping my hair around my face. So much for carefully styling it. But the late-September weather was warmer today, and the ocean sparkled in the fall sunlight. I stopped to look at the slate-gray water and the dramatic clouds hovering low over the horizon. I wished I’d brought my camera with me.

  “ ’Scuse me, miss,” said a gruff voice over my shoulder.

  I whirled around.

  It was the spirit of a young man. But not the same one I’d seen the night before. He was about the same age, though, and similarly dressed in knee-length pants cinched at the waist with a rope belt. This young man’s skin was dark brown, his eyes coal black. He kneaded a cap between his hands and looked at me with anxious eyes.

  “Please, miss, you mustn’t allow it,” he said. His voice was low and velvety-sounding, but I could hear the urgency in his tone.

  “Allow what?” I asked him.

  “It’s dangerous,” he continued, ignoring my question. “I know, miss, because I was there when it happened.”

  “Please,” I said. “When what happened?”

  “So many died,” he went on, his eyes staring past me at some unseen, troubling memory.

  “It sounds like you’re trying to warn me about something, but see, I’m not sure what it is that—” I stopped speaking abruptly. Closed my mouth. Felt my face get hot and no doubt turn bright pink.

  The spirit vanished.

  Just behind him stood Jody Jenner.

  She blinked at me curiously. Raised her eyebrows as if to ask me to explain myself and my weird behavior.

  I couldn’t think of anything to say. My mind went blank. She’d just observed me talking to thin air. And this was not the first time it had happened. Just last week, she’d caught me in the middle of a conversation with Mr. Barkus, the spirit of a long-dead gym teacher at my school. Lily had been there and had covered for me. We’d pretended I was reciting a poem I was memorizing for English.

  “Oh, hi,” I said.

  “Hiiiii,” she said, drawing the word out.

  Silence. I couldn’t use the poetry reason again.

  So I just decided to pretend it hadn’t happened. I really didn’t have to explain myself to Jody Jenner.

  “Are you heading to the arcade too?” I asked brightly. We were just half a block from it.

  She nodded.

  “Great. Let’s go then.”

  “Oh,” she said. And then a moment later she added, “Kaaay.” We walked there in silence. It was awkward.

  “Saraaaaaa!” yelled Lily from across the arcade as Jody and I walked in together. It was off-season in Stellamar, so the arcade wasn’t all that crowded. My friends almost had the place to themselves. I spotted six or seven people I knew, scattered around at various games.

  Mason was there. Standing next to Cal over at the basketball-shooting game. Watching Cal shoot as many baskets as he could before the clock ticked down. Had he seen me?

  Lily was making her way across the room to meet me. Jody’s friend Caroline bounded over to Jody and dragged her over to the dance machine.

  “So how is it?” asked Lily.

  “How is what?” I asked, baffled.

  She looked both ways, then leaned in and said, “The diary! I am so sorry I forgot to ask you about it last night! Are you learning all kinds of amazing stuff about her?”

  “Oh. That. Yeah, it’s good,” I said, but I knew I wasn’t all that enthusiastic-sounding.

  Lily raised her eyebrows. I wanted to explain, but it just wasn’t the time or the place. I looked at my shoes.

  “So will you come with me to see the site?” Lily asked, changing the subject.

  Once again, I gave her a blank look. I had no clue what she was talking about.

  Now her eyebrows knit together in a frown. “The place my dad wants to buy?” she prompted. “The one I told you about? The jinxed place?”

  Of course. I should have figured that was what she meant. “I’m so sorry, Lil,” I said, and I genuinely was. “It’s been such a crazy day, and I just saw a spirit outside, and then Jody saw me talking to him, so I’m just all thrown off. Sure. I’ll come with you to see it.”

  She smiled, but I wondered if I had hurt her feelings by not knowing immediately what she’d been talking about.

  “Did you see Mason over there? And Cal? They’re both here together. Are we going over there to talk to them? Or
waiting for them to come talk to us?”

  I glanced past Lily toward where Mason and Cal were standing.

  “Neither,” I said. “They’re both talking to Jody and Caroline.”

  Lily’s expression darkened. “What is up with that?” she demanded. “I heard that Jody was already going out with someone. A ninth grader. And Caroline is going out with what’s-his-name from Harbor Isle. The kid with that hair.” Lily made a sweeping motion across her forehead and I knew exactly what she meant, though I also couldn’t remember the boy’s name. “Why are they always hanging around our crushes?”

  I shrugged. “Our crushes aren’t exactly rushing over here to hang out with us,” I pointed out. “Maybe they really are just friends. They all go to the same school. It must be kind of hard to get dumped into a new school for a semester, and they’re just hanging together. Whatever. To be honest, I’m not even sure how I feel about Mason anymore.”

  Lily’s eyebrows shot up. “Really? Do tell! Was it that bad last night?”

  I wasn’t sure what to say. I couldn’t sort out my feelings for Mason—all I knew was that I was confused. So I told Lily the truth. “I know this is kind of crazy, but I keep thinking about Jayden. He’s been on my mind a lot.”

  She cocked her head to one side, giving me a sympathetic look. “Come on,” she said suddenly, as if she had made up her mind about something. “Let’s go play skee-ball with Marlee and Avery. And if our crushes don’t come find us, then it’s totally their loss! We are so not approaching them! Let’s go have fun.”

  She turned and headed toward our friends.

  As I started to follow her, I suddenly realized Mason was standing next to me. Where had he come from?

  “Hi,” I said, feeling super awkward.

  “Hey,” he replied. “I was hoping you’d show up.”

  “Yeah,” I said. That was nice to hear. “How’s it going over at the basketball?”

  “Lousy,” he said. “You’d think with my, ah, skill, I’d be able to score every time. But I can’t control it that easily. However, I can make sure other people’s balls don’t go in, and even though I try not to, I still make that happen. It isn’t fair, and there’s nothing I can do to control it.”

  “Maybe if you practiced . . .”

  “I don’t want to,” he said quickly, with some heat. “Anyway, I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Um, you brought it up.” I hadn’t meant for it to come out sounding quite so snotty, but it did anyway. Mason grimaced, and I felt bad.

  “Mason! You’re up!” yelled Cal from the basketball area.

  “Go ahead,” I said giving him a playful little shove. “I’m supposed to go play skee-ball anyway.”

  He smiled at me, unsure, but headed over to his friends.

  I stayed at the arcade for about half an hour, but my heart wasn’t really in it. My mind kept wandering to my mom. I felt like talking with Lady Azura. I wasn’t ready to tell her about the diary yet, but I wanted to know what else she knew about my mom. Duggan had told me that my mom had wanted me to find the diary. So far I couldn’t figure out what my mom wanted to tell me. Maybe Lady Azura could put me on track. Once I decided to talk to her about it, I felt like I couldn’t get home fast enough.

  I told my friends I was leaving. Lily’s eyes clouded over with disappointment, and I realized I’d promised her I’d go with her to see the site of her dad’s business deal.

  “I haven’t forgotten, Lil,” I said to her in a low voice, so others wouldn’t hear. “It’s just that I need to get home now to talk to Lady Azura. Can we go later this afternoon? He’s not signing the paperwork for a few weeks, right?”

  She nodded, and I told her I’d text her later.

  I was halfway to the corner when I saw another spirit.

  Chapter 8

  Another young man. Same sort of clothing. But instead of a rope belt, his canvas trousers were held up by suspenders. He wore a work shirt the same color—drab green—as his pants. And a cap on his head. But I could see that he had red hair. He was leaning on a shovel. That made me think he was some sort of construction worker. But a hat instead of a helmet? Maybe that was what they wore a long time ago.

  “Begging yer pardon, miss,” he said to me. He had a very strong, lilting accent.

  I stopped. Swallowed hard. I’d learned—thanks to Lady Azura—not to run away from spirits. To listen to what they wanted to tell me. Even though sometimes they didn’t seem to know themselves what it was that was bothering them.

  This one turned out to be that sort of spirit. I couldn’t get him to tell me specifically what it was he wanted.

  “Yes?” I said, trying to look encouraging. “Do you want to tell me something?”

  “The noise. The dust. Water came a-rushing in. Raight fearful. We lads knew ’twas our time. Then all went black,” he said, his chin starting to quiver. He didn’t look much older than sixteen or seventeen. I felt a pang of sadness. He had died so young.

  “What happened?” I asked him.

  “ ’Twasn’t safe. ’Twasn’t sound. He must hearken.”

  “Hearken?”

  “Pay heed.”

  “Who must hearken? Please, I need to know more information. Can you just tell me—”

  But the spirit shimmered and vanished before my very eyes. I stood there for a few minutes, hoping he would come back. I desperately wanted him to. I can’t explain why, but I was suddenly pretty sure that these spirits I’d been seeing near the boardwalk had something to do with Lily’s dad and his business deal. The idea just popped into my head, and the more I thought about it, the more I felt I was right. Finally I gave up and headed home, speed-walking the whole way.

  Five minutes later I barreled into the house, determined to find Lady Azura.

  I found her sitting at the kitchen table, spooning sugar into her dainty china cup of steaming tea.

  “Come and sit,” she commanded, waving her small, manicured hand laden with several heavy rings in the direction of the chair across from her.

  I sat.

  “Something is bothering you,” she said. It was a statement. Not a question. She stared at me with her large, honey-brown eyes. “Tell me.”

  All thoughts of talking to her about my mother flew out of my head. Lily’s problem felt much more urgent.

  “Lily’s dad is about to enter into a risky business deal,” I said. “He wants to buy that vacant lot over on Culver Street, just off the boardwalk. Do you know it?”

  She nodded, stirring her tea thoughtfully. “The site of the old Stellamar Junction, I believe my mother told me. That was where the depot used to be a hundred years ago. It’s been vacant a long time. I have a dim recollection of a construction project starting there some years ago, but then it stopped. Nothing was built.”

  I nodded. “That’s what Lily said too.”

  “Hmm. And as I think of it, I believe there was a restaurant there that burned down about twenty years ago.”

  “I think there were quite a few attempts to start businesses there,” I said. “That’s just it. According to Lily, stuff just keeps going wrong. She is convinced the place is jinxed.”

  “I had heard that as well,” said Lady Azura. I must have looked startled, because she reached over and patted my hand. “I don’t believe in jinxes, Sara. There is always a root to a problem. One just has to find it.”

  I wasn’t sure what she meant by that. Lady Azura often spoke in riddles. “Well, whatever it is, Lily’s mom and dad have been arguing about it, because Lily’s dad has decided to invest a lot of their savings into the deal and Mrs. Randazzo is all freaked out that they’re going to lose everything. Lily keeps asking my opinion and advice, but that’s grown-up stuff and I don’t know what to say to her. I feel like I’m letting her down.”

  Lady Azura sipped her tea slowly. “I think your instinct is right not to get involved. I have had a great deal of experience with people seeking advice about financial matters. Expressing one’s op
inion on a financial matter, even if it’s solicited, rarely ends well. People are very peculiar when it comes to money matters, Sara. You may tell them your opinion, but they usually do what they want to do anyway. The best thing you can do is to support Lily, to be there for her, to listen when she needs to talk. But that is all you can do.”

  I nodded. Watched her take another dainty sip of her tea. Her eyes gazed at me over the rim. “I sense there is more to this story. Tell me.”

  I took a deep breath and plunged in. “I’ve also been seeing spirits. Around the boardwalk. Young men, from a long time ago. I think they are trying to warn me about something, and I have this feeling it has to do with Lily’s dad’s deal, but I’m not sure why I think that. ”

  She set her teacup down carefully into the saucer. Folded her hands. Now she looked really interested. “Tell me more,” she prompted.

  I told her about the encounters I’d had with the young men. How they seemed to be trying to warn me, or to warn someone, about something. But that they kept vanishing before I could get them to tell me what they were worrying about. I told her that after talking to the last one, the one with the bright-red hair, I’d gotten the feeling that it was all somehow connected to Lily’s father and the business deal.

  “Quite interesting,” she murmured. “You say they seem to belong together, perhaps from the same family or school?”

  I shrugged. “Their clothes look alike. Not fancy clothes, but they’re all about the same age, and from the same era. Too old for school, though. And not from the same family. They all speak with different accents and things. And none of them look alike.”

  “It sounds as if we need to conjure them,” Lady Azura said firmly. “Perhaps we can find out what it is they are trying to tell you if you can talk to them in a more controlled setting. The atmospheric disturbances that are going on right now might explain why they cannot seem to stay around long enough to finish telling you whatever it is they have to say. It could also explain why your perception—your intuition—is heightened, if that is actually the case. But if it will be a few weeks before Lily’s father signs his paperwork, there is plenty of time to find out more.”