Finders Reapers

by Anna Staniszewski

  Marcus waited impatiently for the assignment info to appear on his phone. When it came, he laughed.

  “Is everything okay?” Natalie asked.

  Marcus had forgotten she was sitting only a few feet away from him. He was about to lie and tell Natalie it was nothing, but then he remembered that he could actually be honest with her about his secret identity. “I’m supposed to fix up Emery Higgins.”

  “No way! Who with?”

  “No idea,” Marcus said. “I never know the target until I’ve made the match.” He glanced at Emery across the cafeteria, and sure enough, the aura around him was back. Marcus hadn’t imagined it after all. He had twelve minutes left until the match, just enough time to finish his lunch and make up an excuse to go talk to Emery.

  But wait. He had to let Lena know so she could do the deep breathing exercises her dad had said were scientifically proven to help during times of emotional distress. He texted her, warning her that he was about to do an assignment, and then waited to hear back. Nothing.

  “Are you okay?” Natalie asked after a minute.

  Marcus realized he was tearing his napkin into strips. He jumped to his feet and poked his head out into the hallway where Lena had disappeared, but it was empty. He glanced at his phone. Five minutes until his match. He sent her another message.

  Where are you? Are you calm? Are you doing your breathing?

  Still no answer. He was almost out of time. And if he didn’t do his match at the right moment, the balance of the universe would be thrown off. That had to be worse than risking having his powers be too strong again, right?

  He didn’t have time to call Eddie and ask him. Instead, he rushed back into the cafeteria and hurried to where Emery was sitting. It was only two tables over from where Abigail and Hayleigh were hanging out, probably still grilling Connie about who Emery had a crush on. Marcus hoped they were doing it in actual whispers and not stage whispers, so as not to completely terrify the poor guy. Maybe Hayleigh would finally get her wish, and Emery would be matched with her.

  “Emery!” Marcus said, hurrying up to him. “Um, I had a question about the play.”

  “Yeah?” he said, his braces glittering under the fluorescent lights.

  “Um. Do you know how many trees are in the first scene you’re in? I’m, um, trying to count how many we need to paint.”

  “Oh.” Emery wrinkled his nose in concentration. “Five, maybe? I’m not sure. You should ask Mr. Jackson.”

  Marcus’s phone started beeping in his pocket. It was time. He drew in a deep breath and willed his energy to spark. He could feel his fingers flare to life.

  “Good idea. Thanks, Emery!” Marcus said, going to clap him on the back. But when Marcus lifted his hand, something strange happened. The light sputtered for a moment and then his fingers started spraying sparks all over the place like a lawn sprinkler.

  He watched in horror as the sparks not only showered Emery, but also two people who were walking by. People who happened to be Abigail and Hayleigh.

  All three of them froze as if they’d been stunned. And then the two girls looked at Emery, their expressions far-off and moony.

  Uh oh.

  “Hi, Emery,” Abigail and Hayleigh cooed in unison.

  “Hi,” he said, grinning from ear to ear, Cheshire Cat style. “You both look great today. Just great.”

  Oh no!

  “Thank you!” they both squealed. And then they turned to each other, glaring.

  “Hey,” Hayleigh said, trying to elbow in front of Abigail. “Do you mind? I’m talking to Emery.”

  “Do you mind?” Abigail shot back. “I was talking to him first.”

  Meanwhile, Emery was gazing between them like he’d never seen such beautiful creatures.

  Oh no, oh no, oh no! Marcus could plainly see sparks bouncing between Abigail and Emery and between Hayleigh and Emery. As far as he could tell, the sparks on either side were exactly the same, meaning the connections were equally strong. What was he supposed to do?

  And where was Lena? Whatever she was feeling right now, it couldn’t be good. Not if it had caused her two closest friends to fall for the same guy.

  Chapter 16

  Lena’s head was throbbing as she grabbed a bag of sour cream and onion potato chips from the emergency stash her dad kept above the fridge. She couldn’t believe her mom had shown up out of the blue and asked her to drop everything and run off to Arizona!

  It was a good thing Mr. Jackson hadn’t needed Lena at play rehearsal that afternoon. She didn’t think she could spend a single minute playing a game of tag in character or brainstorming her character’s favorite type of cake. Mr. Jackson was already mad at her for missing rehearsal the day before. She was sure he’d be even more annoyed if she lost her composure and announced that playing cards couldn’t eat cake because they didn’t have mouths.

  She knew she should be out hunting for Mr. Watts’s soul, but instead, Lena found herself looking over her “Things to Accomplish Before I Turn Fourteen” checklist again. Nowhere on that list did it say anything about her mom. Lena had given up on her years ago.

  And yet, her mom claimed to have changed. In some ways, she did seem different. When she’d talked about her new nursing job and her new apartment, she’d radiated with happiness in a way Lena had never seen before.

  Once Lena polished off the entire bag of potato chips, she not only felt queasy, but she was breathing onion fire. She sighed and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth. The instant she put the toothbrush in her mouth, she screamed and spit it back out. Her entire mouth was burning with the taste of salt!

  For a second, she heard faint laughter behind her. Then it disappeared.

  Gah! She poured mouthwash into her mouth and frantically swished it around, but the taste of salt was still lurking in the back of her throat. She knew better than to go chasing around the house again. Mr. Watts was certainly long gone by now.

  This must have been what Eddie meant when he said lost souls became unpredictable. Of course, Mr. Watts wouldn’t want to move on to the After when he was having so much fun driving Lena insane.

  The doorbell rang, making her jump. Professor started bounding around the house as it rang a few more times. Whoever was outside clearly wasn’t leaving.

  She went to open the door and froze. What if this was another practical joke? What if she opened the door and wound up with a bucket of water on her head?

  Very carefully, she inched the door open, ready to slam it shut again. She let out a long breath when she found Natalie on her doorstep.

  “Oh good. It’s you,” Lena said, pulling the door open all the way.

  “Hey, I came by to bring you these.” Natalie held up the books that Lena hadn’t even remembered leaving in the cafeteria.

  “Thanks,” she said. Would it be rude to grab the books and not invite Natalie inside?

  “Marcus was worried when you didn’t come back at lunch,” Natalie said, leaning against the door frame. Clearly, she wasn’t going anywhere.

  Lena sighed. “I saw him after school. He told me about Abigail and Hayleigh.” She couldn’t believe her emotions about her mom coming back had caused such a mess! But when Marcus had asked her about it, she’d simply told him that her mom was in town for a couple of days and that the shock of seeing her must have made his powers go haywire. Lena couldn’t tell him—or anyone else—about her mom’s proposal, even if she wasn’t actually considering it. She could imagine what would happen: her dad would try to be a little too supportive, Marcus would freak out at the very idea, and her friends would probably yell at her for even speaking to her mom again.

  When Marcus had called Eddie to tell him about the Emery/Abigail/Hayleigh situation, their boss had only sighed and said it would wear off in time and to be more careful. Not exactly the most helpful advice when Lena had seen Abigail and Ha
yleigh practically tearing Emery’s limbs out this afternoon as they fought over who’d get to walk him to seventh period. And in a way, it was all her fault.

  “Are you okay?” Natalie asked. “Marcus said you must have been pretty upset for his powers to get so crazy.”

  Lena started to say she was fine, but then she realized that Natalie didn’t know her mom or care about the idea of her moving away. Maybe she was exactly the kind of person Lena could talk to. And she needed to talk to someone. What had happened with her mom was too big and bubbling for her to hold in much longer.

  She led Natalie into the living room, filling her in on how her mom had left years ago on Valentine’s Day and how frosty things had been between them ever since—until today when she’d waltzed back into Lena’s life.

  “Can you imagine me going to live with her?” Lena asked when she was done. “She doesn’t know anything about me. It would be a disaster. But when I tried to tell her that, she said I shouldn’t make up my mind yet.”

  “If you lived with her, you guys would get to know each other again,” Natalie pointed out.

  Lena gawked at her. “Are you saying I should go with her?”

  “I’m saying…in my family, it’s my dad and me who don’t see each other. If I had a chance to fix things with him, I’d take it.” Her voice suddenly sounded a lot less perky than usual.

  Lena looked at her in surprise, realizing that she didn’t know anything about Natalie’s family. She’d assumed she lived with both her parents. “What happened with your dad?”

  “My mom had me when she was pretty young, and my dad didn’t even know I existed for a while, so…” Natalie shrugged. “There’s a chance your mom really does want to reconnect with you.”

  As much as Lena didn’t want to admit it, maybe Natalie was right. Her mom had seemed genuinely excited about the idea of Lena coming to live with her. “But how am I supposed to leave everyone behind? My dad would be miserable without me!”

  “You wouldn’t have to go forever.”

  That was true. Her mom had said she could wait until the end of the fall term, or even until the end of the school year. “I guess I could visit for a week or two, maybe over winter vacation,” she said slowly. “See if I like it.”

  “There you go!” Natalie said, beaming at her like Lena had solved a huge math problem all on her own. “Did you tell Marcus about your mom’s offer?”

  “Not yet. I’m afraid he won’t take it very well.”

  “Of course he won’t. He really likes you.” Natalie chewed on her lip. “Maybe…”

  “What?” Lena asked when she didn’t go on.

  “Well, it’s none of my business, but maybe you shouldn’t tell him you’re thinking of leaving until you make up your mind. My ex-boyfriend kind of freaked out when I told him I was moving here. He didn’t want to even try to stay together, said it would be too hard.”

  Lena felt strange at the thought of keeping something so big from Marcus for much longer. Could she really not mention it when he came over for dinner that night? But Natalie had a point. Things were going so well between her and Marcus. Maybe it would be better to enjoy them for now and not worry about something that might not even happen.

  Instead, she needed to focus on dealing with the things that were happening right now. She didn’t want to spend even one more day worrying about buckets of water—or worse—falling on her head every time she opened a door.

  Chapter 17

  Marcus hovered outside the indoor track building, scanning the crowd for Peter Chung. His hands were so sweaty that he worried about the box of chocolates he was holding. What if they melted before he managed to deliver them? He doubted Peter would be all that impressed with a box full of chocolate soup.

  Finally, he spotted Peter rounding the corner. For once, he was alone. As Marcus had hoped, Claire was still at cheerleading practice.

  “Hey, Peter!” Marcus said, rushing up to him before he could chicken out. His sister would murder him if she found out what he was about to do, but he couldn’t think about that now. “I have something for you.”

  “Oh, okay,” Peter said, clearly surprised.

  Marcus thrust the box of chocolates at him. “Here,” he said. “From a secret admirer.” He felt silly saying the words, but that’s what Grandpa’s dating book had advised. Woo your sweetheart with mystery chocolates and flowers! Later, you were supposed to reveal that the gifts were from you, and the person was supposed to melt in your arms.

  “Wow, thanks,” Peter said. He opened the package and smiled. “Dark chocolate. My favorite.”

  Marcus sighed in relief. He’d had an inkling that Peter would like dark chocolate—maybe it was his matchmaking intuition—and the chocolates were still mostly intact.

  “Claire knows me so well!” Peter added.

  Marcus’s mouth sagged open. “Oh, um… Actually, they’re from my—”

  But Peter wasn’t listening. He was gulping down the chocolates by the handful, almost like he couldn’t stop himself. “I love these!” he mumbled. “I love her! I love life! I have to go tell her right now!” Then he jammed one last handful into his mouth and gave Marcus a sugary grin before he pranced away toward the gym where Claire would no doubt melt into his chocolate-smeared arms.

  • • •

  When Lena got to Mr. Watts’s apartment, she could tell it was the right place. Not only was it above a Laundromat like Viv had said, but the front doormat said “Ouch! Get off of me!” instead of “Welcome.” She was willing to bet the joke shop sold them.

  She glanced around and then tried the door, surprised when it opened. Maybe because she was still technically on assignment, all the same rules applied. She quickly slipped inside and closed the door behind her.

  Lena expected the apartment to be as dusty and cluttered as the joke shop, but it was actually pretty airy and neat. It looked like Mr. Watts had spent very little time there, in fact. That meant it was unlikely that his soul would be hanging around. Still, she wandered through the small rooms just in case, but the only mildly interesting things she found were old playbills from a bunch of local theater productions that had happened before Lena’s parents were even born. Apparently, before he’d become a comedian and a joke shop owner, Mr. Watts had also done some acting.

  Disappointed with her search, Lena was about to leave when she heard someone struggling to open the front door. She considered trying to climb out the window, but it was too late. The door was already swinging open.

  She tried to look casual, as if she belonged there, but she knew she was in trouble. Then she saw Viv come through the door, and relief washed over her. Maybe she could get away without anyone calling the police after all.

  “Lena!” Viv said, frowning. “What are you doing here?”

  “Tying up some loose ends,” Lena said slowly. “I was just leaving though.”

  “No, don’t go!” Viv let out a dry laugh. “Watts didn’t have any family, so I volunteered to start sorting through his things. But now I’m not so sure I can handle it on my own.”

  “Sorry, I have to get home, and it’s going to take me a while to ride my bike back.” This part was true at least. Tonight was the big meeting between her dad and Marcus.

  “I’ll drive you,” Viv said. “Please. It would be so helpful to go through his things with someone else who knew him. And you can fill me in on what your aunt Teresa’s been up to recently.”

  Lena swallowed. She didn’t want to keep lying to Viv, but she’d feel even worse abandoning her when she clearly didn’t want to be alone. “I guess I could stay for a few minutes.”

  As they started going through closets, Lena felt even guiltier for touching a total stranger’s things. But Viv seemed to need someone to talk to. She reminisced about the first time she met Watts and how he’d helped her find joy in life again after her messy divorce. “
He said something that’s helped me through the rough times,” Viv said as she boxed up some musty sweaters. “He told me, ‘Hon, you need to find the fun in life and hold on to it.’ And he was right.”

  The more she talked, the more Lena liked her and the worse she felt about lying to her, especially when Viv asked her how long she’d known Watts.

  “Not long,” Lena said, choosing her words carefully. “I only met him pretty recently through work.”

  Viv nodded. “He’d been talking about hiring someone to help him at the shop. I’m glad he finally did. And of course he chose someone so young. He loved being around young people, said it made him feel more like his mischievous self again. I guess he was quite the prankster in his youth.”

  “I’m not sure he ever outgrew it,” Lena said, still tasting a hint of salt on her tongue.

  Finally, when Viv had managed to go through a couple of closets and decide which things should be donated or thrown out, she got to her feet. “I think that’s enough for today. Let’s get you home.”

  Lena nodded and followed Viv to her car, texting her dad to let him know she was on her way. As she put her bike in the trunk, Lena told Viv about Aunt Teresa’s newest side business—doing in-home cat manicures—and about her aunt trying to fix Lena’s dad up with people from her book club.

  Viv laughed. “Teresa always loved playing matchmaker, especially when we were in college. I probably shouldn’t tell her I’m single now or I’ll be on her radar again.”

  When they were almost at Lena’s house, Lena got a message from Marcus: New assignment in five minutes. Make sure to do deep breathing.

  She instantly closed her eyes and started imagining herself on a beach, the way her father had instructed, and breathing in and out in a steady rhythm.

  “Are you okay?” Viv asked.

  “Just feeling a little carsick,” she said. Then she went back to concentrating as hard as she could. There was no way she was going to let things get messed up this time.

  Chapter 18