“I think you’re right,” Houston finally said as we moved toward the truck.
“About?” I asked, almost afraid to know.
“I think he likes me.”
My eyes met his in shock only to see a mischievous smile on his face.
“Well, let’s see if your parents feel the same about me,” I retorted as anxiety crawled up my spine.
“I can almost guarantee they won’t bring up birth control,” he answered with a laugh, shutting my door.
It didn’t take long to reach Houston’s house since it was only a couple of streets over. This area of the neighborhood was newer, with larger houses, but smaller lots. Houston pulled into the drive and cut the engine, staring up at the house without moving.
“You don’t have to do this,” he finally sighed.
“We’ve been over this.” I poked his shoulder. “I’m not letting you take the blame for something you didn’t even realize you were doing.”
He glanced at me. “I knew what I was doing. I pulled that alarm, knowing full well what would happen.”
“No, you didn’t,” I told him, and this time I was the one letting out the sigh as I stared up at the brick house. “You trusted me, but you didn’t know why. You didn’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t pulled the alarm.”
His gaze was curious and I knew I needed to tell him something, at least so he wouldn’t look surprised when I told his parents the story I’d come up with.
“There was someone with a gun in the gym.”
“What?” He reared back, staring at me intently as I proceeded to tell him a series of white lies and half-truths.
“I heard something earlier that morning, but didn’t put it together until the pep rally.” His stare didn’t waver and a curl of guilt unsettled me. I didn’t like lying to him, I realized with surprise. I bit my lip to keep from letting the truth tumble out, knowing there was absolutely no way he’d be able to accept it, and it wasn’t exactly the kind of ability you wanted to prove to someone. “It didn’t really make sense, honestly. Just a time and the words, bang bang.”
His forehead wrinkled the tiniest bit between his eyebrows and I wondered suddenly if he believed me.
“That’s why you were so certain that we only had a few minutes to do something.” He shook his head. “I thought it might have something to do with your time ability.”
A shaky sigh of relief escaped from me as I nodded. “Well, it sort of did. I knew exactly how much time I had.” I gave him a self-deprecating smile and he rubbed his thumb over my cheek reassuringly. “When I realized whatever was going on would happen during the pep rally, I panicked. Bang, bang didn’t sound like a good thing and I knew I had to do something.” My shoulders lifted of their own accord and I clamped my lips shut before I added anymore lies to the table.
“My parents will have questions,” he warned, turning off the truck. “A lot of questions so be prepared.”
I nodded silently before exiting the truck and staring up at his house. It was nicer than my own, bigger and more well-kept. A curtain flickered upstairs and I thought I glimpsed a heart shaped face, but it was so quick I dismissed it. Houston came around the truck, his hand brushing my back as he ushered me to the door. Part of me wanted to turn around and go back home, forget trying to help him, but a bigger part of me wanted – no, needed – to protect him. He’d taken a huge risk for me and now it was up to me to make sure he didn’t get caught in the fallout from that decision.
“Mom, Dad, we’re back,” Houston called out as he opened the door.
“In the kitchen, honey.” I smiled at his Mom’s endearment and he rolled his eyes, gesturing me toward the kitchen.
“Come on, let’s get this over with,” he whispered next to my ear, his proximity sending a shiver through me. A smirk framed his mouth at my reaction and he intentionally brushed against my hip right as we stepped into the bright kitchen. “Mom and Dad, this is my girlfriend, Hope Lancaster,” he announced and my steps faltered. I cast a sharp glance toward him, but he kept his gaze on his parents.
“It’s so nice to meet you, Hope.” His mom came toward me, hands outstretched and I took them automatically, still reeling from Houston telling them I was his girlfriend.
“Yes, Ma’am, it’s nice to meet you as well, Mrs. Drake.”
“Miranda, dear. Call me Miranda.” She motioned to the tall man standing slightly behind and to her left. “This is my husband, Todd.”
“Yes, sir. Todd,” I fumbled with saying his first name and vowed to avoid any situation that required me to use their names in the future.
“Houston said you wanted to talk to us about the fire alarm being pulled at the school during the pep rally,” his dad mentioned, tugging Miranda against him as they studied me. Suddenly, I felt put on the spot, unused to being held accountable for my actions.
“I do,” I began right as Houston interrupted.
“I pulled the fire alarm,” he admitted candidly and I watched as disappointment and concern flickered across his parents’ faces. “I wanted to be honest with you.”
“Oh, Houston,” his mom murmured, slumping against his dad. “We defended you to that horrible principal.” Her eyes glistened as she lifted her hand. “You promised all that was behind you.”
“It’s not his fault,” I declared, unable to handle seeing their disappointment. “He did it for me.”
Their gazes redirected toward me and I forced myself not to squirm under their admonishing stares. They suddenly seemed less inclined to like me and I wondered if my explanation would be enough to change their newfound opinion of me.
“I asked for his help,” I explained, my gaze dropping under the weight of theirs. “I was afraid someone was going to get killed at the pep rally.”
“Killed?” It was Miranda who spoke, stepping toward me. “Why would you think that?”
“I overheard a conversation earlier that day. It didn’t make sense to me at the time. Just the words, ‘Bang, bang,’ and a time. I didn’t put it together until the pep rally had started. I realized the time was during the pep rally, that someone must have a gun and planned to do something during the rally.” I spoke in a rush, my eyes lowered, as my fingers twisted constantly. I wasn’t sure they would believe me and didn’t know what I could say to convince them. Slender fingers stilled my restless fingers and I glanced up in surprise.
“That was very brave of you,” Miranda said softly, smiling at me. “Not many would have the guts to try and stop something they weren’t sure about.”
“Houston was the brave one,” I whispered, still awed by his quick thinking and the fact that his…our actions had saved lives. “He believed me and acted. I didn’t want you to be upset with him.”
“We’re not,” she assured me quickly. “But what you’ve said does concern us.”
“If someone intended to do harm during the pep rally, there’s a chance they’ll try again,” his dad stated and the words echoed in my head. They’ll try again. Chills shot through me as I contemplated the truth of his statement. “Do you know who made the threat?”
I shook my head dumbly, aggravated with myself for not considering it might happen again. My expression must have convinced them I was telling the truth because I heard someone sigh.
“We believe you, but without some proof or idea of who would do this, we can’t present it to the school.” Miranda’s voice broke through my mental chastising and I glanced up. “Hopefully, they’ve reconsidered their choices, but I am concerned. If you hear anything at all, Hope, please go to a teacher or counselor with your concerns. We would be happy to support you.” Her understanding smile made me wonder what Houston had told her about my home life, but I only nodded. I’d already told enough lies. I didn’t want to add anymore to the list.
“We’re glad you came forward with this and were honest.” Todd clapped Houston’s shoulder. “You tried to do the right thing, maybe not in the right way, but if you saved a life it was worth it.�
��
“Thanks, Dad.” Houston looked like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders and I was glad I’d made the decision to talk to them. He wanted to start fresh and I couldn’t help but want that for him.
A soft scuff behind me distracted Miranda and she glanced over my shoulder with a wide smile. “Joy,” she exclaimed, her voice indicating surprise. “Come meet Houston’s girlfriend.” I glanced up in time to see Houston’s astonished expression replaced by one of happiness. It appeared they were all in disbelief of Joy’s arrival while I was there. I turned, preparing myself, since I didn’t really know what to expect, my only knowledge of autism coming from things I’d read and one boy in my middle school who’d rocked back and forth constantly.
The first thing I noticed were the gloves on her hands, followed by the long sleeves and long pants she wore, covering every inch of her skin including her neck. As my gaze drifted upwards and our eyes met, I was caught off guard by a sense of familiarity. It took a second for her expiration date to register and I stepped back from her, positive it had to be wrong. Her expression didn’t change as I bumped into Houston and I felt his gaze as he steadied me. I shook my head, unable to keep the horror I felt from escaping across my face.
“What’s wrong?” Houston asked urgently, his gaze darting between me and his sister as we stared at one another, neither of us dropping our gaze as the seconds ticked by. I opened my mouth but nothing came out as her countdown flared to life inside of me.
A precise mirror of my own.
Chapter Nine
His worried glances hadn’t stopped since we’d left his house and I didn’t know what to tell him. The truth seemed impossible but I’d seen it. His sister was destined to die at the exact same moment as me.
I knew logically that multiple people died at the same time, the same moment in fact, but I’d never actually seen someone who was going to die at the same time as me. I snuck a glance at Houston’s profile, taking in the strain on his face, and the absolute lack of an expiration date. It seemed too coincidental that he wouldn’t have an expiration date at all, yet his sister was going to die at the same precise moment as me.
“Talk to me, Hope,” he urged, glancing over at me in time to catch my gaze. “What’s going on? You stared at my sister like you’d seen a ghost and then ran out of the room.”
“I wasn’t expecting to meet her?” I offered the flimsy excuse, rubbing my nose as I said it, knowing as I did it wasn’t nearly good enough.
He sighed, his hands clenched around the steering wheel as he swallowed. “Look, I get some people have a difficult time when presented with Joy’s…. uniqueness,” he said, striving for an even tone. “It’s understandable. She’s different.”
“What?” My mouth opened as I caught on to what he was implying. “No. Houston, no. It’s not that she’s autistic. Not at all.” I waved my hand in frustration, knowing I couldn’t tell him why I was disturbed, but also not wanting him to think I was so shallow that her autism was the reason I’d bailed. “Look, I swear it has nothing to do with her disability or ability or whatever,” I stumbled through, not really sure how to address her autism. “Joy took me by surprise, but I swear it’s not her uniqueness,” I finished gamely, deciding to use his term.
He shot me a disbelieving glance. “Really? Cause you took one look at her and rushed from the room.” He shook his head. “The gloves and long layers are an issue for some people.”
I shook my head. “Nope, not me. I figure she gets cold easily.”
That startled a chuckle from him and he flicked a sideways glance toward me. “She doesn’t like to be touched. Skin to skin contact freaks her out,” he admitted. “I was going to tell you but she surprised all of us when she came down. She normally doesn’t come around when there are strangers in the house.”
I nodded, somehow unsurprised by this information. Joy was different, no doubt about it, but her difference called to me, like an old familiar friend. There was something about her and it wasn’t just the fact that we had the exact same expiration date. “I’m sorry I ran out,” I apologized, knowing it wasn’t really an explanation but the best I could give him. “I got nervous meeting your family.”
“Yeah, I can understand that.” He graced me with a considerate smile and I felt two inches tall. “Your dad was bad enough. I can only imagine if I had to face your mom too and explain pulling a fire alarm at school.”
Words collided in my throat at his mention of my mom. In a town where everyone knew everyone else, it hadn’t occurred to me that he wouldn’t know about my Mom’s death. “She’s dead.” I felt his gaze but couldn’t force myself to say anything else, to give him the explanation about how she’d died of cancer when I was thirteen, or how it had felt to watch her life tick away, second by second.
“I’m sorry, Hope.” He swallowed audibly but still I didn’t speak, my gaze straight ahead as he pulled into my driveway. “I didn’t realize.”
I grabbed the door handle, hopping out before he could say anything more. “There’s no way you would have known,” I said tersely, not meeting his eyes. I wasn’t handling this the right way, I knew that, but I also couldn’t do this right now. “I’ll see you Monday.” I slammed the truck door as he called my name and hurried up the steps into the house. I leaned against the front door, waiting for the sound of his truck to fade, torn between hoping he’d come to the door and praying he’d go.
A couple of minutes went by before I heard the rumble of his truck disappear and I peeked through the curtain, seeing him slowly turn the corner. My head thumped against the door as I slid to the floor. The house was silent and I knew Dad had gone to the bar. I blinked as moisture filled my eyes and pressed my palms to them in an effort to somehow stop the flow.
Seeing her, seeing how little time she had, how little time we had, it broke the dam inside of me. I grabbed the nearest thing to me – a shoe – and threw it, but it did nothing to elevate the rage boiling inside of me. I grabbed the other shoe and flung it, this time it made contact with something, and tears slipped from my eyes as I heard a crash. It wasn’t enough though and I surged to my feet, my hand grasping a stupid porcelain angel someone had given me when my mom had died. I hurtled it against the wall, a tiny bit of the tightness in my chest easing when it smashed to pieces.
I reached for the glass bowl that held the junk we dropped every day when we came into the house, but couldn’t bring myself to pick it up. My hand hovered over it as I remembered how much Mom had loved it. She’d seen it in an antique store but couldn’t bring herself to spend the money on it. Dad had gone back and gotten it for her and she’d insisted it should be seen every day.
I stumbled back, afraid I might accidently destroy it in my rage, and curled my hands around myself in a hug. I rocked, panting as I fought the pressure in my chest and the desire to break and smash everything in sight until it finally went away. My fingernails bit into my palms and I closed my eyes, whispering, “You’re okay. You’re fine. Death is inevitable,” until some of the pressure eased and I could take a whole breath.
Chimes rang through the house, startling me, and I spun around looking for the source before I realized it was the doorbell. It had been so long since anyone had used it, I’d forgotten the sound. I yanked the door open, assuming Houston had come back, and blinked when I realized it wasn’t him on the other side.
“What are you doing here?” The question came out harsher than I intended but it didn’t seem to bother her. She still wore the gloves and long sleeves even though it was pushing ninety outside and her stare was focused on me with a strange intensity.
“I’m Joy,” she replied, not dropping her gaze, and my head throbbed to the beat of each second marking the countdown to our eventual expiration. Where it was normally nothing more than a background noise, now it hammered into me double time, a persistent throb reminding me that I was going to die. “What do you see when you look at me?” Her question was eager, too eager, and so was her gaze, leavin
g me feeling like I was missing something.
“Death.”
The word tumbled out, not giving me time to think it through and I saw her jerk in surprise. “You’re not autistic,” I said, my lips numb and she shook her head. “Why are you here?” I asked again, my body blocking the door, my stance clearly indicating she wasn’t welcome.
“We have the same eyes.”
Chapter Ten
The door slipped from my grip, swinging open wider and she took it as an invitation, slipping past me, but careful not to brush against me. I stood there, staring at my empty porch as I tried to reconcile her words.
“You can’t tell me you didn’t see it too,” she said behind me, now further inside of my house than I was, and I shook my head. “You stared at me like you’d seen a ghost or maybe….a long lost sister.”
The hope in her voice had me spinning around and my hand hit the door, slamming it shut. The loud bang was the only sound as we stared at one another and I tried to deny what she’d seen when she looked at me. The longer I looked at her the further the countdown faded into the background until I could once again ignore it, but the more apparent it became that she was right.
We did have the same eyes.
“Hazel is a common eye color,” I choked out, my mind spinning as my world splintered. “Almond shaped eyes aren’t unusual.”
“I was adopted. Did Houston tell you that?”
My head shook in denial even as I said, “Yes, he mentioned it.”
“It’s possible we’re related,” she suggested and I kept shaking my head no. “It is. They took me in when I was two,” she insisted and I wanted to scream at her to stop.
“Frank and Sandy Lancaster are my parents,” I stated instead, my voice calm. “We aren’t related. It’s just coincidence.” I tasted the lie on my tongue and she shook her head, her eyes sad.
“It’s more than that.” Her hand rose but she didn’t reach for me and I was grateful. “You know it. You said it when I asked what you saw when you looked at me.”
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