Dead Is a Battlefield

by Marlene Perez

  “Nice try, Walsh,” she said. “But next time, remember the basics.”

  Eva played defense and I was a middy, which meant I played both sides of the field, offense and defense as needed. I was getting faster. I’d even outrun Andy at the previous night’s training session.

  I was almost to the goal when Eva clutched her stomach and fell to her knees. I motioned for a time-out and raced over to her. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m so hungry,” she said. Her skin had a sickly green cast to it.

  I helped her to her feet. “Why don’t you sit this one out? I have a protein bar in my backpack.”

  The rest of the team gathered around her. Ramona handed her a Gatorade.

  “I’m fine, you guys,” Eva protested.

  “Drink it, anyway,” Coach ordered.

  Eva chugged the cold beverage, and after a few minutes, her coloring returned to normal and Coach McGill allowed her back in the game.

  The coach put us through the wringer during tryouts. She would occasionally scribble something down on the paper on her clipboard or shout out a command, but for the most part, she just let us do our thing as long as we worked hard.

  Just when my shins were starting to scream in protest, she blew her whistle. “Good job, everyone!”

  We huddled together on the field while she told us what to expect next. “First cuts will be posted on Monday.”

  I limped off the field, every muscle in my body sore.

  Eva and I were the last ones in the locker room. She wasn’t her usual talkative self, but I put that down to nerves.

  I turned my back on her for just a second. I heard her groan, “So hungry,” and then she was on me. She wrapped an arm around my windpipe and started to squeeze.

  “Eva, quit kidding around,” I said. I tried to twist away from her, but she was too strong.

  I jabbed my elbow into her stomach, hard, and she released me. “Cut it out.”

  She stood there, looking dazed. The green color was back and a long string of drool hung off her lips.

  “Gross,” I said. I handed her a towel. “Wipe off your lip.”

  She stared at me like she didn’t comprehend. Finally, she stirred and said, “What happened?”

  “Did you black out or something?” I asked. “I didn’t mean to hit you that hard.”

  “I’ve got to go,” she said. Then she grabbed her gym bag and ran.

  I stared after her, completely perplexed. My tattoo had been tingling. Was I really in danger from my best friend?

  I was thinking about what could be wrong with Eva when I bumped into Connor outside of the locker room.

  He was wearing shorts and shin guards. He must have had soccer practice, too. He looked worn out, but he perked up when he spotted me. “Hey, Jessica,” he said.

  “Hi, Connor.” The last time I had really spoken to him was when he had asked me out at guitar lessons the week before.

  “I called you on Saturday,” he said. “Wanted to see if you wanted to catch a movie.”

  “Yeah, sorry, my little sister didn’t get me the message until too late.” I felt bad fibbing, but I didn’t want to hurt Connor’s feelings. The truth was, I was too depressed about Dominic and Selena to go out that night. But I was definitely getting over it. Who needed Dominic Gray, anyway?

  “That’s okay,” said Connor. “Maybe we can go out this weekend instead. I was thinking the Black Opal? Side Effects May Vary is playing. I know you like them.”

  “Sure,” I said, trying to be nonchalant about it even though my heart was pounding just thinking about seeing Dominic perform again. Connor and I chatted a little more before parting ways. I smiled all the way home. I had a date.

  On our date night, the Black Opal was packed. Connor and I joined Raven and Andy at a table at the front.

  Flo came over to say hello, and then excused herself, saying, “I’m going to go hang out with the band. Vinnie gets stage fright.”

  I read her T-shirt. This one was printed with the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland. It read WE’RE ALL MAD HERE.

  I saw Slim and his fiancée, Natalie, enter the club. I waved to them to join us, but Natalie signaled that they wanted to stay in the back. Slim wore a big cowboy hat pulled down low, a red bandanna over his chin, a blue jean jacket with the collar up, along with blue jeans and a plaid shirt. I bet he owned more trench coats than the Invisible Man.

  Selena Silvertongue approached our table. “Hi, Andy,” she said. “Do you mind if I sit with you guys?”

  “You’re welcome to,” Andy said. I wasn’t aware that Andy and Selena were friends, but they were both juniors, so it would make sense that they knew each other.

  The band came on and Dominic gave a little wave in our direction. My heart went thump. I could have sworn he was waving at me, but that couldn’t be true. He had to be waving at Selena, right?

  “Boy, does he have it bad,” Raven teased.

  I could feel myself blushing. Connor looked at me curiously, but I pretended I didn’t see the question in his eyes. Fortunately, the band went into the intro of their opening song and I was off the hook.

  They were halfway through the first set when it happened.

  “Raven, something’s wrong,” I said. “Look at his eyes.”

  Dominic’s eyes were rolling back in his head.

  He started singing “I’m Not Calling You a Liar,” by Florence and the Machine. The rest of the band tried to keep up, but the guitarist, Jeff Cool, a stocky blond who wore way too much jewelry, had a frown on his face the entire time.

  “Oh, no, not again,” Raven said.

  What did she mean? “This has happened before?” I asked, but she didn’t answer me.

  When the song ended, the band took a break, and Connor left the table to say hi to Noel.

  “So how long has your brother been a seer?” Selena asked abruptly.

  “What did you say?” Raven responded.

  “Your brother,” she repeated. “He’s a seer. Didn’t you know?”

  “What’s a seer?” I asked her.

  “You live in Nightshade and you don’t know what a seer is?” Selena asked. “You know, an oracle.”

  “Someone who predicts the future?”

  Selena nodded. “Dominic just made a prediction through song,” she said.

  “He doesn’t know how to control it and the band is getting ticked off,” Raven told her.

  “I can help him,” Selena said. “My aunt is a very well-known sorceress and she says I’ve inherited her abilities.”

  It wasn’t any of my business, but I couldn’t help asking her, “If you’re a sorceress and he’s a seer, how can you help him? Aren’t they completely different powers?”

  “Are there any other seers in Nightshade?” Selena snapped out the question.

  Raven looked at me and I shrugged. “Not that I know of.”

  It occurred to me that my neighbors were all psychics. Daisy or Rose or even their sister Poppy might be able to help Dominic, but they were all in college and probably busy.

  “I’ll talk to Dominic,” Raven promised. They exchanged numbers.

  Selena turned to chat with Andy, and I whispered to Raven, “I thought she and Dominic were dating. Doesn’t he already have her number?”

  Raven gave me an odd look. “Dating?” she said. “No, she’s just one of his many admirers.”

  “Oh!” I said. Relief washed over me.

  Connor came back to the table and rubbed my shoulder. I smiled, but I felt guilty crushing on another guy right in front of him. The band started to play again, and for the rest of the set, Dominic stuck to the set list, much to the visible relief of the rest of the band members.

  Afterward, Dominic, his aunt Katrina, Flo, and Vinnie came and sat at our table. Raven made the introductions, and I watched jealously to see what Dominic’s reaction would be to the gorgeous Selena Silvertongue, but he just said a polite hello.

  “Selena thinks she can help you with your . .
. singing,” I heard Raven say in a low voice.

  “How?” he asked, not bothering to keep his voice down.

  “I’ll explain it later,” Raven whispered.

  Andy yawned and stretched. “Are you guys ready to go?” she asked Raven and Selena.

  “I should get home, too,” Connor said. “Do you mind, Jessica?”

  I stood. “Not at all.” I forced myself not to glance in Dominic’s direction.

  On the way home, I ran out of things to talk about to Connor.

  He cleared his throat. “Do you know much about Selena Silvertongue?”

  I gave him a sharp look. “Not much,” I said. “Why?” Was Connor going to fall for her good looks, too?

  “Just making conversation,” he said mildly.

  “It would be perfectly all right if you were interested in her,” I said. “I mean . . .” I floundered, not knowing how to say it without sounding conceited or hurting his feelings. “I think it’s a good thing to date more than one person.”

  “Don’t you think you know when you meet the right person?” Connor asked.

  “Maybe,” I said. “Or maybe there’s more than one right person out there.”

  “Doesn’t sound very romantic to me,” he replied.

  I shrugged. “I guess I’m not very romantic.” But secretly, I thought I might be, for the right guy.

  At my door, Connor and I did a quick awkward goodbye dance. I thought he was trying to kiss me, so I jumped away, but he was only trying to open the door for me.

  “Sorry,” I said. “It’s just . . .”

  “No worries,” Connor said. “I had fun tonight. I hope we can do it again sometime.”

  “Yeah, me, too,” I said, but my mind was on Dominic instead of the guy in front of me.

  “Why don’t you call me to set something up?” Connor said. There was a strange note in his voice, but I didn’t pay attention. Not then, anyway.

  “Sure,” I said.

  CHAPTER NINE

  When I walked into the cafeteria on Monday, Eva wasn’t at our usual table. I took my lunch tray to our spot, but I felt weird sitting all by myself. I scanned the crowd for someone, anyone I knew well enough to sit with, but fortunately, Raven plunked down beside me.

  “You don’t mind, do you?” she asked.

  “Mind what?”

  Dominic slid into the space on my other side. “If we sit with you.”

  “Dom’s fans never leave him alone long enough to eat,” Raven said.

  “It’s fine,” I said. “I could use the company. I felt like a pariah all by myself.” I threw a sideways glance at Dominic to see if he’d noticed. I had an excellent vocabulary. Better than a lot of those junior girls who’d been hanging all over him a few minutes ago. He was staring at his Tater Tots, like they held the answer to all his questions, and didn’t seem to notice my showing off.

  “Where’s Eva?” Raven asked.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “I saw her after third period and she didn’t say anything about skipping lunch.”

  “There she is,” Dominic said. So he had been paying attention. He pointed to Edgar Love’s table. Every single girl at his table wore purple tops and black pants. Edgar was a stark contrast, dressed all in white.

  “What’s with the color coordination?” I asked. Had Eva been wearing that outfit earlier? She did look good in purple, but I couldn’t help thinking that the girls were walking, talking advertisements for Edgar’s mom’s store, especially when they all stood and I could see The Look of Love logo on the front of Shannon’s shirt.

  They all left the table and put away their trays. I saw a flash of something red on the palm of Shannon’s hand, but she turned and I didn’t get a good look at whatever it was.

  “They even walk the same way,” Dominic said. “What are they, clones?”

  I started to tell him about when doppelgangers had invaded Nightshade, but decided to keep quiet. I wasn’t supposed to know about that, but I’d overheard Samantha and Sean talking. Besides, I didn’t want him to think I was a lunatic.

  Eva didn’t even look my way as they exited the cafeteria. I tried not to show that I was hurt, but Raven picked up on it. “She’s just excited to be in a new group,” she said.

  “She blew me off,” I said. “We’ve been friends since third grade, when she moved to Nightshade. We’ve always done everything together.”

  “Things change,” Raven said softly.

  I stared after my best friend. “They sure do, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

  New group or not, Eva wasn’t acting like herself.

  “I forgot, Jessica,” she said after school, when I cornered her about ditching me at lunch. “It’s no big deal.”

  “What was with the matching outfits?” I asked.

  She giggled. “It was Edgar’s idea.”

  “Edgar seems full of it,” I said.

  “What did you say?” she asked.

  “That Edgar seems full of ideas,” I said innocently.

  She nodded. “He’s so creative.”

  I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes. She had it bad. I didn’t understand what had made her switch from Evan to Edgar.

  While we were talking, Edgar deigned to join us and Eva went hyper. “Jessica, I believe you know Edgar Love.”

  “I think we have English together,” I said. I stuck out my hand, which he kissed. Ick.

  He gave me a long look. “She’ll do,” he said to Eva.

  “I’ll do . . . what?” I said.

  “One of the thirteen is out of town this weekend and we need a stand-in,” Eva said. “And Edgar has approved you.”

  I opened my mouth to tell Edgar where he could stick his approval, but Dominic strode up and put his hand on my shoulder. “Hey,” he said. “I’ve been looking for you.”

  That wiped the smirk off Edgar’s face. I was having a hard time concentrating, though. The touch of Dominic’s hand was doing weird things to me. You know how your stomach feels when you ride a roller coaster? His hand in mine created that same thrilling yet scary feeling.

  “What about this weekend?” Eva persisted. She didn’t seem the least bit curious about why Dominic had been looking for me. In fact, she ignored him completely.

  “What exactly are you asking me to do?” Both Eva and Edgar seemed to think that Edgar had given me some huge honor.

  “As I said, Shannon is unable to accompany us this Saturday, so Eva suggested that you would be a suitable substitute.”

  Could Edgar get any more pompous?

  “Substitute for what?” Dominic asked.

  Edgar waved his hand dismissively. “A Look of Love special event. It’s essential that we have thirteen girls.”

  “I’m not going to be able to make it,” I said.

  “You didn’t even ask when it was,” Eva pointed out, correctly enough.

  “It is Saturday afternoon,” Edgar said.

  “We’re going to Nightshade’s fall festival,” Dominic said. “It’s all day.”

  Edgar frowned. “Shannon will just have to rearrange her schedule,” he told Eva, and then strode off without another word. She trotted after him.

  “Thanks,” I said. “I didn’t know what to say to him. He gives me the creeps.”

  “It is weird how they follow him around like that,” he said. “So what time should I pick you up on Saturday?”

  My mind was on my best friend’s strange behavior, so I wasn’t sure I’d heard him clearly. “What did you say?”

  “The Nightshade festival,” he said. “I wanted to know if you would like to come with me. I was already on my way over here to ask you, when I saw Edgar.”

  “Really? You mean like a date?”

  “Really,” he replied. “And I don’t mean like a date, I mean a date.”

  “Then I’d love to go,” I said.

  “Great,” he said. He hesitated and then added, “What about that guy you were with at the Black Opal the other night? It looked
like you were on a date.”

  I had forgotten all about Connor. “We were,” I said truthfully. “But we aren’t a couple or anything.” I was only a freshman, which was way too early to get serious with anybody.

  Dominic and I stood there smiling at each other. The thing with Selena must have been all in my imagination. He didn’t like her. He liked me. Right?

  CHAPTER TEN

  Saturday started out promisingly enough. I was going on my first date with Dominic and got up early, so I had plenty of time to prepare. Virago training was canceled for the day, but Flo had still made us run in the park that morning, to keep in shape.

  I was ready almost half an hour early, so I went to the kitchen.

  “Where is everyone?” I asked Mom. I was relieved that the house was relatively deserted.

  “Katie’s on a play date and the rest of your sisters went with your dad to the mall,” she replied. “So what time is he coming over?”

  “Two, but he’s not going to want to be grilled,” I answered.

  To my surprise, she didn’t even insist on meeting him first. “I’ll wait to see if there’s a second date,” Mom said. “Besides, I’ve already met him. I sold his aunt a house about a month ago.”

  “You never mentioned it,” I said.

  She smiled. “I know.” She handed me a container. “Take some cookies. Boys like cookies.”

  Our doorbell rang and I went to answer it.

  “And don’t forget a jacket. It’ll get cold at night,” Mom called after me.

  But it wasn’t Dominic standing there. It was Poppy Giordano. “Hi, Jessica,” she said. “Is your mom here? I wanted to talk to her for a few minutes, if she’s available.”

  “Come on in, Poppy,” I said. “Mom, it’s for you!” I called as I ushered Poppy into Mom’s office.

  Mom shut the door with a breezy “Have fun, Jessica.”

  I looked at my watch. Dominic was over an hour late. It looked like there wouldn’t be a first date, let alone a second. Maybe something had happened. I tried his cell phone, but there was no answer.

  The door to Mom’s office opened. Poppy and my mom stepped out. “Thank you, Mrs. Walsh. I’ll see you tomorrow.”