Match Me If You Can

by Anna Staniszewski

  “I’m Lena. I’m a—a friend. What’s your name?”

  “Pearl,” the voice said.

  “What are you doing here, Pearl?” And why are you scaring pigeons? Lena silently added.

  “I’m here for my friend Myrna.”

  Lena was surprised to realize that the voice sounded like a girl’s. The souls she’d dealt with until this point had all been older, much older. People who’d been sick for a long time and whose time had come to move on to the After. She was willing to bet this soul had been around for a long time. The way the girl talked was a little funny, the way people did in old movies. Maybe she’d been here since the theater was built in the 1930s.

  “You mean you’re waiting for her?” Lena asked.

  The voice didn’t answer, but the faded light drew a little closer.

  “Well, I’m here to help you,” Lena went on. That was true, wasn’t it? Having her mom’s powers meant she could send souls to the After. It would probably be easier, in fact, since the new powers were stronger. Being a soul hunter couldn’t be so different from being a soul collector. And the first thing Lena had learned in her training was that she had to convince Pearl to move on. “What’s the last thing you remember, Pearl?”

  “The hospital…and Myrna telling me to stay with her,” Pearl said. “She always looked out for me.”

  “What hospital?” Lena asked.

  “I…don’t remember.”

  “Do you know why you’re here? Why you were drawn to this place?” If Pearl had died at a hospital, then she must have had some personal connection to the theater to now be haunting it.

  But Pearl only said, “I miss her. We sang songs together when we were scared.”

  “When did Myrna leave?” Lena asked. “When was the last time you saw her?”

  There was a long silence. “It’s been years,” Pearl said in a small voice. “Decades, maybe. I don’t think she’s coming back.”

  “And do you know that you’re…” She couldn’t think of a way to phrase the question that didn’t sound rude.

  “That I’m dead?” Pearl asked. She let out a soft laugh. “Of course I know. All ghosts are dead, aren’t they?”

  Lena was tempted to point out that there was no such thing as a ghost. There were just souls moving from one place to another, and sometimes, those bits of energy needed a little more time to find where they belonged. But if a soul wanted to call itself a ghost, that was its business.

  “I’m here to help you,” Lena said.

  “Thank you, but I don’t need help. I’m doing just fine on my own.”

  Lena sighed. This was going to be harder than she’d thought. “But you’re not meant to be here anymore, Pearl. You’re supposed to move on. There’s a place called the After. I’ve heard it’s great. I bet you’ll see Myrna there.”

  The bathroom was quiet for a long moment. “You’re trying to keep me from doing my job. Others have tried, you know, but it’s not going to work.”

  “No, no,” Lena said. “I’m trying to help you.”

  But the ball of light was backing away, clearly done listening. Suddenly, Lena’s hands started glowing. The energy crackled on her fingertips, as if begging to be used. Maybe there was no point in coaxing Pearl to the After with words. Maybe Lena simply had to zap her and send her on her way where she could be at peace.

  As Pearl shrunk into the corner, Lena lunged forward and grabbed at the air. Her hand made contact with the soul and—pow!—a shower of pale blue sparks scattered across the room.

  The energy left her hand, and Lena stumbled back, momentarily blinded by the light. Wow. Her mom’s powers really were stronger. Lena couldn’t remember ever seeing a shower of sparks like that before.

  But as she blinked away the stars from her eyes, she realized something was wrong. The soul—

  Lena blinked and blinked, but there was no doubt about it. Pearl’s soul was still there, hovering near the ceiling. In fact, the ball of light looked bigger and brighter than before.

  “Pearl?” Lena asked. “Why are you still here?” It didn’t make sense. The energy had shot out of Lena’s fingers and gone into Pearl. That should have sent her to the After.

  “What did you do to me?” Pearl asked, her voice suddenly louder.

  “I-I don’t know,” Lena admitted. “You should be gone.”

  “I feel different.” Pearl laughed. “I feel stronger. You’re right. You did help me. Now I can do my job even better! Thank you!” Then she let out another laugh and zipped into a nearby air vent, fading like a swirl of smoke.

  Chapter 9

  On his way to the trampoline park, Marcus decided to ride past Lena’s house even though it was completely out of his way. As he left his own neighborhood, Marcus hurried past Caspar Brown’s house. The big bully was in the middle of his driveway, punching deflated basketballs. Marcus ducked his head and pedaled as fast as he could. The last thing he needed was yet another run-in with Caspar’s fists.

  When he got to Lena’s house, he paused at the mailbox, shivering in the cold wind. Obviously, Lena wasn’t there, and he wasn’t sure her dad was even home, but seeing her house made him miss her a little less—and also a little more.

  He was desperate to talk to her even if it was nowhere near the time for their scheduled phone call. He knew she was busy with her class and with her mom and stuff, but he couldn’t help himself. Not only did he miss Lena like crazy, but with everything going on, he needed someone to talk to, and since Eddie still wasn’t answering his phone, and Grandpa was gone, Lena was the only person he had. Finally, he settled on texting her a bad joke he’d read online the other day. Why do ghosts love elevators? Because they lift their spirits!

  Marcus chuckled to himself, imagining Lena groaning and rolling her eyes when she read it. But he hoped she was also laughing and wishing he were there with her. He hovered near her mailbox for another minute before finally heading on his way.

  When he got to the trampoline park, he scanned the place for Connie and noticed that everyone seemed to be coupled up. Even some of the employees were holding hands or giggling together. Was there something weirdly romantic about trampolines?

  Albert wasn’t there yet—Marcus realized he probably should have picked him up to make sure he actually came—but Connie and the other kids from school were already waiting for their turn to jump.

  “Marcus, you came!” Connie said, going to hug him again. He wasn’t sure he’d ever get used to suddenly being in her circle of friends.

  “I hope you don’t mind, but I invited a friend of mine to come,” Marcus said. “He should be here any second.” He was hoping when Connie saw Albert again, sparks would fly with or without Marcus’s powers, but there was still no sign of Albert. At least Connie seemed to be the only one here who wasn’t part of a couple. That was one point in Marcus’s favor.

  “Do you know everyone?” Connie asked, motioning to the other kids.

  She started doing introductions, but all the couples were so focused on each other that they barely glanced up at Marcus. Among them was Lena’s best friend Abigail, giggling with a guy named Ty from Marcus’s English class. Marcus didn’t even realize the two of them knew each other, and now here they were, acting like the happiest of couples. He was surprised Lena hadn’t told him about this, but maybe she didn’t know. Considering the bright love sparks around the couple, they’d probably only been zapped in the past couple of days.

  In fact, all of the couples seemed to be glowing with love sparks. Were all these pairs newly zapped? Another matchmaker must have been really busy right before the power outage.

  “So things are still good with you and Lena?” Connie asked.

  Marcus looked at her. “Why, do you know something I don’t?”

  “No…” Connie cleared her throat. “But my cousin’s so busy practicing the piano all the t
ime that she never dates anyone. I think she could use a sweet guy, and I was thinking that I could fix the two of you up. Especially now that she finally let me do her hair!”

  Marcus shook his head. “Sorry. I have Lena.”

  Connie squinted at him. “Yeah, I guess I can see that. You’re pretty bright.”

  “Bright?” Marcus asked. “What do you mean?”

  Before she could answer, the door opened, and Albert Landry came in. He looked absolutely terrified to be around so many people rather than locked away in his room studying. Funny how only a few months ago, Marcus had been just as shy and terrified of social situations as Albert was. (Although, to be fair, he’d never resorted to spilling his secrets to a bird.) If Lena hadn’t pulled him out of his shell, Marcus would probably still spend most of his time working on his models and doing his best to avoid the outside world.

  “You came!” Marcus said, hurrying over to Albert in case he changed his mind and darted back out. He dragged Albert over to the other kids and made sure to plant him directly in front of Connie. “This is Albert,” he announced.

  Connie gave him a vague smile. “Hey,” she said.

  Meanwhile, Albert was staring at her, his mouth gaping open. Marcus waited for him to say something, but he didn’t. He didn’t even seem to be breathing. Wow, he was even worse at talking to girls than Marcus was!

  “This is Connie,” Marcus said finally. “I think you guys bumped into each other at the mall yesterday.”

  Connie frowned. “I don’t think so…” Then her face lit up. “How old are you?”

  “Fifteen,” Albert managed to whisper.

  “Perfect! How do you feel about girls who play the piano?”

  Albert gave her a confused look. “They probably have a good sense of rhythm?”

  “Wait,” Marcus jumped in. “Are you thinking of fixing him up with your cousin?”

  “She’s really cute!” Connie said. “Once I convince her to do something about her personality and stuff, she’ll be totally dateable.” She was grinning like crazy now. “I’ll call her and see if she can come meet us! Be right back!”

  After she’d dashed off to grab her phone from her purse, Albert seemed to start breathing again. “So where’s the girl from the mall?”

  Marcus stared at him. “Wait, you mean that wasn’t her?”

  “Her? She’s so loud! And she’s wearing way too much perfume.”

  “But the girl you described, it sounded just like her. The horse scarf and everything!”

  Albert fiddled with the leather strap of his watch. “I probably should have told you that I’m kind of face blind.”

  “Face blind?”

  “It means I don’t have a good memory for faces. I usually go by voice and clothes and stuff. I recognized you because of your hair and the fact that you smell like rubber cement.” He chuckled and then studied Connie again. “But I really don’t think that’s the girl from the mall.”

  Marcus’s hope evaporated. If Connie wasn’t the person Albert was supposed to be matched with, then did that mean Ann-Marie was? It just didn’t seem possible.

  “Connie’s cousin didn’t sound too bad,” Marcus said weakly as one of the employees waved the group over to some trampolines that had freed up.

  “Wait, we’re supposed to jump on those?” Albert asked, inching away. “I…I think I should go. I’m not supposed to do anything without a doctor’s note.”

  “This isn’t gym class,” Marcus said, but Albert wasn’t listening.

  “I’ll see you around, okay?” He started to dash for the door.

  “Wait!” Marcus said, rushing after him. “Why don’t you…come over tonight? Ann-Marie will be there. Maybe you can finally talk to her.” He really had to be desperate if he was inviting people over to his house. But he couldn’t let Albert disappear when he still hadn’t matched him.

  Albert considered this for a second. “Okay, but I can’t stay long. I need to get exactly eight and a half hours of sleep a night.”

  Oh boy. “Yeah, sure. Come over at seven thirty, okay?”

  “Should I bring your sister a gift?” Albert asked.

  “Flowers always work.” At least his grandpa’s dating book thought so.

  Albert frowned. “Will any flowers beat her champion roses?”

  Oops. He had a point. Not only was Ann-Marie an amazing athlete and student, but she also found time to grow perfect, award-winning roses. “How about some chocolates?” Marcus paused. “On second thought, she won’t eat them because of the sugar. How about…” His mind churned. “Kale?” She was always going on about how amazing leafy green vegetables were.

  “A bouquet of kale?” Albert asked.

  “Sure, why not?” If nothing else, she could dump it in those gross smoothies of hers.

  Albert looked skeptical, but he nodded. “I’ll wear a tie.” Then he rushed over to the door, clearly glad to get out of there.

  “Where’d your friend go?” Connie asked, bouncing back over. “My cousin’s on her way!”

  “Um, he had to go home to…feed his parrot.”

  “Oh.” Connie deflated. “I guess I’ll tell her not to come. I thought they’d be a good match though. His cloud was even grayer than hers.” She sighed and started to walk away.

  “Wait,” Marcus said, grabbing her arm. His breath was suddenly heavy in his chest. “What did you say about a cloud around Albert?”

  “Nothing. Just talking to myself.”

  As Marcus glanced around the room again, at all the couples that seemed madly in love, barely paying attention to anyone else, a horrible thought dawned on him.

  “Connie,” he said softly, “did you do this?”

  “Do what?”

  “Fix them up. All of them? Did your fingers…” He knew it sounded crazy, but he had to ask. “Did they start glowing, and you touched people with them, and sparks started—”

  “Flying all around the place?” Connie broke in, her eyes gleaming. “Totally! I don’t know what’s happening to me, but it’s awesome!”

  Chapter 10

  The rest of class was torture. Lena wanted to focus on her scene with Zade, but she couldn’t stop trying to make sense of what had happened with Pearl. Instead of sending the soul to the After, Lena’s new powers had somehow made it stronger. Clearly, her new abilities weren’t as straightforward as she’d thought. And what “job” had Pearl been talking about?

  Lena found herself jumping at every sound, afraid Pearl would let her presence be known again, but the theater was silent. Even the pigeons had disappeared to its far corners.

  It didn’t take Miss Fine long to notice how distracted she was. “Lena, where is that amazing focus from yesterday? I thought you were going to be my star pupil!”

  “I’m sorry,” Lena said. “I’ll do better.”

  But every time she tried to say Wendy’s lines, she felt as if her own voice were coming from miles away. Even Zade seemed annoyed, and he was so laid-back that he’d been happy to eat his yogurt that morning with a pen cap because he’d forgotten a spoon.

  Finally, Miss Fine dismissed the class, reminding everyone to work on memorizing lines that night.

  Lena sighed in relief and quickly packed up her stuff. She was looking over her shoulder as she walked through the lobby, ready for Pearl to jump out from behind every corner. But there was no sign of her. Maybe the zap had worked. It had simply taken a little while for it to kick in.

  As she plopped down on a bench to wait for her mom, Lena had almost convinced herself that that was true. She listened to the matinee performers doing vocal exercises and warm-ups inside the theater. Their melodic scales echoed through the lobby. And then, an odd sound joined in. It was the tinkling of a nearby, out-of-tune piano.

  Lena scanned the lobby until her eyes rested on the antique piano near the c
oncession stand. There, poised on top of the keys, was a ball of glowing light. Pearl.

  Slowly, Lena got to her feet and tiptoed toward her, as if she were creeping up on a wild animal. As she drew closer, for just a second, she thought she heard Pearl’s voice singing along with the performers. But as Lena inched closer, she tripped over a loose piece of carpet at the bottom of the stairs.

  “Ah!” she couldn’t help crying out as she lurched forward. She managed to catch herself on the banister, but when she glanced up, Pearl was already fluttering away. Then she was gone.

  Lena sighed and went back to waiting. A moment later, she got a message from her mom. Running late. Be there in six minutes!

  Suddenly, Lena was back in fifth grade again, right before her mom had left for good, waiting and waiting for a ride home after school. Back then, Lena didn’t have a phone, so she’d had no way of knowing that her mom was running late. Sometimes, she’d start to wonder if her mom was coming at all.

  Lena knew now that her mom’s soul-collecting job had been partly to blame for all those long waits. But it had been more than that. Her mom had also been crumbling under the pressure of her life, not able to handle anything—her job, her family, even herself.

  An alarm went off on Lena’s phone, reminding her that it was time to call her dad. Just like with Marcus, she’d scheduled phone dates with her dad so she’d be sure to talk to him every day. He’d been a lot more excited about the idea than Marcus had been, probably because her dad was as much of a planner as she was.

  “Is everything all right?” her dad asked when she said hello. “The pitch of your voice seems higher than usual, indicating possible emotional distress.” That was her dad’s nerdy scientist way of saying she sounded upset.

  Lena cleared her throat and tried to make her voice sound more normal. “Fine! The class I’m taking is fun, and the weather here is great. I think I’m just jet-lagged.”

  “But you’re having a good time, right?”

  “Totally!” she squeaked. Ugh. So much for sounding like herself.