by Jessa Russo
“Well, I’ll tell you when I see you. I’ll be at your house in twenty minutes.”
“Don’t bother; I’m almost at your house. I just parked around the corner because I didn’t want to accidentally run into Toby. Or Greg. Or that bitch Ariadne. Ugh. I’ll be there in a few. Oh, and bring me some clothes and stuff.”
“Clothes?” I asked, but she’d already hung up the phone. I grabbed the toothbrush she kept at my house, a tube of toothpaste, and a hairbrush, a gray and black striped maxi dress, and my black gladiator sandals. She’d have to just deal with the color choice today because I didn’t own anything that even closely resembled pink.
Moments later—after escaping through my window to avoid seeing Frankie or my completely detached mom—I was buckled into Jessie’s bright pink VW, and the two of us were ready to take on the world. Or figure this thing out. Or at least eat a really big, fattening lunch, because that’s where we were headed. I might have been delaying the inevitable, but my stomach was growling, and I wasn’t one to argue.
Jessie had on the pink Minnie Mouse shirt she wore to Disneyland yesterday, so I imagined she’d had even less sleep than me. I wondered how long she’d stayed up talking to Greg.
“Don’t even look at my outfit right now, Ever. After we got to Greg’s house last night, I passed out. I don’t know if it was shock, or what, but when we woke up this morning, I freaked out on him, and then, after what he”—she paused, shaking her head slightly, brow furrowed—”what he told me, I got in my car and drove straight to your house. I’ve been sitting down the street all morning not knowing what to do next.”
“Oh geez, Jess, why didn’t you call me?”
“I don’t know”—her stomach rumbled loudly, breaking up her words—”I was sort of just … scared, I guess. And now I look disgusting.”
She didn’t look disgusting by any means, but Jessie was Jessie. She made a face when I handed her the clothes, crinkling her nose at all the black. “Well, I guess it does go with my mood. All dark and grumpy.”
We ended up at Islands, deciding that a basket of Cheddar Fries could make even the very worst situation better. With bacon of course, because everyone knew that bacon definitely made everything better. Jessie headed to the bathroom to change and wash her face, and I ordered our food and drinks.
Jessie came back to the table and began applying her makeup, trying to camouflage the puffiness from all her earlier tears. I blankly stared into space. I knew what I had to do next, and I didn’t want to do it alone, but I also knew that Jessie was going to be pissed.
“I can’t believe I just brushed my teeth in the bathroom here. People probably think I’m a hobo.” She paused to look around for anyone nearby, and, satisfied that she looked the best she could look under such dire circumstances, she closed her compact, turning her full attention to me.
“All right, Ev, soul collectors. What’s your big plan?”
Delaying the inevitable again, I gave her the back-story. I explained to her that I’d been on the computer all morning, searching for anything that would help us, and I’d come up empty handed. Then I told her about my plan—which was a far better idea than going to Greg or Toby with our questions—but you wouldn’t guess that by her reaction.
You’d think I’d asked her to off someone for me.
“What?”
Three women dining at a nearby table turned their heads in unison at the sound of Jessie’s shriek.
“Are you freaking kidding me right now, Ever? Is there something wrong with you? Freaking Ariadne? Of all people? Ariadne?”
“I know, I know, but hear me out.”
“Yeah. Okay. I’m sure you have something amazing to tell me. Something earth shattering that will justify going to that horrible bitch for help. Do you know she hooked up with Greg? Ugh. That chick’s a major stain. I can’t even believe you right now, Ever.”
My eyes widened. Greg, too? Slut. I shook away the thought. Ariadne’s lack of character, or why Toby and Greg had apparently both hooked up with her, was not what was important right now. And frankly, it kind of made me sick to think about.
“Jess.”
“Fine.” She waved her hands in mock surrender. “Go ahead. I’m all ears.”
“You’re right, Jess. She is a major stain, whatever that means. I hate her as much as you do. Trust me. What she did … to us … to Frankie … well, crazy bitch status aside, she’s at the bottom of this whole mess. I’m not ready to talk to Toby. You’re obviously not ready to talk to Greg.” I waited for her to argue, but she conceded by averting her eyes. She didn’t want to admit that I had a point, and frankly, neither did I. But that wayward house I’d wished for never fell on me when I walked outside earlier and I didn’t die in the shower, so as of now, this mess was still my life. “And you know what, Jess? I have a pretty good feeling that both Toby and Greg will hide the truth from us, or at least some of it. So screw them. We’re going straight to the source.”
“Your plan sucks. I hate that chick.”
“I know. You’ve said that. But can you think of a better idea?”
“Yeah, I can. What did Frankie have to say about all of this?”
At the mention of his name, my cheeks flushed. Heat rushed into them without my consent, and I looked down at the napkin in my lap, trying to make my hair fall forward to hide my blushing.
“Oh my gosh, Ever Van Ruysdael. What is that?” She pointed to my red cheeks.
“What?” I tried to answer her nonchalantly with a casual shrug and a blank look on my face, but I knew my cheeks were giving me away as usual. I looked anywhere but at her, my head still slightly tipped forward. I tried to play it cool, all the while knowing it was a lost cause. I’d never been able to keep anything from Jessie. I took a long sip of my Passion Fruit iced tea, hoping that somehow it would magically cool my cheeks. Yeah, maybe if I rub the ice directly on them, or pour the tea over my head. She’d think I was crazy, but at least that would draw the attention away from talking about Frankie.
“Oh no you don’t. Look at me.”
I looked at her, my lips twisting into a smile beyond my control.
“Oh, Ever, you slut! You hooked up with Frankie, didn’t you?”
The slut reference stung a little, but only because of my shameful conscience. I knew Jessie didn’t really think I was slutty. God knew she’d kissed a lot more boys than I had.
“Jessie, shh!”
The waitress delivered our gooey, cheesy mess of fries at that very moment, and my cheeks flushed even hotter, as if she also knew that I’d kissed two boys in as many days. Jessie waited for her to leave and then lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, speaking around a mouthful of fries and ranch dressing. Her eyes were wide with anticipation.
“Spill.”
I told her how Frankie woke me up during the night, after another one of my nightmares. I began to describe the way it had felt to see him there, to finally feel his hands on me—
“Wait … what? What do you mean another nightmare?”
Oh. Shoot. I hadn’t told her. I wanted to, plenty of times, but we always got to talking and we never finished one story before we’d started another one, and there were always so many other things going on—most prevalently her new, exciting relationship with Greg, and my often-confusing relationship with Toby. And somehow, somehow, I had neglected to tell my best friend about my nightmares.
This meant, unfortunately, that I’d never told her about Frankie’s visits to my room at night. As I began to tell her about all of the nightmares I’d had, and the subsequent nights spent with Frankie, I saw in her face that I’d hurt her. She tried to mask it with her interest in my story, but it was there. Plain as day.
Ugh. I hadn’t meant to hurt her, really I hadn’t. But it was too late for that now.
“Jess, I’m so sorry. I mean, I meant to tell you, but—”
She shook her head lightly and waved her hand in the air, silver bangle bracelets clanking around her wri
st.
“No worries, Ev. It’s all a bit to take in, yeah, but I can’t even imagine how weird it was for you. I mean, being with Toby all that time, but loving Frankie too, and then … and then Frankie was coming into your room at night to comfort you!” She paused and licked her lips. “It sounds like such a great episode of Gossip Girl! Or 90210! But … you know … like a Halloween episode or something … since Frankie’s a ghost.” She paused again, and her eyes widened slightly. “Was a ghost. Whoa. That’s weird.” She shook her head. “Okay, so anyway, enough about your secret little affair with Frankie.”
Her words had me feeling slightly disappointed that she didn’t want details about my kiss with Frankie, when it was something I’d anticipated for so long.
Obviously able to decipher my feelings from the expression on my face, she continued, “Oh, Ever, relax. Of course I want to hear all about how amazing of a kisser he is. Just, not right now. Seriously, stay focused. Tell me about the actual dreams. You said you never remembered them—except for one, right?”
Hearing Jessie tell me to stay focused was funny all in itself, but add to that the fact that she was trying to not talk about boys … our lives really had changed.
“Well, two technically. I can remember two dreams now. I can remember the one from last night. Or, this morning I guess. Whatever.”
“Okay, so what were these two nightmares about?”
I had no problem relaying every detail, as each nightmare was still vivid in my mind. First, the nightmare with Toby standing over Frankie’s bloody, lifeless body … and his words, the words that still haunted me: ‘You can’t save him.’ Then, most recently, Ariadne standing over Frankie’s body, her beautiful white dress ruined with his blood, taunting me with those same unforgettable words.
‘You can’t save him.’
The words ran through my mind again, followed by an image of Ariadne kissing Frankie. I shivered. I realized Jessie’s face had paled considerably since I began describing the details of my nightmares.
“Jess?”
She swallowed hard, placing both hands palm down on the table. Her napkin was under one of her hands, and I noticed that she had shredded it into tiny pieces as she listened to my story. She inhaled deeply.
“Oh, Ever, don’t you see?” she whispered. “Your dreams … they were warnings. About Frankie’s soul. It’s … it’s all … it’s all real then. Greg was telling the truth.” She swallowed again, and her face paled even further. She was almost a pale greenish-blue color.
“Jess, hey, they’re just dreams,” I said, even though I’d already come to the same conclusion about them. “Eat some more of your salad. Drink some tea. Do something. You look like you’re going to be sick. We’ll figure this out. I know we will.”
I reached across the table and squeezed her hand. It was ice cold.
“Jess? It will be okay. I promise.”
Something in my mind tried to tell me not to make promises I couldn’t keep, but right at that moment, I had every intention of keeping that promise.
For both of us.
Ariadne.
I couldn’t believe I was doing it, but as we walked up to Toby’s front door, and I watched my fist reach up and knock three times, I realized it was really happening.
I was going to Ariadne for help.
Beside me, Jessie tightly crossed her arms, and she tapped her pink toes in annoyance. Or nerves. But we’ll stick with annoyance. She exhaled a loud sigh, deliberately letting me know her strong opposition to my plan. I looked at her and shrugged. Too late to back out now. The door was opening.
”Oh. What a pleasant surprise. Have you come to thank me, or apologize for your less than hospitable hospitality earlier?”
“Oh my god, Ever. This is a mistake. Let’s go before I show Ariadne what my hospitality looks like.”
I placed my hand on Jessie’s arm and tried to ignore the smug look on Ariadne’s face. She was already winning by getting a rise out of Jessie. I ignored Jessie’s words and responded to Ariadne’s. “Neither. We have questions, and you owe us answers.”
“Do I now? How do you figure?”
“Look, Ariadne. Cut the crap. Will you let us in and talk to us, or do we have to keep playing games like we’re at the school lunch tables?”
“Well, I did warn you that I don’t play well with others.” She stepped aside and waved us in.
I had to practically drag Jessie inside. She was trying to play it cool, but I saw her gaze darting around, looking for Greg. Apparently Ariadne caught it, too.
“Relax, blondie. Your boyfriend isn’t here. In fact, neither of them are. They’re off with Ted somewhere. It’s just us girls. Who wants to paint my toenails?” She sat on the couch and raised the long hem of her maxi dress, wiggling her toes at us.
Jessie sat in the chair across from the couch, as far as she could get from Ariadne, which left me two options: sit down next to Ariadne on the couch or stand.
I chose option number three and paced the floor.
“Oh relax, Ever. Seriously, I’m not going to bite. You.” She winked at Jessie, and Jess looked up at me with pleading eyes. She was normally the one with all the moxie, but Ariadne really set off something in her. Maybe it was the connection to Greg. I looked at my best friend and realized she’d really felt something for Greg. I mean, I’d known she really liked him and that she was more serious about him than any other guy before him, but now I realized just how much she loved him. Being around Ariadne would make anyone uncomfortable, but Jessie’s agitation went far past uncomfortable. In fact, it seemed to match my feelings toward the girl.
Reluctantly, I sat next to Ariadne. Only because pacing wasn’t helping me organize my thoughts into actual questions. “Look, Ariadne, Toby and Greg have told us a little bit. We know you are … soul collectors.”
“Why, Ever, your pause tells me you have trouble believing that.” She tilted her head as she examined me. “Do you not have your own little secrets? How can you doubt what we are when you’ve been keeping a ghost as a pet for two years?”
“Hmph.” Jessie’s scoffing was quiet, as though she didn’t want to join in on the conversation but wanted me to know she agreed with Ariadne—at least on this one innocent statement. Jessie’s little way of saying ‘I told you so,’ after trying in vain for years to convince me to broaden my beliefs, was hardly consistent with her reaction to all of this. I mean, last night I was scared for her sanity. But I ignored the bait. Jessie’s beliefs—or disbeliefs—were not important right now.
“So, yes, we are soul collectors. That part is correct. What else did my boys tell you?”
Jessie cringed, her lip curling up ever so slightly.
“Well, I don’t know about Greg, but Toby explained it to me a little bit. Like, I guess you guys find souls that haven’t passed on, and you … I don’t know … guide them?”
“Indeed. To heaven or hell, depending.”
“On what?” I couldn’t help but ask with Frankie’s soul being the one in question.
“Don’t worry, Ever, your Frankie was a good boy. You should know that—I mean, you’ve been obsessed with him for … what … your entire life, haven’t you?”
“What about now?” Jessie asked.
Whoa. I wasn’t yet ready to know about Frankie’s soul’s current status, so I quickly changed the subject. “So, you guide souls to their final destination. I guess I understand. Sort of. Why do souls get lost in the first place?”
“Not lost so much as stubborn. Frankie isn’t confused about where he’s headed. He’s just too stubborn to go.” She looked at me with mock adoration, batting her eyelashes at me. “He didn’t want to leave you. Aww.”
I got that she was making fun of me, but I continued anyways. No need to let her know she was making me want to punch that fire-engine-red pout of hers. That lipstick would probably stay on my knuckles for days. So I ignored the bait.
“You guys came here for Frankie?”
“Yes.
In a roundabout way.”
“Ugh. Seriously? What the hell does that mean?”
“Oh, Jessie. I forgot you were here, hon. Well, what I mean is that Toby and Ted came here for Frankie. Greg came here because Ted called him. Apparently Toby was losing his focus.” She looked directly at me. “I came for Toby.”
She made my skin crawl. Literally. Had it not been attached to my body, it would have crawled away from her. I was on edge just being near Ariadne. Her double entendre was tacky at best, but still managed to get on my nerves. Now, she looked at me like she was going to eat me, and I couldn’t help but squirm. Ariadne the Shark had returned. Fan-freaking-tastic. I got up and paced the floor again, ignoring the satisfied look on Ariadne’s face. She’d gotten a rise out of me. Fine. But she still hadn’t won the battle.
“So, Ted and Toby came for Frankie. Why two of them? Why not just one person, or … I mean, just one soul collector?” My slip of the tongue reminded me that I’d have to eventually ask her if they actually were human. A question I was not looking forward to asking.
“Ever. Don’t think I didn’t catch that. We are people. We’re just people with an actual purpose. Unlike yourselves.”
“How do people like you become soul collectors?” Jessie asked. “Did you do something especially nasty, because that I could believe.”
“The how’s and the why’s of it are unimportant. I think Ever has much more pressing questions for me, don’t you, Ever?”
“Why did Ted come?” Yes, I know, I was avoiding the big question. I couldn’t help but delay it for as long as possible. I was too scared of the answer.
“I don’t begin to know why Ted does what he does. And I don’t question him. He’s here, and he must have a reason for it. I’m sure we’ll all find out in due time. But to answer your question, Toby could have handled Frankie on his own. Had you not gotten in the way, of course.”
Me. So, had I not gotten involved with Toby, Frankie may have just disappeared one day and they’d both be gone. I looked at Jessie, her wide eyes matching mine.
