After (Parallel Series, Book 4)

by Christine Kersey

  “Billy. Are you okay? Is everything okay?”

  I laughed. “Did you know you can have pizza delivered to your house?”

  She laughed. “Of course. In some cities you can also have sandwiches delivered, and Chinese food delivered, and I don’t know what else.” She paused. “So everything’s okay then?”

  “Tasco had me order a pizza, then he went into his office. I haven’t seen him since.”

  “Oh. Well that’s good, I guess.”

  “Yeah.” We talked for a while longer, then someone rang the doorbell. “Hey, I think the pizza’s here.”

  “Okay. I’ll see you at school tomorrow,” she said.

  “Bye.” I hung up and went to the door. When I opened it, a wonderful scent wafted toward me.

  A man stood on the porch holding a box. “Pizza for Billy.”

  “Okay.”

  He handed me the box. “That will be seventeen fifty three.”

  “Yeah, okay. Hang on.” I had no idea where Tasco’s office was. I hadn’t been anywhere besides the kitchen—and now the living room where the front entry was located. I saw a hallway leading off of the entry and I headed that way. “Mr. Tasco?” I called out. “The pizza’s here.”

  “In here,” he said.

  I found him staring at a computer monitor. “The pizza’s here,” I said.

  He looked at the box I held in my hand and smiled. “I see that.” Then he stood and walked towards the front door.

  I followed and saw him hand the man twenty dollars. “Here you go.” A moment later he shut the door, then turned to me. “Take that in the kitchen, would you?”

  As we ate, I realized that the pizza at the school wasn’t as great as I’d thought. This was much better.

  “You kind of remind me of my son,” Tasco said as he put his second slice of pizza on his plate.

  “You have a kid?”

  He laughed. “Yeah. Two of them, actually. They live with their mother, so I only see them a few times a month.”

  “Oh.”

  “My boy’s name is Sean. He’s about your age.”

  I nodded, not sure what I was supposed to say to that. Then I wondered if the Richard Tasco from my world had kids. And if he did, what did they think of their dad? They probably thought he was great and had no idea the evil monster that he really was.

  I looked up from my plate and gazed at the man sitting across the table from me. Was he really the good guy he seemed to be? Or did he have an evil side too?

  Later that evening as I got ready for bed, my stomach began to hurt. I’d had stomach pains before but they were always from lack of food. This felt different. I’d had plenty to eat—more than I was used to. Then it hit me. Not only had I eaten more than I usually did, but the type of food I’d eaten had ingredients that my body wasn’t used to, and for a moment I wondered what I’d gotten myself into by coming to this world.

  Chapter 8

  Morgan

  After talking to Billy on the phone I felt a little better about him being at Tasco’s house, although it was hard to shake the anxiety that filled me whenever I thought of the man who ran Camp Willowmoss.

  The next morning at school I didn’t see Billy, but Rochelle pulled me aside the moment she saw me, which was before first period.

  “What’s the deal with you and Billy?” she said, one eyebrow arched in question, and a smile on her face.

  She didn’t seem upset, which was a relief. After dealing with Beth and Lori—two bullies I wished I’d never met—I didn’t have the energy to take on another girl who had it out for me. “What do you mean?”

  “Oh, come on, Morgan.” Her smile grew. “I saw you guys holding hands, and I could see by his face that he likes you.”

  A smile curved my mouth. “Okay, yes. We like each other.”

  “I thought so.” She paused. “What’s his story? Really?”

  Why was she asking that? Had he seemed a little off to her? If so, I wanted to turn her away from that line of thinking. “All I know is that he had a rough childhood.” That was true, but I looked away from her as I prepared to tell a lie. “That’s all I know.” My gaze went back to hers and it seemed my answers had satisfied her.

  I didn’t see Billy until right before second period. “I see you survived Tasco,” I said as I stood in front of him.

  He laughed. “Did you really think I wouldn’t?”

  An image of Dr. Tasco proudly telling the assembled news reporters that he had me in custody flashed into my mind. Goosebumps formed on my arms at the memory. “I guess not.” My eyebrows furrowed. “But don’t you think it’s weird that he’s the one you’re staying with? I mean, what are the odds?”

  Billy shrugged. “Maybe we run into the same people in whatever world we live in, but maybe those people are completely different in one world versus the other.”

  His comment made me wonder if I would have run in to this world’s version of him one day. The thought made my head spin. “Well, I hope I don’t meet anyone else that I knew from . . . there.”

  “I know, right?”

  After school I waited with Billy for the school bus. Tasco had dropped him off that morning on his way to work, but Billy would have to take the bus home each day.

  Unable to fathom that Tasco was a normal person, I asked, “So what did you really think of Tasco? You didn’t see any suspicious plots of ground in the backyard, did you? Like maybe where a body is buried?”

  He laughed. “Since it was dark when I got there, not to mention that the backyard has some snow in it, no, I didn’t.”

  “Oh. So there could be a body buried back there.” My eyes narrowed. “Doesn’t he have a family?”

  “He has two kids, but he’s divorced and they live with their mom.”

  My eyebrows rose. “So he says.”

  Billy rolled his eyes. “Come on, Morgan. Don’t be so dramatic.”

  Curious to see Tasco’s house, I blurted, “Can I come home with you?”

  Billy looked at me with surprise. “Uh, sure. I guess so.”

  My face reddened, but I laughed to cover up my embarrassment. “I was just wondering what his house looks like.” I’d gotten Mom to agree to let me hang out with Billy after school today, so at least I didn’t have to worry about making her mad.

  “It’s cool.”

  I smiled, happy to not only be able to spend time with my best friend, but also to have the chance to satisfy my curiosity.

  The bus arrived a few minutes later, and when we arrived at Billy’s stop we climbed off with a few other kids and walked to a house that stood on the corner. Two stories tall, the house didn’t appear to be any bigger than mine, and the yard seemed like it was in nice shape under the thin layer of snow.

  Billy led us to the porch then unlocked the door using a key Tasco had given him.

  “I’m kind of surprised he’s so willing to give you a key to his house when he just met you,” I said.

  “I guess he trusts your dad.” Billy smiled. “Plus he told me I remind him of his son. Evidently that’s a good thing.” He looked thoughtful. “I think that’s why he let me move in. I think he misses his kids.”

  We walked inside and I paused in the entry, my gaze probing all the space I could see. “Looks okay,” I murmured.

  Billy laughed. “What were you expecting? Enforcers hiding in the corners?”

  I scowled. “Maybe. Maybe even the Hansen from this world.”

  Billy frowned. “I wonder where he is.” He walked into the living room and looked out the window. “Maybe we should find him.”

  The thought of seeing Hansen—alive and well—gave me chills. “Why would we want to do that?”

  Billy turned to me with a grim smile. “We should see what he’s like. See if the Hansen in this world is like the Hansen who . . .” Billy clenched his jaw. “Who died.”

  “You mean who I killed,” I said, saying what I knew he was thinking. What we were both thinking.

  He walked toward m
e and put his hands on my shoulders. “You can’t blame yourself for what happened, Morgan. You were defending me, defending both of us. If you hadn’t done what you did, both of us would probably be dead. Or at a minimum, locked up.” He released my shoulders and gazed at me. “You did what you had to do.”

  His words brought me comfort. He had been there. He knew what Hansen was capable of, and if he thought what I did was justified, then I knew it must have been. That didn’t completely wipe away the guilt I felt for what happened, but it went a long way towards helping me feel better.

  The guilt for taking a man’s life was also assuaged when I thought about Hansen and the things he’d done to me—tasered me, dragged me out of my home to the F.A.T. center, punched me in the stomach, forced me to fall into a pit of live, writhing spiders, hit both Amy and me in the gym when we didn’t go fast enough on the treadmill, threatened to kill me, and would most certainly have killed me if I hadn’t done something to prevent it.

  The list of his offenses was long and I knew if Hansen was still alive there was no way I would have made it back to my world.

  “Does Tasco have anything to eat?” I asked Billy.

  He rubbed the back of his neck. “Uh . . . I don’t know.”

  “Aren’t you hungry?” Now that I was back in my world I had no plans to eat in the restrictive way I’d been forced to eat while locked up. The choice to eat what I wanted when I wanted was something I had no intention of giving up.

  “Yeah, I guess so.”

  I took Billy’s hand and tugged him in the direction where I thought the kitchen was. “Come on, then. Let’s see what he has to eat.”

  “He didn’t tell me I could just help myself to whatever I want.”

  I laughed at his reticence. “I’m sure he would expect you to have a snack after school.” We entered the kitchen and I began pulling open cupboards.

  “Why would he expect that?”

  I found a box of cookies and set it on the counter. “Because that’s what teenagers do, Billy.” I opened the package and set some cookies on the counter. “Do you want some milk?” When he hesitated, I said, “You gotta have milk with your cookies.”

  He seemed to relax as he lifted a cookie from the counter. “I do, do I?”

  “Yes.” I found the glasses and filled them with milk. “Here you go.”

  Billy took the glass from me, then drank a large swallow.

  “You gotta dip the cookies in it.” I showed him how it was done. “See? Like this.”

  After a brief hesitation, he followed my example, then smiled. “That’s good.”

  “Told ya.”

  “I guess you do know what you’re talking about once in a while.”

  Gently shoving his arm, I laughed. “More than once in a while.”

  “I don’t know about that.”

  “When did I not know what I was talking about?”

  “Hmm.” He rubbed his chin with a finger, then he looked at me with a grin. “Well, your sense of direction sucks, so I can never believe you when you tell me where anything is.”

  I nodded. “Okay. You’re right. But that’s the only thing.”

  He laughed. “How about when I warned you that Jack and Dani didn’t have a good plan for getting you out of Camp Willowmoss? You didn’t believe me and you went anyway.”

  That was true too, and suddenly I didn’t want to have this conversation anymore. “Fine,” I said with a frown. “I should always listen to you. I get it.”

  He set his glass on the counter and stepped close to me. “I only wanted you to be safe.”

  When his eyes met mine, his sincere concern wrapped around me. “I know.” His fingers brushed my cheek, then he lifted my chin. I gazed at him, hoping he was going to kiss me. A moment later my wish came true when his lips met mine and his arms went around my waist. I wrapped my arms around his neck and enjoyed the safety of his arms. He’d never let me down. Never. And I knew I could always count on Billy.

  Chapter 9

  Billy

  When I released Morgan from my embrace we stared at each other for a moment, then looked away. I’d never had such powerful feelings towards a girl before, but I liked it. A lot. She meant so much to me, which was why I’d gone through that tunnel despite the risk. When the other Morgan had walked out of the forest I’d known my Morgan’s story must be true, but the idea of going to another world, another universe, had terrified me. Despite that, I’d come, and now I was discovering that it wasn’t too bad in Morgan’s world, although I still had doubts that it was as wonderful as she’d said. This world may not have the problems of my world, but I was sure it had some of its own.

  “What are you thinking about?” Morgan asked.

  I smiled. “Just that this place . . .” I opened my arms to encompass the space we were in and beyond. “This world is pretty cool so far.”

  She smiled. “I’m glad you think so. Now you can see why I was set on getting back here.”

  My smile faded a bit. “I just wish the people in my world could see how much better it is to not have to live in fear all the time. They’re probably so used to it that they don’t even realize that they do.”

  “Yeah. But there’s no way to tell them,” she said. “Not without risking never getting back here.”

  “I don’t think they would believe me anyway.”

  “Probably not.”

  We were silent as we ate another cookie.

  “Okay, now we need to put these away,” Morgan said as she closed the cookie package and put it in the pantry.

  “Why?”

  She laughed as she climbed back onto a bar stool. “Even though we can eat what we want, we have to know when to stop. These cookies are a lot more fattening—not to mention that there is pretty much no nutritional value at all—compared to the ones in your world.”

  I remembered my upset stomach the night before. Fortunately I’d felt fine by morning, but I knew I should go easy on eating this world’s food. “Then why eat them?” I wondered how Morgan would explain the logic behind eating foods that could make you feel sick.

  She smiled. “Because they taste good.”

  I frowned. “That doesn’t seem like a good reason.” Although I had to admit that I’d enjoyed every bite I’d had of the cookies, and the pizza, and the smoothie.

  Her smile dimmed. “Maybe not, but that’s what we tend to do here.”

  “Which is probably why so many people are overweight.”

  Morgan pursed her lips. “Yeah. Probably so.”

  I thought about the range of healthy foods that were available in my world—and the fact that people generally stayed away from the sugary, fattening foods—and decided that was one thing in my world that wasn’t so terrible.

  “So, where does Tasco have his office?” Morgan asked, interrupting my thoughts.

  “Why?”

  Placing her hands on her hips, she scowled. “The Richard Tasco I knew didn’t care about people. I just want to know if the man you’re living with is the same way.”

  “It’s not like he works at a F.A.T. center.” I paused as a question came to mind. “Where does he work, anyway? What does he and your dad do?”

  “They work at an advertising agency. They make commercials and print ads.”

  That seemed harmless. “Sounds like he’s a normal guy, Morgan.”

  “Well, there’s only one way to be sure.” She slid off of the barstool and walked out of the kitchen.

  I hurried to catch up. “Where are you going?” She didn’t reply as she headed toward the hallway where I knew Tasco had his office. Fear that Tasco would know we’d been where we weren’t supposed to be swept over me. Would he kick me out? Where would I go? “Morgan, stop.”

  This time she did as I asked, then turned and looked at me. “What’s the big deal?”

  Chapter 10

  Morgan

  “The big deal is,” Billy said. “I don’t want to get kicked out. Okay?”

  I’m su
ch an idiot. Billy’s been through enough without me causing him trouble. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I guess I didn’t think of that.”

  Relief filled his eyes. “Okay. Come on then.”

  “Where do you want to go?”

  “Away from Tasco’s office.” He smiled.

  “Fine. You win.” I followed Billy into the living room where we sat next to each other on the couch.

  “We should probably do our homework,” he said.

  My lips quirked into a half-smile. “Were you this studious in your world?”

  He laughed softly. “I’m sure I would have been if I hadn’t been kicked out of my house when I was barely in high school and had to focus on survival instead.”

  Chagrin swept over me. Of course he would want to do well here. He probably felt like going to school was a privilege and he actually appreciated it. “Right.”

  We took out our textbooks and began working on our assignments. An hour later Tasco walked in. His bespectacled face looked so everyman, so normal, but it had in the other world too. Yet in Billy’s world he’d turned out to be anything but a normal, nice man.

  “Hello,” he said.

  “Hey,” Billy replied.

  “I’m glad to see you two working on your homework.” He stood there a moment, and when we didn’t say anything, he laughed. “Okay then. I’ll be in my office if you need anything.”

  “Okay, thanks,” Billy said.

  As I watched Tasco walk down the hall I had to admit I was kind of glad we hadn’t snooped in his office. What if we had and he’d been able to tell? What would he do? Would he really kick Billy out?

  We turned back to our homework and when we were done, I said, “I should probably get going.”

  “Okay. I’ll walk you home.”

  “Walk? I live, like, three miles away.”

  He laughed. “Yeah? So?”

  “Plus it’s kind of cold outside.”

  “Walking will warm us up.” He stood and held out his hand. “Come on, Morgan. We’ve been sitting all day.”

  That was certainly true. Not only that, I wasn’t about to ask Tasco to drive me home, and I was sure Mom was busy, so walking seemed like a not-too-terrible idea. I took Billy’s hand and let him help me up. “Okay.”