In my vision, she climbed the ladder behind the shed and jumped from the roof to the trampoline Dad bought us for our tenth birthday. I devised an elaborate plan to hide the ladder and even arranged to get both of us grounded so she’d be stuck inside. Phoebe still managed to sneak out the next afternoon and all my effort was wasted. With the help of her best friend, she made it to the top of the garage without the ladder, breaking her leg when she bounced off the trampoline onto the ground. That was the day I realized that no matter what I did the future was set.
But what if my ability had changed? Phoebe’s had. One minute she’d been normal and the next a voice was whispering in her head. And while Lily’s gift was the same, she’d finally figured out how to use and control it. Could that be happening to me? Was I supposed to start trying to change things again?
I looked at Nadine. The soft pale blue haze of her future wafted around her nearly invisible. Scooting a bit closer to her, I let my foot cross through and focused on the now. If I let myself go too deep, I’d see further than I wanted. If I was going to test Lily’s theory, I needed something soon.
Almost instantly, I had flashes of Nadine reaching for the phone, her foot hitting the bottle of nail polish that sat on the couch and spilling it across the carpet. The picture faded nearly as quickly as it came.
That was an easy enough event to try and change. Reaching over, I picked the polish up off the couch and placed it on the coffee table away from her foot. Then I waited. It wouldn’t be long before the phone call, but it felt like hours, each minute ticking by as I waited to see if I had managed to alter the future.
What I would do if it didn’t work was an easy enough question to answer. I’d go on the same as I always had. Doing what the future expected me to do. The flip side was different. What would I do if it worked? Some of the things I’d seen…
The phone rang, scaring the crap out of me, and I jumped up. So did Nadine. Her foot kicked out, smacking the nail polish off the table and sending it careening to the floor.
“Shit!” she yelled as the pink liquid seeped onto the carpet. “Oh God, my mom is gonna kill me!”
She ran to the kitchen and came back with a wet cloth. Dropping to her knees, she began scrubbing frantically at the globs starting to soak into the beige carpet.
“Grab another cloth from the kitchen,” she said, glancing up at me. I hadn’t moved, frozen in place at the confirmation that there’d been nothing I could do to change the outcome. The panicked look she gave me finally sunk in. I got up to find another towel, joining in her efforts to clean up the stain.
Maybe it hadn’t been exactly what I’d seen, but the ending had been the same. There was my black and white. I was torn between relief and frustration that nothing would ever change.
We scrubbed at the stain and Nadine even tried to use nail polish remover, which seemed like a good idea, until the carpet started changing color again.
She groaned in defeat. “I’m so dead. Mom’s gonna totally freak when she gets home.” She tossed the cloth on the table and flopped back on the couch. I sat beside her and we stared at the stain.
“She might not notice.” Actually, I knew she wouldn’t. Nadine’s mom wouldn’t be home until late and when she did arrive, she’d be so plastered she wouldn’t even make it upstairs. But again, it’s not like I could tell Nadine.
If it had been me facing my father after destroying the carpet, I would have mourned the expected loss of my freedom for a few weeks. Nadine however was not me and in her typical fashion, she didn’t’ stay down long.
“Let’s go do something,” she said, bouncing up.
“Like what? It’s a Tuesday night,” I said, unsurprised by her shift in mood.
“We could go to a late show.”
“Too expensive, besides I’m going to the movies with Andrew on Saturday.”
“Starbucks?” She giggled at the look I gave her. “Okay, no more caffeine for me. But come on, I’m bored and I might be grounded after my mom sees the carpet, so I have to live it up while I still can.”
“There’s nothing to do. It’s Beachgrove on a Wednesday. Everything’s been shut down since six.”
“Oh my God! We should totally try out the laser tag room that just opened in the bowling alley.”
Doubtfully, I said, “You want to play laser tag?”
“It’ll be fun. Please?”
“Fine.”
Apparently, we weren’t the only people tired of movies, bowling, or staying home. The line was long, so we paid for three rounds upfront.
Thanks to our longer legs, we absolutely slaughtered the group of eight-year olds we played against first. Unfortunately, round two pitted us against a bunch of preteen boys who obviously had nothing better to spend their allowance on than laser tag. The brats managed to corner us on the bottom level as they shot at us from every angle possible.
“You know, my dad would probably have some major issues with all these kids shooting guns, even if they are pretend.” I wiped at the fine film of perspiration settling along my forehead as we sat waiting for our final round. “Violent play begets violence, desensitization and all of that.”
“Actually,” a voice said behind me. I turned to see Bastian staring down at us. “There have been studies that suggest there is in fact no correlation between violent crimes and exposure to violent content. As sales of video games, including graphic games have increased there has been a decrease in violent crimes.”
“What are you doing here?” I asked. I tensed and felt my back cracking under the pressure of the tightened muscles.
“Well, I heard if you make it to the top platform without being shot, you win a kiss from Princess Peach.”
“Who’s that?” Nadine asked.
“She’s the princess from Super Mario.” Bastian smiled at her.
“Oh.” Her eyes widened, intensifying the innocence she naturally wore, before breaking into one of her typical friendly grins.
“Are you playing?” I asked him.
“Yeah, my brother wanted to try it out. We’re up after this group.”
“Us, too!” Nadine grabbed his arm and tugged him down into the empty seat between us. “We should team up. See those boys over there? They need to go down. Like. Seriously.”
“Seriously, huh?”
Nadine, Bastian, and his younger brother, Jayden, launched into an intense strategy conversation and I zoned out, focusing on the haze Bastian still carried around him. I considered leaning in for a glimpse of his future, but knew I wouldn’t be able to keep my cool when I saw the same old tragic end to our relationship.
“Chloe?” Nadine snapped her fingers in my face.
I jerked my head away from her hand. “What?”
“You weren’t even listening were you?” Bastian shook his head sympathetically. “When the door opens, we break to the right and follow the ramp to the first tower. Jayden will secure that position while we make our way up to the top platform. Once we’re up there, I’ll guard the entrance. You and Nadine patrol the walls and take out the little punks.”
“Sounds good. To the right, up the ramp, and to the top.”
“Whatever you do, don’t stop moving or shooting. If you freeze, they’ll corner you like a dead rat.”
The attendant called our group number and we filed into the prep room. I grabbed a vest and slid it on, buckling the strap around my waist. Once I was ready, I gripped my laser gun and checked out the competition. The punk tweens were jumping up and down, bumping into each other in some lame way to pump themselves up.
The doors opened and we took off running. I tried to remember the plan, but the second I entered the black light room adrenalin had me scrambling for cover.
Nadine was calling my name and I shouted back at her, trying to peek through the slats to the level above my hiding spot.
“What are you doing?”
I jumped at Bastian’s question, spinning around as my finger tightened automatically on the trigger. Hi
s vest flashed as my laser hit its unintended target.
“You do realize your failure to follow the strategy we formulated is causing us to lose, right?”
Did he actually suggest I failed at something? I don’t do failure.
“Who says I’m losing?” I arched a brow and proceeded to shoot him a few more times before I made a break for it.
I ran up the ramp, getting off a few shots at Jayden as I passed him. My heart thundered in my chest, adrenalin flowing freely. I reached the top of the platform and crouched behind a half wall. Nadine gave me a curious look as I burst out in a breathless laugh.
“Where’s Bastian?” she asked, pressing her face back to the gap and shooting at whoever she found down there.
“Most likely plotting with his brother.”
“What?”
“I may have turned on him.”
“Chloe, now we’re never gonna win.” Her mouth drooped and the laser gun hang listlessly at her side.
She’d pout if I didn’t get her to realize I’d done the right thing. Luckily, one of the benefits of being a best friend was that I knew exactly how to do that.
“He said girls can’t win at laser tag. That we lack the…” I scrambled to think of any necessary skills for this game, “the attitude.”
“Are you serious?” Her eyes narrowed. “Those boys are going down.”
We didn’t win. That distinction went to the group of boys we originally set out to take on. We did, however, outscore Bastian and Jayden.
Even better was that for the span of twenty minutes I’d been able to put away all thoughts of the future.
When I got home a few hours later, I found Lily lying in wait for me in the living room.
“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice filled with such regret it was hard to be mad at her for her harsh words.
“It’s okay. I assumed you were possessed by Phoebe.” That got a slight smile out of her, though she was still pale enough to make her freckles stood out more than usual. It would take more than a little joke to stop Lily from worrying. And a worrying Lily meant a conversation I couldn’t run from. My adrenaline high came to an abrupt end.
Lily’s eyes settled on me. “I just want you to be happy, and I don’t think you are.”
My chest tightened and I sank into Dad’s recliner, curling my legs up to my chest. “Maybe I’m not.”
“What’s going on, Chloe? You’ve been acting strange the last few weeks. Especially with the talking during your visions.”
Moisture pooled in my eyes, but I refused to cry. My head dipped to rest my check on my knees so I could still look at her. Lily was so different from Phoebe and me. She was small and delicate. I always thought she’d break so easily. After learning what she’d gone through, not only since Dylan died, but for every day of her life, I realized that of the three of us she was probably the strongest. If she were in my position, she wouldn’t be sitting around crying over the pointlessness of it all.
“I used to be able to use it when I wanted, you know?” I said. “Just turn it on and off like a light switch. It was great. See what I wanted and block out the rest.”
“And now?”
“I can’t control it. At least not completely.”
“Do you remember when Phoebe started hearing the voice in her head?” she asked and I nodded in response. “You told her to talk to Nanna.”
“I know.” Knowing didn’t mean doing though, and maybe that’s where Phoebe and I were more alike than I cared to admit.
“What did you and Nadine do tonight?” she asked, obviously trying to go for some normalization.
“Painted our nails then played laser tag with Bastian and his brother.”
“I didn’t think you were friends with him.”
“I’m not. He just happened to be there.”
The thing with Lily is she never had the need to fill silence with chatter, yet sitting with her I always felt compelled to talk.
“I’m going out with Andrew this weekend.”
“So, are you guys officially dating again?”
Good question. Were we?
“He and Nadine are gonna hook up behind my back.”
Lil’s eyes widened. “Wow. That’s really…”
“Sucky.”
“How can they do that to you? Or to Owen?”
“That’s the question of the day.”
She watched me for a few quiet moments before saying, “You like to torture yourself, don’t you?”
I snorted. “Pot meet kettle.”
“It’s not the same, Chloe. My gift didn’t give me a choice. I touched, I healed, and I hurt. Now I know how to not feel that pain, I don’t.” She stood and walked to the hallway entrance. “You have a choice. You always have. And you choose to do nothing.”
Chapter 5
Spending the day alone with Andrew wasn’t my best idea. I didn’t look into his future or even mine to see how things would go, mainly because I wanted to be with him, even if only for a few more weeks. But I never considered how difficult it would be pretending everything was back to normal. With Nadine, it was easier. She didn’t make me shiver and want to kiss her.
Andrew, on the other hand, sent me into sensory overload. The entire ride into the city he played with the hair at the back of my neck, sending a constant stream of shivers through me.
“We should go play laser tag,” he suggested as he threw an arm over my shoulder and squeezed.
“Nadine and I did a few days ago.” I didn’t mention Bastian, though I wasn’t sure why. For some reason it seemed like something Andrew shouldn’t know.
“Come on, it’ll still be fun. Besides, Lily’s gonna start the zombie apocalypse any day now and all these gun skills will come in handy. It’s all about preparation, baby.”
I rolled my eyes as he referenced the rumor that Lily brought his dog back from the dead in sixth grade after being hit by a car.
“You better not bring that up again. She’s still pissed you started that rumor. She swears she still hears people moaning behind her back.”
“Dang, she could hear me?” He laughed and grabbed my swatting hand. “I’m joking! I stopped doing the moaning thing last year when Mr. Mason thought I was…well, you can guess.”
“That’s just wrong,” I said and shuddered at the very thought of Andrew even thinking about Lily like that. Any association between Lily and sex just seemed wrong. The idea of her and Micah having sex still weirded me out. I mean, she’s my little sister, if only by a few minutes. Lily always seemed like an angel. Way to pure for any extracurricular physical activities.
“Tell me about it. I’m not into fire cro-” his words cut off as my hand made contact with his arm this time.
“I so don’t need to hear that, especially about my sister. It’s a disgusting enough word that I’d be insulted regardless of my sister’s hair. Now can we please get something to eat?” I climbed into the car, ignoring his laugh.
By the time we pulled up to a burger joint for lunch, any disturbing images of Lily vanished as my stomach took over. I settled into a booth while he hit the restroom.
“Can I get you started with some drinks?” the waitress asked, handing me a menu. My hand slipped into the haze around her and glimpsed an overlap of our futures.
Letting go of the menu. I smiled. “Actually we’re ready to order.”
Andrew arrived back as she was leaving.
“Where’re the menus?”
“I ordered already. I got you the double bacon jack burger, no pickle, fries, and a coke.”
He looked like he was trying to decide if he should argue or if he should thank me for ordering exactly what he wanted without having told me. He settled on ignoring the weirdness of it.
“There’s an arcade around the corner. Want to check it out?”
“Sure.”
We spent our time waiting for our order, playing an ancient ninja game. Our food arrived as my stash of quarters dwindled to one.
�
��Are you going to Javier’s party?” Andrew asked, wiping the ketchup from the corner of his mouth with a napkin as we ate. “I thought we could go together.”
“No,” I snapped and my fork clattered from my trembling hand. I shouldn’t have been surprised by the question. Javier was one of his best friends and I knew Andrew would be going. If we really were dating again, it would make sense for me to go with him. But I wouldn’t.
“Chill, Chloe. It was only an idea.” His face scrunched up into a face that clearly asked ‘what the hell is wrong with you?’.
“Sorry. It’s all Phoebe’s fault I can’t go,” I lied then wanted to kick myself because no way could I convince Phoebe to skip the party. “She bailed on Nanna’s Thanksgiving dinner, so Dad told us we all have to go to my uncle’s Christmas party. Normally we don’t have to go, but now we don’t get a choice.”
“Man that sucks.” He shrugged and dipped a fry into the glob of ketchup on his plate. “I have to work the next two weekends and I’m spending the holidays with my dad in Arizona. Javier’s party is pretty much the only night I’m gonna be free. Maybe we can hang out the day after?”
“Sure, that sounds good.”
I took a sip of water, trying to force the knot in my throat down. He wouldn’t be doing anything with me on the day after the party. He’d be on the phone with Nadine trying to convince her not to tell me the details of the party. Nadine and Andrew would hook up at Javier’s party. Even with the brief images I’d glimpsed, the horrible pink floral patterned wallpaper Javier’s parents’ had spread throughout their house was impossible to miss.
“So, since you nixed laser tag, we could go see a movie after the beach. How about the new action one with Chris Hemsworth?” He wiped a napkin across his mouth, muffling his words.
“Considering you spend so much time working at the movie theater, I’m always amazed at how much you love going back there when you’re not getting paid. Most people avoid spending their free time at work.”
“What can I say? I found my calling.” His deep chuckles joined my own.
Andrew’s obsession with film was well known. He talked a lot about going to film school and becoming a famous director. I felt bad knowing that his passion for film would never go anywhere beyond writing online reviews under a fake name. He’d drop out of film school after a semester to get the business degree his father wanted him to.
Watch Me: Teen Paranormal Romance (A Touched Trilogy Book 3) Page 4
