“Don’t encourage her.” I pointed a finger at him.
“You’re such a party pooper,” Phoebe said and ignored the sharp kick I gave her under the table. “Speaking of parties, Owen said he wasn’t going to Javier’s. What’s up with that? I thought he and Nadine are dating?” She posed the question as if she didn’t care who answered, but her eyes were on Andrew.
“No clue.” He shrugged. “I rarely see the dude, and even if we did, guys aren’t like chicks. We don’t talk about feelings and all that shit.”
“What do guys talk about?” she asked.
He hesitated and glanced at Javier who was now listening in on the conversation. “Um, cars and movies.”
“Don’t forget boobs,” Javier interjected. “We talk a lot about boobs. Sometimes we even talk about the girl they belong to.”
“You have a dirty mind,” I said, torn between indignation and amusement.
“I speak only the truth. Unlike lover boy here, I feel no shame in saying boobs are on our minds all day.” Javier was always willing to give the honest and most unpleasant answers.
“If you’re gonna be all pervy, I’m outta here,” Phoebe said.
“As I said, it’s all we talk about.” He leered at her and then laughed as Andrew smacked him on the back of his head. “Okay, okay. Sorry. I shouldn’t joke. Boobs are serious stuff.”
“Are you actually going to sit with this creep?” Phoebe looked at me as she stood.
“No.” I followed her lead and said to Andrew, “I’ll see you later.”
Even though I knew Javier was joking, and he only said that to get a reaction from us, he was being way too annoying.
“Wait, I’ll walk with you.” Andrew grabbed his tray and came with me as Phoebe took off, probably in search of Tonya. “You know he was just messing around, right?”
“That still doesn’t make it okay.” I dumped the remnants of my lunch in the garbage.
“I know. The only reason he was saying it is because he’s got a thing for Phoebe.”
I snuck a peek over my shoulder at Javier. He was talking to Alonna who had joined him at the table, but he was watching Phoebe across the cafeteria.
“He does realize she’ll never go for him, right?” I asked.
“The guy can dream, can’t he?”
“Except it’s never gonna happen.”
“Never say never,” he said.
Never for me was a certainty and always had been. Yet, I was trying to change that. Maybe he was right. While yesterday never really had meant never, could I say the same today?
“So, what’s going on with you and Nadine? Did you guys have a fight or something?” Andrew asked as I linked my fingers with his.
“No. Why?”
“Come on, Chloe. Her name comes up and you’re all over it lately.”
“It’s nothing. Everything’s fine.” I forced a slight smile. I’d do everything in my power to make sure it was.
“You don’t look fine. You kinda look like someone pissed in your cornflakes.”
“I swear. There’s no problem. You’ll be the first to know when Nadine and I have a problem, okay?”
“I’m not sure that’s what I meant, but okay.”
The subject dropped, yet for the rest of the day the fact that the two of them were finding time to talk stuck with me, twisting me into knots.
But I refused to give up. My future depended on me finding a way to break free from a life of a crazy cat lady.
Chapter 10
It wasn’t working.
For the past five days, I’d done everything I could to change the outcome of the party. Sometimes, I thought I had a great idea, like when I ratted Nadine out about the nail polish stain on the carpet sure her mom would spaz and ground her. But no. Somehow, her mother blamed herself and took Nadine shopping for a new outfit for the party.
Minor details changed, like the dress she wore, or the people she spoke to, or which of them arrived in the room first.
A sigh poured out of me.
“What’s for dinner?”
I glanced over my shoulder at Phoebe, then turned back to the fridge, pulling out the carton of almond milk. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that? It’s your night for dinner duty.”
“How about you do dinner and I do clean up?” She reached past me for a diet soda.
“How about no?”
“Fine, then you won’t complain about frozen pizza.”
I groaned. “All right, but this is the last time.”
“Sure. Until next week.” She threw me a cheeky smile and while I wouldn’t admit it aloud, she was right.
“If I’m doing dinner, no complaining about having vegetables instead of processed crap.” I poured a half cup of the milk and put the carton back then started searching through the crisper drawer for the veggies I wanted.
Phoebe hopped up on the counter as I pulled together ingredients for a chicken stir-fry. “So, are you and Andrew headed for a life of everlasting bliss yet?”
I slammed the red pepper onto the cutting board and began slicing.
“I’ll take that as a no.” She snagged a slice of the pepper and popped it in her mouth, making a fake gagging sound. “You need to step up your game.”
“Meaning I haven’t been trying?” I shot her a nasty look and grabbed the next veggie. “I’ve done everything I can think of, and nothing changes, Phoebs. The future is the future.”
“Tell me what happens. I need details, who’s there, when it goes down - all the juicy details.”
“Thanks for the sympathy.” Angry tears I struggled to keep at bay filled my eyes.
She gave a massive sigh, compassion flooding her face. “I’m sorry. I’m trying to help. Details will help us figure out how else we might be able to change it.”
“I get it. I just don’t like it.”
For a few minutes, I focused on dinner. With every move I made, Phoebe watched me. Her persistence surprised me since impatient was her middle name. Once everything was in the pan, I sat down at the kitchen table and closed my eyes calling up every image I’d glimpsed.
“It’s near the end of the night. At first, her dress was silver, now it’s dark blue. Andrew talks to Javier and Travis. Nadine finds him. They dance. Then…”
“What about you? How does you going change things?”
My eyes opened. “Nadine waits until I go to the bathroom.”
“And he goes along with it?”
“He follows her.”
“What about Owen? How do they ditch him?”
“She doesn’t need to,” I said. “He’s not there.”
“Hmm.” She pursed her lips and one eye narrowed. “Okay then, Owen’s the target.”
“The target?”
She slid off the counter and sat across from me, leaning forward on her elbows. “Yeah. Get him to the party. That would be a pretty big game changer. I mean, I know he and Nadine aren’t all over each other, but still, it’s gotta be a lot harder to ditch both of you instead of just one.”
“I guess.”
Getting Owen to do what I wanted without telling him why ended up being harder than either of us anticipated. After dinner, Phoebe called him and practically begged him, but he wouldn’t change his mind. He kept saying he already had plans though he wouldn’t give details.
She finally hung up, glaring at me. “You know why this isn’t working, right?”
“Why?”
“Because you’re not doing the work. Maybe you should be the one who talks him into it.”
“Yeah, because Owen and I are so close.”
“Fine.” She threw her hands up in defeat. “Then don’t do anything. It’s your life.”
“I’m glad you realize that.”
“Whatever.”
As much as I hated to admit it, she was right. But I was done talking to her about this and unless I changed the subject to something she wasn’t interested in she’d keep bringing it up.
“Did you ever ask around about who
did the picture of me for art class?”
“Nope.” She turned, heading to her room.
“Did you figure out who did?”
“Nope,” she answered again, not bothering to even turn back.
I didn’t need her truth-telling gift to recognize her lie and I didn’t need to wonder why. Knowing she knew who had done it but wouldn’t tell me would drive me crazy, and driving me crazy had been Phoebe’s mission in life since she followed me into the world with only a minute’s lag.
The rest of the evening, I kept thinking about what she said about me needing to be the one to get him there. I had no idea how, but I knew someone who could.
The next day before class, I searched out Bianca. She’d be my best bet at getting him to the party.
“Hey girl,” I said, sneaking up behind her at her locker.
“Holy crap!” She spun and whacked my arm. “What is with you and Phoebe always doing that to people?”
“Well, they don’t call us the freaky Matlin sisters for nothing.”
“Are you stalking me for a reason or do you simply love me that much?” She arched her neck and pretended to toss hair over her shoulder.
“I haven’t decided yet. You know me, I’m much too fickle.”
“So, are you back to ditching Nada?”
“Do I have to be ditching Nadine to hang with you?”
“You know you only hang with her because my time is precious. Crap. Come on.” She grabbed my hand, pulling me down the hall with her. She glanced behind us then snapped her head back around. She was acting weirder than me.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“Karin. My parents want her to tutor me again, only for bio this time. They’re still holding out hope I’ll either suddenly decide I’m going pre-med, or I’ll become some musical savant. I can’t handle it. All she wants to talk about is Owen and if he’s gonna break up with Nada.”
“Oh, well… is he?”
She groaned and rolled her eyes. “Please don’t tell me you’ve got the hots for Owen, too.”
A laugh escaped me. There was so much I could say to her about that. “No. At least not today, but maybe tomorrow, right? I asked because the other day he mentioned he wasn’t going to Javier’s party, but Nadine is.”
“He and I are going to a roller derby. We bought the tickets weeks ago.”
We stopped outside her first class. “What if I needed him to go to the party?”
She gave me a crazy eye look. “Did you not hear me say roller derby? It’s hard enough to get to a match, let alone get someone to go with me.”
“I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.”
“Like how important?”
“Like, life changing level.”
She scrunched her lips and twisted them to the side, considering her options. When she didn’t answer, I offered her the only thing I knew she’d be willing to go for. “I’ll tutor you in bio.”
“Argh. You are evil. Fine, I’ll get him to go.”
“Okay, now I love you.”
“Did you have a doubt? I’ll talk to him at lunch, but you have to tell me why it’s such a big deal.”
“Sure, as soon as he agrees.”
Patience was hard, but I held off until after lunch. I found Bianca and Owen in the cafeteria and sat down, ignoring his surprised expression.
“You know it’s kind of strange how you two spend more time together than with your significant others.” I popped a baby carrot in my mouth and stared at Owen. “How come you never eat with Nadine?”
He shrugged, his eyes flickering between Bianca and me. “Cause I don’t like sitting with a bunch of cheerleaders?”
“Your girlfriend is head cheerleader.”
A foot kicked my shin and I glared at Bianca.
“So, I told Owen you blackmailed me into going to Javier’s party,” she said.
“I still don’t get why I need to go,” he said.
“Nadine is going,” I said. “Don’t you want to spend time with your girlfriend?”
This time, Bianca kicked even harder and I couldn’t keep back the yelp of pain. Owen shifted in his seat, avoiding looking at me though he didn’t seem to have that problem with Bianca.
That’s when it hit me. He wasn’t going to the party because he didn’t want Nadine. He wanted to be with Bianca. Why it surprised me, I had no idea. In a few months would be dating, but I had assumed that until Nadine cheated he would want her.
Was this why she went after Andrew? Because she knew Owen wanted Bianca more? If I was right, then would Owen being there even make a difference?
I was tempted to drop it, but if I did, I’d never know for sure. I’d also never hear the end of it from Phoebe.
“I’m teasing,” I said with a smile that I hoped passed as genuine.
Bianca reached over and poked his arm. “Come on, it’ll be fun. You can have some existential conversation with some giant nerd.”
“Should my ears be burning?” Bastian’s voice came from behind us and I turned to look up at him. “What? I heard giant nerd and figured you were referring to me.”
“I’m trying to convince Owen we should ditch roller derby and go to Javier’s party.” Bianca slid down the bench so Bastian could sit. “I told him he’d be able to have some over inflated, highly intelligent conversation with you while the rest of us have fun.”
“As intriguing as that sounds, it fails to consider one important fact.” He took a bite of his sandwich as the three of us waited for his answer, but when he finished chewing, he took another bite.
“And what is that?” I asked, rolling my eyes.
“I’m not going to Javier’s party,” Bastian answered.
Owen sat up straight and looked at Bianca. “See, we won’t be the only ones not there.”
“Well, if I don’t go,” she said, “then Chloe isn’t going to tutor me and I’ll have to get help from Karin. Which means she’ll be hanging out with us. All the time.”
He slumped in defeat. Karin used to hang out with them a lot, but judging from his reaction, she’d apparently worn away his patience with her constant puppy love stares.
“I’ll go,” he relented. “You realize how unfair this is, right? Maggie Mayhem Monahan is gonna be skating and you’re making me miss it to go to some party where we’ll all sit around until someone hurts someone’s feels.”
“Someone?” Bastian interjected.
“Substitute either someone for Phoebe, Tonya, Nadine, or any other girl that’s there. Then there’ll be drama and crying.”
I smiled at the exasperation in Owen’s voice. Apparently, he was friends with them because they needed someone to balance out all of their craziness.
“Sounds like I’ll miss out on some great times.” Bastian gave an exaggerated sigh of disappointment. “Too bad I’ll be washing my hair or some other trivial task meant solely to avoid such spontaneously enjoyable times as those. Besides my appearance at the event would only lead Chloe here to persist in the fantasy that I am obsessed with her and thus continue to appear - how did you put it? - stalker-ish. Which I am of course using as a hyphenated term, as according to Webster, it doesn’t exist.”
The three of us stared at him. How was it possible for him to seem nearly normal, yet sound so utterly insane?
I glanced from Owen to Bianca. “So, anyways… ”
Bastian laughed. “You guys have no sense of humor.”
Bianca snorted. “Boy, I think it’s more like you are just plain weird. Lucky for you, we like that.”
I assumed by we, she meant Owen and her, because there was no way I liked Bastian’s kind of weird.
“I do try my best.” He flourished his hand as if taking a bow.
Conversation spun off into the realm of roller derby and zombies, neither of which interested me in the least. Instead, my mind wandered to the fact that Owen would now be there. This was a huge change. It didn’t matter that he and Nadine were pretty much over already. He’d be yet anot
her body keeping them apart. There’s no way they’d have a chance to hook up.
“I need to pick up a book from the library. Catch you guys later.” I didn’t want to wait anymore to see if it worked. I wanted my answer now.
The library was busy any time of day, but I managed to find an empty study carrel in the back corner. I sank into the chair and pulled into myself. What came was… the same. At least the final outcome was, even if the tiniest details were altered.
Disappointment filled me at what I saw. The stairs in Javier’s place. Me walking up. The door. Nadine and Andrew. I forced myself out of the vision and let my head drop to the table.
The differences were subtle. The images were sharper, as if with each change I made to the events of that night the more certain it became.
This whole thing was pointless. A hope killer. Nothing I did changed anything. All the little things didn't matter. Whether I walked in on them, or they confessed the next day. For some reason, Nadine and Andrew had to happen.
While the details didn’t alter the outcome, they were changing my feelings.
Until the past couple of days, I never wondered who made the first move. I simply accepted it as a caught up in the moment kind of happening. The idea of one or both of them making a conscious decision to stab me in the back never entered my mind.
Now I knew that for Nadine nothing about the night would be spontaneous. She was the aggressor, waiting for me to disappear, pursuing Andrew.
“You know that’s commonly referred to as lying, right?”
Bastian’s shoes appeared within my view of the floor. I thumped my head on the table twice, wishing I’d wake from my revolving nightmare. From this viewpoint, I could see the grayish green haze he still carried. Over the past week, it had receded to a normal distance. During each biology class, I took a peek inside. His future no longer held the violent images I’d glimpsed before. Yet, whenever I was around him I felt the need to check.
“Are you following me?” I asked Bastian as I stared at the toes of his beat up boots.
“No, but I do think you have an extremely unhealthy fascination with stalkers. You do realize stalkers tend to suffer from some form of mental illness and often their fantasy devolves into violence. It’s not something that should be joked about.”
Watch Me: Teen Paranormal Romance (A Touched Trilogy Book 3) Page 9
