Dying to Go Viral

by Sylvia McNicoll

  Two kids played in the shallow water, squealing and splashing. A third kneeled in the sand close to the lake, digging a big hole. I stood up and grabbed my backpack so I could take a walk. “You can stay here or you can come with,” I told Oreo.

  But he just looked at me.

  “Whatever.”

  I strolled past the guy in the chair with the hat over his eyes, he was definitely asleep, and drew nearer to the boy digging. Water filled his hole as he burrowed and the muck walls collapsed. “Uh!” he growled in frustration.

  “Just make it bigger,” I suggested, kneeling down and scooping the mud to demonstrate. “This stuff will make a great tower.” I shaped the muck into a turret.

  He looked up at me, his eyes measuring. I was too old to be a playmate but too young to be a Danger Stranger. “Make another one,” he demanded as the walls collapsed again.

  “Please?” I prompted and he repeated the word after me. I clawed out the sand to make a second tower. When the world falls down around you, try to build something else from it: my new motto. Of course, at the end of the day or even sooner, this castle would be flattened.

  I built a third tower for the boy. In a week I would be gone and I would never be able to help any children, sick or not. This might be my only opportunity to do anything nice for a child. The boy looked pleased and began adding his own muck piles.

  “Great. See you later.” I stood up again and wandered farther down the beach.

  In the distance several sailboats skimmed across the lake, yellow and blue and striped, colourful and graceful as butterflies. I shaded my eyes with my hand. Toward the harbour I saw my favourite lighthouse standing near the end of the pier, not warning anybody about anything anymore. Just looking lonely. A guy fished from the edge in front of it.

  As I ambled along the sand, I stumbled over a beach bag. “Sorry,” I said as I stepped on a towel, narrowly missing someone’s ankle. I looked down. It belonged to a lady in a bikini. Her skin glossy with oil, huge owl sunglasses on her face and an unfolded mirror surrounding her chin, she was sunbathing, oblivious.

  What about skin cancer? I thought and walked around her. Wasn’t what she was doing just as dangerous as skateboarding alongside a car?

  It was too perfect a day to be bitter. And this wasn’t Waikiki, it was just a strip of sand along Lake Ontario. So close and so pretty. How did I never notice how perfect life was before? As I walked farther, I saw a couple sitting on a driftwood log. Arms around each other, they were kissing. I wanted to stop and watch to figure out how it was done. What if I actually got a chance to kiss Aiden? I needed to know how. My technique had to be perfect.

  I knew how to air-kiss a friend hello on either side of the face, or give a lip touch to someone’s cheek or forehead or even their lips. What I didn’t understand was the serious kiss, the stuff that happened when a guy and girl were locked together so long. But you couldn’t really see that, anyway, their cheeks weren’t made of glass.

  Aiden was older. He had to be experienced. He would know how to really kiss. Hopefully, I wouldn’t have to take the initiative. I might have to figure out a way to get alone with him though.

  Passing by the snack shack now, I smelled French fries. Mmm! And hot dogs. Was there a better smell in the summer? Should I call my brother? We could have my birthday supper on the beach.

  Nah! This was on Dad’s tab after all. I thought of something classier and more expensive. I called Devon.

  “Where are you?” he asked immediately. “I looked everywhere for you.”

  “Sorry. I decided to go to the beach. Just downtown,” I added as an afterthought.

  “You’re swimming in Lake Ontario?” he asked. “Really?”

  “Not this moment, Bro. Right now I’m talking to you. Listen, about supper…”

  “We had pizza last night. You want Thai takeout?” In the previous pass through this day we had agreed to Thai.

  “No. Let’s do the Lakeshore Inn tonight. Dad said we could eat anywhere I wanted.”

  He chuckled on the other end. “Yeah, right. How are we going to get there? Did Dad say we could charge a cab?”

  “No, but he said I could take a friend. Scratch is kind of laid up. He gave himself a concussion and his mother wants him to rest.”

  “Yeah, so?”

  “Why don’t you invite Aiden along and he can drive?”

  “I don’t know. He may be busy. But it’s a thought. Lakeshore Inn, eh? I’ll call you back.”

  I smiled to myself and kept walking, dragging my toes through the sand just for the sensation. Over in the brush, I saw Oreo wandering along, keeping pace with me. “I’m going to the snack shack for a soft ice cream if you care to join me,” I called. Oreo ignored me, of course, as I lined up behind a bicycle dude in spandex. When it was my turn, I ordered an extra-large, soft ice cream dipped in chocolate. Sighing, I grabbed a bunch of napkins and sat down on a log on the beach to eat it.

  The phone rang just as I had my first taste. “Yeah, hello.”

  “Aiden says no to the Inn,” my brother said.

  “What? Did you tell him Dad was paying? That it was my birthday?”

  “Yeah. All that. He doesn’t want to have to dress up. He said he’d go to Wing Night at St. Louis’ Grill instead.”

  I licked at the ice cream. It wasn’t about the food, I liked wings just as much as the next person. It was about the view. I wanted to see the sunset on the lake. I wanted to share a romantic scene with Aiden. And yeah, maybe I wanted to dress up for him, and see him with a shirt and tie for that matter.

  But the important thing was that we would need to be in the same place at the same time if I was going to get him to kiss me. So a sports bar would have to do. “Okay. Wings it is.”

  “When?”

  I checked the time on the phone. It was 5:30 already, I should pack up my stuff and the cat and head back. “Tell him to pick me…um, us…up at seven.”

  “Check.” He hung up.

  My first date, sort of, and I had to arrange it all myself. The things a girl had to do when she had a deadline.

  Eternal life, my mother whispered inside of me. Suddenly, I missed her with such an intensity that my sight swirled. I shook myself. The day was almost over, after this only six more days till we were together forever.

  I stuck my phone back in the pocket of my pack and then lowered my ice cream cone to attract Oreo’s attention. Mreow! It didn’t take long. He picked his way over and extended his tiny pink tongue for a try. He nodded.

  “It is yummy. I agree.” The chocolate covering was mostly gone so I shared with him. It wasn’t like I was going to die of cat germs.

  Then I tucked him into my pack and carried him back to my towel. It was awkward pulling clothes over a damp bathing suit, all the while making sure the cat didn’t get away again.

  The bus was waiting at the stop so I ran for it, the backpack meowing as I pounded the ground. I made it and climbed aboard.

  “You again,” the bus driver said.

  “Uh huh.”

  “Cat’s still in the bag?” He stared at the movements of my backpack.

  “Yup.”

  He chuckled. “Don’t let it out!” The passengers behind him chuckled, too.

  Chapter 10

  DYING OF A BROKEN HEART

  When I got home I approached Dad’s computer nervously. What if some strange Amazon woman wanted to connect with Dad? I had to find out. Entering the Glowing Ember website I saw that Dad’s profile had been accepted and five candidates had already checked him out. No one had left a smiley face or a kiss though. I could tell all this by the little update box. At first I was relieved. Then, after a moment, I was annoyed. What was wrong with these women? I changed Dad’s nickname to Creative Genius in case they found the idea of a Good Guy boring. I’d have to get that photo up, too. Without it they may have all been scared that he was Frankenstein.

  That was all I could do for Dad today. Back to the seventh thing on my list,
the one thing on it that was entirely selfish. The kiss with Aiden. How do you make yourself look older? Or at least, old enough to be considered hot by an eighteen-year-old guy. I piled my hair on top of my head in front of the mirror. Not bad although it made me look even taller. I stuck in some hair clasps to hold it up, and a few loose strands fell down around my face. Hmph. Casual, sexy or stupid? My brother would probably let me know.

  I needed to put on makeup, too, and I even had some. A birthday gift Hailey had given me before she’d left for the cottage since she’d be away till Labour Day. I would never see Hailey again I realized with a pang. I retrieved the makeup bag from a bathroom drawer, opened it, and stared. This is where a mother would come in handy.

  You’re beautiful just as you are. I heard her voice and smiled. Still a mother had to say that about her daughter. Her opinion couldn’t really be counted on at all.

  “Try to highlight the eyes. They’re one of your best features,” Hailey had told me once in a makeover session.

  Here I was, trying to draw a straight line across my lid just above my eyelashes. Somehow I managed it but a small white line divided the brown from the lashes. “Rats.” I coloured in the space. The line became too thick. I brushed on mascara and when I blinked, managed to get it near my brow and under my eyelid too. I rubbed the excess away. Did that look like a bruise?

  A little blush, some lip balm, and I stood back and frowned at my reflection—it would have to do. We were only going to a sports bar, so I wore my newest tank top with jeans and a silver belt to sparkle the look up.

  “Can I have the bathroom for a second, pul-lease?” my brother begged, pounding on the door.

  “Use Dad’s.”

  “My shaver’s in this one.”

  “You don’t have anything to shave.” I opened up anyway.

  He squeezed in around me and slammed the door, not even noticing me long enough to comment.

  Someone knocked at the front door. Was it Aiden? I glanced at the clock on the microwave: seven o’clock, who else? I took a deep breath and walked down the hall. I would have to face him without anyone’s pre-screening. I pushed back one of the dangling pieces of my hair and opened the door, smiling. “Oh, hi, Aiden. Come on in. Devon will be ready in a minute.”

  “Hey, how are you? Happy birthday, Jane.”

  “It’s Jade. Thanks. I’m great.”

  “You have something black on your face.” He motioned to his own cheek just below his eye.

  I immediately rubbed, quickly and desperately.

  He frowned. “It’s a big smudge now. You’ll have to check in the mirror.”

  Devon stepped out of the bathroom and I rushed around him this time. Oh great! I grabbed a washcloth from the linen cabinet behind me, wet it and scrubbed at the coalcoloured smudge.

  Meow! Oreo jumped to the toilet seat to watch me. My cheek looked red from the scrubbing. Another piece of hair tumbled down from behind one of the clasps. I grabbed it and tucked it back up.

  “What do you think?” I asked the cat.

  His nose wrinkled and he meowed again.

  “What do you know, really? You’re a cat.” I rushed out and slipped into some flipflops. “Ready!”

  My brother’s eyebrows shot up but he didn’t say anything. We headed to the driveway where Aiden’s Mustang sat, top down. Was my blood on the fender? Of course it wasn’t. The accident hadn’t happened yet. Still my knees turned into jelly. I almost wanted to turn back.

  I needed to take a breath to pull myself together. This might be my first and only drive in a convertible. Would I get to sit in the front with him or would I be forced into the back?

  Devon opened the passenger door and pulled the seat forward, waiting.

  The back, clearly. I climbed in. As we pulled away, the wind whipped my hair, slapping tendrils against my face. It was no use. After two blocks, I pulled out the clasps. I gathered it into a ponytail and held onto it tightly as we drove.

  It was cooler in the evenings now and the wind made me shiver. By the time we reached the restaurant, little goosebumps covered my arms. St. Louis’ Bar and Grill still pumped their air conditioning up, too. I sneezed as we sat down.

  “You cold?” Aiden asked.

  I nodded.

  “Here, take my jacket.”

  I smiled and slipped my arms into the denim sleeves, still warm from his body. I stopped shivering. The jacket smelled like fresh air, maybe from the ride over here.

  “We’re all having wings, right?” Devon said as the waiter approached with the menu.

  I nodded. “Honey barbecue for me. Do you have any orange soda?”

  “Certainly.” The waiter jotted down my order.

  “I’ll have the Devil’s fire,” Aiden said. “And a ginger ale.”

  “Same for me,” Devon added.

  We settled back and I couldn’t help staring at Aiden’s mouth as he talked. He had a full bottom lip but his top one was so slender it disappeared into his stubble. Would he give a sandpapery kiss? What was I even thinking? No way I could smooch with him with my brother around. And he was talking about going away to college now. Maybe this was my opportunity to persuade Devon to stay home with Dad.

  “Wouldn’t you guys save a ton of money going to a local school?”

  “No one around here teaches real film,” Aiden said.

  Devon grinned. “No other school would have me. Beside I need to be far away so that when I drop out first term, Dad doesn’t kill me.”

  “What!”

  “He knows I don’t want to go to university but he can’t leave it alone. I have to get away.”

  “Devon, no. You’ve got to talk to him. Tell him.”

  The wings arrived then and we stopped talking. A football game started up on the large flat screen on the wall behind Aiden’s head. He turned to watch it. Lucky, too. It would have been embarrassing eating with my fingers, especially when there was so much sauce involved.

  When we finished and the plates were cleared, a pinkand- white cupcake with a sizzling candle mysteriously appeared. No waiters sang, no one wanted to interrupt the game but I made another wish, different from this morning’s.

  If I have to die for this guy, let me have a kiss from him that’s worth it.

  The candle fizzled out. I removed it and ate the cupcake, sweet and moist.

  Then Devon paid and we went home to watch the rest of the game on our big screen. I didn’t think Aiden noticed that I watched football beside him. I didn’t think he felt it when our sides brushed as we both reached for chips at the same time. But I did.

  At the end of the game he went home and I started again on Devon. “You can’t just go out west and drop out. You have to be honest with Dad.”

  “Dad’s the one who insists I go to school. He thinks if I stay home, I’m just going to sleep in and play computer games.”

  I frowned. “Well, it’s kind of what you do.”

  “On my days off, sure, or after I’ve been out late. But when I work for Dad, I work hard. He doesn’t even notice that.”

  “Do you get along with Dad at work?”

  “We have nothing to fight about. At work he’s the boss. I do what he says. But when it’s my life…”

  Another idea half-formed in my head. I headed for the bathroom mulling it over. Devon should continue working for Dad. It made sense, I thought as I washed my makeup off. Next I brushed my teeth. Dad needed someone to just run around and put banners or signs up. Grunt labour to lift supplies or clean the back room. Someone with a good work ethic. Yes, that’s something I could take on with Dad. Recognizing Devon’s worth.

  I puckered and then smiled at the mirror. When I stepped out the bathroom, I was surprised to see Devon waiting, frowning.

  “Jade, Aiden’s eighteen you know.”

  “Yeah, I know. So?”

  “Well, just that he’s a good guy and all but he’s too old for you.”

  I couldn’t help smiling. Devon must have noticed something goin
g on between us. Maybe he knew that Aiden liked me. I had to hope. “Devon, I don’t know why you’re worried. In a week we’ll never see each other again.”

  Devon shrugged and raised his eyebrows. “Don’t want to see you getting hurt.”

  My heart sank. In a few days, he was going to see my head bounced off the road and my body dragged under a car. That’s a whole lot of hurt. A little heartbreak would have been a picnic.

  Chapter 11

  WORKING TO A DEADLINE

  At sunrise on Day Two of the rest of my life, I climbed out of bed and wrapped myself in a blanket before taking a bowl of cereal out to the front lawn. Our house sat on a hill, giving me a perfect view. It was even prettier than the sunset. The sky lit up with fiery pink and orange and an orchestra of birds chirped and trilled. I couldn’t believe that people slept through this show every day.

  Then the birds became silent as the sky turned golden and the rest of the world sprang to life. Doors slammed, cars started up, people lined up at the bus stop. I went inside, taking my dishes to the kitchen sink.

  “You’re up early today,” my father commented as he poured water into his coffee maker. “Did you have a nice birthday dinner? What did you order?”

  “It was great. Lobster tails, caviar and champagne. That okay with you?”

  He raised an eyebrow at me as he ground his coffee, then once the noise stopped, spoke again. “If there’s a place that delivers all that, let me know. I’ll order from them next time I work late. Really, Jade, what did you have?”

  “Look over this way and smile.” I snapped a couple of shots of him. “Wings at St. Louis’. They were good.”

  “What are the pictures for?” Dad asked as he grabbed a bagel from the toaster.

  “Um, uh, just testing out the camera.”

  “Let’s see.” He stepped around to look at the tiny screen. “Works great. Amazing what a phone can do. Got any plans for today?” Still standing, he buttered his bagel and bit into it.

  “No.” I sighed, wishing I did. “Remember that time we all went to Niagara Falls together? One of those Wednesdays you took off. We rode the Maid of the Mist and walked behind the Falls.”