erased, along with any evidence as to what they’d been doing outside a vandalized residence. None of the men could remember what happened. They could barely remember their own names. Cops questioned just about everyone in town and scoured the area for clues. The trail ran cold at every turn.
I knew it might look suspicious if I didn’t go to school, but I just couldn’t manage it. I felt like the world had dropped out from under me. Everything I had learned. Everything I had seen. And to top it off, Jared was gone. I had turned on him the minute he showed me his true self, practically ordered him away. He left because of me. He said he didn’t kill anyone, and obviously he hadn’t. But I wouldn’t listen to him.
Still, that man’s neck was broken. I heard it. I saw the unnatural angle of his head on his shoulders as he crumpled to the ground. And yet, according to police reports, there were no deaths. All three men were present and accounted for. I had accused Jared of the worst crime imaginable and sentenced him before he even had a chance to explain. I was no better than those people who had burned my ancestor, the prophet Arabeth, on the streets of her village. No trial. No chance to defend herself. Just a village teeming with fear and superstition. How was I any better?
With all the questions and doubt about what happened rolling around in my head, I missed a week of school. An entire week. I hadn’t done that since I had pneumonia in the fifth grade. The homework Brooklyn brought me every day sat on my desk untouched. Just like the lunch Grandma and Grandpa had brought up earlier. They came in every so often to check on me. I knew they wanted answers, but I couldn’t talk about it, not just yet. And even when I could, I’d have to come up with a whopper. The whole
And to top it all off, I’d lost my necklace. Again. I had to have lost it either in the Southerns’ house or in the forest outside it. Either way, I worried that, if found, it could trigger questions possibly leading to us.
“There she is,” Glitch said as he and Brooklyn walked into my room carrying pizza and orange soda.
“Phew,” Brooklyn said, “we were worried you might have gone out partying, it being Friday night and all.”
I smiled and sat up. My bed was a rumpled mess, as were my pajamas and quite possibly my hair, but at least I’d managed a shower. “How was the game?”
Glitch shrugged and pulled a small table over to the bed. “We won. How was your day?”
The depression that had taken hold lurched inside me. I couldn’t look at anything or do anything or say anything that didn’t cause a deep sadness. Jared’s absence had left a hole in my heart. My behavior toward him was reprehensible. After everything he’d done for me, I threw him to the wolves the first chance I got.
I took a deep breath and swallowed hard. “Should we invite him in?” I asked Brooklyn.
“I don’t know. What do you think?”
“Well, you did bring Dr Pepper.” I looked at the six-pack in her hands.
A sad smile spread across her face. She was sad for me and I felt so guilty because of it.
She walked to the window, opened it, and leaned out. “Hey, blondie. We got pizza. Can you leave your post for a little while?”
After a minute, Cameron crawled in from the fire escape. Brooklyn handed him a slice of pizza and a soda. He closed the window and sat on the seat there as Glitch sat at my desk and Brooklyn settled in at the foot of my bed.
Having them all with me, I suddenly felt famished. I inhaled two slices of pizza before slowing to a nibble on a third.
“I really didn’t expect you to eat anything,” Glitch said, disappointed. I attempted a small laugh. “Now I’m going to have to make popcorn to fill the void.”
“Oh yeah,” Brooklyn said, “we brought a movie.” She reached over and took a DVD out of her purse. “It’s your favorite.”
I looked at it. “
“I know,” she said. “But I figured you wouldn’t enjoy whatever we got anyway, so at least I should have some fun.”
What would I do without my very best friends? Wait a minute. What would I do? What if they suddenly died or moved or got deported? Can they deport Americans to foreign countries? What would I do?
Tears began to sting my eyes and I turned to grab my inhaler off my nightstand. After a quick spray, I sat breathing deep with my face averted until I could get my emotions under control.
“You don’t have to hide from us,” Cameron said.
I didn’t turn back. “I know. This is just getting really embarrassing.”
“Lor,” Brooklyn said, “look at me.”
I turned to her, my wet cheeks a dead giveaway.
She leaned in and covered my hands with hers. “I don’t know what to do for you. How to help.”
“You are helping,” Cameron said, always the pragmatist.
A fresh supply of tears welled up behind my eyes, just waiting for someone to say the right thing, or the wrong thing, or pretty much anything.
I looked at Glitch. “Is this what it was like for you?”
He was caught off guard, and his lips pressed together. We had made a deal a long time ago not to talk about that spring break our second-grade year, but desperate times called for desperate measures. He glanced down at his pizza. “No. I was just … in shock or something. I don’t know what happened. I barely remember it.”
“Maybe Cameron can shed some light?” I looked over at him, my brows raised in question.
“I’ve never talked about it,” Glitch said in surprise. “What makes you think Cameron had anything to do with it?”
“Just a guess. Am I wrong?” When neither of them answered, I knew I was right. “Glitch, what happened? Was it anything like what’s been happening here?”
“No, hon.” He shook his head. “Not even close.”
I looked at Cameron. “Did it have anything to do with an angel? With Jared?”
“No, Lorelei,” he said. “It had to do with two very evil people.”
“Cameron,” Glitch whispered under his breath. He shifted in his chair, suddenly uncomfortable. I decided to drop it. If there was no connection, there was no reason to push for information. Not now, anyway.
“What did he look like?” Brooklyn asked out of the blue. I knew whom she meant without asking. I had told them about Jared, about how he had changed in the forest. I think I left them with the impression that he’d become a huge, green, one-eyed monster.
Even though he hadn’t, I didn’t know how to tell them what he did look like. “You’ll never believe me,” I said.
“Let me get this straight,” Glitch said. “We’ve just witnessed things most humans are completely oblivious to. The stopping of time, that whole becoming-transparent-so-a-grand-piano-can-pass-through-you thing, the banishing of a pissed-off poltergeist, the mysterious memory swipe of three men in a forest … but no, you’re right. We probably wouldn’t believe you.”
“Really, Lor,” Brooklyn said. “How much more bizarre can this get?”
“Was he, like, all grotesque or something?” Glitch asked.
“No.” I paused and thought back. “He was beautiful.”
“Beautiful? I thought he was scary,” Brooke said, clearly wondering what the big deal was.
“I didn’t say he wasn’t scary. I just said he was beautiful.”
“Chicks actually call guys beautiful?” Cameron seemed appalled.
Brooklyn smirked.
“Okay,” I said, “but you have to keep an open mind. That means you too, Glitch.”
“We’ve been through this, remember? I’m totally open.” He stretched his arms wide to prove it. “I’m an open book, an open door, an open sign that blinks in red and blue neon.”
“Your fly’s open too,” Cameron said.
“Man.” He turned and zipped up his pants before looking back. “Okay, I’m ready.”
“
