Cipher

“But you said…” Troy shook his head, the confusion on his face clear. “There was that whole comment about how psyched you were that he didn’t have a string of girls.”

“That comment was directed at you.”

Troy’s eyebrows lowered even further. “I don’t understand.”

“Think about it.” This time, Summer got to be the one to walk away without looking back.

* * *

“Is your mom home?” Summer asked as she and Ashlyn neared the front door. Since they hadn’t parted on the best of terms, Summer was a little nervous to see Pamela again.

Ashlyn shook her head. “She won’t be home until late tonight. Isn’t that great?”

A lead weight formed in Summer’s gut. Not wanting to see her was one thing; it being impossible for her and Ashlyn to interact at all was another. With each passing day, the sick sensation taking over Summer’s stomach got worse. Her stupid instincts told her that she needed to hurry.

When they got to Ashlyn’s room, she pulled out her drawer of CDs—it was beautiful, all those colors and titles, the hours of musical possibilities. “So what should we listen to today?”

“Whatever. I prefer something with a strong beat, but I trust your taste in music.”

“Okay, I’ve got a confession. It’s my darkest secret, and if you ever tell anyone, I’ll have to hurt you.”

That certainly caught Summer’s attention. “Spill.”

“I’ve got a secret stash of pop and hip-hop. Usher, Rihanna, and—cough—3OH!3. I don’t even put them on my iPod because I’m afraid someone will see it and accuse me of not being as cutting edge as I think I am.”

“Oh, Ash. A boy band with an exclamation point in the name?” Summer shook her head, mocking disappointment. “You don’t have Jonas Brothers in there, too, do you?”

“Of course not!” Ashlyn bit her lip. “But I do have…” She lifted a CD out of the drawer. “Selena Gomez. I bought it in junior high—I can’t be responsible for my lingering Wizards of Waverly Place love. It’s a sickness, really.”

“Actually, I have a couple of songs from that album on my laptop—it’s catchy as hell. I say throw on the 3OH!3, already. We can’t be cutting edge all the time. And really, it’s for the love of dancing. That makes semi-stupid lyrics okay.”

Ashlyn got the music running and turned it up loud.

Summer bobbed her head to the beat. “Troy would be so disappointed in us right now.” She didn’t want to think about him, but she couldn’t help it.

“What’s up with you and Troy anyway?”

Summer shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s a hard person to figure out sometimes.”

“Probably even harder to figure out if you like him.” Ashlyn sat next to Summer. “You do, don’t you?”

“I think I do.” Her chest tightened. “No, I don’t think. I do. A lot. I think about him all the time, and when he’s around other girls it makes me crazy.” She bit her thumbnail. “Time for my confession…” She looked into her best friend’s pretty face, so glad she could finally talk to her about this. “I kissed Troy a few days ago.”

Ashlyn’s jaw dropped. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me! So?” Her eyes lit up in that same way Kendall’s used to when they used to gossip, but she’d never tell Ashlyn that, because she wouldn’t understand it was okay they had some similarities. “You kissed him and then what?”

“And then I saw him flirting with that girl he’s always with,” she groaned, flopping dramatically back on the bed. “I was the one who initiated the kiss… And now I feel like an idiot. It’s obvious he doesn’t like me like that, and it’s all awkward and messed up. After witnessing the fight at the pep rally, I guess he thought I was back with Cody, and since he hates the guy, we had a fight about it in chemistry. Then there was lunch. You saw how that went.”

“Summer, you idiot, Troy likes you.” Ashlyn grinned at her like she hadn’t just insulted her. “Not just likes you, but he’s crazy about you. I can tell by the way he acts whenever you’re around.”

“We’ve been friends for a while, though, and nothing’s ever happened. Even if he does like me, he’s always flirting with other girls, and I refuse to stand in line. If he wants to do something about it, he will. If not, I’m not going to.”

Ashlyn tilted her head and raised her eyebrows. “But if you haven’t told him how you feel, then how will he know?”

Summer pushed herself onto her elbows. “Ash, I kissed him. I basically threw myself at him, so trust me, he knows. Now enough about me. Let’s talk about what you and Matt are going to do on your big date tomorrow.”

A dreamy look crossed her features. “I’m not sure what exactly we’re doing, but I’m pretty excited. And a little nervous. Then I tell myself not to get my hopes up.”

“I say get your hopes up. If he’s even kind of smart, he’s going to fall so hard for you.” The second she said it, an icy bucket of realization doused her happiness. And then there will be one more person who’s crushed when you die.

No. Because I’m gonna stop it.

No matter what it takes.

* * *

Summer felt it coming seconds before it happened. “Hah!” she shouted as Gabriella materialized in her bedroom.

Gabriella stumbled back, bumping into Summer’s dresser, her hand over her heart. “Goodness, gracious!”

“Now you know how it feels. I sensed it this time before you could scare me.”

“I was never trying to scare you.” Gabriella took a few deep breaths and straightened, running her hands down her skirt. “I’m glad you’re sensing it, though. It shows improvement.”

“I think that’s the first compliment you’ve ever given me.

Gabriella sat on the bed next to Summer. “We need to talk.”

“I know it’s getting closer, and I’m trying,” Summer said. “I’ve had a few setbacks, and Pamela wasn’t even there tonight, but I swear I’m working on it. Just give me some more time.”

“It’s not about that. It’s about the talk you had last night with your dad.”

“Oh, that. I’m sorry, but I wasn’t sure what I all I could tell him. I didn’t mention you, and my mom had already told him enough that he kind of knows what’s going on, so—”

“Summer Dear, just be quiet and listen for a second, okay? This is really important. I should’ve put it together when I talked to you the other day, but I was preoccupied. There had been this mix up, and I missed an ‘I’ in one of the names and she almost…” Gabriella shook her head. “Never mind that. What’s important is…” She reached out and took Summer’s hand. “Your mom didn’t die because of anything you did or didn’t do. Once you get those visions, you can’t change them. You getting them means that person is already on their way to the other side. You can’t stop it.”

“But if I would’ve told her about it, at least we could’ve said goodbye.”

“Most Ciphers don’t actually see the deaths like you do. It’s a very rare gift. Doesn’t it seem like it’s happening more and more?”

Summer thought about the guy falling asleep at the wheel. The man breaking into the house. “It’s starting to get overwhelming. The nightmares are the worst.” A chill ran down her spine, and she shuddered.

“You’re drawn to those people,” Gabriella said. “Without even meaning to, you find people who are near the end. In time, you might learn to simply offer an encouraging word—nothing to change their paths, just a warm smile or kind word before they die. Your great, great grandmother had that same gift. Your mom only sensed it coming. Debra got her message to go help, and she had great intuition about how to fix the situation, but she didn’t usually stay until the end. She resolved it and then moved on. Sometimes—like on her last case—Debra met the people only days before the end. That was her gift, to work fast. Yours is to see what’s coming.”

“I don’t want it. It makes me feel awful.”

“When this is over, we’ll try to figure out how to help you deal with that. Right now, we’ve got to keep focus. Just know that it was your mom’s time to go. You couldn’t have stopped it. Okay?”

“Okay,” Sumer said, still feeling like it wasn’t.

“What’s your gut telling you?”