“So do you.”
She looked at her hands and her eyes widened. “Dude!”
Before she could say anything, Jonathan’s voice overshadowed everything.
“Hey, birthday girl!” he called as he brought in the cake.
“Dad?!” Tia screamed.
“Aha, who else, Tia?” he replied as he set the cake on the table.
Other girls ran towards the table.
“Taylor, Lucy, and Laura,” Tia said in shock. Then she looked at me. “Anna, what’s going on?”
“Come on.” I grabbed her hand and ran towards the table.
There was no better way to show Tia how all of this worked. Maybe if she could relive something she remembered, she would understand.
“This is so surreal!” Tia said, once we were seated at the table.
“Not that surreal.” Jonathan cut a piece of cake and put it on Tia plate. “Birthdays happen once a year…at least!” He smiled.
I laughed, and so did everyone else at the table.
I leaned over and whispered to Tia: “Do you remember what I got you for this birthday?”
Tia froze for a second, thinking. “Yeah,” she said with a smile. “You got me a slingshot.”
“That you’re not going to use until you’re at least eighteen.” Clare walked into the room and crossed her arms.
“She’s right,” Jonathan agreed. “We know you’ll accidentally take someone’s eye out with that thing.” He shrugged.
“Wow. I remember this,” Tia whispered at me.
Tia grabbed her fork, and dug deep into a piece of her cake. But before she could take a bite, it all faded into nothing. Darkness surrounded us again. She stood up, looking her age again, and stared at me, dumbfounded. Then she asked, “Is this what you’ve been doing? How do you do that?”
“It’s not me,” I replied as our surroundings reverted back to my grandmother’s house.
“It’s me,” a shy voice said.
Tia and I both looked left, and Clay approached us; tall and grey, with a soft face.
Tia froze.
Clay extended a hand to shake Tia’s. “I’ve…heard a lot about you over the years,” he said to her. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”
Tia gulped, and eventually replied, “What the hell is going on? And why do I feel so dizzy?” She stumbled and almost lost her footing, but I caught her.
Clay lowered his hand. “Nice to meet you too,” he said in a low voice.
“Tia, this is him. This is Clay.”
“What did he do? Suddenly you just took me to a birthday party from my childhood?”
“Yes, it’s a memory Anna wrote about in her journal years ago,” Clay explained.
“Why were you writing about my birthday party?” Tia looked my direction.
“I was a journal kid, okay?” I shrugged. “Grampy made me. It was a memorable time at least. And Clay can…recreate what was written inside the journal.”
Tia’s eyes darted to the journal in my hands, then back to Clay. I couldn’t tell if she was shocked, scared, worried, or angry. Maybe a mixture of it all, but I could tell she was connecting the dots, because she finally said, “Oh my gosh…this whole time. You’ve been the mystery I wanted to solve. I…I don’t know what to say.”
“I guess this explains me not returning your texts.”
She rolled her eyes at me. “Explains, doesn’t excuse.”
I looked over at Clay, he let out a breath and nodded his head. It was time we told Tia the truth.
About everything.
Chapter 16
“Damn. So, you really saw your dad in there, huh?” Tia said, sitting on the couch in my grandmother’s living room, a coffee in hand. It was almost four thirty in the morning, but we were just getting started.
I nodded. “I did.”
“And you were curious because your grandmother mentioned another Annaka?”
“Yes.”
“Do you think that it was maybe just…rambling?”
“No…I think it has something to do with Grampy. He used to write in it, and Clay can recreate his memories too. I can view them like a movie. I mean, it’s just a hunch, but maybe it has something to do with my Grampy’s past. He wrote about it, but I don’t know where those pages are; they were torn out a long time ago.” I sighed and looked at Tia. “I was hoping somehow Nan could bring some clarity. That’s part of the reason why we did that stupid thing.” I clenched a fist. I was so mad at myself.
“I wish it never happened.” Clay faded into the room.
Tia jumped back in her seat, spilling coffee on the floor. “Jesus! I hate that.”
“Yeah, it’s kind of his thing,” I replied.
Clay didn’t say anything. It must have been weird for him to suddenly have someone new know of his existence. I thought it was about time he met Tia, and I knew it was weird for him, so I wanted him to adjust at his own pace.
“You’re not going to tell anyone about me, are you?” Clay asked Tia.
“I don’t think that would be the best idea.” Tia wiped up the coffee on the floor. She seemed to be taking it pretty well, all things considered.
“So, what happens now?” she asked . “Will you two try to find those pages? Are you going to try to find your dad? Are you going to try…that…again?”
“We are not trying that again,” I said with confidence. “It was a stupid idea to begin with.”
“You’re not the only one who took part.” Clay rested a hand on my shoulder.
“Yeah, but I should have been smart enough to listen to you. You know yourself more than I do, and I took advantage of that.” I looked him in the eye. “I’m sorry.”
Clay sat down beside me. “We all have some learning to do.”
We all sat there silently and watched as the sun began to break through the stars. It had been the longest night of my life, but at least I could say I was in good company.
“Do you think they’ll be home soon?” Clay asked.
“I don’t know,” I replied. “They might keep her for a bit longer.”
Tia looked at me. “So you’re looking for those missing pages, eh? You’re hoping those pages could solve a mystery.”
“It’s not about a mystery; I guess
