In 27 Days

by Alison Gervais

  “What Havoc does . . .” Death’s face was far too expressionless to be normal, like he was trying to keep himself in check. “It’s not always out there for your eyes to see. You might find that it’s more . . . inside your head.”

  My heart skipped a literal beat. “What’s that supposed to mean? I’m going to go crazy?”

  Death gave a slight shake of his head, but the pause in his response was enough to send me spiraling into panic. What if Havoc made me go crazy? What if he made Archer go crazy? Crazy enough to do something insane like hurt himself?

  “He’s going to make Archer do something bad, isn’t he?” I started listening off all the possibilities of what could happen, my voice taking on a hysterical note. “He’s going to hurt his family, isn’t he? He’s going to—”

  Death held up a hand, cutting off my rapid flow of questions. “My advice to you, Hadley, before you start hyperventilating, is to keep a clear head.”

  I stared expectantly at him, waiting for more advice. Death returned my gaze with that same blank expression.

  “That’s it?” I said flatly. “Keep a clear head? How am I supposed to do that?”

  If the last two weeks were anything to go by, that wasn’t something I was very good at.

  Death sighed, clasping his hands together on the table before him. “I don’t have all the answers, Hadley.”

  “Would you stop saying that?” I snapped. “There’s got to be something you can do to help me! You’re Death, right? You can time travel! Please! Just tell me how to stop Havoc!”

  “Sorry, kid.”

  My parents were asleep just down the hallway, and I had to stifle a frustrated scream when Death disappeared with a tight smile and an annoying little wave. I threw myself back in the chair, scrubbing my hands over my face, trying to fight back the fresh wave of tears threatening to pull me under.

  CHAPTER 21

  Confessions—8 Days Until

  I was anxious to return to school after Thanksgiving break. I wanted to jump back into my normal routine of classes, and homework would help take my mind off the growing sense of dread making a home in the pit of my stomach. I took an early train, eager to get out of the apartment, and I was one of the first to arrive at school. I thought about finishing up the last bit of American Government homework I’d tossed aside, but instead I wound up wandering aimlessly through the halls.

  I hadn’t seen any trace of Havoc since he’d introduced himself Friday night. But just because I couldn’t see him didn’t mean he wasn’t there. For all I knew, he was hiding around the corner, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. The fact that I didn’t know how he was going to mess with my life was confusing and horrifying at the same time. I’d had enough to worry about from the beginning, and now those fears had only increased tenfold, and it sure felt like Death’s advice wasn’t going to be of any use.

  The odd thing was that, in retrospect, things were looking up in every other area of my life. I’d spend an unheard of full day with my parents, and I hadn’t been itching to make a break for it. Archer wasn’t pushing me away every chance he got. And now the time had come for me to make amends to one last person, and to make a confession that was well overdue.

  After days of trying to squish any thought of it, I was done denying it. I was going to explode if I didn’t confess, and soon. It had to be done. I was going to spill my guts, which was far more appealing than obsessing over Havoc. I found Taylor at her locker a few minutes before the first bell of the day.

  “I like Archer.”

  Taylor was struggling to shove a notebook into her bag as she swung her locker shut, and barely spared me a glance. “Sorry, what?”

  I let out a loud groan, squeezing my eyes shut. I didn’t want to say it again, but the embarrassment wasn’t anything less than what I deserved after being such a crappy friend lately. It was the first day back at school after Thanksgiving break, and I’d kept this bottled up long enough. I wasn’t sure I’d ever gone this long without admitting some sort of secret to Taylor. It had been hard enough keeping every secret I had under lock and key, and she deserved my honesty.

  “You were right,” I repeated. “About Archer. I like him. I feel . . . something for him. I’m just really not sure what it is.”

  This much was true. The things I felt for Archer . . . they were there, and they weren’t going to go away. They just had yet to be defined.

  Taylor whipped her head up so quickly that I thought she was going to break her neck, and then she started grinning. “I knew it. I so knew it! You have a thing for Archer Morales!”

  “Taylor, be quiet,” I snapped, making a shushing motion with my hand. “The entire student body doesn’t need to know!”

  Taylor gave me a pitying look, shaking her head. “I’m pretty sure the entire student body already knows, honey. You don’t exactly hide it all that well.”

  “Well, congratulations then,” I said. “You were right all along.”

  “I’m always right,” she said smugly. “At least where boys are concerned.”

  “Sure.” I guessed I could give her that.

  “So. What’s the deal with you two?”

  “What deal?”

  Taylor gave this exasperated little huff, staring at me with an are you really as stupid as you seem expression. “I mean, are you dating or what? You spend practically every day together. You work at his family’s coffee shop!”

  “We’re not together,” I answered firmly.

  I was trying to convince myself of this just as much as I was Taylor. Besides our almost kiss, there had been no sign that Archer was interested in me. He definitely hadn’t asked me to be his girlfriend. In fact, on more than one occasion, he had been pretty adamant that we were just friends.

  “Yeah, like you expect me to believe that,” Taylor scoffed. “You’re so hiding something. Spill.”

  “We almost kissed the night of Thanksgiving,” I blurted, unable to hold back the words any longer.

  “What? You waited until now to tell me that?”

  “Nothing actually happened!”

  “How could you say nothing happened? He kissed you!”

  “Almost kissed me,” I corrected, and I could feel my face getting hot just thinking about it.

  “Well, what stopped him?” Taylor demanded, now gripping my forearm, practically shaking me for information.

  I sucked in a breath, gnawing on my lip. “His . . . grandmother walked in on us.”

  She cracked up at this. “Oh, no. Please tell me you’re joking.”

  “I wish I were.”

  Taylor had no idea how badly I’d wanted that kiss to happen. I was still trying to come to terms with it myself.

  “And what? No repeat performance?” she pressed earnestly, eyebrows raised.

  “I don’t know,” I admitted. Every part of myself definitely wanted one. “We never even talked about it. I can’t think about that right now, not until he brings it up.”

  Taylor’s face fell. She stared at me for a moment, her head tilted to the side, frowning, and said, “Of course you can. You like him.”

  “I know that,” I muttered. “It’s just . . . things are different with us.”

  “Not so much that you can’t admit your feelings for each other, right?” Taylor hinted.

  “I’m not really sure about that right now,” I said. I knew that it was going to come up, though. Archer wasn’t stupid. He was going to figure out how I felt about him eventually. But I had more important things to worry about when it came to Archer than his feelings toward me.

  I took a deep breath. The second half of my confession to Taylor was an apology. “Look . . . I need to go to class. But I just wanted to say I’m sorry. For being such a crap friend lately and bailing on you and the girls. I promise it’s not going to be forever.”

  At least I hoped so.

  Taylor didn’t say another word about Archer, but I could tell by the look on her face that this conversation was by no me
ans over.

  “It better not. But you’re forgiven,” she said, giving me a playful jab to the shoulder. “But if you’re going to wander off because of a guy, at least make sure that guy likes you too, okay? Because if he doesn’t, he’s clearly an idiot.”

  I laughed. “I’ll do what I can.”

  I kept my head down as I walked to chemistry, thinking about what Taylor had said. I was beginning to mentally prep myself for a repeat conversation with Chelsea during class. Taylor was probably right and the whole student body already knew I had a thing for Archer, but Chelsea and Brie were going to need to hear the confession from me. And even though I didn’t like admitting I was wrong, I had to say it felt good to be talking to my friends again.

  I didn’t see Archer until after the final bell, and I was a little worried it was because he’d found out I was blabbing about my feelings all over school. But then again, I had to skip lunch in order to sit in the library to work on yet another paper on The Great Gatsby for my English class. Neglecting some of the homework I’d been assigned over Thanksgiving break was not the smartest idea I’d ever had.

  I made my way from the ceramics room to the second floor where Archer’s locker was, hoping I would find him there. I stood on my tiptoes, peering over the crowd in the stairwell until I spotted him. “Hey, Archer!”

  He glanced up when I called his name, and there was this small, barely there smile on his face. So even if he did know I had a crush on him, at least he wasn’t completely freaked out by it. “Hey. Don’t forget you about your shift tomorrow—”

  But his words were lost on me. Without warning, I suddenly lost my footing and went tumbling backward down the stairs. It was as if someone ripped the floor out from underneath me, even though I was sure I’d been standing firmly on the top step. I had already gained too much momentum to be able to throw out my hands to find purchase on the stairs in order to stop myself from rolling.

  I kept hearing my head smacking against the steps, one after the other, and the sound was ringing in my ears. When I finally landed in a heap at the bottom of the stairs, I was afraid to open my eyes and encounter a spinning ceiling.

  “Hadley!”

  I somehow recognized that voice—Archer’s voice—through the white noise popping and crackling in my ears, and then I felt large, warm hands gently turning me over. “Hadley, are you all right?”

  I carefully opened my eyes and saw Archer hovering over me. “Hey,” I said. “I fell.”

  “Yeah, I know. I saw.”

  I tried to pull myself up into a sitting position, but it proved to be impossible with the way everything flipped upside down and shook. Archer slowly and surely came into focus, and his eyes were wide, as pure shock had taken over his face. One of his hands pressed against my cheek, the other at my waist, and our close proximity made it even more difficult to collect my thoughts. I did my best to get up one more time.

  “Hey, no— Wait a second, will you?” Archer’s hand moved to grip my shoulder, keeping me from rising to my feet. “Just sit still. You hit your head pretty hard.”

  “Yeah, I’m feeling it already,” I said, squeezing my eyes shut.

  I sat there at the bottom of the stairs for several minutes and didn’t open my eyes until my breathing finally evened out. Having Archer so close beside me made that a challenge, though. He was still touching me, and it was comforting. Safe. But also a little exhilarating.

  “Can you move everything?” Archer asked as I looked over at him. “Nothing broken?”

  I wiggled my fingers and toes. “So far so good.”

  “Okay. You wanna give standing up a try?”

  “Yeah. Gimme a second.”

  I gripped his arm tightly and hoisted myself to my feet. I stumbled a little bit, but I eventually managed to stand upright.

  Archer squeezed my hand. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

  “Yeah, I’m okay,” I told him. “But since when have you had two heads?”

  He sighed heavily, looking defeated. “Since always.” Archer took my bag from me and hefted it up on his shoulder. “Come on.”

  “Wait, where are we going?” I said as Archer wrapped an arm around my waist and gently started leading me down the hallway.

  “I’m taking you to the office,” Archer said. “The nurse probably already left, but I’m hoping we can get you a bag of ice or something. You’ve already got a bruise the size of an egg on your head.”

  I reached up and tentatively ran my fingers over my forehead, wincing when I found the aforementioned bruise. “Ow.”

  Archer gave another disgruntled sigh. When we reached the main office, the receptionist was just closing up for the day, most of the lights already off, her bag ready to go as she messed with the keys on her keychain. She looked up as we entered.

  “Sorry,” Archer said quickly. “She just fell down the stairs and hit her head pretty hard. Could we maybe get some ice for her? I really hope she doesn’t have a concussion.”

  I really hoped I didn’t have a concussion too. My head was starting to throb painfully, and the edges of my vision were a little too black.

  The receptionist went through a door into the back, and I heard her opening and shutting drawers, then the sound of ice being scooped up and dumped into a bag. She appeared a moment later and thrust the bag of ice at me, saying, “You need anything else?”

  “No,” I said. “But hey, thanks. You’re a peach.”

  Archer quickly steered me out of the office and promptly burst out laughing the second we were out of earshot. “I’ll get you a cab,” he said, and my favorite grin was still in place. “Probably best that you don’t ride a bus that purposely goes over potholes.”

  “Yeah, I’d appreciate that.”

  We had to walk a block over, away from the mess of buses and parents still waiting around to pick up their kids from school, before Archer was able to flag down a cab for me.

  “You sure you’re going to be all right?” Archer said as he held the door of the cab open for me. “You’ll be pretty banged up in the morning.”

  “I’m well aware, thanks,” I said as I slid carefully onto the seat. “But I’ll be fine.”

  “Look, my afternoon shift starts soon, but I can always call to get it off and take you to the ER just to—”

  “Hang on there,” I said quickly, cutting him off midsentence. “Nobody needs to go to the ER here. I’m fine.”

  Archer didn’t look convinced and was about to start protesting again, but before he could, I told him, “Seriously, Archer. I appreciate your concern, but I’m okay. You don’t need to miss work over me.”

  “It’s not that big of a deal,” Archer said with a scoff. “My mom can survive one afternoon without me.”

  “If I didn’t know you any better, I’d say you were worried about me, Archer Morales,” I said, and it was difficult to keep from sounding smug.

  A splotchy pink color dotted his cheeks, and he went from looking concerned to uncomfortable in half a second. “I just watched you take a nosedive down a flight of stairs. Of course I want to make sure you’re okay.”

  “Fair enough,” I reasoned. Was it wrong I felt elated Archer was worried about me? “But I really am fine. I promise I’ll call if I need you.”

  “Okay.” Archer continued to hold the door open, watching me as I buckled myself in. “Let me know if you’d rather not come in for your shift tomorrow.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” I said. “I’ll be there.”

  I couldn’t let one lousy headache and a few bruises stop me from working when I actually enjoyed what I did.

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Are you two goin’ to keep jabberin’ out there, or are you goin’ to shut the door so I can drive?”

  “Yeah, sorry,” Archer said to the cab driver, not sounding sorry at all.

  He shut the door and stepped back onto the sidewalk, and the cab pulled away from the curb and into traffic. I glanced out the wind
ow in enough time to see Archer give a two-fingered wave, and then head off down the street.

  I settled back against the seat, still holding the bag of ice against my bruise. My head did not stop spinning until we’d already traveled several blocks, and I slowly began to piece together what just happened. Despite the headache, one thing was clear.

  I hadn’t fallen down the stairs because I’d lost my balance and slipped. My feet had been firmly planted on the ground, and I had been gripping the railing tightly. Nobody had knocked me over. No, something else had happened—it felt like I had been shoved down the stairs by something that wasn’t there.

  I couldn’t be positive, but the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach made me think that this could have something to do with Havoc. I would admit to being a klutz, sure, but I’d never lost my balance like that.

  I was anxious to get out of the cab and into the safety of my apartment, where I could examine what my suspicions might mean and the possible consequences. I paid my fare when the cab pulled up to the curb outside the apartment complex, and thankfully, Hanson the doorman was there to help me out.

  “That’s one nasty bruise,” Hanson said as he led me to the doors. “You feeling all right?”

  “I’ve been better,” I admitted. “Nothing a nap and some Tylenol can’t fix.” I hoped that was true.

  I made way across the lobby and rode up to the seventh floor in the elevator. I managed to keep the bag of ice on my forehead as I fumbled around in my bag for my keys, then unlocked the door to 7E.

  My bag hit the floor, and the mess of melting ice followed when I walked inside and saw the words scrawled in an elegant script in black Sharpie across the windows in the living room.

  Time is ticking, ticking, gone

  You’ll be seeing me before too long

  But never mind, how’d you like that fall?

  Next time you won’t be the only one to lose it all.

  CHAPTER 22

  Revelations—7 Days Until

  Regina was wiping down the front counter with a cloth as I stepped through the door of Mama Rosa’s Tuesday afternoon, bringing in a flurry of snow with me.