When Marcus got to Lena’s house that night, he was shaking from head to toe. Partly he was nervous about finally meeting Lena’s dad, but mostly he was afraid of how Lena would react to his newest assignment.
He glanced at the message on his phone one more time, making triple-sure that he hadn’t misread it, but there was no mistaking what it said. Ken Perris, age 38.
Marcus was supposed to zap Lena’s dad.
He was so busy planning what he’d say to Lena that he wasn’t prepared for Mr. Perris to open the door.
“You must be Marcus!” Mr. Perris said. “Come on in.”
Marcus took a deep breath and went over what Grandpa Joe’s dating book said about meeting a girl’s parents. Be courteous and trustworthy. He thought he could manage that, even if the idea of having to zap Mr. Perris in a few minutes was making his stomach churn.
“Lena’s running a little late,” Mr. Perris said as he waved Marcus inside. “But she should be here soon.”
In the living room, Professor was frantically searching for a “gift” to bring him. Finally, the dog appeared with a coaster in his mouth.
“Thanks, Professor,” Marcus said, taking the slobbery offering before casually chucking it under the coffee table.
“Do you want something to drink?” Mr. Perris asked.
“No, thank you.” He didn’t want to risk spilling anything on his neatly ironed shirt. He cleared his throat, trying to remember something from the list of standby pleasantries in Grandpa’s book. “You have a nice home here.”
“Thank you! Lena did most of the decorating.” Mr. Perris motioned to the handmade quilts hanging around the house. “She tells me you restore model spaceships?”
“Yes, sir.” He went to explain about the new space shuttle he was working on, but for some reason, he started naming the parts he needed to find. Then he went on to listing types of glue. What was wrong with him? It didn’t help that Marcus’s cologne was making his eyes itch more than usual, so he kept blinking and blinking like some kind of creepy marionette.
When Mr. Perris got up to feed the dog, Marcus glanced at the time and realized he had five minutes until the match. He quickly sent Lena a message telling her to do her deep breathing. He felt guilty not warning her that her dad was the target of the assignment, but that wasn’t the kind of thing he could tell her over a text message. Besides, if she knew the truth, there was no way she could stay calm, no matter how much she was breathing. This way, he might have a chance of doing the assignment right.
“So, Marcus,” Mr. Perris said, perching in a nearby armchair again, “do you have any other hobbies, besides your models?”
“Oh, um. Not really, sir. Not besides your daughter!” Too late, he realized that he’d come off sounding like a stalker. Great.
His phone started beeping in his pocket. It was time. He reached out his hand, willing his energy to spark, and hoped that wherever Lena was, she was as calm as could be.
• • •
“You’re a lifesaver, Lena,” Viv said, following her up the walkway. “I’ve been working on this quilt for ages, and it’ll never get done without some help.”
“I’ve got tons of books you can borrow,” Lena said. “I’m sure one of them will help you get unstuck.”
She opened her front door, took one step inside, and froze as she spotted Marcus in the living room, his hand hovering above her dad’s shoulder and glowing bright red.
“What are you doing?” Lena cried.
Marcus stumbled back, his energy fading from his fingers. Did that mean her dad was safe?
“Dad!” Lena said, running up to him. “Are you okay?” But when she looked into his eyes, she knew it was too late. He already had the dazed expression on his face that Lena had seen when she’d foolishly cast a love spell on him a few weeks earlier.
“Hi, Chipmunk,” her dad said, staring into space. She was surprised he even knew she was there.
She grabbed Marcus’s arm and dragged him into the kitchen. “What…? How…?” She couldn’t even find the right question to ask.
“I know it’s nuts,” Marcus said, “but this is the target Eddie sent me.”
“That makes no sense!” Lena cried, finding her voice again. “My dad just had that whole thing with Marguerite, and it was a total disaster. Besides, there’s not even anyone here for him to—”
“Hello?” Viv called out from the hallway.
Lena’s jaw dropped open. She’d completely forgotten about Viv.
“Hello?” her dad called back. “Is someone here?”
“Dad, no!” Lena cried, running out into the hallway, but it was too late. He and Viv were already standing face-to-face and grinning at each other like lovestruck monkeys.
“Viv, is that you?” her dad asked, gazing at her as if through a fog.
“Ken,” she said, “it’s so great to see you!”
Lena hurried toward them, yelling, “Sorry, Viv. You have to go home now!”
“Lena, there’s nothing you can do,” Marcus called after her. “This is what’s supposed to happen.”
But that couldn’t be right. Her dad had said he was interested in dating again, not in falling in love. Not so soon. He wasn’t ready. Lena wasn’t ready!
“Come in, come in.” Her dad waved Viv inside, oblivious to the fact that Lena was blocking the doorway.
“Dad!” Lena cried. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
He gave her a vague wave. “We’ll talk later, Chipmunk. We have a guest.”
Lena watched, helpless, as he and Viv sauntered into the living room together, practically arm in arm.
“Were you calm before you came through the door?” Marcus whispered in her ear. “Were your emotions under control when I zapped him?”
She realized with horror what he meant. Not only had her dad been matched with someone, but it could be yet another disaster thanks to their malfunctioning powers.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I was trying to imagine that I was on a beach, but for some reason, I kept picturing Professor’s water dish instead.”
She turned to look at her dad and Viv again, who were now sitting on the couch in the living room, grinning at each other while they chatted about absolutely nothing. She strained to see sparks around them but only detected a vague yellow aura.
Her dad looked happy. But did he look too happy? She couldn’t tell. And Viv seemed nice enough, but what if she turned out to be crazy? Thanks to her and Marcus’s emotions, anything could happen. And that, Lena realized, was the scariest part.
Chapter 19
“Do you want me to ride home with you?” Marcus asked after play rehearsal the next day.
“Did your dating book tell you to offer to do stuff like that?” Lena teased, keeping one eye on the parking lot. She hoped her mom didn’t show up until after Marcus was gone.
“Busted,” he said. “It’s always going on about being a gentleman and ‘seeing the lady home safely.’ But really, I don’t mind.”
“That’s okay,” she said. “I’m, um, going to hang around here and see if I can talk some sense into Hayleigh and Abigail.”
“Are you sure? Last I saw, they were fighting over who gets to zip up Emery’s backpack for him. It might be a while.”
Lena shrugged. “I can wait. You go on ahead.”
He shuffled his feet for a second, as if he were looking for the right words. “I’m sorry again,” he finally said. “About the whole thing with your dad yesterday.”
“Oh, Marcus, I know it’s not your fault,” she said, trying to push down the irrational icky feelings that started to swirl inside her whenever she remembered Marcus’s glowing hand touching her dad’s shoulder. Marcus had only been following orders after all. It made no sense to blame him. And since her dad had a date with Viv that night, Lena would simply have to grin
and pretend she was fine with it.
“Okay. I’ll talk to you later,” Marcus said before finally hopping on his bike and riding away.
Lena sighed in relief as he disappeared down the street. She hadn’t told him that her mom was still in town, and if she admitted that the two of them were meeting to talk about Arizona again, she knew he wouldn’t take it well. Even though not telling him wasn’t lying, not exactly, she still felt bad. But with their powers already on the fritz thanks to their emotions, the less she upset him, the better.
It was freezing out, so Lena wrapped her coat tightly around her, jumping at every car that drove by. If she did wind up going to Arizona, at least the weather would be a little nicer.
What would it be like not to see Marcus every day? Now that he was a part of her life, it felt like he was a puzzle piece she hadn’t even realized was missing. Despite all the drama with their powers, Lena couldn’t remember ever laughing so much before she’d started spending time with him. Would all that change if she was suddenly living thousands of miles away?
But Natalie was right, Lena reminded herself. If she didn’t give her mom a chance, she might regret it. Even if she’d rather be out searching for the soul she’d lost than sitting through a potentially awkward dinner with her mom.
But the truth was Lena didn’t know where else to look for Mr. Watts. Even though his pranks were everywhere—this morning she’d woken up with a mustache drawn on her face in red lipstick—she hadn’t actually seen the ball of light in a couple of days. Maybe she did need help, but as far as she knew, Eddie still hadn’t found a soul hunter to take the job. She had to look harder, that was all.
Suddenly, a wave of giggles erupted behind her. But this time it wasn’t Mr. Watts. Lena jumped out of the way as Abigail and Hayleigh practically dragged Emery out of the school.
“How about you come over, and I’ll make you cookies?” Hayleigh was asking him.
“Or you could come to my house, and I can bake you a cake,” Abigail offered.
“I have a turtle!” Hayleigh cried. “If you want him, you can take him home with you!”
Abigail faltered for a second. “I…I can get my mom to take us shopping and maybe I could convince her to buy you something. What do you want? A shirt? New sneakers? Or do you want money? I can give you my allowance!”
Meanwhile, Emery was grinning as he looked back and forth between them, as if he didn’t realize how scary they were being. “You’re great,” he was saying. “You’re both great.”
Oh boy. “Emery,” Lena broke in, “I think I saw your mom waiting for you in the back parking lot. You should probably go.”
He blinked slowly. “Really? Oh. Okay.” He untangled himself from the girls’ arms. “Sorry. I guess I should go.”
“But you can’t!” Hayleigh cried.
“Please!” Abigail said. “Stay with me!”
“You’ll see him tomorrow,” Lena assured them. “I promise.”
They both looked suspicious but finally let go of Emery. He didn’t move until Lena gave him a little push toward the parking lot.
“Are you guys okay?” Lena asked when he was gone.
Her friends blinked at her, the hazy looks on their faces slowly fading until they were almost like themselves again.
“Lena, what are you still doing here?” Abigail asked.
“Waiting for my ride,” she said, not able to look her in the eye. She knew Abigail would hate that Lena was even considering giving her mom another chance. After all, Abigail had been the one to cheer Lena up on a daily basis after her mom had left in fifth grade.
“Do you want to come with me?” Hayleigh asked. “My dad can drop you off.”
“That’s okay,” Lena started to say, but Abigail cut her off.
“Wait,” she said to Hayleigh. “I thought you said you had to go straight home. That’s why you couldn’t give me a ride.”
“That’s right,” Hayleigh shot back. “I couldn’t give you a ride. Not until you stop trying to take Emery away from me. I’ve liked him forever!”
Abigail rolled her eyes. “A few weeks isn’t forever. Besides, he doesn’t even know you exist. I heard him call you ‘Hannah’ the other day.”
“That’s because he knows I want to change my name.”
“Since when?” Abigail asked with a snort.
“None of your business,” Hayleigh said.
“If you say so.”
“I do say so.”
“Fine.”
“Fine!”
The two turned up their noses and marched off in opposite directions. Neither of them seemed to remember that Lena was still there.
She glanced at the time and slumped on the stairs. Her mom was supposed to be here any second, but Lena had spent way too many hours waiting to get picked up from school and music lessons and science camp when she was younger to think her mom could ever be punctual. That’s why she was shocked when a dark car pulled up less than a minute later and her mom’s smiling face peered out the window.
“Hop in!” she said.
Lena glanced around to make sure no one was watching, and then she got in the passenger seat.
“Thank you for meeting me, honey,” her mom said. “It means a lot that you’d give me another chance.”
Lena swallowed, suddenly feeling bad that she hadn’t wanted to, at least not at first. “Where are we going?” she asked, expecting her mom to have already picked a restaurant. Her mom didn’t usually like it when other people made decisions for her.
So Lena was surprised yet again when her mom declared, “Your choice!”
Lena studied her out of the corner of her eye as they headed toward her favorite Thai restaurant across town. Her mom looked mostly like herself, though a little more polished than normal, but she wasn’t acting like herself at all. Maybe she was only pretending to be a new and improved version of herself, but Lena realized that part of her—a surprisingly big part—hoped that this new Mom was here to stay.
Chapter 20
Marcus was about to get ready for bed when Ann-Marie poked her head into his room.
“Dad said to remind you that it’s your turn to do the trash this week,” she said.
“Okay, thanks,” he mumbled, barely looking up as he finished carefully arranging the newly painted shuttle parts by the window to dry.
He expected his sister to duck back out, but instead she said, “What happened to your models? Didn’t you have a bunch more of them the other day?”
“Yeah, so?” He straightened up, wiping his hands on his jeans.
“I know you didn’t suddenly smarten up and throw them away. Where are they?”
“I…I sold a few of them,” he admitted before he pushed past her into the hallway. He knew from experience that it was better to tell his sister the truth rather than have her drag it out of him.
“You sold them?” Ann-Marie repeated, following him to the bathroom. She was acting as if he’d told her he’d eaten them with a side of ketchup.
“You were the one talking about throwing them away!”
“I was joking,” she said. “I don’t know why, but Grandpa loved those dumb things. Remember when he brought you that robot one, and Dad freaked out because he thought you were playing with action figures again?”
Marcus had to chuckle at the memory, even though it wasn’t all that funny. “Grandpa swore to me that if Dad kept giving me a hard time, he’d start buying me dolls to mess with him.”
Ann-Marie smiled, but he could see her gaze was far away. He and his sister didn’t agree on much, but he knew they both missed Grandpa like crazy.
Then her smile disappeared. “If he loved those things so much, how could you get rid of them?”
“Because I need the money,” Marcus snapped, hating the accusing tone in her voice. He turned away from her
and glopped some toothpaste onto his toothbrush.
“Let me guess, money to impress Lena?” His sister shook her head. “God, Marcus, you’re such a people pleaser. You’re going to hockey games even though you hate them and bending over backward to make that girlfriend like you. Why can’t you let things happen the way they’re supposed to?”
Marcus spit into the sink. “Oh, so it’s better to be like you? Standing by and hoping something will happen?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Come on, it’s obvious you like Peter Chung, but you won’t do anything about it. If I wasn’t trying to help you, then—”
Ann-Marie’s eyes widened in horror. “What are you talking about? What have you been doing?”
“Nothing!” It was technically the truth. At this rate, it didn’t seem like fixing up Ann-Marie was ever going to happen.
But his sister clearly didn’t believe him. “I don’t want you anywhere near Peter again,” she said through her teeth. Her jaw was set so tightly, it looked like it might crack. “If I see you even breathing in his direction, I’ll tell everyone at your school that you still sleep with your baby blanket. Got it?”
“I don’t—” he started to object, but Ann-Marie was already storming down the hall. A second later, her door banged shut.
“Who’s slamming doors in this house?” their dad yelled from the kitchen, but he sounded too distracted to come investigate.
With a sigh, Marcus finished brushing his teeth and retreated to his bedroom. He picked up the small pillow that his mom had sewn for him years ago using pieces of his favorite childhood blanket. He didn’t actually sleep with it or anything, just kept it on his bed sometimes, but leave it up to Ann-Marie to make the whole thing seem shameful.
He put the pillow aside and changed into his pajamas, his sister’s words still bouncing around in his head. He couldn’t believe she’d accused him of being a people pleaser when she was the biggest one he’d ever met. Everything she did was designed to make their dad happy.
He climbed into bed as the ghost cat curled up in its favorite spot beside his pillow. Marcus gently stroked its invisible back, feeling a hint of warmth under his fingers. As he glanced at the models around his room, he was surprised that Ann-Marie had even noticed any of them were missing. He’d only sold a few, one to Caspar and a couple to one of the guys in his gym class.
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