Finders Reapers

by Anna Staniszewski

  No matter what Ann-Marie thought, selling them hadn’t been easy. They were one of his last links to Grandpa Joe after all. But his sister didn’t understand. Marcus wasn’t the kind of guy who got the girl. Now that he had Lena, he had to do whatever it took to keep her.

  Chapter 21

  Lena was frantically running around the kitchen, trying to shove a banana in her mouth and tie her shoe at the same time, when her dad groggily emerged from his bedroom.

  “Chipmunk, what are you doing?” he asked.

  “Getting ready for school! I overslept!”

  Her dad looked at her as if she’d suddenly started communicating in Morse code. “It’s five thirty in the morning.”

  Lena stopped in her tracks. “What are you talking about?” When her alarm had gone off, it had said she was already late. She’d figured she’d accidentally set it for the wrong time. But now she realized that it was even darker outside than usual, and the entire neighborhood was quiet and still. Ugh! This had to be another one of Mr. Watts’s jokes!

  “Sorry to wake you,” she told her dad, still trying to catch her breath. “I guess I’m kind of confused this morning.”

  He gave her a drowsy smile and headed back to his room. Lena realized as she closed the door that she’d forgotten to ask him about his date with Viv the previous night. She seriously hoped they hadn’t gotten matching tattoos or something.

  She was too wired to go back to bed, so Lena decided to work on her mom’s quilt for a while. At this rate, she’d have it done well before Christmas. As she worked, she tried to come up with her next step for tracking down Mr. Watts’s soul. She’d thought she could check out where he’d gone to school, but when she’d looked it up online, she’d discovered that his elementary and high schools had long since been bulldozed to make room for a strip mall. Viv had said Mr. Watts didn’t have any family, but maybe there was some long-lost relative Lena could track down. She didn’t know what else to do.

  Two hours later, when it was actually time to leave for school, Lena’s phone rang. She smiled when she saw it was her mom calling. They’d had a surprisingly nice time at dinner the night before. Her mom hadn’t pressured her about Arizona at all, only told her about some of the fun things they might do together. The more they’d talked about it, the more Lena had started to warm up to the idea. But when she thought about uprooting her life, even for a little while, her chest still tightened. It felt like such a big step.

  “I know we don’t have plans until tonight,” her mom said, “but I’m outside your door. I was thinking I could give you a ride to school. And how about you bring Professor with you, and I’ll take him to the park and drop him off tonight.”

  “I’ll be right out,” Lena said, grinning despite herself. She could imagine Abigail accusing her of being won over too easily, but she couldn’t help it. Her mom did seem different.

  She put Professor on a leash and headed out to her mom’s car. When she opened the back door, Professor hopped onto the seat, wagging his tail in excitement as he licked her mom’s face.

  “I miss having a pet,” her mom said, giggling as he started nibbling on her hair. “Did you eat breakfast? We could stop somewhere on the way.”

  “That sounds good,” Lena said, realizing that she hadn’t eaten since her early morning banana.

  As they pulled out of the driveway, Lena had a sudden feeling of déjà vu. This was what things used to be like before her mom left. She couldn’t deny that she’d missed it, no matter how much she hadn’t wanted to admit it to herself.

  “Mom, I was thinking about what we could do tonight. There’s a new fabric store that opened up near the movie theater. Maybe we could check it out.”

  A pained look flashed across her mom’s face, and Lena’s feeling of déjà vu came on even stronger. It was the look her mom had given her dozens of times when she’d had to cancel plans at the last second or skip Lena’s science fair or school concert because she had to work. She knew the words that came next all too well.

  “I wish I could, but—” her mom began.

  “That’s okay,” Lena cut her off. “I have homework I have to do tonight anyway.”

  Her mom made a strange choking sound and said, “No, it’s not okay.”

  She abruptly pulled the car over onto the side of the road. A truck behind them honked in annoyance, but her mom didn’t seem to notice.

  Meanwhile, Professor tried to jump into the front seat, only managing to wedge his German shepherd head and oversized paws into Lena’s lap.

  “Mom, what are we doing?” she asked through a mouthful of fur. “Why did you stop?”

  “Because I need to tell you something.” She took in a long breath, as if she were about to break some bad news. “The reason I can’t meet you tonight is because I’ll be out tracking down a soul.”

  Lena blinked, sure she’d heard wrong. “A what?”

  “A soul. The one that got away from you, in fact. I don’t normally work in this territory, but when Eddie called me—”

  “Wait, Eddie? My boss Eddie?” This didn’t make sense. None of this made sense. Lena’s mom was talking about souls as if they…as if she… “You’re a—?”

  “Yes, honey. I’m a soul hunter, or at least I’m training to be one. I haven’t been officially promoted yet, so for now, I’m still a soul collector like you are.”

  Lena felt her eyes bulge out of her head. “What?” she whispered. “Since when are you a… That’s impossible. You’re…”

  “I’ve been trying to think of the best way to tell you, and finally I decided there was no good way. I just needed to do it.”

  “That’s impossible!” Lena said again. And this time she was shouting. Her mom wasn’t a soul anything. She was a nurse!

  Her mom smiled sadly. “I know it’s a lot to take in. If you want, I can write you a note so you can skip your morning classes, and we can go talk about all of this over bagels.”

  “Bagels?” Lena erupted, making Professor whimper in her lap. “I haven’t seen you in almost a year, and then you show up and say you want me to come live with you. And now, as if that wasn’t crazy enough, you announce you’re training to be a soul hunter, and you want us to go eat breakfast and act like everything is fine?”

  “Lena—”

  She couldn’t breathe, and it wasn’t only the fact that Professor was crushing her. The car suddenly felt small and airless, like a metal coffin. Lena threw open the car door and tumbled out.

  “Wait!” her mom cried. “We’re not done talking!”

  Professor barked woefully as if he agreed. But Lena had never felt so done in her entire life.

  • • •

  When she got to school, Lena was dripping with sweat. She’d hoped if she ran as fast as possible, she could get ahead of everything that had just happened. If the whole acting thing didn’t work out, maybe she should try out for the track team next year, she thought wildly.

  She was gasping for air when she got to Marcus’s locker.

  “Are you okay?” he asked. “What happened?”

  “Come on,” she said, dragging him to the auditorium. She was still having trouble catching her breath, but once they’d sunk into a couple of seats, Lena managed to cough out the gist of what had happened. Marcus’s eyes grew wider with every word.

  “So your mom is—”

  “Training to be a soul hunter. A soul hunter! Can you believe it?”

  He shook his head. “That’s nuts. But…in a way, it makes sense that she’s a soul collector, doesn’t it? I mean, you said she was always working when she still lived with you. She was probably spending all that time doing assignments.”

  Lena stared at him. It hadn’t occurred to her that her mom wasn’t only a soul collector now but that she’d been one for years.

  “How could she lie to me like that? And Eddie kne
w what she was and didn’t say anything.” She jumped to her feet and started pacing up and down the aisle. “I can’t believe this! For all I know, she’s been lying to me for my whole life!”

  “But you know she couldn’t tell you. You haven’t told your dad about your powers, have you?”

  “That’s different! I’m her daughter! And now she shows up and drops this bomb on me as if it’s no big deal. As if it doesn’t totally affect my decision to go live with her!”

  She realized the instant the words were out of her mouth that she’d made a huge mistake.

  Marcus’s eyes grew wider and wider. “Wait. What do you mean you’re going to live with her?”

  Lena sighed, knowing she had to tell him the whole truth now. “I was thinking about it, but obviously that’s not going to happen.”

  “So you were planning on leaving, and you didn’t tell me?”

  “I know I should have, but…at first, I wasn’t even considering it. Then Natalie started talking about how much she regretted not getting to know her dad, which got me thinking about stuff with my mom. She also said I shouldn’t say anything to you about moving, since it would only make you upset. And she was right, wasn’t she? If I’d told you and then you’d gone on an assignment, it would have made our powers go crazy again. Besides, it doesn’t matter anymore, because I’m not going anywhere with my mother.”

  But she could tell by the look on his face that it did matter. The bell for homeroom rang, and he got to his feet. “I have to go.”

  “Marcus, I’m sorry—”

  “I’ll see you later,” he said flatly. Then he turned and left the auditorium, the door swinging shut behind him with an echoing thud.

  Chapter 22

  Marcus’s whole body felt numb as he stumbled toward his locker. Lena had been planning to move, and she’d hidden it from him? He’d thought they were perfect for each other and that she was the closest person to him in his life now that Grandpa was gone. Clearly, she didn’t feel that way about him. Is this what Eddie had meant when he’d said that Marcus and Lena were on different frequencies? And Marcus had stupidly objected, claiming everything between them was perfect.

  As he rounded the corner, he spotted Emery standing in the middle of the hallway with Abigail on one side and Hayleigh on the other. Marcus kept hoping that the sparks between them would fade, but so far they were bouncing around, wild as ever. He shook his head in disgust and started to stomp away, but then he noticed what looked like an enormous pile of meat at Hayleigh’s side. As if that weren’t strange enough, the meat appeared to be on wheels.

  Curious, Marcus drew closer and heard Hayleigh saying, “I noticed you eat the same thing for lunch almost every day, so…ta-da! I made a sculpture of you out of meat loaf!”

  Sure enough, when Marcus looked carefully, he could see something that almost looked like Emery’s profile carved into the meaty mound. Gross.

  “What do you want him to do with that? Eat it?” Abigail shot back. “I gave him a way better present.” She flashed Emery a sweet smile. “It was delivered last night. Right, Emery?”

  Emery nodded. “My dad had to help me bring it upstairs. It takes up most of my room.”

  Abigail beamed in triumph. “I knew you’d like it!” She turned to Hayleigh. “I had a portrait made of him that’s larger than life-size. That means Emery can hang a picture of himself on the wall that’s bigger than he is!”

  “Which one do you like more?” Hayleigh asked.

  “Yeah, Emery,” Abigail chimed in. “Which one is better?”

  There was something in both of their eyes that made Marcus think of starved animals. He couldn’t watch this anymore. He swooped in, grabbed Emery, and dragged him toward the bathroom despite Hayleigh and Abigail’s objections.

  When they were alone, Emery’s mind seemed to clear a little. “Oh, hey, Marcus,” he said. “What’s up?”

  “Are you okay?” Marcus asked. “It looked like those girls were about to tear you apart.”

  Emery shrugged, glancing at himself in the bathroom mirror. “I…I don’t know. I’m so confused. They want me to choose between them, but I don’t want to choose. But maybe I should choose. But what if I hurt their feelings? I mean, I do like them, I guess. But what if I don’t? You know?”

  “Keep avoiding them for as long as you can,” Marcus said, wishing he could do more to help. “It’ll all work itself out.” At least, he hoped so. The truth was, after what had happened with Lena, he wasn’t sure he had much hope left.

  • • •

  As if Marcus being mad at her wasn’t bad enough, Lena found a furious-looking Abigail waiting for her at her locker after third period.

  “Why didn’t you tell me your mom was in town?” she demanded. For once, she looked like her normal non-love-crazed self, and her normal self was clearly hurt. Lena almost wished Emery would walk by and distract her.

  “Who said she was in town?” Lena asked slowly.

  “I saw you getting in a car with her last night. Why didn’t you say anything?”

  There was no point in hiding the truth anymore, especially now that Marcus knew everything. “Because I didn’t want you to judge me, okay?” Lena said. “If I told you that she’d come back into town and asked me to live with her, I knew you’d bring up how much she hurt me when we were younger.”

  “Why would I judge you?” Abigail asked. “If you want to give your mom another chance, that’s your business. I’d want you to be careful, but I’d also want you to do whatever made you happy.”

  Lena blinked. “Really?”

  “Duh! I’m your friend, remember?” She shook her head. “But I don’t get why you’d lie to me. Not only about that but also about Natalie.”

  “When did I lie about Natalie?”

  “You said your dad worked with her dad, but when I asked her about it, she had no idea what I was talking about. Why would you make something like that up?”

  Lena had no answer to that. What could she say that wasn’t yet another lie?

  “You’re not even going to try to explain?” Abigail asked in disbelief. “I thought we were best friends!”

  “We are!”

  “I don’t think so,” Abigail said. “Best friends trust each other. They tell each other stuff. It’s felt like you’ve been hiding things from me for months. If you don’t trust me—”

  “I do trust you!” Lena cried.

  “I don’t think you trust anyone but yourself,” Abigail shot back. Then she stormed down the hall to where Hayleigh was waiting for her. The two of them gave Lena a collective glare and walked away. Apparently, being mad at her was the one thing her friends could agree on.

  Chapter 23

  Marcus was pretending to paint yet another tree in the back of the auditorium as he watched Lena out of the corner of his eye. She was waiting on the edge of the stage for her turn to act as if her character lived on Mars. He could see the skeptical look on her face, and he could practically hear her thinking that the exercise was a waste of time. That’s how well he knew her, and yet he felt like there was a big part of her he didn’t understand. How could she be so furious with her mom for keeping things from her and then turn around and do the exact same thing to Marcus?

  “Watch out,” Hayleigh said beside him. Marcus realized he’d dripped green paint on the floor. He quickly wiped it off and tried to focus on his work again, but his eyes kept wandering back to the stage.

  Mr. Jackson clapped his hands and told everyone to team up to do trust falls—another activity he could tell Lena hated. He expected her to pair up with Abigail, but instead Lena asked Connie Reynolds to be her partner.

  As they went in the corner, Connie whispered something to Lena, and then the two of them looked out at Marcus and giggled. Were they really laughing at him in front of his face?

  He splattered more green on t
he floor, but he didn’t care. Instead, he kept attacking the tree with his brush, imagining what he would tell Grandpa if he were here. “I thought I’d gotten the girl, but it turned out she was planning to move and didn’t tell me.”

  Suddenly, someone onstage screamed. Marcus’s eyes snapped up. Connie was sprawled on the stage, cradling her left wrist in her right hand.

  “Ow, it hurts! It hurts!” she cried. “I think it’s broken!”

  Mr. Jackson ran over as Abigail helped Connie to her feet. “What happened?” he yelled.

  “Lena dropped me!” Connie said, bursting into tears.

  “I…I’m sorry,” Lena said, her face nearly white. “I tried to catch her, but…”

  “All right,” Mr. Jackson said when she didn’t go on. “We’ll talk in a minute. Abigail and Hayleigh, bring Connie to the nurse’s office. Everyone else, go home. Rehearsal is over.”

  The cast and crew left the auditorium in silence. Marcus dragged his feet as much as he could, so that he was still in the room when he heard Mr. Jackson say, “I’m sorry, Lena. I thought when I cast you that you were a team player, but—” Then he spotted Marcus and yelled, “I said, get out!”

  Marcus had no choice but to do just that.

  • • •

  Lena heard the words coming out of Mr. Jackson’s mouth, but she couldn’t believe they were real. Mr. Jackson couldn’t be kicking her out of the play.

  “But I did all those weird character exercises,” she said weakly. “And my dad’s almost finished making my costume. It looks all wrong, but he worked hard on it. And…and…” How could she explain to him that he was crushing her dreams? And how could she convince him that she’d only dropped Connie because she’d been trying to protect her?