by Carol Snow
“As me.”
“As you.” His brown eyes grew soft.
Freesia had to get out of there. Now.
“I’m not going out with you tonight,” she said, pushing back her chair and standing up. “Just so you know.”
“Of course you are.”
“No, I’m not. But thanks for asking.”
She abandoned Dare and her lukewarm tea and fled from Agalinas Learning World.
8
She waited on the bench, down from the steel drum band and behind the kids sculpting something out of sand, until he came out of the explosives retailer. Right on time. And just as she’d remembered him: streaky hair, sunburn, stubble.
She strolled across the cobblestones, right into his path.
She said, “You’re about to tell me that you just got back from the interior. And then you’ll ask if I saw the blackout just now. Except … there wasn’t a blackout this time. Maybe because I didn’t go into the dress shop or—I don’t know. And then we’ll go sit on the bench over there.” She pointed toward the sand. “The next song coming up is ‘Tide Is High,’ by the way—and you’ll tell me about your latest zap wars.”
Taser stared at her some more. “You too?”
All of a sudden, Freesia felt so much better. Less alone. Not quite so loopy.
“Let’s walk to the end of the pier,” she suggested. She couldn’t bear to hear the steel drum band play the exact same songs as yesterday or watch the sand sculpture evolve from vague fish to definite dolphin. It was worse than flippy. It was creepy.
At the end of the pier, she told him everything: about the ugly girl in her closet mirror, the blackout in the Dressy Dress Shoppe, and, most frightening, the little room with the clear walls.
Boats bobbed in the harbor. A kayaker passed them and waved.
“I wasn’t sure,” Taser said, “if we really were repeating yesterday or if I just … if there’s something wrong with my brain. Last night, when it happened—I was asleep. And when I woke up, it was too dark to see anything, but I was lying on this recliner. I just lay there, breathing hard and shaking. I kept my eyes closed and then … I was back.”
“Do you think there are others like us?” Freesia asked.
Taser was quiet for a long time. “I’m not even sure that you’re real,” he said, finally.
Freesia had never felt so offended. She slapped him. Hard.
He gasped and covered his cheek with a sunburned hand.
“Was that real enough for you?”
“I can’t believe you did that,” he said.
“You love nothing more than pretending to kill people in your zap wars, but you can’t bear a little slap? Stop acting all dark and tortured. We need to figure out what we’re going to do.”
“In that case, I need to show you something.” He led her back down the pier and along the shoreline, which jutted out to a rocky point before scooping back in at the little cove where she’d planned to spend the afternoon snorkeling. That seemed like such a long time ago.
In the bushes near the far end of the cove, he’d hidden a small, scuffed silver skiff. The boat had bench seats and a tiny motor.
Freesia hesitated. “Why not just rent a boat from the guy on the pier?” Taser’s boat didn’t look very steady. Or clean.
“I don’t want to waste my shells. Plus, I like knowing this skiff is here. I like knowing it’s mine.”
He hauled the boat to the edge of the sand and into the warm turquoise water. Freesia took off her shoes. Once the water reached her knees, she climbed onto the little vessel, staying low so she wouldn’t tip it over. In the cove below, a spiny pufferfish and a miniature sea horse danced among the bubbles.
Taser scrambled in behind her, shoving off from the sandy bottom before pulling out a paddle and silently gliding along the shoreline.
“Why not just use the motor?” Freesia asked.
“Don’t want anyone to hear us.” He kept his voice low, even though there was no one in sight.
“But, Taser. If what you say is true, that no one else is real, what does it matter whether or not anyone knows what we’re doing?”
“Shh!” He kept paddling.
Exasperated, she crossed her arms over her chest. Fine. Let him paddle. Let him sweat. She’d just sit there while he got them to wherever they were going. It wasn’t like she had anything better to do. Like—oh my Todd!
“My dress!”
“What?” They had reached the end of the cove. Two dolphins that had been tailing them leapt up and spun in the air, dove to the sea bottom, and swam away.
Freesia said, “If today is yesterday’s do-over and I never went back to the Dressy Dress Shoppe, then I never bought my dress for the dance. And I didn’t get my silver shoes, either! What if someone else buys them? What will I wear?”
“You’re not really thinking about dance clothes at a time like this.”
“At a time like what? Taser, I’m flipping out here, but that doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten my priorities.”
They had just rounded the corner of the cove. Immediately, the water turned dark and choppy. Instead of sparkly sand, ragged bushes hugged the rocky coastline. Taser pulled a cord, and the boat’s motor roared. Under power, the skiff lurched over the waves, landing time and again with a thud and a splash. Boat excursions almost always went in the other direction, past the beach club. Everyone knew the surf on this end of the island was wild and cruel.
Soon, the shoreline loomed tall and green and rocky, the island of Agalinas looking like a jagged mountain dipped in moss and dropped in the sea. Waves smashed along the cliffs. There was no place to land the boat, no way to scale the cliffs even if they did.
“We should go back,” Freesia shouted into the wind, just as Taser turned toward shore. A wave scooped the boat up like a surfboard and hurled it toward a jumble of rocks.
This was even more terrifying than being in the room with clear walls. Freesia grabbed the bench seat, closed her eyes, and screamed.
She would never see Mummy, Daddy, or Angel again. She would never shop with Jelissa, flirt with Dare, or face-link with Ricky. In a flash, she realized something: She loved her family. She loved her friends. She even loved her noisy peacocks. That was as real as it got.
She was still screaming when the boat landed in churning water. Taser had turned off the motor and was back to paddling. Around the boat, white foam accessorized a lime green pool. A natural stone dock lay ahead of them.
“I found this place by accident one day,” Taser told her.
“We could have been killed,” she said.
“Maybe. It would have been kind of interesting, though, don’t you think? To see if we’d be brought back to life like in a zap war?”
“This isn’t a zap war,” Freesia said. “Nobody ever said those were real.”
The boat bumped against the rock. Taser climbed out and tied the bowline to some thick vines. In a rare show of chivalry, he reached down for Freesia’s hand and helped her out. Fright turned her legs wobbly. They were safe for now, but sooner or later, they’d have to journey back over the waves.
A black cloud passed over the sun.
“Does it rain here?” Freesia asked.
“Yeah. Every day at about … now.”
At that, water fell from the sky. It was nothing like the gentle, sweet-smelling sprinkles they got right before sunset each day in Avalon. This was a dense, violent, angry downpour.
“This way.” Taser motioned to a cave entrance dripping with flowering vines. The cave was warmer than she expected. Still, she shivered in her wet clothes. She followed Taser through a stone room to an alcove that held a small, teardrop-shaped pool. Steam rose from the glowing, jade-colored water and thickened the air.
“Phosphorescent hot springs,” Taser told her.
Freesia rubbed her arms. “If I had a towel, I’d go in,” she said. “I’m wearing my swimsuit.”
“I can get you a towel from the supply room.”
/> “From the … what?”
“I’ve been coming to this cave for about four months. Maybe six. I lose track of time. Each visit I bring something new. So I’ll be ready when…”
“When what?”
“I’ll get you the towel.”
“But…”
Taser took off into a deeper part of the cave. Freesia had about ten questions she wanted to ask him, but they would have to wait. She was so cold, and the little pool looked so warm. She peeled off her soggy dress, revealing a ruffled pink bikini, and hung her clothes from a piece of quartzite that stuck out from the cave wall like a natural hanger. Another quartzite hanger jutted off to one side; she hung her bag on it.
She dipped a toe into the silky warm water. Crouching down, she felt for the bottom with her foot, only to discover a natural bench running along the sides. Her motion set off the water’s phosphorescence and made it glitter and glow with greater intensity. She settled onto the bench and let the warmth envelop and relax her.
Before long, Taser returned with a fluffy white towel. “There’s a bigger swimming pool farther back,” he told her. “And a firefly garden and…” His voice trailed off.
“What?”
“It’s a surprise. You’ll see.”
A big pool. A firefly garden. And a surprise. Todd almighty, was Taser trying to get romantic?
“Taser. We are not re-linking.”
He gawked. “What? You think I brought you here to—”
She glared at him. “You don’t have to say it like it’s so odious.”
“It’s not odious. At least not so odious. It’s just … superfluous. We don’t have time for intrigue. Not when there’s so much we have to do.”
“Like?”
“Like recruit forces, plan strategy, stockpile more supplies. We need to fortify the arms and explosives cache—”
“You have weapons in here?”
“Of course. That’s the surprise.”
“Of course? You say that like it’s normal. Like you’re normal. Like this entire cave is not in danger of blowing up at any moment!”
She scrambled out of the jade pool and reached for the towel. It didn’t matter that her swimsuit was so tiny. He wouldn’t notice, wouldn’t care. All Taser ever thought about was war, war, war. How could she have let him suck her in like this?”
“You know what I think?” she said.
He tilted up his chin, which he probably thought made him look superior but in fact just gave her an unwanted view up his nostrils. “Obviously not, since you haven’t told me. But frankly, it doesn’t matter what you think because the reality is that—”
“The reality, Taser, is that you are completely disconnected from reality! You have spent so much time playing zap wars and bubble games that you can’t even tell the difference between what’s real and what’s make-believe. Speaking of bubbles, I need to tell my mother I’m going to be late so she’ll keep my dinner warm.”
She took her bag off the quartzite hook and pulled out her silver bubble, held it between her hands and … nothing.
“Argh!” She stamped her foot on the stone floor. “It must have gotten wet.”
“Bubbles don’t work here.”
“But what if you need to ask your parents something? What if you feel like sharing a friendly giggle? Or maybe you’re bored and you want to see what everyone is wearing today, what then?”
“None of that matters. Don’t you get it? If you can’t see them, they can’t see you. We’re safe here. You hungry? I’ve got beans.”
She chucked the white towel on the ground and reached for her clammy dress. “Beans are odious. You are odious. And this cave? Odious.” She yanked the clammy dress over her head.
“This cave is not odious.” He sounded hurt.
She snorted. “You’ll defend the cave but not yourself. Take me home.”
He dropped his head and nodded. That was the weird thing about Taser. Well, one of the weird things. He acted all tough and aggressive, but as soon as anyone fought back, he crumpled. Maybe that was why he was so much happier in his imaginary worlds with his imaginary friends. They were easier to control.
They climbed back into the skiff, and he pulled the cord to start the engine. The surf had calmed a bit. They took one stinging wave while getting past the break; otherwise, the ride went smoothly. Neither spoke until Taser steered the boat up to the sandy beach at the far end of the cove.
“How do you explain the repeating day, then?” Taser asked as she climbed over the side and into the warm, calf-deep water. A school of tiny purple fish tickled her ankles.
She said, “It was just a blip. A burp. A malfunction. There are some things in life that we just can’t understand.”
Four strides, and she was on the sand. The sun, low in the sky, illuminated wisps of pink fog and made Agalinas glow like a mirage.
Taser turned the boat around and walked it to deeper water before climbing back in.
“Where are you going?” Freesia asked.
“Where do you think?” He dipped his paddle in the water and headed back to the open ocean and his secret cave.
Freesia shook her head in disgust. How could she have thought, for one moment, that Taser could help her understand? True, peculiar things had been happening, but there had to be a rational explanation.
Taser’s skiff disappeared around the end of the cove. Freesia settled on a fallen tree and pulled her bubble out of her bag. Immediately, it turned green. She enlarged it to grapefruit size. “Enemy check.”
Taser was not transmitting, of course, and neither was Dare, but Chai’s signal was strong. Freesia tapped a pink fingernail on her name.
Chai was lounging in a beach club cabana. A bright yellow bikini exposed all her puffy bits. Freesia changed the view to panoramic. As the view widened, she saw Chai’s leg, draped over … What? It couldn’t be!
But it was. Chai had a leg draped over Dare’s leg. And a hand on Dare’s arm. And then she leaned over and—no!
Just like that, Chai and Dare face-linked for all to see. Unable to look away, Freesia held her breath and counted: one-wackaccino, two-wackaccino, three-wackaccino … The face-link lasted fourteen excruciating wackaccinos.
“That should make you forget about Freesia,” Chai said.
“I might need some more help forgetting,” Dare replied.
Freesia couldn’t bear any more. She tapped her finger twice on the bubble, ending the transmission.
Why would Dare want to forget her? Just yesterday he had confessed that he still had feelings for her, and—ugh! When he’d asked her out today, she’d turned him down and run away. How could she let Taser get to her? She’d lost sight of the things that really matter in life.
Like boys. And clothes. And dances.
She had to talk to Jelissa.
“Friendlies check.”
Freesia was just about to tap a pink fingernail on her best friend’s name when the bubble disappeared, along with the entire world around it.
9
“I was supposed to be at the mall like twenty minutes ago.” The girl’s voice, slightly muffled, filtered through the darkness.
“It’s not my fault, so lose the attitude. The updates were supposed to be done by now.” A woman this time. “Did you call tech support again, Darren? Darren? Are you listening?”
“What?” A man, distracted. “Oh. Yeah. They said they were having trouble locating her signal.”
“That’s ridiculous.” The woman again. “She’s been here the whole time. Where’s she going to go?” A laugh: hoarse and not really amused.
“I need money for the mall,” the girl said.
“Call them again, Darren,” the woman said. “Darren? Darren! Would you put down your phone and listen to me for five minutes of your life?”
From the man, a hiss of irritation, and then, “You tell me to call tech support. And then you tell me to put down my phone. How’m I supposed to call tech support without the phone?”
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br /> “It’s waking up!” the girl shrieked.
Freesia’s vision was clearing, the space around her growing from black to gray. She was in the room with the clear walls again, not-Mummy, not-Daddy, and not-Angel gaping at her from the other side.
She was sitting in a black recliner and holding on to a ball, also black and surprisingly warm, about the size of a tangerine. Oh my Todd, was that her bubble? Even though it was the wrong color? She cupped the black sphere in both hands and waited for it to turn green or blue or to grow larger.
“Call Jelissa,” she commanded, hands shaking. Nothing.
“Call Mummy.” Nothing.
“Friendlies check.”
Frustrated, Freesia chucked the not-bubble to the ground.
“Don’t do that!” not-Mummy shouted. “Do you know how much a control ball costs?”
“Tech support said she might be disoriented,” not-Daddy said. “Said we should talk to her in soothing voices.”
“You need to drive me to the mall.”
Trembling, Freesia got out of the recliner and crossed to the transparent wall nearest her not-family. “Where am I?”
Not-Daddy exhaled.
Not-Mummy said, “Francine, you’re not in Agalinas anymore.”
Not-Angel, looking agitated, tapped at a small rectangular thing. She wore short black shorts, bulky black boots, and a raspberry tank top cut so low it showed the edge of her bright green bra. Not-Angel needed attire assistance in the worst possible way.
Beyond the clear walls were other walls: white, flat, square. Her giant bubble was a room within a room outside the bubble, a narrow bed lay under a window covered with heavy black curtains.
There was no room for any other furniture. Her space within the clear walls—her giant bubble—was bigger than she’d realized. In front, black rubber flooring covered a half-moon of open space. The black recliner sat in the center, an extendable metal arm holding a tray with a tall metal cup and plate, both empty. In the back, a shower and toilet stood on white tile.
Freesia asked, “So is this … the mainland?”
Not-Mummy and not-Daddy exchanged a look.