by Alicia Rades
“I’ve seen him. He was stalking me. That’s why—why I had to do it. I had to get away.”
“No, Sage. My mom’s boyfriend—well, my step-dad—is a cop. He told me about the arrest. You’re safe now.”
Sage’s body seemed to relax when I said this. She looked from me to Robin then back at me. “Really?” Tears welled up in her eyes. “You really mean it? I didn’t see him on the bus?”
I shook my head. “No. You’ve always been safe with your aunt and uncle. You don’t need to be afraid anymore. Besides,” I glanced at Robin, “you have us.”
A single tear fell down Sage’s cheek. She spoke slowly and quietly like she was drained. “Oh, my god. I can’t believe it. If what you’re saying is true . . . That’s such a relief.” Sage gave a half-hearted laugh, but it came out sounding more like a grunt. “Now I feel like a total ass for dragging everyone into this.” She paused for a moment. “How did the two of you know, anyway? They said you found me.”
Robin and I exchanged a glance. Should I tell her the whole truth?
“We noticed you weren’t at the wedding,” I started.
“Right,” Sage interrupted. “I’m really sorry. When this all happened, it’s like I forgot where I was going. I just ran. I sat under the bridge for a while, and then . . . well, you know the rest of the story. How’d you know I’d be there?”
“Well, when you weren’t at the wedding, Robin and I went to find you. We stopped at your aunt’s and uncle’s, but then I remembered what you told me about the bridge, that it’s the one place you felt safe.”
Sage nodded in understanding. I guess I didn’t have to scare her off with psychic stuff again.
“So, I guess you’ll have to kill me now,” I said playfully.
Sage’s eyebrows came together in confusion, but after a moment, her face softened.
“I feel like I missed something,” Robin said from the foot of the bed.
Sage explained. “I told her if she showed anyone the bridge, I’d have to kill her. But I’ll give you a pass this time. I already attempted to take one life today.”
Sage’s last statement hung in the air uncomfortably, but I felt better that she was able to joke about it. After a while, Sage yawned and complained about being tired. I could tell it was her way of encouraging us to attend the rest of the reception.
“How long are they keeping you here?” I asked.
“They want to keep me overnight and make sure I’m not going to harm myself again.”
“Okay. We’ll be back tomorrow to see how you’re doing. Sleep well.”
Robin and I walked back to his car and drove to the hotel. The whole while, I stared out the window with an inadvertent smile on my face. All my friends were right. With me on Sage’s side, she’d always be safe.
24
When we entered the reception hall, Emma was singing into the microphone, and the floor was crowded with people dancing. Emma’s eyes lit up, and she waved to us without missing a beat. I immediately found my way to my mom and her bridesmaids.
My mom squeezed me so tight I could barely breathe. “I was so worried about you.”
“You said you wouldn’t worry.”
“I know. That was the only thing keeping me from calling the party off and going after you.”
“It sounds like you almost did call it off. I’m glad you didn’t,” I told her.
“She made us stay back, too,” Diane explained. “She told us she needed us more than you did. Given your talents, she was probably right.” I knew Diane was just poking fun of my mom.
“That’s not what I meant,” my mom defended. “I have faith in you, Crystal.”
“It was tough, but I managed. I’m sure Emma filled you in.”
They all nodded.
“We’ll be back to visit Sage tomorrow. For now, she’s doing fine, so I guess I can finally relax.”
The song ended and then shifted to a slow melody. I felt someone grab my hand and turned to find Robin. “Aren’t you supposed to be singing?” I asked.
“I requested one more song so we could dance.” Robin wrapped one arm around my waist and took the other in his hand. “Did I tell you yet how brave you were today?”
“This is only the fourteenth time,” I joked.
Robin raised his eyebrows. “So, you’ve been keeping count?”
I laughed and waved goodbye to my mom and her friends as Robin pulled me across the dancefloor. It felt so good to laugh and be close to him like this, all the while knowing Sage was still breathing thanks to my abilities.
Derek approached us as we danced. “Hey, I heard what happened. I hope everything is alright.”
“I think it is for now,” I told him. “We’re going to see Sage in the morning again.”
“So, it appears all your mysteries are solved.” Derek waved his hands in front of his face in a mystical manner.
I twisted my lips up in thought. “Not all of them.”
He dropped his hands. “I’m not sure if I can help, then.”
“Actually, you can. We still don’t know anything about your birth parents.”
Derek laughed but quickly relaxed. “You mean, Emma didn’t tell you?”
I narrowed my eyes playfully at the band where Emma was singing. “No, she didn’t tell me.”
Derek sighed. “To be honest, I didn’t want to know because I was scared of what I would find. I guess I just didn’t want to ruin the image of my birth parents that I had in my head.”
Just as I suspected, I thought to myself. He really did care after all.
“But I did it for Emma, you know. She’s too curious. After convincing my mom I had a right to know, she finally told me. I felt kind of bad because she thought that since I’d found out I was adopted, I didn’t think of her as my mom anymore.” Derek shook his head like it was a ridiculous idea. “When I told her Emma was the one who wanted to know, she relaxed a little.”
“So, what’s the answer to the mystery?”
“As strange as it sounds, they died in a tornado. Apparently I was with my biological grandma when it happened, but my mom says it was a love story; they were found under a pile of rubble holding each other’s hands.”
“That’s so sad.”
Derek nodded. “I know, but it’s romantic on one level, too, and knowing that, it kind of makes me feel better about it.” He paused for a second. “Anyway, I’ll let you guys dance. Then maybe Robin can get up there and give me a chance to dance with Emma.”
Robin twirled me in circles, and we swayed to a slow melody. When I finally got a chance to listen to the tune, I realized it was familiar, but I couldn’t place it until . . . “Oh, my gosh. Your band learned this song?”
When Robin and I were getting to know each other, we went to a Battle of the Bands concert. This was the song playing when we shared our first kiss. Granted, it was the result of a freaky psychic vision that led to our kissing, but still. “But this was that band’s original song. How did you even remember?”
Robin shrugged. “I found the song on Youtube and sent it to everyone to practice, including Emma. We perform major pop songs. Why can’t we play another band’s songs as long as we don’t claim it as our own?”
“Honestly? I don’t care about copyright laws. This is downright romantic!”
“As romantic as dying holding hands?”
I pretended like I needed to think about it. “Almost.”
Robin released my hand and wrapped both arms around my waist, pulling me in until our bodies were pressed together. He leaned his forehead down and rested it on mine. “You know what would be romantic?” he whispered in a seductive voice.
I could smell his sweet spring scent and feel the warmth of his breath as it rushed across my face. It left my insides fluttering with anticipation. “What?” I whispered back.
And then Robin swooped down and pressed his lips to mine. He pulled my feet from the ground and twirled me around. Only when he set me down and released me did he s
peak again. “That.”
I gripped onto his arms to steady myself and then wrapped my hands around his neck again.
One last time he came down to brush his lips across mine, and then the words I’d been waiting to hear for so long escaped his lips. “I love you, Crystal.”
Happiness surged through me. “I love you, too, Robin.”
***
That night, I stayed at Emma’s house while Teddy and my mom got a hotel room before they flew out on their honeymoon in the morning. After sleeping in—thanks to a long night—I woke to realize I was so tired on the car ride home the night before that I’d forgotten to tell Emma all the details.
Emma yawned from her bed as I shifted from my spot on her floor.
“Emma, about yesterday, I realized I forgot to tell you something.”
She rubbed her eyes and spoke with a yawn. “What do you mean?”
“After we went to Sage’s aunt’s and uncle’s, I never told you how we actually found Sage.”
Emma twisted her face in confusion. “Yeah, I was kind of wondering about that, but you were half asleep on the car ride home.” Her demeanor instantly shifted, and she bounced onto her knees fully alert. Her eyes shined brightly, but she spoke at a million miles per hour. “How did you do it? Did you see the future? Did you find her with psychometry? Did you—”
I bit my lip to keep from letting a huge grin form across my face.
“What?” Emma asked. “Did you, like . . . I don’t know. What else can you do?”
A blush rose to my cheeks, and I smiled proudly. “You’re not going to believe me.”
Emma shifted her gaze as if wondering what I could have possibly done. I expected her to continue guessing, but when she didn’t say anything—thanks to being deep in thought—I spilled the beans.
“I astral traveled!”
Her jaw legitimately dropped. She didn’t even blink. She just locked her eyes on mine, stunned. At some point, she realized that she had to actually breathe, so she shut her mouth and swallowed. “Are you sure?”
I nodded. “Well, we did all that research on it. It definitely felt like I was out of my body.”
“Woah. What did it feel like?”
“Kind of like I was flying.”
“I knew I had a good feeling about astral travel.”
“What?” I asked, but when I looked up at her, a cheesy grin spread across her face. I grabbed my pillow and threw it at her playfully. “You’re good, but you’re not that good.”
Emma tossed her dark curls over her shoulder dramatically. “Oh, I’m that good.”
All I could do was roll my eyes at her.
An hour later, Derek met up with us so we could go visit Sage together. Derek sat in the passenger seat silently as I filled him in on the details.
“That’s all just so . . . unbelievable.”
I bit my lip nervously. Did he really mean that?
“I mean, it’s amazing.” Derek finally shifted to look back at me. “I hate to abandon my whole belief system, Crystal, but unless you’re lying to me, I can’t think of any other explanation. And you obviously weren’t lying.” He pointed to my face. “Your eyebrow wasn’t twitching the whole time.”
My hand immediately flew up to my eyebrow. While he was right—I wasn’t lying—I had gotten better about the whole eyebrow twitching thing lately.
Derek noticed my reaction and burst out laughing.
Once the laugher in the car died down, Emma spoke. “You know, maybe you don’t have to change your belief system. I mean, you believe in an afterlife, Derek. Given that Crystal has seen ghosts and helped them cross over, she knows there’s an afterlife.”
This gave us all something to think about, and the car filled with silence.
“Do you think we should bring her a gift?” Derek asked as we neared the city. “Maybe a get-well card or a stuffed animal or something.”
Emma gave Derek a look of disapproval. “She’s not going to want a stuffed animal. Maybe we should have brought some of the leftover cake Sophie took home.”
“I don’t know,” I said from the back seat. “I think a stuffed animal and a get-well card is a good idea.”
“Crystal, she nearly died,” Emma pointed out. “It’s not like she’s a kid with strep throat.”
“Well, what do you suggest? Besides cake.”
Derek and Emma went back and forth with ideas as we drove, but after a while, I figured I should call Robin and let him know we were on our way. I opened up my contact list, and there on the top sat a name pulled from my Facebook friends’ list. Something he’d said a while back surfaced in my memory, and I instantly had the perfect idea on what to bring Sage. Even Emma had suggested the same thing weeks ago.
Maybe if she played again it would help. It could be like therapy or something, Emma had said.
I pulled up Andrew’s profile on my phone and sent him a quick message, praying that he’d see it soon. Not even a minute later, he sent a message back agreeing to help me.
We stopped at Andrew’s and Faith’s house on the way to the hospital and then swung by to pick up Robin. I talked to one of the nurses before she led us to Sage’s room. She was wary of my plan at first, but Robin managed to work a bit of his charm and convince her.
When we walked into Sage’s room, it seemed smaller with Emma and Derek along, but Sage looked to be doing a lot better. She was sitting upright in her bed and staring at the TV. She greeted us with a nearly genuine smile and pressed a button on the remote. The TV went silent.
“So, how was your mom’s wedding?” Sage asked in a light tone that told me she was feeling better. “You know, after I ruined it.”
“You didn’t ruin it,” I assured her. I blushed and looked over to Robin, remembering the way he’d told me he loved me the night before.
“What’s that?” Sage asked, pointing to the case in my hand, the one I’d borrowed from Andrew.
I pulled it close to my chest despite it being a bit big. “Well, we wanted to bring you something, and we thought this might help you feel better.”
“Is that what I think it is?”
I set the suitcase-sized case next to her on the bed and clicked it open. “If you think it’s a saxophone, then you’re right.”
Sage’s eyes lit up when she saw the horn. It was like watching a small child peering into a treasure chest. Her hand reached for it, but she pulled away at the last second as if she’d realized what she was doing.
“I can’t,” she said, shaking her head. “The hospital wouldn’t allow it.”
Just then, Sage’s nurse stepped into the room. “Actually, I just talked with the other patients in the hallway, and they’d be delighted to hear you play. Your friends say you’re quite good.”
Sage looked at each of us warily. “How did you even—I mean—where did you get it?”
“Remember Andrew?” I asked.
Sage nodded.
“Well, I remembered he said he played saxophone in the jazz band. I messaged him on the way here. He let us borrow it for you.”
Sage looked down at the horn in wonder and then back to her nurse. “Are you sure?”
Her nurse nodded kindly.
Sage took a deep breath and then reached into the case to assemble the saxophone. “I don’t even know what I’d play.”
“Play your solo,” Emma suggested.
Sage looked at her in confusion.
Emma sighed like the answer was obvious. “We watched a video of you playing a solo last year. Your eyes were on the director, so you obviously had it memorized.”
Sage situated the saxophone in her hands. “I don’t know if I remember it anymore.”
“I still remember my last solo and ensemble piece on clarinet,” I said. “You probably practiced a lot more than I did.”
Sage placed the mouth piece to her lips but pulled it back out. A tear pricked at the side of one eye. “I can’t believe you did this for me.” Then she brought the horn back to her lips
and breathed into it. Her hands moved across the keys, and the most beautiful tune I’d ever heard filled the room and echoed down the hallway.
As she played, I lifted my eyes to the ceiling and whispered a silent prayer to my father. “Thank you for helping me save her.” A feeling of serenity washed over me, and I knew at that moment that even though I couldn’t see the spirits helping me from the other side, they were always watching over me. “And thank you for helping me find the courage to face my own demons,” I added.
Sage kept her eyes closed the entire time, concentrating on the notes. After just a few bars, a small crowd had formed outside her room. The intensity of the solo grew to near fierce proportions but then softened into a relaxing tune. Sage held out the last note with perfect tone. Applause filled the room, and Sage opened her eyes for the first time since starting the solo. More tears fell down her cheeks when she realized how many people had been listening.
“I forgot how much I loved it.”
EPILOGUE
The summer heat left my mom and me fanning ourselves in the living room. I’d asked Teddy earlier if he wanted help fixing the air conditioning unit, but he insisted he could do it himself. It was a Saturday morning, and my mom and I had nothing better to do than fold up paper fans and blow air each other’s way. It was actually fun since she’d brought her craft box out and we’d glued lace and other fun things to our fans.
“It’s going to be a girl,” I told my mom confidently.
She rolled her eyes at me but continued fanning my face. “How many times do we have to go over this? It’s going to be a boy.” She laid one hand on her still flat belly.
“I thought you couldn’t see the future if it had to do with friends or family,” I accused.
My mom just laughed. “I don’t have to see the future. I’m a mother. Women know these things.”
“So you knew I was going to be a girl?”
She nodded proudly.
Just then, the doorbell rang. We both exchanged a look of confusion since we weren’t expecting anyone. Maybe Teddy finally decided to call a professional.