by Robin Benway
“Who’s ringing the bell at this hour?” my mom asked, letting me go long enough to wipe her eyes.
“It’s Henry!” April and June both chorused from upstairs. Of course they knew who it was.
“I should probably get it,” I said. “He drove me to the party tonight. I should see if he’s doing okay.”
My mom nodded, and I went to answer the front door, pulling it open to see Henry standing on the front porch. “Hi,” he said, when he saw me. “I know it’s late. I just wanted to make sure you were all right.”
“Yeah, we’re fine,” I said, as June came downstairs, her face clean of probably one hundred dollars’ worth of mascara. “My mom’s pretty shaken up, though.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean,” he said. “I think Mariah’s gonna be locked in her room until she’s thirty. Hi, June.”
“What’s up, dude?” she said. “Thanks for driving my sister to the party tonight. You’re like a superhero by proxy.”
Henry smiled and blushed. “I don’t know,” he said. “I’d probably look terrible in a leotard. How are you?”
June shrugged and leaned into my shoulder. “I’m fine,” she said. “But I’m grounded for at least two months for sneaking out to the party.”
“What?” I said. “Mom never said—”
“Trust me,” June interrupted me. “I’m grounded. April confirmed.”
“Got it.”
“And don’t worry too much about Mariah,” June said to Henry. “She’s kinda over Blake now.”
“Really?”
“She’d rather drink pond scum than see him again,” June clarified, and I knew she wasn’t making any part of that up. “If I’m ever allowed to use the phone or computer again, tell her I’ll talk to her later. Oh, and—”
But she suddenly stopped herself from talking, which was pretty much the equivalent of witnessing a miracle, and she just smiled and waved goodbye. “See you later, Henry,” she said. “Thanks for being cool.”
I just sighed as she went back upstairs. “Normally I would want to strangle her,” I told Henry, stepping outside onto the porch with him. “But she gets a free pass tonight.”
“Just for tonight?”
“Well, probably for the rest of her life,” I admitted, then glanced down at my feet. “Uh, I haven’t said thank you yet, you know, for driving me to the party and—”
“Are you kidding?” Henry said, laughing a little. “May, I came over here to say thanks to you. Mariah told me what happened.”
“Um, yeah, about that. What exactly did she tell you?”
“That you had been in the backseat the whole time. She must have been pretty drunk because she didn’t even see you, but June said that you were there. May, you got in that car so fast that I never even saw you move, and if you hadn’t been there …” Henry trailed off, but I understood. Now that the adrenaline had faded and real life took over, it was hard to think about what could have happened.
“I know,” I said to him, and he looked up at me and held my gaze for a long minute. His hair didn’t look so stupid anymore, not when he was so close to me. And his lips were nice, too. I mean, not that I was looking at his mouth or anything, but they were nice, in a lips sort of way.
At first I thought the fluttery butterfly feeling was because I was disappearing again, but when I glanced down to check, I was still all there. Not even a toe was missing. And then I looked back at Henry and realized that the butterflies were from something else entirely.
Henry’s mouth got closer and closer to mine, and just before he was about to kiss me, I whispered, “Henry, if something weird happens, promise me you won’t freak out.”
“May,” he whispered back, “if I haven’t freaked out yet tonight, I’m probably not going to.”
“Good point,” I said, and then his mouth was on mine, and I felt like I was disappearing all over again, becoming someone else entirely, and at the same time staying right where I belonged.
When he pulled back, I smiled like a dork. “Sorry,” I said. “That was just … um … yeah.”
“Was it okay?” Henry asked, a faint blush forming underneath his freckles. I was surprised to discover that maybe he was nervous, too.
“Way better than okay,” I admitted. “Don’t worry, tutoring European history and promoting Stanford are, like, the least of your skills.”
“Really?”
“Oh, yeah.”
Henry grinned and then kissed me again before pulling away. I reached up and touched my mouth quickly, just to make sure my lips were still there, and then he was jingling his car keys in his hand. “I should probably get back home,” he admitted. “I just had to do that first.”
“Good idea,” I agreed. “Both parts.”
“Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Sure, yeah.” I wasn’t really capable of saying big words at that point, but I hoped the stupid grin on my face told him how happy I was. Judging from the stupid grin on his face, it did.
My mom was in her bathroom, brushing her teeth and getting ready for bed as I went back upstairs. April was in her room, tapping out something on her computer, and she looked up when I peeked in. “Did you know … ? That Henry was, uh … ?” I asked her.
“Only for the past thirty minutes or so.”
“Oh.” But I was still smiling, and from her room next door, I could hear June giggling happily to herself.
chapter 27
“Then I defy you stars!” june
By Tuesday, word had gotten around that we had been in a pretty exciting situation. I don’t know how people found out, but they did, and I spent most of Tuesday morning reassuring people that yes, it was scary, and no, no one had died, and yes, Blake had totally cheated on Mariah, and no, I couldn’t go for coffee and give them all the gory details because I was grounded and pretty much going to be locked in a tower for the rest of my teenage years.
“Two months,” my mom had said. “No phone, no computer unless it’s for school, no e-mail, no chat, no iPod, no shopping …” My mom thought for a minute. “What else is there? Did I get all the technology? Oh, wait! No texting, either. I think that’s it.”
Parents are so cute sometimes.
Another thing that was new: I could really hear April and May now, even across hallways or classrooms. It was like we were all set to the same frequency, and I could turn it on and off whenever I wanted. (I know I’m not supposed to, and it’s, like, all shades of unethical. But I kept going into their thoughts all day Tuesday. I guess I just wanted to be sure that they were there.) I could hear everyone else, too, of course, but I could crank down the volume until it was just quiet noise. And then it was sort of pleasant. I realized controlling my power was actually sort of easy—I just had to focus on my own thoughts, and everyone else’s just dropped down about ten decibels, like background music when you’re at the dentist.
Avery didn’t come back to school that day, either. Rumors flew about where she was, and it got ridiculous around fourth period when someone floated the idea that she had been kidnapped by aliens. I mean, really. Original much? She didn’t come back on Wednesday, either, and by Friday, I was pretty sure she had either ditched permanently or been shipped off to boarding school. I tried a couple times to find her thoughts, but she was gone for good. I couldn’t hear a single thing.
I talked to my sisters about it one night. We’ve been talking a lot more, mostly because I’m on lockdown and I don’t have anyone else to talk to. They’re still weirdos, I can’t lie, but it’s sort of nice. May even let me paint her fingernails, and when she managed to pick the ugliest color ever (a matte black called “Spider Webs”, ew) I didn’t say anything. Good thing she’s not the mindreader.
“So,” I said to April one night when May was sprawled out on her bed reading “The Invisible Man” and April was bent over some math project at her desk. “You know what’s weird?”
“The past two weeks?” she offered.
“No,” I said. “We
ll, yeah, I mean. It’s been nuts. But you know what I was thinking about yesterday when Mom was driving me to my orthodontist appointment? What if May never almost hit Avery with her car?”
May lowered her book just long enough to glare at me. “Did we not agree that no one could ever make fun of my driving skills again?”
“I’m not making fun,” I told her. “But what if we never even saw her? Do you think we would’ve gone all kerplooey?”
April laughed. “Probably.”
“But we don’t know,” I said. “What if we hadn’t seen her and everything would have been normal? I can’t even really remember what she looked like.”
“That’s your mind being kind,” May said without putting her book down this time. “She was a psycho hose beast. Let it go.”
“I think I already am,” I murmured, but no one heard me.
By the time I got to English class on the following Tuesday afternoon, I was wiped out. I was also sort of sad that Mariah wasn’t there, since she had been my friend. And now I felt like a lonely little island sitting by myself in the middle of the classroom. April had sworn up and down that Mariah would be back next week, but that wasn’t much comfort on a Tuesday.
“Okay, bodies,” Mrs. Ames said. (She always calls us “bodies,” which I think is weird and probably shows that she has some issues she needs to work out in therapy.) “You all have your copies of Romeo and Juliet, I assume?” She waved her paperback copy. “And you’ve done the reading assignment?”
I had, actually. Now that I was practically locked into my room except to go to school, I had a lot of time to do homework. A lot of time. Romeo and Juliet’s pretty cool, but it helps that I’ve seen the movie, the cool one where Mercutio’s a cross-dresser. In fact, I think Juliet should have hooked up with him because Romeo was an absolute idiot for not checking to see if she was alive before he off’d himself. My ideal boyfriend would at least look for a pulse. (“Put a mirror under her nose!” I had screamed at that part in the book.)
I was just getting out my spiral notebook with the glittery purple cover (don’t even be jealous) when Caitlin, the girl sitting next to me, whispered across the aisle. “Psst!” she said. “Hey! You’re June, right?”
I raised an eyebrow, hoping to look like one of those mysterious silent-film stars in those boring flicks my dad used to watch on cable. “Yeah,” I said. “I am.”
I didn’t even have a chance to read her mind before Caitlin continued talking. “Okay, hi,” she said. “Listen, can I ask you a question?”
I was fully prepared to tell her where I got my notebook from, or my shoes, or my bag, when she held up her copy of Romeo and Juliet and asked, “Did you understand any of this?”
I flipped through her mind quickly, just to make sure she wasn’t acting dumb on purpose. But no, she was completely confused. I almost got confused looking at her thoughts. “Um, yeah,” I said. “I liked it. It’s good. Especially the part where Mercutio dies because—”
“He dies?” Caitlin flipped through the book. “I didn’t even understand the part where he dies!”
I hesitated for a brief second, then said, “Well, if you ever want to get together and study or hang out or something …”
“June!” Mrs. Ames called from the front of the class. “Maybe you can answer my question!”
Crap-ola.
“Um, could you repeat the question, please?” I asked.
Mrs. Ames sighed heavily. “I said, what does Romeo say when he hears that Juliet has died?”
June wants to study with me!
Caitlin’s thoughts were so happy that it was like being bombarded with glitter, but it didn’t matter because my thoughts were pretty peachy keen, too. She thought I was smart! She wanted to study! With me! April was totally going to die when I told her about this, and I wondered if she had already seen it happening.
“June?” Mrs. Ames prompted. “We’re waiting. What did Romeo say?”
I grinned to myself and sat up straight in my chair. “He said, ‘Then I defy you, stars!’”
Indeed.
chapter 28
“I’m just really gonna miss you.” april
One month later …
“Does anyone know where I put my purse?” My mom hustled through the kitchen and into the dining room, looking over every available surface. “I had it this morning and now …” She rifled through a stack of laundry on the stairs, then circled back. “June, honey, have you seen it?”
“Mom, it’s not like I can read the purse’s mind or something.” June sounded amused and just stuck her tongue out at me when I shot her a warning look. She had a blast coming up with all these little double entrendres about her mindreading abilities. June’s all about the special powers now, convinced that every third person she meets has a weird ability. For a while, she even thought that Avery was just like us. “Last week, you thought the guy at the grocery store was a firestarter,” I reminded her when she floated that idea. “And you better not tell May your ridiculous theory or she’ll go ballistic.” I didn’t mention the part where I had seen Avery living twenty minutes away from us. Personally, I didn’t want to think about her ever again.
But I guess these theories were more interesting to June than doing algebra homework at the kitchen table. That was pretty much the only place she had been allowed to go for the last month. Sometimes Henry brought Mariah over and she and May did homework together. I guess Mariah had really gotten back on track and dumped Blake the night of the accident. She still wasn’t my favorite person, but June just said, “She has her flaws like the rest of us,” and it was a hard point to argue.
Besides, I already knew that Mariah was gonna graduate from high school in three years and end up attending UCLA, so really, I couldn’t hate her too much.
“No, I know you can’t read the mind of a purse, sweetie,” my mom was saying to June, “but I swear it was just … Where’s May? Maybe she’s seen it? May!”
“I’m upstairs, Mom!” I heard May yell from her room. She was really good about not moving through the house invisibly and giving everyone heart attacks, but sometimes she slipped up. The last time was when the three of us were having movie night. June and I were all settled on the couch, and all of a sudden, May was there, too.
We’re still finding popcorn kernels in the cushions from when June screamed in surprise and flipped the popcorn into the air. But May’s getting better at not disappearing on everyone, literally and metaphorically speaking. She’s also trying to start a lacrosse team, which, okay, sure. Whatever works for her. I don’t ask too many questions because she seems a lot happier now.
While the Great Purse Search continued, I ran upstairs to my room, getting ready to go out with Julian. I already knew he would be eight minutes late, so I had a few minutes to spare. It’s weird dating someone who puts the “punk” in punctual, but I was getting better at dealing with it.
“Don’t worry, Mom!” I yelled down the staircase. “You’ll probably find it later tonight! You always do.”
Her face suddenly appeared at the bottom of the stairs. “Have you seen it?
“No, but you’ve never really lost it before.” She and Chad had their third date coming up, and I had already snuck some stain-remover wipes into the purse’s side pocket before it went missing. (Let’s just say there would be an incident with some hot and sour soup.)
“So where are you and Loverboy going?” May asked me from her bedroom, where she was busy adding photos to her Paris scrapbook. She must have had hundreds by now, which made the vision I had had that morning that much more difficult.
“Just to the movies and dinner,” I said. “Or we might go to Vegas and get married. I don’t know—the visions are fuzzy.”
“Ha ha,” May said, glancing up at me over her laptop. “Make sure Elvis marries you if that’s the case. Go big or go home. That’s what they say in Texas.”
May had lots of knowledge about Texas, now that she had spent a long weekend with our
dad going to Austin and eating barbecue. “Hey, when in Texas,” I agreed, then sank down on the bed next to her, watching as she copied and pasted for a few minutes.
“What’s with the sisterly closeness?” she finally asked.
“Nothing,” I said with a sigh. “I’m just really gonna miss you.”
May rolled her eyes. “Earth to you, I just got back. And you’ll be gone for five hours with your boytoy. I’m pretty sure you’ll make it through.”
“Not today. I mean later. When we’re older.”
She frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I mean when you’re living in Paris.”
May looked at me and then smiled the biggest smile I’ve ever seen from her. “Really?” she said. “For serious really?”
I nodded, and my throat tightened as I reached over to hug her. “It’s really far away,” I whispered.
“It’s just an ocean,” she whispered back. “It’s just saltwater. We’ve got blood on our side, right?”
“Of course.” I hugged her tighter, though.
“AAAAAAAAPRIL!” June screamed up the stairs. “JUUUUUUUUULIAN’S—”
“I know!” I yelled back, letting go of May so I didn’t deafen her. “I don’t know why June doesn’t get that I know when he’s gonna be here before she does.”
“I think that’s just June’s annoying side, not her mindreading side.”
“Lucky us.”
“MAAAAAAAY! HEEEENRY’S HEEEEEERE TOOOOOOOO!”
“June, you’re not an intercom system,” I heard my mom say. “Put a lid on it.”
I went downstairs just as my mom was yanking her purse out from behind a sofa cushion (right again!) and June was opening the door for everyone. “Hey, you,” I heard Julian say.
“What up, homes?” she said back, and they did their typical fist bump. “Clear a path, dude. You’re not the only boyfriend visiting today.”
“Oh, hey,” Henry said as he came up the path, Mariah close behind him. She looked better than she ever had, even though she still wore tons of eyeliner. (I had mentioned to June that maybe Mariah could invest in some eye-makeup remover, and she had just rolled her eyes and said, “Whatever, April, this isn’t The Breakfast Club.” I still have no idea what she was talking about.)