by Amy Durham
I opened the phone, careful to be discreet and keep the others from seeing the message and who sent it. It was from Luke.
Ignore the pics. Another Kara stunt. U r the girl of my dreams.
Oh good grief. How in the world was I supposed to keep my heart even the tiniest bit safe when he said stuff like that? Of course, it wasn’t just pretty words. He was speaking literally. He did dream about me.
I closed the phone, returned it to my pocket, and pushed back from the table. I had to give the girls some sort of explanation. I supposed it was an unwritten rule that texts received in the company of friends had to be explained.
“A reminder about literature,” I said, not telling them for sure it was from Luke. “We got a new reading assignment today. I’m going to get some lunch.”
Walking toward the sandwich bar, the tingling sensation began, moving up my spine and across my skin. Words moved through my mind, random at first, but then sliding into place.
It happened quicker this time because I didn’t fight it. I’d ceased to be surprised anymore, and whatever haywire thing was happening in my brain just might be connected to all this other supernatural stuff plaguing Luke and me.
The phrase formed with clarity before I even lifted my lunch tray from the stack.
Even if I have to kill him.
For a moment it seemed my heart stopped, and the lunch tray almost slipped from my hands. But I reigned myself in, forcing myself to look normal. If whoever was having those thoughts was in this room, the last thing I wanted to reveal was that I was aware.
Behind me, someone cleared a throat. Right. I was holding up the line.
I grabbed a chicken salad sandwich on wheat bread and glanced behind me. “Sorry.”
“No problem.” It was Phoebe, the girl from the hallway the other day, who always seemed to be so unhappy.
“Just distracted, I guess,” I muttered. “Aren’t you a senior? How come you have lunch with us?”
“Glitch in the scheduling.” She eyed the broccoli and decided to pass. “Since I have art last period, I’m in senior English this period. It’s a small class, so we all come to lunch early.”
I nodded, reaching for a bag of corn chips.
“I saw the pictures.” She picked up a banana. “Told you people here suck.”
I was sure she felt that way. Which was awful. Was anyone ever nice to her?
I smiled at her. “Well, I don’t think you suck. Hopefully you don’t think I do either.”
She just shrugged. “Kara Jennings seems to hate you, so in my book that’s a point in your favor.”
I glanced back at the table, at the paper lying in the center, and thought about Kara Jennings.
Something was definitely brewing at Sky Cove Senior High.
CHAPTER 26
Corey met me in the front lobby as I left school that afternoon. He was one of Luke’s closest cross-country buddies, and though I wasn’t certain, I thought he might’ve been the only person Luke had confided in that we were more than friends.
“Hey Layla,” he said, catching up with me as I made my way through the crowd toward the front door. “Lucas wanted me to tell you Coach Roberts sent him to pick up a case of bottled water before we leave.”
“Okay, thanks.” And wasn’t it just like Lucas to think of me? It wasn’t like we had some kind of standing date at the end of each day to see each other in the parking lot. But it was so like him to be considerate enough to let me know why he wouldn’t be there today.
“I’ll walk you out, if that’s okay with you.” He pushed the door open and held it for me. “Luke was kind of worried after what happened today with those pictures.”
I smiled. Luke’s protective gestures were so endearing.
No one gave us a second glance as we made our way through the parking lot in the misting rain. As much as I’d gotten used to the attention, it felt nice to not have eyes watching me as I walked to my car.
“Tell Luke, I said good luck,” I said as I reached my car. “And good luck to you, too.”
“Thanks. We’ll be headed out as soon as Luke gets back with the water.”
I reached into the front pocket of my backpack, but as my hands closed around my keys, I saw my door was already unlocked.
Odd. I was always so particular about locking my doors.
“That’s weird. My door’s unlocked.”
I leaned down to look in the window, and Corey stepped around me to do the same.
“Anything missing?” he asked.
“Doesn’t look like it.” I pulled the door open for a closer look. “I must’ve just forgotten to lock it this morning.”
Which was a definite possibility, since I’d still had last night’s dream on my mind when I arrived at school.
“Um, Layla I think I ought to ride with you.”
“What?” I turned back around to face him.
“Well, Luke confides in me some, and I know he’s been kind of concerned about the things that have been said and done. And after today, with the pictures, it’s obvious somebody’s messing with you.”
“It was a stupid prank,” I argued. “That’s all.”
“Even still, I think Luke would appreciate it if I rode with you.”
“But you have to leave for the meet.”
“I’ll call Will, have him follow us and pick me up at your house.”
“How are we going to explain that to Will?” I asked. “If Luke’s confided in you then you know the two of us want to keep a low profile.”
“I’ll tell him you had some car trouble.” He shrugged his shoulders. “And I thought Luke would want me to be sure you made it safely home. It isn’t really untrue, and Will realizes there’s something between you guys.”
“Please don’t make a big deal out of this to Lucas,” I said. “I don’t want him distracted when he runs.”
“I won’t say a word, until after the meet.”
“All right then,” I agreed. “Call Will.”
Corey pulled his cell from his pocket and made his call while I loaded my backpack in the back seat. Once we were both in the car, I cranked the ignition.
Loud, heavy metal music I did not recognize burst from my speakers, making both of us jump. I slammed the off button. Eyes dropping to the console, I saw the CD I’d been listening to this morning lying loose between the two front seats.
That CD had been in my stereo when I got of the car before school.
“Someone’s been in here,” I whispered. Thank goodness the car was still in park, because I was shaking too much to drive.
“You’re sure?” Corey said.
I nodded, picking up the CD and showing it to him.
“I was listening to this. I left it in my stereo.” I pointed at the radio dial. “And whatever that was, it wasn’t anything I chose myself.”
“Let’s see what station it is,” Corey suggested. “Might give some place to start.”
“Start what?”
“Figuring out who got in your car.”
The shaking began to subside and I took several deep breaths. Would it even do any good to report it to the principal or the school resource officer? Nothing was missing or broken. There was no evidence of wrongdoing, other than the music. Would they believe someone had been in my car?
“Why don’t you let me drive?” Corey asked.
I nodded and got out of the car.
We switched spots and Corey took off. Halfway to my house the rain picked up and he turned on the wipers.
The windshield smeared and clouded, rather than clearing.
“What in the world?” I said, not really expecting an answer.
Corey tried them twice more, with no success. The smearing just got worse. He didn’t say anything. Just rolled down the window and leaned his head partially out, peering through the rain and slowing the car to a crawl. Traffic in my subdivision wasn’t heavy, which worked to our advantage, as he was able to creep his way down the street and over to the next b
lock. He turned in to my driveway just as Will pulled up.
Corey was out of the car in a second, inspecting the wipers on my car, seeming oblivious to the rain.
“Looks like Vaseline,” he said.
“You’re kidding.”
“Look, I’d stay and help you clean it up, but I’ve got to get going,” Corey said, looking at Will waiting in his truck. “You can probably get this off with a rag or a squeegee.”
“I’ll take care of it. You go.”
He started toward Will’s truck, but turned back around.
“Layla, Vaseline on windshield wipers is a harmless prank sometimes. But putting it there on a rainy day, well, that sort of smacks of more than a practical joke.”
“Don’t tell Luke.”
“I can’t keep this from him,” he said. “And neither can you.”
“I know that,” I corrected. “Just don’t say anything until after he runs, okay?”
When he looked like he might argue, I took a step closer.
“I’m home safe, my mom’s here, and my dad will be home later. I’m not going anywhere. You can tell him after the meet, and he can come by here and we’ll talk about it.”
He nodded once and hurried to the curb. I looked at my cell phone and realized the entire episode, from the blaring music in my car to this moment had been less than ten minutes. Surely the two of them would make it back to school in plenty of time to get on the bus.
Looking at my car, I took a deep breath, trying to decide what to do. Cleaning that mess from my wipers and windshield was first on the agenda, but after that, I decided to make a list.
Luke’s theory about the villains in our visions being reincarnated just might hold more water than we’d thought.
***
Getting the Vaseline off my windshield turned out to be more of a job than I’d imagined. I scraped a lot of it off with my ice scraper, but afterward it still took almost an entire roll of paper towels.
I kept waiting for Mom to come out and inquire about what had happened. I hated the thought of being untruthful with her, but how could I tell her someone had gotten into my car and sabotaged my windshield wipers? She’d be on the phone with the principal immediately, followed by a call to the police. I couldn’t explain to her that Lucas and I were dealing with forces beyond what the police could deal with, and the Vaseline on my wipers may well have been the result of an evil older than all of us.
When I went inside, I wasn’t totally satisfied that I’d removed all the slime, but it was enough I could see. And the wipers were clean. I made sure of that.
In the kitchen, I caught the scent of fresh pastry and some kind of berries, just as Mom pulled a pie out of the oven. And there were chocolate chip cookies cooling on the counter. No wonder she hadn’t come outside to check on me. She’d been busy baking. I thanked my lucky stars.
“Dinner may be a bit later tonight,” she said over her shoulder. “I was in the mood for pie and cookies, so I haven’t started dinner yet. Did you know Maine blueberries are in season?”
“No problem.” I grabbed a cookie, and leaned over to smell the fresh-from-the-oven blueberry pie. Butter, sugar, and blueberries make a lovely aroma. “I’ve got some things to work on before we eat anyway.”
“Lucas called this morning.” Mom’s words halted me on my way to the stairs. “Asked if it was all right to take you to Camden for dinner tomorrow night.”
Camden. Nice.
“He hasn’t told me where we’re going. He wants to surprise me.”
“Oops.” She sat the pie on the counter and turned off the oven. “I’ll say no more, then.”
“He might be here for dinner,” I added. “He said something about coming by when he got back from his meet.”
And I knew after Corey told him about the business with my car, he’d be here as soon as he was back in town.
“That’s fine, honey. We’d love to have him.”
I made my way to my room, thoroughly enjoying the taste of warm milk chocolate. Being a Friday, I didn’t have a lot of homework, so I decided to put it off. Instead, I pulled out the notebook that held my notes from the courthouse and last night’s dream dialogue, and flipped to the back section.
I started by jotting down descriptions of the dreams and visions Luke and I had experienced. I included not just places, times, and events of the visions, but also how I felt, before, during and after. I figured the more information we had in one place, where we could look and reflect, the more we might be able to glean from it.
After I recorded the dreams and visions, I started a timeline. It began on July fourth, noting that it was my first visit to Sky Cove, as well as the first time Luke saw my face, or any discernible face for that matter, in one of his visions. I continued on through last night’s dream, the pictures scattered around school, and the tampering with my car.
A garlicky, tomato-ey scent wafted up from the kitchen at the same time I heard the crunch of tires in the driveway. His meet had been in the next town, only about 15 miles away, so he was back in town quicker than usual. I flew down the stairs, throwing my backpack into the home office on the way, wanting to catch him outside.
This was not a conversation we needed to have inside within earshot of my parents.
CHAPTER 27
I thanked my lucky stars the rain had stopped, as I pulled the door shut behind me and stepped onto the porch. Luke leaned against his truck – still in his running shorts with a Sky Cove hoodie on top – looking at the ground.
And wow. Didn’t his legs look great? Yum.
“Don’t keep things from me.” He didn’t look up as I walked toward him.
“Luke, I wasn’t keeping it from you,” I said, avoiding a puddle as I stepped to lean beside him against the Bronco. “You know that.”
“You told Corey not to tell me.”
“Until after you ran,” I corrected. I touched his arm and he turned his head to look at me. “I was safe at home, and there wasn’t anything you could do other than worry. I didn’t want that on your mind when you were running.”
He shoved his hands through his hair and let out a heavy breath. For a moment he said nothing, and I knew it was best to let him have a minute to process it all. No doubt he’d worried and stewed the whole way home from the meet.
I knew I’d been forgiven when his hand reached for mine, the comforting warmth of his skin seeping into mine.
“I know, Layla,” he whispered. “But, I keep thinking about it. Someone was in your car.”
“Yes.” No point sugar-coating it.
“And when I think what could’ve happened when your windshield clouded over with Vaseline.” He squeezed my hand, locked his eyes with mine. “I’m glad Corey was driving.”
“Me too.”
“I mean, not that you couldn’t have handled it,” he amended. “I’m just glad you didn’t have to.”
“Thanks for your confidence, but I’m not so sure I could’ve handled it. I was shaken enough after the radio being messed with in my car.”
“Kara must’ve been behind this too,” he said.
“It’s possible.”
“I think I need to hear from you exactly what happened with her in the hallway the other day. And what happened in your car this afternoon.”
“Can you stay for dinner?”
“Your parents cool with that?”
“I already asked.”
“Let me call my mom,” he replied. “I’m sure she’ll be fine with it.”
“Dinner,” Mom called from the kitchen door, just as Luke finished his call to Gwen.
“Thanks for inviting me to stay, Mrs. Bradford,” Luke said, pulling my chair back from the table and gesturing for me to have a seat.
Mom smiled as she watched me sit down, and I knew she’d noticed Luke’s considerate act. And I wasn’t unaffected myself. Despite the fact he’d already proven that chivalry wasn’t dead, his sweetness never failed to surprise me.
We enjoyed Mom’s
baked spaghetti and garlic bread, letting the hearty Italian flavors rule our senses, not really in a hurry to get to the conversation we both knew was coming. The uncluttered moments with family and good food were a refreshing change of pace.
And, of course, there was blueberry pie after dinner.
We helped clear the table and load the dishwasher, and Lucas impressed my mother once again with his domestic skills.
“Is it okay if Lucas and I use the office?” I asked Dad once the dishwasher was running. “He’s been doing some genealogy research, and I’m helping him keep notes on it all.”
The third bedroom in our three-bedroom house served as a home office, not just for Dad’s business, but for all of us. I had a laptop I could use anywhere, but if I needed to plug up to the printer or spread out on a desk, the office was the place to work.
And since the office was somewhat private, it was really the only choice we had. Upstairs was only my bedroom and bathroom, and I wasn’t going to ask about the two of us hiding out up there. But no way were we having this discussion at the kitchen table.
“Sure,” Dad answered. “I’m not doing payroll until Monday.”
“Thanks.”
“That’s very interesting, Lucas,” Mom said. “Have you come across any surprises?”
“Actually, yes.” Lucas seemed a hundred percent comfortable talking with my mom about this, although I knew for certain he’d leave out particular details. “Layla helped me at the courthouse yesterday, and we came across a name in a will that made some surprising connections for me.
“We compared what we found at the courthouse with my mom’s records, and it seems we may be related to the Emerson’s who own the antique store on Old Birch.”
“Well, you keep us posted on how it’s going.”
“Sure thing, Mrs. Bradford.”
And with that we made our way to the office. We took the two desk chairs and rolled them close together.
I told him everything about Kara’s words to me in the hallway earlier in the week and today’s events, starting with the picture on my lunch table up through the Vaseline on my windshield wipers. He listened without interrupting, just letting me tell the story from my point of view.