But the possibility of gaining his ability back was not just tempting, it was commanding. He had to get it back. Which meant he was in a desperate need for cash. He didn’t have anywhere near enough. And without the aid of his ability, he’d have to get more creative.
He still needed to locate Gus, which might take some time. But now his mind was working on the possibility of killing two birds with one stone: the money and the girl. That would be worthwhile.
The next day Alex stayed away. Josh’s funk stagnated. Guilt ate at him, and now he couldn’t even play his guitar to get relief because he was too upset—mad at her and mad at himself.
On Thursday morning a rapid pounding on his door startled him awake. He looked at the clock. It was after eleven, and he was still in bed—like every other day this week. He scrambled up and threw on some clothes.
“Coming,” he said. “Could’ve called first,” he grumbled to himself.
He cracked the door a few inches to glare at the perpetrator. Chloe shoved the door wide and barged in with Alex on her heels. Hands on hips, she strode to the center of the living room and glared. Alex ducked her head and scooted to an empty corner. Josh sighed and plopped down on the sofa.
“Alex tells me that you’ve been holing yourself up here all week long,” Chloe said.
“What of it?”
“And I called your work and Colby said you’ve taken this whole weekend off, too. That will make almost two full weeks!”
“I had an accident. I needed to recoup. Anyway, don’t you have class today?”
“We’re celebrating the wonderful day of Thursday by ditching class. And you aren’t that bad.” She stood above and lifted his shirt, poking him in the stomach. His body folded for an instant, knees jerking up quickly.
“Hey—!” He tugged his shirt down. His face grew hot. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Your bruises are gone,” Chloe said. “I think it’s all right to come out now.”
“Maybe I don’t want to.”
“I don’t care what you want. You missed Halloween and an entire weekend. So we’re going to take today—random weekday or not—and see a movie. It’s called, ‘going out.’ Novel idea, huh? And you’re coming with us, like it or not.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Yes, you are.”
“No, I’m not.”
“You’re getting your ass off that couch and coming with us. And we’re not leaving until you do.”
He groaned. “Chloe, come on.” His voice came out extra whiny, but he didn’t care. She could be so bullheaded sometimes. “Go see your movie. Just leave me in peace.” He grabbed the nearby remote and flicked on the television, turning his eyes away from her.
Chloe grabbed the remote from his hand and turned the television off.
“Hey!” He reached for it, but she stepped away, holding it hostage behind her back.
“Nope. You’re coming.”
“You’re such a bossypants sometimes.” The comment was directed at Chloe, but Josh couldn’t help looking over at Alex who was still quiet in the corner. He might be mad at his sister, but he couldn’t be mad at Alex, even if she had told on him. He owed her an apology, after all. If he went with them it might be a good chance to make things up to her.
“What movie?” His eyes were still locked with Alex’s, and the longer he held her gaze the more his frustration fizzled.
Alex shrugged, and a hint of a smile curved the corner of her mouth. She had a great mouth. Perfect lips…perfect teeth…
Her expression changed, her brows pulling together as if she were trying to read his mind. Josh realized he was staring. He quickly turned his attention back to Chloe, hoping his face wasn’t beet-red.
“You can pick,” Chloe said. “Just come with us.”
“Fine. Just get out of here and let me take a shower.”
Chloe smiled triumphantly. “I knew you’d see reason.” She glanced at Alex over her shoulder as they headed toward the door. “Who says ‘bossypants,’ anyway?”
~
At the theater, Chloe went to the restroom while Josh and Alex waited in line for tickets. Alex thought about the weird vibe that seemed to be more than just typical Josh awkwardness. Something was bothering him, and she wished she knew what it was. But until he was ready, she’d decided not to force him to talk. Living with her parents had taught her to avoid conflict whenever possible.
She glanced up at him only once when they were in line, and he was watching her. As usual, his hands were shoved into his pockets and his hair hid part of his face, but he surprised her with a cute, goofy half-smile.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey.” Her eyes asked him what was up.
“Listen, I’m sorry I was a jerk the other day.”
She arched an eyebrow at him.
He pushed his hair out of his eyes. “I’ve just been a little cranky lately. It was totally lame of me to go off on you.”
“No problem.” She shrugged it off and glanced up at the line. There were still a few people ahead of them.
A touch at her elbow brought her attention back to him. His hand rested on her arm, and when she met his eyes, all traces of the timid, hesitant Josh were gone. “Hey, I’m glad that you… I mean…I’m glad we’re friends.”
She smiled at him. “Me too.”
His arm dropped, and a moment later Chloe joined them and began chattering about movie options. Alex snuck a sideways look at Josh, but his focus had turned, and he seemed to have his guard up again.
She was distracted when Chloe pulled her toward the theater and into a row of seats. Josh trailed behind her, which put him sitting next to her during the show.
Alex couldn’t keep her foot from tapping, and after a couple of minutes, Josh glanced sideways at her. She froze for a minute but couldn’t hold still long. She switched to tapping her fingers on the arm of the chair. He seemed to notice that too, and though she didn’t think he was irritated with her—she thought she caught the trace of a smile on his face for an instant—she wished she didn’t have her tic. If only she could be normal like him, and like all the millions of other people in the world.
Josh’s intervention had actually been her idea. Fortunately Chloe owned it well enough that Alex wouldn’t have to admit it.
She peeked over at Josh again. For the time being she’d managed to tap drum beats silently on her knees to minimize the disturbance. The flickering screen set off his dark eyes and sharp chin.
She froze when he looked at her. She wasn’t jiggling the theater seats, and her tapping wasn’t making a sound. It was as if he were trying to communicate wordlessly.
The way he held her gaze so steady was not Josh at all. It wasn’t the timid look she’d seen so often. It was like earlier when he’d apologized. For a moment, he’d dropped the veil—almost like he was challenging her to see into him.
She stared back, not willing to look away first. A moment later Chloe tugged on Alex’s arm and leaned over to whisper some comment about the movie. Alex smiled and nodded but didn’t hear what she said. When she looked back his way, Josh had turned back to the screen.
When the movie was over and the lights came up, the three of them stretched and headed out of the theater.
“That was a great movie!” Chloe said.
Alex glanced surreptitiously at Josh and saw the trace of a grin play at his lips.
“How would you know?” he said. “You were gabbing the whole time.”
“I was not.” She crossed her arms and stuck out her delicate chin. It was amusing how quickly she could go from elation to anger. Or any other emotion, for that matter. Alex loved her roommate, but sometimes Chloe was a bit extreme.
“Uh, yeah. You were,” Josh said, his voice teasing. This was a good sign, Alex thought. If Josh was feeling playful, he must be in a better mood.
“For your information, I was very into it.”
“Oh yeah? I bet you can’t name the title.” He gave her
a smug grin, which turned triumphant when she didn’t have an immediate response.
Alex had ended up picking the movie, otherwise she didn’t know if she would be able to name it either, considering her distraction in the theater.
“See?” Josh said. “You weren’t paying attention at all.”
“I know it, just give me a minute.” Chloe glanced around the foyer, but there were no movie posters to help her out.
“Funeral Crashers?”
“Nope. Guess again.”
“What? That was totally the name of it!”
Josh shook his head, grinning while she glared at him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out one of the ticket stubs. He glanced at it for a second, but held it away when Chloe made a grab for it. “You’re dead wrong.”
“Gimme that!”
He held it over his head and she did a series of little jumps, trying to grab the ticket.
Alex laughed.
“Josh, come on,” Chloe whined. When she managed to reach his hand she tried to yank the stub away, but he held on tight. He playfully waved it in front of her face, taunting her. Now Chloe was chuckling too, grabbing his arm and trying to pull it down. In the midst of the skirmish, a smear of red caught Alex’s eye.
“Chloe, you’re bleeding.” She pointed at her friend’s hand. A drop of blood fell and landed on the carpet beneath them.
“Oh, crap,” Chloe said, looking at the floor and then the wound. “Paper cut. You have a Band-Aid?”
Alex shook her head. “Oww—those are the worst.”
“No pain for me, remember?” Chloe said.
“Oh, right.”
“Here, let me see,” Josh said, concern on his face.
Chloe held out her hand and he cradled it, looking at her palm.
“Oww!” he cried suddenly. He yanked his hand back and stared at it.
“What?” Chloe said. A red streak of blood was smeared down his palm.
But as Alex watched Josh bring his hand up to his face, she realized something was wrong. It wasn’t Chloe’s blood. He had a cut, too. There was a thin red line on his palm where it’d been sliced.
Chloe took a step to the nearby water fountain and rinsed her hand. “Huh, that’s weird.”
Alex and Josh stepped closer to look. Chloe rubbed her hand under the water, and it came away clean.
“It stopped bleeding,” Alex said. “That was fast.”
Frowning, Chloe prodded her hand with a finger. “I can’t even see the cut.”
Josh looked at her and then down at his own bleeding hand. He ran it under the water. “That stings!” When he pulled it away, the cut kept oozing blood.
“I’ll get you a paper towel,” Chloe said, going to the bathroom. While she was gone, Josh held his palm under the water, staring transfixed as if he’d never seen a paper cut in his life.
Alex watched him. “Those tickets are hard core, huh?”
“I didn’t get cut on the ticket.” He looked back at her, his stare intense.
“What?”
Chloe returned and handed Josh a paper towel. He dabbed the wound, then examined the cut. His dark brows pulled together. “Chloe, let me see your hand.”
They compared palms. His had a red streak and hers was pristine.
“Where was your cut?” he asked.
She pointed to the spot—it was exact same location as Josh’s cut.
“There’s not even a mark,” Alex said. “It’s like it vanished.”
“You sure that was the spot?” Josh said.
“Positive.”
Chloe and Josh held each other’s gaze, a meaningful look passing between them.
“You touched her hand—right before you got cut,” Alex said. “Did you…” Alex hesitated, pointing to Josh’s finger. “Did you somehow take her cut away?” Then she shook her head—No. It wasn’t possible. But his cut was in the exact same spot, and the tickets had been in his other hand the whole time.
A spark flickered in Chloe’s eyes. “Josh… You did!”
He frowned. “I didn’t do anything. Maybe it was you, Chloe. Maybe you…gave me your cut somehow.”
“That’s not how my ability works. I just can’t feel pain—remember? I’ve never been able to heal myself.”
“But maybe—”
“Josh, your accident…” Alex said. “The head injury.”
He stared at her, and for a long moment no one spoke.
“Let’s get home,” Josh said.
What had just happened?
It was Friday afternoon the day after the paper cut incident, and Josh was catching some alone time at the skate park to think. He watched the kids skate, wishing he could join, and saw the boy he’d talked to several weeks ago. The kid was busy with his board and didn’t notice Josh.
Josh stared at the cut on his palm. He didn’t feel any different…or did he? Nothing seemed to have changed, but there was one indisputable fact: Chloe’s cut was gone, and he had somehow received an identical cut without touching the paper. It wasn’t possible—was it? What if he’d been transformed through that incident somehow? But what kind of ability was this? Was it even his doing?
Maybe it was all connected to Chloe. She was the one who couldn’t feel pain. Maybe this was just the next step and she’d evolved to a level where she could transfer her wounds to other people. But if that was so, what had triggered her change? She hadn’t been injured lately. He’d been the one with the recent head trauma.
Josh watched the little skateboarder, admiring his moves. The kid skated like a beginner, but he was trying out the half-pipes with the rest of them. He couldn’t make it to the top, but he kept trying. Maybe if he kept at it, after a decade or so he’d be some world-famous pro or something. Or maybe he’d just get rich off making his own YouTube stunt videos.
A taller kid with the same flyaway curls skated up to the younger guy, ruffling the littler one’s hair. He said something Josh couldn’t hear, gestured across the park to the restrooms, and then skated that direction. The kid nodded and resumed his attempts at controlling the board, which was huge in proportion to himself. Didn’t he know they had smaller ones out there? Must be a hand-me-down, Josh realized. He smiled to himself, remembering that he’d gotten his board from his big brother as well.
The kid moved to a new section of the park and hopped onto one of the lowest rails. Just as he’d kicked up some speed, a bigger tough-looking kid cut him off—swooping right in front of him and sliding neatly along the rail, flaunting his own skills. The bigger guy’s elbow hit the kid square in the jaw, knocking him down.
“Hey!” Josh yelled. He went over to where the kid lay on the ground, but the bully had already moved on. He hadn’t even bothered to glance back, let alone apologize.
“Are you all right?” Josh asked.
The boy whimpered, sucking air in what looked like an attempt to keep from crying. He probably didn’t want to look like a wuss. Rolling onto his back, he held his scraped knee.
Josh looked him over. Nothing else seemed seriously hurt, but there was blood dripping from somewhere else on his leg. “Let me see it.” Josh eased the boy’s hands away. Below the hem of his shorts, a nasty scrape spanned the length of his shin, but it wasn’t deep.
Josh touched the boy’s ankle, and the wound began to shrink. In a matter of seconds, new pink flesh had replaced the raw skin. There wasn’t even a scar.
A slicing pain shot down Josh’s own shin. He winced but held his tongue, grabbing for the leg of his pants. A faint red stain appeared through his jeans. His jaw suddenly ached. He remembered that the bully had jabbed the kid with his elbow too.
Josh was really doing this—absorbing wounds?
The kid gawked at his healed leg, unaware of Josh’s own scrapes.
“It doesn’t hurt anymore.” The kid touched the spot that was now only smeared with a thin layer of blood. He wiped it clean with his shirt, his eyes wide at the pristine skin. “It’s gone!”
“Looks that
way.” Josh patted the kid’s back. “Well, you watch out for bullies.” Before the boy could respond, Josh headed to the restroom, passing the older brother.
Josh rested his foot on the counter of the empty restroom and pulled up the leg of his jeans. Sure enough, there was the very wound the kid had received, same in size and shape, although it looked smaller on Josh’s leg, and it was covered with his dark hair. He cleaned it up with a paper towel, ignoring the sting.
Back at his car, he dug for a bandage from the first-aid kit his mom had left there.
So what is this? Josh wondered as he bandaged the wound. A weakness or a strength? Or a little of both? Could he actually heal people? He wasn’t sure whether to be disappointed or excited.
He rode back to his apartment thinking of what all this could mean—of what he could do now.
~
Josh had to talk to someone, and Cam wasn’t picking up. He headed to Chloe’s and rapped lightly on the door.
He heard a faint “come in,” and entered. No one was in the living room. He started to head for Chloe’s room when Alex walked out.
“Hi,” she said.
“Hey.”
Awkward pause.
He was glad he’d apologized yesterday, and yet he still wasn’t sure what to say around her. “Chloe home?”
“No.”
“Okay, I’ll come back later.”
“She should be back any minute. She just ran to the store. You want to wait for her?”
“Um, sure.”
Her hands started tapping on her thigh and she gave a little, uncomfortable smile. “So.”
He cleared his throat. “So…what’s new?”
She considered for a moment, then gestured at a packed bag by the door. “I’m flying to California tonight.”
“Oh? That’s sudden.”
“My dad is pretty spur of the moment—he bought the tickets.”
“I see.”
“How’s your hand?”
“Hmm?” Oh.” Josh held out his palm. He hadn’t been able to get a band-aid to stick there and, though the cut was pretty long, it was no longer bleeding, just a thin line of red. “It’s fine.”
Outsider: The Flawed Series Book Two Page 12