Everlasting

by L. K. Kuhl

  My breath caught when Mom’s cream car turned into the drive. Well, here goes. I didn’t know how she and Dad would react to a new dog, and I didn’t quite know yet what to tell them about where she’d come from. All I knew was, I’d better think of something quick.

  Mom heaved open the heavy door of the car, her brow furrowing. “Where in the world did that thing come from?”

  Bob and Symphony scurried around the yard. My mind spinning, I hesitated. “Um…a friend of Claudia’s had to move to a new apartment where they wouldn’t allow pets. They wanted to take her to the pound, but I couldn’t bear to see her locked away and maybe even get euthanized, so I told her we’d take her.” In a hurried frenzy it spilled from my tongue, while I first grimaced, and then lathered on a fake smile. I threw her my best set of puppy dog eyes and batted my lashes. “Can we keep her, please? She’s a real nice dog, and Bob loves her.”

  Mom surveyed the dogs running around the yard. “I guess she would be good company for Bob. We’ll try her for a while. What’s her name?” She opened the gate to go in, reaching down to give them both a scratch on the head.

  “Symphony.”

  “Symphony, huh? Kind of strange. Did Claudia’s friend name her that?”

  I nodded. “Yeah.” Tate’s smile ricocheted through my mind.

  “Well, Dad will like her. He likes Labs. Maybe he’ll take her hunting now that fall’s here.” She disappeared into the house, leaving me outside to wrestle silently with my visions.

  * * *

  Monday morning came with its usual rude entry, only today, it was even worse. I slapped the button on my alarm clock, but it wouldn’t give up, and five minutes later it chirped again.

  It was my last, first day of school, and I should have been excited, but for some reason I wasn’t. I’d been awake all night, tangled up in my sheets from tossing and turning, Tate making me restless and uneasy. His presence still had a strong grasp on me and I couldn’t shake it. Symphony coming here had brought it all front and center again, but there was no way I was getting rid of her. I just had to make sure to keep fighting him off to keep him here, that’s all there was to it. Simple as that.

  My tongue felt rough and dry like I had swallowed a bag of cotton balls, and I wrestled my feet free from the blankets, groggily sliding out of bed. I went to the bathroom, splashing cold water on my face and brushing my teeth. The life seeped its way back in. After I ate a couple pieces of toast slathered with strawberry jam and gulped down a glass of milk, I flew out the door, running late. I guess I’d be making a grand entrance on my first day as a senior.

  I met Claudia in the hall, the bell ringing. “Sophia, I was beginning to think maybe you were skipping your first day.” She averted her eyes down the hall, lugging an armful of multicolored notebooks and a blue denim pencil bag; her hair was drawn back on each side with a simple, purple barrette.

  I had thrown on my sea-green button-up blouse with a pair of new jeans, my hair pulled back into a bouncy ponytail for something quick. “Ha, I was thinking about it. I just wish we could blink, and this last year would be over.”

  Jenny Staid and Laura Anderson, a couple of other friends that I hadn’t seen since the last day of school, sauntered down the hall, and I waved to them. A strange feeling swirled in my head, and I felt older and wiser among all of my classmates. I had seen and experienced something they couldn’t even begin to fathom.

  I managed to make it through the long school day, my mind on both Aaron and Tate. I struggled with both of them, knowing what the right answer was, but also knowing what I wanted…it was just impossible to have.

  * * *

  The following week at school, Claudia met me in the hall after lunch hour. “I never got a chance to tell you earlier today, since I had to get ready for trig class, but my mom told me that Stacy Sheffield got fired yesterday.” Her tone was casual, like this sort of thing happened every day. She dug around in her book bag for something, finally bringing out a pink eraser and sticking it to the end of her number-two yellow pencil. “Ah-ha, here it is.”

  “Seriously?” My eyes widened, and I busted a laugh, then tried to tuck it back inside, toning it down to a tempered smile because I knew Claudia didn’t like people laughing at other people’s hardships. When it came to snooty Stacy, though, it took a lot of self-control to be nice. “Why?” I snickered again. “Oops, sorry. I mean why? What happened?” My face straightened.

  “Mom said she got caught embezzling money from customer accounts.” Her face remained straight and unemotional.

  “Oh, yeah? That’s horrible.” I shook my head, then bit my lip to hold back another smile, imagining her donning an orange jumpsuit with handcuffs dangling from her dainty wrists. “I can’t believe…well, I can with her, I guess. It’s just amazing that people can do those kinds of things to other people. What’s going to happen to her?”

  “She gave all the money back, so she won’t be getting into any trouble, but she can’t work at the bank anymore.”

  “Well, it’s good they got the money back and got rid of her.” Then, an awful thought struck me. Was all of my money still in my bank account? If she figured out that Aaron and I were dating, jealousy could have bitten her, and she might have drained out every last penny.

  I stumbled mindlessly through each class, my brain in a constant state of worry over Tate’s money. I also wondered whether Lidia was keeping him safe or not. At the end of my last class, I bolted out the school doors, all but sprinting to my car.

  “Sophia, wait up…where are you going?” Claudia ran behind me, trying to keep pace.

  “Need to hurry…. Gotta check my bank account.” I panted and stuck the key in the door of my car to unlock it. “Ever since you told me about Stacy taking money from customer accounts, that’s all I can think about. Since Aaron and I are dating, I’m worried she got into mine out of spite. Get in, and you can come with.” I motioned to her and revved up the car’s motor.

  Claudia shook her head. “I don’t think you have to worry. She had to put all of the money back, and I believe she did.” Her face grimaced from fear while I sped out of the asphalt parking lot, and she grabbed on tight to the dashboard, holding on for her life.

  I threw her a sidelong glance. “Do you really believe she would give everyone’s back, especially mine? Also, she probably gave the money back to the people who knew theirs was missing. I haven’t even thought of checking mine since I haven’t needed any of it. The bank probably doesn’t even know.” I turned the last corner of the block, speeding for the bank.

  “I’m sure it’s fine.” Claudia plopped her hand on my shoulder and gave it a light squeeze.

  The car came to an abrupt stop, jumping up on the curb. It slid back down after I shut it off, chugging two times. I pulled up hard on the door handle. “Thanks, Claudia, but I won’t rest until I know for sure.” My mouth curved up into a weak smile, and I hopped out. Claudia’s door slammed, and she followed me in.

  “Well, hello, girls, what brings you two in today?” Claudia’s mom smiled, chirping as we walked up to her counter, her hair fuller than usual today. Her heart-shaped earrings pulled some of the focus away from her horn-rims.

  “Hi, Mom. Sophia wants to check her account.”

  “Hi, Mrs. Bunker. Yeah, I heard the news of what happened here.” I cupped my hands around my mouth to hide my raspy words from the other customers. “I’m just worried that something might have happened to mine.”

  “Well, let’s just take a look.” Alice still had a smile on and clicked the computer keys with her plain fingers. She peered over the top of her slanted glasses. “What’s your account number?”

  I rattled off the six-digit number, and, just like waiting for the doctor to come in and give you the news from a thorough exam, my stomach tumbled with the results that Mrs. Bunker’s computer would soon be spitting out.

  She handed me the short clip of white printer paper, and my eyes eagerly focused on the balance. I breathed a monument
al sigh of relief when it showed that the whole thirteen million was still intact.

  “Well, what’s it say?” Claudia peered at me.

  “It’s fine.” My knees weakened. I wanted to collapse into her and give her a hug right in front of everyone. “Everything’s there.”

  Claudia pushed up her glasses. “I told you that you had nothing to worry about.”

  “I’m glad to hear everything’s okay.” Mrs. Bunker nodded. “Believe me, all of us here at the bank were quite shocked when we learned Stacy had done this. She seemed like such a nice girl. I never would have suspected.” She looked down and shook her head.

  I clicked my tongue. “It’s good everyone got their money back. It could have been big trouble for that girl if the bank would have decided to press charges.”

  “Yes, I’m surprised the bank didn’t.” Mrs. Bunker still whispered and her eyes darted, trying to keep the conversation under wraps. “They didn’t want to worry people and lose business. I guess they figured just getting rid of her was their best option.”

  * * *

  After I dropped Claudia off at her house, I drove home with the windows down, letting in the last ebbing kiss of summer. The sun warmed my arms and face, making me warm and fuzzy inside. My thoughts, naturally, drifted to Tate.

  My phone rang. I glanced at it before answering—Aaron. “Hello, beautiful, how’s things going at home?” His sexy voice murmured low. My heart sped up at the sound of it, and I actually longed to see him again, missing his caresses—that familiar tingle of excitement burning through when I thought of him.

  “Oh, Aaron, I’ve missed you.” I imagined the feel-good hurt of his gritty face stubble when he nuzzled up against me. My lips almost spilled out my day, but I had to shush about telling him I’d almost had a heart attack when I thought my money had been stolen by his beautiful ex-girlfriend, Stacy Sheffield. He didn’t know I had thirteen million in an account, and I didn’t want him to know just yet. “When are you coming back to see me?” I gasped, surprising myself again. Maybe Tate was beginning to fade for me.

  “I’m just getting things wrapped up here, and then I should be there.” He hesitated like he was checking a calendar for a date. “Looks like in about three weeks. Scott’s getting settled in, and I’m teaching him how to run things while I’m gone. I won’t have anything too pressing going on until the end of October, so I can stay with you a while.”

  “Oh, good, I can’t wait to see you.”

  “I plan on being there for your birthday. You know I wouldn’t miss this important milestone for you. Some important things are coming up for us that I’m excited to tell you about, but I have to go, now. I have another call coming in and have to take it.”

  My birthday was September twentieth, less than a month away, and I would be eighteen. “Okay.” I paused. “Aaron…?”

  “Yeah, what is it?”

  “Don’t forget me.” Apprehension clouded my happiness, and I clutched at my necklace. “Make sure you call me, and keep in touch.”

  “Now, Sophia, you know you don’t have to worry about that. I’m not going anywhere. Listen, I hate to hang up on you, but I have to go. Love you, talk to you in a few days.”

  “I…love you, too.” I sputtered this out timidly, smoothing the wrinkle out of my denim jacket sleeve, my mouth dry. But the phone clicked and went silent.

  Chapter 24

  Mom came rushing out of the house when I pulled my car into the drive, meeting me at the metal gate. My heart rate sped up. I imagined the worst and couldn’t figure out why she looked so panicked. Had something happened to somebody in the family? Bob, maybe?

  Her eyes, red and swollen, had dark circles underneath, aging her—face pale and stricken. “What is it, Mom? Did something happen?” My gaze shot to Bob’s doghouse, but I was afraid to look too hard, didn’t want to confirm my rising suspicions.

  “I just talked to Marrian Stuart on the phone, Sophia.” Her eyes drilled me and her fingers flexed. “She told me everything. Why didn’t you say something?”

  Relief washed through me knowing this was all it was, and Bob was all right. But then my heart dropped to my feet, and the blood rushed from my face. She had found out my secret. I looked into her eyes, saw the hurt, and looked down at the ground, hoping to find my answer in the black earth. When it never responded, I looked back up again, my eyes pleading. “I couldn’t. You wouldn’t have understood.”

  We walked into the house, and Mom poured herself a cup of coffee. She pulled out a wooden kitchen chair, motioning me to sit down. Tension filled the air with a thick fog as I plunked down and deposited my chin into my hand. Both of us silent, she paced the floor, finally taking a sip of her coffee. “Did they hurt you?” A nervous jitter stilted her voice. Her anger softening some, she sat down in the chair across from me.

  “Who?” I tilted my head, confused.

  “Them…the ghosts?” She rubbed her neck.

  “No, they didn’t hurt me. Look, Mom, I was going to tell you, eventually. Just waiting for the right time. It’s a little hard to break the news to your family that you just spent the summer with three ghosts.”

  “I must admit, it took me a while to believe, and I had to sit down when Marrian broke the news to me.” She straightened out the frayed end of the checkered tablecloth. “Still can’t believe it.”

  “I know, that’s why I couldn’t tell you. But everything’s fine, now. Marrian’s doing well and is out of the hospital. She knows that, although Mandy’s gone, she’s in a better place, and she’ll see her again someday.”

  “It’s going to take some time for all of this to sink in, but I’ll be alright.” She reached over to pat my hand. “It’s your father I’m worried about. I’m not sure if he’ll ever believe. But don’t worry, Soph. I’ll convince him, somehow.”

  “There is one other teensy thing I didn’t tell you.” I winced and squeezed my bottom lip in between my fingers.

  “What’s that?”

  “Symphony isn’t Claudia’s friend’s dog. She belonged to one of the ghosts, Tate Forester. After I found out everything that had happened, I couldn’t let her live homeless, so I had her shipped here. It hurt me to see her mourning for him, and I felt so bad for her.”

  “Ah, yes, I believe Marrian did mention a Tate Forester. Sounds like he was a good-looking young man.”

  Good looking didn’t even come close, and I nodded, wishing Mom could have seen him like I did. “I have a picture of him if you’d like to see it.” I got up and grabbed my purse off the counter. The picture was tucked in the inside zipper pocket, where I could get it out at a moment’s notice, if need be, helping to make any of my unstable moods…better.

  “Oh, I’d love to.” Mom came up behind me and looked over my shoulder. I held it in the palm of my hand. “Sophia, he’s very handsome. It’s such a tragedy that he was killed in such a horrible way. He had his whole life in front of him.” She clicked her tongue and turned from me to fill a saucepan with water. After shaking some salt into it, she carried it to the stove.

  I never told her that Tate and I were in love with each other, or about Lidia. She didn’t need to know I could soon be fighting the enemy. It was one thing to convince her of ghosts, but how could I explain my love for one of them? It didn’t matter anymore, anyway. Tate had been right, there was no future for us, and it was best if I just got over him and moved on.

  * * *

  Three weeks later, Tate woke me. The aroma of his shaving cream filled my room and roused me out of the peaceful dream I was having of him. In my dream we were running along the beach, hand in hand, my hair blowing back, and his strong chest and abs as hard and unmoving as a suit of armor while we picked up seashells, finding homes for his hermit crabs. Symphony ran with us, kicking up sand as she scattered the seagulls. They took flight for a brief second, then came back and landed, claiming their territory once again.

  I couldn’t see him in my room, but I felt him there…all around me. He slid in
to bed beside me, and my wisps of hair moved with his kisses, tickling my ear and neck as he nuzzled close. “Tate, you’re here?” I whispered, my voice shaking. “I’ve missed you, and I’m so glad you’re safe. Please show yourself to me. I need you.”

  He never answered, never came into view, but I could feel him lying beside me, comforting me and wiping at the tears that ran down my face, soaking my pillow. Like nothing could ever hurt me again, he held me, making me feel secure. I relaxed, absorbed in his arms until I almost drifted off again.

  An intrusive knock on my bedroom door made me jump, and before I could say anything, it swung open. Aaron barged in, and Tate snuck away. I clenched my jaw and balled my hands into fists, letting them fall by my sides—a quiet thud as they hit the bed.

  “Sophia, it’s me. I’m finally home. I wanted to talk to you before I went to bed and you fell asleep.” Aaron sat down on the edge of the bed, caressing my hair, wiping the dampness away from my face. “I’ve missed you.”

  My fingers raked over the top of my head and pulled on my hair. “I did, too.” I exhaled an exasperated breath, staring at the ceiling.

  I should have been happy to have Aaron back here with me again, but after feeling Tate beside me, loneliness filled me—an unbearable feeling. The tears surfaced. No one else could compare.

  * * *

  The next day was Friday, one day before my eighteenth birthday. I had just gotten out of the shower and ran a pink towel through my hair, donning a pair of shorts and T-shirt before I put on my good clothes for school.

  Aaron came into my room and stood beside the bed, still pulling a dark blue necktie through itself to match his blue suit. He always dressed to impress, never seen in just a pair of blue jeans and a simple pullover.