“Damn. That never gets old.” She clucks her tongue as she refocuses on the snacks on the shelves.
Meanwhile, I fix my ponytail and straighten my blouse. After realizing my primping, I scold myself. Never mind that my brain emblazoned his impressive adult body in my head and that I was perving on my former childhood friend.
As Julian converses with his teammates, I watch the way he captures their attention. It’s hard to believe we were once playmates. Even harder to believe that he once assumed the role of my protector. Not that I ever asked him, but that was my best friend—so generous and kind. He used to stand next to me like we were engaged in conversation when I’d forget that the people I interacted with were only visible to me. A nobody then, he risked the protection of invisibility and shielded me from the too-often cruel judgements of school children. Surrounded by a bunch of jocks, though, makes me question a childhood that included him.
“Girl, I gotta go see Mr. Turner. I’ll be right back.” Dee gives me a squeeze on the shoulder and leaves.
In the meantime, I grab my bluetooth speaker and blast Ice Cube’s, Check Yo Self, as I restock the shelf. I have my Gangsta Ways playlist on Spotify, and I’m rapping along. It won’t impress the members of N.W.A., but it’ll do for the town of Wakefield.
“Sorry to interrupt, Gangsta Boo, but I need some help here.”
I spin around as soon as I hear that familiar voice. Julian is standing outside of the stand and grinning from ear to ear. I pale as I realize he has been standing there, most likely having witnessed me bop my head like a lunatic and hear my Ice Cube impersonation.
“Yeah, I saw and heard all of it.” He gives me a sly grin.
I pull the cords of my hoodie and plaster him with a bored affect. “Yeah, well… I meant for everyone to see that. No big deal.”
“Oh, yeah?” He cocks an eyebrow. “So, you were performing for all of us?”
“Yup.”
He shakes his head and laughs. “Ok, whatever you say.”
“Can I help you?”
He nods as he leans into the screen. “Listen, home slice, can I come in? I need to talk to you.”
“Home slice? Dude, seriously, that slang is so outdated.”
He shrugs. “You’re rapping to Ice Cube.”
“Ice Cube will never be outdated.”
“True,” he said. “But seriously, though, I need to come in. It’s getting cold out here. My nips are literally becoming iced and cubed. See what I did there?”
“You’re so stupid.” I fight not to laugh because I’m not giving him the satisfaction of appreciating the pun. But I stop myself in time from shifting my gaze to his hardened nipples.
“Jo, hurry. You don’t want me to get frostbite, do you?”
“That’s your fault.” I cross my arms. “You chose to walk around shirtless in January.”
“So, sue me. Come on, open up.”
I walk over to the door and open it just a crack. Julian is already standing on the other side. “I’m not even supposed to let anyone in.”
He smiles, showing off those dimples and his perfect pearly whites. “Well, you’re in luck, girlfriend. I’m not just ‘anyone.’”
I give him a mocking laugh. “I’m not impressed. Say the magic word.”
“Please. Let. Me. In.” He makes his pecs bounce, pairing each word with a spasm from his little chest dance.
“Ew. Gross.” But I couldn’t help it, and I burst out laughing. “Ok, Terry Crews.”
“And you love it.” He lets himself in and gives me one more pectoral dance as he passes me.
“You’re disgusting.” I close the door.
When I turn around, I find him leaning on the counter, checking out the room. Suddenly, I notice the cramped space and his near nakedness. The boy is only wearing his swim team joggers, creating the illusion of his muscular body filling out the room. He moves his head towards me and a flashback of his body on mine enters my head. His eyes darken and his nose flares. He must remember it, too. Suddenly, he pushes himself off the counter and begins slowly walking towards me. I hitch my breath, and I felt nervous. I also try not to shift my gaze down to that impossibly defined V cut above his pelvis. Seriously, this guy needs to stop wearing his joggers so low on his hips.
“Shouldn’t we address the elephant in the room?” he asks, stopping in front of me.
“W-what are you talking about?”
He gives me a lazy smile. “How was your sleep?”
I immediately blush and feel my cheeks heat. “Oh, that elephant.”
“Yeah, that one.” He inches closer.
My heart is beating so fast, I’m convinced he can hear it. He’s not going to kiss me, is he? I ate a tuna sandwich for lunch. The ridiculousness of that thought brings me back to reality, and I giggle.
Julian furrows his brows. “Damn, Jo, you have a way of deflating a man’s ego.” But he chuckles as he backs away.
I exhale and quickly gather myself. One thing is clear. Julian without a shirt is distracting. I look around the store for that stack of school shirts we’re trying to sell. When I finally find one, I chuck it at him. “This one’s on me. Wear it. I don’t want to be liable for your nipples falling off from frostbite.”
“How thoughtful.” He puts the shirt over his head. “Sorry, I smell like chlorine. Swimmer’s perfume.”
I shrug. “Whatever.”
“What are you doing here, anyway? Didn’t your parents put you on perpetual house arrest?”
“They’re not here.”
“Yeah, but they’ll return home at some point.”
“I’ll make it work. Don’t worry about it.” I put my hands in my pockets. “So, what do you want to talk to me about?”
“I want to talk about Alexa. I was thinking—”
The static noise from my speaker interrupts him. Until this time, it was blaring, “Mind Playin’ Tricks,” by the Ghetto Boys. Now, it’s just noise as if someone’s switching stations, which is ridiculous because the music is playing from my phone and not the radio. I move a little closer to Julian, as we both watch the speaker. Then an unfamiliar indie song plays.
“How much you want to bet that song has something to do with orchids?” asks Julian.
My eyes widen. “You, too?”
He nods. “Since this morning. That’s one thing I want to talk to you about.”
Suddenly, I remember my drawing. “Oh, shit! Orchids!”
He looks at me with a confused look on his face. I ignore it and walk over to my backpack, removing my notebook. He stands next to me as I flip through it until I see my crude artwork from English class. “I unknowingly drew this today in class. I didn’t know what it was until Dee pointed out it was a flower.” I turn to him. “Could it be a type of orchid?”
He looks at it with a frown. “That looks like a Pokemon.”
I punch him in the arm. “Seriously?”
He laughs. “Sorry, Jo,” he said, wiping a tear from his eye. “I mean, I guess it could be. It’s kinda abstract. It could be anything.”
“Hey, not everyone is a talented illustrator like you, ok?” I said, putting my hands on my hips.
“C’mon, Jo, I’m only teasing,” he said, putting his arm around my shoulders. “You’re an exceptional singer, a talented musician, and a kick ass MMA fighter. I gotta make fun of you on something.”
I shrug off his arm. “Whatever.”
He takes my drawing off my hands and positions it at arm’s length. His brows furrow in concentration. “Ok, I see it…. the petals… the stem. It looks like the flower itself is heart-shaped. Don’t you think?”
I look at it closer. “I guess so.”
“Look, there’s no doubt that Alexa is trying to communicate with us.” He places my notebook on the counter. “There’s something about these orchids that’s important to her. It must be a pretty big clue to finding her body… or her killer.”
We both cringe at the last word. We really don’t know which dire
ction Alexa is leading us. Then a realization hits me. “Why didn’t I think of this before?” I mutter, pacing back and forth in front of him. “My dream and this flower.”
“Explain, please,” said Julian. “You just lost me.”
“Remember when I told you last night about my nightmares?”
“Yeah…”
“It always ends with a flash of a white flower, and this afternoon I keep thinking about why my drawing looks familiar.”
Julian leans back on the counter and creases his forehead. “So you think the picture you just drew is the same flower that’s been making appearances in your dreams?”
“I believe so and these songs about orchids we’ve been hearing since this morning are, perhaps, a clue to her whereabouts.”
“A white orchid. But why is this flower so important?”
I shrug. “I don’t know.”
Then Julian looks straight at me. “Your nightmare. You think it’s possible that you’re reenacting how she died?”
I exhale and clutch my throat. Of course, it’s possible, and it may even be the truth. My hand trembles as I recall the terror whenever I’m in that dream. I can’t imagine anyone dying like that.
“Hey.” Julian says gently as he reaches out to me and caresses my cheek. “You’ve gotten pale. I feel you. I don’t want to think about that happening to her—or to anyone.”
“So where do we go from here?”
Julian is quiet for a moment. Then he turns to me, his blue eyes ablaze, making me nervous. “What if you don’t fight your sleep and welcome it? What if you don’t tell yourself to wake up and let the dream run its course? I think you should immerse yourself in it and finish it.”
I gasp. “You know what you’re asking from me, right?”
Julian leaves the counter and places his hands on my shoulders. “I do, and I’m sorry for even suggesting it. If I can be there with you, I would. But your dream is a message from Alexa, and it’s going to explain a lot of things.”
I bite my lip. It all makes sense, but staying in that dream for longer than I want to terrifies me. I back away from him. “What if I don’t wake up, Jules?” I avoid his eyes. This has been my biggest fear, being paralyzed that my heart stops, and I die in my sleep.
Suddenly, Julian’s powerful arms wrap around me, and I’m nestled on his chest. “That won’t happen to you, Joy.” Then, he releases me, puts me at arm’s length and bends down to look at me. “Do you have a weak heart?”
“No,”
“Any history of congestive heart failures in your family? Heart attacks?”
“Well, my dad.”
He cringes. “Ok, never mind.”
I bite my lip. “But you’re absolutely right. There’s something to these dreams. I really should finish it for her sake. I’m just being irrational. I’m young and healthy and I don’t have a heart problem.”
Julian cups my cheeks and inches his face closer. “I’ll stay awake the entire time while you sleep, and I’ll check your pulse occasionally just to make sure your heart rate’s within normal levels.”
“You’ll check for tachycardia for me?” I ask him, feeling touched.
“Of course, Joy. And if worse comes to worse, I’ll grab mom if there’s an actual emergency.”
I sigh. That’ll have to be good enough. “Ok, fine. I’ll do it.”
“We got this, Jo.”
“I guess.”
“So, I’ll see you tonight?” he asks me, shifting a little and gazing at me from beneath his lashes.
I nod as my body heats at the thought of a repeat performance of this morning.
“Ok, so I guess I’ll see you later.”
“Late—”
Suddenly, the door opens and Dee comes barging in like the force of nature that she is.
“Hey, girl! Sorry, I’m so late but I got caught making out with Tre Williams, and we had to explain ourselves to Principal Dwyer—oh, hi Ian—so that’s why I just got here — whoa, hold up!” said Dee, stopping herself as she realizes Julian’s presence. “What the hell are you doing here?”
Then she looks at me, then back at Julian. “Were you two making out in here?” She points her finger back and forth between us.
“No.”
“Hell, no,” I exclaim.
Julian looks at me. “Damn, you didn’t have to say it like that.”
Dee continues looking at us suspiciously. Then she crosses her arms. “Ok, you two. Out with it. What’s going on?”
Julian and I look at each other, wondering what explanation we’ll give her. It’s Julian who makes the first attempt.
“You got us, Dee. We were making out in here—hot and heavy. Don’t tell Bianca.”
What the—
She grabs an old balled up receipt and throws it at him. It lands on his forehead and bounces off to the ground. He breaks out laughing. “Don’t start with me, Ian. I’m warning you.”
But Julian is still laughing. Finally, he turns to me. “Ok, your turn. I tried, but she wouldn’t believe me.”
“Because it’s not true,” I said to him with a huff. Secretly, I’m grateful for his stupid remark because he successfully stalled Dee and gave me time to think. “Dee, we were just talking about our past and confronting each other about how we ended our friendship.”
Dee looks at me with suspicion. “You guys have a past?”
“So, I’m gonna bounce,” said Julian, leaving me to explain to Dee our history. “I’ll see you around, Dee.” He pats my head. “Have fun.”
“Traitor,” I mutter. He chuckles as he leaves the stand and closes the door. And now I have to answer to the feisty one who is staring at me with her arms crossed.
I sit on the stool. “Ok, so we’ve known each other for a long time.”
She taps her feet. “So what is this? You guys were besties, and you let me introduce the two of you like an idiot?”
“No, we’re not BFFs anymore. That day we stared at each other in English class?”
“Yeah?”
“First time in three years.”
She narrows her eyes, still with her arms crossed. “Explain. Slowly and clearly.”
I describe our friendship to her, excluding the ghost hunting and the kiss. She need not know the full details.
“So, you guys are neighbors and were best friends. Why did you keep this a secret from me?”
“I didn’t mean to. It’s not a big deal.”
“You had sleepovers with the Ian Taylor! That is a big deal!”
“He wasn’t huge, then. He was just Julian—a loser like me.”
Dee eyes me, then takes a seat. “It all makes sense now.”
“What does?”
“Whenever you guys are together, there seems to be this weird tension. Did you two date?”
The Night Orchid Page 21