After (Parallel Series, Book 4)

by Christine Kersey

  “Hello?” a woman’s voice said.

  My mouth went dry and my gaze shot to Morgan.

  She nodded like she was saying Talk to her.

  “Uh, hi,” I said.

  “Billy?” she said. At first I wondered how she knew it was me when I’d only said two words, but then I realized that of course she knew my voice. She’d listened to it for sixteen years.

  “Yeah, it’s me.”

  She was quiet for a moment, then in a voice filled with tears, she said, “I can’t believe you’re calling.”

  Her obvious joy in hearing from me touched me, and I felt my throat knot up with unshed tears of my own.

  “How are you?” she asked after a few moments of silence.

  “I’m good.” At least that was an easy question.

  “Why . . . why are you calling?”

  Here goes. “I was wondering if you and . . . your husband . . . would like to sit down and talk.”

  “Oh, yes,” she immediately said, as if she’d been wishing for that exact thing. “Very much.”

  Encouraged by her enthusiasm, I went on. “Okay. Can you do it tomorrow night?”

  “Yes. Where would you like to meet? At Mr. Tasco’s house?”

  “No,” I quickly said. “No. I’m staying at a friend’s house, and her parents said we could meet there.”

  “All right.”

  I gave her Morgan’s address, and set it up for seven o’clock.

  “Thank you, Billy,” she said. “You don’t know what this means to me.”

  Not sure how to respond, I said, “You’re welcome.”

  A moment later we hung up and I turned to Morgan with a relieved smile. “I’m glad that’s over with.”

  “I can tell.” Then she laughed. “You do realize that that was probably the easy part.”

  I nodded. “Yeah.”

  Chapter 55

  Morgan

  The moment Hannah saw me at school on Thursday, she rushed over to talk to me about the video she wanted to record.

  “Can you do it on Saturday?” she asked.

  Though I didn’t have any plans, I was reluctant to commit as that would make it harder for me to back out. “I’m not sure yet,” I hedged.

  She sighed, apparently impatient with my reluctance. “Come on, Morgan. We need to get going on this.”

  Now she sounded like Holly, which kind of freaked me out. It seemed there was always someone who wanted to use me for their own purposes. “I might have something going on.”

  “Well, when will you know for sure?”

  It wasn’t like she had to rent a studio or anything. We would be doing this in her room with a video camera. “I’ll let you know as soon as I know, okay?” What was I doing? I should just tell her now that I couldn’t do it. Why was I having such a hard time telling her no? Was it because it seemed like my own efforts to let people know that the government’s new rules were a bad thing had stalled, but Hannah seemed to have a whole team working on it? I wasn’t sure, but it was nice to not be on my own for a change.

  “Fine,” she said with a frown.

  Billy’s warning about me being the one who would get the blame for the computer hack filled my mind. “When is your friend going to . . . you know. . . delete that data?”

  “That really worries you, doesn’t it?”

  I was glad she could tell. “Yeah, it does.”

  Hannah stared at me a moment. “Yeah, so it looks like that might not happen after all.”

  Relief swept over me. “Oh. Why not?”

  “Uh, my friend doesn’t want to do it anymore.” She smiled. “This video that you’re going to do will be a good way to start though.”

  Now that I knew the hack wouldn’t be happening, I felt much more enthusiastic about doing the video. I even considered telling Hannah that Saturday would work fine, but decided to wait as I didn’t want it to be so obvious that I’d been stalling.

  When Mom and I pulled into the driveway after school, Billy was just getting home as well.

  “Hi, Billy,” I said as I climbed out of the car.

  “Hey.”

  He seemed tense and after a second I remembered that he would be meeting with his parents that night. “Are you okay?”

  He shrugged, but his body language told me he wasn’t feeling especially excited about the meeting.

  Wanting to take his mind off of his worries, I smiled and said, “I have a ton of homework. What about you?”

  “Yeah. I guess we can work on that.”

  A short time later we were settled in front of the coffee table with our books spread out in front of us.

  “I have some new card tricks,” Zac said to Billy a few minutes later. “Can I show them to you?”

  Billy smiled at him. “Sure.”

  I loved the way Billy would drop whatever he was doing to give my brothers attention. I smiled as I watched the two of them interact.

  “Guess what?” I asked Zac after he’d finished his demonstration.

  “What?” he said.

  “I’m taking you and Brandon and Amy to a movie tonight.”

  His eyes rounded. “Really?”

  His excitement was contagious. “Yes. Really.”

  “Cool. I’m going to tell Brandon.”

  After Zac left, Billy turned to me with a small smile. “I appreciate you taking them.”

  “It’s no problem,” I said. “I mean, the last thing you need is to have them hanging around tonight.”

  He laughed. “Yeah. That would definitely be awkward.”

  When it was time for me to take my siblings to the movies, Dad drove us to the theater.

  “I’ll be back in a couple of hours,” he said as he dropped us off.

  As we settled into our seats to watch the movie, I wondered how Billy was doing.

  Chapter 56

  Billy

  As much as I appreciated Morgan taking Amy and her brothers to the movies, I would have loved to have her by my side that evening. We’d been through some pretty intense things together and this was right up there with the most intense of them all.

  “Are you feeling okay?” Morgan’s mom asked me as we waited for Morgan’s dad to come back.

  “I’m nervous. I mean, if they ask me questions I can’t answer, I don’t know what I’ll do.”

  She smiled. “Try not to worry too much about it. Steve and I will be here to help you through it.”

  “I really appreciate it.”

  The doorbell rang then.

  “They’re early,” I said as panic pumped through me.

  “Just a few minutes.” Morgan’s mom walked to the front door.

  Frozen in place, I stayed standing, my gaze riveted to the door as she pulled it open.

  “Hello,” she said. “I’m Roxanne Campbell. You must be Mr. and Mrs. Foster.”

  “Please,” my mother said. “Call us Becky and Jim.”

  “Okay. Please come in.” She held the door open and they walked in.

  Their gaze went right to me, and I felt pinned in place. “Hi,” I said.

  “Hi,” my mother said, but she didn’t move any closer to me.

  “Please, sit down,” Morgan’s mom said.

  My parents sat on the couch, and Morgan’s mom and I sat on the two chairs next to the couch. Although my father kept watching me, he didn’t say anything.

  “My husband will be back soon,” Morgan’s mom said.

  My mother nodded, then she glanced around. “You have a lovely home.”

  “Thank you.”

  I hated the small talk, but I didn’t know what to say to help the conversation.

  “So your name’s Billy Foster?” my father said as he looked at me, cutting right through the chatter.

  “Yeah.” I smiled slightly to show that his abrupt question didn’t offend me.

  “And you look just like our son.”

  I nodded. “Evidently I do.”

  “Where are your parents?” he asked, his gaze unw
avering.

  “Jim,” my mother said, her voice sounding a warning.

  “I have to ask,” he said as he turned his gaze on her, then he turned back to me with an expectant look.

  Alarm swelled within me. They wanted an answer, and they wanted it right away.

  The front door opened and Morgan’s dad walked in.

  “This is my husband, Steve,” Roxanne said as she jumped from her seat and met Steve at the door.

  My parents stood and my father shook Steve’s hand. Once we were all settled again, Morgan’s mom smiled at Steve, “The kids made it to the theater okay?”

  “Yes, and the boys were really excited.”

  “I’ll bet,” she said as she sat back down. Steve sat on the ottoman.

  “I was just asking Billy a question,” my father said, drawing everyone’s attention back to me.

  “Oh yeah?” Steve said. “What was that?”

  “I was asking him where his parents are.”

  “Oh,” Steve said as his eyes met mine.

  “They’re dead,” I blurted without a second thought. To me they were, so it was true enough.

  “How did they die, if I may ask?” my father said, his gaze steady.

  As I locked eyes with him I knew what he was really asking—How do you exist?—and suddenly I realized that I was done pretending. I had to tell them the truth, no matter the consequences. “Look, I can tell you my story, but you probably won’t believe it.”

  “Your story?” he asked.

  “Yes,” I said. “Why I’m here. How I’m here.”

  “Billy,” Morgan’s mom said, her voice telling me I should be cautious.

  “I have to tell them the truth,” I said. “That way they can decide right now if they want to waste any more of their time or mine, okay?”

  She stared at me a moment, then finally she nodded. “Okay.”

  “What’s going on here?” my father asked. “Who are you people?”

  My mother didn’t say anything. Instead, she stared at me, like she wanted to memorize my every move in case this night didn’t work out.

  “We’re just a normal family,” Steve said. “We met Billy a couple of months ago after our daughter ran away.”

  My father looked back at me, his eyebrows raised.

  “Are you sure you want to know?” I asked, although I knew it was a dumb question. They had no idea what I was about to tell them, so of course they thought they wanted to know.

  “Yes,” my mother whispered. “I do.”

  My father slowly nodded, like maybe he wasn’t so sure.

  “Okay.” I took a deep breath, then shook my head. “Like I said, you’re probably not going to believe me, but the truth is, when Morgan ran away she crossed into a parallel world. My world.”

  “What?” my father nearly shouted. “That’s ridiculous.”

  My mother gasped and put her hand over her mouth.

  I waited until my father had quieted down before continuing. “I told you that you wouldn’t believe me, but whether you do or not, it’s the truth.”

  My father’s mouth thinned as he pressed his lips together, then his eyes narrowed as he looked me over. “I need more information.”

  At least he didn’t jump up and flee. That gave me hope. Just a glimmer, but hope nonetheless.

  Then my father looked at Steve. “How did your daughter cross into a parallel world?” He glanced around. “Where is she? I’d like to hear it from her.”

  “She took our younger children to a movie,” Steve said, then he glanced at me. “And for the record, I’m not one hundred percent convinced about this parallel world thing."

  Great. Now my parents will have even more doubt. I frowned, but didn’t say anything.

  “Well,” Morgan’s mom said. “For the record, I do believe their story about the parallel world.”

  Gratitude toward Morgan’s mom grew within me and I smiled at her.

  “I don’t care how he’s here,” my mother said, her voice loud and strong. “I just care that he is.” Love shone from her eyes, and when my gaze met hers, I knew that her love was unconditional. She reached out and gripped her husband’s arm. “We can hash out the hows and whys later. Right now I . . .” Her voice broke. “I just want my boy back.”

  My father put an arm around her and pulled her against his side. “Of course, Becky.” His eyes slid over to me, but I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

  After a moment my mother calmed down, then looked at me. “Billy, will you come sit by me?”

  My heart stuttered at her request. My parents had never been overly physical in their affection, so the thought of snuggling up to this woman made me feel uneasy, but I knew that if I had any hope of them becoming my parents in this world, I would have to adjust to them just as they would have to adjust to me.

  I stood, then took the few steps necessary to move over to the couch where I sat next to the woman who was my mother in this world. My father sat on her other side. She smiled softly, then she put one arm around my shoulders. She didn’t tug me closer or anything, but just draped her arm around my shoulder. Our height difference—I was at least six inches taller than her—forced her to stretch a little to reach around my shoulders.

  At first the weight of her arm made me feel awkward, but after a few moments I forced myself to relax and found that I didn’t mind having her so close.

  “I’d like to have the chance to get to know you,” she said.

  That was what I wanted too, so I nodded.

  “Would you like to come to our home on Saturday? Perhaps spend the day with us?”

  By myself? Alone with them? “Uh . . .” There was no other way to get to know them, and my desire to have my own family overpowered my fear of being alone with these strangers who looked just like the people who had raised me, then betrayed me. “Okay.”

  “Wonderful.”

  My father didn’t say anything and I wondered what he thought of all of this.

  “I can drive you there,” Morgan’s mom offered. “What time would you like me to drop him off?”

  “Sometime in the morning,” my mother said. “I know it’s a long drive.”

  “We need to be getting back,” my father said. “Like Becky said, it’s a long drive.”

  My mother’s arm tightened across my shoulders at his pronouncement and I knew she didn’t want to leave, but I got the feeling that he needed time to digest what I’d told him before he spent anymore time with me.

  “It was nice meeting you,” Steve said as he stood.

  “Yeah.” My father stood as well. “You, too.”

  “Thank you for having us over,” my mother said to Morgan’s mom as she finally released me.

  “You’re very welcome.”

  My mother stood, so I did too. It seemed like I towered over her—this was the closest I’d been to her since the hug she’d given me at Tasco’s house on the first day she stopped by. She looked up at me and smiled, and her eyes sparkled with barely withheld tears.

  The joy on her face made me feel happy, and I smiled back at her as optimism that this could actually turn into something good flooded me. Then, surprising myself more than anyone else, I leaned down and hugged this woman who seemed to love me no matter what.

  Her arms immediately wrapped around my waist as she pressed her cheek into my shoulder. After a moment we both let go and she gripped my father’s hand. “We’ll see you in two days,” she said.

  I nodded, and realized I was starting to look forward to it.

  Chapter 57

  Morgan

  The moment Dad picked us up at the movies I wanted to ask him how the meeting went, but there were too many listening ears in the car. Instead I waited until we got home, then I pulled Billy aside and asked him.

  “I’m going to spend Saturday with them,” he said with a small smile.

  “That’s good, right?”

  “I don’t know. My mother seems really happy, but my father is more intereste
d in how I exist.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I told them I’m from a parallel world.”

  My eyes widened in shock. “Why?”

  “I had to. I had to tell them the truth.”

  “What did they say?”

  Billy told me how his mother didn’t care about his claim, but that his father wanted more information. “My father wanted to talk to you. Will you talk to him if he asks?”

  I had no desire to tell these people what I’d been through, but if Billy wanted me to talk to them, I would. “Yes, of course.”

  “Thanks.”

  When I saw Hannah at school the next day, I told her I could come over on Saturday to do her video.

  “Awesome,” she said. “I’ll text you my address.”

  On Saturday morning I woke early. Mom was going to take Billy to see his parents and I wanted to wish him luck before he left. I went downstairs and found Billy sitting on the couch staring at the wall.

  I sat beside him. “Hi.”

  He turned to me and took my hand, rubbing his thumb over my palm. “I wish you could come with me.”

  “I know, but they want to get to know you, and that wouldn’t work if I came along.”

  He nodded.

  “Ready to go?” Mom asked.

  His hand tightened on mine. “I guess so.”

  “It will be fine,” Mom said. “They’ll bring you home at the end of the day, but if things get uncomfortable, call me. I’ll come get you.”

  “Thank you,” Billy said as he released my hand and stood. “I really appreciate you doing this.”

  Mom smiled and nodded, and a moment later they left.

  When I got to Hannah’s later that morning, she introduced me to her mother, then dragged me to her room.

  “This video is going to be awesome,” she said.

  I wasn’t so sure about that. If it was anything like the PSAs Holly’s group had done, they really weren’t all that exciting, but it was a start, a way to get our message out.

  “I just read today,” Hannah said, “that the first lady said she didn’t know how to feed her kids the right foods even though she went to a fancy college, so she thinks no one else can figure it out. That’s why she thinks we all need the government to help us.”