“Grandpa built models when he was my age,” Marcus said weakly.
His dad shook his head. “I know you and Joe get along, and that’s fine. You should respect your elders, but that doesn’t mean you need to be like them. Do you know what I’m saying?”
Marcus kept his lips tightly shut. Of course, his dad meant that he should grow up to be just like him. But the truth was, if Marcus could become half the man Grandpa Joe was, he’d be happy, no matter what his dad said.
“Did you go running in those old shoes?” his dad asked suddenly.
Marcus glanced over at the sneakers he’d worn every day since last year, still wet from this evening’s trip to the pond. “Um, yeah.”
“We can stop on the way home tomorrow and get you some proper running shoes.”
“But—”
“If you’re going to run, you’re going to do it right,” his dad said. Then he shut the door behind him.
Marcus sank down on his bed. Just when he’d finally fallen off his dad’s sports radar, he’d put himself right back on it again.
If only his dad could know his secret, maybe he wouldn’t be disappointed in him all the time. But as soon as he had the thought, Marcus realized how stupid it was. His dad would never be proud of a son who was a matchmaker. He’d think it was all “girlie hogwash.”
And even now that Marcus literally had the power of life and death in his hands, it still wouldn’t matter. To his family, he would always be a disappointment.
Chapter 11
Lena couldn’t wait to get to school in the morning. Her dad had spent all of breakfast singing show tunes and shuffling around the kitchen doing some kind of dance, all because of his date with Marguerite. He hadn’t said much about it, but it had clearly gone well. The “zap” Lena had given him seemed to be going strong.
Ugh. She’d thought about sending Eddie a message and telling him what had happened, but he probably had his hands full trying to figure out how to undo their swapped powers. She didn’t want to get him into bigger trouble. And if she was being honest, she didn’t want to get herself into trouble either.
But maybe Marcus would be able to help. After all, he’d had this job a lot longer than she had.
As Lena waited in front of his locker, she spotted her friend Hayleigh lugging a sequined duffel bag down the hall. In truth, Hayleigh was more Abigail’s friend than hers, but Lena liked her most of the time. As long as she didn’t rope Lena into helping her with her crazy art projects.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Hayleigh asked. Not surprisingly, there was a streak of pink paint on her dark forehead. “Isn’t your locker in the other hall?”
“I have to talk to Marcus for a minute.”
Hayleigh gave her a knowing smile. “I still can’t believe you guys kissed the other night!”
“Shh!” Lena said, glancing around. “The whole school doesn’t need to know about it.”
Hayleigh laughed. “Don’t you think Connie Reynolds already told everyone?”
Lena covered her mouth, mortified at the thought of kids gossiping about her first kiss. The whole point of having her checklist was to avoid that kind of drama! Then again, if she hadn’t started the stupid list, her dad wouldn’t be cawing show tunes and flapping his arms and legs around the kitchen like a crazed bird.
Just then, she spotted Marcus rounding the corner. When he saw her, his whole face lit up. She couldn’t help smiling back at him. She’d never met anyone else with such an infectious smile.
“Hey, Lena!” he said, a little too loudly. “How’s it going? Your, um, your hair looks nice today.”
“Oh, thanks,” she said, touching her ponytail. Why was Marcus always doing that? She couldn’t let herself get distracted by compliments.
“Hey, Marcus!” Hayleigh chirped.
He jumped, as if he hadn’t realized she was standing right there. “Oh, um, hi,” he said, suddenly looking uncomfortable. “Wow, that bag is really shiny.”
Hayleigh held it up proudly. “That’s the point! Plus it fits all my art supplies. Do you like it?”
“Yeah…it’s like a big mirror. But a bag. A mirror bag. I bet you could send messages into space with it.” He chuckled softly, but Hayleigh only gave him a puzzled smile.
Lena couldn’t stand the awkwardness for another second. “Marcus, I need to talk to you,” she said.
“Well, I have to go bring this stuff to the art room,” Hayleigh said, slinging the duffel bag back over her shoulder. “See you two later!” She gave them a little finger wave and then hurried away, giggling to herself.
Lena was relieved to see her disappear down the hall. “Come on,” she told Marcus. “Let’s go to the auditorium.”
“Wait, I have something for you.” He dug around in his backpack and pulled out a wilted rose, the end of its stem covered with aluminum foil. Then he held it out to her. “I wrapped the bottom in a paper towel, so if you rewet it later today, it should be fine until you bring it home.”
Lena stared at the rose for a long moment. Even though its petals were crinkled, it was still beautiful. It was also the first flower any guy had ever given her. “Wow, th-thank you,” she said, carefully taking it in her fingers. Her chest seemed to tingle with sudden warmth, and for some reason, she had the weird urge to hug the flower like some giddy girl in a movie might do.
“Sorry it’s kind of in rough shape,” Marcus said. “It was the craziest thing, but I think I accidentally killed the whole bush when I touched it.”
Lena’s eyes snapped up, the warm feeling in her chest vanishing.
“What do you mean you killed the rosebush by touching it?”
He shrugged. “It must be your powers. Or, um, my powers now, I guess. My fingers started glowing for no reason, and then the entire plant wilted right in front of me.”
“But that’s crazy! You shouldn’t be able to do stuff like that.” Lena sucked in a breath. Then again, she shouldn’t have been able to make her dad randomly fall in love with someone, but it had happened. “I think things are even more messed up than we realized. Come on.” She waved Marcus toward the auditorium, which was always empty this time of day.
“What’s wrong?” he asked when they were perched in the back row.
Lena slumped in her musty seat and told him all about what had happened with her dad the day before.
“Whoa,” he said when she was done. “So you gave him a love boost?”
“Don’t call it that. It sounds so cheesy!”
“Call it what you want, this is serious. There’s no way to undo it.”
“Are you sure? What about the manual Eddie gave you? There has to be something in it.”
Marcus shook his head. “The only thing you can do now is wait for the spark between them to fade on its own. If they’re not an actual love match, it shouldn’t take long.” He gave her an examining look. “But this woman sounds kind of perfect for your dad. Is it really so bad if he’s happy?”
“He’s not happy! He only thinks he is. He was fine before I did this to him.” Even as she said the words, Lena wasn’t sure they were true. After all, she’d felt all that loneliness coming from her dad yesterday. But his whole personality had changed since she’d zapped him. That had to mean this love stuff was a scam, right? Some kind of hypnosis? Once she had her regular dad back, then she could find a way to make him less lonely. Maybe they could get another dog or something.
“Have you heard from Eddie?” Marcus asked.
Lena shook her head. “Nothing yet. You?”
“Um, my phone’s out of commission right now.”
“We should let him know what’s going on. Our powers are obviously out of control. And just in case, we should avoid touching other people.”
“Even each other?” Marcus asked.
“Probably, just to be on the safe side.” The h
omeroom bell rang, making Lena jump. “Oh no! I was supposed to meet Abigail to practice for auditions!”
“Right, that’s today. What do theater people say? ‘Break a leg’ or something?”
“You can wish me luck. All that superstition stuff is—”
“I know! I know!” Marcus said, and for some reason, he was smiling. “You don’t believe in love, ghosts, or superstitions.”
“What, are you keeping a list?” Lena asked.
Marcus’s smile grew wider. “Maybe. How else am I going to unravel the mysteries of Lena Perris?”
She couldn’t help smiling back. “I’m pretty sure that besides the whole secret identity thing, I’m the least mysterious person at this school.”
“That’s exactly what you want people to think,” he said. “It probably means you collect human skulls in your basement. Or worse, stuffed unicorns.”
Lena laughed. Ever since Connie Reynolds had shoved them into that closet, Marcus had seemed different, more sure of himself. She wished other people could see this side of him. Then maybe her friends wouldn’t call him a weirdo anymore.
“Wait, I know!” Lena cried, something clicking in her brain. “We need to get Connie Reynolds involved.”
“With your audition?” Marcus asked, his brow crinkling.
“No! She was there the first time we kissed. Maybe she needs to be there again, so that our powers switch back.”
Marcus seemed to think this over. “But does that mean we have to re-create the whole party too? Maybe it all has to be exactly the same as the first time. That’s pretty much impossible.”
He was right. “I’ll keep thinking about it,” Lena said, getting to her feet. “Oh, and Marcus. Um, thanks again for the flower. That was really nice of you.” Then she rushed out of the auditorium without looking back.
Even though she was already late, Lena stopped at her locker and carefully tucked Marcus’s rose inside. She didn’t want it to get more crushed in her bag. For some reason, she had the urge to wave good-bye to it before she shut the locker door, like it might be sad all alone in the dark. But she told herself to stop being ridiculous. She couldn’t be one of those girls who got all mushy the minute a guy did something nice for them. I’m not going to be weak like that, she told herself as she slammed the locker door shut and hurried down the hallway.
When Lena got to homeroom, Mrs. Lo looked up from her desk and gave a disapproving shake of her head before marking something down in her book. Lena blushed as she slunk to her seat. She’d never been late for anything in her life. Her dad liked to remind her that she’d even been born early.
“Where were you?” Abigail asked over the dull roar of the other kids laughing and talking around them. “I waited at your locker.”
“Sorry, I had to, um, talk to someone. Oh! I forgot!” Lena fished around in her bag and took out the quilted purse she’d made for Abigail the night before. She was careful not to brush Abigail’s hand when she handed it over. If her fingers could flare up at any second, she had to be extra cautious. The last thing she needed was Abigail going gaga over some guy.
“Wow, thanks. What’s this for?” Abigail asked.
“It’s a thank-you for dragging me to Connie’s party. Otherwise, I would have never gotten my first kiss.” Granted, if she hadn’t gone to that party, none of the other stuff would have happened, but that wasn’t Abigail’s fault.
Should she tell Abigail what was going on? Eddie had made her swear not to reveal her soul collector identity to anyone, not even her best friend, but this situation was so insane. It would be a relief to tell someone.
“You know, Marcus is kind of cute,” Abigail said. “Even if he is pretty awkward. I could see why you like him.”
“I don’t like him,” Lena insisted.
“Well, Hayleigh and I were talking last night, and if you’re not interested in him…do you think he might like one of us?”
Lena gawked at her. “What are you talking about?” Is that why Hayleigh had been so friendly to Marcus in the hall?
Abigail shrugged. “I mean, if he’s your property, that’s fine. We’ll back off.”
“I…” For some reason, Lena couldn’t form words. Why should she care if her friends liked Marcus? Sure, only two days ago, they’d been laughing at her for kissing him, but what did it matter to her if they were suddenly interested in him? Her friends could do whatever they wanted.
But when she tried to tell Abigail that, the words still wouldn’t come out.
“Okay, never mind,” Abigail finally said, probably getting tired of watching Lena gulping air like a fish. “Obviously you like him.”
“I don’t like him!” Lena cried. Everyone in the room turned to look at her. Lena felt her cheeks go bright red, but she ignored the other kids’ stares and said in a loud voice, “Are we running lines or not?”
Abigail shrugged and fished out a copy of the monologue. “People have crushes on other people, you know. It’s totally normal.”
Lena didn’t answer. Instead, she pretended to read over the audition scene. So much for telling Abigail about what was happening with her. Her friend clearly wouldn’t understand. It seemed that when it came to this whole supernatural mess, the only person on Lena’s team was Marcus.
Chapter 12
By the time the bell for last period rang, Lena had her nerves under control. She’d gone over the Alice monologue in the bathroom between classes, she’d spent all of lunch in the auditorium practicing, and she’d made sure to stay nice and hydrated throughout the day so that her throat wouldn’t be dry and raspy.
She was ready. As she waited in the auditorium for the auditions to start, she couldn’t help imagining what things would be like once she got into the play. Her dad would be so proud of her that maybe he’d finally stop being the Tin Man for a minute and show some real emotion (without the help of any fake love spells). And her mom might even come see her on opening night instead of just doing her once-a-year visit on Christmas. But most of all, Lena would know that her dream of becoming a real actress one day wasn’t just some crazy fantasy. It could really come true.
When everyone was gathered in the auditorium, Mr. Jackson stood up on the stage, holding a clipboard and adjusting his red bow tie.
“All right!” he called out. “Put your names on this sign-up sheet, and I’ll call you one by one.”
There was a frantic dash to the clipboard as Mr. Jackson put it on top of the piano. Lena made sure to stand back so she wouldn’t accidentally brush against anyone, which meant that by the time she got to the sign-up sheet, she was the only one left. She scrawled her name after Abigail’s and went to sit in the front row.
Then the waiting began. Abigail spent the whole time reading the monologue over and over, but Lena watched every audition, trying to decide who Mr. Jackson would cast for all the parts. She had a feeling that Emery Higgins would be the Cheshire Cat because of the gleaming braces on his enormous smile.
With each girl who auditioned for Alice, Lena’s confidence grew. None of them were that great. The girl who’d gotten the lead last year was now in high school, which meant that Lena might actually have a shot. But getting the lead wasn’t the point, she reminded herself. Any part in the play would do. That’s all she wanted.
Finally, almost two hours later, it was Abigail’s turn. The auditorium was pretty empty, since most kids had left after they’d auditioned.
“Break a leg,” Lena whispered as her friend headed up to the stage. She’d given Marcus a hard time about using that phrase, but she knew Abigail would be offended if she wished her good luck.
Abigail stood in the center of the stage with her eyes closed for a minute, like she was meditating. Then she took a deep breath and started to speak, not as herself, but as Alice.
Lena watched her, mesmerized, along with everyone else in the auditorium. Abigail wa
s amazing. She even looked the part with her long, blond hair and bright-blue eyes. This was a far cry from the self-conscious girl who’d practically whispered her lines at last year’s audition.
“Wow!” Mr. Jackson said when she was finished. “You’ve come a long way!”
“Thanks,” Abigail said with a shy glance up from the stage. “I’ve been practicing a lot.”
Mr. Jackson scribbled something on his clipboard and then called out, “Finally, Lena Perris!”
Lena got to her feet and passed by Abigail, who seemed to be floating to her seat. Her friend didn’t even look at her, as if she were still lost in Wonderland.
Don’t think about her, Lena told herself. Focus on your own audition.
When she got to the center of the stage, her heart started bouncing off the sides of her chest like a basketball. She hadn’t felt nervous before, but now she could barely breathe.
She glanced out at the crowd, and suddenly she noticed the colors shifting around her. Oh no. Please, don’t let this happen now.
But it was too late. Suddenly, two eighth graders in the back of the auditorium were glowing yellow, sparks fluttering between them. Had Marcus zapped them recently? And a sixth-grade girl in the middle row had a pale gray aura around her as she stared at a skinny seventh grader with an odd, hungry look on her face.
Lena closed her eyes. Stop it.
“Is everything all right?” Mr. Jackson called.
Lena forced her eyes open and sighed in relief when she saw the auras were gone. “Fine,” she said. “Sorry. I’m ready.”
Then she cleared her throat and pushed Alice’s words out of her mouth. They oozed out slowly at first, like molasses, but then they began to pour out more quickly until finally she wasn’t thinking about them anymore, she was just saying them. Before she knew it, the monologue was over.
She expected Mr. Jackson to tell her “good job” or at least to say “thank you” like he had to all the other kids, but he only glanced at the sign-up sheet and said, “Looks like that’s it for today. I’ll have the cast list posted tomorrow morning.”
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