Constantine hugged me tight for a moment, and I thought he kissed my hair for a split second—I could be wrong. And then, his big arm lifted off of me. Did Lex see that, the quick hug-possible-hair-nuzzle thing? Did that mean he liked me? Of course, he probably had a girlfriend back home, probably some popular cheerleader, with better clothes, blonde hair, and real cleavage—someone who wasn’t outcast and weird.
“Good morning,” he said to the back of my head.
“Um, good morning,” I echoed, crawling out of the covers and taking the hand Lex held out.
She pulled me up. “You look a hundred percent better this morning,” she said, giving me a hug. “How are you feeling?” She pulled off the towel and let her wet hair fall around her shoulders.
“Great,” I told her.
Constantine was lying back with his arm behind his head, smiling at us.
“How about you?” I asked, thinking that I’d just been lying there beside him, wishing I still was. I wondered what I looked like all rumpled from sleep. I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to straighten it out a little.
“I’m all better,” he said. “Take a look.” He sat up and pulled off his tee shirt, revealing broad shoulders and a well-defined torso.
“Perfect,” I said, kneeling down and tracing the spot where the bullet had entered.
Lex, who was blatantly staring at his bare chest, laughed. “I agree. Impressive six pack.”
“I mean that it’s healed,” I said, blushing. “Look, there’s hardly any scar. If you saw what it looked like yesterday—”
“Sweetie, chillax. Let’s eat some breakfast and make a plan, okay?”
“Okay,” I said, glad to have the subject changed. “I get the bathroom next. Be right back.”
I left the room before I embarrassed myself with more babbling. This was so new for me. I had no clue how to handle it all. I wanted to tell Lex to ask Constantine if he liked me. How freakin middle school was that?
I was just finishing washing up, when Lex appeared at the door with clothes. “You’re not going back to the hoodie,” she said, firmly. “That era is over.”
She handed me a skirt, a stylish top, and the boots she’d given me for Christmas. I knew better than to argue with that tone of voice. Plus, I was ready to lose the loser look. Now that I could control a few things, I didn’t need to hide anymore. Besides, nothing I could encounter at school could possibly compare with what I’d just gone through.
Bring it on!
When I was dressed, I checked on Sam. He was still sleeping. I gathered up bottles from the previous few days and tossed them in the bin. I walked out to the mailbox to collect up the clutter of junk mail and unpaid bills. There was another urgent request from the bank.
Sam was down to only one online class at that point. That barely covered the utilities. I set the notice beside his chair, hoping he’d make an effort…do something. But I could hope till the end of time. I left him a sandwich in the fridge, a note on the table, and headed back to the tree house.
“Bathroom’s all yours,” I said to Constantine. He’d gotten up and was helping Lex move the mattresses back to the bunkroom. “Be quiet and don’t go wandering. Sam’s sleeping, but he doesn’t need any shocks to his system.”
Con took off with his freshly washed, although blood stained jeans, and one of Ipod’s tee shirts. He looked skeptically at the jeans on his way out the door.
Lex shrugged. “Hey, blood stains are hard.”
I told Lex about the latest foreclosure notice.
“We’ll find a way,” she said confidently. “I probably have enough to make one payment. Then maybe Ipod can figure out how to hack my trust fund. Or I’ll convince my dad to intervene. Or maybe you can call your grandparents.”
Sam hated my mom’s parents. “It would kill him to have to ask them for money.”
“It would kill him to lose the house.”
“Checkmate,” I said, resignedly.
“We’ll deal after we get Ipod back and help Constantine,” she said. “I lie—I die.”
I left it at that. When Lex said that, she always came through.
I trucked across the bridge and snuck into the bathroom—no Sam in sight. Grabbing her towel, I held it to my face. I inhaled deeply, remembering the feel of her in my arms, the smell of her hair, and the soft skin on the back of her neck.
Then, abruptly, I tossed the towel back on the rack and splashed some water on my face. I was seriously conflicted. Not about her. There was no question at this point about how I felt about her, regardless of the stupid melding. I was conflicted about what my options were as far as having her in my future. I knew she was with Ipod, but she didn’t seem to have any problem holding my hand or sleeping next to me.
The critic jumped in at that point and reminded me, that A.J. slept near me to heal my gunshot wound. Lex arranged it, not her. I had to admit that was true. But she did hold my hand in the past. The critic snorted at that one. Okay, I conceded. We were in a life and death situation, and all bets were off for something like handholding. Besides, most of the handholding was when we were running for our lives. It’s not as if she made out with me or anything.
Still, she seemed to like me. We had moments. I knew we did.
Except…maybe I was having a moment, and she was just stunned by the newness of what was going on. I didn’t know if the melding worked for her at all since she was a Shadow. Probably she was blown away by all the Editor stuff, and I was just a part of that. Probably, she didn’t think of me that way at all. When it came down to it, what proof did I have that she was even into me?
None. Nada. Zilch.
I knew she was with him. I saw them lying together, practically making out. They lived together. And there I was, planning to get him back for her. A part of me wanted to save the kid, and a part of me was glad he was out of the picture. Overall, I was just confused.
And so understanding the expression: “Damned if you do—damned if you don’t.”
Damn it!
Constantine returned, dressed in Ipod’s tee shirt and his own bloodstained jeans. He held the damaged shirt against his chest.
Lex poked her finger through the hole. “Really close to your heart,” she said, slowly. Then suddenly, she hugged him. After a moment, she pulled back and looked up at him. “New Guy,” she said, “thanks for bringing my girl back. I owe you big.”
“I was a dead man,” he said. “A.J. did the saving—her and Hosa.” He tossed the tee shirt on a chair and turned to me. He rubbed his hand on the back of his neck and looked down at me. “You’re amazing…the things you can do. I’ve seen some unbelievable stuff, but none of it comes close to watching you heal Hosa and me in the aspen grove. I can hardly wrap my mind around it. But at least I’m still around to try…thanks to you.”
“You took a bullet for me,” I said. “And before that, I was in serious trouble. I never would have made it home without you. I never would have made it down from the freakin tree without you. So we’re even.”
He smiled. It was a really nice smile. I think I smiled back, but I was so caught up in feeling his smile, that I’m not sure.
Lex rolled her eyes at me behind his back. Then she rummaged through the cupboards, pulling out boxes of cereal. “Whatever. A.J.’s amazing, for sure. But then I already knew that. You brought her home, New Guy. You said you would and you did. I’d be lost without her. Ipod would probably be dead. I am your friend for life.”
“So Lex,” he said. “I’ve been in Boulder a while now. When do I quit being New Guy?”
“You aren’t New Guy to Boulder. You’re New Guy to us—to our group. That might last a while—at least until Ipod’s back, and he approves too. It’s been a long time since we’ve taken a new member. Still, you come highly recommended. I wouldn’t stress over your application.”
“I’m flattered,” he said, dropping down on the sofa.
“You should be,” she answered, “it’s a very exclusive club. Anywa
y, it’s cereal for breakfast because it’s getting late.”
“Sounds good to me,” I said, getting the bowls down and grabbing spoons from the drawer.
While we ate, we discussed the mission to retrieve Ipod. My plan was to go alone, text the Lex from the past to meet me after school, and get her to help. That Lex could text the other me what was going on and could fill her/me in later. The other me would be okay with it. I/she was used to weird things happening. Mostly, I didn’t want the current-time-frame Lex risking anything. I didn’t trust time travel completely yet. It was one thing for me to do it, because I didn’t have any choice most of the time. Lex did. What if something happened to her?
Besides, I wanted to show Constantine that, although she acted like it sometimes, Lex was not my mother. I wanted him to see that I was competent and not helpless.
“I don’t think so!” Lex said emphatically, when I suggested going solo.
“I can do this by my—”
“Yeah, in Never-gonna-happen land, maybe. But in Boulder, Colorado, I’m going with.”
Constantine watched us, looking amused. I should have told her in private. Usually I just went with it when Lex laid down the law. But now, I was the fish whisperer, the cowboy kicker, and a little more assertive. Of course, Lex had many more years practice at assertive than I did.
“Who died and made you boss?” I said as if I didn’t know through and through, that she was boss.
“Hellooo…I’ve always been boss. I’m coming.”
“But—”
“I said no,” she said again. “You can take people along with you. New Guy said so. You’re taking me.”
“There’s—”
“Ehhh!” she held up her hand. “I’ve been tearing out my hair for days now, losing you and then Ipod. I am not going to sit here by myself while you take off again on some adventure. No way, Jose’. Besides, the earlier me doesn’t know the plan. I do. I’m coming. End of subject.”
I threw my arms out and shrugged in defeat. Why the heck not? She was right. Besides, I wasn’t helpless when I healed him and Hosa. Maybe I didn’t have to be perfect at everything.
“You’re sure nothing will happen to her in the vortex?” I asked him.
“I lie—I die,” he said, laughing. “I’m sure, she’ll be fine. In all of Guild history, nothing’s ever happened to anyone in the vortex.”
“See?” Lex nudged me and grinned. “It’s settled. Here’s the plan. New Guy picks us up after school. We jump back to the day before the Chihuahua threatened the Hammer. We walk to Broadway and catch the bus to her office. I checked with Arthur. She was there all day. I confront her and convince her to keep the hell out of our business. Then it’s back to the tree house and return to the present. Cake.”
“So you think you can talk your mom into keeping her mouth shut?” Constantine asked.
Lex snorted. “Talking’s useless. She’s a lawyer…remember? I’ve got the only thing she understands—irrefutable evidence. A.J., you said you brought my keys back.”
“Yeah, but other than your wallet, that’s about all. Sorry—”
“Just stuff…keys?”
I dug through the ruined hoodie pockets. “Here, one set of keys and two wallets. Like I said, the rest of the stuff went to Hosa. Your phone was sacrificed so we could get away.”
“No big, I dealt with that the day you left,” she said, pulling out a new phone. “You give him my beads?”
I nodded.
“Cool,” she said. “That slays me. Hundreds of years ago, an Indian wore the beads that I got at the bead shop last Saturday. Way back then, all the other Indians are looking at his necklace saying, ‘Dude, those are some kick-ass beads. Where did you get those?’ I’ll bet they made him chief, because he had the most rockin’ necklace. Beads were big back then, even for guys.” She twirled the keys around her finger, grinning. “I made a piece of history.”
“What’s with the keys?” Constantine asked, wolfing down his second bowl of Cheerios.
“It’s not the keys exactly; it’s what’s on the key chain.” She held up a thumb drive. “Been saving this for a rainy day. This here is Exhibit A.”
“What—” I started to ask, but she walked out the door.
“I’ll fill you in later,” she called as she crossed the bridge. “I want to brush my teeth. We need to go. I can’t afford another late slip.”
************************************
Con’s dad’s car was a silver Audi with black tinted windows. It was sleek inside with black leather seats and cool looking computer functions on the dashboard. Unbelievably, I got in front, and Lex got in back. I don’t know exactly how it happened, but suddenly, there I was, sitting shotgun in the car with a guy as if it was a normal thing.
On the way to school, Constantine Cliffs-Noted Editor physiology 101—things he hadn’t had time to tell me in the olden days or at the tree house. He explained how affected we were by the negative emotions of others, especially people we cared for. Our heightened sensitivity made us vulnerable, and apparently, it took years to master building and holding a barrier. He said, in hindsight, he wished he’d worked harder on developing that ability before his brother’s accident.
“Isn’t it weird being you?” Lex asked from the back seat.
“I’ve never not been me, so I don’t know how to answer that,” he said, looking at her in the rear view mirror. “It’s weird having such a huge and complicated secret. I have to always watch myself—what I do, what I say. But it’s cool to have abilities. A.J. has mad skills. She just needs to learn how to handle her power.”
“Go A.J.,” Lex said.
“It’s all about energy frequencies,” he said. “A.J. packs significant power. Take sound waves, for instance.” He turned on the radio. “This car has a sweet sound system. But I could turn it as loud as it will go, and it will fade out to nothing a few blocks away, especially here where there are so many houses. Most Editors are anywhere in the car stereo range on up to nightclub speakers. A.J., she’s a rock-concert sound system.”
“Super Girl,” Lex said to me. “I’ll design you a costume.”
“I had a costume, but you won’t let me wear it anymore.”
“You mean Loser Girl? I was thinking more like some form-fitting, spandex thing, something with sparkles.”
“As if!” I said, turning and giving her my are-you-freakin-on-crack look.
She just grinned and stuck her tongue out at me. “If A.J.’s so powerful, why don’t you just have her heal your brother?”
“No can do,” Con answered. “First, I don’t think that even A.J. could heal a severed spinal cord. Second, he’s a documented paraplegic. Do you have any idea the uproar something like that would cause? No, we can’t risk the exposure. None of us would ever have another peaceful day for the rest of our lives.”
“Yeah, I can see that,” Lex said. “We were really careful when she healed my broken leg. I faked it for weeks.”
“Good thinking on your part,” Constantine said, staring ahead at the road. “The only way to fix Devon is to change the timeline. Keeping a low profile is vital. Luckily, you can’t really tell we’re different by looking at us. Our differences are internal.”
“Except for your eyes,” Lex said. “Your pupils look dilated like A.J’s. That’s how we began to lean towards thinking you were like her.”
“Do we all have eyes like this?” I asked.
“Yeah, it has to do with the twilight vision,” he said, stopping at a red light. “Our eyes function somewhat differently. But I’ve never seen eyes quite like yours, A.J. They’re intense.” He looked over at me.
I got a sharp twinge in my stomach, and I felt myself warm up about ten degrees. He looked back at the road and shifted into third. His knuckles grazed my bare knee and just kinda stayed there. I looked out the window as if I didn’t notice.
For a moment, their conversation faded out. I got lost in my head, thinking about what he said about m
y eyes. Intense…what did that mean? I slept next to him all night. I told him I loved him. But I thought he was dying…that I was going to die. Still, I meant it—I did. He didn’t hear me, but I said it. Of course, we weren’t in this lifetime, so maybe it doesn’t count. Still, he was there—
“Earth to A.J.!” Lex tapped me on the shoulder. “She goes off like that. I think the inside of her head is more entertaining than us sometimes.”
“Sorry,” I said, feeling my face flush. “I didn’t mean to space out.”
“No problem,” he said. “I do the same thing. I was telling Lex that we usually stay really healthy as long as we’re bonded with a tree.”
He went on to explain about the sub-brain and our enhanced nervous system that were the source of our abilities. Most abilities were dormant until activated, and they required years of practice to master. Abilities surfaced slowly. Some were triggered by hormones at puberty. The rest were elicited with help from more experienced Editors.
The tech, from Oreon, included the incorporation of binary code into this sub-brain, allowing it to process digitized information. In Editors, digitized information could travel along the nervous system and connect to the sensory areas of the brain. Con thought that explained the images I’d seen when I was healing him. He said it worked a little like dreaming.
The upper-ranks Editors received instant learning downloads for things like languages and martial arts moves. He said that my HM must have launched an emergency medical program that had been lying dormant. He said it was probably a combination of my being a Shadow and the adrenaline hit I’d gotten from getting shot at.
That reminded me of the images I’d seen of him when we were in the tree. I wanted to ask him about it. But at that point, we’d reached the school. He pulled up in front.
“Tick tock,” Lex said, gathering up her stuff. “We need to hurry. Thanks for the ride.” She straightened her thigh highs and got out of the car.
I grabbed my bag. It felt strange to be leaving him…even stranger to be going to school after all that had happened. I opened my door.
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