Cipher (The Cipher Series)

by Cindi Madsen

  I should’ve kept my guard up instead of letting it down

  Shouldn’t have given my heart away

  But there’s no point in should’ves anyway

  I should let you go now

  I should

  But we both know that I’ve never been any good

  At doing what I should

  I’m not a poseur, Summer thought again. “I Should” is just a good song. Anyone who listens can see—well, hear—that.

  During intermission, Ashlyn headed toward the edge of the crowd. A mix of determination, fear, and this weird feeling in her gut drove Summer to follow. Tonight might be her last chance to get through to the girl, and she planned on giving it all she had.

  “They played your song,” Summer said when she came up blank on anything else to talk about. “I’m gonna listen to it more now. Maybe it’ll help me through my rough spot.”

  Ashlyn gave an exaggerated sigh. “What could you possibly have in your life that’s rough? You’re on the dance squad, and your boyfriend’s a football star and one of the best-looking guys in school. Forgive me if I doubt your problems are real problems.”

  Summer kept trying to tell herself she didn’t need Cody, but her heart still clenched whenever she thought of her recently-exed-boyfriend. “For your information, my boyfriend and I broke up because I wouldn’t have sex with him. So maybe it’s not a life-threatening problem, but it sucks, and I’m trying to have fun tonight if that’s all right with you.”

  Summer spun around and almost bumped into Troy. His jaw was clenched and he looked ready for a fight, fists clenched at his sides. She lowered her eyebrows. “Why do you look so mad?”

  “What did you just tell Ashlyn?” he asked. “Tell me I heard that wrong.”

  “It’s nothing. And it doesn’t matter anyway. Any boy would be the same way.”

  “That’s not true,” Troy said. “That guy’s just a loser.”

  “Actually, it’s pretty true,” Ashlyn said, and Summer whipped her head back to the girl, her mouth hanging open. “Come on. You’re supposed to be a dancer, right?” She motioned to the dance floor, where several people were moving to the beat of the music they played during intermission. “Let’s go dance.”

  Summer followed Ashlyn as she moved through the crowd to the center of the room. The next song started and they moved to the beat. The bass line vibrated through Summer until her body hummed with it. The music, the dancing, the fact that Ashlyn wasn’t scowling—tension leaked out of Summer’s body, until she felt floaty and light.

  That was the magic of music and dance. They were a language all their own. Speaking of dancing, Ashlyn knew how to move.

  “You’re a good dancer,” Summer said. “The squad’s full right now, but we’re going to add a few more girls for basketball season. You should…” It hit Summer then. Ashlyn might not have that long.

  Ashlyn cupped her ear. “What? I can’t hear over the music.”

  Summer raised her voice. “I said you’re a good dancer.”

  Ashlyn swung her head from side to side. “Unicorn Stench’s new stuff was so awesome, right? I’m totally buying a CD before we leave.”

  “Me, too. You’ll have to let me know which song is the most poseur-like, so it can be my favorite.” Summer grinned to let Ashlyn know she was kidding.

  Ashlyn’s smile lit up her face. “You know, I think I misjudged you. You might just be okay.”

  It wasn’t exactly where she needed to be for her supposed job, but she’d take it.

  ***

  Troy parked his Jeep alongside the curb of Summer’s house. “Hey, Sunshine? You’re not going to get back together with Cody, are you?”

  Summer shook her head. “Definitely not. It’s over for good this time.”

  “Good. Then you won’t mind when I kick his ass.”

  “Don’t. Seriously, Troy. Just leave it alone. I didn’t even want you to find out why. I didn’t want anyone to know, actually. I just kind of blurted it out.”

  The streetlight came through the windshield, illuminating Troy’s green eyes. He looked at her, the stripe of light shifting to his cheekbone and jaw. “I never could figure out why you were with him.”

  “Oh, he wasn’t all bad,” Summer said. “Besides, it’s not like you’re an expert at picking gems, either. Kristen was mean. Like punch-you-in-the-face mean. I had no idea why you were with her. Or most any of the girls you date for that matter.”

  “I broke up with Kristen a long time ago.”

  “Right. And I broke up with Cody.” Summer tucked her leg under her as she twisted in her seat to face Troy. “Now, promise me you won’t do anything. It’s bad enough, and I just want it to be over. I’m done with guys, relationships—the whole stupid mess. I have enough other stuff going on anyway.”

  Troy continued to stare out at the street, his posture still rigid.

  “Please leave it alone,” she said. “For me.”

  “Fine.”

  “This night was exactly what I needed. I got to hear awesome music, got a new CD”—she held up the signed case—“and I made progress with Ashlyn.” She placed her free hand on top of Troy’s bicep. “Thanks for letting me come, and picking me up, and being my friend. All that good stuff.”

  Troy’s expression softened as he looked at her. “You call me anytime you need me. Tonight reminded me how much fun we used to have together.”

  “I was thinking that, too. And now it’ll be even better because there won’t be other people getting in the way, getting mad anytime we try to do stuff together.” Summer glanced at the house and saw Dad’s outline in his bedroom window. “I better go.”

  She lunged across the console and gave Troy a quick hug. “Later.” She climbed out of the vehicle and walked up the sidewalk. As she approached the house, she replayed the night, from dancing with Ashlyn, Unicorn Stench ending their killer show with Obligatory, and being able to spend time outside of school with Troy again. For the first time in a week, she didn’t feel completely crappy.

  But then she remembered that, according to the Angel of Death, the girl Summer was starting to really like was going to die.

  Chapter Eight

  The man holds his phone up to his ear and opens the back door of the cab with the other hand. If he gets in, he’s going to be crushed inside, his last breaths spent on that call. One foot in the car.

  Somebody has to stop him.

  The other foot in.

  Somebody has to tell him.

  He sits inside. The door begins to swing shut.

  Summer shot up in bed. “Don’t get in the cab! You’re going to die!” She gulped for air, trying to get some of it into her straining lungs. It took a moment for her to realize that she was in her bedroom, that she wasn’t fourteen anymore. It was only a dream.

  Of course, her dream had really happened. And now she knew the truth. The man had died that night.

  Summer lay back down and put her pillow over her head, but she couldn’t block out the image of that man crushed in a car. That had been the first time it’d happened. If it’d been the last, she could’ve gone through life totally blissful, still thinking the image was what she got for watching too many violent action movies with Dad.

  Stupid truth.

  What seemed like only a few minutes later, the ringing started. Then stopped. Then immediately started again. Summer opened her eyes and looked at her clock. It can’t seriously be one already. Can it?

  At last the ringing finally stopped, leaving the house in blessed silence. Summer got up and decided to head down to the kitchen for breakfast. Or lunch. Either way, she was starving.

  She poured herself a bowl of Lucky Charms and sat cross-legged in front of the TV. When the phone rang again, Summer decided she should answer it. Whoever it was, wasn’t giving up. She set her bowl of cereal on the coffee table, walked into the kitchen, and picked up the cordless. “Hello?”

  “Where are you?” Kendall sounded mad.

  Summer
thought it was pretty obvious that she was home. Didn’t answering her home phone clue Kendall in? “I’m hanging out, doing a whole lot of nothing.”

  “You were supposed to meet me at the mall this morning, and then we were supposed to have lunch with the girls. You missed it.”

  “I completely forgot.” Lunch today was supposed to help smooth over all the lunches Summer had skipped out on during the week.

  “What’s up with you lately?”

  Summer covered a yawn with her hand. “I stayed out late last night, so I slept in.” Not to mention the fitful, nightmare-filled sleep.

  “Well I hate to tell you this, but Lexi said that Brooke said that she saw Jenna and Cody last night, and that they were all over each other. Don’t worry, though, I’ve been brainstorming, and I’ve got the perfect solution. According to Lexi, Grossmont’s quarterback is single now, and if you started dating our rival school’s QB, that would totally show Cody.”

  “I don’t really want to show Cody anything. I just want to forget about him. I’m over guys.”

  Kendall sighed. “You know you’re no fun when you’re all mopey. I don’t have the energy to keep you happy if you don’t even try.”

  “I appreciate all the help,” Summer said. “But I’m not ready for another boyfriend.”

  “Ugh, this morning these guys kept following me all around the mall. They were the totally-loser type, too. I could’ve used your help, by the way. Lexi’s no good at picking out accessories. She wears those awful chunky hoops with everything she owns.”

  Kendall only wanted someone there to echo her opinion. For some reason the girl wanted input before buying anything, yet if you said you didn’t like what she’d picked, she’d be mad for hours. Sounded like Lexi had the nerve to disagree today, poor girl.

  “So, if you come over this afternoon I’ll show you what I bought,” Kendall continued. “You can help me figure out how to mix and match with my wardrobe.”

  “I can’t this afternoon. I’m catching a movie with Ashlyn.” Silence followed, and Summer felt obligated to fill in the gap. “We started talking last night, and she’s really cool, so we made plans. I’m, uh, sure she wouldn’t care if you wanted to come with us.”

  “No. You go ahead and go to a movie with your new friend. Don’t worry about me.” With that, Kendall disconnected.

  Summer knew she should call Kendall back and figure out a way to make it better, but the thought exhausted her. Making Kendall happy would have to wait. Right now, she needed to focus on Ashlyn.

  ***

  The first few minutes of the car ride were silent after Summer picked up Ashlyn, but before long they were laughing and talking again, like they had been last night at the end of the Unicorn Stench show.

  Ashlyn tugged on her seatbelt, pulling it away to twist in her seat. “So, the Cody thing. I know you guys went out for a long time and that you’re hurting over it still, but you know having sex with him wouldn’t have fixed everything, right? If he cared about you, he would care about your feelings, too, not just his.”

  The part of her that’d been wondering if it would’ve made a difference broke. She wanted to cry and smile and hug Ashlyn, all at the same time. “Thanks. I needed to hear that. He and I always had our ups and downs, but there at the end, it started being a lot more downs. I dealt with them because…well, don’t mock me, but I didn’t want to lose him, even when he was being a jerk. I didn’t want to be alone. How sad is that?”

  Ashlyn emphatically shook her head. “Not sad. I mean, it is sad as girls we feel like that—like we have to have someone or we must be failures. But I think everyone feels like that at one time or the other.”

  “I got so sucked in, and without him…” Summer shrugged. “I guess I kind of lost myself. It’s like I finally snapped out of this daze I was in, and I can’t believe I let it get that far. It’s not me. It didn’t used to be, anyway. And even knowing all that, my heart still hurts when I see him with Jenna. Or when I can’t pick up the phone and call him like I used to.”

  “Trust me, I know what you mean. I had this boyfriend, and even though he ended up being a huge ass, I was still crushed when we broke up.” Ashlyn shot Summer a consoling smile. “Eventually, it does get better. And I’ll help you out by constantly telling you how he doesn’t deserve you, and he’ll realize someday what an awesome girl he lost.”

  “That’s right! I am awesome!” Summer half-exhaled, half-laughed. “Seriously, though, I’m not letting another guy do that to me. Ever. Guys are evil hormone-driven idiots, and I’m done.”

  Skepticism clear on her features, Ashlyn said, “Uh-huh.”

  “No, I am.”

  The Burger King caught Summer’s eye. “Ooh. Fries and a Dr. Pepper sound amazing right now.” She switched lanes and turned into the drive-thru. “My dad makes fun of me because I skip the burger and instead get the largest thing of fries they have.”

  Summer unrolled her window as they approached the speaker, then glanced at Ashlyn. “What do you want?”

  “I’m good,” Ashlyn said.

  “Oh, come on.” Summer waved a twenty in the air. “My treat.”

  “I guess I’ll have a Diet Coke. A small one.”

  Summer repeated the order into the speaker and turned to Ashlyn. “You’re sure you don’t want anything to eat?”

  “I’m sure.”

  Summer turned up the stereo as one of the new Unicorn Stench songs played through the speakers. She’d already listened to it several times today, but she couldn’t get enough of it.

  “This is my favorite part,” Ashlyn said, singing along.

  Summer joined in and bobbed her head to the beat as the music picked up. When she stopped at the window to pay for her food, the guy behind the register looked amused by her and Ashlyn’s song and dance. He was kind of cute, so Summer gave him a big smile as she handed over the money.

  The guy grinned and handed her back her change. “You girls have a great day. And come again soon. I’d like to see another dance.”

  “We’ll be sure to do that,” Summer said.

  “I work until eleven. Swing by anytime.”

  Summer smiled at him again before pulling away from the window.

  “Weren’t you, only moments ago, saying that you were done with guys?” Ashlyn asked.

  “I am. I’m keeping things to a strictly flirtatious level. It’s boyfriends that are the problem. They aren’t worth the pain they’ll inevitably cause you.”

  “Yeah! Who needs a stupid boyfriend?”

  “Solidarity, sister,” Summer said with a laugh. At the next window, she handed Ashlyn her soda, placed her own in the cup holder, and rigged the take-out bag so she could easily dig into her fries while driving.

  As Summer pulled into traffic, Ashlyn squealed. “Aaah! Omigosh, omigosh, it’s pouring everywhere!” Diet Coke leaked out of the bottom of her cup onto her jeans. She put her hand under the cup and held it away from her. The brown liquid poured through her fingers, dripping onto the floor mat. “It’s getting worse!”

  Fries sticking out of her mouth, Summer dug into the brown bag and tossed Ashlyn the single napkin in the bag. She slowed down, glancing back and forth from the traffic ahead of them to Ashlyn. The napkin was already soaked through and the liquid continued to pour from the bottom.

  With her elbow, Ashlyn hit the button to unroll the window. She held her leaky cup out of it. “I think I jabbed my straw through the bottom. Geez, what a wussy cup.” Ashlyn glanced down and wiped at her pants. “Shit. I’m so sorry about your car. I think the floor mat and my jeans got most of it”

  “No worries. Seriously, it’s not a big deal at all.” Summer grabbed her fries out of the bag, secured them between her thighs, and handed the bag over to Ashlyn. “Put this over it for now. Maybe it’ll help.”

  Ashlyn dropped the cup in the bag, but it seeped through within a few seconds. “My pants and shirt are completely soaked.”

  Summer took in Ashlyn’s wide-eye
d expression, her wet clothes, and the way she was holding the cup out the window. And burst out laughing. “I’m sorry, I know you’re soaking and uncomfortable, but it’s…” Another wave of laughter hit her, and she couldn’t finish.

  Ashlyn started giggling, too. “I think you better take me back home to change my clothes, because guy boycott or not, I can’t show my face in public like this.”

  Summer checked her mirrors, made a frowned-upon U-turn, and headed back the way they’d come. Every few seconds she’d glance over at Ashlyn, and they’d both erupt in laughter. By the time they made it back to Ashlyn’s, Summer had chugged her soda and given the empty cup to Ashlyn, wondering why she hadn’t thought of it sooner.

  Ashlyn flung open the door and stepped onto the curb. She turned around to close the door and her jaw dropped. “Um…”

  Summer walked around to see what she was staring at. A sticky, brown stream ran across the right side of her silver Civic, all the way back to the gas tank.

  “I’m so sorry,” Ashlyn said, wiping at the mess with the already soaked napkin. “I’ll clean it up. The inside, too.”

  “I kind of like it. Ghetto racing stripes without the fuss of paying someone.” Ashlyn still looked worried, and Summer wanted to assure her she didn’t care. “Don’t worry about it. I laughed harder than I have in months, so it was totally worth it.”

  “Come on in.” Ashlyn lifted her damp shirt away from her body. “I’ll change, and then we’ll see when the next movie is.”

  Summer followed Ashlyn inside. They walked through the living room and into the kitchen. A woman with impeccable hair and makeup sat on one of the barstools, reading a magazine. She looked like an older, thinner version of Ashlyn.

  The woman frowned when she saw them. “Ashlyn, you got fast food?”

  “Just a soda, Mother.”

  “Soda is all empty calories.”

  “Well, it was diet, and it actually spilled all over before I got any of it down, so don’t worry; it was no calories.”

  The woman’s gaze moved from Ashlyn to Summer. “Hi, I’m Pamela.”