Shadows

by Amy Meredith

  Hot, gooey cashmere-pink lipstick dripped from her fingers onto the white porcelain. Eve couldn’t believe her eyes. Her lipstick had melted.

  Chapter Five

  ‘Do you have any, you know, special talents?’ Shanna was drumming her perfectly manicured nails on the desk.

  I can shoot fingers out of my sparks, Eve thought. Sparks out of my fingers, she mentally corrected herself. But that probably wasn’t the kind of thing other people should find out about.

  ‘Uh, I can’t write an article on you if you don’t say anything,’ Shanna said, breaking into her thoughts. She and Eve had been partnered up in Mr McGrath’s English class. They were supposed to interview each other, then write articles based on what they found out. But Eve was having a hard time paying attention.

  ‘I guess I could write a National Enquirer kind of article. Just come up with juicy, nasty, fake stuff,’ Shanna continued. Eve didn’t answer. Her brain was too full of the day’s weirdness. ‘If for some reason the Enquirer wanted to do a story on me, which it probably wouldn’t – not that they’d want to do one on you either – I was just using that as an example of how I could handle the article I’m supposed to be writing on you. Anyway, if they did want to do an article on me, they would have plenty of material. They wouldn’t have to make up anything.’

  ‘Hmmm?’ Eve murmured. She knew Shanna had just said a lot of words, but she had no idea what she was actually talking about. Which was something that happened sometimes when Shanna talked.

  ‘My own life is juicy and nasty enough. I can see the headline: Mom in loony bin, Dad on prowl for shinier trophy wife,’ Shanna continued.

  Mr McGrath paused in the corner where they’d pushed their desks together. ‘How’re you getting on over here?’ he asked, staring pointedly at the blank notebook pages in front of both Shanna and Eve.

  ‘Great!’ Eve answered. She snatched up her pen. What had Shanna just been talking about? Something about her mom? Eve had been replaying the scene in the bathroom over and over, trying to take it in. Sparks. Came. Out. Of. My. Fingers.

  She wrote that on the top of her blank page, just because she had to write something. As soon as Mr McGrath saw her pen moving, he wandered over to the next twosome. ‘So, special talents?’ Shanna asked again.

  ‘Um … I can’t think of anything,’ Eve admitted. Except for the sparks-out-of-fingers thing. Oh, and the having-a-poltergeist thing, although that wasn’t really a talent. And actually, she wasn’t sure that having a poltergeist would make her fingers spark. None of the websites had mentioned that, and besides, it had felt as if it had come from inside her. Not from some mischievous spirit that had attached itself to her adolescent-hormone-filled self.

  ‘You’re a cheerleader, right?’ Shanna asked.

  Eve shook her head no.

  ‘Oh, right. That’s Jess. You two are together so much you sort of mush together in my mind,’ Shanna said.

  Shanna definitely knew Jess was a cheerleader and Eve wasn’t. But Shanna had a little jealousy issue. She was only slightly less popular than Eve and Jess, but it got to her, so she made little jabs once in a while.

  ‘I know, I’m a fluff-head,’ Shanna went on. ‘You can tell right now that I don’t have any special talents!’

  I bet Luke has a special talent, Eve thought suddenly.

  Where did that come from? She had much more important things to think about than Luke. But she could imagine him being an expert at something noble – like helping beached whales back into the ocean.

  ‘Can you ask me something else?’ Eve begged Shanna. All this talent talk was stressing her out. If sparks were a talent, she didn’t want it. But if sparks weren’t a talent, then did she even have one?

  ‘Fine.’ Shanna sighed. ‘What’s your favourite colour?’

  ‘Totally depends on the season,’ Eve said. But her mind was stuck on the earlier question. What if the sparks were a talent? Did that mean it was some kind of psychic power? Did that mean it wasn’t a poltergeist making weirdness happen, but just … Eve herself?

  Eve did a quick McGrath check. He was almost all the way across the room now. Good.

  Shanna sighed. ‘You know what? I’m just gonna say you like blue.’

  Eve barely heard her. With one eye on the teacher, she stealthily pulled her iPhone from her bag with her left hand.

  Cells weren’t allowed in class. Using a cell definitely wasn’t allowed. But Eve hadn’t taken hers back to her locker after lunch. She’d had a few other things to worry about. And that was a good thing, because she absolutely had to communicate with Jess right now. Jess was all the way upstairs in the bio lab, so it was a text or nothing.

  Shanna raised one eyebrow. ‘Favourite toy, iPhone,’ she murmured, scribbling in her notebook.

  Eve shot another quick look at Mr McGrath, then entered a quick text message: OMG. MYBE IM PLTERGEIST. MST TLK! MY HOUSE, PM.

  ‘And maybe I’ll write about how you don’t like to follow rules,’ Shanna went on, still writing.

  But Eve didn’t really care what Shanna’s article about her said, as long as it didn’t say: Eve is being haunted by a mischievous spirit who breaks things.

  Jess rushed up to Eve’s locker just after the bell rang to end last period. ‘I just now got your text. I didn’t have my cell with me in class – obviously. What do you mean you’re the poltergeist?’

  ‘Shhh. Let’s not announce to the whole school that I’m a freak or the chosen one or whatever it is I am.’ Eve slammed her locker – with her hand. Not with woo-woo powers.

  Jess led the way outside and down the stone steps until they were far enough away from everybody to talk. ‘OK, what is going on?’ she said. ‘Because I think you just said you were the chosen one.’

  ‘I was in the bathroom putting on some lipstick—’ Eve began as they started down the sidewalk.

  ‘It looks absolutely great on you. The perfect colour,’ Jess interrupted.

  ‘Thanks,’ Eve said. ‘But look at it now!’ She felt around in her bag until her fingers brushed against the warped lipstick tube. She pulled it out and opened it to show Jess the pathetic blob of remaining cashmere pink.

  Jess’s eyes went wide, and she gently took the lipstick from Eve. She held it cupped in her palm, as if it were a baby bird that had fallen out of its nest. ‘At least you got to wear it once.’

  ‘Jess, the lipstick’s not the point!’ Eve exclaimed.

  ‘But it’s the perfect colour. And you know how hard it is to find the perfect colour!’ Jess protested.

  ‘I did that to it,’ Eve said. ‘I was holding it, and sparks came out of my fingers, and bam! Melted perfection.’

  ‘Sparks?’ Jess’s voice wavered a little, and Eve felt a rush of fear. Maybe this was worse than she’d thought.

  ‘Yeah. None of the poltergeist pages mentioned sparks,’ she said.

  Jess frowned. ‘Maybe you’ve got an angry poltergeist.’

  ‘Maybe. But it didn’t feel like something being done to me. It felt like me doing something to the lipstick,’ Eve said. ‘I mean, not like I wanted to melt it, but … well, it just felt as if I made the sparks happen.’

  Jess stopped walking and stared at her silently, and for one crazy moment Eve wondered if she had just become such a freak that she’d scared off her best friend.

  Then Jess reached out and used her thumb to smooth the crease that had formed on Eve’s forehead. ‘Stop looking so worried. This is not worth getting frown lines over.’

  Eve chuckled. ‘Maybe I’ll need Botox sooner than I thought,’ she said. ‘Because I don’t think I’m going to be able to stop frowning. I’m freaking out, Jess. What am I supposed to do?’

  ‘I have no idea,’ Jess said. ‘But let me see your nails.’

  Eve obediently held out her hands.

  ‘Well, you didn’t singe off your Hard Candy polish with the sparks. So … at least there’s a silver lining.’

  Eve nodded, wondering if her eyes looked as wi
de and frightened as her friend’s did. They started walking again. Neither spoke. There didn’t seem to be anything to say. What had happened to Eve felt almost too big for words.

  Jess finally broke the silence. ‘I don’t think we’ve ever gone this long without talking before.’

  ‘What is there to talk about? This situation is completely out of control,’ Eve said. ‘Who knows what’s going to happen next? I might grow a third eye or something.’

  ‘OK … then we’ll have to get a lot more eyeliner,’ Jess joked. Or tried to. ‘But you know, it might not be out of control. Not out of your control, anyway.’

  ‘I didn’t decide to become a human sparkler,’ Eve protested.

  ‘Tell me what you were doing before the sad death of the lipstick,’ Jess said.

  ‘I was in the bathroom,’ Eve told her, thinking back.

  ‘You wanted a place to hide after blowing out the lights in the nurse’s office, right?’ Jess asked.

  Eve nodded. ‘I didn’t want to have another incident in front of people. The bathroom was empty. I started feeling a little better, so I took out my lipstick—’

  ‘Totally normal after-lunch behaviour,’ Jess cut in.

  ‘And I put it on. No! First my mom called. She felt the need to nag me about those oh-so-important extracurricular activities that are essential for getting into the right college. It was so annoying! Especially when I obviously have much more important things to deal with.’ Eve sucked in a breath and looked at her friend. ‘Now you’re frowning.’

  Jess’s hands flew to her forehead and began smoothing the frown lines. ‘I was just thinking …’ She kept one hand pressed to her forehead as she spoke. ‘Maybe your mood affects your … abilities. You were mad when you were talking to your mom, right?’

  ‘Yeah. I hate it when she wants to micromanage my existence,’ Eve admitted. ‘She wanted to go to some amazing college so she could go to some amazing medical school and become some amazing doctor. But I don’t have any idea what I want to do yet.’

  ‘I want to go to design school,’ Jess said.

  ‘I would love that! But I’m not sure they’d let me in if they knew I destroyed the perfect shade of lipstick,’ Eve said.

  ‘Right. We’re talking about sparks and melting,’ Jess said. ‘So when we were in the nurse’s office, you were probably feeling upset about Rose.’

  ‘Yeah. God, that was awful, with Rose seeing those shadow things everywhere.’ Eve shuddered. ‘It reminded me of Megan – and that wasn’t exactly a happy thought either.’

  ‘So the lights blew when you were upset about Rose and Megan. Then you left the nurse’s office and you started feeling a little better. Then your mom called, and you got all mad, which led to this.’ Jess pulled the warped lipstick out of her pocket.

  ‘You think there’s a connection?’ Eve asked.

  ‘Ms Whittier would say we should test the hypothesis,’ Jess said thoughtfully. They turned onto Eve’s street. It was really a cul-de-sac, and there were only two houses. Eve automatically headed for the mailbox at the end of her driveway.

  ‘How do we test it? I’m not calling my mom again,’ Eve said, rifling through the mail. Score! The new Vogue.

  Jess snatched the magazine and led the way to one of the rocking chairs on the Evergolds’ wrap-around porch. ‘We’ll read this later. Now, sit,’ she ordered.

  Eve sat.

  ‘Close your eyes,’ Jess said.

  Eve did. It felt good to be doing something – anything – to figure out what was going on with her. Her dad was always saying that it was better to be active than passive, and she finally understood what he meant.

  ‘Now, picture that day last spring when we went to the Black Eyed Peas concert in Central Park. Smell the buttery smell of the sunblock you were wearing. Hear the obnoxious beer burps of those frat guys we passed. Are you there, Eve? Do you feel it?’ Jess asked.

  ‘I guess,’ Eve replied.

  ‘So we’re walking. You have on your orange halter dress with the ruffle cutting across the front.’

  ‘And my python-print Jimmy Choos,’ Eve added, remembering. ‘Cutest little shoes in America.’

  ‘Right. Good. You looked fantabulous. Then you stepped in a mole hole, and your heel got caught and—’

  ‘It snapped right off!’ Eve burst out, her eyes flying open. ‘I couldn’t get those shoes repaired! They were ruined for ever. And my mom said I couldn’t get another pair because they were way too expensive for someone who didn’t have the sense not to go tramping across fields in them. Even though I kept telling her the concert wasn’t in a field, it was in a park.’

  ‘How did you feel?’ Jess asked eagerly.

  ‘I felt mad at my mom again. And I still miss those shoes!’ Eve flexed her fingers. ‘But no sparks. I guess your hypothesis was wrong.’

  Jess dropped down into the chair next to Eve’s. ‘Or maybe you used up all your juice melting the lipstick. You might need to recharge.’

  Eve nodded. ‘I might only be able to put on one extravaganza a day.’ Or maybe I am psychologically disturbed, she thought. Maybe I imagined the whole thing. But would it be any better to be crazy than to go around melting stuff? And what about the melted remains of the lipstick? That was proof of her ‘powers’ – wasn’t it?

  She sighed. ‘Can we talk about something else for a while? My brain hurts from trying to figure out if it’s crazy.’

  ‘Sure. Absolutely. Hmm.’ Jess pursed her lips. ‘Gossip. We need gossip. Did you hear about Luke?’

  Did he manage to cure cancer with his special talents? Eve wondered. He probably did – just to make her feel bad about the number of handbags she had.

  Jess rolled her eyes. ‘Supposedly, he and Elisha Lurie were making out at the movies yesterday. Even during the really good parts.’

  ‘Wow. How many girls is that now?’ Eve asked. She didn’t wait for Jess to reply. ‘Soon he’s going to have to move on to another school to find some new makeout buddies.’

  ‘It’s just so clichéd,’ Jess said. ‘His father’s the pastor, so he has to rebel. Bor-ing.’ She gave a pout. ‘Why is it taking him so long to get to us?’

  ‘You’d still want to go out with him after that parade of girls?’ Eve asked, surprised. She wouldn’t.

  ‘For fun, yes,’ Jess answered. ‘It’s like there’s a new flavour of ice cream that everyone’s talking about. I want to at least have a little lick.’

  ‘Oh, yuck.’ Now Eve rolled her eyes. ‘Next topic. Anything new on Mal?’

  Mal was much more interesting, anyway. He was so mysterious he made her want to scream. Every day she noticed him staring at her, but he never said a thing. She didn’t know any more about him than she had on Day One. She knew he was hot. She knew exactly how his half-smile spread across his face whenever she caught him looking. Oh, and she knew how good he smelled. And that he was handy with tweezers. But that was it.

  ‘Mal continues to be a mystery man,’ Jess replied.

  ‘So he’s the opposite of Luke,’ Eve commented. ‘No mystery there – everyone knows who Luke’s kissing.’

  ‘Well, nobody knows if Mal is kissing anyone,’ Jess said. ‘A lot of girls want sightings, but he practically disappears after school. I wonder if he’s even going to the fall dance.’

  Eve tried to imagine him there. She could almost see it, Mal leaning against the wall, watching everyone as if they were faintly amusing to him. And staring at her. He’d have to be staring at her at some point. He did sometimes. She’d caught him. And this was her fantasy, so he’d definitely be staring.

  She wouldn’t be with a date. She and Jess had decided to fly solo, so they wouldn’t have to neglect any of the guys. So maybe at a dance, Mal would actually speak a few sentences to her. Or silently take her hand and lead her out onto the dance floor. It would be a slow dance, definitely. And they’d be so close that she’d be taking in that wood-smoke scent of him with every breath. Maybe he’d rest—

  �
��Hey, you’re smiling!’ Jess smiled too. ‘The gossip is working.’

  ‘I guess it is.’ Eve laughed. ‘You’re a genius. Give me more.’

  ‘OK, um, I also heard something about Shanna Poplin’s mother. Supposedly she’s in the hospital. The same one as Megan.’ Everyone at school had already been talking about how Megan had been admitted to Ridgewood, an extremely upscale psychiatric hospital about an hour away from Deepdene.

  ‘Shanna was saying something about her mom in English,’ Eve said, suddenly feeling guilty for not having paid more attention. ‘But my mind kind of wandered. Her mom is really in a psych hospital? Is it because of the divorce?’ The Poplins’ divorce had been finalized over the summer. ‘Shanna’s mom was supposed to be completely in love with her dad – Mr TV Anchor. At least that’s what I heard my mom saying on the phone once. He’s the one who wanted the divorce, not her.’

  ‘Nobody was saying anything about the divorce today,’ Jess answered. ‘What I heard was that Shanna’s mother has been waking up screaming. Plus, she’s talking about demons all the time. You know that bookstore that James Frankel’s family owns? Well, James works there after school sometimes, and he says she came in last week and bought a huge stack of books about the occult. He said she kept looking around the place like she thought somebody was after her.’

  ‘Oh my God.’ Eve sat up straight in her chair. ‘Jess, it’s like Rose. Rose was talking about demons, remember? She said there was always a demon in her dreams that was trying to get her soul.’

  ‘You’re right!’ Jess put her hand to her forehead again, to stop it from wrinkling. ‘That’s not fun gossip. What is going on in this town?’

  Chapter Six

  Eve checked her watch for the third time. Where was Luke? He was supposed to meet her in front of the school library right after school so they could work on their history paper. It was five minutes past ‘right after school’. Luke might be concerned with all the big, important world issues, but he clearly wasn’t very concerned with basic manners. Like being on time.