18 Truths (10 page)

His lips moved against my skin as he spoke. “I know. Maybe it’s how we can celebrate after our first ‘A’ plus?”

I laughed, something I didn’t think I’d done since arriving at headquarters.

“Sounds like a plan.” I brushed my cheek lightly against his. “Are you scared about starting our new job?”

He shrugged. “Kind of, I guess. It has this video game feeling to me, like Zelda when Link is returned to the Temple of Time and meets the mysterious Sheik, who guides Link to rid the five temples of Hyrule from Ganondorf’s monsters and—”

I held up my free hand and giggled. “You lost me at video game. English, please.”

A moment of silence followed. “I don’t know how to explain my fears really… but in those games, the storyline makes it so easy for the creators to throw in a twist or two. Because everyone’s thinking, ‘Oh okay, we just have to collect the five elemental gems from the five temples, then we’ll be done,’ but BAM, nuh-uh! You never get past the third temple before there’s a plot twist! So, like, what are those angels gonna throw at Grace and us on her Limbo plane? Riel and Ash are kind of snippy, don’t you think? I get the feeling they don’t particularly like humans, especially Riel, but I always thought angels were like our servants, so that doesn’t make sense.”

I wanted to tell Nate to shut the hell up, because hello! Certainly, they could hear us with their angel superpowers or whatever. “Maybe that’s why they don’t like humans, because we abuse their help. Anyway, we’re not humans anymore, remember? They probably don’t have human emotions, and perhaps it’s time we stop thinking like humans, too. Look toward them as a good example.”

He wet his lips and gave a jerky nod of assent. “Yeah, but to me, just the fact they’re more powerful and more intelligent means they have less vulnerabilities and makes them emotionally different than us. Oh man, I hope there’s a killer battle between the demons and the angels or some junk like that during our assignment! That would be so cool to watch. Like something out of the movies!”

Punching his shoulder, I shouted, “Nate! Remember what Dr. Judy said? Don’t tempt the demons like that.”

“Fine, fine.”

I stared at him, not in the least bit amused but unable to stay upset with him for even a second.

“Well, I should go to my own room for the remainder of the evening or the party timeline will move up considerably.” He shifted his body off the bed and gathered his things, pausing at the door. “I don’t know if I’ve told you lately, but I love you.”

Closing my eyes so he wouldn’t see the tears forming again, I nodded yes.

“Even so, I love you.”

“I love you, too,” I muttered, and I opened my eyes just in time to see him walking through my wall—something I didn’t think I’d ever get used to.

I glanced at the clock on my desk. 11:58 p.m. Earth time. A week ago, we were entering Dr. Judy’s office for the last time as her patients; now we were her interns.

Time didn’t matter, since I didn’t need sleep anymore. I still doubted my qualifications for my new position, but the good news was pulling an all-nighter to prepare would be a piece of cake now. I opened up the folder labeled ‘Role Playing’ on the tab and studied the character I needed to portray for Grace’s limbo. We got to keep our same names, same personalities. The alternative timeline would take place in Black Mountain, North Carolina, and I wondered if that’s where Dr. Judy made her home on Earth or if her family had since moved. At nine years old, I had visited Ashville with my parents on vacation, and I thought Black Mountain was nearby. The town certainly sounded familiar. I skimmed over some notes on the area, but this induced boredom after five minutes. Then my gaze landed on the cover story for Nate and me, my eyes bugging when I read the part about us pretending to be twin siblings.

What the heck?

The typed document stated that since the community was a small town with only about two thousand people, two teenagers from different families moving there at the same time would seem too contrived. We needed to work together though, so pretending to be siblings equaled the best solution.

Based on our recent make out session, I wished some acting classes had been part of our spirit guide training. No way would I be able to pull off this one.

“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.”
—Oscar Wilde

ate and I headed through the nearly empty hallway of Charles D. Owen High School together, bags over our shoulders, inhaling the scent of bleach, pine sol, and fresh paint. My shoes made quick scuffs on the tile as we found our way to the classroom using a map Ash had given us. I hadn’t felt terror like this since Conner died. Today, just like that fateful day on the sailboat last April, someone’s life was in my hands. More than life actually, her very soul! And just as no amount of boating safety classes could’ve prepared me for that lightning strike, no amount of spirit guide sessions with Ruth could’ve truly prepared me for what lay ahead.

But turning back now wasn’t an option, so I rubbed my arms to get rid of the goose bumps and plowed ahead.

Grace was registered for two classes this summer: Algebra II and Biology. Nate and I enrolled in both with her, although we posed as incoming seniors wanting to get used to our new school before the fall semester started. At least playing a goody-goody was right up my alley.

The atmosphere in 13-A was a hive of activity, sounding like a frenzied mob at Discount Mart at the stroke of midnight on Black Friday. Students swooped in with traveling coffee mugs in hand, their phones buzzing with early morning text messages as the teacher shouted at them to put their stuff away. I slid into an old fashioned school desk and hung my backpack on the chair. Nate and I both sat next to each other in the back row to keep an eye out for Grace. As the teacher reached my seat, I took the syllabus with cold fingers, wishing I’d spent every moment studying for my real assignment instead of making out with Nate. The late bell blared, and still Grace didn’t show. I listened to the teacher give announcements and watched Nate gaze out the window, a look of concern on his face. Quietly, I tore a piece of paper from my composition book and scrawled, ‘What do we do now?’

I handed him the note when the teacher turned his back to write something on the whiteboard, the steady clicking of the wall clock making me anxious.

Nate read my note, then nodded out the window, and I saw her. Grace perched on the edge of a bench in the courtyard, wearing an oversized T-shirt and sweatpants, despite the heat. Her complexion was pale and not in a flattering way. Some sunlight would do her good, but if she cared at all about her future, she’d be in class right now.

I knew from reading about role playing that because all of this existed just for Grace, we could simply get up and walk out of class without even so much as a hall pass, so Nate held the door open for me, and we left. We found Grace flipping through a trashy magazine, tears streaming down her face.

“Is everything all right?” Nate asked when we approached her.

She jumped like a scared cat, then looked at us for a long moment. Her hazel eyes held golden flecks that were mesmerizing to look at. Finally, she broke down in sobs, cradling the magazine to her chest with her sickly pale arms. If we looked up emotional wreck in the dictionary, Grace’s picture would be next to the definition. At least I had managed to keep myself mostly together during my Limbo state. I struggled, but nothing like this. The only thing that wasn’t completely wrecked was her shiny, chestnut colored hair. Even in a messy bun, I could tell she had very long locks. As I sat there staring, no supernatural ideas on what to do flooded my mind, but of course Nate looked as calm as all get out. He dropped down on the bench next to her and hugged her as she continued to quake.

After a moment, she tried to regain her composure, but putting her mind at ease proved a losing battle. I tried to recall something, anything, from the Angel Code of Conduct to help her, but I came up empty again. Out of options, I simply handed her a tissue from the pack I kept in my bag.

“I’m not… usually… like this.” She blew her nose a few times.

I handed her another Kleenex. “It’s okay. What happened? I mean, you don’t have to tell us, but we’re here if you feel like talking.”

She shook her head slowly, sadly. “I wanted Red Velvet Cake.”

Nate raised his eyebrows at me.

I cleared my throat. “Um, wanted Red Velvet Cake for what?”

“For my eighteenth birthday last Friday. Mom used to make that cake every year for my birthday. It’s the little things I miss most about her, and my homemade birthday cake is one of them.”

I paused, clasping my hands behind my back, thinking about what to say. “So your mom is…?”

“Deceased,” Grace finished for me. Of course, I knew this, but she didn’t know we knew.

“I’m very sorry to hear that,” Nate said, patting her back lightly. “When did she pass?”

“Three years ago. She was a drunk. One night, on my fifteenth birthday, she drank too much and never woke up again and—” she broke off, turning her face away.

“And what?” I asked, wanting desperately to know what her next thought was, still reeling from the knowledge that Dr. Judy used to be an alcoholic.

But the momentary heart-to-heart between all of us snapped.

Fast as a cougar-strike, Grace jumped up. “What do you care? Who are you anyway?”

“Who am I?” I asked, trying to search for an answer, because I didn’t quite know anymore. “I’m a girl, like you, who suffered loss. But when I didn’t think I could get out of bed one more day, I had friends, and my b-brother, to help me.” I stumbled on the brother part when looking at Nate, almost calling him my boyfriend. “And it looks like you could use some friends now.”

Grace didn’t respond. She picked a leaf off a nearby Red Oak tree and shredded it to pieces.

“You want to get out of here?” Usually, I didn’t think skipping school was a good idea. I’d gotten the perfect attendance award every year until Conner died. But today, ditching classes seemed like the right plan.

“And go where?” Her gaze bounced from me to Nate to the surrounding area. “This is Black Mountain. You drive five miles and you end up right where you started. Not exactly a lot to do here. Besides, I don’t even know you.”

She stood, digging in her purse, looking for something. I assumed she searched for her keys, anxious to get away from me.

“All the more reason we should hang out today. My brother and I are new in town. We could use a friend as much as you.”

Grace backed up a step. “I never said I needed a friend. I said I needed cake.”

“You know, I saw a shop called Hey Hey Cupcake on the way to school. We should go there and get you a red velvet cupcake.” Even I could hear the desperation in my voice, but I crossed my fingers, hoping she’d say yes.

She smiled. “They do have really good cupcakes.” Finally, she found her car keys in one of the front pockets of her purse. “But I’m driving. Dad would kill me if he knew I got into a stranger’s car. Besides, you scare me.”

I nodded. Technically, the license I’d obtained a few months ago didn’t count since the test happened during my Limbo timeline, and Nate had never gotten his back after the accident either. And I didn’t blame her for being scared of me. Truth was, I think I would’ve bolted by now. Grace had no reason to trust us. Not yet anyway.