A Soul's Kiss (18 page)

Tyler

Monday afternoon

Sometimes you can hear one half of a phone conversation and make no sense of it. Sometimes you can. Rashanda kept giving me sidelong glances. She answered her phone with a
hello
that sounded like she didn’t know the caller.
Who? Are you kidding me?
I knew immediately who it was. Imagine getting a call from someone in a coma. Inconceivably mind-blowing.

“What’s the address?”

Rashanda turned toward the window.

“How can you not know it?”

Her voice went down to a whisper.

“Can’t she tell you?”

She waited two beats.

“So it’s number five fifty-nine on Leonard Street.”

I knew where Leonard Street was.

“Um, I don’t know. Tyler’s driving me home right now. I don’t think my mom’s car would be home yet.”

I glanced over at her. Her eyes met mine.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Oh, man. What wasn’t a good idea?

“Okay, I’ll ask him, but then how would I get home?”

Crap.

“Hold on a sec.”

I already had my left turn blinker on so we could cut through Parkside. I was certain it linked up with Leonard. “No problem,” I said to Rashanda before she asked the question. “I can take you to Hannah’s and give you a ride back home, too.” I was just glad to know that Michael wasn’t around Jessica right now.

Rashanda relayed the plan, said goodbye, pocketed her phone and started cracking her knuckles. I didn’t think girls did that. She cleared her throat before she spoke. “I’m sorry, Tyler. I don’t want to help her, but I don’t want to
not
help her, either. You know?”

*  *  *

The neighborhood was nice with big houses and neatly manicured lawns. Hannah’s house had the best yard and landscaping and the grass was still green. I parked even with the stone walkway that led to the front door and Rashanda got out. I followed. I didn’t exactly want to, but she insisted, said it was all right with . . . with Hannah, I guess, though I wondered who we would be talking to.

“Hey,” I said to Rashanda as we reached the front door, “maybe we should call her Hannica, what do ya think?” She laughed. We were both holding back smiles when Hannah opened the door, only I could tell right away that it was Jessica. Even with Hannah’s hair and face it didn’t make a difference. That was Jessica looking at us with her excited puppy wiggle, bouncing on the balls of her feet. I wondered if her real feet were twitching in the hospital bed right then.

“Come on in,” she said, holding the door wide. “Hannah’s parents won’t be home until supper, which, by the way,” she rolled her whole head at Rashanda, “
I’m
cooking.”

“No way,” Rashanda laughed.

“Hi, Tyler.”

“Hi, uh,” crap, I’ll just say it, “hi, Hannica.” I guess she liked that because she nodded her head and her lips went from tightly holding back a smile to an all out beam. Cool. This was definitely not the girl I talked to at lunch today.

She showed us into the family room and Rashanda commented on all the junk that was cluttering up the room. It was weird that it wasn’t an insult to Hannah, but I guess she had completely yielded or surrendered to Jessica.

“Um, Tyler,” Jessica said with Hannah’s mouth, “did you whisper in my ear before you left my hospital room?”

The prickly heat my body generates without notice must have affected my balance, too. I miscalculated the distance to the edge of the couch and tumbled onto the cushion like a dropped load of lumber. I could not look at either of them.

Jessica

Monday, late afternoon

“I was only kidding,” I say. Tyler is so cute when he gets embarrassed. But it makes me feel uncomfortable that I made him go all crimson and scarlet so I add, “You know, that nurse was probably right, and we should whisper in my ear words of encouragement. Right, Rashanda?” I look to her for help. She knows Tyler better than I do; she’s been spending a lot of time with him lately.

She leaves me hanging for an eternal second and then agrees. “Did you hear
me
?” Rashanda asks. “I whispered some stuff. Think about it. That may be a clue as to how we can help you get back.”

She is sitting on an old armchair and I’m on my feet. In fact, I twirl around as I answer her, stick one leg out and point my toes. I’d changed into shorts and now it’s kind of fun to flex Hannah’s muscles. I imitate some of our synchronized swimming movements and say, “Nope, I’m staying right here for now. Hey, how cool would it be to have Hannah suddenly join the team and be an expert at ballet legs and a chain back Dolphin?”

I don’t get much of a response from either of them. Well, I can imagine how weird this is for them, but not as shocking as it is for me to look in the mirror now, or to hear my voice, look at my hands and be somebody else. I lower myself to the carpet and sit cross-legged.

“Okay,” I say, “here’s the deal. I want to stay in Hannah until after Homecoming. From now until then I need you guys to do some research for me, check on my status, help me out, that sort of thing.”

“What kind of research?” Tyler asks. His face is back to normal and I can’t help but think he would make a good model for a Marines poster. Square jaw, serious expression, fiercely hot.

“Coma stuff,” I say trying to get my imagination back under control. I’m suddenly having some shocking thoughts and wonder if maybe Hannah is interested in Tyler. I’ll have to remember to review her memories about that. “Coma stuff, like brain damage and length of coma and what brings you out of it. And also research on people having out-of-body experiences, what happens, how you get back. That sort of stuff.”

“I’ll help,” Tyler says.

“You know I will,” Rashanda says, “but you have to promise that you’ll listen to us.”

Hmm, I know where she’s going with that statement. I look at Tyler. He’s leaning forward, hands clasped, eyes piercing. Gee, he can be intense. “Okay,” I agree.

“And answer all our questions, too,” she says.

“I always do,” I smile at her, trying to make Hannah’s face be sweet.

“Okay, then answer the one I asked before.” Rashanda waits a beat and then raises her eyebrows a bit more with each question, “Did you hear me whisper in your ear? While you were leaving the hospital? Maybe still in the parking lot?”

If I answer no I’ll be lying to my best friend, but if I answer yes I risk embarrassment.

I go with the truth: “Did you say ‘I hope you wake up today’?” She nods yes. “And ‘I really miss you and I’m praying for you’?” Another yes. “And ‘you can be Homecoming queen next year’?” Yes, again, and I hear Tyler breathe out a word. “You know, Rashanda, that’ll never happen—me being Homecoming queen. This is my only chance.”

Tyler surprises me then with a statement longer than three words. “Not true. Besides, the Jessica I know wouldn’t take that pleasure away from Hannah. Look around. Do you think she has any happiness in her life? You, on the other hand, are always happy.”

He makes a point I can’t argue with especially since I have a direct line to Hannah’s state of mind and she is, unquestionably, a very bitter person. I kind of like his assessment of me, but it makes me feel a little guilty and I don’t know how to respond except to escape.

“Hold on. I want to show you both something. Stay here.” I say that without actually thinking, like the words come out before the picture materializes in my mind of what I want to show them. The impulse surprises me, but it’s a good impulse. I race up to my room. I mean, Hannah’s room.

Hannah

Monday, late afternoon

I wore a hot pink dress to Homecoming last year. That’s all I could think of as I made us race up the stairs. My mind was pretty jumbled. Had been ever since this afternoon. I totally lost it in that hospital room. It was like drowning. One second I was in control and the next I was going under, suffocating, my terrible life flashing through my head. Guilt, regret, shame. I caved to Jessica and just let her take over. So not like me.

Watching, waiting, thinking. She wasn’t so bad, though. I never knew anyone so perky. She was one surprise after another. She’d shown me a partial memory of some Disney kiss with Tyler and I was utterly mystified. Why was she going after my boyfriend when she had a Prince Charming at her command?

We reached my room and she went to the closet to pull my new dress off the hanger. Royal blue, spaghetti straps, sequins. I’d ignored the niggling feeling this weekend when I’d put it on again. It must have been her voice in my head that was appraising the gown as slinky and sexy.

We slipped into the dress and had it all zipped up when Rashanda appeared at the door.

“Jessica?”

“Yeah,” we answered. “What do you think? How do I look?”

Watching Jessica’s friend evaluate how we looked had me holding my mental breath. Why did I care? But Jessica cared and her friendship with Rashanda radiated honesty, warmth, and something I couldn’t quite understand. I guess I let Jessica dominate me because I wanted to know more. I wasn’t completely under her rule. After all, it was my idea to model the dress in front of Tyler.

“This is what you wanted to show me and Tyler? Uh, you look awesome. That is, Hannah looks awesome. She’ll be a beautiful queen, if she wins.”

“Thanks, we’ll win.” We twirled and then picked up the high heels I wore last year. They were silver and went with a matching handbag and shawl. I really wanted to get something new, but my dad couldn’t afford it. Shoplifting came to mind, followed by a pang of guilt, due to Miss Goody Two Shoes, I’m sure.

“Wait,” Rashanda said. She caught my arm and we looked her in the eyes. “Why do you want to show Tyler how Hannah will look for Homecoming?”

I waited, listened to Jessica argue with me for a moment. I felt a spasm of resolve, like I could take back control, then Jessica wrenched it away and answered, “Because he’s plan B, remember?”

“That makes no sense.” Rashanda didn’t let go of us.

“I’m covering every base, that’s all. You see
me
, don’t you? And so does Tyler, I bet. So what’s wrong with, you know, taking advantage?”

Rashanda dropped her hold, but didn’t smile. “I don’t think you should go down there like this and confuse him more, that’s all.” She did one of those exasperated sighs and Jessica responded to her by keeping our feet parked where they were.

So I stabbed Jessica. Right in the heart. With a big knifeful of classic Hannah. And I got her to move those feet down the stairs and we did a big hip-sway across the floor in the family room and twirled again in front of a wide-eyed Tyler.