Embrace (8 page)

Or
it was ridiculous because reapers aren’t exactly strolling down Main Street with the living. I kept that thought to myself.

“Kaylee, I’m sure it was one of the boys.” When she didn’t say anything else about it, I asked, “Where’s your car now?”

“Josh had it towed to his house. His guess is the computer shorted out. His uncle’s a mechanic. He’s going to have him give it a once-over this weekend.”

“Are you okay? Do you want me to come over? I can probably borrow my dad’s truck and be there in ten minutes.”

“I’m a little shaken, but I’m okay. I’m going to go to bed. Look, Josh’s picking me up tomorrow. We’ll swing by and get you before school. Okay?”

“Sure. Kaylee?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you sure you’re okay? If you need me, I’ll ride my bike over if I have to.” I was pretty sure it was buried in the garage under my dad’s tent and Chase’s pitcher’s net, behind the cooler, old crates, and other treasures my family no longer used.

“I’m fine. Really. We’ll be by at the normal time.”

Kaylee hung up. I hadn’t gotten to tell her about my afternoon, but that seemed insignificant now.

Chapter 6

Deception

I
N
T
HE
M
ORNING
, T
WO
sharp honks let me know my ride had arrived. I grabbed a slice of toast from the table, tousled Chase’s hair, and said goodbye to my dad on my way to the front door. With the toast clenched between my teeth, purse slung over my shoulder, and backpack dangling from my elbow, I stepped outside and froze when I saw the deep green Jeep waiting in front of my house.

I had to be a sight, and not in a beautiful goddess way. I looked through a veil of wet hair and tried to straighten my top, bounce my backpack up to my shoulder, and walk with some dignity to the passenger door. I’d forgotten about the toast sticking out of my mouth until I was sitting next to him and went to say hi
.
I quickly removed it.

“Hi.” Isaac fought back a chuckle. “I take it you’re not a morning person.”

“I was expecting Josh and Kaylee.” And I wanted to hit myself in the forehead for saying that out loud.

“Josh told me what happened with Kaylee’s car. I hope you don’t mind, but I told him I’d pick you up.”

“Not at all.” My heart danced in my chest to confirm it.

“I was going to ask if you’d like to grab a latte and a muffin or something, but I see you already have breakfast.” He indicated with his chin to the toast in my hand.

I looked at the meager piece of wheat toast, opened the door, and tossed it out.

Isaac let out a hearty laugh that wrapped me in its joy. He shifted into drive. “The coffee house it is.”

I could get used to Isaac picking me up in the morning. We walked into school hand in hand. We were greeted by several curious stares from our classmates. Isaac didn’t seem to notice or care. For me, it marked a step forward in our relationship. It was public, which made it all the more real.

Isaac leaned down and gave me a soft kiss. “I’ll see you after school.”

I made it to English class with four seconds to spare. Kaylee was already there.

“You should have told me Isaac was picking me up,” I scolded. “I would have at least dried my hair.”

“I didn’t know until Josh drove right by your street. I was going to call you, but my phone’s dead, and Josh wouldn’t give me his. He insisted I let Isaac surprise you.”

I dropped my backpack on the floor and tried to get my bagel out of the bag as quietly as I could while the rest of the class settled into their seats.

“Want half?” I offered to Kaylee.

She stared blankly at my outstretched hand.

“I got you jelly,” I added, knowing she never ate a bagel plain. When she continued to watch my hand with intrigue, I said, “Earth to Kaylee?”

She wrinkled her nose and shook her head. I shrugged, guessing she’d already eaten at home.

Sarah Johnson took a seat at the desk in front of Kaylee. “I spoke to Mr. Hoffman.” She looked so excited you would have thought he was a jewelry broker and not a farmer. “He’ll sell us as many cornstalks and bales of hay as we need for seventy percent off. He even offered to deliver it. I’m going to ask Mrs. Sheppard if her Food classes can do some baking for us. Did you check the props?”

Kaylee and I had been assigned prop-duty with Mark and Ben less than twenty-four hours earlier. I wasn’t sure when Miss Sunshine thought we would have had time to check them, and I wanted to know what she drank in the morning, because she had enough energy to fuel the seniors at the old folks’ home for a week.

“We’re going to check at lunch today,” I answered with as much enthusiasm as I could muster before noon. “And I have Mrs. Sheppard next period; I can mention the bake sale to her.”

Mr. Chapin called class to order, which left me to enjoy my latte and bagel in peace.

I spoke to Mrs. Sheppard right when I got to second period. Mark was there, a little out of breath, pointing to the stool next to him. I wondered if he had run to second period to get there before I did so he could save me a seat. I sighed and sat down.

“Are you okay?” he blurted.

“Yeah, why?”

“I ran into Paige on my way to class. She told me about Kaylee’s car. You guys could have been killed.”

“How did Paige know about that?” I asked. It wasn’t like Kaylee was advertising to the world that her life had almost ended the previous night.

“I think Isaac told her. I’m not sure. Madison, that car’s nothing but a sardine can on wheels. You guys need something safer. Like a truck or a—”

“Tank?” I asked.

Mark looked like he might hyperventilate at any moment. “Yeah.”

“First of all, I wasn’t in the car with Kaylee. Second, she’s fine, and Josh is going to have someone take a look at her car before she drives it again.”

“Oh, well, that’s good.” Mark blushed, apparently embarrassed he didn’t have the whole scoop.

I pulled out a pencil and notebook. I wanted to know when Isaac saw Paige. Here I was, falling foolishly head over heels for him, and I might not have been the only one he was dating. I reminded myself that Isaac and I hadn’t known each other long enough for me to be in love with him. No. Definitely not. I was in love with the new relationship. I had to be careful or I’d get my heart broken. And Paige would delight in seeing me get crushed. That had to be her plan, to wait for me to need Isaac so much that I didn’t want to be without him, and then she’d steal him away from me.

Or maybe Isaac knew what he was doing. Maybe he liked to have two girls crazy about him. Maybe it made him feel superior. He had to like me, though. Why else would he pick me up for school?

Mark tapped my arm.

“What?” I snapped but then forced a smile. It wasn’t Mark’s fault I had issues.

“I said that Ben and I got to school early. We checked last year’s props, and with a little paint and some twine we’ll be all set.”

I flicked my hair out of my eyes and asked, “Twine?”

“The scarecrow’s been decapitated. We’ll have to stitch its head back on.”

I nodded, and because I had to get my mind off Isaac and Paige, I said, “Sarah spoke to Mr. Hoffman, and he’s giving us a great price on the cornstalks and hay, and I just asked Mrs. Sheppard about helping out. She’s more than happy to. She figures if all her classes bake cookies a day or two before the festival we’ll have more than enough for the bake sale.”

“Great.”

I actually welcomed the test in Foods that day. It meant I didn’t have to talk anymore and didn’t have time to think about anything but the questions.

Third period afterward was torturously long because I was dying to get to History. I needed to talk to Kaylee. I needed her to tell me I was letting my imagination get the better of me, that Paige wasn’t waiting for me to be comfortable in my relationship with Isaac just to steal him away. I needed to hear that Isaac wasn’t a jerk. She might even know how Isaac felt about me—that is, if he’d said something to Josh, who in turn would have told Kaylee. God, this was turning into middle school again.

I marched into History, glad to see Kaylee.

“Has Josh said anything about Isaac?” I plopped down in the hard plastic chair and dug in my backpack until I found my History book and pen. “Kaylee?”

Kaylee sat perfectly still, her back straight, hands on her book, and eyes on the chalkboard.

I rested my hand on hers. “Kaylee? Are you okay?”

Mechanically, she turned to face me.

She was really scaring me. I inched my desk closer to hers and asked, “What is it?”

She shook her head. “Nothing. I’m fine. What did you say?”

But I only saw a ghost of the friend I knew behind those deep brown eyes. “Nothing. You sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah.”

Mrs. Parris told everyone to listen up, then droned on about the Civil War. Until Kaylee’s blood-curdling scream startled half the class, including me.

“Kaylee,” Mrs. Parris said. “What is the matter with you?”

Kaylee was crouched on top of her chair staring at her backpack, which was on the floor between us. “Get away from me!”

“Kaylee Bishop, that is quite enough,” Mrs. Parris demanded. “Get down from there!”

Kaylee screamed another earsplitting cry in response.

I watched in horror along with the rest of my History class. Kaylee continued to stare at her backpack, shrieking loud, piercing screams all of Essex County could hear, and seeing something no one else did. Books, papers, and pens landed on the floor with thuds and clanks as she shoved them aside and kicked the chair away in her haste to scramble on top of her desk. The chair’s metal legs screeched as it skidded several inches across the tile, and Kaylee looked at it as if it was on fire.

Mrs. Parris pushed her way out of the room through a throng of students who had already arrived from other classrooms. They gasped at the sight of a hundred-and-ten-pound junior crouched like a cat on top of a desk, screaming as if her life depended on someone, anyone, helping her.

Kaylee pointed frantically at the History book in front of me, shouting what sounded like “Madison, give me the book!” but I wasn’t sure. As I watched my best friend on top of that desk, I wasn’t sure of anything.

Paige snickered and handed Kaylee her book instead. Kaylee swatted at the imaginary fire or thing or whatever she thought was in front of her. Her short brown hair hung in her eyes. When the book slipped from her hand, she frantically looked for another. My eyes caught shy Natalie Parker’s tear-filled ones while several other students snickered.

Emma went to hand Kaylee another book. This snapped me out of my stupor. I jumped up and knocked the book from Emma’s hands, sending it flying across the room.

“Stop it!” I screamed to every laughing jerk in the room before facing Kaylee. With both hands held out to help her, I said, “Kaylee, come down from there.”

Kaylee hopped on top of her desk like a frightened bird trying to escape. I was afraid she’d fall off.

“Please, Kaylee, let me help you.” I ignored the warm tears that streaked my face and took a step closer. Kaylee’s eyes darted all around me as her whole body shook. I could hear Josh yelling for others to get out of his way.

“Kaylee, can you hear me?” I asked. “It’s okay, I’m here.”

Kaylee sprang backward, evidently forgetting she was crouched atop a three-by-four-foot perch. I lunged toward her, knowing there was no way I could keep her from falling, but Josh caught her and pulled her to him. His muscular arms pinned her to his chest.

My gaze met Josh’s golden brown eyes. Fear and confusion penetrated his, as if to ask,
What happened?

“Get them off of me!” Kaylee kicked both legs. Josh held her tighter.

I didn’t know what I was supposed to get off her, but I brushed the imaginary intruders from her jeans and arms. All the while, Josh whispered in her ear, “It’s all right, babe, I got you now.”

Finally, I combed my fingers through her tangled web of hair, brushing it away from her eyes, and rested my forehead against hers. “You’re okay. I promise.”

Mrs. Parris came back with Mr. Stoughton, the Economics teacher and an ex-football player.

“You got her?” Mr. Stoughton asked, almost as if to say that if Josh didn’t, he would.

Mrs. Parris put a shaky hand on Josh’s shoulder. “We better get her to the nurse.”

Josh nodded. With his arms still wrapped around Kaylee, he guided her out of the classroom. I pretended not to see the numb expressions around me and grabbed mine and Kaylee’s things before following the odd procession into the hall. The other students were back in their classrooms. The click of Mrs. Parris’s heels stopped just outside the doorway, leaving us to be enveloped in an eerie silence.

In the nurse’s office, they tried to get Kaylee to lie down. They wanted to speak to Josh and me in private, but they wouldn’t get the chance. Kaylee trembled each time Josh let go of her. It was like he was the glue holding her together, the person keeping her from screaming and jumping on more furniture. Kaylee needed me too; she held my hand so tightly I thought my bones would break. Tears stained both our faces.

“What did she take?” Principal Douglas asked.

While I didn’t know what was wrong with Kaylee, I did know one thing. “She doesn’t do drugs.”

Principal Douglas wiped the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief and sighed. “I know she’s your friend, but we can’t help her if we don’t know what she took.”

Kaylee spoke, the first words since we’d left the classroom, only she sounded more like a parrot than a girl in control. “I don’t do drugs.”

Josh smoothed the hair away from her forehead and kissed the top of her head. “She’s not on anything.”

Principal Douglas pressed on. “Look at her. She’s shaking like a leaf, she’s clammy, and she can barely talk. Maybe she’s a closet addict.”

“No. She’s not,” Josh and I replied at the same time.

I didn’t need our principal telling me what Kaylee was; I could see for myself, and even though I knew he was trying to help, he was making me angry.