Forgotten (6 page)

“Is it? Oh, that’s good,” Katrina replied without looking up.

“Katrina!”

“Mmm …”

“Are you listening to me?”

“Mmm …”

“KATRINA!”

“Yes?” Katrina said, turning her head toward Jessica.

“I’ve been talking to you for over an hour and you haven’t heard a single word I’ve said, have you?” Jessica scolded, folding her arms across her chest.

“I’m sorry.”

Jessica turned serious. “Is it Billy? He didn’t say anything to you when I went to get some more popcorn, did he?”

Katrina hesitated.

Should I tell her what Billy said? No, what’s the point in upsetting her? Besides, what did he even mean when he said that he ‘knows what I am’?
Katrina thought.

“No, nothing. You’re right; he is a great guy,” Katrina lied.

“So if it isn’t Billy that’s troubling you, what is?”

Thinking quickly, Katrina responded, “My sister.”

“What have I done?” Jessica said, taken aback.

“You haven’t done anything. What I meant to say is my real sister, Suzanne.”

“Is this about what happened in today’s session with Doctor Clairmont?”

“Yes, it wasn’t a good session today.”

“Can you remember anything about your sister?” Jess asked.

“Not much. The last time I saw her was over …” Katrina stopped talking and sat up, hugging her knees to her chest.

Jessica crossed to her foster sister’s bed and sat down. “What’s wrong?”

“Jessica, you’re going to find this really absurd, but I was going to say that the last time I saw Suzanne was over two hundred years ago.” She let out a little false laugh which turned into a sob. “I’m going crazy, aren’t I?”

“No, you’re not crazy. Stop talking like that,” Jessica said firmly.

“Then why do I have this feeling that she’s still alive somewhere?”

“Because she probably is.”

“But, Jessica …”

“No buts. Suzanne’s alive and with my help you’re going to find her.” Jessica got off the bed and headed toward the door. “Didn’t you bring home some kind of book about Past Lives? Mom mentioned to me earlier that your doctor had regressed you to a previous life. I doubt she gave it to you for light reading. Do you think that it could help us?”

“It could, I suppose, but I don’t know. Doctor Clairmont said that the author thinks that we can figure out things in this life if we look into what happened in previous lives.”

“That sounds promising! Can you remember where it is?”

“Either in the car, or Mom probably put it by the phone in the hall.”

“Okay, I’ll be right back!” Jessica hurried from the room.

Five minutes later Jessica returned, book in one hand and two sodas in the other. Jessica handed the book and one of the sodas to Katrina, then lifted Shelby and climbed back onto the bed. Shelby made himself comfortable in Jessica’s lap.

“So do you think it will help? The book, I mean,” Jessica asked as Katrina began flipping through.

“I don’t know; most of it is just interviews. But maybe I’m missing something.”

“Okay, well how about I look through for anything useful while you try and remember everything you can about Suzanne and the last time you saw her.”

Katrina passed the book across and crossed her legs – but she couldn’t get comfortable, so she got off the bed and began to pace the room before sitting down on a cushioned stool in front of her dressing table.

“Are you okay?” Jessica asked, looking up from the book.

“Um, sure. Why do you ask?”

“Because you’ve been pacing the room like a caged tiger.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize.”

“Jessica, why are you helping me? Most people would just think I’m crazy and try and put me into a mental hospital or something.”

Jessica closed the book and placed it next to her on the bed. Shelby jumped off Jessica’s lap and moved to Katrina’s pillows, curling back up, yawning and going back to sleep. Jessica leaned over and stroked him behind his ears.

“Firstly,” Jessica started, returning her attention to Katrina, “I’m helping you because you happen to be my foster sister and I care about you. Secondly, because I’ve seen and heard some pretty strange things.”

“Like what?” Katrina asked, leaning forward on her stool.

“Well, to begin with, last year I was in the drama club and I was in the auditorium with some other people from the club, rehearsing. Suddenly, some lights came down and pinned a couple of students underneath them. The rest of us tried to lift the lights off them but they were too heavy, so a couple of people went off to get help and to call 911, and I was left to try and move it by myself.”

“Jessica?” Katrina interrupted.

“Yes?”

“This does have a happy ending?”

“Yes.”

“One more thing.”

“What?”

“How heavy were the lights?”

“I think they weighed over a ton.”

“And you were left to try and move it by yourself?” Katrina asked, surprised.

“Well I had to; the people that were trapped were starting to lose consciousness so I had to try and do something.”

“So what happened?”

“Well, I was there all alone and just when I thought no help was coming, two of my friends from the cheerleading squad were passing the auditorium and came to see if they could help. One of them, Madison Foxx, asked me if I could find some blankets in one of the prop rooms and, this is no word of a lie, I had just got some blankets and I was in the wings of the stage –” Jessica paused; she opened her soda and took a long drink – “when I saw Madison along with another cheerleader, Samantha Daniels, lift the lights clear off the people that were trapped and place them a safe distance away. It was as if the lights didn’t weigh a thing. So I confronted them about it – but they flatly denied it, said I must have been hallucinating. But I wasn’t.”

“Wow,” Katrina managed to say after a few moments, “that’s amazing! Were the people who were trapped okay?”

“That’s another weird thing; none of them had even a bruise to show for it. But that’s nothing compared to what happened at New Year’s!”

“Why! What happened?”

“Well, this is only what I’ve heard …”

“Go on,” Katrina said impatiently.

“Well, last New Year, Logan Vickers from the baseball team and his girlfriend, Ashley Conners, were coming home from a party when Logan lost control of his car on some ice that was on the road.”

“That’s terrible – are they okay?” Chewing her bottom lip, she added, “They didn’t die, did they?”

“No, but the car was totaled. Logan loved that car.”

“What happened then?”

“That’s where things get confusing. All that Ashley can remember is that one minute she’s trapped in the car, and the next she wakes up in hospital with Logan at her bedside.”

“And what about Logan? Was he hurt?”

“No, not a scratch, and according to the police reports he’s the one who got Ashley out of the car, then carried her three miles to the nearest hospital in the snow.”

“How did he get her out?”

“By tearing the passenger door off like it was a candy bar wrapper. The tow truck people found it lying next to the car when they went to collect it. It took
three of them
to lift the door and put it on the tow truck.”

“But what about Logan?”

“He’s alright. He doesn’t really talk about it – not even to Billy, his best friend. It’s like it never happened.”

“That’s strange!”

“Well, after the accident there was talk in school that Logan could be a vampire or something weird like that, but that was just stupid gossip from a bunch of sophomore girls. I think that’s why he doesn’t really talk about it. And as the saying goes: mud sticks.”

“That’s awful! Some people can be so cruel.”

“I know,” Jessica agreed, “but I’ll tell you what’s even stranger. When you start school you’ll notice something about the other students.”

“Like what?”

“Well, it is hard to explain but there is an aura that surrounds the place, like everyone is keeping a secret.”

“What’s wrong with that?” Katrina asked, puzzled.

“Nothing I suppose, but – and don’t take this the wrong way because I’m not trying to be mean or anything like that – but there’s this one guy called Stephen Bridger. He’s a total science geek; thick glasses, orange hair. Not exactly your typical high school hunk – but guess what!”

“What?” Katrina asked, fully mesmerized by Jessica’s stories.

“He’s got a fan club. A group of freshmen girls follow him around everywhere. It’s really pathetic.”

“I don’t think it’s pathetic. I think it’s kind of cute.”

“Now how did I know you were going to say something like that?” Jessica smiled.

“Just lucky, I guess.”

“Personally I don’t know what they see in him.”

“Well there must be something. Anything?” Katrina asked, obviously confused.

“Well he does play basketball when he’s not dissecting frogs, and I suppose if he wore contacts instead of those horrible glasses and …” Jessica suddenly broke off what she was saying.

“What’s wrong?”

“Can you wait a minute? I need something from my room.”

When Jessica returned she was holding a large hardback book under her arm.

“Is that your yearbook?”

“Yeah, I want you to look at something and tell me what you think!” Jessica placed the yearbook on the bed and began to flick through the pages.

Katrina knelt down next to Jessica on the floor in front of her bed.

“Who’s that?” Katrina asked looking over Jessica’s shoulder at a small color photograph of a boy with short, spiky hair.

“That’s Stephen Bridger!”

“His hair’s not orange, it’s more of a deep red,” Katrina noted as she took a closer look at the open page of Jessica’s yearbook.

“Okay, so I exaggerated a little about the hair. Sue me if it makes you happy, Mom and Dad will be happy to represent us both,” Jessica joked. Turning serious once more, she continued, “Okay, tell me straight: Why are girls following him around? I really don’t get it.”

“Hmm, maybe he has a really nice personality or the girls are just basketball groupies. I don’t know.” Katrina sighed. Closing the yearbook, she placed it on her bureau and sunk into her window-seat.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude about him. I sometimes forget that you’re new and don’t know anyone, but that’ll change when we start school,” Jessica said, standing up and stretching.

Suddenly, Katrina stood. Peering out, she said, “What’s Billy doing in our yard at this time of night?”

“What!” Jessica gasped and then rushed to stand next to Katrina.

Katrina opened the window, and both she and Jessica leaned out.

“What are you doing here, Billy?” Jessica hissed.

“I know it’s late but have you told Katrina about school tomorrow?” Billy whispered. Hoisting himself up on a nearby branch of a tree, he began to climb until he reached Katrina’s bedroom window.

“What about school, Jess?” Katrina seethed, pulling Jessica back into the bedroom.

“It’s nothing, Katrina!”

“Nothing! I thought I was going back to school in September.”

“You are, officially.”

Katrina raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean ‘officially’?”

“What Jessica doesn’t want to tell is that you have to go to school tomorrow,” Billy said, flashing Katrina one of his All-American smiles.

I really don’t like you, Billy, and I know what
you
are, too: you’re a jerk
.

“Katrina,” Jessica said. She placed a hand on her foster sister’s shoulder. Katrina shrugged it off.

“Jess, you know how nervous I am about starting school!” Katrina walked over to her bed and sat on it cross-legged.

“Katrina, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.”

Katrina sighed deeply. Absently, she started stroking Shelby. “It is just a shock. I’m not ready to start school, especially not in eight hours’ time.”

“I know how nervous you are about starting school but you really shouldn’t be; school’s a piece of cake and this year I want you to try out for the cheerleading squad with me.”

“Cheerleading, me? I don’t know.”

“Come on, it’ll be fun – and besides, you’ll be able to meet all my friends.”

“It does sound very appealing, but …”

“Remember no, buts,” Jessica said brightly then turned away quickly.

“Jessica! What are you still not telling me?” Katrina asked suspiciously.

“Nothing.”

“The try-outs are tomorrow in the school’s gymnasium. That’s why you have to go to school tomorrow,” Billy said from outside the window.

“Billy!” Jessica said, her voice frosty.