Gemini (15 page)

Oh, I wanted so badly to scream at her, slap her, shout some sense into her. But I knew that I must not speak. All I could do was tear at my wig with both hands. And maybe stomp my foot a little.

Max cocked his head, looking down at us both at a quizzical angle. “What are you saying?”

Clara squirmed. Her voice came out squeaky. “Lindsey's nice enough, but she gets a little freaked out by things she doesn't understand. Like us, for example. And maybe even anyone who hangs out with us.”

“I noticed that,” Max said, with an uncomfortable laugh. “I mean, not so much about you guys, but the part about getting freaked out easily. When I started stuttering, she practically teleported out of there.”

“Oh, I wouldn't worry about that,” Clara said quickly. “I mean, if it was just a onetime thing, she'll probably—”

“It won't be.”

“What?”

“It won't be just that one time. It will definitely happen again.”

Well, I must admit, I hadn't been expecting that.

“Clara,” he said calmly, “I was a special ed kid. I mean, daily speech therapy and full-day resource room for three years, because I was barely speaking at all. It's better now, but it's always going to be there. You have not heard the last of my stuttering.”

“Special ed? Really? What was that like?” Clara asked. We'd never been in a special ed classroom; our elementary school hadn't had one.

He shrugged. “You get an interesting mix. One guy was in there because he was a biter and had violent tantrums, so that kept things interesting. Then there were these two really great, funny kids who were profoundly hearing impaired. Turns out I talk better in ASL than I do in English, so that was a bonus.”

“Do you still know sign language?” Clara asked.

“Of course. I'm still friends with those guys, and they still can't hear.”

There was a pause, and then they both started talking at once.

Max said, “So look, I'm not worried about—”

And Clara said, “Well, if you really think—”

Before either of them could finish, Amber appeared out of nowhere and tackled Clara in a giant hug.

“Clara!” she practically screamed. She grabbed me, hugging me too as she shouted, “And Hailey! I'm so excited to see you two! Your costumes are the best, as usual!”

Clara opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, Amber rolled right on through.

“Did you know,” Amber said to Max, “that their mom actually makes their costumes for them? She's, like, the most amazing seamstress in the entire world.”

Amber wore an elaborate eighteenth-century gown with a huge white wig, a glittery plastic tiara, white makeup, and a couple of fake beauty marks, and a deep, wide streak of blood across the neck, with more running down one side of her dress.

“Marie Antoinette,” I guessed.

Clara quickly added the requisite, “You look so pretty!”

“Thanks, so do you!” Amber enthused nonsensically. “Hey, I've been wanting to talk to you about the Sadie Hawkins dance. You know I was one of the organizers, right? And I really want you guys to come. You know who I think would totally want one of you to ask him?”

“Um.” Clara frowned. Max was standing right there; he could hear every word they said. Clara's desire to flee was palpable.

“Kevin Johnson!” Amber cried. “Wouldn't he be so perfect for one of you?”

We barely knew Kevin Johnson. He had never been in any of our classes, and we didn't have any friends or activities in common. He seemed nice enough. He was also epileptic, which was all very well, except that it was the only reason I could think of for Amber to suggest that either of us might want to date him.

On the other hand, this was the first time I could remember anyone suggesting that either of us might conceivably go on a date at all. Unless you counted Bridget, which I didn't. So maybe I should give Amber some credit for that.

When I glanced toward where Max had been standing, he had already slipped away.

Clara nudged me.

“I know,” I whispered, “I'll think of some way to get rid of her.”

“No, not that.” She jerked her head toward the front entrance, and I followed her gaze.

“Oh.”

It was Alek, walking straight toward us, and wearing the one thing that was sure to get him kicked out of Amber's party.

Black jeans and a plain black T-shirt.

My gaze darted back and forth between Amber and Alek. If she spotted him here without a costume, the best-case scenario was that she would merely throw him out a first-story window. Worst-case, she'd frame him as a North Korean spy.

“Amber,” I said desperately, pointing to the opposite side of the room, “is that Tim? That is the best vampire costume I've seen all night. You must have helped him with it, right?”

She glanced over at Tim, who'd been her boyfriend for as long as anyone could remember. “No, he did that himself. It's okay, I guess,” she said, before turning back to me. “Now, about the dance.”

“Actually, it's taken care of already,” I said.

Amber's eyes widened in surprise. But she was still looking right at me, and Alek was behind me. This wasn't good. I was going to have to play the disabled card. “I'm so thirsty,” I said, “and it's so hard for us to get around the
room when it's crowded. Do you have some sodas somewhere?”

“Oh yeah, we've got coolers in the living room,” she said.

I looked toward the hallway behind her. “I guess we could manage it . . .”

She put up a hand. “I'll fetch it for you. Diet Coke?”

“Perfect. And one for Hailey, too? Thanks, Amber.”

I watched as Amber twisted through the noisy, thickening crowd. Even when Hailey and I were toddlers, we could never just slip and slide through the tiny gaps between people like other kids could, and I couldn't help admiring how deftly Amber pulled it off now.

On the other side of the room, Alek was talking to a freshman dressed as a sexy nurse. Although the girl was at least Alek's height, she had her head bent so low that it allowed her to giggle upward at him as she batted her big fake eyelashes. I couldn't tell whether Alek was flirting back.

He looked up, taking in the room for a minute, and then his gaze fixed on Hailey. He said something to the nurse girl and started walking toward us. I caught my breath.

He had to do a certain amount of twisting and nudging, but he was definitely coming our way, and he seemed to have his eyes on Hailey the entire time. They were more or less staring at each other.

Then Alek was right there, and he actually reached out and touched Hailey on the arm.

When people touch Hailey above the waist, I can't physically feel the sensations; our nervous systems are separate in our upper halves. I obviously can't read her mind either. But I swear, when he touched her arm, it was the closest I had ever come to feeling telepathic. I could feel the hairs stand up on my own arm. I could feel the adrenaline surge through my own bloodstream.

He leaned in toward her, on the side that was farther away from me, his mouth close to her ear. But I didn't have any trouble hearing him. “Hey, I wanted to talk to you. It's so noisy in here. Can we go outside?”

She nodded, while I quietly smiled to myself.

“But we've got to avoid Amber,” Hailey said. “I can't believe you came without a costume.”

“She's in the living room,” I said. “If we go down that hallway on the other side, she won't see us, and we can pop right out into the courtyard.”

Alek looked over at me, and something like surprise splashed across his face, then retreated. “Oh, hey, Clara,” he said. It was almost like, for a second there, he had actually forgotten that wherever Hailey was, I was always there too. He said to me, “Do you want to c—” and stopped himself. Then he laughed. “You don't mind?” he asked me.

I shook my head.

“After you, then,” he said.

“Actually,” Hailey told him, “it's easier if you go first to break through the crowd.”

“Oh. Yeah, right.”

We followed Alek through the kitchen and down the hallway, which was crowded at the start but grew empty as we approached the bedrooms. Amber's room had its door standing open, and I saw some movement inside the room. I jumped in surprise, afraid Amber had somehow gotten past us and over to her room, where she would surely spot us. But it wasn't her; it was a couple making out, the girl leaning back against the wall while the boy leaned into her. I looked away quickly, wishing I hadn't seen.

Just past the bedroom, we went through a pair of sliding glass doors into a small courtyard.

We were around the corner from the main backyard. I could hear a few voices over there, and the low throbbing of music from inside. But this little nook was relatively quiet, and empty apart from us. The outdoor lights gave a soft yellow cast to the tiled patio and its table and chairs. The sky was dark except for a sliver of moonlight.

“I just wanted to ask you,” Alek said as he pulled the sliding glass door shut behind him, “if you've thought about that summer art program.”

I sensed Hailey's disappointment in the stillness of her body and the extra half beat she took before answering.
Though honestly, I didn't know what she had expected him to say. Had she thought he was going to open with a declaration of undying love or something? Or had she secretly wanted him to love the Glinda costume, which he had so far failed to acknowledge in any way?

“Oh, yeah, that sounded like it might be kind of interesting,” Hailey said. “I haven't looked into it or anything.”

This was a total lie. She had already spent hours poring over the school's website. Not to mention pressuring me into going down for the interview—though we still hadn't approached our parents about that. With any luck, they would refuse to let us go.

“Well, you know, I'm going down for my interview and portfolio review this week, and the deadline is coming up pretty soon. I was thinking if you want, maybe we could try to coordinate our appointment times. Or even, you know, if it's not convenient for you to go, I might be able to bring your portfolio for you. I'm not sure if they allow that, but I thought we could maybe ask.”

Hailey's blond wig was starting to sag slightly to the right. “Um, yeah,” she said, with convincing nonchalance. “I guess I could maybe think about that.”

“It's no commitment, obviously,” he said. “Well, just the application fee.”

From around the corner came the low hum of guys talking and laughing in the main backyard. Michael
Jackson's “Thriller” flowed out of the living room's stereo system—one of the old standards that had been on Amber's Halloween mix since her very first Halloween party, back in first grade, when her mom had still been choosing the songs for her. I crossed my arms and looked down, trying to absent myself as much as possible from Hailey and Alek's conversation.

“What do they want to see?” Hailey asked. “For the portfolio review?”

Alek started telling her the details, which I was pretty sure she already knew.

More voices came from the backyard now, and I recognized at least one of them—Max. He was talking to some other guys. It sounded like Gavin, and maybe Josh.

“I know you'll get in,” Alek was saying to Hailey. “There's no way they won't love your stuff.”

Hailey said, “Well—”

“Wait,” he interrupted. “Don't say no. I also wanted to show you something I'm working on for it.”

He pulled out his phone and tapped the screen a couple of times. As he did, I could hear Max and the other guys joking around in the backyard, around the corner of the house. A voice that sounded like Josh's said, “Delicious, juicy watermelons.” This was followed by raucous laughter.

Alek held his phone out to Hailey, showing her something on the screen. I started trying to peer over at it but
got distracted as Gavin said, “Seriously, Max, you haven't hooked up with any girls since you moved here. What's your story?”

“No story,” he said.

Hailey stared into the screen of Alek's phone; their heads were bent close together. But then I felt her stiffen, and her head jerked back, away from him.

“Not that I've heard about you hooking up with any guys, either,” came another voice from around the corner—Tim?

“I like girls,” Max replied. His voice sounded casual, but loud enough to be perfectly clear above the lightly taunting laughter of the other guys.

“What's the matter, then? No girls at Bear Pass are hot enough for you?” Josh said.

He made it sound like Max could have his pick of any girl at the school. Which was probably true.

Hailey said something to Alek, but I wasn't listening, just straining to hear every word of the other conversation.

“I didn't say that,” Max said, sounding unconcerned.

“All right, then tell us. Who's hot? If you had to pick.”

There was a brief silence, then more laughter.

Alek said, “Hailey, no, that's not—”

“Then what the hell?” Hailey said sharply.

And then from around the corner, Gavin said, “I know. I know who Max goes home and dreams about at night.”

Who?
I was desperate to hear the answer, and I was also equally desperate
not
to hear the answer.

“I don't think you do,” Max said. His voice was still calm, but maybe too calm. Or too controlled. The words were enunciated with great precision.

“So you admit it!” said Josh. “You do have
dreams
at night.”

“I nnever ssaid I wasn't human.” He didn't quite stutter on this, but some of the consonants were just a little drawn out.

Alek said something to Hailey, his voice quiet but urgent. I felt Hailey's resistance, but I didn't want to know anything about it. I could only think,
Shut up! Shut up and let me listen!