Unfaded (41 page)

             
“Mai, I’m so glad I got you. Granny’s gone.”

             
“What do you mean?”

             
“I left her for just a moment,” she said. “I was downstairs at the dryer and she just got up off the couch and walked out the door. No jacket or anything. I tried calling your Dad but he’s not picking up.”

             
“I’m out of class,” I said. “We’ll take a drive around and try to find her.”

             
“Ok,” Marley said. “She couldn’t have gotten far; I was only gone for a second.”

             
I hung up the phone and turned to Seito. He’d been listening over my shoulder and nodded before I even opened my mouth. Tossing me the spare helmet, I put it on and we roared out of the school lot.

             
“We’ll start by your place first,” he said. “She couldn’t have gotten far. Has she done this sort of thing before? How old she?”

             
“She’s only seventy-two but she’s got Alzheimer’s. Her brain doesn’t work very well. She forgets things.”

             
“I know what Alzheimer’s is.”

             
“Oh, sorry.”

             
“I may be Unfaded but I do know a bit about humans, yanno.”

             
“I never said you didn’t. But most of the kids my age don’t have a clue so I’m used to explaining to everyone. I guess I keep forgetting you’ve been around. You’re just so different than the others.” I held on tighter as we rounded a corner much faster then we should have because the snow was really beginning to fall. There was a thin coating of puffy flakes covering the ground. It was going to be icy soon. What if Granny slipped and fell? She could seriously hurt herself.

             
“If by different, you mean less uptight, old, moody, and creepy, then I’ll take that as a compliment.”

             
“They aren’t all that bad,” I said.

             
“Not the one you’re thinking about,” Seito said.

             
“I’ve got more important things on my mind,” I snapped.

             
“Yeah, well you can stop worrying,” Seito said and he slowed down.

             
It took me a few seconds to see what he was referring to. Then I saw them about fifty feet ahead and on the sidewalk. Granny was walking in the direction of my house. Beside her was Kian and he’d taken his jacket off and given it to her. All he had left was a short sleeved shirt and jeans. They were walking slowly because of the snow and she was laughing and pointing up at the sky.

             
I was off the bike the second Seito pulled up next to them. Granny spotted me as I pulled off my helmet.

“Mai!” she said. “Isn’t it a beautiful day? I’ll bet it’s going to storm all night. I can’t remember the last time I got to take a stroll in the snow. It feels like forever ago and a day.”

“Are you cold, Granny?” I asked. There was something odd about the way she was walking. She had a youthful spring in her step as if she knew exactly where she was going and where she’d been. I hadn’t seen her that alert in years. I reached out and took her hand and it was warm. Shoving his hands in his pockets, Kian stepped back from us as if he wasn’t sure what to do.

“I’m perfectly fine,” she said. “I ran into your friend here. What a lovely gentleman.
It’s not too often in this day and age where a man will remove his jacket for you. Why haven’t you brought him around the house more often?”

“I have. Y
ou met him last week.”

“Did I? It’s so strange, Mai. I feel like I’ve been dreaming for a long time and I’ve only just woken up.
Now it’s as if I’m dancing on top of a rainbow. Does that sound odd to you?”

I looked at Kian for an explanation but he was only looking at me. His eyes
shimmered but his gaze was unfaltering. Giving me a sad smile, he took another step backwards and then turned and headed over to where Seito waited.

“I’m sure you haven’t missed much,” I said and I gave her hand a soft squeeze.
Tears began to fill my eyes but I didn’t care. I let them slip down my cheeks before wiping them away with my glove. “But we’d better get you back home. Marley’s been worried.”

“Worried? Why on earth should she be worried? All I did was go for a walk with a nice gentleman. She should be so lucky.
All she ever does is sit in the house and clean up after your Dad. I swear, I thought he was raised better than that. Besides, a walk in the cold is good for the complexion. We all need our beauty fixes.”

I turned to Kian and Seito where they were waiting about ten feet away. “
It’s Ok, I’ll walk her home,” I said. Catching Kian’s eyes, I gave him the same sad smile in return. A million thoughts tossed around inside my brain but I couldn’t bring myself to ask any of them. There were no words to explain what I was feeling. “Thank you,” I finally said.

He nodded.

“Look Mai! The kids across the street are making snow angels. We should join them. I remember how much you used to love doing that.”

I turned my attention back to Granny as she watched the neighbour’s children playing in the snow. I quickly
texted Marley to let her know I’d found Granny and that we’d be home in a bit. A few minutes passed by before I managed to glance back. Seito was still there, he’d follow us home as usual. But Kian was gone.

                                          *              *              *

“I don’t get it.”

We were sitting around the kitchen table while Granny was in the living room, folding the laundry that Marley had forgotten on the couch during her earlier panic. She was whistling to herself while she sorted through Dad’s underwear and taking the occasional sip from a mug of tea she’d made for herself the second we got home.

“Maybe this is normal?” Dad said. “I’ve heard that in some cases, people can have moments of clarity. But this goes beyond her having a bit of clear-headedness. It’s like she’s never been sick.”

“It’s some sort of miracle,” Marley said.

I wondered how he’d done it. I knew Unfaded healed quicker than humans but no one had ever mentioned that they had the power to cure human diseases. Of course I couldn’t tell either of them that I knew Kian was responsible. Instead I pretended to be just as stumped as them.

“It’s wonderful,” I said. “If she’s better then we don’t have to send her to Pine Valley. She can stay with us.”

“I don’t know, Mai,” Dad said. “I think we’d better take her to the doctor. I’ll make an appointment with Dr. Clay and he’ll run some tests. But yes, if the doctor says she’s well, then I can’t see putting her in the home. I don’t think Pine Valley would take her in this condition anyway.”

“That’s wonderful,” I said.

Granny threw the last sock down on the pile and wandered back into the kitchen. “I’m going to start dinner. Mai, can you run down to the freezer and bring up some chicken?”

“Sure,” I said.

We had dinner that night as an entire family. I couldn’t remember the last time it happened. Afterwards I helped Granny and Marley clean up in the kitchen before I went up to finish my English paper.

I was in my room when I heard Granny gasp. I went to investigate and found her in the bathroom, looking in the mirror. She was touching her skin, rubbing the wrinkles and examining her grey hair.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“It’s so odd, Mai,” she said. “I
don’t understand how I let myself go. Look at my hair, it’s a mess.”

“We
’ll get it fixed up,” I told her. “Maybe we can get you a dye job too.”

Granny rummaged through Marley’s make-up bag until she found a shade of lipstick she liked. She began to apply it, studying herself critically as she worked. I stood at the doorway and watched her.

“That young man of yours is rather nice,” Granny said casually. “Be sure to give him his jacket back and thank him, will you.”

“I’ll give it to his friend,” I said. “I’m not exactly talking to him right now.”

Granny raised her eyebrows at me. “Why not? I got the impression that he’s quite taken with you. He seemed very passionate. I would have liked to have found a young man like that in my youth. Of course your grandfather was a lot like that. He once travelled eight miles by foot to bring me a single rose on my birthday.”

“It’s complicated,” I said. “It’s not that I don’t want to talk to him, I just can’t.”

Granny closed the lipstick and put it back in the bag. “Well, I’m not about to meddle in your affairs but I’ll say this. Life is short, Mai. Take it from me, an old lady who has obviously just missed a few years. I don’t know what happened to me or why I’m back but I know I was gone.”

I didn’t know what to say so I stared at my feet instead.

“You’re a beautiful girl, you look so much like your mother right now,” she said. “She wasn’t long for this world but I think you’ll do better. Promise me you won’t waste it. True love’s a gift. Most people never get to open the package.” She reached out and ran a wrinkled finger along my cheek. “There’s too much sadness in your eyes. Be happy, Mai. Otherwise you’ll wake up one morning, old and crooked with messy grey hair, wondering what happened.”

             
I nodded. “But what if I can’t forgive him for what he’s done?”

             
“You’ll find a way,” she said. “And if he’s a true gentleman, he’ll make it easy for you.”

             
“Thanks, Granny,” I said.

             
“Anytime, sweetheart,” she said.

             
I went back to my room and sat down at the computer to look like I was at least somewhat working on my paper.

             
It seemed the entire world wanted me to give Kian a second chance. Today he’d given me the most wonderful gift I’d only dreamed about until now. He didn’t do it because he was sorry about what happened. He didn’t do it because he thought it might make me want to get back together with him. It was done because he loved me, even though I’d told him to go away and leave me alone.

             
He was unlike anyone I’d ever met before. But I all ready knew that.

             
Maybe Granny was right. Life was too short, even if you were an Unfaded. What good was everlasting life if there was nothing to live for?

                                                        *              *              *

              I was up earlier than usual because Dad, Marley and Granny were heading to the city. Granny was still the same. She’d even gotten up before Marley and had breakfast waiting for everyone. The kitchen smelled of pancakes and syrup when I came down to find a cup of coffee.

             
“Happy Friday, Mai,” Granny said as she filled up a plate for me. I sat down at the table, yawning, and taking a gulp of coffee.

             
“It’s too early,” I yawned again.

             
Granny responded by passing me a plate filled with pancakes and bacon. I’d spent most of the night trying to finish my paper. It hadn’t been easy, my mind had been elsewhere. Normally English and I got along great but last night had been like giving a lecture in quantum physics without wearing pants. Needless to say I didn’t think I’d end up getting anything less than a C. Oh well, hopefully I still had plenty of time to make up for it later.

             
Dad came down the stairs lugging a few overnight bags. Dropping them at the front door, he came into the kitchen and dug into the pancakes. He was always the morning eater of the family. He was the only person I’d ever met who could wake up after a long nights sleep and polish off a steak.

             
“I’ve got a list of numbers on the fridge,” Dad said to me. “You make sure you keep your phone on because I’ll be calling to check up on you. We’ll be back Sunday afternoon. No parties. No boys either.”

             
“Oh come on,” I said. “No parties? You know I’m such a wild and crazy gal. Whatever will I tell all my friends when they show up with the kegger?”

             
“Not funny,” he said but I could see the corners of his mouth twitch. We had this conversation every time they went away for the weekend. Not once had I ever thrown a party. But I guess he felt it was his duty as a parent.

             
“I’ll make you proud,” I said and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

             
“You always do,” was his response.

             
Granny wouldn’t let me leave the table until I’d put away at least two pancakes. By the time I made it upstairs to grab my backpack, I was running behind and Granny was arguing with Marley because she’d gone and packed her overnight bag for her.

             
“I’m not an invalid,” Granny snapped. “I can pack my own bags.”