Whisper of Memory (Whispering Woods Book 2) (11 page)

“
W
hen it says
‘no high slits,’ what does that mean exactly? High as in you can see my undies or high as in above my knee?” Em waved the paper above her head as she entered the door of my bedroom. “No bare midriffs. No revealing bustlines. No exposed bra straps.” She flung herself onto my bed. “No, no, no. Do you see one ‘yes’ on this paper? No. They want us to come in some kind of dress that doesn’t exist. Maybe something my gramma would wear.”

I nodded and lay down next to her on the bed, then leaned over to grab a package of chocolate cookies. I set the bag between our bodies. We stared at the ceiling while devouring them.

“My mother bought my dress months ago. Before I even had a date. I didn’t even say I was going, but she bought me a dress.” Em munched her cookie for a moment before she added, “She bought more than one dress.”

“Wow.” I looked at her sideways. “Do you like them?”

“I don’t know. They’re her style. I’d say this paper could have pictures of my dress to illustrate what not to wear. I’ll be lucky if they let me in the door after the chaperones take one look at me.”

“Hmm,” I said. “I’m sure it’ll be fine.” I could tell she was anxious.

“You don’t have a dress yet, do you?” she asked.

“No.” My answer came out unconcerned, but I had started to worry about it. I looked at some websites earlier in the day wondering if it was possible to order dresses like that with rush delivery. Answer? Yes. Had I done it? No.

“You have to wear one of mine then.” She seemed happier, with a warm pink glow that suffused her cheeks and aura.

“Gee, thanks. Want me to get kicked out too?” I laughed.

“Sure. What are friends for if not a little mutual banning from the winter formal?” Em’s voice was very serious. “I’ll pick everybody up. We’ll go in together. The four of us.”

“You’re not worried about going with Arizona, are you?”

“No.” She drew the word out a little too long. “Of course not. I mean, what’s there to be nervous about?”

“I wasn’t sure you’d say yes when he asked you.”

“Are you kidding? He’s gorgeous. And he’s funny. How could I say no?”

“Em…if something about him bothered you, you’d tell me, right? I’m your best friend. I know when you’re acting funny.”

“It’s all good. OK?” she said, brushing my question aside. “I’ve solved your dress problem. I’m better than the dang fairy godmother in Cinderella.”

“If one fits.”

“Fuchsia, aqua, red, or black? What do you think?”

“You have four freaking dresses? Your mother is out of…” I stopped myself from saying more.

At least her mother was around to buy dresses.

“Yeah. She is.” Em grinned and shoved another cookie in her mouth.

“Your mom won’t care if I wear one?”

“If she knew you didn’t have one, we’d be shopping right now for yours. She lives for this.”

“It’s a good thing.” I crossed my arms behind my head. “I’ll still need shoes.” I looked at my feet and stuck one bare foot beside Em’s. I wiggled my naked, beat-up toes beside her pedicured ones. “Hmm.”

She nodded.

“Your feet are tiny. How do you walk on those things? It’s a shame you didn’t ever get grown person feet,” I teased.

“My mother is a Bigfoot like you. We’ll raid her closet.”

“If it weren’t for you and your Bigfoot mother, I’d be nude at the dance.”

Em held up the paper. “Against the rules. No nude attendees.” She giggled. Sitting up, she grabbed my hand. “Come on. Let’s go to my house and try some on.”

She tugged but I didn’t move.

“We’re almost the same size. If the dresses fit you, they’ll fit me.”

I moaned. This was why I didn’t have a dress yet. The thought of trying on and modeling possible choices rated right up there with cleaning my toilet or clipping Biscuit’s toenails.

“You can’t wait until Saturday night. Come. Now.” She tugged harder and I relented.

D
ad let
me try on dresses at Em’s house even though I was grounded. I’d mentioned the Whispering Woods Winter Extravaganza to him, but I’m sure that it hadn’t crossed his mind that I’d need something special to wear. But he wasn’t negligent. If I’d mentioned needing a new dress, he might have called my Aunt Candy or my grandmother for advice. He probably would have offered to take me to a mall. The fact that I could borrow a dress from Em seemed to be the answer to both our prayers.

Em’s bedroom was white and pink with a wicker rocking chair in one corner, the same decor she’d had since she was four. I didn’t know Em when she was four, of course. But she’d once told me that she loved her room. Em’s mom had offered to change it, but Em said it was fine as it was. I figured she wanted to leave it alone purely because her mother wanted to update it.

While I waited for her to try on the dress she planned to wear, I clicked through songs on her iPod. Hooked up to Bose speakers, it sounded great, and I was amazed and a little jealous. She took all this for granted. I looked at the formal dresses hung in a display from the top of Em’s closet door.

“My dad told me some stuff about my mom,” I blurted and continued to scroll through her iPod.

“Your mom?” Em ran over with the dress gathered around her waist. One hand held the top of the pink dress in place while the other reached for the volume control on the speaker.

With the music all the way down, I answered in a small, self-conscious voice. “Yeah. You heard me right.”

“Has she been in contact with your dad?”

“No,” I said, surprised. “Why would you think that?”

“He never talks about her, does he?”

“No. But I brought it up.”

“And?”

“He doesn’t hate her like he should. He defended her when I said that.” I motioned for Em to turn so I could zip her dress.

“Maybe he wanted out of their marriage too.”

“No. I almost think he still loves her. I don’t get it. If he knew that she’s part of this thing I’m involved in, that she almost killed me—”

Em spun around. “Oh, Mia. You can’t tell him.”

“Of course I’m not gonna tell him. Do you think I’m nuts?”

She shrugged.

“I don’t get what he saw in her. She’s evil, and she’s working for Bleeker.”

“Maybe something changed. Don’t you find it strange that she’s hooked up with Bleeker? How would she know him? Didn’t she move a long time ago? The coincidence in all this is…too coincidental.” Sometimes, Em’s brilliance amazed me.

I sat dumbfounded. “She’s a portal finder.” I spat the words out.

Em jumped, then went to the full-length mirror in the opposite corner of her bedroom. “That makes sense. Didn’t Regulus tell you that you and Pete both have the gift? You probably got it from your mom.” She wasn’t facing me, but she looked at me in the mirror. “What do you think?” She pointed at the dress.

I frowned. I didn’t want to get anything from my mother. The thought made me squirm. Actually, I wanted to scream and throw things. “You’re a sexy beast in it,” I said, making a lame attempt to inject some enthusiasm into my voice.

She smiled. “Yeah. OK. Maybe they’ll let me get by with it. I’ve got a lace thing I can wear over it until we get inside. Your turn.” She motioned for me to try on a dress.

“Maybe she had something going on with Bleeker,” I said. “A fling or something. Who knows?” I stood and pulled my T-shirt off over my head, then shimmied out of my jeans. I grabbed the dress closest to me—it happened to be the aqua one—and held it up, trying to figure out the best way to get into it.

“Over,” she said, pointing at the dress. She grabbed the hem and lifted it, and I put my arms in the air so she could put it over my head.

“It doesn’t matter why she is working for him. I really don’t care,” I said through the fabric of the dress as Em tugged it over my body. My head surfaced again and I let my arms down. I shooed her hands away and adjusted the thick bodice.

Em squealed. “Oh my gosh! You look like the little mermaid.” She grinned.

Her annoying enthusiasm emerged in a glow of hot pink excitement. I had no idea what I looked like, but I definitely didn’t want to look like a cartoon figure. I walked to the mirror. The person staring back was a stranger. A bona fide girl.

Em and I both stared in silence. Then my gaze met hers. She looked so happy it was ridiculous.

“Maybe I should just make the duct tape dress I saw online,” I said awkwardly.

“You are wearing this dress if I have to make you keep it on until Saturday night.” Em’s words gushed out. “Seriously. If you want to try on the others you can, but—”

“No. I guess I can wear this.” The words came out sounding a tad ungrateful even to me. I didn’t mean it that way. I felt weird, and I couldn’t sound like myself. I half expected my voice to trill in a musical little mermaid voice. I did sort of look magical.

“You could wear your hair up, but I like it down. Or we could roll it—”

“Don’t get carried away, fairy godmother,” I said. “I’m not doing anything crazy with my hair.”

“OK, then down.” Em leaned forward and arranged my hair over my shoulders. She met my eyes in the mirror. “Regulus isn’t going to recognize you. You look so pretty.”

I frowned.

“You know what I mean,” she said.

“Yeah, I know what you mean.” I smiled at her and gave her a hug. “Thanks, Em.”

A
t 9
:00 p.m. on Thursday night, rapping at the front door woke my dad from a snooze in his favorite recliner. At the sound, I flew down the stairs in a panic to beat him to the door without waking him. I was too late.

“You can’t have company. You know you’re grounded,” he said crankily as he managed to get out of the chair and hobble over to block my view of the front door.

I could see Regulus through the oval window of the front door. I hopped from one foot to the other. “One second, Dad. One second. Something must be wrong because he knows I can’t see him until Saturday night.”

“Rules are rules. I’ve bent too many of them and you do whatever you want—”

“Daddy, please.” I clasped my hands together. “Five more minutes. You can time it. You know him. He wouldn’t come over if—”

Regulus again rapped on the door, staring through the glass at us.

“Five minutes, Mia. No more. I’m timing.”

“Thanks!” I ran to fling the door open and step into the porch.

“Mia,” Regulus whispered. “I need to talk with you.”

“What’s up? I have exactly five minutes.” I nodded my head toward my dad, whose silhouette could be clearly seen through the door glass.

Regulus hadn’t shaved. His hair was also slightly wild like he’d been riding his motorcycle without a helmet. He still looked great, and my wandering thoughts made me smile.

“I’ve changed my mind about the chip. I’ve found another way. A better way for us.”

“What are you talking about? Slow down.” I led him to the porch swing and out of my father’s line of sight.

“They were pressuring me to have your chip implanted. I thought it was the only way. But now I know of a man who can remove my chip. We can disappear. Together.” He grabbed my hands in his and stared into my eyes. “We can be together.”

“You’re scaring me.” I tried to stay calm. Regulus always appeared so steady and sure of himself. Tonight, his voice sounded uncertain. Worse, the usual warm glow of yellow that was part of being Regulus to me was more of a pink. Watermelon pink. “We’re together now, aren’t we? Besides, I told you I would get the chip. I trust you.”

“I was wrong then. I was desperate.”

“Why were you wrong? You said the chip would let us take care of each other. That we’d know each other’s locations based on those signals. That’s what it does, isn’t it?”

“Part of it.” His mouth formed a hard line. He wasn’t looking at me either.

My dad tapped on the window and pointed at his watch.

“I have to report to the Vault tomorrow. I wanted to see you and tell you that there is an alternative.”

“Why do you have to go to the Vault?” I asked. “Is Arizona going too? You know the winter formal starts at seven. Em’s going to drive and pick us all up.” I felt like a heel for bringing it up. He obviously had bigger things to worry about than my high-school dance.

“They just ordered me to report, and I have no choice. I will be back in time. Don’t worry.”

I shrugged and smiled. “I wish I could go to the Vault with you.”

The front door opened.

“I take you with me everywhere. In here.” He placed his hand over his heart.

The statement took me off guard, and I gasped.

My dad stuck his head out the door. “Regulus,” he said and gave a nod.

“Mr. Taylor,” Regulus answered. “I apologize. It was important or I would have waited. I’m leaving town and didn’t want Mia to worry about the dance. I’ll be back.”

“Oh,” Dad said. “That’s all right, but her time is up. She needs to come inside now.” He then ducked back into the house.

“Are you sure everything is OK? I think you’re worrying about this chip thing and that I’m not committed to you and the IIA, but—”

He placed his fingers on my lips. “I have been very confused. I haven’t known what to do with these odd feelings. I think I know now.” He smiled and leaned forward to quickly touch his lips to mine. “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.”

“What?” I stared at the smile that had spread across his face. I stopped breathing. Never in my entire life had I been so happy.

“Brilliant man named Shakespeare.
Romeo and Juliet.
I read it this week in my lit class.” He backed away from me and stumbled toward the porch steps.

I giggled.

He jumped off the porch, skipping the steps. “My heart loves now, Mia Carina Taylor. It is all very clear to me.”

He stepped into the darkness. Moments later, I heard the motorcycle engine rev to life. He was gone.

I
’d made a mistake
. A terrible, horrible mistake.

I stood on a footstool trying for a better view in my dresser mirror. The dress was too tight, too shimmery, too aqua, too…not me.