With All My Soul
Page 25
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Hey, Marco, can I talk to you for a second?
He glanced at me in surprise. I couldnt blame him. Wed never said more than three consecutive words to each other, and none of those had been since Nash and I had broken up, officially severing any connection I had to the baseball team.
Finally he shrugged. If you can walk and talk at the same time. I cant be late for statistics.
So, I kinda just wanted to check on you. I heard you were sick yesterday? Or hurt?
Marco frowned and stopped in the middle of the hall, and the steady flow of traffic parted around us. Look, I dont care what youre into, or how many starting players you have left on your list, but Im not into that kind of thing. I have a girlfriend, and I like her, and Im not gonna...
My horrified expression must have made an impression. If not that, my sudden inability to form a coherent reply obviously did the trick.
Wait, thats just some stupid rumor, isnt it? That youre working your way through the baseball starting lineup?
Yes, its a rumor! I guess. I hadnt actually heard that one. A totally fallacious and false rumor, thats completely unfounded in truth!
Sorry. I would never have believed it, except I know you were with Nash. And there was that thing with Scott. And there was talk about Doug. And someone saw you dancing with Brant Williams. And that guy you made out with in the hall after school. That was Tod. And the only part of what hed heard that was true. So it did kind of look like you were...interested.
Well, Im not! There was never a thing with Scott or Doug. And I was never with Nash. Like that. Why, did he say we...?
No. Not to me, anyway. But we all just assumed, because you were with him for so long.
Well, unassume!
Done. He smiled, and he looked friendly. Like he might not be such a bad guy. Which meant he definitely didnt deserve to be possessed by a hellion or knocked out by my undead boyfriend. So, youre really just checking on me? He started walking again, and I kept up.
Yeah. I saw you in the nurses office, and you didnt look so good.
Thats what I hear. I dont know what happened. I dozed off in third period, and the next thing I know Im lying on a table in the nurses office with a cold pack on my head and another one on my...lower. The nurse said she found me there, and no one even saw me go in.
So...youre okay?
Except for the part where my dad wants me to see a shrink. He says blackouts are a sign of a more serious underlying problem.
I gave him as confident and reassuring a smile as I could muster. Youre not crazy. Just...dont fall asleep in schoolanymore.
No shit. That all you wanted? He stopped walking outside his next class, and I was dimly aware that mine was all the way across the building and up a floor.
Yeah. Oh, wait. I stepped closer and lowered my voice, uncomfortably aware that anyone who saw us would assume the rumors about me were true. One of the rumors, anyway. I also wanted to ask you a question. He nodded, so I continued, I heard that back before he died, Doug gave you a sample of this stuff he had. The stuff in the balloon.
Frost? he asked. When I nodded, his expression darkened and he motioned for me to follow him closer to the lockers, out of the main stream of traffic. Stay away from that shit, Kaylee. They say it cant be detected in a drug test, but everyone else I know whos tried it is dead now. That cant be a coincidence.
Everyone? So, he didnt know Nash had used, too?
Yeah. There were some other guys who wanted to try it at Dougs last party. Right before hed died. But then Nash threatened to kick the shit out of the guy with the balloon bouquet if he didnt get lost, and that night Doug died. I havent seen any balloons since. And the more time that passes, the happier I am about that. You shouldnt
Im not, I assured him. I was just...curious. Thanks, Marco.
I sped off into the thinning crowd before he could say anything else, and the one time I looked back, he was still staring after me, looking thoroughly confused.
Chapter Seven
Are you girls ready? Long blond curls fell over Harmonys shoulder as she twisted in the drivers seat to glance at Emma, then met my gaze in the rearview mirror.
I will never be ready for this. Em stared through the windshield at her house. Her former house. Which held her former room and all her former stuff. Even her former dog, Toto, who was still a dog but no longer hers. Lets get it over with.
Harmony laid one hand on her arm. Were sure your moms still at work?
Yeah. I leaned forward between the front seats. I called to verify, and she said Traci would be here to let us in.
Thats her car. Em pointed to the dusty Chevy parked in front of us in the driveway.
Okay. I just need one of you to ask for a drink. Harmony pulled the keys from the ignition and leaned to one side so she could slide them into her pocket, and again I was struck by how young she lookedthirty years old, at the most. Youd never know from looking at her that her sons were eighteen and twenty. Well, Tod would have been twenty, if hed lived. Ill take care of the rest, she continued. If youre sure youre up to this.
He glanced at me in surprise. I couldnt blame him. Wed never said more than three consecutive words to each other, and none of those had been since Nash and I had broken up, officially severing any connection I had to the baseball team.
Finally he shrugged. If you can walk and talk at the same time. I cant be late for statistics.
So, I kinda just wanted to check on you. I heard you were sick yesterday? Or hurt?
Marco frowned and stopped in the middle of the hall, and the steady flow of traffic parted around us. Look, I dont care what youre into, or how many starting players you have left on your list, but Im not into that kind of thing. I have a girlfriend, and I like her, and Im not gonna...
My horrified expression must have made an impression. If not that, my sudden inability to form a coherent reply obviously did the trick.
Wait, thats just some stupid rumor, isnt it? That youre working your way through the baseball starting lineup?
Yes, its a rumor! I guess. I hadnt actually heard that one. A totally fallacious and false rumor, thats completely unfounded in truth!
Sorry. I would never have believed it, except I know you were with Nash. And there was that thing with Scott. And there was talk about Doug. And someone saw you dancing with Brant Williams. And that guy you made out with in the hall after school. That was Tod. And the only part of what hed heard that was true. So it did kind of look like you were...interested.
Well, Im not! There was never a thing with Scott or Doug. And I was never with Nash. Like that. Why, did he say we...?
No. Not to me, anyway. But we all just assumed, because you were with him for so long.
Well, unassume!
Done. He smiled, and he looked friendly. Like he might not be such a bad guy. Which meant he definitely didnt deserve to be possessed by a hellion or knocked out by my undead boyfriend. So, youre really just checking on me? He started walking again, and I kept up.
Yeah. I saw you in the nurses office, and you didnt look so good.
Thats what I hear. I dont know what happened. I dozed off in third period, and the next thing I know Im lying on a table in the nurses office with a cold pack on my head and another one on my...lower. The nurse said she found me there, and no one even saw me go in.
So...youre okay?
Except for the part where my dad wants me to see a shrink. He says blackouts are a sign of a more serious underlying problem.
I gave him as confident and reassuring a smile as I could muster. Youre not crazy. Just...dont fall asleep in schoolanymore.
No shit. That all you wanted? He stopped walking outside his next class, and I was dimly aware that mine was all the way across the building and up a floor.
Yeah. Oh, wait. I stepped closer and lowered my voice, uncomfortably aware that anyone who saw us would assume the rumors about me were true. One of the rumors, anyway. I also wanted to ask you a question. He nodded, so I continued, I heard that back before he died, Doug gave you a sample of this stuff he had. The stuff in the balloon.
Frost? he asked. When I nodded, his expression darkened and he motioned for me to follow him closer to the lockers, out of the main stream of traffic. Stay away from that shit, Kaylee. They say it cant be detected in a drug test, but everyone else I know whos tried it is dead now. That cant be a coincidence.
Everyone? So, he didnt know Nash had used, too?
Yeah. There were some other guys who wanted to try it at Dougs last party. Right before hed died. But then Nash threatened to kick the shit out of the guy with the balloon bouquet if he didnt get lost, and that night Doug died. I havent seen any balloons since. And the more time that passes, the happier I am about that. You shouldnt
Im not, I assured him. I was just...curious. Thanks, Marco.
I sped off into the thinning crowd before he could say anything else, and the one time I looked back, he was still staring after me, looking thoroughly confused.
Chapter Seven
Are you girls ready? Long blond curls fell over Harmonys shoulder as she twisted in the drivers seat to glance at Emma, then met my gaze in the rearview mirror.
I will never be ready for this. Em stared through the windshield at her house. Her former house. Which held her former room and all her former stuff. Even her former dog, Toto, who was still a dog but no longer hers. Lets get it over with.
Harmony laid one hand on her arm. Were sure your moms still at work?
Yeah. I leaned forward between the front seats. I called to verify, and she said Traci would be here to let us in.
Thats her car. Em pointed to the dusty Chevy parked in front of us in the driveway.
Okay. I just need one of you to ask for a drink. Harmony pulled the keys from the ignition and leaned to one side so she could slide them into her pocket, and again I was struck by how young she lookedthirty years old, at the most. Youd never know from looking at her that her sons were eighteen and twenty. Well, Tod would have been twenty, if hed lived. Ill take care of the rest, she continued. If youre sure youre up to this.
