“Most girls would have asked
what
movie before agreeing to go,” he said, turning. “Not you. I’ve been trying to figure out why.”
Technically that wasn’t a question, so I decided not to answer it. Besides, I was too busy obsessing over his hand, which never left my back until we were approaching the ticket counter. I could feel the placement of every single finger, forgetting that I was supposed to be focusing on Shae or that the shivers running up and down my spine might be a sign of something more on the way.
We’d either gotten there early or the eight-screen theatre complex didn’t get much business for matinees, because there wasn’t a line at the ticket window. The ticket girl was sitting there behind the glass examining the ends of her long blonde hair, looking both bored and beautiful at the same time. Right behind her hung a huge poster for
27 Dresses.
It was impossible to miss the similarities between her and the actress on the poster—even had the same hairdo, complete with a pink flower barrette and the same pouty lips that just begged to be kissed. Now why couldn’t she resemble that elephant over there in
Horton Hears a Who?
Hmmm, but this was my chance to see what kind of guy Lane was, if he was capable of looking past all the superficial fluff long enough to appreciate the essence within. I was suddenly quite happy about wearing Faith’s red blouse with the silver buttons. And her silver sandals—and my ponytail! I’d have been just as happy with the faded jeans, though. Either way, Lane would have a clean choice between a movie star and someone he simply liked being with.
What are you doing? You’re here for Shae, not him.
Blondie didn’t even bother looking at him as she asked what movie and how many. Since no one else was in line it was fairly obvious to me how many, but Lane maneuvered Shae so she was standing in front of him. “Shae, can you tell the nice lady what movie you want to see?”
Shae pointed to a poster of
Journey to the Center of the Earth
, but said nothing. Lane sighed, obviously disappointed, and briefly looked skyward. Did it mean Shae wasn’t talking again? The ticket lady glanced over at the poster, then back at Lane. Gone was her earlier boredom and in its place was a dazzling, Oscar-winning smile. He was too busy hiding his disappointment to notice.
“One adult and one child?” Her long eyelashes were flapping like black butterflies, along with the flirty smile. Apparently I didn’t exist. I extended my claws, but drew them back in again. Let Lane choose. I had a sinking suspicion it would be her.
But I might have been wrong. She barely had time for one more flap of those black lashes before he answered, “No, two adults and one child please.” He wasn’t even looking at her.
“Oh, you’re good. Is that
other
adult ticket for little ole me?” She tried again.
That did it! War! She might have said something like that if she’d been
in
the movies. She didn’t get to say it
at
the movies, not to
my
date. Out came my claws again, but Lane still didn’t react or say anything. He simply maneuvered me until I was standing next to Shae, wondering where to hide my fury. Blondie’s black butterflies landed and folded their wings, and her attention flicked away in the direction of several other moviegoers who’d just approached the ticket booth. “That’ll be $31.50.” There was no award-winning smile this time.
Lane took the tickets, thanked her, then slipped his hand back where it had been ever since we’d left the pickup. Next stop—the concession stand. We needed Cracker Jacks. No sooner were we away from the ticket booth than Shae pointed us in that direction. I walked extra slowly so I could feel his touch for as long as possible, once more congratulating myself on staying calm. My reactions at the ticket booth were perfectly normal, I assured myself, and now I was enjoying another normal sensation at the small of my back. What possible harm could that bring, as long as I didn’t let it go any further? After all, Steven had placed
his
hand at about the same place on Faith’s back, so wasn’t I just sampling what she’d experienced? It felt wonderful.
We bought three boxes of Cracker Jacks that were almost as expensive as the movie tickets. Shae had considered my earlier question and decided yes, we’d let Lane have a whole box for himself
if
he promised not to fidget during the movie. I made the suggestion and she’d nodded, but still hadn’t said anything.
The small theatre was actually empty, not even an usher at the door. We let Shae choose the seats, right in the center, with her on my lap. Lane gestured to the hundred or so empty seats around us. “That was really thoughtful of you, Shae, to save a seat just in case an entire school decides in the last minute to see a movie that’s been out for months.”
She wrapped both arms around my neck.
He continued, more sarcastic than before. “I’m just spit-ballin’ here, Shae, but do you think it’s possible that Sydney may want her very own seat?”
I felt her squirm. Before she could move, I wrapped my arms around her. “Tell you what, Shae. If I start to get cold, you can come right back and keep me warm, the way you’re doing now.”
And act as a buffer between me and your brother.
I was sitting as far away from him as the seat would allow
,
but he was up against the arm that separated us, so we both might as well have been sitting dead center. I was aware of every single breath he took. Would he try to put his arm around my shoulders? That’s what couples did at the movies, right? Where were all the other moviegoers? If only a whole school
would
come barging in at the last moment, I might get a chance to relax. Now, instead of two hours of watching the screen, I’d have to be on guard the whole time. It wasn’t fair.
Since Shae wasn’t about to break her silence, I took the plunge on my own. “Why aren’t you in school, Shae?”
She looked at Lane, who waited expectantly, then answered for her. “She’s in a year-round school, Sydney. Right now they have two weeks off.”
More silence. Shae had been talking ever since the mall, and now she’d shut off the faucet. Was she picking up on my discomfort? I was about to suggest we open our Cracker Jacks when light spilled into the theatre from an open door. Aha! I couldn’t resist my foot-in-mouth tendencies. “Now you’re going to be sorry for teasing Shae earlier.”
Lane leaned my way, putting his lips mere inches from my ear. “Why’s that?”
“Here comes the school she was saving the seats for.”
But I was wrong. It was a pair of young teenagers. They took the center seats in the front row. Before Lane could retort, the theatre went dark. Halleluiah! For the next hour and a half or more I wouldn’t have to struggle for things to say, but first we had to open our Cracker Jacks. I held two of the boxes while Shae did the honors on the first one. She handed it to Lane. Then she did mine, and her own last.
Finally beginning to relax, I leaned back and put on my 3-D glasses. Back on track and still in control. There was just one little problem nagging at my subconscious, one I couldn’t quite ignore. Why had Lane suddenly become “my date” out there at the ticket window? What was I thinking? Lane meant nothing to me, nothing at all. I was doing all of this for Shae.
Only for her.
* * *
Every time Shae laughed, her 3-D glasses slipped off her nose. The way Lane was watching her instead of the movie, I suspected it had been a long time since she’d laughed at all. I resolved to change that if I could.
Lane must have been thinking along the same lines because as soon as the movie was over he tried to get her talking. “Did you like the movie?”
She nodded, eyebrows raised and a huge animated grin covering her face, looking exactly how a child her age should. But when the grin faded, I got a good look at the sadness hiding underneath. Sorrow was weighing her down until she looked more like a forty-six-year-old.
“The birds were my favorite,” I said, desperate to see her smile again. “I kept thinking if I reached out I could grab one.”
I got nothing for my effort, just that far away look. What awful things had she witnessed in her short life? “Okay, besides me, which one of you cried when they learned his father had died? Come on, admit it! Crying is nothing to be ashamed of.”
I knew immediately from the panicked look Lane shot her that I’d said something horribly wrong, but I couldn’t take it back. Lane watched anxiously. What did he think she was going to do? She suddenly stopped walking, faced me, and took both my hands in hers. “What’s Heaven like, Sydney?”
She didn’t see Lane’s anxiety turn to excitement, but I did. His expression seemed to signal me to keep her talking, no matter what I said, but my head was spinning with questions. What if I said the wrong thing?
“I’m… I’m… not sure,” I stammered.
“Can’t you remember?”
By then we’d reached the Toyota, so I was given a couple seconds to think as Lane helped us in. Shae watched me the whole time, waiting for my answer.
“Shae, I’m not sure what you’re asking me. You want me to—”
“Tell me what it was like in Heaven.” she finished. “You know… before you came here. You don’t remember, do you? You lost your memory.” Her conclusion was stated matter-of-factly, almost gently as if she were trying to protect me instead of the other way around. “Poor Sydney, you must be so scared and confused.” She patted my hand in a very adult gesture. “When I was little and lost something important, my mom taught me to retrace my steps until I found it. Maybe that will work for you. If you’ll let us, my brother and I will help you. Won’t we, Lane?”
I wasn’t sure if Lane agreed or not, because I was too busy trying to get my brain around the fact that she
knew
I’d lost my memory. How? Another lucky guess? First, her request for me to say hello to her mom. No explanation for that, or how I’d even know her mom if I saw her. Then the question about my name, which should be foreign or unique or something from a dream, like an angel name. Now questions about Heaven, as though I’d been there. She didn’t know what I was, any more than I did, but she knew there was something different about me, and Sydney’s outward appearance had no part in it. Anything more and my secret would be exposed. I felt like a bug pinned between two plates of glass. All she had to do was adjust the focus a little.
Would Lane be flirting if he knew what I was? Would Shae be holding my hand? Would Faith and Steven still offer me friendship and a place to stay? Would any of this be happening?
I knew the answers, even if there wasn’t one thing I could do about it. And just like that my body quit on me. Mentally I was back at Gillie’s, my mouth full of mackerel without anything in my brain connected to anything else. Physically, I was hunched over in Lane’s pickup as drool ran down my chin, thinking about Mitch Albom’s book about the five people you meet in Heaven, and the theory of yin and yang. Where had that all come from? Ah, yes, Claire’s bookshelf! Maybe Heaven and Hell were one and the same, for me, at least.
Then everything went black.
* * *
The Legnas Lair, Seattle
“Rise!”
The command oozed with anger, Eliam mused, the kind parents kept on hand for special occasions like that time he’d stolen a six-pack. When the cops showed up at the house, his father—his real father—spit out a pair of words filled with the same brand of fury. “Take him!”
This was half the number of words and twice the rage, but there were other things to worry about, more immediate things, like breathing. Something was wrong with the air. It had thickened to the point that sucking it in was like trying to drink a milkshake through a thin straw. The harder he sucked the more his lungs constricted until he was in full panic mode.
“Can’t… breathe….”
“Rise!” This time the word was roared.
What the hell was wrong with these people? Couldn’t they see he was suffocating? That kind of thing always pissed him off, but all the smart-ass comments he’d have used in other situations never made it past his lips. There simply wasn’t enough air in his lungs even to gasp.
So
,
this is it? This is how I’m going to die—on my hands and knees in an underground cavern in a funky black robe with a shriveled up pecker? Aw… shit!
Black dots danced across his vision—it would be over shortly. Time to quit struggling and let himself go limp. Where was Theresa? Why wasn’t she trying to help?
But just as suddenly as the air had thickened, it cleared. Beautiful and cool, it filled his lungs as he lay there gulping it down, not giving a shit what he looked like, not even to the one spewing anger. The jerk was still demanding that he get up.
Screw you!
This couldn’t be happening… didn’t make sense… but he could feel something different now. Hatred? Was that it? Could hatred be felt like hot and cold? The room reeked with it. Nothing like it had ever been covered in science class—or had it? Maybe he’d slept through that part. Damned Rids!
The ugly sounding voice had started counting.
ONE!
What was that supposed to mean? Did some of them have numbers instead of names? “Hey, you there, number one, approach the candidate and kick his butt.” That type of thing?