Authors: Christina Leigh Pritchard
I flipped my hair and picked up speed. To the left of the school was a forest. I raced inside, hoping he wouldn’t follow but he did. So I stopped abruptly and Alex plowed into the back of me.
He screamed.
Just like a little girl would have.
My skin throbbed and for a split moment I could almost feel his pain. My fingers twitched and I wanted to touch him again.
I felt like a junkie.
Alex pulled off his jacket and tossed it at me. The whites of his eyes were red and he stormed out of the woods.
“Stop touching me! How many times do I have to tell you?”
He disappeared around the corner.
I shook my head. Alex was insane. What if something horrible had happened to him and he didn’t like being touched? Maybe I was bringing up old nightmares of his. What had happened to him to make him so cold? I bent down and picked up his jacket. The weather was freezing. Tripling up was exactly what I needed.
Pig barked. I looked down at the black and white dog and smiled. “Why can’t I pet you or the cat? What happened to you guys? What about Alex? Is there something I’m missing?” I knelt and Pig backed up. “I’m not going to touch you and don’t you dare growl at me.” I pointed my finger in his face.
Pig crept closer. He was only a few inches away. I could feel the heat his skin gave off. He panted and stared at the two cottages. “Do you want to go home?”
Pig jumped to his feet and wagged his little nub. He barked excitedly. “I guess I can check out the woods tomorrow.”
We jogged back to the cottages and Pig pushed his head against Aunt Millie’s front door. He entered the galley kitchen and sat. Aunt Millie scraped scrambled eggs from a skillet into his dog dish.
A Himalayan cat sauntered over to Millie next. She meowed and turned in a circle. On top of the bistro table where Alex had eaten his breakfast was a cat bowl. Millie scraped more scrambled eggs into her dish.
“They eat eggs?” I blurted, sitting down in one of the recliners in the living room.
“I’ve never seen a cat eat eggs before. A dog, yes, but a cat—”
“Please understand, Alex and Ally aren’t like most teenagers their age. They’re gifted; highly intelligent and seem a bit eccentric to those of lesser intellect.”
I was beginning to think Millie thought I was an idiot. Some, brain dead, noncreative nobody without a clue to what was going on around me.
“Intelligence does not give a person the right to be cruel. I will try my best to stay out of his way. I wouldn’t want to inconvenience you.”
“Thank you,” Aunt Mille grinned. “Mind the cat.” I rolled my eyes. What was with them and the cat? She looked sweet enough. Pig wasn’t too terrible. He was a little weird but nothing too major to really concern yourself with.
I studied the cat. What did they call her? I think her name was Rat.
“Psst, Rat, do you have rabies? Is that why everyone is afraid of you?” Pig growled at me. “Sorry, Pig, but if I don’t laugh I just may cry.” I rocked myself in the recliner until I fell asleep.
Five
“You Better Hurry Home”
I was dreaming about my mother bursting through the front door in an Eskimo suit, arms raised and singing. “I’m cured, Lisa; can you believe it? Let’s go home!”
“That’s great, mom,” I said, grabbing my brown box. “I’ve been ready to leave since I got here!”
Cold ice slid down my arm. I jumped up. My heart pounded and I gasped. Michael stood in front of me. He doubled over and laughed hysterically. Pig barked and stood in between the two of us. My dog didn’t seem too concerned with Michael.
“What are you doing here?” I wiped melted ice from my arm. I looked up and spotted a clean chin. He’d shaved. I thought the goatee had looked nice on him. It was easier to see his lips, though, and they were thick and full. He smelled nice, too.
“I pick up Millie’s eggs during the summer for my mother and take them into town.”
“Are you wearing cologne?” I stood up and sniffed him. “You are! Michael you smell nice. What is it?” His face burned red.
“Just Axe from the grocery store. It’s no big deal.” He disappeared inside the kitchen. “You, on the other hand, stink horribly.”
I covered my mouth and raced down the hall to the nearest bathroom. I dug around in Millie’s medicine cabinet for a toothbrush. It wasn’t like me to not worry about hygiene. It wasn’t like me to sniff people, either. Pig scratched his paw against the door. I opened it and let him inside.
After I brushed my teeth and took a shower, I realized that I didn’t have anything to wear. I cracked the door slightly. “Aunt Millie?”
“She isn’t here,” Michael answered. What was he still doing at the house?
“Could you, um, do me a favor, please?” I took a deep breath. Michael trudged down the hallway. He leaned against the opposite wall. I could see him through the tiny crack of the opened door. “I forgot my clothes. They’re next door in a box by the bed in the first room on the left.”
Michael cleared his throat. “I am not allowed to enter their house.”
“Geez, Michael. Why not? I need my clothes. Can’t you knock on their door or something?”
“I guess I could try. I’ll be right back.” He stopped, chuckling softly. “You could just wear my ski jacket.”
“Not funny,” I smiled. “Please just go get my clothes.”
A few minutes later, he dropped my box by the bathroom door. I wrapped myself in a towel and snatched it. What was the matter with me? Why didn’t I bring more clothes? So what if they weren’t warm. I think maybe it was a way for me to not accept that I was being deserted by Amber. It was one thing when my dad left, but my mom, too? Sometimes I couldn’t understand people. They were so complicated, yet at the same time always predictable. Alex certainly wasn’t; predictable, I mean. He was definitely complicated.
“You should dry your hair. It’s cold outside.”
“Why? Where do you think I am going to go?”
“Oh, you’re going out with me, of course. I’m taking you to a party.”
“Not with kids from C I N, right?” I gulped. Did I forget to bring make-up too? I did. Maybe Ally had some somewhere and would let me borrow it. That is, if she ever came home long enough for me to ask.
“Sure, of course, I don’t know anyone else except from school.” Michael sprawled out in a recliner. “So, hurry up and dry your hair. It’s a long walk from here through the woods.”
Woods? Was it going to be inside or out? Could Pig come along? I doubt it. “Can I bring my dog?”
Michael roared with laughter. “Who, Pig? He doesn’t like anyone and you’ve made him your dog? Does he let you pet him?” I didn’t respond. “That will be the day when Pig lets anyone touch him.”
I came out of the bathroom and stood in front of Michael. The TV was on and he was flipping through the channels. “I tell you what, when Pig here lets you pet him, then you can officially claim him as yours. Until then, don’t call him your dog. It’s politically incorrect.”
“This isn’t a democracy, Michael. He watches out for me. I like him.” I blinked. Wow, I actually liked the bipolar, freak dog.
“If he follows us then I suppose he can come but you’re responsible for him if he attacks someone. I’m not getting sued for his sake. He should be forced to wear a muzzle.”
Pig growled and snapped at Michael’s feet. I realized when Pig’s hair was down that he wasn’t serious. His hair was down with Michael. His hair was always down with me too. Pig was all bark and no bite; except when he meant it, of course.
I put on my Adidas jacket and Michael’s ski jacket. He helped me into the sleeves. We walked outside and followed the dirt path towards the lake. Alex sat outside in his purple porch swing. He stared at us as we passed him. Michael waved and I stared back. Alex wasn’t going to acknowledge us so why bother?
“What is the story with Alex and Ally?”
Michael inched closer.
“They’re subhuman.” I smacked him. “What is it with you and violence?” He rubbed his arm. “You’ve hit me twice in less than a 24 hour period.”
“Is Aunt Millie paying you to take me to this party?” I blurted. Michael stared numbly.
“No, I just thought I’d be nice.”
“Sorry,” I said. “I just thought after how mad I made you yesterday that—”
“Lisa, please. You don’t faze me. I’d like to think I was a bit more mature than that.” He poked me in the cheek. “I will race you.”
“Hey, no fair!” I grabbed his jacket and ran along with him.
I turned around to check on Pig. He stood at the entrance of the woods. I stopped. “Bipolar, come on, boy!”
Michael leaned over my shoulder. “You named him Bipolar? Well, if that isn’t just the perfect name for him. He will be right there waiting for you to get back, don’t worry. He’s not a people dog. It’s a miracle that he follows you around. Actually, it’s weird and disturbing.”
“Leave my dog alone.” I shoved him. He gently pushed me back.
“Lisa Brown, I think you just might be all right. I didn’t really like you at first but when you dared to make faces at Ally, well, let’s just say you practically stole my heart.”
“You better hurry home.”
I turned around to see where the voice came from. It wasn’t Michael’s. I searched the woods. It almost sounded like Alex but he was still on his purple porch swing.
“Did you hear that?”
“Hear what?”
“Someone said that we should get home. You didn’t hear them?” I scratched my head and examined the treetops. My heart fluttered. Was someone playing a practical joke on us? “Pig, where are you?” I clapped my hands and the Boston terrier came to my side.
“Let’s go, Lisa. I think these woods have you spooked. I promise they’re not haunted.” He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and dragged me forwards.
The sky grew dark and thunder rumbled. Pig barked and stood on his hind legs. I giggled. He looked almost as if he were a prancing show dog.
“Who would’ve known, Pig can do tricks!” Michael laughed, too. “What did you do to him? He’s a different dog. I have been coming here since forever and that dog has never been so friendly.”
“How old is he? He doesn’t look old.” I knelt down and searched his face for any gray hairs. There weren’t any. “He looks almost like a teenager.”
“You better hurry home.”
There it was again! The voice rang in my ears and I winced with pain. The same pain I’d felt when Alex touched me. He was still on his porch, right? I turned to double check. Yes, he was still swinging; staring intently at Michael and me.
Suddenly, lightning flashed in the sky. I grabbed Michael’s arm and Pig barked. It shot through the sky like a bullet of fire. It was pink in color. Rain pelted me in the forehead. It began to pour.
“We better go back to Millie’s house until this rain stops.” Michael guided me out of the woods. He pulled the hood of his ski jacket over my head so that I did not get drenched.
When we got inside Millie’s house I stripped out of my two wet jackets and stood in front of her small portable heater, shivering. On one of the bistro chairs was the jacket Alex tossed at me in the henhouse.
I reached over and snatched it.
Michael sat in one recliner and I sat in the other. He smiled at me. “So much for the party; we have them every weekend except when it rains.”
“Tell me the dirt on Alex and Ally. I think I have asked a hundred times already and still you evade the question.” I leaned over the arm of the chair so that I was close to Michael’s face.
“I told you, they are subhuman. And don’t hit me.” He raised his arms to block any potential smacks.
“I thought you were a genius? You were totally serious yesterday and now you can’t keep a straight face.”
“Being serious with you didn’t get me very far, now did it?” He leaned forward in his chair. “But, if you insist, I’ll get serious. That’s something I can definitely do.”
I turned my recliner so that it faced him.
“Alex and his sister have the highest GPAs in our school and their aptitude scores are off the charts. They really never interact with anyone, and no one except Millie has ever met their parents. They are always out of town, and even though Millie swears they are nice people I have seen their kids and beg to differ.”
“What is it with the no touching rule Alex has?”
“Why would you want to touch him?” Michael barked. I shrugged my shoulders and pointed at the dog.
“It’s weird.”
Michael looked lost in thought. How hard was it to answer my question? He tapped his fingers on the armrest. “I’m not completely sure why but I can tell you this—Alex screamed when one of our classmates fell to the floor during an epileptic seizure. He held her down but screamed as if he were in horrible pain; as if
he
were having the seizure, too.”
Alex kicked the door open. Michael and I both jumped at the sound. He stood in the entrance with his eyes narrowed at us; as if he’d heard every word we’d spoken. “It is time to come over to my house now. Millie wants me to lock up.”
“Can’t I just stay at her house? I think I would be less of an inconvenience to you.”
Alex looked away. “No, I will manage. Hurry on home.”
I swallowed hard. That’s what the voice said earlier.
Hurry on home
. …Total coincidence, right? He was in his porch swing the whole time. I checked; twice.