Fluorescence: The Complete Tetralogy (7 page)

BUZZ

That sound. Another tremor?

BUZZ

I felt groggy and weak.

BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

My head hurt. I blinked and rolled over.

My cell vibrated on my dresser, jittering toward the edge.

I reached and caught it before it slipped off.

“Hey… Brian?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“It’s 2 AM. What’s up?”

“I just had the weirdest dream ever.”

I fell silent.

“Alice?”

“Me, too.”

Chapter 9

T
he hospital released Brian sooner than I’d expected. They said he’d made a miraculous recovery, his body healing much faster than they had anticipated. He could go back to school after Christmas break.

Being trapped in the hospital for days after having seen my glow had made him a little crazy, though. And I couldn’t have been more anxious, either. We had
a lot
to talk about.

The dream? We’d
both
had it that night. His version had varied slightly but the gist had been the same. Too much to be coincidental.

He wanted to come over and talk in person, but Mom wouldn’t have it. Not while we were knee-deep in making plans for our annual family get-together—a huge dinner party she always threw the week before Christmas.

Family from out of town, a few cousins, and Sam came every year. We’d eat candy, cookies, turkey, stuffing, you name it. We broke holiday crackers and stayed up late catching up and telling stories. It was fun and I was looking forward to it, but this year, I felt kind of bad I couldn’t invite Brian. I knew we hadn’t been friends long but so much had happened between us. I felt really close to him. Really… really close.

. . .

Brian had managed to convince his mom to swing by my house on the way home from the hospital so he could “thank me.” My mom wasn’t happy about the idea—she hadn’t even met him before the accident, so I couldn’t blame her for feeling on edge.

“You’ll like him, Mom. He’s nice,” I said, trying to reassure her.

“It’s not about
me
liking him, Alice,” Mom replied,
scrunching her lips to the side. He’d only be stopping by for a few minutes, but the way she was acting, you’d think he was planning on staying the night.

“Mom. Mom, he’s
not
my boyfriend. We’re just friends, okay?”

She shook her head and sighed. “If you say so, hun. I’ll take your word for it.”

I went back upstairs to my room and waited.

The doorbell rang.

I heard the front door open and my mother chatting with Brian for a few moments. I tried to listen but couldn’t hear a thing from the staircase.

The front door shut.

“Alice!” Mom yelled.

“Coming!” I’d already made it halfway down the stairs.

“I think you know who’s here.
Don’t be long. His mother’s waiting in the car and that cold front is really hitting hard out there.” She handed me a sweater from the coat rack. It was a frumpy beige button-up I pretty much only wore when
no one
was looking.

“Thanks, but I won’t be long.” I declined and she hung it back up behind me, sighing.

I opened the door and Brian smiled.

“Hey, Alice.” He lifted the fingers of one hand in an awkward wave. “So, how have you been?”

“I’m doing okay. You?” My words formed white puffs in the air.

“Better. A lot better.”

“That’s good.” I nodded.

A gush of cold air blew past, and my hair tickled my cheeks.

Brian reached out.

I held my breath.

He brushed a loose lock behind my ear.

Our eyes met and I shied away with a nervous smile.

I tucked my hands into the pockets of my fleece pullover and looked down at my feet.

Brian cleared his throat. “Thanks again, Alice,” he said. “If it weren’t for you, I might not be here today. I’m grateful for what you did for me.”

“You already thanked me, Brian.” I peeked past his shoulder to see his mom in her car, fixated on something in her lap—probably a phone. She had the radio on some country station.

“I… guess I’d better get going.” He shoved his hands into his jean pockets and looked back toward his mom’s car and then again at me.

I didn’t want him to go.

“Alright. Take care of yourself,” I said. “We’ll catch up when things aren’t so hectic around here. After my relatives leave.” My nose tingled from the cold. It had to be bright pink by now.

“Sure.” He did his awkward partial wave again and turned to leave. He took one step down off the porch and stopped.

“Oh, and Alice.” He turned around, all the confidence draining from his face. “I need to ask you something before I go.”

“Anything.”

“Will you… be my girlfriend? I really want to get out of whatever awkward stage we’re stuck in right now.” I caught him glancing at my lips.

“I’m fourteen, Brian. I don’t think my mom would appreciate me having a boyfriend right now.”

He shrugged. “Look, don’t think about it like that. We can make it work. But, you’re going to have to agree first.”

“I…”

“Say yes. Please.” His kind hazel eyes drew me in, pleading for me to reconsider.

I wanted to. I really did.

“Brian, I…”

He took a step up and
cupped my hand, his warm fingers
embracing mine.

I crumbled.

“Yes.”

He was three inches from my face before I could…

He kissed me.

I closed my eyes and froze, my last breath catching in my throat.

His hands came up to cup my face, pulling me closer.

Fingers combed through my hair.

The porch disappeared beneath my feet.

If only I’d said yes sooner.

Our lips parted and my heart sank like a stone, forcing the rest of my body to acknowledge gravity again.

But then our noses touched and he lingered a moment, his warm breaths teasing my heartstrings. I’d once thought his eyes couldn’t get any prettier. The soft, woodsy green encircled by hints of light amber and brown. The tiny, perfect fleck of near-black embellishing only his left iris.

“See you at the Christmas party.” His lips curled and he smiled even bigger with his eyes. Brian turned away and stepped off the porch.

I traced my lips with my fingertips as he walked off, part of me leaving with him.

Okay, so maybe Mom was right to be a little concerned.

Chapter 10

“
Y
ou invited Brian to the Christmas party?”

“Brian
and
his mother,” Mom corrected. “I asked if they had plans and he told me they usually spend Christmas alone. It only seemed right to invite them, seeing how they’ve only been in town for a few months. You don’t have a problem with it, do you?”

“No. Of course not. I was just surprised, that’s all. You seemed really worried about him at first and now…”

“Now, I’ll get to know him properly. Over dinner with family.”

“Sounds good.”

It then occurred to me that since Brian was coming over for the Christmas Party… it might be a nice idea to get him a small something for Christmas. Of course, I had absolutely no clue what or even where to start looking.

Nice going, Alice.

I’d been kissed by a boy who I didn’t even know well enough to buy
a Christmas present for. Smart move.
Brilliant teenage mind at work.

“I’m excited,” I added, smiling big. “Except about Uncle Teddy. He’s always kind of…”

“Weird?”
Mom
added with a laugh. “His stories
are
pretty bad, but he’s always been a good brother.”

“I know.”

Uncle Teddy had been the first to console her during the divorce. He’d always told her how much he had disliked my dad. Even before she had married him. I didn’t know my dad before he
was
Dad, so I wasn’t one to judge. I hardly saw him anymore and I missed him. I missed my dad like crazy.

. . .

“Get the door, Alice!” Mom hunched down in front of the open oven, basting a turkey with one hand and stirring a pot of sweet potatoes on top of the stove with the other. I’d heard the doorbell ring before she’d even yelled, but had to snake my way through the aftermath of the holiday explosion our home had endured to even get to it. Festively wrapped presents had been lovingly tucked in nearly every corner. Lighted artificial spruce garland spiraled down the staircase railing and above the doorframes. Our eight-foot Christmas tree twinkled with multi-colored lights in the far end of the living room. Its red velvet tree skirt—a family heirloom—had been sprinkled with holiday crackers and decorative favors.

Eleven-year-old cousin Kevin, Teddy’s son, sat alongside a pile of puzzle pieces he had scattered halfway across the carpet. The contents of a 1,000 piece set he probably wouldn’t finish before getting distracted by something else.
Boys.

Aunt Stephanie was in the kitchen finishing up her homemade pumpkin pie. I’d snuck a taste early in the day as she’d stood mixing the ingredients. Spicy and sweet. The wispy scent of cinnamon and cloves would linger in the house for days after the party.

Ham. Stuffing. Turkey. Gravy. And a dash of sugar cookies to “keep the little ones appeased.” So many smells melding together. The smell of Christmas. The warm fuzzy feeling of love and family. Presents and laughter.

I put on a smile and opened the front door.

“Sorry it took me so long,” I said. “I apologize.”

Brian’s mother greeted me with a vase of lovely red and white carnations tied together with pretty gold ribbon. I invited her in and Brian followed behind, grinning sweetly as he passed me. Seeing him melted my heart.

He took his mother’s coat and his own and I showed him where to hang them. My neighbor—Mom’s friend, Kim—came in to greet Brian’s mom. They walked off toward the kitchen together.

“Hi,” Brian said, not looking me in the eye.

“Hi.” I handed him a hanger.

“It was really nice of your mom to invite us. I’ve never been to a family dinner before.”

“It’s no big deal.” I shuffled a foot in place. “Mom said she’d like to get to know you better.”

“And now she has good reason,” he said with a smirk, his eyes meeting mine as he reached up to stroke his thumb across my chin.

My knees tingled. The rapid pitter-patter of my heart made me breathless. I thought it might burst.

The floor rumbled and something scurried past.

A stout, bushy-haired little girl stopped in front of the coat closet doorway and lifted her arms up over her head, stomping back and forth like a sumo wrestler. “Blargh!” Two-year-old cousin Sandy pushed up the tip of her nose with a finger and stuck out her tongue at us. “You can’t catch me!” She darted off like a jack rabbit.

“Give me a sec, Brian.”

He shrugged.

I crept into the living room like a sleek hunter and listened carefully. Then I heard a snicker.

“Gotcha!” I scooped up a flailing monster-child from behind the couch. Kicking and screaming and giggling so hard she made boogery nose bubbles. I grimaced.

“Ow!” I felt the pinch of her teeth sinking into my forearm and dropped her back onto her feet. “Why, you!” I scoffed.

She scampered off into the next room before I could scold her.

“I take it you like kids?” Brian came wandering into the living room, amused.

“Not really,” I replied, scrubbing kid-spit off my arm with the hem of my shirt. “That was my cousin Sandy, by the way.”

He glanced at the tiny crescent of indentations in my arm and his forehead wrinkled.

“Alice!” Mom yelled from the kitchen in her “I urgently need you to grab me a can of ____ from the basement” tone.

“I’m so sorry!” I grinned, embarrassed by all of the interruptions. “Feel free to make yourself at home. There are cookies on the table in the dining room. I’ll show you around when I get back.” I rushed off to the kitchen.

A can of cranberry sauce, a roll of paper towels and a glass of sparkling cider later, and I’d finally been set free.

“Sorry about that, Brian.”

He was standing in the living room, right where I had left him.

“Interesting,” he said, drawing out the word while staring up at a bent-up metalwork star perched on top of our tree.

“My great grandpa made it back in the 20’s when he worked as a metal smith. It’s gotten a little beaten up over the years but it’s not Christmas without it.”

Brian—a good six inches taller than me—reached an arm up just high enough to trace over one of the metal points. “I think it’s cool,” he said with a nod. “It adds character.”

“Thanks.” And to think, I’d had to get onto a stepping stool to put it there.

“Not to be rude, but when’s dinner? All of these smells are making my stomach want to eat itself.”

“In a few hours. We’re waiting on Sam.”

“Are her parents not coming?”

“They can’t make it. Some sort of work function going on that they had to go to. Rub noses with the big wigs, you know?” I chuckled, nervously. “They’re going to drop off Sam soon.”

“That kind of sucks,” he replied.

“Yeah, but that’s the way it’s always been with them.” They
never
made it to
any
of our parties. Honestly, I was glad her parents didn’t come. Mom might feel out of place. Sam’s parents were so uptight—not the kind of people to have a good laugh over dinner with. Their personalities differed so much, you’d almost suspect Sam had been adopted.

“She’ll text me when she’s on her way,” I added. “Should be soon. Come on, let me introduce you to my uncle. Oh, and I saw your mom in the kitchen with my Aunt Stephanie. They really seemed to be hitting it off.”

“Well, that’s cool. Uh… where’d you say those cookies were again?”

“I’ll show you.” I walked with him down the hallway and into the dining room. We had a long, old-fashioned wood table with eight ornate chairs and a few metal pull-out chairs propped up against the wall behind it.