Vision of Secrets (3 page)

“Hey, Bristol,” she said as we stood by the
sink. “Ooh.” She looked over at me. “Those are pretty.” She looked
at my ears. “And new—I haven’t seen them on you before. New
boyfriend?”

I shook my head. “My uncle gave them to
me.”

She nodded and reached out to examine them. As
she did, her finger grazed my ear.

My world shifted and I saw her
laughing with friends on the school steps as she watched some video
on her phone.

“I never get tired of watching her
wait there,” Michelle said. “Then get that text telling her that he
didn’t want to meet her because she’s such a slut. It’s
priceless.”

Someone came running up to them. A
short blonde girl I knew as Kara. “Oh my God, you have to get rid
of that now.”

Michelle looked at her like she had
ten heads. “Why should I? It’s hilarious. Do you see the look on
Jen’s face when she got my text and—”

“Get rid of it,” Kara repeated. “And
erase the texts. I heard the teachers are on the warpath about
it.”

“Why?” Michelle said. “What do they
care?”

“Jen’s dead,” Kara replied. “She
went home that night and hung herself. I’m telling you, get rid of
the evidence now.”

Before Michelle could respond, I felt myself
pulled back to the here and now.

“You ok?” Michelle asked. She was staring at
me.

“Um, yeah,” I said. “Listen Michelle, I heard
something to other day that you were planning on pulling some sort
of prank on a girl named Jen.”

“Really?” Michelle said. “Who’s been talking
behind my back?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “I overheard something
earlier. Listen, if it’s the Jen I’m thinking of, maybe you
shouldn’t. I’ve also heard she’s depressed and I wouldn’t want her
to get embarrassed and do something like hurt herself.”

Michelle gasped. “Oh no, you don’t think she’d
really…. Oh no, you’re right. What was I thinking? Thanks.”
Michelle quickly left, passing right though Jerry on her way
out.

“She just rolled her eyes as she left,” Jerry
said. “So I don’t think that she’s going to listen.”

“Neither do I,” I said.

* * * *

“You could have gone to the school,” Mary
said.

I shrugged. “I know. I thought about it, but
they would have asked the same questions. Who I heard it from.
Besides, something was telling me not to.”

“Something?”

“Yeah,” I said. “You know. I’m a freak,
remember?”

“Bristol,” Mary said. “I wish you wouldn’t
think of yourself that way. I know being so different can’t be
easy, but there’s nothing wrong with you. I’ll bet if you told your
parents, they’d understand.”

I rolled my eyes. “That would be a bet you’d
lose.”

“Why do you say that?”

I shook my head. I didn’t really want to go
there, but Mary wouldn’t let this go.

“When I was little,” I explained, “I had this
dream that my teacher was going to die. He’d grab his chest in the
middle of a spelling lesson and keel over right in front of the
class. I had just turned six. I told my parents that I didn’t want
to go to school that day that something bad was going to
happen.”

“But they made you go anyway,” Mary finished as
if she understood. “Bristol, you were six. Kids have bad dreams.
They had no way of knowing.”

“They didn’t make me go to school that day,” I
said, surprising Mary. To be honest, I surprised myself by telling
her. “In fact, both my parents took the day off from work. We made
a day of it. We went to the park, saw a movie, went to the zoo.
Lots of fun things. It was a great day. In fact, it was the last
time I can ever remember having fun with Mom and Dad.”

“It sounds like a lot of fun,” Mary
said.

“It was,” I said. “I even forgot about my
teacher. But I was getting tired and I actually begged my parents
to go home. We did.”

The silence hung in the air for a moment. I
almost told her I didn’t want to finish. Then I gave in.

“When we got home,” I said, “the answering
machine was full of messages. One parent after another talking
about what happened and how horrible it was. Dad looked like he was
in a panic, pacing back and forth. Mom just listened to each
message, but I could tell she was pissed. One woman left a message
that said, ‘Thank God Bristol wasn’t in today to see what
happened.’ I rolled my eyes,” I continued. “And I said, ‘I did too
see what happened. I just saw it last night in a dream like
usual.’”

Mary waited a moment, but I was silent. “What
happened?”

I dried a tear that was rolling down my cheek.
I felt like such an idiot here. “Mom slapped my face,” I said.
“She’d never hit me before. And she hasn’t since. Just that one
time. And she said, ‘Don’t ever talk like that again, or people
will think you’re a freak!’ I looked to Dad, but he was too upset
to defend me. I ran to my room. The next day, Mom and Dad pretended
that nothing unusual had happened, but they were distant. Dad
didn’t smile and make silly little jokes. Mom didn’t smile and hug
me. It was like living with strangers.”

“How long has that lasted?” Mary
asked.

“Going on eleven years now,” I said. “Can I
talk about something else? Please?”

Mary nodded. “You said you had a feeling that
going to the school wasn’t the best thing to do. What did you
do?”

“I waited,” I said. “I listened to Jerry belt
out that song over and over again until Holly came and found
me.”

* * * *

“I think I know who you’re talking about,”
Holly said. “His name is Brady Lowell. I heard one of his teachers
talking about it. He wasn’t in last year on this day, but he didn’t
bring a note. They were going to ride him, but that someone told
that teacher that today is the day his mom died in a car accident
and he always went to see her. I’ll bet he’s there now.”

I nodded. “Makes sense,” I said under my
breath. “I have another problem.”

I told Holly about what happened with
Michelle.

“She’s is
such
a bitch,” Holly said with relish.
“Poor Jen. She’s always been too shy to even
talk
to a boy. I heard Michelle
telling Jen this morning that she should offer to meet the boy at
the food court and bring their relationship to ‘the next level.’ Of
course, Jen didn’t like the sound of that, but Michelle convinced
her that if she didn’t say that, the boy would think it’s just to
be friends. And the next level for them was just meeting face to
face.”

“Great,” I said. “I guess I’m going to the
mall.”

Holly pouted. “I miss the
mall
so
much.”

However, Holly didn’t follow me. I never saw
her anywhere but school. Some ghosts are tied to a location. I wish
I could say the same for Jerry, but he tagged along. Now, not only
was he singing, he was dancing as well. If you can call it that. I
never realized that even ghosts could have two left
feet.

I took the bus to the mall, but halfway there I
noticed a woman. She was in her early forties, wearing a pretty
flower dress and smiling at me. I nearly asked her if she knew me
when some guy walked right through her.

She got off at a stop around the corner from
where I needed to go, so I followed her. We were right by a
cemetery. Believe it or not, ghosts don’t go to those very often,
but this one did. She never said anything, so I just followed.
About two minutes later, I realized where we were going.

Brady was standing by the foot of a grave,
crying. I approached him just as it started to rain
lightly.

“I’m so sorry,” he said. “I wish you could
forgive me.”

“Brady?” I said. “Are you ok?”

Brady jumped at the sound of his
name.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean to startle
you.”

He quickly wiped his tears away. “It’s ok. What
are you doing here, Bristol?”

“I need to get to the mall,” I said. “I got off
at the wrong stop.”

“Not by much,” he said. “You can cut through
the cemetery and get there.”

I nodded and looked at the grave. “Your
mom?”

He nodded just as there was a load clap of
thunder.

“Listen,” I said. “Could you show me the way? I
don’t want to get lost. It’s important. Besides, it’s raining.
You’re not going to stay out here.”

Brady looked like that’s exactly what he
planned, but he decided against it. “Sure,” he said.
“C’mon.”

I followed Brady through the grounds of the
cemetery until we came out on the other side. The mall was down one
more block and across the street.

“Come with me,” I said. “Stay out of the rain.
I’ll buy you dinner to say thanks.”

Reluctantly, Brady agreed. We headed in and
went to the food court. We both just decided on a slice of pizza
and sat down with each other.

“Did I know your mom?” I asked.

Brady shrugged. “Maybe. She worked at the
school.”

I looked over and saw his mom watching
us.

“So look,” I said. “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop,
but I heard you say something at your mom’s grave. What did you
mean?”

Brady didn’t answer. He just stared at his
pizza.

“It can help to talk you know,” I
said.

That earned me a very sad smile. “You sound
like my mom,” Brady said. “She was a counselor for the high
school.”

“Well then,” I said. “She’d want you to
talk.”

Brady laughed. “You really are like her. She
could usually tell when someone was upset just by looking at them.”
He hesitated a little more, but he finally started to talk. “It’s
stupid,” Brady said. “My mom was killed in a car accident a couple
of years ago. We were in the car together. On our way here, in
fact.”

“Oh I’m sorry,” I said.

“It’s okay,” Brady said. “The thing is, I was
complaining about the fact that she had taken away my video games
because my grades had dropped. I was really upset and riding her.
If I hadn’t….” He stopped talking.

“What happened?”

Brady sighed. “A car came out of nowhere and
hit us. I was in the back, on the opposite side. Mom was killed
instantly. It was the other guy’s fault. He was drunk, but if Mom
hadn’t been listening to me bug her about some stupid video
game—”

“Brady,” I said. I put my hand on his and got a
flash that put everything together for me. “You can’t think like
that. It wasn’t your fault. Your mom wouldn’t want you to blame
yourself.”

“I know,” Brady said. “You want to hear
something really screwed up? I’m always showing up here to ask for
her forgiveness. I don’t even play those stupid video games. I
don’t hang out with friends. I don’t ask girls out on dates. I just
wait for some sign that she’s forgiven me. I keep going to that
grave hoping she’ll find some way of giving me a sign. Funny, huh.
Like she can hear me or find a way to let me know.”

“I don’t think so,” I told him. “I don’t think
you need to be by her grave. I don’t think those who pass hang out
there. Why would they? It’s boring. If you want to talk to her, do
so someplace that she loved to be. If anything, they’re tied to
people, not places. She’s probably with you more than you
know.”

Brady smiled. “That would make sense, but can’t
she send me a sign?”

“Maybe she did,” I said. “Maybe I’m
it?”

Brady laughed. “Yeah, okay. You were just lost
in the rain.”

“True,” I said. “I was. Lost while on my way to
the mall. And I got out right near where you were. I’m telling you.
You’re mom wanted me to find you and bring you here.”

“Yeah right,” Brady said. “You’re just screwing
with me.”

“No,” I said and took his hand again. “I’m
really not. And I think it’s perfect because you can help
me.”

“Really?” he said. “With what?”

“Her,” I said. I pointed to Jen Murphy. I
quickly explained what I knew, leaving out the details about how I
knew it.

“I know her,” Brady said. “She sits behind me
in math. She’s kinda quiet but funny once she talks.”

“She’s about to get humiliated,” I said. “I
think you should go talk to her.”

“Me?” Brady said. “Why me?”

I smiled. “I think it’s what your mom would
have wanted.”

Brady looked over at Jen. He shrugged and got
up and walked over.

I’m not sure what Brady said to her. They
talked for a little bit in a friendly manner. At some point she
looked at her phone in disbelief, but she didn’t walk away. When
the text came, I could see how upset she was. Brady took her phone
and put it in her bag.

A few minutes later, Brady said something that
made her laugh.

I decided they would be fine without me. I’d
already seen it.