don’t get Delaney. Decker gets Delaney. And if Decker doesn’t want to get Delaney, that’s his business. She really doesn’t get how things work here. At all.”
I took it that this was his apology for yesterday, for setting us up in the same house together. But all I could picture was Delaney alone. I left her alone. Again. “I don’t care if you get Delaney,” I said.
“Dude. Not a bus. Like I said.” He shook his head at me, like I was being ridiculous. “Anyway, I called her, just to check, you know? I mean, could you imagine if she got an unexcused tardy?” He smiled, then saw that I wasn’t, and stopped. “She was already on the bus. So the whole argument was a freaking waste. Maya doesn’t get to be pissed.” Then he looked down at the creased paper in his hand. “Who do you have for English?” he asked. And just like that, school had begun. The summer, and everything that had happened in it, was gone.
“Home sweet home,” Janna said, stepping between me and Kevin.
“Little Levine!” some guy called as he walked down the hall. Janna frowned. “ Dead there, too ,” she had said. But at least there , people didn’t see her first as an extension of someone else. Someone gone.
I closed my eyes and felt the hands of ice reaching for my neck.
And then the weight of solid hands on my shoulders. “Please,” Janna whispered, her minty breath in my face, her fingers pressing down to my bones. “For the love of God. Get me the hell out of this place.”
“Dead everywhere.”
We skipped first period of the first day of our last year. We were in the woods behind the school—past the sports fields but still in view of the field house. “Okay,” Kevin said, crouched down beside me, “Ready?”
“Please explain to me once again why I’m the one who has to do this?”
“You won’t get in trouble,” Janna said. “Dead dad.” She said it so matter-of-factly, it actually didn’t sting. “Dead brother got me fifteen unexcused absences before they started calling my parents.” She looked at me from the corner of her eye. “I wouldn’t push it that far if I were you, though.”
“Brother trumps dad?”
“Every time,” she said.
The twigs snapped behind us, and I jumped. I think I even gasped. Justin swung his pocket knife back and forth as he walked toward us. “Jumpy much?”
“Excuse me for being on edge. Someone flooded my house. Yesterday . Not that anyone seems to care.”
There was a moment of silence, and I realized people hadn’t processed the fact that someone did it. It was just a thing that happened, part of the curse. My house, drenched with water, uninhabitable, while Delaney’s was perfect next door. A trade.
“What do you mean someone ,” Justin said.
“I mean someone broke into my house and flooded it.”
“A pipe burst in our basement once,” Justin said. “Nobody’s fault.”
A chill ran down my neck. They had no idea. Only got half the rumor, I guess. “No, someone turned on all the faucets. Blocked the drains. On purpose .”
“That is seriously creepy,” Kevin said.
Justin cleared his throat. Nobody wanted to talk about this. Not the curse.
“Am I the only one wondering why?” I looked from Kevin to Justin and realized that, yes, I was definitely the only one wondering why.
“Asking why doesn’t help anything,” Janna said, in this monotone voice. “So says the Arizona shrink.” She stood up straight, like she was pretending to be someone else. “Look forward. Move forward,” she recited, pointing her arm in front of her like an arrow. Then she broke down in laughter.
Justin pulled her down and put a hand over her mouth. “How about not drawing more attention to ourselves, huh?”
She shrugged but crouched back down with the rest of us.
“Maybe because of your dad?” Kevin asked.
I nodded, because he was doing the same thing I was doing. Trying to make sense of it. Make it fit. Take away its power. “Maybe,” I
I took it that this was his apology for yesterday, for setting us up in the same house together. But all I could picture was Delaney alone. I left her alone. Again. “I don’t care if you get Delaney,” I said.
“Dude. Not a bus. Like I said.” He shook his head at me, like I was being ridiculous. “Anyway, I called her, just to check, you know? I mean, could you imagine if she got an unexcused tardy?” He smiled, then saw that I wasn’t, and stopped. “She was already on the bus. So the whole argument was a freaking waste. Maya doesn’t get to be pissed.” Then he looked down at the creased paper in his hand. “Who do you have for English?” he asked. And just like that, school had begun. The summer, and everything that had happened in it, was gone.
“Home sweet home,” Janna said, stepping between me and Kevin.
“Little Levine!” some guy called as he walked down the hall. Janna frowned. “ Dead there, too ,” she had said. But at least there , people didn’t see her first as an extension of someone else. Someone gone.
I closed my eyes and felt the hands of ice reaching for my neck.
And then the weight of solid hands on my shoulders. “Please,” Janna whispered, her minty breath in my face, her fingers pressing down to my bones. “For the love of God. Get me the hell out of this place.”
“Dead everywhere.”
We skipped first period of the first day of our last year. We were in the woods behind the school—past the sports fields but still in view of the field house. “Okay,” Kevin said, crouched down beside me, “Ready?”
“Please explain to me once again why I’m the one who has to do this?”
“You won’t get in trouble,” Janna said. “Dead dad.” She said it so matter-of-factly, it actually didn’t sting. “Dead brother got me fifteen unexcused absences before they started calling my parents.” She looked at me from the corner of her eye. “I wouldn’t push it that far if I were you, though.”
“Brother trumps dad?”
“Every time,” she said.
The twigs snapped behind us, and I jumped. I think I even gasped. Justin swung his pocket knife back and forth as he walked toward us. “Jumpy much?”
“Excuse me for being on edge. Someone flooded my house. Yesterday . Not that anyone seems to care.”
There was a moment of silence, and I realized people hadn’t processed the fact that someone did it. It was just a thing that happened, part of the curse. My house, drenched with water, uninhabitable, while Delaney’s was perfect next door. A trade.
“What do you mean someone ,” Justin said.
“I mean someone broke into my house and flooded it.”
“A pipe burst in our basement once,” Justin said. “Nobody’s fault.”
A chill ran down my neck. They had no idea. Only got half the rumor, I guess. “No, someone turned on all the faucets. Blocked the drains. On purpose .”
“That is seriously creepy,” Kevin said.
Justin cleared his throat. Nobody wanted to talk about this. Not the curse.
“Am I the only one wondering why?” I looked from Kevin to Justin and realized that, yes, I was definitely the only one wondering why.
“Asking why doesn’t help anything,” Janna said, in this monotone voice. “So says the Arizona shrink.” She stood up straight, like she was pretending to be someone else. “Look forward. Move forward,” she recited, pointing her arm in front of her like an arrow. Then she broke down in laughter.
Justin pulled her down and put a hand over her mouth. “How about not drawing more attention to ourselves, huh?”
She shrugged but crouched back down with the rest of us.
“Maybe because of your dad?” Kevin asked.
I nodded, because he was doing the same thing I was doing. Trying to make sense of it. Make it fit. Take away its power. “Maybe,” I
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