Earth.’ ”
I tried not to burst out laughing. I was, after all, a girl who could see and speak to ghosts. Who was I to say there wasn’t life on other planets?
“Anyway, I was driving home — it was pretty late, I guess — and they came barreling around that corner, didn’t honk, nothing.”
I nodded. “So what did you do?”
“Well, I swerved to avoid them, of course, and ended up going into that cliff there. You can’t see it because it’s dark out now, but my front bumper took out a big chunk of the side of the hill. And they…well, they swerved the other way, and it was foggy, and the road might have been a little slick, and they were going really fast, and…”
He finished, tonelessly, with another shrug. “And they went over.”
I shuddered again. I couldn’t help it. I had met these kids, remember. They hadn’t exactly been at their best — in fact, they’d been trying to kill me — but still, I couldn’t help feeling sorry for them. It was a long, long way down.
“So what did you do?” I asked.
“Me?” He seemed strangely surprised by the question. “Well, I hit my head, you know, so I blacked out. I didn’t come around until someone pulled over and checked on me. That’s when I asked what happened to the other car. And they said ‘What other car?’ And I thought they’d, you know, driven away, and I have to admit, I was pretty hacked. I mean, that they hadn’t bothered to call an ambulance for me, or anything. But then we saw the guardrail….”
I was getting really cold now. The sun was completely gone, although the western sky was still streaked violet and red. I shivered and said, “Let’s get in the car.”
And so we did.
We sat there staring at the horizon as it turned a deeper and deeper shade of blue. The headlights from the cars that went by occasionally lit up the interior of the minivan. Inside the car it was much quieter, without the wind and the sound of the waves below us. Another wave of extreme tiredness passed over me. I could see by the glow of the clock in the dashboard that soon it would be dinnertime. My stepfather Andy had a very strict rule about dinner. You showed up. Period.
“Look,” I said, breaking the stillness. “It sounds horrible, what happened. But it wasn’t your fault.”
He looked at me. In the green glow from the instruments in the dash, I could see that his smile was rueful. “Wasn’t it?” he asked.
“No,” I said sternly. “It was an accident, plain and simple. The problem is…well, not everyone sees it that way.”
The smile disappeared. “Who doesn’t see it that way?” he demanded. “The cops? I gave them my statement. They seemed satisfied. They took a blood sample. I tested completely negative for alcohol, for all drugs. They can’t possibly —”
“Not,” I said quickly, “the cops.” How, I wondered, was I going to put this? I mean, the guy was obviously one of those UFO geeks, so you’d think he wouldn’t have a problem with ghosts, but you never knew.
“The thing is,” I began, carefully, “I’ve kind of noticed that since the accident this weekend, you’ve been a bit…danger prone.”
“Yeah,” Michael said. All of a sudden, his hand was on mine again. “If it wasn’t for you, I might even be dead. That’s twice now you’ve saved my life.”
“Ha ha,” I said nervously, pulling my hand away, and pretending I had another hair in my mouth so I needed to use that particular hand, you know, to brush it away. “Um, but seriously, haven’t you kind of, I mean, wondered what was going on? Like why all of a sudden so many…
things
were happening to you?”
He smiled at me again. His teeth, in the glow of the speedometer, looked green. “It must be fate,” he said.
“Okay,” I said.
Why me?
“Not those kinds of things. I mean
bad
kinds of things. Like at the mall. And at the beach just now…”
“Oh,” he said. Then he shrugged those incredibly strong shoulders.
I tried not to burst out laughing. I was, after all, a girl who could see and speak to ghosts. Who was I to say there wasn’t life on other planets?
“Anyway, I was driving home — it was pretty late, I guess — and they came barreling around that corner, didn’t honk, nothing.”
I nodded. “So what did you do?”
“Well, I swerved to avoid them, of course, and ended up going into that cliff there. You can’t see it because it’s dark out now, but my front bumper took out a big chunk of the side of the hill. And they…well, they swerved the other way, and it was foggy, and the road might have been a little slick, and they were going really fast, and…”
He finished, tonelessly, with another shrug. “And they went over.”
I shuddered again. I couldn’t help it. I had met these kids, remember. They hadn’t exactly been at their best — in fact, they’d been trying to kill me — but still, I couldn’t help feeling sorry for them. It was a long, long way down.
“So what did you do?” I asked.
“Me?” He seemed strangely surprised by the question. “Well, I hit my head, you know, so I blacked out. I didn’t come around until someone pulled over and checked on me. That’s when I asked what happened to the other car. And they said ‘What other car?’ And I thought they’d, you know, driven away, and I have to admit, I was pretty hacked. I mean, that they hadn’t bothered to call an ambulance for me, or anything. But then we saw the guardrail….”
I was getting really cold now. The sun was completely gone, although the western sky was still streaked violet and red. I shivered and said, “Let’s get in the car.”
And so we did.
We sat there staring at the horizon as it turned a deeper and deeper shade of blue. The headlights from the cars that went by occasionally lit up the interior of the minivan. Inside the car it was much quieter, without the wind and the sound of the waves below us. Another wave of extreme tiredness passed over me. I could see by the glow of the clock in the dashboard that soon it would be dinnertime. My stepfather Andy had a very strict rule about dinner. You showed up. Period.
“Look,” I said, breaking the stillness. “It sounds horrible, what happened. But it wasn’t your fault.”
He looked at me. In the green glow from the instruments in the dash, I could see that his smile was rueful. “Wasn’t it?” he asked.
“No,” I said sternly. “It was an accident, plain and simple. The problem is…well, not everyone sees it that way.”
The smile disappeared. “Who doesn’t see it that way?” he demanded. “The cops? I gave them my statement. They seemed satisfied. They took a blood sample. I tested completely negative for alcohol, for all drugs. They can’t possibly —”
“Not,” I said quickly, “the cops.” How, I wondered, was I going to put this? I mean, the guy was obviously one of those UFO geeks, so you’d think he wouldn’t have a problem with ghosts, but you never knew.
“The thing is,” I began, carefully, “I’ve kind of noticed that since the accident this weekend, you’ve been a bit…danger prone.”
“Yeah,” Michael said. All of a sudden, his hand was on mine again. “If it wasn’t for you, I might even be dead. That’s twice now you’ve saved my life.”
“Ha ha,” I said nervously, pulling my hand away, and pretending I had another hair in my mouth so I needed to use that particular hand, you know, to brush it away. “Um, but seriously, haven’t you kind of, I mean, wondered what was going on? Like why all of a sudden so many…
things
were happening to you?”
He smiled at me again. His teeth, in the glow of the speedometer, looked green. “It must be fate,” he said.
“Okay,” I said.
Why me?
“Not those kinds of things. I mean
bad
kinds of things. Like at the mall. And at the beach just now…”
“Oh,” he said. Then he shrugged those incredibly strong shoulders.
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