hands for a couple of seconds, right at the wrong time.”
There was something wrong in his voice too, something wrong with what he said. It sounded rehearsed.
“It couldn’t have been the guy from that night,” Juliet explained, as though I was a trauma victim, as though Rob had not just admitted to breaking focus with me before Blondie ever came along. I’d never considered the mechanism by which the rope went slack. That would have happened only if Rob had been hurt. That’s when it hit me: He’s ashamed . Rob hadn’t been messing around with the camera. He’d dropped the rope. Which meant he’d dropped me . Out of fear. He’d had my back, literally, and he’d let go.
“Maybe it’s some effect from her medication,” Juliet said. “That makes her keep thinking she sees him.”
I glared at her. “Why is this about my mental problems instead of some freaky stranger? I don’t take medication. Just sleeping pills and not very often. And hallucinating cars and dead people isn’t a side effect.” On the other hand, I wished I had imagined it. A little crazy in exchange for a lifetime of fear? It would have been a good deal. Before I could raise my voice even louder, my little sister burst in with my mom. Angela took one look at me and started to cry.
“Angie, I’m okay,” I said. “I’m really, really okay.”
“I don’t want to go to school,” Angie sobbed, leaning against Juliet. “I should stay here and read to you.” Despite my pain and confusion, I almost laughed. I saw my mom’s lips twitch.
“You can come back right after school, Angela,” Mom said.
Juliet kneeled down and hugged Angela. “Pick which pocket,” she whispered.
Through her tears, Angela mustered a grin. She was nine and greedy as a crow. She pointed to the right side of Juliet’s suede jacket.
“I can’t fool you!” Juliet cried. She pulled out a tiny bottle of nail polish, the kind of garish pink-orange only a girl who’d just recently stopped using her hands as shovels could have loved. I felt vaguely sick. I could have scripted this scene myself. Angela had always worshipped Juliet in a starstruck sort of way. Juliet was everything glamorous and carefree that I wasn’t, like someone on the red carpet, at least by the standards of Iron Harbor. In turn, Juliet had always treated Angela like a midget princess: first bearing gifts of sequined hair bands and matching plastic clogs with light-up Disney princesses on them, then nail polish to compliment the skinny jeans, butterfly tops, and chocolate bars as big as her head. “If Allie was really going to stay sick, wouldn’t I be crying too?”
Angie nodded.
“So, I’m not crying. After she takes you to school, your mom is coming right back here. And Rob is here. And I’m here. And we’ll take care of her.”
My sister’s gaze focused on Juliet. “Okay,” she said.
“Okay.”
Mom cleared her throat. “Let’s give Allie some time alone with her friends. We’ll be back soon.”
When my sister was gone and the door closed, I asked Juliet, “Are you psychic or a sociopath? Nail polish?”
She looked at me as if I were the one who’d been body-snatched. “I’m logical, Allie. I figured that she would be here, and I figured she would be upset the first time she saw you.”
“You’re good.”
She didn’t respond. No, having performed a magic trick,Juliet then decided to disappear down a rabbit hole. Poof ! How convenient! Yes, it seemed that she’d forgotten she had to be somewhere right at that moment, somewhere else. She started busily fussing with her hair and her jeans. If body language could be translated into speech, Juliet’s would have announced: Well, my work here is done. Attempting to muddy the brain of a drugged, post-surgical girl was my mission, and now I’m history .
She kissed me. Her “love you” was light, the drop of a leaf.
The door closed.
I waited for Rob to say something. Finally he did. Of course, they were the
There was something wrong in his voice too, something wrong with what he said. It sounded rehearsed.
“It couldn’t have been the guy from that night,” Juliet explained, as though I was a trauma victim, as though Rob had not just admitted to breaking focus with me before Blondie ever came along. I’d never considered the mechanism by which the rope went slack. That would have happened only if Rob had been hurt. That’s when it hit me: He’s ashamed . Rob hadn’t been messing around with the camera. He’d dropped the rope. Which meant he’d dropped me . Out of fear. He’d had my back, literally, and he’d let go.
“Maybe it’s some effect from her medication,” Juliet said. “That makes her keep thinking she sees him.”
I glared at her. “Why is this about my mental problems instead of some freaky stranger? I don’t take medication. Just sleeping pills and not very often. And hallucinating cars and dead people isn’t a side effect.” On the other hand, I wished I had imagined it. A little crazy in exchange for a lifetime of fear? It would have been a good deal. Before I could raise my voice even louder, my little sister burst in with my mom. Angela took one look at me and started to cry.
“Angie, I’m okay,” I said. “I’m really, really okay.”
“I don’t want to go to school,” Angie sobbed, leaning against Juliet. “I should stay here and read to you.” Despite my pain and confusion, I almost laughed. I saw my mom’s lips twitch.
“You can come back right after school, Angela,” Mom said.
Juliet kneeled down and hugged Angela. “Pick which pocket,” she whispered.
Through her tears, Angela mustered a grin. She was nine and greedy as a crow. She pointed to the right side of Juliet’s suede jacket.
“I can’t fool you!” Juliet cried. She pulled out a tiny bottle of nail polish, the kind of garish pink-orange only a girl who’d just recently stopped using her hands as shovels could have loved. I felt vaguely sick. I could have scripted this scene myself. Angela had always worshipped Juliet in a starstruck sort of way. Juliet was everything glamorous and carefree that I wasn’t, like someone on the red carpet, at least by the standards of Iron Harbor. In turn, Juliet had always treated Angela like a midget princess: first bearing gifts of sequined hair bands and matching plastic clogs with light-up Disney princesses on them, then nail polish to compliment the skinny jeans, butterfly tops, and chocolate bars as big as her head. “If Allie was really going to stay sick, wouldn’t I be crying too?”
Angie nodded.
“So, I’m not crying. After she takes you to school, your mom is coming right back here. And Rob is here. And I’m here. And we’ll take care of her.”
My sister’s gaze focused on Juliet. “Okay,” she said.
“Okay.”
Mom cleared her throat. “Let’s give Allie some time alone with her friends. We’ll be back soon.”
When my sister was gone and the door closed, I asked Juliet, “Are you psychic or a sociopath? Nail polish?”
She looked at me as if I were the one who’d been body-snatched. “I’m logical, Allie. I figured that she would be here, and I figured she would be upset the first time she saw you.”
“You’re good.”
She didn’t respond. No, having performed a magic trick,Juliet then decided to disappear down a rabbit hole. Poof ! How convenient! Yes, it seemed that she’d forgotten she had to be somewhere right at that moment, somewhere else. She started busily fussing with her hair and her jeans. If body language could be translated into speech, Juliet’s would have announced: Well, my work here is done. Attempting to muddy the brain of a drugged, post-surgical girl was my mission, and now I’m history .
She kissed me. Her “love you” was light, the drop of a leaf.
The door closed.
I waited for Rob to say something. Finally he did. Of course, they were the
Similar Books
