Awake at Dawn (27 page)

And that’s when Kylie understood. “They came to you?” She nodded. “I’m helping them cross over.” Then Holiday gave Kylie a feel-better hug. Its soothing effects did wonders.

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“Now, let’s go back to you,” Holiday said. “Are you okay?”

“Not completely okay,” Kylie said, and then admitted a piece of truth that Holiday deserved to hear. “You were right. I feel a little better after seeing my dad. I didn’t let him off the hook, either. I’m still furious at him, but … I know he loves me. And I love him and sooner or later, I’m sure we’ll be back to something that is almost normal.” Holiday leaned back on Kylie’s pillow. “Normal is overrated, anyway.”

“I’m beginning to wonder if I’d even recognize normal now.” Kylie raised her thumb to her mouth and nipped at the corner of her nail.

“Well, if you did recognize it, you probably wouldn’t like it anymore,” Holiday teased.

“I just want to figure out this whole mystery with the ghost, if someone really needs me or doesn’t need me. Do these ghosts have a clue what they put us through?”

“I don’t think so.” Holiday touched Kylie’s arm again. “But I really believe everything is going to be okay.”

For the next few minutes, only silence filled the room. Kylie looked down at Holiday resting on the bed. “Can I ask you something?” Holiday cocked an eyebrow at her. “It doesn’t involve Burnett, does it?”

“No,” Kylie said. “But it’s about boys.”

“Okay, shoot.” Holiday sat up.

“Is it … normal if you really like one guy to still be infatuated with another?”

“The whole Derek and Lucas issue, huh?”

“Yeah.” Kylie frowned. “But I liked it better when I didn’t name them.”

“Okay, no names. Two guys.” She held out one finger. “First, we can’t always control our attractions to other people. Take my aunt Stella, for example. She’s been married to my uncle for fifty years, but the woman is goo-goo over Tom Selleck. Owns every movie and TV show he ever made, she spends hours every week watching him strut across her fifty-two-inch 224/375

flat screen.” Holiday gave Kylie a soft look as if she realized the whole Tom Selleck talk wasn’t working. “I think I’ve said this to you before. You are too young to worry about things like this.”

“You’re wrong,” Kylie said. “Why wouldn’t I worry? Just because a person is young doesn’t mean that being loyal to someone isn’t important. And it still hurts if someone isn’t loyal to you. It hurt like hell when Trey hooked up with another girl. It hurt Perry when Miranda kissed another guy, and they weren’t even going out yet. Okay, I admit that at this age, it might not bring about the same disastrous outcome as … as my dad cheating on my mom, but it still hurts. So I have to worry, because I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

“Wow.” Holiday frowned and sat back up. “When you put it like that, you are so right, and I am so wrong. I’m sorry.” Kylie stared at the camp leader for a moment. “I appreciate your admitting you were wrong,” Kylie said.
Adults don’t always do that.

“Is it okay if I try again to offer some advice?” Holiday asked.

Kylie nodded.

Holiday paused in thought for a second. “Can I guess that this is all about the dream you had with Lucas?”

“You could guess,” Kylie said. “But I won’t confirm or deny it.” Holiday smiled. “Kylie, you didn’t intentionally seek out the dream.

You didn’t even know you could do it. So you really aren’t to blame. And the fact that you find yourself attracted to more than one guy is completely normal. I’ve got three guys right now that all I have to do is think about and I start tingling all over.”

Kylie gave Holiday’s words serious thought. “But did you feel that when you thought you really cared about someone else?”

“Yeah. Even when I was engaged, I still could appreciate a good-looking guy.” She paused. “Being committed or loyal to someone doesn’t mean you won’t ever be attracted to someone else. It means you won’t physically act upon the attraction.” She grinned. “My aunt Stella, she 225/375

used to tell my uncle he’d better pray Tom Selleck didn’t show up on her doorstep asking her to run away with him. But the truth is, I know she’d turn Tom down flat. She loves my uncle Harry.” Holiday made a face. “Don’t ask me why, though—he’s bald, has a gut, and snores.” She chuckled. “That said, I’ll bet that woman has had some really hot fantasies about Tom.”

Kylie laughed and then they both reclined back on the bed. The twin-size mattress offered just enough room for them both to stretch out with their shoulders pressed against each other. For a second they didn’t talk.

Kylie stared at the ceiling and finally posed another question. “Is Burnett one of the guys who makes you tingle all over?”

“No Burnett questions, remember?”

“Okay,” Kylie said. “But if I was older, he’d make me tingle.” Holiday laughed. “You and half the world. Including Selynn.” The humor in her voice faded.

Silence reigned again. Maybe it was thinking about Selynn and Burnett that brought on Kylie’s next question. “Lucas told me in his letters that he was trying to get permission to come back to the camp. Do you know if he’s coming back?”

Holiday hesitated. “He’ll be here either tomorrow or Tuesday.”

“Is Fredericka coming with him?”

“Yeah,” Holiday said.

“Great,” Kylie muttered. So if she did morph into a werewolf, Fredericka, who would also be in wolf form, would probably chase her down and rip her wolf ass to shreds.

Her day was just getting better and better.

That afternoon, Kylie decided to skip the picnic dinner at the swimming hole. First, she didn’t have a bathing suit that would fit; second, she really wanted to make a few calls to see if she could locate any Brightens who might know something about her real dad. And third, well, she hoped the ghost would drop by again. Something about the way she’d shown up when Kylie had been talking to her mom felt odd.

Kylie knew she couldn’t start fixating on trying to guess who the ghost was talking about being in danger. But deep down, the fixating had bit.

Could the ghost be talking about her mom? Could her mom be in danger?

Worried that it might be true, Kylie had called her mom. Twice. But her phone was turned off. Probably because she was in mid-flight. Kylie sat down at the computer desk, telling herself everything was fine, and pulled out the printed list of phone numbers. Her cell rang. Hoping it was her mom, she took the call without checking the caller ID.

“Mom?” Kylie asked.

“Not Mom. It’s Sara.”

“Oh, hi,” Kylie said, trying to figure out which one of the multitude of emotions about Sara she should let control the conversation. There was the hurt she felt that Sara—whom she’d considered her best friend for years—hadn’t returned any of her calls in almost a month. There was the concern she felt knowing that Sara was … going through something. And then there was the melancholy she felt because she knew her friendship with Sara would never be the same again.

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When the silence seemed awkward, Kylie jumped in. “My mom said she saw you in the grocery store the other day.”

“Yeah, she did. She’s looking good, too. I like her new look and hair-style. She said you talked her into getting a makeover.”

“Did she do it?” Kylie asked. “She hasn’t told me she did it.”

“Oh, I hope I didn’t ruin her surprise.”

“Nah, I appreciate the warning. Does she look good? Or dumb?”

“Good. She looks … younger, I guess. You know, kind of like she might be about to start dating.”

“Dating?” Kylie knew this was a possibility, she’d even suggested it, but for some reason now the idea hit her stomach like a bad piece of chicken. “Did she
say
that or are you just guessing?”

“No, she didn’t say it. She just looked, you know, like a woman who wanted to be noticed by a man. Tighter jeans and a fitted top that showed off her girls. I almost didn’t recognize her.” Was Sara saying her mom was dressing like a ho? That wasn’t the makeover Kylie had suggested. Realizing the conversation had gone quiet again, Kylie started talking to fill the silence. “Mom said you looked…” Kylie had almost lied and said good, but at the last minute decided not to do it. “… thinner. Are you on some new diet again?” Sara was the first to try every new diet endorsed by Hollywood: low carbs, no carbs, all fruit on Tuesday, all brown rice on Wednesday, the crazier the better.

Not that she ever stayed on any of them.

“Not really,” Sara said. “I think it’s the birth control pills. I heard they’d cause me to gain weight, but they seem to be doing the opposite with me.”

Sara was on the pill? It struck Kylie again how much things had changed between them. The old Sara would have certainly told Kylie something as big as getting on the pill.

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But then, Kylie hadn’t exactly been in a sharing mood with Sara lately, either. Of course, trying to explain to a normal about being a still unidentified supernatural was a little—well, a lot—more difficult than discussing birth control pills.

“Did your mom agree to you taking them?” Kylie asked, knowing Sara’s mom was a bit of a religious fanatic and constantly preached against premarital sex.

“Are you kidding? She’d die if she found out. I went to the clinic and I faked her signature.”

Kylie had heard about some other girls doing the same thing to get around the Texas law that required a parent’s signature before dispensing the pills.

Another long pause followed.

“So, who are you dating?” Kylie asked.

“A couple of different guys.” Sara sounded purposely vague. Kylie couldn’t help but wonder if Sara was having sex with the couple of different guys, too. Once upon a time, she might have asked.

“So,” Sara said. “You’re still coming home in a couple of weeks, aren’t you? Camp from hell is almost over? No more being a boner, huh?” Annoyance chomped down on Kylie’s stomach. Obviously, Trey had told Sara about the whole boner reference, because Kylie couldn’t remember mentioning it.

“Actually, I’m only coming home for the weekend. And I really like it here.” Kylie didn’t tell her about the whole boarding school possibility just because she didn’t want to go into it. But she sent up a silent prayer that her mom agreed to it. The thought of going back to her old school and not having the old Sara at her side was just too much.

“Really, you like it? You hated it at first. Camp Freaky, isn’t that what you called it?” Sara sounded shocked.

That was before I actually realized I was a freak, too. Well, not a
freak, but not all human, either.
“I guess things change.” Kylie meant her 229/375

relationship with her one-time best friend, as well as her feeling about the camp.

“Yeah, I guess so.” Another pause. “Well, text me when you get in town and hopefully we can meet up.”

She wasn’t even going to get a definite “Yes, I’ll see you” from Sara.

That hurt like a paper cut to the lip. Pushing away the feeling, she answered, “Yeah, I’ll do that.” But she wasn’t so sure she would. Seeing Sara might just be too weird to deal with right now.

“Okay, my mom is calling me to help with the dishes,” Sara said.

Kylie couldn’t hear anyone calling in the background. Not that she wasn’t eager to end the call as well. This had been hard. Really hard.

“Okay, bye,” Kylie said.
Have a good life. Nice knowing you.

As soon as Kylie hung up, the phone rang again. This time, she looked at the caller’s phone number.

Derek?

He didn’t normally call her. “What’s up?” she asked with a touch of worry.

A ghostly cold invaded the room as she waited for Derek to speak. A wave of dizziness had Kylie grabbing the computer desk. She had experienced this enough to know that it meant a vision was about to occur.

Or was occurring, she corrected when she saw the casket sitting where the kitchen table had been seconds earlier. The woman in the casket was the ghost. A few people moved around the casket with tears in their eyes.

“Kylie?” Derek’s voice came on the line.

“Yeah.” She stared at the casket and the people and wondered what she was supposed to learn from this vision. That was why they happened, right? The ghost was trying to tell Kylie something. But what?

“I’m scared, Mama.”
From the back, Kylie saw the little girl reach up and take her mom’s hand.

“It’s just Grandma.”
The couple walked up to the casket.

“Kylie, are you there?” Derek’s voice sounded upset … or something.

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She recalled her concern about Derek calling her. It was so out of character for him.

“Yeah. I’m here. Is everything okay?” Kylie asked, and her concentration on Derek made the vision fade like an old photograph. It lost its color and went into black and white mode as if dating the scene as something that happened a long time ago. Then the vision grew weaker, almost transparent. “Don’t go,” she said.

“Go where?” Derek asked.

“Not you,” she said, but it was too late, only a vague outline remained of the scene. The woman holding the little girl’s hand turned around.

Kylie got only glimpse of her face, but something about her looked familiar.

Shaking her head, and remembering Derek was still on the phone, she asked, “Is everything okay?”

“No,” he said. “It’s not okay.”

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“You’re not here.”

She rolled her eyes. “I thought you were serious.”

“I am. I’ve been looking forward to this afternoon all day, thinking you’d be here.”

“But I wanted—”

“Please,” he said. “I…” His voice lowered. “I haven’t ever seen you in a bathing suit.”

“And you still wouldn’t. I’ve grown out of my bikini top, remember?”

“Don’t remind me,” he said with a tease in his voice.

“You’re terrible,” she reprimanded, but she wasn’t all serious. She liked the fact that he was attracted to her.

“Just put on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt and come down.” Kylie bit down on her lip. She looked at the computer screen, which displayed the list of the Dallas Brightens she hadn’t called yet. Della and Miranda had been helping, but so far nothing.