Blur (Blur Trilogy) (7 page)

He’d alread
y
told K
yl
e that vultures were picking awa
y
at his dead dreams, but the stuff concerning Emil
y
was on a whole different level.

In the end, he decided he didn’t want his best friend to think he was losing it, and kept ever
yt
hing to himself.

Ma
yb
e, when the time was right, he’d tell him what was going on, but right now the time did not feel right.

When the
y’
d finished stud
yi
ng, the
y
got some chips and salsa, so K
yl
e’s mouth was full when he said, “So that was prett
y
wild, huh, that T
y
was picking on Emil
y’
s brother toda
y?
”

“Knowing T
y,
it doesn’t surprise me.” Daniel was still curious about what T
y
had been referring to when he said he’d heard about K
yl
e and Emil
y,
but after seeing K
yl
e’s reaction to his questions earlier about it, he knew better than to bring that up.

K
yl
e swallowed, then used a mutantl
y
large chip to snag a heaping dollop of salsa.

“That’s a lot of salsa.”

“I’m occasionall
y
prone to excess.”

“Reall
y.
”

“I’ve had m
y
moments. He
y,
I heard the
y
did go through her locker,
yo
u know, like we were talking about at school.”

“Who went through her locker?”

“I don’t know, the school administrators ma
yb
e. Or her parents. Or the cops. But supposedl
y
the
y
found a notebook in there that she’d been writing in on the da
y
she died. Could have been the last words she ever wrote. You never know.” He devoured the salsa-laden chip. “Makes
yo
u think.”

Given what’d happened the last couple da
ys
, Daniel was more than a little curious about what was in that notebook.

K
yl
e checked the time. “Listen, I gotta fl
y
or m
y
mom’ll kill me.” He gathered his things. “I’ll catch up with
yo
u tomorrow.”

“Sure. Yeah.”

After K
yl
e left, Daniel stood at the window and watched him drive awa
y.

Partl
y
he wished that he’d told him about Emil
y
rising in her casket and grabbing his arm and leaving her handprint behind, but partl
y
he thought that was something he should keep to himself.

For now.

Probabl
y
forever.

As long as nothing else like that happened again, he would be alright. Life would go on and eventuall
y
he would be able to make sense of it all.

And that’s what he tried to do as he la
y
down to sleep.

But even if it wasn’t her ghost that had grabbed his arm, he still couldn’t understand how he’d known Emil
y’
s dog was named Trevor.

CHAPTER
ELEVEN

Thursda
y.

Time whipped b
y.

The histor
y
test seemed to go alright.

Then government. Spanish. Stud
y
hall. AP Calculus.

He saw Nicole around, talked to her a little, just in a
passing-someone-in-the-halls, how-are-
yo
u-doing? sort of wa
y.
But he couldn’t help but think of what K
yl
e had told him about her, that she didn’t have a date for Saturda
y’
s dance. That she liked him.

Since there was a game tomorrow, football practice was prett
y
light. At least it went better tonigh
t—t
he gu
ys
were more in s
yn
c than the
y’
d been the night before, and things were clicking.

Daniel was a little slow getting out of the locker room afterward and was one of the last gu
ys
to head to the parking lot.

He was nearl
y
to his car when he saw Stac
y
emerge from the edge of the woods.

“He
y,
” she said.

“He
y.
”

She hugged her books to her chest. “I don’t know if we ever officiall
y
met. I’m Stac
y.
”

She was waiting for
yo
u. She wanted to talk to
yo
u!

“I’m Baniel D
ye
r
s—D
aniel. I’m Daniel B
ye
rs.”

Oh,
yo
u are such an idiot!

A glimmer of a smile. “I know who
yo
u are.”

“I know
yo
u too.”

“Reall
y?
”

“Uh-huh.”

“How?”

“I’ve seen
yo
u around.”

“Oh.”

A long pause.

“So.”

“So,” he replied lamel
y.
“Well, it’s good to meet
yo
u. Officiall
y.
”

“Good to meet
yo
u too.” He had the sense that she would reach out to shake his hand, but instead she stared down at the ground between them for a moment, then back at him. “You pla
ye
d good against Spring Hill.”

“You were there?”

A slight e
ye
roll. “Of course I was there.”

“Not ever
yo
ne comes to the games.”

“I do.”

“Me too.”

Dude, that was the stupidest thing ever to sa
y!

“Of course
yo
u do,” she said lightl
y.

He felt like he wanted to hide somewher
e—a
n
yw
her
e—b
ut when she spoke again she just did so matter-of-factl
y
and not the least bit in a wa
y
to make him feel more put on the spot. “Um, I just wanted to wish
yo
u luck on the game. I mean, the one tomorrow night.”

“Thanks.”

She waited.

Ask her to the dance on Saturda
y—
a
t least get her number.

“Um . . .” He repositioned his feet. “Sa
y,
I was
wondering . . .”

“Yes?”

“About the game.”

No, not the game, the dance—

“Yes?”

He took a deep breath. “So, I was . . .”

Go on!

“Um . . . So ma
yb
e I’ll see
yo
u there. At the game.”

“Oh. Sure. So, good luck,” she repeated.

“Right.”

Ask her for her number.

But he didn’t.

And then she was sa
yi
ng good-b
ye
and he was fumbling out a repl
y.
“See
yo
u around, Stac
y.
”

“See
yo
u around, Baniel,” she replied good-naturedl
y.

As she stepped awa
y
he opened his mouth to call her back, but nothing came out.

And then she was gone.

But at least he’d talked to her.

You can’t be expected to ask a girl out or get her number the first time
yo
u officiall
y
meet her, can
yo
u?

Um,
ye
ah.

He climbed into his car and leaned his forehead against the steering wheel.

Man,
yo
u sounded like a moron!

Well, talk to her tomorrow. You can still ask her.

The dance was Saturda
y
night, but at least that gave him one more da
y.

Before starting the car, he saw a text from K
yl
e asking what he was up to tonight, and he texted back that he was going to be at home finishing up his homework and then head to bed earl
y
to get a good night’s sleep before game da
y.

He didn’t bring up an
yt
hing about the conversation with Stac
y.
It would have onl
y
made him more embarrassed if K
yl
e knew how he’d failed to sound like even a halfwa
y
intelligent human being talking with her.

Imagine that. Daniel B
ye
rs not knowing how to talk to a girl.

What else is new?

That night back in his bedroom, it took him a while to write his second blog entr
y,
the one he was going to have to read in front of Teach’s class tomorrow.

Without K
yl
e there to help him, he felt like a gu
y
stuck on a boat in the middle of the ocean with no idea which direction to row toward land.

Eventuall
y
he got something out, this time about hoping to send the vultures awa
y,
but it wasn’t nearl
y
as good as if he’d had K
yl
e brainstorming with him.

Then he went to bed, but his thoughts of Stac
y
kept him awake.

Talk to her tomorrow at school, or at least before the game.

But he also found that, just before falling asleep, his thoughts were drifting toward Nicole as well.

CHAPTER
TWELVE

The next da
y
before class, he kept an e
ye
out for Stac
y
but glimpsed her for onl
y
a moment in a crowd at the end of the hall. In English, when he saw Nicole taking a seat, he felt conflicted. Truthfull
y,
he was interested in them both, but in different wa
ys
.

He’d known Nicole since fifth grade, so there was this histor
y
the
y
had together, but Stac
y
was new, so there was a m
ys
terious, alluring air about her that he found intriguing.

A few da
ys
ago if
yo
u would have asked him, he would’ve said he was sure he wanted to go with Stac
y—
t
hat is until K
yl
e told him that Nicole liked him. That, along with the fact that Stac
y
had waited around after school to meet him, just made ever
yt
hing more confusing.

Miss Fl
yn
n got things rolling and began calling on students to get up and read their blog assignments about dreams and death.

When it was Nicole’s turn, she said to Miss Fl
yn
n, “I wrote mine as a pra
ye
r.”

“A pra
ye
r?”

“Yes.”

Of course, the
y
were at a public school, a place where it was oka
y
to utter God’s name as a swear word but not in a pra
ye
r—s
omething that even Daniel, who wasn’t overl
y
religious, found ridiculous.

“Well.” Miss Fl
yn
n sounded vaguel
y
uncomfortable. “Go ahead. Let’s hear it.”

Nicole read:

God, I thought I should probabl
y
let
yo
u know that a demon showed up at m
y
doorstep
ye
sterda
y.
He was returning m
y
shadow-clothes. I must have left them at his place when I stopped b
y
for a visit last week, and he was just being kind enough to return them.

So, to make sure the
y
hadn’t shrunk, I tried them on and found that the
y
fit just as snugl
y
as ever.

I’m telling
yo
u this because I noticed the outfit
yo
u set out for me on m
y
bed. And I’m curious, are
yo
u tr
yi
ng to get me to revamp m
y
wardrobe?

Truth is, I’m prett
y
comfortable with the clothes I alread
y
have.

Just let me know what
yo
u’re up to and then I can decide whether or not to tr
y
on those glowing clothes waiting for me in m
y
room.

When she finished, there was a long stretch of silence before Miss Fl
yn
n finall
y
asked, “And how is that
yo
ur dream, Nicole?”

“M
y
dream is to be wearing the right outfit when it matters most.”

“When
yo
u die.”

“Yes.”

Ever
yo
ne stared at Miss Fl
yn
n to gauge her reaction. “I think that’s the most admirable dream of all,” she said at last. Then she went on to the next person.

And the next.

Right around the room.

Daniel wasn’t excited about the second blog entr
y
of his, but he didn’t want to read the first one either, so the closer it came to his turn, the more unsure he became about which one would be the best to read.

Brad Talbot read his, the briefest one so far: “I dream of being rich and famous.”

Miss Fl
yn
n waited. “And?”

“That’s it.”

“Well, thank
yo
u for not wasting our time with unnecessar
y
verbiage.”

“No prob, Teach.”

“You might have dialed up the creativit
y
factor a little, but I appreciate
yo
ur honest
y.
”

Then K
yl
e went. He called his entr
y
“Wind and Rain,” and somehow his words were both hope-filled and remorseful at the same time:

Grain b
y
grain the sand erodes

through m
y
moments, slipping down

the fragile slopes of m
y
da
ys
.

And I wonder, as I tumble down the side, who will change the weather

and give m
y
life another shot

at glor
y?

Miss Fl
yn
n nodded. “The sand tumbles down quickl
y,
” she told the class. “For us all.”

It sure did for Emil
y.
No question about that.

Daniel wondered how long it’d taken K
yl
e to come up with that. Knowing him, he might ver
y
well have thought of it in the hallwa
y
on the wa
y
to class.

Two more students went, then it was Daniel’s turn.

Still debating which entr
y
to read, he decided at the last minute that he’d be more embarrassed about the second than the first, so he went with the one he’d written when he was with K
yl
e.

He was seriousl
y
nervous and felt like he stumbled all the wa
y
through it, but at least he managed to finish without an
y
major flubs. When he was done, Miss Fl
yn
n quietl
y
jotted something in her grade book and then, without an
y
comment, asked the next person to go.

There was something about her lack of response that made Daniel uncomfortabl
e—e
speciall
y
since she seemed to be commenting on ever
yo
ne else’s, no matter how weak the
y
were.

After the last person had gone, she collected all the blog entries, then announced that since it was homecoming weekend she wasn’t giving them an
y
assignment for Monda
y.
“Enjo
y yo
ur break.”

Nods and a few thank-
yo
us around the room.

“And, as
yo
u know, next Wednesda
y
is a parent-teacher conference da
y,
so there won’t be an
y
classes. We’ll onl
y
be meeting Monda
y
and Frida
y.
Have a good weekend.”

The bell rang, and ever
yo
ne grabbed their things and headed for the hall.

Nicole happened to be heading in the same direction as Daniel.

“Hi,” she said.

“He
y.
I thought it was cool that
yo
u wrote a pra
ye
r and felt oka
y
sharing it with ever
yo
ne,” he told her candidl
y.

“Well
”—s
he avoided discussing her blog entr
y—
“
I thought
yo
urs was awesom
e—b
ut sad too. Where did
yo
u learn to write like that?”

“Busted. K
yl
e helped me piece it together.”

“Well, I’m just glad that’s over with, huh?”

“I’m with
yo
u there.”

The
y
walked in silence for a few steps, and then, out of nowhere, Nicole said, “So, are
yo
u going to homecoming dance with an
yo
ne?”

“Am I . . . ?”

N
o—b
ut
yo
u might be.

If
yo
u can get up enough guts to ask . . .

He was still tr
yi
ng to figure out how to finish his sentence when Nicole did it for him: “Going to homecoming dance with an
yo
ne? Call me curious.”

Tell her
yo
u’re going with Stac
y,
that
yo
u’re—

But
yo
u’re not. You never asked her. You don’t even know if she would go with
yo
u.

“No, not
ye
t,” he admitted. It was the truth. He didn’t want to lead Nicole on, but he did want to be honest. Then it came out: “But there’s someone I was gonna ask.” It was one of those things
yo
u sa
y
and then immediatel
y
wonder what in the world led
yo
u to sa
y
it in the first place.

“Oh?” she said in a tone that was impossible to read.

“Yeah, but I guess I haven’t gotten up the nerve
ye
t.”

“It’s not that big of a deal. Just ask her.”

Yeah, I wish it was that eas
y.

“The worst she can sa
y
is no,” Nicole reassured him.

Exactl
y.

“I guess.”

She stopped walking. “Practice on me.”

“What?”

“Practice. Ask me to go to homecoming with
yo
u.”

“Ask
yo
u . . .”

“Go on, pretend
yo
u wanna go with me.”

“Nicole, I was . . . Well, actuall
y . . .
It’s just that . . .”

She read volumes in his hesitation and her e
ye
s grew large. “Oh,
yo
u’re . . . I heard that
yo
u weren’t . . . I thought . . .” She blushed and shook her head. “Seriousl
y,
I didn’t kno
w—”
She closed her e
ye
s as if she were tr
yi
ng to disappear. “Please, please, please pretend this never happened.”

“I mean, it’s not that
I—”

She held up her hand to cut him off. “It’s oka
y.
Seriousl
y.
” Before he could repl
y,
she turned abruptl
y.
“I gotta go. I’m sorr
y.
”

“You don’t need to apologize for an
yt
hing, Nicole.”

But she was alread
y
hurr
yi
ng down the hall. He watched to see if she would turn around and glance back at him.

She did not.

And she was staring down at the floor as she went.

Which made Daniel feel even worse.

He didn’t want to assume too much, but he wasn’t a complete idiot and he could read between the lines of what had just happened.

For the rest of the da
y
he didn’t see Stac
y
or Nicole, and he found himself going back over the awkward conversation with Nicole again and again, repla
yi
ng it in his mind, thinking of things he might have said differentl
y,
things that would’ve led their exchange in a different, more positive direction.

But ultimatel
y,
it didn’t matter. He might think of a thousand other things he could have said, but he hadn’t said them. His friend had left feeling bad, and it was all his fault.

After school he tried to ignore the headache that was coming on. The last thing he needed tonight was to be distracted during the homecoming game against the Coulee Pioneers.

Daniel told himself it would pass, that it was no big deal.

That’s what he tried to convince himself of as he hung out with some of the gu
ys
from the team at Rizzo’s pizzeria before leaving for school to get suited up for the seven-thirt
y
game.