Breathe (9 page)

I was shocked. I couldn’t believe he didn’t think I was pathetic or a freak. Or just a pathetic freak. How was that possible? He was Dream Guy. “I’m sure you have girls falling at your feet all the time.”

He chuckled. “No, you were definitely the first, and the first girl to tackle me to the ground, by the way. If that little bit of information gets out, I can kiss my college football career good-bye.”

I smiled. How did he do that? I think I had smiled more in the last two days than I had in the last year. “Your secret is safe with me.”

The mention of secrets made me think of something. “Can I ask you a favor?” I hoped he didn’t mind.

“Anything.”

“You’re the first person here I’ve told about Daisy. I’m not really ready for everyone to know yet. Do you think you could keep it to yourself for now?”

Another pause.

“Is this more of this freak thing you keep talking about? ’Cause, honestly, I just don’t see it.”

Sigh. “Yes it’s the freak thing. I really want people to know me for me before they start seeing me as the murdered girl’s sister who was on TV. I know it’s a lot to ask.”

His turn to sigh.

“I’ll keep your secret, Jasmine, with two conditions.”

Umm. “What conditions?” I asked warily.

“First, I don’t ever want to hear you call yourself a freak again, and second, if any other weird stuff happens, you’ll tell me immediately.” All of a sudden, he sounded serious.

“It really isn’t anything to worry about. It comes with the territory. Worse stuff happened back home and it was nothing.”

“Your word, Jasmine.”

“Okay, okay. I’ll tell you if anything else happens.” He definitely drove a hard bargain. I was still a little shocked that he wasn’t doing the sympathy thing.

“You should go back inside and get some sleep. Can I call you tomorrow?”

I smiled. “Of course.” Had anyone ever said no when he asked that question?

“I’ll talk to you then. Good night, Jasmine.”

I hung up and sat there staring at the sky for a few minutes. What just happened? I couldn’t believe it was that easy. I had been so worried about telling anybody here about Daisy—Easton, in particular—that I couldn’t believe it had gone so well.

My next thought brought reality crashing down—something I had completely forgotten about. How was I going to tell my mom that I went on a date?

When screams rent the air very early Sunday morning, I smiled as I rolled over in bed. Ah, the sweet sounds of revenge. I knew Caedan would be running into my room soon, but not that soon. I was pretty sure he would have to clean himself up first. Simple is the key when planning a prank. Too complicated, and something will go wrong.

It had been easy, really. Thankfully, Caedan had his own bathroom. Some plastic wrap around the bowl in addition to the fact that I
knew
he never lifted the seat, and I was golden—or really, he was. I had made sure we were stocked up with Caedan’s favorite non-caffeinated soda on Saturday. Of course, he drank too many before bed, and that was the ticket! It was great being the older, smarter, and patient sister. I never forget. Mean? I don’t think so. No one likes a rat. He needed to be taught a lesson.

“You Slytherin! That was disgusting!” Caedan shouted as he ran into my room some time later with his arms waving. Besides pranks, Caedan and I had a mutual love of the Harry Potter books. Not the movies, although both
Deathly Hallows
were pretty good. He jumped up and down on my bed. By this time I was laughing. My mother walked by my room, shaking her head.

“I should have put the video camera in there so I could have seen your face but… eww! Just eww!” I was holding my sides.

“You stink, Jas. That was below the belt. I mean, even for you.” He glared at me.

I smiled in triumph. “Don’t mess with the master. You know you’ll never win.”

He bounced right near my head. “Right, that’s why you had to come home from school that time because I put sneezing powder in your makeup. And then that time you were embarrassed in class because I put the fart machine in your backpack. I totally got you!”

“And you were suitably punished each time! Don’t forget.” I smirked at him. He really was a worthy opponent. He was no slouch when it came to pranking, but I didn’t want him to get a big head. I was pretty sure I was going to have to be careful for a while.

After church, we spent the rest of the day catching up on homework and getting ready for Monday. While we were all doing the dinner dishes, I was starting to contemplate what I was going to tell my mom about Easton. Did I have to tell her? What if she found out on her own? Would that be a mistake? I didn’t want her to start off with the wrong mind-set about him.

The argument I was having with myself was interrupted by the phone ringing. All four of us stopped what we were doing and stared at the phone.

Caedan and I jumped for it at the same time, and he beat me to it. “Buddy the Elf. What’s your favorite color?”

Really? Little brothers were obnoxious.

“Oh yeah, she’s here. Hang on. Mom, it’s for you.”

I glared at Caedan behind my mother’s back. Insufferable little creep.

My mother answered after the briefest hesitation. “Hello?”

The pause, as she stood there listening, was so long, I just stared.

“I see. Yes, that would be fine. Tomorrow evening will be fine. Thank you for calling. Good night.” She hung up the phone and went back to the dishes.

“Who was that?” I asked.

“Oh that?” She wasn’t looking at me. She was all of a sudden very focused on the dishes like they held the answers to all life’s questions.

“Yes, that!”

“That was a friend of yours. Easton Ward? He wants to drop by tomorrow at five to speak to me.”

I stood there frozen while Caedan jumped around the kitchen hooting, hollering, and making kissing noises.

“What?” My voice wasn’t working. It came out in a whisper.

What did she mean, “Easton was coming over”? Why would he call
her
? What did he want to speak to her about? How did he get our house number? I was starting to hear buzzing in my ear, and I heard it from what seemed like far away.

“Jasmine! Sit Down. Now!” My mother pulled out a chair and shoved me in it. “What is the matter with you? Caedan stop shouting! Good Grief! Put your head between your legs, sweetie. Breathe. That’s better.” I could feel the tunnel receding. I wasn’t going to faint.

I looked up at my mother, “What did he want?”

“Are you all right now?” She ignored my question.

“Yes, Mom, I’m fine. What did he want? Why did he ask for you? Why is he coming over?”

She sighed. “Well, he asked if he could speak to me in person. He said that you and he had become friends, and he would like to introduce himself. He wanted to know if he could come by tomorrow. I told him he could.”

That was all? Why would he do that? Holy Cow, was I in trouble? Was she going to freak out? I sat in the chair staring into space, while Lily and my mom finished the dishes. Caedan was sulking due to my mother insisting on radio silence until the dishes were done and put away. Lily was surprisingly unfazed, and my mother looked lost in thought.

It was time to come clean about the whole thing. Honestly, there wasn’t much she didn’t know. She hadn’t forbidden me to go anywhere with him. I had been in view of friends nearly the entire time after the game. It was time to find out what I was and wasn’t going to be allowed to do. If she said I couldn’t go out with him, then what? Burn that bridge when I get to it, I guess.

Interestingly enough, I almost felt relieved. I don’t like keeping things from my mom. Well, some things. Really, I just don’t want her to worry. She’d started acting so much more normal since we’d moved, and I didn’t want to change that. I know she’s terrified that something will happen to me or the twins. Especially since the Monster was never caught. I just wonder how long we were going to have to live under the you-can’t-do-anything-even-remotely-normal-because-something-bad-might-happen rule that has been in effect since Daisy’s death.

Will I ever be allowed to date normally or run outside like I used to, because she was murdered? Will Caedan and Lily ever be able to go out with friends or date either? These are all issues we hadn’t had to address until now because we were living in a fog until the move. I understand the fear. Trust me. I live with it every day. I have trouble in the dark. I have panic attacks. I am not the same person I was, either, but we moved here to start a new life. I hope she actually lets us.

“Jasmine, let’s go up to my room. You two stay down here and finish your homework or read. No TV. Caedan, if I hear as much as a creak on the staircase, I will take your iPod for a week.” She gave him the laser glare. “Got me?”

He rolled his eyes while his head was turned away, but said, “Yes, Mother.”

My mom narrowed her eyes. “If you roll your eyes up in your head again, I will snatch you baldheaded.”

Caedan whipped his head around and stared at my mom. “What does that mean?”

She patted him on the head as she walked by. “It means that Southern women know what’s up!”

The picture in my head of Caedan snatched baldheaded distracted me for a moment while I walked up the stairs, but when we got to my mom’s room the worry was back.

“I would like to know what’s going on with you and this boy.” My mom looked serious as she sat on her bed.

“Nothing’s going on. He gave me a ride home from school that day, and we’ve been talking on the phone.” My mother looked at me without blinking. I knew that look. It was her I-will-know-if-you-are-lying-to-me stare.

“Anything else you would like to tell me before he comes here?”

I looked down and then back up. This was it. All in.

“After the pep rally, he asked me to go to the diner with him after the game. But everyone went. I just got a ride with him. He brought me back to Julia’s house. The girls were at the diner the whole time. I told him who I am.” I looked at her. She stared back for a moment, and I could see her processing all the information I just gave her.

“Let me get this straight. You went out with a boy I’ve never met, without asking me, and without letting me know where you were going to be. We have never discussed the dating rules of this house, and you basically went out on your first date without any discussion. You lied to me, and you expect me to think it is totally fine. Have I got it straight?” I looked back at her for a moment.

“Well, technically, it wasn’t a date. The only time we were alone was on the very short drive to the diner and the drive to Julia’s house. Absolutely everyone who was at the game was at the diner. I met his aunt, his cousin, and his cousin’s girlfriend. We had a sundae, and he gave me a ride back to Julia’s. That’s it. It was less than an hour, and I wasn’t in the car with him any longer than on the day he brought me home.

“I didn’t tell you because he asked me after the pep rally, and I just said yes without thinking. I didn’t think it was that big of a deal until I was already there. I couldn’t have reached him to change the plans anyway because he was at the game. He’s very nice and incredibly polite. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. If it had happened differently, I would have told you before I went.”

Sometimes I can tell what my mom is going to say before she says it. This was not one of those times.

“Jasmine, I understand you were in a weird position at the moment. Since we have not discussed any particular rules in this area, I guess I can’t get angry about the date. I can, however, be upset that you did not tell me after it happened. Did we, or did we not, discuss that you were going to tell me about your life?” She had me there.

“I know, but after it happened I was so worried about you being mad, I didn’t know how to tell you. I was trying to decide what to do and then he called! It’s like he’s psychic or something.”

My mom smiled. “All right. I can understand your dilemma. I’m not happy about how you went about it, but I guess I can’t prevent boys from asking you out. You haven’t told me what he said when you told him who you are.”

I was glad she was being rational. “He just said that he was glad to know me and that he was impressed with how I handled myself back then on TV. He said he wouldn’t have been able to do it. I asked him not to tell anyone and he said he wouldn’t.” No need to fill her in on the 
“flowers running him down the hallway” incident. I would never be able to leave the house again.

“Well, he sounds mature. Do you want to go out with him again?”

Yeah, duh. “Umm, yes?” Did this mean I was going to be allowed?
Please, please, please let her say yes.

“It’s a lot more complicated here to make these kinds of decisions. Back home I knew which kids I liked and which I didn’t. I don’t even know his family or anything about his background.”

At this point, she was pretty much talking to herself. I had learned not to interrupt these little conversations she had with herself. The outcome tended to work in my favor if I just said as little as possible.

“Well, we’ll see what he has to say for himself. I am going to tell you right now—if I get any kind of weird vibe from this kid, you will not be going anywhere with him. Am I making myself clear?”