I'm With Cupid (11 page)

Marcus crept into school the next morning with a baseball cap pulled low over his eyes. He knew a teacher would tell him to take it off any second, but at least that would give him a little more time without anyone noticing his bruises. It also meant Caspar Brown might not zero in on him right away.

When he got to his locker, he found Lena waiting for him. If this kept up, people would start thinking she was his girlfriend. A little thrill went through him at the thought, but he had to play it cool.
Don't look too eager
, Grandpa's book was always saying. For all he knew, she still had her eye on Brent Adamson.

“Hey,” she said. “How are you feeling?”

“Like a bruised pear, but otherwise okay.” He glanced around and then reluctantly pulled his baseball cap off and shoved it in his locker. No one gasped in horror, so maybe he didn't look too bad. Or, more likely, no one cared enough to actually look at him.

“I made this for you,” Lena said, pulling a piece of quilted flannel out of her backpack. “It's a cover for your book. That way it won't get more damaged.”

“Wow, thanks.” He couldn't believe that Lena had taken all that time to make him a present.

“I'm sorry I touched the book,” she said. “It obviously means a lot to you.”

He shook his head. “It wasn't about that. It was…” It was Grandpa, but he couldn't tell her about that. Not here, in the middle of the hallway.

“Oh, and I brought you something else.” She took what looked like a math book out of her bag. “Take this manual home and memorize it, and make sure to bring yours for me tomorrow so I can read it.”

He looked down at the soul-collecting manual and frowned. “I didn't expect it to look so normal.”

“Did you think it would be wrapped in human skin or something?” Lena asked with a soft laugh. “What's your manual look like?”

“Pretty much like this one,” he admitted. “Still, I thought the death one would look different.” He hesitated for another moment before finally taking the book from Lena's hands.

“You're really freaked out by death, huh?” Lena said.

He gave her a sharp look. “What? No!” He cleared his throat. “I mean, isn't everyone?”

She shrugged. “Not me. I guess that's why they wanted me for this job. I'm a weirdo.”

“You're not a weirdo,” Marcus said. “I think you're… It's amazing that you can handle it all so well. I wish I could do that.”

She shrugged again, but he could tell by the way her cheeks turned slightly pink that she was flattered. “I've been thinking,” she said. “Maybe we should meet up after school and coach each other on our powers. I mean, who knows how long we'll be stuck with them?”

“But what about the party tomorrow? Connie's acting like she's been planning it for weeks even though Eddie planted the idea in her head yesterday. If he can do that, then the rest of the plan will have to work, won't it?”

Lena sighed. “I hope so. But if it doesn't, at some point Eddie's boss will get sick of waiting and start giving us assignments again. I figure we should be ready.”

“Assignments? But…but I can't take anyone's soul.” He'd spent all of last night having nightmares about the old cat, and every once in a while, he could still hear a phantom meow nearby. He couldn't go through that again, especially not with a person!

“You probably won't have to,” she said, “but it's a good idea to be prepared, just in case. Right?”

“Why are you so eager to learn this stuff? I thought this whole matchmaking thing was a big joke to you.”

Lena ran her finger along the edge of a nearby locker, not meeting his eyes. “Maybe…maybe it's not as silly as I thought at first. My dad's been a lot happier lately because of it.”

“So the spark between him and that woman hasn't faded?” Marcus had figured a match that hadn't been an actual assignment would probably fizzle out after a day or two.

“Well, it did,” Lena said slowly. “So I recharged it a little.”

“You
what
?” Marcus cried. Then he looked around, realizing kids were staring at them. He ducked his head and whispered, “Why would you do that?”

“You should have seen how sad my dad was when Marguerite started ignoring him. I had to do something.”

“But rezapping could make things worse! If it turns out they're not a love match, when the spark fades, your dad will come crashing down and be even more miserable.”

Lena's face paled. “See, this is why I need your help! Then I can stop doing dumb things like making my dog fall in love with a squirrel.”

Marcus let out a startled laugh. “Your dog did what?”

Lena shook her head. “Don't ask. It's so embarrassing. I saw him gathering nuts this morning.” He laughed again, which finally made her smile a little. “I guess it is kind of funny. But I can't keep doing stuff like that. So will you meet me after school today or not?”

“All right, I'll help you,” Marcus said. Who knew how much she'd want to hang out with him after Eddie found a way to swap their powers back? She might kiss him one more time at the party tomorrow night and then—zap—never speak to him again.

The thought stabbed at him. Before he and Lena had started spending so much time together, he'd been consumed with getting her to notice him. But now that they were friends, his feelings felt like more than just a crush. The truth was, now that Grandpa Joe was sick, she was the only person he could really talk to.

“Okay. Meet me in the back field after school,” Lena said. Then she gave him another smile and hurried down the hall.

Marcus's heart lifted. He didn't need to consult Grandpa's book to know what had just happened. He and Lena had finally planned their first date.

The back field wasn't even really a field. It was more of a swamp on which kids sometimes had to play soccer during gym class. As Lena waited for Marcus to meet her for the second day in a row, she spotted Brent Adamson and a couple of his friends cutting across the field on their way home.

As Brent turned his head toward her, Lena could tell the exact moment when he caught sight of her. He froze in his tracks, leaned over, and threw up all over the grass. His friends jumped away from him as if he'd turned radioactive.

Lena quickly ducked behind the bleachers so he wouldn't see her anymore. She kept hoping that the spell on Brent would fade, but until then, she'd have to keep trying to stay out of sight.

Funnily enough, even if everything got reversed at Connie's party tonight and Lena could start focusing on her coming-of-age checklist again, she had to admit that she had no interest in kissing Brent or going on a date with him anymore. Not when she'd seen so much disgusting stuff coming out of his plump lips.

In fact, she was starting to wonder if kissing Brent would have been nearly as nice as kissing Marcus had been. Even if that kiss in Connie Reynolds's closet had been the first step to a whole disastrous roller coaster, it
had
been pretty nice. Despite all the crazy stuff that had happened the past few days, she was glad she'd gotten to know Marcus better. There was a lot more to him than the shy, awkward guy she'd known since elementary school.

Her cheeks started to burn as she spotted Marcus coming toward her across the field. Would he be able to tell by the look on her face that she'd been thinking about him?

Just in case, she grabbed the large plastic bag she'd brought and shoved it at him. “I made this for you. Or really, for your grandpa. I figured it might be cold at the nursing home.” After he'd finally told her about his grandpa being sick yesterday after school, Lena had been desperate to do something to help. Finally, she'd started working on a blue-and-white quilt with an intricate pattern that made her think of constellations.

“Wow, thanks. You made this in one night?” he asked.

Lena shrugged. “If I'd done it by hand, it would have taken longer, but with a sewing machine, it's not so bad.”

“You're really good at this quilting stuff, huh?” he said.

She shrugged and plucked a blade of grass. “My mom taught me when I was little. We used to make them together. I guess I'm just in the habit now.”

“Do you ever get to see your mom?” he asked.

“She comes to visit around Christmas, but that usually makes things worse. It always makes my dad depressed.” Lena wound the grass around her finger. “Maybe this year, if my dad and Marguerite are still together, it won't be so bad. I've been meaning to ask you. How often would I have to zap my dad to keep him happy?”

Marcus gawked at her. “You're going to do it again? I told you that it could make everything worse.”

“I'm not saying I
will
do it,” she said, casting the piece of grass aside. “But I want to know, in case I have to.” She couldn't let her dad's gray aura come back dark and thick like it had been. Now that she knew it was there, she couldn't pretend it wasn't, not even after her powers went back to normal.

Marcus sighed and pulled a book out of his bag. “Here's the matchmaking manual. It should explain everything. Basically, if the spark is still strong in one of the people, then sometimes if they spend more time together, you don't have to do anything. But if the spark goes out in both of them, you're pretty much starting from scratch.” His forehead wrinkled. “Are you sure your dad and this woman are meant to be together?”

“Like soul mates?” Lena snorted. Then she saw the hurt look on Marcus's face. “Sorry. They're both scientists, they like the same kind of food, and they even watch the same boring old TV shows. That has to mean they're a good match, right?”

“It depends. Common interests are good, but then there's the whole ‘opposites attract' theory. You never really know what makes people click.”

She sighed. “I guess I'll try to make them spend a lot of time together and hopefully they'll grow on each other. Okay, your turn.”

“My turn?” Marcus looked at her in alarm.

“Yeah, what do you want to know about soul collecting? Did you read the manual I gave you?”

“Um, not yet. To be honest, I've been kind of distracted. I still keep hearing a cat meowing.”

Lena frowned. “Really? Do you hear it now?”

Marcus sat down on the grass and seemed to listen for a moment. “There!” he said finally, pointing to some bushes near the bleachers. “It's like it's haunting me!”

For a second, Lena thought she could hear a faint sound too. Then it faded away. She chewed on her lip thoughtfully. “I guess it's possible,” she said slowly. “Tell me again what happened when you took its soul.”

He sighed and started going over the details again. When he got to the part about realizing his fingers were glowing, Lena held up her hand. “Wait,” she said. “So your energy didn't disappear into the cat, right? Your fingers were still glowing after it ran into the bushes?”

“Um, I guess so. I don't really remember.”

“That explains it! You didn't totally release its soul. You only gave it a little nudge. Maybe that means it's still alive. But it was so sick when you found it, it probably didn't have long anyway.” Lena gasped as she suddenly noticed the ground next to him. “Um, Marcus?”

He glanced down and yelped at the sight of a perfect circle of dead grass that had formed around him. Meanwhile, the rest of the field was still bright green.

“This is crazy!” he said, jumping to his feet. “I can't go around killings things.”

“Marcus,” Lena said, reaching out to put her hand on his shoulder.

“Don't touch me!” he cried. “Do you want me to hurt you too?”

“Whoa.” Lena held up her hands in surrender. Obviously, he wanted to be left alone. So she wandered away and slowly approached the bushes near the bleachers where Marcus had heard meowing. She bent down and made little clicking noises with her tongue, holding her hand out like she was offering the creature a treat.

She held her breath as the bushes seemed to rustle a little. And then, something emerged from them. It wasn't a cat. It wasn't even really a thing. It was more like a glimmer of light shimmering through the air. She could tell by Marcus's wide eyes that he could see it too.

Marcus stared at the glowing ghost cat. Then he suddenly found himself laughing with relief. He'd been so worried that he'd accidentally killed the creature, it hadn't occurred to him that its soul might still be around. Lena was right. The cat wouldn't have lived long after he'd found it. He'd tried to help it and he'd failed, but maybe he was being given a second chance now.

“Come here, kitty,” he said softly, making clicking sounds like he'd heard Lena do. The little ball of light seemed to take a couple of hesitant steps toward him.

Then Marcus's phone started to ring, and the flicker of light disappeared back into the shrubbery.

Marcus sighed and pulled the phone out of his bag. He plugged up his nose so he wouldn't smell the Cajun spices and answered it.

“Eddie, I was just thinking I should call you,” he said through his nose. “What can you tell me about ghost animals? I'm pretty sure I have a ghost cat following me around. How do I help it?”

“A ghost cat?” Eddie chuckled. “That is not something you hear every day. Well, animal souls are different from human souls. They don't need someone to send them to the After. The cat's soul will stay around until it gets bored, and then it will curl up somewhere and move on. Easy as that.”

“Really?” Marcus's chest lightened. He hadn't doomed the cat to an eternity of wandering the world as a ghost.

“But listen, kid,” Eddie said, his voice growing oddly quiet. “Have you got a minute?”

“Um, sure,” Marcus said. He held his phone away for a second so he could suck in a breath of nonspicy air.

“You okay? You sound funny.”

“Yup!”

“So look,” Eddie said, his words slow and careful. “I have an assignment for you today. A soul collection.”

“What? But you said I wouldn't have to do any of those.”

“I know, kid, but the boss lady is losing patience. I'll send you the details, but…” He cleared his throat. “Look, I am sorry about this. I wish it didn't have to be this way.” Then, before Marcus could say anything else, he hung up the phone.

“Eddie!” Marcus called, his hand falling away from his nose. Instantly, the spicy smell shot up his nostrils, and he started to cough.

“What happened?” Lena asked.

“Eddie said”
—cough!
—“I have to”
—cough!
—“do a collection.”
Cough!
After he'd shoved the phone in his pocket, the coughing attack finally faded. “He said he was sorry, but I don't care how sorry he is. I'm not going to do it!”

“If it's a sleeper, it might not be that bad,” Lena said. “The person doesn't even know what's happening.”

Just then, Marcus's phone beeped, and he glanced at it, keeping it as far away from his face as possible. He expected it to be a message from Eddie, but it was one from his mom:
Grandpa is in the hospital. Can you get here right away?

Marcus gasped.

“What is it?” Lena asked.

He couldn't speak. Instead, he showed her the message, his hands shaking. He'd known this moment was coming—dreaded it—but that hadn't prepared him for how much it hurt.

His phone beeped again. This time it was a message from Eddie with the information about his new assignment.

The address of the hospital flashed across the screen. And then a name, one Marcus knew all too well. Joseph Marcus Fierro.

Grandpa Joe.