I'm With Cupid (13 page)

When Grandpa Joe finally slipped away, Marcus was in a daze. He watched as the nurses rushed around, trying to do something, but he knew it was too late. As he and Lena stood in the hallway with his family, for once he was the only one not crying. He didn't need to cry. Because when he'd felt Grandpa's soul leaving, it hadn't been terrible. In fact, he'd felt a sense of relief, as if the soul had finally been set free. And now Grandpa didn't have to be in pain anymore.

Lena had been right. He couldn't keep running from Caspar his whole life, just like he couldn't keep running from everything else he was afraid of. Especially not when Grandpa had needed him to be brave.

“Marcus,” Lena said softly. “I think you should be with your family. I'm going to go home, okay?”

“Thank you. For everything. If it wasn't for you, I'd…”

She smiled. “You're welcome. I'll see you tonight, okay?”

He blinked. The party. With everything that had happened, he'd forgotten. But yes, of course he had to go. If this was his chance to swap their powers back, he had to take it. Still, he didn't feel so desperate to get rid of this power anymore, now that he understood what it really was.

“I'll see you tonight,” he said.

Once she was gone, his dad came over to him. “Son, are you all right? Did you get to say good-bye?”

Marcus couldn't believe how upset his dad looked, how red his eyes were from crying. Maybe there were times when looking weak didn't matter.

“I'm fine,” Marcus said. “Are you guys okay?”

His mom put her arm around Ann-Marie. “We're hanging in there,” she said. “Your grandpa always wanted us to be okay, no matter what. You remind me of him, Marcus. You have ever since you were born.”

“Really?” Marcus asked.

“Your mother's right,” his dad said. “Your grandfather was a good man.” Marcus realized, with a shock, that his father had actually paid him a compliment. He couldn't remember the last time that had happened.

His mom let out a soft laugh. “You even look like him when he was your age, Marcus. Did I ever show you photos from when your grandpa was growing up?”

Marcus shook his head.

She sighed. “I'll have to look around in the basement and try to find them.”

“Do you have a date with Lena tonight?” Ann-Marie suddenly chimed in. He was ready to be annoyed with her for making fun of him, but she didn't look like she was teasing him. “I like her,” she added.

“It's not a date,” he said. “Not exactly. But there's this party tonight—”

“Party?” His dad pursed his lips. “You're not going to a party. Not with everything that's happened. How would that look?”

“But you don't understand. I have to go.”

“We'll talk about this later,” his mom interrupted. “Let's go home, okay?”

Normally, Marcus would have let his mom brush the topic aside. Then he'd give in when his parents forbade him from doing whatever it was he wanted to do. But this time, he wasn't going to let that happen. Not when this was so important.

“No. We're going to talk about it now.”

His dad raised his eyebrows. “Marcus—”

“Please, listen,” Marcus said. “When I said I have to go to this party, I meant it. I made a promise, okay? I can't break it. You're always going on about being a man and honoring the family and all of that. Doesn't that mean keeping promises?”

His dad looked at him.

“You know how much I love Grandpa,” Marcus went on. “I would never go to a party on a day like this if I didn't have to. But it's important. Please trust me.”

His dad gave him a long look, and Marcus waited for the explosion to come. But it didn't. Instead, his dad looked at him with an expression Marcus had only seen him give his sister, one of respect.

“All right,” his dad said. “But don't stay too long, okay?”

“I won't.” If all went according to plan, Marcus would only need five seconds.

Connie Reynolds's house was exactly like it had been the previous weekend. Music echoed up from the basement windows while kids milled around in the front yard, waiting for their friends to arrive. Once again, someone had tied an oversized bouquet of balloons to the Reynoldses' mailbox that threatened to pull the whole thing out of the ground.

Had the last party happened only six days ago? It felt like a lifetime had gone by since Lena had had her old powers.

“There you are,” Abigail said when they met in Connie's driveway. “I was starting to think you weren't coming.” It was exactly what she'd said to Lena the last time.

“How was play practice today?” Lena asked as they headed toward the basement stairs.

“Oh, it was good.” It sounded like Abigail wanted to say more, but she didn't go on.

“What?” Lena asked finally. “Why are you being weird?”

“Nothing. It's only…I figured you didn't really want to hear about the play since it's a sore topic and everything.”

It was a sore topic, but after everything that had happened today, it didn't seem as important. Abigail was obviously the best actress in their grade. She deserved to be in the play. “I don't mind if you talk about it,” Lena told her. “Honest. Besides, I'm going to work my butt off so that next time, I
will
get in.”

Abigail smiled. “Well, if you really want to hear about it…the first day was awesome!” Then she recapped how the read-through had gone and declared that it was going to be the school's most amazing production ever.

As the two of them wove through the basement, Lena was overwhelmed all over again by the loudness of the crowd. A boy from her science class was (yet again) banging away on a drum set in the corner, making the floor shake. Most of the kids were even wearing the same outfits they'd had on the previous weekend.

“I can't believe this is so much like last time,” Lena said, shaking her head in wonder.

“Last time?” Abigail asked.

“Yeah, Connie's party last weekend. Remember?”

Abigail blinked. “Oh yeah. Funny that she's having another one so soon.” Then she shrugged, the topic clearly forgotten.

Lena smothered a smile. Eddie really had worked some kind of magic. Wait, why was she thinking about magic of all things? But then again, she wasn't sure what else to call it. Science really couldn't explain the fact that everything was almost exactly as it had been a week ago.

“I'm going to go see if Marcus is here,” Lena said.

Abigail gave Lena a knowing smile. Then she glanced down at her flashing phone. “It's Hayleigh. She's in the bathroom having some kind of glitter emergency. How about I go help her and you go find Marcus?”

Lena went over to the snack table, scanning the crowd for Brent Adamson. Thankfully, like last time, he wasn't in attendance. She'd feel terrible if he got sick in the middle of a party because of her.

As she realized that she was standing next to the bowl of Cheetos, déjà vu washed over her. What had she been doing at the party last Saturday? That's right. She'd been counting the seconds until Abigail and Hayleigh got back from the bathroom.

She put a Cheeto in her mouth and started—1, 2, 3—when she heard a familiar voice screech, “You! I dare you to kiss Lena Perris for five seconds.”

Lena whirled around, and sure enough, Marcus was there, peering back at her with a smile that felt like it was just for her.

“You want him to
what
?” Lena asked, fighting back a smile of her own.

“Do it,” Connie said. “Or I'll make you both lick the toilet.”

Lena barely heard the chorus of “oohs” that echoed around her. She was already walking toward Marcus. Before she knew it, they were in the closet and Connie was squawking, “Remember, five seconds!” and shoving the door closed behind them.

“So, do you want to?” Marcus asked.

This time, Lena didn't hesitate. “Okay.”

They took a step forward and then another. At first they bumped noses. Then they bumped chins. And the third time, for some reason, they bumped ears. But finally, their lips met and—

Wow
, Lena thought. The kiss was perfect. It was exactly what she'd always imagined her first kiss with Brent Adamson would be like.

Then Connie threw open the door, and it was over.

“Well, how was it?” she asked.

But Lena and Marcus didn't answer. Instead, they headed up the stairs and out into the yard. The night air was deafeningly quiet around them.

“Ready?” Lena asked.

Marcus nodded. “I think it worked, don't you?”

They put out their hands and called up their energy. Their fingers flared up in unison and—

“Oh,” Lena said as Marcus let out a disappointed sigh beside her. Her fingers were still red and his were still purple. If anything, the colors were even more pronounced than they had been before.

“It didn't work,” Marcus said. “I don't get it. We did everything right.”

“Maybe we're not meant to switch them back,” Lena said. “Maybe they're meant to stay this way from now on. I'm sorry.”

“Why are you sorry? It's not your fault.”

“No, I'm sorry that you have to keep collecting souls. I know how much you hate it.”

“It…it wasn't as bad as I thought. You were right. It's how things work.
I'm
sorry you have to make people think they're in love.”

She smiled. “Maybe it's not always pretend. Maybe sometimes it's real.”

Just then, someone whistled nearby, and a second later, Eddie rolled up on a pair of sleek, silver roller skates. “Well?” he asked. “Any luck?”

They shook their heads, and he let out an annoyed grunt. “Well, shoot,” he said. “The boss lady is not going to be happy. Your erratic powers are staring to cause a chain reaction. I heard about a couple in France who fell into hate with each other instead of love! And our soul collection numbers are completely off for this time of year.”

“Then what do we do?” Marcus asked.

Eddie's shoulders sagged. “I honestly don't know. If this did not work, then…”

“We're stuck like this,” Lena said, even though she knew they were all thinking it.

“Does that mean we'll never be able to touch anyone again without worrying about hurting them?” Marcus asked.

“And that every time we mess up, even more people might get hurt?” Lena asked. Seeing Professor playing house with a squirrel was bad enough, not to mention everything that had happened with her dad and with Brent, but if people all over the world were starting to suffer because of her mistakes, that was too much to handle.

“I won't give up, okay?” Eddie said, chewing on his lip. “There has to be something we haven't tried yet.”

Lena could tell he was trying to be positive, but it all sounded hopeless.

Marcus couldn't remember the last time his family had all had breakfast together. Normally, his dad and Ann-Marie were at the track before dawn, practicing. And usually their kitchen table was covered in uniforms and protein bars and sports magazines. But this morning, Marcus and his family sat at the kitchen table, eating pancakes and talking about what Grandpa would have wanted for his funeral.

After Marcus had come home last night, he'd finally gotten up the courage to throw away the terrarium in his room. He didn't need it to remind him of his turtle, not when he had years of memories to tap into. When his mom had seen what he'd done, she'd given him a sad smile and said, “Maybe we all need to declutter our lives a little.” Then she'd moved some of the junk out of the basement so that his dad could bring a few of the weight machines downstairs. Now the house was neater than it had been in years. Marcus had even spotted one of his own school pictures hanging on a wall that used to be hidden by a treadmill.

He also seemed to have a new pet in his life. All morning, he'd been hearing meowing. And now, as he sat at breakfast, he felt the ghost cat rubbing up against his leg. That was certainly going to take some getting used to.

“I'm going to cut a bunch of roses from my garden for the memorial service,” Ann-Marie announced when they were done eating. Marcus expected her to complain that her prized red roses were gone thanks to him, but she only added, “Grandpa always said the pink ones were his favorite.”

“That's a lovely idea,” his mom said. “Do you want to help her, Marcus?”

“I have to go meet Lena for a little while, but I'll help when I get back.”

“You really like this girl, don't you?” his mom asked.

He stared down at his empty plate, sure that his ears were turning red.

“Aw, leave the boy alone,” his dad said. “He can have his secrets.”

Marcus practically fell out of his chair to hear his dad standing up for him. Maybe after everything that had happened yesterday, he'd gained a little respect for his son. Or, more likely, he was glad that Marcus was finally showing an interest in girls.

When breakfast was over, Marcus went to get ready. He was relieved to see that the bruises on his face had finally faded and that he looked like himself again. As he ran a comb through his hair, he heard meowing coming from outside his bedroom door. He opened the door, and a flicker of light came bounding into his room and hopped up on his bed.

Marcus watched as it curled up on his pillow and then lay motionless. A moment later, he thought he could hear faint purring. A ghost cat wasn't exactly the kind of pet he'd always dreamed of, but the creature had had a tough life when it had been alive. Why not give it a good home while its soul was still here? At least he didn't have to worry about remembering to feed it or his sister being allergic like she was to regular cats.

He grabbed Grandpa Joe's dating book and slipped it into his pocket, desperate to have part of Grandpa with him today. Then he gave himself one more check in the mirror and headed out to the park to meet Lena.

A few minutes later, when Marcus got to the bench where he'd first seen Olivia, a shiver went through him. He still had that dangerous power inside him. If he messed up, someone else might get hurt. But he'd also used it to help others. He would have to remember that when he got too freaked out.

“You're here!” Lena said, and he couldn't help grinning as her face lit up. She was genuinely happy to see him, but when he lingered for a moment, thinking about leaning in for a kiss, she took a visible step backward.

Marcus felt a stab in his chest, but he tried to ignore it. He was starting to think Lena did like him, but maybe she wasn't ready to admit it to herself yet. That was okay for now. He'd already been waiting since last spring. He could wait a little longer.

As they sat down on the bench together, he couldn't help boasting, “I read the whole soul-collecting manual last night. It made everything sound a lot less scary.”

“See? I told you.”

“How's your dad doing?” Marcus asked.

Lena sighed. “Marguerite's blowing him off again. I tried to convince him that he should go over there to see her today, but I don't think it worked. I know I shouldn't zap them again, but…”

“Sometimes you have to let these things go.”

She sighed again. “I know. I guess I was hoping, now that he's finally happy, he could stay that way.”

“Maybe she's not the right match for him.”

“Maybe.” He could tell she didn't like the idea, but he had to remind himself that she was new to this matchmaking thing. Eventually she'd understand that you couldn't force people to fall in love. It was up to them.

“At least my dog is still happy,” Lena said. “He and the squirrel are building a nest right behind our house. My dad is even talking about doing a scientific study on unusual animal behavior.”

Marcus laughed. “I guess sometimes you do get a happy ending, even in real life.”

Just then, Lena's phone started to ring. She frowned as she saw it was Abigail calling. “She's supposed to be at Saturday play rehearsal.” She answered the phone and listened for a long time, her eyes getting rounder and rounder. “Okay, I'll be right there!” she practically shrieked before hanging up the phone.

“What's going on?”

“Two of the playing cards in the show got mono and had to drop out. Mr. Jackson's holding emergency auditions this afternoon to replace them.”

“That's great!” Marcus said. “Er, not about the mono. But this is your chance to rock your audition.” He smiled. “Isn't mono called the kissing disease?” There was something kind of perfect about that.

But Lena wasn't smiling. “What if I mess up again? What if—”

“You'll be fine. I'll be there the whole time. Okay?”

She nodded. “But we have to hurry. The audition starts in an hour.” She jumped to her feet and practically ran out of the park, Marcus hurrying after her.