Witch Ball - BK 3 (12 page)

I pulled against my seatbelt, leaning forward
from the backseat to face Thorn. "Does your friend
know K.C.?"

"No. She says I must have the wrong apartment number, because only a woman and a girl live
there."

A thought hit me I hadn't considered before.
"Could K.C. be a girl?"

Manny shook his head. "Not according to the
school records."

"Maybe he moved and didn't tell the school,"
Thorn suggested.

"Easy enough to check out. There's something
weird about a dude no one knows."

"Nothing wrong with being independent, not
a follower," Thorn said with a critical glance at me.

"He could be shy," I said a bit defensively.

"Or invisible," Manny joked. He clicked the
right-hand signal, then drove down a street with
few lights and fewer street signs.

Not the best part of town, I thought uneasily as I
noticed seedy figures milling around corners. Thorn
directed Manny to a shabby three-story apartment
complex. Even in the dim light, it was clear it needed
a paint job and new roof. We found stairs and
walked up to the third floor.

"You girls wait here," Manny said as we neared
apartment 34C. "I'll go ahead to check things out."

"And have all the fun without us?" Thorn retorted. "I don't think so."

"It's safer for only one of us to go ahead."

"So why should it be you? Because you're a
guy?" Thorn arched her pink-studded brow. "FYI-
I've taken self-defense and kick-boxing lessons. You,
on the other hand, freak out over a paper cut."

"Just that one time," Manny insisted. "My
thumb was bleeding."

"Wimp."

"Well you're a heartless-"

"Enough." I stepped between them. "This is
my problem, so I'll go ahead."

Before they could stop me, I pushed past them
to knock on the door. Glancing behind me, I put
my fingers to my lips, gesturing for them to stay
back.

When I heard footsteps behind the door, I
forced a calm expression. A lifetime of pretending
not to see ghosts or hear spirits made it easy to
mask my emotions. Only my pounding heart betrayed my anxiety. What was I doing here anyway?
If K.C. answered the door, what should I say to him? I couldn't just blurt out, "Had any death predictions lately?"

So I was kind of relieved when a middle-aged
woman answered the door. She had tired lines
etched in her skin and her black hair was tied back
in a scarf. She gave me a dismissive look. Her hand
clutched the knob, poised to slam the door in my
face.

"I'm not buying anything," she said briskly.

"Good, because I'm not selling."

"Then what do you want?"

Deep breath. "I'm looking for K.C. "

"Why?" she demanded. "What do you want
with him?"

"We, uh, go to school together. Does he live
here?"

"Of course he does, I never said he didn't. I'm
responsible for him after all."

"Are you his mother?"

"Do I look old enough to have a teenager?"
She glared at me, and I was glad she didn't wait for
an answer. "His mother is my oldest sister, only she
went and got her butt thrown in jail, so I took in
K.C. and his sister."

"That was kind of you." I tried to look behind
her, hoping for a glimpse of K.C., but saw no
movement except the flash of a TV. "May I speak
to K.C.?"

"No, 'cause he's not here. He's out with friends."

"What friends?" I asked, surprised.

"Who can keep up?" She shrugged. "He's so
popular, always rushing off to parties and school
activities."

Popular? Parties? Were we talking about the
same person?

"Do you know his friends addresses or phone
numbers?" I asked. "It's really important I talk to
him."

"About what?" She eyed me suspiciously.

"Uh ... a school project. When do you expect
him back?"

"I'm not his secretary. And I got enough to deal
with my niece, so if you don't mind, I have to get
back to-"

"Wait!" I stuck my foot in the doorway. "Could
I talk with your niece? Maybe she knows-"

"Zoey's only five and doesn't know anything.
Don't bother me anymore."

Then she kicked my foot aside and slammed
the door in my face.

"I feel sorry for Zoey," Thorn said, coming up
beside me. "That woman is a walking bad attitude."

"I didn't handle that very well," I said with an
apologetic shrug. "I should have let you guys talk."

"You were fine," Manny assured.

"Except for calling her old and getting the door
slammed in my face." I sighed. "Now how do we
find K.C.?"

Manny turned to Thorn. "Do your `finder'
thing."

"Not so easy. I'd have to hold something that
belongs to him. It's not likely that woman will give
us anything."

"I picked up this weird vibe from her, like she
was afraid of something or someone." It was hard
to explain the uneasy feeling that nagged at me. It
came with colors of grays and reds-but no clear
answers.

"So who's she afraid of?" Thorn said. "What if
K.C. is the violent type?"

"We better find out." Manny rubbed his chin
and stared thoughtfully at the closed apartment
door. "Let's go talk to some neighbors."

No one answered in the first two apartments
we tried, although I sensed movement beyond the
peepholes. I guess people around here were naturally suspicious. An elderly man who was hard of hearing,
which made questioning him impossible, opened
the third door. At least someone answered at our
fourth try-a dude with a shaved head who had
wrestling blaring on his TV. But when we asked
about K.C., he said he'd never heard of the guy.

Thorn suggested we talk to her friend, then
led us downstairs. Her friend, Kevin, was a skinny
black-draped guy with white makeup and enough
piercings to set off every metal detector within a
mile. He confirmed only the woman and her niece
lived in 34C.

When we finally left the apartment complex,
even I was beginning to doubt K.C.'s existence.
Maybe Manny was right-the guy was invisible.

By the time I returned home, I was confused,
exhausted, and discouraged.

But my mood improved when I found out I'd
had a phone call.

From Josh.

"What did he say?" I almost pounced on my
grandmother.

"I wrote it down so I wouldn't forget. Now
where did I put that paper?"

We spent twenty minutes searching for the
note, until finally I spotted it propped on the side
of the refrigerator with a magnet.

Nona pushed back her gray-blond curls, her
cheeks flushed apologetically. "I don't remember
putting it there."

I told her it didn't matter, but we both knew it
did. More evidence that her memory was diminishing. I was losing her by inches.

Looking down at the pink paper in my hand,
I read Joshs message.

Locker tomorrow. Love josh

"That's all?" I asked, flipping the note over
and hoping for more, like where he'd been all day
and why he hadn't called sooner.

But at least he had called and he wanted to see
me in the morning. So I guessed our relationship
was okay. It was amazing how much lighter I felt;
like my feet soared off the ground and I floated
near the ceiling. If Evan had tried to poison josh
against me, it had failed. Josh still cared enough to
end his message with "Love Josh."

Under the glow of a heart-shaped night-light,
I fell asleep smiling.

Getting ready for school the next morning
took extra time. I tried on a dozen outfits, hated
them all, and finally settled on jeans and a yellow
T-shirt. Then I spent at least thirty minutes fixing my hair, choosing the perfect pair of earrings, and
applying makeup. When I ran into Penny-Love
when I reached school the next morning, she said
I looked hot.

Ironically, now that my boyfriend was back at
school, hers was gone. Jacques (AKA Jack) hadn't
called last night or kept a promise about driving
her to school. In her usual dramatic jump of conclusions, she was sure this meant he'd found another girl.

"I knew it was too good to last," she said, stepping away from the crowds of kids entering the
building. "Guys always disappoint me, why should
Jacques be any different? I was going to enroll in an
art class, so we'd have more in common. He's older
and smarter, why would he want to be with me?"

"Because you're smart, gorgeous, and fun. You're
the one who's too good for him. Lots of guys would
love a chance with you."

"I've gone out with a ton of guys and they don't
compare to Jacques. But your loyalty is sweet,"
Penny-Love said with a sad smile.

"I just want you to be happy."

"I will be when I find out Jacques has a good
reason for being absent-like a severe illness."

"Mono? The kissing disease?"

"Not that severe!" She realized I was teasing,
then we both laughed.

We headed in different directions and minutes
later I found josh waiting by my locker. He grinned
when he saw me and I could tell he liked how I
looked.

"Sabine," was all he said and then his arms
were around me and we kissed right there in the
school hall. Usually Josh was ultrareserved, but I
didn't mind this change.

"So where were you yesterday?" I tried to sound
casual as I spun my locker combination and pulled
out my English book.

"With Evan."

"Evan!" My grip on my book tightened.

"Yeah. You know we went fishing Sunday."

I nodded, unease mounting.

"Well he left his backpack on his dad's boat,
and he needed it for his Biology class. But he had no
way to get out to the boat. His parents had already
left for work and he doesn't have his own car."

"So Josh to the rescue?" I tried not to sound
sarcastic, and failed.

"Hey, what else could I do?" He spread out his
hands. "If he flunks this makeup test, he won't get back on the team. Besides, I figured we'd be back
before school started. But it didn't work out that
way."

"So what did happen?"

The warning bell rang and we walked down
the hall. Josh quickly filled me in on the rest of his
story. It was unbelievable, but coming from josh, I
knew it must be the truth.

Josh had driven Evan to the marina where the
boat was docked, got on the boat, and found the
textbook. But the ropes mooring the boat came
loose and they drifted away from the dock, out into
the middle of an icy mountain lake. Evan didn't
have the ignition keys to the boat (why did this not
surprise me?). They couldn't swim back because the
water was too cold. Evan had a cell phone, but
couldn't get a signal. So they waited all afternoon
for another boat to show up and tow them in.

"By then, school was out and so were you,"
Josh finished. "Where'd you go?"

I hesitated. "After a newspaper interview."

"When'd you start doing interviews? You're a
copy editor."

"Yeah, but Manny was shorthanded."

"You shouldn't let that guy bulldoze you into
doing his work. I don't like how he's always taking
advantage of you."

"Like Evan does with you?"

"Message received." Josh gave a rueful smile.
"I know you're right, it's just hard to refuse Evan.
When my brother was alive, he and Evan were my
heroes and I was the pesky kid tagging along. Now
it's only me and Evan ..."

He paused, staring into space. The subject of his
brother was private and rarely brought up. When
he'd first told me about his loss, I'd wondered if his
brother would try to send him a message through
me. But there hadn't been anything, and I doubted
Josh would be open to hearing a message anyway.

I purposefully switched topics. "That was a
long time to be stuck on a boat. What'd you and
Evan do to keep busy?"

"Fished. Studied. Talked."

"Talked about what?" I tensed. "Did Evan say
anything about ... about me?"

"Nope. Why should he?"

"No reason. But when girls get together, we
talk about guys."

"You talk about me when I'm not around?"

"Tons. And it's all good," I linked my fingers
through his as we neared our homeroom.

"So what about that interview?" Josh asked.
"How did it go?"

"Not so good," I admitted, reliving the slam of
the door in my face.

"It'll work out next time. I have faith in you."

Looking into his handsome face, I wondered if
he'd still feel that way when he learned I'd been
kicked out of my old school and labeled a freak. I
wished I could avoid telling him forever, but if I
didn't tell him, Evan would.

In first period, I tuned out my teacher and wondered how to explain my psychic ability to josh.
We'd already had a discussion about magic and he'd
made it clear he was a skeptic. He believed magic was
an illusion created solely for entertainment. How
could I convince him ghosts existed and that my
psychic visions foretold the future?

I was still thinking about it during break when
I heard someone call my name. Glancing down the
hall, I saw Penny-Love running toward me. She
clutched a cell phone in one hand and ran her fingers through her wild curls with the other.