Her face shook violently from side to side to up and down. The screaming was back. It wasn’t the redheaded woman screaming, though.
It was the woman with her that screamed. The redhead’s face, misshapen and pale, whipped around, her hair flowing wildly around her head. Then it stopped. The screaming quieted, and the movement of the grossly misshapen head stilled. For a brief second, I thought the vision was over… until I saw her lying on the gleaming tile floor of the ice cream shop. Her face was deathly pale, her hair and lips stark red against her unnaturally white skin. But it wasn’t hair. I struggled to see. It was as though I was looking down at her from the ceiling, but the floor sank farther and farther from me every second that ticked by. I was running out of time.
“Would you like cherries on your sundae?” I heard Chay ask.
Cherries! It’s not hair; it’s long, intertwining lines of cherries surrounding her!
I grabbed a hand towel and turned the corner. “I’m so sorry,” I said, leaning over the toppings station, the hand towel covering the full bin of cherries. “We’re out of cherries.”
“I thought I saw some?” the woman said.
“Oh, you must have seen these.” I picked the bin of strawberries up and angled it toward her. “We ran out of cherries yesterday.” I lowered my voice. “I was supposed to get more but it completely slipped my mind. Please don’t tell my boss. I really need this job,” I whispered.
She smiled. “You know, you’re right, it was the strawberries I saw. No cherries for me, thank you. I’ll have extra strawberries, though.” She winked at me.
The next vision was one of her sitting at a table by the front window of the shop, eating her sundae topped with extra strawberries and talking with her friend. Slowly, it dissolved from view.
Keeping the towel over the bin of cherries, I lifted it and carried it to the back of the shop. I set it down on the metal prep table that ran the length of the room, the metal bin clanging against the tabletop. One hand on either side of the bin of cherries, my arms stretched out in front of me, I bowed my head and closed my eyes, taking deep breaths to calm my racing heart.
“Laid it on a little thick there, don’t cha think? ‘Please don’t tell my boss or he might fire me,’” Uncle mimicked in a high-pitched voice.
I smiled, not opening my eyes. “I had to make sure she didn’t fuss over the disappearing cherries. And I don’t sound like that.” I laughed.
“Tsk, you did good, Milayna.” He patted my shoulder.
“What was with the cherries?” Chay murmured close to my ear, his breath moving my hair and tickling my neck.
“She would have choked on them,” I told him.
“You okay?” Chay pulled me into his arms.
“I’m good. Remind me to order strawberries from now on, though.”
I jumped at Uncle’s roar of laughter. His round belly jiggled in time with his chortles, making him look like Santa Claus. If Santa were an angel. He wasn’t.
***
That night, the hobgoblins returned. They stared at me through the kitchen window while I loaded dishes into the dishwasher. When I finished, I wiped my hands on a dishcloth and walked outside.
“What?” I snapped.
“He’s here.” Friendly’s usual bubbly behavior was subdued.
“Who’s here?”
“The one who will kill you,” Scarface said with a deformed smile.
3
The Promise
“What are we doing?”
Chay smiled. “I dunno.”
We were in chemistry, waiting for class to start. “I’m not going if you don’t tell me what we’re doing.”
“Don’t you trust me?” He grinned.
“Depends,” I said slowly.
“On?”
“What we’re doing.”
He laughed, and I glared at him. We had a date the next day. A secret date. At least, it was a secret to me.
“You’ll like it. I promise.” He drew a cross over his heart with his finger.
Chay leaned over and grazed his lips gently against mine. The room fell away, and I was lost in him. I didn’t hear the other students talking, the rustling of papers, or the slamming of books on tables. I didn’t feel the eyes of others watching us. Blocking it all out, I focused on Chay and how the feel of his lips moving against mine made my insides tickle.
Then I felt it. I ignored the first one. By the third kick, I was pissed. I pulled away from Chay and swung my head in Xavier’s direction.
“What?” I bit out, out of breath from Chay’s kiss.
“Sorry. I just wanted to make sure we were still on for lunch today.”
He had to interrupt my kiss to ask about lunch? What the heck?
“I guess so.”
“Good.” Xavier smiled and started leafing through his chemistry book. I stared at him.
Chay cupped my cheek. He pulled my face around to him and kissed me softly, trailing his lips to my ear. “He’s jealous,” he murmured.
“He’s starting to irritate me.”