My hands clenched so tightly the sides of the phone cracked. I forwarded the text to my cell and from there forwarded it to Cole.
Cole: Tell him U’ll give an answer 2morrow. We need time 2 plan.
I did as commanded.
Ethan: Until then.
Me to Cole: It’s set. Where are U? I’ll help w/planning.
Cole: I’ll find U later.
I gnashed my teeth. Did he think I’d tell Helen our plans? Did he not trust me anymore?
I sent him one more text: We need 2 test the new vision development.
Cole: Later.
“What is it?” Kat asked, concerned.
I put both phones away with more force than necessary. There was no way anyone would allow Miss Mad Dog to participate in what was to come, so there was no reason to argue about it now or alarm her over Justin’s condition.
“Cole and I had sex,” I announced, switching gears. “In other news, I want to smash his face!”
In an instant, everything else was forgotten.
“What!” the girls exclaimed in unison.
“How was it?” Kat asked. “Totally cake?”
“Yes. Frosted and sprinkled.”
“Last I heard, you weren’t ready,” Reeve said. “What changed?”
Everything!
I flopped onto the bed and covered my face with the comforter. “I almost died when Zombie Ali showed up, and that affects a person, you know. I wanted to live and basically begged Cole to make the next move. He wouldn’t, until I almost died again, and now it’s changed things between us, changed me. I feel closer to him than ever, so of course his anger is harder to take. I mean, I hated his anger before, but it’s like a thorn in my side now. I can’t get past it. Can’t think about anything else. I’m confused and upset and, okay, even more angry with him than he is with me. How dare he get mad at me! Sure, he has a good reason, but I’m his girlfriend. Shouldn’t he focus on me rather than the past?”
Silence.
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you string so many words together at once,” Kat said. “But let me see if I got the gist of what you were saying. Cole needs to be castrated?”
Knows me so well. “Exactly!”
We spent the next few hours dissing boys, wondering what the world would be like without them. Final conclusion: magnificent. We’d never have to shave our legs or style our hair. If we wanted to gain a hundred pounds, big deal. No one would accuse us of being unreasonable, because all the stupid people would be gone!
Reeve patted my hand. “What’s Cole angry about? What does he think you’ve done?”
“I...” How could I explain? “My mom...wasn’t my birth mother. My real mother worked for Anima and even helped arrange his mother’s death. That’s why the guys were so freaked about my ability. It came from my mom. And I...I’ve been talking to her, like I talk to my little sister. I trust her. Cole wants me to stop.”
“Oh,” she said, a thousand emotions dripping from that one word. Clearly, she agreed with Cole.
“Not helping,” I said on a sigh.
Should I apologize to Cole?
Answer was immediate. No! Helen was my mother. The only one I had left. I didn’t want to lose her the way I’d lost everyone else. I would talk to her—believe her—if I wanted.
Kat tapped her chin and said, “Let’s look at this situation like a math test. There are four possible answers. A, Cole’s wrong and you’re right. B, Cole’s right and you’re wrong. C, you’re both wrong. And D, you’re both right. You’ve selected A, and he’s selected B. Meaning, you’ve both flunked. The correct answer is D, and if you guys are too stubborn to see that, you’re going to lose each other.”
I rolled to my side, sighed. “I need to think.”
“My genius usually has that effect. Take all the time you need.”
Kat and Reeve switched topics, and I might have joined...if I hadn’t seen Helen kneel beside the bed. The source of my problem.
Actually, no. That was Cole.
Our eyes—so identical in color—met and I found I couldn’t resent her. Couldn’t even work up a spark of upset. She was here. For me. Part of me loved her for it.
She reached out as if she meant to smooth the hair from my forehead, smiled sadly just before contact that would never happen and dropped her arm to her side.
“Close your eyes,” she said.
“Why?” I asked.
“Why what?” Reeve replied.
Note to self: must guard my tongue.
“I’m going to close my eyes for a bit,” I said, attention locked on Helen. “You guys continue on without me.”
Kat patted my shoulder. “If you insist.”
“When you were five, I made molds of your hands....” As she spoke, the scene began to crystallize in my mind.