CHAPTER 20
Delaware
I should have known. Running back home wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be.
Ashley was still there—and mad at me. As if it were my fault that Ryan had dumped her. Hello? I wasn’t even on the continent when he broke her heart. I wondered what had suffered more: Ashley’s heart or her pride.
So I was forced to spend the last days of my summer vacation with Blonde Poison, Kim’s nickname for Ashley. And she was always home. My parents had grounded her after they had caught her smoking, but it seemed to me that the rest of us were being punished, too. My parents had to bear Ashley moping around, and I couldn’t count on having my room to myself for a single minute of the day; my dear cousin grouchily spent all of her time staring at the small TV in my room. Well, not all of her time. She’d look up on occasion to shoot me a nasty look.
My poor parents. They were dying to hear about my trip to Scotland. And I didn’t want to think or talk about it at all. Certainly not with Mom and Dad. I tried to fake enthusiasm, babbling about this monument or that castle, but it was hard to keep up the ruse. I told them I was jetlagged and needed a nap, grabbed my phone, and called Kim. I hoped she could take a break from smooching Justin to give some sympathy to her best friend.
“Kim. It’s me. I’m back.”
“Oh my God! I missed you so much. We have to meet up right away. I have so much to tell you. You won’t believe what happened to me!”
Ah, Kim. I had flown halfway around the world, met an immortal, gotten my heart broken, partially lifted a curse, and fled from a murdering Highlander. But before I could tell her anything, I’d first have to listen to what she’d been up to—even though I doubted that she’d set foot outside Milford even for a day. Still, you had to give her credit; she was utterly honest. And I knew eventually she’d listen to me, using her reporter’s instincts to pepper me with questions until she knew every single detail of my story.
“Do you have time today? I can come over,” I said.
“Pick me up at three, and we’ll go to the beach. That way we can be alone. My mom is off work this week, so if you come here, she’ll drive you crazy with a million questions.”
Hmm, I thought. I wonder where Kim gets it from.
“All right, see you in a little while.”
To kill time before going by Kim’s, I unpacked my suitcase. I put all my dirty clothes into the laundry bag, which was hardly able to hold the gigantic load. Then I came across the suede skirt I’d bought in Inverness—the one I’d worn to seduce Payton—and I threw it onto my bed in disgust.
Ashley looked up from the TV. “Wow, that’s hot! Wouldn’t have thought you would wear anything like that.”
“Actually, I don’t think I’ll ever wear it again.”
Ashley muted the sound and sat down backward in her chair to watch me. “Why did you buy it then?”
“A mistake, I guess. I thought it might be ‘me,’ but it really isn’t.”
“Can I try it on?” Ashley picked up the skirt without waiting for an answer and held it up to her hips.
“Go for it. You can have it if it fits.”
I pulled out a few more socks and some shoes. Then my hand touched something cold and metal. Grandma’s pendant. The piece of jewelry lay in my hand, looking shiny and new. I still didn’t understand how that was possible. But as I’d learned in Scotland, things that can’t exist… well, they do exist.
In the meantime, Ashley had squeezed into the skirt, but she couldn’t fasten it. “Almost! But it’s cute. Let me see what it looks like on you.”
“No.”
“Oh come on. Please?”
“No.”
“Hey, Sam, what did I ever do to you? If I can forgive you for taking Ryan away from me, then you can stop treating me like I don’t exist.”
“What are you talking about? I didn’t take Ryan away from you. I’m not even interested in him. In fact, I think he’s kind of a jerk. You are welcome to him.”
“Really? But Ryan said there’s something going on with you two.”
“Yeah, right—in his dreams.”
Ashley laughed, and even I couldn’t stop smiling a little.
“OK, give me the skirt,” I said, pulling it on.
“Wow, Sam, that looks awesome! Don’t give it away. You should totally wear it.”
“Nah, I don’t think so.”
I quickly took it off, but Ashley’s admiration had made me feel a lot better. Maybe I would wear the skirt again someday. I would definitely wear the necklace. I had missed it. When I put it on, I immediately felt better.
Ashley turned back to her show, and I watched her for a moment, wondering if we would ever manage to be friends.
When I shut my now-empty suitcase, I suddenly felt like crying. I missed Payton so much that everything hurt. I sank onto my bed, trying not to hold it in.
I must have been tearing up, though, because Ashley switched the TV off and asked, “Hey, is everything OK? Are you crying?”
“No.” My voice was breaking. “Just leave me alone.”
And, to my great surprise, she did.
Quietly, she shut the door behind her, and I didn’t have to hold back anymore. Sobbing loudly and releasing a real flood of tears, I mourned the lost love of my life. Again and again, I thought about that wonderful first kiss. It had seemed like the beginning, but it was actually the beginning of the end.
It was unbearably hot here compared to Scotland. I kicked off my shoes and walked the short distance to Kim’s house in my bare feet. My jeans shorts, frayed at the bottom where I’d cut them off, were sticking to my legs, and I was sweating through my gray tank top. Ick. The humidity made me feel like I was being steamed alive. What wouldn’t I give for a brisk Scottish breeze in my face.
Deep in my thoughts, I didn’t notice that someone was walking behind me. So when I felt a tap on my shoulder, I shrieked, jumped sideways, and landed in a bush.
“Ow! Damn!”
“Sorry! Oh my God, I really am sorry.” It was Ryan. “Sit down, you’re bleeding.”
Ryan put an arm around me, and I hopped on one leg to the curb. I took a seat while Ryan looked at my ankle. It was all scratched up.
“I really didn’t mean to scare you, Sam. I thought you had heard me. I called your name a couple of times.”
“Ow!”
Ryan was gently prodding my injury.
“If I had heard you, then why would I have gone on walking and not turned around to talk to you?”
“Well,” he mumbled and looked uncertainly at me, “after our last conversation, I thought you maybe didn’t want to talk to me.”
If I hadn’t known Ryan for such a long time, I would surely have been won over by his big blue eyes, but I wasn’t falling for it.
“No, it’s fine. I just don’t really know what we have to talk about. I’m not sure we have all that much in common.”
My newly straightforward, confident manner seemed to throw Ryan off track.
“Um… well, I just wanted to apologize… Somehow everything seems to go wrong when I talk to you. And I feel really bad about that.”
“Here’s an idea—just stop talking to me. Maybe then things will work out better.”
I determined that my foot would probably not have to be amputated, so I stood up and hobbled on. I didn’t mean to be harsh, but I figured the only reason Ryan wanted me was because I was hard to get.
“I’m not sure that would make a difference.” He put his arm around me again. “Here, let me help you. Where are you going? To Kim’s?”
I would have declined his assistance, but it really was very sore when I put any weight on my leg. On the other hand, I felt extremely stupid to be dependent on Mr. Perfect’s help.
“Fine, help me. But only because it’s your fault that I hurt myself!”
Before I knew what was happening, Ryan pulled my legs out from underneath me, like a groom carrying his bride over the threshold. He was laughing. “If this is all my fault, then I guess I’d better carry you the whole way. As compensation, so to speak.”
“Ryan! Put me down! Seriously, let me go! Oh my God, this is so embarrassing.”
“What? Normally, girls like it when I scoop them up like this.”
“Yes, so now you see the problem. I don’t go for players. Put me down!”
“I’m not a player. And anyway, I like carrying you.”
“Please stop. You know, it might actually be possible to like you if you weren’t always showing off!”
We had arrived at Kim’s fence, and he gently set me down onto my feet. I felt a little guilty. I wasn’t trying to hurt him, and I felt like maybe I’d been a little harsh.
“Listen, I’m sorry,” I said. “I really mean that. I know your awesomeness would radiate upon me if we were a couple. But I’m just not into you that way.”
He looked crestfallen, but he didn’t say a thing. Instead, he turned slowly and walked away.
Irritated, I watched him go, wondering why I couldn’t seem to stop myself from being rude to him.
But as I pushed open the gate to the fence, he turned around, smiling, and yelled, “You never know, things may change. Someday you might be into me!”
I hadn’t even knocked on the door when Kim tore it open. “Can I believe my eyes? Did I just see Ryan carrying you down the sidewalk? How long has this been going on?”
Annoyed, I pushed my gossip-loving friend to one side and stepped into the hall.
“Kim, please, ugh, no. Why is it that everyone wants me to hook up with that idiot?”
Kim stuffed her towel into her bag, and then dug through the closet in search of sunscreen.
“I don’t want you to hook up with him. I was just surprised… you know… because you don’t usually let boys carry you through town.”
“Yeah, well, I hadn’t planned that out or anything. He snuck up on me, and I fell. I think I may have sprained my ankle.”
“Are you all right? Will you be able to walk to the beach or do you just want to hang here?” Kim’s worried voice reminded me why I loved her.
“Oh, it’s not that bad. I can go, just as long as…”
“As long as?
“You carry me!” We both burst out laughing.
I limped the short distance to the beach as inconspicuously as possible. The whole time, she sang Justin’s praises.
“Oh, Sam, you can’t imagine how sweet he is. He has little dimples when he laughs, and he’s so thoughtful. He even calls when he says he’ll call. And his kisses… I have never experienced anything like kissing him. He can really kiss!”
The more Kim went on, the sadder I became. She was so happy, and my heart was broken. With difficulty, I swallowed down the lump that had formed in my throat and tried to put on a happy face.
In my mind, I could see Payton wading through the icy river, sitting on the rock. His eyes had invited me to follow him. Back then, I thought that I was going to have the most exciting summer of my life. Well, it had definitely been exciting—but also so unbelievably painful! I couldn’t stop thinking about him: that enigmatic Scot with his gold-tipped hair, that voice that went right into my soul, and his kiss that had moved the ground. How had he managed to first win my heart, then to tear it out of my chest and trample on it, all in such a short time?
I must have looked upset, because Kim’s speech came to an end. “Oh, sweetie. How stupid of me. I’m going on and on, and you look miserable. What’s wrong?”
I collected my thoughts while Kim laid out a blanket. When we sat down next to each other, she gave me her full attention. “Tell me everything. Start from the beginning. What did that Scottish guy do to you? Should I ask Justin to beat him up? He’d do it, you know.”
There was no way Justin could strike down an almost invincible, immortal Highlander, and as I imagined the fight, I couldn’t stop myself from letting out a little laugh. I didn’t know what I’d do without Kim. She always managed to say something to make me feel better.
“It’s a very long and very complicated story,” I began.
And so I told her everything.
We were only interrupted once, when Lisa’s crowd paraded past us and let out a few nasty remarks. But Kim, whose self-confidence had risen dramatically, shot back with a barbed joke, and the Barbies quickly went on their way.
When I’d finished, tears were running freely down my face and I had to blow my nose.
Afternoon had slid into evening, but the sun was still high and hot. The sky was so different here than in Scotland. Although it was often cloudy in Scotland, the sky radiated such a bright blue that you felt you could see all the way into space. Above Milford, there wasn’t a cloud to be seen, but the blue seemed washed-out and milky. I wondered if that meant the air in Scotland was cleaner, with less smog. I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I missed what Kim had just said.
A jab in my ribs catapulted me back to reality.
“Ow! What?”
“Are you listening to me at all? I said, I’m finding it difficult to believe all this stuff about a real curse. Could it be that they were only pulling your leg?”
That thought had occurred to me, too, but I couldn’t deny what I had seen.
“No, I saw myself how quickly Payton’s cut healed. That isn’t something you can fake. And that guy, Alasdair, you should have seen how he looked at me. I don’t doubt for a second that he wanted me dead.” I wiped my eyes. “So what do you think I should do?”
Kim shrugged.
“I don’t think there is anything you can do. You’re back home now, where you’re safe. Maybe you can just forget about everything. School’s going to start soon, and that should help.”
She was right—I had to move on. But my heart tightened, and all I could think was, How can I forget?
“Sam,” Kim whispered, “let go. Forget Payton. Don’t think about him anymore.”
“But I love him! I can’t breathe, I can’t sleep, I don’t want to live without him. Something connects us. The amount of pain he felt when he was close to me, I think it’s a punishment for what he did. And I am sure that fate led me to him!”
Oh brother, I sounded just like Roy. Did I believe in fate? Destiny? There was only one logical explanation: I was losing my mind. That thought must have just occurred to Kim, too, because she was giving me a strange look.
“Sam, seriously, calm down. You’re beginning to sound a little out there. Try to do normal things. Go on a date with Ryan. Go to the mall. Jeez.”
This wasn’t helping. Of course she couldn’t understand. She didn’t have weird dreams or magic necklaces to contend with.
I stood up. “I think I’d better go home. I need to clear my thoughts.” I started walking away.
“Hey, Sam, don’t be mad. I’m sorry—mentioning Ryan again was a stupid idea. Hey, wait,” Kim yelled, stuffing everything back into her bag. She rushed after me.
I didn’t feel like fighting with my best friend, but I certainly wasn’t going to wait for her. I was still limping, though, so within moments she had caught up with me.
“I told you I was sorry!”
“I know. I’m sorry, too. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. There have just been so many crazy things happening lately. I do need to go, though. My dad said he has something important he wants to talk about. With my luck, he probably wants to let Ashley live in my room forever!”
“No way. They wouldn’t do that to you. You’ll have your little empire back to yourself very soon.”
“Yeah, fortunately… See you!”
“Bye. I’ll call you tomorrow!”
When I got home, my parents and Ashley were already having dinner. I grabbed a plate, served myself a large helping of chicken and corn on the cob, and sat down with them. The atmosphere between Ashley and my parents was still pretty chilly. They had the right to ground her, but I know she felt they were being unnecessarily harsh.
“Well, what did you want to talk about?” I asked with my mouth full, looking expectantly at the grumpy faces surrounding me.
My mom pushed her empty plate slightly away and smiled.
“Daddy and I have decided to go away for a few days. Alone. By ourselves!”
I stopped eating and waited for an explanation. Ashley looked up, too.
“As you know, it’s our twentieth anniversary,” my dad said. “And we have decided we deserve a little vacation splurge. That is, if we can rely on the two of you.”
His eyes drilled their way first into Ashley, and then into me. What did he think we would do, I wondered. Burn the house down?
“We can’t possibly leave until you two promise to get along. And that you will behave well. That means no cigarettes, no alcohol, and no boys. Is that clear?”
Ashley shrugged disinterestedly, as if this part of the speech weren’t meant especially for her.
I nodded demurely. I wasn’t planning to smoke or drink—and boys, well, I’d had enough of them anyway.
“Good. Then it’s settled,” Mom said. “We’re leaving in two days.”