“I appreciate you.” I smacked his head from behind, good and hard. He didn’t even seem to feel it. I was talking to Link, but I was looking at Lena. I couldn’t stop looking at her. She was more beautiful than I remembered, more beautiful and more real.
I curled a strand of her hair through my fingers, and she leaned her cheek against my hand. We were together. It was hard to think or see or even talk about anything else. Then I felt bad for feeling so good when I was still carrying The Stars and Stripes in my back pocket.
“Wait. Check it out.” Link paused. “That’s exactly what I needed to finish my new lyrics. ‘Candy girl. Hurts so sweet she’ll make you want to hurl—’ ”
Lena put her head on my shoulder. “Did I mention that my cousin’s back in town?”
“Of course she is.” I smiled.
Link winked at me in the rearview mirror. I smacked him in the head again as the car pulled down the street.
“I think you’re gonna be a rock star,” I said.
“I gotta get back to workin’ on my demo track, you know? ’Cause as soon as we graduate, I’m headin’ straight to New York, the big time….”
Link was so full of crap, he could pass for a toilet. Just like the old days. Just like it was supposed to be.
It was all the proof I needed.
I was really home.
CHAPTER 38
Eleven Across
You kids go on in,” Link said, turning up the latest Holy Rollers demo. “I’m gonna wait here. I get enough a books at school.”
Lena and I climbed out of the Beater and stood in front of the Gatlin County Library. The repairs were further along than I remembered. All the major construction was finished on the outside, and the fine ladies of the DAR had already started planting saplings near the door.
The inside of the building was less finished. Plastic sheets hung across one side, and I could see tools and sawhorses on the other. But Aunt Marian had already set up this particular area, which didn’t surprise me at all. She would rather have half a library than no library, any day.
“Aunt Marian?” My voice echoed more than usual, and within seconds she appeared at the end of the aisle in her stocking feet. I could see the tears in her eyes as she rushed in for a hug.
“I still can’t believe it.” She hugged me tighter.
“Trust me, I know.”
I heard the sound of dress shoes against the uncarpeted concrete.
“Mr. Wate, it is a pleasure to see you, son.” Macon had a huge smile plastered across his face. It was the same one he seemed to have every time he saw me now, and it was starting to creep me out a little.
He gave Lena a squeeze and made his way over to me. I held out my hand to shake his, but he swung his arm around my neck instead.
“It’s good to see you, too, sir. We kinda wanted to talk to you and Aunt Marian.” She raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”
Lena was twisting her charm necklace, waiting for me to explain. I guess she didn’t want to break the news to her uncle that we could make out all we wanted now without putting my life in danger. So I did the honors. And as intrigued as Macon seemed, I was pretty sure he liked it better when kissing Lena posed the threat of electric shock.
Marian turned to Macon, at a loss. “Remarkable. What do you think it means?” He was pacing in front of the stacks. “I’m not entirely sure.”
“Whatever it is, do you think it will affect other Casters and Mortals?” Lena was hoping this was some kind of change in the Order of Things. Maybe a cosmic bonus, after everything I’d been through.
“That’s doubtful, but we will certainly look into it.” He glanced at Marian.
She nodded. “Of course.”
Lena tried to hide her disappointment, but her uncle knew her too well. “Even if this isn’t affecting other Casters and Mortals, it is affecting the two of you. Change has to start somewhere, even in the supernatural world.” I heard a creak, and the front door slammed. “Dr. Ashcroft?”
I looked at Lena. I would’ve known that voice anywhere. Apparently, Macon recognized it, too, because he ducked behind the stacks with Lena and me.
“Hello, Martha.” Marian gave Mrs. Lincoln her friendliest librarian voice.
“Was that Wesley’s car I saw out front? Is he in here?”
“I’m sorry. He’s not.”
Link was probably scrunched down on the floor of the Beater, hiding from his mother.
“Is there anything else I can do for you today?” Marian asked politely.
“What you can do,” Mrs. Lincoln fussed, “is try to read this book a witchcraft and explain to me how we can allow our children to check this out a the public library.”
I didn’t have to look to know what series she was referring to, but I just couldn’t help myself. I poked my head around the corner to see Link’s mom waving a copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in the air.
I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. It was good to know some things in Gatlin would never change.
I didn’t take The Stars and Stripes out during lunch. They say that when someone you love dies, you can’t eat. But today I had a cheeseburger with extra pickles, a double order of fries, a raspberry Oreo shake, and a banana split with hot fudge, caramel, and extra whip.
I felt like I hadn’t eaten in weeks. I guess I hadn’t actually eaten anything in the Otherworld, and my body seemed to know it.
As Lena and I ate, Link and Ridley were joking around together, which sounded more like fighting to anyone who didn’t know better.
Ridley shook her head. “Seriously? The Beater? Didn’t we go over this on the way here?”
“I wasn’t listenin’. I only pay attention to about ten percent a what you say.” He glanced at her over his shoulder.
“I’m ninety percent too busy lookin’ at you sayin’ it.”
“Yeah, well, maybe I’m a hundred percent too busy looking the other way.” She acted annoyed, but I knew Ridley better than that.
Link only grinned. “And they say you don’t use math in real life.”
Ridley unwrapped a red lollipop and made a show of it, like always. “If you think I’m going to New York with you in that rust bucket, you’re crazier than I thought, Hot Rod.”
Link nuzzled her neck, and Rid swatted him. “Come on, Babe. It was awesome last time. And this time we won’t have to sleep in the Beater.”
Lena raised an eyebrow at her cousin. “You slept in a car?”
Rid tossed her blond and pink hair. “I couldn’t leave Shrinky Dink alone. It’s not like he was a hybrid back then.” Link wiped his greasy hands on his Iron Maiden T-shirt. “You know you love me, Rid. Admit it.” Ridley pretended to scoot away from him, but she barely moved an inch. “I’m a Siren, in case you’ve forgotten. I don’t love anything.”
Link kissed her on the cheek. “Except me.”
“You got room for two more?” John was balancing a tray of freezes and french fries in one hand, his other hand locked around Liv’s.
Lena smiled at Liv and moved over. “Always.”
There was a time when I couldn’t get the two of them to stand in the same room. But that felt like a lifetime ago.
Technically, for me, I guess it was.
Liv tucked herself under John’s arm. She was wearing her periodic table shirt and her trademark blond braids. “I hope you don’t think we’re sharing those.” She slid the paper boat full of chili fries in front of her.
“I would never get between you and your fries, Olivia.” John leaned over and gave her a quick kiss.
“Smart boy.” Liv looked happy—not make-the-best-of-it happy but the real kind of happy. And I was happy for both of them.