But shouldn’t I have a choice about when and where my soul traveled?
Admittedly, I’d made some mistakes as a Temp Lifer, but I’d tried hard. I’d even helped take down a Dark Lifer. If I could take out a Dark Lifer (or at least point to where he was), why shouldn’t I be allowed to finish my assignment?
Not being the type of girl to stand by when I could be taking action, I came to a drastic decision.
Eli was staring at gyrating bodies on the beach when I tapped his shoulder. I gestured that I was going to get something to drink from a nearby snack cart. “I’ll be right back,” I said.
“I’ll wait here,” he promised, then returned to watching the dancing.
I bought a drink (non-alcoholic, thank you very much) from the snack cart. Sipping water, I glanced around to make sure no one was watching. Then I withdrew the GEM from my pocket.
I bent down low, opening it to the first page, and whispered, “GEM, can you get a message to Grammy Greta?”
A bold YES flourished across the page.
“I thought so. Please tell her that we need to talk.”
You Are Doing So Now.
As I stared at the book, the page burst into video of Grammy’s gentle, smiling face. Instead of words flashing, I felt a pressure in my ears as if someone had stuck in an ear bud, and I clearly heard Grammy.
“Hi, honey.” It was mind-boggling how I could read her lips on the GEM page at the same time she broadcast into my ears.
“Grammy! It’s so good to hear you!” I whispered, tears coming to my eyes because, no matter how many times I’d seen her since her death, she was dead and I missed her.
“I heard you spotted the Dark Lifer. Great work,” she said proudly.
“You really mean that? Even after I messed up by losing the GEM and having no clue how to act like Sharayah?”
“You’ve done fine and I’m the one who owes you an apology for putting you in such a challenging situation without any training. I admit to acting on impulse when I discovered you knew Sharayah’s brother. At the time, this seemed like a simple assignment, but I didn’t know about the Dark Lifer. I’m really sorry.”
“Don’t be. This has been a great assignment, and except for the scary stuff, it’s been fun. I figured out a lot of things about Sharayah and even got my GEM back — Eli drove four hundred miles to bring it to me. I think you’d really like him, Grammy.”
“I already do,” she said with a knowing lift of her brows. “He’s a very nice boy — and I have it on good authority that you’ll be seeing a lot of him.”
“You do?” I felt my cheeks get sizzling hot.
“Some future events are written in the Hall of Records and I’ve been known to sneak a peak when it concerns people I love. So I know you have many wonderful things ahead of you once you’re in your right body — which is what brings me here. You have good timing, contacting me just as I was preparing to contact you.”
“You were?” I gulped, tempted to slam the book shut and run away.
“It’s time, Amber. Your parents will be so happy when you wake up.”
I thought of Mom and Dad and what I’d already put them through. It was selfish of me to resist going back, yet that’s what I felt inside. Maybe my resistance was a leftover from Sharayah’s soul, some sort of defense system holding tightly to me like someone drowning grabs onto a life jacket. I was Sharayah’s life jacket.
“Grammy, there’s something I have to tell you,” I said, drawing a deep breath. “About my assignment.”
“What, honey?”
“As much as I want to return to my own life, I can’t leave yet. I need to finish my assignment. I know how to solve Sharayah’s problems.”
“Temp Lifers are replacements, not guardian angels.”
“Can’t I be both?”
“Oh, Amber, you make me so proud.” Her tone embraced me, loving and warm, but the smile she gave seemed a little sad. “Unfortunately, there is little you can do for Sharayah. She has to live her own life.”
“But I can make her life happier if I have more time. And the reason you were pulling me back today was because of the Dark Lifer, only the DD Team took care of Warren so there’s no danger.”
“Danger wears many faces,” she said.
“Don’t worry about me, Grammy. I’ll be fine, but I’m not so sure about Sharayah. I’m afraid she won’t go to the audition unless I’m her.”
“I suspect you’re right.”
“So you see why I can’t change back yet? Grammy, give me — give Sharayah — another chance.”
“It’s not that simple,” she argued, but with less fervor.
“Only twenty-four hours. Then I’ll happily switch back.”
“You have no idea what you’re asking.”
“Grammy, let me do this. It’s important for Sharayah … and me, too.”
“Well … ” Her voice wavered.
“Please,” I said quietly.
Clouds rose white and misty around my grandmother’s face as she gave a slow nod. “Well … all right. One more day — and not a minute more.”
I thought I heard my grandmother sigh.
Then the GEM slammed itself shut.
18
Eli and I celebrated my “one more day” by indulging in chocolate.
We wandered down streets until we found a shop called Choco Lots! The Amber inside me drooled with passion. Choosing just one candy was impossible, so Eli and I systemically divided the candies into categories and mathematically selected a representation of each chocolate category to share. When I started to offer my “borrowed” credit card, Eli shook his head and paid in cash.
“You are the best brother ever,” I said as we left the store with two bags.
“I don’t feel at all brotherly with you. But then I look at you and see my sister. Like this scar on your arm.” He pointed to a small white line below my elbow. “I bet you don’t know how that happened.”
I shook my head. “No idea.”
“But I do. I was six, and you were teaching me how to ride my bike.”
“I was a nice sister,” I observed, moving aside with Eli to make room for a couple with a stroller.
“You were the best,” he agreed a bit sadly. “It was when Dad was starting his dealership and Mom did his bookkeeping, leaving us with babysitters a lot. It was Sharayah who put me up on a bike, explained what to do and pushed me into the street. But a car turned onto our street and was headed for me. Sharayah ran after me, grabbed the bike and threw us out of the way. I fell on the grass, but she had to go to the emergency room for stitches. That’s the Sharayah I miss.”
“She’s around, just in hiding,” I said. “She’ll come back.”
“I hope so.”
“Until then, you’ve got me.”
“Yeah,” he said, smiling. “I like that.”
“You know what I like?”
“What?” He gave me a look that was far from brotherly.
“What else?” I reached into the bag and we shared a chocolate-covered strawberry.
That afternoon will probably go down as the most romantic platonic non-date in history. No kissing, hand holding or body contact of any kind. We walked along the beach without even brushing fingertips. We found a small amusement park and rode on fast rides, sitting a safe “sibling distance” apart. Despite all this non-touching, I felt closer to Eli than ever.
After a late lunch of chili hot dogs and onion rings, I was staring at a spot of chili on his mouth, wishing I could kiss it off, when Eli glanced at the clock on his cell phone and said he had to leave. Turns out he wasn’t lying about having friends to visit. He invited me to go along, but keeping up the Big Sister pretense privately was hard enough; it would be insane around people who actually knew Sharayah.