“Knock it off, meanie.” I laughed, shoving him playfully.
“Moi, mean? I seem to recall a certain someone tossing my Cher CDs out the window somewhere between Nashville and Memphis.”
“Fourteen hours of Cher was enough. My ears were bleeding.”
He crossed his arms and pouted.
“Okay, I’ll make it up to you. I’ll take you to her concert.”
“Yeah, right. A concert in this tiny town? I think not.”
“It’s not that small. There’s a shopping mall, and I think I saw a dance club.”
“I saw tumbleweed, Nicole. Tumbleweed.”
Grinning, he winked. He always teased me when I was scared or nervous. It was his way of distracting me, and he always managed to make me laugh.
“I don’t know what I’d do without you.” I’d never expected him to come with me to Texas. I was ready for a tearful good-bye and a huge cellphone bill, because it was impossible to let a day pass without talking to him. Then a couple of days before my scheduled moving date, he showed up at my front door with a moving van sitting in the driveway saying he was coming with me.
Two big things happened this summer. I’d finally let go of the fact that I would never please my parents, and Greg came out to his. Unlike my parents, who had dangled a lot of money for me to stay in New York to attend Columbia University, Greg’s parents gave him money to move as far away from them as possible. When he told them he wanted to go to Texas State with me, they’d even pulled some strings to get him accepted after the application deadline had passed.
“You’d probably be lost in the middle of Idaho by now. I love you but, girlfriend, you need to learn how to read a map.” He took out one of the boxes from the truck.
“I took one wrong turn.” I reached over to grab a box.
“Yeah, yeah. It was more like—”
“Nicole? Is that you? Oh my, it is you. You look so grown up.”
My jaw dropped at the woman heading toward us. Frizzy red hair hung down to her back. It was so wild, the multicolored head band seemed to strain from its effort to keep her hair from puffing out. Her tie-dye tank top and long flowing skirt matched the house with its swirls of purples, greens, and blues. Across her obviously braless chest, sat a necklace shaped in a peace sign.
“Hey, Aunt Bernadette,” I squeaked when she gave me a bear hug.
“Oh, I gave that name up years ago. I go by Rainbow Skye now. Your mother didn’t tell you? Never mind, don’t answer that. Call me Rainbow. Look at you.” She stood back, taking me in. “You’ve grown up so fast, and you’re so beautiful. And this must be Greg.”
Greg’s eyes widened when Rainbow threw her arms around him. “Nice to meet you, Ms—”
“Rainbow.” She pulled back and smiled. “No formalities around here. We’re all just people.”
“Uh, okay . . . Rainbow. I wanted to thank you for letting me stay for the semester until I could find a place of my own. I’m happy to pay rent.”
“I won’t hear of it.” She waved a hand shushing him. “Stay as long as you like. Whew, it’s going to be a scorcher today. Lucky for you, the air conditioners I ordered were just installed this morning.” She wiped a hand over her brow.
Greg’s elbow jabbed my ribs. With shocked eyes, he gestured toward Rainbow.
“Oh. My. God,” he mouthed.
I was going to kill him. So what if my aunt looked like she was living in the Age of Aquarius.
And then I saw it.
Armpit hair.
Rolling my eyes, I jabbed him back.
“Thanks, Aunt Berna . . . uh, Rainbow. You didn’t have to do that. We don’t want to be any trouble.”
“Don’t be silly. It takes a while to get used to the heat. I see you’re melting already.” She eyed my drenched T-shirt. “Come on into the house and have some iced tea.”
“Holy flashback batman!” Greg said the moment we stepped inside. “I’m definitely staying now. No way I’m going to find anything better than this.”
It was as if I’d walked through a time warp and landed in the ’70s. Seriously. It was like a rainbow had puked all over my aunt’s living room. The walls were painted the same shade of purple and greens as the outside. Yellow and orange shag rugs littered the floor. Instead of the traditional furniture, there were beanbag chairs and velvet pillows of all shapes and sizes. A small couch covered with a tie-dye bed sheet sat under a window.
“I love the décor.” Greg beamed. “Nicole, check out the fishnets.”
Stapled to the ceiling hung fishnets that framed a variety of artwork. Most were of rainbow-colored moons and flowers. My aunt really, really, really liked rainbows.
“Uh, yeah, very pretty,” I said, looking at the bright yellow peace sign that filled up one of the walls.
“I like lots of color. It makes everything cheerful,” she said. “You don’t think it’s too much, do you?”
“No,” Greg and I said in unison.
“Good.” She opened the door to a small room. “This is your room, Nicole. I painted it for you, but you can change it if you want.”
I hesitated not sure what kind of crazy to expect. Plastering a smile, I stepped into the room. No matter what it looked like, I was going to like it. I didn’t want to hurt Rainbow’s feelings after she’d been so generous.
The room looked normal compared to the rest of house with pale yellow colored walls. Sunlight filtered in through a large window. The ceiling fan hummed as the blades spun, creating a cool breeze and making the white curtains flutter. The room was about the size of my bathroom in New York, but I didn’t care. It had a bed, nightstand, desk, and a full-length mirror hanging on the closet door. It had everything I needed. Yet, I had the oddest feeling.
The back of my neck tingled, and my arms broke out into goose bumps.
“Is the room okay?” Rainbow asked.
There was something about the room that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. I brushed my hand over the small nightstand. It was strange how familiar the room felt.
“Yeah, it’s great. Thank you so much.”
“Wonderful. Well, I’ll let you cool off while I show Greg his room down the hall.”
I sank onto the bed and laid back. As soon as my head touched the pillow, an image of a gorgeous guy flashed through my mind: shaggy bangs, Ray-Ban sunglasses, and a sexy smile.
I jolted up. Who the hell was that?
The vision was so real, like a memory. It couldn’t be. I didn’t know anyone who looked like that.
Shaking my head, I laid back again. It had to be from one of the late night movies Greg and I had watched. I was just tired, and my mind was playing tricks on me.
I closed my eyes and listened to the hum of the fan as I drifted to sleep, hoping that I’d made the right decision to go off on my own.
Chapter Two
The dream began like always: flashes of colored lights, the smell of popcorn and cotton candy in the air, and him. I didn’t know who he was, and I could never see his face, no matter how hard I tried. There was only the rumbling sound of his laugh, the feel of a muscular arm around my waist, and the feather-light kiss on my forehead. When I tried to look up to see his face, he and the crowds around us disappeared, leaving me alone in the shadows. And each time, a cold emptiness filled me. It was so painful that I’d wake up crying out, my cheeks and pillow wet with tears and a dull ache in my chest.
This time the dream was more intense, more real. His voice called out my name in desperation. I ran to the voice, somehow knowing he was in trouble and if I couldn’t reach him, he’d die. I propelled myself through the dark, but no matter how hard I pushed, I was stuck in the same spot. It was as if some unknown force held me back.
I stopped and bent over, pressing my hands against my knees, gasping for air. I couldn’t reach him. I wasn’t strong enough. Then I heard a little girl laughing and calling out my name in a high-pitched, singsong voice. There was a flash of freckles and strawberry blond pigtails followed by a scream.