Cipher

Chapter Eight

The man holds his phone up to his ear and opens the back door of the cab with the other hand. If he gets in, he’s going to be crushed inside, his last breaths spent on that call. One foot in the car.

Somebody has to stop him.

The other foot in.

Somebody has to tell him.

He sits inside. The door begins to swing shut.

Summer shot up in bed. “Don’t get in the cab! You’re going to die!” She gulped for air, trying to get some of it into her straining lungs. It took a moment for her to realize that she was in her bedroom, that she wasn’t fourteen anymore. It was only a dream.

Of course, her dream had really happened. And now she knew the truth. The man had died that night.

Summer lay back down and put her pillow over her head, but she couldn’t block out the image of that man crushed in a car. That had been the first time it’d happened. If it’d been the last, she could’ve gone through life totally blissful, still thinking the image was what she got for watching too many violent action movies with Dad.

Stupid truth.

What seemed like only a few minutes later, the ringing started. Then stopped. Then immediately started again. Summer opened her eyes and looked at her clock. It can’t seriously be one already. Can it?

At last the ringing finally stopped, leaving the house in blessed silence. Summer got up and decided to head down to the kitchen for breakfast. Or lunch. Either way, she was starving.

She poured herself a bowl of Lucky Charms and sat cross-legged in front of the TV. When the phone rang again, Summer decided she should answer it. Whoever it was, wasn’t giving up. She set her bowl of cereal on the coffee table, walked into the kitchen, and picked up the cordless. “Hello?”

“Where are you?” Kendall sounded mad.

Summer thought it was pretty obvious that she was home. Didn’t answering her home phone clue Kendall in? “I’m hanging out, doing a whole lot of nothing.”

“You were supposed to meet me at the mall this morning, and then we were supposed to have lunch with the girls. You missed it.”

“I completely forgot.” Lunch today was supposed to help smooth over all the lunches Summer had skipped out on during the week.

“What’s up with you lately?”

Summer covered a yawn with her hand. “I stayed out late last night, so I slept in.” Not to mention the fitful, nightmare-filled sleep.

“Well I hate to tell you this, but Lexi said that Brooke said that she saw Jenna and Cody last night, and that they were all over each other. Don’t worry, though, I’ve been brainstorming, and I’ve got the perfect solution. According to Lexi, Grossmont’s quarterback is single now, and if you started dating our rival school’s QB, that would totally show Cody.”

“I don’t really want to show Cody anything. I just want to forget about him. I’m over guys.”

Kendall sighed. “You know you’re no fun when you’re all mopey. I don’t have the energy to keep you happy if you don’t even try.”

“I appreciate all the help,” Summer said. “But I’m not ready for another boyfriend.”

“Ugh, this morning these guys kept following me all around the mall. They were the totally-loser type, too. I could’ve used your help, by the way. Lexi’s no good at picking out accessories. She wears those awful chunky hoops with everything she owns.”

Kendall only wanted someone there to echo her opinion. For some reason the girl wanted input before buying anything, yet if you said you didn’t like what she’d picked, she’d be mad for hours. Sounded like Lexi had the nerve to disagree today, poor girl.

“So, if you come over this afternoon I’ll show you what I bought,” Kendall continued. “You can help me figure out how to mix and match with my wardrobe.”

“I can’t this afternoon. I’m catching a movie with Ashlyn.” Silence followed, and Summer felt obligated to fill in the gap. “We started talking last night, and she’s really cool, so we made plans. I’m, uh, sure she wouldn’t care if you wanted to come with us.”

“No. You go ahead and go to a movie with your new friend. Don’t worry about me.” With that, Kendall disconnected.

Summer knew she should call Kendall back and figure out a way to make it better, but the thought exhausted her. Making Kendall happy would have to wait. Right now, she needed to focus on Ashlyn.

The first few minutes of the car ride were silent after Summer picked up Ashlyn, but before long they were laughing and talking again, like they had been last night at the end of the Unicorn Stench show.

Ashlyn tugged on her seatbelt, pulling it away to twist in her seat. “So, the Cody thing. I know you guys went out for a long time and that you’re hurting over it still, but you know having sex with him wouldn’t have fixed everything, right? If he cared about you, he would care about your feelings, too, not just his.”

The part of her that’d been wondering if it would’ve made a difference broke. She wanted to cry and smile and hug Ashlyn, all at the same time. “Thanks. I needed to hear that. He and I always had our ups and downs, but there at the end, it started being a lot more downs. I dealt with them because…well, don’t mock me, but I didn’t want to lose him, even when he was being a jerk. I didn’t want to be alone. How sad is that?”

Ashlyn emphatically shook her head. “Not sad. I mean, it is sad as girls we feel like that—like we have to have someone or we must be failures. But I think everyone feels like that at one time or the other.”

“I got so sucked in, and without him…” Summer shrugged. “I guess I kind of lost myself. It’s like I finally snapped out of this daze I was in, and I can’t believe I let it get that far. It’s not me. It didn’t used to be, anyway. And even knowing all that, my heart still hurts when I see him with Jenna. Or when I can’t pick up the phone and call him like I used to.”

“Trust me, I know what you mean. I had this boyfriend, and even though he ended up being a huge ass, I was still crushed when we broke up.” Ashlyn shot Summer a consoling smile. “Eventually, it does get better. And I’ll help you out by constantly telling you how he doesn’t deserve you, and he’ll realize someday what an awesome girl he lost.”

“That’s right! I am awesome!” Summer half-exhaled, half-laughed. “Seriously, though, I’m not letting another guy do that to me. Ever. Guys are evil hormone-driven idiots, and I’m done.”

Skepticism clear on her features, Ashlyn said, “Uh-huh.”

“No, I am.”

The Burger King caught Summer’s eye. “Ooh. Fries and a Dr. Pepper sound amazing right now.” She switched lanes and turned into the drive-thru. “My dad makes fun of me because I skip the burger and instead get the largest thing of fries they have.”

Summer unrolled her window as they approached the speaker, then glanced at Ashlyn. “What do you want?”

“I’m good,” Ashlyn said.

“Oh, come on.” Summer waved a twenty in the air. “My treat.”

“I guess I’ll have a Diet Coke. A small one.”

Summer repeated the order into the speaker and turned to Ashlyn. “You’re sure you don’t want anything to eat?”

“I’m sure.”

Summer turned up the stereo as one of the new Unicorn Stench songs played through the speakers. She’d already listened to it several times today, but she couldn’t get enough of it.

“This is my favorite part,” Ashlyn said, singing along.

Summer joined in and bobbed her head to the beat as the music picked up. When she stopped at the window to pay for her food, the guy behind the register looked amused by her and Ashlyn’s song and dance. He was kind of cute, so Summer gave him a big smile as she handed over the money.

The guy grinned and handed her back her change. “You girls have a great day. And come again soon. I’d like to see another dance.”

“We’ll be sure to do that,” Summer said.

“I work until eleven. Swing by anytime.”

Summer smiled at him again before pulling away from the window.

“Weren’t you, only moments ago, saying that you were done with guys?” Ashlyn asked.

“I am. I’m keeping things to a strictly flirtatious level. It’s boyfriends that are the problem. They aren’t worth the pain they’ll inevitably cause you.”

“Yeah! Who needs a stupid boyfriend?”

“Solidarity, sister,” Summer said with a laugh. At the next window, she handed Ashlyn her soda, placed her own in the cup holder, and rigged the take-out bag so she could easily dig into her fries while driving.

As Summer pulled into traffic, Ashlyn squealed. “Aaah! Omigosh, omigosh, it’s pouring everywhere!” Diet Coke leaked out of the bottom of her cup onto her jeans. She put her hand under the cup and held it away from her. The brown liquid poured through her fingers, dripping onto the floor mat. “It’s getting worse!”

Fries sticking out of her mouth, Summer dug into the brown bag and tossed Ashlyn the single napkin in the bag. She slowed down, glancing back and forth from the traffic ahead of them to Ashlyn. The napkin was already soaked through and the liquid continued to pour from the bottom.

With her elbow, Ashlyn hit the button to unroll the window. She held her leaky cup out of it. “I think I jabbed my straw through the bottom. Geez, what a wussy cup.” Ashlyn glanced down and wiped at her pants. “Shit. I’m so sorry about your car. I think the floor mat and my jeans got most of it”

“No worries. Seriously, it’s not a big deal at all.” Summer grabbed her fries out of the bag, secured them between her thighs, and handed the bag over to Ashlyn. “Put this over it for now. Maybe it’ll help.”

Ashlyn dropped the cup in the bag, but it seeped through within a few seconds. “My pants and shirt are completely soaked.”

Summer took in Ashlyn’s wide-eyed expression, her wet clothes, and the way she was holding the cup out the window. And burst out laughing. “I’m sorry, I know you’re soaking and uncomfortable, but it’s…” Another wave of laughter hit her, and she couldn’t finish.

Ashlyn started giggling, too. “I think you better take me back home to change my clothes, because guy boycott or not, I can’t show my face in public like this.”

Summer checked her mirrors, made a frowned-upon U-turn, and headed back the way they’d come. Every few seconds she’d glance over at Ashlyn, and they’d both erupt in laughter. By the time they made it back to Ashlyn’s, Summer had chugged her soda and given the empty cup to Ashlyn, wondering why she hadn’t thought of it sooner.

Ashlyn flung open the door and stepped onto the curb. She turned around to close the door and her jaw dropped. “Um…”

Summer walked around to see what she was staring at. A sticky, brown stream ran across the right side of her silver Civic, all the way back to the gas tank.

“I’m so sorry,” Ashlyn said, wiping at the mess with the already soaked napkin. “I’ll clean it up. The inside, too.”

“I kind of like it. Ghetto racing stripes without the fuss of paying someone.” Ashlyn still looked worried, and Summer wanted to assure her she didn’t care. “Don’t worry about it. I laughed harder than I have in months, so it was totally worth it.”

“Come on in.” Ashlyn lifted her damp shirt away from her body. “I’ll change, and then we’ll see when the next movie is.”

Summer followed Ashlyn inside. They walked through the living room and into the kitchen. A woman with impeccable hair and makeup sat on one of the barstools, reading a magazine. She looked like an older, thinner version of Ashlyn.

The woman frowned when she saw them. “Ashlyn, you got fast food?”

“Just a soda, Mother.”

“Soda is all empty calories.”

“Well, it was diet, and it actually spilled all over before I got any of it down, so don’t worry; it was no calories.”

The woman’s gaze moved from Ashlyn to Summer. “Hi, I’m Pamela.”

“I’m Summer.”

“Summer, you don’t eat fast food do you? It’s horrible on your body, and I can tell that you like to keep in shape.”

“Mother’s a personal trainer,” Ashlyn said, like that explained everything. It kind of did, she supposed.

“Well, I just downed a large order of fries and a soda. My dad and I aren’t what you’d call”—Summer made air quotes—“culinary, so we eat out quite a bit. I don’t think I could survive without fast food.”

Pamela looked Summer up and down. “Hmm. I guess some people can get away with it. It’ll catch up when you’re older, though. I hope you’re at least exercising.”

“Summer’s on the dance team.” Ashlyn tossed her cup in the trash and turned to her mom. “Now, if you’re done with all your important questions, I’ve got to go change my clothes. They’re feeling more disgusting by the second.”

Summer followed Ashlyn down a long blue hall.

“Most parents would worry if you were a safe driver,” Ashlyn muttered. “Or simply be glad their daughter has a friend. But my mother has to talk eating and exercising habits. She’s trained a few of the lesser known celebrities, so she thinks she’s really fancy.”

Ashlyn ducked into a door on the left, headed for the dresser, and pulled open one of the drawers. “I bet your mother isn’t like that.”

“My mom…” Summer always expected it to be easier to say. No matter how many times she said it, though, it hit her as hard. “My mom died a little over a year ago. But no, she wasn’t like that.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“It’s okay. I’m dealing.” Not always the best, but what else do you say when someone says they’re sorry for something they couldn’t do anything about? Summer might’ve been able to, but it was too late now.

One of Summer’s darkest periods was a couple months ago, around the anniversary of Mom’s death. It was when she’d been mean to Cody and fought constantly with Dad. Mostly because she hated herself so much she couldn’t even deal with life and wanted everyone to just leave her alone.

Not wanting to think about that, Summer turned her focus to Ashlyn’s room. The purple mini lights strung along the top of the walls gave off a soft glow; curtains made from vinyl records hung over the window; and the shelves and dressers were covered in knickknacks, including bright-colored candles and vases.

Ashlyn draped the clothes she’d picked out over her arm. “So, do you have brothers and sisters?”

“Nope. Just me and my dad. We get along pretty well most of the time. I’m kind of annoyed with his new girlfriend, though. She tries so hard, and even though she is nice, I want to yell at her to get away from me. I’ll never be close to her, I’ll never consider her my mom, and I don’t know why she doesn’t just leave me alone.” Summer let out a long breath. It felt good to get that out, though guilt immediately soured her insides.

“Funny. That’s how I feel about my mother.” Ashlyn moved into the adjoining bathroom. She stepped out of view, but kept the door open.

Summer shook her problems out of her head. She needed to help Ashlyn and her mom, not make it worse. “Your mom loves you, though. She probably just has a funny way of showing it.”

“I’m a disappointment. The woman who whips people into shape can’t even get her own daughter to be skinny.” Ashlyn sighed. “It’s not like I haven’t tried. It’s hard for me to go to the gym, but I surf, skate, walk—I even eat healthy for the most part. And I still can’t lose weight.” She came out of the bathroom, wearing a blue top and dark jeans. “You wolf down fries and you’re still crazy skinny. Life’s so unfair.”

Summer wasn’t sure to say to that. “I got my dad’s metabolism. He eats horrible but never gains a pound. I guess I’m lucky.”

“No guessing about it. I would kill for your thighs. But I’ve got these” —Ashlyn squeezed her legs—“and that’s just the way it is.”

“You’re really pretty, you know. And your hair is so shiny and straight. Mine doubles in size when I’m near the beach, blond frizz sticking out all over the place.”

Ashlyn glanced in the mirror and ran a hand down her hair. “Mother doesn’t seem to care about hair, though. She cares about pants size, that kind of thing.”

“What about your dad?” Summer thought maybe he could somehow help her.

“Oh, my sperm donor?”

“He’s not around much, then?”

“No. He literally was a sperm donor.”

Summer laughed. “Sorry, it’s not funny.”

“No, it is. And Mother’s disappointed I somehow got the fat gene. When she chose a donor, his profile specifically said he was in shape. So either he lied, or I’m dysfunctional.” Ashlyn pulled out her phone and glanced at the display. “You want to see when the next show is, or you wanna hang out here? I do have an awesome music collection, if I do say so myself.”

Hanging out here would definitely be the way to get to know Ashlyn better. “Let’s kick it here then.”

With any luck, Summer might also be able to get a better read on Ashlyn’s mom. After seeing how they interacted, she started to think this job was going to be more difficult than she expected. Open communication already existed—a little too open.

She and Ashlyn listened to music, laughed and talked, and had way more fun than they would’ve in a movie theater where they would’ve had to be quiet.

At the end of the night when Summer drove home, one thought kept running through her head: How in the world am I going to repair a relationship when my first instinct is to yell at Pamela for being so mean to her awesome daughter?