Cipher

Chapter Twenty-Four

Summer walked into chemistry and looked around for a new desk to move to. Although they didn’t have assigned seating, most people stuck to their same places. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Troy seated at his usual desk. She wasn’t about to sit next to him after that stupid encounter in the hall yesterday. It was too hard to be around him when all she could think about was how much she liked him and how much he liked girls in general.

The one seat left habitually unoccupied was behind this weird kid with greasy hair. Remembering her goal to be nice to everyone, she decided to give the guy a chance. Summer slid into the desk behind him and was hit with the overpowering stench of at least a week’s worth sweat and she didn’t even want to guess what else.

That’s right. Everyone calls this kid Stinky Steve. The guy was known for not showering or bothering with deodorant.

Nice kick or not, Summer couldn’t stand the smell. Every time she breathed in, it seemed like she could taste it. Even pushing her nose against her fist didn’t work. The stench seeped through, making her eyes water.

Mr. Jennings walked in, and Summer darted to her usual seat before she lost the chance. By the time she’d settled in and took a few deep breaths of relatively decent smelling air, Mr. Jennings was at the board starting his lecture.

“That was weak,” Troy whispered.

Summer didn’t reply. She opened her notebook to take notes.

“I admire your dedication to taking a break from me, but you couldn’t stand the smelly guy for five minutes. I expected better.”

Unable to ignore him anymore, she turned to him. “You could move, you know.”

Troy stretched out, a big grin on his face. “I like this seat.”

Summer returned her attention to the board as Mr. Jennings rattled off facts about types of chemical reactions.

“Come on, Sunshine. I’m sorry, okay.”

She glanced across the aisle at him. His stupid cute face and extra charming smile annoyed her even more. “You don’t even know why you’re sorry,” she whispered back. “So how can you even be sorry?”

“Because you’re mad. I don’t even care why; I just want you to stop being mad at me.”

Summer lifted a finger to shush him. He was getting way too loud. “You’re going to get us in trouble.”

“Summer,” Mr. Jennings said. “You had your hand up. Do you know the answer?”

Suddenly, she had the attention of everyone in the room. “Actually, Troy was saying he knew the answer.”

Mr. Jennings’s eyes moved to Troy. “Troy?”

“I’m sure I do know the answer,” Troy said. “First I just need to know the question.”

That response got a few chuckles.

“I suggest you pay better attention,” Mr. Jennings said. “I asked what type of chemical reaction the formula on the board is.”

Troy studied the equation for a moment. “Decomposition reaction.”

“That’s right. Now, let’s talk about the other kinds of reactions…” Mr. Jennings continued his lecture, and Summer focused on scribbling all the information down. At least she’d made Troy squirm for a few seconds. Too bad he somehow had all the answers.

After class, Summer gathered all her supplies and headed out of the classroom. A few steps into the hall, an arm wrapped around her shoulders, and she was pulled against a solid body. “You owe me for that you know,” Troy said.

Summer raised an eyebrow at him. “I guess we’re even.”

“Does that mean you forgive me for whatever I did?”

“There’s nothing to forgive. I never said I was mad. I just said I needed a break.”

“From this?” he gestured to himself, an incredulous look on his face.

Summer rolled her eyes. “Your humility. It’s a problem.”

“So was that you I saw pulled over last night? It looked like your car.”

Apparently, everyone had seen her last night. “This cop has it out for me. It’s the second time he’s pulled me over, and my dad’s upset because I tried to hide it. His girlfriend ratted me out before I even got home. First, he gave me this total guilt trip. Then this morning, on top of his usual defensive driving spiel, I got a lecture on trust. I think it would’ve felt better if he yelled or grounded me. Of course, that would be really bad. I can’t get grounded now. I’m not even close to finished with my job.”

“Your job?” Troy asked.

Summer’s mouth hung open, her mind searching for a way to cover her slip. “My job to get my dance moves up to par. The girls aren’t happy with them.” She started down the hall, and Troy stayed next to her. “By the way, why were you here so late last night?”

Troy just stared.

“I saw your Jeep was still in the parking lot,” she said. “We practiced late.”

“Oh, nothing. I just had to do some stuff.” Troy glanced down the hall. “In fact, I’ve got to get to my next class.”

Of course you do. I should start calling you Mister Dodge all the Questions. “Are you going to come hang out with us at lunch?”

Troy shook his head. “I can’t today.”

“You never have any time to hang out anymore. You’re always off and running somewhere mysterious.”

“Shoot, Sunshine, if you want to hang out, all you have to do is ask.”

Summer crossed her arms and glared at him. “What’s keeping you so busy?”

“Life.”

“Why won’t you tell me?”

Troy flashed a half grin. “Said the girl who always has a secret.”

Just when she didn’t think he could get any more irritating, he upped it a notch. “I give up. I’ll see you around, Mister Bond.” She walked past him, headed toward her next class. She didn’t have time to deal with Troy anyway. All her energy needed to go into putting her plan into motion. Later today she was going to have another talk with Pamela.

Kendall was less than happy when Summer bailed early, but she didn’t have time to worry about that. Ashlyn left a message saying she was headed out to buy treats, and Summer zoomed over to her house, hoping to catch Pamela alone. Heart hammering like a jackhammer, Summer knocked on the door and waited.

“Come on in,” Pamela said with a sneer. Ever since Summer had suggested the woman express her love to her daughter, she’d barely spoken to her. Short clipped phrases were all she’d gotten since that talk a little over a week ago. Summer kept thinking she’d try again, only to have something get in the way. Sometimes it was simply her chickening out.

Time to get down to business.

Summer cleared her throat, hoping to clear her nerves as well. “I thought about that talk we had, and I wanted to say that love shouldn’t have to be earned. Ashlyn shouldn’t have to do something involving exercise to get praise. I heard about the diet pills, so I know you care about her. Can you please tell her that?”

Pamela stepped closer, and Summer stared at the woman’s toned arms. As Pamela had so nicely pointed out before, Summer’s were no match. “Why don’t you keep your opinions to yourself? I don’t need some teenager who knows nothing about being a mother to come in and tell me how to be one. If your friendship didn’t mean so much to Ashlyn, I’d ask you to leave my house and never come back.”

The note said she was running out of time, so Summer decided she wasn’t going to tiptoe around anymore. “See, right there, you proved how much you care about her. Just. Tell. Her.” As hard as it was, she stared right back.

The front door swung open, and Ashlyn walked in. “Hey, you beat me here. I got some snacks. And Mother, before you say anything, I’m pointing out that I got veggies and low-fat popcorn.” Ashlyn’s gaze moved from Summer to Pamela. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Summer said. “I was about to head up to your room to wait for you.”

“Well come on then. Scott Pilgrim awaits,” Ashlyn said. Summer followed her, too scared to look at Pamela again.

“I’ve got to use the bathroom first.” Ashlyn tossed the snacks and her bag on the bed, and then stepped into the bathroom adjoining her room, closing the door behind her.

Summer plopped herself on the foot of the bed, and Ashlyn’s bag tumbled to the floor. “Oh holy crap,” she muttered, bending over to pick it up. As she shoved the contents back inside, she saw the box. Either Ashlyn had forgotten to take the diet pills out of her purse, or she was still taking them.

Summer glanced up as Ashlyn walked back into the room. “I accidentally knocked your bag off the bed, and I was picking it up, and…” She held up the diet pills. “I found these. You’re not still taking them are you?”

Ashlyn ripped them out of Summer’s hand. “You act like it’s crack or something. Just leave me alone about it.”

Come to think of it, Summer hadn’t seen Ashlyn eat much in days. “Did you eat dinner?”

“Of course I did. I even got snacks.”

“Carrot sticks? You didn’t even get your usual Diet Coke.”

Ashlyn crossed her arms. “You know, I don’t feel like a movie anymore.”

Summer stood up. “Oh, come on, Ash. I’m worried about you. I just want you to be happy with yourself.”

“Well, I’m not. Especially right now. I feel tired, actually. Maybe we should do the movie another night.”

Summer’s throat tightened. “But we haven’t hung out in forever, and I’ve been looking forward to this all day. Please, let’s just watch the movie. I won’t say a thing.”

“It’s too late to not say a thing. I’ll talk to you later, when I don’t feel like crap.”

Summer’s heart fell into her stomach. Not only had she pissed off Pamela, she’d also pissed off Ashlyn. She reached out and squeezed her friend’s shoulder. “That’s really not what I meant to do.”

“I know.” A tear ran down Ashlyn’s cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow at school.”

“Okay, if that’s really what you want.” Summer waited for her to say it wasn’t, but she didn’t. “See you tomorrow.”

Without a word, Ashlyn headed over to her dresser and snatched the iPod off it. Summer walked out of the room, down the hall, which seemed twice as long as usual. This night hadn’t gone at all the way it was supposed to.

Pamela was sitting on the couch, watching television. “I hope that know-it-all head of yours fits out the door.”

No response seemed like a good one, so Summer simply left. She could handle Pamela being annoyed, but the fact she’d hurt Ashlyn’s feelings made her gut clench. By the time she made it to the car, she felt so sad it seemed like she’d never be happy again.

Troy’s Jeep was parked in front of her house when she pulled into her driveway. Summer flipped down her visor and looked at her ragged reflection. Every time Troy was around, she managed to look like hell. Taking a deep breath to prepare, she headed inside, and followed the blare of the television.

Dad picked up the remote and hit the pause button. “Hey, kid. I thought you’d be at Ashlyn’s ‘till late.”

“Ash was tired, so we chatted for a few minutes, and then I took off.”

“Well, Troy said he had some time to kill, so we’ve been watching UFC fights. It’s nice having a guy around. This kid knows his stuff.” Dad scooted to the edge of the couch. “I’ll leave you two alone.”

“You can’t leave now,” Troy said. “We’ve got to finish this fight at least.”

Summer sat next to Troy. “Yeah, Dad, finish the fight. I don’t mind.”

“You’re just trying to butter me up,” Dad said.

Summer smiled at him. “And what’s wrong with that?”

Dad leaned back and pressed play, and the fighters on the television commenced trying to beat the crap out of each other.

“Something wrong?” Troy whispered.

Summer shook her head. “I’m fine.” She was getting so sick of saying that, when the truth was she was freaking falling apart. Her best friend had asked her to leave. Pamela wanted to crush her, the way the guys on the television screen were crushing each other.

They watched until one of the bloody, battered men was declared the winner. Dad turned the volume way down and looked at Summer. “Hey, before I forget, I need you home tomorrow. Tiffany wants to make us dinner again. She feels really badly about last night.”

Summer groaned. She didn’t have time to deal with Tiffany. She needed to do some serious damage control with Ashlyn and Pamela.

“Summer doesn’t like my girlfriend,” Dad said, apparently thinking Troy needed to know.

“I never said that.”

“You didn’t have to.” Dad turned off the TV and tossed the remote on the coffee table, leaving the room way too quiet all of a sudden.

Troy’s phone beeped and he glanced at it. “My mom. I’ve gotta get home.”

Dying to know if he was telling the truth, she tried to get a quick look at his screen, but he was too fast. He stood, and she felt like it was so unfair that he was leaving, even though she wasn’t sure how to be around him these days.

She pushed herself off the couch. “I’ll walk you out.”

“I’m giving you five minutes,” Dad said. “Which is pretty generous considering you’re still awaiting sentencing for yesterday’s offense.” He raised an eyebrow at her, so much warning in that tiny movement.

The cool night hair cut through Summer’s thin shirt, despite the fact that she was wearing long sleeves. She and Troy walked in silence over to his Jeep. She wasn’t sure why she’d wanted to walk him out. Only that she needed to be around him for a few more minutes, even if things were weird.

Troy bumped his hip into hers. “Thanks for walking me out, Sunshine. You’re a real gentleman.”

Summer couldn’t help return his smile. “Well, I know how scared you are of the dark.”

He glanced back at the house, and she did, too, thinking Dad must be standing in the doorway watching them or something. If he was, she sure didn’t see him. “You know, I actually enjoyed hanging out with your dad tonight,” Troy said. “You should give him a break.”

“What do you mean, I should give him a break?”

“He’s worried about you. I told him you were okay, because hell, I didn’t know what else to say, and he looked so stressed out about it. Maybe I shouldn’t have assured him everything was cool with you. Maybe I’m making it worse.”

“No, I’m glad that you did.” She put her hand on his arm. “Thanks. Sorry you had to deal with that. And I’m sorry he got all weird about his girlfriend. It’s not that I don’t like her. She’s just not…”

“Your mom.”

“She’s nothing like her, and I don’t understand how he can even like someone who’s so opposite of her. Of us.”

“I’m sure it’s good for him to try to move on and be happy,” Troy said. “You both deserve to be happy.”

Every time she was around Troy, he knew exactly what to say to make her fall apart. She bit back the tears that were starting to well up in her eyes. “I know you’re right, but I have a hard time letting my mom go. I just keep thinking if I would’ve stopped my mom that morning, then none of this would’ve happened. He wouldn’t need a new girlfriend.”

Troy put his hands on her shoulders and looked her in her the eye. “You can’t do that. It’s not like you could’ve changed it.”

Oh, hell, the tears were coming. “That’s not true. I knew something bad was going to happen. I had a really bad feeling that morning before she left. I tried to talk her out of it…” She clenched her jaw to kill the sob in her throat. “But she went anyway.”

“You can’t torture yourself with the past.”

The images were torture. Something tickled Summer’s memory as the quick flashes she saw if she let her guard down started up—but there was something new, in the far corner of her mind. She almost had a grasp of it, then Troy spoke again. “So are you going to tell me what’s going on with you?”

His features came back into focus, the streetlight casting them in sharp relief. “I’ll tell you my secret if you tell me yours.” As much as she wanted to know his, she’d have to edit several details out of hers. In fact, she couldn’t really tell him. He’d think she was insane.

A slow grin spread across his face. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Sunshine. I’ll save you your usual spot in chemistry. We both know that trying to sit away from me didn’t work.”

There was no way his secret was as awful as hers, yet he seemed as reluctant to share it. “Goodnight, Mister Bond.”

After his taillights were lost in a sea of others, she hurried back to the house, eager to have some time to focus on her last memory of Mom. As soon as she was inside her room, door closed securely behind her, she sat down on her bed.

Usually, she avoided the memory. Now she forced herself to plunge on in.

The temperature in Chicago had hovered at the ninety-nine degree mark that day—they’d broken the previous record-high for August. Mom was at the door, getting ready to head out.

“I’ve got to go, Summer,” she’d said.

“Oh wait.” Summer got up from the couch, abandoning her television show. “Can I get some money before you go? The girls and I are going to grab lunch.”

Mom reached into her purse and handed her a twenty.

“Thanks, Mom.” Summer leaned in for a hug.

Mom hands her cell phone to an unfamiliar red-haired woman. The woman pushes several buttons and holds the phone up to her ear. Aisles of candy are lined up behind her, a magazine stand is off to the right.

A large, mangy-looking man standing near the cash register pulls a gun from his hip and aims it at the cashier. “Give me the money! And don’t do anything stupid or everyone in here will die!”

He turns and swings the gun in Mom’s direction.

Mom holds her hands up in the air.

“Get off the phone!” The man yells at the woman behind Mom, leveling the gun on her. The woman’s lips are moving quickly, speaking into the cell phone.

“She’s almost done,” Mom says in a soothing tone.

The man pulls the trigger, and the woman talking on the phone goes down. He shoots again. Mom falls back into the candy-filled shelves and tumbles to the ground. Blood pours from the wound in her chest.

“Mom, don’t go,” Summer said as she released the hug, her heart racing, her mind swimming. “I’ll blow off lunch with my friends and go with you somewhere. We can see if there’s a dance class we can slip into, or catch a movie, or hit the mall. Whatever you want to do.”

“Don’t be silly,” Mom said. “I’ve got to go, and I’m in a hurry. I’ll see you when I get back this afternoon.”

“Mom, please. Please don’t go.” Summer had had the flashes before and nothing had ever happened—well, not that she knew of. This was her mom, though. She wasn’t willing to take any chances. “I really want you to stay with me today.”

“I’ve got to go do my job.”

“I thought you had the day off,” Summer said, desperate to keep her here no matter what she did. “Just stay here. Please!

“Someday, you’ll understand. You’ll see you can’t help when you have to go.”

Summer’s heart thumped faster and faster, harder and harder. “But I need to tell you something, and it can’t wait.”

“It’ll have to wait. This is something I can’t be late for. Now, be good. You’re awesome. I love you.” Mom blew her a kiss, then walked into the garage and pulled the door closed behind her.

Summer bit her lip, debating what to do. I’m going to have to tell her. Even if she doesn’t believe me, even if she thinks I need to be put in a mental institution, I can’t let her go. She heard the garage door close and ran for the front door. By the time she’d unlocked it and stepped outside, Mom was already driving away. She pulled her phone out and called Mom’s cell.

No answer.

She called five more times.

Mom never picked up.

It made sense now, why Mom insisted she had to go. Why she said Summer would understand someday. Mom had been going out on a Cipher job, Summer was sure of it. And Mom had been killed trying to do that job.

Summer hadn’t saved Mom, and it had eaten away at her every day since. But she was going to save Ashlyn. There had to be a way, and she was going to find it.

Because Summer couldn’t have another death on her conscience.