Cipher

Chapter Two

Summer stared at the spot for a good minute, mouth hanging open. People didn’t evaporate into air. And while she would’ve liked to believe it was all an elaborate dream, the stupid brochure was still in her hand. Her thoughts spun, and her lungs didn’t seem to be expanding anymore. She tossed the pamphlet on her dresser and grabbed the doorknob. This time it turned, no problem.

In a daze, Summer drifted down the stairs. The kitchen seemed like a good place to find comfort, so she headed there. After downing several Oreos and a large glass of milk, Summer moved into the living room, flopped onto the couch, and turned on the TV.

As she stared at the television screen, she tried, and failed, to put the weird encounter out of her mind. Question after question ran through her head: Shouldn’t I be religious if I’m going to do this kind of thing? Why wouldn’t they pick someone more experienced? And the biggest question of all: How can I fix someone else’s life when mine’s such a mess?

Summer heard Dad toss his keys into the dish next to the door—somehow she’d missed the sound of him pulling into the garage. Knowing he’d come around the corner any minute, she pushed back the weird thoughts swimming through her head and focused on appearing normal.

Dad walked into the room and glanced at the television. “Whatchya watching?”

“Nothing really.” Summer picked up the remote and clicked off the TV. “I was about to make dinner. Is Tiffany coming over?”

“She has to work late tonight.”

Summer did her best to keep her face neutral instead of smiling at that joyous bit of news. Dad’s girlfriend was a lot to deal with, even on a normal night when Summer hadn’t been told she needed to help out a soon-to-be-dead person. “I’ll warm up a can of soup and make grilled cheese.”

“Sounds good.” Dad pulled at his tie, sliding the knot away from his collar. “You going out tonight?”

“Yeah, Cody and I are doubling with Kendall and Jack. Cody’s supposed to be here about seven to pick me up.”

“He still driving that giant SUV?”

“I’m sure he is.” Summer already knew what was coming next.

“I’m glad you’ll be one of the biggest vehicles on the road, but those things have horrible blind spots.”

“I’ll help him check them. And I’ll make sure he doesn’t roll us either,” she added before he said anything about it. As an insurance claims adjuster, Dad’s job entailed studying and assessing wrecked vehicles. His lectures about driving safety were lengthy, to say the least.

Before he decided to start one, she headed to the kitchen to prepare a meal that passed for gourmet in this house. A meal Tiffany would scoff at or somehow try to turn into a five-course meal. She wished her dad’s girlfriend didn’t bug her so much—that she could be happy her dad had someone. But she didn’t like the fact that he was dating at all. And if he did have to, she didn’t want to witness it.

The phone rang while she was slicing cheese. “Why aren’t you answering your cell?” Kendall asked. “I’ve been trying to call you for, like, an hour.”

“I left it in my car.” Summer tucked the phone between her ear and shoulder so she could finish assembling the sandwiches while she chatted with her best friend. “What’s up?”

“I wanted to tell you to wear something special tonight.”

“And here I was planning on wearing my un-special outfit.” Summer placed the sandwiches in the skillet.

A couple seconds passed before Kendall said anything. “You know what I think of your sarcasm,” Kendall said, and her annoyed expression popped into Summer’s head. Kendall’s idea of funny didn’t exactly coincide with hers. “I also wanted to ask your opinion on movies to rent, but since you didn’t answer your phone, I had to do my best. We probably won’t end up watching it anyway. So, did you see what Lizzie Harris was wearing today? I feel so bad for the fashion-challenged.”

Summer pictured Lizzie’s too short pants with her electric blue heels. “It’s like she was trying so hard, but didn’t quite get it.”

“I know. It’s sad how hard people try to be cool. You really can’t force it. Speaking of fashion, I was thinking about wearing my new necklace. The one I got at the mall last weekend. What do you think?”

Summer tried to inject enthusiasm into her words. If she didn’t sound excited enough, Kendall accused her of not caring. “I think it would look awesome with that pink shirt you bought.”

“You’re totally right.” There was a pause. “Hey, I’m getting called down for dinner. See you in an hour.”

Summer hung up the phone and moved the bubbling soup off the burner. As she grabbed a couple of bowls and started dishing up dinner, her thoughts moved to tonight’s plans. With any luck, hanging out with everyone would get her mind off the thing she couldn’t stop thinking about. Death wasn’t exactly a good party topic.

Cody turned down the radio. “You okay, baby? You haven’t said much since I picked you up.”

Summer’s attention turned from the palm trees she’d been watching whiz by outside the window to her boyfriend. He got upset if anyone called him a pretty boy, but his full lips, baby blues, and the blond hair framing his face didn’t exactly dispute the pretty title.

Summer reached over and grabbed his hand. “I’m okay.”

He lifted their hands and kissed the back of hers, then turned down the road to Jack’s place. She wanted to be able to tell Cody about the encounter she’d had with Gabriella—to have someone listen and help her sort it out. But knowing how crazy her story would sound, she decided to keep it to herself. Cody was a good boyfriend for the most part. He said sweet things, called when he said he’d call, and when Jenna Cambell had thrown herself at him, he’d resisted her advances. Sometimes she wished she trusted him on a deeper level, that she could tell him her innermost thoughts and feelings. That was a lot to ask of anyone, though, especially of a boy whose life was focused on the next big game.

He parked in front of Jack’s house, then hurried around the vehicle and opened the door for her. When they reached the front door, Kendall opened it before they even rang the doorbell. “Come on in,” she said. Her long platinum hair was secured with a barrette that matched the necklace she was wearing. Both sparkled as they caught the light.

“That necklace looks great with your new shirt,” Summer said. The compliment was more required than sincere, though her friend did look nice. “You look awesome as usual.”

“You, too. Glad I talked you into buying those jeans.” Kendall wrinkled her nose. “So much better than that first pair you picked out.”

Jack showed up behind Kendall and tucked his chin on her shoulder. “As fascinating as this fashion-tip session is, baby, I think it’s time for dessert.” He kissed Kendall’s cheek, and Summer wondered if he meant he was having her for dessert—they had no problem with letting everyone know how they felt about each other. But then his gaze moved back to Summer and Cody. “My mom made a chocolate cake. You guys want some?”

Summer’s stomach growled, like it’d heard the suggestion and wanted to announce its intentions. “You know I won’t pass up cake.”

“Boy, do I know,” Kendall said. “I have no idea how you eat as much as you do and still stay skinny.”

Cody wrapped his arms around her waist. “It just all goes to her boobs.”

“Cody!” Summer glared at him over her shoulder.

“What? I’m not complaining; I like it.” His hands drifted up to the assets he’d just mentioned and she pulled away. He shrugged and aimed his next comment at Jack. “She’s in a bad mood. Nothing some chocolate won’t fix.”

Teeth clenched, Summer moved for the kitchen. She’d love to be joking around, but he was right about the bad mood. Thinking about death all afternoon could do that to a person. It also confirmed that Cody wasn’t someone she could open up to about it.

Jack grabbed forks out of a drawer and tossed all but one of them onto the table. Using the fork in his hand, he dug into the pan.

Kendall smacked his hand, and the bite of cake fell off his fork. “Could you at least pretend to be civilized and get some plates?”

Jack stared into the pan, a frown on his face. “You made me drop my cake.”

Kendall shot him a look that made him walk across the kitchen and retrieve the plates, then played hostess, dishing everyone out a piece.

The guys scarfed down their pieces in a few bites. “We’re going to go get the movie ready,” Cody said, a smear of chocolate still on his lips. At one point in their relationship, Summer might’ve walked over and licked it off for him. Now he took those gestures to mean she was ready for things she wasn’t.

“You girls take your time,” Jack added before the two of them disappeared into the other room. Summer knew they wanted to hurry and get a few rounds of videogames in. It’s not like it took twenty minutes to get a DVD ready.

Kendall nudged Summer with her elbow. “Aren’t our boys the sweetest?”

“Yeah, the sweetest,” Summer mumbled.

“What’s up with you? You’re not mad about Cody talking about your boobs, are you? Because he was just flirting with you. Jack and I don’t care if you guys show a little PDA. In fact, we plan on showing some of our own tonight.” She grinned her man-eating grin, and Summer knew she’d see more of Jack and Kendall making out than she wanted to tonight. Or any night, really.

“It’s not that. I mean, it’s a little bit that, but…” All the ways someone could die kept running through her head. Even a shark attack, which seemed unlikely, mixed in with the more common ways, like choking and car wrecks. “I’ve just had a rough day, and I feel really weird.”

“Well cheer up already.”

That was Kendall’s solution. As if you could simply tell yourself to cheer up and all your problems would melt away. Of course, if Summer told Kendall the same thing when she was upset, she’d be furious. “Yeah. I’m fine.”

“Good,” Kendall said. “Now, let’s go tell the boys it’s time to kill the videogames so we can watch the movie.”

The four of them squished on the couch in the living room and started the movie, a romantic comedy that had both guys groaning. It was bad enough, Summer wasn’t all that impressed either.

About thirty minutes in, Jack and Kendall disappeared into one of the bedrooms.

The second they were gone, Cody turned and kissed her, no longer keeping it to small pecks, but lots of tongue and groping. She closed her eyes, trying to let his kisses and the sensation of his fingertips on her skin carry her away.

They ended up horizontal on the couch, his weight pressing into her. But every time she closed her eyes, she relived all the deaths she’d seen: The lifeless eyes; the bloody, broken bodies; the last, shuddering breaths.

She broke the kiss and locked eyes with Cody. “What would you do if you knew you were going to die?”

He kissed her neck and ran his hand up her back. “I’m getting to that.”

She pushed both hands against his chest. “I’m serious.”

Cody’s eyes were half-lidded, his voice husky. “Baby, I want to take things to the next level. I don’t want to talk.”

A riotous mixture of hurt and anger rose up in her. “Funny, because I think talking is a better way to take things to the next level.”

He ignored her and moved to unhook her bra, pressing a kiss to her lips.

“Stop,” she said. He wasn’t the best listener, so she had to shove him. Hard.

He blew out a heavy breath, frustration coming off him in waves. “Come on, baby. We can talk about anything you want later.”

Summer righted herself, tugging her shirt down. “It’s not going to happen, so you might as well stop with the babies.”

This tired scenario kept happening. Cody wanted to take things further, but she wasn’t ready. He got more upset each time. When she wasn’t so preoccupied and his kisses and touch made her deliciously dizzy, it wasn’t always easy for her to put the brakes on their make out sessions either. Then she’d wonder what was wrong with her, worry he was going to dump her, and feel guilty she was so confused over taking the next step. But right now, she didn’t feel any of those things. He’d totally ignored her question and what she wanted, so this time, he wasn’t going to be the only mad one.

Sure enough, the muscles along his jaw tightened and his chest was heaving with shallow breaths. “Kendall and Jack have already done it, and we’ve been dating for longer than they have.”

Summer crossed her arms. “Oh, now I am in the mood. If they’re ready, I’m ready.”

“That’s not what I mean.” He plowed his fingers through his hair, then brought his arms down, his shoulders slumping as he exhaled. “I’m just saying, I’ve been patient…” He reached out and took her hand. “And I love you.”

The anger heating her veins cooled and guilt rose up to take its place. Cody had no idea why she was so upset, because she hadn’t told him. It wasn’t his fault. And he loved her—he told her all the time. So when he leaned in to kiss her, a questioning look in his eye, she let him. This time, she kept her eyes open, letting his face fill her vision. Intoxicating heat spread through her veins as he slid his tongue in to meet hers—damn, the boy knew how to kiss. She focused on the pleasant chills traveling through her body, inhaling his scent as the edges of the world went fuzzy.

Then his hands started roving again, moving to unbutton her pants. The world snapped back into relief. Summer grabbed his hand and held it firm. “I think you better take me home now.”

The lights from the ignored movie lit up Cody’s face, emphasizing the frustration on his features. “I can’t keep doing this, Summer. If you’re not ready, maybe I should find someone who is.”

His words cut into her, sending a sharp pain through her chest. Then fear mixed in with the hurt, the combination stealing her breath. I do care about him, and I don’t want to lose him.

Looking into his eyes, though, she didn’t see love or concern. This isn’t how it’s supposed to be. I want my first time to be because I love somebody and I want to do it, not because I’m scared of being dumped.

Her throat tightened. “I guess you’ll have to find someone else then.”

Cody pushed himself to his feet and stormed out the front door. The slam echoed through the room. Summer thought he’d only gone to cool off, but then she heard the engine fire up. It revved, and then got quieter and quieter, until she couldn’t hear it at all.

He just left me here. Apparently, he’s going to find someone this very minute.

Kendall and Jack were doing who knew what in his bedroom—well, she had a pretty good idea—and calling Dad would bring up more questions than she wanted to answer. He’d kill Cody if he found out about this.

After running through all of her options, Summer took her phone out of her purse. She scrolled down her contacts until she reached the name she was looking for. Her finger hovered over the button for a moment before she made the call. She held her breath as it rang, not even sure what she’d say, but knowing he’d come get her if she asked.

When it went to voicemail, she disconnected without leaving a message. Loneliness settled over her, pressing against her like a weight. I have no one, I’m seeing some kind of heavenly messenger, and Cody and I just broke up.

Tears filled her eyes. At first she wiped them away. Then she went ahead and let them flow.