Will was waiting for me in the pickup/drop-off area in front of school when I walked out at the end of my first day. At the sight of him, I stopped dead, blinking in the super-bright afternoon sun, not sure if I was seeing what I wanted or what was actually there.
It had been two weeks since I’d last seen him. When Will brought me home to the very worried, very angry Turners, I’d explained that he’d tracked me down at a party and driven me home. They were doubtful, but I insisted, and they eventually thanked him, albeit reluctantly.
Then they’d taken turns hugging me until I couldn’t breathe…and grounded me for a freaking month. No visitors, no phone, and no INTERNET.
Fun.
It had almost been enough to make me look forward to going back to school. Actually, no. It hadn’t.
Will had kept his distance for the last couple of weeks—trying to respect the Turners’ wishes, he’d said, on the few whispered phone calls I’d managed to make.
Okay, yeah, fine, I got it, but I missed him—more than I was willing to admit. And it was enough to make me start worrying. We’d already been through more than two people should go through in multiple lifetimes, which was not surprising, considering the circumstances. What if, after time to think away from the heat of the moment, he’d reconsidered?
I wasn’t sure I could blame him. It wouldn’t change my choice to stay as Ally—it couldn’t, really, anyway—but it would hurt. A lot.
So I’d been obsessing on what I would say, how I would play it—particularly with the other item I had on my agenda—when I saw him again, not expecting it to be for another couple of weeks. Which was why I wondered, upon seeing him waiting for me outside school, if he were a figment of my imagination.
But he didn’t shimmer into nothingness or morph into someone else. It was definitely Will. He was leaning against the Dodge, his hands in his pockets, watching everyone warily, as though expecting someone to proclaim there’d been a mistake and try to drag him back into the building.
I started toward him, and when he saw me, his tension seemed to ease, and he straightened up with a smile that made my heart—yes, mine, because it was for all intents and purposes now, even if I hadn’t been born with it, and making further distinctions at this point seemed ridiculous—give an extra-hard thump.
I had to check the urge to run at him. First, because running? Still not my thing with a bum leg, though that was getting better with time and physical therapy. Second, because, hello, it was better to play it cool, even now…just in case.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, approaching at what I hoped was a reasonable pace but was probably still too fast, and trying not to grin too hard. So much for playing it cool.
He said he loved me. This is the guy who knows me and LOVES me. The words ran in a constant giddy refrain in my head. I tried to ignore them.
He shrugged, looking a little smug. “Got permission from the Turners to pick you up today. Told you playing by the rules would work.” He stepped to one side and opened the door for me.
I scowled at him as I climbed in. “I’m the one who taught you that.”
He laughed. “Yeah, well, you’re still grounded for now, so I have to have you home in half an hour.” He slammed the door and walked around to get in on the driver’s side.
“What about Tyler?” I asked with a frown when Will slid in behind the wheel. I didn’t want to abandon him at school with no word as to where I’d gone or what he should do. Not now that he and I had reached a tenuous truce with each other over the last couple of weeks. I think he still wasn’t sure what to do with me, how to match who I was now with the sister he’d known before. But he was trying; we both were. And he’d found my knowledge of the inner workings of high school fascinating and at least somewhat valuable. He’d asked me to help him pick out something to wear today. Thank God.
“Mrs. Turner said she’d let him know to catch the bus without you,” Will said.
Tyler probably wouldn’t be happy about that, but right at this moment, I didn’t care. Half an hour alone with Will after two weeks of virtually no contact was worth it. Plus, I only lived eight minutes from school. Six, if he drove quickly. Whatever would we do with remaining twenty-four minutes? I could think of something.
My heart started pounding harder in anticipation.
But Will made no move toward me. Just started the car up, like he was going to drive me home. Really?
“So, how’d it go today?” he asked.
I slumped in my seat. “It’s my second first day of senior year. How do you think it went?” Thank God they’d allowed me to test out of the remainder of “my” junior year. Everyone was amazed at how well I’d done on the exams. Frankly, so was I, considering I’d learned most of the material a year and a half ago or more. But I’d been beyond motivated. Two more years of high school? Unacceptable. One was going to be bad enough.
“Any problems with ghosts?”
How funny that he should be asking me that. Though he’d apparently been managing well enough without me over the last couple of weeks. As I’d always sort of suspected, once he’d let the spirits know in no uncertain terms that he was in charge, instead of the other way around, things had gotten better for him.
“Nothing I couldn’t handle,” I said. I could see spirits now, more than ever. My “vision” had come in fully after I’d returned to Lily’s body the second time. The light had passed over us before vanishing, and it was like some final connection had been made. I was now just as much a ghost-talker as Will.
“Good.” He signaled to join the line of cars waiting to exit the parking lot.
Seriously? He was actually going to take me home now?
“You’re awfully quiet over there. I feel as though I might get to complete a sentence.”
I glared at him. “Oh, shut it.”
“That’s better,” he said cheerfully.
Since there clearly wasn’t going to be any kissing at the moment—and why the hell not?—I thought I might as well freak him out all at once. Get it over with.
I thought of the folder full of paperwork I’d been carrying around in my bag for the last week or so, mentally flipping through the potential opening arguments I’d created. During my grounding, I’d had a lot of time to think about things. Future stuff. Will was going to Richmond Community College for his Gen Eds, and he would have his own apartment next semester. I couldn’t help but shiver at the idea of a place that would be ours. Well, his, but more ours than his mom’s or Sam’s—now that Will’s mom would be moving in there—or my home with the Turners.
We needed a plan. At least, I did—that was how I worked best. It was up to him, I guess, if he wanted to be a part of it.
“So…I’ve been thinking about the business possibilities of our gift,” I said carefully. “If you look at the ratio of people who need—”
“You want us to make money off people?” He pulled out of the line abruptly and drove to the edge of the parking lot, not far from the burner row, where he’d once parked.
“No, I want us to help people. And charge accordingly,” I snapped. I had this speech all worked out, if he’d just let me finish it. I took a deep breath. “Look, doctors don’t work for free, right? And they’re saving lives. We’re helping people complete theirs.”
He opened his mouth to speak, but I cut him off. “No tricks, no funny business. If we can’t reach the spirit they want, then we don’t take them on. Period.” I wasn’t in this to cheat people. But I wanted a way to help them without trying to have a regular job, where, most of the time, I’d have to ignore the spirits I was supposed to be assisting. “We’ll keep doing some pro bono stuff, helping spirits without living relatives or friends to pay us, because that’s just what we do. But if you look at the profit Ed was making without being able to see other ghosts, you’ll see it’s possible, especially with two of us.” I dug into my bag for the folder and handed it to Will. I’d created a spreadsheet using the data I’d gotten from E
d. He’d made contact once he found his parents. He was living with them in Springfield.
“I see Ed found you, too,” Will said dryly. We’d given Ed a ride to the bus station that night after the party and shared some of our story with him. Well, we had had to tell him something when he saw me and knew I wasn’t his sister. We’d made quite the impression, I guess, and he wanted to stay in touch.
“For the first year or so I’d have to work for you,” I said.
Will raised his eyebrows.
“In name only,” I added swiftly, giving him a sour look. “As, like, an intern or something, until I’m eighteen…again.” So annoying! “After that, we’d have to restructure, probably as an LLP.” I paused. “Think of it sort of like a private detective agency, only with ghosts instead of guns and without a license. For now.”
He didn’t say anything, and I rushed to fill the silence. “We’re not going to be able to have the normal lives everybody else does, but so what? Why not use it to our advantage? You can major in whatever you want. I’m going with business, I think. Maybe marketing. I’m good at getting people to do what I want.” Except for Will, maybe.
Will looked up from the business projections and the logo ideas I’d affixed to the outside of the folder. “You’ve put a lot of time into this.”
“Hello, success doesn’t just happen, remember?” I folded my arms across my chest, struggling against the urge to pretend I didn’t care what he thought.
“So, you want to work together,” he said slowly, like I’d suggested we vacation on the dark side of Mars.
I stiffened. “It’s not necessary. I can do this on my own.” I snatched the folder from him.
“No.” He grabbed the folder back. “You’re not understanding what I’m—”
“Well, maybe if you’d try to be clearer about it,” I said.
He exhaled loudly in frustration, and I braced myself for the next round, already prepping the points I would bring up in response to his arguments. Besides, this had to work. What else were we supposed to do? Go around pretending the last three months hadn’t happened? That made no sense, and the idea of it made my chest ache. I wasn’t who I’d been back then, literally, and I couldn’t go back. Nor did I want to.
I was distracted, thinking about all of this, so I didn’t notice him leaning over until he took my chin in his hand to turn my face toward him. “It’s a good plan,” he said, stroking my cheek. “You just have to give me more than ten seconds to think about it. So impatient…” Then he kissed me, slow and deep, until I felt like I might float away…or melt. Oh, hello.
I reached out and wrapped my hands in his T-shirt to anchor myself, but the feel of his warm skin only made things worse…and so much better.
“Okay?” he murmured after a long moment.
Yes, yes, definitely okay. I nodded but couldn’t stop myself from asking the question that had been nagging at me. “Why not before now?”
He shifted in his seat, pulling back slightly and dropping his gaze.
“I wasn’t sure,” he said cautiously. “I know you still have to go to school here, and if you want to fit in…”
I leaned over and pushed him back in his seat, enjoying the surprise on his face and the heat in his gaze. “Forget them,” I whispered, before pressing my mouth against his and doing my very best to make him feel as dizzy and out of control as he’d made me feel.
After a second, he reached out to clutch at my waist, and one of us—no, both of us were trembling. It was, quite simply, one of the best moments of my life—before or after.
“Making out in burner row. I’m a bad influence on you,” he said breathlessly when I let him up for air.
“Terrible,” I agreed with a smile. And I wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Stacey Kade, Body & Soul
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