Catalyst (46 page)

“Binoculars, really, you honestly were using binoculars?” Sally interrupted.

“Well you said you wanted details, so I was getting you details,” Jacque defended.

“Oooh, did you have the “Mission Impossible” sound track playing in the back ground cuz that would have been spy-tastic,” Jen said enthusiastically.

“Actually,” Jacque said distracted, “I was thinking more James Bond-ish, you know
with the whole stake out thing,
”

“No, huh-uh, that would be more like Dog the Bounty Hunter type stuff. But you couldn’t be Beth ‘cause you’re not stacked enough on top, so you would have to be baby Lisa the daughter….” Jen rattled on.

“You are so, so not comparing me to Dog the Bounty Hunter’s daughter right now and why are we talking about this anyway because it is sooooo NOT the point!” Jacque growled in frustration.

“Spy analogies aside, I was sitting there about an hour when finally a black stretch limo pulls up to the curb in front of the Henry’s house.”

“A limo? W
hat foreign exchange student shows up in a limo?” Jen asked.

“I know right, that’s what I was thinking,” Jacque stated. “I assure you the limo is of no consequence once the person inside stepped out. Ladies, I saw the most gorgeous guy to ever grace my line of site.”

“When you say gorgeous,” Jen started, “are we talking Brad Pitt boyish good looks, or Johnny Depp make ya want to slap somebody?”

“No, we’re talking Brad and Johnny need to bow down and recognize,” Jacque answered.

“Aside from him being dropped off in a limo, and besides the fact that he is a walking Calvin Cline ad, it begins to get strange at this point in our story boys and girls,” Jacque says in a spooky narrative voice.

“Like it wasn’t strange already?” Sally asked.

“Well, okay strang-er. Just as he is about to walk up the path, he suddenly turns and looks straight at me, like he could sense I was watching him! Like, right in my eyes. I literally couldn’t move; it was like I was mesmerized by him or something. Man when did I start using the word “like” so freaking much?” Jacque said in exasperation. “Up until now it was strange, but now we are entering the world of “what the hell.” As he is staring at me I hear a voice in my head and it said “At last, my Jacquelyn,” then as he turned to go in the house and I hear the voice again say, “Soon.”

Jacque stares expectantly at her two best friends waiting for them to tell her she’s finally jumped off the deep end, but they just sit there staring at her. “Well?” Jacque asked. Finally Jen stirs taking a deep breath in, she looks down at her
empty hot chocolate mug,
“We’re gonna need more hot chocolate.”

“Agreed,” Sally and Jacque say at the same time.

Jen
returned with three fresh mugs of hot chocol
ate and Oreo cookies. Folding herself Indian style on the floor, she cocked her head to the side eyebrows scrunched together
, “So let me see if I’m catching what you’re throwing. Hottie exchange student drives up in a limo, steps out, rocks your world, looks into your eyes and speaks to you in your head? Am I getting the gist of it here?”

Jacque nodded her head sheepishly looking at the floor, “I mean, I guess it was his voice in my head. It could be a long lost dead relative who’s been searching for me since they died and happen to find me the moment that hottie looked into my eyes.”

Jen and Sally
both gave Jacque the,
get a larger spoon if you
're going to shovel it in that big,
look.

“What?” Jacque asked. “I’m just saying,” she said throwing her hands up in the air in frustration.

Flopping back onto the floor Jacque groaned loudly and covered her eyes with the back of her hand, “Am I going crazy ya’ll?” she asked.

“No sweetie, you been gone a long time now, we just didn’t want
you
to know that
we
knew.” Sa
lly teased
.

“Seriously, I know it sounds crazy, but I promise you guys I heard a voice, a beautiful, deep, masculine voice, in my head, and it knew my
name! That is crazy, jacked up,
put-her-in-a straight jacket, totally insane!” Jacque looked at them both with fear in her eyes; she truly did wonder if she had finally cracked.

There was after all, people in her family of questionable sanity, her mother being one of them. Jacque loved her mom and they had a good relationship, but she wasn’t always in touch with reality. Jacque’s father wasn’t in the picture and never had been, he had bailed as soon as he found out her mom was pregnant. Thankfully she had two best friends who kept her feet firmly on the ground, which is why she was so fervently seeking their thoughts on this matter.

Sally finally spoke up
,
“I don’t think you are crazy, Jac, really you’re not. There has to be some sort of explanation. We’ll figure it out, we always do.”

“Yea,” Jen added, “it
s 2 weeks until school starts. From now until then we are on scout detail.” Sally nodded her agreement.

The three were quiet for a few m
inutes, each pondering ways to run into
the new exchange student without seeming too obvious. Jen was lying on the floor looking up at the
ceiling fan, her eyes following the blades as her mind turned its own circles,
“We need to find a way to introduce ourselves to him so that we can each get a good look and see if Sally or I hear a voice in our head.”

“My mom was planning on taking over a good’ole Southern meal for him since he isn’t from here. We could ask if we could go over with her, or would that be too la
me
?” Jacque asked.

“No, I think that’s perfect,” Jen stated.

Finally, by midnight they had thought up a somewhat weak game plan, the whole of it revolving around going with Jacque’s mom to the Henrys to give their new exchange student some fried chicken, ‘taters, and corn on the cob. Seriously, how lame could you get, Jacque thought as she lay in her bedroom floor. Jen and Sally had quickly fallen asleep on the other side of her room each with their own blanket wrapped around them.

Jacque sat up and looked around her room, and thought
,
this was a place I feel safe and comfortable. The twin size bed with the new deep green bed spread her mom had bought her for her birthday, the stained-glass lamp with absolutely no theme whatsoever
that sat on her small wood desk. S
he, Sally and Jen had carved various things on its surface.  She looked at her dresser mirror which had pictures lining both sides, mostly of Jen, Sally and her in various places and poses; just a few hours ago I was just another 17 year-old getting ready to start my senior year, so normal she thought.

She had three homecoming mums hanging on the wall next to her bed, and on the other side of her bed was the window with a seat where she sat tonight, where her life had changed in a way she wasn’t sure of yet.  Jacque lay back down on her back watching her ceiling fan go around in a circle, the motor lulling her to sleep. Her last thought as she drifted off was of a full moon, whatever that meant.   

End of preview

You can find the author at her website

www.quinnloftisbooks.com