Chasing Power (12 page)

Moonbeam smiled, so sweet and trusting that it made Kayla feel like the worst human being on the face of the earth. “That’s all I ask.” She kissed Kayla on the cheek, and Kayla waved as she followed Selena out to the garden.

Outside, Selena said, “Your mom is amazing.”

“I know.”

“I can’t believe she didn’t ground you.”

“She wants me to have a love life.” Kayla didn’t say
why
Moonbeam wanted that.

“She wants you to be happy.” There was a note of wistfulness in Selena’s voice.

“Maybe.” Kayla walked through the red gate, and the wind chimes sang a tangle of notes. A shockingly blue bird startled from a bush. It darted into the sky. “I wish she didn’t have to be so afraid all the time. And here I am, making it worse.” She got into Selena’s car.

Selena hopped into the driver’s seat and peeled out. Uncharacteristically, she turned the volume down on the radio. Wind drowned out the mariachi-like guitar riffs. “So, are you going to tell me what happened?”

“Yes. I nearly—” Her voice caught in her throat. She swallowed, and then she forced herself to recap events. When she got to the cave-in, Selena nearly swerved onto the median. “And that’s why I need the photo. Someone wanted that parchment enough to nearly kill me. I at least deserve a look at it.”

Selena nodded. For once, she didn’t have a witty response. She drove faster down the palm-tree-lined streets until she squealed to a stop outside a rundown shop that looked plucked from the seventies. Its front window was stuffed with appliances from vacuums to tape recorders to electric tie racks. She parked the car, and Kayla got out. Cradling the phone to her chest like it was a sick baby, she followed Selena to the door.

At the door, Selena hesitated.

“What is it?” Kayla asked.

“You remember when I was coming over to your house to vent because my parents had flipped out about something, and then Daniel was there and we kind of got distracted?”

“Yeah, I vaguely recall getting myself caught up in some kind of perilous quest.”

Selena took a deep breath. “Well, it was about him. Sam.”

“Who?”

“The guy. The phone-miracle guy. The one we’re about to see. Seriously, Kayla, did a rock land on your head?”

Kayla held up her hands in surrender. “You never said his name.”

“Oh. Right. Sorry. Anyway, we were supposed to go on a date, and he came to the house and—”

Kayla stopped her. “You had a date and didn’t tell me?”

“Can we skip to the important part? He met my parents.”

Kayla’s mouth formed an O at her doomed tone, ready to be sympathetic, though she wasn’t sure exactly why it was warranted. “And I take it it didn’t go well?” Admittedly, Selena’s parents could be intense. Selena’s father was kind—jovial and loud to the point of being overwhelming, but kind. And her mother was the most graceful, most intimidating person that Kayla had ever met. Not a hair out of place, ever. Taken together, they were so overpowering, they made you feel as articulate as a dishrag. “Did they intimidate him?”

“Worse, they disapproved.”

“Oh. Why? What’s wrong with him?”

Sighing, Selena seemed to deflate. “Absolutely nothing.” She opened the door and gestured for Kayla to enter first. A bell rang as Kayla walked through the door. Selena followed. “Hi, Sam,” she squeaked.

Sam looked like a surfer. Very blond. Very tan. He wore a muscle shirt and Hawaiian flower-print shorts. He had bare feet and wore an anklet made of shells. He was using a jackknife to clean out some unrecognizable gadget. “Whoa. Your Highness. I didn’t think I’d be seeing you again.” He got to his feet and looked at Selena with an expression that flashed from surprised to angry to wistful in a matter of seconds. It was an impressive display. Eyebrows raised, Kayla looked at Selena.

“I’m here for my friend Kayla.” Selena gave Kayla a push forward between her shoulder blades. “She desperately needs her phone fixed, and, well, you’re the best.” Kayla heard a breathless nervousness in her friend’s voice. Selena was
never
breathless.

“I can’t take your money.” Sam had a deep voice like a baritone opera singer. It was the kind of voice that Kayla knew Selena liked, the kind that thrummed in your bones when he spoke. “You know that. You know why.” The words were loaded with that same mix of emotions.

Kayla looked from Sam to Selena and back again. Sam’s eyes were fixed on Selena’s face as if glued, and Selena was looking everywhere—floor, ceiling, walls, windows—except at Sam. Kayla felt like she’d walked into some kind of soap opera. She so didn’t have time for this.

“You shouldn’t be here. I can’t fix it.” Sam didn’t look at Kayla or the phone. “You should take it to the mall. They’ll either fix it or send it back to the manufacturer. If it’s under warranty, they’ll send you a new phone. Maybe even upgrade it.”

Whatever was going on between them, it didn’t matter right now. Kayla had other things to worry about. Hugging the phone, she said, “There’s a photo on it that a friend of mine desperately needs. It’s more serious than you could imagine.”

Sam shook his head.

“Please,” Kayla said. “Selena says you’re the best.”

“Genius,” Selena clarified.

“You said that?”

“I’m a lousy liar. Ask Kayla.”

Kayla nodded. “Back in fifth grade, she even stopped the school play because she couldn’t manage to deliver her lines without breaking character. She was supposed to be a tree.”

Sam sighed. “How dead is it?”

“It may have been in a cave-in,” Kayla said.

“May have?” He arched his blond eyebrows.

Kayla shrugged and held out the phone. She felt as though she were delivering a family member for surgery. She couldn’t explain why it mattered so much to her. She didn’t owe Daniel’s mother anything, and Daniel wouldn’t blame her if they failed—no one could have predicted that light spell or the cave-in. If the phone wasn’t fixed, she’d have a great excuse to end this craziness right now, before her life was in danger again. Daniel could try another way to find his mother. Or maybe the police would succeed. But she couldn’t quit now. She had firsthand knowledge of how serious the situation was and how dangerous the people who had his mother were.

Sam took the phone. Examining it, he went behind the counter and pulled out a set of tools and a USB plug. “Not sure how long this will take.”

“I’ll wait,” Kayla said at the same time that Selena said, “We’ll go.”

“No, thanks, I’m not letting that phone out of my sight.” Kayla located a stool and perched on it. Selena shifted from foot to foot, looking as if she wanted to vanish like Daniel. Kayla
had never seen her like this, even during the worst of middle school—like eighth-grade graduation when her mother’s cell phone rang and she left just as Selena’s name was called, telling another parent it didn’t count since Selena was only ranked second. Selena had overheard. Even then, Selena had held her head high and gone home with Kayla as if she’d intended that all along. Or last fall, when a boy who’d had a crush on her started spreading rumors—she’d stood up to them, literally standing on a cafeteria table and systematically shredding everyone who’d spread the lies. She didn’t embarrass easily. Kayla admired that about her. She was
never
breathless or embarrassed or whatever she was now. She always embraced her inner diva. Except around her parents. And now, apparently, with Sam.

Sam looked up from the phone. His gaze lingered on Selena before switching to Kayla. “You realize by bringing this to me, you’re violating the manufacturer’s warranty.”

“Can you fix it?” Kayla asked.

“I can fix anything,” Sam said. “Except her.”

Kayla turned to Selena. “Selena?”

Selena examined her manicure and frowned at one fingernail. She was trying to pretend nonchalance and failing miserably. “Long story. Kind of boring.”

“Short story,” Sam corrected. “Not boring to me.”

Selena winced. “Sam … I’m sorry.”

Kayla didn’t think she’d ever seen Selena apologize for anything. Ever. She looked slowly from Selena to Sam and back, feeling as if she’d tuned in after a commercial break and missed the show intro. “When my current crisis is over, I’ll help fix this.” She gestured at the air between Selena and Sam.

Sam frowned at the phone. He slid a tool into its side and
popped off the back. Holding it up to the light, he blew gently at its innards. “You can’t.”

“I can fix her,” Kayla said confidently.

“In that case”—he picked up a tiny brush and gently cleaned the electronics—“this is free of charge.”

Glowering at both of them, Selena waved her hands. “Hey, I’m right here. And I don’t need fixing. I’m perfect in every way, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

Kayla ignored her. “What happened?” she asked Sam.

“I asked him out, okay?” Selena said. “And my parents said no. End of story. He’s right; it was a short story. Can we please not talk about it?”

“Wait,
you
asked
him
?” Kayla said. “And you didn’t tell me first? You tell me before you buy shoes. Where did you meet? What did he say? Why did your parents say no?”

“He fixed my phone, that’s when we met,” Selena said. “And he laughed at my jokes.”

“Then her parents took one look at me”—he gestured at himself—“and no one was laughing anymore.”

“Because you’re white?” Kayla guessed.

“Because he doesn’t wear shoes,” Selena said. “And because he works here and barely pays his rent and can’t afford a car that doesn’t sound like it’s murdering dolphins.”

“Her Highness neglected to tell me that her parents are richer than God,” Sam said. “When I came to pick her up, they looked at me like I was a bug smeared on the windshield of their Lamborghini.”

“Bad analogy. Bugs don’t touch the Lamb.”

“Your parents like me,” Kayla said. She’d never felt any disapproval from them, even though she lived in a cottage that was
approximately the size of their master bathroom, even though she’d eaten her fair share of meals scrounged from the local restaurants’ Dumpsters, and even though the closest she’d come to designer handbags was to the ones she’d pickpocketed.

“Yeah, but you don’t have sperm,” Selena said.

Kayla noticed a smile was pulling at the corners of Sam’s mouth, and she decided that she liked him. Anyone who appreciated Selena’s humor was a keeper. There weren’t many boys who were more amused than intimidated by her. Or, really, any boys. “She’s blunt,” Sam commented.

“Always has been,” Kayla said. “In sixth grade, she decided to catalog every one of my faults. She drew them up in a spreadsheet, marking off the frequency of behaviors that she found unlikable.”

“What did you do?” Sam continued to fiddle with the phone, his hands working while his eyes were on them.

“I dumped sand in her bed.”

Selena shuddered. “I can’t stand unclean sheets.”

Sam laughed, and the sound brightened the whole place. He transformed when he laughed, and Kayla saw the way her friend looked at him, as if she wanted to run into that brightness. He sobered. “So how do I convince her to confront her parents and tell them she wants to date me?” he asked Kayla. “Looking at her and listening to her, you’d never guess that she’s afraid of anyone. But I bet she’s never stood up to her parents in her life. Have you, princess?”

Kayla opened her mouth to defend her friend but couldn’t. Selena never did break the law, stay out past curfew, or do anything to cross any lines with her parents. She was always talking about how she couldn’t stand up to her parents; maybe she
wasn’t exaggerating. “And here I thought I was such a bad influence on you. I really have to work harder.”

“I live vicariously through you. You know that.” Selena had said that before, many times, but now Kayla thought her voice sounded a little sad.

Before she could reply, Kayla heard a familiar
bong
. Sam held up her phone triumphantly. “Fixed! You didn’t break it. Just got dust where dust shouldn’t be.”

Kayla jumped off the stool and ran to the phone. She snatched it out of his hands and scrolled through the photos. The last one was the parchment. Immediately, she e-mailed it to herself and Selena as backup. “Thank you, thank you, thank you, Sam! I’ll convince her to date you.” Grabbing Selena’s arm, Kayla propelled her out of the store and back to the car.

Selena got into the driver’s seat. Hugging the phone, Kayla jumped into the car. “You’re right! He works miracles!” She couldn’t wait to tell Daniel.

Gripping the steering wheel, Selena stared straight ahead. “I wish you hadn’t promised him
me
.”

“Why not? You clearly like him. Also, why didn’t you tell me? Can we get back to that?” Kayla asked. “I tell you everything. In minute detail. You even know the disaster that was my first kiss. Not to mention my first period. And of course the teeny tiny secret of my”—she made the ridiculous gesture for telekinesis that Selena had invented—“you-know-what that could get me killed if my father ever found out.”

“I wanted to tell you, but … I like him. Really like him. And I didn’t want to be teased about him, not until I knew if it would work. But then it didn’t, and it was my fault, and I wanted to tell you—was going to vent to you, in fact, as you recall—but
you weren’t alone, and then after that … I was embarrassed, okay?” She said all this in a rush, as if the words were happy to escape. “I should be stronger, but I’m not. I’m not like you, master thief turned superhero. So I can’t be with him. And you can’t fix it because I
won’t
disappoint my parents. They worked too hard for me to have all I have. They want me to have the opportunities they didn’t and … I don’t want to talk about it.” Peeling away from Sam’s store, Selena cranked up the radio so Kayla couldn’t argue with her.

Looking again at her precious phone, Kayla studied the photograph. She’d fix Daniel’s family first, and then she’d tackle Selena’s. She could do it, she was sure.

She just wished she knew how to fix her own.

Selena parked in front of Kayla’s house, and the music shut off abruptly with the engine. Before Kayla could say anything, Selena popped out of the car. Kayla stepped out too and spotted Daniel. He was leaning against the red gate, clearly waiting for her. He peeled himself away from the gate and crossed the sidewalk. His hands were jammed in his pockets, and his eyes drilled into Kayla. He didn’t even glance at Selena.