Auracle (22 page)

“Hey, how’s Rei doing?” Kyle asks Taylor. “He must be
pissed!
”

“He’s fine. Why would he be pissed?” Taylor asks suspiciously. Kyle is sort of a dork, and I’m surprised Taylor’s group is tolerating him long enough to have a conversation with him.

Kyle looks baffled. “Oh, come on. You of all people should know; you’re, like, his best friend.” He leans in and whispers loud enough for the entire group to hear. “Because he got arrested? In New York? With Seth?”

Taylor and her girlfriends exchange a voracious look.

“I was with Taylor’s family most of the day, and I haven’t had a chance to talk to him. What exactly did you hear?” Taylor asks.

Kyle puffs up. “My mom heard from one of the cops that they arrested Seth in New York yesterday. His arraignment was this morning, and they’re pushing the trial up to this Friday. And I heard that Rei was arrested with him in New York, but they didn’t press any charges.” Kyle looks a little confused. “You know, I really thought you’d know that, Anna. Hasn’t the district attorney talked to you yet? Isn’t Rei, like, really pissed that you’re testifying against Seth?”

Taylor’s face is pinched. “We haven’t discussed it,” she says tightly. “What else happened in New York?”

Kyle shrugs. “That’s pretty much what I know. I was kind of hoping you’d know more,” he admits.

“No,” Taylor glowers, “but I will know more soon.”

She pushes the speed dial number on her cell phone so fast, I don’t have time to warn Rei. I surge into view just as he checks the caller ID and picks it up. He looks right at me, but he’s talking to the caller—two birds with one stone. “Hey, Anna.”

The force of her voice drives the phone away from his ear. I get a look that clearly says,
Thanks for the warning!

“Calm down!” he says into the receiver. “If you’d stop yelling at me, I’ll be happy to explain.” He squeezes his eyes shut and pinches the bridge of his nose. “That’s better. I was planning to tell you as soon as I saw you alone. Getting arrested isn’t something I’m bragging about. Nobody knows except my family and now you.” He rolls his eyes. “Okay, and now Kyle, Cori, Mandy, Olivia, and Vienna. So much for damage control.”

I don’t know how Rei can stand that shrill voice so close to his eardrum.

“Yes, Seth’s arraignment was today. Why didn’t I tell you? Because it’s an arraignment; it has nothing to do with you. They just read him the charges and he tells the judge he’s not guilty … Yes, I know you think he’s guilty,” he drums his fingers on the desk with a little more urgency. “Well, if they wanted you there, I’m sure they would have sent you a subpoena or something … I don’t know—I’m not a lawyer …
No
, you can’t come over right now—I’m in the middle of a project for school … Tomorrow. Yeah, tomorrow.”

He hangs up the phone and leans back in his desk chair, groaning. “And what really sucks is I know I should spend more time with her, but the girl just makes my brain hurt.”

I know what he means. I had planned to learn more about her so I could figure out her weak spots, but we’ve been too busy with Seth’s situation. But now there’s nothing more we can do for Seth until Friday, so I have no excuse.

It’s time to know my enemy.

Rei smiles like a proud father. “So you do listen to me sometimes.”

I listen to you a lot. I just don’t always follow your suggestions.

Rei almost laughs. “No … really?”

I have a suggestion of my own for him, but I don’t want him to take it the wrong way. I just think he needs to spend more time with her, too, and there’s only one way for him to do that.

Maybe it’s time you bit the bullet and went on a date with her.

Rei hoots at this idea. “Me? On a date with Taylor Gleason? What, are you nuts?”

I look down my nose at him before I turn back to the keyboard.
I’m allergic to nuts, remember?

“I was afraid it might come to this,” Rei sighs. “Oh, well. Sun Tzu did say war is based on deception.”

I never actually read
The Art of War,
so I’ll take his word for it. I am sorry he feels so put out by the idea of dating Taylor, only because it’s hard to feel that he’s not rejecting part of me as well. I mean, it’s still my physical body, even though it’s infested with Taylor. On the other hand, I can’t say I blame him. After what she’s rumored to have done to the guy in New York and what she’s actually done to Seth, who in their right mind
would
want to date her? I may as well just hand Rei a rope and a chair rather than suggest he go on a date with Taylor.

Never mind. I’m sorry I suggested it.

“But you’re right. It’s the only way I can keep an eye on her,” he rationalizes. “Okay, you go hang out with her and learn what you can. I’m going to finish this project. And tomorrow, I’ll play nice and ask her out.”

Military strategy at its finest. I give him a thumbs-up and go off in search of the enemy.

*   *   *

Taylor has three messages waiting for her when she finally gets home from the mall. The first is from the district attorney. He wants to talk to her. The second is from Seth’s attorney. He wants to talk to her. The third is from Jason Trent. I don’t even want to guess what he wants.

*   *   *

The next morning, I tag along while Taylor rides to school with Cori. Taylor was the third-smartest girl in our junior class, but now that she’s in my body, I can’t figure out if she’s hampered by my less-than-brilliant brain or if she just can’t be bothered to extend any effort on my behalf. Watching Taylor’s academic inertia is boring. I can’t take notes and I won’t remember what Ms. Bannister is talking about anyway, so I hang around the back of the class and look for ways to amuse myself. Just out of my reach, I see a pencil hanging halfway off a desk, and it makes me wonder if I’m confined to the shape of a body I no longer own. I stretch my invisible arm, farther and farther, until I reach the pencil and it drops to the ground.

Cool!

Sheets of paper, pens, anything I find light enough to maneuver, sail effortlessly off desks around the room while I hang out in the back corner orchestrating these shenanigans. Finally, Ms. Bannister walks over to the window and closes it.

I want to show Rei what I’ve learned. As soon as class is over, I find him at his locker and watch him swap out notebooks and textbooks. He organizes everything just so in his backpack, then he heads for the cafeteria. Once he’s settled at our table with his lunch and chemistry notes, I jiggle the phone in his pocket, and he nonchalantly takes it out and sets it on the table.

Ohai

Ohai,
he texts back.
I thought you were bonding with her.

I’m taking a break.

Summoning just enough energy to text but not so much that I materialize in front of everyone else in the cafeteria is tricky. I also realize it’s no fun to show him my new trick unless he can actually see me and judge the distance between me and my target.

So where is she now?

Probably in the bathroom putting on more lipstick.

Probably?

Fine. BRB

I latch onto Taylor’s vibration and follow it to …

Holy
crap!
The windows of Jason Trent’s white Jeep are open on this warm day, and the sounds coming from it are obscenely graphic. I bolt back to Rei’s phone and punch in
white jeep now.

The instant Rei reads these words, he abandons his stuff and sprints for the door. I beat him to the white Jeep, but not by a very wide margin. Rei reaches into the open window and unsnaps the convertible roof, then moves quickly to the other side and does the same. He yanks the canvas roof back in one fluid motion.

“Get off her
now!
” His voice is fierce.

Taylor and Jason both look up at him in astonishment. Jason pushes himself up on his hands so he can gawk at Rei from a better angle, and now …

Uh … you know … I would feel a whole lot better about this entire situation if that halter top was still tied around my neck and not all tangled up around my waist. Rei doesn’t even seem to notice.

“I said
NOW!
” He punctuates this with a fist slam against the hood of the Jeep, and the resounding
thunk
makes Taylor flinch. Jason is still stuck in neutral, so Rei reaches in and grabs him by the front of his neck.

“Son of a…” But Jason’s air is cut off and his eyes bulge nearly out of his head as Rei applies more pressure.

Taylor grabs the straps of her halter and struggles to untangle them and sit up at the same time.

“If you’re smart, you will get out of there on your own,” Rei tells him in a deadly calm voice before he lets go of his neck with a little shove.

Jason rubs his neck as he climbs out of the backseat. “What’s your problem, Ellis? She says she doesn’t go out with you.” He hacks and spits something chunky on the ground.

“She has a concussion, Jason. It affects her memory. And you will respect that and leave her alone. Do you understand?”

Rei doesn’t take his eyes off Jason, but he nods curtly toward Taylor. “Fix your shirt and let’s go,” he says in a brittle voice.

Okay. So he noticed. I wonder if this cancels out the shower invasion.

It looks like Jason is getting his second wind. I imagine he understood exactly what Rei said to him; I just don’t think he cares. He seems to be calculating his height and weight advantage. When his right hand balls into a fist by his side and he draws his elbow back, I yell out to warn Rei, but he can’t hear me, of course.

It doesn’t matter. Rei turns just in time to catch Jason’s fist squarely in his right hand. He yanks him off balance and squeezes, twisting in rapid succession Jason’s hand, arm, and shoulder until Jason lies crumpled faceup in a heap on the ground.

Rei looks down at him contemptuously. “
Now
do you understand?”

He turns to Taylor, who is still stunned but at least she’s fully dressed now. “Put your shoes on,” he orders. As soon as she fumbles her feet into the high heels, he puts his hands around her waist, lifts her out of the Jeep, and deposits her on the pavement. “Let’s go.”

Wow! I’ve never seen this badass side of Rei before.

He marches her back to the courtyard a step ahead of him the entire way, his fingers gripping the top of her arm, right over the tattoo. He doesn’t say a word until he sits her firmly down on a bench.

His face is a block of ice. “What the hell was that about?” he demands in a low voice.

Taylor finally seems to be coming out of her stupor. “What the … what the hell was
that
about! How
dare
you!”

“Oh, come on! Jason
Trent?
You can’t have hit your head
that
hard.”

“Well, at least he doesn’t treat me like a little sister!” she shoots back.

“That was pretty obvious.”

Taylor flushes and stands up. “Yeah, and it was pretty obvious you weren’t interested, Rei. What did you expect?”

“Not Jason Trent.” Rei sighs, and his voice softens. “You were going to come over today.”

“What?”

“Yesterday, when I talked to you on the phone, you wanted to come over and I said I had homework. I said for you to come over tomorrow instead. And … it’s tomorrow.”

Taylor plants her hands on her hips. “I don’t get you, Rei. The last time I came to your house, you couldn’t wait to get rid of me.”

“I know. And I’m sorry.” He smiles hesitantly, and then he reaches over and slowly slides his hand underneath her hair to that spot on the back of her neck and gives her his signature squeeze. I close my eyes and replay the sensation from memory.

He sighs and lets his hand slide down to her shoulder. “And it’s not that I’m not interested. I just thought it might be a little weird.” He brushes the back of his fingers against the side of her neck, and she looks every bit as flustered by that simple gesture as I feel. “I miss you, Anna. I’ll be home all afternoon if you want to come over.”

He squeezes her shoulder gently and walks away.

CHAPTER 27

“I was wrong back there,” Rei confesses when he gets home from school. He drops his backpack by the side of his desk and steps on the power strip button to turn the computer on. “I told Taylor this might be a little weird. It actually will be very weird.”

I agree: it will be weird, and sandwiched in with all that weirdness is my knowledge that even though Rei has a great poker face, he’s a terrible actor. How much of that performance was the art of deception and how much was fueled by real emotion? When he looks at Taylor, does he see me at all? When I look at Taylor, I barely recognize myself.

“So I know this was your idea, but are you sure you’re okay with this?” he asks as the computer finishes powering up. “The good news is I guarantee you we won’t be using those condoms.”

Are YOU okay with this?

He shrugs and nods indifferently.

I roll my eyes at him.
Remember when we were about eight and Seth dared us to touch tongues?

Rei smirks. “Yeah, and then you got mad because you dared Seth and me to touch tongues, too, and we wouldn’t.”

No, I got mad because you and Seth have double standards, but that’s not my point. You thought I had cooties and you couldn’t get upstairs to brush your teeth fast enough. What if she wants you to kiss her? Are you sure you want to do this?

Rei considers this. “If I have to kiss her, I’ll just pretend it’s you. I can handle your cooties,” he jokes.

Rei has a hard time handling his
own
cooties.

I roll my eyes at him some more.
Rei, it IS me.

“Anna, you can fill a snail shell with mud, but it doesn’t make it escargot.”

*   *   *

The doorbell rings at three thirty, and Taylor is waiting expectantly at the door when Rei opens it.

“Okay,” she says as she steps into the house, “let’s try this again.”

What to do, what to
do?
She doesn’t want to go for a walk; she doesn’t want to work on homework; she doesn’t even want to go to the mall. She wants to talk about Seth’s trial. Nope, Rei doesn’t want to talk about that.