The Thrashers(65)
Paige turned and stared intently at Jodi, as if to say, just like me.
“And you think it’s Emily?” Zack said.
“No … I don’t truly believe it’s her. I’m just scared and unable to move, and there’s a lot of stress around these trials.”
The table was quiet, waiting for more. Jodi remembered the dreams she’d been having, waking up without feeling in her arm. Just the night before, she’d had one where she was Emily.
“I’ve had dreams, too,” Zack said. The table turned to him. “She, like, Inceptions her way into past memories. Things she wasn’t there for. I don’t have the sleep paralysis thing though…”
Lucy nodded. Jodi looked around. So Paige, Zack, her, and now Lucy were all being haunted in a way.
Paige turned to them and said, “So … rose garden.”
Jodi thought about the text she’d received last week from an unknown number: Good luck on your finals. She’d called it immediately, but it didn’t go through. Neither the text or Lucy’s breathing issues pointed toward Emily specifically.
“What is it you want to do there?” Jodi asked Paige.
She shrugged. “Honestly, I have no idea. She said go to the rose garden, so I wanna go. I think it would be really good for all five of us to go together. Tonight.”
“Tonight? Why the hurry?” Julian crossed his arms.
“It’s just … I’d like to do it before Christmas.”
“Again, why?”
“Because! Because tonight is the winter solstice, and I think it would be more appropriate to try to talk to a dead girl on a witchy day.”
“Paige.”
“No, listen! It’s not like I’m going to try a spell or anything! All I’m saying,” Paige continued, despite the disbelieving expressions, “is that if we were to visit the rose garden one evening, we would have the best luck with a solstice.”
“Best luck with what?” Zack’s voice was soft.
“With letting Emily guide us.”
“Not convinced. Sorry, Paige,” said Jodi. “Besides, I’ll be at my aunt’s house tonight, and there is no way to sneak out of that house.”
“Why are you at your aunt’s?”
Jodi snapped her eyes to Julian, surprised by his interest.
“I … My dad took holiday hours. So I’m spending the week of Christmas with my mom’s family.”
He watched her, searching for more. She tore her eyes away. If he stared too long, maybe he’d see the yelling match she and her dad had had last week. Or the lamp he’d knocked off the living room table in a drunken stumble. She was happy to be at her aunt’s and happy her dad could get more money from the holidays. Simple.
“I’m out, too,” said Lucy. “We’re going to Tahoe tomorrow and leaving early. So I really don’t want to be running around town all night.”
Pouting, Paige leaned back, accepting defeat.
“Hey, there’s always the spring equinox,” Julian said drily, knocking her shoulder.
Jodi felt bad for Paige, but she was far more relieved that they were not going to sit in a park at midnight, calling upon a dead girl to speak to them.
When Mr. Burr came over to ask if Paige needed more fries, Jodi saw Zack staring out the window, thinking hard on something.
* * *
Jodi had resigned herself to spending New Year’s with her aunt and grandma, doing jigsaw puzzles and burning tamales. Lucy was still in Tahoe through New Year’s, and Paige had a meeting with her legal team scheduled for the first week of the year, so she said she was lying low in town for the thirty-first. Julian invited Zack to Napa with the Hollisters.
On the thirty-first at ten in the morning, Oliver texted her.
nobody home?
She replied, nope. dad on a drive and im at my grandmas
He sent back an Apple Music link to the Postmodern Jukebox cover of “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?”
“Can I meet up with a friend tonight?” she asked Rosa.
“Which friend?” Rosa lifted her threaded brow.
“An old friend. Do you remember the Burnses next door? I used to watch cartoons with their son.”
Thank god Rosa hadn’t seen Oliver recently. The septum ring and the hair would have set off alarm bells. But the version of Oliver Burns that Rosa remembered was gap-toothed and had talked with her about the new Selena Gomez makeup line.
At ten that night, she got in Oliver’s car, and they drove out to South Sacramento to some junior’s house. Inside, a large television hosted a video game tournament between four dudes, and there was alcohol, pipes, and joints for all.
Oliver knew everybody, and she noticed he brought in his backpack. Nikita was holding court in the kitchen, and she grabbed Jodi’s elbow when she saw her, drawing her into the conversation. Jodi felt eyes trailing over her, greedy gazes from people who realized that Zack Thrasher’s best friend was here.
It was climbing toward midnight, and the video game paused in favor of Ryan Seacrest. Jodi was out on the patio, near the aboveground pool with a few girls she knew from stage crew, consoling one of them about their cheating boyfriend. Her eyes wandered to the screen door, and she nearly choked.
Emily Mills was standing in the doorway, eyes pale blue and looking out over the backyard, as if searching for someone.