After (Parallel Series, Book 4) Read online

  “I got my cell phone back,” I said to Billy when he met me in the cafeteria at lunch.

  “That’s good,” he said as we got in line to get our food.

  “I guess my mom’s not mad at me any more for running away.” Remembering the conversation I had with her the night before, I smiled, then dropped my voice to a whisper so that the other kids couldn’t overhear. “I think she’s really starting to believe our story now.”

  He laughed, then in his normal voice said, “Well, it’s true, so I should hope so.”

  “What’s true?” Rochelle asked as she got in line behind us and picked up a tray.

  “Oh, hey,” I said, my mind racing to recall if I’d said anything to give away our secret.

  “What Morgan said in the assembly yesterday,” Billy said smoothly.

  “Oh that,” Rochelle said.

  She didn’t say anything more, and the three of us took our trays to an empty table.

  “Do you guys want to do anything after school?” Rochelle asked.

  “Sure,” I said, then looked at Billy.

  “Yeah, okay,” he said, then he smiled. “As long as I have time to work.”

  “Work?” I asked, puzzled. “Do you have a job?”

  “I fixed Tasco’s washing machine last night, and he gave me forty bucks. And then he asked me to fix some other stuff.”

  “Nice.” Though surprised that Tasco would pay him to work, I was glad, as I knew it was important to Billy to earn his own way.

  After school the three of us headed to the mall in Rochelle’s car. I was able to call Mom on my cell phone and she gave me permission to go, this time without the hour restriction.

  “I think I’m going to get one of those smoothies again,” Billy said from the backseat as Rochelle angled into a parking space.

  From the front seat, I turned and smiled at him. “Don’t forget about those cinnamon rolls.” I looked at Rochelle. “What about you?”

  She cleared her throat. “I’m skipping a snack today.”

  “Oh. Okay.”

  She laughed in what seemed a self-conscious way. “Can we go look at that jacket first?”

  “Sure.”

  The three of us walked in and went right to the store with the jacket that Rochelle was interested in. She put it on and stood in front of us. “What do you think?”

  “It’s cute on you,” I said.

  “Looks good,” Billy said, though I could tell it didn’t matter to him one way or the other.

  “You think so?” Rochelle asked, looking right at Billy.

  He nodded. “Yeah.”

  “I’m gonna get it,” she said, then she walked to the counter where the salesgirl waited.

  After she paid for it, we walked toward the food court where Billy and I got in line at the smoothie place. “Are you sure you’re not going to get anything?” I asked Rochelle.

  She bit her lip. “Not today.” I guess she could tell I was curious why she was skipping a snack, because she added, “After the whole junk food conversation, I’ve decided to try to eat healthier.”

  “Oh,” I said. “Well, that’s good, I guess.” She looked fine to me, but I couldn’t argue with the idea of choosing healthier foods. As Billy and I sipped our smoothies, I caught Rochelle eyeing them. “They have smoothies that are just fruit, you know,” I said. “They’re good for you.”

  “Hmm,” she murmured. “Okay.” Then she got in line to get a fruit smoothie.

  After Rochelle got her smoothie, the three of us walked around the mall for a while, and when Billy slid his hand into mine, a feeling of happiness flooded me and I wondered how life could get any better.

  When we were done at the mall, Rochelle dropped Billy and me off at Tasco’s house where Billy led me out to the garage.

  “Let me grab you a chair,” he said, then he brought one of the kitchen chairs out to the garage.

  “Thanks.”

  “Are you warm enough?” he asked.

  Pulling my coat more tightly around me, I nodded, then watched Billy as he moved the lawn mower into the middle of the garage and began working. “So,” I began. “Do you like living with Tasco?”

  He looked up. “He’s okay. From the small amount of time I’ve spent with him, he seems a lot different from the man we knew at Camp Willowmoss.”

  I was glad to hear that. Then I thought about Holly—the one who’d argued with me at the assembly—and wondered if she was any different from the Holly who had tortured me at Camp Stonewater. With any luck I’d never see her again and would always have to wonder.

  “It looks like I might need some parts to get this thing to work,” Billy said as he fiddled with the lawn mower.

  “If that’s all Tasco has to do to get it to work, then he’s getting a bargain by having you fix stuff.”

  He smiled. “I think it’s cool that I can earn money doing stuff that I would do for free.”

  “Yeah, that is pretty awesome.”

  “Let me get cleaned up, then we can go to your house.” He paused, like he was uncertain if he should invite himself over. “If that’s okay?”

  I laughed. “Of course it is. You’re always welcome at my house.”

  Chapter 19

  Billy

  When we arrived at Morgan’s house her younger brothers were kicking the soccer ball around in the front yard trying to keep it away from Goldie, who seemed determined to catch it.

  “Hey, guys” I said.

  “Hi, Billy,” Zac said. “Come play with us.”

  “Yeah,” added Brandon. “Please.”

  I didn’t have any siblings, and since I’d pretty much been on my own since I was fifteen, friends hadn’t been a big part of my life either—at least until I’d met Morgan. The way Morgan’s younger brothers looked up to me made me kind of feel like a big brother.

  I looked at Morgan for her approval. “Do you mind if I hang with them for a little while?”

  She smiled like she thought it was a wonderful idea. “No, go ahead. I’ll be inside.”

  I watched her walk up the porch steps and go into the house, then I turned my attention to Zac and Brandon. “Okay, guys. Let’s do this.”

  My experience with playing soccer was limited, but I knew enough to have a good time with Morgan’s brothers. Despite my inexperience they seemed to be having fun, and as we played for the next half hour I realized that as much as I loved being with Morgan’s family, those feelings only fueled my desire to have a family of my own, and I decided I wanted to see my parents from this world sooner rather than later. Like maybe that weekend.

  My decision made, I was eager to tell Morgan what I wanted to do. “Hey guys,” I said as I kicked the ball toward them. “I’m going to go inside now, okay?”

  “Do you have to?” Brandon said.

  I laughed. “Yes. But thanks for letting me play with you.”

  “You can anytime you want,” Zac said in a serious tone of voice, as if he feared I wouldn’t know that.

  “Cool.” I went into the house and saw Morgan sitting on the couch reading.

  She looked up at me and smiled. “Did they wear you out?”

  I laughed. “Pretty much, yeah.” I sat next to her. “Can I talk to you?”

  With a look of curiosity, she set her book down. “Okay.”

  Excited about my plans, I smiled. “I’ve decided that I’m ready to see my parents.”

  Her eyes widened. “Really?”

  “From a distance,” I quickly added.

  “Oh, well yeah.” She hesitated. “I need to tell you something.”

  “What?”

  A light flush crept up her cheeks. “I told my mom.”

  What? My heart pounded. What would her parents think if they knew about my crazy idea? “You told her what, exactly?”

  She sighed. “Last night she asked me about the slogan. You know, did I really think it up? So I told her it was from the pledge in the other world, and she said that’s what she thought.” A smil
e curved her lips. “That means she believes us, Billy.”

  Her optimism was contagious. “Good.”

  “That’s why I decided to tell her about your idea to find out if your parents here are different from your parents there.”

  I hesitated, almost afraid to ask my question. “What did she say?”

  Her smile grew brighter. “She said when you’re ready to go there, she’ll drive us. Maybe.”

  I laughed. “Maybe? What does that mean?”

  Her smile dimmed. “She’s not sure that it’s a great idea. Because, you know, they recently lost their son and all.”

  Though I felt just as torn as Morgan’s mother seemed to be, I really, really wanted a family. Until I’d spent time with Morgan’s family I’d never realized what I’d been missing, and now I wanted it for myself. My respect for Morgan’s parents was growing and I valued their opinion. “What does she think I should do then?”

  She shrugged. “I didn’t ask her that.”

  Continuously wondering what Billy Foster’s parents in this world were like was starting to eat me up inside, and I wanted to move forward on learning more about them. “I want to go on Saturday. Will you ask her if she’ll drive me?”

  “Us,” she said. “You mean drive us.”

  I smiled. “Yes. Us. I really don’t want to go without you.”

  “You’d better not.”

  “What about your dad? Did she tell him about it?”

  Morgan bit her lip. “I don’t know. I didn’t tell her not to. Is it okay if she tells him?”

  Steve Campbell had doubted our story when we’d told it to him on the night I’d arrived, and I worried what he would think about what I wanted to do. But I couldn’t expect Morgan’s mom to do something like this without telling him. “If she’s going to spend half the day helping us, then I can’t object to her telling him.”

  “Okay, good,” she said. “How do we even know if . . . your parents . . . will be at their house on Saturday? And then how are you going to see what they’re like?”

  The obstacles she was throwing up made me uncomfortable, but I knew they were valid concerns. “I have no idea. Can we just go and then see what happens?”

  “It’s an hour drive—each way. Don’t you think we should have a plan before we ask my mom to take us there?”

  Suddenly I didn’t want her mom involved. “Can’t we just take the bus or something? Then we won’t have to inconvenience your mom.”

  Morgan was quiet, like she was thinking it over. “I guess. But I still want to tell her what we’re doing.”

  “I’m okay with that.” As the possibility of this happening came closer to becoming a reality, I felt my stress level notch up. “What time do you want to go?”

  “Let’s check the bus schedule, and then we can decide.”

  I went with Morgan to the computer and watched as she pulled up the bus schedule. “Looks like we can leave as early as seven,” I said. “But that might be a little too early. I mean, they probably won’t be up yet.”

  Morgan turned to me in her chair. “If you’re serious about doing this, then we need to put together a disguise.”

  I imagined the looks on the faces of this world’s parents if they were to recognize me—shock, joy, disbelief, confusion. As much as I hated my parents from my world, I didn’t want to put these unknown people through that. “Okay. We can go after school tomorrow.”

  Chapter 20

  Morgan

  The moment Billy and I dropped our backpacks off at Tasco’s house the next afternoon, we began walking the two miles to the nearest shopping center. I hadn’t told Mom our plans yet—I wanted to make sure Billy was still planning on going through with it—but I knew I would need to tell her tonight.

  “I hope they have something that will work,” I said as Billy and I walked hand in hand.

  “I’m sure we can come up with something.”

  Half an hour later we walked across the shopping mall parking lot and went into a drugstore. “Let’s see if they have any wigs,” I suggested. It didn’t take long to find the clearance shelf of leftover Halloween wigs. I dug through the pile and came up with one that could work. “What do you think?” I held up a dark brown wig with shoulder length hair.

  Billy looked doubtful. “Isn’t that a woman’s wig?”

  I laughed. “We can cut the hair, but the point is, it could work.”

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  I tucked it under my arm and dragged him to the cosmetics section.

  “You’re not planning on dressing me up as a woman, are you?” he asked.

  My eyes widened as the possibilities of that suggestion filled my mind. “You’re brilliant. Of course that’s what we should do.”

  He laughed. “I was joking, Morgan. I really don’t want to dress up as a woman.”

  I grabbed his arm. “Don’t you see? That could totally work. If you look like a girl we could pretend like we were friends of Billy’s and then ask if we could come in and talk to them about him. They won’t suspect it’s you if you’re dressed like a girl.”

  Billy shook his head. “Talking to them about this world’s version of me? A dead kid? That’s too creepy. I don’t think I can do that.”

  I put my hands on my hips. “Okay then, what do you think we should do?”

  He stared at the rack of eye make-up for a minute, then turned to me. “What if we pretend we’re selling something? Just to get a close look at them.” He paused, like he was deciding if he really wanted to say the next part, then he sighed. “I guess I can dress like a . . .” His voice dropped to barely a whisper. “A girl.”

  I smiled. “Really?”

  He sighed again, like he hated the idea. “Only because I don’t know how else we can talk to them without drawing their suspicion.”

  I turned to look at the make-up selection, then turned back to him. “This is so going to work.” Then I took a closer look at his face. “I’ll just have to shape your eyebrows a little. No self-respecting girl would have such bushy eyebrows.”

  He threw his hands up like he was warding off an evil spell. “Hold on. I don’t want to actually look like a girl, Morgan. You’re talking about making a permanent change.”

  I laughed. “Oh, believe me, those eyebrows will grow back. I have to pluck my eyebrows every day.”

  Disbelief and uncertainty crowded his features. “I think we need to come up with another idea.”

  Staring at him with a look of challenge, I said, “Like you said, how else are we going to get close to them without drawing their suspicion?”

  His shoulders slumped. “Maybe we should just forget this whole thing.”

  I knew he didn’t mean it. “It’s up to you, Billy.”

  He slowly scratched his cheek as he stared at the make-up, then he turned to me. “You know, for now I just want to check out their house. Just walk by, but don’t go to the door.”

  “What are you going to wear?”

  He was quiet for a minute. “I’ll wear my hoodie and pull that up over my head.”

  Understanding his hesitation, I didn’t argue. “Okay. Whatever you want to do.”

  A few minutes later we were on our way back to Tasco’s house.

  “I want to look at that obituary again,” Billy said as he unlocked the front door. “I don’t think Tasco will mind us going into his office if I’m looking up something specific.”

  I followed Billy to Tasco’s office—which really wasn’t very interesting—and Billy turned on the computer. We waited while it booted up, then stared at the field where a password needed to be entered.

  “Did he give you the password?” I asked.

  “No.”

  “I guess he only trusts you so much.”

  He frowned at the computer screen. “Yeah. I guess so.”

  “We can go to my house and look it up there.”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  When we reached my house we went inside and went straight to the computer.<
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  “Looks like the kids are all busy,” I said as I glanced around. It wouldn’t do to have them see an obituary for Billy.

  He slid into the chair in front of the computer and after only a moment we had the obituary up on the screen. “I want to print it out,” Billy said.

  “The printer’s hooked up, so go ahead.”

  The printer spit out the page, and Billy closed the website, then folded the sheet of paper and tucked it into his pocket. He stood. “Guess I’m ready.”

  I nodded. “What time do you want to go?”

  “I want to check one other thing.” He spoke as if he didn’t hear my question, then he sat down again.

  I watched as he pulled up Google Maps. “What are you doing?”

  “I want to see where the cemetery is in relation to their house.” He glanced at me over his shoulder. “Maybe we can stop by it after we check out their house.”

  “Won’t that be weird?”

  “Well, yeah. But this whole thing is pretty weird.”

  I laughed. “I can’t argue with that.”

  Using his finger, he traced the path from his parents house to the cemetery. “It’s just a few miles from their house.” After printing the directions from their house to the cemetery, he logged off the computer and turned to me. “You were asking what time we should leave?”

  “Yeah.”

  “How about I get to your house about eight tomorrow? Then we can walk to the bus stop.”

  “Okay.” My mouth turned up in a half-smile. “I’ll make sure to wear comfortable shoes.”

  He laughed. “At least we won’t have to worry about hiding from Enforcers.”

  I thought about the night we escaped from Camp Willowmoss and the treacherous race away from that prison. We hadn’t known where to go for safety. All I’d known is that I had to get to the tunnel and at least try to get back to my world. I’d failed, but Billy hadn’t abandoned me. And I wouldn’t abandon him in his quest to have a family. “Right. The only thing we have to worry about is tired feet.”