Double Trouble Page 9

  “Yeah.” Megan smiled. “He’s incorrigible. Aren’t you, boy?”

  Amigo practically turned himself inside out with joy as Megan patted him. Then Lav gave a tug on the leash. “Okay, that’s enough. Into solitary with you, baby.”

  She picked up the dog and snuggled him. Then she disappeared into the orchard.

  “I’ll make sure Mom is ready for our visitors,” Megan said. “Be right back.”

  She hurried into the house, leaving me and Caitlyn alone.

  “It’s weird being here, isn’t it?” Cait said with a wry smile. “It’s our first time seeing everything. Only not.”

  “I know, right?” I glanced toward the pool, shuddering as the image of my sobbing friends swam into my mind. “Definitely weird.”

  I forgot about that when Mom emerged through the open French doors. “Everything ready to go out here?” she asked.

  “I think so,” Cait told her. “People should start arriving any minute.”

  “Good.” Mom hesitated, glancing from my sister to me and back again. She cleared her throat, and once again I couldn’t help thinking she looked nervous. “Listen, girls, while we have a moment alone . . .”

  At that moment Lavender raced back into view, kicking the orchard gate shut behind her. “They’re here!” she squealed.

  “Who?” I asked.

  Megan hurried back out just in time to hear her. She rolled her eyes and smiled. “The B Boys,” she said. “Leave it to them to be fashionably early, right?”

  Lav laughed breathlessly. “How’s my hair?”

  “Looks good.” I glanced at Mom out of the corner of my eye. What had she been about to say? After everything that had been going on, I really wanted to know.

  She caught my look and stepped toward me. “Happy birthday, Cassie,” she said, giving me a quick hug.

  I didn’t hug her back. I couldn’t. It was all I could do to stay on my feet as the vision hit me.

  Even though the real Mom was right in my face, I could hardly see her. All I could see was future Mom, superclear—and superangry. This was scarymama times infinity—she was scowling so hard she almost looked like a whole different person.

  Mom let me go and stepped away to hug Cait. I just stood there, shaking. What had made future Mom so angry? I had no idea—for once, I’d barely been able to see any background aside from a plain white wall. I hadn’t even been able to tell what Mom was wearing.

  Oh, well, I thought, doing my best to shrug it off. She was probably mad at Cait for not making the bed again. Or me for coming home half a second past curfew.

  In any case, the wall told me the scene, whatever it was, would take place indoors. The walls I could see through the numerous windows were all shades of tasteful pastel. Mayor Megan’s Mom didn’t seem like a plain-white-walls kind of person.

  That meant I could worry about this newest vision later. Right now I needed to focus on our visions about this party.

  As Mom hurried toward the house, I touched the pendant around my neck. Suddenly I didn’t want to wear it anymore. I was going to have enough to deal with today without any more random superstrong visions.

  Pulling it off, I slipped it to Cait. “Here,” I murmured. “You can wear this, okay?”

  She hesitated, then nodded and took it from me. Relieved, I turned back to my friends.

  “Chill out, Lav,” Megan was saying. “A girl should never look desperate, you know.”

  Caitlyn looked confused. “Desperate?” she echoed as she slipped the necklace over her head.

  “Oh, didn’t you hear?” Megan smiled. “Lav just decided she has a massive crush on Biff.”

  “Really?” That got my attention. Last I’d noticed, Lavender had seemed to be crushing on Brayden. Which was sort of a problem, given my own weird, mixed-up feelings about him. “Why didn’t you tell me about this before?”

  “Shut up, Megs. You don’t have to tell the whole world my business.” But Lavender was grinning like an idiot as she shoved Megan. “Now be quiet, guys. Here they come!”

  Brent and Buzz bounded out through the French doors. “Yo, the party can start!” Brent exclaimed. “We’re here!”

  Biff and Brayden were right behind them. Biff was carrying two towels and helping Brayden maneuver his crutches down the wide, curved steps leading from the house to the pool area.

  “I hope there’s lots of food,” Buzz said. “Swimming makes me hungry!”

  Biff laughed. “Dude, when did a party of Megan’s ever not have tons of food?” Dropping the towels on a lounge chair, he hurried over and grabbed a handful of chips.

  Meanwhile Brayden hobbled toward us. “Hey,” he said. “Thanks for inviting us. Happy birthday.”

  He smiled at both me and Cait but held my gaze for an extra second.

  I grinned back at him, glad that I’d volunteered to stick close to the B Boys today. “Thanks,” I said. “Now come on and let’s get this party started!”

  15

  CAITLYN

  THE PARTY HAD been in full swing for almost an hour before Bianca finally showed up. I was relieved when she stepped out through the French doors.

  “You made it!” I cried, hurrying to greet her.

  She handed me a small, brightly wrapped gift. “Happy birthday, Caitlyn. Thanks for inviting me. This looks like quite a party.” She shaded her eyes and glanced toward the pool.

  There had to be at least thirty kids there. Some were lounging on the teak chaises, some were picking at the food, a few were dancing to the loud pop music pouring out of the fancy speakers attached to Megan’s smartphone. Lots more were in the pool splashing around.

  I’d been in and out of the pool a few times myself. Liam had arrived only moments after the B Boys, and I’d stuck close to him ever since. He was so excited he couldn’t seem to settle on one activity.

  Glancing over my shoulder, I saw that he was hanging out by the food table gorging on Mom’s homemade cookies. The B Boys were all in the pool except for Brayden, who was watching his friends from nearby with his cast propped up on a chair. As I watched, Buzz hoisted himself out, then turned around and cannonballed right back in, almost landing on a laughing Biff. Cassie was floating nearby, smiling at the guys’ antics.

  “Sorry I’m late.” When Bianca turned to face me again, I couldn’t help noticing that her eyes were red and puffy.

  “Are you okay?” I blurted out. “You look like you’ve been crying.”

  Okay, maybe not the most tactful question. What can I say? I was worried about her.

  “I was. But it’s okay.” Her smile widened. “You haven’t known me that long, but I never cry when I’m upset—only when I’m really, really happy.”

  “Really?” I was a little confused but relieved. “What are you happy about?”

  “I just came from the hospital. My dad had heart surgery yesterday.”

  I gasped. “He did?” That explained why she hadn’t been at school. “What happened? Is he okay?”

  “He’s good. Great, actually.” She beamed. “His doctors said the surgery went perfectly, and he’ll be a lot healthier now.”

  “Oh, Bianca, that’s amazing!” I grabbed her in a big hug.

  She hugged me back, laughing. “Anyway, sorry if I’ve been a little quiet lately. I was just worried about him, you know?”

  I didn’t bother to point out that she was always quiet. All that mattered was that her dad was okay.

  Wait. Maybe that wasn’t all that mattered.

  “Go grab some snacks before Liam eats everything,” I urged. “I’ll join you in a sec. I just have to find my sister first.”

  As she nodded and hurried off, I headed toward Cassie, who was now sitting on the edge of the pool near Brayden’s chair, grinning as Biff and Buzz tried to dunk a laughing, struggling Brent nearby.

  When I got closer, I shot her a meaningful look. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

  She stood up immediately. “Be right back,” she told Brayden.

>   I led the way to a quiet spot behind the waterfall. “Guess what?” I said as soon as we were alone. “Bianca’s dad had heart trouble!”

  She looked startled. “And this makes you happy why?”

  “Sorry!” I laughed. “Let me start over.” I filled her in on what I’d found out. “So I’m guessing your vision was Bianca going to the hospital before surgery yesterday. You said she looked worried, right? And mine showed her crying with happiness after she found out he was going to be okay.”

  “Yeah. Go figure. Turns out my vision is the negative one and yours is all happy happy joy joy. Again.”

  “Oh. Right.” I shrugged. “But this is great news for both of us! Now that we don’t have to worry about Bianca anymore, we can finally relax and enjoy our party!”

  “Not exactly,” she pointed out. “What about Liam? And the thing I saw with Lav and the girls crying. Neither of those visions have happened yet, and they both definitely took place right here at this pool.”

  My heart dropped. I’d been so distracted by the whole Bianca thing that I’d almost forgotten about Liam. Where was he now?

  I peered out around the waterfall. The last time I’d seen him, Liam had been at the food table. He wasn’t there now, though.

  Then I heard a shout. Turning my head, I gasped as I saw Liam over near the deep end with the B Boys. They were all laughing, including Liam. But for how long? My heart thudded, and I took a step forward.

  “Geronimo!” Buzz shouted, racing toward the water. When he reached the edge of the pool, he leaped up and forward, grabbing his knees and landing with a loud splash.

  “Hey!” Emily and Abby shrieked as the wave from Buzz’s cannonball washed over them.

  “I’m next!” Liam cried with a wild laugh.

  He took off, running the same way Buzz just had. But someone had left a towel lying on the ground, and Liam’s foot snagged it. He tripped and went flying, his skinny arms and legs windmilling helplessly.

  “Aaaah—ow!” he yelped as he hit the ground stomach first, the momentum carrying him forward over the rough concrete.

  “Liam!” I yelled.

  “Dude!” one or two of the B Boys exclaimed at the same time.

  Liam finally stopped just short of the pool’s edge, rolling over with a moan. His chest and stomach were scraped and bleeding, the blood mixing with the water dripping from his hair and body.

  “That hurt,” he announced, staring up at the sky.

  “We’ve got you, bro!” Biff and Brent had reached him by now, while Buzz was climbing out of the pool.

  “We’ve got to . . .” I began, stepping forward.

  Then I stopped, blinking in amazement as the scene from my vision formed in front of my eyes. Biff pulled Liam to his feet, while Brent slung one of Liam’s skinny arms over his own broad shoulder. With Buzz tailing along, the guys dragged the blood-streaked Liam toward the nearest lounge chair.

  Lavender was sitting there drinking a soda. Her eyes widened when she saw the boys coming.

  “Ew!” she exclaimed, leaping out of the way. “Don’t bleed on me!”

  “Sorry.” Liam grinned at her. “I’m afraid I don’t have control over my bleeding. See, it’s what’s called an involuntary reflex, which I believe is controlled by the central nervous system—or is it the peripheral nervous system . . . ?”

  As he babbled on, I went limp with relief. Yeah, he might look like an ax murderer had taken a swing at him, but I had a feeling he was going to be okay.

  I glanced over at Cassie, who looked confused. “I don’t get it,” she said. “Your vision . . .”

  “Right.” I let out a breath quickly. “I saw Liam bleeding and those guys dragging him along. I thought it meant they’d, you know, caused the bleeding. But I guess not.”

  “Yeah. It was Liam’s own spazziness that did that.” She wandered off. “Come on, we should probably check on him. He’s going to need a whole box of Band-Aids.”

  By the time we reached Liam, most of the party had gathered around. Megan ran for her mother. Mrs. March took one look at Liam, clucked with concern, then went into commanding-general mode.

  “Megan, honey, run out and grab me the Adams General bag from the front seat of my car, okay?” she said. “I noticed we ran out of Band-Aids the other day, and I picked some up in town this morning. On your way back, swing through the orchard and fetch me some aloe from the big clay pot.”

  She disappeared into the house with Liam in tow. Megan bolted after them. The B Boys tagged along, still looking concerned.

  “Wow,” Lavender said, wandering toward us. “Drama much? Your friends sure know how to keep things interesting, Caitlyn.”

  “Yeah.” I barely heard her. I headed for the house, wanting to check on Liam.

  Cassie followed. As soon as we were inside, she yanked me into the powder room near the French doors.

  “What?” I said, distracted. “I want to make sure Liam’s okay.”

  “He’s fine,” Cassie said. “I mean, I’m sure he’s hurting after that pavement dive he took. But Megan’s mom used to be a nurse—she’ll get him fixed up.”

  “Good.” That actually did make me feel better. Still, I wanted to see for myself. “I’ll go check on him and let you know, okay? You might as well go enjoy the party now that everything’s happened.”

  “But it hasn’t. What about Lavender?”

  “What about her?”

  “I saw her crying. Right here at the pool.” She bit her lip. “Wearing the same swimsuit she’s wearing today.”

  “Whatever.” I shrugged. “She’s probably heartbroken because she smudged her lip gloss or something. Or maybe Liam did manage to drip some blood on her fancy swimsuit and it’s the biggest tragedy of her life.”

  Cassie grimaced. “Maybe,” she admitted. “I don’t know, though. Everyone in the vision looked upset, not just Lav. Especially Megan.”

  She had a point. But what else could possibly happen today? Especially something that could upset everyone so much?

  I scanned back over all the visions I’d had lately, but came up with nothing. They’d all come true except the ones about Mom and the gray-haired lady. And obviously those didn’t have anything to do with today’s party.

  So why hadn’t Cassie’s crying vision happened yet? Had we prevented it somehow without even realizing it? But how? There had to be a clue somewhere . . .

  “Wait,” I blurted out. “You had a vision about Megan, right?”

  She frowned impatiently. “Aren’t you listening? I just said she was in the background of my Lavender vision.”

  “No, another one,” I said. “With a dog.”

  Cassie’s eyes widened. “You’re right!” she cried, leaping for the door. “Hurry, we have to get out there—I think I know what’s going to happen!”

  16

  CASSIE

  CAITLYN FOLLOWED AS I raced outside and around the corner. She’d reminded me of that vision of Megan and Amigo in the orchard, and now I was pretty sure I knew what it meant. I’d seen Megan coming in through the front gate, the one leading out to the driveway—and the busy street just beyond.

  There was just one question: Was I too late to save Amigo?

  I shoved through the back gate into the orchard. Megan was on the far side, holding a plastic bag and bending down to rub Amigo’s ears as he leaped happily around her. The gate behind her was standing ajar.

  “Megan!” I hollered. “The gate!”

  “Huh?” She straightened up and peered at me.

  Caitlyn gasped. “Oh, no—he’s escaping!”

  Amigo had just spotted the open gate and was charging toward it. “Amigo!” I cried. “Stop!”

  He ignored me, his wagging tail disappearing through the gate. Megan spun around.

  “No!” she cried. “Oh, no! Amigo!”

  She dropped the bag and leaped back through the gate. I sprinted across the orchard with Cait on my heels. We emerged just in time to see Amigo playing keepaway w
ith Megan. Namely, he was keeping himself just out of arm’s reach, his little tail wagging nonstop.

  I glanced toward the road just in time to see a huge delivery truck rumble past. Yikes. If the dog headed that direction . . .

  “Go that way,” I ordered Caitlyn. “I’ll circle around and try to cut him off.”

  Cait nodded and took off to Megan’s right, while I headed left. Meanwhile Megan kept grabbing frantically at Amigo, and he kept leaping away at the last second. What if he took off after a squirrel or something?

  No. I wouldn’t let that happen. Banishing the image of Lav’s tear-streaked face, I slowed down, creeping up behind the dog. He was distracted by Megan pleading with him to stop. If I could just get a tiny bit closer . . .

  “Gotcha!” I yelled as I grabbed the little dog.

  Amigo whined with surprise. But as I hugged him to me, he started wiggling and wagging his tail again, and his tongue lolled out and then slurped me right across the face.

  Gross. But, okay, kind of sweet.

  A breathless Megan rushed over. “Amigo, you naughty thing!” she exclaimed. “Thanks for helping me catch him, Cassie. I was in such a hurry to get Mom the stuff she needs, I forgot to check that the gate was shut. If Amigo had gotten into the road . . .” She shuddered.

  I sank to my knees, still hugging Amigo. Closing my eyes, I once again pictured Lavender’s distraught, tear-streaked face from my vision. The face of a dog-loving girl whose best furry friend had just been hit by a car.

  “I’d better get the aloe and get inside,” Megan said. Her moment of distress had passed. She didn’t know how close she’d really come to ruining Lavender’s life and destroying their friendship.

  I stood and followed her back into the orchard, still holding Amigo. Caitlyn came, too. We both watched Megan pluck a stem off a weird-looking plant, then push through the gate into the pool area.

  Cait patted Amigo as I set him down—after double-checking the front gate. “So that’s what you saw,” she said. “Megan accidentally letting the dog out in the road.”

  “Yeah.” I wiped dog drool off my chin and stood up. “As soon as you mentioned my vision, I suddenly got it. It was the only thing that made sense. Lav adores this dog. She’d be devastated if anything happened to him.”