The Dead Boyfriend Read online

  Well, yes, Diary, I was expecting something a little more romantic. Of course, I was embarrassed. But I didn’t want to turn and hurry away. Something about him—not just his cuteness—drew me to him.

  I crossed my arms over my chest. “What’s your name?”

  “Blade.”

  “No. Really,” I said.

  “Really. It’s Blade. My parents wanted me to be sharp.”

  I laughed. “Bet you said that line before.”

  “It’s the truth,” he said.

  “My name is—” I started. But he raised a hand to cut me off.

  “Let me guess,” he said. “I’m good at guessing names. I have a talent.”

  I slid past him, pulled out a chair, and sat down across from him. I glimpsed Julie and Miranda in our booth in the back. They were both watching the scene intently. “Shoot,” I said.

  His eyes burned into mine. He studied me. “Your name is Tabitha,” he said.

  I nearly choked. “Tabitha?”

  He nodded. “What do your friends call you? Tabby?”

  I nodded. “Yes. They call me Tabby. How did you guess my name like that? That’s amazing. Did somebody tell it to you?”

  His cheeks turned pink. “No way. I told you. I have a talent for guessing names.”

  I leaned across the table and flashed him a teasing look. “And what else do you have a talent for, Blade?”

  He shrugged. “What’s your real name?”

  “It’s Caitlyn.”

  “I thought so. That was my second guess.”

  A few minutes later, after some definite first-class flirting, I said goodbye to my two friends and walked out of the restaurant with him. Where were we going? I had no idea. I only knew that after just a few minutes, I felt totally comfortable with him. More than comfortable. I was definitely attracted to him, and I wanted to spend time with him.

  Is this what love at first sight is all about?

  Hard to believe, but the question actually flashed through my mind as we stepped out into a warm April night, a soft, cool breeze brushing my hot cheeks, the fragrant aroma of Lefty’s cheeseburgers in the air, a bright half-moon overhead in a purple sky.

  I know, I know. It sounds like some kind of bad Lifetime movie. But sometimes life has to imitate that strange unreal happiness you usually see only on TV.

  And this was definitely one of those times.

  Blade put his hand on my back as we walked. It seemed totally natural. As if we’d been walking together for years. I found myself wondering if he felt the same way.

  We strolled along Division Street, past the high school, the yellow moonlight reflected in its dark windows, and along the houses that stood across from Shadyside Park.

  What did we talk about? I hardly remember, Diary. We talked about school. Blade’s family moved to Shadyside last fall, and he goes to The Academy. That’s the private high school across town. He talked about his old house in Shaker Heights and how he hated to leave his friends back there.

  He said he plays keyboard and guitar, and he is in a jazz quartet at school. He’s pretty sure he can get into Oberlin. But he was sick for a semester, so he can’t graduate with the rest of his class in June.

  I told him I was accepted at Middlebury College in Vermont, which is where my sister Jen went. But my parents hadn’t been able to work out a student loan for me yet. I said I’d tried for a Creative Writing Scholarship, but the competition was too stiff. I didn’t get it.

  He turned those awesome gray-green eyes on me. “You like to write?”

  I was about to answer when something across the street caught my attention. I heard blaring dance music and saw the bright lights in a large house across the street. Through the front window, I could see a crowd of dancing people. The crowd spilled out onto the broad front porch. Voices and laughter.

  And I had one of my ideas. I grabbed Blade’s arm. “Hey, Blade,” I said. “Let’s do something crazy.

  4.

  He narrowed his eyes at me. “How crazy?”

  “Let’s crash the party,” I said. “You know. Hang out. Dance for a bit. Get something to drink.” I motioned to the front window. “Look. It’s so crowded. No one will notice two more people.”

  I held my breath, waiting for his answer. This was definitely a test. Would Blade pass it?

  A grin spread over his face. “Love it,” he said. He grabbed my hand and started to pull me across the street. “Let’s do this thing. Party time.”

  That’s when I knew Blade and I belonged together.

  We raced up the front lawn. Two beds of tulips stood on either side of the front porch. A soft wind made the tulips bob and sway as if greeting us. We made our way past the people on the porch, nodding and saying hi, acting as if we belonged.

  They seemed to be college age, maybe in their early twenties. They were casually dressed, not quite as casually as Blade and me. But we didn’t really stand out. They were drinking wine from paper cups, talking in small groups, glancing at their phones as they talked.

  We slipped through the screen door and stepped into the living room. It was hot in there, so many bodies jammed in. Electronic dance music was cranked up to full volume. The room buzzed and vibrated to the beat.

  The lights were turned low. It took a while for my eyes to adjust. Blade held my hand and we crossed the room to the drinks table. Three or four couples were dancing. But the room was too crowded, and they kept bumping people clustered on the sides.

  Blade and I grabbed bottles of beer. I don’t really like beer. I guess I was trying to impress Blade. On the next table, I saw big bowls of tortilla chips and salsa and a tray of pigs in blankets.

  I turned and gazed around the room, squinting into the shadowy orange light. I didn’t recognize anyone. They were all definitely older than Blade and me.

  I pressed my face close to Blade’s ear. “I wonder whose party this is.”

  He gazed around. “Beats me.”

  We clicked beer bottles. “This is very cool,” I said.

  “Best party ever!” Blade joked.

  A young woman with very short blonde hair, shaved on one side, and pale blue eyes, dressed in faded jeans and layers of blue and green T-shirts, bumped me, nearly spilling her wine. “Oh. Sorry,” she said. “No room to move.”

  “No problem,” I said. “Awesome party.”

  She nodded. “I’ve never seen you here before. How do you know Hannah and Marty?”

  “Just from around the neighborhood,” I said.

  She moved on. Blade and I enjoyed a good laugh.

  And that’s when I saw her. Deena Fear. My breath caught in my throat. She was so unexpected, so out-of-place.

  Deena sat at the bottom of the stairway that led upstairs. Dressed in black as always, she had her pale hands clasped tightly in the lap of her skirt. Her black hair fell loosely around her face.

  I peered at her through the railings in the banister. Did she see me?

  Yes. Her eyes flashed behind her owlish glasses. She jumped to her feet.

  I nudged Blade with my elbow. “That girl who’s coming over—”

  Blade squinted through the crowd as Deena approached. “Do you know her? Is she a friend of yours?”

  “No,” I said. “I mean—”

  Deena stepped through a dancing couple to get to us. Her face was even paler than usual, and her lips were covered in a neon purple lipstick. She stepped up to me, a few inches too close. I mean, she didn’t give me any space at all.

  “Hi, Caitlyn.”

  I nodded. “Hey, Deena.”

  She swept her long hair behind her shoulders with one hand. “Caitlyn, do you know Blade?”

  “Well…” I hesitated. How did she know Blade’s name? He didn’t go to our school.

  I glanced at Blade. He was studying her intently, like she was another species or something.

  “How’s it going, Blade?” Deena asked.

  “Not bad,” he said. He squinted at her. “Do I know you?�
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  She didn’t answer him. Instead, she startled me by grabbing my wrist, wrapping her fingers around my silver bracelet, just as she had at Lefty’s. I felt a shock of warmth travel up my arm.

  “Great party, huh?” Her eyes peered into mine, as if searching for something. I tried to free my arm, but she held on.

  She squeezed my wrist, so hard the silver bracelet cut into my skin. Then she brought her face close to mine. I felt her hot breath on my cheek.

  “I saw him first,” she whispered.

  5.

  I blinked, my mind suddenly whirring. I knew I hadn’t heard correctly. The music … the voices … It all seemed to grow louder, as if I was swimming in sound. Drowning …

  I didn’t say anything. I guess I was too stunned to react. And, I just wanted to free my arm from her grip, to get away from her.

  “We should get going,” Blade said, his eyes on the front door.

  I tried to turn, but Deena held on. She raised my hand close to her face, puckered her bright purple lips, and blew on the silver bracelet. Blew a puff of hot breath onto the bracelet and my wrist.

  Her breath felt damp, almost sticky, on my wrist. I gasped and tugged my arm free. The bracelet tingled, then grew burning hot. “Hey, Deena—” I called out.

  But she had already spun away from us. She bumped a few startled people out of her way and disappeared out the door, her long tangles of black hair swaying behind her.

  I held my wrist, waiting for it the bracelet to cool.

  Blade’s face was twisted in confusion. “What was that about?”

  “Dunno,” I murmured. “Seriously. I don’t have a clue.”

  “She is weird with a capital weird,” he said.

  “Her name is Deena Fear,” I told him, stepping out of the way of a young man carrying a large pizza box to the food table. “She is a Fear. Do you know about the Fear family?”

  He shrugged. “Not really.”

  “I’ll tell you about them sometime. They’re famous here in Shadyside.” I stepped back to avoid another pizza box coming through. “Do you want to leave?”

  He grinned at me. “So soon? I think our hosts would be hurt if we left this early.” He put a hand on my shoulder and guided me toward the food table. “I’m hungry. I didn’t get to finish my cheeseburger, thanks to you.”

  Blade folded a slice of pizza in his hand and started to eat it hungrily. We talked to a couple across the food table. The woman was studying to be a vet. The guy said he was working on a blog and a YouTube channel. They asked us if we knew a place to go sky-diving in Shadyside.

  That’s kind of a laugh, if you know Shadyside.

  I caught a tall red-haired woman watching Blade and me from the kitchen door. She had a puzzled expression on her face, like she was trying to place us. I wondered if she was Hannah, one of the hosts.

  The front door swung open and several more couples arrived. The red-haired woman hurried to greet them. There was a lot of hugging and cheek kissing.

  Suddenly, I had another idea.

  Did I want to show Blade how crazy and bold I could be? Did I want to see if he was as impulsive and crazy as me?

  Maybe.

  He was pulling a string of pizza cheese off his fingers. I tugged him close. “Blade, I have another idea. How about this? It could be a riot,” I said. “How about we stand in the middle of the living room and start kissing? You know, like we’re really into it. We’re all over each other. Kissing like we should get a room somewhere.”

  He nodded. His eyes flashed. “That could work.”

  “It would be a way of thanking our hosts,” I said, grinning. “You know. Give them a little entertainment.”

  He pulled me into the center of the room. “Caitlyn, I like the way you think.”

  He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me to him. He was stronger than I’d imagined. He held me so tight, I struggled to breathe.

  And then he lowered his face to mine, and we began kissing. A long kiss. It made me even more breathless. I wrapped my hands in his hair, then lowered them to his back. We both had our eyes wide open, watching each other, enjoying the joke. Enjoying the kiss … Enjoying …

  I glimpsed people moving out of our way. Couples stopped dancing, their faces twisted in surprise.

  Blade and I ground our lips against one another’s, being as showy as we could. I soon realized it wasn’t just a joke, not just a way to shock people. We were kissing each other for real, with real feeling.

  When did the joke end and the true emotion kick in? I don’t know. I only know there wasn’t enough time to enjoy it. Because the pounding dance music cut off suddenly. A hush fell over the room. And then I saw the red-haired woman striding toward Blade and me, her face tight with anger.

  “Who are you?” she called. “Do I know you? Who brought you here?”

  Blade and I clung to each other for a few seconds more. Then we broke apart and watched her approach, her hands balled into tight fists at her sides.

  “Who are you? Do you belong here?”

  “Oops,” I said. “Sorry.” I couldn’t think of anything better to say. But then I added, “Awesome party.” Then Blade and I took off, barging through some startled guests. Out the front door. It slammed behind us.

  We ran down the driveway, laughing, shrieking, stumbling. As giddy as I’d ever been in my life. Was it the greatest night of my life? Probably.

  We held hands and ran full speed till we reached the corner. No one was coming after us. I stopped and hugged a streetlight to catch my breath.

  Blade was bent over, holding his knees, gasping for breath. “Awesome party. Awesome party.” He repeated my farewell line. He shook his head. “I can’t believe you said that. That was classic.”

  “Ow.” I felt a stab of pain at my wrist and realized my silver bracelet still felt hot. I backed away from the streetlight and raised my arm to the light.

  “What’s wrong?” Blade straightened up and walked over to me.

  “It’s my bracelet,” I said. “This is so weird. It’s burning me.”

  “Well, take it off,” he said.

  I moved the fingers of my other hand to the clasp. I’d never had any trouble snapping the bracelet off. But now I was having trouble finding the clasp.

  I smoothed my thumb and pointer finger around it. The bracelet seemed solid. A solid band of metal. “This is impossible,” I murmured. “I … I can’t find the clasp.”

  Blade took my arm. “Let me try.” He held my arm high, lowered his face, and eyed the bracelet closely.

  “Turn it over,” I said. “Spin it so the clasp is on top.”

  He tried to turn the bracelet. “Ow!” I cried out again. He tried to spin it in the other direction. Pain shot through my hand and up my arm.

  Blade let go of the bracelet. He raised his eyes to me. “Caitlyn, the bracelet won’t slide. I think … I think it’s melted onto your skin.”

  6.

  “No, Julie. The jeweler couldn’t get it off. He said he didn’t have the right kind of saw for silver.”

  I had the phone to my ear in one hand and pushed the shopping cart with my other. Whoa. I stopped just in time. I almost rear-ended a woman with a little girl riding in her cart.

  “Well, what are you going to do?” Julie asked. “You can’t just leave the bracelet on forever. It’ll cut off all your circulation!”

  “Do you think?” I said sarcastically. “Think I haven’t thought of that?” I turned the cart into the produce aisle. Blade was ahead of me, halfway toward the frozen foods section. “My dad says he’s going to talk to a surgeon. You know. Like a bone surgeon. Someone who can cut off the bracelet without taking my hand off with it.”

  “I-I … don’t believe it,” Julie stammered. “And you really think Deena Fear—”

  “I don’t know what to think,” I said. “It’s not like she has super powers. Something happened to the silver. I don’t know what. Something made it melt, I guess.” I sighed. “At least it
cooled down. It isn’t burning hot anymore.”

  “Weird,” Julie said.

  I grabbed a head of iceberg lettuce with my free hand and dropped it into the shopping cart. “I’ve got to go,” I said. “I’m at the Pay-Rite. With Blade.”

  “Excuse me? Caitlyn, you’re food shopping with Blade? Are you moving in together or something?”

  “Ha-ha. Very funny. I’m shopping for my parents. Blade came along because—”

  “Caitlyn, here’s some unwanted advice from me,” Julie said, lowering her voice. “Maybe you’re going too fast with Blade. Maybe you should be more careful. You know. Take it slower.”

  “You’re right,” I said. “That was unwanted advice. I’ll talk to you later, Julie.” I clicked off and tucked the phone into my bag.

  Blade held up a gigantic frozen pepperoni pizza. “Is this on the list?”

  “No. Maybe on your list, but not my parents’. Go put it back.”

  He turned and walked back down the aisle, twirling the pizza box on one finger. I checked the shopping list again. My parents were making some kind of stew to take over to my cousin in Martinsville.

  “Celery…” I pushed the cart alongside the produce shelves. An old Beatles song played in the background. In the next aisle, a little boy was crying his eyes out, screaming because his mom wouldn’t let him have a cookie.

  Blade got there before I did. He grabbed a thick bunch of celery and tore off two sticks. He tossed a stick to me. “En garde!” he shouted. He came at me waving his celery stick, slapping it against mine.

  I turned away from the cart and began to duel. Our celery swordfight became intense. I get aggressive with a stick of celery in my hand. Slapping at his stick, I drove Blade back. His arms flew up as he tumbled into a cereal box display, and the boxes went toppling noisily onto the floor.

  I heard a few gasps. People were watching us with stern, disapproving faces. I saw a red-faced young man in a long white apron hurrying toward us, waving angrily.

  Blade and I tossed our celery sticks into the cart. I brushed my hair back, took a deep breath, and prepared to face the angry store worker.

  “What’s going on here?” he demanded breathlessly, lowering his hands to the sides of his apron. His name tag read: CHUCK W. He had short brown hair spiked up in front. His face was very red. I could see beads of sweat on his forehead.