Chapter 4 - A Million Rainbows

“So you just wait here. Okay? Mrs. Patterson is going to give you a ride, but you gotta be ready. She won’t come in here looking for you. And she can’t wait for you. She’s got to go to work. You got that?”

Charlie nodded. She was being quiet, chewing on her cheek, looking bored and tired.

She was dressed and ready, sitting at the kitchen table with her backpack on. I positioned her near the window so she could see when Mrs. Patterson came out to her car. It was morning before school, and since my school started before hers, I had to leave her alone for forty-five minutes.

“Okay, so you can go to the bathroom if you need to go to the bathroom. But come sit back here when you’re done. It’s all the same as last year. And go into the school for breakfast when you get there, okay?”

Charlie nodded again.

“Okay. I gotta go. I can’t be late.” I kissed her cheek. “I’ll pick you up after school. Bye Charlie.”

“Bye, Bree.”

I gave Charlie one last worried glance before exiting the house.

My first period was just study hall. That would be useful for getting work done if I didn’t spend the entire hour worrying about Charlie. We weren’t supposed to use our cellphones during school, but that was one rule I couldn’t listen to. Plus, I figured my antiquated flip phone didn’t count—it barely resembled a cellphone.

I put my English homework away and reached into my bag, carefully opening my phone to check for Mrs. Patterson’s message: Charlie’s at school.

I let out a sigh of relief and closed my bag, breathing a little easier.

I sat in front of Mr. Lord’s class, waiting for it to fill up and begin.

Kyle walked in, looking all perfectly Kyle. The morning was good to him. He was so fresh-looking like he had a magical shower that rained sparkles, making him as shiny and clean as a brand-new penny.

I myself had tried a little harder today. No one would notice, but I removed the chipped polish from my nails and gave them a fresh coat of shimmery purple, trying to add just a little sparkle and shine to my own life.

A big smile stretched on Kyle’s face when he saw me. I returned a weak, yeah-this-is-weird-that-we-know-each-other-now smile.

He passed my desk, tapping it lightly with his fist. “Dover,” he whispered, before moving to the back.

Kyle’s girlfriend, Lyndsay, had come in behind him. Lyndsay was also one of those perfect people. She was the smartest, prettiest girl in our class. Her silky blonde hair flowed like liquid gold down her back. She wore expensive mall clothes, just like Kyle. She had it all, the clothes, the hair, the body, a perfect, pretty-enough-to-be-a-model face … everything.

Lyndsay was so beautiful she even looked great when she was sneering at you, apparently.

I slumped in my seat.

Oh god. I was definitely on her radar now.

“Dover.”

I looked over my shoulder to see Kyle shuffling in the lunch line beside me, an empty tray in hand.

I straightened up, facing forward, ignoring him—this was not okay.

For one thing, lunch was the only time in my day where food was a sure thing, and my tray was piled high. I didn’t want to look like such a pig in front of Kyle, and I was wishing he would go, so I could keep adding stuff.

Another thing—it was lunch. People would be looking at us.

Kyle didn’t seem to care about any of that. He slid his tray next to mine and stood with our shoulders touching, even when there was plenty of space on his side.

“Hey, so what’s up?” he said with a funny head bob. “How’s it going?”

A small smile pulled on my lips. Kyle was being awkward (it was pretty cute).

“Good,” I said, lifting my tray so the lunch lady could add some mac and cheese to it. Screw Kyle—I was gonna eat.

He mimicked me, lifting his tray. “So how’s Charlie’s head?” he asked. “Is she okay?”

“Charlie’s fine.” My answer was curt, but I wanted him to go.

Kyle’s funny head bob picked back up. “So I’m thinking about dropping calculus,” he said. “That shit’s getting too intense for me.”

I sucked in a tense breath and muttered a quiet, “Okay.” My lips were tight, my eyes, straight ahead. I was going to act like he wasn’t there.

Kyle drummed his fingers on the stainless-steel countertop. “So how ‘bout that weather … pretty nice. Still feels like summer, eh?”

Kyle, apparently, was going to act like we were BFFs.

My eyes rolled over to him. “Kyle, just spill it.”

“What?”

“You obviously didn’t come over here for small talk.”

His face got all scrunchy like I’d offended him. “Why not? Maybe I did. Why can’t we talk?”

“Because we don’t.”

It was as simple as that. Kyle Roberts and I didn’t talk. We lived in different worlds. He knew that. I knew that. It was fine. That was the way it was supposed to be. And as far as I was concerned, it was easier to leave it like that. My life was simple, planned out. Kyle talking to me at lunch with everyone around was going to mess up some kind of balance.

I grabbed a milk, finding room on the edge of my tray.

“Sure we do,” said Kyle. “Remember yesterday?” He nudged me with his elbow.

I shuffled away from him, bumping into the kid next to me. “Sorry,” I said to the kid. I twisted back to Kyle. “You know what I mean.”

Kyle chewed his cheek, speaking low, “Hey, maybe in this timeline we do.”

I laughed because us switching timelines was the only thing that made sense. “What about your girlfriend?” I didn’t know where Lyndsay was, but I felt the daggers in my back. So she was in here somewhere.

Kyle shrugged that off. “I don’t have a girlfriend.”

Oh my god, was he daft? “Lyndsay,” I said, pushing her name through my teeth.

“She broke up with me.”

“When?” I asked because she was being awfully cozy with him this morning.

“I don’t know. August sometime, I think. She’s always breaking up with me. I’m losing track of when we’re actually together.”

“It sounds like you’re not really broken up then.”

Kyle and I both reached for red Jell-O cups at the same time.

“We are this time. I’m over that shit,” he said smugly. “Besides, me and you are just talking.”

I swallowed that blow. I looked at Kyle, meeting his hazel eyes, taking in his perfect skin, his perfect hair, and clothes. I didn’t think he was trying to slap me in the face with all of it, but envy stings. “Yeah, Kyle. I know we’re just talking. That won’t matter. Trust me. Can you just go? Okay?” I was pleading now.

I stopped at the cashier and punched my code into the machine to pay, thanking some merciful god that free lunch and paid lunch accounts looked exactly the same from this end.

Kyle entered his code after me. He wasn’t listening and kept up with me as I made my way to my table. I tried to act casual, but Kyle walking beside me was all wrong and everyone in this room knew that.

“Bree,” he said, leaning in a little to whisper, “I wanted to ask you about yesterday.”

I stopped, realizing he wasn’t going to let up. “What about it?”

“You know …” He tilted his head, his eyes wide and imploring. He looked over his shoulder uncomfortably. “Can’t we just go sit down and talk about it?”

“What?” I stared at him blankly. “I can’t sit with you.”

“Why not?”

Oh my god, this kid had issues. There was no way he could be this clueless.

“Because,” I said, leaving it at that, thinking that was all the explanation he should need.

“Okay, fine. I get it,” he said, but he obviously didn’t, because he wasn’t leaving. “Uh, what about after school?” He bit his lip, looking hopeful.

“After school?”

“Yeah, can we hang out?” He leaned in again. “I wanted to see if Charlie could, you know … talk to him.”

I sighed. The hope in Kyle’s voice was hard to ignore. This ghost man, who I assumed must be his dad or something, was obviously important to him. “Yeah, okay,” I said, giving in reluctantly. Fearfully.

Kyle’s smile was dimpled and big, making his eyes sparkle.

“She’s not super good at it, though,” I said. “You might be disappointed.” I didn’t really understand Charlie’s ability enough to know if she was good at it or not. But Kyle looked so expectant, and I was now worried we were going to let him down.

“That’s okay,” he said. He reached, putting his Jell-O cup into the crook of my arm since there was no more room left on my tray. “Give this to Charlie for me.”

I smiled at the gesture, a thought dancing on my lips; I could ask him this. He was wearing freakin’ Jordans, after all. “Hey, Kyle.”

“Yeah?”

“Dairy Queen. If you want to do something nice for her. She really wants an ice cream cone.”

Kyle snapped a finger at me. “Gotcha, Dover.”

He left my side with a smile on his face, and I was being very careful not to smile back.

I put my tray on the table and plopped down beside Emily, trying to find my way back to a timeline that made sense.

“Why were you talking to Kyle Roberts?” she asked. Emily was pale and blonde and wore big, red glasses that matched her lipstick red lips. Both her smile and her eyes inside those large frames were very big. Her mouth was actually open, and she had her tongue on her teeth, waiting eagerly for my answer.

I looked at her, shaking my head. “I don’t know.”