SATURDAY NIGHT, Jimena walked into Serena’s room carrying a brown paper bag filled with cartons of takeout Chinese food. The aroma of green onions, garlic, and pork filled the room. Jimena set the bag down on the floor in front of the TV and flipped a video into the recorder.
Serena cleared her throat. “I . . . I think I’m coming down with flu or something,”
“You stay in bed. I’ll sit on the floor.” She handed Serena a white carton of chop suey and a pair of chopsticks wrapped in paper.
“I think I just want to sleep,” Serena tried again.
Jimena took the remote and put the movie on pause.
“Sorry,” Serena apologized. “Maybe you should go.”
There was so much disappointment in Jimena’s face that Serena almost told her to stay. Guilt weighed heavily on her now. She couldn’t believe she was lying to her best friend over a guy. If she did tell Jimena about the rave, she’d probably help her dress in something really funky and not even feel jealous. So why couldn’t she bring herself to tell her?
“I can tell you’re not feeling well,” Jimena finally said.
“How’s that?” Serena asked.
“You don’t seem like yourself. All week you’ve been, I don’t know, distant or something. You got a fever?” Jimena touched her forehead and a peculiar look crossed her face.
“What?”
“Nothing,” Jimena said quickly, but Serena knew she was holding something back.
She tried to peek inside her mind, but the wall was up again.
“Tell me. What did you see?” Serena insisted.
“I said nothing.” Jimena ejected the cassette from the recorder. She gathered the food and the videos together.
“Why are you upset?”
“I better go so you can get some sleep.” Jimena left the room.
“Jimena,” Serena called after her. She ran to the hallway but Jimena was already bounding noisily down the stairs.
She heard Jimena and Collin in the kitchen.
“Leaving so soon?” Collin asked.
“Yeah,” Jimena said flatly. “You like Chinese?”
“Love Chinese,” Collin answered. “Don’t you want to share it?”
The back door opened with a squeak, and then Jimena yelled back as if she had stopped at the door remembering something.
“Check on your sister, okay?”
“Is she sick bad?”
“Just check on her,” Jimena told him, and then the door banged shut.
Serena hurried back to bed and pulled the covers around her.
A few minutes later Collin’s slow steps beat on the stairs. Finally he walked into her room holding a white carton and chopsticks. He picked a carrot with the chopsticks and tossed it into his mouth.
“You okay?” Collin asked.
“Sure, just a cold.”
He sat on the edge of her bed. “Should I stay home and make you some chicken soup?”
“No, I’m just going to sleep. Go surfing. I’ll be fine.”
“Sure?”
She nodded.
He remained sitting on her bed eating chop suey as if he had something more to say. His words surprised her. “Has Jimena got a boyfriend?”
“No.”
“Figures,” he muttered and stood. “Get better. I’ll check on you when I get home.”
“No!” she said too loudly.
He turned and looked at her with concern.
“I mean, please don’t. I need the sleep.”
“Sure.” He stood and left her room. She jumped up and waited by her bedroom door until she heard Collin leave through the back door. Then she ran to the window to make sure. She watched his utility van back out of the drive and turn down the street.
Serena went to the bathroom and locked the door. She stared at her reflection. Her eyes had a dark haunted look and the wide-eyed stare of an insomniac. Why wasn’t she excited? Strange thoughts and feelings kept whispering across her mind. Was there something important she should be remembering? For some reason, her mind couldn’t focus. She took foundation and dabbed it on the bluish circles under her eyes.
A picture of Stanton flashed across her mind with such startling clarity that she froze for a moment. He had visited her in her bedroom. Had that been a dream?
She put on mascara, pasted a bindi on her forehead, then pushed her hair back with a jeweled tiara. She liked the look with her new extensions.
She walked back to her room, looking for comfortable shoes. She could wear thick socks with her new Doc Martens. She found the shoebox under her bed and pulled it out. What she saw inside made her hands start shaking.
The Doc Martens had been worn. When had she worn them before? She clutched them close to her chest and stared out the window, trying to focus on the memories from the back of her mind.
The full moon started to rise and with it came another memory of Stanton. She was finding it impossible to concentrate on anything. Had he warned her about something?
Normally the milky light from the moon made her feel strong. But tonight the moon seemed an omen. Maybe she shouldn’t go.
But there was something else. If she didn’t go, she would always wonder what might have happened. Maybe it was better to follow Collin’s philosophy. Why not try it? If you feel yourself falling, dive. No fear. Take it to the end. She’d go with Zahi.
She jumped off the bed, hurriedly pulled on sweats, then wrapped bright pink and purple boas around her neck. She was going to have fun. She was sick of all the baby games at Planet Bang and the La Brea High dances. This was going to be the big time.
As she spread glitter on her neck and face and her spirits soared, but when she accidentally touched her moon amulet, a prayer tumbled from her lips, “O Mater Luna, Regina nocis, adiuvo me nunc.”
She sat back on her bed. What was happening to her? That prayer only came out during times of great danger.
She looked behind her as if she expected to see someone standing in the corner of her room.
Then the doorbell rang.