*Juliet made her silent birthday wish, blew out the candles on her cake, and secretly prayed it might come true this time. Let this be the year she could go outside, even if it was just for a minute.
“Can I cut it, Momma?” Juliet watched her mother’s eyes shift to her father’s.
“What do you think, Ed?”
“Please, Papa?” She pleaded. “I’m wearing my gloves, and I’ll be real careful.”
He finally nodded his consent, and she grinned. She’d never been allowed to hold a knife, let alone use one. Her fingers trembled as she took the knife from her mother. Momma cast one more questioning look at her father, and Juliet quickly plunged the blade through the cake, making the first cut before they had second thoughts.
After Juliet had carved out three pieces, her mother collected the knife and took it to the sink, reminding Juliet to eat slowly. No stomach aches. She savored the frosting, closing her eyes as she tried to memorize the sweet flavor. Sugar caused cavities and pimples, so it was usually forbidden to her, but on her birthday, her parents made an exception.
Her father placed a square box in front of her. Her eyes widened. “A present?”
She’d read about them in books, but she’d never received one before.
“It’s from my vitamin company, not us.”
Of course. Her father wouldn’t even remember her birthday if it weren’t for all the detailed daily physical records of her progress he had to keep for his company. He was nothing like the dads in her books. Nothing about her family or her house was like the books.
She carefully lifted the lid of the box and found another smaller pink box inside. Curiosity took over as she reached in and pulled it out. There was a small gold latch on the front. She glanced at her parents for approval before she dared to lift the lid. A wobbly tune chimed as a ballerina snapped upright, circling in front of a tiny mirror.
Juliet gasped, watching her turn in circles. “She’s so pretty.”
At the bottom of the box was a small green pin. She picked it up, studying the symbol. It looked like a figure eight on its side and it covered the planet.
Her father swooped in and took it from her. “That shouldn’t have been in there.”
“What is it, Papa?”
A muscle tensed in his cheek as his eyes shifted over to her mother. “I need to get back to work.”
He left the room without looking back, and Juliet closed the box. The music stopped, and silence descended again, suffocating her.
“Better get to bed.” Her mother picked up the cake box and dropped the mostly untouched sheet cake into the garbage.
Juliet looked in the trash can. The lid had popped up, exposing the cracked letters of her name on the discarded birthday cake. Broken and no longer welcome in this house.
“’Night, Momma.” Juliet climbed the stairs with her present, careful to take them one at a time in the slow, cautious way she’d been trained. Missing a stair could leave an imperfection behind.
When she got to her room, she set the jewelry box on the small dresser next to her pillow and went into the bathroom to brush her teeth. Then pulled the covers back and slid into her bed. She lifted the lid, staring at the ballerina spinning inside. Even that tiny dancer had more freedom than she did. She’d asked if she could learn to dance like that after she found a story about The Nutcracker in one of her mother’s magazines.
Momma had said it was too risky. Life itself seemed too risky. Maybe it was.
But she still ached to be a part of it. She yearned to experience it.
She pulled off her latex gloves and reached out to touch the tiny dancer in the jewelry box. Every ridge in her little plastic body seemed intricate, perfect. Juliet stiffened at the thought and closed the box. The ballerina would never see center stage. She’d never jump or even dance. She was a prisoner inside that box, doomed to spin whenever the music played, whenever someone opened it.
Just like me.
Juliet blinked back tears and went into the bathroom to brush her teeth again. All it would take was one canker sore in her mouth, one cavity, and she wouldn’t be perfect anymore. The problem was, half of her longed for a flaw, anything to release the pressure of perfection. But her sensible side won out.
She had to be perfect. Her life depended on it.
*
Without a watch, Billy couldn’t be sure of the time, but the street was quiet and dark. Hardly any lights were on inside the homes as they rode along. The Huffs’ place was only three houses down on the other side of the street, but it seemed a lot farther away now—and colder, too, if that was possible. A chill shot down his back. Much colder.
Todd led the way, parking his bike at the edge of the street, one house away from the Huffs’. Billy stopped close behind, with Zack screeching his tires so he didn’t run right into them.
“Damn you, Zack!” Todd spat, managing to make a whisper seem like a scream. “You’re gonna wake everyone up!”
“Shut up, Todd! I had to stop…” Zack put his kickstand down.
Billy struggled for words that wouldn’t come. All he could do was stare up at that big Victorian house and wish he were back home. Everything about the house spooked him, from the squeaky weathervane perched on the tip of the sharp, pointed roof to the empty swing on the dark porch that never got used.
Sometimes he wondered if the Huffs were really just ghosts, haunting the big, ugly house. No one ever saw them outside. They didn’t even have a mailbox. The mailman had to drop their mail through a slot in their front door. No matter how you sliced it, the Huff house was creepy.
Todd led their top-secret mission, quietly moving deeper into the shadows, away from the street. Billy and Zack followed close behind, neither boy eager to get separated. Every shadow lurking in the glow of the streetlamps seemed cold and unfriendly. The farther they walked, the more Billy felt like they were being watched.
After finding a dark spot to climb the fence into the backyard, Todd stopped and whispered to the others. “No sign of dogs. Let’s go.”
“Go?” Zack asked. “You mean, over that? No way…”
“Fine, then. You stay here all by yourself. Come on, Billy.”
Billy’s stomach tightened into a hard knot. He shifted his gaze to Zack and then looked back over at Todd. Billy was the swing vote. If he chickened out and went home with Zack, Todd would razz him about it forever, but at least they’d get to go home, back to the tent. No way Todd would do this alone. But if Billy decided to go with Todd, Zack would be forced to come along. He wouldn’t wait in the dark by himself.
It all rested on Billy’s shoulders. And as he stared up at the Huffs’ house in the moonlight, he’d never wanted to chicken out more in his entire life.
Todd was already surveying the fence, probably hoping someone would be following him soon. Billy sighed. Todd really didn’t want to go nosing around the Huffs’ place alone, and the way Billy saw it, no one would.
Maybe he’d play along for now. Once Todd realized there was no way over the fence, they could all leave and Billy wouldn’t have to admit he was afraid. Everyone could win.
“Come on, Zack.” Billy waved him over. Zack grumbled behind him, but he followed anyway. Billy stopped beside Todd and sized up the tall fence. “It’s pretty high. Maybe we should just go back, huh?”
“No way.” Todd grinned. “We’ve come this far.”
He hopped up and grabbed on to the top of the wood fence, then slowly walked his feet up the fence. Billy and Zack stood together as Todd climbed over the top and dropped to his feet on the other side.
“He made it,” Billy whispered.
Todd was over the fence and inside the Huffs’ yard; this was really happening. And before Billy realized it, he’d pulled himself up and over, too.
He and Todd waited impatiently for Zack to arrive and jumped back, barely stifling their giggles when he landed face-first in the dirt. Billy and Todd helped him to his feet.
“Nice landing, Z-Man,” Todd whispered.
“Screw you,” Zack said, dusting himself off.
They peered around the dark backyard. Creepy shadows haunted Billy everywhere he looked, following him with their invisible eyes. Where was the light coming from?
He glanced up, and the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. The lamp in the top-floor window was still on. It was the only window lit in the entire house, and he couldn’t help but wonder who—or what—was up there.
And he prayed whoever it was couldn’t see them.
“Okay, we saw it. Let’s get out of here,” Billy whispered.
Todd gave him a disgusted frown. “We came to find out if Disease Girl exists, not hop the fence and leave. Come on. Let’s split up and see what we can find.”
“Splitting up is a bad idea.” Zack scanned the shadows. “We should stick together and go back to Billy’s before we get caught.”
“We’ll be fine. Besides, if we split up, we’ll find proof faster, and then we can get out of here sooner.” Todd flashed them a smile. “We’ll be quick.”
Billy was ready to agree to anything if it meant they could go home, and within a couple of minutes, he was heading around the side of the house. He stopped when he came to the trash cans. He’d watched enough episodes of that new show NCIS with his mom to know it was a gold mine for evidence. You could always find clues in other people’s garbage.
He didn’t have a flashlight, but he could see well enough in the pale light from the moon. Donning his dad’s work gloves—a good investigator never left behind fingerprints—Billy quietly picked through the Huffs’ trash. It was hard to concentrate on his task with his heart racing. His eyes kept shifting from the trash up to the side door.
What would he do if it opened? He tried to push the thought from his mind and ignore the door, focusing on his task, but what would he do?
Run. That was exactly what he would do.
He didn’t find anything interesting in the first can, but when he lifted the lid of the second can, he found something. Something special.
It was a cake box with a bakery sales slip taped to the lid. Billy carefully removed the slip and held it up, trying to read it in the moonlight.
Happy 9th Birthday, Juliet!
Disease Girl was a year younger than Billy was. He folded the slip and stuffed it into the front pocket of his jeans before quietly replacing the lid. This would be enough evidence to get Todd to leave. He turned to go find his friends, but behind him, the doorknob squeaked, turning. Billy froze.
Run, bastard! Run like the wind!
But his body didn’t respond. Billy looked over his shoulder as the door swung open. Whatever horror was about to come through that door, he wasn’t going to be able to get away.
He held his breath as he saw that one thing he’d never expected to see.
Juliet. It had to be. She was shorter than him by a couple of inches and stood just inside the threshold of the door in a blue flannel nightgown. Her long brown hair fell past her shoulders, and she had these big brown eyes… Suddenly, he remembered he had no business being in her yard and spun around to leave when a soft voice stopped him in his tracks.
“Please don’t go.”
Billy turned back, surprised to see her smiling.
She lifted her hand in a small wave. “Hi.”
“H-hi… I’m Billy.” He pointed toward his house. “I live down the street.”
“I know. I mean, I know you live nearby. I see you riding your bike to and from school.” Her smile widened into a grin that he found more contagious than he would ever admit.
He started to speak but stopped when he noticed her hand on the doorknob. She was wearing one of those plastic gloves that doctors sometimes wore.
“Why do you have on doctor gloves? Are you sick?” He waited, proud of himself for not blurting out that he knew she had a rare disease that could wipe out their entire neighborhood.
He kept his distance, but she didn’t seem sick or diseased or anything. Maybe that was how those contagious diseases worked. You couldn’t see them, but they were there, just waiting to infect you.
“I always wear them.” She held her hands up, turning them over in the dim porchlight. “I’m perfect, and my momma says I have to stay that way.”
Billy frowned. Normally, he’d think anybody who told you they were perfect needed to be taken down a peg or two, but something about the way she said it…bothered him.
“No one’s perfect, even with doctor gloves on.” He met her eyes again. “If you’re not sick, then how come I’ve never seen you outside before?”
“Oh, I’m not allowed to go out. Not ever.”
Billy pinched his eyebrows together in confusion. “Everybody goes outside.”
“Not me.”
“Are you Juliet?”
Her eyes sparkled, and Billy had to admit, she looked kind of pretty when that happened, not diseased at all.
“Yes.” She nodded. “Juliet Huff. And you’re Billy…?”
“Manning. Billy Manning.” He checked over his shoulder, getting antsy to leave. “You won’t tell on me for coming here, will you?”
He held his breath, praying she wasn’t a tattletale wrapped in flannel.
She shook her head. “No, course not. I’d be in so much trouble if my parents knew I talked to anyone. I could never tell.”
“You’ve really never been outside?” Billy couldn’t imagine being cooped up in his house for a week. Was it really possible she’d been trapped inside for her entire life?
“Never.” Her long lashes shielded her downcast eyes.
Butterflies went berserk in Billy’s belly, that weird sensation in his gut that only a few girls produced. Without meaning to, he climbed the stairs to her porch until he stood face-to-face with Juliet Huff. She didn’t look anything like the Disease Girl he had pictured.
She was actually kind of…normal. And in a girl sort of way, pretty.
Her gaze rose to his face, and his ten-year-old heart pounded. Was she waiting for him to say something? He wasn’t even sure why he had come up there.
“H-Happy birthday, Juliet.”
For a second, her mouth formed a surprised circle, and he cringed, sure he’d made a mistake. For all he knew, maybe her birthday was last week. He’d picked through her trash, but he was no detective. He was about to apologize and run away when she lifted her gloved hand up toward his face.
He almost ran away. Almost.
But something made him stay. This girl wasn’t sick. She just seemed…sad. He flinched when the cold rubber glove came in contact with his cheek. He hadn’t expected her to touch him, but he couldn’t bring himself to pull away. She stared at her finger on his skin, as if she needed to make sure he was real or something. Finally, her hand dropped to her side.
She started leaning closer to him, and time slowed. His pulse pounded in his ears as her lips lightly brushed his cheek, lingering against his skin. She smelled so clean—too clean, almost as if she’d never been dirty in her entire life.
Her face lit up with a smile as she drew back. “Thank you for making my birthday wish come true. Even if it was just for a minute.”
Heat rose in Billy’s cheeks as he struggled to find something to say. He’d never been kissed by a girl, not even on the cheek. And what if she was diseased? Did he have it now?
Before he could come up with anything to say, the sound of a woman’s voice shocked him back to reality. The woman sounded angry.
“Who’s out there? I hear you!”
The color drained from Juliet’s face. When she spun around toward Billy again, fear burned in her eyes as she whispered, “She’s coming. Run, Billy.”
He gave her one last look and tore down the steps and into the darkness of the backyard, his new Nikes digging into the dirt with every step.
He couldn’t see, but he could hear Todd’s soft call. “Psst, Billy. Over here…”
He turned toward his friend’s voice, still running at full speed, but just as quickly, he lost his footing. He couldn’t keep his balance, and suddenly, he fell. The air shot out of his lungs as he hit the ground, his hands barely managing to shield his face from the cold, hard earth. He lay in the dirt, gasping and unable to move. While he wondered if he was about to pass out, the yard around him was bathed in an eerie light. Billy managed to turn his face away from the house and prayed no one could see him.
Todd and Zack shrunk back into the thick bushes by the fence. Billy could barely make them out in the dim shadows cast by the porch light. His eyes slowly adjusted to the night, and he finally realized what had tripped him. He bit his lip to keep from screaming.
There were three straight rows of small sunken squares of dirt in the Huffs’ backyard. He had fallen while trying to run through the first row of them. But nothing grew. It didn’t look like rows of a flower bed. They almost looked like…graves.
A flashlight beam swept the yard, and he hoped his black clothes would shield him. Billy didn’t risk turning his head. He’d rather not know how close he was to being caught. He held his breath, lying as still as possible. After what felt like years, the door opened and closed, and the porch light finally went out.
Billy got up and ran for the cover of the bushes, trying very hard not to think about what those rows of sunken dirt squares he’d lain on top of might have been.
“Jesus, that was close!” Todd pulled Billy against the fence with them.
“You were lying on the graveyard,” Zack said.
“The what?” Billy gasped, his chest heaving as he gasped for air.
“The graveyard.” Zack pointed toward the spot where Billy had tripped. “It looks like a bunch of graves, doesn’t it? Just needs a few headstones.”
“Does not,” Todd said, giving Zack a nudge. “It’s probably some kind of vegetable garden or something that hasn’t started growing yet. Nobody buries bodies in their backyard. It’s illegal.”
Billy was already on his way up and over the fence. Todd was right. They couldn’t really be graves, but either way, Billy didn’t want to find out. He wanted to go home.
One by one, they jumped to the ground and pedaled in silence back to the safety of Billy’s backyard.
“Did you guys find anything?” Todd asked as they dropped their bikes in Billy’s driveway.
“Nope,” Zack said.
Billy realized they were both staring at him, and for a second, he almost said something about meeting Juliet. He shoved his hand in his pocket, his fingertips toying with the tag from the thrown-away cake box, but he didn’t pull it out.
He wasn’t sure why, but he shook his head. “Nope, I didn’t get anything, either.”
They went back to the tent and slid into their sleeping bags. Todd and Zack rambled on about the adventure and what might really be inside the Huffs’ house, but Billy wasn’t listening.
He couldn’t stop thinking about the girl who had never been outside. The one who wore rubber gloves and acted as if she’d never seen a boy up close before. He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t told Zack and Todd about her. Normally, he told them everything.
But something about her made him want to protect her.