“What the—?” Mason staggered back a couple steps, clearly freaked out at the sight of Shane coming into sight like Spock or Sulu on the Starship Enterprise. I’d never actually seen it either, so it stunned me a little, too. Only Creepshow kept his cool and acted like it happened all the time.
“Hey, man. What took you so long?” he asked Shane, voice all casual.
“Traffic,” answered Shane, all Cool Hand Luke-like.
They eyeballed Mason, and without even synchronizing their watches or anything, they both took a step toward him, almost as though it were choreographed. I watched the possible scenario flash across Mason’s face, and he apparently figured that whatever might happen wasn’t going to be pretty, nor would it be in his favor.
“It seems like maybe it’s time for Juice to leave the party, Mason. Any problem with you if Creepshow and I escort her out of here?” Shane’s words sounded friendly enough, but his tone was clearly anything but.
“Hey, hey, don’t forget about us!” I heard her before I saw her. I looked around and saw Sixx and Jett picking their way through the parked cars to get to us. Sixx got to me first and she came around to my side. Jett went to stand by Shane and Creep. Anyone coming up to us would have thought we were just a group of kids leaving a party and figuring out where we should head next. The truth was so totally different.
“We missing something important?” Sixx directed her question to me, but she glared openly at Mason. Without any words being spoken between Shane and Creepshow, she somehow understood something sinister and wrong was at play. I started to answer her, but Creep silenced me with a hand on my arm. He responded to Sixx.
“Mason and Juice had a little misunderstanding. Shane and I were helping them figure it out.”
“You sure? Looks like a heck of a lot more than that.” Sixx wasn’t convinced. She looked me over. “You okay, Juice? You seem sorta spooked.”
“I’m fine. Now.” I put my hand on top of the one Creep still had on my arm. “I’m just glad some people are here.” I smiled at Shane. “But it looks like other people don’t make as ideal a host body as I thought, huh, Shane?”
“No, I don’t guess so. Probably some pretty nasty workings inside that head. Don’t think I want to be in there after all.”
“Sorry, I was so wrong, Shane. He got under my radar.”
“No worries, Juice. Back to the drawing board.”
Mason had been following this exchange first with interest, then fear. Now, he just looked ticked off. “What the heck is everyone talking about? Host body? What does that mean?”
Creep stepped forward to answer him and Mason, intimidated, took an involuntary step backward. “Don’t worry about it. All you need to know is you didn’t make the cut. Now, you should probably get out of here before I lose my manners and take care of you the way I want to.” Mason didn’t wait for a second invitation. He spun around and took off down the street. I watched him go.
I couldn’t believe I had liked him even for one second. I also couldn’t believe I still didn’t have a host body for Shane. I’d been a complete failure. I returned to my friends, knowing my body language must be giving my feelings away to everyone. I tried to straighten up and change my attitude. Briefly, I thought maybe we could go back to the party. There were still plenty of people inside the massive house. There had to be someone who would be a good candidate for Shane.
As if he could read my mind or something, Shane stepped toward me. “Don’t worry about it, Juice. I waited sixty years already. What’s a few more days? Or weeks even. We’ll find the perfect body, I’m sure of it.”
“Wow, you’re a friggin’ ray of sunshine, aren’t you?” Sixx leaned heavily into me and bent one knee up behind her. She reached back and unfastened one of her strappy sandals. “I’m just glad the drama’s over. These flippin’ shoes are killing me!”
“You only have to wear them a few hundred more feet.” I reminded her. “Do you want to walk barefoot to The Gator down this street? You could step on glass or heaven knows what. Kids from the party have been throwing stuff on the ground all night.”
Sixx considered this, then slowly slipped her foot back in the sandal. “Last thing I need is to slice my foot open because some tool tossed an empty bottle in the street. Guess I’ll stick it out for a few more minutes. But I absolutely refuse to re-fasten this vicious strap!”
I burst out laughing. The drama of the past hour and the super-serious tension finally broke like a dam and I laughed so hard my sides hurt. Creepshow caught the humor as though it was contagious and so did Jett. Shane watched us with a bemused expression on his face like a patient parent watching over his unruly charges.
“You guys are crazy. I sure know how to pick ‘em.”
“Hey, I never said you had good taste,” I teased Shane.
“No, you never did. But, I chose you, so I know I do.” Shane looked at me so adoringly, I knew I had to tell him about me and Creepshow. The longer I delayed it, the harder it would become.
“Shane, I need to talk to you. I think now would be as good a time as any.” I turned to the others. “Do you guys mind if I talk to Shane for just a minute? It’s kind of important.” I looked at Creep meaningfully and hoped I was telegraphing my intentions to him. He nodded and shot a glance at Jett, who in turn shot one over at Sixx. In that five seconds my three best friends, which included possibly the best boyfriend ever, understood exactly what I intended to talk to Shane about. Sixx answered for all of them.
“Do your thing, sister. We’ll wait over here.”
Shane and I walked a few feet away from the others until I knew we would be having a private conversation. I wasn’t sure how to start and figured the best way would be to just speak from the heart and tell Shane the truth. I had a feeling he would appreciate just hearing the truth.
“Shane, I wanted you to hear this from me. I think I’m in love with Creepshow.” Wow. I hadn’t even thought those words yet much less spoken them aloud. They sounded so powerful, so sure and confident coming out of my mouth. I said them again. “I love Creepshow, Shane. It just happened. I know it sounds like a line from a movie, and believe me, I’m the last person I ever thought would be saying them, but it’s true. I wanted to tell you before you, well, before you maybe had stronger feelings for me than I had for you. Am I making any sense at all here?”
Shane waited a few minutes before he spoke. I thought he would sound sad or angry at me, but he didn’t. He sounded kind. “You are, Juice. You are making sense. And you know what? I’m truly happy for you. I don’t know any other person who deserves it more than you. See? It wasn’t a mistake that I chose you, Juice. It wasn’t because you like ghosts or you’re into the supernatural or anything like that. You were the perfect choice and here’s the reason why: It was just because you are so genuine. So authentic.”
Shane paused and gazed at me with a sparkle in his denim blue eyes. I felt his sincerity shine from them. “Out of that whole school, as soon as I saw you, I thought, that girl will never lie to me. That girl will tell me the truth even if I don’t want to hear it. I felt lucky to even find you. And I’m lucky to call you my friend, Juice.”
When he finished speaking, I stepped forward to hug him before I remembered that I couldn’t. The pain of not being able to touch me flashed briefly across his face, and I realized it was the first time he’d let me see how much that hurt him.
There was so much I wanted to say. I wanted to tell Shane that I was the lucky one, that my life had been enriched since I had met him. I wanted to tell him I believed meeting him had brought Creepshow and me together. I needed to say I would always be his friend and would never stop looking for a host body for him and wouldn’t rest until he became a real live person again, surfing and sun worshipping as I know he longed to do. I wanted to tell him this and so much more.
“Shane, I—”
The screech of the tires on the street behind us startled me from what I’d been about to say.
Shane and I both whirled around toward the sound just in time to see a speeding car come careening down the street, heading directly toward my best friends.