Homecoming by Tonya Hurley

Author:Tonya Hurley
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: JUV000000
ISBN: 9780316052993
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published: 2009-06-30T21:00:00+00:00

“Come in!” Charlotte yelled as she heard a light rap on the door. It was virtually impossible to hear, but oddly Charlotte did. She’d yet to have a visitor, and the prospect of maybe Pam, Prue, DJ, Jerry, or any of her friends stopping by was exciting.

As the door slowly opened, a hand could be seen reaching in. The hand was pale and the nails were adorned in super-dark nail polish. She knew those digits like they were her own. Charlotte could not speak.

“What? What is it?” Maddy asked, never having seen Charlotte at a loss for words before.

“Is it the Grim Reaper?” Charlotte managed to dribble out of her mouth in the direction of the door, completely perplexing Maddy.

The door creaked open a little farther, and the hand reached in even more.

“No, not a vampire either,” Scarlet said, flinging the door wide open.

Charlotte stood there, paralyzed and mute from the vision before her. She could not believe her eyes, or more like her heart wouldn’t let her believe her eyes.

“Scarlet!”

“Charlotte!”

Without another word, the two walked toward one another, stared into each other’s eyes, and embraced. It was like they were attempting possession again, only this time, they were holding on to one another for dear life.

“I missed you,” Scarlet said, squeezing hard.

“You have no idea,” Charlotte said, barely able to get a hand free from Scarlet’s bear hug to brush the familiar poker-straight black bangs out of Scarlet’s face.

“You haven’t changed a bit.”

“No, I haven’t,” Charlotte said, a hint of melancholy in her voice. “I just can’t believe you’re here.”

Charlotte wanted to jump up and down on her bed like a schoolgirl, but resisted for Scarlet’s sake, and because Maddy was watching.

“Me either,” Scarlet said, replaying in her head all the long-shot decisions that had brought her there.

The girls stood staring for a while longer, looking each other over again and again, not judgmentally, like the Wendys or Petula might, but with a genuine affection that was way beyond words. As they hugged one last time, Charlotte was suddenly startled. Something was missing. Scarlet’s heartbeat. Charlotte couldn’t feel it. The sign of life that always beckoned Charlotte each time they performed the ritual was gone.

“Why, I mean, how are you here?” she stammered, barely getting up the nerve to ask.

The smile left Scarlet’s face and her eyes assumed a faraway look. Scarlet glanced at Charlotte and then at Maddy, seeking Charlotte’s approval to talk freely in front of a stranger.

“I’m Maddy,” Matilda said, extending her hand to make an introduction. “You must be Scarlet.”

Scarlet reached out her hand wanly. There was something about her voice, like she’d heard it before, but Scarlet couldn’t quite place it.

“It’s okay,” Charlotte said, sensing Scarlet’s apprehension. “Maddy is my roommate.”

“We’re friends too,” Maddy added, a bit too eagerly for Scarlet’s taste.

“She just knows about you because I talk about you,” Charlotte added, trying to defuse the awkwardness.

“Don’t worry, it’s all good stuff,” Maddy laughed nervously, leaving Scarlet to wonder why it wouldn’t be.

Charlotte noticed the stunned expression on Maddy’s face.

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