was automatic. “Stop assuming something will happen with Hunter. We’re just ... friends.” Even saying the word felt wrong. There was no denying the way my body reacted whenever we were near each other. There was a spark there, something that hadn’t been smothered by our time apart. For all I knew, it was the sort of spark that would never die, which was frustrating on several levels.
“I saw you talking to him,” Alice persisted. “It looked like a deep conversation.”
“We were catching up on old times.”
“Oh, it was definitely more than that. He was staring at you as if you were the only woman in the world.”
“He was not.”
“He was. You just can’t see it because you’re too close to the situation. He was there with another woman and all he cared about was you. If I were Monica, I’d dump him ... and fast. He’s going to make her look like a fool before it’s all said and done.”
Given Monica’s reaction this evening, I had a feeling she already felt like a fool. “Do you remember what happened with the Ouija board the other night?” I asked, opting to change the subject.
Alice’s forehead wrinkled. “I remember. We were drunk and asking it stupid questions, like if Hunter and I would’ve been married by now if you hadn’t stolen him from me.”
I shot her a sidelong look. “We didn’t ask that.”
“You were drunk. You don’t remember.”
“I would remember that.”
“If you say so.” She rolled her eyes and focused on the uneven path. “Why are you asking about the Ouija board?”
“Because ... .” Could I tell her? Would she think I was crazy? More importantly, would she rat me out to the rest of the family and have me locked up for believing something so ludicrous?
“You might as well tell me,” Alice offered, as if reading my mind. “Even if I make fun of you — and that is a distinct possibility — it’s not as if you have anyone else to talk to. I’m your best bet.”
Sadly, that was true. She was pretty much the only one I could talk to. “Weird things have been happening to me,” I blurted out, the tension I’d been carrying in my chest immediately lessening. “I mean ... like, really weird things.”
“I need more information.”
“Well, for starters, I woke up floating over my bed the other day.” I launched into the tale, leaving nothing out. Alice guffawed so loudly when I got to the part about trying to swim through the air I thought she would fall over. A dirty look from me had her righting herself quickly. “It’s not funny.”
“It’s not funny,” she agreed, wiping at the corners of her eyes. She was a masterful liar under normal circumstances, but she wasn’t even trying this evening. “You have to admit that picturing you trying to swim to your bed is humorous.”
“That’s just a different word for funny!” I exploded.
Alice looked around as if expecting people to come out of the trees and join us. “Calm down,” she chided. “There’s no sense getting worked up.”
“How can you say that? I was floating over my bed.”
“Or you were dreaming.”
I hesitated. “I thought that was the case, but it’s not the only weird thing that’s happened. There have been other things.”
“Like?”
“Like last night when I went down to get the kitten.”
“The kitten you’re not keeping even though you bought a bunch of tuna to feed it?”
I ignored the question. “When I went down there, things were perfectly calm and fine. After a few minutes, though, I was convinced someone was watching me.”
“That happens to me all the time,” Alice countered. “We can freak ourselves out easier than others can. Don’t you remember when we were kids and we’d walk through the cornfields out on the highway? You told me about Children of the Corn and we were terrified for a full week. You knew it was a stupid story, but you were still frightened.”
“I was, like, thirteen.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that we can scare ourselves without meaning to,” Alice argued. “Think about it. You were down there with a kitten, realized you were completely alone, and if someone wanted to hurt you, you were vulnerable. That little pebble you inserted into your brain turned into a big boulder and you freaked out.”
It sounded so reasonable. “I also think I burned Monica’s eyebrows off her face.”
This time the look Alice shot me was incredulous. “Um ... what?”
I told her about the altercation at the keg,