CHAPTER SIXTEEN
After they leave, Mr. P and I go back into the house and sit across from one another at the dining table. I take Bud's old seat, which recently became Estelle's. Mr. P doesn't try to force me to talk. The silence hangs in the air like a thick fog.
I can't stop thinking about Estelle and Bud. I'd always thought that those stories about soul mates dying within weeks of each other were surreal. I'd never understood how two people could be so connected. But Bud and Estelle ... it just goes to show how linked they were. Maybe I would never understand how or why, but I get it. I don't think there could've been any other way. It was written in the stars. And I suppose, that sometimes, there's no need for reason.
"How are you feeling?" Mr. P finally asks.
"What can I say? I've lost the two people in my life I cared about. And in a matter of weeks. Life's a bunch of bullshit." I don't even have it in me to cry any more. I'm drained and hollowed out.
"I hear you," he says, propping his glasses on top of his head and passing his palm over his eyes. "But you can't blame yourself."
I eye him. It's time to find out what's really going on. "So, why'd you come over here today, anyway?"
"Huh?" He looks puzzled, but I'm not buying it.
"Yeah. Why'd you show up at my house today?"
He shifts in his seat. "You hadn't been in school for a few days and I was worried."
I narrow my eyes at him. "Oh, yeah? Then what'd you mean about my being placed in your class not being a coincidence? And the whole 'she's your only relative'? What did that all mean?"
He nods, then sets his elbows on the table and props his head on his fists. "In fairness, I think you should know already. First off, you can do away with the 'Mr.' and just call me Perry from now on. Perry Pashner, if you want the full legal name."
Pashner! I almost fall off my chair. If there's one thing that could possibly take my mind off what's just happened ... this would be it. I remember back to what Bud and Estelle had told me on the Pashners. They were the other family of Photo Travelers who were murdered in a house fire, like the attempt made on my parents.
"But I thought ... I thought your whole family died? Did Bud know? Did Estelle?"
He flashes his teeth my way. "Yeah, Bud knew. So did Stelle."
"Why didn't you—or they—why didn't someone tell me?"
"There're a lot of people keeping an eye on us. I was supposed to watch over you in school. I was passing by to check in on both of you. Make sure you were safe. Bud and Stelle have kept my secret for years."
"What secret? Jesus! Is there any truth in this family? Everything's hidden or buried under lies. Lies on top of other lies! And everybody uses the same excuse! For 'safety.' Has anyone ever thought that maybe it's the constant lies that have made life so dangerous—huh?"
"Hey, listen," he says. "I know it's a lot to take in. I'll tell you what happened, and maybe you'll understand. They didn't hold my secret back from you to lie to you. They did it because they were watching out for me. And you."
"Really? And how so? What excuse is there for this lie?"
"I was fourteen when our house burned down. Pretty much took away everything in my life—my mom, my dad, my brother, my grandparents ... My sister and I were only ones who survived. She was just five then." He smiles. "And obsessed with castles. Especially this one castle in Japan with waterfalls running right through it. That night she had begged our parents to let us sleep in the backyard in tents so we could play King Arthur and Queen Guinevere.
