PULSE

Chapter Eight

[ AUGUST 22 ]

My phone buzzed to life against the wooden surface of my desk, adding an unnatural white light to my room. With my blinds pulled shut, only a bit of filtered sunlight could reach me in my desk chair, so my phone cast strange shadows around me in the early morning.

I frowned at my laptop, pausing the music track I'd been working on and lifting my phone up to my face.

It was a text from Ava.

>Plans today? Lev and I are going into the city. I want you to come. :)<

I smiled down toward my phone. It had only been a week since Auntie had gotten Ava her first cell phone, and since then, she'd been attached to it all hours a day. There something completely wonderful to her about being able to talk to people whenever she wanted, no matter where they were. The day after she got it, she ran up the first three flights of stairs to the school building and met me at the landing, thrusting the phone in my face.

"Look!" She'd said, grinning ear to ear. "I have a phone now! Hurry and put in your number."

She had grabbed my hands in hers and forced me to take the phone, and rocked back and forth on her toes in anticipation as I inputed my name and number. I had hoped to find that I was the first contact in the device, but shouldn't have been surprised to see that Lev had already left his mark.

As soon as I gave it back to her, Lev appeared from the stairs behind Ava, shouldering his backpack for the day. He had greeted me, but I had been distracted by my phone vibrating in my pocket.

She had texted me already, just to say hello.

I stared at my phone for a few seconds, contemplating a response. Even though Lev and Ava were closer to each other than I was to them, the idea of spending the day with them—in the city, without Candace—seemed almost too good to be possible.

When I didn't reply quickly, Ava texted again.

>Won't take no for an answer. I want you to be there. Lev does too, but don't tell him I said that. :)<

I sighed and slowly tapped out an answer.

>Not sure. I have a lot of homework to get done. We have that Physics test. And someone should help the Old Lady at the shop.<

I wasn't even able to set the phone down before another message was buzzing on my phone, this time from Lev.

>We're outside. Stop being stupid and come out.<

Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I rose from my chair and squinted as I flipped the blinds open. As soon as I adjusted to the sudden brightness, I spotted two figures on the lawn in front of the apartment complex—one with a phone in his hand, grinning, while the other waved wildly toward me.

I massaged my temples, the back of my head suddenly beginning to pulse again. In my hand, my phone buzzed with two new messages, consecutively.

The first, from Ava.

>Auntie insisted that we take the day off, and that test can wait for another day. Please come? It wouldn't be as much fun without you. :(<

Then, from Lev.

>Get down here. You owe me, remember?<

"They're all stupid. The both of them," I muttered to myself as I retreated from my window, dragging jeans, a tee shirt, and a jacket out of my dresser. I pulled them all on on my way to the door, swiping my wallet and keys off of the desk as I went.