Thousand Year Switch

Chapter 5

Mom looked up as I burst in the door, took in my dirty rumpled clothing and cried, "Lucas! What on earth?"

            "A dog knocked me over," I lied breathlessly. There was no way I was going to tell her a zombie in a bathrobe tried to stab me. She was already half convinced I was a mental patient. She wouldn't believe me. She would think I was descending into madness and paranoia. Somewhere inside my head an evil little voice asked if that might be a possibility.

            I sat down and tried to force myself to eat a plate of eggs and toast and act normal while Mom ranted about dog owners and keeping vicious animals on a leash. I nodded and smiled and pretended to listen, my mind a whirlwind of confused thoughts. That man's face had looked exactly like the bus driver. It was no coincidence, I was sure of that much. And what had happened when he came at me? It felt like a shove, someone shoving me out of the way. I remembered the feeling of being watched and goosebumps prickled my arms. I tried to decide if I felt watched right now. Maybe I was imagining things.

            Mom was staring at me, and I realized she must be expecting me to say something. "Sorry, what?"

            She looked concerned. "Are you alright? Maybe having the dog jump on you was a bit much for someone who's recovering from an accident. I think you should go lie down for a bit."

            "Yeah." I stood up. "I think I'll do that."

            Sunday afternoon my phone vibrated. A message from Carly.

How is summer so far? I'm totally pumped to go camping this year!

I grimaced at the message. How was my summer? It didn't look like I would be getting a summer here. I dialed her number. Carly picked up on the third ring, and her familiar greeting made me smile so wide my cheeks hurt a little.

"Hiya!"

            "Hey," I said, "you're so lucky you get to go camping."

            "Heck yes," she sang, and I could hear her banging around in the background, probably crashing into things as she walked around. Carly wasn't the most coordinated girl. I grinned.

"Well, you're gloaty, aren't you?"

            "You're just jealous." She giggled. "What are you doing for the summer anyways? Sorting your sock drawer?"

            "Worse," I groaned, "Mom has me signed up for summer school."

            "What?" Carly's voice squeaked in outrage. "Why did she do that? That's cruel and inhumane!"

            "I know. And I think it has something to do with the bus that hit me." I'll admit, I'd been looking forward to the breathless shriek that I knew would greet that statement.

            "What? You did what?"

            "A bus ran into the bus stop I was sitting at," I said it casually, like it was no big deal.

Carly's voice was awed."And you're alive? You're not maimed or anything?"

            I laughed. "Not even a little maimed."

            "Holy crap! You're like...a super hero or something!" Carly shrieked in my ear, and I pulled the phone back, wincing. I decided not to mention the part about the bathrobe zombie, that one just sounded crazy, besides, Carly would probably faint or something.

            "That's so cool! Did you, like...punch the bus and it flew back? That would have been epic!"

            I laughed. Carly is one of the only females I know that uses the word "epic" with frequency. In that second I missed her so fiercely, I felt like climbing on the next bus and riding it all the way back to Kamloops. I kept telling myself I would drive to see her when I got my license.