Fate's Exchange (Twisted Fate, Book 1)

Chapter Thirty-Three

Alyssa

It was easy to fall into a state of obsession for all things David. When I wasn't busy thinking of him, we were together. We partnered again in gym, gravitating towards each other like magnets. Even with resistance, it was impossible to avoid. Every touch of skin-on-skin felt like electric shock treatment, though the aftereffects produced a sense of euphoria rather than sending us into la-la-land. Already people were talking about us as a couple.

We walked to Tiki's hand-in-hand for lunch. I couldn't remember feeling so happy with Suzie or Tina. I felt alive, like all the times that I had died had been a dream. At the same time, I was terrified. If Death came and I couldn't escape it, the time with David would come to an end. An hourglass ticking down like a stopwatch pounded in my head.

Remaining calm on the outside so that David wouldn't notice, panic swelled within. Just because it didn't boil on the surface didn't mean it didn't churn below. What would happen if I died? There wasn't enough time.

"Are you okay?" David asked, watching me while he held the door open so that I could enter the restaurant first. His hand fell to the small of my back.

"I'm fine," I said.

"You're sure?"

If he looked at me with any more concern, I was going to blurt my craziness for him to judge. I was saved from answering with another unconvincing 'fine'. Tina called as the waitress sat us at a table to eat. Hearing her voice, I remembered how much I wanted to talk to her so that I could know that she was going to be okay. How could I forget that? Oh, right. David. Was it terrible that I hoped the conversation would be brief?

"Hey, where have you been? Sick?" I had to play dumb, of course. Explanations at this point were impossible. If she cared, which considering her severe lack of presence, I doubted.

"No, I just... I wanted to stay home and spend time with my mom," she said. The usual spark in her voice was absent, and I felt a tingling of unease creep up my spine.

"Oh?" I looked up to David, but he was providing me what little privacy two people sitting across from each other at a restaurant could pretend to offer by leafing through the two-page menu. "How come?"

"Just because. I don't know."

"Well, the next time you bail, could you try telling me you're leaving? I looked for you all crapping day on Monday. Then my parents told me you were at home? What the hell, Tina?" I lowered my voice so that David could speak with the waitress. The whisper was swallowed by the voices of customers. "What's going on?"

"My parents are getting a divorce, okay? My dad accepted a job in Manitoba," she snapped.

Okay, wow? How could I not know this? What a crap deal. It seemed unfair to pile on more pain on top of everything that happened to her with Mr. Tinsley. It was no wonder my demise had destroyed her last time. This explained why nobody had checked on her when she'd killed herself.

I had missed seeing so much before I died the first time that, in a strange way, it had been beneficial to have experienced it in different ways. Despite the pain of ridicule and feeling embarrassed to the point of wanting to hide under the blankets on my bed, it provided a clearer view of the bigger picture. Dying three times helped with that. Not only did I see all the ways things could go awry as each chance played out, I saw more and more what I'd missed. It seemed so obvious now, like a map that had been made with invisible ink, but the spell had broken so I could see its markings.

"I'm sorry, Tina. I know how much you're going to miss him." Silence descended across the line and the tingling feeling returned until it grew to a blaring crescendo. Another road revealed itself on the map in my mind, just as clear as the rest. "Tina?"