3

The morning sunlight shone into Jacque’s room as she yawned noisily. She glanced over to where Sally and Jen had fallen asleep and saw they were both snoozing soundly. Jacque decided to let them sleep while she went ahead and took a shower. Jacque still had to process her encounter with the hottie across the street.

“Thanks, Jen,” she muttered under her breath. Now she couldn’t think of him as the foreign exchange student because Jen had so eloquently named him the ‘hottie across the street’. Jacque would have to watch herself and make sure not to introduce herself by saying, “Hi, hottie, I’m Jacque. It’s nice to meet you.” Yeah, that wouldn’t be embarrassing at all.

She gathered some clean clothes and realized, as she stared into her closet, she was taking longer than usual to pick an outfit to wear to meet the hottie, grr, the exchange student. Jac, say it to yourself, ex-ch-an-ge student.

After a ridiculously-longer-than-necessary amount of time, she chose a pair of her jeans that had holes in various places along the legs. Of course, they weren’t there through any fault of hers. They were $75 jeans … which she paid to have holes in. Go figure. She had a little bit of a jeans fetish. It was so bad she even worked over the summer to earn money to afford the jeans she wanted. Jacque picked a baby doll tee that said, “I’m not stubborn. My way is just better.” Stress brought out the sarcasm in her. Okay, so maybe most things brought out the sarcasm in her, and what better way to handle it than with a sarcastic tee? Jacque wasn’t sure why she felt the need to bare her personality, so to speak, on her person for him to see. It wasn’t like she was planning on them being more than friends. She tapped her lips thoughtfully. Maybe she had considered the whole more-than-friends scenario just a few … hundred times. Shoot her. She wasn’t immune to an Adonis-like face or a male body that looked to be sculpted from stone. Slightly disgusted with herself, she shook her head at her outrageous thoughts and headed to the bathroom, seeking refuge in the form of a steaming shower and her favorite cucumber body wash.

Jacque took her time in the shower, only getting out when the water started to get cold, forcing her to seek shelter in one of the huge warm towels her mom had splurged on. She dried off and got dressed, then took her time fixing her hair. Jacque couldn’t decide if she should wear it up or down. Good grief, you never have this much trouble getting ready. It’s just hair, you freak. She paused, pursing her lips at her reflection. “Nor do you usually talk to yourself so much.” Her nerves were getting the best of her. But try as she might to brush the encounter off, she just couldn’t shake the feeling that something major had happened last night when she locked eyes with the handsome stranger.

With an exasperated sigh, she finally settled on wearing her hair up. It was summer in south Texas, after all, which basically meant frying-eggs-on-the-sidewalk hot. Morning routine accomplished, complete with talking to herself and obsessing over her looks, she headed back to her room to see if Sally and Jen had decided to join the rest of the living.

Sure enough, they were both sitting on the floor, each with bedhead and looking a little dazed.

“You’re up bright and early … and dressed,” said Jen, sounding surprised. “And perky. Wait. Who the hell are you, and what have you done with Jacque?” Jen’s brow rose as she looked up.

Jacque rolled her eyes at her blonde friend’s exaggeration. Okay, so maybe Jacque wasn’t usually a morning person, and maybe she walked around with a frown on her face until lunchtime, but she wasn’t that bad. Right?

“I woke up with just a few things on my mind and knew it would be impossible to go back to sleep. Also, I need to go talk to my mom about us going over with her to greet the hot— I mean, exchange student. Thanks to you, Jen, I will probably introduce myself to him and say, ‘Hi hottie.’”

“Well, if you do, I will be sure to do you the honor of laughing my ass off,” Jen said.

“Oh, thanks for that,” Jacque retorted.

“Okay, kids, let’s play nice. We have plans to make. We don’t have time for your usual petty arguments and overall need to degrade one another,” said Sally.

“But we love degrading one another,” Jen whined.

Jacque nodded in agreement. “It’s like our version of coffee in the morning.”

Sally ignored them, which she often did when Jacque and Jen were being childish.

“Okay, why don’t y’all take turns getting a shower, and I’ll go talk to my mom about when she plans to head over to the Henrys?” Jacque asked as she headed toward her door.

“Sounds good,” Sally answered.

“Go, team,” Jen said dryly.

“Loving that enthusiasm, Jennifer Adams,” Jacque said with a freakishly big grin on her face. “Keep it up!”

As Jacque ducked out of the room, Jen mouthed some words to her that would definitely get the blonde’s mouth washed out with soap.

Jacque went downstairs and found her mom already in the kitchen cooking up a storm. Lilly Pierce was not your average woman. She had a sketchy background growing up in a foster home. She often had these “feelings” about things that were going to happen, and the scary thing was, she was usually right. Jacque and her mom never really talked about it, though Jacque sometimes showed signs of a similar nature. Only Jacque didn’t know things, she could feel things, such as the emotions of others. It didn’t happen often, and it was very subtle at times. She might be in a room with her mom and without Lilly ever saying anything, Jacque knew her mother was sad or worried or confused. Jacque wasn’t sure how or why it happened, it just did. It wasn’t reliable because she could go weeks, and sometimes months, without feeling another’s emotions. Jacque didn’t want to know things, or feel things, she just wanted to be normal. Jen was always happy to point out that normal was overrated.

As Jacque looked around the kitchen, she saw a pan of fried chicken on the stove and corn on the cob in a pot of boiling water. Lilly was steadily mixing a bowl of mashed potatoes, adding milk and butter as she saw fit.

“Hey, Mom, how goes the gut-busting Southern meal prep?” Jacque asked.

“I’m almost done. I just need to drop some rolls in the oven. Would you mind getting them and putting them on a pan? They aren’t homemade, just those store-bought, Hawaiian ones, but they’re really good. I’m sure he won’t mind”

“Yeah, I can do that. Uh, Mom.” Jacque hesitated for a moment. “Sally, Jen, and I were wondering if you needed help carrying all this over to the Henrys.” Jacque tried to sound casual. Lilly paused in her tater stirring and glanced at her daughter. The narrowed eyes told Jacque she hadn’t come anywhere close to casual.

“Are you really wanting to help, or is this just a perfect opportunity to meet the new exchange student? It is a guy, after all, right?” Lilly asked.

“Can’t a girl just help out her mother every once in a while?”

Lilly grunted.

“Okay, maybe we would like to see who the guy is,” said Jacque, “but we do also genuinely want to help you. I don’t think you can carry all this over on your own.”

“Well, I was going to ask you to help me anyway, and I thought you and the girls would be interested in meeting the new young man, especially since you and Trent have split up.”

“Do not go there, Mom.” Jacque’s shoulders tensed at the mention of her ex. “This has nothing to do with him. It’s only natural to want to meet a new neighbor, especially since he’s not from our country,” Jacque told her, not sure who she was really trying to convince.

“Okay, okay, you don’t have to be defensive. I will be ready just as soon as those rolls are done warming. I’m going to call the Henrys now to make sure they are okay with us coming over in about ten minutes.”

Jacque grabbed the rolls and shoved them in the oven. Lilly was stepping out of the room to call the Henrys when Jacque caught the briefest hint of worry coming off her mom in subtle waves. It had been a while since she had picked anything up from her mom, so it made the girl take a step back. Lilly was a single parent who ran her own business. It wasn’t like there was a shortage of things to worry about. But still, Jacque got the feeling this worry had nothing to do with her mother’s normal concerns. This was something else. Jacque rolled her eyes in frustration because, seriously, what was the point of feeling someone’s emotions if you didn’t know their cause? Irritated and confused, Jacque headed back upstairs.

She forced herself to set the thought aside. It was time to inform her two partners in crime the plan had been set in motion. She paused in mid-step. Man, she felt ridiculous as she thought about how it sounded to have a plan to meet a guy. And not to meet him like “Hey, what’s up?”, but meet him like “Hey, are you a weirdo or something?” What was her world coming to? Oh well, it could be worse. She could be hearing voices… Oh, wait, she was. Well, crap.

Sally was finished with her shower and doing her hair when Jacque reached her bedroom. The beautiful brunette could be very efficient when she needed to be, and she wasn’t one to be overly fussy about her looks. That was a perk when one could be pretty even with a paper bag over her head. Her long coffee-colored hair was striking against her naturally tan skin, and her big brown eyes gave her an easy pouty look. She honestly didn’t look like a ‘Sally’, but whatever. I didn’t pick her name.

Jen was still in the shower, and when Jacque went to the bathroom door, she could hear Martina McBride’s “Independence Day.” Jen was belting it out proudly, albeit out of tune, and in classic Jen style, she was adding her own words because she could never remember the actual lyrics of a song. Jacque banged on the door and hollered, “Yeah, yeah, you’re strong, free, and independent. We get it. Hurry up! We’re rolling out ten minutes ago.” Jen just sang louder. Jacque rolled her eyes and went back to her room.

“If she’s planning on blow-drying that blonde mess on her head then we’re leaving her here,” Jacque told Sally, who was putting on her shoes.

“Well, I’m ready when you are, Sherlock. Let’s go check hottie out,” Sally said with a wink.

“How lucky I am to have you, my dear Watson,” Jacque said smiling.

A few minutes later, Jen stepped into Jacque’s room fully clothed, hair up in a French twist.

“What’s taking you two so long? I’ve been ready for two minutes,” Jen said with an exaggerated sigh.

“Oh, a whole two minutes? How dare we make you wait. Please don’t have us flogged, your majesty,” Jacque retorted.

“It’s about time you realized who is queen in this outfit.” Jen smirked.

“Girls, I’m ready if you all are,” Jacque’s mom yelled.

Well, here we go, off to Never-never Land. Jacque felt at that moment she was jumping into a rabbit hole complete with a Cheshire Cat and Mad Hatter at her side. Just what was she getting herself into?

“I think I am officially going to be sick,” Jacque said with a slight moan.

“Take slow, deep breaths. If at any time you feel as though you’re going to pass out, please lean to the left so you don’t fall on me,” Jen said.

“Then she would fall on me,” Sally pointed out.

Jen shrugged. “You’re built from sturdy stuff. You’d be fine.”

“Well, your butt is big enough that you would just bounce,” Sally snipped back.

Jacque let out a huff. “Um, guys, remember me? I’m the one who is hearing voices and is about to hurl.”

Both girls stopped their bickering to look at her. Neither seemed as concerned as Jacque felt they should be.

Jen shrugged. “Screw it. If you pass out, I’ll just push you so you face-plant. Then neither of us will have to worry about ending up underneath your bushy red hair.”

“Man, you are just a ball of warm fuzzies, aren’t you?” Jacque asked, glaring at Jen.

“I’m just saying.” Jen laughed. “It’s important to be prepared for these situations.”

Jacque took several deep breaths and then stood up straight. She held her arms out and turned in a quick circle, feeling very much like a rotisserie chicken. “How do I look? Is this shirt a little much?”

“No, I think it’s perfect. It makes a statement, like ‘Hey, I’m not scared of your little mind gibberish,’” Sally said.

“But I am scared of his mind gibberish, if it is really his mind gibberish and not something else entirely.”

“Oh, come on, pull yourself together, man. He’s just a guy, okay? Nothing more and nothing less,” Jen said as she took Jacque’s shoulders in her hands and gave her a none-too-gentle shake. Jacque’s teeth jarred together, causing a slight buzzing in her head. Great, she could just add that to her list of growing discomforts.

There was a problem with Jen’s logic. Jacque didn’t believe mystery guy was just a guy, no, he was more, much more, she just didn’t know what yet. As they began to descend the stairs, a thought touched her mind, one that was not her own. “Good morning, my Luna.” The deep voice resonated with her soul and, despite her confusion, brought her a measure of comfort. Not strange at all.

She stumbled a few steps on the stairs. Jen reached out to steady her. “Are you okay?” she whispered, her playful demeanor forgotten.

“I just heard the voice again,” Jacque said shakily.

“What did it say?” Sally asked.

“Good morning, my loona,” Jacque answered. “I keep waiting for the Twilight Zone music to start playing in the background,” she said. Then with a childish whine that Jacque wasn’t proud of she said, “I can’t believe I thought it was a good idea to go over there.”

Sally pursed her lips as she nodded. “Mm-hm.” She hummed. “We do tend to do desperate and out-of-character things when stress wraps us in its ugly grasp.”

Jen looked away from Jacque and narrowed her gaze on Sally. “Who the hell are you? Dr. Phil?”

Sally simply shrugged.

Jacque’s mom was standing at the bottom of the stairs watching them closely. She had that look that Jacque knew all too well. The woman knew something was up. Jacque could feel her mother’s emotions very strongly. Lilly was concerned.

“Are you girls coming?” her mom asked, but her eyes were on Jacque.

“Lead the way, Ms. Pierce,” Jen said as she finished descending the stairs.

Each of the girls carried a dish. Jacque’s mom had even made sweet tea. After all, what’s a Southern meal without sweet tea?

As they stepped out of the house and onto the walkway, the sun shone brightly down on them, and at 10:00 a.m. it was already blisteringly hot. Although the grass in some of the lawns was still healthy and green, Jacque’s lawn was brown and dead. Of course, that could be because her mom mowed it way too short last time in hopes she could go longer than a week between yard work, which inadvertently killed the grass. Oh, well. It’s not like they were going out for a prettiest lawn competition. Goodness knows both she and her mother would rather pull their toenails out than work in the yard in the ridiculous south Texas heat.

As they crossed the street, Jacque saw the curtains parting in the right, second-story window. Briefly, she saw the handsome face looking back at her. She glanced away to get the attention of Sally and Jen, and then she looked back to point him out, but the curtains had closed.

“Maybe he’s just shy,” Jen suggested as Jacque stared up at the now-empty window. “He probably has that sexy, mysterious vibe going on.”

“You got all that because he walked away from the window?” Sally asked.

Jen shrugged. “What can I say? I’m freaking awesome.”

Jacque laughed. Leave it to her friends to keep her mind from dwelling obsessively on the mysterious boy who might or might not be able to speak to her through her thoughts. Yep, my life isn’t weird at all.