“We have to find her. It’s even more important now. We must bring her home... to her grandmother.”
*****
Alora dreamed of Kaevin again. But Monday morning dawned, and the weekend was over. School and responsibilities intruded on her dreams and daydreams. Life as usual. Her uncle drove her to the bus stop. She hadn’t told him about seeing Kaevin outside in the snow, and it seemed too late to tell him now. Would she see a different man every time she got her hair wet? She chuckled.
“What’s so funny?” Charles asked, pulling to a stop beside the bus.
“I’m just glad I’m not on the swim team.”
“Yes, I guess that could be a problem. Especially if one of those guys showed up in bodily form.” He smirked, hugging her goodbye. “Seriously though, I hope maybe we can find a way to avoid all those visits. I’m thinking about you, okay? Have a good day.”
“You too, Uncle Charles.”
She jumped out and ran to greet her best friend on the bus. Close buddies for as long as she could remember, they were almost inseparable, although she’d outgrown her friend by about eight inches over the last four years.
“Hey, Beth.”
“Hey, Alora. Are you going to the dance on Friday? I know I said I wasn’t going, but Mom changed her mind and said I could go. So now you’ve just got to go. Please say yes.” Her imploring brown eyes, dancing with excitement, were framed by shoulder-length auburn curls.
“Maybe I can go. I’ll check with Uncle Charles.”
“You know your uncle will let you go. He’ll do anything you ask him to do. And guess who’s going to be there?” She lowered her voice. “Wesley Franks.”
“I don’t care whether he’s going to be there.”
“Last week you told me you thought he was the hottest guy you’d ever seen. And Riley said he said the same thing about you.”
“He said I was a hot guy?”
“You know what I mean.” Beth’s eyes narrowed. “What’s going on? You don’t like him anymore? Did you hear something bad about him?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I changed my mind. I think maybe I’d like an older guy.”
“But doesn’t your uncle have a rule that you can’t date a guy more than a grade ahead of you?”
“I’m only talking about what I like, not who I want to date.”
“There aren’t that many guys to choose from at our school. I guess maybe Justin; he’s a cute senior. I think he’s going with Shanna Wallace right now.”
“Uhmm, I don’t know. I think I’ve decided I like longer hair.”
“Like Eric Matheson?”
“No. Even longer than Eric’s. Long enough to put in a ponytail. And wavy. And green eyes.”
“Okay, now I know you’re just making someone up. Or are you talking about a movie star or some guy you saw in a magazine?”
“No, it’s just someone I dreamed up. And don’t roll your eyes at me.”
“Okay, but unless you’re on a date with Dream Boy, will you go to the dance Friday night?”
“Sure. Why not?” But she’d rather be with Dream Boy if she actually had the option. Kaevin. She’d never heard the name before, but she really liked it. She wondered, not for the first time, where he lived. And why wasn’t he surprised he kept materializing in front of her? Her life seemed a bit surreal after her strange weekend. On the one hand, she was a normal fifteen-year-old girl, awkward and embarrassed, having crushes and gossiping with her best friend. On the other hand, she’d been miraculously visited twice by some cute guy and once by her supposedly evil father, and had discovered she wasn’t related to her aunt and uncle. But that episode in the snow... now that was something.
“So, what’s his name?”
“Who?”
“You were smiling. You must have been thinking about your dream boy. Why did you suddenly decide you liked long hair? You’ve always said you liked it short before. Were you watching some movie that made you change your mind? No, forget that—you never watch movies. It must have been some book. Why am I not surprised?”