Heart's Reflection (7 page)

"You're still
alive at least." Gran stood, hands-on-hips, just inside. "My only
comfort was that I'd seen your fate was an old age death. Even so, I was scared
spitless. An old lady could have an attack, you know."

Not even thinking
about closing the door behind me, I rushed to her and gave her a quick hug.
"I'm so sorry, Gran. I didn't mean to be out so late. We just..." I
couldn't think of a way to finish that. Talking about falling asleep with
Keagan might not be the best thing to calm her down. "But I think I did
it, Gran. I think I changed their death fates. Keagan and Liam. Well, I'm sure
about Keagan and the next time I can touch Liam, I'll know about him for
sure."

"You were out
with Keagan and not Liam?" she asked.

"Yes, of
course." I shrugged. "I told you I was going to do anything I could
to stop them from playing that football game together. It was the only way to
get Keagan to agree not to play."

"I know it
seemed like the right thing to do, Tara. But you're playing with people's
feelings here."

I shook my head,
trying to deny her words even though I knew she was right. But no matter how
much I wanted her to stop, Gran kept talking.

"How is Liam
going to feel with you going out, and staying out so late, with his brother?
And how is Keagan going to feel when he finds out you've just been manipulating
him for Liam's benefit? That you've been using his feelings for you."

"Yeah."
Keagan's voice came from the porch through the still-open front door "How
am I gonna feel about being manipulated and used?"

Whirling around to
face him, I saw him step over the threshold.

"I might be
pretty angry and disgusted," he finished, his face stricken.

"Keagan,"
I said, reaching out a hand to him. "It's not what you think."

He shrank away
from my touch, shaking his head. "I came up here to explain to your
grandmother what happened tonight, but instead I found out I was the one who
didn't know what had
really
happened."

"Please,
Keagan. I was trying to save Liam's life. Can't you understand?"

"I understand
everything is always for Liam and not me. My parents' love, your
love—" With that he threw down my car keys, turned, and barreled
out.

"Omigod."
I picked up the keys from the floor. "I think I can safely say everything
is ruined now."
Including my heart
,
I thought.
Shredded into a thousand
ragged scraps like so much ground beef.

"I'm sorry,
honey," Gran said. "I didn't realize he was there. But I warned you
fate has a way of turning things its way."

"I don't
believe that," I yelled. "I have to believe I can stop this or all
the pain has been for nothing."

Starting out the
door, I heard Gran shout after me. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going
after him," I shouted back. "I'm going after Keagan. I have to try to
explain and salvage something."

"No,
Tara." She stepped out onto the porch, but I had already reached the car.
"Don't go."

Shaking my head, I
got in and then drove off.

The fog that had
been a happy cocoon earlier was now a horrible barrier as I slowly drove what I
thought would be the most likely path between my house and the Ellsworths'. I
tried to examine each alley and side street, all the while keeping my eyes on
the road.

Spotting what
looked like a figure just coming into view on the right ahead, near a bus stop,
my heart lurched and I stepped on the gas. But when I got nearer, the figure
turned out to be a sign with a shrub in front of it.

"Damn,"
I muttered.

Just then a cat
darted out of the shrub and into the street. My hand jerked the wheel and I
stomped on the brake.

"Damn!"

* * * * *

Damn.
My school locker must have fallen on me,
I
thought.
Get this thing off my chest or
I'll miss math class.
But no matter how much effort I exerted, my arms
wouldn't move. I also couldn't lift my lids. They seemed glued shut.
Did I leave glue uncapped in the locker?
Math class was definitely out.

I heard a groan
that seemed far away until I realized it was me.

"Open your
eyes, Tara. You can do it," Gran's voice urged me.

The accompanying
pat on my hand somehow gave me the strength to pry open my lids to see her
beloved face over me.

"Math
class." The words sounded like a shout in my head but a whisper to my
ears.

"What,
honey?" Gran asked.

The events of the
night came rushing into my head: the date, the guilt, the pain, the happiness,
the kisses, the guilt again...the shrub.

"Did I hit
the cat?"

"You didn't
hit anything but a bus stop," Gran said, wiping a tear as it slipped down
one cheek. "You could have been killed."

"What time is
it?"

Gran glanced at
her watch. "Eight thirty."

I tried to sit up
and Gran held me down.

"Lie still.
You're in the hospital. You have a concussion and bruised ribs. You'll be all
right. But they want you to stay overnight for observation."

"I have to
get to school. Maybe I can talk to Liam. Or I could go by Keagan's school
first—"

"It's eight
thirty at night, Tara. School is over."

The meaning of what
she was telling me didn't register for a few seconds. When it did, a chant
began in my head.
No. No. No....

Rolling out from
under Gran's hand and out of bed, I landed with my bare feet on the cold
linoleum. Fortunately, my shaking legs held me up.

"The game
started at six thirty. I don't have much time left. I'm checking myself
out."

A draft hit my
bare bum under the hospital gown, reminding me I needed clothes. Scanning the
room, I saw a locker on one wall and took a chance my clothes would be inside.
I stumbled over to it and found I was right. Gran was on my heels talking. When
I started to put on my skirt, she tried to grab it.

"Do I have to
call security to keep you here?" she asked. "You can't check yourself
out. You're a minor and I'm your guardian."

With my after
accident shakiness, I was barely a match for my seventy-two year old
grandmother, but I did manage to get the skirt on in spite of her efforts.
"I have to get to the stadium right now."

"No,"
she said, taking the other garments out of the locker and holding them hostage.
"Get back into that bed and rest."

Holding her
shoulders, I locked eyes with her. "Gran. If you stop me and Liam dies,
I'll never get over it. I don't think I can survive it. Don't you understand?
Liam, Keagan and me. We'll all be lost."

Gran stared at me
for a few moments before finally handing me the rest of the clothes.
"Okay. I'll drive you."

We didn't even
talk to anyone, just walking straight out. But still it seemed an eternity to
get to Gran's car in the parking lot. For once I thanked heavens Gran was a
terrible driver because even breaking every traffic law to get to the stadium
didn't ease the excruciating slowness of the trip. If she'd driven like the
typical senior, I'd have gone crazy.

Finally, the
stadium lights came into view in the distance, taunting me. So close but yet...
It was almost 9 p.m. Was the game over already? Was Liam dead? Was Keagan lost?

Marbles rolled
around in my bruised head—or it felt that way—and I lifted a hand
to the bandage on my forehead in pain as we whipped around a corner. A few of
those marbles must have slipped down into my lungs too, because I was having a
hard time breathing either from fear or from the bruised ribs.

Gran pulled up and
let me out in front of the entry and I rushed in. As I reached the outer
corridor, a roaring cheer from the stands around the field reassured me the
game was still going on. Stumbling a little, I made my way around the outer
ring hallway to get to the opposite side where I could more easily reach the
visiting team. Every second was marked by the sound of my shoes slapping
against the flooring of the empty corridor.

I passed through a
wide archway and reached the bottom of the stands. On the field the Broughton
Hawks offense had control with one player running the ball down field. Ten
yards then twenty, he ran to the happy cheers of their fans. My worried eyes
went to the scoreboard. Three minutes, forty-nine seconds left in the game.

I remembered the
fateful play was at one minute, twenty-seconds. A little time left.

My eyes searched
the Hawks' bench and found the dark hair of a familiar head. The name on the
uniform, Ellsworth, confirmed it for me: Keagan.

It might have been
the way I walked with purpose and without hesitation. It might have been the bandage
on my forehead and the crazy matted hair and bruises from the accident. For
whatever reason, no one stopped me from striding past the Hawks' cheerleaders
and approaching the bench.

Just as I reached
him, Keagan, and the rest of his benched team, rose and cheered. Their team had
gotten a touchdown. The score was twenty to fourteen now, just as in my vision.

 
"Keagan," I said, tapping him
on the shoulder. "I have to talk to you."

At my touch he
started and whirled. "Get away from me." He hit my hand away.

At the angry scowl
and blazing eyes, I gasped and stepped back.

As he took me in,
his face softened. "Tara. What happened to you?" He tentatively
touched the bandage.

"Car
accident. I tried to find you last night after...anyway a cat ran out in front
of my Camry."

Over his shoulder,
I saw that the Hawks' holder had mishandled the ball and the extra point kick
failed. Instead of positioning the ball for the kicker, the holder tried to
recover by passing the ball and it was intercepted. The Hawks' coach screamed
and called a time out.

The clock stopped
at one minute, twenty seconds.

"Ellsworth,
get that girl out of here and come get instructions. You're going back into the
game."

"Yes,
Coach," Keagan yelled back. "Tara, you have to go. We can talk after
the game."

He took me by the
arm and tried to walk me off to the sidelines and toward the stands.

"No. You
can't go out there. You can't play the rest of this game. Remember what I told
you about my parents. I really did have a vision. They didn't listen to me and
they died."

"What does
that have to do with—" He stopped walking and turned me to him, his
hands going to my shoulders. "Are you saying you've had a vision about
this game?"

"Yes. I
thought you heard me tell Liam about it."

"No. Or if I
did I didn't listen to that part. I was too busy thinking about you and him
going to the reserve. Too busy burning up with jealousy."

"Young
lady," the coach interrupted with another shout. "Get off the field
and Ellsworth get over here."

Neither of us
reacted.

"I had a
vision," I said. "Liam will die in the next play of this game and
you...you're involved."

He stared off
beyond me, unseeing, lost in his thoughts. "That's what you and your
grandmother were talking about last night. That's what you meant. Why you asked
me out. You wanted to save Liam."

"Yes." I
shook him a little to bring his attention back to me. "Of course. I don't
want Liam to die. I can't deny I care about him. But I also don't want you to
feel responsible for his death. I don't want that for you. I love you."

"Ellsworth,"
The coach shouted. "Ten seconds to the end of the time out. Get out onto
the field."

Cupping his cheek
with my palm, I put everything I had into the plea. "I know it's insane. I
know you think people don't have visions, but please Keagan. Just trust me.
Please. If you ever cared about me at all. Please. Don't go back into the
game."

One beat and then
two passed as if an eternity. Then, without looking away from me, Keagan
shouted over his shoulder. "I'm not playing the rest of the game,
Coach."

"What?"
The coach screeched. "We can win this thing and you're quitting? Are you
crazy?"

When Keagan didn't
answer, the coach marched over to us, an obscenity-laced tirade coming from
under his breath. He grabbed Keagan by the shoulder and pulled him away from
me. "If you don't play the rest of this game you're off the team."

"Okay,"
Keagan said, nodding. "I'm off the team."

More obscenities
poured from the coach as he returned to the sidelines and barked orders at the
other players. I briefly had a glimpse of Liam running onto the field as I
threw myself against Keagan and wrapped him in the tightest hug I could manage.

"Oof," I
groaned at the pain, but didn't let go.

"Your
injuries," Keagan said, trying to pull back.

I just held him
tighter and buried my face in his chest. "I'm okay." My muffled words
were barely audible over the din of the crowd. Apparently, a big play had
occurred. "I'm more than okay. I'm wonderful. Thank you. Thank you. Thank
you."

How long we stood
like that, with arms wrapped around each other, I don't know. An impression of
the edge of his shoulder pads was etching itself into my cheek and I didn't
care. The hug didn't end until someone ripped Keagan away from me.

I looked up to see
Liam, his face contorted in a fury like I'd never seen from him before.

"What the
hell is going on?" He threw his helmet down and it spiked once off the
ground before tumbling to a stop. Liam's hand bunched into a fist. He pulled it
back and threw a haymaker into his brother's chin. Keagan didn't defend
himself. He just went down.

"Stop
it." Screaming I knelt beside Keagan, looking up at Liam. "Just
stop."

"I should hit
you too," Liam said, puffing with exertion and anger.

"Look,
dude," Keagan said. "This has all been a mistake. Tara thought she was
saving your sorry ass because of her premonition. She didn't want to go out
with me. It's you she loves."