Immortal City (24 page)

“Just do me a favor. I know you’re older now, but it’s . . . dangerous out there. Especially for . . . you. I mean, young girls like you. Please. Don’t walk home by yourself at night for a while, okay?”

“Okay,” she said, feeling slightly puzzled. She went over, kissed him on the cheek, and stepped silently upstairs.

Disappointing Kevin was something she rarely did, and she had forgotten how truly terrible it felt. Their modest life wasn’t much, but it was everything he had to give her. He had always provided for her, and she wasn’t even his daughter. How disrespectful had she been? Very, she decided.

She sat on her bed and pulled out the BlackBerry Miracle. Somehow she had to figure out how to cancel the thing. Then it chimed.

It was a new-blog alert.

Apparently the phones at the party had all been preprogrammed with bookmarked web pages, and, of course, the Angel blogs were among them. Maddy read the screen. It was about Jacks.

“Amid the media firestorm that broke this morning around the Angel killings and last night’s
Angels Weekly
Commissioning party, Jackson Godspeed released a press statement today playing down rumors ACPD has him on a list of potential targets. Jacks also emphatically denied there was anything romantic between him and the girl he brought to the party the previous night, describing her as a ‘contest winner.’” The blogger continued by declaring,
“Whatever that contest is, we’d love to play!”

The tears finally came. She had made a fool of herself and betrayed or disappointed everyone she cared about. Gwen first. And now Kevin. And someone else too, a name she was startled to realize was on the list. Ethan. Maddy threw the phone on the floor. From that moment, she decided, she was going to start fresh. A new beginning. A clean slate. She was going to be the fun, social, loyal Maddy she knew she could be. She looked out the window. There was that sign again. Like a ghost. She got up and quickly drew the shade. Then she went digging for her old phone, sat at her desk, and, taking a deep breath, made a call.

Ethan picked up, sounding distracted. “Hello?”

“Ethan, hey. It’s Maddy. From school.”

His voice immediately brightened. “Hey! Wh-what’s going on, Maddy?”

“I just wanted to say I changed my mind. I’d love to come to your party, if that’s still okay.” The line was quiet. “If not, it’s—”

“No! Of course it is!” he interrupted enthusiastically. “That would be great. You have directions?”

Maddy took them down.

“Well, see you tonight, then,” Ethan said. “I’m really looking forward to it, Maddy. I’m so glad you changed your mind.”

“Me too,” Maddy said. She thanked Ethan and hung up. That had actually felt good. Normal. She knew Ethan liked her. Would it be so terrible to not just shut everyone out? And maybe, just maybe, she liked him too.

Then she called Gwen. It rang once and went to voice mail. Still upset, Maddy thought. Well, that was fair. She listened to Gwen’s sugary greeting, thinking about what she wanted to say.

“Hey, it’s me,” she announced after the beep. “I just wanted to tell you I’m really sorry about everything. I was . . . a bad friend. I don’t even know what got into me. But I hope you know how much you mean to me, and I’m going to be at Ethan’s party tonight, so I hope I see you there. Okay. Later, girl.”

Maddy snapped the phone shut and took a deep breath. She even allowed herself to smile. Gwen would be at the party. Maddy would be able to really reconnect with her. She felt terrible about what had happened, that she had broken Gwen’s trust. From now on Maddy was going to let her friend in on everything. And no more making excuses: she could find time to hang out with her best friend
and
get all her homework and work at the diner done too. Even if Gwen just wanted to go look at clothes neither of them could afford or obsess over boys they couldn’t date, Maddy would find the time. What was the point of all the hard work anyway, if you didn’t keep your friends close? She was going to learn to enjoy her normal life starting tonight.

Maddy opened the desk drawer and pulled out her mother’s necklace. If there was one thing this whole experience with Jacks had given her, it had, in a strange way, brought her closer to her mother. She put the necklace on and looked at herself. Starting tonight at the party, she would somehow, some way, forget about Jackson Godspeed. She had to stop thinking about the sound of his voice, the heat of his touch, and the radiance of his presence. She had to forget about that connection she had felt between them—like a circuit—that night in the back room.

Then, as she sat there, one final idea came. It was bold and surprising, and she rolled it around on her tongue for a minute as if tasting it. She decided it tasted good. A plan formed in her mind—a final piece of the puzzle for the party—and she resolved right then and there to follow it. It was simple and elegant, and was probably the only guarantee she was ever going to fully blot Jackson Godspeed out of her mind as she became New Maddy.

She was going to go for it. She was going to fall in love with Ethan.

I
t was a somewhat long walk to Ethan’s, but Maddy didn’t mind. The wind had changed directions overnight and was coming off the ocean now, a crisp, refreshing kind of air. Maddy zipped up her hoodie but promised herself she would take it off when she got to the party. That was another thing she had decided—another rule for New Maddy. No more hiding.

Her route took her across the city and up into the lower Angel City Hills. Maddy avoided Angel Boulevard, of course. She didn’t need to experience the frenzy that was Jackson Godspeed’s Commissioning—she was going to do whatever it took
not
to be reminded, although avoiding Jackson Godspeed in Angel City, she had to admit, was a near impossibility. While she was getting ready, she hadn’t been able to stop herself from turning on the TV to find out more about the Angel killings and the speculation that Jackson might be targeted. She tried to remember how angry she was at Jacks, but her heart clenched up as she thought of him in danger. After only a few minutes, she’d had to turn it off. But even now, walking, she could see the news choppers buzzing overhead, circling the boulevard like vultures. In between songs on her iPod she was pretty sure she could make out the distant roar of a hysterical crowd.
That,
she told herself, was why she had come up with her plan. And that, she convinced herself, was why she had to follow through with it. Gwen wouldn’t be at the party until after the Commissioning, and that would be a good thing. As much as Maddy wanted to see her best friend, she needed to be alone with Ethan first. Her pulse rose as she thought about it. How
was
she going to do this?

Arriving at the address Ethan had given her, she stood there on the sidewalk for a moment. The house was large and rustic, set into the leafy hillside. The sound of adolescent laughter and thumping bass filtered out into the street. But this was definitely the place. No screaming crowds, red carpets, and photographers like the soiree she had been at last night, thankfully. Just a regular teenage party. The house wasn’t lavish, Maddy thought, but its occupants were certainly well off. A silver Audi A5 gleamed in the driveway. Was she really making the right decision by coming here?

As if in answer, another news chopper roared overhead, on its way to join the others and circle over the boulevard. More Jackson Godspeed worship.

Running a nervous hand through her hair and fixing a smile on her face, she marched up the walkway and rang the bell.

No one answered at first, and Maddy had the sudden urge to just turn and leave. Then, with a burst of noise, the door opened. Ethan stood there in the doorway wearing a plaid collared shirt rolled up at the elbows and his usual ripped jeans. He gave her an open, wide grin that made her heart miss a beat.

“Maddy! You found it.”

“Yeah!” Maddy chimed back, hoping to match his enthusiasm.

“Well, come in, come in,” he said, opening the door wider. She took a step inside, and Ethan moved to hug her. Normally she would have used her shoulders to close off her body and leave the would-be hugger to fumble awkwardly with her arms, but this time she took a step into him and let her body fit closely into his. She felt the hardness of his chest press against hers, then the wrap of his heavy arms. She breathed in his cologne.

“I’m really glad you decided to come,” he said as he released her.

“Yeah, I am too.”

“Can I take your sweatshirt?”

“Er—yeah. Sure,” Maddy said, remembering her promise to herself. She slipped out of her hoodie, revealing an ivory spaghetti-strap top she had actually picked out with some forethought for once. Her mother’s necklace rested elegantly on her collarbone. Ethan’s eyes flickered over her bare shoulders as he took the hoodie and hung it over a peg by the door. Maddy noticed and blushed. They stood there for a moment like that, neither moving.

“Well,” Ethan said finally, and laughed a bit nervously. Maddy laughed too. There seemed to be the sudden pressure to be verbose. “Why don’t I get you something to drink?”

“Sure,” Maddy replied, and followed him into the house.

The party was already in full swing. People stood around or sat in groups on the couches talking, all holding red plastic cups. The sound of excited chatter mingled with the smell of beer. It was mostly people from school, but no one Maddy was really friends with.

“Gwen told Kyle she was definitely coming, but I haven’t seen her,” Ethan told her as he led her through the clusters of people. “Simon’s here, but I don’t know where Tyler is. He’s been kind of weird lately; he didn’t even answer my text earlier today. And Kyle’s on his way.”

Maddy thought she spotted Simon across the room. She was also kind of happy that Kyle wasn’t here yet. He had been acting strange lately—didn’t he know she was Gwen’s best friend?

A girl Maddy thought was named Becky danced sloppily next to a coffee table. A couple guys at the TV were playing Xbox. No one seemed interested in watching the Commissioning, which was a relief. She received a few loaded glances as they crossed the living room, but most people were too busy talking or enjoying the contents of their cups. They made their way into the kitchen.

Ethan had somehow managed to secure a keg. It was parked in the middle of the kitchen floor in a large Rubbermaid tub filled with ice. A guy wearing a backwards baseball cap was pouring cups of beer from the tap.

“Keg stands in ten minutes!” he announced loudly.

It was a long way from the sparkling trays of gourmet drinks, Angels in designer outfits, and strange tables made out of fake animals that Maddy had been mingling among just the night before. She pushed that scene from her mind, pigs and all.

“What can I get you?” Ethan asked.

Maddy looked down at the keg. She might be New Maddy, but going to her first real high school party
and
drinking for the first time all in one night seemed like a little much. Besides, she needed to be sharp if she was going to do what she came to do.

“Do you have any soda?” she asked.

“Yeah, totally.”

Ethan fished around in the fridge and came up with a Diet Coke. “Hope you don’t mind diet,” he said as he handed it to her. Maddy took the can from him, and their fingers touched. Instead of pulling away, she let her hand linger on his for a bit longer than necessary. She thought she had seen something like that on TV once.

Ethan looked down at her hand, then moved up to her gaze. His eyes were deep, searching. Nervous but hopeful.

“Boo!”
a voice yelled right behind Maddy’s ear, and she jumped, insanely startled. Ragged laughter followed. “Bet you thought I was the serial killer, didn’t you? Don’t worry, he’s just takin’ out Angels,” a slurred voice said, with a burp and another laugh.

Maddy turned around. A lean, muscular boy with a buzz cut had stumbled over, bringing the smell of alcohol wafting along with him. It was Jordan Richardson from chemistry. Simon had followed him in.

“Wait, aren’t you Maddy Montgomery?” Jordan asked.

“Yeah, man, that’s Maddy; I know her, dude!” Simon turned to her. “You’re, like, famous or something now, right?” He was talking louder than necessary and knocked over a stack of cups on the counter as he steadied himself. A few people were starting to look over, and Maddy felt the prying eyes of the party begin to shift in her direction.

“How about a tour of the house?” Ethan said loudly, deflecting Simon and the other guy.

“That’d be great,” Maddy said gratefully. They walked through the kitchen door and into an adjoining dining room, where a few guys were playing a game with cups of beer and a Ping-Pong ball. Then they crossed through another doorway and into a second living room, this one with white couches and a flickering electric fireplace.

“Thanks,” Maddy said when they were finally alone.

“No problem.” Ethan smiled. “They’re just a little drunk, that’s all.”

“But you’re not drinking?” Maddy said, realizing it as much as asking. Ethan shook his head.

“No. I mean, I want everyone to have a good time, but that’s not really my thing.”

Maddy looked around the room. The glass coffee table was spotless, and the couches looked like they were sat on very carefully. The house was furnished with nice things, no question, but it lacked the cozy home feel of the shabbier place she shared with Kevin.