Radiant (34 page)

During one of the songs, the priest leaned over to Mary and whispered, "I'm pretty sure now that your friend isn't possessed by a demon."

"What makes you say that?" Mary asked.

"Because," he said, "demons don't take well to worshiping God."

Mary looked over at Phos. His eyes were wide with wonder as he watched and listened to the concert. Mary smiled and turned her attention back to the performance as well.

But the majority
of their dates were spent at the hospital, playing games and doing crafts with the kids there. It really helped the parents of kids who were from out of town have an hour or two to leave the hospital to run errands or rest. Sometimes, Sienna, David, Kristina, Raj, Gita, and other people from their schools came as well.

Since so many kids had been healed, other hospitals around the world started sending their
most serious patients. The news did a special about the hospital and its amazing results, and donations started flooding in. More nurses and doctors were hired, and Mom got a promotion. It seemed that every person who came got better, not just the kids. And there were often rumors of a mysterious singing janitor who visited patients in their dreams.

And unlike some girls,
Mary didn't want to waste time looking for a prom dress, spending all of ten seconds pulling Ba's pink
áo dài
out of the back of her closet. On the night of the prom, Mom was finishing the final touches on Mary's make-up when the buzzer rang.

"
That's him!" Mary cried.

"
Hold on!" Mom said. "Unless you don't mind going to the prom with one eye." She finished up, and then Mary shoved on her shoes and raced down the stairs. She opened the door and found James Bond in a sharp tux.

Phos
' eyes lit up. "You're dazzling."

Mary blushed.
"Thanks. And you're amazing."

He
took out a corsage made of white roses from a plastic box. "I believe this is a customary offering that human males bring on a night like this." He took her left hand and gently slipped it onto her wrist.

Mary smiled.
"And, as customary of human females…" She took a red rose boutonniere and carefully pinned it on his jacket.

Phos offered his arm
. "Shall we?"

"
Wait!" Mom called as she ran down the stairs with a digital camera.

"Ay!" Br
uce shouted from upstairs. "No running!"

"Sorry!" Mom called back.
"I have to get a picture of both of you. Oh, Mary, don't make that face. You both look great! Now stand over there. Perfect! All right, 1...2...smile!"

Click!

Mom turned the camera around so that they could see the image. Mary liked the picture. It captured the spark in Phos' eyes.

Mom
snapped a few more photos before herding them outside. "Have a great time! Love-you-buh-bye!"

"Love-you-buh-bye, Mom!"
Mary called back.

They
walked down the street and away from the bus stop.

"Did your parents let you borrow the Aston again?" Mary asked.

"They offered it," he said. "But I thought I'd get something special for tonight."

When they rounded the corner,
Mary saw a turquoise Vespa with two helmets hanging from the handlebars.

"It's not the same model as the one in th
e movie," Phos said. "But it is close."

Mary laughed.
"It's
awesome
!"

They put on the helmets and Mary climbed onto the back of the seat and
hugged Phos' waist. The scooter's tiny motor buzzed as they zipped through traffic, passing a couple of limos along the way. Mary couldn't stop smiling.

When they arrived at the hotel where the prom was being held, a valet came to
give them a ticket and take the Vespa's keys. Hand in hand, Mary and Phos walked inside.

"
Carter! Mary!" Sienna and David met them near the entrance.

"Wow, you look great, Mary!" Sienna said as she examined her
áo dài
. "It has pants? That's so neat! You look like you're floating when you walk."

"Thanks. And I love this color on you," Mary said, taking a bit of Sienna's silky green dress and feeling the soft fabric between her fingers.

David turned to Phos. "Quick, they're beating us at compliments. Say something about my tux."

Phos
chuckled. "It's very flattering for your figure."

"
Thanks," David said. "Yours doesn't make your butt look big either."

When they went into the ballroom, the DJ already had music going, and the dance floor was packed. A few wallflowers hung about the sides.

"Shall we be generous and ask some of them to dance?" Phos asked.

Mary hung her arms around his neck. "Not tonight. You're all mine."

He smiled and pulled her closer to him. Mary and Phos moved with the music and kept their eyes on each other. She lost count of how many songs played. She didn't even know what kinds of songs they were. All Mary cared about was Phos in that moment.

Too soon
, it came time to announce the prom king and queen. Everyone gathered at the foot of the stage, eager to hear the results. But Phos took Mary's hand. "Let's go for a walk," he said.

They left
the hotel. Neither of them said anything as they passed by closed shops and nice restaurants. They eventually came to a park with paved paths and a large water feature in the center.

Under a
lamppost, Phos stopped and turned to her. "I had a good time, Mary."

His words were simple, n
ot unlike something a normal human would say at the end of prom night. But they were also heavy words coming from him now.

Mary
clung to him and began to cry. "I'll never forget you, Phos."

He
held her tightly. "I won't forget you either."

They had no
more words. There wasn't a human language that could carry what they wanted to say. For that one wonderful, horrible minute, all they did was hold one another one last time.

They heard a noise.
Nearby, Josh emptied out one of the park trashcans. He sprayed down the lid with cleaner and wiped it with a rag until it shined. When he finished, he placed his supplies on his cleaning cart and said, "It's time." He began humming and pushed his cart down the paved path.

Every muscle in Mary
's body froze. Her arms were tight around Phos in a desperate attempt to keep him. Phos was the one who had to let her go. He took her face gently in his scalding hands and ran his fingers along her brow, her nose, and her lips. He kissed her. It hurt but not because it burned.

"
Goodbye," he said. He slipped his hands into his pockets and turned.

Mary watched
him walk away. She wanted to run after him. She wanted to beg Josh to let him stay. She wanted so much that she knew was not possible. So, she didn't run. And she didn't beg. She did nothing. It was the hardest thing she ever had to do.

Phos
walked beside his Master. They came to a curve where the path disappeared into some trees. And just like that, they were gone.

Mary
stood still as a statue. Seconds passed. Minutes. Hours or even years could've gone, too. She didn't know. At last, she turned and began walking in the opposite direction.

Then, s
he heard footsteps behind her. Mary's heart leapt into her throat as she spun around.

She saw
a boy. He had a familiar face and he wore a familiar black tuxedo. But his eyes weren't the same. They were still green, but they were missing something—a spark that had gone out.

"
Phos?" she asked.

He stopped beneath the lamppost
. "No," the boy said. "He's gone."

Mary's
heart sank into the Earth's core. It was just Carter. "Oh," she said. "Do you…remember everything?"

"Mostly," he said. "
It's all kinda fuzzy. But yeah. I remember."

"Oh," she said again. She didn't know what els
e to say. So, she turned and began walking again.

"Wait,"
Carter said.

She stopped.

He hesitated. "I…I'm sorry. He was really a good guy. Or…thing. Or…whatever. He was a better human. I'm sorry that…you know…" He trailed off.

Mary
didn't speak right away. At last, she managed, "It's all right." She went back to him, took his hand, and shook it. "Take care of yourself, Carter."

"You, too," he said.
"Mary."

They let go. Then,
without another word, Mary turned and headed for home.

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- 3
6 -

A Visit

Mary spent most of her summer evenings on the roof of the apartment. No one understood why, because it was stupid hot. Seriously, it was the kind of hot that made some of your IQ points melt out your ears. The blistering sun beat down on the city all day and the heat lingered even in the dead of night. But it didn't bother Mary at all.

Mom
complained about Mary not seeing Carter anymore. He had gone to summer school and then to Europe with his family. The Maxwells invited Mary to go with them, but she declined. They weren't going anywhere she hadn't already been, anyway.

"
Ever since prom, it's like you two don't know each other," Mom said once. She just didn't know how right she was.

O
ne night, it finally took an unseasonable rain to drive Mary off the roof and back into the apartment. It was annoying. The kids upstairs were now allowed to stay up insanely late playing their video games, and there was no one for Mary to talk to in person or on the phone. Mom was at work, Ba had gone to bed, Sienna was in Brazil visiting family, and Martin had very regulated phone calls. Mary had started hanging out some with Chavy, Bruce's fourteen-year-old daughter. Chavy and her mother's immigration papers had finally gone through, right around the same time Bruce received a mysterious donation that was enough to fly both of them and some of their belongings to the States. Chavy was a sweet girl, but she didn't speak English very well, so she and Mary usually just sat around and watched Bruce Lee movies together. But Chavy was having dinner with her family tonight, and Mary wanted them to enjoy their time together.

Mary
sat at her desk and started reading through some of Martin's letters. He had terrible handwriting and didn't know how to spell very well. But she liked to read them. They were the only things, it seemed, that she enjoyed reading. As she reached for the next letter, Mary's hand found her sketchbook. She opened it and found a ton of drawings she had made when she was in other countries. She had sketched a few landmarks, like the Clock Tower in England and the Sydney Opera House in Australia. But most of her drawings were of people of many ages, skin tones, and cultures. Phos had been right. People were masterpieces.

Of course, the person Mary had drawn the most was
Phos himself. To anyone else, it looked like Carter's face. But there were subtleties—the shape of his smile, how he sat or held his shoulders—that were undeniably Phos. She also had printed copies of the pictures Mom had taken before they left for the prom paper clipped to her book. Those had captured the spark in his eyes.

Mary turned the page.
The last sketch she did was of him standing on the roof of Carter's house with the glowing city in the distance. Along the side, she had tried her hand at some lettering. The words she had drawn were, "Love never fails."

The rain pounded against the window.
But then Mary heard something different. A soft tap on the glass. Someone was out on the fire escape.

Mary
got up from her desk and opened the window. A beautiful watery face looked back at her.

"
Mayim!" Mary said.

"Hello, Mary,"
she greeted. "It has been a while."

Mary
smiled. "How are you?"

"I am well," she
answered.

"And Phos?"
she asked.

Mayim
grinned. "Perhaps you should ask him."

Mary
gasped. "He's here?"

She
nodded. "Come to the roof."

Mary's
feet hardly touched the floor as she flew through the apartment and up the stairs. Blankets of rain soaked her instantly on the roof.

Mayim stood at the center.
"He wants to come in his real form. I have a good rain here to protect you from his energy, but you must close your eyes. If you do not, you may lose your sight."

Mary nodded and closed her eyes.
The rain came down more, bathing her in its coolness.