The Time Capsule (2 page)

TWO

“What did you write down?” Sawyer Kennedy, Alexis’s boyfriend, asked when she arrived home from the ceremony. He was waiting for her out back on the deck area by the pool.

Alexis plopped onto a lounge chair shaded by a colorful umbrella. “Something dumb,” she groaned. “Can you believe I wrote
I want to help people
?”

“What’s so dumb? I think it’s nice.”

“Puh-leeze. How vague is that?”

Sawyer looked bewildered. “What did your brother write?”

“That he wanted to be a fireman.”

“What’s so different?”

She unfolded the piece of wide-lined primary school paper and studied her neatly formed block letters. “At least being a fireman is a specific goal. What’s
help people
mean?”

Sawyer grinned and tugged the paper gently from her fingers. “Do you want to be a fireman now too?”

“Adam picked something concrete and achievable, and I turned into a space cadet. What would you have written down?”

“That’s easy. I wanted to be a professional soccer player. Or a sex god.”

She rapped her knuckles lightly against his skull. “Speaking of concrete . . .” She’d been dating Sawyer since the middle of their junior year, and she liked him, but he wasn’t deep or complicated, which sometimes frustrated her. She held out her hand. “My paper, please.”

He grinned. “I’m holding it for ransom. Give me a kiss.”

Usually she would have joked with him, but for reasons she herself didn’t understand, she felt out of sorts and downright cranky. Even though she and Adam had hung around eating and visiting with their former classmates after the readings, the time capsule ceremony had left her depressed. “The paper, Sawyer.”

He held it out of her reach. “Kiss first.”

“Don’t rip it. It’s been saved since the first grade. Now, give it to me.” Alexis knew her voice sounded sharp, but she couldn’t help it.

Sawyer’s expression turned apologetic, like a scolded child’s. He stood, took a step forward, paused, then darted toward her, kissing her on the mouth before she had time to react. He placed the paper gently in her lap. “I was just teasing. Didn’t mean to rile you.”

Feeling ashamed, she refolded the paper. “And I didn’t mean to snarl. Sorry.”

He pulled her to her feet, stared deeply into her eyes. “It’s okay. I got my kiss.” His grin popped out like the sun peeking from behind dark clouds. “But then, I’m the fastest goalie in the county, so you shouldn’t be too surprised.”

Alexis returned his smile. It was difficult to stay miffed at him. Besides, he’d done nothing wrong. “But not the most humble,” she teased.

“Don’t need to be,” he said. “My girlfriend keeps me humble. Why, a guy would have to have rocks in his head not to love her. Or maybe concrete.”

She wound her arms around his neck. “Oh, hush up and kiss me again,” she said.

After Sawyer left, Alexis cased the kitchen, only to find a note from their mother:
Your father’s
working late. I’m showing a client a house. Order
pizza if you want
.

Alexis didn’t want pizza, and not because that was what Ms. Lola had served at the picnic. She didn’t want pizza because this made the fourth time in one week that her parents had been too busy to be home at dinnertime. The big house was eerily quiet. Like dark fingers, long shadows were creeping through the large bay window, across the polished terra-cotta tile floor and over the kitchen table. The glass surfaces gleamed, meaning that the housekeeper had been in that day. The table’s centerpiece showcased plump glass and ceramic fruit in a massive pottery bowl.
Not even the fruit’s real,
Alexis thought. She balled up the note and heaved it into a trash basket.

She became aware of a muffled but steady thumping sound. She knew just where it was coming from and went up the back staircase and down the hallway. She knocked on Adam’s bedroom door.

“Enter,” he said.

She did and found him stretched across his bed, his head propped on his book bag. He was tossing a baseball against the wall behind the door and catching it in his glove, something he did when he was either bored or deep in thought. She saw faint marks on the stucco wall behind the door where the ball had hit over and over throughout the years. “Mom and Dad won’t be home until late,” she said.

“I read the note.”

“I don’t want pizza. How about you?”

“I’ll have a bowl of cereal later.”

“I can fix us some soup.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m not hungry.”

Alexis shoved a pile of Adam’s clothes onto the floor from his desk chair and straddled it. “I can’t remember the last time we all sat down and ate a meal together,” she said. “It’s kind of funny, don’t you think? Usually families don’t eat together because the kids are too busy. But for us, it’s our parents who are never home.”

Adam rolled onto his side and raised himself up on his elbow. “Maybe they’re avoiding us.”

“Be serious. Doesn’t it bother you? Even a little?”

“I ate a lot of hospital food by myself over the years, so no, I don’t need company to chow down. Besides, I’d rather eat alone than sit through one of their frosty silences at mealtime.”

Alexis rested her chin on the top of the chair. “They don’t seem to have much to say to each other these days.” The admission squeezed her heart.

“Unless they’re fighting,” Adam said. “Then they say plenty. At least they’re not fighting about me anymore. That’s a relief.”

“You can’t help what happened to you, Adam. You didn’t ask to get sick.”

“But I did get sick. And all those weeks and months of being in and out of hospitals over the years—well, it took its toll on them, and you know it. Took a toll on you too.”

“I got over it.”

“Did you get over Ms. Lola’s time capsule event? You were pretty quiet on the ride home.” Adam changed the subject, and Alexis knew he was finished discussing their parents.

She shrugged. “I guess. I was disappointed in my answer.”

“Jeez, Ally, cut yourself some slack. You were six.”

“That’s what Sawyer said,” she told him sheepishly. “Do you still want to be a fireman?”

“I’d rather be a famous baseball player, but I’ll be a fireman, an astronaut, a rock star—any or all of the above. Most of all, I just want to graduate in June. I mean, turning seventeen in July was a big event for me. For
us
.” He tugged on a hank of her hair. “My doctors never thought I’d live past fourteen, remember?”

“But you did, and you’ll live to graduate from high school and graduate from college and become whatever you want to become, because . . . because . . . well, because I say so!”

He laughed, ruffling her hair until she swatted his hand. “Your optimism keeps me going. You have enough willpower for both of us, you know.” He bent, scooped a shirt off the floor and changed into it.

“Are you leaving?”

“I’m going to see Kelly. She’ll have finished dinner by now, and maybe we can snuggle with a few books. I have a paper due for history next Friday.”

Kelly Nielson was a pretty blond sophomore at their school. Adam had met her during the summer, and they had begun dating. Alexis thought the girl was ditzy and immature. “I predict you’ll get more snuggle time than study time.”

“That’s my plan. You should call Sawyer to come back and keep you company.”

“I’ll wing it alone. I’ve got plenty to do. Big debate coming up, and I need to surf for information on the subject.” Alexis’s bad mood clung to her like a second skin. No use subjecting Sawyer to it.

“Your choice,” Adam said, then picked up the car keys and left.

Minutes later, she heard him back the car they shared out of the garage and peel off into the night. Alexis went to her own room and opened her book bag. She shuffled through her stack of books, laid them out according to her class schedule and turned on her desk lamp and computer. The house was quiet once more, and with Adam gone, her mood turned melancholy. Was Adam right? Had his illness damaged their parents’ marriage? Alexis thought of the weeks on end when their mother had stayed at the hospital with Adam while Alexis and their father fended for themselves. Certainly there had been a succession of housekeepers and professional caregivers to help out, but Blake had just made partner at the firm when Adam’s illness had struck. He had kept long hours at his office, sometimes spending whole nights away from the house while Alexis longed for both her parents and cried herself to sleep.

Alexis still remembered her mother’s absences and her father’s stoic silences, peppered with occasional outbursts to doctors over the phone about Adam’s treatments. She remembered visiting Adam’s room and hospital floor, where she saw frail, sick children hooked to IVs and monitors and smelled the unmistakable odors of medicine and pine cleaners. She remembered wanting her mother to hold her and craving her father’s reassurances. And she remembered fear. The fear that Adam would never return home.

She also remembered the years before Adam had gotten sick, of camping trips and family outings. Alexis plucked her favorite family photo from the bulletin board behind her desk, the one where her whole family was wearing Mickey Mouse ears and mugging for the camera. When she and Adam were nine, they had gone to Disney World. She recalled her parents stealing kisses in the dark tunnels of children’s rides. “Gross!” Adam had pronounced.

A lump wedged in her throat. Her gaze drifted to her calendar, and suddenly she understood why the time capsule ceremony that afternoon had upset her. She missed those days. And she missed those parents. Everything had changed with their move across Miami, when she and Adam had been eleven and Adam had been diagnosed with a rare and virulent form of leukemia. Most victims had a brief yet fatal struggle. So far, Adam had beaten the odds. He’d been in a second remission for three years, but their family’s lives had changed forever.

Alexis put the photo back in its place. It wasn’t Adam’s fault. It wasn’t anybody’s fault. If only she could put all their lives into a time capsule from before fifth grade, when Adam had been well and her parents had been happy. If only.

THREE

“Hey, Ally, wait for us.”

Alexis turned at the sound of her name in the crowded school cafeteria to see her friends Glory, Tessa and Charmaine coming toward her. “What’s up?” she asked.

“Thought we could eat together,” Glory said.

“Where have you been?” Tessa demanded. “I called you yesterday afternoon to ask you to run to the mall with me and got your answering machine three times.”

The girls set down their trays on a table.

“Adam and I went to this picnic and ceremony at our old elementary school. Special invitation by our former first-grade teacher.”

Charmaine made a face. “Ugh! I’d never go back to my old school. I hated it.”

“It was fun. Sort of,” Alexis said. She explained about the ceremony without mentioning the bleak mood she’d experienced afterward. They would never understand.

“Any cute guys?” Glory asked.

“And why would she be looking at other guys when she’s got Sawyer at her beck and call?” Tessa asked.

“Never hurts to look,” Glory said. She took a drink of her soda.

“You and Sawyer going to the game Thursday night?” Charmaine asked.

“Could Sawyer ever miss a sporting event?” Alexis wasn’t crazy about football, but Sawyer had friends who played both soccer and football, so he attended every match, and because she was his girlfriend, she went with him. She added, “Besides, this is our final year to rah-rah the home team.”

“Maybe we can sit together,” Tessa ventured. “Will Adam be going?”

“Give it up, girl,” Glory said. “Adam’s only got eyes for that Kelly bimbo.”

“Not nice,” Charmaine said, wagging her finger at Glory.

“What’s she got besides blond hair, blue eyes and a killer figure?” Tessa asked, blowing a puff of air that lifted her bangs off her forehead.

“Adam,” Glory and Charmaine said in unison.

Alexis giggled. She liked Tessa especially. They were on the debate team together. While Tessa wasn’t gorgeous, she was smart, with a caring, open personality. She’d had a crush on Adam for years, and Alexis often wished her brother appreciated Tessa’s finer qualities. Alexis said, “I’m sure he’s taking Kelly, Tess. Sorry.”

“A girl can dream.” Tessa gave a so-what shrug, but Alexis saw disappointment in her eyes.

“By the way,” Glory said, “I signed us up for the Halloween Carnival committee.”

“What? Without checking with us first?” Charmaine asked.

“I’m not sure—” Alexis started.

Glory waved them off. “Hey, sisters, we talked about doing this last year.”

“How can you remember so far back?” Tessa asked. “Especially when you can’t remember the six bucks you owe me from last Saturday.”

Alexis half listened to their bickering. Halloween fell on a Friday that was also the end of a grading period, and there would be no school. The upcoming three-day vacation had given her an idea about how to bring her family closer together again. “I’ll help,” she said, interrupting her three friends. “My family may be out of town the weekend of the carnival, but I don’t mind being on the committee to help plan it.”

“Count me in too, then,” Tessa said.

“Oh, all right,” Charmaine grumbled. “Me too. But next time ask before volunteering us.” She jabbed her fork into her salad.

Her friends kept talking, but Alexis tuned them out. She wasn’t interested in the committee or the carnival. She was focusing on how to recapture the past.

“We’re getting killed.” Sawyer said, grimacing when their team’s quarterback was tackled behind the line of scrimmage.

“The worst team in four years,” Adam said.

“Hey, let’s give them some support.” This from Kelly, wedged between Sawyer and Adam on the bleachers.

Alexis, sitting on the other side of Sawyer, was already bored with the game in its second quarter. “We’re ranked fifth out of five in our division, Kelly,” Alexis said. “I don’t think our team will turn it around.”

All turned to look at her. “Where did you hear that?” Sawyer asked.

“The newspaper. A great source of information.”

“Well, we’re ranked first in soccer,” Sawyer said. “Good thing too. Lots of scouts will be out eyeballing us, and I need a scholarship.”

“I
love
soccer,” Kelly said with enthusiasm. “It’s my favorite sport.”

“Do you play?” Alexis asked.

“Well . . . , no. But my kid brother does and I go to all his games, so I know all about it.” She craned her neck, then pointed at the fence fronting the field. “Oh, look! There’s Melanie Rodriguez. I bet she’ll be voted homecoming queen this year. I know
I’m
voting for her. Are you?”

Alexis bit back a retort. For the life of her, she couldn’t understand what Adam saw in this girl. She acted and talked as if there were only air between her ears. “Probably” was all Alexis could manage.

Just then Adam stood. “Come on, Kelly, let’s beat the crowds and get in the food line before halftime.” He started past Sawyer, Kelly behind him. “Want anything?”

“Nada,”
Sawyer said.

“Me either,” Alexis said.

As Adam passed her, he leaned down and in a low voice said, “Cut her some slack, Ally. She’s only fifteen.”

Alexis felt her cheeks flame. She should have known that Adam would be able to read her impatience with Kelly. “Sorry,” she mumbled.

“Sorry about what?” Sawyer asked once Adam and Kelly were weaving their way down the stands full of people.

“Sorry that I’m judgmental and petty.”

“Huh?”

She patted Sawyer’s knee. “It’s a long story.”

He ducked his head, and she knew he wasn’t going to ask her questions. It was just as well. She didn’t want to talk about what was causing her ill humor. It really wasn’t all Kelly. For days she’d been unable to corner either of her parents. Her father had worked late every night, and her mother had either been on her way to meet a client or working behind the scenes on a friend’s campaign in the upcoming elections. How could she persuade them to do something as a family if they were never home long enough for her to talk to them?

“Hi. Why so glum?” Tessa sat beside her, waving to Sawyer as she did.

“Where are the others?” Alexis asked.

“Bathroom. I saw you all and thought I’d pop over. Crummy game, isn’t it?”

“Worse than crummy.”

The whistle blew on the field, signaling the end of the half, and the players streamed toward the locker room.

“I’m going down to talk to some of the guys,” Sawyer said, leaving Alexis and Tessa alone. Students stepped around them in the exodus to the refreshment stands.

“You know, Tessa, I am so ready to be out of high school.”

“Who isn’t? Do you think college will be better?”

“It has to be.”

Both girls planned to go away to college. Tessa wanted to attend the University of South Florida in Tampa, while Alexis hoped to be admitted to Stetson, a smaller, private university near Orlando.

“So what brought on this disdain for high school? Especially now that we’re at the top of the heap?” Tessa asked.

Alexis glanced around. “It just seems there should be better things to think about than who’s going to win a football game or who’s going to be homecoming queen.”

“Oh, I don’t know. Innocence is a wonderful thing.”

“How about ignorance? Is that wonderful too?”

“No way. One is a gift, the other is an act of will.” Tessa leaned toward Alexis. “What are we talking about, anyway?”

Alexis burst out laughing. “I think my brother should be with you and not Kelly.”

“Gee, what a coincidence, so do I.” Tessa grinned, shook her head. “But the race doesn’t always go to the fastest. I’m a realist, Alexis.”

“And what am I?”

Tessa regarded her closely and pursed her lips, as if weighing her words. “I think you’re a fixer, Ally. A person who tries hard to make everything right and everybody happy.”

Tessa’s assessment stung Alexis because it wasn’t what she’d expected to hear. “What’s wrong with that?”

“It sets you up for heartbreak. Sometimes things can’t be fixed.”

“Everything can be fixed, given enough time,” Alexis countered. “That’s what law is all about.”

“No, law is about justice, remember?”

Alexis felt her face grow warm. “Of course. Good thing we’re on the same debate team.”

“Which reminds me, do you have your position paper ready for class? We go up against South Miami in two weeks.”

“I’ll be ready,” Alexis said.

Tessa looked surprised. “Let me mark this day on my calendar. You’re usually sitting around twiddling your thumbs while the rest of us slave away at the last minute. What’s the holdup?”

“No holdup. I’ve just got other stuff on my mind.”

Before Tessa could ask another question, Adam, Kelly and Sawyer returned.

“Hey, Tess,” Adam said. He introduced Kelly, who waved and offered a bright, sparkling smile.

“Gotta run,” Tessa said, standing abruptly and hurrying back up the bleachers.

“I don’t think she likes me,” Kelly said to Adam as Tessa climbed upward. “She didn’t even say hello.”

Adam slipped his arm around Kelly’s shoulders. “Maybe she was in a hurry.”

Feeling a need to defend her friend, Alexis said, “Tessa’s about the nicest person I know. She would never snub anybody.”

“Okay,” Kelly said. “If you say so.”

The referee blew his whistle, and the football game resumed. Sawyer reached for Alexis’s hand, but she pulled away. She didn’t feel like holding hands. If Sawyer noticed, he didn’t let on. Alexis tuned out the noise of the crowd and turned her mind toward her plan to reunite her family.