Match Me If You Can Read online

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  “I have to go,” Marcus said, letting go of the pipe. “Um, I forgot I have to swing by the library.”

  “What, now?” his dad boomed.

  “It’s for a, um, geography project.” Marcus hated lying to his parents—and he wasn’t all that good at it—but he figured a homework-related excuse would get him off the hook. It always worked for Ann-Marie.

  “Fine,” his dad said, “but I expect you to get an A on this assignment or else.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “I should get back to work,” his mom said as Marcus squeezed past her and out into the hallway. Then she sighed deeply and went back to her basement studio. Phew. Another blowout parent fight averted.

  Marcus hurried to change out of his dirty clothes. As he pulled on a clean sweater, his phone beeped again. But this time, it was a message from Lena. His heart trilled with excitement for a second until he actually read what she’d written.

  So sorry but I can’t make it to the NYE dance. My theater class has its show that day.

  Marcus couldn’t believe it. But what about our kiss at midnight? he wrote back. We can’t tempt fate. It already likes messing with us!

  He slowly laced up his sneakers, desperately hoping she’d write back and tell him he was right. He knew Lena thought he was a hopeless romantic. She poked fun at him every time he left her a mushy note or insisted on celebrating yet another special occasion. But she couldn’t ignore something this big, could she?

  Will make it up to you, she finally wrote back. I promise!!

  He sighed in disappointment. How was he supposed to welcome the new year without his girlfriend at his side? But, he reminded himself, Lena finally had a chance to be in a real show. This was her dream. Even though he was bummed for himself, he had to be happy for her.

  Okay, he wrote. We’ll do something superspecial when you get back. Maybe he was taking this tradition thing a little too seriously. He just didn’t want to risk anything else going wrong between him and Lena.

  Marcus’s sister was waiting for him in the hallway when he opened his bedroom door. “Since when do you take geography?” she asked, her arms crossed in front of her chest. “Come on. Where are you really going?”

  “None of your business,” he said, pushing past her. Then he paused. “Don’t tell Dad, okay?”

  “Fine, but you have to do me a favor.” For some reason, Ann-Marie’s cheeks turned a little pink. Marcus had hardly ever seen his sister blush before. “I have a…a date later, but I don’t want Dad to know about it. You know how he is about stuff that takes away from track and homework.”

  “A date?” Marcus repeated, his conversation with Lena momentarily forgotten. “With Peter Chung?”

  “Sh!” Ann-Marie hissed, glancing down the empty hallway. “Do you want Dad to hear you? It’s not a big deal. We’re just going to get some burgers.”

  “I thought you didn’t eat red meat,” Marcus couldn’t help saying. His sister was always sipping gross vegetarian “power smoothies” and pointing out the empty calories in everything Marcus put on his plate.

  “I can make an exception once in a while, can’t I? Anyway, can I tell Dad that you called from the library and begged me to come help you with your project?”

  “You think he’ll actually believe that?”

  Ann-Marie shrugged. “He will if I say it. So, can you help me?” She paused a second and then, to Marcus’s shock, added, “Please?”

  It was weird to have his sister begging for his help. Usually, it was the other way around. But Marcus knew he had to say yes. His sister’s aura had been different lately—not quite gray but not quite yellow—which meant she might be on the verge of a love boost. He was a matchmaker, after all. He had to help people get together, whether they were officially his assignments or not.

  “Fine,” he said. “But not a word about geography to Dad, okay?”

  Marcus’s phone beeped, reminding him he only had thirty minutes to get to his matching location. He didn’t have time to worry about his sister’s relationships. He had work to do.

  Chapter 3

  When Marcus got to the mall, he wove his way through the after-Christmas-sale crowds until he got to the comic book store. Inside, he scanned the handful of shoppers, trying to spot “Albert Landry, age fifteen.” For some reason, the name sounded familiar—maybe he was in Ann-Marie’s grade?—but Marcus didn’t see anyone he recognized, and there was no telltale aura telling him that someone was ready for a love boost.

  He still had ten minutes before the match, so he plopped down on a bench outside the store and tried to casually study the crowd around him, looking for gray auras.

  “Marcus Torelli?” someone said behind him.

  He turned to find Connie Reynolds, one of the most popular girls in the eighth grade and the school’s biggest gossip, coming toward him. For some reason, she seemed excited to see him.

  “How’s your vacation going so far?” She frowned. “Is that dirt in your hair?”

  He quickly brushed at his thick mop, sending grout dust into the air. Gross. “Vacation is fine. Um, grimy, I guess. What are you doing here?” He realized how stupid the question was after he’d asked it. Didn’t girls like Connie pretty much live at the mall?

  “I’m meeting my cousin. She’s finally going to let me give her a makeover.” She rolled her eyes and adjusted her scarf, a hideous purple thing with white horses all over it. “She has no fashion sense.” Connie’s face brightened. “You and Lena are coming to the New Year’s Eve dance at the Y, right? My mom and I are in charge of decorations. It’s going to be so much fun!”

  “Oh, um…” Marcus swallowed. “It turns out Lena won’t be home from Arizona in time.”

  Connie’s lip-glossed mouth sagged open. “But isn’t it totally bad luck if you don’t do a midnight kiss with the person you want to be with the next year?”

  “It’s not a big deal,” he mumbled, not meeting her eyes.

  “Well, next time you talk to her, you tell her that I won’t take no for an answer!” Connie said.

  Marcus chuckled. “I’ll tell her tonight. We have a phone call scheduled after dinner.”

  Connie raised an eyebrow. “Scheduled? How romantic.”

  “I know, but Lena’s pretty busy.” It had been Lena’s idea to do the scheduled calls. Marcus didn’t love how restricting they were, but it was better than not being able to talk to each other at all.

  Connie nodded. “Well, if you don’t want to sit around waiting for her to call, a bunch of us are going to a trampoline park tomorrow afternoon. You should come!” She started listing off people who were going to be there, and Marcus realized he’d met a couple of them while doing sets for the school play. Still, he wasn’t the kind of person who went to that kind of thing, not without Lena at his side to keep him from totally embarrassing himself.

  “Thanks, but I’m pretty busy helping my dad do stuff around the house.” A soft alarm sounded on his phone, reminding him that it was almost time for his match. “I have to go,” Marcus said, getting to his feet. “See you around, okay?”

  “At the New Year’s Eve dance!” Connie cooed. “Promise me you’ll be there, even if Lena’s not back yet!”

  “Um, yeah, okay,” he said, figuring it was quicker not to fight her. If he simply didn’t show up at the dance on Thursday, he doubted Connie would even notice.

  Then, to Marcus’s horror, she pulled him in for a hug. “It was so great to see you!” she said as if they hadn’t sat next to each other in English the other day. Then she released him and dashed away.

  His face hot, Marcus went back into the comic book store and spotted a familiar-looking skinny guy by the superhero comics. It took Marcus a minute to place him, but then he remembered: he’d seen the guy at a high school academic award ceremony that Marcus’s parents had dragged him to. This was the guy who’d b
eaten Ann-Marie out for top GPA last year. Now that Marcus thought about it, he remembered that her archrival’s name had been Albert. And now Marcus was supposed to fix him up with someone.

  When Marcus squinted, sure enough, he spotted a gray aura over Albert’s head. Marcus’s phone started beeping again, telling him he only had two minutes before the match.

  After taking a deep breath to steady himself, he called up his energy. Normally, his fingers flared to life with a deep red flame. But this time, nothing happened.

  Marcus stared at his fingers. He’d had trouble with his powers in the past—they’d glowed the wrong color and flickered in and out before—but they’d never simply not worked like this. Meanwhile, Albert Landry was shuffling toward the exit.

  No!

  Marcus had to zap him. Otherwise, the whole balance of the universe could be knocked out of whack!

  He desperately tried to call up his energy again, but his hands were as nonglowing as ever. What was going on?

  Marcus’s phone was beeping and beeping, but all he could do was stand there frozen. Then Albert went through the door, and Marcus darted after him. He had no idea who Albert was supposed to be matched with. Someone in the comic shop? There weren’t any other people their age here, so maybe not. Maybe that meant Marcus still had a chance.

  No matter what, he couldn’t let Albert get away.

  Marcus left the store and frantically searched the crowd. He finally spotted Albert stooped over a water fountain, his unkempt hair nearly covering his face.

  “Hey, Albert, wait up!” Marcus found himself calling out.

  Albert turned toward him, wiping water from his chin. Then he started to walk away, as if he was certain no one could be talking to him.

  Desperate, Marcus sprinted over and grabbed his arm. “Hey, hold on a sec.”

  Albert flinched away from his touch. “What—what do you want?” he asked, his voice low and creaky, as if it wasn’t used very often.

  “I just…” Marcus scrambled to come up with an excuse. “You’re the one who beat my sister out for top GPA last year, right? Ann-Marie Torelli?”

  Albert’s eyebrows arched in surprise. “She’s your sister?”

  “Yup.”

  “Oh.” Albert looked at his feet. “She’s beating me this year. I just found out the other day. She’s a whole point ahead.”

  “Sorry,” Marcus said, scanning the people walking by. Did any of them look like someone Albert was supposed to be matched with? Not unless the poor guy was meant to wind up with an old lady.

  “I have to go,” Albert said, inching away.

  “Wait!” He had to at least figure out who Albert was supposed to end up with. Then maybe he could find a way to fix the situation without the cosmic balance totally getting messed up. “Um, do you have a crush on anyone?”

  Albert stepped back as if he’d been slapped. “Wh-what?” Then his eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Who told you? Was it the parrot at the pet store?” He motioned toward the other end of the mall. “I knew he’d repeat what I said!”

  Marcus couldn’t believe how crazy that sounded, but he nodded and said, “Yeah, I’ve, um, been listening to parrot gossip. So it’s true? You really like her?”

  Albert blinked.

  “Or him?” Marcus tried again.

  But Albert wasn’t paying attention. He was looking past Marcus at someone inside the Burger Shack. When Marcus turned, he almost laughed when he spotted his sister sitting at a window booth with Peter Chung, sipping milk shakes and looking like the perfect couple. Of course he’d bump into his sister here of all places.

  Except something was off. Ann-Marie was with the guy she supposedly liked, and yet she kept checking her phone as if she couldn’t wait to get out of there. Not exactly how Marcus expected her to act when she was with her love match.

  Albert let out a weird choking sound beside him, and Marcus noticed a stricken look on Albert’s face as he watched the couple too. Things suddenly clicked.

  “Wait, you have a crush on my sister?” Marcus asked. But the answer was obvious. You didn’t need to be a matchmaker to know that Albert was hopelessly in love with Ann-Marie. And based on the look of pure hatred that she flashed back at Albert the minute she saw him, you didn’t need to be a matchmaker to know that Ann-Marie absolutely, one hundred percent did not feel the same way.

  Chapter 4

  “Okay, now we’re going to get in pairs and work on training our bodies to take on the physicality of other people,” Miss Fine said to the class after a snack break. Normally, Lena would have been embarrassed to nibble on the little-kid food her mom had packed for her—orange slices and animal crackers—while everyone else crunched on bags of chips, but she’d been too busy feeling bad about not being able to make it to the New Year’s Eve dance.

  She’d make it up to Marcus when she got back home. Somehow.

  “Lena?” Miss Fine asked. “Do you need a partner?”

  Lena jumped. “W-what?” She realized the only person who wasn’t already paired with someone was Zade. He did not look happy when she went over to him.

  “Is the whole class going to be like this?” he asked as they went to the corner of the stage.

  “Like what?” So far, Lena thought the class was going great.

  “So strict? I mean, when is it going to be fun? I only signed up for this because I thought we’d play games and stuff. That’s what we do in the drama club at school.”

  “Trust me, this is so much better than playing games,” Lena said. “We’re actually learning how to be better actors.”

  “The whole point of vacation is to not have to learn stuff.” He sighed. “Okay, do you want me to walk first and you copy me or the other way around?”

  “I’ll move around first,” Lena said.

  She started strolling across the stage, suddenly very conscious of her body’s every movement. When she glanced behind her, she saw Zade moving stiffly and briskly, like a windup toy. He was intently chewing on his bottom lip as if he were deep in thought.

  “That’s not how I look!” she said.

  He laughed and started exaggerating each step even more. “Hello, I am Lena,” he said in a robotic voice. “I do not bend my knees when I walk.”

  “Stop it!” Lena cried, but she couldn’t help laughing. She had to admit that she was kind of stiff. Marcus had once poked fun at her for walking as if she had a surfboard glued to her spine.

  “Zade! Lena!” Miss Fine called across the stage. “I want to see you two taking this exercise seriously!”

  Lena’s smile vanished, and her cheeks grew hot. “Let’s switch,” she said.

  Zade shrugged and then started walking around the stage like himself, shuffling his left foot a bit with each step. Lena studied him for a second and then began following him around, trying to mimic his uneven gait.

  “That’s a good start, Lena,” Miss Fine said, coming over. “But try to focus on the smaller details. Look how loose Zade’s limbs are, how relaxed.”

  Lena squinted in concentration, focusing on Zade’s every movement. Then she made her muscles go slack, so that her arms and legs were flopping around by her sides and her legs were pieces of spaghetti beneath her.

  “Good!” Miss Fine said. “Now you’re really getting it.”

  Even though Lena’s head hurt from concentrating so hard, she couldn’t help beaming as Miss Fine moved on to the next pair.

  At the end of class, Miss Fine told everyone to start learning their lines and then went around from person to person giving them individual assignments for the next day. Lena held her breath as Miss Fine went up to Zade, knowing that her homework would be next.

  “Zade,” Miss Fine said, “I appreciate your sense of humor, but you need to know when to turn it off. Acting is work. You need to treat it that way.”

  Zade didn
’t look happy, but he nodded. Lena felt a tiny bit bad for him, but he’d be glad at the end of the week when his acting skills were even better.

  “And finally, Lena,” Miss Fine said. “I can see you take acting very seriously. As you can tell, I do too. I have a feeling you’re going to be my star pupil.” She started to walk away.

  “Wait,” Lena said. “What’s my homework?”

  Miss Fine smiled. “Just keep up the good work,” she said.

  Lena thought she might burst from happiness. She was floating on a cloud even when Miss Fine announced that they would be doing scenes from Peter Pan with the kids they’d been partnered with for the movement exercise. Although that meant Lena was stuck with “I just wanna have fun” Zade for the rest of the week, it didn’t matter. Lena would make it work somehow.

  As the kids headed home, actors from the matinee started to come into the theater. Lena took her time packing up her things so she could observe the professional actors humming to themselves and doing vocal exercises, getting ready to be in a real show. When she tiptoed out of the theater, Lena couldn’t help imagining being in their shoes one day.

  She headed through the lobby and was about to go outside to find her mom when a creepy feeling swept over her. As if someone were standing directly behind her. But when Lena spun around, all she saw was the antique piano in the corner of the lobby. A moment later, Miss Fine emerged through the theater doors.

  “Still here?” Miss Fine asked. Then she smiled. “I know you’re a dedicated actress, but you can’t live here!” Suddenly, a door slammed somewhere, and Miss Fine jumped, her smile fading. She glanced over her shoulder and said, “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

  As Lena watched her disappear through a door marked “Employees Only,” she noticed something—a clump of light trailing after Miss Fine. It was a soul! Miss Fine was wrong. There was a ghost in the theater.

  “Hey!” Lena called, rushing after the ball of light as it disappeared through the door. “Wait!”