Chapter Two
I screamed, which of course is never a wise idea when you have a mouth full of food. The pizza quickly lodged itself in my throat and I could feel myself losing the ability to breathe.
"Oh my God!" Annie yelled, gaping at me with wide eyes. "I didn't mean to scare you like that!" She grabbed my arm harshly and yanked me off the chair with force that I never knew that girl held in her. Now her arms were around my stomach and I watched in horror as her hand formed a fist. "Don't move, I know Heimlich!"
"NO!" I screamed, leaping away and holding out my arms in defense. Somehow her announcement was enough to scare my body's functions back into operating normally. "Really, I'm okay now," I told her, taking cautious steps backward in fear that she'd jump at me again.
"Oh, okay," she replied, shrugging. "So what's up?" she asked, settling into another chair and grabbing a slice of pizza from the box.
"How did you get into my house?" And to think, I thought she actually got the hint when I told her that I didn't want to come over.
"Well, I came in through the bathroom window," Annie replied casually. "But anywho, enough of this frivolity," she added, bouncing in her chair. "When I heard you had a headache, I bought you something to make you feel better!" She stood up and walked from the room for a second that was far too short. When she returned, she held out a clear plastic cup with a lid and a straw containing some sort of red substance. God how I hoped Annie hadn't been concocting her magic genie potion again; that was always a disaster. With a smile on her face, she held it out to me expectantly. "Well? Aren't you going to take it?"
"Um… what is it?"
"Why it's a cherry slurpee from 7-Up!" Annie declared proudly.
"Don't you mean 7-Eleven?" Her blank stare told me all I needed to know and I just shook my head slightly. "Never mind. Thanks…"
"Sure, no problem," she replied, the nonchalant mood back again. "I just thought it'd make you feel better." If only Annie knew that cold drinks really weren't good for your head. But I didn't have a headache anyway, so it didn't matter. She continued to munch on the same slice of pizza, and to make her happy, I actually drank the whole slurpee. Maybe she would leave after seeing that I actually did have it, but no such luck.
"So what do you want to do now?" she asked with wide eyes, once I had finished.
I gulped. "Um—shouldn't you be heading home? I mean Molly probably could use your help with making dinner and you know, I think I still might be a little sick…"
"Oh, Carey, you're so silly sometimes," Annie replied with a giggle. "That's why I'm here, to make you feel better!" I sighed and shut my eyes tightly in exasperation. "Oh no—did you fall asleep?"
Was she really so stupid? And then—could this actually work? If she thought I was asleep, would she leave? I didn't say anything and let my head start to fall to one side. Bad idea.
"CAREY WAKE UP!" Annie screamed, grabbing my shoulders and slamming me violently against the chair.
My eyes flew open and I hurriedly shoved her away. "I'm up, I'm up!"
"Oh, thank goodness," she said, calmly falling back into her chair. "So what do you want to do?" she asked again.
"I already told you, I—"
"I brought the talking board!" she announced happily, whipping it out from behind her back. I stared at it in confusion. How had she possibly managed to keep it hidden this whole time?
"How did you—" I began.
"Wanna play?"
"Not particularly."
She looked away sadly. "But I thought this was something fun we could do together…" Annie whimpered.
I groaned. Was there really no way out other than to give in? "Fine, fine, I'll do it. But not for too long," I added quickly.
"Yippee!" She placed the board in the center of the table with the message indicator in the center of it. "Now for talking board to work we have to be very gentle and patient," she informed me in a very serious tone of voice.
"Annie, I've used it before, remember?"
"We cannot confuse the talking board."
"Annie—" But it wasn't worth the trouble repeating. Then another question came to mind. "Hey, isn't it normally called a Ouija board?"
She glared at me. "This one isn't. This one is special."
Jeez, I didn't think she'd get so moody over it. I decided that would be the last question I asked, until Annie decided that I would be asking the Ouija—I mean talking—board the first question. I sighed but didn't argue. It was easier that way.
I placed my hands besides hers on the indicator. "Tell us, oh mystical talking board, do you know where my dad is?" I asked sarcastically, provoking another angry glare from Annie. It began to move and I watched as the letters formed.
"C… H… A… D," Annie read slowly.
"Chad?" I asked skeptically, raising my eyebrows. "My dad's in Chad? Gee. I never would have guessed."
Annie moved the indicator back to the center of the board. "Okay, now it's my turn!" she said excitedly. "Who does Carey like?"
"Ha, ha, very funny," I told her. Then I watched in horror as it began to head straight for M. I pulled my hands back quickly. "You know, I suddenly don't feel so good. I think I drank that slurpee too fast—yeah, I'm gonna go lie down now." I stood up and walked toward the family room.
She sighed and let go as well. "Okay. I guess we can continue this some other time. I should probably go home."
Whoa—she was actually leaving? For real? I held back the urge to pump my fists in the air. "Alright. Thanks for keeping me company," I said, forcing a bright smile. "See ya around, kiddo." I cringed. Why did that word always pop out when I spoke to her? It was like I had no control over saying it.
"Bye-bye." A minute later she was gone. I let out a sigh of relief and fell back onto the couch, because suddenly, I really didn't feel too good. It wasn't long before I closed my eyes and drifted off into dreamland.