Tempest. Part 9

Probably not. "Maybe, if I thought it would impress her."

Leon stared at the wall above my head. "Depends on what angle you're going for. Hardworking guy willing to get his hands dirty ... that's got winner written all over it."

"Yeah, it does." If I could pull it off.

He turned to face the computer again. "According to an email from the owner of the gym, he had a plumbing issue this morning that made him, quote, 'want to tear his hair out.' Sounds like you should jump on this right away."

"Thank you. Any chance you can whip up a fake resume?" I asked.

He grinned, revealing green bits of pickle stuck in his teeth. "I'll make you look like the best cleaning and maintenance guy in the entire state of New Jersey. For an extra fifty bucks."

"Great. You can email it to me." I paid Leon his money, jotted down my email address, and then left before the bacteria crawling on the walls of the room got anywhere near me.

This would be a good start, and then I could figure out the best way to approach Adam. Even though he told me to find him if anything like this ever happened, it seemed completely nuts to walk up to him and say, "Hey, I'm from the future!"

Getting this job would put me one step closer to forming a plan. If I could manage to get hired.

"You're the first applicant in two weeks who actually has experience in maintenance," Mike Steinman said to me from across his desk.

"That's good news for me."

I had just spent thirty minutes making up more lies than I could keep track of and, fortunately, he was eating them up. I didn't see any other way to get into Holly's circle. We didn't go to school together. Our paths would never cross enough for me to gain her trust-some guy who lives in Manhattan keeps "accidently" b.u.mping into her in Jersey. It was either this or enroll in her school. I'd leave that for plan B. And I was going to avoid plan B at all costs because it involved high school. And yeah, I'd never been to a big public school, like Holly's, but basic "High School 101" rules applied everywhere. It wasn't easy to get into someone's social circle without common ground.

"All right, the job's twenty hours a week. You lock up every night. We have nearly a thousand kids running through here each week, so nothing is consistent-gotta be ready for those surprises."

"I'm not easily shocked." Not anymore.

"Great, can you start today?"

It took me a second to respond. "Seriously? I'm hired?"

He stood and walked toward his office door. "Yes, I'm that desperate. We just had a light go out above the uneven bars and the list keeps getting longer."

"Thank you, Mr. Steinman. You have no idea how much I need this job," I admitted.

He opened the door. "Sounds like we both win. And everyone around here calls me Mike."

"Gotcha."

"Come on, I'll show you the staff locker room and the maintenance closet."

My pulse was already speeding up. She was here, somewhere. But she wasn't my Holly. Not yet anyway.

I followed Mike across the carpeted gymnastics floor and in between the balance beams. My legs were shaking and I barely listened as he opened an empty locker and listed off instructions and cleaning schedules.

Eventually, he slapped me on the back. "I've never had a maintenance guy, always have to contract jobs out to different companies. Or try to fix stuff myself. It's a pain in the a.s.s."

I swallowed hard and croaked out a thank-you. Hopefully, I wouldn't get myself killed changing a lightbulb.

"The place gets really crowded between four and seven, so you'll need to make sure you're out of the way of cla.s.ses while you're working." Mike tossed me a black polo shirt. The words AERO TWISTERS, INC. were embroidered across the front.

I pulled it over my T-shirt and followed Mike out of the locker room, toward the lobby and the half-wall separating the parent viewing area from the gymnastics gym. He pointed to a dark-haired girl and a short guy leaning against the half-wall. "This is Jana and Toby. They're both on the team here. They teach cla.s.ses when it fits in with their practice schedule."

"Hi," they said together.

I had met the future Jana in 2009 several times, and I vaguely remembered meeting Toby.

"Hey, Holly, come here," Mike shouted.

Her long blond ponytail stuck out from underneath a table. "Yeah, Mike?"

She crawled out, holding up the pen she must have dropped, and stood in front of us, next to the other two. My breath caught in my throat and then my legs went wobbly. She was so close. So real. How long had it really been since I had last seen her? Five days. It seemed like months.

"Jackson is our new cleaning and maintenance guy," Mike said.

"I can't believe you wrangled someone into fixing this place," Holly joked.

Her light laughter rang through my ears and I had the sudden urge to throw her over my shoulder and run out of there. Make sure nothing bad ever happened to her. I took in a breath and tried to concentrate despite the ache I was feeling inside. She didn't know me. I knew she wouldn't, but it still felt like a hard kick right in the gut.

I shook my head, then forced a smile and a nod h.e.l.lo before walking in the other direction. Besides watching the older version of Holly getting shot, this was the most freaked out I had ever been in my entire life.

And I still had a lightbulb to change-another scary thought.

The ladder shook as I reached my hand toward the giant light hanging near the set of uneven bars. I managed to replace the bulb without electrocuting myself and was heading down the ladder when I caught a glimpse of Holly handing out stickers to her cla.s.s as the girls were leaving.

I climbed slowly down the final step. Heights had never been my thing.

A loose strand of blond hair fell over her eyes and I watched it, willing myself not to reach out and tuck it behind her ear. To see if it felt the same. If she was actually real.

Every muscle in my body ached to touch her, drag her out the door and tell her everything. Maybe she'd believe me, but she still wouldn't know me.

Don't be a dumb-a.s.s, Jackson. She'd never believe me and would most likely run scared. Who wouldn't? Other than Courtney ... and Adam. I pulled myself together and started folding the ladder together.

Just as Holly was finishing, Toby approached.

"Hey, Hol, was that your last cla.s.s?" he asked.

I kept my eyes on the white wall I had just returned to scrubbing with a dirty rag.

"Yeah," she answered.

"You want to go get something to eat, maybe a burger?" he asked.

I laughed under my breath and shook my head.

"I can't. I've got-"

He chuckled and tugged on her ponytail. "Never mind."

"Seriously, Toby. I've got two AP cla.s.ses this semester-"

Toby put a hand up to stop her and then looked in my direction. "It's Jackson, right?"

I stood and walked closer to them. "Yeah."

Toby leaned back against the wall, his eyes fixed on Holly. "Jackson, what does it mean if a girl turns you down five times in two weeks?"

I dug deep to find my buried voice. I didn't need them thinking I was incapable of competent speech. "Maybe she doesn't eat meat."

Holly cracked a smile.

"She eats fake meat," Jana said, walking up behind me. "Do you go to Washington?"

"No."

The three of them waited expectantly. I went through a quick mental checklist of who I was. This time.

"I don't go to school."

"You're homeschooled?" Toby asked.

"No, I dropped out ... you know ... got my GED."

"So, you're in college?" Jana asked.

"You're such a sn.o.b. You think everybody has to go to college," Toby said to Jana.

"I might go. I haven't decided," I said.

"Then you're eighteen?" Jana asked.

"Give him a few more days before you pounce on him," Toby said.

"I'm seventeen," I told her.

"So is Holly," Jana said. "She just had her birthday a few days ago."

Holly rolled her eyes and pulled Jana by the arm. "Let's go clear off the preschool area. Give the new guy some breathing room."

Mike walked out of his office and I jumped back into my wall-scrubbing. "Jackson, I'll show you how to lock up. I have to take off in a couple minutes."

"I can do it, Mike," Holly shouted from across the gym. "I'll show Jackson ... so he can lock up tomorrow."

Mike shrugged. "Cool."

The second he walked out the door, Holly, Toby, and Jana headed upstairs to the fitness equipment. I watched Holly get on one of the treadmills before I turned back to my work.

The evening ch.o.r.e list was huge and it took me a while to finish, probably due to my lack of experience in cleaning much of anything. I was packing up my stuff when Holly and Jana came over and grabbed water bottles from their bags. Holly pulled her black polo shirt over her head, revealing a bright pink sports bra. Her ponytail whipped right in front of my face and I caught the scent of watermelon shampoo.

I knew it well.

Toby and Holly went back upstairs for an all-out treadmill battle.

"They do this all the time," Jana said, sitting down next to me. "I hate running."

"I'm out of breath just watching," I said.

One of them would up the speed and the other would do the same. This went on for at least twenty minutes until Toby jumped off.

"I finally won!" Holly said when they were back downstairs.

"Whatever," Toby muttered. "I'm taking a shower."

"Someone's a sore loser," Jana sang.

"Fine, Holly. I admit defeat." Toby took a graceful bow in front of the locker room door.

Holly laughed and sat down beside her bag, right next to me.

"Is he gone?" she whispered.

My tongue felt like it was covered in sawdust. All I could do was nod. I silently cursed myself for being such an idiot. Say something!

She collapsed onto her back on the mat. "There's no way I'll be able to move in the morning. And if you tell him that..."

I leaned over her and mustered up a little confidence. "What? Will you get me fired? Take all the screws out of the ladder?"

Laughter shook her whole body. "No, I won't do anything. It was a pathetic attempt to intimidate you."

I reached my hand out to help her up and she hesitated before taking it. I let go the second she was standing. Touching her was too much of a reminder. "I better go. You work tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I'm here pretty much every day."

After Holly showed me how to lock the front doors, I walked several blocks to the train station, hating the distance between us more with every step.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2007.