“Right.” Skye nodded. Xenia had been seeing a private counselor for the past couple of years. She had a lot of issues—explosiveness, impulsivity, and episodes of depression among the most serious. The psychologist seemed to be making remarkable progress with Xenia, but she still had a long way to go. “I’m glad you picked me,” Skye said.
“You and Mrs. Frayne were pretty cool with stuff that happened on the paper.” Xenia made a face. “Not that you let us get away with anything, but you didn’t automatically freak out or blame the bad kids either.”
“Well, thanks.” Skye felt a glow. One of the drawbacks of being a school psychologist was lack of feedback. It was nice to hear she’d established rapport with a student, especially one she would have bet money hadn’t felt a connection. “So—”
Skye’s next words were cut off when a tiny brunette stuck her head through Xenia’s open window and said, “Girlfriend. New wheels?”
“Got it about an hour ago.” Xenia grinned. “Now I can take my turn driving to school.”
“Awesome.” The brunette vibrated with energy.
Since it didn’t look as if Xenia planned to introduce her, Skye stuck out her hand and said, “Hi, I’m Skye Denison.”
“Actually, we’ve met.” The girl shook Skye’s hand. “I’m Kayla Hines. I graduated from Scumble River High in 2004.”
“Sorry,” Skye apologized. “Which activity did we meet through?” She was pretty sure their encounter hadn’t been in her capacity as a school psychologist. She tended to remember those kids, at least their names if not all their faces.
“You gave a talk on intelligence to my advanced English class.”
“Oh.” Skye was glad to know Kayla had been part of a group and she hadn’t forgotten a student with whom she’d worked individually. “I hope I didn’t bore you to tears.”
“No. It was the first time anyone explained that there are different kinds of intelligence.” Kayla’s smile was radiant. “It totally made me appreciate the artistic side of myself and helped me decide to become a filmmaker. Everyone was telling me I was so smart, I should be a doctor, but I knew when we had to dissect a cat in advanced biology that it wasn’t the career for me.”
“I’m glad I helped.” Skye settled back in her seat. This was turning out to be a good day after all. “So you and Xenia are attending the same college in Chicago?”
“It’s not a college,” Kayla corrected. “We’re both going to the Chicago School of Film and Photography.”
Xenia added, “Kayla’s a second-year student and is studying moviemaking. She’s over-the-top talented.”
“Xenia’s no slouch either.” Kayla hugged her friend. “This is her first year in the documentary program, and her teachers are already mega-impressed just from her portfolio.”
“Wow. Maybe you’ll both become famous and put Scumble River on the map,” Skye enthused. “And you’re both living at home?”
“Xenia is.” Kayla climbed into the backseat as she answered. “I’m sort of between gigs. Sometimes I stay at my mom and stepdad’s, sometimes I crash with my boyfriend, and sometimes I hang at Xenia’s place.”
“Oh.” Before Skye could question why Kayla didn’t have a place to call home, their ice cream arrived, so instead she asked, “Do you want to order something, Kayla?”
“No, thanks.” Kayla put her hand to her mouth. “I haven’t been too hungry lately. Nothing sounds good to me.”
Skye noticed that the girl was a bit pale and hoped she wasn’t not eating because she thought she needed to lose weight. Which certainly was far from the truth.
After the carhop left, Kayla said, “Oh, I kinda almost forgot. I have good news, too.”
“What?” Xenia took a huge bite of her banana split.
“I finally found a part-time job.”
“Where?” Skye licked a rivulet of melted vanilla dripping down the side of her cone.
“At Tales and Treats.” Kayla wiggled in her seat. “It works out perfectly since I don’t have to be in class every day.” She explained to Skye, “We do lots of work via computer.”
“That’s great,” Skye agreed.
“Ms. Vaughn said I can start tomorrow.” Kayla frowned. “That is, if they get the insurance and stuff straightened out.”
“Oh?” Skye raised brow. “What’s the problem?”
“The insurance guy told Ms. Vaughn that her policy was approved, but he stopped by this afternoon while she was interviewing me and told her that it was going to cost more than he originally said.”
“Why?” Xenia asked.
“Who knows?” Kayla shrugged. “They stepped into the back room to discuss it.”
“I’m sure they’ll get that fixed up,” Skye reassured the girl.
“Yeah.” Kayla nodded. “It’s the other guy I’m more worried about.”
“What other guy?” Skye asked.
“The one they hired to remodel the upstairs,” Kayla explained. “They’re going to live up there, you know, and use two spare rooms for a B and B.”
“Uh-huh,” Skye encouraged.
“Well, the construction guy came after the insurance man left. At first he seemed normal, but—”
“Yeah,” Xenia interrupted. “Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.”
Kayla snickered, then continued. “Anyway, this creep demanded payment in cash, or he’d make sure the rooms didn’t pass the building inspection.” Kayla chewed her lower lip. “Ms. Vaughn really schooled him. She threatened to call his union, and he got real uptight and harsh. What a loser.”
“Boy!” Xenia exclaimed. “You sure had an exciting interview.”
Kayla opened her mouth, but a honking horn interrupted her. They all looked in the direction of a black BMW SUV parked a couple spaces down. A muscular blond guy was waving in their direction. Xenia and Kayla waved back.
It took Skye a second to place the young man, but then she recognized him as Chase Wren. As a senior, he’d played the prince in Scumble River High’s 2002 production of Sleeping Beauty. Although he’d been a hotshot baseball player, he hadn’t been one of the brightest bulbs on the scoreboard, which made her wonder what kind of job Chase had gotten that paid well enough for him to buy a thirty-five-thousand-dollar car.
While Skye had been thinking, Kayla had climbed hastily out of the car, saying, “That’s my boyfriend. Gotta go. Bye.”
“I’ll see you at Tales and Treats tomorrow,” Skye called after her.
“Definitely.” Kayla waved, then added as she walked away, her ponytail swinging in time with her strides, “I just hope everything’s ready. It would kill Ms. Vaughn if something held up the grand opening.”
CHAPTER 4
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
“And then she tried to make me sign a petition against Tales and Treats.” Skye sat on a bench in front of Bates Pharmacy. It was Saturday morning, and she and Trixie were supervising the school newspaper’s bake sale.
“Is she out of her mind?” Trixie shrieked, jumping up and down in her seat as if she were a baby in a bouncy chair. The two students standing behind the folding table full of goodies glanced her way, and she lowered her voice. “Why would an English teacher want to close down a bookstore?”
“Because she’s an idiot.” Skye watched her friend fidget. As well as cosponsoring the Scoop with Skye, Trixie was the high school librarian and coached the cheerleading squad. To say Trixie’s energy level made a hyperactive squirrel look sedate was an understatement. “She’s sure it will turn our kids into vampires and porn stars.”