The Time Capsule Read online

  “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.

  FOUR

  Alexis set her alarm clock for seven on Saturday morning. She groaned when it startled her awake, but she remembered why she’d set it so early and scooted out of bed. She slipped on shorts and a T-shirt, threw water on her face in her bathroom, tied her hair into a ponytail and hurried down the back staircase and into the kitchen. She found her father reading the paper and drinking coffee. “Morning,” she said brightly.

  Looking surprised, he said, “Morning to you. Why are you up this early?”

  Alexis went to the refrigerator and poured herself a glass of orange juice. “No special reason.”

  “This is Saturday, isn’t it?”

  “All day.” She carried her glass to the table and sat across from him. “Mom still asleep?”

  He grunted. “Naturally.”

  “Want me to fry you an egg?”

  “No. I have an eight o’clock tee-off at the club. I’ll get something at the drive-through on the way.”

  It was his habit to play golf on the weekends, and he was always gone by the time the rest of the family got up. Alexis remembered that years before, her mother had fixed Saturday-morning breakfasts of bacon, eggs and toast that they’d eaten together at the table. On Sundays, she had fixed waffles. But no more. Now everybody went their separate ways on weekends.

  “Do you know what the month of October is, Dad?” Alexis asked. She sipped her juice, hoping to cool her nervous, tight throat.

  “Uh—October?” He didn’t glance up from the paper.

  “Okay, I’ll tell
you. October is Florida resident month at all our state attractions.” He didn’t respond. “It’s when attendance is lowest at state attractions, and people who live here can get in for cheaper rates. It’s been in TV ads.”

  “I don’t watch much TV.”

  Alexis set down her glass and placed her hand on top of the paper, making him look up. “I have an idea,” she said. “Want to hear it?”

  “What?” His brow knitted.

  She took a deep breath. “I was thinking that since it’s a good deal to visit places in Florida, our family could take a few days and go to Disney World. You know, like we did when Adam and I were little. Low crowds. Low price.” She held her hands up as if balancing a scale. “Adam and I have a three-day weekend coming up at the end of October, at Halloween, and so I thought it would be nice to take a family vacation. . . .”

  “I don’t see how I can do that. Too busy.” His brusque tone only made her more determined.

  “How can you say no? Halloween is still weeks away. Maybe you won’t be so busy then.”

  He gave up on the paper and looked her in the eyes. “Honey, the firm’s got more work than we can handle right now. I can’t just pick up and take off.”

  “Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Three days, Dad. You’ll miss one day of work and two golf matches. What’s so hard about that?”

  “Orlando’s a five-hour drive.”

  “So we’ll leave bright and early.”

  He cocked his head. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

  “Yes. We never go anywhere as a family anymore. And next year Adam and I’ll be off to college, and you’ll miss us horribly and say, ‘Gee, I wish I could take my kids to Disney World,’ but too late, we’ll be gone.”

  He grinned. “You have great style, counselor. Did I ever tell you that?”

  “Many times,” she said smoothly, determined to keep the conversation focused. “Don’t change the subject. Can we go to Disney World next month?”

  “You and Adam go. Take a few of your friends. My treat.” He picked up the paper.

  She pulled it down again. “No, I want us to go. As in just our family.”