Chapter 1

Riding Along in the Car

∞

Jacob’s family was, by no means, well off. His dad was a farmer and his mom stayed at home. The vehicle they drove was a 1999 Ford Windstar. It was not the fanciest vehicle in the world. It was, by every means, a vehicle which got the job done. It didn’t have working air conditioning. It didn’t have a working radio, and it didn’t have shocks that did the job that they were intended to do. The ride was rough, so to speak, and smelled as if it were stored in a barn.

Neither Tommy, nor Jacob seemed even vaguely aware of the intensity of the farm odor that permeated the inside of the vehicle, but then again both of them were sitting in the captain’s chairs located directly behind the driver and passenger seat. Whitney was very aware of it because her body was sitting directly in front of where the odor seemed to be emanating from.

She was sitting in the back bench seat with Jacob’s little sister, Riley, on her right, and Tommy’s crush, Jessica Miles, on her left. She was sandwiched in between the two and she felt like a warm tomato crushed in between two slices of bread with too much mayonnaise on it. The windows were down and wind was blowing throughout the vehicle, but it didn’t seem to help much, because the outside air was hot. They had been in the vehicle for less than five minutes and already she was beginning to regret the decision to come along. She suddenly realized she had a friend that she hadn’t even known existed before. She missed the air conditioner at home.

Don’t you smell that? Whitney thought to Tommy.

You’ll get used to it, Tommy replied. You do realize we live out in the country, right?

Yeah. I realize it, but I don’t think that means that your car should be used to haul cow dung, she thought back.

“So how come you never mentioned you had a sister before?” Jacob asked. Tommy turned his head toward Jacob and Whitney watched as his faced panned into her view.

Yeah, Tommy. How come you never mentioned that you had a sister? Hmm? Whitney thought to him sarcastically.

They were the first words that were spoken from anybody in the vehicle since Whitney had come out of the house. Carol Anne and Blake had both chased out after her, both of them passing Whitney on the sidewalk, and both of them going directly to Tommy after she had left through the front door. A mini argument had ensued, but ultimately the twins had won out. Neither Blake, nor Carol Anne was used to the twins insisting on anything so adamantly and they had both been stunned by it. But Tommy had insisted that Whitney be allowed to go along and, in the end, they conceded.

Carol Anne had thought to grab Whitney’s sunglasses from the end table before she came out, and she had handed them off to Whitney as she walked away. “I hope you two know what you’re doing,” she said as she parted. “Because your decisions affect all of us.”

And that had been it for the arguing. The twins had gotten what they wanted, but Carol Anne’s words still hung in Whitney’s mind like underwear hanging in the front lawn drying out after a wash. Whitney hoped they knew what they were doing, too.

The mood inside of the vehicle when Tommy had first come out had been high and upbeat, but Whitney’s presence seemed to immediately change that. When he had first started walking toward the van everyone in it had smiles on their faces and laughter drifted out from the van. As the mini argument ended, however, and the twins finished walking up to the van, a quiet had fallen over the group inside. It was as if a hush cloud had entered the van before they got there.

“I guess I just didn’t know how to talk about it,” Tommy finally replied after a few moments. That much was true. He really didn’t know what to say on the topic. Having Whitney there made it an unavoidable conversation and he knew that, but having her there didn’t make anything easy to describe to them.

“But I’m your best friend! At least I thought I was. How in the world could I not even know that you had a sister? And a twin sister to top it off,” he said.

Let’s see you talk your way out of this one, genius, Whitney thought to him.

Shut up, he thought back.

“Don’t be offended, Jacob. I don’t tell anyone about my sister because neither of us want people’s pity. She’s blind and deaf and most people don’t know how to respond to that without feeling sorry.”

Whitney watched as Jacob spun around in his seat. It was obvious that he was trying to get a good look at her and the idea of being looked at made Whitney want to crawl under the seat and hide.

“Jacob! Turn around in your seat. You’re being rude!” his mother said.

Jacob did what his mother asked. He turned back around and sat for a minute. He was quiet, his eyes were pinched together, and it looked like he was trying to solve a difficult puzzle in his mind. “I don’t know. I guess you have a point. I don’t know what to think about it yet.”

“You mean you can’t hear or see anything?” Riley asked. Her little hand reached over and Whitney could feel Jacob’s sister gently clasp her wrist, and without thinking about it Whitney jerked her hand away. It was an involuntary reaction to being touched suddenly and she immediately regretted it because Riley gasped in surprise at Whitney’s reaction.

“Did I hurt her or something?” Riley asked.

“No, Riley,” Tommy said as he turned half around in his seat. “She just doesn’t know you yet and she didn’t know you were talking to her. Remember. She can’t hear or see you.”

I shouldn’t have come here, Tommy. This was stupid, Whitney thought to him.

Well, I never said it would be easy, Whit.

Yeah, but it’s like we have to lie to them.

“Oh,” Riley said. “Yeah. I guess I forgot already. That really sucks!” she added.

You ain’t kidding, kid, Whitney thought to herself.

Nobody seemed to know what to say. An awkward silence fell over the group as the van continued thumping its way down the dirt road.

∞

“I don’t think this was a good idea, Blake! Not a good idea at all!” Carol Anne said as she walked back into the house.