A LIFE SO CHANGED
Chapter Seven

"He’s not here, is he?" Rose asked as they made their way to Richard’s that evening.

He. It felt like that name meant so much more than even a few days ago. Before, it had been worthless, both of them forgetting--or trying, in Sarah’s case--what he had done to them.

Sarah shook her head. She was tired. She didn’t feel like going out tonight. But she needed to see Joey. It was the best part of her day! And after a long and stressful one, she knew that he could make it better.

"What’s he like?" she heard Rose ask.

"The same as he was when he was alive. You be the judge on that one."

Sarah didn’t want to know the words going through Rose’s head. She saw Rose’s eyes look down towards the sidewalk.

"He…uh...he called you a slut this morning at breakfast, along with a few other things."

"He was there?"

Sarah nodded.

"Why didn’t you tell me?"

She shrugged. "Still a bit of a shock, I guess."

"What did he say about me?"

"Um...he called you a whore and basically that you were a bad influence on me, which isn’t true. You’re great to be with, Rose. I just wish I could have known you longer."

Tears clouded Rose’s green eyes before they were blinked away.

"I don’t want to help him cross over. I’m sure there are plenty other of mediums in Boston who could do it for me." She paused. "I don’t know how long this will take, seeing as I’m not willing to listen to him."

"You’re a brave girl, Sarah," she said. "I couldn’t do it."

*****

Yes, the matter of Cal being stuck on earth bothered Sarah the rest of that evening. She could hardly focus. She kept wondering when he was going to make his next little appearance, what he would yell about next.

She wasn’t able to focus all day, as much as she tried to. Even though Rose’s songs usually piqued her interest, tonight she wasn’t even realizing that she was singing and she was at Richard’s. She felt like she was a million miles away. And it was all because of Cal.

Sarah’s brown eyes gazed blankly at the equally brown table that she was sitting at. Faintly, she could hear Rose singing. Her thin brown arms were folded against her chest, her body leaning against the chair.

Would he visit her in her sleep, in a dream? Would he visit her tomorrow when she least expected it? Would he even visit her at all?

Maybe he won’t, Sarah thought optimistically. Maybe he just needed to see me one last time before he crossed over.

She realized that would never happen. He didn’t have the typical look on his face like the other three people she had helped cross over had. He didn’t have that look of awe on his face or tears in his eyes, walking slowly toward a light she couldn’t see. No, Cal’s eyes were as tiny as slits, his face angry. Even though she couldn’t see the light they all saw, she was pretty sure that there was one.

"I said hello," Joey said.

Sarah looked up. "Hmm?"

"That was the third time I tried to say hello to you, Sarah. Are you all right?" Joey asked.

"Oh...I’m sorry," she said, sitting straighter, brushing a strand of brown hair out of her eyes. "I was thinking about someone."

"Really? Who?"

"No one of importance," she said. "Forgive me for being distant lately. Things have been a little stressful."

"What’s going on?"

She thought about telling him, but then shook her head. "Nothing, really. Just bad dreams and a fight. But..." She sighed. "Don’t worry about me."

Joey looked at her just to confirm, scanning her eyes. She put on her everything-is-fine set of eyes that she rarely used, since everything really had been fine up until now.

He must have believed her, since he said. "I told you about myself yesterday. Tell me about you."

This was where things were going to get interesting.

"All right," she said. "Well, I was adopted. I lived in Brooklyn for fifteen years."

"Brooklyn?" His blue eyes widened. "Posh Brooklyn?"

She nodded. "I lived in a great house. I could have anything I wanted at my fingertips. It was an okay life, I suppose."

"You call Brooklyn an okay life? What do you want a good life to be?"

A small smile came onto her face. "Money isn’t everything, Joey. It’s the people you’re with, as cliché as that may sound."

"What do you mean?"

"My father was...a drunk. He never drank at home, but I know he was out drinking at night. Most of the time, he wouldn’t come home until after midnight. But he was a Hockley. He could do whatever he wanted."

As soon as Sarah realized she had said her former last name, her eyes widened. She hadn’t meant to give that much of an intimate detail about herself away so quickly.

"Hockley?" Joey repeated. "As in Cal Hockley?"

It was then that Sarah realized just how big her last name was and what it stood for. Half the people on the east coast had probably heard the Hockley name before.

She nodded sheepishly. "The one and only."

"But...but he’s rich!"

She laughed. "Yes. Yes, he was that, indeed."

"He was? What, did he go bankrupt?"

"You’ve heard of the Hockley name, but you don’t know what happened to him?"

Joey shook his head. "No. Tell me."

"Oh, he...he died this April," she said, somewhat quietly. She half-expected to see him appear out of thin air. But no, it never happened.

"I’m so sorry," he said, taking one of her hands.

She smiled lightly. "It’s all right. You want to know a secret?"

He nodded.

"He wasn’t a great father. I mean, yes, I was adopted, but he could have loved me like his own like the orphanage always tells the parents when they adopt a new child. I mean, he never did anything bad to me, but...he just wasn’t there. I basically raised myself."

"And you’ve become so beautiful in the process." Joey smiled, gently touching her cheek with his spare hand and wiping away a tear.

Sarah didn’t realize she was crying until Joey got up and hugged her. "It’s all right," he said, stroking her hair.

Sarah stopped crying. She didn’t know why she was crying. She thought it was just the stress of the day that had led her to this. She wiped her cheeks and took a deep breath. "I’m sorry. I never cry. Ever. I’ve just had a really bad day."

"No, no. It’s okay, Sarah. You don’t have to apologize," he said gently. "You don’t."

After fully calming down and changing the subject, the night seemed to get back to usual, which she was grateful for. Sarah no longer cried, but laughed and smiled. She was happy that Joey was able to get her mind off of everything.

"Say, you haven’t seen me during my break," he mused. "Care to tell me why, Miss Hockley?"

"It’s Miss Dawson," she corrected.

"I thought you didn’t want me calling you that," he reminded her.

She squeezed her eyes shut. "Right. It’s Sarah. But to answer your question...I haven’t had time."

Which was a lie. She was too shy to go and meet him. She had no experience dating, since Cal never let her even look at a boy. And if someone who didn’t have money looked at her...well, let’s just say that Sarah felt sorry for them.

"Oh, really? Well, you should make time."

She grinned. "Really?"

He nodded. "Fourth of July is coming up. If you don’t have any plans...I’d love to take you down to the beach and show you a fireworks show. You ever seen one?"

"No," she admitted, somewhat hesitantly.

"What? You’ve never seen fireworks?"

"Well, not that close. I used to watch them from the street, but the harbor was a few miles away. I’ve seen them. They’re pretty, though."

"You’ve never...oh, that’s it. I’m taking you to one."

Sarah realized that she was finally being asked out by Joey. All she could do was smile and try not to act like an idiot and screw the whole thing up.

"That is, if you want to," Joey said.

"No. I mean, yes. I’d love to."

Joey smiled. "Great." He got up and extended his hand. "Care to dance, madam?"

She couldn’t help but smile even wider. "Why, yes." She stood up and took Joey’s hand. He kissed it gently.

"I saw that in a movie once. I always wanted to do that," he said.

Sarah’s knees were instantly turned to jelly. Her heart started doing the weird flipping thing that it only did when she was around him.

Joey led her to the dance floor, a slow song playing. She felt his hand go behind her back. They were dancing closer and closer until Sarah noticed his lips were against hers, his tongue trying to find hers.

Oh, my God! she thought. We’re kissing!

Her hand moved up behind his neck and went into his dirty blond hair, her heart pounding the entire time. She felt like she was flying, a happiness which, as hard as she tried to, she couldn’t put into words. All she knew was that she didn’t want this to stop.

Rose saw Joey and Sarah kissing from the stage. She smiled and thought that she must have looked like that on the Titanic with Jack. It made her miss him a little bit more, but she realized that it was good for Sarah to find love. There was no reason for Rose to hold her back from life’s best gift.

As the two of them pulled apart, Sarah was breathless. She didn’t want this to end. She wanted to be with Joey all night, dancing, even if there was no music.

Sarah knew she was falling in love with Joey Dawson. There was no point in trying to deny it. She loved him.

And she thought that maybe, just maybe, he loved her back.

Chapter Eight
Stories