The call came during the night. They both sat up in bed. She instantly reached for her jeans and shoes. She was headed for the door when Jay caught her.
She fought him. The urge to go was too powerful, and nothing could stand between her and her goal.
Within moments, he had her calmed, and the urgency she'd felt only moments ago, was down to a dull need.
She still felt the need to be somewhere, but it was no longer a desperate feeling that drowned out everything else.
She finished dressing. Her eyes meeting his. "Is that how all of you are feeling right now? AJ and her group? Isn't that dangerous? I think I was only moments from walking there."
"More mistakes. We knew we needed everyone to come together, and this was the easiest way. Paisley, there will not be just others like me there, others like AJ's bunch. All four presidents will be there. Starting tonight they will call us in once every five years until the time comes for completion. They will not be happy that they misplaced my brothers and I. They will not be happy that our lives have been modified."
She grabbed the bag she'd packed last night. Her mom would be asleep so it would be better to just text her later. Her mom was trying to be strong but her first instinct was to protect her daughter.
It was hard for her to know that was something she no longer could do.
"I get it, Jay. You don't have to tell me how worry you are. I can feel it and I know how much you wish you could leave me. Which pisses me off a little, but I get it. Believe me, I don't want you there anymore than you want me there."
He caught her before she could walk past him. "We have until tomorrow night to get there. My brother's will get there before us. No matter what, you stay close to me. Don't even speak to anyone else. Can you do that?"
"I will."
Hating that he was so worried about her, she caught him in her arms. "You said it yourself, you can't break the pull. We have to go. Once this is done you have time to figure out how to fix all of this."
He grunted. "You're putting all your faith in a guy who's failed three times and has probably had detention more than any other kid at your school."
"I have complete faith in you." She kissed his top lip, his bottom lip, then his top lip again. "You'll notice that I'm not worried about myself. That's because I know you'd never let anyone hurt me."
She was more worried about Jay's four presidents. She's never met them, and she didn't have to, to know that she wouldn't like them. Back in their time they had treated Jay and his brothers like little more than think machines. Little more than computers with all the knowledge needed who could also calculate emotions and human traits.
"We didn't know any better, babe. We were what we were. If you've never had a life, you can't miss not having one."
At the fear that leap to life in her, he caught her chin. "They can't have me back. I have a life now. One I'm not willing to sacrifice so I'll give them no choice but to let me go. Let us go."
His brother's felt the same way he did.
"Then let's get this over with. Grab the truck keys. No way we're taking the dorkmoble to an invasion of the body snatcher meeting. I still can't believe that these so-called presidents are just going to borrow some bodies for this thing. That's extremely rude. And wrong."
"Only for the next few days. The bodies won't remember anything, and they'll just be losing a few days. Believe me, this world isn't ready for these four and the presidents won't want to be here until it is. Even when they are ready, they will have to be reborn just like the rest of us had to be. That's the only way for a body to except us."
"Maybe we'll get lucky and they're missing."
"After losing us, believe me, they aren't going to lose these four."