Pi in the Sky Read online

  “What? You’re in a place called the rock-and-roll universe? That sounds made up.”

  “It is made up!” he says, suddenly sounding much clearer. “I made it up. I don’t know what this place is called. But it’s rocking and rolling, and not in a good way. Listen, just let me talk before we lose each other again.”

  I stay silent, afraid to mess up the connection.

  He continues. “I’m in this place—this other universe—and my parents are here, too! There are universes inside other universes, Joss! And next to, and behind. There are universes everywhere! You know how we used to think we could reach them if we could hitch a ride with enough gravitons, and then you and Bren got caught trying? Well, it’s true! Sort of! It’s hard to explain. But it’s real!”

  “I knew it!” I cry, jumping from one foot to the next. “I knew there had to be other universes! What are they like? Does it look like ours? Do they have The Realms there, too? Wait till I tell Bren!”

  “You can’t tell anyone!” Kal says sternly. “I don’t think we’re supposed to be here. I guess since we’re immortal, we had to go somewhere when Earth disappeared, and somehow we wound up here.”

  “Are all the people from Earth with you, too?”

  “No, it’s only us. Listen, my parents said… and… wasn’t what…”

  “Kal!” I start to turn in circles again. “You’re getting all garbled again.”

  “Don’t… other… have to go. Collapsing… slow… think.”

  “What? What’s collapsing? Wait! I’m going to get you back! I have a box of data dots!” I’m aware I’m not making much sense, but I can feel him slipping away so I’m not thinking clearly. “Don’t worry, Kal! I’m going to save you!” I strain my ears to listen hard, but I think he’s gone.

  I keep turning in circles, like that will bring him back. Finally I hear his faint voice say, “Joss! Will keep trying… listen for… drums… wait… don’t!” And then nothing. I’m happy and scared and freaked out all at once. He’s trapped somewhere, but HE’S NOT DEAD. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this relieved. Well, maybe after the cow pie incident ended. It wasn’t very fun being the kid whose best friend was a pile of poop.

  “Hey, ballerina boy!” Annika says, snapping her fingers in front of my face.

  I stop twirling, dizzy now.

  “Come on.” She yanks me by my sleeve toward Lincoln’s nostril. She leaves a trail of water on the floor behind her. She’s wearing one of the shapeless flowery dresses from her closet with the same black clunky boots. It works for her. I’m so relieved about Kal that I could dance. Instead I force myself to act semi-normal because one of us has to. “Where are we going?”

  “You’re taking me to the Afterlives. Let’s get a move on.”

  Gone is the weepy girl from the closet floor. In her place is the one who stomped angrily on an innocent red parka and told my dad to step off.

  Somewhere in between those two extremes would be nice. I pull my arm away as gently as possible. “Your grandmother’s not in the Afterlives anymore. Didn’t Aunt Rae explain all that?” Maybe she’s in shock, that’s why she’s not screaming and crying. I’ve heard of this sort of thing before.

  She nods impatiently. “We’re going to see my grandfather.”

  “We can’t just walk into the Afterlives,” I explain. “They don’t like visitors. We have to find someone to let us in.” Kal used to sneak me in sometimes, but obviously that’s not going to work this time.

  “So?” she asks, tapping her foot. “Find someone.”

  I know only one other person who works there. My brother Ty. He is the head of the Wardrobe and Scenery Department. I don’t relish the idea of asking him for a favor, but once I start going through the holofilms I’m going to be asking a lot of people for a lot of favors, so I might as well start now. “Fine, let’s go.”

  “Wait,” Aunt Rae says, stopping us at the door. “Here, you’ll need this.” She hands me a bucket of water.

  “When Annika starts to dry off, you’ll have to dump this on her. This one will last longer. It’s supersaturated.”

  “Really?” I ask, unable to keep the grin from spreading on my face. “I can just dump this on her head?”

  “Don’t look so excited,” Annika says, tugging me through the nostril.

  “I’ll work on another solution while you’re gone,” Aunt Rae calls after us.

  “No rush,” I call back. First Kal’s not dead, then I’m granted permission to dump a bucket of water on someone’s head without getting in trouble. Things are finally looking up!

  “Oomph,” Annika grunts, tripping right over the garden gnome, still parked in front of the nose. I put down the bucket and catch her before she hits the ground. We have very fast reflexes in The Realms.

  She’s slippery, but I hold on and quickly help her regain her balance. “Sorry,” I say. “I should have moved that.” I’d forgotten how good the solidity of her arms feels. She shakes her arm free of my grip, plops right down on the grass next to Lincoln’s beard, and glares up at me.

  I kneel beside her. “I said I was sorry. You don’t have to look at me like I just stole your new puppy.”

  “It’s not the gnome. I’m mad that you didn’t tell me the truth. You let me go on thinking all this came from my imagination.” She waves her hands wildly at the dome houses, the colorful sky. “I mean seriously, clouds in every color of the rainbow? I’m supposed to make something like that up?”

  “I didn’t want to keep lying,” I say, hoping she hears the sincerity in my voice. “I really didn’t. Ask Gluck.”

  “Who’s Gluck?”

  “The guy whose face looks like the inside of a garbage disposal?”

  She wrinkles her nose. “Oh, that guy.”

  I shrug. “He’s not so bad, actually. He’s the only one trying to help me make things right.”

  “What do you mean, make things right?”

  “I’m going to bring back Earth,” I tell her, sounding way more confident than I actually feel. “And the sun. And your whole solar system.”

  “We’re going to bring it back,” she corrects me. “I’m the one who lost everything and everyone I ever cared about. I’m not leaving that job to some strange boy whose head is slightly too big for his body.”

  My hands fly up to the sides of my head. “My head’s not too big for my body!”

  She shrugs.

  “Yours is too small!”

  “That’s the best comeback you have?” she asks. “That my head is too small?”

  We glare at each other. My good mood is souring. I stand up. “Let’s go. I want to get this done as quickly as you do.”

  She doesn’t move. This girl is trying my patience.

  “Why do you care about making anything right, anyway?” she snaps. “You could just go on your merry way and forget about my tiny little planet.”

  “No, I can’t.”

  “Why?”

  I glance back at the house. Now that Aunt Rae’s hearing’s fixed, I have to watch what I say around her. “I’ll tell you while we walk.” I turn to pick up the box of data dots that I’d left by the door. Only it’s not there!

  I run, frantic, from one side of Lincoln’s face to the other. “It’s not here!”

  “What’s not here?” Annika asks, jumping to her feet. “What’s wrong?”

  “The box of films. All my data dots! It was right here, next to the gnome!”

  “What are data dots?”

  “Holographic films of the history of your planet. They were our one chance at making this work. I had them, and now they’re gone.”

  “What do they look like?”

  I lift up the gnome, as though the box could be hidden there. “Like the buttons on your dress.”

  “Like this?” she asks, reaching down and plucking a single data dot from the Earth-like grass that still covers Aunt Rae’s lawn.

  I grab for it. “Yes!”

  We both drop to our knees, but after