by Amy Richie
"I met Avery at camp," I smoothly lied. "When we were ten."
"That horse camp that her mom made her go to?"
It wasn't a horse camp - it was a fat camp. I almost forgot that I told that lie. "Yeah." I swung my head slightly so my hair fell over my shoulder. "We've kept in touch all these years. So when I heard about what happened I decided to come to town and see for myself."
"There's not much to see. Her mom doesn't even want to have a funeral."
"It must be too sad."
"What kind of a freak doesn't have a funeral for her own daughter?"
"Don't you..." I bit hard on the inside of my cheek.
"What?"
"I was wondering if you recognized this." I held my palm out flat with the earring on it.
"It's not really that pretty," Nina shrugged. "Is it yours?"
She really wasn't that smart, I realized. Why would I come here just to ask her if she recognized my own earring? "It's not mine. Is it yours?"
"No way," she scrunched her nose. "I have better taste than that."
Oh well, I inwardly sighed. I pretty much never really suspected Nina anyways.
Chapter Eight
"Let's not tell Clark what happened in there," I suggested as we made our way back to the car. If he knew I used Laney's body to talk to Nina, he'd be pissed and we'd never hear the end of it.
"He'll ask."
"Let me do the talking."
"Okay," she agreed easily.
I swallowed hard as we reached the car and I pulled open the door. "That was so weird," I sighed, sinking back into the seat of the car.
"How did it go?" Clark instantly wanted to know – just as Laney predicted.
"Mmmm," I shrugged non-committedly. "It was just weird."
"What did she say about the earring?"
"It wasn't hers."
"Did she see you leave the party?"
"Ummm, we didn't really talk about the party."
"Why not?" He pulled away from the curb and began to drive slowly down the street. "Wasn't that the whole point of going to see her?"
"Tyler's house is right up here," I said quickly, trying to change the subject. "Should we stop?"
"I doubt that it's his earring." His face was pinched with irritation. Clark was always irritated about something.
"We could ask about the party," Laney suggested.
“Yeah, good idea.” I pushed my knees against the back of her seat. “I went to the party with him, let's see what he knows.”
Clark pulled up in front of Tyler's house. “Just you two again?”
“Good idea.” Too busy looking at the house, I got out of the car without opening the door.
Laney got out behind me. “Are you ok seeing him?”
“Yeah,” I shrugged roughly, “why wouldn't I be?” I didn't even believe myself. She didn't know me well enough to question the tone.
Setting a brisk pace, me and Laney made our way along a cheesy stone path to Tyler's front door. He answered himself after the first knock.
"Who are you?" he asked briskly.
"Laney."
Not waiting for her permission this time, I took over the conversation. "What happened the night of Jimmy Vale's party?" I demanded through Laney.
Tyler's eyes widened. "What are you talking about?"
"You took Avery to that party, then the two of you fought. What happened after that?"
His brown eyes narrowed. "How do you know that? Who are you?"
"Avery was my friend."
"If she was your friend, I would know who you are."
"I'm sure there's a lot of things you don't know about Avery."
"The cops came around here," Tyler's lips thinned out. "They told me to be sure I told them of anything suspicious."
My nostrils flared. "Are you threatening me right now?" It certainly sounded like a threat.
"I'm just saying."
"I could say the same thing. I know you fought with Avery that night. Did you tell the cops that?"
"You said your name was Laney, right?"
Something about his tone made the hair on my arm stand straight up. Had he always been that creepy?
Without replying, I turned and fled back to the safety of the car. Maybe Clark was right after all. I was beginning to think I was putting Laney in danger.
I SAT IN THE MIDDLE of Clark's bed, staring at my hands. It had been a hard day and we didn't know anything new. I took a deep breath and blew it out loudly.
"You all right Princess?" Clark asked. He was perched on the desk chair, pretending to read some manual that had a lot of words that I didn't understand.
"I don't know."
"You should look on the bright side."
There was a bright side? "I'll be fine," I assured him sullenly. "It's just been a hard day."
That was putting it mildly. It had been a hard week. I should have been getting ready for the start of the school year; cheerleading practice, shopping trips, getting my hair touched up, manicures, and making sure that everything was perfect.
Instead, I was sitting on Clark's bed inside of a dumpy trailer, trying my hardest not to cry. Oh, and I was dead. Where was the bright side that Clark spoke of?
"At least the earring wasn't Nina's," Clark offered, as if he could hear my thoughts. "That means she didn't kill you."
"That only means she has better taste in jewelry," I argued.
"Look," Clark got up from his chair and joined me on the bed, "I wish I could tell you that everything will be alright, but you're already dead so I can't."
Was he going to get all touchy-feely on me? I glanced up at him through my lowered lashes. "I'm not a child, I don't need you to tell me I'll be okay."
"Everyone needs that sometimes."
Okay, so maybe I did.
"Even though I can't tell you it'll be okay, I can tell you this." He turned his body so he was looking directly at me. "We'll find who did this to you."
My eyes stung. Damn it. "Do you think I deserved it?" Oh my word, I was so pathetic. "I know I'm not the nicest person in the world," my voice shook. "Maybe I did something to deserve this."
"No one deserves this." He cupped my face in his large hand so that he could wipe away a tear.
I wanted to pull away from him; my instincts told me to pull away, but I couldn't deny the comfort of his touch. My eyelids closed, pushing out more tears.
"I really am pathetic," I murmured.
Clark's lips pressed gently against my own. "I can feel you," he whispered.
"I can feel you too," I whispered back.
"Do you remember that girl in third grade?"
Clark's question surprised me enough to make my eyes come back open. Was this really the right time to be talking about some girl in third grade? "What girl?"
"The girl with the scar on her face."
I did actually remember that girl. She sat behind me in Mrs. Spencer's class. It pissed me off when all the other girls made fun of her so I told them all off.
"I think she moved away," my forehead creased as I tried to remember. "Why are you bringing her up?"
"I've liked you since then," he admitted, not meeting my eyes.
"Really?"
"You were nice to her when no one else was. I think that's the real you."
We were having a sweet moment, I wasn't going to ruin it by shattering his bubble. That version of me in third grade, who was a little chubby and had thick glasses, was long gone.
Now I was just me, a girl who someone hated enough to murder. For all I knew - I deserved it.
I STRETCHED MY BACK until it arched up from Clark's bed - the same bed I had fallen asleep in the night before. We had one secret kiss, but mostly we just talked until we fell asleep. It was actually kind of perfect.
Where was he now?
Smiling like an idiot, I pressed my face into the pillow. Oh my word.
The sun streamed through the window, bathing my face in warmth. For the first time in days I felt sor
t of happy. Being with Clark was peaceful. He didn't expect anything of me.
Still smiling, I rolled onto my back and pushed myself up from the bed.
Clark's room was neat and put together - surprisingly so. A small stack of books perched on the edge of the desk. I ran my finger along the boring titles. It looked like he was trying to build a car from scratch.
What type of sane person knew how to build a car? No one I knew would even know where to start. I never would have given him enough credit to be smart enough to do it.
I glanced again at the pictures on his stand. The girl standing with him was Laney, I realized. I didn't recognize the background; they must have been in Florida.
The pair were probably having breakfast together now. My face flushed hot at the thought of having to go out there. Laney would know that I spent the night with her brother. Oh my word.
Still, I couldn't just stay in his room all day.
Purely out of nerves, I yanked the door open harder than necessary. The trailer looked empty. The twins were not eating breakfast together.
The only other place that I knew to look for Clark was out by his car. He was always working on that thing. That was why his hands were always dirty. I wasn't sure where Laney was; then again, I wasn't too worried about it.
I let myself out through the front door without opening it. I was starting to get used to that; once I was alive again I wasn't going to want to use door handles.
It turned out that Clark and Laney were both by his car. They seemed to be in a pretty serious conversation. Clark threw his arms wildly in the air, clearly irritated.
Without making a noise, I approached them so I could hear what they were talking about. I stopped at the sound of my name.
"You need to stay away from Avery," Clark was telling his sister.
"But I want to help her."
"You can't help her," he swung his arm around. "She's dangerous."
"She's not going to hurt me."
"She hurts everyone that gets to close."
"She needs us."
"She's using us," he corrected. "That's what Avery does."
I wanted to disappear but it was too late. Laney already spotted me. "Hey," she called me over. "We were just talking about you."
I heard.
Biting my lip, I walked up closer to them. "Hey guys," I greeted half-heartedly. "What were you talking about?" I already knew and I didn't want her to repeat it, but I also didn't want to admit that I heard it all.
"Mom says she needs me to help her today," Laney apologized, "so we thought you and Clark could head out to that cabin where the party was."
"Sounds good," I nodded unenthusiastically.
"We'll take the bike." He didn't give me a chance to argue; he had already swung his leg over the machine before I moved away from Laney. "Ready?" he called over the roar of his bike.
During the ride out to Jimmy Vale's family's cabin, I was grateful for Clark's motorcycle. At least we weren't able to talk.
Everything Clark told me the night before was a lie. He didn't think I was some sweet person, he thought I used people. Why did I have to believe him? And why did it suck so much worse when he lied to me than when Tyler lied to me?
"Is this it?" he asked a short time later, cutting off the engine in front of a small wooden structure. The cabin was half-hidden from the road; a perfect spot surrounded on three sides by woods.
The night of the party, there had been half dressed teens everywhere - all trying to show off for one another. Now there was no one around; not one person except me and Clark.
"This is it," I confirmed shakily. "It's kind of strange to see it this empty."
"Not everyone would have fit inside that cabin," he commented darkly. "If you can't remember where you were the night of the party, it’s going to be pretty hard to find any clues out here."
"I remember some of it," I mumbled. Most of the girls used the bathroom inside the cabin. Flashes of memory stabbed at me. I went in there after the fight. I was crying and I didn't want anyone to see me.
I drifted toward the door now. "We'll need a key to get inside,” Clark pointed out.
"Not me."
I glided through the front door easily, letting my spotty memory lead me back to the bathroom. There was enough sunlight coming through the window to light the place up.
"I threw up that night," I told no one. Dropping to my hands and knees, I searched all around the toilet. There in the corner, in the shadow of the small trash can, was my purse. My heart quickened at the site. A memory was starting to form.
Someone came in; they came in and asked if I was all right. Then they helped me to my feet. I wanted to get my purse but the person kept pulling me backwards.
Who was it?
Not wanting to get Clark in trouble, I left the purse there behind the toilet. The police would find it later; they wouldn't get anything from it.
Still shaken, I left the cabin and rejoined Clark outside.
“Did you find anything?” Clark asked as soon as I went back through the door to where he was waiting for me.
“Not really,” I muttered, shifting my gaze away from him.
“You were in there for a long time,” he grumbled, annoyance making his lips snarl upwards.
“Well what about you?”
“Me what?”
“Did you find anything out here?” Wasn't that the reason he came? To help? “Or am I using you too much by asking you to look?”
Clark's eyes narrowed. “What's your problem? You found something, didn't you?” He peered around me, as if he could see through the cabin wall.
“My problem?” Grinding my back teeth together, I crossed my arms angrily.
“I can tell that something happened,” he continued. “You might as well just tell me what you found.”
“I'm just mad that you made Laney stay back today. Why do you always have to boss her around?” My voice was raising dangerously.
Clark made a gagging noise in the back of his throat. “Are you kidding me right now?” he sputtered.
“No.”
“For one,” he held up one finger, “I didn't tell her she had to stay. And two,” the second finger sprung up, “it's none of your business if I did tell her that.”
“I heard everything you told her.”
“This is not a conversation for us to be having out here.” His lips pressed together to form a stiff line. “Let's get out of here.”
“We don't need to have this conversation anywhere.” What did I care what he told his sister? “Like you said, it's none of my business.”
“Let's go,” he said again.
“We came here to look for clues. I'm not leaving until we find something useful.” Did Clark Daniels really think he could just push me around and I would do whatever he said? Just because I was dead didn't mean I was a doormat.
“I don't know why you have to make everything so difficult for me,” he hissed through clenched teeth.
“Difficult for you?” I was the one who was getting all emotional over the creepiest guy in our whole school. I was the one who was murdered. I was the one looking for clues to prove someone I knew had stabbed me to death. Yeah, I inwardly huffed, I could definitely see how this was all about him.
“You're a ghost,” he flung his hand in my direction. “If the cops show up here, guess who they find lurking around in a place he shouldn't be in?” His fingers changed direction to press into his own chest.
“Then why don't you just leave?” Heaving my hands onto my hips, I tilted my head slightly – fully prepared for a fight. “Run back to your room and get all freaky with your pictures.”
“What pictures?” His forehead crinkled.
“Everyone knows you snuck into the girl’s locker room to take pictures of us while we changed. It's common knowledge,” I sneered haughtily.
Clark turned away from me and swung himself onto the back of his bike, staring straight ahead. “Get on the bike, Avery.”
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“No way. I'm not going anywhere with Clark Can't.”
When he looked at me again, his face was a hard mask. “This is why no one likes you for real.”
It was too late now to take back what I'd said. “You're just mad because I never liked you back. For all I know, you're the one that killed me.”
“And for all I know, you really did deserve to be killed.” With that, he shifted his bike into gear and rode away – leaving me standing there alone.
"Whatever," I grumbled into the empty air. I didn't need Clark Daniels when I was alive and I refused to need him when I was dead. It wasn't like he was really helping me anyways; he was mostly just confusing me. Making me think that I liked him.
It was kind of crappy that he left me out here all alone though.
"Whatever," I grumbled again.
Irritated at Clark for leaving me and even more irritated at myself for caring, I stomped away from the relative safety of the cabin and wandered into the nearby woods.
I hadn't walked far when I came to a small cluster of tree trunks that had been situated into a circle. I plopped down heavily onto the nearest one. Although I wasn't much of an outdoors kind of girl, this wasn't really so bad.
Sniffing lightly, I took a deep breath of fresh air and let it out again heavily.
“What are you doing out here alone?”
“What?” I spun around, trying to see who was talking. I thought I was alone out here. Did Clark come back?
“It's not safe out here at night.”
“It's...” I glanced up at the sky to be sure, “it's not night.”
“Where are your friends?”
“I don't know.”
That was my voice. What the hell? The world around me suddenly went dark; when my eyes adjusted themselves, I realized I was looking at myself sitting on another of the tree stumps but I wasn't alone. I was wearing the dress from that night. “Oh my word.”
“They just left you out here by yourself?” The shadowed form tsked slightly.
“I'm going to go find them,” my words slurred together. “I just needed some air.”
