The Curse of Jenny Greene

by Kimberly Loth

  Plus, where was our relationship? Was I his girl? Earlier that day, I’d eagerly climbed into his lap.

  He laughed outright.

  “What?” I demanded, frowning.

  “I can see those wheels in your head turning. You’re thinking hard about something. It’s written all over your face.” He pressed his forehead to mine.

  “Oh,” I said, breathless.

  “Crazy day, huh.” His breath on my cheek sent shivers down my spine.

  “It was.”

  “Wanna tell me what you were thinking about?” he asked. I was so thankful for the dying light. My cheeks were probably the same color as a boiled lobster.

  “Nothing much,” I said and was super proud that my voice didn’t squeak. I wasn’t about to fess up that I’d been thinking about being in his lap or how his breath on my skin made me tingle.

  He laughed.

  “Well, if you don’t tell me something, I’m going to kiss you again. It would be a shame to waste such a romantic setting.”

  “Um . . .” I couldn’t think of a thing to say. I knew we’d learned a lot today and had plenty to talk about, to strategize, but honestly, my mind was blank.

  He leaned back just enough to look at me. His eyes widened when I slid my arms up and entwined them around his neck. I’d surprised him. I’d surprised myself, too, finding that I liked the giddy feeling settling in my stomach like butterflies on steroids.

  “All right, then,” he said with a smile and lowered his head.

  My eyes drifted closed as his lips met mine. The touch was simple and gentle at first, but then he bit my bottom lip, and his hands were in my hair, and we kissed each other again and again as if there wasn’t anything else we needed to be doing.

  His warm hands found their way under my coat and touched the bare skin of my back where my shirt had ridden up. He pressed his open palm into the small of my back and kissed a path from the corner of my mouth to my ear. My skin tingled everywhere he touched.

  Both of us were breathing heavily as I dropped my head onto his shoulder. He kissed my neck.

  “Seriously, I could kiss you all day.” His voice was rough. I loved that I could thrill him. It excited me that I had the same effect on him as he did on me.

  My phone buzzed, and I jumped at the loud Peanuts ringtone going off in my pocket. I sighed and pulled away from him. Foster let me go, but my skin cooled where it had once been warm from his touch.

  “Hey, Dad,” I said.

  “Hey, you coming home for dinner?” I could hear the worry in his tone.

  “Yeah, I was just heading that way.” I smiled sadly at Foster. He winked.

  “See ya in a few.”

  I hung up and noticed that I had a new text message.

  It was from Max.

  Can get you into storage tomorrow at 2 pm.

  I read the text aloud.

  “Oh, good, another day off school.” Foster grinned.

  “We should at least go for the morning classes,” I said.

  “Such a rule follower.” Foster rolled his eyes.

  I sent Max a quick text saying I’d be there and didn’t mention my tagalong.

  “Come on.” I pulled on Foster’s arm. “Take me home.”

  Our return trip was quick. Foster drove with much more focus than he had when we’d meandered through town.

  “Promise me something,” he said when we were a few blocks from my house.

  “What?”

  “Don’t go anywhere tonight.” He glared at me for a second.

  “Do you think she’ll strike again tonight?” I asked, unsure what I could do about it anyway. Maybe I’d go sit outside Alex’s house. If there were six kids, and three had already been taken, that left three more. Still, though, Sam didn’t fit the mold. Our family wasn’t on that list. Would Jenny take seven this time?

  “I don’t know, but if last night taught us anything, it’s that Greenteeth will only change course and go after another kid if she’s interrupted,” said Foster. He was totally right. I hadn’t done much except change which family now grieved.

  “Promise me.” Foster reached over and took one of my hands. “Please.”

  “I promise,” I said. Until I could find a way to defeat Greenteeth for good, maybe I shouldn’t get in the way.

  “Thank you.” Foster swerved into the driveway. “Should I pick you up in the morning?”

  Sheldon was gone. Dad must have had him towed to a garage, but there was a little red Ford Focus. A rental car, I assumed. I had a ride. But I kinda liked being chauffeured by Foster. Besides, we were going to the paper storage building tomorrow. It’d be easier if we carpooled.

  “Yeah, that’d be fine.” I opened the passenger door, but Foster latched onto my arm and pulled me back for a quick kiss, and I smiled against his mouth.

  “Sleep well, Popsicle,” he said with one last kiss. “Text me if you need anything.”

  “Will do.”

  I patted the hood of the rental as I walked by. I’d call her Cherry. I didn’t hear Foster’s car pull out until after I’d shut the front door.

  Chapter 32

  Dinner turned out to be just me and dad eating a pizza in front of Law and Order reruns. Connor was down for the night, and Mom had taken some medicine and gone to bed early.

  “How was it today?”

  I knew Dad was asking about my visit to Garner’s.

  “Intense. His mom was sedated, and I think they were going to do the same with his grandma.” I took a swig of Sprite. “Did you know Della Hanes and Gram used to be good friends when they were my age?”

  Dad nodded and wiped his mouth.

  “That’s part of the reason we moved here,” he said, “so she could be near her friends.”

  “It didn’t bother you to leave your life behind to come sit by the sea and wait for her to die?” I asked, my tone bitter.

  Dad’s eyes widened in surprise.

  “No, kid. It didn’t. Doesn’t. I love your Gram. She gave up a lot to help your mom and me over the years. It was the least I could do. She’s like my own mom.”

  Dad had worked in finance for a corporation in Pennsylvania. He used to crunch numbers all day; now he ran a ship museum. I don’t think any of us ever asked him if that change was okay.

  “Once she’s gone, do you think we’ll go back to Pennsylvania?” I asked as if discussing Gram’s death was an everyday thing.

  “She wasn’t the only reason we came here.” Dad set his plate on the coffee table and leaned back with a sigh.

  I followed suit and put my half-eaten pizza down too. I sensed he was about to share something big. “What?”

  “Your mom wanted to be the one to tell you. But situations never go as planned, do they? He didn’t want to be included, and Gram wouldn’t go see him.” Dad shook his head.

  “Who?”

  Dad sighed again. He sounded so heavy under the burden of being my only functioning parent.

  “Do you know that crazy guy who lives out in the lighthouse?” he asked.

  “Mr. Jennings?” I nearly choked on my Sprite.

  “Yeah, him.” Dad tapped his fingers on his knee. A nervous habit. This wasn’t a conversation he wanted to have.

  “He and Gram used to be sweethearts,” I said.

  “You know half this story already.” Dad laughed, and his shoulders relaxed a bit. He appeared relieved, but now I was the one getting nervous.

  “He’s your mom’s . . .” Dad paused. “Well, he’s your grandfather.”

  Crabby old Mr. Jennings was my grandpa. I’d had a feeling that’s where Dad was going as soon as he mentioned the old man. Then a piece of the puzzle fell into place: Greenteeth had taken Sam because he was a Jennings descendant.

  “Mom came here to be near him?” I asked.

  “Sorta.” Dad shrugged. “He doesn’t want to get to know her.”

  “He’s not a Sunday dinner kind of guy,” I said and earned a surprised look. “I went out there. Earlie
r this week.”

  “Did you know?” Dad asked, his face now sporting a smile. “I should have expected you’d figure it out.”

  “I didn’t know he was Mom’s dad.” It felt weird even saying that. “But I knew he was an old beau of Gram’s. I invited him to come see her. He said no.”

  “I think it must have been a very painful situation for them. Gram tried to visit him. It didn’t work out. He wouldn’t come to the door.” Dad draped an arm around me, and I leaned into his side with my head on his shoulder.

  “Has Mom?”

  Dad shook his head. “Not yet.”

  “She should,” I said. “Maybe it would help them both. I think if he’d come see Gram, he might find a little peace. Do you know what happened between them?”

  “I don’t.” Dad kissed my forehead. “Would you go with your mom? To help break the ice since you’ve already met him and all?”

  “Of course. He can be scary at first. Though, he’s just lonely.” Then I remembered something. “He asked about Mom. When I was out there. We might have to drag him kicking and screaming to Sunday dinner after all.”

  We both smiled. Maybe we could help Mom soothe the death of one parent by giving her a relationship with the other. Not that Mr. Jennings could ever replace Gram, but he could give Mom some measure of comfort.

  By the time the Law and Order episode was over, Dad had started to snore, and I waved him off to bed and then cleaned up.

  I was too restless to sleep, so I ended up in Gram’s room, curled up in the chair beside her bed.

  “Gram, what did you see in Mr. Jennings? I hope he was dashing and romantic all those years ago.”

  I yawned and reached for a blanket.

  “He was just as dashing as that boy you’ve been kissing.” Gram sat on the edge of the bed. I shot up out of the chair.

  “Don’t scare me like that,” I shouted.

  I must have fallen asleep. Gram’s body was still tightly tucked in under her covers while she sat nearby, wearing her housecoat.

  These dreams were going to start messing with my head.

  “Oh, sit down,” she grumbled, motioning with a wave of her hand.

  “What’s bitten you?” I snapped, but I did comply.

  “I told you to let all this Greenteeth mess go.” She crossed her arms and frowned at me.

  “And then you told me to go talk to Mr. Jennings.” I laughed. “Did you ever talk to the thing you pulled from the ocean?”

  “Talk to it? Heavens no.”

  So, Titan hadn’t been so chatty with her.

  “But then I wasn’t all caught up with that boy.”

  “I assume you mean Foster, and I don’t know what he has to do with it,” I said. She snorted.

  “I’m meeting with someone from the newspaper tomorrow, and he’s going to let us look at the archives. Then on Saturday, Foster and I are going out to the sea cave.”

  Gram’s eyes grew big. “Please don’t go there.”

  “Why not?”

  “It’s dangerous, and there’s nothing out there,” she said.

  I didn’t believe her.

  “It can’t hurt to look,” I said.

  Gram shook her head. “I do wish you’d stop this nonsense.”

  “I can’t, Gram. If I can’t save Sam . . .” My voice broke. I’d not given much thought to not being able to find him. “Then maybe I can prevent this from happening again.”

  Gram hopped off the bed and perched on the arm of my chair. I rested my head on her thigh, in her lap, like I used to do when I was little. She undid my ponytail and combed her fingers through my hair.

  For the first time in days, maybe months, I felt calm and safe. But I woke up the next morning to Dad shaking my shoulders. Even though I had a terrible kink in my back, I was more rested than I’d been in a long time.

  Chapter 33

  On the drive to school, while sipping my coffee, I told Foster all about my new gramps.

  “That old man?” he asked, shaking his head in disbelief.

  “Gram said he was charming once,” I said and earned myself a sideways glance. “Another dream.” I kind of liked Gram coming to see me at night. It was our stolen time before she left us for good.

  “Plus, it explains our family being on the list,” I said.

  Foster parked up front this time and held my hand on our way inside. Guess there was no hiding it; I was Foster Grimm’s girlfriend. I got scowls a plenty, but strangely, I didn’t care. After all, I was being tormented by a ghost witch. High school girls weren’t quite as terrifying.

  First class of the day was boring and dull. Just as it should have been. For the first time in three days, school felt calm.

  The bell rang, and Lucy Pennington walked into our second period class. Foster, of course, didn’t notice. But I did. She sat in front of her twin, Luke, and across from me. Geez, the girl wore a lot of perfume, and seriously, if she swished her long blonde hair one more time, I was going to find scissors and cut it off.

  “I tested into this class,” she announced as loud as possible without yelling.

  Foster poked me in the back with his pen. I glanced at him, and he rolled his eyes. I felt better, but still, she was kind of intimidating. Her clothes were impeccable and perfectly matched. Nothing like the old Queen T-shirt and jeans I had thrown on this morning. Her hair was shiny. Shiny. How did one get shiny hair? Mine was scrubbed back into a ponytail as usual. I pulled out my phone to text Chi. She’d love this.

  Then I remembered my best friend was mad at me. I hadn’t seen her, Garner, or Leigh Kate yet.

  I shoved the phone back into my pocket and opened my textbook. Lucy stared holes into me, but I decided I wouldn’t let her continue intimidating me. Instead, I turned in my seat and flashed a bright toothy smile at her.

  “Do you have any younger brothers or sisters?” If the Penningtons had a little one, he or she would need protection from Greenteeth.

  Foster groaned from behind me.

  “Why are you speaking to me?” she asked.

  Luke laughed and punched Foster in the arm. “Maybe your girlfriend is a witch, and she wants to put spells on all of our little brothers and sisters. She’s already moved through all her own friends. Now onto those who don’t like her.”

  “You know, Luke, you might be onto something.” Lucy leaned away from me.

  My face grew hot. I spun around to the front of the room and focused on the whiteboard, which wasn’t easy with tears brimming in the corners of my eyes.

  “Damn, Luke,” Foster said, “I didn’t realize you were such an ass.”

  Foster leaned close to me, and then his hand reached down and grasped my cold fingers.

  “What do you see in her?” Lucy asked with a pat to her perfect hair.

  “For one, she’s not a bitch.” Foster stood. “Come on,” he pulled me up from my chair and slung my backpack over his shoulder. I let him lead me out of the classroom. Mr. Harvey was coming in as we were leaving.

  “Going somewhere, Mr. Grimm?”

  “I’m sorry, sir, but Sophie isn’t feeling well, and I’m taking her to the nurse.”

  The teacher patted me on the shoulder and moved out of our way.

  Foster towed me down the hall to the closest girls’ bathroom. He thrust the door open with the confidence of someone who’d spent a lot of time in such places.

  He threw my backpack on the counter and wrapped his arms around me.

  “I’m sorry,” he said into my hair.

  I was trembling. I hated that and wished I could get a handle on my emotions.

  “I only wanted to see if they had a sibling for us to worry about,” I said.

  “I know, Popsicle.”

  He was trying to make me smile. I leaned into him, and he tugged me down to the floor.

  “I knew we shouldn’t have come to school,” he said.

  I faked a laugh. “Can’t skip school forever.”

  He kissed the top of my head and then my f
orehead.

  “I’m sorry. I should have told her to back off when you first mentioned she was bothering you.”

  I pushed back to look at him. “Your friend Luke was even worse.”

  He nodded and pulled me close again.

  The bathroom door banged open.

  “Lucy Pennington is a first-rate bitch.” Chi stopped when she saw us on the floor. “And Luke—”

  “I know,” said Foster. “I have shitty taste in friends.”

  “I got a text from Claire Jones.” Chi knelt and put her hand on my shoulder. I was so glad to see her that I threw myself at her.

  “You don’t think I had anything to do with Chase and Cassie, do you?”

  “Of course not.” Chi was quick to answer, quick to hug me tight. “I do think you know something, and I hope you decide to trust Garner, Leigh Kate, and me.”

  I looked back and forth between them.

  “It’s not pretty,” I told her. Foster nodded. “In fact, it’s totally crazy.”

  “I couldn’t reach you yesterday because there was an invisible wall I couldn’t get around. I think I might believe in a little crazy,” she said. “Plus, Garner said his Gram has been freaking out about a dead witch. Even after they sedated her.”

  I looked at Foster. Maybe Chi could help. I was hoping to get a nod from Foster, or any sort of confirmation to continue, but he wasn’t looking at me.

  “Is Garner here today?” I asked Chi.

  “Yeah, Leigh Kate didn’t come, though. Yesterday upset her too much,” she said.

  “Um, girls?” Foster tugged on my arm. “Does it seem colder in here to you?”

  “This place is always cold.” Chi didn’t spare him a glance. I breathed out to see if I could see my breath. It was just a small puff, not cold enough to be worried about.

  “Will there be any more disappearances?” Chi whispered like saying it aloud would make it a certainty.

  I sighed. “I don’t know.” My opportunity to save those already missing was slipping away. “But I hope not.”

  “Sophie.” Foster pulled on my arm again.