by Amy Richie
Pursing my lips, I raised my chin slightly. I had said a lot of things before, he needed to be a little clearer. "Oh yeah?"
"I know you're mad."
"I have good reason to be."
"I know." His face scrunched dramatically.
"I know all this has to be really hard for you and I'm... making it so much worse."
"You don't make it worse," I rolled my eyes.
"No," he denied, "I know I do."
"Everything is confusing."
"Tell me about it," he muttered. "It is for me to."
"Yeah."
"I like you and I don't know what to do with that."
"Because I'm dead?" My bottom lip quivered.
"Because you're Avery Lewis. The laws of nature dictate that you and I don't talk."
"We can make our own rules." My lips pursed out. "I like you too, Clark. I don't know what's happening to me and I don't know what's going to happen after I find out who killed me, but I do know that I like you."
"That's good enough for me." He crossed the space that separated us and wrapped his arms around me. "We don't have to know everything, Princess. We'll figure it out as we go."
It wasn't very comforting, but it was enough for me to.
"HOW DO WE FEEL ABOUT this hair?" Lindsey asked, curling one of Laney's stray hairs around her finger.
"It's good," Laney immediately replied. She stared into Lindsey's full-length mirror at herself in my prom dress from last year. The silver material hugged her hips perfectly on its way to the floor.
"Not you," Lindsey scowled. "Ask Avery what she thinks."
"Tell her to calm down," I breathed calmly. "Your hair is perfect."
Laney's hair might have been perfect but her nerves were jumping all over the place. Her lips were actually shaking. I wasn't entirely sure she was going to be able to make it through the party, so Lindsey needed to back off.
"She said it's fine, Laney gasped. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"
"Of course," Lindsey snapped. "You need a necklace, I'll be right back."
"I don't like parties." Laney was practically panting when Lindsey left the room.
"You'll be fine as long as you remember to breathe." I brushed her hair off of one shoulder.
Even though I couldn't make contact with most of the world anymore, I still could with Clark and Laney. For some reason, the rules didn't seem to apply to them. I wasn't even sure their dad could see me anymore. I was disappearing.
"Can you just do the party for me," she pleaded. "You would do a much better job getting information from Tyler."
"Here we go," Lindsey declared, bouncing into the room holding a necklace that I recognized. "This was a gift from Tyler," she grinned. "Tell Avery to close her mouth, this is more important than her secrets."
How the hell did Lindsey know about that? What else did she know? Oh my word.
“Alright bitches." Lindsey pushed Laney out of her way with one hip and fixed her fake eyelashes. "It's time for the birthday girl to get to her party." With one last layer of lip gloss, she dramatically left the room. "See you girls down there," she called from the doorway.
"I can't go down there," Laney whimpered.
"You can, Laney. You look amazing."
She wiggled in front of the mirror. "I look like a seventh grader going to her first dance." Her shoulders sank so low, I thought she was going to fall over. "You have to take over for me."
"I want you to go to the party though." She had never been to a party before. I knew she was nervous but was it fair to deprive her of the experience at all? "No one will bite you, I promise."
"But everyone will stare."
"Because you're new."
"You like when people stare at you," she ran her hands nervously down the dress, "I hate it."
I sighed deep in my chest. It wasn't easy for me to understand Laney. I would give anything to be able to go to the party in my own body, in my own dress. It made me sad how easy it was for her to give up the opportunity.
"If you really don't want to go, I'll do it."
"You will?" Her eyes lit up.
"We need to be able to talk to Tyler tonight." If that meant that I would have to take over Laney's body to get it done, then so be it.
It was getting easier to take over her body. Staring out at me from the mirror was Laney's face. It was strange; I could see myself in there too but her face was more dominant. Like an old TV that was flickering between images.
Shaking my head, I slicked down a few loose hairs and hurried out of Lindsey's room.
The music was already in full swing by the time I reached the steps. The hottest kids from my school were milling around the living room, broken into groups of two and three wearing their best dresses and ties.
Despite the circumstances, mom had outdone herself this year on Lindsey's party. Perhaps she wanted to show the world that she wasn't broken after all.
Even though I was in a borrowed body, I almost felt like I was alive again. This was the exact life I had been ripped out of. The tiny glasses of nonalcoholic champagne twinkled in the low hanging lights as people brought them to their smiling lips. They knew they were special – it was the same as I had always known.
Except for one small change.
My eyes were not scanning the room for my cute quarterback boyfriend. Tyler was my target at the party, I knew that. Still, I wasn't looking for him. My heart wasn't fluttering for him the way it used to. No, not tonight.
I was searching the room for Clark Daniels.
A warmth spread through me when I finally spotted him. He hoovered over the food table, looking adorably awkward. I watched him until he looked up and saw me. A hundred silent words passed between us; I had never felt so close to another person.
Happy to the point of foolishness, I bounced the rest of the way down the steps and made my way through the crowd to join Clark. “Imagine meeting you here,” I laughed, touching the center of his back.
“That is not the dress we picked out.”
“You don't like it?” I did a half spin for him.
“It's um...” he cleared his throat, “it's pretty.”
The width of my smile made my eyes crinkle at the corners. “I'm glad we decided not to tell people we were twins.”
Clark jabbed his fingers into my stomach playfully. “Me to; if they thought we were related, they'd be calling Jerry Springer.”
“I've always wanted to be on a talk show,” I giggled.
“Being in love with a ghost might get me there too,” he scoffed sarcastically.
“Love?” My ears felt hot suddenly.
“You know what I mean.” But his cheeks were bright too.
A group of girls next to us laughed behind their hands, giving a dirty look to Clark. “Do you need something?” I demanded haughtily. The girls left without saying anything.
"Glad to see you're finally here," Lindsey came between me and Clark. "Is Avery here?"
"It's me, Linds." I took a second to wink at Clark.
"Thank goodness," she groaned dramatically. "I was hoping you would be the one to come down those steps. Laney is pretty enough but these people would have chewed her up."
"That's what she thought too."
"Smart girl." Her eyes dropped down to take in Clark's hand against my elbow. "Tell me Clark Can't," she huffed.
My tongue clicked against the roof of my mouth.
"...when you look at her, do you see my sister or yours?"
"I see Avery."
"Hmmm." Her lips pursed out as she continued to glare at him. "You're awfully lucky that no one here knows Laney."
"I don't care what people think."
"Obviously."
"Leave him alone," I scowled.
"I don't know what the hell happened to you," she turned her stink face to me.
"I got stabbed. It sort of changes your perspective."
"Clark Daniels?"
"Yep."
"Just be careful
. I can do a lot for Laney but I don't want you to ruin her completely."
"Why would she care if these stuck up...?"
"We're trying to find who killed Avery," she reminded him. "Laney's face needs to be able to walk through this crowd."
Lindsey had a point, clearly.
"Just," she crinkled her nose, "go dance and pretend you're having fun." She gave Clark one more body check, then twirled away from us.
"That was...intense." Clark laughed uncomfortably.
"Oh." I wriggled both my eyebrows at him as a song with a fast tempo came on. "I love this song. Would you care to dance?"
"I'm not really much of a dancer." He cringed away from me.
"You just have to move your body," I winked.
"You go." His nose scrunched up. "I don't like to ... dance."
"We don't have to dance," I assured him, clutching his arm. "It's fine to just hang out here."
Most of the living room had been transformed into a dance floor; it was filling up quickly. Everyone was eager to press their bodies up against each other. "You should go," he insisted. "I'll wait for you here."
"Suit yourself." I did a small curtsy and made my way out to the dance floor.
Although I wanted to dance with him, I knew Clark was uncomfortable here. He kept tugging on the tie and rolling his shoulders. It made him all the more endearing that he had come anyways, for me and Laney.
"Hey cutie," a familiar voice said close to my ear.
"Tyler!" For a moment I forgot. For just one moment, I was Avery again and he was just Tyler. I wasn't dead and he didn't kill me.
But the moment didn't last long.
"I seen you over there talking to Clark."
"Yeah?"
"What's that about?"
"We're friends," I shrugged.
"You want to be careful with that one."
Wasn't that like calling the kettle black, or however the saying went? "Why?"
"I don't like to spread rumors..."
Of course he did.
"... But he was caught in the girl’s locker room. Taking pictures." Tyler held his arms out in a wide shrug.
"You know how small towns are," I shrugged back, "rampant with rumors." Pretty sure I started that one.
"It's hard to hear anything over this music," Tyler yelled dramatically. "You want to go get some air?"
My heart began a steady staccato in my chest. I knew what going outside with Tyler would mean to him. How many times had he given me this same exact spiel? Many times.
The song ended and an eerie silence filled the room. My eyes locked with Tyler's. He was so close to me, I could feel his breath against my face. This was it - was I ready?
"Hey kids," Lindsey joined us on the dance floor before I had made up my mind.
"Lindsey."
"I'll catch you later." Tyler tapped my arm and hurried away.
"He was in a hurry to get away."
"You scare him."
"Pfft," she scoffed. "I'm not scary."
"Have you met you?" Tyler couldn't face his dead girlfriend's sister while he was hitting on someone else. Especially not at her party.
"Even more proof that he has something to hide." Her teeth worked furiously against her bottom lip. "I'm going to go look for slut-face Cassie Andrews. See you."
Smiling to myself, I moved off the dance floor and stood next to the wall. Lindsey was such a bully but she had style. The world seemed to move itself to get in line with her, she had her own gravity.
It was so annoying. She interrupted at the worst time.
I needed to get Tyler on his own if I planned to get any real information from him. He might be dangerous, I still wasn't sure if he was the killer, but he wouldn't do anything here. There were too many witnesses.
I craned my neck, searching the crowd for him. I was positive that I could get him to go outside with me if I could just get a chance to ask.
"You looking for me, Princess?"
My lips curved upwards at the sound of Clark's greeting. "Of course," I lied smoothly. I spun around to face him. "Are you having a good time?"
"Not really," he teased, tapping the tip of my nose with one finger. "Are you?"
"The dress is pretty."
"Uh-oh."
"I just..." It was hard to explain to him how I felt.
"Avery."
"Don't call me that," I shushed him playfully. "Someone will hear you."
"I can't call you Laney," his eyes went wide, "it's too weird."
I laughed at his expression. "I think it'll be weirder to explain why you're calling out a dead girl's name."
"I really hate explaining myself to people."
That was true. Clark was always getting into trouble with the teachers at school. Maybe he liked getting in trouble. I liked for people to notice me too, I just had a different approach.
A slow song started up. A few at a time, people drifted towards the dance floor. It was hard to pass up the chance to hold someone close.
"You want to dance to this one?" I didn't look up at him, I didn't want him to see how much I wanted to dance with him.
"What if I step on your feet?" He glanced down at my silver pointed shoes.
"It's ok, I'll try not to give you a hard time."
"Well," he grinned mischievously, "you can if you want to."
"Come on." I grabbed his hand and pulled him out with me.
Clark didn't need any prompting on the dancing. He wrapped his long arms around me and pulled me close to his chest. I inhaled deeply, he smelled so good.
"Dancing isn't so bad, really." Clark's voice rumbled in his chest, vibrating against my ear.
"I don't think I've ever enjoyed dancing this much," I purred back.
If only I were still alive, me and Clark would have our whole senior year together. Prom. He looked good in a suit; if I could see that, I could make my friends see that too. A little bit of TLC and he would fit right in. I sighed into his chest, completely content.
The song ended all too soon and Clark practically ran back to the food table with excuses of being thirsty on his cute lips. It was alright though, I wasn't mad.
Hugging my arms around my stomach, my smile almost got out of control. I was so lucky now that I was dead.
As that thought sank further into my thoughts, my smile faded. Lucky that I was dead?
Chapter Six
The music changed to a faster song, probably my dad's urging. I couldn't wipe the smile off my face as I watched Clark sipping his punch awkwardly. He was so amazing.
Across the room, Tyler had met up with Cassie. My giggle froze on my lips. They looked like they were in the middle of a pretty heated argument.
Tyler sure did love to make a scene at parties. What were they fighting about? I'd guess it was about Laney. His hands were all over me on the dance floor.
I couldn't hear them though, I couldn't tell what they were talking about at all. I was missing out on a good opportunity.
As if I were the hero in a cheesy spy movie, I crouched low and shuffled to the wall so they wouldn't see me. Keeping as low as possible, I moved closer to where they were arguing. Every so often her hands would flail dramatically and I would freeze where I stood.
I was able to hide behind a few girls that were standing close to Tyler and Cassie. They were watching the two fight, laughing behind their hands at them. It was good to see their little smirks and condescending eyes. I would have been giving the same looks.
However, I couldn't hear anything while I was crouching there.
Almost directly behind Cassie was a tall window that went practically from ceiling to floor. The heavy tan curtains were pulled over to reveal that someone had opened the glass.
If I went outside now, I could run around to that window and hear what they were saying. I'd have to be quick.
I was pretty sure no one noticed me as I scurried to the front door and slipped outside. Everyone was too worried about themselves and whoever they were dancin
g with to care what I was doing.
Stepping off the porch, I made an immediate left and found the open window easily. This was my house- of course I knew it well. I was alone on this side of the house and no one could see me so there was no need to be careful. I just needed to be careful of making too much noise.
Breathing too heavily, I pressed myself close to the side of the house so I could hear what was being said inside. Cassie's voice floated out clearly.
"Why did you come here?" she demanded angrily.
"How could I not?" I didn't need to see his face to know he was doing that top lip flip he did when he was irritated.
"This house?" she hissed.
What was wrong with our house? Cassie didn't even want to start insulting anything of mine.
"Everyone is here," Tyler pointed out aggressively.
"I want to leave."
"We can not leave this party."
"Why not?"
"It's social suicide."
He wasn't wrong. Lindsey could make or break their senior year if she wanted to. Walking out on her birthday party would be the fuel she needed. Tyler knew that; Cassie knew it too. So why did she want to leave so bad? Guilty much?
"I don't even care anymore," her voice exploded with volume.
"You should be..."
"Be afraid of Lindsey Lewis?" She barked a short laugh. "I guess so, she's just as bad as Avery."
"Avery is dead."
"How Avery used to be," she corrected forcefully.
My mouth felt very dry as I fought to control my breathing.
She hated me and look what happened to me. Now she hated Lindsey too, should I be worried about my sister? Yes.
It was more important now to prove Tyler and Cassie had killed me. I was already dead, I didn't want the same thing to happen to my sister.
Gritting my teeth, I leaned closer to the window. I had to hear what else she said. The heels on my shoes helped get me closer to the murdering duo.
"Don't talk about Avery."
Finally, Tyler was showing some loyalty to me.
"Not here where someone can hear you."
Maybe not.
"I'm leaving," Cassie hissed. "Neither one of us should be here after what we did."
I sucked in my breath. This was it.
