“What’s with your headband?” asked Maura.
My headband had slid onto my forehead, and a row of daisies rested on my eyebrows. Nick had upset me so much that I hadn’t even noticed a major headband malfunction.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I muttered under my breath to Nick.
Maura eyed me, confused. “I just did.”
“I meant, why didn’t someone tell me sooner?” I gave her a weak grin.
She didn’t seem convinced, and throughout lunch, Nick did everything he could to annoy me. He repeated every word that came out of Maura’s mouth, like a weird, ghostly echo. He sat on Jessica’s lap. He stretched out across the table and mocked us, especially when the girls asked me about Josh.
“My friend from Baldwin said that Josh would totally go to prom with you,” said Maura.
“Totally,” said Nick, in a nasal, annoying voice. He was on his side with his head propped on his hand. I had to crane my neck to see Maura over him.
“Seriously?” I tried hard to sound extra enthusiastic, and Maura looked at me oddly. Not surprisingly, it was extremely difficult to hold a normal conversation while a ghost lounged on the cafeteria table, letting out a continuous stream of snarky comments.
“Uh, yes,” said Maura. “Is there something wrong with your neck? “I shook my head, but she seemed unconvinced. “Anyway, he wants to ask you out, but didn’t want you to feel any pressure due to the whole life saving thing.”
“I felt exactly the same way. And he’s so perfect. My ideal guy.”
Going out with Josh could be a great distraction from all my problems. I’d dated a few guys at my school, but I’d never liked anyone enough to go out with them more than once or twice. Josh had long-term potential.
Nick covered his face with his hands, moaning like he was in pain. “My ideal guy? Do people honestly talk like this?” He peeked out from between his fingers. “Oh. I get it. You’re Lily White. Never been kissed. You’re like a Vestal Virgin or something.”
“Shut up.” I glared at him, and the table got abnormally quiet. I cringed, realizing they thought I’d told Maura’s salad to stop talking, and Nick burst out laughing.
“Are you okay Lily?” asked Jess, rubbing my arm.
“I’m fine,” I said with the falsest of false smiles. “I meant, shut up because I’m so excited about prom. And about Josh.”
One of the blobs flew in Jessica’s nose and out her ear. Another perched between Maura’s significant breasts. Suddenly, I needed to get out of the cafeteria. I jumped to my feet, almost knocking over a freshman walking behind me.
“Excuse me,” I said, as Maura and Jessica eyed me with concern. “I’m okay. I need a little air. It’s hot in here. I’ll be right back.”
I walked as fast as I could out the door of the cafeteria and into the grassy commons. Nick followed close on my heels, and I understood why the girl in China had lost her mind.
“Stop it,” I said through clenched teeth as Nick circled around to face me, He came to a stop, and the blobs all froze in mid-air behind him. I guess even they recognized a girl on the edge. I pointed my finger at them.
“This ends right now. I will help all of you, but you’ve got to give me a little space.”
Nick looked around. “All of us?”
He still couldn’t see the blobs, but they could see him. They clung to his black shirt like he might protect them. From me. Ridiculous.
“Yes, you and all the other spirits. You aren’t the only one, Nick. I’m being haunted by a whole herd of ghosts, which is why I’m going little nuts right now.”
He shoved his hands into his pockets, his dark hair falling across his forehead. “I’m not a ghost, Lily.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever. I said I’d help you, and I meant it, but I can’t do this at school, okay?”
“I think I understand why.” He bit his lip to hold back a smile and stared at a point right over my shoulder. I winced, knowing that someone else must have heard my tirade. I turned around to see Maura and Jessica behind me, both on the verge of tears, and Mrs. O’Leary, the lunch lady, wringing a dishcloth worriedly in her hands.
“See you later, Lily. Good luck with the guidance counselor,” said Nick, giving me a little wave before he disappeared.
I frowned. “Guidance counselor?”
“Yes, dearie,” said Mrs. O’Leary. She gently placed a large, soft arm around my shoulders. “You need to have a visit with Ms. Petties.”
They marched me straight to the guidance office. Mrs. O’ Leary went in first, and I could hear the murmurs of her conversation with Ms. Petties through the door. A few minutes later, Ms. Petties called me back, her warm brown eyes full of concern. A chain made of colorful beads trailed from the ends of her tortoise shell glasses, so that she could wear them like a necklace when she didn’t need them. I’d made that chain for her at camp a few years ago.
Ms. Estelle Petties, with her meticulously styled hair and dark, glowing skin, radiated warmth and understanding, and she always had perfect nails. She was the one who’d introduced me to Mr. Wan in the first place, and she’d always had a soft spot for me.
“Lily, child, what is going on?” She sat behind her desk with her hands folded on her lap. “Please don’t tell me its drugs, girl. That would be going straight into a dark place without a lantern, and you have always been a beacon of light.”
I blinked in surprise. “Drugs? Of course not.”
Ms. Petties sighed in relief. “Well, what is it? You were seen talking to yourself in front of a crowd of people, and it looked like you were having an argument. That is a little west of normal on any map.”
I stared at her, my face getting so warm I feared the fire detectors might go off. I had to think of a lie, and it had to be quick. Not a skill that came naturally to me, but I did surprisingly well.
“I was trying to memorize something. For a class. It helps if I do it out loud.”
I pulled my sanitizing gel out of my purse. Immediately the smell of apples and lavender made me feel better. Mrs. Petties watched as I sniffed my fingers. I knew she was weighing my sanity, so I held her gaze and tried to look as normal as possible. Evidently, I passed.
“If this happens again, I’ll have to tell your parents. Do you understand?”
“It won’t. I promise.”
My parents were out of town again, although I didn’t share that information with Mrs. Petties. My mom needed a few days at the spa to recover from my accident, and my dad had gone on a golf vacation with his buddies. I was on my own, not uncommon this time of year. I’d gotten used to it.
Maura and Jessica waited for me outside Mrs. Petties’ office. Maura had her arms folded across her chest, and Jessica chewed on her nails, a sure sign of distress.
“Let the interrogation commence,” I muttered.
Maura wagged her finger at me. “Oh, no. You stop right there. As your friends, we have the right to be concerned.”
“Yeah,” said Jessica, standing right next to Maura and joining in. I rolled my eyes. If Jessica and Maura formed a united front, the world truly might be coming to an end.
Maura wasn’t finished. “People are saying you are on drugs.”
I couldn’t believe she even went there. I hoped Jessica would show me some support, but no luck. She pulled out her phone and scrolled through her contacts.
“It’s okay. I know a good place for rehab. My cousin went there. You’ll love it. They have a salon on site, a wonderful spa, and a gourmet chef.”
I grabbed Jessica’s phone out of her hand and glared at both of them. “I am not on drugs.” I kind of shouted those words, and traffic in the hallway around me came to a dead stop. My fellow students watched in stunned silence as I plastered a big, fake smile on my face and tried to pretend nothing was wrong. “I’m fine, people. Move along.”
The smile didn’t fool anyone. They shuffled around, embarrassed and bumping into each other in their haste to get away from me.
&nbs
p; Crapity crap. I’d made things worse. Now half the student body thought I was on drugs. Nick would have found this hilarious, but I did not.
Maura edged closer to me. “I saw you with Goth Girl. Are you buying your drugs from her? I am so going to report her to Principal Goodman.”
“No. Stop it. Her name is Zoe. She’s not selling drugs, and I’m certainly not taking them. What can I do to convince you?”
Minutes later, thanks to the unwarranted intervention from my two best friends, I found myself peeing into a cup at the nurse’s office. Jessica and Maura sat outside waiting for me. I washed my hands thoroughly in the bathroom sink, but still didn’t feel clean. I shook out the last bit of my Apple Lavender hand gel, tossed it into the trash, and opened Cool Minty Cucumber. Thank goodness I always kept a few extra bottles in my purse for emergencies. I offered some to Jess and Maura, but they shook their heads.
“Okay. I submitted myself to voluntary drug screening. Are we good now?”
“We will be tomorrow,” said Maura. “Once we get the results back.”
I threw my hands into the air and walked straight out of the school, as Maura and Jess stared at me with mouths agape. School wasn’t technically over yet. We still had three periods left, but I didn’t care. I was skipping class for the first time in my whole entire life, and I’d never felt so free. Granted, I would only miss study hall, art and gym, but this was a milestone for me.
I jumped into my Audi and took off. I didn’t know where I was going until I found myself on the shores of Lake Eugene. I pulled into the parking lot, walked over to the lake, and sat down on a bench. Several geese approached me, thinking I’d come to feed them, but I didn’t even have gum in my purse. I carried only sanitizer, money, and a bottle of emergency nail polish.
I stared down at the waters that had nearly killed me. Nick was nowhere to be seen, but the blobs had followed me here. They curled around my feet, as if trying to make things better. Mr. Wan had chosen the right color this week. Melancholy Baby described my mood exactly.
“Is this seat taken?” Josh Parker, of all people, stood in the sunshine, looking down at me like a statue of Adonis.
“Do you like hang out in this park, waiting to rescue people?” I asked.
He laughed, sitting down next to me on the bench. “Uh, no. I’ve been working on a nature study for my senior project. I come here a few afternoons a week to check on it.”
He wore a blue Baldwin Soccer T-shirt and a pair of cargo shorts. He looked way too tan for March with his golden-brown skin and sun streaked hair. Several of my friends would have paid good money for those highlights. Josh probably earned them naturally.
“Sorry,” I said. “I’ve had a bad day.”
“Worse than the first time I met you?” he asked, and I smiled.
“Not that bad.”
He leaned back on the bench, and we sat for a few minutes in comfortable silence. The blobs had migrated over to Josh and snuggled on his lap. If they had been kittens, I would have said they purred. They obviously liked him as much as I did.
I looked at him shyly from under my lashes. “It was kind of weird how we met.”
He grinned. “Yeah, most people go out for coffee on a first date.”
“Oh, wow. You consider that a first date?” I asked with a frown. “You do remember the whole drowning thing, right?”
He laughed out loud. “Why don’t we consider this our first date instead? I even have the coffee. Hold on a second.”
He ran over to his car and pulled out a thermos. We sat by the lake, talking as we sipped from a single cup, but it didn’t gross me out. Usually I couldn’t stand sharing a cup with someone, but Josh had already used his delectable lips on me for resuscitation purposes, so I didn’t mind.
The coffee, warm and perfect, had exactly the right amount of sugar and cream. The company was pretty perfect too. Josh relaxed me. He didn’t upset me, like Nick, with his constant judgment and teasing. It was a relief to sit for a minute with a non-confrontational non-ghost and simply talk.
One of the blobs must have gotten bored. It decided to play a fun game called “Slip Through Josh.” It popped back and forth, going through Josh’s body and causing him to shiver.
I looked at him in surprise. “What was that?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “I’ve got a chill. Right here.” He pointed to the spot where the blob was still playing its ghostly little game.
“Weird,” I said, taking another gulp of coffee. Knowing that Josh, a normal and sane guy, sensed the presence of the blobs made me feel slightly better. And braver. But I didn’t want to discuss the blobs with him. He might think I was nuts if I did that, and I didn’t want him to think I was nuts because I had something important to ask him.
I sat straighter. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure,” he said, rubbing the spot where the blob now rested. It had gotten tired of its little game and had currently resided on his chest. It looked like it might be napping.
I stared at the lake and took a deep breath. “Would you go to prom with me?”
He ran a hand over his jaw. Even his stubble sparkled. Josh Parker. The ultimate golden boy.
“You aren’t asking me because you think you owe me something, are you?”
I looked at him in surprise and shook my head. “I’m asking you because there’s no one else I’d rather go with.”
The image of Nick’s face fluttered through my mind, but I ignored it. There was something wrong with me if I thought about a dead hoodlum when I had a perfectly nice and perfectly handsome living, breathing, made-of-solid-matter boy sitting right next to me.
“Well, I guess we’ve already gotten our official first date out of the way, right?”
I held up the thermos cup. “And we had our coffee.”
Josh sat so close to me on the bench I felt the warmth from his body. The sunshine reflected off the water of Lake Eugene, making it look like it had been filled with diamonds. A light breeze ruffled my hair. It smelled like spring.
Josh turned to me with a smile. “I’ll go to prom with you, but only on one condition.”
“What’s that?” I frowned.
He winked at me. “I drive.”
Chapter 6
A chicken is hatched from such a well-sealed thing as an egg. ~ Chinese proverb
I heard Zoe’s arrival before I saw it. She came barreling down the street on the loudest, dirtiest motorcycle possible. Several of our neighbors lifted their blinds to see what was going on, and I hoped no one would call the Neighborhood Watch. Zoe did not look like she belonged on Mockingbird Lane. She looked like she belonged in the Mugshot Monday edition of our local newspaper.
Nick stood by my side as she approached my front door. “Cool bike,” he said, but she ignored him, which was kind of rude, even for Zoe.
“Hi, Zoe. Would you like to come in?” I asked, holding the door open and giving her what I hoped was a welcoming smile.
She snorted. “Yes, I would, Dolley Madison.”
“It’s Lily,” I said, placing a hand on my chest and enunciating slowly. “Li-ly Mad-i-son.”
She rolled her eyes, which seemed to be a very bad habit with her. “Dolley Madison. Wife of President James Madison. Famous hostess. It was a joke.”
“Ha,” I said, making an effort to be sociable. She rolled her eyes again.
“Can we get on with this?”
As we went into the house, Nick trailed behind, a worried frown on his face. “She can’t see me.”
“Of course, she can,” I muttered. “Give her a minute.”
Zoe gave me a strange look. “You’ve gotten even weirder than you were the first time we met.”
“I’ve been under a great deal of stress.”
Zoe looked around our house, which my mother described as French country chic, but I liked to call early European ostentation. She took in my clothes and the daisies on my headband. “Yes. It looks like you have a lot to worry about.”
My patience faded faster than a silk damask armchair left in the sun. “Look, I’m sorry I’m not a tortured Goth chick like you. I’m sorry my parents are wealthy, and I have nice things. I’m very, very sorry, but I died for only a few short minutes, and now a whole herd of ghosts is stalking me, and I can’t get rid of them.” I waved my hand at the assorted blobs cowering in the corner of the foyer. They didn’t seem to like Zoe much, and neither did I. “Can you please help me take care of this and stop judging me?”
Zoe’s expression softened slightly as she looked at the blobs. “You do have a little ghost problem, don’t you? Well, let’s get on with it.”
“With what?”
“The séance. Why do you think I’m here?”
The blobs shivered in the corner. They stayed as far away from Zoe as possible.
“You aren’t going to hurt them, are you?”
She looked genuinely shocked but quickly reclaimed her usual expression, the perfect balance between boredom and annoyance. “Of course not. What kind of person do you think I am?”
I had no idea. I didn’t know anyone else who wore black every single day and had all different parts of her face pierced. She frightened me as much as she frightened the blobs.
Zoe glared at me. “I’m here to help them, Princess Buttercup. That’s what I do. Is there somewhere we can sit down, and do you have a candle? It helps me focus.”
I found a soy vanilla candle and another that smelled like bayberry. I didn’t know which one would work, so I brought both. She gave me an annoyed glare, grabbed the vanilla one and set it down on the dining room table. I hurriedly stuck a placemat under it so the wax wouldn’t drip on my mother’s antique mahogany tabletop and ran upstairs to get the powder from Mrs. Chang. Nick followed me into my room.
“She can’t see me.” He looked so forlorn I wanted to give him a hug, but that obviously wouldn’t do any good since my arms would go right through him.
Tiger Lily (Dark Blossoms Book 1) Page 4
