Wicked Lies

by Michelle Areaux

  "You’re seriously lying right now," he stated. "Come on: tell me what's going on." Though he pleaded with me to tell him my secret, I knew the school hallway wasn't the right place to tell him I'd be leaving for the summer. Not to mention I'd be so busy trying to find something to write about for my article that I wouldn’t have much free time. Just the thought of telling him made my stomach churn.

  "I promise. I'm fine." I reached up on tiptoes to kiss his cheek. "I'll talk to you later." I slammed my locker door shut, turned, and began to swiftly walk away. He called after me, but his voice was drowned out by the thousand or so other students in the hall. For once I was thankful for the noise.

  I ran down the hall in a near sprint and turned the corner by the band rooms, thankfully alone, as most students had already made their way to their classrooms and the halls were almost deserted. I inhaled a deep breath, took a moment to collect myself, and returned to the main hall when a cold chill crept up my spine, and the air around me grew thick. My heart started to pound when I turned slowly to see a dark figure in my peripheral vision, sighed, and threw my books to the ground in frustration.

  "Seriously, of all the days, you decide to visit me today?" I screamed at the figure as she materialized in front of me. Her dark face looked sad and confused as she cast her eyes upon me, and I shivered.

  "What is your problem?" she exclaimed, placing her hands on her hips. "I am the one that is dead. I am pretty sure my day has been much worse than yours." Her head bobbed in time to her sassy attitude.

  I calmed myself, took a step forward, and picked up the books I'd so immaturely thrown onto the ground only minutes before. "I'm sorry. I didn’t mean to take my anger out on you. I'm just having a rough day." My voice sounded quite calm, which was good, as I really didn’t want to upset her. From my experience, I've learned that these dead girls can get pretty violent if they choose. Plus, I liked the new, baby blue t-shirt I was wearing, and didn’t want to ruin it with my own blood.

  I offered her a slight smile. "What can I help you with?" I asked.

  "Well, as you can see, I am dead," she said, glaring at me.

  Man, I really wanted to smack this chick. Her attitude was really grinding on my patience. "Yes," I replied slowly, through gritted teeth.

  "I need you to deliver a message for me. I died two weeks ago. I was on my way to the harbor to spend the day with my family on my father’s boat when I ran a red light rushing to get there, since I was late." Her eyes swelled with tears. I noticed she was wearing a pair of white shorts and a white tank top, both over a blue, one-piece bathing suit. "My younger sister, Blaire, she thinks it was her fault because she stole my bathing suit and I was late leaving our house because I was searching for it and couldn't find it."

  She stopped and took a deep breath. Her sassy attitude disappeared, replaced with someone more vulnerable. I examined her face and realized that I remembered seeing her picture on the news. Her name was Ava, and she went to a rival high school. I never knew her alive, but I was learning a bit about her now that she was dead. I'd heard about her death and saw how devastated her family had been when the news reporter had interviewed them. Noah had told me the harbor was closed the next day as everyone mourned.

  "Do you want me to tell your sister it wasn’t her fault?" I asked, trying to keep my voice soft and comforting.

  "Yes, please," she said.

  I reached into my binder, pulled out a piece of notebook paper, and wrote down her sister’s name, address, and cell number. I also took down her Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter handles. In my line of business, it pays to be smart and get all of the details in order to send the deceased loved ones their final messages.

  "I'll get your message to her tonight," I said as I folded the paper and tucked it into the pocket of my jeans.

  "Thank you. I know that once she understands it wasn’t her fault, my death will be easier for her to handle." She turned as if to leave before I called her back.

  "Wait!" I cried as I rushed over to her. "Death is hard for anyone to accept and it'll take your family a long time to get over the loss of losing you, but knowing there wasn’t anything they could have done will help to ease their pain a bit." I watched her face as it transformed from sorrowful to peaceful. I knew she'd found comfort in my words and that she'd soon be able to move on to the afterlife, or wherever it was she was meant to go.

  "Thank you," she said before she disappeared before my eyes.

  I exhaled another breath as I tried to regain my composure to prepare myself to join the world of the living and nearly ran into Lucy on my way out of the dark corridor, on her way to our first-hour Biology class. She eyed me with a strange look that quickly warped into one of understanding. Over the last year, Lucy and Noah had grown accustomed to my changes in facial appearance after I'd had an encounter with the dead. After my ordeal with Elizabeth and my other "visitors," they could always tell when I'd been summoned to deliver a final message.

  "Did you just…" she paused as a student rushed past us and into the classroom.

  I nodded my head and mouthed yes, giving her the answer, she already knew.

  "Wow! Who was it this time?" she asked, looking around with the hope of getting a glimpse of the dead girl. Ever since she'd seen Elizabeth, Lucy had been desperate to witness her own "visitor."

  "Remember that girl who died in a family boating accident a few weeks ago?" I asked.

  "Yes, I heard about that. She came to you?" "She wanted me to let her family, mainly her sister, know her death wasn’t their fault. They must be devastated, blaming themselves," I noted, shaking my head as I recalled our conversation.

  "I hope you can give them all the peace they need," she stated.

  She quickly changed the subject. "Hey, did you talk to your parents this morning about their plans for your summer?" Lucy patted my back as we walked over to our seats. "It’s going to be okay. You never know, maybe they'll change their minds and not go on this trip after all." She smiled, and I could see that even she didn’t believe what she was saying.

  I stood beside my desk and sighed. "No, my parents really deserve this trip. After last year, I think they could probably use a little time away."

  Lucy sat down, turned to me, and put her books and notebook down on her desk. She positioned everything in an annoyingly perfect, meticulous, and organized manner, appearing more like an office secretary getting ready to scribe for her boss than a high school student finishing up her junior year.

  "You know, you're right. I think it'll be great for your parents to get away and have some time alone. Plus, you might enjoy Kentucky. Remember when you moved out here from California? You thought you'd hate it here, but now you love it in Salem. I'm sure it'll be the same."

  I thought her statement over in my head. "No, this isn't the same. I was ready for the adventure moving from California to Salem‒I hated my life in California. Sure, I had Amber and Lia, but no one else even knew I was alive. I'm actually happy here, and I don’t want to leave." I dropped my books down onto my desk. "The thing that sucks more than everything else is that not only do I have to leave you and go to Kentucky, but I have to leave Noah, too, and he's really going to be upset with me."

  Lucy opened her mouth, ready to counter my argument, but before she could respond, Mr. Hall walked into the room and began class. I'd never been more thankful to sit through a boring, final review in my life. Anything to take my mind off talking to Noah and my parents.

  After an hour-long lecture, Mr. Hall finally dismissed the class. Lucy and I rushed out of the room, only to walk slowly through the hall. We agreed that neither of us would speak of my impending departure from Salem until I'd had the chance to talk to Noah and my parents. Instead, our focus would be on getting through the rest of the school day and surviving our last few hours before the start of summer break.

  During lunch, Noah rambled on about how excited he was to be picking up extra hours at the harbor that summer. Unlike most teens, Noah actual
ly enjoyed working. He wasn't happy unless he was always on the move, always active. "I'm going to make a killing this time," he stated as he stuffed his mouth full of chips. He wiped his hands on his baggy jeans, looked up, and the corners of his mouth turned up as his mischievous glare came alive.

  "Gross," I giggled, continuing to poke at the wilted lettuce in my cafeteria salad.

  Lucy, who'd been noticeably quiet during our usually loud lunch, rolled her eyes at the both of us as she continued writing in her notebook. I couldn’t see what she was doing, but from her serious expression and silence, I knew it must be something important.

  "I'm serious," Noah said, this time making sure to swallow his food before opening his mouth. "A lot of the guys who work with me year-round have requested vacation time. I'm going to pick up their hours, and I'll be a shoo-in for overtime, too." He beamed as he spoke, proud of himself.

  "What are you going to do with all that money?" I asked, glancing once more at Lucy out of the corner of my eye.

  I pressed my lips together, feeling uneasy about Lucy’s silence. This was just the topic Lucy loved to debate about. Normally, she could be counted on to add in her opinion, or give some motherly-type advice, but at that moment, she was absolutely silent in the spaces of our conversation and it was freaking me out.

  Noah chugged his soda and used his sleeve to wipe his mouth before talking again. "I'm saving a lot of the money to buy new speakers for my truck. Plus, I need to really get serious about saving money for college. My parents can afford to help me out a little, but I'll need to make sure I have money for books and food and possibly an apartment if I go somewhere far away." He said.

  I almost choked on the carrot I'd picked out of my salad. Lucy slapped me on the back by way of help, keeping her eyes locked on her notebook all the while. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. My Noah, the guy who never took anything seriously, was talking about future plans? Saving money? Thinking ahead to college? If I hadn’t felt the pain from Lucy pounding on my back, I'd have figured I was dreaming.

  I managed to compose myself and said, "Noah, I'm proud of you." I leaned over and gave him a kiss on his cheek. "This is great. I'm glad to hear you're thinking of college and taking things seriously."

  "Of course, he's taking it seriously," Lucy added. "His parents told him he had to get serious or he'd have to pay for college himself."

  Noah looked offended at first. He glared at Lucy who was still immersed in her work. "Hey," he shouted, "that's not fair!"

  "It's fine," I teased, trying to calm him down. "I'm just proud of you."

  We finished our lunches, said our goodbyes, and agreed to meet after school. Our conversation about planning for the future and filling out college applications really had me thinking. I'd always planned to go to college, but what I would do once I was there was a still a mystery to me. The only job I was good at, being a messenger to the dead, wouldn't be listed in any course catalogs, of that I was sure. I pulled the journalism application from my binder, the one I'd promised Lucy I would consider. Now, after seeing how serious both of them were about next year and beyond, I knew I had no other choice but to follow through and turn it in.

  When Lucy saw the application in my hand, she made a quick reach for it. Once in her hands, she read over each and every word I'd written in the "All About Me" section, criticizing the part where I'd said I was a great candidate because I had only two friends and could commit myself to my work.

  She smiled and handed the paper back to me. "I think it looks great. Come on, let’s go take it to Principal Halloway. We need his signature before we can mail them."

  "Are you serious?" I asked. "I thought I’d get at least a little time before I had to turn it in." I'd only just decided a moment ago to get serious about my future and I was already being pressured into making a huge, life decision, but the form had already been completed and was ready to sign‒I guess I wasn’t ready to admit that my summer vacation was going to be anything but a fun vacation.

  "Look, if you don’t want to do this with me, I'll totally understand." Lucy offered me a smile, but I could see she was hurt at the thought that I might not want to do this with her.

  "I was going over mine at lunch. I just want to make sure it’s perfect," she stated.

  "It’s not that, it’s just…" I was unable to complete the sentence because the truth was, I didn’t know what to say. There were no excuses I could think of. I just needed some time to process.

  "Let’s meet after school, and we can take our forms to Mr. Halloway together." Lucy smiled, reached into her bag, and pulled out her cell phone. "Hey, I'll see you later." She waved and was gone, typing a message out to someone as she went.

  I shifted my backpack on my shoulder and made my way down the hall to my next class. The rest of the afternoon was spent in a daze as I tried to concentrate on taking notes and avoiding Noah. By last-hour, I was exhausted.

  As promised, Lucy met me outside of my last class at the end of the day. She grabbed my arm and dragged me down the hall toward the front office. As we walked, I felt like a fish swimming upstream, moving in the opposite direction as students all around me tried desperately to leave the building.

  "Sadie, Lucy, stop. I need to speak with you." Ms. Cooper, our guidance counselor, was running down the hall toward us, waving her arms in an effort to get our attention. She was out of breath by the time she reached us. She stopped and tried to quickly catch her breath. "Sorry I startled you girls, but I wanted to make sure you both got the principal's signature on your applications before you left today. Several students have already come to me to get applications, so there will be some competition."

  Lucy smiled and held out our forms. "We completed our applications yesterday," she said. "We're actually on our way now to see Principal Halloway now and have him sign them."

  "Great. I think you're both wonderful candidates for our school's paper. Sadie, have you given any more thought to what I said?" she asked, watching me closely.

  When Ms. Cooper had initially come to me about the school's journalism positions, she told me how I'd need to submit a news feature for our journalism teacher, Mr. O’Connor, as a part of the selection process. She said he'd read over our applications and recommendations, but our feature articles would be the primary factor in determining who would be selected.

  Both of their eyes bored into me, so when I spoke, I tried to sound more excited than I actually felt. "Yes, I have, and I'm not sure I'll be able to find anything to write about," I said in a near whisper, embarrassed.

  "Nonsense." She laughed. "Your story last year about finding that persecuted girl's journal in your home was spectacular. Not only did you earn recognition from Mr. O’Connor for it, but the town paper, as well. I'm sure you'll be able to find something just as exciting to write about. Who knows? You might even uncover another mystery." She smiled and patted my back to offer her encouragement.

  "Sure," I stated, wishing I could will myself to disappear. The last thing I wanted was to find another mystery. I hadn't had any more "visitors" since I'd cleared Elizabeth’s name, and I was kind of enjoying the peace. For as long as I can remember, the dead have always haunted me, forcing me to deliver their messages to their loved ones or finalize unfinished business at the time of their deaths. The last few months have made me feel almost normal, and I kind of liked it.

  Lucy reached for my arm and pulled me forward, on our way to the school’s front office. "Don’t worry, Ms. Cooper, I have my portfolio complete and I'll make sure Sadie finds something exciting to write about." Ms. Cooper seemed relieved to hear it and left us to our task.

  "Sadie, you need to get excited about this. Think of the fun we could have next year if we both landed spots on the school newspaper. Plus, it'll look great on our college applications. For someone who's spent her entire life facing challenges, you act like your life is boring and you'll never have anything to write about. Just think: before you know it, your life will be back to normal ag
ain." I hated to think Lucy could be right.

  Ms. Calister left Principal Halloway's office when we entered, and I couldn't help but chuckle. The petite woman had only worked at our school for about a year, but already she'd already made quite a name for herself. She'd been selected to manage almost every committee at our school, and it was no secret that Ms. Calister and Principal Halloway had a personal relationship outside their professional one. Their attempts to be coy while flirting in the halls had become quite the joke of the school. Personally, it nauseated me every time I saw them together.

  Ms. Calister gave a soft giggle as she exited the office, tucking a piece of her golden- yellow hair behind one ear. The fact that Principal Halloway’s hand was touching her back said more than any words could about the status of their personal relationship. It was obvious the two were having an affair. She spent more time in his office than she did with her students.

  I made a choking sound as I grabbed Lucy’s arm. "Why do we need his signature again?" I asked, slowly backing away.

  "We need him to sign our applications for the journalism internship next year. The class only accepts twenty students and you have to get your applications in before the end of summer. We have all of our teacher recommendations, and all we need now is Principal Halloway’s signature and then we'll be the first to submit ours. Being first always makes a good impression." Continuing to whisper, Lucy made note of the fact that we could get our signatures and slide our college applications in, too.

  "I think we should come back another time," I countered, feeling vomit rise in my stomach. "They creep me out."

  Lucy rolled her eyes and grabbing my arms to stop me as I turned to run. Lucy huffed. "You're crazy," she laughed. "Just ignore them. We need this signature before it’s too late."

  That was when Principal Halloway looked up and noticed our presence. Trying to act like we didn’t notice the encounter between him and Ms. Calister, Lucy and I made small talk as we waited for our chance to talk to our revered principal. I shifted nervously, trying to keep my lunch down.