VooDoo Follies

by Butler, Christine M.

  "It doesn't. I get the chills once in a while, before I realize you're there. That's more like the 'someone's watching you' feeling though. Can I try?"

  "Try what?"

  "Touching you." Stephens eyes grew into large saucers and I realized how that must have sounded. "Ugg! Boys! Seriously, not like that." His laughter danced around me for quite a while and then he held his hand out to me. I moved my hand until it was hovering over Stephen's. I felt a warm tingling sensation. The closer I got to his hand, the more prominent the feeling became. "It's like pins and needles when your feet or hands fall asleep, only different. Kind of warm and fuzzy instead of painful and annoying."

  "Hmmm" Stephen was looking at me with an odd intensity. " I touched my mom's cheek when she was looking over my body one day. She shook so violently, like I had just frozen her. I thought it would be the same for everyone."

  "Well, I guess I'm special."

  "Yeah, you are." He hid from me again with those words. His hair fell in a veil across his eyes. I wanted to push it back and make him look at me. It was just Stephen though, so I let it go. "Do you think we would have ever been friends, you know, if I had lived?"

  "I don't know. Maybe if you had ever gotten the courage to talk to me in class." I laughed at him.

  "Maybe if you weren't such a social outcast!" He laughed back and then looked up at the school we used to attend together. "Well, here you are, at the knowledge depot. Go, stuff some interesting factoids in thine brain!"

  "Thine brain?" I questioned while stifling a laugh.

  "You know, Shakesperian English and what not."

  "Yeah, maybe you should have stuffed more knowledge in thine brain before..." I wanted to stick my foot in my own mouth, better yet, I wanted to kick my own ass for being stupid.

  "yeah, I know, I had the audacity to kick off before we had to study Hamlet!" He mimicked a death scene and continued on, "half the class will be joining me before long, mark my words! Boredom will have its way with them. "

  "Are you coming in today?"

  Stephen looked around at other kids who were starting to get dropped off. "Nah, I think I'm gonna go poke around here and there while you stuff more learnin’ in your noggin, besides, people are starting to notice you talking to yourself."

  Now it was my turn to blush. "Damn," I muttered under my breath.

  "See ya later, Sera." I waved a couple fingers at him nonchalantly as I walked into the building. As if being seen talking to myself outside the school wasn't bad enough, I was so caught up in the thought that I ran straight into the hard body that had stopped short just beyond the doorway. "Ugg, gah! What the..." I looked up to see Trevor smiling down at me. He helped me out of the way of everyone else trying to get through the door and then grinned at me from his lofty height.

  "You're a walking disaster, LaLande." He was smiling, so I immediately forgave the comment. "Maybe I should stick with you all day, for your own safety." Trevor looked around at everyone else now congregating in the hallways. "And maybe for everyone else's safety too."

  "Ha, ha." Inside I was mush. This guy was gorgeous. That smile alone was captivating and here he was, still holding me up. I snatched away a little when I realized that. "I'm capable of walking without hurting myself or others." It came off a bit indignant, but I was suddenly feeling rather embarrassed. I was never this accident prone. I screwed up, a lot, but usually where no one could see.

  "Alright," he was looking at me with that smile plastered across his face still. "The offer is open, " he plucked a rogue curl from my face and gently laid it back out of the way, "if you get tired of picking yourself up I’ll be there to do it." He turned and walked off in the opposite direction of where I needed to be.

  "Who was that?" Stephen was suddenly beside me and he did not look very happy.

  "Oh, that's Trevor." I had to stop myself from staring after him, and then I had to remind myself to mumble a bit more to Stephen because I didn't want anyone else to think I was talking to myself. My school life was beginning to be a bit more complicated than I usually liked. "He showed up as a new student yesterday, and since I ran into the Principal, literally, I was given the task of showing him around. At least, until I had to go to the nurses station for an ice pack."

  "An ice pack?" Stephen’s look changed to more concerned now than irritated. "What happened?"

  "It was nothing, just a little round of 'my head versus the open locker door' when I tried to stand up. Guess who won?" I smiled and he laughed as we walked down the hall. I noticed several other students shiver a bit as Stephen passed by which left me wondering why he felt warm and fuzzy to me, but cold to everyone else. "Hey, I thought you were going to people-watch somewhere or something?"

  "Yeah, I was, but then I saw you run into someone. I wanted to check on you. Might as well stay for the show now. It looks like you could use a seeing-eye dog to get by these days." He bowed down before me, "at your service!"

  "Great, but I'm all out of dog treats!" He had the sense to laugh and just ignore my jab. I settled myself into my desk while Stephen took a seat on the windowsill.

  I was getting settled in for another boring lecture on The Scarlett Letter when the class was interrupted. I looked up in time to see Trevor standing in the doorway. He flashed that brilliant smile over at me and handed his schedule to the teacher. "Alright, take a seat," Mr. Maybach said to him then reached over to his desk, "and you'll be needing this too. Mrs. Lalande, since you're nearest the only open seat, how about you try to catch the new guy up." Just like that Trevor was siting behind me in the back corner of the class and we now had permission to talk. "I thought you might need a body guard, you know to keep you safe from yourself."

  "Ha! What is it with..." I almost said you guys, but realized I couldn't explain Stephen saying almost the same thing to me earlier. I looked up at Stephen in the windowsill and felt bad momentarily for forgetting he was there. He was hiding behind his hair again, but it was obvious he was bothered by Trevor.

  "With what?" Trevor was questioning.

  "Yeah, with what," I heard Stephen mumble. "It's hard to explain me saying the same thing huh?"

  My head was spinning, "Oh, nothing," I said to Trevor, "you know, what's with guys wanting to save the clumsy girl? Doesn't anyone believe in survival of the fittest anymore? Darwin would be ashamed."

  Trevor laughed a little too loudly and caught the attention of Mr. Maybach.

  "I don't remember The Scarlett Letter being a comedy, Mrs. LaLande, would you like to share what's so funny?"

  Damn, this day couldn't possibly get any worse could it? I hadn't even read the book. I couldn't get past the horrid prologue, preamble, or whatever it was called. I had planned on Spark-noting it and watching the movies.

  "Seraphine was just telling me in plain English about the women commenting on Hester's wearing of her letter with a sense of pride."

  "And how could that be funny?"

  "Because, she was all like, 'look at that harlot!'" Trevor was mimicking a catty girl's voice, "I think she likes the attention it brings her."

  I couldn't help it. I was laughing, right along with the rest of the class. Trevor definitely had a certain charisma that was undeniable. "Very well, thank you for that animated description, now everyone back to your books. I want your study guides finished and turned in to me for my approval by the end of the week. Oh, and I’ve already read Mr. Cliff’s notes, so let’s try not to copy them!"

  I turned back around and whispered a sincere thank you to Trevor, he just smiled back and shrugged at me as if it were nothing. I turned back in my seat, sparing a glance towards an infuriated Stephen as I did. Trevor sat behind me, moving so his upper body draped over the top of his desk, leaning in close. I felt him pick up one of my curls and twirl it around his finger. "Might want to actually read the book, before you get busted though, I could always offer up my services as a tutor." I turned three different shades of red as he whispered in my ear. I pulled my book up closer to my face
and then leaned forward so that I was further away from him. I closed my eyes and found myself wishing Stephen had gone for that walk outside of school after all. I had never really had a boy take too much notice of me before, and now I had a ghostly best friend who I was in danger of falling for and a super hot new guy who was paying way too much attention to me. I suddenly felt an overwhelming desire to read the book I was holding. It seemed to be the only escape from this awkward situation I was going to get, and sadly I couldn't keep the smile from creeping across my face.

  The last twenty minutes of class went by in a silent haze of black and white words that never really sunk in. My thoughts were preoccupied with the two boys, sitting beside me in the windowsill brooding and behind me - playing with my hair periodically. Hester's man trouble seemed so far removed from this. On the one hand, Stephen was amazing and if he were actually a living being he would have already had my heart. On the other, sat Trevor, the new kid, flesh and blood, and charming beyond measure. He could easily win my heart. Just thinking that made me feel as though I were betraying Stephen. My thoughts were bouncing back and forth between the two of them as the bell rang.

  I pulled the book out of my face in time to watch Trevor trip over my book bag that was now suspiciously in the middle of the isle. I grabbed for him with lightening-like reflexes that surprised even me. "Who needs the bodyguard now?" I asked with a smile.

  "Well, that book bag of yours all but jumped out to tangle itself around my feet. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you pushed it there so I could end up in your arms." That amazing grin of his was exploding across his face and bringing a light blush to my own. He leaned in closer now, "you know, all you had to do was ask."

  "I'll remember that if and when it ever is my plan to actually attack you into my arms." I wasn't sure if that even came out right. My words jumbled in my head on replay and Trevor never said another word he just picked himself up, smiled at me and walked to the door. I leaned down, half humiliated at my hormone-induced lack of eloquence. Then I remembered Stephen.

  "That wasn't very nice." I whispered while my head was still down. I heard him grumble his response back at me.

  "...didn't turn out as well as I had hoped either." I shot a look up at Stephen and stood to leave with him following right behind me. "Sorry," he mumbled again. I knew he meant it, only in so much as he didn't want me to be angry with him. I think he would have laughed uncontrollably if his plan had actually worked.

  I smiled over my shoulder at Stephen and walked out the door, right into Trevor, who had stopped to wait for me. "Seriously? This can't be happening."

  "Missed me that much, huh? I knew you did it on purpose." That smile was melting my insides, and I had to seriously focus on what I was going to say next.

  "I thought I heard something behind me, I turned to look and," the grin on his face was growing wider, "and since I couldn't possibly know you were stalking me at the door, I had no clue I would run into you there." I smiled right back at him this time, my confidence boosted. "I think maybe you simply threw yourself at me earlier and just can't admit it because it wasn't very manly of you." Stephen's snickering behind me was all the reassurance I needed that I hadn't flubbed this one. That was a good thing because without his reaction I would have never known my quick-wit worked. For his part, Trevor never lost a beat and that smile certainly didn’t dissipate at all.

  "You caught me!" He said and held out his arm, like they do in the old fashioned movies. "May I walk you to class? Apparently, we are both in dire need of an escort, since neither one of us can stay on our feet for long."

  I ignored his arm and started walking. "You can walk me to class," I tossed back at him over my shoulder, "but I think it's probably safer for the both of us if we aren't linked together as we go." Again, Stephen's howling laughter let me know I was doing good. His tripping Trevor as he tried to catch up let me know maybe I was maybe doing a little too good. When I let out an inadvertent giggle at his stumbling Trevor didn't miss a beat.

  "It seems I keep falling for you."

  There was that grin, all over his handsome face again. The one that shut me right up. My cheeks reddened, betraying me, so I just turned back around, smiling so much my jaw was starting to ache. Then I remembered, Trevor's schedule. "Wait, didn't I see you had art class yesterday? You're going to be late if you follow me to class."

  "Yeah, but it’ll be worth it."

  ***

  The Truth That Hurts

  The walk home from school was quiet with Stephen brooding beside me, which didn't help reign my thoughts in at all. Trevor was on my mind. Stephen was on my mind too, and for the life of me I couldn't sort through the jumble of emotions that both of them elicited in me. I had never even been on a date, so all this boy stuff was overwhelming, even more so every time I made myself remember that Stephen was dead. There's nothing like a good kick in the ass with reality to bring a person down from cloud nine.

  "Why don't you ever hang out around your house?" It was a question I had been wanting to ask Stephen for a while, but I wasn't sure I wanted to know the answer.

  "Do you want me gone?" The hurt tone in his voice nearly broke me.

  "No!" The shrillness of my voice gave away the emotion behind the sentiment, so I calmed myself a little more before I went on. “It’s not that. I was just curious. I mean, if I died and was still hanging around the spirit world I think I would alternate back and forth between visiting my momma and my auntie. So, I was just wondering why you didn't go back there."

  "I do sometimes." Stephen's voice was made a little deeper with his sorrow. "My mom isn't like yours though, is she? I think she knows I’m there, but she doesn't at the same time. She gets chills and looks around, as if she's expecting to see something. Once, she started talking to me, telling me how sorry she was." He was hiding again beneath his hair. "I just don't want to make her uncomfortable, and I don't want to hear about how sorry people are for me." Stephen looked up from under his hair for a moment, "that's why I like being around you."

  "What do you mean?"

  "You treat me like I'm alive, Sera. You're not all like, 'oh man, sorry you're dead mate!'"

  "Well, that's because I'm not British! Who says mate?" We both laughed.

  "See, that's exactly what I mean. You just crack jokes and talk about normal stuff. I don't feel quite so dead around you."

  "Normal stuff." My mind began to wonder again, "Yes, because stopping a zombie outbreak is oh so normal for most folks."

  "Yeah, well, it's you. You're amazing, you know?" He smiled and stopped talking for a bit as I let us into my house. As I was shutting the door he picked the conversation back up. "Sera, you remember when we were in French class together?" I only nodded because he already knew I had no clue he had been in that class with me. I vaguely remember that he was there now that I had been clued in. "Well, I used to sit in that class wishing I could work up the nerve to talk to you."

  "What?" I was suddenly blushing. "It's not like I'm miss pretty and popular, what did you have to work up to?"

  "No, it wasn't that you were too popular, it was that you never talked to anyone. I figured someone as beautiful as you must have been into dating older college guys or something."

  I laughed at his assumptions and walked into the kitchen for a drink. "That is so far from the truth."

  "Well, yeah, I know that now. You're just anti-social."

  "I am not!" He was grinning at me, hair pulled back from his face, and his eyes were all for me in that moment. "Okay, well maybe a little."

  "A little?" He laughed again, "I think Trevor is the first person I have actually seen you talk to at school." He let his hair fall a little at the mention of Trevor.

  "Well, if I hadn't run into the Principal the other day I would have never been landed the job of showing him around and my anti-social streak would have probably continued on through graduation." I laughed as he looked up at me, "at some point fate has to step in and tell you to act normal
right?"

  "Seraphine, I had a thing for you when we had a class together before. I wish fate had stepped in sooner, because now that I know you..." he looked down for a minute as if trying to decide whether to finish, then he pulled his hair out of those piercing eyes and finished what he was saying, "imagine how I feel now that I do."

  My phone was ringing in my pocket and I think my heart was beating a little too fast. I wondered if he meant what I thought he did.

  "You might want to answer that." He pointed to the phone that was still ringing in my pocket.

  "Hello?" I answered. "Oh, hey, Auntie Perrine!"

  "Seraphine, I spoke to a friend about your ghost."

  "Stephen," I corrected her.

  "Yes, about Stephen. He says it can be done. There is a magic that will set Stephen free from the bonds that hold him to the spirit world."

  "How do I do it?" I was so excited I almost missed what she said. "Wait, what do you mean by set him free exactly?" Stephen was now looking at me curiously too, so I put the phone on speaker.

  "There are a couple possibilities, child. One is that his spirit would be free to move on it's true cycle. The other is that he may live again." Auntie Perrine sighed deeply on the other end of the line. "I do not know which we will be able to accomplish, my sweet. My friend is looking into things to see if we can even gather what's needed to perform the necessary ceremonies."

  "But shouldn't he just tell me, so I can get them here?"

  "No, my sweet. These are strong magics to command the Unknown spirits. It will take more than one priest or priestess to perform them."

  "But, I don't know anyone here who practices."

  "I was thinking, Stephen could wait until you come this summer for your ceremony."

  Stephen was mouthing, "what ceremony" to me. I held my finger up, telling him to wait for the explanation.

  "So, we wait until summer, when I am officially made a voodoo priestess and then the two of us perform the ritual to set him free or give him life?"