Phantoms of Fall (The Haunting Ruby Series Book 2)

by Joy Elbel

  Once I was sure they were far away from the door, I opened the stall and stepped out. My reflection in the mirror was as frightening as if I’d seen Garnet’s face staring back at me. I was a wreck and suddenly my stomach was churning violently. Sticking my head in the toilet, I ejected every ounce of food out of my gut and instantly felt better. Misty may have won the battle, but in twenty-nine hours, I would be winning the war.

  15. Lights, Camera…

  When I got to math class, I realized something. Zach was sure to hear about my phys ed freak out from someone even if I didn’t tell him about it myself. For my sake, I had to come clean with him. Well, not exactly. I would tell him the same story I told Coach Hunter and leave it at that. It would explain why I looked so crappy and he wouldn’t question the validity of it. But since I was late, it would have to wait until after class. One long, torturously boring class.

  Watching the little hand on the clock tick away the seconds, I could swear that for every ten seconds, the hand actually slipped backwards by five—no joke. The instant class was over, Zach and I finally had a chance to talk.

  “What’s wrong, sweetie? You look absolutely miserable.” He wrapped his arm around my waist and kissed me on the forehead.

  So I dished out the lies in spades. I told him I was thinking about what happened over the summer and freaked out when some of the water got in my mouth. I hated lying to Zach. He was the one person in this world that I wanted to share everything with—good and bad. But if I told him about Garnet, he would worry about me needlessly. I was too busy thinking about our date to waste time researching Garnet’s death but as soon as I had a chance, I would figure everything out and stop her in her tracks. At this point, telling him the truth would do more harm than good.

  Zach pulled me close and whispered in my ear. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for you when you needed me. If I hadn’t left you alone at Rosewood that day, none of this would have happened. I wish I could go back in time and do it all over again. I never should have left you that day.”

  Guilty. That’s exactly how I felt. Even though I did need him, it wasn’t for the reason he suspected and now he thought that my incident in the fountain was his fault, too. A single tear fell from my eye. That tear was for all of the lies I’d ever told him—and for all those still to come.

  “It’s not your fault—none of it is. But I love you for wanting to take it all away.” He was too good for me and I knew it. And that was the truth.

  He gave me the most beautiful smile and brushed the tear away. “I promise to make up for it all tomorrow night. I’ll make it a night to remember.”

  I could feel my face turn warm from just his words. How was I going to react when he actually made good on his promise? I didn’t know, but I couldn’t wait to find out.

  We parted with a kiss and I headed for the track. After assuring Coach Hunter one more time that I really was okay, I ran for the next hour like the devil was chasing me. And, honestly, at some points it felt like he actually was. It felt like someone was following me, but when I turned back to see, I was always alone. Great. So many crazy things have happened to me that now I’m paranoid, too.

  When I got home, Shelly was cooking supper. My how things around here have changed! She was actually in the kitchen dishing out a heaping pot of spaghetti and meatballs. It was one of my favorite meals, but I just wasn’t hungry. When I told her that, she looked disappointed so I agreed to have just a small plate.

  “Can I talk to you about something, Ruby?” she said with a grim look on her face. I thought I knew what was coming. Coach Hunter must have called and talked to her about my episode in the shower. I drew in a deep breath and prepared to tell the lie one more time.

  She didn’t wait for me to answer her. “I’ve noticed you haven’t been eating a lot lately. You’re not on a diet or anything, are you? Because if you are, I want to tell you that it’s not necessary. You’re beautiful just the way you are—and I know Zach would agree with me.”

  Wow. I was speechless. I wasn’t on a diet—why would she think I was? “No, I’m not. I’ve just had a bit of an unsettled stomach lately—that’s all.”

  She looked at me like she didn’t believe me. “Okay. But you have lost weight and you’re looking a bit pale. Is there anything else wrong?”

  A whole crap load of things were wrong but I didn’t want to talk about any of them. “No, school is pretty stressful,” I said instead.

  “Just remember, if you want to talk about anything, I’m willing to listen.” Nodding my head, I crammed the spaghetti into my mouth as fast as I could. Zach was coming over to do some last minute studying for the math test and I wanted to try on the outfit I bought for our date before he got here. Tomorrow was a big night—I couldn’t just wait until the last minute to make sure everything was perfect.

  And it was a good thing I did, too. When I tried them on at the store, they fit perfectly. But now, they hung on me like they were a full size too big. That was impossible—I bought them only two weeks ago. I went through my closet, pulled out random items, and tried them on. Everything was too big. Why didn’t I notice it sooner? I even dug into the hamper and pulled out the clothes I wore yesterday. They were too big, too. How much weight did I lose? When I stepped onto the scale that I usually avoided, I found myself a full ten pounds lighter than the last time I checked. Whatever kind of flu bug it was that I picked up, it sure was powerful.

  I crammed my new outfit back into the bag with the intention of exchanging for a smaller size after school tomorrow. There was an hour to waste until Zach arrived, so I grabbed a book and started reading. I didn’t get through more than ten pages when a sharp pain in my stomach sent me running to the bathroom. It was terrible. I didn’t feel better until every single strand of spaghetti flew back up my throat and into the toilet.

  Once I was done, I felt great—like it never even happened. After tons of tooth brushing and about half a bottle of mouthwash, I felt kissable again and reading was the last thing on my mind. I sprawled out on my bed and let my mind wander. I hated Misty but she was right about one thing—Zach was special. I’d never met another boy like him. He was sweet, gorgeous and in about twenty-six hours, he would be mine forever. After tomorrow, no one would ever come between us again. No one alive, anyway.

  I got so caught up in my thoughts of Zach that I didn’t even hear him pull up outside. When I heard a knock on my door, I assumed it was Dad or Shelly.

  “Come on in.” The next thing I knew, Zach walked into my bedroom and sat down on my bed. I knew nothing was going to happen, but I was instantly nervous. Tomorrow night we would be in the same position—for real.

  “Hey there, sexy!” he said as he rested one hand by my side and leaned over me for an amazing kiss. He kissed me the same way a thousand times before, but this time was different. It was different because I was thinking about what we would be doing after that same kind of kiss tomorrow night. My bliss was interrupted when he reminded me of the reason he was there in the first place. Math test. For the first time in my life, I hated math.

  Zach had superhuman powers of restraint which was more than I could say for myself. After about an hour of studying with him in close proximity, I was ready to pretend it was Friday. But I knew how serious he was about getting an A on this test, so I behaved myself. And, unfortunately, so did he. When it was time for him to leave, I walked him down to his car. Instead of getting in, he leaned against the door and I joined him.

  “Tomorrow night at this time, the test will be over and we’ll be on our date,” he said as he took my hand. He sounded nervous but I took that as a good sign. If he was anxious just thinking about it, that meant he was taking this just as seriously as I was. Not that I thought he wouldn’t, of course, but I needed reassurance at a time like this. It was a big step for me and I was happy to know that he felt the same way.

  “We will be.” I rested my head against his shoulder. “I’ve been looking forward to it all week.” “Me,
too. I just hope it’s everything you’ve been imagining and more,” he said and kissed me on the top of my head.

  How could it not be? I’d always heard that your first time wasn’t great but I just knew that for me it would be different. Zach was simply perfect in all other aspects—why would this be any different? I loved him with my whole heart and I knew he felt the same way about me. It was the right thing to do and the right time to do it. And I wasn’t just doing it to get Misty to back off either—that would only be an added bonus.

  We shared a goodnight kiss and it was the sweetest, most tender kiss ever. I stayed on the porch and watched him drive off until he was out of sight. The chill of the autumn air cut through my tee shirt but I didn’t care. I would always have his love to keep me warm.

  When I woke up Friday morning, he was all I could think about. Fourteen hours until our big moment. School was going to drag terribly—that I already knew. I didn’t even care what Garnet and Misty had to throw at me today. At the end of the day, Zach would finally be mine forever and nothing either of them did could change that. Was there ever a time in my entire life when I was in this good of a mood? Definitely not.

  Once we met in the school parking lot, we picked up where we left off the night before. Zach was always sweet and romantic but now it was magnified by about a thousand times. Even as the roar of bus engines and screaming kids surrounded us, we were alone in our love. The way he looked at me was different—like he was looking at my very soul, like he was falling in love with me all over again. We were almost late for home room because we couldn’t tear our eyes away from each other. My feelings were so intense that I almost cried. Tonight, I was sure that I would. And for once, they would be tears of joy.

  Our attempt to study together in homeroom was feeble at best. How could I think about classes or tests with Zach in such close proximity? During one of the few moments when I wasn’t mesmerized by the very sight of him, I caught Misty looking our direction. Normally, she would have been glaring at me with death ray vision, but instead there was a big, fat, smug smile on her lips. She thought she was going to win the battle for Zach’s affection, but I had a juicy secret she knew nothing about. So I returned her smile with an even bigger one. I was the girl Zach would love forever—not her.

  The day slipped by slowly but without incident. I even decided to call a cease fire with Chloe when she wished me luck tonight. I must have been wrong about her. No girl who wanted to sink her claws into my boyfriend would offer good wishes to me knowing what was going to happen on our date.

  My nervous stomach started to kick in around lunch time so I ate very little. The last thing I needed was to get sick during an intimate moment. How horrendous would it be to get thrown up on during sex? For Zach’s sake, I didn’t want him to find out.

  I hadn’t seen Garnet all day but when I stopped at my locker before math class, I could feel someone watching me. Public paranoia wasn’t an option so I resisted the urge to look over my shoulder. Until a set of arms wrapped tightly around my rib cage and lifted me off the ground. Oh God! I resisted the urge to scream. After my freak out in the shower, I had to stay under the radar and appear as normal as I possibly could. But I waited for the shrieks of onlookers—to their eyes would I be floating in mid-air? Oh no, my secret was about to reveal itself in a very hideously public display.

  When there was no reaction from the crowded hallway, I relaxed. It was only then that I realized it wasn’t Garnet behind me, but Zach. How sad was it that I assumed it was a ghost but never even considered that it might be my boyfriend? I am seriously messed up.

  “ZACH! Put me down!” I tried to sound authoritative but soon discovered I would make the worst dominatrix in recorded history. All I could manage was a flirty giggle that sounded more like Rachel’s than my own. I suppose it would have seemed more sincere if I’d actually meant it. Honestly though, I never wanted him to put me down. Ever.

  “Not until you tell me you love me,” he said laughing, too.

  “Well…,” I teased.

  “Tell me you love me.” This time he whispered it seductively into my ear and my resistance liquefied instantly.

  Tilting my head back until I could see his face, I pressed my cheek to his. “I’ll love you forever.” He gently lowered me back to the floor and swiveled me around to face him. “That’s all I needed to hear. I’ll love you forever, too.”

  How much trouble would we get into if we skipped math class and started our date now? If it weren’t for the test, I would have been willing to find out. All I had to do was get through this last class and that was it. There were so many things I needed to do to prep for our date that those last few hours would fly by. I decided to skip running after school today so that I could go shopping instead. Since the clothes I bought just two weeks ago were too big now, I would be starting over from scratch. Just the task of finding new clothes alone could take me hours.

  We held hands as we walked down the hall to class. There were a few moments when I felt like people were staring at us—or me specifically—kind of like the first day of school. Enough time had passed for me to no longer be a novelty, so I assumed that word of my incident in phys ed had started to leak out. So what. So all they would think was that I was afraid of water after nearly drowning. Big deal. Holding my head high, I walked in to take the test and didn’t give them a second thought. There were more important things on my mind today than what a bunch of people I barely knew thought of me.

  The test was easier than I expected so I blew through all fifty questions with fifteen minutes left to spare. Zach was still busy calculating in front of me so it’s not like we could talk or anything. Time to daydream. And by daydream, I mean think about him while I stared at that sexy neck of his that I loved so much. By the way he was sitting, I could tell that he was anxious about the test. His back was stiff and his left hand was clenched into a fist. He would do fine—I was sure of it. He was much smarter than he gave himself credit for. The same could be said for everything else about him, too. He was gorgeous and there wasn’t one girl in this school—or the entire state of Pennsylvania for that matter— who wouldn’t have been proud to call him her boyfriend. Yet he picked me. Me! And tonight…oh, tonight!! Five more hours….

  Zach put his pencil down just seconds before the bell rang. He gathered up his books and dropped his paper onto Mrs. West’s desk with me right on his heels. I expected him to talk about the test at length on our way out but he didn’t even mention it once. All he talked about was our date.

  “So I’ll pick you up at eight unless you think you can be ready by seven. I’m working at the shelter for two hours then flying home for something to eat and to get a shower. Can you be ready an hour sooner? If not, that’s okay. I’m just so excited about tonight!”

  Wow. For that moment, I almost felt like I was talking to Rachel. I’d never seen him so wound up. Though, I was flattered to know that I was the cause of all his spastic energy. And truth be told, I was stifling some girly giggles myself.

  “Definitely—but I’ll need to leave right now. I have to head to The Village and then home to get ready.” “Okay, I don’t want to, but I’ll let you go now.” Zach took both of my hands in his and stared at them momentarily. When he lifted his eyes to mine there was a spark in them that I’d never seen before. “I love you,” he said quietly.

  “I love you, too,” I replied. It came out as barely more than a whisper. The words paled in comparison to how I really felt inside—like no words could ever truly express how I felt about him. Luckily, tonight, I wouldn’t need words.

  Zach let go of my hands reluctantly and we got into our cars to drive away. There was a lot to do and the clock was ticking. First stop—The Village. I needed to exchange the clothes that were now too big and get them in smaller sizes. Knowing exactly what I needed, I figured I would be in and out in less than ten minutes. Wrong. The skirt and top went on sale after I bought them and the sizes I needed were now sold out. So, I had to
start over from the beginning.

  There wasn’t enough time for me to scour the entire shopping center, so I decided, for better or worse, to stick with that one store. Running through the store like a contestant on some crazy game show, I snagged anything decent I could find in my new size. That amounted to about twenty items and I got a distinct eye roll from the fitting room attendant. I gave her a big eye roll right back. She’d probably never even had a date let alone one as important as mine was so I didn’t expect her to understand.

  One at a time I tried things on and hated them all. The last thing in the pile was a pair of jeans and a black lace trimmed top that I really liked. I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. When I looked in the mirror and didn’t hate what I saw, I knew it was the best I was going to get so I went with it. Not bad was better than nothing at all.

  On my way to the car, I glanced at my watch. Five o’clock—way later than I expected. Driving a little faster than I should have, I made it home in record time. There was still enough time left for me to grab something quick to eat. The flu bug was still gnawing at my insides, but I was starting to feel faint. I didn’t know exactly what to expect from tonight but there was one thing I was pretty sure of—I was going to need all of the energy I could get.

  Dad and Shelly were just sitting down to dinner when I entered the kitchen. The room smelled of roast beef and freshly baked bread. Normally I would have piled my plate full but there just wasn’t enough time and I simply couldn’t trust my delicate stomach. I poured myself a glass of water and sat down at the empty place setting.

  “Ruby, how was your day?” Dad said, sliding a slice of roast beef onto my plate. “Good. The math test was easy—I think I aced it.” I pulled back my plate as Dad tried to give me another piece of meat. “One’s good, thanks.”