“Zeke, you’re being rude.” Miles shot at him, his voice had a bite to it. Zeke winced and ran a hand through his short hair.
“Sorry, I’m just tired.” He offered in a normal tone. He dropped his bag and took the empty bench. His knees bumped my legs under the table so I scooted over, giving him more room.
“Hi tired, I’m Alexis.” I smiled at him, hoping a corny joke would cheer him up or at least make him less grumpy. He snorted quietly, one corner of his mouth twitching as he opened his bag and pulled out his lunch bag.
“Zeke.” He mumbled before turning to the table and opening his lunch. Ethan’s phone vibrated, Ethan pulled it, looked at it and started smiling.
“Late night at the garage?” Miles asked putting his trash in his lunch bag. Zeke nodded.
“Yeah, and I have the physics test this Friday. Mr. Turner’s really up my ass-”
“That’s what she said.” Isaac and I interrupted at the same time. We looked at each other both surprised at the other then broke out giggling. There were a couple of other laughs around the table. Asher shook his head smiling. Ethan laughed as he was texting. Zeke just ran his eyes over me like he was trying to figure me out.
“Great, Isaac has corrupted her.” Asher observed, his voice laughing.
“Nope, sorry hon, I came prepackaged this way.” I gave him my smart-ass smile. Miles started talking to Zeke about some Trig homework. I kind of blocked them out. I watched Ethan texting someone. Then I looked around the table at the guys. Each of them were good looking in their own way, and nice. Well, Zeke was a bit grumpy, but they seemed kind of fun. To be honest, I wanted to keep them.
“So, is this like the hot guy table at this school or what?” I asked when there was a lull, eyeing each of them in turn again. I suddenly had all five pairs of eyes on me. “No seriously, you’re all ripped. Even Miles over there, though he’s trying to hide it with a shirt that’s too big.”
“Oh, well, we all work out together.” Asher offered. Ethan lifted his head from his phone.
“Isaac’s in Mixed Martial Arts training, so we all end up sparring with him. And if we are going to spar with him we need to make him to work for it.”
“So, you all basically do MMA training?” I asked, looking at each of them.
“Yeah, I guess we do.” Ethan answered for everyone. “But Isaac’s the only one who does any actual matches.” I looked over at Isaac who was throwing his trash into his lunch bag.
“What’s your win to loss record?” I was going to be nosy, this sounded interesting. Isaac gave me a big warm smile.
“I four wins to three loses right now. But I’m can’t fight again for awhile.” Isaac admitted. “I got a concussion a few weeks back and our Mom won’t let me get back in the ring for a few months.”
“He’s grounded for letting someone knock his head around. He can’t go back until he learns how not to do that.” Ethan supplied in a stage whisper across the table. I chuckled as Isaac smacked his brother upside the head.
“Thanks brother.” Isaac’s sarcasm was thick, his cheeks tinged a light pink. Ethan just smiled at him. I leaned across the table towards Ethan.
“Got any video?” Isaac groaned as the others chuckled. Ethan was beaming as he got up and came around the table to sit next to me. He brought up a video of the match as he explained who Isaac’s opponent was. I watched as the match began, Isaac started out on solid ground but then it started going downhill. It ended when Isaac took a knee to the face that ended the match. I looked at Isaac wincing. His face was red, and his mouth pursed together.
“Ouch.” It was all I could think to say. Then I looked back at Ethan. “Now show me a win.” Isaac just shook his head at me as I got Ethan to show me all Isaac's matches and filling me in on who he was fighting at the time. Isaac ignored me and his brother as we huddled around Ethan’s phone. Everyone else went back to talking about schoolwork and upcoming tests. Eventually Isaac checked his cell phone.
“Guys!” He all but shouted across the table. Everyone stopped talking and looked at him.
“Lunch break is almost over; I make a motion to keep Red.” Isaac announced to everyone. A motion to keep me?
“Seconded.” Ethan spoke up. I raised my eyebrows, they were actually voting.
“Third.” Miles added quietly.
“Motion carries.” Asher announced pulling his cell phone out of his pocket. “You’re stuck with us now, sweetie.” I smirked at them. Suckers, they were the ones stuck with me. “Phone numbers.” Everyone dug into their pockets pulling out their phones. I followed suit. Isaac took my phone and handed it down to Miles.
“Do that thing where you share contacts, so it doesn’t take forever.” Miles pressed some buttons on his phone then picked up my phone. I grabbed my lunch bag full of trash and got up.
“I’m hitting the trash can, anyone want me to take theirs?” I asked, watching as they all added my number to their phones. Every one of them held up their lunch bags. I rolled my eyes and took them to the trashcan. I skirted around a group of people and threw away the bags. I was on my way back when I almost ran into Tara.
“What are you doing here?” She demanded her voice hushed. I pointed at the garbage can.
“Throwing stuff away.” I answered matter-of-factly. Tara ran a hand down her hair, her eyes darting around us.
“I don’t want people to know we’re related.” She hissed at me before looking over her shoulder at her group of friends. No one was paying attention.
“Fine by me.” I walked off heading back to the guy’s table. I have to admit it hurt a little that Tara would feel that way, a very little part. As I was walking away, my twisted side really wanted to turn around, wave and say loudly ‘Goodbye cousin Tara.’ However, I had to live with her so I kept a lid on the impulse. I was almost past the group when someone stepped in front of me. A boy with blonde hair, and brown eyes with a nice face. His smile was friendly but something about it rubbed me wrong.
“You’re the new girl, aren’t you?” Before I could answer he wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me into a different group of people across from Tara’s friends. “I’m Jason, that’s Hale, that’s Brendon.” He went around the group introducing names, but all I could focus on was the arm grinding into my bruises. I tried to step away, but he moved his arm to around my waist and yanked me back, his grip tightening. Yeah, no, that’s not happening. My face went blank as I looked him dead in the eye.
“Get your arm off me before I break it.” I said very calmly. I didn’t like anyone I didn’t know grabbing me. The twins had been a surprising exception. His smile disappeared and then reappeared as he ran his eyes over my body.
“Tell me honey, does the carpet match the drapes?” He asked, the guys in the group laughed. Oh, you asshole. I warned him. I have attended a lot of different schools in the last five years, not all of them in good neighborhoods. After one horrifying incident, I took a self-defense class and a little kickboxing in LA. My focus was getting out of holds. I reached across my body with my left hand and grabbed a hold of his thumb. I broke his grip and spun around him, taking his thumb with me so that when I stopped his arm was in a lock behind his back.
“First when a girl says let go, you let go. Second, don’t be such an asshole.” I all but growled at him. He winced before I gave him a shove; he stumbled into the other gaping boys. Other people around the courtyard were laughing and hooting. I didn’t really care. Watching Jason, I backed away several steps. When I was sure he wasn’t coming after me I turned and smacked into a brick wall. Surprised, I started to stumble. Big hands caught me by my arms, keeping me on my feet. I looked up to find Zeke glaring at the guy who grabbed me. His face was like stone, his jaw clenched, and his eyes starting to burn. I looked around him to see the other guys had also gotten up and had only been a few steps behind Zeke. None of them looked happy, even Miles. I felt my heart melting in my chest. They had been coming to help me? It was so sweet that I didn’t quite kn
ow what to do or say. Jason was steady on his feet again. He was cursing, calling me a bitch among other things. Miles’ face went cold as he took a step towards Jason. Isaac grabbed a hold of him, stopping him. Oh, this could be bad. I had to diffuse the situation.
“Hi guys.” I said cheerfully as if I was running into them in the hall. I had five pairs of eyes on me instantly. Their faces began relaxing back to normal. “Did you guys finish with my phone?” I asked stepping back out of Zeke’s hands. Not one bit intimidated by Zeke’s size. Sure, really, I only just reach the middle of his chest. The guy was, just, huge.
“Yeah, Miles finished.” Zeke answered his shoulders relaxing. That seemed to be the signal for the others to relax as well. I stepped around Zeke and headed back toward the table acting as if nothing had happened. The boys followed me. I picked up my cell phone and was putting it into the inside pocket of my jacket when Ethan pointed at Isaac.
“Remind me never to piss her off.” Ethan announced. As the guys were laughing the bell rang. I grabbed my bag and pulled out my map. The locker room wasn’t that far away. That’s when it hit me.
“Shit.” I closed my bag and began to take off.
“What’s wrong?” Miles called after me. I turned and walked backwards down the hall.
“I forgot my gym clothes in my locker.” I waved at them. “I’ll talk to you guys later.” I turned and ran. Thankfully, my locker wasn’t far and I was soon on my way to the locker room. Gym was, as you’d expect. I got my locker, changed in a stall to keep anyone from seeing my back. Went to class, it was the usual boring stuff. I was back in my clothes and hurrying across campus to my art class when I heard a shout.
“Alexis!” A baritone called down the hall. I stopped and looked around to find Asher moving through the crowded hall towards me.
“Hey, what class are you going to?” I asked as we started walking again. Asher winced.
“Art.” He shifted his bag on his shoulders.
“Me too.” I raised an eyebrow at him “Do you not like Art class?” He was looking over his shoulder as if expecting to get ambushed any minute.
“No, it’s the way to Art class I don’t like.” We dodged around a couple making out in the middle of the hallway.
“Why’s that?” Suddenly I felt that familiar chill down my neck, only this time it was painful. I took a deep breath and looked around trying to spot the pissed off ghost.
“There’s a girl that walks by here and always has to stop to talk to me. She’s really pushy. She’s always trying to get me to do school stuff I don’t want to do, you know like student council.” Asher explained. As he kept talking, I found her. She was about 100 feet ahead near a cement pathway to other buildings. Her long blonde hair was pulled back with braids. Her big blue eyes were watching the living. She wore bell-bottoms and a peasant blouse. My chest ached from here. Some ghosts were stronger than others, especially if they are pissed off. This girl didn’t want to be dead. I could feel it from here. She was pissed off to a level I have never seen. I didn’t want to get closer, but we had to pass her to get to class. “Hell, maybe she’ll back off if I’m walking with you.” I nodded as if I’d been listening.
“No problem, chick deterrent mode activated.” I said hoping I kept the strain from my voice. As we got closer to the ghost, my head started to pound. I could actually feel the waves of hatred from her. We were just about to pass her when a familiar voice called for Asher. Asher stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes closed. I looked around us to see Tara coming up the path towards us. Even though my head was pounding, I laughed. Tara was the pushy girl. Tara’s smile drooped a bit when she saw me standing next to Asher. But she pepped it right back up when she got closer.
“Asher, I see you’ve met my cousin Lexie.” Tara began, surprising me even through the pounding headache. The dead girl had stepped closer to me, making it feel like a knife was being driven into my chest. Breathing was getting harder. I felt like shit I had no other excuse for what I said.
“I thought you didn’t want anyone to know we’re related?” Tara’s eyes threw sparks at me before turning pleasant again. The ghost started circling us. No one else felt a thing.
“Oh, don’t be ridiculous Lexie.” Tara chided then turned her attention to Asher. “Asher, we really need your help on the homecoming board.” At that point I tuned her out, the ghost was behind me again reaching out. My head felt like it was in a vise as Tara prattled on. I started hearing my pulse in my ears and wanted to throw up. We needed to move, or I was going to be sick. I reached out and grabbed Asher’s arm, tugging him in the direction we were going. When we started walking I let go, Tara kept pace next to him. Unfortunately, so did the dead girl. I focused on moving and not listening to the memories from her life that kept trying to push into my head. I turned my head enough to look the ghost in the eye. Her eyes went wide, she realized I could see her. Her eyes narrowed as she reached for my face. I mouthed the word no, feeling it with everything inside me. I shoved the ghost back, her eyes furious. I turned back to the others; no one noticed anything odd. Tara had pulled Asher to a stop, so I stopped too. I felt the pressure in my face, then the drip onto my upper lip. Silently cursing, I pinched my nose closed. Tara was still talking. I was done. I wasn’t going to just stand here and let the bitch of a ghost hurt me. But, I couldn’t leave Asher to Tara. Before I could decide what to do Asher looked over at me. His eyes went wide.
“Oh man, Alexis.” He pulled his backpack around and pulled out one of those small tissue packages. He tore out a few and handed them to me. I put them to my nose and stopped pinching. “Are you alright?” He actually sounded concerned. He swung his backpack back around his back and took my arm. “We got to take care of this Tara, I’ll think about it.” He gave me a small tug as we walked quickly away. Tara mumbled under her breath. She was not happy. I didn’t really care; my headache was disappearing the farther away from the ghost we got. When we got out of sight, we slowed down. Asher didn’t look so worried now; he looked like he was holding back a laugh.
“Did you just give yourself a bloody nose to get us away from her?” He let go of my arm as we continued down another hallway.
“I’m not that good.” I said in nasally voice. His smile faded away, he looked worried again.
“Are you okay?” I nodded, waving my other hand.
“Yeah, it just happens sometimes.” I hedged. It’s not like I could tell him the truth. I pulled the tissues away and pressed a clean spot back against my nose. Since we had gotten away from the ghost, it should stop quickly.
“I don’t care if it wasn’t on purpose.” He looked at me, his blue eyes sparkling. “That was the best save ever.” I nodded agreeing with him. At least my bloody nose was good for something.
My nose had stopped bleeding by the time we reached class. I threw the tissue away and went to the sink, using a wet paper towel to wipe off my fingers and under my nose. I turned to Asher who nodded.
“You got it all.” He reassured me. Asher led me to a table with four other people around it.
“Hey everyone, this is Alexis. It’s her first day.” Asher announced as I sat down. Everyone nodded or waved at me but ultimately went back to whatever they were doing. Class started, and the teacher did what was the usual for today. Announce me as a new student, I smile and wave. Then we got down to business. Mrs. Archer had set up a bowl of fruit at each table and wanted everyone to draw it. Asher showed me where the supplies were. I picked up a pack of oil pastels that had all the colors I wanted. Then I went back and went to work. I’ll admit I kind of ignored everyone around me including Asher as I worked with the pastels. I was absently wiping my hand on my jeans again cleaning my fingers when Mrs. Archer looked over my shoulder.
“Oh, well done Alexis.” Mrs. Archer exclaimed loudly. Every head came up. I don’t think she meant to get everyone’s attention; she just seemed excited. “I love that you used the pastels here, you’re the first one to touch them in ages.” She pointed
to the background of grey and streaks of white. “Beautiful blending, you have some talent here missy.” I felt my face turn red as I bent back over my drawing. Asher leaned over and looked at my drawing.
“That is cool.” I felt my face grow hotter.
“Oh, now you blush.” Asher teased sitting up straight. “You put a linebacker in an arm lock, with everyone in school watching without a problem. But someone says you drew something pretty and you blush.” I lifted my left hand and flipped him off. Asher just chuckled. My face finally cooled down by the time he spoke again. “So, Tara Delaney is your cousin?”
“Yep.”
“She calls you Lexie?”
“Yeah, my Dad used to call me Lexie, it just sort of stuck. I always liked it.” I explained focusing on what I was doing.
“Did she really not want anyone to know you two were related?” He asked using an eraser on part of his page.
“That’s what she said to me at lunch.” I answered absently; I was focusing on a part of the bowl that wasn’t looking right. It was the shading; it was off. I focused on trying to fix it.
“And you’re okay with that?” He asked, then grumbled and reached for the eraser again. I shrugged.
“If that’s what she wants then fine, it doesn’t really bother me.” I cursed; I’d messed up the shading even more. “Before yesterday I hadn’t seen Tara in five years, so it’s not like we grew up together or anything.”
“Then why did she announce it to me?” He asked absently. I looked up from my drawing long enough to glance at him. He was concentrating on his drawing, the tip of his tongue between his teeth. It was adorable, so I was smiling when I went back to my drawing.
“She has a crush on you.” I informed him. I watched his head pop up out of the corner of my eye.
Trying To Live With The Dead Page 4
