Theron kissed Zoe’s lips. “That’s my girl.”
Zoe never let her grin falter, despite the memories those words conjured. When the boatman had uttered those same words that’s my girl the last time she met him, the anger it had evoked was unparalleled.
Why? Who the hell was he?
Chapter 26
Zoe and Asher strode across the lawn from the girls’ dorm toward the main buildings.
Asher smiled at Zoe. “You know, Super Freak, I’m proud of you.”
Zoe laughed. “And why’s that?”
“I expected you to be hiding under your blankets this morning. But instead, your head is held high.”
“As much as Rosalie pisses me off, and how much it stings my tongue to say this, she opened my eyes yesterday. She’s right—I was paranoid because of how I felt about myself. If I’m okay with me, then people have no choice but to be okay with me too.”
“I like the way you think, Super Freak.”
“You’ve really helped me with that, Ash. The way you accept me, even get excited about my abilities, it’s made me see that I don’t have to believe my life is negative. And that I don’t have to see myself so negatively. And Theron—”
“Fucking adores you.”
Zoe nodded as a smile crept across her face. “Yeah. He does. I don’t fit in with the status quo, but I’m not a monster. It takes guts to go out on your own.”
Asher smiled. “It does.”
“If people don’t want to take me as I am, then whatever. Trying to change myself so they do is never going to lead to anything but fake friendships and fake experiences.”
“Totes. You’re wise, my young Super Freak.”
Zoe laughed. “I’m trying to be.”
As they made it to the busy courtyard, Zoe noticed the odd person look at her and snigger with their friends. Yes, it still stung, but she could handle it. That was the point of difference.
She was okay with herself.
She had true, honest friendships that brought her so much happiness. Zoe didn’t want to change herself for a person who would point and snigger anyway because all that showed was that they were fighting an even bigger battle than she was in the self-acceptance department.
Zoe thought of her parents. Perhaps she should come clean with them too and let them know she was no longer taking her medication and that what she saw was actually real—not mere delusions her mind was concocting.
Asher left her at the main building where she met with her form class. When inside the classroom, she glanced around for Theron. In her peripheral came a flutter; she looked toward the back to see Theron waving his arm in the air.
Zoe headed up the stairs and sat next to him. He kissed her lips, lingering for a long moment. “How are you?”
Zoe grinned. “Really good.”
“I can tell. It’s written all over your face. That kind of don’t mess with me coz I’ve finally realised how special I am look.”
She laughed, not caring who heard or saw her. She was happy, and she wasn’t going to hide it nor change her behaviour to suit others. “You think I’m special?”
He pressed a kiss to her ear, then lingered there, his warm breath tickling her. “Special. Smart. So sexy.”
Tingles fanned across her flesh while blissful emotion swelled in her veins. Theron meant everything to her now, there was no denying that. “I think you’re pretty damn special yourself.”
Form finished in a flurry, and they were soon moving with the sea of students exiting into the hall.
“Are we going to study in the library after class, or do you want to go back to your room?” Theron asked.
Zoe bumped her shoulder against his, taking note of his cheeky grin, barely able to resist it. “Library.”
He nodded dolefully.
“Then my dorm,” she added.
He laughed and drew her to him, kissing the top of her head.
Unfamiliar and familiar faces walked past. Zoe would meet the eye of some students and sometimes she didn’t. But never did she attempt to hide.
They could think what they wanted to if they thought about her at all.
She linked her arm around Theron’s, loving the feeling of his strength, but as they approached the staircase, a flickering shadow captured her attention.
She looked more closely.
The dripping girl appeared barely a metre away, irises faded to a cloudy white.
Zoe controlled the sudden jolt of shock through her body by clenching down on her teeth. The girl stopped in the middle of the hall, but Zoe kept moving forward.
Unable to resist a backward glance over her shoulder, Zoe saw that the girl was still there, staring back, water pooling on the floor at her feet, no real expression on her face.
Zoe turned to the front, sped up the pace as she and Theron tramped down the stairs. She didn’t mention the girl to Theron until they were outside.
“The G1 Building is haunted,” she said.
Theron stopped. “What do you mean?”
“I’ve seen a girl there. Twice now. She’s dripping from head to toe with water.”
Theron’s eyes widened. “A student was drowned in the lake behind the school grounds last year.”
Zoe gasped, throwing both hands over her mouth. “Really?”
He nodded. “Yeah. A junior.”
“How? Why?”
Theron shook his head. “It was foul play. But they never found the murderer.”
“So there’s a murderer on the loose?”
He nodded. “Pretty much.”
“How horrible.”
“Do you think you should help her? Maybe you could find out who killed her,” he asked, tentatively.
Zoe frowned, shrugged. “I should, but let me have one more day please where I, at least, pretend that I’m normal.” She had an uncanny feeling that her life and her ability to see dead people was about to snowball into a big cloud of chaos. All she wanted was one more day of sunshine.
Theron grinned and placed his arm around her shoulder. He pulled her closer and kissed her cheek. “I’d love to give you a billion days like that, but that’s not my call.”
“Now if only we can work out whose call it actually is.”
◆◆◆
The air was thick with possibility. Still buzzing from newfound confidence, Zoe wasn’t eager to stay in her dorm room. She wanted to linger and enjoy time with Theron, so they caught a bus down town.
The cheerful clamour of bells and music floated on the breeze along with the scent of fried onions and assorted meats and spices. Zoe tugged on Theron’s hand, her eyes bright.
“There’s a street fair,” she said, pointing ahead. “We should grab a bite.”
The entire street was strung with red lanterns and ruby rice paper lamps. Makeshift vendors lined the street on both sides, selling their wares.
Tables and chairs were set up, brimming with people watching the colourful acrobatic performers or eating meals.
Theron pointed to a vendor under a white canvas tarp. A metre-wide grill was flaming, filled with kebabs. “What do you think?”
Zoe nodded, and they headed over. They ordered chicken kebabs with lashings of satay sauce and a tall cup of Coke each. A band was playing across the street, sending sounds of melodically plucked samisens, bells and panpipes into the air, mixing with the atmosphere, making it more textured, merrier.
Theron finished his mouthful of chicken and grinned at Zoe. “So what are you doing over the semester break?”
“I guess I’ll go home.”
“I’ve got a suggestion?”
She arched a brow. “I’m listening.”
“Come back to Franklin Falls with me. Stay at my aunt’s house for a couple of nights. I’m dying to introduce you to her.”
Zoe stilled. “Woah, meet your aunt?”
Theron laughed and sipped his Coke. “Don’t look so scared. She won’t bite you, I promise.” He winked. “I can’t say the same for me, though
.”
She giggled, but soon the smile fell from her face. “Am I ready for that?”
“I don’t know, Zoe, are you ready for that?”
He was asking her to meet his family; that was a big deal. She peered up at him. “I guess it could be fun.”
“She’s eager to meet you.”
“She knows about me?”
Theron grinned, his dimples carving dents into his cheeks that made him appear a billion times sexier—impossible to resist. Zoe’s belly flipped as she watched this gorgeous guy sitting beside her, smiling at her. “Yes, she knows about you.”
Zoe pressed a hand to her forehead. “It’s a lot of pressure.”
Theron rolled his head back and laughed. “You’ll be fine.”
“So, I guess I’m meeting your aunt.”
“Looks that way.”
Zoe dipped her kebab into the thick peanut sauce and took a bite. Warm spices and a subtle sweetness slid over her tongue. “Do you ever see your mum?”
Theron’s smile dropped from his face. He shook his head. “Not since I was eleven.”
“She you up? Just like that.”
He nodded. “For the best really. What kind of life would have I had with her? My aunt gave me everything I’ve ever needed. I had a good childhood with her. She loves me. And to me, she’s my mother.”
Zoe covered his hand with hers. “I’m glad it worked out in the end.”
“I am who I am today because of her.”
“She did an amazing job.”
Theron grinned wide, arched a brow. “Is that a roundabout compliment, Zoe?”
Zoe giggled, feeling heat creep up her cheeks. “Could be. Why, you fishing?”
“Seems like I don’t need to fish.”
She hid her flushed cheeks behind her cup as she sipped her Coke. “Maybe next holidays you can come and meet my family.”
“Sounds great. How’s your dad, though? He’s not the type to meet me at the door with a shotgun, is he?”
Zoe laughed loudly. “I’ve never brought a boyfriend home to meet them.”
“Never?”
She shook her head.
“That’s good. I set the benchmark.”
Zoe really needed to come clean with her parents if she was ever going to move on with her life in the way she needed to. But each time she thought of starting that conversation, she was filled with a weighty dread.
“I’m thinking about talking to Mum and Dad and telling them exactly what’s going on. Do you think I should?”
“I can’t make that decision for you. You know them better than anyone.”
Zoe sighed. “I think it’s inevitable. I can’t keep them in the dark forever. Especially when I have viral videos online of me. My brothers are bound to find it and tell them. I’d rather be the one who gets in first.”
Theron nodded. “I think that sounds pretty damn logical to me. If they love you, which you’ve already said they do, they’ll understand.”
“Maybe not right away.”
“That’s the risk.”
And it was a risk she had to take.
A parade of Shaolin monks dressed in thick, yellow robes flipped and performed acrobatic moves down the street. Zoe cheered and clapped as they flowed past.
The evening with Theron was turning out to be just like any normal teenager’s evening with a guy. She savoured it because moments like this were not going to come around too often—she could feel it in her fabric that big changes were ahead.
As the festivities wound down, Zoe and Theron started their way back to the school. They meandered down the colourful streets, weaving in and out of other fair-goers.
Near the end of the street was a temple that had bright yellow light spilling from its open door, casting a glow before them.
A monk stood on the second-bottom step leading up to the doors. He smiled. Zoe smiled back.
The monk came closer and gripped them both on the shoulder. “Come. You will receive a blessing tonight.”
Theron shook his head. Zoe opened her mouth to come up with an excuse not to, but the monk grinned so wide as he ushered them toward the stairs that she couldn’t let him down. “Come. Come. You will receive a blessing. Hui Xing came all the way from China for this night. Especially to bless you.”
Zoe cast a quick glance at Theron. He shrugged as if to say why not, and they followed.
Inside, quite a crowd had congregated, forming a circle in the expansive room. The monk pointed toward the circle. “Join in. He will be along shortly.”
They were here now, they may as well join in, and so they squeezed in between two people.
An old man with a head of thin, hoary hair shuffled into the room.
She met Theron’s wide-eyed gaze and whispered, “This will be interesting.”The old man shuffled into the centre of the circle—no assistance was needed. Zoe wondered if he had some other sort of senses that allowed him to find his path because he was most definitely blind. His eyes were faded to white and wouldn’t hold still.
Taking the hands of the first person—a middle-aged man with a pinched face and bloated stomach—he bowed and said something in Mandarin. Then he moved to the next person, repeating the same action.
Again and again, the old man shuffled around the circle, blessing each of the attendees.
He stood in front of Zoe. She reached out her hands for the monk, but he didn’t take them, instead lifted his unseeing gaze and met her eye. He stared at her for what felt like an uncomfortably long time.
Zoe’s heart thumped at a wicked pace. Her flesh warmed. Sweat was forming on her neck and under her arms.
She kept her hands out, silently urging him to take them because she didn’t know what it meant if he didn’t.
With every other person in line, he had efficiently repeated the exact same process. But now he was standing in front of her, it was all wrong.
The old man lowered his head and shuffled to Theron. Zoe’s heart was in her throat. She couldn’t meet the eyes of all the onlookers whose attention seemed to burn into her.
Her cheeks were hot with embarrassment but mostly, she was confused. Why hadn’t the old monk blessed her?
When she finally found the nerve to look at the man again, she caught him in the process of ignoring Theron. He didn’t take Theron’s hands either, merely stared with his cold, pale eyes and shuffled on to the next person.
Theron peered down at Zoe with an arched brow. When the old man had blessed the next few people beside them, Theron leaned closer to her ear and whispered, “What is wrong with us? Why didn’t we get a blessing?”
Zoe’s jaw clenched. Anger had replaced her confusion now. She shook her head. “I don’t know, but I’m not hanging around here.”
She took Theron’s hand, and they marched out of the temple.
The monk on the bottom step watched them silently as they jogged down the stairs and off into the night.
◆◆◆
Zoe dreamed that night of running across the dusky sand toward the silver river.
The strange man with the oar waited for her in the boat, his hair whipping in the breeze. He looked magnificent as he stood there—tall and strong, so confident.
Her belly fluttered with excitement to see him. It had been too long.
So quickly, she barely saw the movements, he was out of the boat and on the sand, marching to meet her. His blue eyes shone with each flash of lightning that streaked across the black-drenched sky.
His lips grew long as a smile found his mouth. A smile for her. He was happy, and she was glad to see him. Deep, strong emotions were embedded in his expression, and it warmed her body from head to toe.
And then he was there, within touching distance. He held his arm out for her; she took his hand, and he pulled her into an embrace.
He was a solid mass of strength, warm and vibrant. Her heart sung for this man. She lived for him. When their eyes met, electricity arced between them. A buzz of connection, of attraction, rad
iating so strongly she felt it as a thick, tangible presence.
“I missed you, my girl.”
My girl. Her belly squeezed. He was calling her his girl and no two words ever in existence held so much significance. Except, perhaps, three little words she ached to hear: I love you.
“Marcus,” she whispered, unsure of where the name manifested from but knew it was fitting. As were these emotions. “I missed you too.”
Their lips met with a rush of heat. His taste consumed her, filled her with a vibrating desire.
Zoe woke with a start, the name ‘Marcus’ still on her tongue. She could taste him, sweetly metallic, intoxicating. Her body was alive.
She sat up and shook her head.
What a crazy dream.
A mere dream, yet it felt so real. The effects on her body definitely hinted the experience was as real as any other. A deep achiness transformed in the centre of her chest, and she knew it was longing. Longing for Marcus.
Guilt stormed through her body, but it was a sun shower compared to the raging hurricane of sensation she was feeling.
Who was Marcus and why did Zoe feel as she did for him?
But more importantly, how the hell was she going to tell Theron about all this?
Chapter 27
The next morning, Zoe sat with Asher and Theron in the dining hall eating her breakfast.
“So the monk didn’t bless you both, but blessed everyone else?” Asher asked as she lifted her glass of juice to her lips.
Theron leaned forward, elbows resting on the table. “Yep.”
“Why?”
Theron shook his head. “No idea. Kind of stung a little to tell you the truth.”
“What do you think, Zoe?”
Zoe shrugged. “I’m assuming, it’s because of my abilities.”
“But he didn’t bless me either,” Theron said. “So that can’t be the reason.”
“How bizarre,” Asher said.
“It was. Totes weird.”
“Damn, I wish we got some footage,” Asher said. “You’re changing my world, Super Freak. I’ve had so many hits on my videos. My subscribers are growing in number. I may actually be a little famous.”
After Life Page 17
