Phantoms of Fall (The Haunting Ruby Series Book 2) (44 page)

That one kiss was the only spark we needed to ignite.
His lips never left mine as he sat up, pulling me into his lap.
My intensity only seemed to increase his until I was in a state
of sheer delirium. I reached heights I only fantasized about
before.
But reality was much better than fantasy. For some
reason, Zach lost his will power like he never did before. And
I lost my inhibitions right along with him.

I’m sure that if Dad and Shelly weren’t downstairs we
wouldn’t have been able to stop. His hands found every part
of me that he wouldn’t allow them to before and mine did the
same. Neither of us ventured under each other’s clothing, but
it was one steamy session nevertheless. The only thing that
brought us back to earth was Coco who was clearly fascinated
by what we were doing.
She somehow tunneled her way
between us and was perched on her back paws with her face
close to ours.

Total
mood killer.
We
stopped kissing
when her
whiskers
brushed
against our faces.
What started with
laughter, ended with laughter. Aside from the obvious, it was
everything I hoped it would be. But in three weeks, it would
be
everything
.

I hoisted myself off of him and took a drink of my
soda. Zach climbed back up onto the futon and said only one
word.

“Wow.” The dreamy look in his eyes said way more
than just that, though.

 

“I never knew tickling could be so….” I struggled to
find the perfect word to describe what I’d just experienced.

 

“Passionate? Intense?”

 

“Both good words but even they don’t totally do it
justice.”

“Thanks, I guess, but you’re the real fire behind what
just happened,” Zach replied. Shy Zach was back again, quiet
and not wanting to take credit for how amazing he truly was.
“Two thumbs up for Zach Mason Appreciation Day.”

Now that my brain was a little less fuzzy, I checked the
calendar to find our magical day. November 25
^th
, 2012—the
day I would remember in graphic detail for the rest of my life.

Zach selected a red marker out of my pen holder and
wrote “Ruby Matthews Appreciation Day” on that date and
neatly drew a heart around it. “I promise to make it special
for you, Ruby.”

He gave me a sweet kiss and reminded me that we had
one more movie to watch.
Since it was still his night, I
instructed him to sit back down while I grabbed us another
round of sodas. I turned out the lights and sat down beside
him.

The second movie I picked was a romantic comedy. It
was a total chick flick but Zach pretended to love it for my
sake. I don’t know how we kept our hands to ourselves, but
we did. What was hot and steamy only moments earlier was
now warm and cozy. Even if Zach Mason wasn’t perfect, he
was
the perfect boyfriend for me.
In twenty-two days,
though, he would forever be more than just my boyfriend.

36. The Beginning of the End

Memories of that night stayed close to my heart long
after Zach went home. It’s a good thing, too, because free time
with him was non-existent for the rest of the week.
Every
teacher piled on the assignments until I thought my brain was
going to explode. We tried to study together a few nights, but
it was obvious that our minds were on other things. Finally,
we both agreed that our schoolwork had to come first so we
settled for pre-bedtime phone conversations instead.

We had a lot to talk about without even mentioning
our big plans.
Our families decided to have Thanksgiving
Dinner together at Rosewood. I’d never had a home cooked
turkey dinner before and I was especially happy to hear that
Diane Mason would be doing the honors. Shelly’s cooking had
come a long way, but I don’t think any of us—Shelly
included—would have trusted her alone with the bird.

Rachel was worried about the still-missing Crimson
and in turn we were all worried about
her
. It was so weird to
see her moping around school looking like, well,
me
a month
ago.
She and Boone went from being the couple everyone
wanted to be to the couple everyone felt sorry for.
The only
good thing to come out of it? Boone’s performance on the
field skyrocketed landing him his pick of football scholarships.
That and the ever mounting stress of their situation only
seemed to strengthen their relationship.

The upcoming suicide prevention assembly lost some
of its
importance for me.
Garnet
left me
alone after
Halloween—I went a full two weeks without a single sighting.
I was able to eat normally again and I started to forget what
my original goal was—to find out what Garnet wanted so she
could rest in peace. But this is me we’re talking about—
normal never lasts long.

It all started the Monday before Thanksgiving. I felt so
good after Zach and I got back together that the darkness that
fell over me took me by surprise. As I crossed the threshold
into the school that morning, it was like I stepped into a black
cloud.
My body felt heavy and every movement seemed to
take twice the amount of energy it should have. I felt ugly,
like everyone was staring at me because I was so hideously
deformed. As I walked, I stared at the floor to hide my face.

“Ruby!” Zach took me by the shoulders and tried to
make eye contact. “Ruby, are you okay?”

The second he touched me, I felt like myself again.
“I’m fine, why do you ask?” Whatever just came over me was
gone as quickly as it came.

“You were acting kinda weird.” I could see the fear in
his eyes when he said, “For a minute there, it was like you
were someone else.”

“What? No, I’m definitely me. I just got a strange
feeling when I walked into the school—that’s all.” That was
all it was, right?

“Are you sure? You seemed….” Zach leaned close to
my ear and whispered the dreaded word. “Possessed.”

 

“Oh, no—that’s not possible. I already asked Rita
about that and she said it couldn’t happen.”

“Whew! That’s a relief!” Zach opened his locker and
pulled out his math book. “But you did say you felt strange—
strange how?”

I explained the
sensation to him
and
he
looked
puzzled. “Have you ever felt that way before?”

 

“No, I haven’t and I hope I never do again.”

 

He slung his arm over my shoulder and gave me a
squeeze. “I hope you don’t either, sweetie.”

That hope went right out the window as I walked into
homeroom.
One look from Mr. Raspatello and I felt horrible
again.

“I don’t feel well—I need to use the restroom!” I
blurted as I turned around and bolted out of the room.

I walked quickly with my head down the whole way
there.
The first bell rang as I opened the restroom door
meaning I would probably have the place to myself.
Once I
was sure I was alone, I took a peek in the mirror and instantly
wished I hadn’t. I
was
hideous!

My
face was
bloated to
the point where I barely
recognized myself.
I touched my cheek gingerly with my
fingertips. What happened to me?
It looked like I had a bad
allergic reaction to something—but what? And why didn’t
Zach tell me how awful I looked?

What
else
was wrong with me? I slid off my sweater
so I could take a closer look. Every part of my body was huge.
Large bulges protruded from my tank top where none existed
before. My jeans were so tight I was in danger of a serious
wardrobe malfunction. I hated what I saw—every last bit of
it.
How could I
have
gained that much weight without
noticing it?

I hated myself so much that I wanted to cry.
Zach
could never love me looking like this. In a fit of frustration, I
grabbed at various parts of my body willing them to go away
but they didn’t budge. After my appetite returned, I pigged
out on multiple occasions. How could I let
this
happen?

The scrambled eggs and bacon I had for breakfast
were so good that I had a second plate.
That had to be it—I
just ate too much for breakfast, that’s all. There was a quick
remedy for that. I ducked into the nearest stall and stuck my
finger down my throat.
Again and again, I regurgitated until
all I could taste in my mouth was bile. When I was finished, I
felt so much better. Now, I could face the world.

I didn’t look completely normal but definitely better
than when I walked in. I just needed to stop pigging out and I
would be fine. My mouth felt disgusting so I fished into my
pocket for a breath mint. Just before I placed it on my tongue,
I reconsidered. The last thing I needed were empty calories
floating around inside me. What I needed was some gum. At
least with gum, I would burn off all of the calories by chewing
it. Rachel always had some in her purse—all I needed to do
was ask for a piece.

When I returned to homeroom, Zach gave me
a
worried look.

 

“I’m fine. I just need some gum. Rachel, do you have a
piece?”

 

She nodded her head and tossed me one.
Rachel
wasn’t talking much these days.

 

“You
never
chew gum. What’s up?”

 

“Nothing’s up!” I snapped at him. “It’s just a piece of
gum.”

 

“Sorry,” he said quietly. “I’m worried about you, that’s
all.”

“I’m fine but I have a lot of homework to do and so do
you.”
With a flick of my hand, I motioned for him to slide
over. I was gross and I didn’t want him looking at me.

“Sorry,” he said again as he repositioned himself in his
seat.

With my French book open in front of me, I tried to
concentrate. The words only swam in front of my face. How
did I get so fat so fast? I could practically feel it oozing over
the top of my jeans. Gathering my sweater around me, I tied it
tight to hold it all in place. I was disgusting. Out of the corner
of my eye, I took a look at Misty—so thin, so perfect.
No
wonder she was popular and I wasn’t.

When the bell for first period rang, I bolted for the
hallway. The quicker I got there, the fewer people would see
me looking like this.

“Ruby!” Zach called, “Wait up!”

Why would he want to be seen with me?
I decided to
save him the embarrassment. “Gotta go!” I shouted as I took
off down the hall.

In every class, I sat with my head down in an attempt
to hide my ever burgeoning double chin. If I didn’t soon get
rid of it and every other unwanted bulge, Zach would break
up with me.
All it would take was a few days—maybe a
week—to get back to where I was, right? I hardly ever ate
lunch anyway so skipping it wouldn’t really help my cause. If
I just ate something like salad for dinner for the rest of the
week, I should be back on track. Having a game plan helped
me feel a little bit better.

Zach was getting his cast off today so I wouldn’t have
to worry
about
him
seeing
me after
noon—his
doctor
appointment would take care of that.
Maybe if I skipped
dinner tonight, too, I could take the edge off of the bloat and
look more normal for tomorrow.
A few cans of diet soda
would be dinner for me.

Dammit, Shelly! Why did she have to go and become a
gourmet chef at a time like this?
The smell of beef burgundy
met me as soon as I opened the front door. Maybe if I had a
small plate, I would still be okay. But it tasted so good and I
consumed a normal-size portion before I realized it. Why did
I eat so much?
I promised myself I wouldn’t do that! It was
too late now—or was it? Okay, I guess I could get rid of it the
same way I did my breakfast. Just this one time.

As soon as my fork hit my empty plate I felt more
disgusting than ever.
I gave Dad and Shelly a quick excuse
about tons of homework and ran up the stairs. When I was
finished, I felt…cleansed, triumphant almost. It was going to
be okay. I was going to lose this weight.

Zach called to see how I was and I wasn’t lying when I
said I felt great. I was one step closer to looking good enough
to be his girlfriend. While we talked, my stomach started to
rumble. That was a good sign, right? It meant that I didn’t
ruin everything by eating so much for dinner.
I was hungry
but it felt good. I could do this.

Zach wanted to come over to see me for a while but I
told him no. I used tons of homework as my excuse. I wanted
to spend time with him but the less he saw me looking this
way, the better.
Finishing my homework in record time, I
spent the rest of the evening exercising.
Exhausted, I was
asleep soon after my head hit the pillow.

I woke up before the alarm feeling like I was literally
starving to death. Maybe eating a little bit of breakfast would
be alright. I would let the mirror be the judge of that. With
my eyes closed, I positioned myself in front of the full length
mirror in the bathroom trying to think myself thin.

When I opened my eyes, I was mortified. I was pretty
sure I looked worse than I did the day before. How was that
possible? Furiously, I pinched at the fat on my body until it
hurt. Why wouldn’t it go away? “I hate you,” I told my
reflection. “I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!” Blindly, I
grabbed the first thing I could find and flung it into the mirror.
As the glass shattered into tiny pieces, I started to cry.

I was so hungry! But I couldn’t eat—my big day with
Zach was less than a week away. There was no way in hell he
was going to see me naked when I looked this disgusting. No
way in hell. I had to get rid of it all by Sunday, so I chugged a
diet soda to take away the hollow feeling in my stomach. And
then I drank another.