Phantoms of Fall (The Haunting Ruby Series Book 2) (8 page)

“I thought for sure he was going to yell at you. We
never got away with that kind of stuff back in Trinity.” My
stomach finally settled enough for me to talk without thinking
I would barf.

“Oh, if that were any other teacher he would have.
That’s Mr. Raspatello—he’s the coolest teacher here. He
rarely ever yells at anybody. But he’s a good teacher, though,
too.”

I nodded distractedly as I unfolded my schedule and
smoothed it out on my desk and compared it to Zach’s. We
had a lot of the same classes, just unfortunately not together.
We didn’t even have lunch at the same time. The only one we
had in common was Advanced Math in eighth period—the last
class of the day. While I was grateful to at least have that, I
was definitely disappointed. My only hope was for Rachel to
have the same lunch as me. Nothing said “loser” like eating
alone in the cafeteria.

While I was busy obsessing over our schedules, the
room filled up. When the first bell rang, nearly everyone was
in their seats. I glanced around the room nervously, watching
as almost everyone looked away when my eyes met theirs.
The only one who didn’t look away was a straggly looking girl
in the far corner who just sat there staring at me. I recognized
her from open house but I never would have guessed she was
a senior. She was small and frail and looked just as scared as I
was.
Zach gave me a quick kiss just as Mr. Raspatello rose
from his desk to take roll.

Rachel slipped into the room behind Mr. Raspatello’s
back and slid into her seat hurriedly. I wanted to ask to see
her schedule, but I didn’t want to get yelled at on my first day.
Mr. Raspatello worked his way around the room, calling each
name on the list.
There were still a few empty desks, so I
knew someone had to be late. As he called Zach’s name, the
door opened and in walked Misty Landrum with her boy toy
Kody Kirk in tow. Kody’s shirt was crumpled and his zipper
was down. One guess as to why
they
were late.

Mr. Raspatello called, “You’re late,” as Misty slithered
into her seat.

“Fashionably,” Misty replied sarcastically, causing
Kody to laugh uncontrollably. It said a lot for Kody’s
intelligence that he found a comment as lame as that to be
funny.

Mr. Raspatello earned some respect from me when he
talked back to her. “See that it doesn’t happen again.”

Misty tossed her hair over her shoulder defiantly but
held her tongue. I was so busy enjoying the show that I forgot
my name was next on his list. I nearly jumped out of my seat
when he called out, “Matthews, Ruby.”

Raising my hand timidly, I figured that was all there
was to it. Nothing ever came that easily for me, so I should
have seen it coming.

“So I see you know the Masons, but why don’t you tell
the rest of us something about yourself.” I deducted every
last one of the respect points I just awarded him. “Stand up so
we can all hear you.” No, now he was losing points he didn’t
even have to lose. Negative respect points.

Forcing myself to stand on wobbly legs, I cleared my
throat before speaking.
A snotty giggle erupted from the
other side of the room and I felt the blood rushing to my face.
Even if she didn’t want to bury her fangs into my boyfriend, I
still would have hated Misty.

“Um…My name’s Ruby. I moved here from Trinity in
June.” That was all I had. I shrunk back into my seat hoping
he wouldn’t ask me anything else.

“Okay, then. Thanks, Ruby.” Mr. Raspatello walked
back to his desk and sat down. Settling back into his chair, he
propped his feet on the desk and went back to reading his
newspaper.

The chatter in the room quickly went back to as loud
as it was before the bell rang.
Since everyone else was
talking, I felt it was safe to finally ask Rachel for her schedule.

She passed it to me with a smile. “So how did your
date go last night guys?”

That depends. Did she want to know what an amazing
kisser he was? Or did she want to hear about how he took off
just before things got interesting? I chose a generic answer
and a quick segue into something completely off topic.

“Good. How was your day with Shelly?” Once she
started talking about herself, I knew she would forget all
about my date with her brother.

“Totally awesome. I’ll be working with her every
weekend and maybe a few nights a week after football season
is over. You’re going to be so impressed when we get
everything together. By the time we’re done with Rosewood,
you won’t even recognize it.”

I compared our schedules
as
she talked and
was
horrified to find that we didn’t have even one class together—
not even lunch. “Great, I’m barely going to see you guys.”
While I knew all along that it was too much to even hope for, I
fantasized that Zach and I would have every class together.
That we could just parade around the school all day, arm in
arm, making all of the girls jealous. So much for my dreams—
I should have realized they would turn out to be nightmares.

“Don’t worry, Ruby. We’ll still see each other outside
of school. I’ll be at your house every weekend. And I’m sure
you and Zach will be together every spare second of the day.
Plus, you’re
fabulous
—you’ll make tons of new friends!

“Rachel’s right, don’t worry so much. You’ll make
yourself sick again.” A look of concern showed on his face as
he took my hand. “Has your stomach settled down yet?”

“A little. But the day has just begun.” I was feeling
sorry for myself and I wasn’t afraid to admit it. And let’s face
it—I had
plenty
of reasons to be in a crappy mood. Boyfriend
issues? Check. New nightmares? Check. A sucky start to the
first day of school? Double check.

“I hate to see you like this, sweetie. Can I do anything
to cheer you up?”

I thought about what I most wanted from him and it
made me smile. “Well, maybe. But not now, and definitely
not here. Can I see you tonight?”

“Sure—but probably not for long. I’m stopping by the
shelter for a couple hours after I drop you off then heading
home for dinner. And I’ll have to find a way to squeeze some
homework in there, too.
It never fails—somebody
always
gives homework on the first day of school.”

My mood turned grimmer as he listed all of the things
that would keep us apart.
Adding his list to mine equaled
heaviness in my heart. All I wanted was to be with him. Why
was the universe so cruel?

“I’m not cheering you up, am I? You know when
you’re sad, I am too.”

Those words
spoken
by
anyone else would have
sounded hollow and facetious. But the look in his eyes told
the truth—he meant every word of it and it made me feel
worse.
I never wanted him to feel my pain.
So I put on a
brave smile for his sake way more than for mine.

“Let’s talk about something else.”

So we spent the rest of our time together making
plans
for the weekend.
Aside from
any
homework we
gathered during the week, neither of us had any other sort of
commitments so we decided to go see a movie together.
Going
on
a normal date like a
normal
couple
sounded
heavenly—especially since I knew the only movie theater in
town was the drive-in.
The last time we were there I was
nervous, hoping he wasn’t just taking me there to make out.
This time, that was exactly what I was hoping for.
It was still
days away, but thoughts of our date on Saturday were the
only thing I had to look forward to so I clung to them. I was
starting to feel better when the bell rang like a death knell
through the room. I was
so
not ready for this.

9. I’m Not Falling for It

First period was a real snoozer. I avoided fulfilling my
history requirement every other year so my dad was forced to
sign me up for it this year.
World History was incredibly
boring to me so I would have been tempted to fall asleep
regardless, but it didn’t help that the teacher was about as
captivating as watching moss grow.

Mr. Tucker was old—I’m talking old enough to have
helped
build
the pyramids. The room was hot and stuffy and
he refused to open the windows.
But it was his voice that
made me want to fall asleep. It was barely above a whisper
and had a soothing quality that lulled me into a half-conscious
trance. I periodically glanced around the room in an effort to
keep my eyes open. Seeing that no one else was faring any
better, I was almost tempted to give in to the urge to close my
eyes. Thanks to the nightmare, I only got about five hours of
sleep and just a quick cat nap would have done the trick.

Then I noticed something disturbing. Something even
more unsettling than the sight of Misty sitting two rows away.
The strange girl from homeroom was also in the room. And
she was staring straight at me.
And I mean
staring
at me.
Like she wanted to kill me. My eyes locked with hers briefly
and I felt so uncomfortable that I had to look away. Quickly, I
turned, looking
out the
window instead.
But there was
something about the intensity in her eyes that made me look
back. She was still glaring at me, unblinking.

What was this girl’s problem? At least I understood
the motivation when Misty looked at me like that. Did this
girl like Zach, too? I didn’t want to be mean, but how could
this girl even remotely think she stood a chance with Zach? I
sucked up the bad vibes and stared back.

She was quite possibly the creepiest girl I’d ever laid
eyes on. Her hair was dirty blond and hung limply around her
face. The paleness of her skin made my fair complexion look
tanned in comparison. And her clothing? Let’s just say that it
really made her stand out.
Yeah, she was wearing skinny
jeans, but they looked like the kind they wore back in the
eighties. And by that, I mean they actually looked like they
were
from
the eighties and the rest of her outfit was no less
vintage. But it was her eyes that really grabbed my attention.
Dark and penetrating, they both intrigued and frightened me
at the same time.

Entranced by her, I nearly jumped out of my skin
when the bell rang. The very second I got my bearings; I ran
out of the room and never looked back. AP English was my
next class and the only class I was really looking forward to.
When I realized Mr. Raspatello was my English teacher, I was
even more excited.
Although he put me in the hot seat when
he made me introduce myself to the class, I still felt that he
was going to be a fun teacher, the kind who makes class
interesting. Feeling a little bit better about the day as a whole,
I slid into my seat hopeful for the first time today. Then, I saw
her. Creepy Girl. And this time, she sat down right beside me.

Mr. Raspatello started off class by handing out the
reading list for the year. One by one I read down through the
list, disappointed to find that I’d already read most of them.
Then
he
explained that
half
of our time would be spent
reading and analyzing the classics and the other half would be
devoted to creative writing. Now we were talking. Creative
writing was my strongpoint. I didn’t just win that writing
contest last year by accident—I was good. As if he read my
mind, Mr. Raspatello called my name.

“Ruby, I read in your transcripts that you took first
place in a creative writing contest last year.
Tell us about
your story.” He motioned for me to join him at the front of the
room and I almost threw up again. What cruel enjoyment did
he get out of humiliating me? Slowly, I trudged up front, well
aware that Creepy Girl was staring bullets into me the entire
time.

There were only a few things in this world that truly
terrified me.
Spiders, ghosts, the thought of drowning and
public speaking—but not necessarily in that order. My throat
tightened and my mouth went dry.
I looked out over the
room at all of the strange faces and my heart started to race.
Just as I was about to hyperventilate, Mr. Raspatello saved me.

“Tell us the name of your story.” He sat on the edge of
his desk and crossed his arms.

 

Deciding to focus on him and not the crowd, I started
to calm down. “Ghost Stone.”

 

“Interesting title. Explain the plot.”

“It’s the story of a girl who loses everyone she loves
and wishes for a way to bring them back from the dead. She
finds
a stone that will allow her to see them
again
but
eventually
discovers
that
once
someone
is
gone,
they
shouldn’t come back.”

“It sounds very thought provoking. I expect you to
bring me a copy. I’d love to read it.” When he smiled at me, I
realized he really wasn’t trying to embarrass me. He was
actually interested in
my
story.
Returning
to my
seat,
I
decided that he earned back some of the respect points I took
away from him in homeroom.

No one in the class laughed at me and I didn’t die from
humiliation, so I considered it a success.
Until I caught sight
of Creepy Girl beside me. She was now sitting sideways in her
seat, head cocked to the side and staring at me full on.
I
bypassed frightened and went straight to annoyed.
Why
wouldn’t she stop staring at me? Surely, Mr. Raspatello would
notice and say something, right? He had to, he simply had to.

But he didn’t. And neither did my AP Biology teacher
or my French IV teacher. That’s right—she was in every one
of my classes. By the time lunch rolled around, I was ready
for a nervous breakdown. I wanted to confront her—to ask
her why she wouldn’t leave me alone—but I was afraid to. I
already had a powerful enemy in Misty Landrum—I had to at
least find out who Creepy Girl was before I dealt with her. It
was highly unlikely that this girl was anyone with any kind of
influence in this school, but I had too much to lose to just
assume.