Phantoms of Fall (The Haunting Ruby Series Book 2) (9 page)

I was starving by the time fifth period lunch rolled
around but I dreaded walking into that cafeteria.
I knew that
Zach and Rachel wouldn’t be there and the only other person I
would feel comfortable sitting with was Chloe. The odds were
working against me all day, so I was pretty sure she had a
different lunch time, too. Even if she didn’t, how would I find
her in this sea of unfamiliar faces?

Scanning the tables as I passed, I got in line to get my
lunch. No Chloe as far as I could see but I did recognize one
familiar face—Ryan. I noticed his hot gaze as I passed and I
could all but feel him staring at my butt as I walked away. I
loaded my tray and paid for my food. Today was taco day and
they didn’t look half bad.
With the rumbling in my stomach,
though, I would have gladly eaten cat food if it were wrapped
in a tortilla.

As I passed Ryan’s table, I saw that Boone was now
seated beside him. It was clearly the cool table, full of football
players and cheerleaders.
I was just thinking how much
easier my life would be if I could fit in with that crowd when
someone called my name.

“Ruby! There’s a seat over here!”

It was Boone.
He was pointing to the empty chair
beside him and waving me over.
For a split second, I was
filled with relief.
Not only would I not have to sit alone, I
would be sitting at the cool table.
I started to weave my way
back through the maze of tables and then it hit me. Would
Zach be jealous if he found out about this?
He and Boone
were best friends but Zach even got mad at Boone for his
comments at the party. I wanted so much to just sit down and
not worry about Zach’s reaction. But I didn’t.

I shook my head and pointed to the other side of the
cafeteria. Boone looked confused, but nodded and went back
to the massive pile of food on his tray.
So I walked to the
opposite side of the room in search of an empty table.
There
was only one left, so I slid into a chair quickly. It felt really
stupid to sit there alone staring at my food, so I decided to
pull out a book and at least pretend to be busy reading.
I
leaned under the table to retrieve one from my bag and saw a
pair of legs on the other side of the table. Skinny jeans, neon
colored socks and high top sneakers—could those legs belong
to who I thought they did? Oh, please let me be wrong!

But of course, I wasn’t wrong. It was Creepy Girl. And
she was sitting directly across from me. Staring at me like a
psycho. She didn’t even have a tray, so no food meant she had
nothing to distract her from her current fascination. Suddenly
those tacos looked positively inedible. I didn’t care about how
rude it would look—I grabbed my stuff, gave her a nasty look
of my own and stormed away. Dumping my full tray into the
garbage, I headed to the restroom so I could just be alone.

I hid in there until the bell rang. Physics was my next
class and even though Creepy Girl was there too, so was
Chloe. Finally, someone I could talk to.
When she motioned
for me to sit with her, I gladly accepted. Class went well since
I had someone to distract me from my silent stalker. Only two
more classes left in the day and at least Zach would be with
me in Advanced Math.
Homeroom was the last I time I saw
him and after the day I’d had, I really needed him near.

On my way to study hall, I considered Creepy Girl.
What were the odds that she would be there, too? Pretty slim.
I mean really, there was
no way
it could happen, right?
Wrong, yet again. I tried to start reading the first book on my
English syllabus, but couldn’t get past the first few
paragraphs. I had to find out who she was and what her deal
was. Zach would be able to identify her for me and even if he
couldn’t—or wasn’t willing to—tell me why she hated me,
then I would go to Rachel.
Her behavior had to have
something to do with him—there was no other explanation.

Now that I had a plan, I was disappointed to walk into
Advanced Math and not see a trace of her. Great. My chance
to find
out her name
was
gone
at least
until
tomorrow
morning.
I seriously had the worst luck in the world.
I
watched everyone as they walked through the door for two
reasons. One, the sight of Zach’s face was the only thing that
could possibly make this day feel like anything but a total
disaster. Two, Creepy Girl found a way to sneak up on me in
the cafeteria and I wasn’t about to let it happen again.

Zach was the last one in the door and Mrs. West closed
the door behind him. Finally, I got to spend one class with the
person I most wanted to see and not with the one I least
wanted to see. It was an amazing feat, but I would have been
happier to see Misty than her. At least Misty didn’t follow me
around all day. Then it hit me. Was it possible that Misty paid
or even threatened this girl into scaring me all day? Could she
be so desperate to break up Zach and me that she would
resort to trying to drive me crazy?
Anyone who would stoop
to pushing
their competition into a swimming
pool was
capable of worse, right?
Instantly, I realized that Zach did
exactly the same thing to Ryan and I pushed the thought to
the back of my mind. Zach was nothing like Misty—nothing
like her at all.

Class was infinitely boring which made freedom seem
unattainable. When the final bell rang, everyone shot out of
their seats in one synchronized mass.
The flow of traffic
heading out the door came to a screeching halt as we all
fought to get out first. In the rush, I ran headlong into Zach’s
back and dropped my pen on the floor. Chasing it through my
legs, I watched it roll backwards and come to rest at the foot
of my desk.
As I turned to pick it up, a frightening sight
loomed before me.
Creepy Girl was still seated in the desk
directly behind mine.

When did she sneak in that I didn’t see her? She
wasn’t in the room when I got there and I watched the door
until the teacher closed it. What was going on here? Where
did she come from? Was she hiding in the room somewhere,
waiting for me to let my guard down?
Misty was up to
something—it was
my
mission to figure out what that
something was. First, I needed to find out who her hired goon
was.

10. No, Seriously…What is Going on
Here?
“How was your day?” Zach asked as he put his arm
around me and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

 

“Truly wretched—how ‘bout you?” I leaned into him
and rested my head on his chest as we walked.

 

“Not bad—no homework yet so I consider it
a
success.”

Well that made one of us.
I decided to ask him about
Creepy Girl.
She was so odd that I thought maybe just a
description alone would be enough for him to identify her.
Describing her as thoroughly as possible, I was disappointed
to see no sign of recognition on his face.

“I don’t know who you’re talking about, sweetie.
You’ll have to point her out to me tomorrow. Why are you so
curious about her?”

Should I tell him why? Should I tell him I thought she
was a part of some nefarious plan Misty cooked up to drive
me insane? In truth, it sounded just a little bit farfetched even
to me so I let it drop. “No reason.”

Zach and I made plans to meet at The Hideout at eight
o’clock and he kissed me before dropping me off at Rosewood.
I had no lunch and threw up all of my breakfast so I ran
straight to the kitchen for something to eat. There weren’t
very many things to pick from, so I tossed in a microwaveable
pizza and devoured a handful of pretzels while it cooked.
With one pizza down, I flung another one on my plate and
watched it rotate until it was done. I ate like I hadn’t eaten in
weeks and once I was finished I felt sick again. Every last bite
made its way out of my stomach and into the garbage within
minutes.

It couldn’t still be Shelly’s eggs—it must be the flu.
I
decided to take something to settle my stomach and then lie
down for an hour or so.
Something told me to set my clock
just in case I overslept and I was glad I did. When the alarm
went off at 7:30, I was dead asleep and it took me a few
minutes to get my bearings. I rarely took naps because of that
awful feeling of disorientation I had upon wakening but it was
even worse this time.
With my brain still in a fog, I brushed
my teeth, changed my clothes, and left to meet Zach.

I was halfway to The Hideout when my phone rang.
Not trusting my driving skills enough to talk and drive at the
same time, I pulled onto the side of the road and answered it.

“Ruby, didn’t you get my texts?” Zach questioned.

 

Texts?
I was still so groggy when I woke up that
checking texts was the last thing on my mind. “No, why?”

“I’m sorry but I can’t meet you tonight. I was at the
shelter longer than I expected and now Dad needs me to help
him fix Mom’s car. If you want to come over here, you can.
We won’t have any alone time, though. Sorry.”

I was so disappointed I almost chucked my phone out
the window.
Time alone with Zach was the sole reason for
meeting him tonight. But there was one other thing on my
agenda. Maybe if Rachel was home, I could talk to her about
Creepy Girl.
I would probably get better answers from her
anyway so I asked, “Is Rachel home?”

“No, she’s out
with Boone.
Are you
coming over
anyway? I’d really like to see you.”

We all have childish moments where we act like little
brats when we don’t get our way and I decided that this was
one of mine. “No, I’ll just wait until tomorrow.”

“Oh…okay then. I love you.” Hearing his voice thick
with disappointment, I almost changed my mind. Almost.

 

“Love you, too.” And I hit the end button before I
could change my mind.

After beating
the steering
wheel
in
frustration, I
turned the car around and went back home. Why didn’t I
agree to go to his house?
Because I loved him but sometimes
he drove me a little bit crazy, that’s why. Our relationship
was so damned scattered lately.
Spare time together was
disappearing at lightning speed but our relationship was still
moving so slowly.
I bet Rachel and Boone never had this
problem. She probably had to fight him off until she finally
decided to have sex with him. Zach should be the one willing
to ignore everything else in an epic quest to get into
my
pants
and not the other way around.
Dodging all questions from
Dad and Shelly, I went to bed early. I slept like a rock until the
nightmare came.

It started out in the hall leading to the cafeteria, the
same as before. The lights were off and the hallway was dark.
The only light I could see was a soft, shimmering glow spilling
out of the cafeteria.
As I walked, I could sense someone
walking with me—the light tap of footsteps on the floor, the
whispery sigh
of
a breath in
my ear—but I couldn’t see
anything. A faint hum of music floated through the air. With
my invisible companion by my side, I stepped inside.

Party decorations littered the floor and ghostly trails
of crepe paper streamed down from the ceiling.
Brushing
them out of my face as I walked, I spotted a couple dancing in
the corner.
There was something so intimate about their
embrace that I almost left them to their privacy. That is until I
recognized them. It was Zach and Misty swaying to the music,
both dressed in black and entwined so closely that it was hard
to discern where he ended and she began.

A hollow feeling grew in my chest as though my soul
were being drained from my body by the very sight of them.
It was a horrible vision but I couldn’t look away. I watched
them
from afar as
they moved together in
a slow circle.
Zach’s eyes were closed, his face frozen in a moment of pure
joy. As they turned, Misty’s face came into view. But it was no
longer Misty—it was Creepy Girl and she didn’t look happy at
all.
She slid her hands up Zach’s back never breaking eye
contact with me.
And with a wicked smile, she locked her
fingers around his neck and started to squeeze.

Waking up in a cold sweat, I went into instant panic
mode. The dream couldn’t possibly have any hidden meaning,
could it? Sure, she was strange, but there was no way Creepy
Girl could be trying to kill Zach.
I mean, what reason could
she possibly have?
My overactive imagination—that’s all it
was. However, I instantly felt bad for blowing Zach off earlier.
He probably had no idea how I felt and by not telling him, I
just made things worse. The last thing I ever wanted to do
was hurt his feelings but that was exactly what I did. What if
something bad
did
happen to him? I would always regret not
being honest with him.
Instead of festering over what was
wrong
with
our relationship, I should have settled for
enjoying what was right. I hugged my pillow and cried—not
because of the dream but because of how childish I’d been.

I woke up with a headache from all of my time spent
crying. My stomach growled at me angrily, reminding me that
essentially I didn’t eat at all yesterday. Chatting with Shelly
while I buried my face in a large bowl of cereal, the day was at
least starting out better than yesterday did. The only thing
about today that was really going to suck was phys ed. Was I
ready to undress in front of a bunch of girls I didn’t know?
Absolutely not but it was going to happen anyway. Maybe I
would get lucky and we wouldn’t have to wear our uniforms
today.