Beautiful Souls (19 page)

    
              “Hi, Becca. What do you have there?” she asked, as she slipped into her seat directly opposite me.

    
              “Oh nothing much, just some homework,” I lied.

    
              “Well, aren’t you the studious type?” Zoey commented, using an obviously sarcastic tone.

    
              “No, not really,” I huffed. “I just finished early at the shop today, so I thought I could get my homework done here instead of having to work on it later back at home,” I lied again.

    
              “Oh right, I heard around school about you and Leo. Do the two of you have a date later?” Zoey had a true curiosity in her tone now, but a wicked grin grew across her beautiful red lips. The grin spread across her entire face, white teeth glowed, and that shiver of eeriness was sent up my spine once again.

    
              “No, nothing planned like that.” I progressed slowly, choosing every word cautiously, “He may stop by to hang out later though, just the usual.” I tried to sound nonchalant.

    
              I was actually growing confused and incredibly uncomfortable. Her questions had me uneasy. Zoey barely knew me, but was speaking to me as intimately as Emmy or Leo would have. There was something backing her voice and hidden in her tone; something menacing and pushy that I’d never noticed before. Maybe Leo was right about her.              Zoey must have been able to sense my sudden apprehension. She blinked, quickly wiping away the grin, and her strange behavior was wiped away with it. “Shall we order?” she asked rather normally.                   “Um, sure. I’m starving, actually.” I watched Zoey wave Mia over to our booth as if this were a five-star restaurant. Mia appeared from the kitchen a second later.

    
              Zoey ordered my regular as well, even though I was more than slightly surprised that a girl with Zoey’s figure had ever eaten a cheeseburger in all her life. She continued with chitchat about the town, and asked over even less inconsequential matters after Mia had taken our orders and turned them in to the kitchen for Montey to cook up.

    
              I tried not to show my hesitancy toward her --- even though she had reverted back to acting quite normal now --- and attempted to keep my thoughts from appearing  too plainly across my face. The more I tried to hide my readable expressions, the more Zoey seemed to pick up on them. Before, I had always felt drawn toward her but today was different. Ever since Zoey's strange reaction to my necklace, I'd felt put off. It was as if she hadn't been showing her true colors and I was just now picking up on that aspect of her.

    
              Mia reappeared, served both of our platters, asked if we needed refills on our sweet teas, then disappeared again into the kitchen.

    
              Zoey tried again, a little more courteously this time, with another line of questioning. I wanted to be the one asking the questions, to pry ever so slightly into her life. I wanted a small glimpse back of the visions I had seen the first time that I was in the same room with Zoey. My instincts told me she was the instigator of that first vision, even though I’d had another vision since that wasn’t sparked by being within the her vicinity.

    
              “So, how long have you known Leo?”

    
              “My entire life,” I answered back quickly and matter-of-factly, not even needing to think over the answer. I hoped my quick response didn’t come across rude.

    
              “Really? Have you two spent much time together over the years?” she asked, this question in the same tone as the first.

    
              “Yeah, why?” I was becoming increasingly annoyed and defensive, which shocked me. I just wanted her to get to the point. Something was going on, and even though I didn’t know what, that creepy feeling climbed up my spine again.

    
              “Oh, I don’t know. I just get the feeling that he doesn’t  like me very much.”

    
              “Funny,” I huffed. “He said the same thing about you.” I squinted my eyes toward Zoey, as I let the words slip from my mouth.                   I kept my eyes locked on her. I wanted to catch her reaction to the news that there was an actual person in existence who was completely unimpressed by her, no matter how selfish the reasoning may have been. This was silly and immature, I know, but I just couldn’t help myself. What was I doing? What had come over me?                   Zoey was obviously bothered by what I said, but not completely shocked. She seemed more annoyed than anything, almost as if she thought this was a waste of her time. She considered her next words carefully. “He’s not the type of person you should surround yourself with.”

    
              “What?” I questioned a little louder than intended, gaining the unwanted attention of a few other diner customers along with Mia. They all turned to stare. I quieted my voice this time, “You don’t know what you’re talking about. You don’t even know him.”

    
              “I obviously know more than you realize. Besides, Leo’s character is not what I’m referring to.” Zoey declared in a clear, confident voice.

    
              I glared at her, furious that she was speaking of Leo this way. She’d only met him days ago. And, what did she mean by
‘I obviously know more than you realize’
? There was no conceivable way this girl, sitting smugly before me, knew Leo better that I did. No way did she know anything about him that I didn’t. I was the one that knew his secret, after all.

    
              She didn’t know anything, I convinced myself. The more I allowed myself to consider her words, the more frustrated and angry I grew. “What are you referring to then?” I asked as loudly as I had spoke moments ago, and the others in the diner turned again to stare, some still following our conversation from before.

    
              This time, however, they didn’t stare because of the level of my voice. This time, they were gripped with the happenings at our booth, because Zoey’s platter of waffle fries had suddenly and unexpectedly flipped from our table, spilled all of its contents onto her lap and surrounding areas, clanked loudly while the echo bounced off the dim diner walls, then hit the floor spinning in repetitive circles, finally coming to a rest on the brick floor just outside our booth.

             
What the hell just happened? Her plate had been sitting on the table, untouched, just seconds ago, and a split-second later it was scattered everywhere. How'd that happen? Everything had headed downhill so fast. I felt that I needed to get out of here to clear my mind and rid myself of the creepy vibe she had given me since she popped in back at my mom's shop.

    
              Zoey’s icy, green eyes gleamed wildly in disbelief. “You did that on purpose… and you’ll regret it.” She sent the accusing words with purposeful and undeniable malice as she glared at me from her slit eyes.

    
              “What are you talking about?” I tried to lower my voice now that we both had the unwanted attention of the entire diner. So much for inconspicuous. “I didn’t touch anything of yours.”

    
              Mia disappeared for only seconds behind the counter then popped back up holding a handful of towels and wet rags. She made quick work of the scattered fries, rapidly swiping away food fragments from the booth bench and floor.

    
              “No worries girls. Nothing a mop and bucket can’t cure,” she assured us then disappeared back into the kitchen.

    
              After Mia was gone, I whispered, “How could I have possibly knocked your plate off the table from three feet away?”

    
              Zoey looked at me strangely. She cocked her head to one side, and seemingly attempted to make sense out of something I said. “I told you, Becca. I know more than you and your little boyfriend than you realize.”

    
              “Like what?” I was still holding on to my anger.

    
              Zoey laughed an almost wicked laugh, as she straightened her head, “Listen carefully. One of these days very soon, when you’re finally alone, we will get from you what is rightfully ours.”

    
              “You’re crazy! You’ve either lost your mind, or you have me confused with someone else. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I paused, feeling my head spin with a mixture of confusion and anger. “You’re so far off,” I added snidely.

    
              Just by voicing my opinions, my emotions began to rise throughout my body and I had to fight off the growing lump in my throat tempting me to cry. I blinked back tears and fought through the wetness filling my eyes. I felt my anger rise to another level. My cheeks flushed with that familiar unwanted tingle, and I was confident they’d turned the color of beets, caused certainly by both my anger and humiliation at becoming the center of attention in the diner.

    
              Suddenly, two chairs at the table next to our booth flipped over, slamming to the floor loudly. The noise made me jump, and the other customers were now staring at Zoey and me as if we were freaks of nature.

    
              “Do you really not know who you are?” Zoey leaned in and whispered across the table, never once unlocking her eyes from mine. She appeared to be in total disbelief. Her eyes shined with new-found vigor, as chills ran up my neck and down my arms.

    
              I was taken back and silenced by her question. I sat dumbfounded and speechless. Even if I could have found the words, I didn’t really know to what I was responding.

    
              A smirk, even more menacing than before, grew wide across Zoey’s face as she gathered her belongings. She started to reach for my bag as well, and I dove over it, protecting the book and my other belongings.

    
              I heard her laugh once again as she passed through the front door of the diner. I turned as she took one last glance my direction, shooting me a look that could kill. I had no doubt in my mind that she would if she could have.

    
              Now, not only was I completely and utterly confused by this turn of events, but I was frightened too. The way Zoey looked at me as she left, the tone in her voice, both had left me with that chill that shivered every inch of my spine.

    
              I quickly grabbed my bag, just as fast as Zoey had collected her own things, threw down enough money on the table to cover our bill, and hurried outside before Mia could begin questioning me.

    
              I made my out through the front of Montey’s toward my Bug. I yanked the door opened and dove in. Instinctively, I kept my hand cupped over the necklace, praying that it would protect me from Zoey in case she were lying in wait for me as I left the diner.

    
              I felt significantly safer in my own car, and relief lifted from my shoulders as I closed the distance between me and my house, realizing I was out of any immediate danger.

    
              Zoey’s menacing laugh still resonated in my head, and my mind continued to replay her words,
‘you really don’t know who you are’
. Every time I heard those words echo through my brain, they sent up the hairs on the back of my neck.

    
              I pulled into the gravel driveway at home not more that fifteen minutes later, thankful to feel that immediate calm and peace. I noticed that the house was illuminated with lights turned on in almost every single room. I could hear voices pouring out of the opened back door, releasing into the crisp night air, floating toward the dark and luminous full moon.

    
              We must have company, I assumed, and slumped at the thought as I slowly approached my house. I didn’t feel up for visitors, not tonight of all nights.

    
              “Great,” I muttered sarcastically under my breath, as I reluctantly climbed the back steps. My mom approached the doorway to greet me.

    
              “Hi, hon. How’d dinner go?” she asked, as I slipped passed her through the screen door she held open for me.

    
              “Not well,” I replied, still in my muttering-under-my-breath voice.

    
              “Yeah, we know,” she voiced, and the answer surprised me.

    
              I looked up to see our kitchen full of my parents, Leo and both of his parents, and also my Homeroom teacher Mr. Stanley. He was flanked by my dad and a middle-aged pretty blonde woman, whom I assumed was Mr. Stanley’s wife. My teacher, as a guest in my home, was the sight that surprised me most. Why was he here?

    
              “That’s what we’re all here to talk to you about,” my mom continued.

    
              I froze where I stood, keeping a tight grip on my backpack with one hand, while the other remained hovering over, almost caressing, the key dangling on my chest.