Souls in Peril (24 page)

Max proofed the stories. The last one
,
Emma
’
d written. It was a poem about loss. His eyes teared up several times as she spoke of the
agonizing
pain
that crippled. The unquenchable
anguish
that devoured. And the overwhelming
emptiness that haunted. She wrote it under her pen name
,
so few would know it was her. But Max knew.

When he finished, he shut the computer off and hande
d the jump drive to Mr. Roberts
.
“
I think I caught all the errors.
”

“
Thanks.
JD, I know things have been a little rougher than usual around
school
since the accident. I hope you
’
re not internalizing all this,
”
he said quietly.
“
Remember what we
’
ve talked about in the past. Write your feelings down, or better yet, share them with someone.
”

Max nodded.
“
I will. Thanks, Mr. Roberts.
”

See, JD, you
’
re not alone. Remember that.
Shaking his head at the doubts
still flood
ing JD, Max
slipped
his backpack up on his shoulder and went to his next class. He felt another headache coming on, so he bagged his idea of encouraging JD for the rest of the afternoon. He knew that would only make it pound harder.
JD, I do wish you
’
d stop stressing so much. These headaches are killing me.

By lunch
,
Max
’
s head throbbed with such intensity
,
he feared it would explode. He stopped by the nurse
’
s office and got some ibuprofen, running into Emma on the way to his locker.

“
Hey, JD.
I forgot to tell you my address. It
’
s nineteen Pebble Hill Circle. We
’
re s
till on for tonight
, right
?
”
She juggled an armload of books as she walked by.

“
Yes,
”
he beamed brightly.
“
Here, let me help you.
”
Max took three-fourths of the books from her.
“
I know women like to be independent and all, but my mother would give me up for adoption if I didn
’
t help you carry these.
”

“
Thanks,
”
she said slowly.
“
My locker
’
s over here.
”
She pointed across the hall.
He
nodded as if he didn
’
t already know. She raced over and had it open for him when he got there.

“
Crazy neat,
”
he said about her locker. It always was. In the two years they
’
d dated
,
he
’
d never seen her locker messy.

“
Okay, this is just weird. In the past two minutes you
’
ve used two expressions that Max always used.
”
She shifted a few things around in her locker before grabbing her wallet.
“
You two are a lot alike.
”

“
That is weird.
”
Max made a mental note to watch what he said around her. It wouldn
’
t be easy, she knew him better than anyone.

“
Do you want to eat lunch together?
”
Em asked.

Max wondered if souls in peril could move because he was pretty sure JD
’
s mouth just dropped open.
“
Thanks, but I don
’
t think some of your friends would want me at their table.
”
Max could think of two, maybe three, that
’
d practically give birth to a cow if JD were to join them.

Em took hold of his elbow.
“
Don
’
t be silly. Come on.
”
She all but dragged him down the hall toward the cafeteria. Max didn
’
t resist, despite JD
’
s objections.

“
Hi, guys,
”
Em said as they approached the heavily carved wooded picnic table outside the cafeteria. Max had eaten lunch under the overhang too many times to count. There they sat, all his friends, some he loved and missed dearly. The urge to hug several, share a few hearty pats on the back with others, burned strong. But instead of greeting his comrades, he sat in the right corner and mindlessly ran his fingers over the engraving he carved into the table October before last.
Em and Max 4ever
.

Several awkward moments of silence followed. Finally, Max forced his eyes off the engraving. Scanning everyone
’
s face, he sensed a glut of emotions ranging from pity and hate
to sadness and confusion.

“
This is JD everyone. I invited him to share lunch with us.
”
Em smiled, a few others did also, while some scowled. She slid in next to Max.

And the crickets began chirping. At least it
seemed
like that to Max. No one spoke to him, and those that
did
speak
to each other
used hushed tones as they glanced sideways at the invader. Max couldn
’
t remember ever feeling so unwanted before. He didn
’
t like it. He also
sensed
the feeling was all too familiar to JD.

“
Hey, how goes it Emmers?
”
Jeff plopped down onto the table top next to Em.

“
Hey, Jeff. You know JD, right?
”

“
Yeah, we have PE together. How
’
s it goin,
’
man?
”
Jeff smiled at Max, a real, genuine smile.

Feelings of confusion and mistrust flooded Max. JD didn
’
t trust what was
unfolding
here at all. Before he could respond to Jeff, a loud whack cut the air. Max turned to see Leo, eyes enraged, his books now scattered across the table.

“
What the freak is he doing here?
”
Without waiting for an answer he continued in his outrage.
“
You
’
re not welcome here, Ten, got it? So get the—
”

“
I invited him,
”
Em interrupted Leo
’
s rant.
“
He
’
s my friend. So if you can
’
t be nice, you
’
ll have to sit somewhere else.
”

“
You
’
re kidding, right?
”
Leo glared at Emma as if she
’
d lost her mind.
“
Max is dead, or have you already forgotten about him? In fact, the way I hear it, old Jeff
’
s been at your beck and call day and night, offering you all kinds of
comfort.
”

Max jumped up to punch Leo; Jeff got there first. Jeff
’
s fist landed squarely on Leo
’
s jaw, sending him sprawling onto his back. Lisa jumped to his side.
Lisa.
Max
had no doubt that
she was Leo
’
s source of information regarding Jeff and Em. The girl loved to cause trouble, especially for Em.

Before any more punches could be thrown, Mrs. Volkel, wearing a disgusting
orange
suit, walked over to Leo.
“
This has all the ma
r
kings of a fight.
”
She glanced around as Leo stood, waiting for a response to her statement. Lisa opened her mouth to say something, but Leo nudged her arm.

“
Nope. Just tripped.
”
Leo tucked his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

“
Hmm, is that right,
Mr. Leonardo
?
”
Mrs. Volkel folder her arms.
“
You
’
d better go see the nurse about that bruised jaw. It
’
s going to need some ice.
”
She turned to the crowd that had now gathered.
“
So, whose hand do you think needs ice, Leo?
”
she asked, clearly fishing for the one who
’
d punched him.

“
I told you, I fell.
”
Leo and Lisa left, heading for the nurse
’
s office. Mrs. Volkel shook her head and went inside the cafeteria as Emma
’
s tears streaked down her face.

Jeff stepped toward her, but she took off for the bathroom. Several of the girls followed. Max quietly slipped his backpack up onto his shoulder
as
JD lecture
d
himself.
I told you so, you big stupid cow. I should have eaten alone.

Max avoided his old friends the rest of the day. After school, he stopped by his locker before heading to the bus. Leo appeared out of nowhere.

“
Listen up, Lumpy. I don
’
t care who caused the accident. I care that my best friend and his family are dead and you
’
re not.
”
Spit flew out of Leo
’
s mouth as he spoke, hitting
M
ax in the face.
“
Max is worth ten of you. You
’
re nothing but a fat lump. I
’
ll never understand why you were spared and not him. It sickens me. Got it?
”

Max thought to argue with him and point out how rude his words were, but the sorrow that haunted Leo
’
s
eye was
too much. He loved Leo like a brother. They
’
d been friends
forever
. Max could only imagine his pain.

He nodded, saying nothing. Leo shook his head in disgust and turned to leave.
“
Oh, and one more thing, I
’
m not joining Emma
’
s little
‘
Everyone befriend JD
’
game either. I know she thinks that
’
s what Max would have wanted. But I just don
’
t freakin
’
care.
”

Max wiped
his
eye
s as he watched his oldest and dearest friend stomp across the parking lot toward his vintage 1950
’
s pickup. Lisa stood there next to it, arms folded, waiting for him.
The love and devotions Max
’
s friends had for him touched him. It also angered him
that he
’
d no
longer be
around them, laughing, joking, and just plain having fun.
But
a larger part
of him
felt terrible that JD had to pay for something that wasn
’
t his fault.

Chapter 14

“Where were you? I waited for twenty minutes.” Izzy
’
s eyes welled with tears.

Max felt terrible. So caught up in the idea of eating lunch with Em, he
’
d forgotten their lunch plans. “Emma McKay invited me to sit with her and her friends today. I think she wants to be my friend.” Max settled into the front row of the bus, but Izzy headed for the back. “Izzy, please don
’
t be mad. I
’
m really sorry.”

Izzy turned back and, with an angry shake of her head, came over next to him and plopped down hard, snapping her arms across her stomach.