Whispers in the Dark (4 page)

I noticed that everyone had suddenly stopped laughing, as the twins looked for seats.

“I see we have a set of twins,” I said, breaking the silence.

I overheard Miranda whispering to Cali, “The jailbirds are here.”

“Hey, Raven,” Cali waved. “We saved a seat for you over here.”

Raven walked over to sit near Miranda and Cali, while her sister took a seat behind
Isabelle.

I couldn't understand the classroom's change in mood. We'd gone from boisterous to
solemn in three seconds.

“You two young ladies!” I smiled at the twins. “Please stand up and introduce yourselves.
Give us your names, where you're from, and something we should know about you.”

The twin who sat behind Isabelle just looked at the floor, then over at her sister,
then back at the floor. Her sister stood up then.

“Well, my name is Raven,” she said, “and that's my sister, Robin. Last year was our
first year here. We moved here from Griffin, Georgia.”

“Well, all right then, Raven,” I said to her. “I'm Mr. Ramirez, and this is my first
year here. Anything we should know about you?”

“Yeah, that they've been to jail,” Dorian muttered, which made a few of the students
giggle.

“Did you say something, Dorian?” I asked him.

“No, sir, Mr. Ramirez, sir,” Dorian said. “Just thinking out loud, sir.”

“Oh, okay,” I said. “And Robin, did you have anything you wanted to add?”

Robin looked up at me silently and looked away. At the same time, Isabelle slowly
shook her head at me, as if she were telling me to back off.

“So, where are you from, Mr. Ramirez?” Isabelle asked.

“I'm from here, in Newnan,” I told the class. “I went to Newnan High School, then
up to North Carolina for college, and now I'm back here to teach.”

“I don't think I would have come back, if I were you,” Dorian said.

“Really? And why is that, Dorian?” I asked.

The bell rang.

“Oh, that's right. You guys are supposed to go to the auditorium right now,” I told
everyone.

All of the students got up and walked out of the classroom, smiling again, happy
to be leaving early. That wasn't so bad for my first-period class. I wondered if
my next class would be as outspoken. Cali, Miranda, and Raven were chattering, complimenting
each other's hair. Robin was keeping apart from everyone, with her head down, as
if she didn't want to be noticed.

Strange.

Chapter 3

“
S
oooo, how was the first day?” Lea asked excitedly, coming down the stairs just
as I got home.

I gave a deep sigh. “Let me tell you. That school is in its own little world. I had
no idea people were like that in Newnan. The assistant principal was on my case from
the moment I walked into the teachers' lounge, because I didn't know immediately
who she was. Apparently, they have a three-strike policy for new teachers, and you're
out of there.”

“Oh, wow,” Lea frowned. “How were the kids?”

“Different. Very different,” I told her. “They ask so many questions. I guess since
I look so young, they feel like they can ask me questions about my personal life.
This one girl named Cali kept asking question after question. Oh, and then there
were these two twins who came in there looking like death itself.”

“Like death?” Lea smirked.

“Yeah. They just had like a goth look to them,” I explained. “One of them, Raven,
seemed comfortable around the other kids, but then the other one, Robin, didn't say
a word. I tried asking her a question, and the girl sitting in front of her shook
her head like I should seriously back off.”

“Maybe she's just shy,” Lea sympathized. “It was the first day.”

“Yeah, I guess. The students in my other classes were pretty quiet. It was that first
period class that was full of life. But anyway, how was your day?”

“Not that bad. I need for you to go up to the attic and check to make
sure it's not
a squirrel or something running around up there,” she said. “I keep hearing noises,
but I don't know where they're coming from.”

“Yeah, I think I heard something, too, Saturday night,” I admitted.

“See!” Lea exclaimed. “There's something up there!”

I put my briefcase down and went up to the attic. Lea followed me as I grabbed a
flashlight and started looking around.

“I don't see anything,” I said. I did see one of my old boxes sitting in the corner.
I walked over and opened it. Inside was a bunch of my old baseball trophies from
school.

“What's that?” Lea asked.

“A bunch of trophies of mine from middle and high school.”

Lea came over to look in the box, and started reading the trophy plaques. “First
runner up. Division AAA. You never talked about playing baseball.”

“Yeah, I used to love playing,” I told her. “Just one of those things I grew out
of, I guess.”

“Come on, Adrian. You have a lot of trophies here,” Lea said, looking at me and reading
the trophies. “How do you just get tired of playing? First place. Division AAA. That's
pretty great!”

I took a long look at the one that was in her hand. I remembered that trophy and
the pain that came with it.

“I got injured, and my grandma didn't think it was a good idea for me to keep playing,”
I explained. “I tore my ACL, in my knee, that year.”

“Ouch. How did that happen?”

“Well, there were a lot of strange things happening that day,” I started. “I remember
we were getting ready to play East Coweta, which was one of our biggest rivals. I
was standing in front of the mirror of my closet, buttoning up my baseball jersey
before our game. My phone rang, and it was a girl named Christy. Now, I had been
avoiding this girl all week, and I planned on changing my number, because this girl
had turned into a true stalker. So I ignored her phone call like I had done that
whole week. Later that evening, at the baseball game, I remember the crowd was going
crazy because our school was down by one point. Let me see, I believe there were
runners on first and third base, and it was the ninth inning. And I remember sitting
in the dugout next to Justin, but I was zoned out because Christy had showed up to
that game and was sitting in the bleachers staring at me the whole time.”

“Oh, wow,” Lea said, hanging on my every word. I recalled for Lea the conversation
that had taken place between me and Justin:

“You good, man?” Justin had asked.

“Yeah, I'm good,” I remember replying.

“I see that weird girl is here for you again,” Justin said, looking toward the bleachers
where Christy was.

“Yeah, and she keeps blowing my phone up,” I told him.

“Sounds like you got a stalker,” Justin smirked.

“I should have never listened to y'all,” I said, shaking my head.

“I didn't really think you were gonna get it on with her,” Justin said.

“Yeah, well, I had to live up to my end of the deal,” I told him.

“Wait, so y'all made a bet on that girl?” Lea interrupted.

“Yeah, we did,” I answered, smiling.

“Y'all were real jerks,” Lea responded. “I'm glad I didn't know you in high school.”

“Yeah, but you know, we were young and just having fun back then,” I told Lea. “I
mean, being on the baseball team was like being in a fraternity.”

“So y'all made bets on who could sleep with girls?” Lea asked.

“Something like that. You see, being a junior on the varsity team, you pretty much
want to do everything that the seniors say. You know? So you can hang around them.
Soooo . . .”

I paused for a second and thought about whether I really wanted to keep telling Lea
about this.

“Sooooo . . . ?” Lea asked.

“Well,” I hesitated. “The bet was that I had to take a girl's virginity.”

“Really, Adrian?” Lea said, shocked, but smiling at the same time. “Did you really
do that?”

“Well, here's how it happened,” I started. “So me, Justin, and this senior named
Kendall on the baseball team were walking through the hallways. Kendall sees a girl
who he thinks is a virgin and tells me that's my girl. Then he shows Justin who his
girl is. So, long story short, I started talking to the girl and found out her name
was Christy. I got her number and we started talking. She was kinda cute and quiet,
and we eventually had sex. I mean, I didn't know much about her and I didn't really
care. I just wanted to go hang around the seniors.”

“So you couldn't just lie and say you took her virginity?” Lea asked.

“I could have, but those guys were like my brothers,” I explained. “I didn't want
to lie to them, but I kinda wish I had, because she started acting different.” I
related to Lea what I'd said to Justin and Christy, and what had happened to my leg:

“So she just comes to the games and stares at you like that?” Justin asked.

“Yeah, this is like the third game that she's been to,” I told him. “She always comes
by herself and just sits there staring.”

“Have you talked to her?” Justin asked.

“Nah, she calls, but I just ignore her.”

“Well, my friend,” Justin said, smiling. “As I said, sounds like you might have a
stalker on your hands.”

“Strike three!” the umpire yelled.

“Dammit!” Coach Jessup yelled out. “Adrian! Batter's box!”

I picked up my bat and batting helmet and headed toward the batter's box. I took
a few practice swings. I tried my hardest not to look over at Christy. I took a few
more practice swings. I gave a quick glance and saw Christy still staring at me.
This was getting beyond creepy now.

“Strike two!” the umpire yelled at my teammate Brooks.

“Come on, Brooks!” Coach Jessup yelled.

I took a few more practice swings.

“Strike three!” the umpire yelled.

Brooks walked back to the dugout with his head down.

“All right, Adrian!” Coach Jessup yelled. “It's up to you!”

I walked slowly to home plate. I took two more practice swings. Then I looked over
at Christy, who was staring and frowning. I shook my head, then looked at the pitcher.

“Come on, Adriaaan!” Greedy yelled from the bleachers.

The pitcher looked over at the runner on first base. He threw the pitch, and I swung
but missed.

“Strike one!” the umpire yelled.

The pitcher looked over his shoulder again at the runner on first. He threw the ball,
and I swung and hit it. A foul ball.

“Foul ball!” the umpire yelled.

The umpire threw a ball out to the pitcher. The pitcher got a feel of the ball, then
looked for the sign from the catcher. I kept my eyes on the pitcher, then quickly
looked over at Christy. She was frowning even harder now.

The pitcher threw the ball and I swung—it was a ground ball between the shortstop
and the second baseman. The crowd went crazy.

With all my might I started running toward first base. Suddenly, I felt a rip through
my leg.

“Ahhhhh!” I screamed out as I fell to the ground. Pain shot up all through my body.
All I could do was grab my leg in agony.

Later that evening, I was fast asleep, with a cast around my leg. The phone rang,
waking me up.

“Hello,” I answered.

There was a short pause on the phone.

“Adrian,” Christy finally said.

“Yeah,” I responded.

“I really need to talk with you,” Christy said in a shaky voice. “I really need you
here with me.”

“What?” I replied, angrily. “Didn't you see what happened to me tonight? My leg is
in a cast! How do you expect—”

“Adrian, I know,” Christy replied. “And I'm sorry. Just meet me at the hospital.”

“I just left the hospital,” I told her, looking over at my alarm clock. “Look, it's
three in the morning, and I have to get up early.”

“Adrian!” Christy pleaded.

“Bye, Christy.”

“Adrian, please,” Christy pleaded once more.

I hung up the phone, then turned it off and went back to sleep.

“So, what do you think she wanted?” Lea asked.

“I don't know. I never found out,” I explained. “I think she ended up going to a
different school after that year. I mean, I never saw her again.”

“That's creepy,” Lea replied. “I wonder what happened to her?”

“Who knows, who cares,” I tell Lea, as I close the box. “I'm gonna go meet up with
the fellas for a little while.”

Lea gave a deep sigh.

“What?” I asked.

“Really, Adrian?” Lea said, irritably.

“What?”

“You just met up with them Saturday,” Lea reminded me.

“We're just going to shoot some pool,” I explained.

“You're always on the go!” Lea cried out. “You never seem to have time for me. Maybe
I want to shoot some pool. Maybe I wanted to watch a movie tonight. Or maybe I wanted
to cook a special dinner for you. Did you think of that before you started making
plans without me?”

“Lea, you know you don't like pool, and you hate the bar scene. I just want to clear
my head and meet up with the guys for a little while,” I said. “I promise I won't
be out all night.”

I kissed her on the forehead. “I promise I won't be out too long. Seriously.”