Wide Awake - Academy of the Fallen Series (5 page)

EIGHT

I went to class, and for the first time ever I was glad that my Math teacher was so damn uptight.  A lot of my teachers were like that but he was by far the worst.

I walked in, gave him my pass, and took my seat.  Luckily, for me anyway, he didn’t allow anyone to say a word during his class.  Someone even got in trouble for glancing at me instead of looking at the front of the class.  But I knew it was coming, as soon as that bell rang I would be swarmed by everyone’s curiosity.

Sure enough, as the class was released, my best friends Jess and Emily were waiting right outside the door, ready to walk me over to my next class and get the details of what all had happened.

In a way, I was glad that they were there because it was one thing for them to get in my business, but anyone else who tried to do the same would get all kinds of nasty comments from Jess.

They pulled me aside, away from the crowd.

“Okay.  Spill it!  What happened?”  Emily asked.

I shrugged.  “Umm, nothing really.  Justin was annoying me, as he has been doing a lot of lately.”

“What about the other guy?  You know… what was his name again?”  Jess asked.

Emily looked at her.  “Ugh.  If he wasn’t so socially deprived, maybe I could remember it.”

I snapped.  “His name is Hunter… Hunter Chambers!”

They both looked at me, eyes wide open, shocked that I snapped at them for that.

Jess finally said.  “Oh, well, so what is the deal?  Were you like using him to get rid of Justin?”

I honestly considered the possibility of saying I was, just to stop their questioning, but as I opened my mouth to say that, the words wouldn’t come out.

Luckily, the bell rang.  “Sorry, guys.  I have to go.  We will talk later.”

By the time my next class started, I couldn’t take it anymore.  Good thing it was my art class.  I got my iPod, putting my hair down so it could somewhat hide what I was doing, turned it up, and tried to look busy so that everyone would just leave me alone. 

It worked for a while.  I couldn’t even say that I was actually drawing anything, it was more like doodling random shapes, as I tried to decide what to tell Jess and Emily and what to do about calling or not calling Hunter.

“Umm
.  I
nteresting picture!”  He said and then he laughed as I jumped and knocked a couple of my papers and pencils off the table.

I quickly took the headphones off and the teacher was already at my desk making sure I was okay and probably wondering what the hell had happened.

I couldn’t exactly tell her that a ghost scared me half to death, no pun intended.

It was difficult to focus on the teacher’s questions when Benjamin kept whispering in my ear, asking why I sent him away like that.  It took a lot for me not to turn around and tell him to shut up.

“Are you sure you are okay?”  The teacher asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine.  Can I go get some water?”

“Sure.  Rough day, huh?  Heard you didn’t exactly have a pleasant morning.” 

Great, even the teachers are into the gossip!

I nodded.  “I guess you could say that.”

My plan was to actually go into the bathroom and try to kick Benjamin out once again.  Last time I had Carolyn’s help, but this time, she was nowhere in sight. 

I knew I had to do this myself, and figured I would just repeat the same process.

I walked toward the bathroom and sure enough, he was following me.

“Don’t you even think about it!”  He warned me.

I started walking faster, scared of what he could do.  I didn’t think he could touch me, or anything.  I mean, Carolyn couldn’t, but what did I know? 

“Did you not hear me? 
I said, don’t
you do that to me again!”  His tone was enough to terrify me.

As I walked, I kept begging that Carolyn would show up, but I couldn’t even focus on summoning her.

I finally walked in the bathroom and hoped no one would come in.

I walked into one of the stalls, locked the door and closed my eyes.

“I’m telling you!  You don’t want to do this.  It will only piss me off even more.”

My hands were shaking; really, my entire body was trembling.  I kept my eyes closed, but I could feel he was close…way too close.

“Please go away and I won’t have to do this.”

“I’m not going anywhere.  Now open your eyes and look at me!”

I wouldn’t open my eyes, I tried to focus on sending him away, but I couldn’t, not when I could feel him there.

Then I felt as if he was playing with my hair, but I was scared to look.  “Please leave me alone,” I begged him.

“Sorry… well, I’m not really sorry… but I don’t want to leave you alone.”

I heard the sound of two girls coming in and talking.

I could still feel him playing with my hair, not letting go.  I kept my eyes closed, doing my best to resist the temptation to open them, and bit my lip in an attempt not to scream.

Carolyn, please!  Please, show up!

I heard the two girls leaving the bathroom and bolted for the door, and then to my car.

Of course, he followed me again.

I got in and locked the door, knowing very well that would do no good…and it didn’t.

This time I closed my eyes and said her name out loud.  “Carolyn, please!”

He laughed in a way that freaked me out even more.  “Oh, please, she can’t help you.  She knows nothing!”

I opened my eyes.  Big mistake!  I looked directly at him, sitting there, smiling.  Looking as if he wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

I just sat there, and I didn’t remember ever feeling so helpless in my life.  I didn’t know what to do.  I couldn’t exactly call someone and say, yeah, there is this ghost bullying me.

“I need you to do something for me,” he said.

I didn’t even want to know what he wanted.  “Please, leave,” I begged him again.

“NO!” he said as he started to slowly fade away.

I wondered how that happened.  I hadn’t done that. 

My hands were s
till shaking.  I closed my eyes,
lay forward against the steering wheel and started crying out in frustration. 

I jumped when I heard a soft knock on my window.

Startled, I had to put my hand over my mouth to keep myself from screaming. 

Relieved to see that it was Hunter standing there, I unlocked the door.

“
Come on, I will drive you home.
”
 
His tone was cold, as if he was sick of having to help me when I didn’t want help.

He was right.

I just hated owing favors, and I wasn’t about to change that.

“I’m fine,” I told him.

“Umm, no you are not.  Come on, I don’t have all day.”

I didn’t talk to Hunter much, but I knew he had never been this rude or cold before.  I gave him a ‘
whatever’
look and got out of the car.

As I walked around, making my way to the passenger side seat, I took the time to take a few deep breaths, dried my tears away and really pretended that I was fine.

“You know, I really should go back to class.  If I just leave, they will call my parents, and then well…”

He sighed.  “I will take care of it.  I will just go in and make something up.  Wait here.”

Not for a minute did I believed that would work.

***

When Hunter got in the car, I didn’t even care to ask what he had said at the school about me leaving.  He said there would be no call, and he then asked if I still lived in the same place.

I was surprised he even remembered where I lived.  Back when he socialized with, well, with everyone else, he went to a couple of my birthday parties at the house.

I nodded.

As much as I wanted to ask him questions on the way home, I didn’t want to talk about what was really going on.  I wanted to ignore and forget it, hoping that the problem would go away, even though I knew very well it wouldn’t.

Hunter took me home without saying a word.

When we got to the house, he got out and gave me the keys.

“How are you going to get back to your house?”  I asked.

“The same way I got to the school.  Cab.”

“That is nonsense, I will drive you.”

Hunter agreed to let me take him home.  He probably noticed that I felt better already.  Either that or it was a trap to get me to talk to him about what had been happening. 

I was driving now.  I asked him, “Why were you back at the school?”

He hesitated.  “You need to decide whether you want to talk about what you are seeing.”

After a few minutes of awkward silence, I finally spoke.

“Let’s say that I do, why were you there?”

“Someone told me you that you needed help.”

“Someone who?”  I asked.

I pulled the car over in a parking lot.  Truth was, my hands started to shake again and my stomach was turning.  I had a real bad feeling about this.

I met his gaze.

He shrugged.  “Couldn’t tell, the voice was breaking in and out, it sounded a little like the girl from earlier.”

Somehow, I knew it was her… Carolyn.

I was scared of the answer, but I asked anyway, “Is there a reason that happened, you know, her voice breaking in and out?”

As if it was no big deal, he said, “Yeah, she is probably trapped and can’t get through all the way.”

I couldn’t breathe. 

“It happens a lot,” he said.  “It is just part of being where they are.”

“How do you know so much?”

“You don’t need to know about me.  You want to know about them, I will tell you what you need to know, but that is as far as this goes.  Now are we going to be parked here all day?  I need to get home.”

He was annoying me, being rude like that.  Just to think hours before I tried to spare him trouble by not lying and telling Emily and Jess that I had used him to get rid of Justin.  That was exactly what I should have done.