School Spirits - By Rachel Hawkins Page 0,52
catch her eye, hoping to talk to her a little more about what she’d seen, but every time our eyes met, she looked away.
By the end of the day, I’d nearly convinced myself that Beth was wrong. The doll had unsettled her, and who could blame her? A mutilated Barbie that looks like you strung up in your locker? That would upset anyone. Still, worry slithered through me. This was supposed to be a simple, easy job. I couldn’t have screwed this up, too.
Romy and Dex were both waiting for me by my locker when the last bell rang, and if a little thrill ran through me at seeing Dex standing there, seemingly okay, I tried my best to ignore it. He had his shoulder against the door, leaning down to listen to Romy. As I got closer, I could hear her saying, “Maybe Mary has some sort of grudge against those families.”
“So the ghost of Mary Evans is pissed off at the descendants of some people who did something. For some reason,” Dex summed up. When Romy nodded, he bent down, taking her shoulder. “Rome, can you hear yourself when you talk?”
Irritated, Romy rolled her shoulder, knocking Dex’s hand off. “Why are you even in PMS if you don’t believe in this kind of stuff?”
“Because this school is so boring, I thought I might actually die, and ghost hunting seemed like a fun way to spend some time,” he replied. “And it is fun. I like creeping around abandoned buildings, and scouring cemeteries, and pouring salt on—Oof!” He grunted as my elbow slammed into his ribs.
Looking down at me, Dex made a face, but added, “Fries. I like pouring salt on fries after I’ve creeped around abandoned buildings and scoured cemeteries. It’s just…this seems like a stretch, Romy.”
Romy pressed her lips together, and I wasn’t sure if she was hurt or angry. Finally, she spit out “Whatever” and stormed away from us. I stood there, torn. Dex and Romy were both my friends, but now they were mad at each other. Was I breaking some kind of girl code by not walking away with Romy?
“Rome!” Dex called after her. She didn’t turn around but she did raise her hand and flip him off.
Dex just sighed. “Well, that’ll be with us for a while. Romy can hold a grudge like no one’s business.”
“You shouldn’t have picked on her,” I told him as I put my things in my backpack.
“I didn’t!” he cried. “I just pointed out that her theory is insane.”
“Which she saw as picking on her,” I said once we’d joined the flow of students heading toward the parking lot. The buses lined up under an awning.
“Okay, so maybe I could have phrased it a little nicer, but life at Mary Evans High is rough enough for Romy. The PMS thing has already made her a target. If she starts spouting off about a ghost wanting to kill the homecoming queen…” He shook his head. “There would be no end to the crap they’d give her.”
“So you were trying to protect her by…being mean to her?”
By now we were outside. While the other, luckier kids who had their own cars walked through the parking lot, Dex and I took our places on the sidewalk. Romy was several feet away, very pointedly not looking at us.
“I just know how tough it can be when everyone thinks you’re some kind of freak,” Dex said, his voice suddenly tight. “When I was a kid—”
He broke off, staring somewhere beyond my shoulder. “What the hell?”
I turned, catching a sudden movement out of the corner of my eye. A car down at the far end of the parking lot was driving toward us. And it was going…fast. Way too fast considering the fact that kids were walking out to their cars. One of those kids passed me, and I realized it was Beth.
She froze, staring down the parking lot at the car. “Oh my God,” I heard her mutter. And then the car was moving faster, and it seemed to dawn on me and Beth at the same time that it was headed for her.
And that no one was behind the wheel.
I didn’t think. I launched myself toward Beth, shoving someone out of my way. I heard a pained cry, but by then I was already to Beth. The two of us went stumbling into a parked car, my elbow smacking the side-view mirror so hard I bit my lip. Beth crumpled to the