Afterlife - Stephanie Hudson Page 0,88

would be a plus.

“Oh yes, it over thirty bucks an hour.” Wow now that was a lot more than I was expecting. I wondered why it was so much. Did you have to donate organs and bone marrow at the end of each month or something?

“Ok, that is something to think about,” I said and she smiled at her near triumph.

“You saving up for anything?” What, was she reading my mind!

“Yeah I really need my own car. I'm relying on my sister and her husband at the minute and well they don't mind but I don't think it’s fair.”

“And on friends?”

“Yeah sometimes, I mean, me and RJ ride together here most days but it would be nice to be able to drive as well, so it isn’t always her that does it.” I was kind of getting the feeling that she was digging for information but I couldn't for the life of me figure out why?

“And from work, does Jack usually drive you home?” For a minute I was considering if she could be a spy for Libby. What was it with all the questions?

“No, I wait for Frank my brother-in-law to pick me up.”

“But not last night.” This wasn't a question. Had she been watching me? When I didn't answer she continued.

“Sorry to be nosy but I saw you last night with your friends and noticed you walking out with that Jack. I just wanted to make sure you were getting home ok.... you can see a lot from up there.” She looked down as though guilty of being caught out watching me. I found it a little strange sure but otherwise it was kind of sweet.

“It’s fine, yeah he drove me home but he wasn't drinking or anything. He's very responsible like that.” I felt as though I had to clear that up now so as not to give a bad image of him.

Just then Reed came racing in all red faced and panting. He had what looked like oil down his shirt in little spots and his trousers had marks at the knees as if he had been changing a tyre. I smiled to myself as I thought of a little thing I like to call...

KARMA.

When the class finished, RJ was standing waiting for me, ready to walk me to my next class. It was so sweet the way she did this but whenever I thanked her she just waved it off as no trouble, she had a free period. When the truth was she was worried that I would still get lost. I knew this because whenever she walked me anywhere she would always point out ways to remember, like pointing to a water fountain, room numbers and posters on the wall. One day it was a broken tile on the floor. Saying,

“See that tile, if you just remember to turn left there then you’ll be fine, otherwise you've gone too far.”

Sophia was still behind me so I decided to introduce them.

“Sophia this is my friend RJ, RJ this is Sophia Draven.” I didn't really have to say her last name as RJ's eyes looked as though they would pop out of their sockets.

“It's nice to finally meet you, Kaz has said nothing about you to any of us. I think she was trying to keep you to herself.” I frowned at her but Sophia looked more pleased at this.

“It's nice to meet you too, but Keira has told me all about you, I love your hair.” RJ was all ready to sell her soul to this girl just for the compliment alone. RJ was a sucker for flattery but to have someone as super humanly stunning as Sophia, this must have been classed as an honour.

“Thank you so much, the colour’s called passion for pink.” Sophia nodded and continued to say,

“Yes I was admiring it before. I have seen you in the club a few times.” At this I couldn't help the snort that escaped. This was a huge understatement as RJ practically lived at Afterlife. But I couldn't help notice in Sophia's responses the cautious replies and how she was always careful on how she worded things, wanting to create the illusion she was just like the rest of us. The way she had said “In the club” instead of “My club”. After all it was a family business.

They continued to make small talk and RJ beamed over everything she said. I was the third wheel of course but I didn't mind. I just