Echoes Between Us - McGarry, Katie Page 0,74

heavy door from Veronica’s apartment and my heart pounds. What is going on? I sprint for our front door, and my mind trips over itself when I notice the lock undone and the door not closed all the way. No. No way. I checked that mother before I went to bed.

My pulse beats in my ears as I open the door the rest of the way and strain to look out into the darkened foyer. The faint light from the stained glass around the main door to the house casts intimidating shadows into the corners that grow darker with each second that I stare.

A few more taps, the gentle sound as if someone is walking toward me, and the blood drains from my face as the sound expands and magnifies. A cold gust of air, and I shiver as a frigidness peels back my skin and leaves frostbite on my bones.

Overwhelming sadness rolls through me like violent waves from the ocean, nearly driving me to my knees. Wave after wave pummels me, and the more that I fight to stay standing, the more that I lose the ability to breathe.

“Sawyer?” A familiar voice, and it’s as if someone threw me a life raft from this pit of despair.

The sight of beautiful blue eyes snaps me back to reality. Veronica stands at the bottom of the steps, appearing like an angel in the midst of a nightmare, and looks awestruck as she watches me. “You heard it, didn’t you? You heard and felt the ghost?”

I rub my hands along my arms, searching for warmth, for some grasp of the situation. As I go to tell her no, I’m struck mute. Veronica offers a hesitant grin. “That’s okay. I didn’t know what to say either the first time it happened to me, but it gets easier.”

I cock an eyebrow at “easier,” and she giggles. “Once the ghost finds you, she’ll visit again.”

Again.

Again.

I jumped with Veronica because I wanted to feel the rush again. That wasn’t okay. Not at all. “Are you okay?”

Veronica tilts her head as if she’s confused. “Me? I’m fine. We’re talking about you.”

“The jump,” I practically spit out. “Are you okay from the jump? Your dad said you weren’t feeling okay, and I was worried that maybe something had happened from the jump.”

Veronica recoils and that makes me want to pound my head against the wall. If I hurt her with the jump, that’s on me. That’s—

“No, that’s not what made me feel bad.”

Silence in my head, but then my brain starts to race again with the possibilities of what hurt her.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Those words coming out of my mouth stun even me. I’m not the guy who talks feelings. “Or we can just talk. About anything.”

Veronica nibbles on her lower lip and glances back up the stairs. “Sure—on the anything. On the front porch maybe? I don’t want to wake Dad. He hasn’t slept well recently and he’s sleeping great tonight. I don’t want to ruin that for him.”

I don’t, either. I want to know what’s upset Veronica, but I also need to be the one talking. I did something wrong and she needs to know. I need to be held accountable for my actions, and the thought terrifies me. “Will you take a ride with me? I want to show you something.”

Veronica glances up the stairs again and then down at her clothes. She’s tempting in a spaghetti-strapped tank top and low-cut cotton shorts. “Can you give me a few? I need to grab my phone and leave Dad a message so he won’t worry if he wakes.”

I push a hand through my hair as I wasn’t thinking straight. “It’s late, don’t worry—”

“No, we’ll go. My dad won’t care. He just wants to know what I’m doing and who I’m doing it with. He only gets mad when I’m not straight with him on things.”

“Okay.” A slice of guilt needles me as I watch Veronica scale the stairs. I should go in and do the same with Mom. But she wouldn’t understand, and at the end of the day, as long as I don’t get into trouble that would make her look bad, I don’t think she’d care.

Besides, this isn’t the first time I’ve snuck out at night to go to this place, but it is the first time I’ve taken someone with me. Question is, will doing so cost me the one person I want to be around? Maybe, but I