“God it gets colder everyday.” Alexis stood in front of the locked school building and rubbed her arms.
“You sure you don’t want me to wait with you, honey?” Her dad had rolled the window down, the car idling.
“You go, I’m sure Dr. Howard will be here soon. Like she said.”
He waved briefly and left.
“Soon.”
October strolled onto the grounds just as the building was being unlocked. She had perfectly memorized the schedule years ago when she’d tried to get out before her brother had moved out. She stomped up the steps to the high school building and found Alexis shivering and leaning against a brick wall.
“Hey.” She didn’t recognize the snarky freshman from Friday. “Can’t you tell they’re about to unlock the building.”
“No.” Alexis stood and shuddered. “Do you think,” she sneered. She shuddered and hugged herself tightly.
“How long have you been out here?”
“Long enough to look like I’m getting frostbite. What do you care?”
“Whoa, what is your issue?”
Alexis paused and shrugged, “You.”
“Whatever, I was just trying to let you know—” The door unlocked with a click. “There.”
“Thanks.” Alexis said it, but it was barely audible. October ignored her and went on her way, climbing the stairs to the chemistry room Mrs. White occupied. She was already there, legs propped on her desk, reading.
“Ms. White?”
“Yeah, what’s up, honey?” The book was laid aside without a bookmark or dog-ear.
“It’s about Jonah. I wanted to ask about the fight, if he said anything.”
“I don’t see how that’s any of your concern.”
“You mean, ‘mind your own business,’” October huffed and stepped away from the door. Mrs. White brought her legs down, and sat up straight in her chair, calling October back.
“Have a seat.”
October dropped her half-empty bag to the ground and fell into the chair beside it.
“Is there anything going on with Jonah you want to tell me about?”
“Well, he’s been weird. I mean, weirder than he has since, you know…”
“Would you say you’re good friends?” Mrs. White grazed something October wouldn’t say out loud in her eyes, and she blushed as she answered.
“No, but we bump into each other a lot.” October was well aware saying she spent time in the Cemetery would arouse other instincts in a former guidance counselor.
“Anything else?” Mrs. White was going to cull it out of October, she could sense the flight being programmed in, and unless October left now she would go as prone as she did at the psychologists and it would all spill out of her, Claude, Mrs. Johnson, freaking Benedict Arnold.
“No. I have to go.” October stood, swinging her bag over her shoulder and exiting too fast to hear if Mrs. White called her back.
Alexis was in the copy room, waiting as the infinite amount of pages were collated and stapled together, left in charge by some teacher who was too oblivious to know she had never been here before.
“Hey there.” George had stopped in the doorway, green flashes of light eerily reflected in green eyes. Is it hot in here? Alexis thought.
He stepped in through the open door and closed it behind him, coming close and taking one of her hands. “I can barely keep my eyes off you, you know,” and came closer, about to kiss her, when he stopped.
“Alexis?” She opened her eyes and found a whole group of unidentifiable freshman watching over George’s hunched shoulders. He propped her up, and she was too chilled to actually appraise how muscular or warm his arms were.
“What happened?”
“You passed out,” he seemed relieved, maybe that she was still speaking. “You fell to the ground, the copier overheated and the vent wasn’t turned on.”
“What?”
“Oh, god, are you concussed?”
“Yes, I got a doctor’s degree since I last saw you.”
He sighed instead of smiling and she felt that chill again. Oh no, was she concussed? Why did she have to be snarky all the time!
“Oh my god,” Abigail appeared, “Mark, move!” She shoved past Mark and knelt beside the copier on the dirty floor. “Alexis, are you alright?”
“Maybe someone wants to get a nurse or something?”
“She’s already on her way.”
“What are these kids doing to each other up here,” Mrs. Goldstein was in the lobby, then she was in the doorway. Her golden blonde perm barely grazing the shoulders of the shortest among them. “Ev-ry-bo-dy OUT!” She was a lot more boistrous than Alexis remembered. She even sent George away. Abigail was allowed and even held Alexis’s hand. She didn’t feel she deserved it, feeling guilty about something that hadn’t even happened while she was daydreaming. But she smiled at her new friend anyway.
Estee snapped her gum loudly in Abigail’s ear, but nothing happened. “Earth to Abigail!”
“Did you say something?” She turned, eyes at half-mast, and sat up straight, stretching, popping several joints.
“Ew, keep your unatural noises to yourself.”
“I’m so exhausted, studying for the PSATs on Saturday. Because if I cram I don’t retain any of the information. If I study like a good little girl every night this week—” she stopped as George walked in. “Hang on.” She leapt up with surprising energy and ran to George to caught and kissed her. Esther took a sip of Abigail’s drink while she had her back to it, but if George saw, he didn’t say anything.
“I’m so glad to see you,” he murmured. “Have you kept up with what happened to Alexis.”
“Yes,” she pulled out her cell phone, “she texted me that she’s waiting for an MRI at the hospital in Shangrila.”
“An MRI?” He dropped her hands, “is it that serious?”
“I’m pretty sure it’s just precautionary. They want to make sure she isn’t concussed, or ruptured a big ol’ brain cell or something.”
He smiled at her and shook his head, “you’re pretty weird.” He slipped an arm around her waist, “walk me to class, weirdo?”
“I’ve heard some guys go for weirdos, ‘weird’ turns them on apparently.” She was teasing him and playing aloof at the same time.
He kissed her once more outside his classroom, meanwhile Esther was making lunch out of the smoothie.
A twig snapped outside and October sat bolt upright in her bed. She flew to the window and pushed the curtains aside. Just in the line of trees she could see someone, and bile rose as she thought of all the people it could be, who would sneak up on her. She saw the figure pause, pretty male-shaped, as though he saw her, and she thought, ‘Jonah?’
Claude was awake as well, standing beside her and thinking. “Do you want me to go see who it is?”
October was not a superstitious person, but if there were ghosts she supposed there were things that got rid of ghosts, and until she knew what those things were, she couldn’t send him into the unknown.
“No, it’s alright, I’ll go.” She pulled on boots and got her winter coat off the hook.
“October,” he almost smiled, “I’m already dead.”
“There are worse things than dying.” No smile then. “You can follow at a distance,” she said.
In the backyard October found the cut grass laying on top of shredded leaves and dry scruff, frost crackled under her boots, and the figure stayed where he was. He was facing away from her, but he must have heard her by now. Three more steps and she recognized her father’s old flannel shirt, but it wasn’t her father wearing it.
“Richard.” October was relieved by it and she came to stand beside him, he was staring into the sloping forest, the brown bark not really hiding the mountain road without their leaves. Far in the distance a car slowly drove the curves, she glanced at his watch. It was almost two in the morning. “Couldn’t sleep?”
He nodded, “I thought I heard something.” He turned away from her and began to walk back to the house, passing right by Claude without seeing or sensing him. She stood there a moment longer, the door to the back standing open a splinter for her. A cat dashed out of the bushes and made for it, nudging it open and slipping inside.
“Are you going to go to the Cemetery?” Claude asked.
“When my favorite ghost is here?” She asked and smiled at him, he didn’t really return the smile. He never really smiled, and she kind of wished he did.
“Maybe you should tell me what he told you,” October came close and slipped a hand into his immaterial elbow. They walked back inside.
“Nothing he didn’t tell you already.” She closed the door behind him.
“Tell me anyway.”
