When To Fear The Living Read online

  “That obvious?” He grinned as his eyes went to my sweater then back to my face.

  “Your sweater is inside out,” He informed me. “It’s a dead give-away.” I looked down and saw that he was right. I groaned, he chuckled as he let go of me.

  “Thanks, Clay,” I said as I looked back up at him. His chocolate eyes were running over my face.

  “No problem, just... be careful,” He half-grinned down at me before taking off. I picked up my now empty travel mug before walking across the lot, this time, paying attention. I hadn’t slept much last night. I kept having nightmares even with Hades next to me, add that to all the ghosts yelling all night outside the house, it’s no wonder I’m scattered. I met the guys at our usual outside spot and dropped my bag onto the table.

  “What’s wrong, Ally?” Asher asked before taking a drink out of his travel mug.

  “Oh, I wasn’t paying attention in the parking lot. Clay Ordin had to yank me out of the way of a car,” I admitted absently.

  “Are you alright?” Miles asked immediately. I smiled at him.

  “Yeah, just a bit scattered today,” I admitted. Miles' eyes ran over me before he looked away.

  “Your sweater’s inside out, Lexie,” Miles said. I snorted and nodded.

  “I’ll stop by a bathroom on my way to class.” I pushed some hair out of my face while Asher shook his head.

  “Come here, Ally girl,” Asher said as he sat on a bench sideways and patted the spot in front of him.

  “What?”

  “Your hair has already fallen out of your braid.” Asher pointed at my shoulder. I looked down to see that he was right, I growled in frustration. “Come here, I’ll fix it,” He offered. I smiled to myself as I sat down in front of him and took out my hair tie. Asher’s fingers ran through my hair taming the mass of curls. It felt so good that I had to fight not to close my eyes.

  “Why are you so scattered this morning?” Miles asked gently.

  “It’s the dead camped out at the house,” I explained wearily. “They stand out there screaming all night, making it impossible for me to get enough sleep.”

  “Hmm, I’ll be back in a minute,” Miles said before heading towards the cafeteria. That’s weird, he hated having to go into the cafeteria. Asher’s fingers were brushing against my back, making my back tingle as he continued braiding. He’s just a friend, he’s just a friend. I hated that I had to keep reminding myself.

  “Is it just the ghosts?” Asher asked quietly. I went still.

  “A few nightmares,” I said. I looked down at the bench as his hands stopped braiding. He moved closer to my back, until he could see my face over my shoulder.

  “How bad?” he asked, his voice was worried. I met his warm eyes and my heart raced. He was so close, his vanilla and cinnamon scent filled my lungs, focus Lexie, focus.

  “Not that bad,” I said. “Just the usual.” I didn’t want to tell him about the twins’ little sister rotting in my dreams. Ever since I learned about Sophia still being here, I had dreams of not being able to cross her in time. With all the extra energy floating around, it was possible that she’d pick some of it up and start rotting inside like Mary Summers. It was my worst fear at this point. He gave me a small understanding smile before he leaned back and started braiding again. I looked up to see the twins walking towards us. Isaac was sniggering, and Ethan had his irritated face on. I smiled to myself.

  “Hey,” Isaac said before bending down and giving me a raspberry on my forehead. I pushed him away and wiped my forehead. Isaac just chuckled as he sat down on the right side of the table.

  “Hey, what did you do to Ethan?” I asked as Ethan sat across from us. Isaac snickered evilly.

  “The jerk messed with me when I was in the shower,” Ethan growled.

  “It was just some dye in the showerhead,” Isaac said sarcastically. Ethan flipped his brother off. Asher held his hand over my shoulder for the hair tie, I handed it to him.

  “What happened?” I asked, smiling.

  “Isaac put dye in the showerhead, so that when I went to take a shower I was covered in pink dye,” Ethan said dryly. “I’ll be skipping Gym today.” I bit back a smile.

  “Your skin is pink?” I asked, trying not to laugh. Ethan nodded, still looking at his brother like he was thinking of revenge, which he probably was.

  “Let me see?” I asked, smiling now. Ethan gave me a sexy grin.

  “Show you my chest? Anytime, Beautiful,” He said in his smoky toe curling voice. It was such an obvious flirt that I ignored it as he pulled down the neck of his black thermal, his skin tinged pink. I burst out laughing.

  “It’s a pretty color on you,” I offered. Isaac chuckled, and Ethan shot a look at his brother. Asher squeezed my shoulder.

  “That should hold most of the day,” Asher announced. I turned until I was sitting normally on the bench.

  “Thanks, Ash.” He moved to sit next to me properly.

  “No problem,” Asher said as he smiled at me. Miles came back from the cafeteria carrying a paper cup. He handed it to me, “Coffee with cream with two sugars,” Miles announced. I gazed up at him adoringly.

  “Thank you, Miles.” I picked up the coffee cup. “You are definitely my hero for the day.” His cheeks tinged pink as he moved around the table to the other side.

  “You’re welcome,” Miles muttered. I gave him a smile.

  “Hey, I fixed your hair,” Asher pointed out, acting like he was offended. I smiled at him.

  “You’re my hero for the day also,” I assured him. “Today I have two.”

  “That works for me,” Asher said as he grinned at me.

  “Lexie!” Zeke’s bark didn’t even faze me this morning. I sighed, rolled my eyes, then spotted him striding towards us. His shoulders were rigid, his strides long, he was pissed about something. When he reached us, he towered over me, glaring. “Why the hell didn’t you call last night?” It took me a few heart-beats to realize what he was talking about. Crap, I didn’t give him a ‘who messed with me’ report. I sighed deeply and reminded myself that I loved Zeke. That killing him would make me sad.

  “Because I did Veil work and forgot,” I explained. I was really getting sick of this probation crap. Zeke scowled at me.

  “I’m adding another week,” Zeke announced. My temper flared.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” I snapped. “I miss one call, and you add another week?”

  “Damn straight,” He growled. Pissed off, I got to my feet.

  “You want a report? Fine,” I growled back. “Got catcalled four times yesterday, and some asshole said I had a nice ass. There you go, there’s your fucking report!” I grabbed my coffee and bag then I started walking off, my blood boiling.

  “You know about probation-”

  I turned and glared at him. “I don’t know shit!” I yelled at him. I couldn’t help it. I was tired of this probation shit. Tired of wondering what it meant, pissed that I didn’t tell him one thing and he stopped trusting me. “I’m your friend, Zeke, not someone for you to fucking order around.” He looked at me as if I had slapped him, I didn’t care. I was frustrated, tired, and sick of his ‘do as I say’ attitude lately. I strode off down the hall, cursing him with every step. I walked past my locker and noticed the note was gone. It made me stop. Wondering if I got another letter, I opened my locker. There was a piece a paper inside.

  I can understand not wanting to date anyone after a breakup, but I would still like to get to know you. You’re usually smiling, laughing, and covered in paint, are you an artist? Or do you just paint a lot of houses? And yes, we have met. -Your Secret Admirer

  I snorted at that. I pulled out my notebook and wrote back to him.

  You know what, this note thing is ridiculous. Here’s my phone number, text me. 555-7369. Yes, I’m an artist. I love it, though I’m still struggling with some of the techniques for painting. What about you? What do you like to do? – Lexie

  I tore out the page, closed my locke
r and taped it to the door. The bell rang for class. Damn it, I still needed to turn my sweater right side out. I hurried to the bathroom, I was going to be late this morning.

  I was packing up my stuff in English when someone got my attention.

  “Hey Alexis,” Eric’s voice had me looking up as he was picking up his bag. He was a good-looking guy with brown hair, killer amber eyes, and a dimple, but that was about everything I could say about him. All I knew was that he was afraid of Zeke, and frankly, I didn’t care.

  “I heard you’re singing with Under Fire now.”

  “Yeah, Ethan needed a favor,” I said, closing my bag and slinging it over my shoulder.

  “I hear that you’re good,” Eric offered. I gave him a small smile.

  “I can hold my own,” I admitted before stepping into the hallway.

  “See you around, Alexis,” Eric said, before heading off to his next class. I automatically started walking to meet with Asher and Zeke before Algebra. I stopped in the hall, I was still too pissed at Zeke to see him. I turned and took a longer way to class. The late bell rang just after I walked into the classroom. I hurried to my seat and sat next to Laura.

  “Morning Lexie,” Laura greeted me. Since October, Laura had become a semi-friend. I had given her my number, but she had only called once. She was extremely shy, usually hiding in her long straight brown hair. I didn’t understand that. She had a sweet face that was always clear of makeup, but when she smiled, she glowed. I really wanted her to see herself that way one day.

  “Hey, how’s it going?” I asked as I sat down in my desk. Laura shrugged.

  “The usual,” Laura’s eyes ran over me. “Are you okay?” I sighed.

  “Zeke and I yelled at each other this morning,” I grumbled. Laura gave me a sympathetic smile.

  “We’re fighting every day now.” I mentally shook myself and gave her a smile. “How are you doing? Have you talked to Michael yet?” Laura instantly blushed. Michael was a guy in Laura’s history class that sat behind her that she had a big crush on since November.

  “Yeah,” Laura admitted. “We talked yesterday, during our group project. Tiffany Hall kept talking over me and he told her to be quiet and let someone else talk.” We both giggled at that. Her face became scarlet.

  “Hmmm, sounds promising,” I told her, smiling. “You should talk to him.” Laura rolled her eyes.

  “I’m working on it,” She assured me. The teacher called for everyone’s attention then class started.

  I was on my way to Chemistry when Jessica, Asher’s twin sister, spotted me in the hall.

  “Oh, look. It’s the town bicycle,” Jessica announced loudly. I rolled my eyes, flipped her off, and kept walking. Jessica and her friends kept talking loudly about how easy I was. I just kept walking, ignoring her completely. To be honest, I was getting tired of her shit. I was halfway to Chemistry when my phone rang, it was Zeke. I ignored it, I was still frustrated with him and didn’t trust myself to not yell at him. My phone vibrated, Zeke had sent a text message.

  Zeke: What’s with you? You agreed to probation.

  I wanted to throw my phone just then, but instead, I texted back.

  Alexis: I didn’t get much of a choice.

  I was about to walk into a hallway when he replied.

  Zeke: There’s always a choice.

  Was he kidding me?

  Alexis: Oh really? Then tell me, what would have happened if I didn’t agree to do probation?

  A part of me didn’t want to know, but the rest of me was fed up. I stood outside the hall waiting for an answer for a solid three minutes. I didn’t get one. That was answer enough for me.

  Alexis: See, you’d cut me out, right? If it’s that easy for you to stop talking to me, then fuck you.

  I was still looking at his text when I ran into someone with my shoulder. I stepped back and looked up to see an equally surprised guy holding his own cell phone. He was tall, lean, had a broad-shouldered build, with shaggy dark hair and dark heavily lidded eyes. I instantly recognized him as the guy I ran into in the hallway before Christmas break. His eyes moved over me quickly before going back to the ground.

  “We have to stop meeting like this,” I said seriously. “Our insurance rates are going to go up.” He grinned before looking at my face. He had a nice face and a cute dimple on his right cheek. Ugh, dimples killed me. “I’m Lexie,” I said.

  “I’m Morgan,” He said as he looked at me. “How’s your painting going? Have any more Viking funerals lately?” I snorted.

  “No, not as many. I’m finally making some progress. Except for waves, they hate me,” I said seriously. He gave a small laugh. “How about you?” He shrugged.

  “Lots of things to juggle,” He said. “Sorry, I can’t be late for class.”

  “Me either, sorry about the crash, it’s nice meeting you,” I said as I hurried down the hall.

  “You too,” He replied. I checked my cell as I turned the corner to the class room. Zeke still hadn’t responded. I was cursing under my breath as I walked into Chemistry.

  The classroom was actually a lab, it was made up of high counters that stretched out from the walls instead of desks with tall stools to sit on. The guys were already at our group table, the second table against the left wall. I dropped my bag on the counter and sat down next to Miles.

  “Hey Red, still mad?” Isaac asked, pulling out his notebook.

  "It's Zeke, so, what do you think?” I took out my notebook. Ethan winced.

  “You might want to cut him a little slack, Beautiful,” Ethan began. “His shoulder is hurting him pretty bad today.” I shot him a look.

  “What? So, that means he can punish me all he wants?” I said, sarcastically. The boys all exchanged looks. I ignored it.

  “He’s punishing you?” Isaac asked, confused.

  “All this probation crap,” I bit out. The guys exchanged a worried look.

  "Red, probation-"

  "Notebooks out," Mr. Turner announced. I turned around and started taking notes on today’s lab.

  We were setting up the equipment when Mr. Turner called my name. I turned to find Zeke standing in the doorway.

  “Delaney, you’re wanted in the office,” Mr. Turner announced reading from the call slip in his hand. I didn’t buy it for a second but I packed my stuff and walked out of class. Zeke’s stony face told me nothing as he led me out away from the hallways and out to the football field bleachers. There were no classrooms nearby, it was a good place to yell at each other. Zeke ran his hand through his hair before turning around and looking at me.

  “What the fuck is this, Lexie?” Zeke demanded, holding his phone up.

  “What does it fucking look like, Zeke?” I shot back. I didn’t want to fight anymore, but I wasn’t going to just lay down and let him yell at me. His gaze ran over me before meeting my eyes again.

  “Ethan said you think I’m punishing you,” Zeke growled, his voice deep. Thanks, Ethan. I had it.

  “I didn’t tell you one thing, Zeke,” I said, my voice hard. “And you stop trusting me, then put me on probation. What the fuck am I supposed to think it is?”

  Zeke turned back his face hard. “They were treating you like shit! That’s not something small,” He snapped.

  “You don’t tell me anything, and I let it go,” I pointed out. “We had a fight yesterday. We’re fighting almost every day now! And you haven’t told me why you’re looking for a fight.”

  “It has nothing to do with you!” He snapped. My heart ached.

  “Fine, that has nothing to do with me,” I said calmly, my voice dead. “But this probation crap does. What would have happened if I didn’t agree to probation?” I asked. He turned away and ran his hand through his hair as he walked a few paces. His shoulders were tense, his posture rigid.

  “I can’t, fucking, believe this,” He grumbled under his breath.

  “Answer the question,” I demanded. He looked back at me with heated eyes, when he didn’t answer, my
eyes burned and my throat closed. “If you can throw me away that easily, then I’m not going to wait around for it.” Fighting back tears, I picked up my bag and started walking away.

  “It’s not a punishment, Lexie,” Zeke said wearily. I turned back to look at him. He moved down the cement steps to sit on the top row of the bleachers.

  “Then what is it?” I asked, my voice tired. “Cause it sure feels like you’re punishing me.”

  His eyes were on the field as he answered. “It’s...” He sighed deeply. “It’s a trust exercise.” I couldn’t have heard that right.

  “What?” I asked, baffled. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

  “A trust exercise,” He growled as he put his feet up on the row in front of him and rested his elbows on his legs. He rubbed his eyes with one hand. Everything about him screamed that he hated this conversation, I walked back and sat down next to him.

  “I don’t understand,” I admitted calmly as I looked out at the field. “You said you didn’t trust me anymore.”

  “And I didn’t but,” he sighed “it’s mostly me and my shit.” He dropped his hand from his eyes and continued, looking out at the field. “I have this issue,” His voice was the quiet, softer one he occasionally used when he talked to me. “I have to know the people I care about are safe and okay.”

  “I know that-”

  “No, Baby, you don’t.” He turned to me. His bright eyes were dark with shadows. “It’s not just something I do, it’s a compulsion. Like, Miles with his needing everything put away in its place thing.” He looked back out at the field and continued. “It’s not an option for me. I need to know that you guys are okay, I need to know that everyone is safe. Or I don’t sleep, and I freak the hell out.” He ran his hand through his hair, cringing. “Add that to my major trust issues... My old shrink said it made getting to know me a fucking minefield.” He turned back to me and met my eyes again. “I know myself very well. I know how I react to things,” He said, his face was pained as he ran his eyes over my face. “When someone lies to me or gets to me, I automatically want to shove them away, cut off all contact and never speak to them again. It’s my gut reaction.” He met my eyes again. “Haven’t you wondered why everyone else has other friends, and I don’t?”