Page 30 of School Spirits
Adam’s eyes widened. “Whoa, seriously?” From the tone of his voice, you’d think I’d said I’d never, I don’t know, been outside before. Breathed air. “Like, you’ve never been to one, or you’ve never even seen one on TV?”
“Both,” I told him. “We never had a TV before, so…”
Now Adam didn’t just look surprised, he looked kind of horrified. Maybe that’s what made me sound so defensive when I jerked my head toward the court and said, “I’ve seen stufflikethis.”
Then I remembered that that had been a “party” this coven of dark witches had been throwing, and it hadn’t been a ball they’d tossed between them, but a human head.
That little story didn’t seem like one I should share with Adam.
He shook his head. “Okay. Well, then I’m glad I could introduce you to your first real basketball game. I mean, our team sucks, but still, right?” He smiled at me, but it didn’t reach his eyes, and I knew I wasn’t the only one disappointed by the way this “date” was going.
“We should go in,” he said, turning toward the gym. I did the same, and promptly collided with a boy.
“Sorry!” I said, reaching up to steady him without thinking.
But since it was Ben McCrary, and I’d just put my hand directly on the shoulder I’d dislocated, he gave a hiss of pain.
“Sorry, sorry, sorry!” I said again, holding my hands up. Ben just stared at me, pale and wide-eyed, and attempted to put as much space as possible between me and him.
“Just-just stay away from me,” he sputtered before darting off.
Adam and I watched him go.
“I…um, I kind of dislocated his shoulder in P.E.,” I said.
Adam was still staring after Ben. “Okay,” he said slowly. “I heard that, but I thought it was just a rumor. I mean, no offense, but you’re kind of tiny, and Ben McCrary is…not.”
“I throw a mean dodgeball,” was all I could think to say.
Turning back to me, Adam blinked a few times. “So you’ve never seen a basketball game, you didn’t own a TV, and you can dislocate shoulders with dodgeballs?”
I didn’t think any of that was meant to be a compliment, but I smiled anyway. “Yup.”
Adam took that in. “I’m gonna grab us some Cokes,” he finally said, nodding toward the concession booth. “If you want to go on in and grab a seat, I’ll find you when I’m done.”
“Great,” I said, relieved for any suggestion that would put an end to us just standing there.
The game seemed to have just started, but the bleachers were already pretty full. I spotted a few empty spaces in the middle, and was just preparing to wade through the crowd when I glanced up and saw Romy, Anderson, and Dex sitting in the very top row.
They spotted me around the same time, and Romy waved, gesturing for me to come join them. I picked my way up to the very top of the bleachers, trying not to step on anyone’s hand.
Once I was there, Anderson scooted closer to Romy, leaving a space between him and Dex. I squeezed into it, and if my hip bumped Dex’s, so what? Everybody was practically sitting in each other’s laps as it was.
“Look at you,” Dex enthused, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. “Embracing school spirit, supporting school athletics.”
“Yeah,” I said, “I’m here—”
But before I could say anything about Adam, Romy leaned across Anderson and said, “It’s actually awesome that you showed up. This is kind of an impromptu PMS meeting.”
Dex rolled his eyes. “By which Romy means she tricked me and Anderson with the promise of manly things like sports only to foist her ghost-hunting agenda on us once we got here.”
“I knew it was a PMS meeting,” Anderson offered in his deep voice. “I hate sports.”
Dex flung his hand out toward the court. “Well, I don’t. I have a very vested interest in watching those dudes in blue beat the ever-loving crap out of the Mary Evans High Hedgehogs.”
“Wait, our mascot is the hedgehog?” I asked.
“Up until a few years ago it was a Confederate soldier,” Anderson told me. “But then everyone decided that was offensive, so they’d let the student body vote on a new one. That’s how we’d ended up with the Mary Evans High Hedgehogs.”
