Page 43 of School Spirits
And I was in no way ready for that. Kissing was another one of those things I’d meant to do more research on, just in case. Like, how did you know which way to turn your head? And what about teeth placement? What if there was a spit issue? Should I have taken Torin up on his offer to help me practice?Trying to keep the panic off my face, I turned toward Dex. “Right. So. Good night, then.”
He gave a little bow. “Until tomorrow, Fair Isolde.”
And then he leaned forward.
My heart was in my ears, and my hands were shaking. Okay, I could do this. It was just lips. Just lips pressing together, hopefully without spit. And tongues…tongues… Okay, actually, no. I couldnotdo this.
I was just about to pull back when Dex reached out and…ruffled my hair. “Sleep tight!” he called cheerfully as he jogged down the front steps.
“Um. You too,” I replied, but I was so dazed that I didn’t get that out until he was already in the car, pulling away.
Was he going to ruffle my hair all along? Had I just imagined the way he’d looked at my mouth? Or had he seen the naked panic on my face and changed his mind?
I walked into the house and turned to face the little mirror in the hallway. At least that confirmed that, yup, hair and face, totally the same shade. “Magazines,” I whispered firmly at myself. “Tomorrow.”
Torin’s face suddenly appeared, frowning. “Are you talking to me? And why are you all beet colored?”
Luckily, Mom walked around the corner, and Torin immediately vanished. “That took longer than I’d expected,” she said, drying her hands on a dish towel.
“I ran into that kid. The one I think is Prodigium. We, uh, grabbed some food.”
“And?” Mom asked expectantly.
“And I still don’t know what he is.” Taking a deep breath, I pushed my shoulders back. “So I wanna stay. A little longer. Just until I find out.” After all, there was a chance this whole thing wasn’t really over, no matter all the salt thrown on Mary’s grave. If Dex’s Possible Prodigium Powers had had anything to do with raising her ghost, I needed to know.
Frowning, Mom tossed the towel into the kitchen. “Do you think he’s anything dangerous?”
My knees felt watery and my heart was racing. Yeah, Dex was dangerous, all right, but not in the way Mom meant. I gave her my best Tough Chick Grimace. “No. But if he is, I’ll take care of it.”
She watched me for a long time, so long that I was afraid she was about to say no. Instead, she shrugged. “Okay, then. This one is all yours.”
I told myself that the relief flooding through me had everything to do with Mom’s trusting me, and nothing at all to do with getting to stay in Ideal.
“But you just get one more month,” Mom said. “No more. Anything longer than that can be dangerous for us.”
“Right,” I said, nodding. Mom never liked to work long jobs. The way she saw it, the longer you were in a place, the more you were expected to make connections, friends even. And Brannicks could never afford that. Too many questions.
“Mom,” I said, scuffing my toe against the linoleum. “About earlier—”
The light in the hallway was too dim to see clearly, but I could practically feel Mom frowning. “It’s nothing. Just…just, good night, Mom.”
The words seemed to hang there in the hallway. Then Mom turned away. “One month, Izzy,” she called, heading into the kitchen. “And then we’re going home.”
CHAPTER 21
The next day, Dex wasn’t on the bus, but Romy and Anderson were. As soon as Romy saw me, she grinned and waved me over.
“Hey,” I said, finding my seat. “What are you doing here?” Anderson didn’t usually ride our bus since he had his own car.
He slumped in his seat, a little sheepish. “My parents may have gotten their credit card bill this month, and they may have discovered that I used their American Express to buy some stuff for PMS.”
“Check it,” Romy said, nudging Anderson. He opened his backpack, and I could make out some black plastic device that I guessed was his EVP recorder. “I’m totally going to pay them back,” Anderson said, zipping up his bag. “But it was on sale, so it made sense to go ahead and buy it, you know?”
“Absolutely,” Romy agreed. “But it sucks that they took your car away.”
Anderson shrugged. “Just for a few weeks. And hey, it means I get to hang out with you guys more.”
I was apparently included in the “you guys,” but you wouldn’t have known that from the way Anderson’s gaze lingered on Romy.
