Page 24 of The Spirit Key
“Tim?”
When he finally met my gaze, my heart broke as I realized the truth.
“You didn’t believe me.”
He shook his head. “No, I….” He fluttered a hand. “Come on, ghosts? How was I supposed to know you were telling me the truth?”
White-hot anger surged through me. I pushed away from the table, knocking over the cup. The contents spilled onto the table, then over the edge. “Maybe you could have believed me. Or you could have asked questions instead of humoring the freak. Admit it, that’s what you thought, isn’t it? It suddenly dawned on you that everyone in school had been right. I was a freak.”
He sneered, his lips drawing back to show his teeth. “I never said that. Don’t put words in my mouth.”
“No? Then tell me, whatdidyou think?”
He wouldn’t meet my gaze, and that told me everything I needed to know.
I stormed to the door, yanked it open, and was about to step outside when Tim came up from behind me and grabbed my arm.
“Scotty—”
I whirled on him. “Don’t fucking call me Scotty. That name is reserved for my friends. Now let go and leave me the fuck alone.”
He loosened his grip, and I yanked away from him, then stormed out of the house. He didn’t follow, for which I was grateful. I stalked down the street, trying hard to get my rage under control. It took hours. Each time I thought I had a handle on my anger, it would surge back. Finally as the sun came up, I began to calm. Needing validation, I called Mom.
“Why are you out of breath? Oh God, don’t tell me you’re having sex.”
“Why would I call you if I was having sex?”
“Because you’re a weird kid.” She snickered.
“I need Ryan’s address. I’m going to go see him.”
“Who are you mad at? And don’t tell me you’re not, because I can hear it in your voice.”
“Tim and I had an argument. I needed to get out to clear my head.”
“And you think that seeing the brother you just yesterday were a jerk toward is a good idea?”
“Yes.” No. “Maybe?”
I spotted a bench near the park and took a seat. There was a diner across from it, and I thought maybe I could go sit in there for a while and nurse some coffee along with my grudge. How could he not believe me?
Because he’s never seen a ghost. Duh. You were awfully hard on him.
He didn’t believe me. He thought I was a freak.
Those are your words, not his. You could have talked to him about it, but instead you ran away. Again. You’re good at that, aren’t you?
Internal voices can be irritating as hell.
“Fuck!”
“What? What’s wrong?”
I scrubbed a hand over my face. I was still being a defensive ass to everyone. “Mom, let me ask you, if I told you something that was so far outside of the things you know, would you accept what I’m telling you is the truth?”
She hummed. “I guess it depends on how weird it was.”
“If I said I saw a UFO?”
