Death Whispers (Death Series, Book 1) (11 page)

He looked at John for agreement. John nodded then
turned to me.

Jonesy... so classy.

“Come on guys! If you had a girl you liked,
you'd want to be with her.” I looked from one to the other, they
had to see reason. Jonesy sulked. Kids swirled around us on a tide
that moved like the ocean.

John said, “See where it goes today, but don't
let a girl interfere with important stuff.” He looked at me in his
steady way, his eyes tight and angry. I wasn't going to let my
friends' lack of excitement screw my lunch with Jade.

“Okay,” I said.

Jonesy
looked around once.
Traitor,
that look said.

There was nothing but a sea of faces and talking.
My Pulse was on the lowest volume. Soothing, retro music wafted
through the ear discs that were permanently embedded behind my ears,
where the skull is most prominent. Technology rocked.

There she was! A small hand rose, a lone flag of
welcome in the cafeteria.

I
didn't hear the music as I walked toward her, instead I saw the soft
triangle of her face, full, deep pink lips, silver hoops catching the
light as she laughed with Sophie. Huh... Sophie. I ditched the Js
only to have to share time with her?

Sophie looked up at me, her clear, blue-green eyes
full of laughter, turning to Jade she said, “Catch ya later.” She
jumped up and away, hurrying to another table.

I sat down awkwardly next to Jade. She turned to
me, small hands neatly on the table. Then she did the unexpected,
reaching one of those small hands to cover mine. Instinctively, I
closed my hand around hers, grinning like an idiot. Every struggle
had been worth it to be in this moment with her.

“So,” she said, still hanging on to my hand,
“what did you want to talk about?”

I looked down at our clasped hands and my mouth
got dry. Okay, Hart, you got this. She obviously likes you, so start
with that.

“
Well,
I know we don't know each other very well but, do you want to go
out?” I stumbled over that last part, simultaneously hoping my
hands didn't choose then
to
sweat.

She smiled, a little shyly and answered, “I
thought you'd never ask.”

No one in the history of the universe could have
possibly been happier.

“Let's go somewhere and talk,” I said.

“Okay,” she stood up and stuffed her pulse in
her pocket. We made our way into the open hallway. I didn't want to
let go of her hand, ever.

She
leaned against the wall and I took her other hand and looked down at
her. There were
some
girls that were actually shorter than me.

“I'm so glad you finally asked me,” she said.

It's not like she hit me over the head with clues
or anything.

Jade grinned at my expression. “You're the guy,
you have to ask.”

“That's
not true, you could have given me a hint,” I said, miffed, but not
really.

She smiled and lifted my hand up with hers,
tilting her head and laying the top of my hand against her cheek. My
heart paused in my chest. Her skin felt like silk under my hand.
Letting go of her hand I cupped the side of her face, noticing how
small it really was. I leaned down and whispered in her ear, “Meet
me after band today.”

She turned her head into mine, smelling like a
ripe peach and whispered, “Okay.”

My stomach rumbled and I laughed. “I guess we
better eat,”

I looked at her lunch tray, girls sure ate weird.

She saw my expression. “What?” All innocent
like.

I shrugged. “No wonder you're so small, you
don't eat anything real.”

She
looked down at her tray and pointed a finger at the biggest offender,
the salad
.
“This is
real.”

I made a grunting noise and she pursed her lips.
She gave my tray the look she thought it deserved. Pizza was
definitely the food of the gods, I thought with satisfaction.

The Js were at our regular lunch table and just
finishing their pizza. Smart food choice.

Jade followed me over to our table and we plunked
down.

Jonesy looked up and with a lingering glance at
Jade's tray. “Are you kidding with that?” he pointed his fork at
her tray with Jonesy-disdain leaking from every pore.

Jade put her hands on her hips and said, “You
boys need to clean up your eating habits.”

John looked down at his three crusts, fourth piece
in hand and shrugged his skinny shoulders, taking a bite that
polished off half the slice. Jonesy laughed and used his crust to
wipe up the last vestiges of his ranch dressing.

Jade stared with fascination at Jonesy's ritual.
His pears and green beans lay lonely and untouched in a forgotten
corner of his tray. This was an introduction to Eating Habits of
Boys. Jonesy mowed through his dessert cup of sherbet while expertly
eying whatever food John had been dumb enough not to finish.

I didn't have my normal appetite. After all, it
wasn't every day that you got yourself a girlfriend.

Jonesy was licking the spoon that was shaped like
a small paddle when he blurted out, “So you two going out now?”

John sorta choked on that last hunk of pizza, some
of it escaping his mouth.

Jade stopped the fork midway to her mouth, fruit
balanced on the tines.

I
answered, “Yeah Jonesy, we are.” My tone said it all. Could you
just... not.

Jonesy smiled evilly. I knew he was sticking it to
me because I had ditched them at lunch. Fine, payback's a bitch and
Gramps would add: and then you die.

“Sorry about your lunch,” I mumbled.

“It's okay.” she curled her small hand around
my forearm, where a tiny pulse beat, captured in the delicate skin of
her wrist. She fascinated me.

I
recovered, “Tomorrow we'll actually eat and talk.” The Js stood
and we followed. Carson and Brett sauntered over, Brett eying Jade.

I didn't like it.

“Hi Jade,” Brett said, nodding to the Js and
me. Carson didn't bother.

“Hi,” she said, sensing major awkwardness.

“Hey Hart, gonna see ya at the cemetery on
Sunday,” Carson said, looking hard at Jonesy but talking to me.

Jonesy stepped forward and Jade stepped a little
behind me, Jonesy and I were side by side.

Jonesy said, “We'll all be there, I told ya.”

Brett looked at Jade. “Even your little
girlfriend is coming?” And before anyone knew what was happening he
reached out, his hand passing through the end of her hair.

“Don't touch me!” she yelped, startled. Some
other kids turned to stare and she backed away.

“Leave her alone, dickhead,” I said, facing
Brett, my hands balled into tight fists. I was ready for a hammer
session.

Brett moved up until our noses almost touched, our
chests a millimeter from contact. Singing tension filled the moment.

“Caleb, we have eyes,” John said in a low
voice.

I didn't take mine off Brett.

Carson stopped things from getting out-of-control.
“Leave it, he can't do anything and the girl's not worth it,” he
sneered.

We stood back and the tension dissipated. Carson pulled Brett along
with him, who kept walking backwards, looking at me the whole time. A
moment before he vacated the double doors his gaze shifted to the
left and became thoughtful. I followed his gaze to see what he was
looking at and Jade filled my vision. Her anxious face was pinched
and nervous. Rage filled me that someone would threaten her. I put my
arm around her and scooped her up against me while my other hand
stroked her hair. She shivered under my touch while I looked over at
the Js, their grim expressions matching mine.

Jonesy broke the silence first, “Sunday can't
come soon enough.”

He and John walked off, Jade and I in tow, my arm
still around her shoulders, where it felt like it had always
belonged.

CHAPTER 10

John was listening raptly to Xavier Collins, aka,
Biology teacher extraordinaire. He ran around the room, boiling with
energy, making his point. Unfortunately, I had worn out my welcome
when we had dissected the frogs and I kept passing out and getting
hauled off to the nurse's office.

Collins
was jogging back and forth in front of the board, smacking his fist
into his open palm, doing a rant about the bees. That again, I
thought a little glumly. Between Dad, big time scientist in his pants
and
Mom, environmental activist. I knew what was wrong. I put my head in
both my palms. John nodded with marked enthusiasm at what Collins was
saying.

“This alarming trend of the decimation of
honeybees is appalling. The origins of which precedes 2010. It was in
that year that nearly one million honeybee colonies were wiped out,”
Collins said.

Having
a swarm of anything die would be a fresh hell for me.

“Caleb Hart,” Collins paused, “what say you
on this subject?”

Oh great. Like this day couldn't get any more
stressed. “Ah... what do you want me to say?”

“What are your thoughts on the continual decline
of this critical species which impacts our habitat at every turn?”

“Well, my mom had me help her plant flowers in
the garden that attract bees,” I said.

Carson covered a laugh by coughing. He was such a
jerk. I blushed. It was lame that I admitted helping Mom. But, my
choices were cleaning the bathroom or gardening. Gee, let me think
about it.

Collins turned sharply to Carson. “Do you have
something to add, Mr. Hamilton?” his gaze steady on Carson's face.

Carson squirmed under the scrutiny.

“No,” Carson finally said.

“Good, very good,” he said and turned his
attention back to me.

“Well, go on then, Caleb.”

“That's it. I mean, I hear my parents talk about
the environment a lot.” My voice conveyed how obvious that would be
in my household.

Collins was trapping me. I wasn't his favorite so
why question me? I looked over at John, he was as confused as I.

“What plants did she select?” Collins asked.

Wow, easy question. “We plant flowers in blue
and violet, mainly. But my mom has rhododendrons in a bunch of
different colors. She says it's important to plant different types
and try to use native plants.”

A speech for me. I actually knew something about
this because of my role as The Gardening Slave.

“Very good, Caleb. Caleb's family is doing
exactly what we all need to be doing. This 'pocket gardening'
technique emphasizes that if all of us were doing our small part to
propagate the environment, that cumulative effort would have
tremendous impact. These insects need all of us to resurrect their
dying numbers.”

Suddenly, Collins spun around and pointed a finger
at me. “What's your favorite plant for bee attraction, Caleb?”

“Sunflower,” I flung back.

Collins smiled and jogged back to the whiteboard.
John gave me the thumbs up and Carson gave me the finger. I turned
back to the teacher with a smile on my face. Some days were okay.

During English and PE I was distracted by Jade.
Jade using her pulse-pad, Jade doing jumping jacks to the tune of Ms.
Griswold's sandpaper voice.

I couldn't believe the school gave us credit for
playing music and in between sets we discussed Jade. It was easier
without Jonesy around, who was sorta anti-girlfriends right now.

“Are you gonna tell her?” John asked during
Band.

“Don't really have a choice. Carson and Brett
said something in front of her.”

“Yeah, what was with Brett doing that to Jade?”
he asked.

“I don't know but it pissed me off.”

“
Maybe
he likes her. You know,
likes
her,” John said.

Brett was always a little mean to her. I guess a
guy as lame as Brett can't think of a better way to act so they just
fall back on what they know... lameness.

“He lives kinda by her, ya know.”

Yeah, I knew that.

But now that she lived with her aunt was he still
close? I asked John. He thought she still lived pretty close to her
old house.

“Is her aunt like her dad?” my voice trailed
off. John looked thoughtful.

“You know her dad's a big-time drunk, right?”
I nodded, everyone knew. “Well, I don't hear the same stuff about
her. It was some kind of protective custody thing,” he said

I knew some of the history. She was getting beaten
(my heart sped with adrenaline). I heard the aunt had called Child
Protective Services and they still kept tabs on her. Her creeper dad
would be a problem.

“Yeah, she's never said anything about her dad
to me,” I said.

John gave me a look. “Before today, did you talk
to her much?”

He had me there. “No, I was kinda freaked.”

“She's just a girl, Caleb.” his blue eyes were
serious, sunlight glinting through the window made his hair into a
flaming halo.

Just a girl.

“Coming from you that means a lot, Terran! With
your harem-o-chicks!” John blushed a fine, blazing red that only
true redheads can. I was just the first guy in the group to have a
girlfriend and it was new, to all of us. It's not like we were big
“players.”

“I plan to get to 'know her' a little better
after band...” the sentence trailing off suggestively.

“Huh? You're gonna take her home to meet the
Parents?” he smirked.

“
We're
not
that
serious!” I exclaimed.