Ghost: Books of the Dead - Fantasy Best Seller and Supernatural Teen Book: (Ghost, Occult, Supernatural, Occult and Supernatural) (24 page)

Jamie was observing her the whole time and right after the call ended, she jumped in. “What happened? Grace is at home?”

Emily sighed. She told Jamie every detail about the conversation she had with Mrs. Carlson and how Grace had injured herself. “Now what”, Emily queried her. “You said that one of your sources saw her leaving for Elmhurst.”

“What was she up to,” Natalie wondered? “This doesn’t make any sense.” Jamie was confused, but managed not to show it beyond what she had already expressed. “But Mrs. Carlson didn’t give the phone to Grace. Do you think Grace didn’t want to speak to you,” Jamie asked?

Emily thought she was deliberately planting the seed of doubt in her head. Emily didn’t say anything back, but all the way to her room that was the only thing that traveled through her mind.

Why would Grace refuse to speak with me?

******

Grace told her mother to inform Emily that she wouldn't be heading back to college anytime soon, and when Mrs. Carlson urged her to make the call herself, Grace sharply refused. Mrs. Carlson didn’t understand the reason behind it. She tried asking several times, but Grace sighted fatigue and that she wasn't in the mood. However, Grace’s mother was sure that it had to be something else.

In fact, Grace couldn’t wait to give the news to Emily, but knew that the moment she did, Emily would be left bare and without a friend. She would have to face the situation alone and Grace wouldn’t be able to do anything else for her. So, Grace thought the best option was to get better and deliver the information herself. She regretted being in this awful situation in the first place, but that was the best she could do.

******

Jamie didn’t leave Emily’s room after the call and went on asking her about the conversation. Emily was upset, and Jamie’s constant nagging irritated her even more. However, since she had gotten a lot of help from Jamie, Emily decided not to show her displeasure. She simply tolerated her presence for the time being.

“I think I’ll just go to bed,” Emily said loudly and started walking towards her bedroom. “I had enough for today.”

It was meant for Jamie to hear, but she disregarded it completely. Jamie went on speaking as if she didn’t hear the words Emily said. When the strong hint didn’t work, Emily stopped Jamie midway towards her room.

“I think you should go back to your room,” she said to Jamie.

“Emily, aren’t you being too reluctant and casual about the whole situation? Right now, you were told that Grace went home and got injured. Didn’t it occur to you that if she headed home in the first place, why wouldn’t she tell you?” Jamie wasn’t backing off.

Emily couldn’t ignore what Jamie was saying anymore. “This has got me thinking, Jamie, because that is quite unlikely. Grace has never set off without telling me. And if she was at her house, then why wouldn’t she want to speak to me?”

What got Emily even more concerned was the message that she received the other day. It clearly indicated that Grace was someplace else. She must have gone back home from there. Emily kept wondering if Mrs. Carlson was deliberately hiding something from her, as well. However, she didn’t confide her doubts to Jamie.

“What are you thinking about,” Jamie asked Emily?

“Nothing,” Emily said, as they walked to the door, “just that all of this seems so unbelievable. Was she really on the bus to Elmhurst?” Emily asked for the second time.

“It’s true, Emily,” Jamie confirmed. “She was on the bus, believe it or not.”

The equation didn’t add up for Emily. She was especially distraught since most of the evidence proved that Grace wasn’t visiting her home in the first place. For some reason, she stopped there on her way back. Emily slouched on the couch; Jamie had no intention of leaving her until all her questions were answered.

“Some pieces are missing and I cannot make out which ones.” Jamie paced the room up and down ignoring Emily. She spoke to herself, not considering if she was heard. Yet, when Emily didn’t say anything, Jamie walked up to her shook her shoulders. “Are you listening to what I am saying?”

“It’s not like I have a choice,” Emily said sarcastically.

“So … what do you think?” Jamie asked.

“Someone is lying,” Emily uttered, but her words were inaudible. It was as if Emily was in conflict with herself.

Jamie sat near Emily’s feet, and said “What are you suggesting?”

“Take a look at this.” Emily handed her mobile phone to Jamie.

Jamie took it from Emily’s hand and said, “What do you want me to do with this?”

“Just check the in-box. Grace messaged me.” For a split second, Emily felt guilty for not telling Jamie about it earlier.

It took Jamie a few moments to go through her in-box. “Where is the message that you want me to see?”

“It’s from an unknown number. It’s there,” Emily said.

“Ah, yes, here it is.” Jamie read it and then her face frowned. “Why didn’t you tell me about this before?” Her tone sounded offended.

“I was skeptical and the message sounded like it was secretive. I wasn’t supposed to share this with anyone. I’m sure that you would have done the same thing if you were in my place,” Emily said in a dejected manner. She could only defend herself in the situation.

“Emily, I can’t help you if you keep hiding things from me. I have been going out of my way trying to help you, and do you even realize the situation you are in? You don’t trust me, even though I agreed to help you. It has been a long process and you don’t think I have better things to do? Here I am trying to piece the puzzle together and babbling on my own and you can’t even tell me all the facts. Grace was on her way somewhere and I was correct about it. So tell me, how long have you planned to keep it from me?” Jamie waited for a minute and then turned around to walk out of the room. Before she left, she said, “Well, don’t bother to answer me. I guess you can solve the rest of the puzzle yourself.” Jamie slammed the door and left.

Emily was left hanging, not knowing particularly what she should do. She couldn’t contact Grace and realized Jamie wouldn’t speak to her anymore. Denise and Keisha weren’t much help either. Angrily, she threw her phone down on the table, but then picked it up again to dial Jamie’s number. Emily knew that she would require Jamie’s help to get out of the situation, so not speaking with her was not an option.

Jamie didn’t pick up the phone, and Emily didn’t doubt the reason why. Yet she didn’t give up. So, after three more failed attempts, Emily left a message expressing her mistake. She asked if they could just go back to where they were speaking to each other again, but Emily never got a reply.

On campus, news spread like wildfire. By the time Emily got to her class, half of the students knew that Grace was absent from her classes. They also knew it was due to an accident. Some of them came up to Emily to ask her about Grace’s present condition, others were curious as to why Grace didn’t speak to Emily herself.

“You spoke to her mother?” Darrel asked, with a voice full of surprise.

Nancy asked from the side, “Why didn’t you ask for her? She left without telling you anything.”

Emily was offended by the array of questions that were thrown at her. She didn’t know whom to blame or how to answer each of them. She couldn’t even tell them the graveness of the situation. There was a possibility that her friend was in real danger, but the bombardment from the student body wiped that from her mind. Emily had been thinking about it the whole night long, but now, sitting in her classroom, all she could think of was how the word got around. Her initial suspicion fell on Jamie. She was the only one who was aware of the conversation she had with Grace’s mother the previous night. Emily was disappointed with herself for involving Jamie in all this, but what else could she do?

 She tried to answer all the questions at once. “I don’t know,” she told Darrel. “She never told me,” she told Nancy, “but she will be back.” Then, she told everyone, “I don’t know when.”

Emily tried to ease her way out of the questions and wished hard for one of the teachers to arrive. Finally, someone came in. They informed the class that the teachers were having a meeting and classes were suspended for an hour. It was Emily’s breaking point and she couldn’t handle the questions anymore. Much to everyone’s surprise she got up and walked out of the room.

Scott was the only one who didn’t bother Emily with any questions while they were in class. However, now that they were alone, he called her name out loud. “Wait,” Emily heard him say, but didn’t turn back to answer him. Instead, she decided to go and interrogate Jamie.

Emily went near the cafeteria, where Jamie could be found most of the time. Today, she wasn’t around. There were a few people there going about their business. Some of their faces were known and some unknown. Emily walked away from the scene and went towards the balcony where she met Jamie for the first time. She wasn’t there either. Emily stood in the balcony for a moment, and then remembered that Natalie might be in her class. Emily went there to look for her. Jamie’s classmates informed Emily that she wasn’t present that day.

“Do you know why she’s absent?” Emily asked one of Jamie’s classmates.

“No, we cannot reach her by phone,” Daphne answered.

“Hey, wait,” Kitty called from the side. “You two seem to be close friends, hanging out together and everything, so she didn’t tell you the reason for not coming to classes today?”

Emily noticed that most of students were now looking at her and they were aware of her and Jamie’s growing friendship. “Yes, we are … but I don’t know. She didn’t tell me anything about it,” she replied vaguely.

“What are you guys looking for?” Daphne wondered, stopping her from going out.

“What do you mean,” asked the blonde-haired girl? Emily squeezed her eyebrows and waited for Daphne to respond back.

“We have never seen Jamie so secretive and that’s what got us thinking,” she said.

Whitney joined in the conversation. “When we tried questioning her about it, she refused to say a thing. Well, she’s always got an answer for everything, but she never answered our questions.”

“And we’re obviously curious; it’s unlike her,” someone said, whose name Emily didn’t know.

The students crowded her like a pack of hungry wolves. The situation reminded Emily of the one she just faced in her own class, the one she barely managed to escape. Emily tried to get away, but Daphne pulled her back by her arms.

“What is so important that you want to tell her? We can give her the message,” Daphne said in a slimy voice.

Emily was sure she heard a chuckle or two from around the class, but didn’t pay attention to them. “I don’t have to deal with all of you. I barely know any of you. I came here for Jamie and I’m capable of giving her the message myself. Now let go of my hand,” she said, pulling away from the junior student. Emily’s voice was firm and authoritative.

“Who’s stopping you then? Good luck finding her.” Daphne let go of Emily’s hand and chuckled with the rest of the group.

Emily was out of there in the next heartbeat. She tried to calm down, and she wasn’t angry at Jamie much anymore. She told herself, “It’s not her fault; she must not have been the one to tattle about the phone call yesterday night. She’s not even here.” Her steps slowed down and she scrutinized the situation again.

“Emily, hey wait!” It was Scott coming towards her and calling out her name.

Although she wasn’t in the mood to talk yet, she stopped anyway. “What is it?” she asked Scott.

“Are you avoiding me?”

“Why would I do that?” Emily attempted to stay calm and did not want to give away the fact that she was feeling anxious. She was in fact avoiding him and the impending questions.

“Hey, I asked you something,” Scott said again.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention, but if you want to ask me about Grace, then I won’t be able to answer anything, because there is nothing that I know,” Emily said in a hurry.

“I didn’t come here to ask about Grace. I wanted to tell you something.”

“You don’t want to know about Grace?” Emily was clearly taken aback.

“You might be wondering how the word got spread around, regarding the phone call you had with Grace’s mother yesterday,” Scott said.

“Yes, I am. Only Jamie was present there when I took the call from Mrs. Aldman, so word couldn’t have gotten out. Now, here I am today and everyone is talking about it,” Emily pointed out, expressing her annoyance at the intervention of her classmates.

“Are you sure about that?” Scott asked again.

“Of course, we were called down by Mrs. Aldman, and informed about the call. So yes, I’m sure there was no one else there.”

“Someone else was there and…” Scott didn’t complete his words. He saw a few of their classmates coming their way. “…I think it would be best if we went and talked about this elsewhere. How about the library,” Scott asked?

“I think that’s a good idea. Let’s go then,” Emily said.

Scott and Emily walked into the library together, and Mr. Mitchell greeted them both with a little hello. A few faces looked up and others were buried into the deep realm of the books, notes and copies that lay in front of them. Both of them moved near the criminology section, picked two books from the racks and pretended to read them.

Scott was the first one to speak. “Everything is not all right, is it?”

Then, Emily fully comprehended the fact that no matter how much she tried to hide her emotions, she was not going to be successful. Her actions, her words and her behavior gave them all away. She kept her head down and then in a toneless voice said, “I am not doing a good job … am I?”

Scott nodded his head in sympathy. He knew exactly what Emily meant. “Apparently not, our classmates are talking about you, saying you’ve been acting strange lately, that you don’t speak about Grace these days. When they ask you about her, you just seem to pass on the questions. Emily, you are my friend, too. I can help you,” he assured her.

Emily looked up in a dejected manner and said very quietly, “Scott, I understand that you mean well, but there’s nothing you can do at this moment.”