Spirits (Spirits Series Book 1) (25 page)

I quickly stick my tongue out and lightly shove him.  His gaze falls heavy on me as he worries his lip.  “What?” I ask curious about his mood change.

“Just thinking.”

“About?”

“This weekend, how it will go, what the out come will mean for us…”

My heart stammers, I hope he doesn’t expect much. “I guess you’ll have to wait and see.”

He leans in, “I’m counting down the days.” He whispers then gently nips my ear.

I quietly gasp surprised by his action as my pulse quickens.

He sighs, “I should probably let you go, I’ll walk you to the door.”

“Um, okay.” I say as he climbs out and I attempt to clear my head from the rolling fog he’s caused. What if he tries to kiss me? Should I turn away
? Could I honestly reject him? I’m not going to lie, I don’t think I can even though I’m a nervous wreck and my sushi is threatening to come back up. I groan inwardly at the thought of leaning in for a goodnight kiss then making a mad dash to spill my dinner over the side of the porch. MORTIFYING!

“Unless you want to go home with me now.” He says opening the car door.

I carefully get out terrified I’ll trip and tackle him to the ground. Although he’d probably laugh and make some comment about me not being able to wait for this weekend. Instead of being embarrassed by the thought I feel a smile spreading. Sometimes it’s easy for me to laugh at myself.

“What’s so funny?” He asks squeezing my hand as we walk up the steps.

“I was thinking of how badly my exiting could have gone.”

“I would have caught you.”

“I know.”

“So I guess this is goodnight.” He looks down at me as we stand at the front door.

“Text me later?”

“You know it. I really do like hanging out with you.” He smiles, “I haven’t felt this way in a while.”

I want to ask him what he means but decide to save the questions for later. “I enjoy your company as well.” Did I just say that? It sounds like something and old person or Noah would say!

“I make you nervous.” He grins.

“Is that a question?”

“It’s an observation,” he looks down at our hands, his finger on my wrist, “your pulse tells on you.”

My face starts to burn so I avoid looking at him.

“I’m not going to kiss you, not tonight anyway, you can relax.”

I feel a bit torn by his statement, sure I’m relieved but surprisingly I’m also disappointed. Definitely kicking myself for that. “Okay, well, I guess I’ll let you get home. If you’re anything like Drew you’ll need plenty of time to clean your room.” I bite back a smile.

“Hey, it’s not that bad. You can see a majority of the floor.”

“Sure you can.”

“I’ll send you a picture of it as soon as I get home smarty.”

“I’ll be waiting, anything over thirty minutes will not be accepted.”

“
Deal.” He pulls me to him and wraps his strong arms around me, “Goodnight. Call me if you need me, for any reason.”

Hugging him back isn’t awkward like I was worried it would be. “I will, goodnight.”

     Once his taillights disappear down the driveway I lean against the front door and sigh. Rustling in the bushes snaps me out of my surreal mood and puts me on edge. “Noah?” I whisper digging my keys out. Giggling fills the silence followed by hushed whispers. I really don’t want to turn my back to them but I have to unlock the stupid door. Tightly gripping the key I do it as fast as possible, promptly shutting and locking the door behind me. An uncomforting thought crosses my mind, like that’s going to keep them out genius. Peeking out the tall slender window a little girl no older than five stands at the bottom of the steps. Her blond ringlet hair falls past her shoulders, she smoothes out her black dress then looks up and spots me.  She looks cherubic with her little round face, rosy cheeks and blue eyes. Then she smiles manically and starts up the steps quickly.  My heart pounds, I backup unable to look away from her and scream as I bump into someone. “You okay?” Drew asks as I spin around.

“You scared the heck out of me, I wasn’t expecting anyone.”

“What were you looking at?”

“Everything alright?” Mom calls from the second floor landing.

“Yeah, I accidently scared her.” Drew says.

“Okay, goodnight.” Mom shakes her head walking off.

Drew looks at me worried, “What’s out there?”

“A little girl.”

He chuckles, “You’re kidding right?”

I shake my head quickly, “No, I’m not. She’s not sweet and innocent like she looks, there’s something dark about her.”

His smile fades, “How do you know?”

“The way she looked at me, there were no friendly intentions in her head.” I pull him up the stairs with me, “Don’t leave me alone, okay?”

“You don’t have to worry about that now, thanks.”

“Sorry I’m not trying to scare you I’m just being honest.”

“Can’t you get rid of them?”
I cut my eyes to him, “I probably wouldn’t say things like that if I were you. They are always around and listening.”

He nods and we continue to my room in silence.

     Placing my finger over my lips Drew and I stop shy of my door. It’s barely cracked open but I hear voices.

“I’m not leaving, you go.” Kadence says aggravated.

“I most certainly will not.” Noah responds.

“She’s my friend and I need to talk to her.”

“Some friend you’ve been,” Noah scoffs, “I’ve consoled her while you were busy doing God knows what with Rouge. I have every right to be here.”

Seriously, they’re arguing over me? They’ve lost it.

“Maybe I should call Aiden to chase you off again.”

Though I can’t see her I know she wears a devilish grin just by her tone.  Who the heck is Aiden and why would Noah be afraid of him? Could he be like Rouge? Doubtful, Noah didn’t seem scared more like annoyed by his presence. If this spirit sets Noah on edge I surely don’t want to meet him.

“Go ahead, call him. I doubt he comes.” Noah calls her bluff.

“What’s going on?” I ask quickly pushing the door open before Kay has the opportunity to summon this being. They both look at me surprised.

“Not much.” Kay glares at Noah, “Just waiting on you, unfortunately not alone.”  She finally takes notice to Drew, “Oh, hey.” She says uncomfortably.

“Kadence.” Drew forces a smile before looking at Noah.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Noah.” He holds his hand out.

“Drew. I’ve seen you around.” He says shaking firmly.

“Hopefully I didn’t scare you.”

“Nah, more like surprised.” Drew shrugs.

     “So how did it go?” Noah turns to me smiling.

“Fine.” Why didn’t he tell me about Carson when he knew all along? He could have at least insinuated something instead of just saying he didn’t like or trust him. It makes me very curious as to what happened between them.

“Just fine?” Kay pulls me out of cognition. “I can’t believe it. You go out with this super hot guy and all I get is fine? That will not do, I need the dets!”

“You’re rather demanding.” I purse my lips.

“Since there’s no action to be had here,” she glances at Drew, “I’m living vicariously through you.”

Drew seems incredibly uncomfortable. I’m not sure if it’s because of Kay, Noah or hearing about my date. Heck it could be all of the above.
I don’t want to tell him to leave, since I freaked him out with the crazy child but I don’t want him to feel like he has to stay.  “Who’s the creepy little girl?” I ask Noah.

“Huh?”

“Don’t play dumb. It will not slide, not this time.” I warn. “She’s about five, blond ringlets, blue eyes and looks like a little angel until she smiles.”

“Molly,” he glowers, “did she bother you?”

“If you count scaring the Hades out of me then yes.”

Noah walks to the window and peers out but remains silent.

“Is she evil?” Drew asks.

Kay giggles, “Are you afraid of a little girl?”

“I’m afraid of anything with bad intentions especially something I can’t see.” Drew crosses his arms.

“She usually doesn’t come inside.” Noah says.

“Usually? Is that supposed to make me feel better?” I walk over to Noah and look out. She’s playing hopscotch and she isn’t alone, another little girl and boy have joined her. They stop and stare up at us. Noah waves and I quickly yank his hand down as I step away from the window, “Are you nucking futs?”

“I was being friendly. It’s not like I invited them up.”

“Heaven forbid. I don’t want those little monsters running around the house.”

“They’re not monsters, they’re children.”

“Children don’t make me cringe. Those little… entities,” I can think of a few other things I’d like to call them but I’d have to wash my mouth out with soap, “scare the H E double hockey sticks out of me.”

Apparently Kay is curious to see what all the fuss is about. She breezes past us and looks out the window. “C-RU-EEE-PY.” She backs away slowly.

“Stop that.” Noah scalds. “They just want someone to love who will love them.”

Kay smirks, “Smot
her with their love and possibly a pillow.”

“Enough Kay.” I say. Not only is she freaking Drew out, she’s upsetting Noah.

“Whateves, you know those little freaks aren’t sweet.” She crosses her arms and plops down in the chair.

“I’d watch my mouth if I were you. Just because you’re
dead doesn’t mean they won’t torment you if they so choose.” Noah grins.

“Can we change the subject?” Drew asks getting comfy on my bed. Guess I’m stuck with him for the night.

“That sounds like an excellent idea,” Noah nods, “and I know the perfect topic for conversation.”

“Yeah Journey, what did you do on your date?” Kay interjects.

They’re not going to give up until they get the scoop and honestly I’d much rather talk about this than those little creepers.  “It was…” I settle in next to Drew before continuing, “rather nice. He took me for sushi, we talked a lot.” I cut my eyes to Noah, “Even about the past and Carson.” I watch his expression change and he looks away. That’s right buddy, I caught you in a lie. “He took me to the old theater where we watched an old black and white film. Then he brought me home.”

“Did he kiss you?” Kay asks. Clearly it’s the only thing she’s interested in.

“No, he was a perfect gentleman.” Even though I know he really wanted to, he behaved himself quite well.

“BORING.” Kay frowns.

Drew snickers.

“What?” I ask him.

“Carson was bothered for nothing.”

Noah seems to tense at the mention of his name. Should I call him out now or wait until we’re alone…

“What was his issue?” Kay asks.

“He was worried they’d end the night at make-out point.” Drew shrugs.

“Then he really doesn’t know her.” Kay giggles.

“Obviously.” Drew smirks, “She wouldn’t even kiss him on their first date and I reminded him of that but he had it in his head she’d be all over Blake. I think that’s why he wanted to hang out, so he wouldn’t be alone with his thoughts.”

“This is a change, I’m sooo not used to talking about her love life. I actually wondered if she’d ever have one.” Kay states.

“I know right.” Drew says surprised.

“Seriously, I’m sitting right here.” I remind them.

They give each other a look I’ve seen plenty of times in the past when I’d walk in on their conversations. Yep, all those times they were talking about me as I suspected.
It annoys me in a way, should I say something about it… My phone chirps alerting me that I have a picture message. Kadence looks at me interested.

See it’s not to bad. Blake

It’s cleaner than Drew’s room but still wouldn’t pass my inspection. There’s stuff scattered all over his desk, it looks like his clothes hamper threw up and the bed isn’t made.

Okay, it’s better than I thought it would b
e
Journey

My phone alerts me again. I download the picture expecting to see
his room from a different angle. How wrong I was.  He’s standing in front of a mirror shirtless with his shorts sagging exposing his sexy v cut. Oh he could easily model for Abercrombie and Finch.

Just thought I’d send you a
pic to go along with my number. Blake

So bad.
Journey

?

I thought it was a decent pic. I’ll send you another one. Blake

Oh, no it’s a great
pic! Journey
I reply before he can send another and cause me to blush even more.

“Hello, are you going to ignore us now?” Kay asks.

“She does this nightly.” Noah informs.

“How do you know?” Drew looks at him disapprovingly.