VooDoo Follies (10 page)

I couldn't help it. I was laughing, right
along with the rest of the class. Trevor definitely had a certain
charisma that was undeniable. "Very well, thank you for that
animated description, now everyone back to your books. I want your
study guides finished and turned in to me for my approval by the
end of the week. Oh, and I’ve already read Mr. Cliff’s notes, so
let’s try not to copy them!"

I turned back around and whispered a sincere
thank you to Trevor, he just smiled back and shrugged at me as if
it were nothing. I turned back in my seat, sparing a glance towards
an infuriated Stephen as I did. Trevor sat behind me, moving so his
upper body draped over the top of his desk, leaning in close. I
felt him pick up one of my curls and twirl it around his finger.
"Might want to actually read the book, before you get busted
though, I could always offer up my services as a tutor." I turned
three different shades of red as he whispered in my ear. I pulled
my book up closer to my face and then leaned forward so that I was
further away from him. I closed my eyes and found myself wishing
Stephen had gone for that walk outside of school after all. I had
never really had a boy take too much notice of me before, and now I
had a ghostly best friend who I was in danger of falling for and a
super hot new guy who was paying way too much attention to me. I
suddenly felt an overwhelming desire to read the book I was
holding. It seemed to be the only escape from this awkward
situation I was going to get, and sadly I couldn't keep the smile
from creeping across my face.

The last twenty minutes of class went by in a
silent haze of black and white words that never really sunk in. My
thoughts were preoccupied with the two boys, sitting beside me in
the windowsill brooding and behind me - playing with my hair
periodically. Hester's man trouble seemed so far removed from this.
On the one hand, Stephen was amazing and if he were actually a
living being he would have already had my heart. On the other, sat
Trevor, the new kid, flesh and blood, and charming beyond measure.
He could easily win my heart. Just thinking that made me feel as
though I were betraying Stephen. My thoughts were bouncing back and
forth between the two of them as the bell rang.

I pulled the book out of my face in time to
watch Trevor trip over my book bag that was now suspiciously in the
middle of the isle. I grabbed for him with lightening-like reflexes
that surprised even me. "Who needs the bodyguard now?" I asked with
a smile.

"Well, that book bag of yours all but jumped
out to tangle itself around my feet. If I didn't know any better,
I'd say you pushed it there so I could end up in your arms." That
amazing grin of his was exploding across his face and bringing a
light blush to my own. He leaned in closer now, "you know, all you
had to do was ask."

"I'll remember that if and when it ever is my
plan to actually attack you into my arms." I wasn't sure if that
even came out right. My words jumbled in my head on replay and
Trevor never said another word he just picked himself up, smiled at
me and walked to the door. I leaned down, half humiliated at my
hormone-induced lack of eloquence. Then I remembered
Stephen.

"That wasn't very nice." I whispered while my
head was still down. I heard him grumble his response back at
me.

"...didn't turn out as well as I had hoped
either." I shot a look up at Stephen and stood to leave with him
following right behind me. "Sorry," he mumbled again. I knew he
meant it, only in so much as he didn't want me to be angry with
him. I think he would have laughed uncontrollably if his plan had
actually worked.

I smiled over my shoulder at Stephen and
walked out the door, right into Trevor, who had stopped to wait for
me. "Seriously? This can't be happening."

"Missed me that much, huh? I knew you did it
on purpose." That smile was melting my insides, and I had to
seriously focus on what I was going to say next.

"I thought I heard something behind me, I
turned to look and," the grin on his face was growing wider, "and
since I couldn't possibly know you were stalking me at the door, I
had no clue I would run into you there." I smiled right back at him
this time, my confidence boosted. "I think maybe you simply threw
yourself at me earlier and just can't admit it because it wasn't
very manly of you." Stephen's snickering behind me was all the
reassurance I needed that I hadn't flubbed this one. That was a
good thing because without his reaction I would have never known my
quick-wit worked. For his part, Trevor never lost a beat and that
smile certainly didn’t dissipate at all.

"You caught me!" He said and held out his arm,
like they do in the old fashioned movies. "May I walk you to class?
Apparently, we are both in dire need of an escort, since neither
one of us can stay on our feet for long."

I ignored his arm and started walking. "You
can walk me to class," I tossed back at him over my shoulder, "but
I think it's probably safer for the both of us if we aren't linked
together as we go." Again, Stephen's howling laughter let me know I
was doing good. His tripping Trevor as he tried to catch up let me
know maybe I was maybe doing a little too good. When I let out an
inadvertent giggle at his stumbling Trevor didn't miss a
beat.

"It seems I keep falling for you."

There was that grin, all over his handsome
face again. The one that shut me right up. My cheeks reddened,
betraying me, so I just turned back around, smiling so much my jaw
was starting to ache. Then I remembered, Trevor's schedule. "Wait,
didn't I see you had art class yesterday? You're going to be late
if you follow me to class."

"Yeah, but it’ll be worth it."

***

The Truth That Hurts

The walk home from school was quiet with
Stephen brooding beside me, which didn't help reign my thoughts in
at all. Trevor was on my mind. Stephen was on my mind too, and for
the life of me I couldn't sort through the jumble of emotions that
both of them elicited in me. I had never even been on a date, so
all this boy stuff was overwhelming, even more so every time I made
myself remember that Stephen was dead. There's nothing like a good
kick in the ass with reality to bring a person down from cloud
nine.

"Why don't you ever hang out around your
house?" It was a question I had been wanting to ask Stephen for a
while, but I wasn't sure I wanted to know the answer.

"Do you want me gone?" The hurt tone in his
voice nearly broke me.

"No!" The shrillness of my voice gave away the
emotion behind the sentiment, so I calmed myself a little more
before I went on. “It’s not that. I was just curious. I mean, if I
died and was still hanging around the spirit world I think I would
alternate back and forth between visiting my momma and my auntie.
So, I was just wondering why you didn't go back there."

"I do sometimes." Stephen's voice was made a
little deeper with his sorrow. "My mom isn't like yours though, is
she? I think she knows I’m there, but she doesn't at the same time.
She gets chills and looks around, as if she's expecting to see
something. Once, she started talking to me, telling me how sorry
she was." He was hiding again beneath his hair. "I just don't want
to make her uncomfortable, and I don't want to hear about how sorry
people are for me." Stephen looked up from under his hair for a
moment, "that's why I like being around you."

"What do you mean?"

"You treat me like I'm alive, Sera. You're not
all like, 'oh man, sorry you're dead mate!'"

"Well, that's because I'm not British! Who
says mate?" We both laughed.

"See, that's exactly what I mean. You just
crack jokes and talk about normal stuff. I don't feel quite so dead
around you."

"Normal stuff." My mind began to wonder again,
"Yes, because stopping a zombie outbreak is oh so normal for most
folks."

"Yeah, well, it's you. You're amazing, you
know?" He smiled and stopped talking for a bit as I let us into my
house. As I was shutting the door he picked the conversation back
up. "Sera, you remember when we were in French class together?" I
only nodded because he already knew I had no clue he had been in
that class with me. I vaguely remember that he was there now that I
had been clued in. "Well, I used to sit in that class wishing I
could work up the nerve to talk to you."

"What?" I was suddenly blushing. "It's not
like I'm miss pretty and popular, what did you have to work up
to?"

"No, it wasn't that you were too popular, it
was that you never talked to anyone. I figured someone as beautiful
as you must have been into dating older college guys or
something."

I laughed at his assumptions and walked into
the kitchen for a drink. "That is so far from the
truth."

"Well, yeah, I know that now. You're just
anti-social."

"I am not!" He was grinning at me, hair pulled
back from his face, and his eyes were all for me in that moment.
"Okay, well maybe a little."

"A little?" He laughed again, "I think Trevor
is the first person I have actually seen you talk to at school." He
let his hair fall a little at the mention of Trevor.

"Well, if I hadn't run into the Principal the
other day I would have never been landed the job of showing him
around and my anti-social streak would have probably continued on
through graduation." I laughed as he looked up at me, "at some
point fate has to step in and tell you to act normal
right?"

"Seraphine, I had a thing for you when we had
a class together before. I wish fate had stepped in sooner, because
now that I know you..." he looked down for a minute as if trying to
decide whether to finish, then he pulled his hair out of those
piercing eyes and finished what he was saying, "imagine how I feel
now that I do."

My phone was ringing in my pocket and I think
my heart was beating a little too fast. I wondered if he meant what
I thought he did.

"You might want to answer that." He pointed to
the phone that was still ringing in my pocket.

"Hello?" I answered. "Oh, hey, Auntie
Perrine!"

"Seraphine, I spoke to a friend about your
ghost."

"Stephen," I corrected her.

"Yes, about Stephen. He says it can be done.
There is a magic that will set Stephen free from the bonds that
hold him to the spirit world."

"How do I do it?" I was so excited I almost
missed what she said. "Wait, what do you mean by set him free
exactly?" Stephen was now looking at me curiously too, so I put the
phone on speaker.

"There are a couple possibilities, child. One
is that his spirit would be free to move on it's true cycle. The
other is that he may live again." Auntie Perrine sighed deeply on
the other end of the line. "I do not know which we will be able to
accomplish, my sweet. My friend is looking into things to see if we
can even gather what's needed to perform the necessary
ceremonies."

"But shouldn't he just tell me, so I can get
them here?"

"No, my sweet. These are strong magics to
command the Unknown spirits. It will take more than one priest or
priestess to perform them."

"But, I don't know anyone here who
practices."

"I was thinking, Stephen could wait until you
come this summer for your ceremony."

Stephen was mouthing, "what ceremony" to me. I
held my finger up, telling him to wait for the
explanation.

"So, we wait until summer, when I am
officially made a voodoo priestess and then the two of us perform
the ritual to set him free or give him life?"

"Something like that, child. We may need more
help than just the two of us, but I will check into that and have
preparations made before you get here." I could hear the tension in
her voice, there was something she wasn't telling me.

"Auntie, what are you afraid to
say?"

"Seraphine, dear, I don't want the two of you
to get your hopes up that Stephen will live again. I'm not so sure
that can happen, or that it's a magic we should be messing with.
Look what happened when you raised a zombie. Things can go wrong
with magic, just as they can go right."

"I understand, Auntie, I do. If all we can do
is set Stephen's soul on it's rightful path, then I want to be able
to do that much for him." I looked up into very sad eyes and
realized I hadn't even asked Stephen what he wanted.
"Auntie,"

My aunt didn't let me finish, she cut me off
with a quick good-bye, explaining she had a customer to
help.

"Stephen, I never asked what you
wanted."

"No, but I told you anyway."

"You've never told me what..." a blush
streaked across my face as warmth crept in. "Oh."

"I'm not sure I want my soul to continue on
its course if that means I have to leave you behind. Seraphine, I’m
falling..."

"Stop. Please, don't say it. Stephen, you're
dead, what am I supposed to say to that? I can't even hold your
hand." I tried to hold those beautiful blue eyes with mine, but his
head was sagging, causing his hair to flop down once
again.

"If things were
different..."