The Death Of Me (Clearview Academy Book 1) Page 5

  “That means...”

  “My body is here. I'm really dead.”

  “Let's get out of here,” he suggested quickly. “This place is creepy as hell.”

  “I agree,” I squeaked. “I don't see any clues here.”

  “Just an arm.”

  Clark turned away from the gruesome sight and was halfway back to the street before I could move. As I was turning though, a flash of metal caught my eye. It wasn't the bracelet; there was something clutched inside my hand.

  “What is that?” I squatted down to see better. It was hard to tell what it was inside my dirty little fist so I had to pry it out. “It's an earring,” I realized out loud.

  “What are you doing?” Clark called out. “Let's go.”

  “Yeah, I'm coming. Check this out.” From my new angle close to the ground, I could see my chest and neck under the blanket. It was full of bloody stab marks. “What do those look like to you?” I asked Clark when he came down beside me.

  “Looks like you were stabbed last night.”

  “Yeah, that's what I thought to.”

  “Must have been one hell of a party.”

  My eyes narrowed as they locked with his. “What happened to me last night?”

  Chapter Five

  I sat up straight in my bed, unsure how I had gotten back in it. I was just with Clark, wasn't I?

  Was it just today that Clark and I had found my body behind the dumpster? A horrible, vivid memory came rushing back to me. My stomach lurched.

  The body we had found, my body, was full of stab marks.

  "Oh my word."

  I swung myself out of my bed - lying still was just too hard. Covering my mouth with one hand, I paced the length of my room.

  "This is no time to panic," I whispered to myself.

  I already knew I was dead. But it was so different now that I had seen that body.

  Even though I knew it wasn't a good idea, I tiptoed down the hallway to my mom's open bedroom door. I just wanted to see her things, to know that at least something in the world was right.

  Mom was sitting on the bed, I hadn't expected that.

  As I watched, she took a deep breath and let it out slowly. In her hands, she held her tiny cell phone. The phone was shaking.

  "Mom," Lindsay wailed, barreling into the room, "where is my yellow top?"

  "What?" Mom glanced up at her with red-rimmed eyes. "It should be in your room. Did you check the closet?"

  "Avery probably took it, she's always taking my clothes."

  " I didn't touch your stupid shirt," I grumbled at her.

  "Have you seen your sister?"

  "Yeah," Lindsey shrugged. "I see her all the time."

  "I mean today."

  "Don't worry about Avery," Lindsay rolled her eyes. "She's fine."

  "I haven't seen her since last night," mom informed her.

  "And?"

  Mom pursed her lips tightly. "Avery doesn't stay out like this," she sniffed. "Something must be wrong."

  "The only thing wrong," Lindsey scowled, "is my shirt missing."

  "You'll have to find your shirt by yourself," mom squared her shoulders. "I haven't seen it."

  "I'm telling you, Avery probably just got too drunk to come home last night."

  "Drunk?" mom gasped.

  "Why would you tell her that?" My forehead creased darkly. Wasn't there some unspoken rule among siblings that stopped her from saying stuff like that?

  Although mom still had a furrow in her eyebrows, tears pooled in her familiar brown eyes. “What if something terrible happened?”

  “What could possibly happen in this stupid town?” Lindsey tsked. “This town barely has three gas stations.”

  “Avery always tells me where she is, it's not like her to not call home.”

  Lindsey plopped down with a click of her tongue. “Mom, you worry too much. Avery's a big girl - she’s fine.”

  “Will you call her friends and see if they've heard from her?”

  “They were all together at Jimmy Vale's party last night. She probably just crashed at one of their houses. Seriously, stop worrying.”

  It was all too much. Once moms chin started to quiver, I knew I had to leave.

  OUTSIDE - THE SUN WAS still high in the sky, I had no idea what time it was but it couldn't be very late. It was strange being out there, I could see the sun but I couldn't feel it on my skin.

  There was only one place I could go and I knew where I was going before my feet ever moved. I took one last look at the house, knowing mom and Lindsay were up there talking about me being missing, then I started walking towards the trailer court on the edge of town.

  Clark was in the yard when I walked up, half of his body inside the front end of a crappy looking car. Was he actually trying to fix that thing?

  “Hey,” I called out nervously. “It's me.”

  His arms stopped moving and he pulled himself out of the car to look back at me. “I was wondering if you would come back.”

  “Yeah, I'm not sure what happened. I just woke up at home.”

  He raised both eyebrows high on his forehead. “I'm not sure how this ghost thing works either,” he shrugged.

  “I saw my mom,” I admitted in a low voice. “She seemed upset.”

  “You didn't come home last night,” he pointed out. “Of course she would be upset.”

  “It felt weird,” I wrapped my arms across my stomach. As weird as it was seeing my mom upset, talking to Clark about it was even weirder.

  “Being dead?”

  “Just... seeing her upset but her not being able to see me. So I couldn't help her.” That probably didn't make any sense to someone like Clark.

  “Do you think we should call the police?”

  I sucked my bottom lip into my mouth and chewed on a loose piece of skin there. “I don't know. You'd be the one calling. And what would you say?”

  “I can't exactly tell them I was playing around in that alley and happened to come across the dead body.” Clark turned the rest of the way until he was fully facing me. “But it doesn't feel right to keep letting your Mom worry about you.”

  To my complete horror, my eyes welled with stinging tears. “I don't know what's wrong with me,” I stuttered, tripping over my own tears. “I never cry.”

  “It's alright to cry,” he assured me. “You've been through a lot, anyone would cry.” His scowl softened until he almost looked sorry for me.

  “I am not just anyone.” My declaration didn't have quite the bite I was looking for, not with the quiver in my voice. “I have rules.”

  Despite my words, Clark obviously still felt sorry for me. He shuffled forward several steps. He wasn't going to hug me, was he? I may have been a hot crying mess, but I didn't want to hug it out with Clark Daniels.

  “I want to show you something,” he said unexpectedly. “Will you come with me?”

  Why, oh why, did he have to be so weird? It was like a line out of a cheesy romance movie. No way did I want to go with him anywhere.

  “We have a lot to do, Clark.” It was hard not to roll my eyes at him.

  “It won't take long.”

  “We have to find out what happened to my body.” I brushed impatiently at the moisture on my eyelashes.

  Clark nodded. “You're right.”

  “Of course I'm...”

  “But,” he cut me off, “you just died.”

  “What?”

  “I can't imagine that you're in a good head space right now,” he continued. “Let's just go somewhere for a minute that's quiet. You won't regret it.”

  Before I told him no again, I hesitated. Dying and then finding your dead body with stab marks all over was stressful, Clark was right about that. Somewhere quiet didn't sound bad, not bad at all.

  Surprising myself, I nodded. “All right, I'll go with you.”

  Clark wiped his greasy hands on an equally greasy towel then grinned at me. “Let's go then, Princess.”

  Before I had time
to really think about what we were doing and change my mind, I was on the back of his bike again and we were barreling down a narrow street that I didn't recognize. We weren't driving fast enough for it to be terrifying; it was just enough to blow my hair back from my face.

  I felt like I was flying. Never, in my entire life, had I ever felt so free. I didn't feel scared at all, I felt untouchable. It was absolutely amazing.

  A short time later, the motorcycle came to stop near a secluded wooded area. If I wasn't already dead, I'd be worried. This seemed exactly like the kind of place someone brought a girl to murder her.

  “What is this place?”

  “Come on, I'll show you.”

  I took hold of Clark's hand just long enough to steady myself after the ride. My heart was still beating fast, excitement coursing through my veins. There were no houses in sight, no cars on the road, and no people anywhere around us.

  Two days ago, I wouldn't have been caught dead out here with Clark. Now I was dead and willingly following him back behind the trees where a creek was hidden. You couldn't see the small stream of water from the road.

  “How did you find this place?”

  Clark was right, it was quiet here. The water bubbled gently along its path. The wind was blowing but not like it had been when I was on the back of Clark's motorcycle. There was just a gentle breeze along the tops of the trees. This wasn't a place I expected someone like him to be in.

  “I just like to come here when things are too loud at home.” He hurried to clam up again, as if he was afraid he had said too much. “It's just a nice place. I thought you might like it.”

  “I do.” It surprised me to realize that I was telling him the truth. There were no stores, and I didn't have my cell phone, but that added to its charm.

  Even alive I would have liked it. But it's not like I could have told anybody that.

  Clark pointed out a low branch that he used as a chair. We were both able to sit on it comfortably. He was a little closer than I was used to but I found myself not minding so much.

  “Can you feel that?” I asked, pointing down at the place our legs touched.

  “Yeah. I felt you back on my bike to.”

  “You didn't earlier.”

  “It's not like I know the rules,” he shook his head. “I'm just telling you what I felt.”

  “The sun is starting to set,” I unnecessarily pointed out when I didn't know what else to say.

  "It's not scary," he told me. "even when it gets dark out."

  "I wasn't scared."

  "I've been coming here since I was a kid."

  "How? It's not like you rode that motorcycle out here when you were a kid."

  Clark shrugged. "I just walked."

  "All this way? Weren't your parents worried about you?"

  "Nope." His lips popped on the declaration.

  "What's your family like?" I heard myself asking Clark, and it sounded like I really cared.

  "Like most families," he shrugged. "I disappoint them, they disappoint me. But we still put up with each other."

  "Your dad seems..." It was hard to find the right word to describe his dad out loud.

  "I know," he nodded. "whatever though."

  "What about your mom?"

  "She works a lot."

  He kept his answers short, clearly he didn't want to talk about them. On a normal day I wouldn't have wanted to hear about them. Today didn't feel normal.

  "My sister and I don't get along," I blurted out, not really sure why I was talking. He didn't ask, I just told him.

  "The two of you seem so perfect."

  "That doesn't mean we get along," my nose scrunched up. I wasn't exactly sure when Lindsay started to hate me. When I finished third grade, they made us move to a different floor of the school to start third grade. I was scared to make the switch so Lindsey failed on purpose so we could be in the same grade from then on out.

  "I guess."

  "Before I came to see you," I chewed on the inside of my lip before surging ahead, "I went to see Billie and Nina."

  "Makes sense."

  "They couldn't see me."

  "I figured."

  "I... I heard them talking about me." Shame made the tops of my ears feel hot.

  "People talk." He didn't seem impressed.

  "I went to see Tyler too," I continued.

  "Your boyfriend?"

  "He was kissing Cassie Andrews." It was humiliating to admit everything to Clark, at the same time I felt a certain amount of relief.

  "I always knew that guy was a jerk."

  My lips turned up into a half smile. "The thing is..." I ran my tongue over my suddenly dry lips.

  "The thing is what?"

  "Well, I'm just starting to wonder if anyone really liked me. I mean, like me for real."

  "What are you talking about? Everyone loves you, you're Avery Lewis." He playfully nudged my shoulder with his own.

  "You didn't hear the things they were saying." I tried to keep the shaking out of my voice but it probably crept in anyways because Clark's eyes were full of sympathy that I didn't want.

  "You shouldn't listen to them," he said softly.

  "It's hard," I breathed out. My lips were so dry, it was difficult to get the words out. "They're my best friends".

  His neck bobbed when he swallowed. "I've never really liked the hill twins," he croaked.

  Despite the outrage I knew I should have felt, I smiled. "They don't like you either."

  Clark grinned back. "My heart is breaking." He clutched his chest dramatically.

  It surprised me when I heard laughter bubbling from my throat. Oh my word what was with the girlish giggling? It was all being wasted on him.

  And yet...

  "I'm sorry that me and my friends were mean to you, Clark," I said. All things considered, he was cool. Way cooler than Nina or Billie or Tyler.

  He turned so he was facing me, our faces were only a few inches apart. “Why do you have to be weird," he teased.

  Instant heat flooded my cheeks and made my heart flutter. "Oh my word," I whispered. Was I really going to start liking Clark Daniels? No freaking way.

  He leaned forward just slightly. My lips parted and my eyes slid closed.

  "I should go home."

  This wasn't me, sitting on the side of a creek with Clark, waiting with bated breath for him to kiss me. This wasn't my story.

  I was the Princess, Tyler was the prince. In all the stories, I was supposed to end up with Tyler.

  I wasn't sure where Clark fit in... but not here.

  IT TOOK ME A FEW MOMENTS to realize that I wasn't outside anymore. I opened my eyes just a crack, unsure what I wanted to see. I was sitting on my bed back at home. Outside the window, the world was pitch black.

  My shoulders sagged. As odd as it was, I couldn't deny my disappointment that Clark wasn't there with me. He would still be by the creek, leaning in for a kiss that would never happen.

  This was for the best though. Getting all confused and feely now wouldn't be any help to either of us. Taking a deep breath, I let it out heavily as I rolled to my side on the bed. I already had enough to deal with.

  My memory loss.

  My cheating boyfriend.

  My backstabbing friends.

  My death.

  I didn't have time to worry about Clark to. It was better to just put him and that would be kiss out of my head.

  Outside my bedroom window, the moon hung bright in the black sky. I had never seen a moon that big before - or maybe I just never noticed. There were a lot of things I had never noticed. Things about myself and things about other people.

  I had always just assumed that the whole world was in love with me, but maybe I was wrong.

  Clark didn't seem to like me. Of course, he had plenty of reasons not to. He was different than I thought he was. Or maybe I was just reacting to him differently because I was dead.

  What would my friends say if I could tell them about that strange moment by
the creek?

  I shuddered at the thought.

  They would both tell me what I already knew- that I had lost my damn mind. My face crumpled, it's not like I would have had a good argument. I mean, everyone slummed it once in a while. Too many jello shots made even the corner creepo lurker transform into a hottie for one night. But this was different - this was actual heart palps.

  Dying had really messed me up.

  This was all Tyler's fault, I thought savagely. He was the one that took me to that party, he should have been the one to bring me home again - alive and safe. Instead, he was too busy chasing Cassie.

  And now, no one knew what had happened to me. My body was laying behind some filthy dumpster, rotting away.

  I had been missing for an entire day. Why wasn't anyone looking for me? Didn't anyone miss me?

  It had been humiliating earlier to cry in front of Clark, I was grateful that no one was there now. My tears slid silently down the side of my face and onto my bed. Crying wasn't generally allowed. Today was an exception.

  I rolled over to my back and thought again of my dead body. The police would find it soon, if they hadn't already. Hopefully once they started looking me and Clark would be able to get more clues.

  Clues.

  That reminded me.

  I sat up on the bed and dug my fingers into the side of my shoe. The small silver earring I had found earlier clutched inside my hand behind the dumpster was still there where I had stowed it to hide it from Clark. I pulled it out now to look at it more closely.

  I didn't recognize the earring. It was a simple small diamond that could have belonged to anyone. The only thing I knew for sure was that it didn't belong to me.

  Tomorrow, I decided, I would show the earring to Clark. My stomach twisted at the thought of seeing him again.

  "Oh my word."

  Shoving the earring back into the side of my shoe, I let myself fall back onto my bed. "And there won't be any funny business tomorrow," I told myself sternly.

  Chapter Six

  My eyelids popped open in the still dark room. I must have fallen asleep on my bed. Did ghosts actually sleep?