CHAPTER 14

The gym was brightly lit, and as I made my way down the hill from the parking lot, I could hear the banging of drums, the squeak of sneakers, and the occasional shout. Inside, it was even louder, and way more packed than I would have expected. Apparently sports are a really big thing around here.

Adam was waiting just inside the door, and I was relieved to see he was wearing more or less the same thing he’d had on at school today. That was one thing I’d gotten right at least. And from the look he gave my hair, I guess that had been right, too. “You look nice,” he told me, waving his hand in my general direction.

“Thanks,” I said, forcing myself not to shove my hair behind my ears again. “You, um, too.”

On Everton and Leslie’s first date, he’d taken her to this fancy restaurant that had ended up burning down by the end of the episode. But before that, the date had looked like fun. I didn’t remember them standing around awkwardly, struggling for things to say.

Because that’s a TV show, dummy, and this is real life, I reminded myself.

Finally, Adam nodded toward the inside of the gym. “I, uh, usually play in the pep band, but I took the night off. Drums.”

“Oh,” I said, unsure what else to say. “Drums are… loud.”

Adam tilted his head to one side, like he couldn’t decide if I was being funny or not. Then he just shrugged and said, “Yeah, they are. So do you like basket- ball?”

I peeked around him, watching as boys in satiny-looking outfits raced up and down the court. “I don’t know. I’ve actually never seen a basketball game before.”

Adam’s eyes widened. “Whoa, seriously?” From the tone of his voice, you’d think I’d said I’d never, I don’t know, been outside before. Breathed air. “Like, you’ve never been to one, or you’ve never even seen one on TV?”

“Both,” I told him. “We never had a TV before, so…”

Now Adam didn’t just look surprised, he looked kind of horrified. Maybe that’s what made me sound so defensive when I jerked my head toward the court and said, “I’ve seen stuff like this.”

Then I remembered that that had been a “party” this coven of dark witches had been throwing, and it hadn’t been a ball they’d tossed between them, but a human head.

That little story didn’t seem like one I should share with Adam.

He shook his head. “Okay. Well, then I’m glad I could introduce you to your first real basketball game. I mean, our team sucks, but still, right?” He smiled at me, but it didn’t reach his eyes, and I knew I wasn’t the only one disappointed by the way this “date” was going.

“We should go in,” he said, turning toward the gym. I did the same, and promptly collided with a boy.

“Sorry!” I said, reaching up to steady him without thinking.

But since it was Ben McCrary, and I’d just put my hand directly on the shoulder I’d dislocated, he gave a hiss of pain.

“Sorry, sorry, sorry!” I said again, holding my hands up. Ben just stared at me, pale and wide-eyed, and attempted to put as much space as possible between me and him.

“Just-just stay away from me,” he sputtered before darting off.

Adam and I watched him go.

“I…um, I kind of dislocated his shoulder in P.E.,” I said.

Adam was still staring after Ben. “Okay,” he said slowly. “I heard that, but I thought it was just a rumor. I mean, no offense, but you’re kind of tiny, and Ben McCrary is…not.”

“I throw a mean dodgeball,” was all I could think to say.

Turning back to me, Adam blinked a few times. “So you’ve never seen a basketball game, you didn’t own a TV, and you can dislocate shoulders with dodgeballs?”

I didn’t think any of that was meant to be a compliment, but I smiled anyway. “Yup.”

Adam took that in. “I’m gonna grab us some Cokes,” he finally said, nodding toward the concession booth. “If you want to go on in and grab a seat, I’ll find you when I’m done.”

“Great,” I said, relieved for any suggestion that would put an end to us just standing there.

The game seemed to have just started, but the bleachers were already pretty full. I spotted a few empty spaces in the middle, and was just preparing to wade through the crowd when I glanced up and saw Romy, Anderson, and Dex sitting in the very top row.

They spotted me around the same time, and Romy waved, gesturing for me to come join them. I picked my way up to the very top of the bleachers, trying not to step on anyone’s hand.

Once I was there, Anderson scooted closer to Romy, leaving a space between him and Dex. I squeezed into it, and if my hip bumped Dex’s, so what? Everybody was practically sitting in each other’s laps as it was.

“Look at you,” Dex enthused, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. “Embracing school spirit, supporting school athletics.”

“Yeah,” I said, “I’m here—”

But before I could say anything about Adam, Romy leaned across Anderson and said, “It’s actually awesome that you showed up. This is kind of an impromptu PMS meeting.”

Dex rolled his eyes. “By which Romy means she tricked me and Anderson with the promise of manly things like sports only to foist her ghost-hunting agenda on us once we got here.”

“I knew it was a PMS meeting,” Anderson offered in his deep voice. “I hate sports.”

Dex flung his hand out toward the court. “Well, I don’t. I have a very vested interest in watching those dudes in blue beat the ever-loving crap out of the Mary Evans High Hedgehogs.”

“Wait, our mascot is the hedgehog?” I asked.

“Up until a few years ago it was a Confederate soldier,” Anderson told me. “But then everyone decided that was offensive, so they’d let the student body vote on a new one. That’s how we’d ended up with the Mary Evans High Hedgehogs.”

He nodded, and for the first time, I saw the mascot. He was standing near the cheerleaders. There’d been some attempt to make him look tough. The hedgehog’s quills had been tipped with silver paint to make them look sharp, and his face was twisted into a snarl.

But all the quills and fierce expressions couldn’t disguise the fact that, at the end of the day, the mascot was just a six-foot-tall hedgehog.

It was hard to tear my eyes away from that spectacle, but I finally turned to Romy and asked, “So what ghost business are you working on tonight?”

Romy huffed out a breath, ruffling her bangs. “Well, it was supposed to be the séance. My mom got off early tonight, so it was the perfect chance, but when we got here, the stupid trailer was locked.”

Looking at me, she added, “I tried texting you like a billion times.”

I’d left my phone at home. I still wasn’t used to carrying it around, which I obviously needed to get better about. I really didn’t want these three doing a séance.

“Romy asked us to break a window,” Dex said, “but I told her I was not prepared to commit a crime, even in the name of science.”

“Any chance you’ll have another free night soon?” Anderson asked.

Before Romy could answer, Dex said, “Why is Adam Lipinski coming toward us?”

“Oh!” I had kind of forgotten about Adam. But there he was, making his way up the bleachers with two cups in his hands. “He’s, um…we’re here together,” I said, and almost as one, Romy, Dex, and Anderson turned to look at me.

“Like, you’re on a date?” Romy asked, both eyebrows raised. “And you came to sit with us?”

“He said to find seats,” I told her, lifting one shoulder in a shrug.

“He probably meant for the two of you,” Dex said, pulling his leg as far away from mine as he could. “And preferably seats that didn’t have you wedged between two other guys.”

Romy was already at the very end of the row, and Anderson was as close to her as he could get. Dex had a little space on his side, and he scooted away from me, giving Adam just enough room to squeeze in between us.

He handed me my Coke, the cup icy and slick in my hand. “Thanks,” I murmured, suddenly unsure and embarrassed again. Was I not supposed to sit with my friends? Was that why Adam’s shoulders were all…weird?

Taking a sip of my drink, I wondered why it was there were a million books on ghosts and legends and monsters, and nothing useful like, How to Go On a Normal Date Without Looking Like a Total Spaz.

“You guys talking ghost stuff?” Adam asked, and next to me, I felt Anderson tense a little.

But Romy leaned over, pleasantly surprised. “We were, actually. Okay, so everyone knows that this place has a ghost, and—”

“And you guys are going to slap on your tinfoil hats and get rid of it?”

Adam said it with a little smile, but it still sounded… snide. Mean, even.

Romy’s expression hardened and she turned her attention back to the court. “No, we only use our tinfoil hats when there are aliens involved.”

On Adam’s other side, Dex sighed dramatically and leaned back against the wall, pulling his sunglasses out and slapping them on his face. He then stretched out his long legs, crossing them at the ankle, and folded his hands over his stomach.

Frowning, I leaned forward a little, trying to see past Anderson. “So, since the séance didn’t work out, what PMS business are you dealing with tonight?” I asked Romy.

Her eyes flicked back to Adam for a second before she said, “I just thought with the mutilated doll and everything, we might need to keep an eye on Beth.”

“She’s cheering tonight,” Anderson offered, nodding down at the gym floor. Sure enough, there was Beth standing in a line with a bunch of other girls in green and white, silver pom-poms in her hand. I remembered the doll wearing a rough copy of that same outfit, all mangled and covered in fake blood.

Then next to me, Adam snorted and said, “Oh, that psycho Barbie she found in her locker? Please, that was totally just Ben being a jerk.”

“It’s more than just that,” Romy said, but Adam rattled the ice in his drink and rolled his eyes. “Of course it is. You know, Romy, this ghost hunter thing was cute when we were all in elementary school, but now it just makes you a weirdo. You get that, right?”

“Better a weirdo than a jackass,” Dex muttered.

“You’re one to talk, dude,” Adam fired back, but Dex gave no indication he’d heard him.

“Whatever.” Adam stood up and looked down at me. “I’m out of here. Izzy, you coming?”

As I stared up at him, I realized something. I wasn’t irritated that Adam had interrupted Romy and screwed up my chances at getting more info. I was irritated because Dex was right. He was a jackass.

“No,” I told him, curling my hands around the bleacher. “I think I’ll stay here.”

Adam hadn’t been expecting that, I could tell. For a second he looked confused and then, I thought, hurt. But just as quickly, he gave me the same look he’d given Romy. “Okay, fine,” he said, walking down a row. “The girl who’s never seen TV before probably belongs with these freaks anyway.”

With that, he turned and left. The four of us watched him go. Only when he was at the very bottom did Dex say, “Izzy, I don’t think your new boyfriend is very nice.”

I didn’t bother to correct him about Adam being my “boyfriend.” So my first date was a total bust, then. But why, watching him walk away, did I feel so…I don’t know, relieved?

And then something else occurred to me. “Oh, crap. He was supposed to drive me home.”

Dex slid his sunglasses down his nose, but before he could say anything, Romy leaned over. “My mom is coming to get me in like an hour. We can drive you home.”

“Great,” I told her, ignoring the tiny flicker of disappointment. I needed more of a chance to talk to Romy anyway.

There was a sudden shout from the crowd as—I guess—our team scored points. Everyone around us shot to their feet, clapping, but the four of us stayed in our seats.

“Well, Isolde,” Dex said over the noise, “how does it feel to have declared for Team Outcast?”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Good,” I told him, and I was surprised to discover I meant it.