I woke up to an alarm going off, comfortable, warm and snuggled. I vaguely noticed that Isaac had slid over and snuggled into me sometime in the night. My back was pressed against the front of his body. His arm was around my waist holding me against him. His face buried against the back of my neck. In my half-awake state, I barely noticed it.

“Someone turn that thing off,” Asher groaned.

There was a rustle, and the alarm stopped.

“We still have to get up.” Miles' voice was rough this morning. Through the fog of half-sleep, I wondered if that happened every morning.

“No,” Isaac grumbled into my hair and shifted into me some more.

My eyes were still closed when something hard press along my butt and up towards my hip. I vaguely realized what it was.

“Isaac,” I called.

“Hmm?”

“Think about baseball for me,” I mumbled into my pillow.

Isaac shifted, his lower body pulled away. “Sorry, it’s morning.” His voice was muffled against my skin.

The zippers of sleeping bags opened as the others started to move.

“I know.” I didn’t care; I’d been around enough guys to know they often got morning wood. He couldn’t control it.

“When the hell did that happen?” Asher’s question had me opening my eyes and lifting my head to look at him half asleep.

“Huh?” I blinked at him.

“What?” Zeke’s voice was more gravelly than usual. He coughed. I saw him start to sit up.

Asher gestured towards Isaac and me.

Oh. I put my head back down and closed my eyes again wanting to go back to sleep.

“She was making weird noises in her sleep, like whimpering and shit,” Isaac explained, his face still muffled against my skin. “I touched her shoulder, she stopped. I pulled away, she started again. So, I snuggled.”

I didn’t remember any of that; I must have been out cold. I smiled into my pillow as my twisted side came out to play.

“That’s his story, but I don’t buy it,” I told the boys, sounding doubtful. “I think he just wanted to lay on my blanket. Get him, Zeke.”

I hid my smile into my pillow as heavy footsteps moved over the wood floor. Isaac’s arm was pulled off me.

“That’s cold Red, real cold,” Isaac told me as Zeke pulled him away from me, dragging him along the floor.

I giggled as I rolled over onto my back and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. “So what’s the bathroom situation here?” I asked, dropping my arms and looking at the ceiling. I forced myself to sit up and look around. The living room still looked like it did last night. Destroyed.

I forced myself to start rolling up my sleeping bag.

“There are 5 full bathrooms upstairs, a master bath down here, and plenty of hot water,” Miles answered “Lexie, you should probably use the master bathroom. It’s the only one that has girl stuff in it, I think.”

I tied off the sleeping bag and got to my feet.

“Sounds good to me.” I took my sleeping bag, pillow, and blanket over to drop on the couch. I’d get it later. “Where am I going?” I asked, pushing my hair out of my face.

Miles tossed his sleeping bag on the couch. The others were already tiptoeing around the glass to head upstairs.

“Follow me,” he said.

I grabbed my overnight bag and followed Miles down the long hall. The Master bedroom was directly across from the bathroom at the end of the house. He opened the door and gestured inside.

“Bathrooms to the right.”

“Thanks.”

Miles nodded sleepily and walked down the hall.

I stepped into the master bedroom and froze. The room was beautiful, the cream walls were classic. Several landscape paintings hung from the walls. The bed was a huge king-sized bed, the comforter looked soft and rich in a tan and white damask pattern. There were several pillows against the dark wooden headboard.

I walked across the wood floor and into the bathroom. It was beautiful and serene. The walls were a soft teal with white tile halfway up the walls. The floor was covered in gray tile. I passed a big Jacuzzi tub and promised myself a soak before this was over.

I quickly showered and got ready. I wore a pair of black boot-cut jeans and my favorite long-sleeved, scoop-neck indigo shirt. It was my favorite because it was comfy and still looked good when it covered half my hips.

My hair was still wet in its ponytail as I brought my bag back into the living room. I dropped it by the stairs and looked around. Everyone was still upstairs. Did guys usually need longer than 20 minutes? Huh. I walked into the kitchen and found several cereal boxes. I put those on the counter and pulled the milk out. I noticed the coffee maker had automatically made coffee. Searching the cabinets, I found the dishes and grabbed a mug and a bowl. I got coffee first--it was more important to me.

I was almost done eating when Miles and Ethan came into the kitchen. Ethan wore black, and Miles was wearing a Zelda t-shirt, jeans, and his green hoodie. They both grabbed bowls and mugs of coffee.

“Is it really only Wednesday?” Ethan asked, rubbing his hands over his face.

“Yes, it’s Wednesday,” Miles answered, sounding as tired as Ethan did.

“Sleeping on that floor all week is going to be a bitch,” Ethan said with a groan, rubbing his lower back.

“Well, since we know the charms work, we don’t have to sleep in a salt circle tonight,” I said.

“Red! Don’t tell them that.” Isaac groaned as he came into the kitchen. “How am I supposed to sneak in cuddles if you're in a different room?”

I chuckled as he sulked.

“Sorry, Cookie Monster. I can’t make the guys sleep on the floor just for snuggles,” I told him before taking another drink of coffee.

Isaac pointed at me. “If Bitch Ghost shows up tonight, I’m sleeping with you,” he warned, his eyes sparkling with mischief.

“Fine, if Bitch Ghost shows up, you can sleep in my room,” I said, smiling at him. I didn’t mind a good cuddle from a friend. Truthfully, I hadn’t had a boyfriend in a long time. I missed the cuddling. Besides, Isaac would behave himself. Unless there was a pen around. I made a mental note to hide my book bag tonight.

“So, we’re sleeping in Lexie’s room tonight?” Zeke asked as he came into the kitchen wearing his usual all black. Asher closely following behind wearing jeans, a white shirt, and a blue unbuttoned plaid.

“I told these guys that since the charms work, we don’t have to sleep in a salt circle tonight,” I explained. “Isaac warned me that if Bitch Ghost shows up tonight, he’s sleeping with me.” I shrugged.

“Well, you are the only one who can see her,” Ethan said thoughtfully. He gestured at me with his coffee mug. “If shit starts flying around, I’m running to your room too.”

I burst out laughing at how serious he sounded.

“Huh, that’s a good point,” Asher admitted.

I looked up at him, seeing where this was going.

“If I smell even a hint of patchouli, I’m hiding behind you,” he explained.

Oh my God, this was getting ridiculous. Luckily, I wasn’t the only one who saw it.

“We can’t all sleep in Lexie’s bed,” Zeke reminded them.

Isaac looked him up and down.

“Yeah, you can’t. You’d wake up smacking her,” Isaac said.

Zeke thought about it for a second and nodded in agreement.

“There’s always the floor,” Asher offered, grinning.

I rolled my eyes. “I’m going to end up sleeping on the floor if you guys keep claiming my bed,” I pointed out. There was only so much room, and they were big guys.

Asher seemed to think about this.

“We can stash the sleeping bags in Lexie’s room, just in case,” Asher suggested to the group.

Everyone nodded.

I really hoped they were joking.

“Why do you guys keep saying my room? What room? Where am I sleeping tonight?” I asked, looking over at Miles.

He shrugged.

“You can stay in the master bedroom.”

I cringed a bit. Sleeping in his mom’s bed didn’t really sit well with me.

“I’ll just sleep on the couch; I don’t like the idea of using your mom’s bed. It’s a little creepy.” I admitted. I didn't know his mom, and so, yeah, no.

“My mother has never slept in that bed, Lexie. Everything in there is brand new,” Miles said before drinking his coffee.

That seemed a little weird to me. “What?” I asked.

Miles' eyes met mine as he explained. “My mother had that furniture moved in, finished decorating, packed a bag, and left for that spa yesterday.” He shrugged before getting up to put his bowl in the sink.

That seemed a little weird to me. You finish decorating your own bedroom, and you don’t sleep in it?

“So, no couch surfing for you,” Isaac declared, meeting my eyes. He gave me a slight shake of the head, telling me not to ask. I didn’t

“Damn it, I’m just going to have to sleep in that big comfy bed then,” I said in my 'doesn’t it suck' voice. I got some chuckles out of them. But I was still wondering why Miles’ mother would leave him here alone like that.

Soon it was time to go. We all made sure everyone had their charms on. I even used the rosemary oil again. I grabbed a book I wanted from the pile, and we were heading out the door.

I was buckling in when the passenger door opened. Isaac climbed in and over the seat to climb to the bench seat behind me. Ethan climbed in and closed the door.

“We’re all coming back here anyway,” Ethan explained.

I didn’t mind, the twins were fun. I queued up my morning ‘get moving’ play list before I drove off. They were arguing about something ridiculous when I pulled up near the school.

“Why don’t you ever park in the student lot?” Isaac asked, ignoring his brother.

“They’re assigned,” I answered, looking over at Ethan.

He shook his head.

I instantly wanted to smack Tara.

“Who told you that?” Isaac called from the back seat.

“Tara,” I said my jaw clenched. I had been walking across campus every day for no damn reason. I looked over to Ethan. “Do you know what spot Tara usually takes?”

Ethan nodded, smiling.

“Show me.”

We were somewhat early to school, so when we pulled into the student lot, there weren’t that many cars. Ethan directed me toward a nice spot in the front. I shut off the engine and got out, feeling much better about the day.

The morning moved on as usual. In World Civ, the girls to my left actually talked to me. It wasn’t long, just small talk about the upcoming essay before class. But it was a first for me. I was sitting in English waiting for class to start when the brown-haired boy that usually sits behind me sat to my left instead.

“Your Alexis, right?” he asked, turning towards me. I tried to hide my surprise that he was talking to me. He usually sat behind me and texted before class. His brown hair was short, but shaggy on the sides, but longer on top, enough that I could tell he used something to keep it up and back that way. He had a nice open face, a pointed chin and angled jaw. His amber colored eyes were killer, though.

“Yeah, and you’re Eric, right?” I asked, hoping my memory was right. He smiled at me; a dimple peeked out of his cheek. The guy had dimples…uhg, dimples killed me.

“That’s me.” He opened his bag and started pulling out his copy of Romeo and Juliet. “So, what did you do your first weekend in town?”

Oh, nothing big, only helped a couple ghosts move on, found a dead body; you know, the usual girl stuff.

“Slept in,” I said immediately.

He chuckled.

“No, I went hiking with some friends and saw one of their bands play over in Dulcet,” I told him.

He suddenly looked really interested.

“You were there Saturday?” he asked.

I nodded in response

“What happened that night?” he asked. “I keep hearing different stories. Did Zeke Blackthorn really jump someone for no reason?”

I barely stopped myself from groaning.

“Oh no, he had plenty of reason. The guy shoved a girl, and she hit the floor,” I said. Maybe if more people knew the truth, then they’d stop thinking Zeke was to blame. People already seemed to avoid him like the plague.

Eric’s eyebrows went up. His eyes were unfocused for a moment as if he was thinking.

“Huh. Guess he did have a reason.” Those pretty eyes were on me again. “So, did you like the music? Who was playing anyway?”

“Under Fire was playing that night. Ethan Turner's band.” I noticed Mrs. Hayes starting up the aisle. “I honestly can’t wait till they start performing their own songs. I want to hear what they can do.”

“So, you really like music huh?” he asked, a grin on his face.

“I like music. I really like music that says things you can’t normally say,” I told him absently.

His grin spread to a smile as Mrs. Hayes called for everyone’s attention.

English went on, as usual, reading and talking about Romeo and Juliet. Dear God, please let us be done with this book soon. It felt like we were moving at a snail's pace. When class was over, I was pulling on my jacket when Eric looked at me.

“I’ll see you around, Alexis.”

He was gone before I could say anything. Okay, he was a cutie, with dimples. I grabbed my bag and headed out towards my next class.

Zeke and Asher, as usual, spotted me in the hall. I headed towards them, moving to meet them in the middle, when someone stepped close to me.

“Hey, sexy.”

A guy I never met leaned into me. I jumped from the sting from a hard smack on my butt. I had a heartbeat of shock, and then I was pissed. Oh, hell no. When he began to move past me, I grabbed his shoulder and forced him to turn towards me. He was still smiling when I drove my right fist into his solar plexus. His eyes grew wide as all the air left his lungs in a rush. He grabbed his stomach and stumbled back into the lockers, his face turning red.

I stepped closer and got in his face as he still struggled to breathe.

“Don’t ever smack my ass again,” I growled at him. “Or next time I’ll kick you in the balls.”

The guy finally took a gasping breath and nodded. I stepped back and picked my bag up from where I dropped it. Several girls were clapping, others whooping. Maybe this guy had done this before?

Asher and Zeke finally reached me. Zeke’s eyes went from me to the guy I’d hit and back. Asher was frowning.

“What did he do?” Zeke asked, his tone making it sound like this was something I did every day.

“He smacked my ass,” I replied, watching with satisfaction as the guy tried to straighten up.

“I don’t think he’ll be doing that again,” Asher said with a grin on his face.

The guy started shaking his head as he moved off into the crowd. I turned and looked up at the guys.

“So how are your mornings going?”

It wasn’t until the end of Chemistry that I had a chance to open one of the books Serena had given me. A journal really, from a man in the 1920s. It was full of information about different kinds of ghosts. How they manifest and how to tell them apart. I was hoping to find a solution to our Bitch Ghost problem. I really didn’t want to get Miles' house trashed again, we still hadn’t cleaned up the mess from last night.

I was finally getting to an interesting part when it was time for lunch. I grabbed my bag and started walking. I was ignoring the guys and barely paying attention to where I was going. A hand grabbed my jacket and jerked me to the right. I stumbled and actually looked up. Ethan had jerked me away from the pole I was about to walk into.

“Red, put the book down and walk,” Isaac said disapprovingly. “You can read when we get to the table.”

I kept my finger on my page and closed the book. “This book actually has some answers on how to deal with our bitch problem,” I said, making sure to be vague in case someone was within earshot.

“It won’t do any good if you give yourself a concussion,” Miles pointed out as Ethan let go of my jacket.

“Okay, okay.” I waved the book around showing it was closed.

When we walked into the area in front of the cafeteria, I noticed Jessica was sitting on Jason’s lap not too far away. I made a point to sit with my back towards her. Isaac and Ethan were arguing again something about training this week as I started reading again. I didn’t notice the others had arrived until Asher sat down next to me.

I scooted over, my nose still in my book. A hand waved in front of my face. I looked up, blinking.

“What?”

Everyone laughed at me.

“We were talking about going to get lunch in the cafeteria,” Asher informed me.

Oh yeah, no one made a lunch this morning. It had completely slipped my mind.

“We can’t all go. Someone needs to watch our bags,” Miles reminded everyone. I immediately volunteered, pulling my wallet out of my back pocket.

“I’ll watch them.” I pulled out a five and handed it to Asher. “Get me something cheesy and fattening please.”

“You’ll get something healthy and like it,” Zeke growled at me. I stuck my tongue out at him as they got to their feet and went back to my book.

“How much do you want to bet our bags are gone when we get back? And she has no clue?” Ethan asked as they were walking away.

“I can hear you,” I commented. The boys laughed as they walked away. I started reading again but made sure to look up and check the bags every once in a while. I don’t know how much time passed I had just found the answer to our ghost problem when the boys got back. Asher handed me a plastic container of salad and grilled chicken.

I glared at Zeke, he smirked back. I thanked Asher.

“I think I found a way to get rid of Bitch Ghost,” I announced.

Five pairs of eyes looked up at me.

“Well two actually, but one is kind of illegal.”

“So?” Zeke asked bluntly.

I leaned in towards them. “So, it’s salting and burning the body of the ghost,” I whispered. “I’d rather not get arrested for that. Especially considering my uncle.”

“He’d cover for you,” Asher reassured me.

“Let’s call that plan b for now,” Miles suggested. I agreed with him completely. “What’s the second way?”

I sighed.

“It talks about linking to the Veil and using it to force her out of this plane and into the next. Pretty much forcing her to move on.” I shrugged. “It doesn’t say how to link to the Veil; it’s going to take time to find more.”

Miles held out his hand towards me.

“Can I use your phone, since mine is still in the pool?” he asked me, playing the guilt card.

Joke’s on him; I didn’t feel guilty at all. Though I did give him my phone.

“What’s the Veil?” Ethan chimed in.

“It’s the place between this world and the next, at least that’s what I’m reading. Souls are supposed to go there to pass on,” I explained, looking through the pages to check that I got it right.

“I still like the first way better, it’s fast, efficient,” Zeke commented before taking another bite of food.

“We’d possibly get caught,” I pointed out.

“The bitch tried to strangle Miles. Normally, I’m the last to suggest doing something risky,” he argued. “But this I’m okay with.” His voice was becoming hard.

“Well, I’m not,” I said.

Isaac leaned over to Ethan.

“I’ve got ten on Red.” he staged whispered to his brother.

Ethan snickered.

We ignored them.

“Why?” Zeke all but barked.

“Because it doesn’t say where she’d go,” I shot back at him.

He blinked at me, not understanding.

“One way,” I started to explain, “says it will force her to move on, the other doesn’t say what would happen to her.” I took a deep breath. “She was 16 when her boyfriend killed her. Yeah, she stayed and didn’t want to be dead. I can’t blame her for that. Maybe in time she can come to deal with that on her own.” I met Zeke’s eyes from across the table. “But I can’t do something when I don’t know where I’d be sending her. Not if she can’t touch us anymore.”

I took a deep breath before adding. “If she becomes a bigger threat then, yeah, we’ll go the other route.”

Zeke’s eyes softened a bit, and he opened his mouth to speak.

Miles cleared his throat, grabbing everyone's attention.

“As the one who got strangled,” Miles began, adjusting his glasses. “I agree with Lexie, she’s not really a big threat right now as long as the charms continue to work.” He turned to me. “However, knowing where she’s buried would allow us to move fast if she does become that threat.” He held up the phone. “In the meantime, I’ve found something on linking to the Veil.”

He handed the phone over to me. I started reading.

Apparently linking to the Veil required a lot of meditation and exercises. It took time to develop the ability. Shit. I read the instructions over and over, committing them to memory.

“To do it my way, it’s going to take time,” I informed them. “It requires a lot of practice. I don’t know when we’ll be able to move her on.”

I dropped the phone and started rubbing my temples. “Are you guys willing to wait to deal with her?” I asked, my eyes closed.

“I am,” Isaac assured me.

I opened my eyes to see him wink at me. I gave him a grateful smile.

“Me too,” Asher announced.

“I like staying at Miles' house, he’s got a hot tub. I say wait,” Ethan said.

Zeke sighed.

“Majority rules,” Zeke said, his voice neutral.

The conversation quickly moved to a lighter subject. After a few minutes I met Zeke’s eyes, he gave me a wink. He wasn’t mad at me. My heart felt lighter.

Ethan’s phone vibrated on the table, and he picked it up. He was in the middle of a sentence talking about a girl when he stopped. He looked up at me and smiled that mischievous grin of his.

“Lexie, when were you going to tell us about punching Derrick Geeter in the stomach this morning?” Ethan asked sweetly. Asher and Zeke grinned but kept their mouths shut. Isaac and Miles were looking at me, their questions on their faces.

“Who?” I asked innocently.

“The guy you hit this morning in the hall,” Asher reminded me helpfully, his eyes still full of laughter.

“Oh, I never got his name,” I admitted, finding that a bit funny myself.

I looked over to Ethan. “If you tell me that it's on Youtube I might have a fit,” I told him honestly.

“No, one of the girls I know texted me,” Ethan reassured me. “She knows we’re friends and is asking why you slugged him.”

“Oh, he smacked my ass.”

Isaac and Ethan chuckled; Miles gave me a small smile.

“I have a rule. If I don’t know you, hands off,” I said. The boys grinned at me as if they found it cute or something.

Ethan sent my answer to the girl who asked.

Miles eyes narrowed on me. “You didn’t slug Isaac or Ethan on your first day here,” he pointed out.

I smiled at that. “They weren’t slapping my ass or being jerks.” I shrugged. It might be a weird rule, but it was mine. It could be weird. Miles expression told me it made complete sense to him. Our conversation went back to normal.

Soon the bell rang, and I hurried to Gym.

I had just pulled my gym shirt on when Jessica stepped over next to my locker. Oh, great. I’m pantless, and she wants a chat. I pulled my gym shorts out of my locker.

“Can I help you? Or are you just checking me out?” I asked, getting irritated with her watching me. I pulled on my mesh gym shorts and waited.

“You’ve been hanging out with my brother a lot,” Jessica announced to me like this was news. I waited for her to continue. When she kept glaring at me, I realized she was waiting for me to say something.

“And?” I asked before sitting down on the bench and pulling on my sneakers.

“I don’t want him hanging out with a skank,” she said, practically hissing.

I shook my head and started tying one of my shoes. I ignored her. There was nothing to gain in the conversation, so I didn’t even try. She had made up her mind about me. I admit it. I was probably just as big a bitch as I thought she was from her point of view. But I wasn’t going to waste my time with this bullshit. I had enough to deal with right now. So, I ignored her.

I was tying my other shoe when I realized some of the other girls were watching us and trying to be stealthy about it. I finished tying my shoe and stood up. I turned around and shut my locker, making sure it latched.

I was pulling my hair up into a messy bun when I met Jessica’s eyes. I smiled sweetly.

“Fuck off,” I said simply before I turned and walked away.

She wasn’t done yet.

“You’ll regret this,” she shot back.

I stopped and turned around.

“Why am I going to regret this?” I asked, my temper starting to spark. “You’re going to destroy my reputation? Spread lies about me?” I asked sarcastically. “I don’t really care what people think about me. I know what I am and I know what I’m not.” I shrugged casually. “Knock yourself out.” I turned to walk out of the now silent locker room.

“I’m going to make you care!” Jessica shouted after me.

I waved my hand goodbye without turning around.

“Doubt it,” I shot back over my shoulder. I was out the door before she could say anything more.

The rest of gym was normal; we played basketball and sat around. Jessica didn’t approach me again in the locker room. I met Asher on our way to art class as usual.

“You're sure those charms will work, Ally?” Asher asked, his voice uncertain.

“Yep, I couldn’t even feel her emotions last night. Not even when I stepped out of the circle.” I smiled up at him, trying to be reassuring.

His face relaxed a bit.

“Well, let’s not stress test it today,” Asher suggested. “No stopping on the path.”

“Oh, I’m with you on that.” I nodded emphatically.

He finally smiled, his face relaxing a bit. We were getting close to the path when my cell vibrated. I pulled it out and checked it. It was Isaac calling.

“Hey, Cookie Monster.”

My phone vibrated telling me there was another call coming in. I ignored it.

"Actually, it's me," said Miles' voice, surprising me. "Isaac let me borrow his phone, since his last classes are with Ethan."

"That was sweet of him."

“Have you walked past her yet?” Miles asked, sounding oddly like Zeke at the moment.

I smiled to myself as Asher’s cell phone rang.

“Not yet, we were just getting close.”

I watched Asher answer his phone then immediately pulled his phone from his ear wincing. I had a hunch that was Zeke on his phone.

“Are you sure this is going to work?” Miles asked, his voice tense.

I smiled to myself; they were really worried about this.

“I told you guys last night, the charms work. I couldn’t feel anything from her at all.” I repeated what I had just told Asher. Asher was telling someone to stop yelling.

“You’re positive? No doubt in your mind?”

His doubt made me start to think about it. The charms were to keep her from touching me. If she couldn’t touch me, she couldn’t hurt me.

“Yeah, like ninety-nine-point nine percent sure,” I admitted.

“So, you’re not a hundred percent sure,” he said, his voice getting worried.

I rolled my eyes.

“No one can ever be one hundred percent positive that something isn't going to happen,” I told him, wishing he’d just trust me on this.

Asher frowned as he took his phone from his ear held it out to me.

“Zeke wants to talk to you,” he said, then gestured that we trade phones. I nodded.

“Miles, honey, I’m going to give you to Asher, Zeke’s apparently demanding my attention,” I told him before handing the phone over to Asher and taking his. Asher's phone vibrated; someone else was trying to call.

“Greetings, tall and oh so grumpy one,” I said to Zeke in the phone, thinking myself funny.

“Why didn’t you answer your phone?” Zeke growled into my ear.

I rolled my eyes. “Miles got to me first,” I said, snapping back at him.

“Have you walked past her yet?”

Now, I know Asher had told him we hadn’t.

“People keep calling and making it harder for us to walk,” I pointed out, obviously talking about him.

“Well get walking, I want to listen to what’s going on,” Zeke demanded.

I thought about what the repercussions would be if I just hung up on him. Knowing Zeke, he’d run across campus to get over here, and it would be over before he got here. But, I did almost die this week, so he wasn’t being completely crazy. I sighed as I realized I was going to give in.

“Fine, oh so grumpy and demanding one.” I couldn’t help mocking him. I mean, really, I tested this last night, we were fine.

I looked up at Asher. “We’ve been told to walk.”

Asher nodded as we headed out to the path.

I turned my attention back to the phone in my hand

“So, how’s your day going, Zeke” I asked in a cutesy voice.

He huffed back at me.

I spotted Bitch Ghost; she was waiting in the middle of the path.

“Because mine’s going okay.” I continued talking to distract him from worrying. And maybe myself a little too.

We started down the path, walking at our normal speed. I kept talking.

“A cute guy talked to me this morning, he asked me about Ethan’s band,” I began, going over my day. We were almost to Bitch Ghost, and I still felt nothing. It was going to be fine. “Then someone slapped my ass.”

She tried to reach out and touch me, but her fingers stopped inches away from me. Her energy was like a blanket in front of me. I felt it only because she was using a lot. The beads on my wrist grew warmer.

“I hit him, but you saw that anyway,” I continued in my cutesy voice as we past Bitch Ghost and kept going.

“Yeah, I saw that,” Zeke said into the phone. Something about his voice made me think he had that half grin on his face again. At least I was amusing him.

We were almost to class when I decided to have some fun with Zeke.

“Then I hung out with…” I trailed off on purpose and continued in a deadpan voice. “Oh god, the pain. There’s a tunnel, a light.” I changed to my childlike voice. “Auntie Em? Uncle Henry? Toto? What are you doing here?”

Asher burst out laughing next to me while there was silence on the phone. I couldn’t stop myself. I started laughing too.

“That’s not fucking funny, Lexie!” Zeke shouted at me.

“Oh, it is from my end.” I was still laughing as he cursed at me again. “We’re fine, Zeke, we’re at the classroom.”

Asher’s face was red as he doubled over, still laughing. Running footsteps were running up from behind us. We turned. Ethan and Isaac skidded to a stop in front of us.

“And the others just showed up, freaked out because you made me stay on the phone. Baaad Zeke.”

The twins looked at me like I was nuts. Asher started laughing harder. Part of it might have been from relief that nothing happened, but I’d like to think it was my smart mouth that had him busting a gut.

“Lexie,” Zeke growled into the phone.

“Zeke,” I exaggerated a growl back at him. I think I heard him laughing; he was trying to keep it quiet.

“We’re fine, don’t worry so much. I’ll see you in an hour,” I told him before hanging up.

Asher was standing, now wiping tears from his face. Isaac had an eyebrow raised as he looked at me, tilted his head in Asher’s direction.

“Is he possessed?” Isaac asked seriously.

“No, I was giving Zeke a hard time.”

Asher finally pulled himself together enough to put his hand on Isaac's shoulder. “It was awesome.”

I met the twins back at my Blazer after school and headed back to Miles’ house. They demanded that I tell them what I said to Zeke that had Asher laughing so much. When I finished, I was pulling up to the gate. The twins were laughing their asses off; it took them two tries to give me the combo for the gate. By the time I reached the circular driveway, the boys had control of themselves.

“Oh, he’s going to be pissed,” Isaac predicted as I shut off the truck.

“Nah, he was laughing by the end of the call. Besides, I’m too cute to be pissed at for long,” I told them sliding out of the Blazer. Zeke’s Jeep was coming up the drive. I wondered what happened to the motorcycle from this morning. I reached over my seat and dragged my bag out of the truck.

By the time I was shutting the door, Zeke was walking towards the house.

“Where’s the motorcycle?” I asked, heading toward the front door.

Zeke stopped to wait for me.

“It’s going to start raining here soon, so I had to put her away until spring,” he told me when I reached him. He narrowed his eyes at me. “That wasn’t funny by the way.” His voice lacked his usual conviction, so I smiled up at him.

“Ooooh yeah, it was,” I said over my shoulder as I started walking through the open front door. I looked back to see him shaking his head and smiling. My heart lightened. I knew it! He thought it was funny in the end. I win! I felt like shouting wahoo or something, but I kept a lid on it.

My boots crunched over the broken glass all over the floor. Oh yeah, we still had this to clean up. I dropped my bag onto the couch and headed into the kitchen. The twins were raiding the fridge, pulling out sandwich fixings.

“We need to get the living room cleaned up guys,” I reminded them as I started looking for a broom and dustpan. The twins groaned.

“Miles said he’d get a maid to come in,” Isaac reminded me.

I found the broom and dustpan. The twins were still making sandwiches and Zeke had joined them. I huffed at them as I pulled out a garbage bag and left the kitchen. I quickly put my hair up in a messy bun at the back of my head. I started with the glass on the floor from the French doors. I made sure to get the area around the salt pile; I didn’t want to miss any pieces that I’d find later on my foot. When that was cleaned up, I picked up broken frames and pulled the photos out. I piled them onto an end table. I pulled all the broken glass from the frames and leaned them against the wall. They were nice frames; I didn’t want to throw them away.

I had cut my fingers a couple times, but I just wiped the blood off on my jeans and kept going. I put the books back on the shelves and swept again. When I had all the glass off the floor I could see, I moved to the French doors. I was on my knees, sitting on my heels, pulling the broken shards of glass from the door frame when the front door opened. I turned to see Miles walking in with a plastic bag and his book bag.

He looked at me his brows drawn together.

“What are you doing?” he asked, closing the door behind him.

I let go of the shard of glass I was trying to pull from the door.

“I’ve got the living room cleaned up, but I want to vacuum the floor before anyone goes in there barefoot,” I said, reaching out and working on that piece of glass again. “I took those photos out of the frames and put them on the end table.” I yanked that piece of glass out of the wood, wincing as I sliced a finger again. “I took the glass out of the frames and leaned them against the wall. The glass can probably be replaced.” I put the shard into the garbage bag and started working on another one. “The books are back in the case, and now, I’m just trying to get the rest of this broken glass.” This piece was being a bitch. “So, you can get the doors fixed before your mom comes back.”

I let go of the shard, leaving a bit of blood on the glass from one of my cuts. I was considering breaking the shard into smaller pieces when Miles interrupted my thinking.

“Why? I told you I’d get the maid to do it,” he said as he put his book bag down.

“Because the maid didn’t make the mess,” I offered as I decided to try yanking on the shard one more time, this time from the side. I kept talking, not really paying attention to what I was saying. “Because your maid probably has her hands full keeping the rest of this house clean, and I didn’t want to make more work for her.” I gave the shard a tug from the right side, and it slid out. Yay! I put that shard in the trash, already looking at the next one.

Miles was quiet while I started tugging on the next shard. My fingers slipped as blood coated the glass.

“Lexie, you're bleeding.”

“Yep.” I wiped the blood off on my pants. I was reaching for the same shard when Miles stopped me by grabbing my wrist. I looked up at him puzzled.

“What?”

He squatted down beside me; his emerald eyes running over me, his mouth pressed into a hard line.

“Didn’t you get the guys to help you?” he asked as he was gently pulling my hand to him and turning it over.

“I told them we needed to, but they wanted to let the maid do it,” I admitted.

His fingers were careful as he looked at the cuts on my fingers.

"Don’t worry about the cuts,” I said. “They’re small; they only need a good cleaning out.” I gave my hand a little tug, wanting to get back to work.

Miles didn’t let go. Instead, he looked at me, his eyes running over my face. That same odd look from last night was back on his face. His eyes were soft as they ran over my face, a small half grin on his lips.

“Go clean out your cuts, Lexie,” he said, turning to the door. “I’ll finish this up.” He let go of my hand and knelt down, pulling the garbage bag out of my reach.

“Are you sure?” I asked uncertainly. I didn’t want to stick him with the rest of the clean-up.

Miles pulled a shard out and tossed it into the bag.

“Yes, I’m sure.” He was already reaching for another shard. “There’s a first aid kit in the downstairs bathroom.” He yanked out the shard and tossed it into the bag. “Be sure to use the blue antibacterial cleanser that’s in the kit before washing with soap.”

“Aye, aye, captain.” I gave a small salute before getting to my feet.

Miles smiled as he reached for another shard.

I headed toward the long hallway. He said he was okay cleaning up; I had to take him at his word. I looked back over my shoulder to see him pulling the glass out of the door frame. Miles really was very sweet.

I smiled to myself as I walked down to the bathroom. I found the first aid kit, opened it and pulled out the blue bottle of cleanser. I made sure I was using the right stuff, then started squirting it over my fingers on my right hand. Oh, holy shit!

“Ow, mother fucker, that fucking hurts,” I cursed as the cleanser did its job, making the cuts on my fingers burn. I poured some more on until I was sure the cuts were clean. “Shit, shit, shit.” I kept cursing over and over.

I heard a vacuum running in the house. I smiled to myself. Miles must have finished with the doors and remembered that I wanted to vacuum to be sure I got the rest of the glass. I focused back on what I was doing. I took a deep breath and squirted the cleanser over the cuts on my left hand. “Shit, shit, shit.” I kept cursing as I forced myself to clean the cuts until I was sure it was done. My hands were shaking as I washed with soap and water. I dried my hands and took a good look at the cuts on my fingers. A few were deeper than I thought. I pulled a couple bandages out of the kit to cover my deeper cuts. Ooh, they were a pretty blue color. I liked them better than the beige ones.

I ended up with three on my right hand and two on my left. I put everything back in the kit and put it away. I made sure to throw the trash away before leaving the bathroom. I was almost to the kitchen when I heard the guys’ voices coming through the doorway.

“Why didn’t you guys help Lexie?” Miles' voice drifted from the kitchen.

Curious, I stopped walking to listen in.

“What are you talking about?” Zeke asked with his gravelly voice.

“Where is she anyway?” Ethan’s smoky voice chimed in.

“With what?” Isaac asked.

“She’s been cleaning up the mess from last night,” Miles announced.

I bit my lip wondering where he was going with this. Was he mad at me for cleaning?

“When I got home she was kneeling in the foyer, pulling out the broken glass from the living room doors. She said it was so I could get them repaired before my mother got back.” There was tense silence from the kitchen. I bit the corner of my lower lip. “Where were you guys?”

A few heartbeats of silence went by.

“I didn’t hear her say anything about cleaning the mess up,” Zeke said honestly. He was right; he hadn’t been in the room when I mentioned it.

“She mentioned that we needed to clean it up when we got here,” Ethan admitted.

“I told her to let the maid handle it,” Isaac explained, sounding uncertain. “She didn’t mention it again.”

“Because she was out there taking care of it,” Miles said, his voice still calm. “While she was pulling glass out of the door frame, she told me she was going to vacuum the living room next to make sure she got all the glass up.”

I smiled to myself, Miles was lecturing the guys. It sounded like he was giving them a guilt trip for not helping me clean up. But it didn’t sound like he was trying to do that. More like he was letting them know what had happened, and the guilt trip wasn’t intentional, it was just a side effect. I liked Miles.

“I’ll go do that,” Isaac offered. Wood scraped across the tile.

“I already did it,” Miles said his voice still calm and neutral. “After I sent her to wash up, I finished the doors and vacuumed the living room.”

“Why’d she have to wash up?” Zeke’s voice sounded like he had already guessed the reason and was just looking for confirmation.

“She cut her hands up cleaning all the glass off the floor,” Miles informed them. The other guys cursed. “So, next time she mentions all of us cleaning something up, you guys might want to check to make sure she’s not just doing it herself.”

The guys agreed, sounding apologetic.

I tiptoed back down the hallway and closed the bathroom door a little harder than I needed to. Not a slam, just a hard close. Then I walked back up the hall and into the kitchen as if I hadn’t heard a thing. Everyone looked at me. I smiled, went to the fridge, and pulled out a cold bottle of water. I came over to the breakfast bar and stood next to Miles across from the guys. I was opening my bottle when Miles broke the silence.

“So, you did have some deep ones,” he said, gesturing at my fingers.

“Not that deep, just bad enough to need a band-aid for a couple days.” I held up my bandaged fingers and wiggled them. “Look. I got blue,” I said, trying to show the guys I wasn’t mad at them.

Miles smiled down at me.

“Sorry, Lexie, I didn’t realize you were cleaning up the living room.” Zeke’s voice was sincere. I shrugged.

“Sorry, Red, next time just smack us if we aren’t listening,” Isaac said, wincing.

“Sorry Beautiful, I just thought you were taking some girl time away from us guys.” Ethan shrugged, his face apologetic.

“It’s okay; you guys can do dishes tonight.” I waited a beat before adding, “And tomorrow.” I waited another beat. “And the day after that.” I leaned over to Miles and stage whispered. “Think I could get any more out of them than that?”

Miles looked like he was actually considering it. Zeke was shaking his head, the corner of his mouth twitching, and the twins looked like they were expecting bad news.

“You’d be pushing your luck,” Miles stage-whispered back. “But if you pout, I think you can get a couple more days.”

Zeke’s face went hard as he got to his feet.

“No, no, no.” Zeke pointed at me as he headed out of the room. “I’m not dealing with that fucking pout again.” He strode from the room fuming. I burst out laughing, the other guys looked confused. Isaac ran to the doorway.

“Is it really that bad?!” Isaac shouted down the hall.

“Find out for yourself!” Zeke shouted back.

Everyone started laughing.

When I managed to get control of myself, I opened my water bottle and looked up at Miles.

“What took you so long to get home?”

Miles smirked at me and pulled a new cell phone out of his pocket.

“Had to pick up a new phone, my other one is still in the pool.” Miles turned it on and swiped at the screen. I pulled out my phone and handed it to him.

“Share contacts, it’ll be faster,” I said.

Miles grinned and took my phone.

I leaned over the breakfast counter to grab a chip out of the bag. I had just popped it into my mouth when Zeke walked back in, his book bag over his shoulder.

“I saw that,” he said from the doorway.

I narrowed my eyes at him, grabbed another chip, and popped it in my mouth while he watched. I chewed then swallowed it.

“You saw that too,” I said, stating the obvious before turning to the others. “Let’s get our homework out of the way.” The twins shared a grin and got up. Miles agreed. Zeke came over and put the chips up high where I couldn’t reach them.

I like a challenge.