I stayed up late into the night, my eyes on the ceiling. I thought about ways that Ghost Bitch could hurt the others. It made my chest tight most of the night. At least until I started coming up with ways to prevent it. The more ideas I had about preventing the boys getting hurt, the better I felt.

I was still awake when the sun came up, but I felt like myself again this morning. I got up and got ready for school. When I pulled on my black bra I winced, my girls were hurting. I hissed, just the bra was going to ache today. The joys of being a girl. I wore dark blue jeans, a black cami, and a faded purple, green and white plaid, which I tucked into my jeans and buttoned up until I was comfortable. The cami was in case a button popped open.

I headed into the kitchen as I pulled my hair back into a ponytail. I was the first one up again, which meant there was a full carafe of coffee. I grabbed a cup of coffee. Not feeling real hungry, I just made some buttered toast. I was actually starting to be a bit optimistic about my chances of protecting the guys as long as they paid attention around them it should be all right.

I had just started on my second cup of coffee when the others started coming downstairs. Miles eyed the carafe and eyed me. I wasn’t really paying attention. I was staring at the corner of the kitchen, still lost in my head, going over the ideas I had last night again and trying to punch holes in them.

“Lexie, are you alright?”

I jerked my eyes away from the corner and brought myself back to the present. Miles was standing across the breakfast bar from me wearing a dark green hoodie, a Mario Brothers shirt, and jeans.

His eyebrows drew together as his eyes ran over me.

“I didn’t get any sleep,” I admitted, taking a drink of coffee. His ears were pink as he looked uncomfortable gesturing towards my shirt.

“I can tell, your shirt buttons are all crooked,” he said politely.

I looked down at my shirt to see he was right. I snorted at myself and jerked at my shirt, popping the metal snap buttons open. Miles spun around fast, almost spilling his coffee.

“Whoa. Okay, um. Lexie...”

I laughed. He thought I just whipped out the girls.

“I’m wearing a cami underneath. Relax, Miles.” I was still laughing as I started buttoning my shirt up properly.

Miles looked at me out of the corner of his eye. When he saw I was telling the truth he turned back around, his face pink. I just shook my head at him smiling. His blushing totally made my morning. He went about getting himself breakfast while ignoring me.

Isaac came into the kitchen and froze, watching me. I had just unbuttoned my jeans to tuck in my shirt.

“Are you getting naked in the kitchen?” His voice didn’t sound like he was that much against it if I was.

I laughed at the look of excitement on his face. “I’m tucking my shirt in,” I informed him, smiling as I started doing just that. “Miles thought I was, too, for a minute.”

Miles' ears turned red as he poured himself cereal.

“Well, I didn’t expect you to just rip your shirt open to fix your buttons,” Miles pointed out.

“What happened?” Asher walked in, an eyebrow already raised.

I started laughing as Miles turned a little redder.

“Miles thought I was stripping,” I told him, teasing Miles.

Miles put the cereal box down a little harder than necessary his eyes narrowing at me.

“I told the girl that her buttons were crooked on her shirt. She just reaches up and rips her shirt open without a word,” Miles said, defending himself. “How was I supposed to know she’s wearing something underneath?” Miles' voice was asking me to drop it.

My smile faded. He was really uncomfortable with this topic. The guys burst out laughing, making his face turn redder. His eyes were on his cereal, focusing more than anyone ever needed to. He was really embarrassed. Shit. I felt awful. I had only meant to tease him; I had to fix this.

“Being the gentlemen that he is, he turned his back as fast as possible,” I admitted. I buttoned my pants and started pulling the shirt out a little until it was comfortable. I walked around the counter with my empty mug. I stopped next to Miles, leaned into him, and nudged his shoulder gently with mine. “Thank you for being such a gentleman, Miles. Most guys would have just watched with their mouths hanging open.” I shot a look specifically at Isaac before looking back at Miles profile.

“Just warn me next time,” Miles mumbled before drinking out of his mug.

“Promise,” I whispered back.

He nodded letting me know that he heard me. I smiled to myself as I went over to refill my mug.

“I wasn’t even in here, and I get the stink eye,” Isaac said as he went to get breakfast.

I just chuckled at him as I was putting the carafe back.

“Why did Isaac get the stink eye?” Zeke asked as he strode into the kitchen.

I could practically hear Miles turning redder.

“For being a guy. It’s that kind of morning,” I answered before anyone could embarrass Miles further. I put cream and sugar in my coffee and headed back to sit on the counter by the sink since all the bar stools were taken now.

Zeke poured himself some coffee.

Miles looked at the mug in my hands. “How much coffee have you had this morning?” he asked me, his face now back to his normal color.

“This is my third cup, and I’m finally waking up,” I admitted. “I didn’t sleep last night. Zeke’s accident got me thinking about some things.”

The room was filled with tense silence as Ethan walked in, wearing his usual black clothes and silver jewelry. He looked at everyone’s serious expressions and stopped cold.

“We only just got up,” he said with a moan. “Did something happen already?”

I chuckled at the almost whine in his voice. Poor Ethan.

“No, I think I just made all the guys nervous at the same time,” I observed, looking over each of the guys’ faces as I took a drink of coffee. “Unclench your butt cheeks, boys; I’m not heading out to the cemetery.”

Ethan and Isaac snickered as everyone relaxed. Everyone went about eating and getting breakfast as I started talking again.

“I was thinking of ways that Bitch Ghost could hurt you guys with what’s around you.” I gestured towards Zeke. “Like with the hood on Zeke’s hand. How are you feeling anyway?”

Zeke shrugged his mouth full when he swallowed he answered. “I’ll live.” That’s all he said.

A small knot formed in my stomach again, it made me glad I only had toast for breakfast. Okay, Zeke wasn’t going to tell me how he is feeling.

“What stuff do you think she could do to hurt us?” Ethan asked before pouring his coffee.

“If she can slam a car hood down like that, then she could probably mess with your brake lines, knock stuff over on to you. Anything that doesn’t actually involve touching you.” The room went quiet. Yeah, that’s how I felt all night. Luckily, I had already come up with an answer to at least one issue. “If we throw salt over and in the cars. Then at the engine-”

“Wait, you didn’t say in the engine, did you?” Zeke interrupted, his brow drawing down.

“No, at the engine,” I assured him. “Then she couldn’t touch the car or anything attached to it.” I shrugged and continued. “And we only have to check the brake lines this morning before leaving, and we won’t have to worry about it again. Just throw some salt around every day until we deal with her.”

Some of the guys were nodding. Zeke got to his feet, picking up his bowl and coffee mug.

“Let’s take one car today…we don’t have the time for me to check everything for more than one right now,” Zeke suggested as he put his bowl and mug in the sink. He turned and leaned against it while looking at the guys.

“Okay, whose car seats six without too much squishing?” Isaac asked.

Zeke raised his hand.

“Mine, we can pull it off if someone short rides in the middle, in front.” He looked pointedly at me.

“Do I have to ride bitch?” I asked, really wanting a seat and my own seat belt.

Zeke gave me a half grin. “No, the console lifts up, and there’s a seat.” He explained, pushing away from the sink.

“No problem.” I said.

“I’ll get on it.” Zeke nodded once before he headed out of the kitchen.

It wasn’t until Zeke was outside that I remembered Asher had football practice after school.

“Uh, you have practice, don’t you?” I asked uncertainly.

Asher nodded but finished chewing and swallowing his food before answering.

“Zeke can bring you guys back, and he’ll just have to come get me later.” Asher shrugged. Isaac snickered.

“Zeke the taxi service,” Isaac announced.

Everyone chuckled.

It wasn’t long before Zeke came back into the kitchen. He came over to the sink and washed the grease off his right hand.

“Brake lines are fine, so are the fuel lines.” He reached over and tore off a paper towel to dry his hands. He looked over at me. “Go do your thing, Lexie.”

I smirked at him and hopped down off the counter. I went to the pantry and grabbed a salt tub. As I was heading out, I passed my book bag and remembered the rosemary oil.

“Hey, Zeke. Do you care if your Jeep smells like rosemary?” I called towards the kitchen.

“No, go ahead,” Zeke answered from the kitchen.

I pulled the oil out of my bag and tucked it into my pocket. I went outside and shivered. Shit, it was cold. I went over to Zeke’s Jeep and opened the driver's side door. I opened the tub and poured salt into my hand, then I flicked the salt around the front seat. I even tucked some into the pockets on the door. I went to the back seat and did the same thing. I did the same for the passenger side, both front and back. I walked around to the front of the truck. Zeke had left the hood up for me. I took another handful of salt and threw it around the engine.

When I was done with the salt, I closed the lid and tossed it into the back seat. Might as well keep some with us, just in case. I pulled the oil out and used it on myself first. Then I climbed into the front seat and sat on my knees. I ran the oil along the interior. All along the jeep, near the ceiling. The smell was so strong when I was done that I rolled the windows down to air it out a bit. I hopped out and headed back inside to the kitchen.

“We should be good.” I looked to Zeke and gave him a tense smile. “Your Jeep really smells like rosemary, though.” I picked up my coffee mug and leaned against the counter. “I rolled the windows down to help clear it out a bit.”

“I’m not worried about it, Lexie.” He shrugged.

Isaac eyed me from his spot at the counter.

“I went to bed last night, and when I got up, there was salt all over my bedroom floor,” Isaac announced eyeing me across the counter.

“Mine too.” Zeke’s voice was its usual grumpy self.

“Same here.” Asher’s eyes narrowed on me.

“Lexie? Did you salt everyone’s room last night?” Miles asked politely.

“Maybe.” I hedged in my sweet girly voice.

Zeke’s jaw clenched.

“You came in my room when I was asleep? Lexie, I could have-” Zeke began gathering steam.

“That was me,” Ethan interrupted, cutting him off before Zeke could get going. Zeke looked so relieved that I had to poke at him.

“Yeah, you probably sleep naked, and I don’t need to see your bare ass,” I shot back at him, everyone laughed. Even Zeke chuckled.

“Why’d you salt our rooms? Did something happen?” Miles asked before taking a bite of cereal.

My eyes met Ethan’s for a second before looking at the counter.

“I figured if Bitch Ghost can’t get into the room, she can’t throw stuff at you guys. Or knock stuff over on you,” I said, my mind going back to the drawings from last night.

Miles eyes narrowed on me while he chewed.

“Did you salt your room last night?” Miles asked, being entirely too observant.

“I made sure of it,” Ethan answered for me.

The conversation went back to normal around me, but I wasn’t really paying attention. I still had that image in my head, the five headstones. Their headstones. I really needed to link to the Veil and fast.

Soon enough it was time to go. We got our jackets and backpacks. When we got to the door I stopped everyone.

“Charm check!” I announced, feeling my own body to make sure I had everything I needed.

When everyone said they were good, we headed out the door to the Jeep. Everyone put their bags in the back cargo area then began to climb in. Ethan, Asher, and Miles climbed into the back. I climbed in through the driver side, flipped up the console, and sat in the seat there. Isaac hopped in on my right and Zeke on my left. I had to scoot a little more to the right due to Zeke’s shoulder size. He ended up having to keep his shoulder in front of mine for us to be comfortable; though his shoulder reached the middle of my chest.

Zeke started the Jeep. I was just thinking about my World Civ. essay that was due tomorrow when Zeke went to shift into drive. He cursed.

“I need to fix this transmission, it’s still sticking,” he said, grumbling. He jiggled the shifter on the steering column a bit before he used his strength to shift it down into drive. His elbow shot back, hitting my breast hard.

“Fuck!” I cursed, then clenched my teeth, sucking in air. Pain shot through my left breast as I crumbled to the right against Isaac's shoulder. My whole breast throbbed as my right hand cupped the poor girl, and my other hand crossed over my chest just to make sure nothing hit it again.

“Shit!” Zeke cursed, yanking his elbow up and away from me. “Oh fuck, fuck. Lexie, I’m so sorry!”

I just whimpered as I tried to relearn to breathe through the pain. Right on the nipple too. And since my luck was legendary, I was a week away from the end of my cycle. My breasts were hurting already.

“Shit Zeke!” Isaac cursed at him; he lifted his arm to wrap around my shoulders, giving me more room to move over. My eyes started watering.

“Lexie, are you okay?” Zeke asked, his gravelly voice had a strange note to it.

If I weren’t in so much pain, I would try to figure it out. As it was, I was trying not to whimper anymore; it sounded pathetic.

“I heard that from back here, what happened?” Ethan asked.

“Zeke just elbowed her in the chest,” Isaac called over his shoulder.

“Right on the fucking nipple too,” I groaned, pulling away from Isaac. I folded myself in half, my chin over my knees, just waiting for the pain to stop. A big hand went to my back, rubbing up and down my spine gently.

“I’m so fucking sorry, Lexie.” Zeke apologized again. “I didn’t mean to do that, I swear.”

“We are so fucking even for the car hood,” I groaned out as I was getting my breath back.

The guys in back laughed.

“Yeah, it’s real fucking funny assholes!” Zeke snapped at them.

I used my left hand to wipe the tears from my face since I was still folded in half. I didn’t want to sit up just yet.

“Shit! Asher, you have any tissues?” Zeke snapped over his shoulder.

The laughing stopped, there was movement in the back.

“Is she really crying?” Ethan asked.

Zeke handed tissues to me, and I used them on my face.

“No, I’m fucking asking for me!” Zeke barked at the guys in the back.

Zeke was getting more and more upset. He needed to calm down, and that wasn’t going to happen with me bent over like this. My breast was still throbbing, but it wasn’t taking my breath away anymore. I didn’t want to sit up. If I sat up, my boob was going to shift, and it was going to hurt. But Zeke was still rubbing my back, and I could tell he was getting pissed. Not at anyone else, just at himself.

I sat up, still cupping my breast; I really didn’t want it to get hit again. I could already tell it was going to be hurting all day. I took a couple deep breaths and wiped my eyes again. I crossed my other arm over my chest, my hand on my shoulder. I wasn’t guarding my breast; I was positive Zeke would never do that again. It was just instinctive.

“Just start driving, or we’ll be late,” I told him, pointing toward the driveway, my voice strained.

“I’m so sorry, Lexie. I swear I didn’t mean to get you like that.” Zeke’s normally deep voice was even deeper than usual.

I looked up at him. His face was hard as he watched me, his eyes burning with anger at himself.

“It’s okay.” I offered. My breast was finally just throbbing down to an annoying level. Zeke clearly didn’t believe me. “If it was any other time in my cycle it wouldn’t have been so bad.”

He stared at me not understanding. Oh yeah--he was a guy. I was going to have to spell it out for him. “My boobs were hurting already from hormones. You just happened to get me when they’re super sensitive.”

“I’m so fucking sorry, Lexie,” he began earnestly again, reaching for the wheel.

“I know. I’ll be fine,” I reassured him. “I’ll be extra sore the rest of the day, but I’ll live.”

Zeke started down the driveway.

“Though if someone else hits my girl, you beat them up. I’ll be in the fetal position,” I said.

Zeke's mouth twitched. “Just tell me who,” he agreed with enthusiasm.

“Um, my girl?” Isaac asked, his eyebrow raised.

“Oh, like you don’t have names you call your body parts,” I shot at him, letting go of my breast now that she wasn’t hurting so much. The guys burst out laughing. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes, hating being a girl at the moment.

“You really okay, Ally girl?” Asher asked, his fingers brushing hair from my face. I nodded. We were pulling into a parking space when something occurred to me and my twisted sense of humor.

“You know, Zeke just got to second base, and I didn’t even get dinner first. I’m feeling gypped,” I announced to the guys. Everyone burst out laughing, I lifted my head to see Zeke shaking his head and smirking again. Ha Ha, cheered him up. I smiled to myself.

He shut off the Jeep and got out. Instead of sliding out, I got on my knees and moved the rear-view mirror so I could check my eyeliner. My eyeliner was a little smudged. I licked a corner of my tissue and used it to fix my makeup. When I was done, I scooted over to the driver side door. I slid to the cement to find Zeke still holding open the door. He crooked a finger at me to come closer. I took a few steps closer until I was looking up at him.

“Are you sure you're alright?” he asked, his voice quieter than usual. His broad fingers reached out and tucked a hair behind my ear. I smirked up at him and nodded.

“Zeke, I’m okay.”

His frown still there.

“Like I said before, the only reason it hurt so much was unlucky timing,” I told him.

He sighed, finally accepting what I was telling him. He nodded, letting me know he believed me this time. I went to the back of the truck to get my book bag followed closely by Zeke. We had just closed the back when the bell rang. We scattered, everyone running to their own class.

World Civ was boring as usual. I was heading to English when my cell phone vibrated. I pulled it out and checked my messages as I headed down the hall.

Ethan: A girl just told me you had it out with Jessica yesterday in the locker room, why didn’t I hear about this?

I sighed, Ethan knew too many girls to keep anything a secret.

Alexis: She got all pissy because I was hanging out with Asher. She told me to stop, I told her to fuck off. That’s about it.

Ethan: LOL, I love the way you handle that girl.

I smiled to myself and sent him a winking emoticon. I put my phone away as I headed into English class. I was pulling out my book when Eric sat next to me again.

“Hey, Alexis, how’s it going?” His voice seemed distracted this morning.

“Looking forward to Friday as usual. How about you?” I asked, watching him pull his book out of his bag.

“The same.” He seemed to come to a decision. He leaned into the aisle towards me, his face weirdly serious. “You’re not friends with Zeke Blackthorn, are you?”

Okay, that’s weird. Not the question, but the way he said it. As if he couldn’t believe I could be friends with him. It irked me a bit.

“Yeah, he’s one of my friends,” I admitted. I ran my eyes over him wondering where he was going with this. “Why do you ask?”

He was staring at me with his eyes unfocused.

“I wanted to ask you about some rumors I heard, but I don’t know how,” he admitted, his eyes focusing on me again.

I sighed; rumors, great.

“Just ask.” I shrugged as if it was no big deal to me.

A small smile crossed his face, showing off that dimple. “Okay.” He waited a beat and continued, “Are you dating him?”

I rolled my eyes, I couldn’t stop myself.

“No, we’re just friends,” I told him simply.

“A friend that moves your hair out of your face?” he asked, his eyebrows up.

I burst out laughing. His eyebrows dropped as his eyes ran over me.

“Have you seen my hair? It’s everywhere all the time,” I pointed out, trying to not laugh at him again. “I need all the help I can get to keep it off my face.”

He grinned at that.

“Were you the girl he beat up that guy over?” he asked as his knee started to bounce.

Why does everyone keep thinking Zeke was a bad guy? If someone had one conversation…. no, two…. Okay, I can see how they might think he’s an asshole. But I was going to put this rumor down now.

“That guy shoved me into the bar, and I hit the floor. And he did it because I didn’t want to fool around with him.” I told him making eye contact. “Zeke doesn’t like guys hitting girls. Even if that hadn’t been me, but some other girl he didn’t even know. Zeke still would have beaten the shit out of him.” He could believe me or not. If he liked to listen to rumors and not think for himself, that was on him.

He was looking at the wall, clearly thinking it through.

“I get that,” Eric admitted; his gaze was on my face again. “Are all your friends guys?” he asked wearily.

I fought the urge to clench my teeth. I was starting to get tired of his questions.

“Yep, all guys.” I kept my voice light and friendly. I don’t know how I managed it, but I did.

“Why?”

I frowned at him, starting to get irritated.

“Why not? They make me laugh, they teach me stuff, they’re fun, and they have my back,” I explained, my voice showing my irritation. “I’ve never had a lot of girls as friends. I’ve seen a lot of backstabbing and drama. Guys will just tell you if they are pissed at you, you talk about it or duke it out on a video game and it’s over. No grudges, no drama. It’s done.” I smiled as I thought about how easy it was with the guys.

“I can understand that,” he admitted.

I looked over to see him smirking down at his book. I don’t understand some boys.

Mrs. Hayes called for our attention. English dragged on as usual. I hate this play. It felt like forever before I was pulling my jacket back on and picking up my bag. Eric flashed that dimple at me as he said goodbye before he headed off. I headed down the hall thinking about the way Eric seemed to get weirded out by my guy friends. It didn’t seem weird to me, it just seemed normal. I decided not to bother thinking about it.

I spotted Asher and Zeke in the hallway, Asher was chatting up a blonde. He was smiling down at her as he was listening. Aw, she was cute. Zeke spotted me and left Asher to the blonde. He met in the middle of the hall.

“Shit, I thought my head was going to explode.” Zeke cursed, his fingers pinching the bridge between his eyes.

“What? She looks sweet,” I said, taking a peek around Zeke to take another look. She was wearing designer jeans and a pink sweater. Her jacket also looked expensive.

“She’s very sweet and polite. Very girl next door.” Zeke sighed. “Very much what Asher goes for, but that doesn’t mean I have to stand there and listen to her.”

I chuckled at him.

“You could have left earlier,” I pointed out.

Zeke shrugged. “I didn’t realize it was going to be a long conversation,” he admitted.

My twisted sense of humor came out to play.

“Aw, poor tortured Zeke,” I cooed at him.

His eyes narrowed at me.

“Stop it,” he warned.

I smiled wickedly. “Are you scared of the small, sweet girl?” I continued in that ‘I’m talking to a little kid’ voice. “Did she say hi to you? Did she try to hug you?” He glared down at me, but I saw the corners of his mouth twitch. “You want to hide behind me? I’ll protect you from the nice girl.”

That did it. He started chuckling.

I smiled up at him feeling lighter, I really liked that I could make him laugh.

“I’ll see you later, Lexie.”

“See ya.”

We went our separate ways; I waved to Asher when he spotted me. He waved back before he continued his conversation with the cute girl. Though she did send me a strange look when Asher’s back was turned. Dating was going to be complicated.

The rest of my day went on as usual. By the time I was walking to art class with Asher, I was exhausted. It was getting hard to just keep my eyes open. I really needed coffee. When my cell phone vibrated, I pulled the phone out of my jacket and answered it.

“Hello.”

“Have you walked down the path yet?” Zeke’s voice was demanding and right now, it irked me.

“Zeke, everything is fine, stop worrying,” I assured him, hoping he’d back off. I was tired and that always made me irritable. That wasn’t his fault.

“Start walking. I want to make sure those charms are still working,” Zeke ordered.

I sighed; my shoulders getting tense. This is getting ridiculous.

“They are working, they are fine. Will you please stop worrying?” I snapped at him as we stepped onto the path. Bitch Ghost was standing in the middle of the path again with that creepy smile on her face. “You can’t do this every day, Zeke.”

“Wanna bet?” he countered.

I growled; I was tired. I wanted a nap and Zeke was being an overprotective shit. So, I did what I wanted to do yesterday. I hung up the phone and kept walking.

“Did you just hang up on Zeke?” Asher asked. I nodded. He winced. “He’s not going to take that well.”

“I’m sure we’ll see him any minute now,” I said grumpily as we got closer to Ghost Bitch. Asher chuckled. The bracelets on my left wrist started to heat up.

“Oh, we will,” Asher assured me. “I wouldn’t want to be you when that happens, though. He’s going to be mad.”

I wasn’t really listening; the heat on my wrist was starting to burn. I gritted my teeth and walked faster down the path.

“Asher, I didn’t sleep last night, I’m tired, and when I’m tired, I get cranky,” I explained to him as my beads got hotter. “So, if he comes looking for a fight he’ll get one.”

We passed Bitch Ghost, the pain increasing, I knew my skin was getting burnt, but I couldn’t say anything. If I said something, everyone would get worried, and I really didn’t want to deal with it right now. I was tired. I was real close to just saying fuck it and sleeping in Zeke’s Jeep until school was over. So, I kept my mouth shut as my beads burned into my skin. I walked faster, the farther from Bitch Ghost, the less my wrist burned. We were almost to class, and the beads were still warm on my arm when I heard Zeke

“Lexie!”

I groaned and turned around. Zeke was striding through the avenue of trailer classrooms, and judging by his face, he was severely pissed off. I really didn’t want to deal with this.

“What?” I asked as he strode up to me and stopped. He towered over me.

“Why the fuck did you hang up?” he snapped, his eyes running over my face looking for something.

“Because you were being ridiculous,” I snapped back.

His brow drew down; his mouth becoming a hard line.

“Walking on that path every day and demanding that you listen is ridiculous, Zeke.”

Zeke looked around us; he noted the other people around and stepped closer. He leaned down so only I could hear him.

“You almost died in front of us two days ago,” he whispered in my ear, his voice hard. “You kept a secret that almost got you killed.” I swallowed as I heard the anger in his voice as he continued, “That is ridiculous.”

I jerked my head back ready to defend myself, but I didn’t get the chance. His hands went around my arms holding me in place, his grip firm but gentle. Not hurting me, just holding.

He moved his head so that he was whispering in my ear again. “Talking to me on the phone for three fucking minutes so I know you're okay. That isn’t much to fucking ask considering the situation we’re in.” He pulled back from my ear and looked at me. His furious gaze meeting mine.

That’s when I saw it. It was small, nothing more than a brief flicker. But it was there. Fear. I had scared him by hanging up the phone, by not letting him hear that I was fine. This whole situation scared him, and he was trying to handle it the only way he could. By worrying and trying to keep me safe, the best way he knew how. That feeling of being cared for washed over me. Was I ever going to get used to feeling this? Would I have hung up the phone on him if I had known this was how he was feeling? Shit. I knew the answer. I would have talked to him as much as he needed if I had known. I was wrong, but I wasn’t the only one in the wrong here. I crooked my finger at him. He bent down so I could whisper in his ear.

“If you need me to help you deal with something, tell me,” I whispered my voice firm. “If you need to hear me while I walk past Bitch Ghost so you don’t freak out, fine. But you need to tell me why, otherwise you come off like an overprotective asshole.” I leaned back and met his eyes as he straightened to his full height. “You hear me?” I used his words to make him understand I was serious.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“I hear you.” His gravelly voice filled my ears. He gave my arms a small squeeze before letting me go. “I’ll see you after class. Asher, I’ll pick you up after practice.”

Zeke headed back in the direction he came from. I turned to see Asher looking from me to Zeke’s retreating back. His eyebrows went up.

“I expected a much bigger fight than that,” he admitted.

“It was apparently a miscommunication.” I hedged; Asher didn’t need to know that Zeke had freaked out. Asher shrugged, and we headed into class.

During our drawing time, I went to the sink and pulled the beads off my arm. All along my arm, in the shape of my beads, were red burns but luckily no blistering. I turned the water on and ran it over my skin--it felt really good. How good it felt told me it would be a couple days before the burns disappeared. Where the hell is Bitch Ghost getting her energy? How long did I have until she shatters my beads with heat? I didn’t have any answers. I needed to get that link to the veil working soon. I didn’t know how much time I had left. I put my bracelets back on and went back to the table. I said nothing about it to Asher.

After class, I met everyone at Zeke’s Jeep. The boys gave me the front seat. We were headed back to Miles' house when I decided to just close my eyes for a bit.