Trying To Live With The Dead (The Veil Diaries Series Book 1)

by B. L. Brunnemer

  “We’re family, it’s what we do.” Miles told me absently. They really didn’t know just how incredible that was to me. I ate my soup, covered in my blanket, surrounded by people that actually seemed to care about me. It wasn’t long before I fell asleep again.

  Chapter 6

  I woke up the next morning still on the couch. I groggily looked around till I found my cell phone on the coffee table. I shut off the alarm as soon as possible. I sat up and put my feet on the floor. Then rubbed my hands over my face. I tried to remember what happened after I ate that awesome soup. I remembered everyone talking, and that was it. I must have passed back out. I vaguely recalled snuggling into someone's shoulder. I hope I didn’t drool on them. Those guys were incredible, and they really didn’t even know it. I wanted to do something to thank them. I quickly made a group text asking them all for coffee orders before heading upstairs and taking a shower. I had just put on my usual black underwear and bra when my phone started vibrating. I picked it up to find drink orders coming in. Then it occurred to me I didn’t know where to meet them.

  Alexis: Where do you guys want to meet this morning?

  Miles: Where do you park? You'll need help to carry.

  Alexis: I can manage, just where do you guys want to meet?

  Zeke: At your locker?

  Asher: How about our usual table?

  Alexis: I vote table!

  Isaac: Locker!

  Ethan: I don’t care.

  The conversation went on like that till I finally called it.

  Alexis: I’m bringing coffee to the table! Now if you don’t mind I’d like to put some pants on.

  There was a long silence. I was about to put my phone down when it vibrated again.

  Ethan: Beautiful wins, because she’s pantless.

  Asher: Yeah, pantless girls always win.

  Zeke: Agreed.

  Isaac: You cheat Red.

  Miles: Ignore us and get dressed please.

  I smiled to myself and pulled on my dark boot cut blue jeans, gray v-neck shirt, and a royal purple plaid that I left unbuttoned. I did my usual morning routine and put my hair back in a loose braid. I pulled on my jacket making sure I had everything. I made my lunch grabbed my bag and was out the door early. I picked up the coffees and was extremely grateful the coffee drive through had good holders. I was carrying in my bag and the coffee when I realized I could see my breath it was so cold this morning. I was surprised to find Miles, Asher and Zeke were already there at the table.

  “Morning.” I put the coffees onto the table and pointed out what was what.

  “How are you feeling this morning?” Miles asked as he looked through the coffee’s finding his.

  “I got eight hours of sleep, I’m the best ever.” I told them cheerfully. It was true I usually never felt this good in the morning. Hell, my coffee was even decaf.

  “Good, you look a lot better this morning.” Asher said as he picked up his coffee.

  “Thanks for coming over to take care of me guys.” I felt my face turn red as I kept my eyes on my coffee. “You didn’t have to, but I really appreciated it.” I forced myself to admit to them. I cleared my throat before changing the subject as fast as possible. “So how annoying was Tara?”

  Zeke and Miles chuckled. Asher groaned. I looked up to see his face pained.

  “She kept trying to get Asher to talk to her.” Zeke answered me his smirk on his face. “He answered her but he kept his answers short.”

  “Then one of us would change the subject or ask Asher something.” Miles admitted smiling his small smile.

  “I suffered for you Ally.” Asher declared pointing at me. I walked over and hugged him around the waist. He gave me a squeeze, vanilla and cinnamon filled my nose.

  “Hence the coffee.” I stepped back smiling. He was smiling back at me when a blur bashed into me.

  “Red!” Isaac shouted as he practically tackled me. I would have fallen if it weren’t for Isaac lifting me up around the waist and swinging me in a circle. I barely managed to save my coffee. Isaac put me back down his arms moving up to a hug. “Sorry I wasn’t there last night. How you feeling?” I hugged his arm across my chest, smiling. Isaac was so sweet. Ethan strolled up at a normal pace.

  “Much better thanks.” I leaned my head back against his shoulder. “Asher was just telling me about Tara last night.” I felt Isaac laugh as he gave me a squeeze before letting go.

  “Oh yeah, Tara wasn’t happy.” Ethan said as he stepped around me to grab his coffee.

  “She probably thinks you're trying to steal him away, especially after you fell asleep last night.” Isaac said smiling as he drank his coffee.

  “What do you mean?” I asked looking around the group my heart racing. Did I say something weird in my sleep?

  “After you fell asleep on the couch you kind of ended up sleeping against Asher’s shoulder.” Miles informed me before taking a sip of his coffee. I let out the breath I had been holding. Snuggling Asher in my sleep I could deal with. I looked over at Asher who looked a bit uncomfortable.

  “Did I drool?” I asked him seriously. A couple of them chuckled.

  “No drool.” Asher assured me.

  “Tara really didn’t look happy when we left.” Zeke informed me smirking. I sighed. There was going to be backlash from this. Oh well, nothing to be do about it now.

  “I’ll deal with it later.” The morning bell rang. “See you guys at lunch.” I called over my shoulder as I headed toward class.

  My day went on as usual, though there were more whispers and insults as I walked through the halls today. When Chemistry was finally over, I was more than ready to call it a day.

  We were talking about the chemistry test as we reached our usual table. Asher was just getting there himself.

  “So how did you guys do on your tests?” Asher asked as he sat down next to Ethan on the bench to my left. Isaac sat next to me, our backs towards Jason and his friends.

  “I’m sure I did alright.” Miles mumbled. Isaac laughed.

  “You were done with that test in ten minutes; you spent the rest of the time rechecking everything.” Isaac accused him. Miles ears went pink as he shrugged.

  “How about you Ally girl?” Asher asked pulling out his lunch bag.

  “I think I passed, and with only two days to study I’ll take it.” I told him honestly as I pulled out my own lunch. “In fact, I did so well I’m thinking about ditching the rest of the day. Any takers?”

  “If you ditch they call your house.” Zeke announced as he dropped onto the empty bench across from us.

  “Every time?” He nodded as he pulled out his own lunch. I cursed, it would have been nice to avoid increasingly bitchy ghost girl today.

  “You don’t want to get grounded this weekend.” Ethan informed me. “My bands playing at Vegabond on Saturday night.”

  “Vegabond?” Ethan nodded, then seemed to realize I didn’t know what he was talking about.

  “It’s a club in Dulcet that let’s the 16 to 20 crowd in on Saturday night.” Ethan explained opening his water bottle. “There isn’t much to do around here for us so they let us in on Saturdays so we have something to do besides party. They always have live music those days.”

  “Sometimes the music is pretty good.” Isaac admitted before biting into his sandwich. It did sound like fun. Ethan leaned forward and gave me serious eye contact.

  “You have to come, you don’t get a choice.” He ordered; I held back a smile.

  “Of course I’m going. I want to see your band play.” I admitted. I really wanted to hear that smoky voice of his sing.

  “What else are we doing this weekend?” Zeke asked before biting into his sandwich. Miles lifted a finger before he finished swallowing his food.

  “There’s a small meteor shower coming in tonight that I wanted to see.” Miles announced.

  “Care if I come with? I’ve never seen a meteor shower.” I asked, not wanting to bother Miles.

  “That�
�s perfect.” He told me a small smile on his face. “Because I was going to ask to use your dock to watch it tonight.” I smiled at him and took a drink of water.

  “I’m working tonight.” Zeke announced, everyone groaned. Zeke shrugged. “If I work tonight, I’ll get tomorrow night off and I can go with to see Ethan’s band.”

  “Well that’s okay then.” Ethan admitted finishing his sandwich.

  “I’m working Sunday and Saturday morning.” Asher admitted. No one seemed to groan at this, apparently only working nights was groan worthy.

  “Where do you work?” I asked putting my trash in my bag.

  “I work at the indoor rock climbing center here in town.” Asher pointed at me. “You should come by Sunday; I’ll give you a free lesson.”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  “Yeah, you’ll probably end up rock climbing with us this summer anyway.” Isaac told me matter-of-factly. “Might as well start learning.”

  “I’ll give it a shot.” The guys smiled, Zeke smirked.

  “The meteor shower comes in around nine tonight, so what do you guys want to do till then?” Miles asked.

  “I’ll be back from the game by nine.” Asher told us before taking another drink of water.

  “You guys can just come over. We can watch movies and have dinner.” I shrugged putting the lid on my water bottle.

  “Sounds good to me.” Miles agreed.

  “Me too.” Isaac said.

  “Me three.” Ethan chimed in. Asher rolled his eyes at them before meeting mine.

  “I’ll be there latish, away game tonight.”

  “I’ll save you a plate.” I offered. He gave me that big handsome smile. We went on to debate what movies to watch tonight. I was insisting on Monty Python and the Holy Grail when my cell phone rang. Curious I pulled it out and answered.

  “Hello.”

  “Alexis, this is Laura.” A girl’s soft voice rang in my ear.

  “Hey Laura, how are you?” I asked completely surprised by the call. I had just seen her in math a couple hours ago.

  “Remember when you told me to call you if Jessica Westfell went after another girl?” Laura’s voice was anxious and getting louder.

  “Yeah, what’s going on?” I asked my voice hard. The boys stopped talking, all their attention switching to me.

  “She’s got a freshmen girl cornered in the bathroom; she’s just tearing into her.” Laura’s voice was getting panicky. I got up and grabbed my bag.

  “Which bathroom?” I asked swing my bag over my shoulder.

  “The girls out by the quad at the 200 building.” I knew that bathroom.

  “I’ll be there in a second.” I hung up the phone and pointed at Asher. “Your sister’s about to get her ass kicked.” I warned him my voice hard. I took off at a jog, the boys caught up quickly. They had longer legs.

  “What’s going on Ally?” I turned a corner, and ran down the hall, the boys kept pace.

  “Jessica has a freshman cornered in the bathroom.” I snapped over my shoulder as we passed the 100 building.

  “Is she hitting her?” Isaac asked not even breathing hard.

  “If she is she’s going to get hit back in a minute.” I warned Asher as we reached the hallway I wanted. Laura was standing outside the bathroom door pacing. When she saw me jogging towards her, her face relaxed with relief.

  “Thank God, none of the other girls will do anything! They’re just watching.” Laura yelled to me her hands shaking. I didn’t bother to stop jogging; I dropped my bag as I headed for the door. The bathroom was almost packed. I shoved the door open and started elbowing my way through the crowd; I wasn’t gentle about it. I finally reached the edge of the girls. Jessica towered over a girl not much bigger than me. She stood cornered against the wall and closed door of the handicap stall. She was sobbing, her face red.

  “You’re a complete waste of space.” Jessica sneered. “You might as well just kill yourself and get it over with.” Oh hell no! Furious, I strode across the pink tiled bathroom and grabbed Jessica by the back of the neck. I didn’t stop moving until I had her pretty face pinned against the pink tiled wall. She tried to push off the wall, but I pressed my weight against her back keeping her there. I took a deep breath and managed to find my calm, barely. I looked over to the crying girl and gave her a friendly smile.

  “Hi Sweetie, I’m Alexis.” I kept my voice cheerful and friendly. Like I wasn’t pinning a bitch to the wall. Jessica’s hands reached back to claw at my hands; I barely noticed. “I want you to walk outside. There is a girl named Laura waiting with my five friends. I need you to tell the tall blonde guy what happened today and what Jessica said to you. Okay sweetie?” The girl’s eyes were wide as she nodded. She quickly grabbed her bag and hurried through the crowd and out the door. That’s when my voice changed. “What the fuck is the matter with you people?” I shouted, anger boiling through my veins. “You just fucking stand there as she’s terrorizing someone? That’s fucked up to a level I’ve never seen.” The girls in the crowd shifted, some of them blushed, and some looked ashamed. “Get the fuck out of here!” The girls started going out the bathroom door. When the bathroom was empty, I turned to Jessica. “I’m going to let you go, and I’ll step away.” I told her calmly. Then I did as I said. I took a couple steps back from Jessica staying in a defensive stance. Jessica pushed herself off the wall and turned her face red.

  “You fucking bitch-”

  “No honey, you’re the fucking bitch in this scenario.” I snapped, my voice hard. “You had her cornered in a bathroom telling her to kill herself.” I spelled it out clearly for her so there would be no way she couldn’t understand. “I don’t know what your fucking damage is but you need to fucking deal with it and stop taking it out on other people.” She looked at me like I was a bug under her shoe.

  “It’s none of your business what I do.” She snarled stepping up to me. Oh yeah, this was going to get ugly. I stepped up to her till I was in her face too; I was aching to hit her. Her eyes went wide for a second.

  “You're right it’s not, until you start taking it out on other people.” I pointed to the corner where she had the younger girl cornered. “That was sick and fucked up.” I kept eye contact with her. My voice growing hot with my temper. “You pull that shit again; we’ll be back here again. Just you and me. Do you understand?” I waited a couple heartbeats before I stepped back and away from her, not turning my back. I needed to get away from her or I would smash her face into the mirror. Jessica laughed.

  “What are you going to do? Tell everyone to find you if I misbehave?” Her taunted, her voice condescending. I smiled coldly at her.

  “If I have to, yeah.” I pointed to the corner. “To prevent this type of shit, I’ll be happy too.” I turned to walk away I was almost to the door when she spoke up again.

  “Stay the fuck away from my brother.” Jessica warned me. I stopped and bit my lower lip trying to keep my cool. I turned back to Jessica who was still glaring at me.

  “Oh yeah, speaking of your brother.” I began, feeling my voice going cold. “If you ever hit Asher across the face again, I’ll hit you.” Her eyebrows went up in surprise. “Just so we’re clear.” The sound of the bathroom door opened; I heard big feet on the tile.

  “What the hell Jess? How could you do that to someone?” Asher was yelling across the bathroom. I turned and walked out the bathroom door, leaving Asher to deal with his sister. The boys were still waiting outside. Laura and the girl were still there. The girl had calmed down and was wiping her face with tissues. Asher’s no doubt.

  “You okay?” I asked, not quite knowing what to say to her. I deal with the dead not really the living. She nodded, taking a deep breath.

  “Thank you.” I felt my face turn red, and I knew the guys noticed.

  “No problem.” I looked over to Laura, her arm around the other girl. “Do you know who her usual targets are?”

  “Yeah, she makes the rounds with the same people.” L
aura informed me adjusting her glasses.

  “Can you get my number to them please?” I asked taking the plunge. I wasn’t going to hurt Jessica unless she started hitting people. But I wasn’t going to sit idly by like those bitches in the bathroom. I fucking couldn’t. A smile spread across Laura’s face turning her pretty again.

  “Yeah, I can do that.” She looked down at the smaller girl. “Come on, I’ll take you home.” Laura offered the younger girl. She just nodded her eyes glazed over. I watched Laura walk her around the corner before going to pick up my bag.

  “Lexie, you’re bleeding.” Zeke pointed out. I looked down to see the backs of my hands covered in scratches from Jessica’s nails. I pulled out some tissues from my bag and wiped the blood away as my adrenaline rush disappeared. My hands were shaking as I tossed away the tissues. That’s when I looked up, my face warm.

  “Beautiful, we heard you yelling at those girls from out here.” Ethan began a huge smile spreading across his face. “That was awesome.” I felt my face start to turn red.

  “I really wish we had a camera in there; that would have been great to have on video.” Isaac sighed wistfully. My face grew hotter.

  “Talking to Jessica without a crowd was a great idea.” Miles offered, his eyes running over me. I felt my face burning as I looked around for anything else to talk about.

  “You’re blushing.” Zeke stated, a smirk spreading across his face. All four of them were smiling.

  “Alexis blushes when someone compliments her about something she’s done.” Miles observed, his head tilting.

  “Oh, a new game.” Isaac’s voice was entirely too happy about this.

  “This is going to be fun.” Ethan added his eyes sparkling. I was saved by the bell for sixth period. I just turned and walked away, my face on fire.

  The rest of school went as expected; I didn’t bother changing in a stall again. No one really looks around in the locker anyway. It’s kind of a unspoken rule. I was on my way to art class grateful that without Asher or Tara here today I wouldn’t have to stop near the dead girl. Just a quick walk by, it should be a piece of cake. I was just stepping out onto the pathway when it hit me. Pain shot through my body, sharp and stabbing in the middle of my chest. I gasped, almost stumbling. I had to stop for a minute just to get used to the feeling. My head was throbbing as I looked up. Ghost girl was standing in the middle of the path feet apart, her head tilted. The grin on her face sent fear through me. Where the hell did she get this kind of power from? She couldn’t get this much power from pulling energy from the students at school. So where the fuck was she getting it from? I started forward, her rage like a wall in front of me. I began to push through it; it was like wading through waist deep mud. My head throbbed; I felt the blood on my lip. I pressed my tissues to my nose my heart racing. The closer I got to her the more she pressed in on me. Her memories started slipping through my mind threatening to push me out. Terror raw and consuming ripped through me. I stopped pushing; I stepped back. Then kept going. I turned away from the dead girl and got the hell out of there. I wasn’t going to make it to art class today. I couldn’t get past the dead girl without risking her jumping me. I pulled out my cell phone and headed straight to my truck as fast as I could without drawing attention. My hand was shaking as I held the tissues to my nose.