"I know you've been seeing him," Paige told her.
"That's ridiculous," Monica said nervously.
"I'm not here to criticize you or anything like that." Paige didn't blame her for a teacher-student affair. "But he's the adult and you're the teenager."
Monica chuckled. "Look, whoever told you that I was sleeping with Mr. Dixon—"
"He hit on me," Paige cut her off. Even if it wasn't true, it had gotten Monica's attention.
"You're lying," Monica said.
"I'm not." Paige kept a straight face. "He's been trying to get me to come to his apartment. I refused. Listen, he's sexually exploiting any student who chooses to be with him. And when he's through with her, he'll dump her and find another girl to charm. If I were you, I'd stay away from him outside the classroom. That's all I have to say. See you later."
She moved away from Monica, but Paige hoped she would heed her words and grow up, even if Mr. Dixon wanted to keep her as a teacher's pet.
When she had a little space to herself, Paige called out to Noah. "If you're there, I could use some help. I keep getting resistance to the idea that someone pushed you off the cliff. I don't want to become the school pariah if I don't have to." She paused, waiting for him to show up. Would he bail on her when she was helping him? "Noah, don't do this. Do you want to solve what happened to you or not—?"
"I was just giving you some space during your date with Drew," he said, suddenly standing next to her.
* * *
Noah watched as Paige sneered at him, obviously not in the mood for his poor attempt at keeping things light.
"Uh, it would be better if you stuck around right now," she said. "Especially since he can't see you."
"True." Noah wished his feelings for her weren't real, but they were. Even for a ghost. But that had to be put on the back burners, if not eliminated altogether, while they tried to wrap their minds around figuring out who may have pushed him off a cliff. "I've been circulating," he told her, "looking for anything that could point us in the right direction."
"And what did you come up with?" Paige asked.
"Some memories have been coming back slowly but surely," Noah said. He turned toward the dance floor, spotting Amber and Scott slow dancing. "I remember confronting Scott, just as he thought he had it made in the shade with my ex-girlfriend."
Noah's mind went back in time...
* * *
He caught Scott just as he'd left class and was headed to his locker.
"Wait up," Noah said.
Scott slowed down, but kept walking. "Hey."
Noah stayed with him. "Look, dude, I know things have been awkward between us ever since you went after my girlfriend."
"That's old news now," Scott said tartly. "We're together now. Get over it."
"Yeah, I'd like to do that, but here's the thing... I'm not so sure Amber's gotten over me."
Scott stopped. "What are you talking about?"
Noah stayed relaxed. "I'm talking about two can play that game. I know you've been pining for Amber way before we hooked up—waiting for the time when you could have her for yourself. Well, I think I want her back and something tells me it won't take much arm twisting for Amber to realize she's better off with me than a loser like you."
"Go to hell," barked Scott, frowning.
"You'll get there first, dude. Only it won't be with Amber because she'll be my girl again and she won't want to have anything to do with your sorry ass."
Noah walked away with a pleased grin on his face, just as he sensed that his backstabbing friend was seething...
* * *
Noah finished the story as he gazed at Paige.
"You wanted to get back with Amber?" she asked, as though jealous.
"No way," he assured her.
"Did you cheat on Amber?"
Noah's head snapped back in shock at the question. "Where did that come from?"
"I talked to her a little while ago and she seemed to think that was the case."
"Never happened," he said flatly. "There may have been rumors that I was fooling around behind her back, but they weren't true. Amber would use any phony reason to justify hooking up with one of my best friends."
"So there was no chance you two would have gotten back together?" asked Paige.
"After what she put me through, she and I were finished for good." Noah jutted his chin. "But I wanted Scott to think we were going to get back together, just to mess with his head as payback for crossing the line."
Paige's eyes grew wide. "You think he might have come after you to keep Amber for himself?"
"It's possible," Noah said. "Scott was obsessed with Amber. If there was any chance that I could take her away from him, he might have done anything to prevent that from happening."
"Like push you off the cliff?"
"Yeah."
"But you don't remember him doing it?" she asked.
"No," he admitted. "I keep drawing a blank there. Maybe it's not something you're supposed to remember when you're on the other side—or halfway there. On the other hand, not knowing is probably what's keeping me here."
"I think you may be right." Paige fixed her eyes on his face.
"It gets worse..." Noah said, looking again at the dance floor, this time at Kyle and Lora. "My best friend, Kyle, has a secret that I basically carried to the grave with me..."
"What?" Paige regarded him anxiously.
Though he had promised Kyle he would never reveal this to another living soul, Noah figured he was no longer bound to that, particularly if Kyle killed him to keep silent.
"He killed his last girlfriend—"
Paige's mouth became an O. "What...?"
"It was apparently an accident," Noah said, "but he confessed to me that he pushed her during an argument on his dad's boat. He lied about it, telling the authorities she tripped on her own and hit her head."
"That's awful, but why would he want you dead?"
"Kyle was paranoid at the thought of losing his college scholarship and maybe going to jail should anyone ever find out his secret. I promised him I would keep quiet. But then I tried to get him to do the right thing..."
* * *
Noah pulled Kyle to the side after they got out of class, hoping to reason with him now that Kyle had come clean about the circumstances of Cheryl's death.
"What's up?" Kyle asked tensely.
"I think you need to do the right thing and fess up about Cheryl, dude."
"Are you insane?" Kyle furrowed his brow. "You know I can't do that."
"Yes, you can," insisted Noah. "It's been bugging me ever since you told me what really happened to Cheryl. You can't let her family believe she tripped and hit her head, when you made it happen."
Furious, Kyle grabbed his shirt and pushed him against the wall. "It's too late for that. This can't get out and you know why! You gave me your word that you wouldn't say anything. Don't turn on me, man."
"I won't." Noah pushed him back, sighing. "But you need to step up and clear your conscience. Otherwise, it will eat you up."
"That's not going to happen," Kyle said coldly. "I would lose everything and all because of one mistake? I don't think so. Just keep your mouth shut and we won't have a problem. Got it?"
"Whatever you say." Noah frowned with disappointment. "I've got to get to class."
Kyle regarded him suspiciously. "Then go...and don't make me regret confiding in you..."
* * *
Noah came back to the present. "At the time, I thought maybe he was just blowing off steam," he told Paige.
"But now you're wondering if Kyle might have taken it to another level to make sure his secret didn't get out?"
"Yeah," Noah said regrettably.
"Wow." Paige rolled her eyes. "When I asked him if he thought someone could have pushed you off the cliff, he totally blew me off."
"Maybe because he really couldn't wrap his mind around it," Noah suggested.
"Or maybe it was because he was the
one who pushed you off the cliff," she said bluntly.
Noah hated to think that Kyle would have resorted to such, but he couldn't rule it out either considering what Kyle believed he had at stake if word got out about the facts behind Cheryl's death.
"Hey," Drew said, walking up to Paige.
"Hey," she said, looking at Noah and back.
"He can't see or hear me," Noah told her, just for her peace of mind.
"Since you never found me, I came looking for you," Drew said unhappily.
"Sorry." Paige looked ill at ease. "After talking to my friend, I ran into someone and—"
"And you forgot about our date."
"No, it wasn't that." She glanced at Noah.
"Don't look at me," he said. "I never asked you to neglect Drew. Not that I'm as upset by it as he is."
"You wouldn't be," Paige told him.
"Wouldn't be what?" Drew asked her.
"Nothing," she said. "Look, do you want to dance?"
"I don't think so. I'm getting bored. Think I'll head out. Are you coming?"
Paige looked at Noah.
"Go, if you want to," he told her, even if he preferred she stayed, if only to enjoy her company apart from helping him find a killer.
"I can't," she said, eyeing Drew. "This is my first school dance and I'm just trying to enjoy it, you know. I can get a ride home with Bonnie and Tabitha."
"Fine." Drew wrinkled his nose. "Later."
"Sorry," Noah said lamely.
Paige sneered. "No, you're not."
"Okay, I'm not," he admitted. "But I still don't want to hold you back. He's into you. If you feel the same, go for it. Since I'm already dead, it doesn't have to be all about me."
They were interrupted as Bonnie and Tabitha walked over.
"We saw Drew storm off," Bonnie said to Paige. "Is everything all right?"
"Everything's good." Paige looked at Noah, who grinned. "We just had a misunderstanding."
"He'll get over it," Tabitha said confidently.
"Hope so," Paige said.
"So do I," Noah said sincerely, knowing only she could hear the words.
"Can I hang out with you guys?" she asked them.
Bonnie smiled. "Of course."
"Yeah, that's cool," Tabitha seconded.
"Let's get something to drink," said Bonnie.
"Sounds good," Paige agreed.
Noah watched as she walked off with her friends. Bonnie used to be his friend, too. It began to come to Noah that, in fact, Bonnie had been with him at Dead Lake Cliff on the day he died.
He couldn't remember exactly what they talked about, but he knew much of the conversation seemed to center on how messed up his life was.
Did that mean he could have actually taken a dive off the cliff on his own?
Had his instincts to the contrary been wrong?
Noah did some soul searching as he resumed working his way among the unsuspecting persons at the dance, in search of answers that had proven to be elusive.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
On Monday, Monica was pissed as she sat in Vince Dixon's class. All weekend she had been upset after Paige told her at the dance that he had hit on her and insinuated that he may have gone after other girls, too.
How could I have been so stupid? Monica thought, barely listening to his question and answer session. She had tried to break it off before, only to let him talk her into continuing their relationship. All the while, assuring her that she was the only student he was involved with.
Now she had to face the facts, painful as they were. He had only been using her to get what he wanted, just like other guys. Only he wasn't just another guy. He was an adult teacher having sex with an underage student.
"What do you think, Monica?" she heard him ask, cutting through the fog in her head.
"I'm sorry—I missed the question."
He repeated it, and then chose another girl—Paige—to answer, which she did to his satisfaction.
Bastard, Monica thought, believing he had deliberately showed her up before the class in order to impress Paige. Or maybe some other girl he had his eye on.
When the class was over, everyone filed out, including Paige, who seemed to have no interest in the teacher. Or maybe she was just faking it, which was something Monica had become very good at.
"Got a minute," Vince said to her as she headed for the door, too upset to speak to him.
But she quickly got past her anger, believing that maybe there had been a misunderstanding and that he was still into her.
She walked up to him, holding her notebook and purse.
"Hey," he said tonelessly.
"Hi."
"Listen," he said, "as much as I've enjoyed your company, I think it would be best if we cool it for a while."
Monica frowned. "That's not what you told me when I wanted to cool it."
"I know, but things change." He lowered his voice. "Look, I stand to lose a lot if this ever comes out. I like my job and my freedom even more. We just need to step back before this blows up in our faces."
Though she didn't necessarily agree with his logic, Monica was less than convinced of his motives. "So who would take my place after you dump me—Paige Preston?"
He looked worried. "No, of course not. I already told you, I have no interest in her or anyone else at the moment. I'm sure you'll have no problem finding a guy your own age."
She didn't doubt that, as guys hit on her all the time. But that didn't make this hurt any less.
"What if I still want you?" she asked.
"I can understand that," he said. "We had a good thing going. But we have to stop this now. Believe me, it's for the best." He suddenly backed up as though she were contagious. "I think you better go now. Goodbye, Monica."
She sneered at him, offering no response before leaving.
Monica was hurt and confused as she headed down the hall. She wanted to put this—and him—behind her. But she feared she couldn't do that without help. And she didn't want to see other girls fall into the same trap with Vince Dixon.
When she reached the school counselor's office, Monica sucked in a deep breath before going inside, knowing what she needed to do.
Miss Cooper was sitting at her desk when Monica walked in. She had visited the counselor on other occasions, mostly to talk about classes and for career guidance.
"Hi, Monica," she said cheerfully. "How can I help you?"
Monica sat in a chair and gathered up her courage, before responding. "I've been having sex with Mr. Dixon—"
* * *
Paige was not sure which direction to head in trying to pinpoint a killer as she stood by her locker alongside Noah, with no one else the wiser. He seemed just as confused with the number of people who could have pushed him off the cliff.
"It'll be all right," he told her. "We'll figure it out."
"You sure about that?" She looked at him doubtfully. "It's not like anyone's volunteering to come forward. And who knows how much time you have..."
Though he agreed with that last point, Noah refused to let it show. "Probably all the time in the world," he told her. "Or at least enough time to keep me here as long as my spirit or whatever remains at unrest."
"Shouldn't we—I—go to the police and name the suspects?" Paige asked.
"I'm sure they've already been cleared by the police," he said. "I doubt they would reopen the case without solid proof or a confession. But there is something we can do..."
"What?"
"We can stop Jeffrey from selling drugs to students."
"How?" she asked.
"The principal keeps a locked box outside his office for students to report things anonymously," Noah told her. "Jeffrey keeps much of his stash in his locker. If you leave a note in the box, the rest will take care of itself."
Paige nodded with eagerness. "I'll do it."
"Good. He'll get what's coming to him."
"And what if he's the one who pushed you off the cliff?" she asked thoughtful
ly.
"Then he'll get his in time—trust me."
Paige met his eyes, feeling that she did trust him as much as she could when dealing with a ghost. "If you say so."
"If it's somebody else," Noah said, "I'll put it together and so will you."
She nodded, ready to have it out in the open so that the person responsible for his death could be brought to justice, even if that meant Noah would no longer be around. Or would he always be there, no matter what?
Paige saw Monica leaving the school counselor's office. Their eyes locked for a moment, before Monica walked away hurriedly.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Paige asked Noah.
"Yeah. I think Mr. Dixon's charm has probably worn off and he's about to be held accountable for his actions."
"I hope so," she said, "if only to prevent other girls from falling into his trap."
Paige looked up and saw Drew standing in front of her. It was the first time they had seen each other since the dance. She had texted him once, but got no response.
"Hey," she said meekly, and glanced at Noah.
"Hey," Drew said tonelessly.
"Where are you headed?"
"Practice. There never seems to be enough practice for Coach Nicholson," he groaned.
Paige looked at Noah again, who seemed expressionless. "Guess practice makes perfect, as they say," she told Drew.
"Yeah, I guess."
"Isn't that how Noah saw it?" Paige couldn't help but ask with both guys present, even if only one was aware of it.
"Practice was pretty much all he did," Drew said. "At least in the pool—and the lake. It gave him an edge that made him hard to beat. Wish I could have one more crack at him. The results might be different."
"I don't think so," Noah said confidently. "But dream on."
Paige sneered at Noah and then looked at Drew. "Maybe they would have been," she said. "I'm sure Noah would have welcomed the challenge."
"Too bad I don't believe in ghosts," Drew said. "Otherwise, if he were around, I'd challenge him to a race right here and now."
She flashed her teeth at Noah. "Well, since you don't believe in ghosts, I guess that will never happen."
"You're right," Drew said. "Anyway, I better go."
Paige touched his arm and looked into his eyes. "So we're good, aren't we?" she asked. Things had been pretty weird between them since the dance.
Teen Ghost at Dead Lake Page 14