He waited a moment before saying unconvincingly, "Yeah."
"Cool." She smiled, but knew he was still miffed about the dance and where things stood with them. No matter where they ended up, she wanted him to be a part of her life, which was probably more than she could expect with Noah.
"Later," Drew said and headed down the hallway.
After there was some distance between them, Paige faced Noah, who had a wry grin on his lips.
"Don't say anything," she told him.
"I wasn't going to say a word," he responded. "Actually, I did want to say something..."
"What?"
"He'll come around."
Paige met his eyes, not expecting that. "You think?"
"Yeah," he said. "I know I would if I was alive and into you."
"As opposed to being dead and into me?" she asked with a smile.
He laughed. "Same difference. But I can't do much about my situation and us. Drew can. Just give him some time."
"I will." Paige had all the patience in the world, except when it came to drug dealers, misbehaving teachers, and killers. Not to mention cheating girlfriends and unreasonable best friends. "I better put that anonymous note in the principal's box."
"Good idea," Noah said.
"Are you just going to tag along or—?"
"I think I'll walk around my old school and see if anything or anyone rings a bell about what happened to me."
"Then I guess I'll see you when I see you," she said, hoping this wouldn't somehow be the last time.
"You will," he said before vanishing.
* * *
Roni was high after snorting cocaine in the bathroom. She had fully intended to simply continue on with the school day, doing her best to appear normal and not like an addict.
Then something happened that shook her very foundation and freaked her out like never before. She saw Noah Snyder in the hall talking with Paige Preston, as if they were both alive and well.
Only Noah was dead.
So how could she have possibly seen him—looking exactly like she remembered, right up to his cap that he hardly ever took off, except when swimming.
Roni's first thought was that Noah hadn't really died after all. Maybe the whole bit about his suicide was some sort of crazy prank. But she didn't buy that for a moment. The police wouldn't have grilled practically everyone at school had it been a joke. And Noah's mom wouldn't have had his funeral, bawling throughout the whole thing.
Roni then considered that the guy Paige was talking to was probably the Noah lookalike that she had spoken of and nobody believed was true.
But no one looked that much like Noah—unless it was his twin. That too had been rejected, as Noah had never talked about any siblings.
That left only one possibility. She was hallucinating.
The damn cocaine is making me see dead people, Roni thought, terrified. Would she see her dead grandparents next? Or her cousin who died two years ago in a car accident?
She had also watched Noah disappear and Paige carry on, as if he had never been there. Paige had actually slipped something inside the box outside the principal's office and then tried to pretend that she hadn't.
Up until now, Roni had believed that getting high was more important than anything else, other than dating Paul. But after seeing Noah come back to life when he had jumped to his death from Dead Lake Cliff, she understood that the most important thing was to stop using cocaine before it was too late.
But she couldn't do it alone. She needed the help of her best friends if she was to get her life back and not be spooked by more images of Noah walking around school just like any other student.
Roni pulled out her phone and texted Amber and Lora, asking them to meet her outside. Then she texted Paul to tell him she loved him. She hoped that would be enough to keep them together, even if she had to go to rehab to be the girl he expected her to be.
* * *
Noah watched the swim team practicing. He missed it more than he ever thought he would. When he was alive, he often took swimming for granted, knowing he had a gift and few peers. Now he'd give anything to have his life back—in and out of the pool.
But there was no such thing as turning back the clock from death. He could only relive the past, which gave him a warm feeling.
He honed in on Drew as he showed his improved skills in the pool.
Noah found himself drifting back in time...
* * *
They were at the State Finals and Noah felt the pressure in both his individual and team performance. Though he expected stiff competition from swimmers at other schools, he believed that Drew would push him the hardest in both competitions. He expected to push Drew just as hard.
"So, you ready for this?" Noah asked, while awaiting the start of the 100 meter breaststroke.
"Bring it on," Drew declared in the lane next to him.
"That's what I thought you'd say." Noah chuckled, hiding his nerves. "May the best man win!"
"He will," Drew spoke confidently.
Noah sucked in a deep breath and adjusted his goggles for what was the latest race of his life. He was sure he'd never hear the end of it from Drew or Coach Nicholson should he lose.
But he didn't intend to.
With his heart beating wildly, Noah got off to a good start in the race. He kept his focus, with Drew and another swimmer keeping pace initially. But when the time came to switch it into another gear, Noah did just that, putting enough distance between him and Drew to withstand Drew's late charge and break his own record in the process.
The two combatants hugged afterward.
"You nearly got me," Noah said, feeling fortunate to come out ahead.
"Yeah, but I still fell short," Drew muttered.
"Your turn will come."
Drew frowned. "I'll believe it when I see it."
Noah grinned. "That doesn't mean I'm going to relinquish my spot on the team anytime soon," he told him. "If you want to beat me, you'll still have to earn it."
He could see in his face that Drew was more determined than ever to make that happen.
Noah imagined it was only a matter of time, but he'd never admit it...
* * *
Noah returned to the present as he watched Drew and the other swimmers practice. He recalled how he, Drew, and their teammates won the 400-yard free relay for Dead Lake High, practically sending the school into pandemonium.
The memories, good as they were, could no longer sustain Noah, as he sensed that his time on this earth was running short.
He suddenly found himself in the hallway, standing across from Jeffrey Harper's locker as school administrators forced him to open it. After doing so, Jeffrey stepped aside uneasily as the locker was searched.
Noah watched as drugs and paraphernalia were removed and Jeffrey's face dropped. He'd been busted and his days of dealing drugs on campus were over.
A ray of satisfaction crossed Noah's face. He was happy to know that now maybe Roni and other students could get the drugs out of their system and get the help they needed.
There were still a bit more things to clear up before his mission was through, including coming to terms with who decided to push him off a cliff to his death.
* * *
Paige watched coolly in the hallway with other students as Jeffrey was taken away in handcuffs. Her anonymous note had done the trick. Just as Noah had said, drugs must have been found in Jeffrey's locker. She wondered who, if anyone, among her friends had been using drugs, and if it would stop now.
Once the spectacle had run its course, students were told to go to class.
En route to her own class, Paige noticed that a nervous Mr. Dixon was accompanying the stone-faced Principal Cambridge to his office. Paige locked eyes with the teacher, hoping they threw the book at him for taking advantage of one or more starry-eyed students.
Where's Noah? Paige wondered. She hadn't seen him since this morning. Was he even still at the school? Or had his ghostly e
nergy been overworked and he needed to go elsewhere to chill?
Perhaps he went to the pier. Or maybe even Dead Lake Cliff. That seemed to be the hotspot for teens and was also the place where Noah was last alive before going off the cliff one way or the other.
Should I go look for him? Paige wondered, and ditch the rest of the school day. She opted against that, deciding that Noah would come to her when he was ready. Assuming he was still around to do so.
She went into the classroom, hating the thought of Noah leaving for good before the cause of his death was clearly established.
* * *
That night, Paige sat on the bed in in her room with Bonnie discussing what had happened at school today.
"I always knew there was something weird about Mr. Dixon," Bonnie said. Word had quickly spread about him being suspended without pay pending an investigation into inappropriate involvement with a student.
"I thought he was a good teacher," Paige admitted, "but the way he looked at girls...ewww...gross."
"I know, right?" Bonnie wrinkled her nose. "As for Jeffrey, just about everybody knew he was selling drugs at school. But I guess everyone chose to look the other way, except the ones who wanted what he had to offer."
Paige frowned. "He could only offer them a ticket to nowhere."
"For sure," Bonnie said. "Unfortunately, someone will probably step into his shoes."
"Not if the school chooses to enforce its zero tolerance policy."
"One can hope," Bonnie said. "I certainly would never put that crap in my body. I know Tabitha wouldn't either."
"Same here," Paige said. She folded her legs beneath her while wondering if Noah would show up, and if he'd gotten any closer to knowing who went after him on Dead Lake Cliff. She gazed at Bonnie, deciding she had to confide in someone. "I have to tell you something that you'll probably find very hard to believe."
Bonnie blinked. "After today at school, probably not too much would surprise me."
"It's about Noah..."
"What about him?" Bonnie met her eyes. "You've seen that guy again?"
"Yeah, I've seen him," Paige admitted.
"Where?"
"Lots of places."
Bonnie scowled. "Don't tell me he's still claiming to be Noah?"
Paige sighed. "Actually, he is Noah..."
Bonnie cocked a brow. "I don't get it."
This was not easy to say, but Paige felt she needed to say it anyway. "The guy I've been talking to is Noah's ghost."
Bonnie's nostrils flared. "You're joking, right?"
Paige gave her a serious look. "No, I'm not. Noah's ghost has been hanging around Dead Lake ever since he died. I guess we somehow clicked, even before I moved into his house and we've been able to communicate."
Bonnie's eyes widened. "You're telling me that all this time you thought the Noah impersonator was a ghost?"
"No, I didn't know he was a ghost at first," Paige said. "I found out that night I came over to your house. Noah was standing right next to me, but you couldn't see him. I knew then that he was a real ghost."
Bonnie snickered. "Uh, excuse me, Paige, but ghosts aren't real. Are you sure that house hasn't made you imagine things—?"
"This ghost is real!" Paige insisted. "Noah has told me things about you and other people in Dead Lake, including Amber, Drew, and Kyle. He looks human, but I'm the only one who can see or hear him."
"Is he here now?" Bonnie asked skeptically.
Paige looked around. "No. But I've still spoken to him in this room. He was at the school today, at the school dance, and at Amber's party, though I didn't know at the time that he was a ghost."
Bonnie twisted her lips. "Well, does he just show up or can you get him to appear?"
"Mostly he just shows up," Paige answered. "I have managed to get him to come, but that's pretty unpredictable. And even if he were to come, you wouldn't be able to see him, so it would still be like he wasn't really there."
"This is so weird," Bonnie said.
"I know." Paige unfolded her legs. "But that doesn't mean it's not true. You have to believe me."
Bonnie took a moment to ponder the notion. "So why would Noah's ghost still be lurking around here instead of going wherever spirits go when you're dead?"
"Noah thinks someone pushed him off that cliff," Paige told her. "But he can't remember who or didn't see who did it."
Bonnie frowned. "So that's why you were asking me if Noah had any enemies?"
Paige nodded. "Yeah."
"Wow!" Bonnie took a deep breath. "Noah, a ghost. I don't know." Bonnie shook her head. "It's just so hard to imagine. And it's almost as hard to believe that someone would have wanted him dead."
"Believe me, none of this is what I expected to have to deal with when I moved to Dead Lake," Paige told her. "But for whatever reason, Noah was able to open up to me. He's starting to remember more and more about his life and when he died. I think he's close to discovering who pushed him off that cliff..."
Bonnie shivered. "I know Noah was pretty bummed out that day because of the situation with Amber, the pressure he was under on the swim team, and some troubles with his mom. It was like he just gave up on life. At least it seemed that way at the time... Now I'm not sure what to believe—"
"Maybe you should believe in your friend," Paige told her. "Even if you can't see or hear him, he is still here and wants closure before he can cross over to another place. I'm trying to help him to get that, though it's been anything but easy when everyone wants to assume Noah took his own life."
Bonnie regarded her thoughtfully. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but maybe you are really communicating with Noah's ghost. If so, it would obviously have to be for a reason. Why he died."
"And who made it happen," Paige said.
"I want to help you," Bonnie said. "Even if I can't see or talk to my friend. I owe him that much, since he was always there for me."
Paige smiled, relieved. "You're helping just by being someone I can talk to about this."
Apart from that, there was still the matter of finding Noah's killer...
CHAPTER TWENTY
Paige accompanied Tabitha to Dead Lake Cliff. They were supposed to meet Bonnie there, feeling that a proper sendoff might be just what Noah needed to finally be at peace and move on, even if there were still some unsettled issues. Though Paige wasn't necessarily prepared to say goodbye to him, she didn't feel it was her right to hold him back if he was ready to go.
"I always liked it here as a nice place to admire the beach and lake below," Tabitha said, as they stood near the edge. "At least until Noah's death. That changed everything."
"I didn't know him then, but I suppose it would be weird to enjoy hanging out here after what happened," Paige said. She looked down, which made her slightly dizzy, before looking back up.
"About what happened," Tabitha said, looking at her squarely. "Bonnie told me that you've actually been talking to Noah's ghost. Is that true?"
Paige debated whether she should confirm or deny it. She wasn't surprised that Bonnie would confide in her girlfriend. Maybe it wasn't a bad thing if she knew the truth.
"Yeah, I have seen and talked to him," she admitted.
"Wow." Tabitha batted her lashes. "It's hard to believe ghosts really exist."
"I used to feel the same way," Paige said. "But Noah made a believer out of me."
"So is he here now...?"
Paige looked around, almost expecting him to show up, while knowing he was anything but predictable. "No," she said. "This ghost thing is not an exact science. I'm not sure how much he can control regarding when he appears or not."
Tabitha frowned. "Too bad. It would've been cool to see him for myself."
"It's not really cool seeing a ghost who's unsettled," Paige said.
"I guess." Tabitha paused. "So does he really think someone murdered him, in spite of what the police believe?"
"Yeah, he does—maybe more than ever." In reality, Paige felt Noah still had a
sliver of doubt that it was suicide. But the deck was stacked against that, given those who had reason to want him dead.
"But he never told you who he thinks killed him," Tabitha said.
Paige shook her head. "He threw out some names, but since he never actually saw the person—"
"Maybe he just doesn't remember," Tabitha suggested. "But it could all come back to him..."
"I wish it would," Paige told her, pondering the notion that even a dead person could somehow suppress a tragic event.
"That's what I'm afraid of," Tabitha said, a catch to her voice.
Paige raised a brow. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that Noah got what was coming to him and if he pointed the finger at me, it would ruin everything. I can't allow that to happen."
Paige's heart thumped loudly in her ears. "Are you saying you killed Noah?"
Tabitha's face turned dark. "Yeah, I did it, and I would do it again!"
"Why?" Paige asked, even as she tried to come to grips with this and the real reason Tabitha had apparently brought her there.
"Because he insisted on coming between me and Bonnie," Tabitha said tartly. "I wasn't going to compete for her attention. He had to go..."
* * *
Tabitha waited behind some bushes as Bonnie and Noah talked animatedly on Dead Lake Cliff. She couldn't hear everything they were saying, but Noah seemed to be giving Bonnie an earful about her and why they were no good together. Bonnie seemed to defend her while attacking his poor choices in life, which appeared to leave Noah frustrated and disillusioned.
He finally seemed to accept Bonnie's position, and wanted to be left alone there. Bonnie walked away and soon got on her bike and rode down a hill to the street.
Tabitha made sure Bonnie was at a safe distance before emerging from the bushes and quietly approaching Noah, who was standing at the edge of the cliff, looking down, as though in a trance.
Just before she reached him, he turned around, clearly surprised.
"Tabitha—! What are you doing here?"
"I just needed to get away," she lied.
"Yeah, I know what you mean," he said.
You don't have a clue, Tabitha told herself.
Teen Ghost at Dead Lake Page 15