The Roses Academy- the Entire Collection

by Tara Brown

  “Maybe.” I hoped it was true. It amazed me how many bad things could happen in a small town, in such a short amount of time. Maybe the land was all cursed.

  We entered the neighboring town and turned onto a road I had never been on before. Within a few driveways we were at a small bungalow.

  “This is it.” He pointed to the beast of a guy in the garage. “That’s Wade.”

  “Okay.” Nervously, I opened my door and got out. Shane hopped out roughly and bounded into the garage toward the guy bent over the hood of a car.

  He smacked his bum hard, causing the guy to shoot up and bang his head on the hood of the old beater.

  “Son of a—Shane. That’s gonna leave a mark.” He rubbed his head.

  Shane laughed and pointed to me. “This is Aimee, the girl who got drugged at my party.”

  “Oh snap.” Wade turned. He was about the right size, a few inches over six foot and strong but not fat. He was wearing jeans and a white tee shirt. His hair was dark blond. But when he turned his face to see me, he was definitely not the same guy.

  His eyes were nowhere near as blue and his face didn’t have the devastating beauty. His face was attractive, but not nearly as handsome as the guy I had seen. “Hey.” He waved awkwardly.

  “Hey.”

  “Do you remember him?”

  “No.” The small glimmer of hope that I wasn’t crazy died.

  “I think I met your sister. You look a lot like Alise.”

  “I’m pretty sure everyone has met my sister.” I tried not to sound like an ass.

  Shane gave me a look. “Anyway, buddy, we thought we would take a drive out and see if meeting you could help jog her memory.”

  Wade lowered his voice, “Did we find out who the creepy bastard is?”

  “Not yet, but when we do, we’ll be sure to ask for some assistance from you boys.” Shane punched him in the arm and started to walk toward the truck.

  “Do that.” Wade’s smile grew menacing. “Nothing we Handley boys like more than giving out a good ass kicking. Nice meeting you, Aimee. Hope your memory comes back and say hi to your sister for me.” He winked.

  “Okay.” I waved at him as I climbed back into the truck, using all my strength and trying not to cry out loud. “I thought he was dating that girl.”

  “He is, but he likes to mess with me. Not to hurt your feelings, but everyone thought I was nuts for dating your sister.”

  “They did?” I cocked an eyebrow.

  “Yeah. She’s a handful and I’m not really the kind of guy for that.”

  “Why did you? Date her.”

  He appeared lost, trying to come up with a reply. “I don’t know. She’s hot.” His eyes met mine as he closed the door. “Wanna get something to eat?”

  “Yeah, I’m starving.”

  We drove in awkward silence again until he pulled into the town’s local burger shack. The Wood Inn was not exactly known for its gourmet food, but the veggie burgers were pretty yummy. Almost city yummy.

  He hopped out quickly to open my door and help me out and then held the door for me going in. I liked that about him, his being a gentleman.

  As we went to our table I got a slight hint of laundry soap and deodorant and it made me smile. He always smelled clean, not draped in aftershave or cologne as was every other guy our age. I hated the whole bathed in Axe body spray smell.

  “Ready to order?” The server appeared out of nowhere moments after we sat down with menus from the hostess.

  “Yup. I’ll have the veggie burger, no bacon, no cheese, extra tomato, and a side of yam fries.”

  She took my order, not even considering how stupid it was to have to ask for no bacon on one’s veggie burger.

  She turned to Shane who grinned. “I will have the bacon cheeseburger with bacon, no tomato, extra cheese, and a side of regular fries. And also a chocolate shake.”

  She finished writing it down and glanced at me while taking the menus. “Water okay for you?”

  “Yes, please.” I smiled and she was gone.

  “So you like your bacon cheeseburger with bacon?” I asked, making him smile.

  He grinned. “I don’t see how you can stomach a veggie burger without bacon.”

  “My stomach isn’t the same.”

  “You’ve been a veggie for a long time. This happening to you didn’t change you. What is it—seven years now?” He played with the fork and knife on the tabletop.

  I smiled at him, completely confused. “Yeah, it will be eight at Christmas. How do you remember that?”

  He shrugged. “I just notice stuff, I guess. So who are you going to the spring formal with?”

  I gulped, blindsided again. “Oh my God—I kind of figured it would be Blake. I guess I’m not going. I’m not a dance kind of girl anyway.”

  “You can’t dance?”

  I laughed. “I can dance just fine. I just don’t do popular kids and drinking and shit.”

  “Dances and cusses. Look at you. Well, I was taking Alise. Why don’t we go together?”

  “Oh.” I sipped my water cautiously. “As friends?”

  “Yeah. How could we be anything else, Aimee?” He said it like it was ironic.

  “Okay sure. I have a rule anyway, about dating boys who date my sister,” I blurted like an idiot.

  “Of course.” He sat back still playing with the utensils. “To being friends.” He lifted his water glass and I lifted mine.

  I laughed but secretly I imagined what it would be like to not be friends.

  “Your sister is a little bit evil when it comes to guys. I can’t even believe you’re related.”

  “Yeah.”

  He fiddled with the things on the table. “I’m sorry. She’s your sister. I shouldn’t be such a dick.”

  “No. It’s fine. I have no illusions about my sister.”

  “Speak of the devil and she shall arrive at your favorite burger joint.”

  “No way.” I turned to see my sister and Blake walking hand in hand past the window. They stopped dead when they saw us at the table. Blake dropped her hand and straightened up in his stance, not letting his gaze leave mine. It was as if he was trying to reassure me. They waved and walked to the door. Our food arrived as a waitress brought them to the seat behind us.

  Alise smiled sweetly but it was fake. “Fancy meeting you two here.” She looked back and forth between us suspiciously. “On a date?” Her words were biting.

  “We went to see Wade.”

  Blake acted nervous but tried to remain calm. “The elusive Wade. What did he have to say?”

  “Not him.” Shane replied. “He’s not the right guy.”

  “Should we just sit with you?” Alise asked innocently.

  “No. Let’s just go somewhere else, Alise.” Blake wasn’t pleading. He was telling. He pulled her back toward the entrance. “Enjoy your meal. I’ll text you later,” he said, dragging her out onto the street.

  “Okay.” I picked up my juicy veggie burger and raised my eyebrows at Shane. “Bon appetit.” It was more of a question.

  “Whatever.” He tried to smile but his anger was obvious.

  I took the biggest bite I could. The tastes started to swirl in my mouth. The flavor was so similar until it shifted as I chewed. I gagged as if I might throw up. My favorite veggie burger in the world was making me sick. I grabbed my napkin and spit the huge bite into it.

  “You okay?”

  “No.” I shuddered. “I’m so sorry. That was nasty.”

  “Maybe you should have gotten the beef.” He wrinkled his nose.

  “It’s not that. I just remembered I had a veggie burger for dinner that night, before the party. I puked it up.”

  “Hey!” His eyes lit up. “You remember the taste of your puke!”

  I realized what I had said as more of the memory came back. “Alise did my hair and makeup and made me wear the outfit I had on. I ate the veggie burger in secret in my room, so she wouldn’t know I ate.”

  �
�See, some of it’s coming back.”

  I was excited, except for the fact veggie burgers would be off the menu for quite a while.

  Shane took me home after I stopped picking at my fries.

  I dragged myself up the stairs, half dead I was certain. My body ached. The pain in my body was unbearable. I climbed into my bed and fell asleep with my clothes on.

  The warm wind came and I could have swore his voice crept through my dreams. “Get better, Aimee. Get better and forget about me.” It was soft and lured me deeper into my sleep.

  Chapter 12

  Beautiful boys—oh, and a stalker

  My phone vibrated in my pocket as I trudged my way to chemistry, completely obsessed with the dream I’d had. The not-Wade guy was plaguing my life. I didn’t want to be crazy, and maybe I wasn’t, but it was starting to seem like the best-case scenario was that the drugs were still affecting me. Otherwise I was bat-crap crazy.

  Deep down my non-rational side whispered of the possibility he was a ghost I could only see when I was sick, tired, and or dying. But I didn’t believe in ghosts—at all, and I’d seen him at Shane’s. He wasn’t in my dream then. It was real. I had seen him when I walked sober into the house party. I remembered that much of the story.

  Maybe it was Shane’s house.

  Maybe I was scaring myself with the shaman ghost story, but I needed to see him again. I needed to prove he was real. Or that I was crazy. He and ghost Giselle were proving that to be truth.

  One memory of him stood out the most, besides obviously seeing him as we entered the party. There was a hazy moment in the bathroom when he was talking about my veggie burger and chewing next time.

  My name being said not quietly enough made me turn my head. The other kids at school were whispering and watching me. And it wasn’t just one group. It was everyone in the courtyard. I tried not to care, but it was hard going from a complete unknown to that girl who got drugged and nearly raped. In a small town what else was there to talk about when several girls had been drugged and possibly assaulted?

  Nothing.

  And with everyone else either gone or being protected, I was it. Angela wasn’t back from the city. Giselle was doing worse in the city. No one mentioned the names of the other girls. Leaving me to be the only one here that they knew about for sure.

  I held my books tight to my chest and stared straight in the direction of my class, at the exact moment Blake walked up to the classroom door. I cringed, thinking about being around him and how awkward it would be.

  I decided I needed air more than chemicals and turned around, not really sure what to do.

  Mr. Mac saw me walking the wrong way and stopped. “Aimee, what are you doing?”

  “Oh, uhhhh”—I glanced down at the ground ashamed—“I need to go home. I’m feeling sick.”

  “Really?” He laughed. “You’re the worst liar ever.” Mr. Mac knew me better than any other teacher. He walked toward me with a skeptical look. “You having a problem getting back into the swing of things?”

  “Yeah. It’s hard to focus. I’m tired a lot.”

  “I’m sorry this happened to you, kid.” He pointed to the chemistry room. “I’m going to walk this way and if you follow, great. And if you don’t, I might not notice ‘cause I’m pretty preoccupied with the marks on the test we took a couple of weeks ago. The ninety-eight you got probably earned you a day off from class. If you want to think about it that way, I’m cool with it.” He paused for a moment. “I truly hope you’re feeling better, Aimee.”

  “Thanks.” I stared up into his dark-brown eyes and smiled. “You’re the best, Mr. Mac.”

  “Tell my mother that if you see her.” He chuckled and waved as he walked away, strolling casually toward the chem lab.

  The walk across the courtyard exhausted me and I contemplated just lying down where I was, but then I glanced at the trades building. Shane had a truck. He would drive me.

  The little whisper in my mind reminded me I’d seen my not-Wade guy at Shane’s and could go there to see if I could find him again. I had nothing better to do than sleep.

  I hobbled over to where Shane’s welding class was and waved at him through the shop doors. He wore a puzzled expression before he strolled over, quite cute in his coveralls with his welding helmet lifted up and bits of grease and dirt on his face. He grinned at me as he opened the door. “Aimes, what’s up? You taking shop now?”

  “Uh no. Not unless an early death for everyone in this building is on the syllabus.” I held my hand out. “I need your truck keys. I want to go to your house for a bit. I need to prove to myself that your yard isn’t haunted and the not-Wade guy is a figment of my imagination.” I didn’t bring ghost Giselle into it. I still hadn’t told anyone that yet.

  “Okay.” He burst out laughing and fished the keys out of his pocket. “You’re the weirdest girl I have ever met. I mean that in the nicest way. Want me to come too?”

  “No. That’s cool. I’ll be back before class is over to give back your truck.” I took the keys and grinned at his coveralls. “Thanks, this is a good look for you too. I think if you wore this to the spring formal, I might actually want to dance.”

  “It smells nice too.” He winked and closed the door. “I’ve had them for three years.”

  “Gross.” I turned on my heel.

  The drive to Shane’s house was about five minutes, and for some reason I couldn’t help glimpsing in my rearview. I was not a good criminal. And it was my first time skipping.

  I pulled into the driveway and gingerly climbed out of the truck. My ribs were hurting, but I ignored it and walked up to the house and then past it, wandering around the outside. Every couple of seconds I checked behind myself and peeked around the yard. If anyone saw me, they would instantly assume injured spy or total idiot. I was going with the latter.

  And to top it off, the not-Wade guy wasn’t here.

  About to give up, I glanced at the woods and wondered if they were my best bet. The last time I’d seen him was in the forest by Shane’s. Except for my dreams of course.

  The forest was dark and spooky, but I decided that dwelling on how creepy the bushes were was not the smartest way to enter it.

  Trees on the North Coast were huge. Big was what you called a tree at half their size in the Pacific Northwest. Shane’s yard had massive ones that let in almost no light.

  Once I was inside, the forest air hit me like a ton of bricks. It was freezing and damp.

  I decided sitting in a quiet spot was my best plan. Then, like a rabbit hopping into a trap, I would be able to see him, but he wouldn’t see me—if he was real and not a ghost because a ghost would probably see me.

  I crept through huge ferns and past the old man’s beard covering the branches. The forest thinned out remarkably once you were inside of it because the canopy of huge trees filtered out the light. Not a lot of other small trees and bushes could grow. Moss and ferns didn’t need light to prosper. The forest on the North Coast always reminded me of Jurassic Park. The air was clean and pure and colder sometimes by five or six degrees.

  I found the old tree fort Shane had constructed once with his friends and hid at the base of the tree next to it. There was a small bush surrounded by several huge ferns, and if I sat still long enough I would probably see something. The half hour was all I needed to prove to myself he wasn’t a ghost. It would have to be enough. After that I’d drop it and move on.

  I climbed into the bush, fluffed up the ferns, and pulled my jacket tight around me, drawing the hood up over my head to cover my blonde hair. The black jacket helped me to blend into the bush and massive trunk. I settled back on the dirt, leaned against the tree, and became still. I turned my phone to vibrate and waited.

  I liked to believe I was a peaceful enough person that the calm of the forest and the small noises it made were relaxing. Instead, I was on edge hiding there, watching for either a ghost or a guy I couldn’t quite understand.

  What if he was the stalker?


  What would I do then?

  The poorly thought-out plan to prove I wasn’t crazy was starting to seem a little arrogant and naïve.

  Mocking myself and the lack of intelligence I was showing for a smart girl, I took a breath and prepared to stand and give up.

  But I froze as I heard a crunch.

  My heart raced as I turned my head, forcing myself to look for where it had come from. I guessed about fifty feet back toward the house.

  I froze as it happened again but closer.

  My heartbeat increased, followed by a cold sweat as the noise got louder and louder.

  I wanted to close my eyes and become invisible. I was terrified but forced myself to watch. I wasn’t going to miss him walking past. Did ghosts crunch when they walked?

  The sound got louder. I twitched with every vibration as the branches broke.

  Something tingled inside me with the next crunch of branches snapping. Perhaps it was the stillness between the steps or the way the person didn’t call out. Whatever it was, I needed to fear the source of the noise.

  It breathed like it was out of breath or nervous like I was.

  The bush covered me, but if it got close enough, it would be able to see me.

  Its pace slowed to a step every minute or so, as it scanned the forest behind me somewhere. I knew what it was doing, even if I couldn’t see it, and I was positive then it was a danger to me.

  My brain screamed that it and the not-Wade guy were different people. I waited to see its face when it came around the trees. I could text its identity to Shane before it got me.

  Its steps sounded as if they were on top of me. I wanted to dash from the woods screaming, but my dash would be more of a light jog at best. I also knew that in every horror movie, the hiding person would have lived if they had just stayed hidden. But they always let the suspense and madness get to them. They always ran and died.

  “Aimee, are you here?” it spoke in a breathless whisper. “I saw you come into the woods. I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

  It was a he.

  And he knew my name.

  He must have gone to school with me or been following me. How else would he have seen me take Shane’s truck?