Other students arrived and Mr. Abramson called the class to order. I tried to pretend I was not studying Jonah’s every move and hoped I was better at convincing everyone else than I was myself. I was ready to dart out the door as soon as the bell rang.
“Becca?” Jonah called to me before I could escape.
I looked up at him reluctantly. He was too perfect, so much so it was almost a cliché and I still didn’t know how to sort out the toxic soup of emotions I felt near him.
“What is it Jonah?” I asked, keeping my voice light as possible.
“Well,” Jonah said, looking down at his feet. “I guess you’ve heard about the dance coming up.”
My heart did a strange stop-start-pound in my ears sort of thing. I tried to breath normally, but my knees were already starting to shake.
“Billie and Ally were talking about it at lunch.” I said, shocked at how normal my voice sounded. “Why?”
“Well,” he faltered, clearly not as confident as I had believed. “I was wondering if you were going?”
“I don’t know. Nobody has asked me.”
“Oh,” he said and looked back down at his feet. “I thought you might already have a date.”
I bit my lip, hating the rush of shame that ran over me. I didn’t want to think about Alastor, but everyone kept bringing up the man from under the tree that day.
“No.” I assured him. “No one has asked me.”
Jonah smiled and stood taller, running his fingers through his hair like the male model that he should have been. “Well, would you like to go with me?”
So this is what it was like to be normal? This sensation of giddy embarrassment?
“Yes.” I whispered before he changed his mind or I changed mine. “I’d love to.”
“Great,” he said with a slight nod. “We’ll work all the details out later.”
Before I could say anything else, he turned and left the room. I stared after him, still trying to believe what just happened.
I walked to my Spanish class in a state of bewilderment. I took my seat and ran through the events in my mind while the teacher droned on and on about conjugating verbs.
“I’m pleased to see you in such a good mood Miss McAllister,” Mrs. Martinez said in a belittling tone. “But would you please refrain from humming.”
I flushed and sank down in my seat. I felt everyone’s eyes on me, especially Ashley Richardson’s. I felt her glaring at me from across the room like she was trying to bore a hole into the side of my head.
What was a matter with her? She seemed to be hating me more than usual.
When the bell range, I stood to leave, but Ashley blocked my way.
“So Becca,” Ashley began, stressing my name. “I hear Jonah asked you to the dance.”
“Yeah.” I said, eying her warily.
She smirked as she tilted her head and looked down at me. “Well, he might be paying attention to you now, but don’t get used to it.”
“Why is that?”
Ashley lifted her hand to examine her perfect nails, complete with shiny French manicure.
“Because,” she said with a toss of her head. “Right now you’re the new girl, a novelty.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” I asked, unable to deny the obvious.
She crossed her arms, “Sooner or later, novelty wears off and when it does, he’ll come right back to me.”
“Do you really believe that?” I snapped.
“Yes, and so do you. Guys like him belong with girls like me, it’s just a fact of life.”
I pushed past her, wishing I had enough guts to shove her into the wall.
“Whatever.” I said as I left.
Alastor hovered near my shoulder, “I do not like that girl.”
I smiled and stifled a giggle. Neither do I.
The worse thing was that I had the sinking sensation that Ashley was right. After all, I was nothing special and he was Jonah Ericson. Normal girls like me that went to dances with the super popular guy usually got pig blood dumped on them or something, not a second date.
I guess it didn’t matter. It was all settled. I was going to the dance with Jonah Ericson.
The news of this miracle seemed to spread quickly, so quickly that even as I was leaving school for the day, girls were giving me looks of envy. Overnight I went from being the strange new girl at school to Jonah’s date for the dance. I could feel people looking at me and wondering who I was for such a turn of fortune.
“You’re all anyone is talking about.” Billie said when we met up outside school. She smiled smugly, “I’ve been asked about it a dozen times just while I’ve been standing here.”
Ally motioned over to the flock of girls near the steps; Ashley was in the center of them.
“Some people are pretty twisted up over it.” She said, barely able to contain her smile.
I looked over at Ashley and saw that she was glaring at me again as if she wished I would burst into flames.
“Yeah, she’s already made it pretty clear what she thinks about it.”
Billie giggled, “So I guess it’s safe to say that she hates you now.”
Ally elbowed me in the ribs, “You can almost see the smoke coming out of her ears.”
“I guess she really does hate me.” I said with another glance in Ashley’s direction. “I can’t pretend that it’s a loss.”
“Who cares?” Ally declared. “You’re going to the dance with Jonah Ericson!”
We started walking. They were squealing and joking around while I was starting to get a sick feeling deep in the pit of my stomach. Where was Alastor? Did he already know? If he didn’t, what would he do when he found out?
I was so distracted with my thoughts about Alastor I didn’t notice Billie and Ally had stopped walking. I turned to say something to them and they were frozen in place three yards back.
“What? What’s wrong with you two?” I asked.
“How can you be so calm?” Ally wailed.
I walked back to where her and Ally stood, both of them looking as though the world was coming to an end.
“What are you throwing such a fit over?” I asked.
“What are you going to wear?” Billie asked, spreading her arms wide as if she had my entire wardrobe in front of her.
“Um…A Dress…I guess…What else would I wear?” I asked, still not sure what the big crisis was.
“Do you have a dress?” Ally asked.
“Well, no.”
“Oh my God!” Billie cried out. “We only have two weeks to find one.”
“Well, call me fashion ignorant,” I declared. “But I still don’t see what the big deal is.”
“What if we find you a dress, but it needs to be altered? What about dying the shoes?” Billie counted off on her fingers. “And then there’s the accessories and deciding on your hair.”
“Seriously?” I teased. “This is your major crisis?”
Ally shook her head, “You don’t get it. You’re going to the dance with Jonah Ericson.”
I was starting to grow impatient with both of them, “I know. Remember? I was there when he asked me.”
“Well,” Billie explained. “You can’t just show up in any old dress. Guys like Jonah go to dances with girls like Ashley with their designer dresses. They don’t show up with girls in dresses grabbed off the clearance rack at the last minute.”
I began to understand I had a bigger responsibility to Jonah than merely showing up as his date. There were expectations to uphold that I knew nothing about. The entire thing was becoming overwhelming quickly.
“So what am I supposed to do about it?” I asked, already defeated.
Billie and Ally looked at me, shrugging their shoulders.
I could feel the tears behind my eyes, wanting to come up and embarrass me. “You’re not helping.”
Ally sighed and straightened her shoulders. “You’re right. Let’s drop off your books, get some money from your dad, and we’ll go
shopping. I’ve got my mom’s car tonight so we can even go down to Clarksville.”
Giving me a nervous smile, Billie agreed. “Sure. If we get started right away, I’m sure we can pull it off.”
I tried to be as confident as they were pretending to be. I wanted to believe them, but it would take a miracle. I wanted to believe I could look the part of small town royalty if only I had the right dress.
They followed me home where I let us in using my old fashioned black key. I felt the disturbance of Alastor in the air even before I turned the knob. The door creaked as I stepped inside with them close behind me. The light on the entry table flickered off and on, catching their attention.
I laughed and rolled my eyes, trying not to let them see the panic that was tightening my throat. “We’ve got an electrician coming next week to fix that. Grab yourselves a soda. I’ll be right back down.”
As they headed toward the kitchen, I bounded up the stairs two at a time. I could hear the house groaning and something similar to the sound of cards shuffling coming from above. By the time I reached my bedroom door, I could feel Alastor’s cold breath on my neck.
I opened the door to a hurricane of papers and clothes being swept through the room. It would have been terrifying if I hadn’t known the jealousy behind it. I stepped inside and slammed the door, bringing an end to the chaos as all of my possessions fell and fluttered to the floor.
“What?” I hissed into the air as I looked about.
There was a rush of air as Alastor came in to touch my face and hair without materializing, “What is it that you think you are doing Becca?”
“You know full well what I’m doing.” I said as I glared up at the ceiling. “You’re the one that said Jonah was going to ask me to the dance.”
“I did not tell you to accept the invitation.”
I ignored him, going to my dresser and getting my money out of the top drawer. I tried to shrug him off as he collected around me, but how do you push away someone that isn’t there?
“Becca,” His sweet voice called to me. “Why are you shunning me?”
I griped the edge of the furniture, grinding my teeth and squinting my eyes shut to keep the tears from escaping.
“Alastor let me go.” I pleaded.
A chill spread through the room as he gathered energy. It sounded like the roar of the ocean inside a sea shell.
“How can you waste time thinking about that boy when it is I that loves you?” He demanded. “Do you not realize that it is I that has cheated eternal sleep to be near you now?”
I kept my eyes closed, knowing that he was taking form in back of me. I felt his smooth hand touch my face and my knees felt weak.
“Becca,” he whispered. “Open your eyes and look at me.”
I hesitated, not sure if I could stand to see his face. Despite my better judgment, I turned to him and opened my eyes.
He stood before me, looking solid and real. The light in his blue eyes was just as intense, but somewhat less luminous in this form. His skin was youthful, but rugged beyond his years. My eyes followed the lines of his strong jaw down to his neck and then to his open collar. I fought the urge to bury my face in his chest and inhale the scent of his skin.
Alastor stepped even closer to me. I could feel the icy chill radiating from him.
“Becca,” he pleaded. “He is just a boy. I am your husband. Why are you doing this to me?”
I knew I was faltering. His words were pulling me in, making me want to bend to his will. I had to do something before it was too late.
I took one shaking step backward and away from his hand. As I did, the image of him wavered and began to fade.
“Because,” I said. “He’s real.”
The very air surrounding me shook to where dusty fragments of plaster from the ceiling fell away. The flickering mist that was Alastor broke apart and came toward me as if pushed by a great wind. I covered my face with my hands as he rushed toward me. Papers blew past me and things flew off the wall as I struggled to make it to the door.
When I reached the door, I rushed out into the hall and slammed the door behind me. The noise and commotion stopped immediately.
Ally and Billie were rushing up the stairs, their eyes wide and panicked.
“Are you okay?” Ally panted. “We heard you banging around up here.”
I smoothed my hair and tried to smile. “Sure. I just got tangled up in a cord and tripped.”
They both eyed me suspiciously, probably trying to decide whether or not to believe me.
“So,” I said with as much enthusiasm as possible. “What are we waiting for?”
Chapter 11
Ally drove like a maniac, leaving clouds of autumn leaves swirling in her wake. She drove so fast we beat the rush hour traffic down to Clarksville.
The girls were laughing and joking as they sang along to the radio. I had been so consumed by Alastor that I had neglected my friends. It was nice to just be out with my friends.
Clarksville was slightly more urban than Corydon with numerous strip malls and one actual mall. The whole town had a dirty industrial feel, making me doubt the perfect dress was hiding within its one shopping mall.
“Ready?” Ally asked as she parked the car.
“So Becca, what’s the story with that guy a couple weeks ago? Billie asked as we walked through the doors to the mall.
“What guy?” I asked innocently, not wanting to even think about Alastor for fear of making him appear.
We were walking down the mall corridor with me in the middle as the pointed to the few stores with dresses in the windows. Billie and Ally looked over at each other and smirked.
“You know exactly what guy.” Billie snapped.
“Yeah,” Ally agreed as she elbowed my ribs teasingly. “Is he an old boyfriend or what?”
“Not exactly.” I evaded.
Billie smelled a scandal and her eyes lit up, “Why isn’t he taking you to the dance?”
I bit my lip and looked away, feeling guilty. “He’s just not taking me.”
Ally’s curiosity was now piqued, “So what does he think about Jonah taking you to the dance?”
I could still see all of my belongings flying about my bedroom in a tornado-like fury.
Shaking my head to clear the image, I shrugged. “I didn’t ask.”
“You’re so lucky.” Billie said with a sigh.
“Why is that?”
“You’ve got two guys wanting your attention,” she said with a smile. “I can’t even get one to notice me.”
Ally danced around us, “So, are we going to shop or talk about guys all night?”
“Why not?” I sighed.
What followed was five hours of retail torture. Billie and Ally dragged me into every store that even looked like a possible candidate for having the perfect dress. They held me hostage in dressing rooms and punished me by making me try on dress after dress.
Each time they left me alone to go get another style or size, Alastor would appear in the reflection of the dressing room mirror. The first time I saw him there I shrieked and backed into the corner.
He glared at me from the mirror, “You are breaking every vow you ever made.”
I lowered my voice to a whisper, “Alastor please…Go away.”
“What’s wrong?” Billie cried from the other side.
“I’m fine. It was just a spider.” I lied and glared at his reflection in the mirror. As if he sensed my anger, he faded away only to appear again and again at every opportunity.
Despite Alastor’s games, Billie and Ally helped me choose a beautiful dress of a strange teal shade with a black mesh overlay and scattered rhinestones over the short skirt. Luckily, it fit perfect so there was no need for alterations. Before the night was over, I had a new dress, glittery black heels I would never wear again, and a few pieces of ridiculous costume jewelry.
The two of them looked quite pleased with themselves as I handed most of my savings over to the sales lady.
I was relieved they were preoccupied with their success. They were too excited to notice Alastor’s reflection in the glass case by the register or shimmering in the windows as we left the mall.
I was grateful when they suggested going to a movie before we called it a night. I hated to admit it, but I was having fun and in the darkness of a theatre, Alastor wouldn’t be able to torment me with his constant appearances.
Spiritus, a Paranormal Romance (Spiritus Series, Book #1) Page 13