The Haunted - Jessica Verday [105]
Right now there was only one important thing to take care of, and two potential roadblocks standing in the way.
I found Mom and Dad downstairs in the living room watching a movie. It was almost over, and I waited until the credits rolled before I sprung my big idea on them. “I want to go look at colleges in West Virginia,” I blurted out.
Dad paused with the remote in his hand, mid-mute for the commercials, and Mom sighed happily. Her whole face lit up. “You do?”
They exchanged a Can you believe this change of heart? look, and I felt guilty for the lie.
But not guilty enough.
“Yeah, there are some really great schools there, and with my senior year coming up, I’d like to rethink some of my options.”
“We’ll set everything up,” Mom said excitedly. “Oh, honey, your first college tour! Such a big moment. We’ll have to make sure to check out the campus and the dorms, of course, and—”
“Mom.”
“The town. You want to make sure the town is safe. A lot of people don’t think about things like that.”
“Mom!” I gave Dad a helpless look, and he grinned at me. “Mom, stop.” She stopped. But the look of excitement was still there.
Ah, damn it. Now I felt bad. “The thing is… I want to go on my own.” There was utter silence, and Mom’s mouth gaped open.
“No.”
“But Mom, I really want to do this, and I think it will be good for my independence. I’m growing here, and I feel like my feathers are getting all tangled.”
“Feathers? What…”
“Baby bird,” Dad said. “I get it.”
I shot him a grateful look.
“How will you get there? Where will you stay? You’ll be all alone.” Mom’s face crumpled.
“I can take a bus. And there are hotels there. I’ll be fine. I’m seventeen. I can do this. In some countries girls my age are getting married, you know.”
“M-married?” Her lower lip quivered.
Uh-oh. Wrong thing to say.
Dad came to the rescue. “Do you have any friends that could go with you, Abbey? I’m sure that would make your mother and me feel safer.”
“Friends? Well, there’s always Ben,” I quipped. “He’s dependable.” Dad nodded. “Yes, he is. You’ll have to get separate rooms, though. And I’m going to call each night to do random bed checks. No bed hopping on this trip.”
“What? Are you serious? He’s a teenage boy, Dad. You actually want us spending unsu-pervised time alone together?”
“Well, considering the other options… He’s been tutoring you, hasn’t he? Has he made any inappropriate advances?”
“No, he’s been the perfect gentleman.”
“Then I think it’s a good solution. He has a car, right?” I nodded.
“See about making the arrangements, then.” He patted Mom’s hand. “Your mother and I will stay here.”
Mom looked close to tears again.
“I’m serious about the bed checks though,” Dad called, when I got up to leave the room.
“No funny business.”
Shaking my head as I climbed the stairs, I wondered the whole way what planet I was living on and where my real parents were. Obviously, the ones in there had been replaced by pod people.
The Haunted
Chapter Twenty-two
ROAD TRIP
Certain it is, his advances were signals for rival candidates to retire…
—“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”
I talked to Ben about going to West Virginia with me, and he quickly agreed, saying that he was always up for a road trip. “Are you sure you don’t mind driving?” I asked him again, cradling the phone to my ear.
“I don’t mind, Abbey,” he said.
“And I told you about the dad thing? He’ll probably be obnoxious about calling to check up on me.”
“You told me. Twice,” Ben replied.
“Are you cool with dropping me off ? I don’t want you to be stuck hanging around.”
“It’s cool. My dad has a friend who owns a junkyard near there. I’ll check him out.”
“Thanks, Ben. I really appreciate this.”
“What’s the name of the college?” he asked.
Luckily, I was sitting in front of my computer, and I quickly turned to Google. “It’s um…” I typed in colleges in West Virginia. A listing came up showing at least a dozen of them, and I scanned through. I couldn’t believe my luck when Shepherd University popped up within ten miles of Martinsburg. “Shepherd,” I said.