The Haunted - Jessica Verday [17]
My entire scalp broke out in creepy crawlies. It felt like dozens of baby spiders were suddenly swarming across my head and tap dancing down my spine.
It was not a pleasant feeling.
“Well, it was nice to meet you guys.” I stood up. “But I have to go. My parents are waiting for me.”
“Okay,” Cacey said. It didn’t look like she was blinking at all. “We just have one more question for you.”
I should have walked away. I should have left them behind and gone to Mom and Dad and told them to drive me away from there as fast as they could.
But I didn’t. I stayed.
“Were you friends with Kristen Maxwell?” Uri asked. “The girl who drowned in the river here?”
I froze. This was beyond creepy now. Even though I’d just given a speech about Kristen’s death, this just felt wrong. Very, very wrong. Like they shouldn’t have known that. “Why do you want to know?” My voice was almost a whisper.
“We heard about what happened. That’s all,” he said.
Suddenly, a completely carefree, everything’s-fine-now feeling washed over me. I had the most insane urge to laugh everything off. But it almost felt… forced. I knew I shouldn’t be feeling all fine and dandy. What was going on here? All I could think to say was, “Okay. Well, I really do have to get going. See ya.”
My mouth felt funny, and I swallowed hard. Someone must have been burning leaves or something, because I could taste it on my tongue.
“Bye, Abbey,” Cacey trilled. “Catch you later.”
The spiders came back and did double time on my spine, and I walked away as fast as I could.
The Haunted
Chapter Four
NEW PLANS
From hence the low murmur of his pupils’ voices… might be heard in a drowsy summer’s day…
—“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”
I wanted to visit the cemetery the next day, but I had to take a trip to Hollow High to return my junior-year textbooks.
When I’d left school in February to go stay with Aunt Marjorie, all of the teachers gave me schoolwork to take with me so I wouldn’t have to make everything up when I returned. But science had been an issue. I’d had a really tough time with my assignments, and I hadn’t gotten very good grades.
Mom and Dad had been pretty lenient, since I had extenuating circumstances and all, but now Mr. Knickerbocker and I were going to have to talk. I didn’t want to repeat chemistry my senior year.
It was weird being inside the school with no students. Emptiness hung in the halls. Rows of silver lockers stood barren and waiting for the next batch of teenagers that would call them home for nine months. Wooden floors squeaked under my feet, and I looked down, realizing they were freshly buffed and polished.
Hiking up my book bag, I walked to the administration office. It was a small room, painted in a warm vanilla shade, with lots of pictures on the wall. Mrs. Frantz sat behind the desk with a pencil tucked behind one ear and glasses falling off the tip of her nose. She looked up from her computer and gave me an easy smile.
“Hi, dear. What can I do for you?”
I unzipped my bag and pulled out a stack of books. “Just need to return these.” I piled them onto the desk, where they took up almost the entire surface.
She gave me a wry look and sighed. “I’ll take care of them.” I turned to leave.
“Wait,” she said. “Let me get you a return slip.” She opened up a side drawer and dug through for a minute, then pulled out a sheet of paper. After cutting off one side of it, she scribbled her name and then handed it to me.
I tucked the paper into my back pocket. “Thanks. Do you know if Mr. Knickerbocker is still here?”
“Mmm-hmm.” She had already returned to her computer work. “Check the gymnasium.
Sometimes he helps coach the track team. They have practice today.” Leaving the administration office behind, I hurried to the gym to find him. As I got closer, I could hear sounds spilling out through the open doors. I poked my head in and saw a group of kids doing leg stretches in the corner. They each wore matching blue-and-gold