The Haunted - Jessica Verday [62]
I frowned at him. He knows an awful lot about Kristen. “Yeah. She—” The phone rang and I reached for it, glad for the distraction. “Hello?”
“Abbey, I need you to check on something for me.”
I turned my back to Ben, but I could still feel the frown on my face. “Yeah, Mom. What is it?” Glancing out the window into the yard, I almost fell off my seat.
Caspian was standing next to the house.
Mom was prattling on about something, so I covered the receiver and turned back to Ben.
“I’ll be… right back.” Without waiting for his response, I flew out the back door and gestured for Caspian to follow me into the covering of trees we’d met under before.
“What are you doing here?” I hissed at him, the phone cradled next to my shoulder so that I could still sort of hear Mom but she couldn’t hear me.
Caspian looked at the house and then stepped closer to me. “I thought I’d come see you for a change. Did he do something to you?”
“What? No. Why?”
“You were frowning.”
Mom’s voice grew silent, and some part of me was vaguely aware that she was waiting for an answer from me. “Um, Mom,” I said. “Can you repeat that again?” She said something about eggs and salad and waiting for me to go check, and I put the phone back against my shoulder.
“Ben’s fine,” I said to Caspian. “He just mentioned something about Kristen that surprised me, that’s all.”
Caspian’s face turned thunderous, and he took a step toward the house.
“No, no,” I told him. “Really, it’s okay.” Ahhh, protective boyfriends. The tiny part of me that wasn’t furiously trying to multitask was very much enjoying this.
“—and I can just check then.” Mom’s voice caught my attention again.
I held up one finger to Caspian and turned back to the phone. “What was that, Mom?
Sorry, Ben and I are studying, and it’s hard to concentrate on two things at once.” Make that three things.
“I said never mind about the egg salad,” Mom repeated. “I’m on my way home right now.
Oh, and don’t forget to pack an overnight bag. We’re leaving tomorrow to spend an extra day at Aunt Cindy’s before the picnic. Bye.”
She hung up, and I stared down at the phone. Overnight bag? Extra day? When had that little detail been agreed upon?
But I knew by Mom’s tone that her mind was made up. If Dad wouldn’t let me skip the family picnic, there was no way he would let me bail on an overnight trip. I was doomed.
Sighing heavily, I put one hand to my head and rubbed my temple.
“Are you okay?” Caspian asked.
“Headache. Thanks to my mother.”
He looked sympathetic. “Why don’t you come take a walk with me? We can go downtown.
What do you say?”
What did I say? I wasn’t going to get the chance to see him again until after we got back from the picnic. Of course I wanted to spend the afternoon with him.
I hit the redial button, and it went to voice mail. “Hey, Mom, Ben and I are going to finish studying at his house. I’ll see you in a couple hours, and I’ll leave enough time to get my bag packed.”
“Okay,” I said, turning to Caspian. “I’m in. Let me just go talk to Ben and get him to cover.
You can… follow me, I guess.”
I held the back door open for a couple of extra seconds when I walked into the house, and Caspian came in. I’m totally not letting my invisible boyfriend in. The hinge was just stuck. Or something.
Facing Ben, I tried to pretend that Caspian wasn’t right behind me. “Ben, I need you to do me a favor.”
Ben was still scarfing down chips, and he paused with the bag in midair. “What?”
“Nice,” Caspian murmured.
I forced myself not to let any reaction show on my face. “I need to get out for a while. I have something to take care of. But my mom’s coming home, and I told her I’d be going to your house to finish studying. So can you cover for me?” He looked down at the half-started report. “But we have to work on this.”
“Please, Ben? You’ll be on my top-friends list forever. I really need this favor.” Caspian snorted, but Ben stood up and started gathering his books. “Okay, fine. But you owe me.” He came around