The Haunted - Jessica Verday [78]
“Was?” I squeaked. Then I cleared my throat and tried again. “I mean—”
“Am,” Caspian corrected himself. “Technically, I guess it’s both. I was interested the first day I saw her, and I still am interested in her.” His eyes glowed in the soft candlelight around us, and every last ounce of coherent thought left me.
“It’s… um… really. It’s…” My head felt like it was thickening and my body was overheat-ing, every word dragged from somewhere in the depths of my fuzzy brain. I waved a hand in front of my face to fan myself, and finally spit out what I was trying to say. “It’s hot in here.
Don’t you think? It’s really warm.”
“I only feel warmth when I’m standing next to you,” Caspian said. He stepped half an inch closer. “Like right now.”
I flapped my hand harder, desperately trying to get some air, when I felt something tug at my arm.
“Hey…” I lifted my arm, trying to pull free, and my shirt rose up. It was caught on one of the unlit candles at my back. “I’m stuck.”
Caspian glanced down. I followed his gaze and saw that my hip bone was peeking out above my low riding skirt, my shirt pulled high enough to show a wide expanse of flesh.
I was completely mortified until Caspian glanced back up at me and we locked eyes.
“What are you doing?” I whispered.
“Enjoying the view.” His voice was shaky, and he closed his eyes for a minute, taking a deep breath.
“How much longer until your death day?” I asked.
“Too long.”
“And you’re sure, that for a whole day you can…”
“Touch? Yes. And I’ll definitely be spending that day with you.” His voice was hoarse, and it seemed to take a lot of effort for him to speak.
I raised an eyebrow at him. “Promise?”
“Promise.”
A high-pitched beep broke the silence and cut through the tension. Caspian pulled himself upright with an almost audible snap, and I freed my shirt. Shoving one hand into my skirt pocket, I pulled out my phone and turned it off.
“Sorry,” I said. “It’s my alarm. I have to go.”
I hadn’t told him about my movie plans yet, and now I really didn’t know what to say. So of course, per my usual brain-mouth-no-filter method, I just blurted it right out. “I’m going to the movies tonight with some friends.” I hesitated. “And… Ben.” He pulled back even farther, and everything in me yelled for him to stop. I had to clench my fists to keep from reaching out.
“It’s totally just this friend thing,” I tried to explain. “I felt bad because this girl, Beth, called me and begged me to go so she wouldn’t be alone.”
Caspian smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “You don’t have to explain yourself to me, Abbey. It’s cool. Go. Have fun.” He took a step away and turned his back.
“You could come.” I said. “And sit next to me. No one will know you’re there.” He shook his head. “That could get awkward. It’s fine. I’ll see you later.” I hesitated, unsure of what to do. I wanted to stay with him, but he was telling me to go and have fun. “All right,” I said finally. “Can we meet at the bridge? Tomorrow morning?”
“You’re on,” he replied. “Bye, Abbey.”
I tried to tell myself the whole way home that he didn’t really look at me with hopelessness in his eyes when I left. It must have been a trick of the light. That’s all.
Just a trick of the light.
At the theater that night I had to admit that I actually was having fun, and the movie was pretty good too. Beth and Lewis were so cute together, and every time Beth and I took a quick bathroom break to talk about everything, she couldn’t stop gushing over how sweet he was.
Ben kept cracking jokes the entire evening and making us all laugh. Afterward we went for some pizza, and I didn’t think about Caspian the whole time. It wasn’t until I was standing in line to buy a bottle of iced tea to take home with me that my thoughts turned to him.
Glancing outside at Ben, Lewis, and Beth standing on the sidewalk, I thought about how much fun he would have had. If he could have been here. If he was as real to everyone else as he was to me…
The clerk snapped his fingers to get my attention, and I jerked