His hand grabbed mine again, “I am only kidding. The puzzle is far from solved.”
My head was still heavy from the earlier conversation, and my expression must have read it. “Savanah, don’t stress, I like puzzles. And you know what else? I am damn good at them.”
We walked into the gym just as the team was finishing their warmup. The energy boiled and churned in the air, while the crowd seemed to feed on the volume. Cheerleaders were warming up their stunts, stretching in contortionist ways, and posing for cute social media pictures.
The student section was already filling up with so many people I’d never seen on campus. Was it possible they all went here? Girls in cut off crop tops and cute little tank tops filled the stands. It was the middle of November, and I wondered if they brought a sweater.
Tyler filed in next to several other baseball players, many who brought in their to-go cups. Well at least they are staying hydrated, I thought but caught the whiff of some of their breath. – Then again, maybe not.
Everyone seemed to know each other, and everyone knew Tyler. He introduced me to several people, whose names I would never remember, even if there was a million-dollar quiz afterwards.
The game was loud, fast, and actually fun. They were winning by a landslide, and honestly, I found it quite easy to hang with Tyler’s friends. Just after half time Darcy and Camryn showed up. They’d pre-game partied before and had been drinking a bit. Darcy walked right up to Tyler, messing up his hair.
“You are being good to my girl, Ty?”
My face turned beet red.
“Of course, Darc, but since when is she your girl?” Tyler’s face held that smirk that I couldn’t stop staring at. That was dangerous. Almost as dangerous as those dimples. He needed to not look like that.
“Savannah is my girl. She’s special. You better be nice.” Darcy winked big at me.
This was so surreal.
Tyler wrapped his long arm around my waist, “Well, I will fight ya for her, how does that sound?”
The man from the other day appeared directly in front of Tyler. He stared right at me.
No, not now, not now, please no.
His hand reached toward me, his stare growing more intense. I felt my feet fleeing up the stairs before I registered what had happened. I reached the woman’s bathroom and locked the stall in the farthest corner.
My breathing remained ragged, my skin paled, and my knees shook. “No, please not now. Please, just go away.” my words barely audible to my own ears.
“Savanah? You ok?” Camryn’s voice broke my rhythmic rocking. She knocked lightly, “Hey, what happened?”
I unlocked the stall. “I’m fine.” I cracked. “Just – slight nausea. I think I’m coming down with something.”
“Wow, how drunk do you think I am?” Camryn reached cautiously for my shoulder, but I pulled back instinctually. Camryn’s expression turned to knowing. “Touch. All be damned, you are some kind of magical. Holy shit!”
My eyes filled with terror. “Camryn, please keep your voice down. Seriously, please don’t.”
Camryn looked behind her, “Sorry, I guess I’m a little drunk.” She waited to hear the main door close again, “What can I do?”
I felt tears blur my vision. My emotions ran so strong when I found myself in this state. “What?”
“Oh sweetie, please don’t cry. What can I do to help?”
“Help?” I had never had this. Never had a person I barely knew express anything but fear, and ignorance. I inhaled deeply, focusing on steadying my breathing, grounding my energy. “Camryn that is so sweet. Really, I’m fine. I just…” For the first time I didn’t need to lie. My go to response was always one of explanation or justification of my emotions. Making those believe that I just had a sensitive stomach. I toyed with epilepsy for a while, but it was too risky- real people had that, and the last thing I needed was for people to think I made it all up.
“It’s passed. I’m ok.”
Camryn relaxed slightly. “Does that happen all the time, or just someone you have feelings for?”
A question I hadn’t quite asked myself yet. “I-I don’t really know. I guess it just happens.”
“Do you want me to walk you home?”
I shook my head, “No, I will be ok-I’m just so embarrassed. What is he going to think? What a freak.”
Walking slowly, focusing on my steps one by one. These steps were always the most difficult. My body acted as if I hadn’t walked in years, my muscles extracting the memory of how to make the bones move from the cobwebbed corners of my mind.
Inhale-exhale
Focusing on my face in the mirror, externally, I looked normal- well, except better than normal thanks to my new friends.
“Are we headed back to the game?” Camryn asked.
“I don’t know.”
She opened the door, “I got this, let’s go.”
We shuffled back into the stands, “Sorry about that, apparently my girl can’t handle Jell-O shots as well as me!” Camryn laughed and slapped Tyler’s shoulder.
My face flushed with embarrassment, “Sorry.” Looking up at Tyler through my lashes.
His eyes locked in on mine. “You sure you are ok?” He reached for my back, “We can leave if you want.”
“No, I’m fine. Just embarrassed and gross feeling.” Noting his hand froze in midair, rethinking his touch. The inner struggle tore at my heart. So much I wanted him to touch me, to feel his hand upon my skin, the warmth seeping into my still frigid bones. At the same time, the thought of his ghostly friend reappearing was more than I could handle.
Tyler’s hand fell to his side, but his eyes continued
