I glanced over at Leah, just as we were passing the window. I shifted my eyes quickly. “Yeah, I think I’m good.”
“No, no you’re so not.”
“Hey, are we meeting later to go over Western Civ? I really have no idea what he is talking about.” On cue, Tyler walked towards us, “Please? You are my only hope.”
I smiled and blushed slightly, “I am out of work study at four, do you want to meet for an hour before dinner?”
“It’s a date.” He called walking backwards away from us.
Leah’s eyebrows raised and a smirk overtook her expression. “OHHHH, I get it. You have to study.” She grinned a knowing look at my beat red face.
“Stop. It is nothing like that. He just needs tutor help.” I pulled the door open, happily headed to our next class. “You heard him; he is totally lost.”
“Savanah you are obtuse and blind. I am pretty sure you couldn’t see anything unless it was taped to your face.”
Oh, if that was only true.
Work study kept me busy. Several bright-eyed young students taking tours of the campus filled with excitement and possibilities. I was really digging my work study job.
I left the admissions building a little late, so I took the most direct approach to the library- the front door. It was as if a magnetic force was desperately trying to get me to turn around. I fought it with all my might, but the farther I walked from the window, the stronger it became. Finally, I stopped and pivoted on my heel. My breath caught in my throat. The window was empty. The hair on my arms stood up, I physically began to tremble. Although the window was empty, the child now stood on the steps, staring directly at me.
Forcing my lungs to fill with air, I met the child’s eyes. “Please. I don’t want this anymore. I really, really want you to leave me alone. Let me be normal.” Although my words were barely above a whisper, I knew from experience the child would hear me. I just hoped it would listen.
I pulled my shaking limbs from their frozen state and headed back toward the library.
We met on the 3rd floor. It was the standard place. The end without the coffee shop. Less people, and a bit quieter to think and actually study.
Tyler had his notebook open when I spotted him. I sighed deeply, feeling a sense of normalcy return to me. He looked up and grinned widely, showing off those dimples again. “I thought you were standing me up!” He joked as I approached the table, but his face fell when he noted my obviously shaken appearance. “Whoa, what happened?”
I pasted on a smile. “Nothing, just–nothing.”
“Bullshit.” He dropped his pen. “Tell me.”
I laughed, taking the moment to inhale again, in an effort to calm my mind. My curls shook slightly. “Nope, I’m fine.”
Tyler’s face pinched. “Really? I know when a woman says she is fine, she is definitely NOT fine.”
He leaned in, touching my arm. “Please. What happened?”
I pulled away from his touch. Not because it didn’t feel nice, it felt amazing. It felt so warm. I knew to him my arm would feel like an ice cube. Again, one of the many strange little quirks about seeing ghosts. Something about their presence made my body temperature plummet.
“Savanah, what happened? You are freezing.” He reached over and grabbed his jacket. Before I could protest, he wrapped it around my shoulders. “What has you so spooked? Did someone say something to you?”
I laughed nervously, “No, thank goodness.” As soon as the words tumbled out, I regretted them.
Tyler’s expression stayed the same, but something changed in his eyes. The emerald had hardened. Anger, maybe? “Who? Tell me. Now.”
My cheeks glowed as the blood returned, making them almost burn. “Really, Tyler. I am fine. Really. I think I just freaked myself out a bit.”
He placed his hand back on my arm, this time with a gentleness. His eyes never left my face. “Savanah, I don’t believe you.” He moved his hand slowly, caressing my forearm, “I do however want you to know you can trust me. There is nothing you can say that would freak me out.”
I grinned thinly. If he only knew. “Thanks. I guess I’m just embarrassed what a scaredy cat I am.”
His hand slowed. “If that’s what you’re sticking with.”
My smile securely stuck to my face as I nodded. “Should we get to civ?”
Tyler let out a small sigh before removing his hand. I knew this was dangerous. He cared. That much I could see, but would he still if he knew the truth?
Freak, party of one, your table’s ready.
Leah left Saturday morning, leaving a quiet day for me to study and do laundry by myself. I headed down to throw in a load, balancing my latest book for Western Civilization. My steps broke the silence in the empty stairwell, marking each foot fall with obnoxiously loud echoes. A guy almost ran directly into me as I came around the corner.
“I’m sorry. I totally didn’t see you.”
His faded paramedic jacket looked soiled and aged. His eyes looked straight through me and walked past without a word proceeding up to the second floor. My book slipped to the side of the basket, so I stopped walking to grab it before it slipped off and toppled to the floor.
My blood ran cold.
Silence met my ears.
No sound. The guy couldn’t have left the stairwell yet, it had been just
