Witch Ball - BK 3 (10 page)

Mom showed up promptly at six to pick up Amy.
Her meeting with her old friend had gone well,
putting her in a good mood. Still, I didn't want to
set her off so I wore my satchel under my shirt. I'd
show it to Manny at school tomorrow, then deal
with the witch ball.

While I was waving good-bye to Mom and
Amy from the front porch, the phone rang. Fingers crossed, hopes leaping, I hurried inside and raced to
answer. I played my mental guessing game, wanting
so badly for it to be josh that I imagined I saw his
face. And I was right.

"How was the fishing trip?" I asked, curling
into a cushioned chair, almost giddy with relief that
he was still speaking to me.

"I had a great time! Caught this monster fish,
only the line snapped and it got away."

"Likely story," I teased.

"Truth! Then I fished for hours with only one
little bite that I had to toss back because the fish
was too small. But Evan had better luck."

"Evan!" I nearly choked. "He was there?"

"Yeah. Lucky guy caught four huge fish."

Stay calm, Sabine, I warned myself. I took a
deep breath and asked, "So Evan went fishing with
you?"
.

"We went out in his dad's boat. Evan's got a
real talent for fishing."

And for stringing people along, I thought uneasily. "Did you guys talk about anything ... interesting?" I asked.

"Sports and stuff."

"What stuff?"

"Nothing much."

I could hear the shrug in his words. If I pushed
too hard, he'd wonder why. Still I had to know
more. "Did he mention his new girlfriend?"

"If you mean the girl from San Jose, they were
just friends. He's thinking of asking Eliza Sampson
out."

Figures, I thought in disgust. Once Evan Marshall got what he wanted, he moved on. That's why
they called him "Moving on Marsh."

Still, I was relieved josh didn't know what happened at my old school. Not yet anyway. I'd have
to tell him myself-tonight. I wasn't comfortable
having him come to my home, so I offered to go to
his. But he said his parents had invited friends
over, so it wasn't a good time.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he told me.

"No sooner? I really need to talk to you."

"So talk now."

"It's . . . uh . . . complicated." I paused. "I
guess it can wait."

"Just till tomorrow. During lunch, we'll sit outside, just you and me."

"I'd like that."

"Oh-the doorbell just rang-the Marshalls
must be here."

"The Marshalls?" I bit my lip. "As in Evan's
parents?"

"Yeah. They had us over last month, so it's our
turn."

"Including Evan?" I sucked in a quick breath.

"He's got to eat, too." Josh chuckled. "Says he
has some big news to tell me. Always something
going on with him ... Oh, the doorbell again. My
parents must be busy. Gotta go!"

Then he hung up on me.

Josh didn't show up at my locker the next morning.

It probably has nothing to do with Evan, I assured myself. josh must be running late. He'll show
up soon.

When Josh was marked absent in our first period class, I told myself he must be sick. Lots of
people had colds or the flu. Even our homeroom
teacher was out sick and we had a substitute. Still,
I worried.

As I walked to my second-period class, I imagined Evan showing josh the newspaper clipping
from Arcadia High, revealing my role in the tragedy.
Josh would be skeptical at first, but Evan would repeat what he found out from his last girlfriend. Everyone at Arcadia High knew the rumors about
me and avoided me.

Is that what josh was doing-avoiding me?

I moved on autopilot, clutching my books to
my chest and hunched forward as if my backpack
weighed me down. Without meeting anyone's gaze,
I maneuvered through the crowded halls. As I turned
a corner, I felt a sudden prickling on my neck-a
sense of being watched.

Slowing down, I cautiously peeked over my
shoulder. Nothing unusual, just the usual mayhem
of everyone hurrying to class. But I couldn't shake
the being-watched feeling. Goosebumps raised on
my arms. Should I hide or walk faster? I chose Plan
B, and suddenly sprinted forward.

Footsteps pounded behind me. I thought I
heard a shout. Then there was a sharp yank on my
backpack and I was stumbling backwards. I cried
out and flailed my arms. Someone grabbed my arm
and caught me before I fell.

"Who? What?" I exclaimed as I whirled around.

Manny let go of my arm and grinned. "Watch
yourself, Beany. Almost had a nasty fall."

"I-I was being chased." I looked around anxiously, still breathing fast. Then I noticed Manny was breathing fast, too. "You!" I accused. "It was
you chasing me!"

"I called your name but you didn't stop."

"I never heard you."

"That's cause you were going too fast. Ever
consider trying out for the track team?"

"Not even." I readjusted my backpack. "So
what's up?"

"I got that information you asked for."

My brain blanked, then a light flashed on. Last
time we talked, I'd asked him to look up information on K.C. and Jack.

"What'd you find?" I asked eagerly.

"Not as much as I expected." He handed me a
paper. "Check it out."

I looked down at the typed sheet:

K. C. Myers-11th grade, 162 Third Avenue

Apt. 34C

Emergency contact-Felicia Margo Swann,

209-555-1925

Jack Carney-12th grade - NFI

"What does NFI mean?" I asked

"No further information-which is odd. All
students are required to have contact numbers."

"So what's the deal with Jack?"

"Beats me. Why don't you ask your boyfriend."

"Josh?" My heart jumped. "What's he have to
do with this?"

"I got a printout of Jack's schedule and noticed
they have the same auto shop class. See if josh can
set up a meeting."

"Uh . . . " I glanced down, the paper shaking in
my fingers. "I can't today."

"How come?"

"Josh isn't here."

"So we'll save Jack for later. I'll talk to KC."

"You have his class schedule, too?"

"Yeah, but there's something odd." He bit his
lip. "Apparently he's in my fourth period classbut I've never heard of him."

"He might have switched classes."

"Could be." Manny fell into step with me as I
continued down the hall. "If we can't find him at
school, we could go visit him at home tonight. You
game?

"Sure. It's a date ... I mean . . ." I blushed.
"Not a date ... a planned outing together."

"Which describes a date." Manny chuckled.
"But we can call it a business appointment."

I nodded, relieved. The last thing I needed was
for josh to hear I was going out with another guy even if it was only Manny. Thinking about josh
gave me a sinking sense of dread that stayed with me
through my next classes. I even tried calling him on
my cell, but no answer.

At lunch, I sat alone in a crowd of my closest
friends. I noticed how everyone was paired off except me. Jill with a guy from the student council,
Penny-Love hugging onto her artsy beau Jacques,
and best friends Kaitlyn and Catelyn were flirting
with dark-haired twins named Dan and Derrick.

Everyone asked the same question, "Where's
Josh?"

"Absent. Out sick," I explained.

But if he was sick at home, why didn't anyone
answer the phone? I tried again and again. If he was
too sick to answer the phone, one of his parents
would have stayed home with him. Since his brother
died from cancer, his parents tended to be overprotective. So someone should have been home.

Not looking good Sabine, I told myself grimly.

And according to Manny's prediction I had
only three days left to live. You'd think that would
be my biggest worry. But no, here I was stressing
over Josh. Was that logical?

"Sabine!" Penny-Love's sharp voice snapped me
out of my thoughts.

"Huh?"

"Obviously you were zoned out and didn't
hear a thing I just said." She gave an irritated flip
of her red curls. "Tell Jacques how awful my brothers are. He wants to meet them, but I told him no
way. My brothers aren't fit for decent company."

"Well ... they are kind of rough," I admitted.

"And I have the bruises to show it," PennyLove said with a groan. "They're like overgrown
puppies and think it's funny to throw me around.
Total animals!"

Jacques chuckled. "I still want to meet them."

"Not in this lifetime. Last night they played
soccer with a pumpkin and smashed it through the
living room window. I wasn't even there, but I had
to help clean up the mess."

"Tough," Jacques said, dipping a French fry in
mustard. "But sounds like you have an interesting
family. "

"Insane, you mean."

"I still want to meet them. I'm working late
tonight, but tomorrow I'll pick you up and you can
introduce me. Then we'll go someplace special."

"I'd like that." She leaned against him and they
kissed.

Embarrassed and envious, I focused on my plate
of some kind of mottled gravy over meat, fries, apple
slices, and apple juice. But I didn't much feel like eating. I stood up and grabbed my backpack.

"You leaving already?" Penny-Love asked, turning back to me. "How come?"

"Not very hungry."

"Oh, I get it." She offered a sympathetic look.
"You're sad cause josh is absent, but that's no reason to leave."

"I have to go to the computer lab," I lied. "To
help Manny with this week's paper."

"He works you too hard."

"I like hard work."

She eyed me like she didn't quite believe me,
then shrugged. "Well, have fun."

"You, too," I replied.

"Oh, I will." She leaned close to Jacques, entwining her fingers through his.

He seemed really into her, too, and they looked
cute together. Not long ago Penny-Love had a
thing for Dominic, but that never happenedthank goodness. They weren't at all suited. Jacques
seemed more her type, kind of edgy but relaxed and
friendly. Watching them made me feel sorry for
myself

When I slipped on my backpack, I bumped
into the table. Jacques's binder and art history
book started to fall, but I caught them. He was so
into Penny-Love that he didn't notice. But when I
glanced down I noticed something puzzling. There
was an inked name on the binder.

Only it wasn't Jacques.

Jack Carney.

I'd found Jack!

But what should I do about it? If I asked him
about the prediction in front of Penny-Love, she'd
want to know why I hadn't just asked Manny. He
should remember his own predictions-right?

I stared at Jacques, dying to question him right
away. But strategy was required. It wasn't like he was
going to disappear, not with Penny-Love hanging onto him like a tight chain. I'd wait until she wasn't
around, then talk to him privately like after school,
when he was at his job. I'd find out where he worked
and "accidentally" run into him.

So I sucked up major self-control and left the
cafeteria.

As usual, Manny was in the computer lab, his
fingers clicking across a keyboard. He glanced up,
peering through a curtain of dreadlocks, not at all
surprised to see me. "I figured you'd show up."

"Why?" I scooted into a chair beside him. "You
suddenly turn psychic?"

"I wish. Nah, I just know you'd want to know
what went down in fourth period."

"Fourth period? Oh-K.C. Myers!" Memory
clicked. He was right-I was curious. "Did you talk
to him?"

"He wasn't there."

"So it was a scheduling mistake?"

He shook his head. "Turns out he is in my class,
but absent a lot."

This made me think of Josh. Not knowing why
he hadn't shown up made me worry, especially since
I'd heard Evan was absent, too.

"I can't figure out how I can have a class with
K.C. and not know him," Manny was saying, gnaw ing on the end of a pencil. "Am I losing my journalistic edge? Usually I'm observant, but I'm drawing a
blank on K.C. My teacher couldn't tell me much except he sits in the back and is quiet, average height,
average build."