and flashed quickly to my left hand.
“AHHH!” I screamed and pulled the blankets tightly
around myself when I realized that I wasn’t alone. “Clay! Get
out of my bed this instant!”
“Chill, Ruby,” he replied with a chuckle, “I wasn’t up to
no good—Scout’s Honor. But you may have been. You were
dreaming about me again, weren’t you?”
“I most certainly wasn’t !” I countered. Was I? Who
knows.
I was just thankful to have not had any nightmares
after all of the epic wretchedness of the night before. “And
what exactly do you mean by ‘again’? I don’t recall ever having
any dreams about you.”
“It’s okay—I understand. You’re in love with Zach and
all. It wouldn’t do you any good to admit that you have secret
fantasies about me. But if you died, you know you’d want me.”
My stony, un-amused expression brought about an apology.
“Oh, and I’m sorry if I woke you up—I was just admiring your
ring. It’s nice to see that you and Zach were able to work things
out. Love stories don’t always have a happy ending, you know.”
Random encounters with Clay were becoming more and
more frequent and I had a nagging suspicion that this wasn’t a
good sign. He hadn’t popped in at an awkward moment in my
life—yet—but waking up to find him in my bed was getting too
damn close to inappropriate for my liking.
“Thanks, I know,” I replied, “but you still need to get out
of my bed. Being dead is no excuse for bad behavior. Don’t
forget—you don’t really seem dead to me. Waking up next to
you is like waking up next to any living boy who shouldn’t be in
my bedroom. So get up already!”
“Fine.” Clay made an exaggerated display as he hauled
himself out of my bed as though he were a ninety year old man
with arthritis. “But I wouldn’t be half as tempted to get into
bed with you if you would stop flirting with me every time I see
you.”
Flirting? He couldn’t be serious! “In what way have I
ever flirted with you?” I asked as I sat up in bed to get a better
look at the clock. Great. Clay woke me up a full hour before my
alarm was set to go off. Well, I certainly couldn’t get any more
sleep with a ghost in my room.
“Well,” he said as he walked around my bedroom
inspecting random things, “you keep telling me that you forget
that I’m dead and that’s the closest thing I’ve come to a
compliment in a long time.
And a compliment is like a kiss
through a veil, you know.”
Why did he frustrate me so bad? Why did he always
have to go and make me feel sorry for him as soon as he’d
whipped me into an angry frenzy? Why did he whip out poetic
phrases as easily as he handed out pathetic pickup lines? Why?
Because dead or not, he was still a boy. Boys simply loved to
play dumb little games like that. Thank goodness Zach wasn’t
like that. Okay, at least Zach wasn’t like that all of the time.
“Okay, well this concludes our little get together. I have
to get up and get ready for work now. So….” I waved my hand
in the air to shoo him along.
“Fine, I can take a hint. I’ll see you later, Ruby,” he said
as he walked through my bedroom door.
“Much later,” I called out behind him. I waited for the
faint sounds of his laughter to die away before crawling out of
bed. So much for my ghost-free existence. What in the world
was I going to do about Clay?
Ask Rita, that’s what I was going to do. While I didn’t
mind talking to him once in a while, waking up with his dirty
jeans-wearing ass in my bed was the last straw. There had to
be some way to keep him from popping in and out of my life
unexpectedly. I defeated a wraith, for cryin’ out loud—I wasn’t
going to let a friendly ghost like Clay get the best of me!
I
unlocked the door to Something Wick-ed with determination.
Ruby Matthews, Wraith Slayer.
That would make an awesome
TV show!
Hmm, but who would they cast to play me?
Wait a
second. After my performance at the Bantam, I wouldn’t
“AHHH!” I screamed and pulled the blankets tightly
around myself when I realized that I wasn’t alone. “Clay! Get
out of my bed this instant!”
“Chill, Ruby,” he replied with a chuckle, “I wasn’t up to
no good—Scout’s Honor. But you may have been. You were
dreaming about me again, weren’t you?”
“I most certainly wasn’t !” I countered. Was I? Who
knows.
I was just thankful to have not had any nightmares
after all of the epic wretchedness of the night before. “And
what exactly do you mean by ‘again’? I don’t recall ever having
any dreams about you.”
“It’s okay—I understand. You’re in love with Zach and
all. It wouldn’t do you any good to admit that you have secret
fantasies about me. But if you died, you know you’d want me.”
My stony, un-amused expression brought about an apology.
“Oh, and I’m sorry if I woke you up—I was just admiring your
ring. It’s nice to see that you and Zach were able to work things
out. Love stories don’t always have a happy ending, you know.”
Random encounters with Clay were becoming more and
more frequent and I had a nagging suspicion that this wasn’t a
good sign. He hadn’t popped in at an awkward moment in my
life—yet—but waking up to find him in my bed was getting too
damn close to inappropriate for my liking.
“Thanks, I know,” I replied, “but you still need to get out
of my bed. Being dead is no excuse for bad behavior. Don’t
forget—you don’t really seem dead to me. Waking up next to
you is like waking up next to any living boy who shouldn’t be in
my bedroom. So get up already!”
“Fine.” Clay made an exaggerated display as he hauled
himself out of my bed as though he were a ninety year old man
with arthritis. “But I wouldn’t be half as tempted to get into
bed with you if you would stop flirting with me every time I see
you.”
Flirting? He couldn’t be serious! “In what way have I
ever flirted with you?” I asked as I sat up in bed to get a better
look at the clock. Great. Clay woke me up a full hour before my
alarm was set to go off. Well, I certainly couldn’t get any more
sleep with a ghost in my room.
“Well,” he said as he walked around my bedroom
inspecting random things, “you keep telling me that you forget
that I’m dead and that’s the closest thing I’ve come to a
compliment in a long time.
And a compliment is like a kiss
through a veil, you know.”
Why did he frustrate me so bad? Why did he always
have to go and make me feel sorry for him as soon as he’d
whipped me into an angry frenzy? Why did he whip out poetic
phrases as easily as he handed out pathetic pickup lines? Why?
Because dead or not, he was still a boy. Boys simply loved to
play dumb little games like that. Thank goodness Zach wasn’t
like that. Okay, at least Zach wasn’t like that all of the time.
“Okay, well this concludes our little get together. I have
to get up and get ready for work now. So….” I waved my hand
in the air to shoo him along.
“Fine, I can take a hint. I’ll see you later, Ruby,” he said
as he walked through my bedroom door.
“Much later,” I called out behind him. I waited for the
faint sounds of his laughter to die away before crawling out of
bed. So much for my ghost-free existence. What in the world
was I going to do about Clay?
Ask Rita, that’s what I was going to do. While I didn’t
mind talking to him once in a while, waking up with his dirty
jeans-wearing ass in my bed was the last straw. There had to
be some way to keep him from popping in and out of my life
unexpectedly. I defeated a wraith, for cryin’ out loud—I wasn’t
going to let a friendly ghost like Clay get the best of me!
I
unlocked the door to Something Wick-ed with determination.
Ruby Matthews, Wraith Slayer.
That would make an awesome
TV show!
Hmm, but who would they cast to play me?
Wait a
second. After my performance at the Bantam, I wouldn’t
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