The Haunting of Gabriel Ashe by Dan Poblocki Page B

saw Mazzy smile, Gabe pinched himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming—it hurt, but it was worth it.
    Then, on the third Thursday of the school year, disaster struck.
    That day, Gabe decided to splurge on the school pizza, which everyone promised was too good to pass up. So after math class, instead of stopping by his locker to pick up his paper-bag lunch,Gabe went straight to the cafeteria, arriving earlier than usual. When he came through the double doors, he found that someone had usurped his group’s regular table. Seth turned toward him, smiled, and waved. Gabe didn’t wave back. Looking around, he saw none of his other friends. He rushed to the table. “What are you doing here?” he asked.
    “Oh, well, I realized that if I switched my quiet-study period, I could eat lunch with you guys,” Seth said. He took a sip from an open carton of chocolate milk, then scooted over and pointedly brushed at the seat beside him.
    “You have to go.”
    Seth tilted his head. He’d expected this reaction. “You don’t want me to sit here?”
    “ I don’t mind,” said Gabe, “but the others won’t be happy that someone else took the table.”
    “Then come with me to a different one. We can sneak off to Slayhool.” He whispered in the voice of Wraithen, “My sources say that the Hunter is currently watching us.”
    Gabe felt an unexpected anger burning beneath his skin. Was this supposed to be a test? Of what? Loyalty? Before he could respond, he heard a familiar voice behind him. “What’s going on here?” Gabe turned to find Felicia, arms crossed, looking tickled.
    “We were just leaving,” said Seth, rising from the bench. He grabbed the chocolate milk carton. “Come on, Gabe.”
    “Gabe?” said Felicia, hiding a hint of laughter. “Really?”
    “Seth switched lunch periods,” Gabe answered, feeling his lameness ooze from his skin.
    “I can see that,” she answered. Malcolm and Ingrid appeared through the crowd and approached cautiously.
    “Yeah,” said Seth, his voice dripping with false sweetness, “soif it’s okay with you, Felicia, Gabe’s gonna sit with me. We’re obviously not welcome at your table.”
    “Gabe can do whatever he likes,” said Felicia. “If he wants to sit here, he can, and if he wants to leave us…well, that’s his decision.” Her voice had an edge to it, which spoke silently of serious repercussions.
    Gabe felt his chest begin to constrict. He struggled to catch his breath. “No,” he heard himself say. He slid onto the bench. “I want to sit with you guys.”
    Felicia parked herself opposite him and grinned up at Seth. “I guess Gabe’s made his decision.”
    Gabe lowered his eyes and stared at his lap. He pressed his fingers into his palms, feeling as though he were holding on to the planet for dear life. In the silence that followed, he could only imagine Seth’s face, purple with rage. Ingrid and Malcolm sat down too, unable to hide their discomfort. They glanced at each other, then purposely looked in opposite directions.
    “Evil witch,” Seth whispered to himself, as if Felicia were a character in the game, a creature who needed to be vanquished.
    Before Gabe knew what was happening, Felicia screamed. She scrambled rapidly out from the booth. The entire room went silent. Time seemed to slow. As she stood, Gabe saw an opaque brownish substance drip from her hair, down her face, and dribble onto her shirt. Chocolate milk. He turned toward Seth, unable to think, unable to speak.
    Seth dropped the now empty carton. It hit the floor with a resounding hollowness. He backed away, then knocked into several students on his way toward the cafeteria doors. People grabbed at his shirt, shouting for him to stop, but he didn’t appear to hear them. Either that, or he didn’t care.

GABE, FELICIA, MALCOLM, AND INGRID were all called into the principal’s office to give their version of the events. No one was in trouble apparently, except for Seth, but he had