Haunted

Chapter 10 §

I woke up to Carson staring down at me. "Why are you and Zach on the couch and why is there whip cream all over your face?"

I turned my head to find Zach still sleeping next to me. I slid out from underneath his arm carefully, and stood up. Carson was completely dressed with his backpack on his shoulders.

"It's a long story," I answered sleepily, and yawned. Carson raised his eyebrows but didn't ask further questions.

"Anyways, Jaxon wanted to know if I could go hang out today..."

"Yeah, yeah, sure." I yawned again, and went to the kitchen to make breakfast. "What do you want for breakfast?"

"Just some pop-tarts or something." I glanced at the clock. It was just past eight.

"Why did you get up so early?!" I asked with a groan.

"Well, Jaxon's mom called you this morning-you know how they're early birds-and I answered the phone 'cause you were still sleeping. She asked if I wanted to come over, and I said yes, but that you were asleep. She told me to tell you to call her when you woke up."

I nodded and plucked the pop-tarts out of the toaster when they popped, setting them on a napkin at the table. Then I picked up my old phone and dialed Mrs. Green.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Mrs. Green. It's Mak. Carson told me you called?"

"Oh! Hello, Mak! I did call earlier. So, can Carson come over?"

"Absolutely."

"Excellent! Jaxon's been dying to see him. Do you want us to pick him up, or..."

"No, no, it's okay. I'll drop him off."

"Alright, come over anytime you like. We'll be here!" And she hung up. I set down the phone and turned to Carson, who had a big grin on his face. "How long can I stay?"

"I don't know yet," I said with a smile, knowing I would let him stay for a while. "I'm done! Let's go!"

***

"Bye, sis!" Carson said quickly, squeezing me once around the waist and running off into the house with Jaxon. Mrs. Green watched them run off, and then turned to me and smiled.

"What time should I pick him up?" I asked.

"Anytime."

"Great! Thanks again for watching him."

"No problem."

The house was quiet when I got home, Zach was still asleep.

-----
Age 14
"Zach-I told you. It's not important."

"Sure it is. I want to know more about you."

I rolled my eyes. "It's not like I know that much about you." I took a bite out of my apple.

We were sitting at the top of the hill, eating lunch. "Alright, let's play a little Q&A."

"Alright," I agreed. "I call going first," we said in unison. "Go ahead," Zach said with a laugh.

"Okay..." I realized I didn't know what to ask. "Um...Tell me about yourself."

"That's not a question."

"Okay, fine. Tell me about yourself?"

He rolled his eyes.

"In a nutshell: my parents died about two years ago in a car crash, I've lived with my filthy rich grandparents ever since, who decided to move here."

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah, yeah, my turn." Okay then.

"What happened to your mom?" I knew that was coming. I gnawed on my lip nervously.

"When I was seven... my father fell to his death in our old apartment, and my mom has never been the same since. I've taken on the responsibility of raising my brother. In a nutshell."

Zach's eyes softened. "Oh. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, yeah," I said playfully, trying to lighten the mood. It worked.

-----

I went up to my room to grab my phone-which I had forgotten. I found it on the windowsill, with a small note underneath it.

Frowning, I unfolded the paper.

Meet me at the old apartment at six tomorrow. Don't tell anyone.
-Mom

I dropped the note and screamed.