Between the Phases

Chapter 5

"Damn, son. I'd tap that. Actually, I'd do a helluva lot more than that." The apparition remarked loudly to Gareth as the new student walked to his seat, with Ace nodding approvingly as he unknowingly passed by her and sat directly in front of Gareth. Great. Now he gets to listen to her talk about how attractive the new kid is. How he was going to get through today was beyond him.

She must have seen the not-so-impressed look on his face because she scowled and said, "What? I'm lonely, I haven't dated anyone in, like, two years. I may not need a man, but I would sure in hell like one!"

"Mr. Parker, is something wrong?" The teacher, Mr. Cook, asked in a horrendously condescending manner.

He was a gigantic narcissistic-

"No sir. Just a little headache. It will go away in a few minutes. But thank you for your concern." Gareth added the last bit trying to hide the sarcasm in his voice. He seemed to not take notice as he kind of puffed up his chest and continued his long-winded speech about whatever the hell he was "teaching" today.

"Um, hey. I'm Dakota." The new kid slightly turned around to say in a hushed voice.

"Hey, I'm Gareth. Welcome to Shady Grove penitentiary." He joked using the small township's name.

The people around them snickered at the joke. Except for Ace. She full on died laughing. She was bent over crying, and slapping her leg. It took all Gareth had not to laugh at her reaction.

He grabbed a piece of notebook paper and scribbled in it a note for her when she finally straightened up and was wiping tears from her eyes.

'It wasn't that funny y'know?'

"Yeah, well try being dead. You start to better appreciate humor. Especially when everything around you is depressing. Like now, for instance." She nodded her head towards Mr. Cook.

"Now, as I'm sure most of you know, Acacia O'Kelley, a junior here, is in the hospital right now. In your English classes you will be making cards for her to wish her better."

The bell rang just as he finished talking and we all started to pack up to go to second hour. Everyone quickly sobered up from their good mood being reminded of the tragedy that occurred over the weekend.

"Hey, uh what happened to that girl? What exactly is her name? A- Aca..."

"Acacia. Most people just call her Ace. It's a lot easier to pronounce and remember. She, uh... she got into a wreck Friday on her way home." The mention of her suddenly reminded me that she was here. Listening to everybody talk about how sad the accident was and how sorry they were for Ace and her family. A wave of intense guilt ran through him as he came to that realization. Gareth suddenly realized that she wasn't next to him. He found her staring out the window with a sullen look on her face from across the room.

"Wow. That's just- wow. Are you two close?" He inquired with genuine interest and worry.

"Fairly. It seems like we're joined at the hip lately." He smiled thinking about the interesting night that they "spent together."

"Huh. So this is your room? Not gonna lie; I figured you'd have one of those micro sized bedrooms that could barely fit a futon."