A Pocket Full of Posies (Book 1)

Chapter Eight

Much to Tom's dismay, Carmen and I don't share a bed that night. Mosi invited us all to lunch at Ava's house before we left the pub, so I was told, so once we're all conscious and dressed, the plan is to head on over. Katie is still reeling after stool-gate, and Jamie's nabbed himself another horrendous hangover, so they've decided to pass. I, on the other hand, have been spending almost an hour glaring violently at a chewed pencil.

With a groan, I spin my chair to face Annabel, who's standing behind me with her hands on her hips.

"Mate, I have as much telekinetic ability as a toilet brush."

"Ugh, you're not even trying!" Annabel whines.

"I am!" I protest. "Can we just accept that stool-gate had nothing to do with me, nor did Jamie's dip in the pond."

Annabel crosses her arms with a roll of her eyes. A pained expression surfaces on her face, and it's one I recognise as her thinking face. She's lucky she's dead; it's not the most attractive thing ever. Her eyes roll around her sockets as she chases thoughts, while I stretch my legs so that they're resting on my bed.

We're due at Ava's in an hour or so, so we'll probably be leaving soon, and it'll be interesting to go back. Assuming her family is one of the twelve ghost-rearing ones mentioned in her book, I'm curious to meet her parents properly. I glance back to Annabel to see a mischievous look on her face, and I narrow my eyes.

"What is it?"

She responds by shaking her head, but her lips are tightly pressed together, and I can tell she wants to laugh. I ask her again, but she responds with a shrug. Jesus, she's annoying sometimes. A light giggle escapes her lips as she lifts one of my uni textbooks, and manoeuvres it to float around the space between us.

"What the heck are you doing?" I question her.

"Just playing," she mutters as her eyes follow the moving book. She turns her attention to me. "Did you hear Tom and Carmen this morning?

"What? No, I mean, what d'you mean?"

"Oh, I assumed you'd overheard them; they were pretty loud." Annabel shrugs, and the book she's floating around is starting to annoy me. "After seeing you eat each other's faces off--which was totally appropriate considering you'd just discussed dead parents with Jamie, by the way--but yeah, after seeing you, Tom must've felt threatened or something."

"Annie, what are you on about?"

She rolls her eyes. "They announced their love for each other--Well, not literal love, but y'know what I mean. They fancy each other. Sucks for me because I was bidding on Tom to be my imaginary boyfriend."

I don't know why, but I stammer. What? Is she serious? I mean, I don't mind, I don't like Carmen or anything--I mean, she was the one who kissed me, and I just went along for the ride, that's all. I just... I don't know, I didn't expect that. Annabel's still holding the textbook above our heads, and it's becoming increasingly distracting.

"Oh, shit, sorry," Annabel says. "I didn't realise you actually liked her."

"What? Oh, no, it's--Yeah, nah, I don't, it's fine," I argue.

She raises her eyebrows and starts smirking again. If she wasn't dead and my sister, I swear to god I'd hit her. Why does she think this is so funny? I don't even have a thing for Carmen. Don't get me wrong, it would've been nice for her to say she had the hots for Tom before kissing me, but whatever, I don't care. I notice that my jaw is clenched, but can't remember doing it. Annabel is still smiling.

"Felix has a crush," she says in a sing-song voice. "Felix has a crush."

I'm not sure what I do next, exactly. I just know that I can't shout at her while everyone else is home, but I want to so goddamn badly because all I can feel is a sharp sense of frustration, and then I find myself sitting upright in my chair while my uni textbook slams into the wall with an ear-shattering bang. I stare, dumbfounded.