Beyond Her Final Breath (Book 1- Shadowland Duology) | Wattys2015

.Chapter Twelve.

Nathan sat at the lunch table, the chair beside him oddly empty without Evelyn there. Blake sat across from him, stuffing his face with Hot Cheetos. Aeron stood in the lunch line.

           A pretty brunette with blue eyes hidden behind a pair of black framed glasses walked up to the lunch table. Her chipped blue nails tapped against the spine of her binder, and she bit her lower lip.

           “Hey,” she said, her cheeks flushing. “It’s Nathan, right?”

           Nathan glanced up at her from his uneaten slice of pizza.  “Yeah?”

           “Well, um, the volleyball team was wondering if you would be able to come to our next practice. We’re going to have our own memorial service for Evie.” Her face and neck turned bright red, and she became very interested in her feet.

           “I don’t know...” Nathan began.

           “I mean, you don’t have to. It’s just we thought that you would want to say a few things…” She trailed off, biting her bottom lip and cringing back, afraid she said something wrong.

           “Sure,” Nathan grinned up at her. “When’s the next practice?”

           Blake looked on interested, leaning forward in his seat. His eyes wandered over the girl, from head to toe. “What’s your name?”

           The girl’s ears that poked out of her brown hair flushed. “Sandra. Oh, and the next practice is tomorrow night,” she said turning back to Nathan.

           She walked back to her group of friends in the lunch line, giving a small smile to Blake.

           Nathan glared at him. “Did you have to flirt with her?”

           “What? Flirt? You think that was flirting? Man, I wonder how you got landed with Ev-“ He broke off, cheeks reddening.

           If Nathan had an appetite before, he certainly didn’t now.

           “Look man, I’m-“

           “What’s up?” Aeron pulled a chair out with his foot and sat down, placing his plastic tray on the table.

           “Nothing.” Nathan swung his messenger bag over his shoulder and picked up his tray. “I’m just gonna go to the library.”

           Aeron watched his retreating form, his expression darkening. “I don’t think he likes me.”

           Blake looked up from his food. “I’m sure he does, but he’s been… different ever since Evie died.”

           Aeron glanced at where Nathan sat, lost in thought. The grip on his fork tightened, and he stabbed the wilting pieces of lettuce on his tray.

           Something was up with Nathan, and he was going to figure out what.

|<>|

Aeron flipped open his flimsy track phone and looked through his recent contacts. He clicked the second one down.

“Hello?” Nathan voice came out of Aeron’s phone, sounding like static.

“Hey, Nate. It’s Aeron. “ He bounced his rubber ball off the floor and caught it before speaking again. “We haven’t really… talked lately because of… certain circumstances.”

He paused, hand frozen, waiting to hear the reply.

“Yeah… so…”

“So, I was wondering if you wanted to meet up at the Burger Shop sometime.” He held his breath, not daring to hope.

“Yeah, sure. It’s going to have to wait until Friday night, though. I’m booked.”

“I thought you didn’t have practice tomorrow. I thought you got Wednesdays off.” A frown hovered over Aeron’s face.

“I’ve got something else tomorrow. How about this: Friday at five?”

“Yeah,” Aeron said nonchalantly. “That works for me.”

“Alright. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah, you too.” Aeron pushed the end call button and grinned.

The plan worked. He was going. He was walking into his trap.

|<>|

Nathan hung up his phone, looking at it in his hand with a troubled expression.

Evelyn sat on the now blanket-covered bad. “What’s the matter?” she asked, concern lacing her voice.

Nathan shook his head. “Nothing. I’m sure it’s nothing.” He shoved the cell phone into his pocket and continued gathering up the picture frames.

Evelyn sat forward, gazing at him with concern. “No, tell me.”

He picked up a picture, glanced at it, and sighed. “It’s not that big of a deal. Aeron just asked me if I wanted to go to the Burger Shop on Friday. That’s all.”

Evelyn wrinkled her brow. “Aeron? Who’s that?”

“Just a friend of mine. Nothing for you to worry your pretty little head about.” He smiled at her, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

“Oh. I just thought the name sounded familiar.” Evelyn gripped the edge of the bed, mentally begging for him to give her more information.

“Well,” he began slowly, placing a picture upright on his desk with care. “We did hang out a lot together.” He straightened another picture.

“Oh really?” Evelyn picked at the spot of crimson on her tank top. “What kind of stuff did we do?”

“You know…. hang.” He glanced at her. “Just drop it, okay?”

Suspicion bubbled deep inside her gut, along with warry and concern.

“Nathan, I-” She paused, unsure.

“Yeah, Evie?”

“I don’t think you should go see this Aeron guy. There’s something off about him.”

Nathan laughed at her. “He’s always like that. Plus we haven’t really talked much lately after…” He stopped, glancing at her.

“Oh.”

Evelyn dropped the subject, suddenly feeling awkward.

Nathan continued putting his room back in order, making the bed and fixing the picture frames. With everything put back, he appeared happier.

“You know,” he began. “Sometimes it feel like you’re not even dead.”

A heavy weight sunk into the pit of Evelyn’s stomach.

“You know that I am, though, and when I find my killer…” She trailed off, the thought making her stomach churn.

“I know.” He struggled with his next words. “But I’m glad you’re here now. Does that make any sense?”

Evelyn smiled. “Yes, it does.” But something nagged on the back of her mind. Worry.

What if he wanted her to stay stuck on earth? What if he didn’t want to help her?

Please vote/ comment/ follow! I would love to hear what you think so far! Favorite character? Changes I should make? Is the plot too... off? (And as of 1-26-15, BhFB is #506 in the paranormal genre!)

-Sophia ^_^