Falling for the Ghost of You(57)

"Are you sure you're okay to drive?" I ask Zane for the fifth time as he straddles the bike.

He takes a pair of sunglasses and slips them on. "Sure," he says with a lazy smile. "I'll just think about you, and the sexual frustration will keep me awake."

"Oh, that's so sweet."

God, he looks so hot right now in his leather jacket, and on top of that dangerous looking motorcycle. Like an ad for sexy smelling cologne. Yummy.

Zane gestures me closer by crooking his index finger. I wrap my arms around his waist. He cups my face with both hands, and claims my mouth in a surprisingly gentle kiss.

"Thank you," he says softly, his face just a couple of inches from mine. "I remember who I am when I'm with you."

Serious Zane is just as appealing as the playful one. I try to stare into his eyes through his dark lenses. "That's...a really weird thing to say."

"Yeah." He flashes a wry little grin. "Maybe I'm just too tired to know what I'm saying."

"Huh," I say. "You're a spy, aren't you? That's why you wear contacts and dye your hair."

I'm only half-kidding.

"You got me. I'd tell you but then I'd have to kill you. Later, Violet."

After he drives off, I push the button to lower the garage door, mulling over the secrets Zane could be hiding. Does it have something to do with his past? He never talks about it, never gives me anything but vague generalizations about his high school years. I wonder what happened. Does it have anything to do with his mother’s suicide? Does Bill know about it?

Or maybe I'm just making this out to be bigger than it really is. Maybe the conversation I heard had something to do with work, and nothing to do with me at all.

God, I hate lies. Especially when I lie to myself.











Chapter 22



I barely make it to school in the morning. I only have time to brush my teeth and throw on some clothes, then I'm running out the door. Lauren calls to tell me she's got the flu and will be in bed all day, so I don't find out till I get to school that my shirt is inside out. People keep asking me if I'm hung over, and I just say yes to make them go away. Pretty soon rumors are swirling around school about me being stupid drunk at a college frat party. I don't care. Lots of things have been said about me before: I'm a slut, I got implants, I tried out for Playboy, I'm adopted...blah, blah, blah...

Come to think of it, that's probably why I have no school spirit, and couldn't care less about this place. It's a crappy experience, especially for someone with a bad attitude. And I never deny a rumor, I just change it enough to be confusing. When kids would come up to me and ask me if my boobs were real, I would tell them I was adopted. It confused the gossip train—those guys are easily confused, and stone stupid.

I make it to English a few minutes early, so I pull out my Chem book. I can't remember, but I'm pretty sure there's a test today.

I'm flipping to chapter nine when Matt stops by my desk.

"Hey, V," Matt greets me with a casual smile. Like he hadn't cheated on me, then avoided me since school started.

My stomach does a funny little flip, but I no longer feel the strong urge to flush his head down the toilet.

Still not my favorite person, though.

"Hey, Matt," I mutter, self-consciously straightening my shirt.

He seems relieved at my civil reply. "So did you start on your paper yet?"

"Start? It's done. Isn't it due tomorrow?"

Matt's face falls comically. "Oh, shit, really? I didn't even start it!"

"Sucks," I say with a shrug.

"Yeah." Matt is glum for a moment, then he brightens. "I heard Tanner's gonna be out for, like, the rest of the month, and Jensen is subbing. Maybe he'll give me an extension."

"Or," I say, shutting my Chem book. "You could just whip it out tonight."

Okay, that sounds funny. I realize this as soon as the words come out of my mouth. By the way Matt is grinning right now, I probably slipped a "penis" in there somewhere.

"So, I hear you're going out with some college guy," he says, changing the subject. He half-sits on my desk the way he used to when we were together. I want to kick him off badly.

"Zane's not in college, he works for Cronus," I say somewhat snootily. "He's a software engineer."

I can't help it. The best revenge you can get on your cheating ex is to replace him with someone about a hundred times hotter, and more successful. And if that's a petty sentiment...well, I'm a petty kind of girl.

"Wow, you're moving up in the world, huh, V?" Matt pats my arm good-naturedly. "But then you were always too good for us high school jerks. I always knew some guy would steal you away."

I look up at him. "Really? So that's why you dumped me?"