Because I just found my ghost. “I’m fine.”
“You barely touched your food. Do you want me to send a plate up for you?”
“No, that’s okay. Thank you though.” Tiffany seemed nice enough, but I suddenly saw everything differently. I could think of a million loopholes to a murdering rule. One being that she could pay someone else to do it for her. A little drop of something in my food.
Tiffany smiled at me.
I needed to get out of this house before I wound up dead.
Chapter 22
Saturday
I could feel the stands rumbling as Kennedy, Miller, and I searched for three seats together. Music blared through the speakers, pumping up the crowd for the upcoming game. The stadium was a blur of Empire High blue and orange, except for a small section of the stands where our rivals Bernstein Prep were sitting.
“Go ahead and grab those seats,” Miller said and gestured toward a section of the bleachers where he most definitely wouldn’t fit.
Maybe I’d misunderstood. I could barely hear him over the music. “Aren’t you going to sit with us?” I asked.
He tilted his head to the side and I followed the direction with my eyes. Mr. and Mrs. Pruitt were seated across the aisle a few rows ahead. They were here to see Isabella cheer I guessed. I didn’t know whether or not either of them were alumni of Empire High. But they were sitting with a group of other adults, right next to Mr. and Mrs. Caldwell. I quickly turned away. Matt had said he’d told his mother about me. Did he tell her we broke up too? Did she know everything?
I swallowed hard and turned back to Miller. “Well, this sucks.”
“It’s fine. I’ll just be a few rows back keeping an eye on you. Grab the seats before someone else does.”
Kennedy grabbed my hand and pulled me past a few familiar faces from school. Familiar as in I’d seen them, not that they’d ever spoken to me. Kennedy and I sat huddled together, bracing ourselves from the chilly fall breeze. For just a second I let myself think how nice it would be if I could have worn Matt’s varsity jacket.
“Go Eagles!” Kennedy shouted at the top of her lungs and jumped to her feet with the rest of the crowd.
What the hell? I didn’t realize she was so school spirited. And why was everyone standing? There were perfectly good bleachers to sit on.
She pulled me to my feet. “They’re coming out!” she screamed over the cheers.
I turned in the direction she was pointing just in time to see the football team burst through a homecoming sign that the cheerleaders were holding. I wanted to think it was corny. The kind of scene you’d see in slow motion in a movie. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t cheering along too. It was easy to get swept up in the excitement. The stands shook even more as people stomped their feet and cheered.
I tried my best not to stare at Matt as he jogged onto the field in his football gear. God, how did he look even better in that than he did in a suit? Stop it. I’d been avoiding looking over at the cheerleaders, but my eyes wandered in their direction. Isabella was bopping around, waving her pompoms in the air. I wasn’t sure if it was just the angle I was sitting at, but I swore her skirt was significantly shorter than the other cheerleaders.
“Let’s go, Eagles!” Kennedy yelled again as part of some cheer I didn’t know that the cheerleaders were chanting.
How did she know it? She worked weekends just like I did. She must have gone to a few games last year. But I didn’t even question her, because she was jumping up and down with a smile on her face. I hadn’t seen her smile in a week. It was like I finally had my friend back. It had been so hard seeing her walk around like a shadow of her former self.
“You’re in a good mood again,” I shouted to her over the crowd.
“That’s because I got revenge,” she said.
“Revenge? What do you mean?” I was yelling at the top of my lungs so she could hear me.
“I started a rumor that Cupcake has a little dick!”
I didn’t know when it happened, but the crowd had definitely hushed right before she said, “Cupcake has a little dick.” A gasp fell out of my mouth. I couldn’t even help it.
A few students turned their heads to look at us.
“Joe Dickson has a small dick!” she yelled, just in case someone in the stadium hadn’t heard. “It’s the size of a peanut!”
“Kennedy!” I grabbed her arm to pull her back down to her seat as we had both exploded in a fit of giggles. A few other kids snickered. “Oh my God, that was amazing.”