Chapter 12
I didn’t have much time to ask Dee about this other brother in English AP because I was late getting to class. And I was still too hurt to broach the topic with her. I couldn’t believe they had another brother and never once mentioned him. Or mention their parents, their significant others, or what they do when they take off for a day or two.
And he’d disappeared? Died? My heart ached for them even though they obviously hadn’t told me everything. I knew what it was like to lose someone. On top of all of that, there was something just flat-out odd about the fact that two different families with triplets moved to the same small town in a matter of days, but Dee had said the Thompsons were friends of the family. Maybe it was planned.
After class, Dee was waylaid by Ash and a golden-haired boy who looked as though he could be a model. It took no stretch of the imagination to figure out that was one of her brothers. And when they’d left her, all Dee said was to meet together at lunch before we had to rush off to our next classes.
Bio was my next class, and Lesa was in that one. She sat at the table in front of me, smiling. “How’s your first day going?”
“Good. Normal.” Normal with the exception of everything I’d learned. “Yours?”
“Boring and long already,” she replied. “I can’t wait for this school year to be over. I’m ready to get the hell out of Dodge, move to a normal town.”
“A normal town?” I laughed.
Lesa leaned back, placing her arms on my table. “This town is the epicenter of weirdness. Some of the people here, well, they don’t act right.”
A three-fingered hillbilly danced in my head, but somehow I doubted that was what she meant. “Dee said some of the people around here weren’t friendly.”
She snickered. “She’d say that.”
I frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Her eyes widened, and she shook her head. “I don’t mean that as a bad thing, but some of the kids here and the folks in town aren’t friendly toward her and the others like her.”
“Others like her,” I said slowly. “I’m not sure what that means.”
“Me either.” Lesa shrugged. “Like I said, people are weird around here. The town is weird. People are always claiming to see men in black running around—like black suits, not the actors. I think they’re government. I’ve actually seen them myself. Then there’s the other things people claim to see.” I remembered the guy at the grocery store. “Like what?”
Grinning, Lesa glanced toward the front of the room. The teacher hadn’t arrived yet. She scooted even closer and lowered her voice to a whisper. “Okay, this is going to sound insane and let’s get one thing straight. I don’t believe any of this crap, okay?” This sounded juicy. “Okay.”
Her dark eyes twinkled. “People around here have claimed that they’ve seen these forms of light up near Seneca Rocks. Like these... people-shaped things of light. Some believe they’re ghosts or aliens.”
“Aliens?” I busted out laughing, drawing a few stares. “I’m sorry, but seriously?”
“Seriously,” she repeated, grinning. “I don’t believe it, but we actually get traffic around here from people looking for evidence. I kid you not. We’re like Point Pleasant around here.”
“Uh, you’re going to have to fill me in on that.”
“You ever heard of the Mothman?” When she saw my look, she laughed. “It’s another crazy thing about this flying giant dragonfly that warns people before something bad happens. Up in Point Pleasant, some have reported seeing it before the bridge collapsed and killed a bunch of people. And days before that, they said they saw men in suits hanging around.” I opened my mouth to respond, but our teacher walked in. At first, I didn’t recognize him. His light brown hair was styled back from his forehead. His polo was pressed, nothing like the worn shirt and jeans I’d last seen him in.
Matthew was Mr. Garrison, my bio teacher—the same guy who’d been at Daemon’s house when we returned from the lake.
He picked papers off his desk and looked up, his gaze scanning the class. His eyes landed on me, and I felt the blood drain from my face.
“Are you okay?” whispered Lesa.
Mr. Garrison held my gaze a second longer and then looked away. I let out the breath I was holding. “Yeah,” I whispered, swallowing thickly. “I’m okay.”
I sat back in my chair, staring ahead blankly while Mr. Garrison launched right into class, going over our course material and labs we’d be participating in. The obligatory animal autopsy was scheduled, much to my dismay. The idea of cutting into animals, dead or not, gave me the creeps.
But not as badly as the creeps Mr. Garrison gave me. Throughout class, I’d feel his concentrated gaze on me, and it was as if he was seeing right through me. What the hell was going on around here?
…
The school cafeteria was near the gymnasium, a long and rectangular space that smelled of overcooked food and disinfectant. Yum. White tables filled the room and most of them were already occupied by the time I got there. Standing in line, I recognized Carissa.
She turned, spotted me, and smiled. “Spaghetti on the menu, or at least what they consider spaghetti.”
Grimacing, I plopped some on my tray. “It doesn’t look too bad.”
“Not after you’ve seen the meatloaf.” She added noodles to her plate, along with a side of salad. Then she picked up her drink. “I know. Chocolate milk and spaghetti do not go together.”