How to Save Your School From Soul Stealing Demons

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Watts snorts out a laugh, earning what I think is one of the first smiles I've seen from Renny.

"Kayla told everybody I did it on purpose and got me a week of detention, which set my parents off pretty bad, since I was supposed to be cured of my rebellious phase after spending the summer with my grandparents. I wanted revenge, so..." She hesitates, pressing her lips together.

"So she picked up a dead raccoon off the side of the road and put it in Kayla's locker," Ambrose finishes, looking halfway between proud and dismayed.

"It was a small raccoon," Renny defends. "But we've been snubbing each other at every chance since. She's insulted me on everything from my parents to my underwear."

My eyebrows shoot up. "Your underwear?"

"Let's just say I have more than one bad memory of her in the locker room." Renny sends a glare towards Kayla's table, the humor fading from her expression. "Anyway, if we're not gonna off her, what are we going to do? Because waiting around isn't doing anything for Hoffman."

We both turn to Watts, who's got a thousand-yard stare.

"Watts?" she prods, leaning across the table to snap her fingers in front of his face.

He flinches, clearing his throat. "What? Sorry. You talked about your underwear and I think I blacked out."

Ambrose smacks the back of Watts head and Renny rolls her eyes, but the corners of her mouth quirk upwards.

Watts mumbles out an "Ow," as he rubs the spot where Ambrose's hand hit, then apologizes again before answering her question. "The library probably has at least a few books on witchcraft, demons, possessions, all that stuff. And maybe we can find something about this symbol." He points to the replica he's drawn on the lined paper. "We could head there after school."

We all agree to meet there after school. Even Ambrose, who I'm beginning to think might believe us a little bit. He and Renny have been friends for a long time—there has to be some part of him that wonders if she might be right about what she saw.

I get up to throw away my trash and feel a tap on my shoulder once I turn away from the can. I swivel around to see Hemani looking up at me with a smile and a tilted head.

"What, you're not gonna say hi?" she asks, tossing a paper bag into the bin.

"Oh—Sorry! I didn't see you. I'm kind of... out of it today. Hi," I ramble, grinning in spite of myself. Smooth, Diego. Real smooth.

She waves away my concern, smiling. "Uhg, tell me about it. My days lately are practically blending together. I've been exhausted since school started."

"It doesn't show," I say before I can even think it through.

Thankfully her smile widens, and she bounces happily on her heels. "That's sweet."

I shrug—it's only the truth. My eyes wander over to her table, where Kayla, Paul, and a few of their friends laugh with Darren. How has no one else realized the pattern? Three teens join the popular group, and all three end up missing.

I guess it's like the sheriff said. High schoolers make new friends all the time. Back at my old school, I never batted an eye.

Hemani turns to follow my gaze, then looks back at me with a softer smile. "Don't worry about them. They already forgot about what happened—you know, short attention spans, and all."

I laugh, and feel those butterflies come back again as she giggles. Why couldn't this year go the way it seemed like it might when I first got here? Laying low, hanging out with Watts, and maybe getting to flirt with the unbelievably pretty Hemani on occasion.

Instead, I'm standing here, barely able to relish in my crush because I'm worried she might be in danger. She'll go back to her table to sit next to Kayla, she'll go to cheer practice with Kayla, she'll get a ride home with Kayla. What if something happens to her?

Renny is right. We have to put a stop to this before more people get hurt.