'The Lost Boys is a story about the supernatural, about love, music and friendship. When Joey Gray first meets this strange mysterious boy who never leaves the cemetery, she never imagined her life would be turned upside down. Together they will hav...
Even if it had meant I'd had to quit my school and enroll somewhere new just so I could complete my final year and graduate.
As well as school, I'd had to leave all my friends, but somehow I hadn't been that upset. It had made me realise I wasn't that close to anyone anyway, and I supposed – hoped – that I would make new friends here.
Anyway, I'd left my mom in her new home office, buried under a huge pile of folders, but as soon as I headed out the door I bumped into this crazy-looking old lady with bright purple hair and big thick glasses, asking me to help her carry this humongous vase of flowers that she said she had to take to her husband.
Of course, I had to help her. My mother had brought me up to always be respectful of my elders – and she was really old! What harm could it do if I gave her a hand?
I'd regretted my goodwill as soon as she handed me the vase of flowers. It was huge! And so, so heavy. I hadn't even walked half a block before my back was killing me. I also had dirt all over my face and at the top of my sweater.
The old lady, who was called Miss Violet, had kept up a constant stream of chatter all the way to wherever we were going to meet her husband, asking me all kinds of inappropriate questions, like where I was from, whether I had a boyfriend, what my name was . . . OK, fine, the name question had been appropriate enough, but the rest had been just plain nosy.
I mean, why had she needed to know about my relationship status? So what if I didn't have a boyfriend? That was none of her business! I hadn't been much into dating back in my old town anyway. I've never seen what was so great about it. Boys were so often annoying, and bossy, trying to tell me what to do – or that I should act more like a girl. I didn't need anyone telling me what to do or how to behave or that I should wear dresses instead of my baggy jeans. I was fine without a boyfriend, thank you very much.
The topic of boys had already put me in a sour mood, and then I had to try to be polite while I endured the conversation that always followed when I told a stranger my name. Miss Violet, for all her purple hair, was no different: she'd frowned at me from behind her big glasses. "Did you just say your name was Joe?" I could easily have bet my mom's swanky new salary on her next sentence. Come rain or shine, a certainty of life was always: "But Joe is a boy's name!"
Every freaking single time!
As usual, I had sighed loudly in response. It's not like I don't know that I'm a girl and Joe is a boy's name, people! You could at least try to be more creative with that clever observation!
Miss Violet, to her credit, had made an attempt to cover up her surprise. "I guess it's all right. Kids nowadays have all kinds of weird things going on: boys with earrings, girls with tattoos. A girl with a boy's name isn't all that bad," the old lady had said after a minute mulling over the weirdness of my name.
And then, finally, we had arrived at our destination, where Miss Violet's husband was apparently waiting for his flowers. I had been so shocked at the sight that I hadn't been able to make any witty comebacks.
Because Miss Violet had led me straight into Esperanza's old cemetery, and then to her dead husband's grave, where she'd asked me to put the flowers down beside his gravestone. I'd felt so guilty for complaining about the heavy vase and the dirt that I'd quickly apologized and excused myself, to let the old lady chat with her "husband" in private.
It was one of those cold but crisp December days and I'd decided to go for a stroll around the cemetery. The pale sun had even peeked out from behind gray clouds, and the snow had stopped falling earlier that morning. It felt like winter was giving me a break today, letting me enjoy this little walk in almost pleasant weather, for a change.
At least, it had been enjoyable until the point when I'd got lost. And now here I was, aimlessly walking around an old graveyard, trying to find my way back to Miss Violet or, better still, the way out. A gentle breeze brushed over my face and the air suddenly smelled vaguely of carnations, even though I couldn't see any flowers around.
And that's when I saw him.
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