"Good morning, Lilly," Tommy replied amicably. "Did I see you come in with Bridge?"
"She was telling me about how things work. Sort of," I answered for her. It was strange, talking to him. I felt like I was trying to be polite as possible, while at the same time wanting to ask him just how often he'd been watching me. Lilly said he'd been her tutor, so he must have had some time off. Mustn't he?
"Good, I'm glad." He fell silent, smiling at me until someone cleared their throat and he blushed fiercely. "I do apologize. I'm keeping you from your breakfast."
"I'm not hungry." Why did I sound so wispy? My voice was strong, not floating away under his gaze!
"Are you going to be teaching this year, Tommy?" Lilly came to my rescue, butting into the conversation.
"Yes." He seemed caught off guard by the question, blinking slowly as his attention focused on her behind me. "English. It was always one of my favorite subjects. I'm quite excited."
"And you'll still be looking for you know who when class is out?" The question was simple enough, but sounded incredibly sneaky and intruding, which surprised me. Looking back at Lilly, though, her face was the very image of innocence.
"Of course I will. Bridge, may I speak with you in private for a moment?" His attention turned back to me and I met his gaze once more, feeling nervous as practically everyone in the room watched.
"Uh. Sure?" Why did I say that?! I don't want to be alone with him! Awkward, Bridge! Awkward!
Nodding, he motioned for me to lead the way, ignoring the whistle and laughter that rose from the vampire table.
Embarrassed, my face flushing, I hurried from the dining area, breathing a sigh of relief as the weight of everyone's eyes left me.
"Sorry about that," Tommy said, clearing his throat, his own face slightly red.
"Do they all know?" I asked abruptly. "That you love me?"
Why, oh why did this have to be something we had to talk about?
"Oh." His face went quite blank at that, despite the deepening blush on his cheeks. "Um, yes. I'm afraid so. My request to be reassigned and consequent departure to find you was made a rather large public affair. Gossip, it would seem, travels just as fast among the dead as it does the living."
"Fantastic." Groaning, I leaned against the wall, sliding to the floor and covering my face with my hands.
I could hear him, hesitating as he sat next to me, remaining quiet for a time. His breathing was slow and even, but there was something that said to me he was strung tightly, like a bow about to snap. He smelled nice as well, a musky scent that I'd often enjoyed smelling at my home, through the open shutters. It was just like the flowers in all the window boxes, the ones that Mom loved so much. Suddenly, it occurred to me that perhaps I hadn't been sniffing the flowers at all.
"I remember the way you smell," I said quietly, surprised. "I thought it was Mom's garden boxes. But it was you, wasn't it?"
Lowering my hands, I glanced over at his face, my gloomy mood lightening some at the small smile that graced his features. When his eyes met mine again, I felt myself being sucked in, not only by their color, but by the emotional turmoil they displayed.
"You did like to read and watch television by the open windows." His reply was soft and calm, but he wasn't fooling me. I could see the fear and regret he'd left unspoken, the hate he held for himself because of what happened. It wasn't only the darkest parts of him that I saw, either. The love he carried with him was there, plain as day, no effort on his part to hide it. There was also hope and excitement, his gaze seeming to imagine the sitting room of my mother's house as I did.
The house was small, but wonderful. Splashes of color adorned the walls, the windows almost always flung open during the day, the plants on the sills spilling over the edges of their holders. The furniture was brown and old, but that had only made it more comfortable. The seats told a story of where they'd been and who'd they'd met on their journeys, including the fanciful places they'd traveled before Mom bought them at a yard sale. Everything in that house had a tale to tell. It was up to the observer to see it.
He was right; I'd often curl up in the big, lumpy armchair and read or watch my favorite shows. It was my unofficial spot in the house-Mom always left it for me if she was in the room as well. And above all, there was the musky smell, comforting and familiar.
"You'd sit in the window?" When he nodded, I grinned, not bothered by the revelation for some reason.
"I liked the flowers." He chuckled, looking down at his hands.
A few of the students left the dining room, whispering excitedly when they saw us, giggling as they hurried down the hall and through another door. Their appearance dampened the moment we were having, returning the more awkward feelings that stretched between us.
"Is it common? For people to smell ghosts, I mean." I'd meant for it to be a legitimate question, but it came out sounding like a jab, like I thought he stank. Wincing, not knowing how to save myself, I remained silent, waiting for his reply.
"Mortals see signs of spirits much more than they're willing to admit, I think. A touch on their arm is brushed off as a stray hair. They think they're imagining someone calling their name, that they're tired and seeing things. Sometimes that's true. More often than not, though, they're only rationalizing what they can't understand. I'd offer that I don't smell like flowers, but that's what you decided the scent must be."
"Oh." Conversation was becoming increasingly harder, the strangeness of our relationship magnified yet again when another group of students came down the hall, staring at us. As they passed into the same doorway the previous group had exited through, Tommy sighed, rubbing his face with his hand.
"I'm sorry, Bridge. For everything. I'm sorry that everyone knows." Looking over at me again, his expression grew serious, his fingers drumming nervously on his knee before he spoke. "I apologize for throwing my feelings in your face last night, as well. It was very ungentlemanly of me and not the right time for such things to have been said. I knew you would hear about it today, but I should have waited until you could be alone to process everything."
"It's fine." Blushing deeper, I looked away, not wanting to see what was in his eyes at that exact moment.
"I'm going to be your teacher now," he continued, his voice tight. "And I promise that things will remain strictly platonic between us, and not just because of my work. We don't have to talk about this anymore. I understand what you're going through. We won't talk about your life before or anything unless you bring it up."
It was strange, how relieving his promise made me feel. It was like a heavy stone lifted off of me and I sighed in thanks, closing my eyes as I let the burden fly away. "Thank you," I mumbled.
Getting to his feet, he offered a hand to me, helping me up. "And no," he said suddenly, smiling. "I didn't watch you in the bathroom. I know you've been wondering ever since you found out. You're still easy to read."
That made the color on my face darken and I laughed crazily, incredibly uncomfortable. If he was going to bring it up, then I might as well ask about the other thing. "Did you have time off? Lilly said-"
"I would tutor her at night, while you were sleeping. We'd finish around four in the morning and I would come back and catch some sleep until you woke up at seven. I liked the chair in the family room almost as much as you, I believe."
Nodding, I started inching away, moving back toward the dining room and Lilly. "Thanks for answering that." Man, I sounded lame.
"There's one more thing."
Stopping, I fidgeted under his stare, the happy feelings I'd shared of home with him edging away quickly. "What?"
"Come to the courtyard tonight. I asked the witches to work a memory spell on you, to see if we can find your missing hours. I'm hoping that you'll be able to recall your killer's face. If that's okay with you, of course."
"Oh. Yeah, I guess I can do that." Smiling forcefully, I turned and hurried back into the dining room, met with a flurry of whispers and giggles.
"Bridge!" Lilly waved at me, motioning to the empty seat beside her.
Hurrying past everyone else, my eyes following the tile on the floor, I took the seat, feeling doubly embarrassed as I thought of how everyone knew the circumstances of my death and arrival here.
"Everything okay?"
Making a mental note about how nosey Lilly was, I nodded. "Yeah. He made an appointment with the witches for me tonight. That's all."
"What kind of appointment?"
Opening my mouth to say something noncommittal, I was saved from answering by the appearance of the three vampires I'd run into in the dorm, their forms seeming to move in slow motion as they glided into the space, hair blowing away from their face. They took their spots at the vampire table, laughing as they saw me, pointing me out to the other students with them.
"What is her deal?" I asked sourly, frowning at the leader. There was something about people like her-bullies-that made my skin crawl. I couldn't ever ignore them, not even if their wrath wasn't pointed at me. It was already clear to me that I would be having a talk with her at some point. Such talks had never really worked in my favor before, usually making me the target of more ridicule, but it helped to get my feelings off my chest.
"Who, Angelica?" Lilly rolled her eyes, lifting her mug to her lips and taking a small sip of the hot liquid. "That's just how she is. Her henchmen-Penny and Jennifer-just copy everything she does. Her dad is the head of the Enforcement team here, which she apparently thinks makes her the queen of everything."
"The Enforcement team?" Steeling myself for another lengthy explanation, I turned from the beautiful girls and focused my attention on Lilly.
"The vampires are in charge of keeping the peace. They're the strongest and fastest, so they're better equipped to deal with demons. The witches like to stay back and protect themselves because their magic is so valuable. When the werewolves died out, the vampires naturally stepped up and filled the role."
"I'm sorry, did you say demons?" Ignoring the little werewolf tidbit, I looked at her with wide eyes. "There are demons here?"
"Oh no! No one has any power over them, not in this realm, anyway. They take spirits to Hell-some even say they eat souls-and smell like acid something terrible. I've heard it's a very terrifying sight, seeing one crawl up from below. That's why everything is set up the way that it is, to protect everyone and everything from the demons. The vampires enforce the rules among the community and fight the monsters when they need to. The witches keep all the spells in place so that everything is in order. The fairies protect the land of the living (they're much tinier when they aren't on school grounds. And they have wings!), and you know what the ghosts do. The zombies protect the graveyards, so that no spirits get stolen away to Hell that shouldn't be. Demons also try to body steal sometimes, which makes it even more worthwhile to have someone watching over them."
Shocked, I stared at her. "I have to protect bodies from demons?"
"Oh, they'll teach you how to do it!" she rushed to say. "That'll be part of your curriculum here. Regular school during the day, zombie school at night, when magic can be practiced."
Somewhere overhead, a bell rang and the students began getting up, moving to leave the room.
"Do you know where I'm supposed to go?" I asked Lilly, feeling the sudden panic that only a first day at a new school could bring, doubled by the fact that this was the strangest school I'd ever been to or heard of.
"You can come with me. We're both seniors after all!" Grinning, the metal on her teeth glinting in the light, she hauled up her massive pile of books once more and turned, leading the way into the hall.