Phantoms of Fall (The Haunting Ruby Series Book 2) by Joy Elbel Page B

So instead I kissed him as passionately as I
could.
    And he responded.
Boy, did he respond.
When I
started kissing him, I was practically in the driver’s seat with
him but the second he felt my intensity, he drove me back into
the passenger’s seat until he was nearly on top of me. I knew
nothing could really happen but at least he was acting like he
wanted it to. It was one of those moments of pure emotion
where you didn’t care who might be watching.
    But just as quickly as it began, it ended.
He pulled
away and settled back into his seat with ruffled hair and a
wrinkled shirt. “We have to go.”
    I pulled down the visor to check my hair and makeup
in the mirror. They were a bit of a mess but I didn’t care. It
was the most heat I’d ever felt from him and I took that as a
good sign. Maybe I wouldn’t have to tell him how I felt after
all—maybe it would just be easier for me to show him.
    We
kissed again
before
going
into the
school.
It
wasn’t as fiery as before but there were quite a few onlookers
this time including Misty. So far, today was much better than
yesterday. And I would be able to ask Zach about Creepy Girl
in homeroom.
I was determined to end her reign of terror
before it even got started.
My confidence was through the
roof.
    I should have realized that things were too good to be
true. First of all, Creepy Girl wasn’t in home room. The only
opportunity I had to ask Zach who she was and she wasn’t
there.
But of course,
she
sure seemed to follow me
everywhere else. Literally. At any point during the day, if you
saw me, you
would see her within
a five foot radius.
Everywhere I went. Sitting behind me in class, following me
in the hall, she even went to the restroom when I did.
I
couldn’t get a moment’s worth of peace—it was like she was
my conjoined twin or something. By the time phys ed rolled
around, I was mentally exhausted but ready to roll physically.
    Coach Hunter spent half of the period reading us the
rules and the second half she asked us to run some laps.
Under normal circumstances, I would have been mortified by
the fact that Misty was in my phys ed class. But as it were,
Creepy Girl took precedence.
So when I got to the track, I
wasn’t just running—I was running away.
While everyone
else moved at a leisurely jog, I opened up the engine and let
her rip. There was only one other person who flew around
the track with me.
With hollow
eyes
and
a
menacing
expression, she ran—matching me step for step. No matter
how fast I ran, I just couldn’t seem to shake her.
    I was
exhausted and
relieved when Coach Hunter
blew the whistle and ushered us all back toward the locker
room. Since we only had a few minutes of class left, she told
us to just change and skip the shower.
Group showers—
created in the fifth circle of Hell to torture insecure girls. We
never had to take showers in Trinity—why was this town so
backwards?
While I was happy to get out of it today, I
dreaded the classes yet to come. And Misty being in my class
was the most awkward part of it all. I was too busy getting
dressed and trying to think of a way to keep Misty from seeing
me in my underwear that I didn’t even notice that Creepy Girl
was staring straight at me while I changed.
    At this point, I didn’t even care if she was involved in
some twisted scheme with
Misty—she
overstepped her
bounds.
Adrenaline rushed through my veins as I prepared
myself for the confrontation. I didn’t want to start a fight, but
if that was it came down to, I was ready for it.
    I opened my mouth to speak—or shout, whichever
came first—when Coach
Hunter rounded the
corner and
called my name.
“Ruby, can I see you in my office for a minute?”
    Thank God! Finally someone noticed that I was being
silently harassed and was going to do something about it!! As
I followed her, I ran down through the list of things Creepy
Girl had done so I wouldn’t miss a single thing.
“Have a seat, Ruby.”
     
Gladly. I was