Wraith Read Online Free Page B

up.
    I wouldn’t look up.
    There was no way I was looking up.
    I looked up.
    But what I saw wasn’t what I expected. He wasn’t looking at me or attempting to talk again. Connor’s eyes were glued to my portrait. The portrait of Evan I’d been working on for weeks. I’d finished the majority of his face and all of his wavy, light hair. I worked on his chin, trying to get the angle right, trying to accentuate the dimple at the bottom. I’d erased and reworked it dozens of times so far and was about to quit. Other than the chin, it was pretty good—fairly accurate.
    “Mr. Jacobs, please take a seat,” Ms. Anderson directed from her desk, causing an almost-frozen Connor to flinch.
    He moved as directed, but when he sat our eyes locked once again. To my surprise he mouthed the word, “Wait,” and reached for the thick piece of drawing paper on the table. After pausing to study it for a moment, he flipped it over so I could see. My hand flew to my mouth on instinct and I fought an overwhelming urge to vomit as blood rushed to my ears.
    Connor’s portrait was an exact replica of mine.

I WAITED UNTIL AFTER dinner to call Ava. My room was tucked away on the third floor in the former attic space. Two dormer windows faced the backyard. My parents thought I was working on homework, and they were busy with their own nighttime routines. Although they would have been pleased I was on the phone with a friend, I doubted they would have approved of the topic. Closing the bedroom door behind me, I listened to the short rings.
    “Hello,” I heard a voice, older and male.
    “Hello, may I speak to Ava please?” I asked, using my polite, speaking-to-an-adult tone.
    After a bit of shuffling and calling in the background, Ava’s voice appeared on the line.
    “Hello?”
    “Hi, it’s me, Jane.”
    “Oh, Jane! I had no idea who would call my house. I usually only use my cell. What’s up?”
    “Yeah, sorry about that, umm…I had a question, about school; can you talk?”
    “Sure.”
    I paced my room, walking the narrow space from one side to the other, since the ceiling angled on both sides. “I, umm…well, really it’s about that kid Connor. I need to know more about him.”
    Ava giggled into the phone. “So you do like him. I knew it.”
    “No…no, I don’t. It’s just…” I sighed, not wanting to explain. “He followed me out of class today and…I just can’t tell if he’s making fun of me or not.”
    Ava was quiet for a minute, but finally said, “Okay, what do you want to know?”
    “Why did he leave school?”
    “I told you, they sent him to some boot camp or wilderness program for troubled kids. I’m not sure exactly. There were a lot of rumors flying around at the time.”
    “Rumors?”
    “Everything was fine—just like it had always been, he was pretty smart and involved. He always had lots of friends and a couple girlfriends here and there. Then he just got weird. He was involved in a couple fights, bad ones, and then…”
    “Then what?” I held my breath.
    “Then one day he shattered every window in the house with a baseball bat and built a bonfire in the middle of the living room. His mother came home before the fire had fully formed and called the fire department and the police. We didn’t see him again until now.”
    “Wow.” He really was messed up.
    “Is he bothering you that much, Jane? He’s never bothered kids at school before, well, girls at least; the fights were with other boys. But if you’re scared, I guess I wouldn’t blame you for being worried.”
    I considered her words. I wasn’t exactly scared of him, not in the way she said, but her story definitely put it all in a different light. Why he was focused on me, though, and how did he know my secret?
    “No.” I sat on my bed, pulling my feet under my body. “No, it’s not that bad. Like I said before, it took me long enough to settle in and I just don’t want him to blow it for me. I think if I continue to ignore