Higher Ground Read Online Free

hungover frat boys. The server came over quickly, and without ever glancing at me, Oliver ordered two cafés au lait and beignets. He waited until we were alone to ask about my parents.
    “Do they know you spend your days with dead people?”
    “They’re busy,” I told him. “I used to go twice a week with my grandmother when I was younger, so I don’t think they’d care.”
    “I’m guessing she likes dead people, too.”
    “Dad has to drive her now, but they make a trip every Sunday.” Our order arrived, and I took a sip of hot coffee. “My grandfather and my Aunt Violet are there,” I said before shoving the first bite of powdered heaven into my mouth.
    “Shit.” He leaned forward. “I didn’t realize—”
    “It’s fine. They’ve both been gone since before I was born. I’ve spent a lot of time at the cemetery with Miss Verity throughout the years, so I’m comfortable there.”
    “Aunt Violet?” He sat back in his chair and lifted his cup for a drink.
    “My dad’s younger sister. She died three months before I was born.”
    “That sucks,” he said. “Was she sick?”
    “Not at all. She was away at college in Florida and fell down a flight of stairs.” That was the official version. Miss Verity knew better but couldn’t prove anything.
    “Wow. That’s… fucked up.”
    “Yeah.”
    He was quiet for a while, focused on his snack and coffee. Every now and then, he’d glance up to study my face and I’d look down at the cup in my hand to avoid his stare. It was unnerving to be the center of someone’s attention.
    We left the café shortly after noon and walked over to the river. “You haven’t told me why you were kicked out of Academy,” he said.
    “This is between us, okay?” I stared at a steamboat upriver and waited for him to reply.
    “Sure.”
    We sat on big boulders and watched the action on the river as I explained the ways my little brother had changed after Christmas break. “It started with mood swings and random bruises on his arms and legs, and then he came home one day with a black eye. He said he’d ‘tripped getting off a bus.’ He wouldn’t talk to anyone. My parents tried. I tried. He ignored all of us.
    “Near the end of the school year, I caught four juniors—four of my classmates—harassing him in a stairwell. When he tried to walk away, one of the bigger boys, Lucas, tripped him. Van went down, but he took the kid with him and slammed his backpack on Lucas’ head at the exact moment the principle opened the door.
    “He expelled Van that afternoon after my parents were called to the school.” I laughed and shook my head. “There’s a zero-tolerance policy for fighting. The principle tried to say Van started it, so I called him a lying asshole. I was there. I saw the whole thing. If Van was going, so was I.”
    Oliver nodded. “Yeah. That’ll do it.”
    “My parents were so pissed. They’re talking to a lawyer about suing the school.”
    “How does the boyfriend fit in?”
    “Elijah was one of them.” We’d been together for over a year, and I’d never seen that side of him until that afternoon. “I didn’t know, and when I showed up, he held me back while his friends…” I couldn’t finish. Thinking about it hurt too much.
    The smile faded from Oliver’s face. “Why were they fucking with your brother?”
    I almost didn’t want to answer him, but if he was like them, it was better to find out sooner rather than later. “Because he had a crush on one of them.”
    He then stood, held out his hand, and helped me up. “People are assholes, Violet. You’re much better off without that guy.”
    “I know,” I agreed.
    We walked around Jackson Square, and a young woman in a hippie skirt asked if I wanted my fortune told as we passed her table. The thought of letting anyone other than Miss Verity near my future made me laugh out loud. Oliver hesitated.
    “Do you ever wonder?” he asked.
    “No.” I walked backward for a few steps. “I