Chapter 4
Chloe sat quietly in the cemetery that Sunday after church on her favorite tombstone marked "Hemsby." There was a slight rustle of paper as she looked over her script for the play, reading and re-reading it again and again. This play had to be perfect. She looked over the lyrics to the song she was going to sing. She thought it a rather pretty song actually, and the cemetery was the only place she would sing it, not wanting anyone else to hear. She slipped slowly off the headstone and set the script down where she had set her star chart before. That little patch of grass was still flattened, and a perfect little spot for her to put her lines.
Chloe skipped happily off to the little ring of willow trees in the corner of the cemetery. She came to the first willow and leaned her shoulder up against it, looking into the small haven inside the protective circle of branches and trunks and leaves. Inside, there was a little stream bubbling up from underneath one of the outgrown roots of a tree. It flowed quickly; making a gurgling noise as it twisted around a few more trees then finally out the cemetery underneath the fence. Chloe often drank from that stream; the water was quite clean coming from somewhere deep in the ground. Some sort of a natural aqueduct she concluded, sitting down beside the little stream with her legs out in front of her. She could hear the rustling of the leaves as the willows made strange shadows on the grass. Then she finally lay down completely, her hand behind her head. She looked up at the bright sky on that Sunday afternoon and smiled.
"I want to be buried here." She said to the trees around her. "It's the single most beautiful place I have ever seen."
She lay there for a while, and when she finally got up, she felt a sharp pain shoot through her right shoulder. She lifter the sleeve of her T-shirt slowly to reveal a large purplish-blue bruise. She frowned at it. She had gotten a bruise by leaning up against a tree? She sighed deeply, touching it softly with her finger. She winced a little as her finger made contact with the bruised skin.
"It's starting." She said quietly, rolling her sleeve back down.
Brady watched her through the long arms of the willow. His friends sat a few feet away from him eating potato chips and chucking a few of them at old grave markers. He couldn't quite make out what it was that she was doing, but he was quite curious. To him it seemed like the cemetery was Chloe's second home. He looked back at his friends, realizing that they wouldn't notice if he were gone for a few minutes. He got up slowly and slunk away to the patch of willows.
Chloe saw him as he came and kept her eyes on him. He sat down non- chalantly across from her and smiled a half smile. Chloe tilted her head to the side and met his gaze, then smiled back.
"Hello Black." She said in a friendly tone.
Brady nodded. "Chloe."
"What are you doing here?" She asked innocently, letting her eyes wander behind him to where his group of friends ran around throwing things at the grave markers. She rolled her eyes at them.
Brady knew what she was rolling her eyes at without having to look back over his shoulder.
"I guess that's what you were doing." Chloe said slowly.
Brady shrugged.
"It's pretty here isn't it?" She ventured, looking at him expectantly.
"Sure."
"You don't talk very much do you." She finished, sitting up straighter.
"Depends on who you ask."
"Well, I'm asking you."
Brady shrugged again and looked around at the trees. They made patterns on his pant legs.
"Well, if you're not here to talk, then why are you here?"
"Same reason you're here probably."
"I seriously doubt that Brady." She said, shaking her head. This conversation was apparently going nowhere so she got up and started to leave.
"Hang on a second Chloe." Brady said after her, standing up. "I just like the cemetery. You like it here don't you? Well so do I. I think I'll come here at night too and try making a star chart myself."
That seemed to brighten Chloe's dampened spirit and she smiled.
"That would be great! You can come tonight after school and I could show you."
"Whatever."
"Hey hey! What's going on up here?"
Phillip pushed himself through the branches of a tall willow tree; Mimi, Jason and Belle following close behind. "Black, what are you doing? Charming the poor little lady here?"
Phillip smiled at Chloe. "Maybe we can all triple date some time."
"No way!" Mimi said, rushing up beside Brady. "This is my man!"
"Mimi, Mimi! A little possessive there now aren't we?" Belle said, clicking her tongue. "You can always share Brady with Chloe." She smiled evilly.
"Say, what were you doing up here Chloe? Praying?" Mimi asked, looking her over. She snorted at her choice of clothes.
"If god's so all-mighty and powerful, maybe he could send you some new clothes." Belle said, raising her eyebrows at Chloe.
"I'm afraid that's not possible." Chloe shot back, keeping her voice level. "God is much too busy looking for your brain." She finished, raising her eyebrows back at Belle and grinning.
"Ouch! Burn!" Jason yelled out, howling.
Belle turned on him, seething. "Listen, you're supposed to be on my side here!" She hissed, punching his arm.
Chloe rolled her eyes and took this as her chance to escape this group of rowdy teenagers. As she left, she turned and walked backwards to face the group once more.
"Brady, I'll see you tomorrow?" She said, walking backwards toward her favorite headstone to pick up her script.
Brady looked around him. His friends all had their eyes on him expectantly, willing him not to be nice to her. It was too much to go against, so he said the first thing that popped into his head.
"In your dreams." He called out, smiling. This was what his friends were waiting for.
Chloe just stared at him, the smile disappearing from her face. Then she nodded and shrugged her shoulders. Turning her back to them, she walked silently towards old Hemsby to pick up her script. She lifted it slowly into her hand and disappeared behind the gates of the cemetery.
As soon as she was out of earshot, Phillip and his crew burst out laughing.
"Man, Brady…you sure told her!" Phillip cried, patting him on the back, his eyes watering. Brady turned towards them and with all the strength he had, mustered up a convincing smile.
Chloe's incentive to leave so soon eventually became apparent. No one was allowed into the cemetery after four on Sundays. It was considered a crime to be a night dweller among the dead after you had just been to church and cleared of your sins. It was trespassing.
And, surprisingly enough, the people in this clique being as stupid as they were, went out to eat then back into the cemetery at nine o'clock, not seeing the night watchman on duty in the grave digger's hut.
They walked quietly to the grave where Chloe had been sitting earlier that day and looked at it.
"Hmmm…Hemsby huh? An old friend of Chloe's." Mimi said. Belle started giggling, and Mimi soon joined in.
"Shutup!" Phillip hissed. Both girls stopped giggling abruptly.
Jason flicked on the flashlight he had brought with him and shone it on the tombstone.
"Ah, Sir Reginald Hemsby, dead man walking. His hobbies are climbing out of his rotting coffin at night and having a dance with pretty cheerleaders who happen to cross by his grave." He said jokingly.
Belle and Mimi shrieked.
"I guess we know why Chloe hasn't been attacked by the grave man then." Phillip said matter-of-factly.
Brady rolled his eyes. "I dare you to dig him up." He said to Phillip.
"Dig him up?"
"I triple doggie dare you."
All eyes were on Phillip now, who never let once fall his super tough exterior and 'play it cool' attitude.
He shrugged.
"Whatever. Belle you can have the first dance." He grinned wickedly.
Belle backed up slowly and stood behind Brady where Mimi had already gone to seek shelter.
Phillip knelt down and studied the grave, then with a final glance at his friends he started to dig with his hands. He got a hole about twenty inches wide and a foot deep when a sharp click was heard behind them.
The night watchman now stood in front of the hut, searching the cemetery with his eyes for what could be making so much noise.
Brady spotted him.
"Oh shit." He whispered. Everyone followed his gaze to where the watchman stood with his hand to his revolver.
"I'm too young to go to jail!" Mimi wailed.
"Shutup will you?" Jason snapped.
Then, as soon as the watchman's back was turned, they made a break for it. The watchman turned around when he heard the soft padding of footseps running towards the front gate. Yet all he could see were dark silhouettes of people. Brady stopped a few feet away from the grave.
"Brady come on!" Mimi said, tugging at his arm.
"We can't just leave this like that!" He said, pointing at the hole in the ground.
"Yes we can!"
Brady shook his head and knelt down, frantically pushing the dirt back in.
"Brady!" Mimi yelled as the watchman ran over to them. Then she just gave up and ran after the rest of the gang to Phillip's car.
"Where's Brady?" Phillip asked as they piled into his car and closed the doors.
"He had to fill in the hole!" Mimi said frantically.
"Oh god."
Just as they were about to but the pedal to the metal, Brady came bolting out of the cemetery with the watchman about twenty feet behind him. Jason opened the door and he jumped inside. As soon as he was in the car, Phillip stepped on it and they screeched down the road. The watchman stopped and stared after them, unable to catch the license plate number.
"Damn kids." He spat, then walked back into the cemetery, closing the gates behind him.
"You idiot! We could have all been caught!" Phillip yelled as soon as they had rounded the corner.
"It's not my fault! Who's the stupid one who wanted to come back here so late!" Brady shot back, glaring at Belle. She looked offended at the comment.
"How is this my fault!"
Brady sighed.
"Never mind. It doesn't matter."
The rest of the drive back to their houses was quiet.
Chloe sat quietly in the cemetery that Sunday after church on her favorite tombstone marked "Hemsby." There was a slight rustle of paper as she looked over her script for the play, reading and re-reading it again and again. This play had to be perfect. She looked over the lyrics to the song she was going to sing. She thought it a rather pretty song actually, and the cemetery was the only place she would sing it, not wanting anyone else to hear. She slipped slowly off the headstone and set the script down where she had set her star chart before. That little patch of grass was still flattened, and a perfect little spot for her to put her lines.
Chloe skipped happily off to the little ring of willow trees in the corner of the cemetery. She came to the first willow and leaned her shoulder up against it, looking into the small haven inside the protective circle of branches and trunks and leaves. Inside, there was a little stream bubbling up from underneath one of the outgrown roots of a tree. It flowed quickly; making a gurgling noise as it twisted around a few more trees then finally out the cemetery underneath the fence. Chloe often drank from that stream; the water was quite clean coming from somewhere deep in the ground. Some sort of a natural aqueduct she concluded, sitting down beside the little stream with her legs out in front of her. She could hear the rustling of the leaves as the willows made strange shadows on the grass. Then she finally lay down completely, her hand behind her head. She looked up at the bright sky on that Sunday afternoon and smiled.
"I want to be buried here." She said to the trees around her. "It's the single most beautiful place I have ever seen."
She lay there for a while, and when she finally got up, she felt a sharp pain shoot through her right shoulder. She lifter the sleeve of her T-shirt slowly to reveal a large purplish-blue bruise. She frowned at it. She had gotten a bruise by leaning up against a tree? She sighed deeply, touching it softly with her finger. She winced a little as her finger made contact with the bruised skin.
"It's starting." She said quietly, rolling her sleeve back down.
Brady watched her through the long arms of the willow. His friends sat a few feet away from him eating potato chips and chucking a few of them at old grave markers. He couldn't quite make out what it was that she was doing, but he was quite curious. To him it seemed like the cemetery was Chloe's second home. He looked back at his friends, realizing that they wouldn't notice if he were gone for a few minutes. He got up slowly and slunk away to the patch of willows.
Chloe saw him as he came and kept her eyes on him. He sat down non- chalantly across from her and smiled a half smile. Chloe tilted her head to the side and met his gaze, then smiled back.
"Hello Black." She said in a friendly tone.
Brady nodded. "Chloe."
"What are you doing here?" She asked innocently, letting her eyes wander behind him to where his group of friends ran around throwing things at the grave markers. She rolled her eyes at them.
Brady knew what she was rolling her eyes at without having to look back over his shoulder.
"I guess that's what you were doing." Chloe said slowly.
Brady shrugged.
"It's pretty here isn't it?" She ventured, looking at him expectantly.
"Sure."
"You don't talk very much do you." She finished, sitting up straighter.
"Depends on who you ask."
"Well, I'm asking you."
Brady shrugged again and looked around at the trees. They made patterns on his pant legs.
"Well, if you're not here to talk, then why are you here?"
"Same reason you're here probably."
"I seriously doubt that Brady." She said, shaking her head. This conversation was apparently going nowhere so she got up and started to leave.
"Hang on a second Chloe." Brady said after her, standing up. "I just like the cemetery. You like it here don't you? Well so do I. I think I'll come here at night too and try making a star chart myself."
That seemed to brighten Chloe's dampened spirit and she smiled.
"That would be great! You can come tonight after school and I could show you."
"Whatever."
"Hey hey! What's going on up here?"
Phillip pushed himself through the branches of a tall willow tree; Mimi, Jason and Belle following close behind. "Black, what are you doing? Charming the poor little lady here?"
Phillip smiled at Chloe. "Maybe we can all triple date some time."
"No way!" Mimi said, rushing up beside Brady. "This is my man!"
"Mimi, Mimi! A little possessive there now aren't we?" Belle said, clicking her tongue. "You can always share Brady with Chloe." She smiled evilly.
"Say, what were you doing up here Chloe? Praying?" Mimi asked, looking her over. She snorted at her choice of clothes.
"If god's so all-mighty and powerful, maybe he could send you some new clothes." Belle said, raising her eyebrows at Chloe.
"I'm afraid that's not possible." Chloe shot back, keeping her voice level. "God is much too busy looking for your brain." She finished, raising her eyebrows back at Belle and grinning.
"Ouch! Burn!" Jason yelled out, howling.
Belle turned on him, seething. "Listen, you're supposed to be on my side here!" She hissed, punching his arm.
Chloe rolled her eyes and took this as her chance to escape this group of rowdy teenagers. As she left, she turned and walked backwards to face the group once more.
"Brady, I'll see you tomorrow?" She said, walking backwards toward her favorite headstone to pick up her script.
Brady looked around him. His friends all had their eyes on him expectantly, willing him not to be nice to her. It was too much to go against, so he said the first thing that popped into his head.
"In your dreams." He called out, smiling. This was what his friends were waiting for.
Chloe just stared at him, the smile disappearing from her face. Then she nodded and shrugged her shoulders. Turning her back to them, she walked silently towards old Hemsby to pick up her script. She lifted it slowly into her hand and disappeared behind the gates of the cemetery.
As soon as she was out of earshot, Phillip and his crew burst out laughing.
"Man, Brady…you sure told her!" Phillip cried, patting him on the back, his eyes watering. Brady turned towards them and with all the strength he had, mustered up a convincing smile.
Chloe's incentive to leave so soon eventually became apparent. No one was allowed into the cemetery after four on Sundays. It was considered a crime to be a night dweller among the dead after you had just been to church and cleared of your sins. It was trespassing.
And, surprisingly enough, the people in this clique being as stupid as they were, went out to eat then back into the cemetery at nine o'clock, not seeing the night watchman on duty in the grave digger's hut.
They walked quietly to the grave where Chloe had been sitting earlier that day and looked at it.
"Hmmm…Hemsby huh? An old friend of Chloe's." Mimi said. Belle started giggling, and Mimi soon joined in.
"Shutup!" Phillip hissed. Both girls stopped giggling abruptly.
Jason flicked on the flashlight he had brought with him and shone it on the tombstone.
"Ah, Sir Reginald Hemsby, dead man walking. His hobbies are climbing out of his rotting coffin at night and having a dance with pretty cheerleaders who happen to cross by his grave." He said jokingly.
Belle and Mimi shrieked.
"I guess we know why Chloe hasn't been attacked by the grave man then." Phillip said matter-of-factly.
Brady rolled his eyes. "I dare you to dig him up." He said to Phillip.
"Dig him up?"
"I triple doggie dare you."
All eyes were on Phillip now, who never let once fall his super tough exterior and 'play it cool' attitude.
He shrugged.
"Whatever. Belle you can have the first dance." He grinned wickedly.
Belle backed up slowly and stood behind Brady where Mimi had already gone to seek shelter.
Phillip knelt down and studied the grave, then with a final glance at his friends he started to dig with his hands. He got a hole about twenty inches wide and a foot deep when a sharp click was heard behind them.
The night watchman now stood in front of the hut, searching the cemetery with his eyes for what could be making so much noise.
Brady spotted him.
"Oh shit." He whispered. Everyone followed his gaze to where the watchman stood with his hand to his revolver.
"I'm too young to go to jail!" Mimi wailed.
"Shutup will you?" Jason snapped.
Then, as soon as the watchman's back was turned, they made a break for it. The watchman turned around when he heard the soft padding of footseps running towards the front gate. Yet all he could see were dark silhouettes of people. Brady stopped a few feet away from the grave.
"Brady come on!" Mimi said, tugging at his arm.
"We can't just leave this like that!" He said, pointing at the hole in the ground.
"Yes we can!"
Brady shook his head and knelt down, frantically pushing the dirt back in.
"Brady!" Mimi yelled as the watchman ran over to them. Then she just gave up and ran after the rest of the gang to Phillip's car.
"Where's Brady?" Phillip asked as they piled into his car and closed the doors.
"He had to fill in the hole!" Mimi said frantically.
"Oh god."
Just as they were about to but the pedal to the metal, Brady came bolting out of the cemetery with the watchman about twenty feet behind him. Jason opened the door and he jumped inside. As soon as he was in the car, Phillip stepped on it and they screeched down the road. The watchman stopped and stared after them, unable to catch the license plate number.
"Damn kids." He spat, then walked back into the cemetery, closing the gates behind him.
"You idiot! We could have all been caught!" Phillip yelled as soon as they had rounded the corner.
"It's not my fault! Who's the stupid one who wanted to come back here so late!" Brady shot back, glaring at Belle. She looked offended at the comment.
"How is this my fault!"
Brady sighed.
"Never mind. It doesn't matter."
The rest of the drive back to their houses was quiet.