Ch 17 Puzzle Pieces
Suze's POV
*This is a dream*
Jesse got onto his knee. "Susannah Simon, will you marry me?"
I gawked at him. "You want ME to marry you?"
He nodded.
"I don't know Jesse, I really like Paul, and his is bigger than yours."
It was his turn to do the gaping. "What?" Jesse's dark eyes were wide with shock.
"You heard me; I like Paul, now get away from me." And I punched me in the face.
"What about all he things I've done to you? Especially after what he DID to you! I love you!" Jesse pleaded, boy, it was getting desperate!
"So?"
"Querida, I love you, don't you understand?" He asked.
"Oh, NOW you tell me, why didn't you tell me a year earlier? All those times you could have told me!" I was upset.
"What do I have to do to get you to like me?"
"Prove to me that yours is bigger."
That was absurd! Jesse thought, as I read his mind. "I, I guess if you really want me to."
"No, let Me do it..."
*end of dream*
"NO!" I shouted and I woke up to see Jesse staring at me, his hand on MY HAND. I was still lying in his bed and he was next to me! I'm starting to get use to his whole "I'm alive" thing...
Yes!
"Susannah, you alright?" he asked me. I felt his calloused thumb move on my hand. His warm hand...
I nodded and felt the back of my neck. It was covered with sweat.
"I'm fine." I choked. That dream was whacked!
Jesse studied me oddly, "No you're not...you're sweating. What's wrong? Are you okay?"
I opened my mouth and all of a sudden, a ghost popped up between us ruining a perfect moment. I felt my heart jolt and me jump up a foot.
It was Sean.
The not as hot as Jesse blonde dude!
Wait, what was he doing here?
Jesse read my mind I guess, or how else would he have said, "I made friends with him remember?"
Oh.
"Why are you here?" I asked. I rubbed my shoulder, noticing that my bruises didn't hurt, at all.
In fact, I didn't HAVE bruises!
It was as if I wasn't raped which is something I'll never ever forget since I'll be bull-legged for a while...
Sean looked uncomfortable and his brilliant blue eyes were sad looking. "Well, Crissandra isn't the best person in the world so I left her, to find out that she wants to exorcise you and me."
I didn't understand him. Was he speaking Latin or something?
"Wait, what do you mean?" I asked.
I was getting self-conscious, I mean, HELLO! I was sitting in bed with a hottie and another hottie pops up between us!
I WAS STILL IN A SKIMPY BATHING SUIT FOR PETE'S SAKE and the straps were kind of loose...so the bloody thing kept slipping and I had to keep pulling it up and tying it. Couldn't I have just gone to the bathroom?
No, instead I have to be the goody-goody little mediator and listen, plus I wanted to stay next to Jesse until the "Day that I Die".
Why me?
"Crissandra is not exactly...nice."
I sat up so I could tie the strap better, God I hate these straps! Why did I even BUY this bikini?
I nodded and I was still trying to tie the strap when chaos ensued;
The straps had a silky feel to them. You know how silk things are really slippery, right? Well, the top piece of my two piece slipped. Luckily, Sean had gotten up and was staring out the window. Jesse however was a different story, he was still on the bed and he had been...staring at me...so guess what he saw...
HOW EMBARASSING.
Immediately, he turned SUPER red and got up and stood next to Sean by the window trying to keep him busy as I tried to pull it back into place.
This is the last time I wear a bikini to sleep, what if it slipped when I was sleeping and Jesse fixed it?!
Jesse isn't a very good distracter. Sean had turned around, and Jesse had to too, I am sad to say, turn around, and they both saw me trying very hard to make wrongs right. The base of the top piece was up to my belly button. Then, they both reddened and turned around slowly in a "trying to be polite" manner, and moved their backs toward me.
I felt myself blush and I quickly turned around like a good girl and continued trying to tie the freaking strap. God, why me? I just had flashed two extremely hot guys with my womanly bits on ACCIDENT!!!
I quickly tied my straps seven minutes later and brushed my hair out of my eyes.
"So, we were saying?" I tried to resume life as if nothing happened.
Gosh, why do guys that I like have to be so proper? If it were Paul he'd get the popcorn but no, these hotties need to give me my privacy.
"It's okay you two, I'm decent..." I said apologetically since they still were staring outside the window but I noticed that their necks were abnormally red...
They turned around slowly in sync and they relaxed slightly.
Then, Sean sniggered slightly and said, "You ARE decent, right? Okay, as we were saying before THAT"-he waved a hand in my direction and I flushed again, gosh, rub it in will he? I glowered at him and I really did want to slap one of them...*Cough* *cough* Sean-
"Crissandra wants to exorcise you, therefore, I'm here to help you and protect you, I heard her talking to Paul in her room and they said"-he looked at me-"actually Crissandra said that she wanted to exorcise you but Paul refused. I'm here also to save my own bloody self AND to see a girl without her top."
I was SO praying that he meant that sarcastically. It was 9:34 a.m. and I had a lot of preparing to do for the party!
I had to call CeeCee anyway. I got up and grabbed.
"Sorry to break this up, but I still have morning breath so if you'll excuse me, I'm going to CHANGE, brush my teeth, soak in the tub for eternity until the party tomorrow and call CeeCee. I leave you two ALONE."
I ran into the bathroom just as the strap started slipping AGAIN and I heard sniggering. I locked the door, sighed and looked into the mirror and dialed CeeCee's phone number.
"Hello?"
"Hey CeeCee, what's up girl?" I said, trying to sound cheerful.
"What's wrong? You're too cheerful. Did you do it with Jesse? Are you going to tell me right now?" she asked me frenziedly.
I was about to say that Paul raped me then I stopped.
Why does she predict my mood so well? She should be a psychic!
"No, I didn't do it with Pau-I mean Jesse,"-I tried to change the subject as I heard CeeCee intake breath-"How did you think of your dress? It's AWESOME! Are you going with Adam?" I asked.
"I don't know...I was going to ask him and when I got the chance I never did, but he said Jesse hit on you in a house. Did you make out on the bed?"
Why is CeeCee so interested in my love life?
"No, there was no bed-"
She cut me off short. "Did you do it on the ground then?"
Oh my God! "NO...why should we? We are a civilized and conservative couple, nothing special."
"Oh," she sounded disappointed. "What happened when you went to search for your purse? How did you get home? You do know that your purse was in the Pacific store bag, right?"
I paused. Should I tell CeeCee? "You don't want to know." I said. I fiddled with the light switch. On, off, on off...
"No really, tell me, if you made-out with the palm trees I won't tell, I swear, just tell me something before I make something up and tell everyone at the party."
"Really CeeCee, you don't want to know...if you must, let's just say I got myself landed into trouble."
"Do tell. You mentioned Paul's name earlier in this conversation, I'm ready to listen."
She WAS my best friend since I moved to California, other than Gina (Which I haven't called in a while) she was my only best friend.
"Well...Paul WAS involved. I really don't want to talk about it." I lost my careless air and said, "CeeCee, I own you a lot at the party, let me just spill it all there."
"Fine, but you really own me big time."
"Okay then, I got to go, I just got up and I need a shower."
"Yeah, probably going to finish your business with Jesse...hey wait!"
I didn't wait. I hung up.
I sighed and looked at my reflection. I didn't have any bags under my eyes which was good. I studied my shoulders. Any bruises?
Nope. I was good to go.
"Hey Jesse!" I called. I started to brush that old chestnut mane of mine.
"Yes?" he asked.
"What time is it?"
A pause. "Its 7:00 a.m. and its Friday, the party's tomorrow, right?"
"Yes." I stopped brushing my hair. Wait...wasn't Crissi going to the party with us and Brad?
Wait, no she couldn't because she was in the mental hospital, right?
I scoffed. Forget that freak; I want a normal life without people trying to kill me.
Where was the Pawn Lady in all of this?
I brushed my teeth, took a quick shower with this awesome Suave conditioner and shampoo and then got out to see a pale Jesse and Sean gone.
"Jesse? Where's Sean?" I was drying my hair with a towel and I was dripping water all over the ground and on my PJs.
"Sean left to go spy on Crissi. Just we've got three problems." He paused to open the window and then he looked at me.
"Go on..." I waved my hand in a circular motion to say continue. I tied the towel in a turban.
"Problem number one, Paul is after you, he's coming soon to claim you as his own, two, Crissi escaped from the mental facility and three that Pawn Lady that stabbed you came and asked for you. I said that you were visiting the church. Before she left, I asked her for her name and since I was once a ghost, she told me that it was Katrina."
All of these were bad. Wasn't Crissi in a heavily guarded room? And Paul, I thought he hated me and WHO IN GOD'S NAME IS KATRINA?! I know no Katrina.
I needed my hammer again.
"Wait, if she escaped, wouldn't she be in the newspaper?" Before I finished, Jesse tossed a newspaper at me.
"Thanks." I mumbled and I opened it. On the first page was: "Unstable Teenager Escaped from Carmel Mental Facility." On it was a picture of Crissi who fortunately was wearing all black and black makeup; I guess this was the picture they took when she got in.
Wait, no, no...this can't be happening, Crissi's AFTER Jesse!
I read on.
"Mary Hakim of Carmel escaped from Carmel Mental Facility earlier this Thursday yesterday. Her whereabouts are unknown but all we know is that she is a dangerous individual. Her shrink, Mr. Wallace Medley was sprayed with pepper spray and he pressed the signal when she escaped. "Unfortunately, we didn't catch her," Mr. W. Medley said. If you find her (We don't know if Mary Hakim is her real name, we didn't have time to do any test on her) please call: 1(800)555-1324 or contact us immediately. She has dark brown hair, tall, green eyes, age 17, slim and wears black all the time. See page F6 for more detail.
We must find her; we believe that she is the one who murdered countless people including Katrina Hartley (17) earlier this summer with a skull encrusted knife. (Picture of Katrina Hartley) Katrina was found in Michigan in a Detroit river sewer bloodied and dead when the police finally found her ten days after she was dead. Citizens were walking past it when they finally smelled an odor and they called city officials to open it."
I flipped to page F6 for more information and I felt my heart sink.
Crissi was a criminal and she was my cousin! Was she in her house? Why didn't these idiots do test on DNA and crap? Aren't they pros? SHE KILLED PEOPLE!
I looked at Katrina. She looked strangely familiar...
Katrina! Jesse said something about a Katrina!
I looked up and saw Jesse staring at the ground.
"Mary Hakim...very clever of her to use a fake name." Jesse spat bitterly.
I nodded. Shouldn't my mother, being a reporter know about this?
"Jesse, come with me." I said and I dragged him with me to my mother's room.
"Mom?" I called. I pushed open the door. She was sitting in bed reading a novel drinking coffee next to a still sleeping Andy.
"Yes sweetie? Hi Jesse honey." She smiled at Jesse and me.
Jesse smiled. "Hi Mrs. Ackerman, we were just curious, do you know anything about a Katrina Hartley?"
Her smile vanished and turned into a dark look. "Yes, I do know something about her."
"Could you tell us?" I begged.
"Sure. She was a young British girl who moved to Michigan three years ago..."
Mom paused.
"She was seventeen when she died, dreadful death, she was very beautiful, someone stabbed her and shoved her into a sewer to rot...she was wealthy and dressed lovely, popular, just about what any girl dreams of. She died wearing a blouse and pink skirt, problem was, the police didn't find the clothes she was wearing, she was just wearing her underclothes but people saw her leave wearing a pearl necklace and pink skirt white blouse with a girl with green eyes and brown hair that was carrying a skull encrusted KNIFE eyes like yours and the same hair too...
"They were talking and then they turned down a deserted alley. Minutes later, people heard a scream but they thought someone was playing a prank and then the girl with green eyes came back out with a cello case and a white clothe sticking out of the case. NO one suspected her of murder though which I find absurd. No one's seen that greened eyed girl since."
Ooooh...spooky...Ladies...gentlemen...we have a murderer in our midst...
It all clicked.
Seventeen, (Like Crissi)
Pretty... (Unlike Crissi)
British... (Hmm, Pawn Lady?)
Stabbed (The skull encrusted knife...so like Crissi to have one)
Anyone who dies of an unjust death is bound to come back as a ghost... (Can't Crissi see dead people too?)
What every girl would want (Jealousy maybe?)
Wearing a blouse and pink skirt... (Wasn't CRISSI wearing that when I first saw her?!)
"Mom...where does Crissi live?" I asked suddenly.
She looked at me curiously. "You think it's Crissi?! Yeah right, she can't even lift a finger, why would she be a killer?"
I ignored my mom. "Where does she live?"
"Don't worry we'll be going to their house after tomorrow."
I felt Jesse grab my shoulder and steer me gently out of the parents' quarters.
"Let's go..." I heard him say.
"Good bye Mrs. Ackerman, sorry for bothering you." Jesse said as we left.
"Jesse, its Crissi! That lady that keeps trying to kill me is Katrina!" I said loudly.
"Susannah..."
"No, it really is!"
"Susannah..."
"Seriously, I've put all the clues together and..."
"Susannah..."
"They all fit! Crissi is the green eyed girl in Michigan except she moved to California this summer..."
"Susannah!"
"What?! I've just figured everything out and you're so supportive by interrupting me?"
Jesse shushed me. "I know..." he whispered. "Just be quiet for now..."
We ran into David in the hall. "Hey Jesse, hey Suze." He said.
He really likes Jesse...
"Are you the ghost that was haunting Suze's room? Are you Hector de Silva the man who was murdered in Suze's room?"
Jesse smiled and nodded. "Yes, I was, now I'm alive..."
We still aren't over the fact that Jesse is alive. NO one is, especially me.
"Oh, so can you tell me what it's like to be a spectral figure haunting the realm of life and death?"
Gosh, nerds these days.
"Uh, Doc, maybe later, not now, we're trying to solve a puzzle."
"Oh, may I help? I'm extraordinarily good with solving mysteries like Sherlock or the Hardy Boys, how can I help?" David was jumping out of his skin practically.
"Oh you can help by keeping Brad away from my room and all that, okay?"
"Sure," David seemed bummed out. "Are you going to be dealing with abnormal spirits?"
"Uh, yeah...sure."
"Can I please watch?"
I gave up. "Fine, just if you get hurt don't blame me."
"What ARE you really going to be doing?"
I groaned, counted to ten and started talking. "We're going to be trying to get Crissi out of the picture by exorcising her or sending her to jail and then we're going to try to keep Paul away from me, figure out the mystery on why Katrina Hartley is still here and THEN I'm going to make-out with Jesse. Happy?"
"Extremely."
Little brothers these days-couldn't mine be normal and like watching Spiderman and playing game boys or play station? No, mine has to be absorbed with the facts that "We are NOT alone" and crap.
**************************************************************************** ********************************************************
"SHIT!"
The computer froze. "GO, come ON!"
Why am I on the computer? Don't ask, I'm on the internet trying to look up information on Katrina Hartley.
"Finally!" I shouted. Jesse looked at me tentatively and I could see why; you see a girl staring at a monitor cursing at it and punching the screen.
Interesting, huh.
I typed in google.com and I clicked images and then I typed in Katrina Hartley. Gosh, the internet, very interesting.
Don't ask, I was thinking that if a girl was so rich maybe she would have pictures and have her own website. I was going for the images first.
One hundred twenty images for "Katrina Hartley". Damn, I don't have all that time! Paul was after my arse!
I got a screen that had all these pictures of a pretty blonde blue eyed girl in different posses, one wearing a cheerleading outfit, one dressed up as a devil and many more, all of which she was smiling happily and I noticed that in most of them was a tall blonde guy with his arm around her waist. I zoomed into one of the pictures.
"David, do you see anyone other than this girl?" I asked and jabbed my finger at the screen.
David shook his head.
I studied the guy next to her. He had a sappy look in his blue eyes and realized that he looked familiar...
SEAN!!!
HE was wearing that frilly thing that the British people wore and he looked extremely hot.
It was Sean and Katrina!
Was Katrina a mediator too?
Did Crissi know her and since she was jealous of her and Sean that she killed Katrina to get her filthy paws on Sean?
I looked at Jesse who was staring at Sean's picture then I looked back at the screen.
They looked so happy...
Katrina's smile was huge and bliss and it showed her joy and Sean was just looking at the camera in a happy calm mood.
You could tell that Katrina was laughing at something Sean said. In another picture, Sean had an innocent look and he was playing with a lock of Katrina's beautiful hair.
Frozen in time...that was a scary thought, that Katrina was dead.
Then another thought occurred, did Sean know that Katrina was a ghost?
Great, now they have to meet.
Joy...
I heard David inhale. "Wow, she's beautiful, who is she?"
Gosh, guys at such a YOUNG age start seeing women for their beauty like Jack (Paul's little brother) and now David! I thought nerds were a hundred percent devoted to their nerdyness.
"That is a dead girl." I heard Jesse say.
That was sad; a beautiful girl with a life ahead of her is dead all cause of an ingrate known as my cousin. No wonder Sean dumped Crissi like a hot potato!
"Really?" Doc said. "Wow, that's too bad..."
Yeah, too bad is the right word...such a pity...you didn't' know the emotions going through me were.
"Crissi is a biatch!!!"
All my anger for Katrina evaporated. Jeez, I didn't know! She probably thought I was Crissi and wanted to rid me off for what "I" did, like I blame her!
Poor Katrina...she just wants to avenge her death...
Wait-poor ME! She wants to KILL ME!!!!!!
"I've got to go..." and David left Jesse and I.
"Does she have a website?" he asked.
I typed in Katrina Hartley in the WEB spot of google and I got a lot...
I saw one that caught my attention: See my pictures! Read my BIO!
I clicked that one and got onto Katrina's home page that hasn't been touched since she died; www. Measkatrina.com (A/N: None of this is real except google.com)
And the first thing that popped up was a picture of her and her boyfriend Sean. I guess she never went out with an alive guy since the first thing I saw was "Alive and Single" and a charity link on the side for Ronald McDonald House, Red Cross, UNICEF, American Cancer thingy and many others. Then I saw things like, "all about me" "my schedule" "my life" and etc then her SN, where she live and other cool links like www. The doll palace. Com (REAL SITE) and www. Iconator. Com and other really cool sites. Her site was PURPLE and really cool and all the words like realize was spelled realise and color was colour! British influence.
All of a sudden, a screen popped up saying, "LilMizKikUrAz" (Little Miss Kick Your Ass) wanted to talk to me on IM. I clicked open and saw a skull icon and wallpaper and skull smileys. I looked at my settings; an animated buddy icon of a person spraying pepper spray at someone and saying, "HA! TAKE THAT!" and my wallpaper and smileys were cans. I made my butt comfy on the chair as I watched the screen.
LilMizKikUrAz: Hi Suze, wuts ^?
PePpErSpRaYeR50: Who is this?
LilMizKikUrAz: it's Crissi
I glanced at Jesse and saw a muscle twitch. Jesse never liked Crissi; I wonder why...did she hit on him?
PePpErSpRaYeR50: o
LilMizKikUrAz: yea, so listen, da party's 2morrow, rite?
PePpErSpRaYeR50: yea, r u comin?
LilMizKikUrAz: hell yea, if I don't its cuz im bizy is Sean there?
Play dumb Suze...
PePpErSpRaYeR50: No, y?
LilMizKikUrAz: o, jus wondring
PePpErSpRaYeR50: k, g2g
LilMizKikUrAz: w/e
Then I blocked her.
I felt Jesse's hand on my shoulder and I looked up. Jesse's eyes were really dark and he looked rather...I don't know...I couldn't put my finger on it but he looked, pleased.
I was about to say something but then Jesse shut me up.
By kissing me.
I kissed him back and then we started tonguing a little. His hand went to my face and started to move to my spine. I felt it tingle and I smiled. Yay! Maybe we were getting it on!
I got up from the chair and still kissing him, I brought my hand to his face and cupped his face in my hands. I felt Jesse kiss my mouth, my nose, my cheeks, my neck, all over. Gosh, Jesse's getting a little wild, why was he acting like this?
I broke apart, gasping for air. Did he love me?!
"Jesse, so Crissi really did murder Katrina didn't she?"
"Yes, Crissandra really did murder Katrina."
We went back to kissing very passionately and then I realized something, so did Jesse because we stopped.
It wasn't Jesse who responded; it was Sean.
"Sean! What are you doing here?!" he just ruined the mood. I quickly wiped my mouth.
"I'm sorry, did I ruin something?" he looked at Jesse then me.
"Yes, you did." I snapped.
Sean walked over to my computer casually. "What are you doing on this website?" he asked.
He looked at the screen and stopped talking. He noticed the picture and brought his hand over to the monitor and touched the picture.
"Katrina..." he breathed. Then his airy voice stopped and he glared at us. "HOW did you know about this?"
I opened my mouth to speak then I shut it. Sean looked at the photo again.
Katrina..." he kissed his fingertips and then placed them on the screen. I would have said EW but I didn't want Sean on my case again.
"I guess I should tell you about this..." he started.
Then he was cut short by someone screaming.
"She's here." Jesse said bluntly. "Katrina's here. Hide Susannah, you too Sean, if she sees you..."
Sean looked shocked. "SHE'S a GHOST?! I must see her!"
Jesse shoved Sean in my closet then me in the bathroom.
"Let me deal with her first, if she's mad right now than it's my fault."
I opened my mouth then stopped because Jesse kissed me again.
NO GUY THAT DOESN'T LOVE ME SHOULD KISS ME LIKE THAT!!!!
"SHE'S NOT AT THE CHURCH!!!!" Boy, it was Katrina and she sounded mad.
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A/N: Well, how was it? Press the little button please, you know the drill!!!!
Suze's POV
*This is a dream*
Jesse got onto his knee. "Susannah Simon, will you marry me?"
I gawked at him. "You want ME to marry you?"
He nodded.
"I don't know Jesse, I really like Paul, and his is bigger than yours."
It was his turn to do the gaping. "What?" Jesse's dark eyes were wide with shock.
"You heard me; I like Paul, now get away from me." And I punched me in the face.
"What about all he things I've done to you? Especially after what he DID to you! I love you!" Jesse pleaded, boy, it was getting desperate!
"So?"
"Querida, I love you, don't you understand?" He asked.
"Oh, NOW you tell me, why didn't you tell me a year earlier? All those times you could have told me!" I was upset.
"What do I have to do to get you to like me?"
"Prove to me that yours is bigger."
That was absurd! Jesse thought, as I read his mind. "I, I guess if you really want me to."
"No, let Me do it..."
*end of dream*
"NO!" I shouted and I woke up to see Jesse staring at me, his hand on MY HAND. I was still lying in his bed and he was next to me! I'm starting to get use to his whole "I'm alive" thing...
Yes!
"Susannah, you alright?" he asked me. I felt his calloused thumb move on my hand. His warm hand...
I nodded and felt the back of my neck. It was covered with sweat.
"I'm fine." I choked. That dream was whacked!
Jesse studied me oddly, "No you're not...you're sweating. What's wrong? Are you okay?"
I opened my mouth and all of a sudden, a ghost popped up between us ruining a perfect moment. I felt my heart jolt and me jump up a foot.
It was Sean.
The not as hot as Jesse blonde dude!
Wait, what was he doing here?
Jesse read my mind I guess, or how else would he have said, "I made friends with him remember?"
Oh.
"Why are you here?" I asked. I rubbed my shoulder, noticing that my bruises didn't hurt, at all.
In fact, I didn't HAVE bruises!
It was as if I wasn't raped which is something I'll never ever forget since I'll be bull-legged for a while...
Sean looked uncomfortable and his brilliant blue eyes were sad looking. "Well, Crissandra isn't the best person in the world so I left her, to find out that she wants to exorcise you and me."
I didn't understand him. Was he speaking Latin or something?
"Wait, what do you mean?" I asked.
I was getting self-conscious, I mean, HELLO! I was sitting in bed with a hottie and another hottie pops up between us!
I WAS STILL IN A SKIMPY BATHING SUIT FOR PETE'S SAKE and the straps were kind of loose...so the bloody thing kept slipping and I had to keep pulling it up and tying it. Couldn't I have just gone to the bathroom?
No, instead I have to be the goody-goody little mediator and listen, plus I wanted to stay next to Jesse until the "Day that I Die".
Why me?
"Crissandra is not exactly...nice."
I sat up so I could tie the strap better, God I hate these straps! Why did I even BUY this bikini?
I nodded and I was still trying to tie the strap when chaos ensued;
The straps had a silky feel to them. You know how silk things are really slippery, right? Well, the top piece of my two piece slipped. Luckily, Sean had gotten up and was staring out the window. Jesse however was a different story, he was still on the bed and he had been...staring at me...so guess what he saw...
HOW EMBARASSING.
Immediately, he turned SUPER red and got up and stood next to Sean by the window trying to keep him busy as I tried to pull it back into place.
This is the last time I wear a bikini to sleep, what if it slipped when I was sleeping and Jesse fixed it?!
Jesse isn't a very good distracter. Sean had turned around, and Jesse had to too, I am sad to say, turn around, and they both saw me trying very hard to make wrongs right. The base of the top piece was up to my belly button. Then, they both reddened and turned around slowly in a "trying to be polite" manner, and moved their backs toward me.
I felt myself blush and I quickly turned around like a good girl and continued trying to tie the freaking strap. God, why me? I just had flashed two extremely hot guys with my womanly bits on ACCIDENT!!!
I quickly tied my straps seven minutes later and brushed my hair out of my eyes.
"So, we were saying?" I tried to resume life as if nothing happened.
Gosh, why do guys that I like have to be so proper? If it were Paul he'd get the popcorn but no, these hotties need to give me my privacy.
"It's okay you two, I'm decent..." I said apologetically since they still were staring outside the window but I noticed that their necks were abnormally red...
They turned around slowly in sync and they relaxed slightly.
Then, Sean sniggered slightly and said, "You ARE decent, right? Okay, as we were saying before THAT"-he waved a hand in my direction and I flushed again, gosh, rub it in will he? I glowered at him and I really did want to slap one of them...*Cough* *cough* Sean-
"Crissandra wants to exorcise you, therefore, I'm here to help you and protect you, I heard her talking to Paul in her room and they said"-he looked at me-"actually Crissandra said that she wanted to exorcise you but Paul refused. I'm here also to save my own bloody self AND to see a girl without her top."
I was SO praying that he meant that sarcastically. It was 9:34 a.m. and I had a lot of preparing to do for the party!
I had to call CeeCee anyway. I got up and grabbed.
"Sorry to break this up, but I still have morning breath so if you'll excuse me, I'm going to CHANGE, brush my teeth, soak in the tub for eternity until the party tomorrow and call CeeCee. I leave you two ALONE."
I ran into the bathroom just as the strap started slipping AGAIN and I heard sniggering. I locked the door, sighed and looked into the mirror and dialed CeeCee's phone number.
"Hello?"
"Hey CeeCee, what's up girl?" I said, trying to sound cheerful.
"What's wrong? You're too cheerful. Did you do it with Jesse? Are you going to tell me right now?" she asked me frenziedly.
I was about to say that Paul raped me then I stopped.
Why does she predict my mood so well? She should be a psychic!
"No, I didn't do it with Pau-I mean Jesse,"-I tried to change the subject as I heard CeeCee intake breath-"How did you think of your dress? It's AWESOME! Are you going with Adam?" I asked.
"I don't know...I was going to ask him and when I got the chance I never did, but he said Jesse hit on you in a house. Did you make out on the bed?"
Why is CeeCee so interested in my love life?
"No, there was no bed-"
She cut me off short. "Did you do it on the ground then?"
Oh my God! "NO...why should we? We are a civilized and conservative couple, nothing special."
"Oh," she sounded disappointed. "What happened when you went to search for your purse? How did you get home? You do know that your purse was in the Pacific store bag, right?"
I paused. Should I tell CeeCee? "You don't want to know." I said. I fiddled with the light switch. On, off, on off...
"No really, tell me, if you made-out with the palm trees I won't tell, I swear, just tell me something before I make something up and tell everyone at the party."
"Really CeeCee, you don't want to know...if you must, let's just say I got myself landed into trouble."
"Do tell. You mentioned Paul's name earlier in this conversation, I'm ready to listen."
She WAS my best friend since I moved to California, other than Gina (Which I haven't called in a while) she was my only best friend.
"Well...Paul WAS involved. I really don't want to talk about it." I lost my careless air and said, "CeeCee, I own you a lot at the party, let me just spill it all there."
"Fine, but you really own me big time."
"Okay then, I got to go, I just got up and I need a shower."
"Yeah, probably going to finish your business with Jesse...hey wait!"
I didn't wait. I hung up.
I sighed and looked at my reflection. I didn't have any bags under my eyes which was good. I studied my shoulders. Any bruises?
Nope. I was good to go.
"Hey Jesse!" I called. I started to brush that old chestnut mane of mine.
"Yes?" he asked.
"What time is it?"
A pause. "Its 7:00 a.m. and its Friday, the party's tomorrow, right?"
"Yes." I stopped brushing my hair. Wait...wasn't Crissi going to the party with us and Brad?
Wait, no she couldn't because she was in the mental hospital, right?
I scoffed. Forget that freak; I want a normal life without people trying to kill me.
Where was the Pawn Lady in all of this?
I brushed my teeth, took a quick shower with this awesome Suave conditioner and shampoo and then got out to see a pale Jesse and Sean gone.
"Jesse? Where's Sean?" I was drying my hair with a towel and I was dripping water all over the ground and on my PJs.
"Sean left to go spy on Crissi. Just we've got three problems." He paused to open the window and then he looked at me.
"Go on..." I waved my hand in a circular motion to say continue. I tied the towel in a turban.
"Problem number one, Paul is after you, he's coming soon to claim you as his own, two, Crissi escaped from the mental facility and three that Pawn Lady that stabbed you came and asked for you. I said that you were visiting the church. Before she left, I asked her for her name and since I was once a ghost, she told me that it was Katrina."
All of these were bad. Wasn't Crissi in a heavily guarded room? And Paul, I thought he hated me and WHO IN GOD'S NAME IS KATRINA?! I know no Katrina.
I needed my hammer again.
"Wait, if she escaped, wouldn't she be in the newspaper?" Before I finished, Jesse tossed a newspaper at me.
"Thanks." I mumbled and I opened it. On the first page was: "Unstable Teenager Escaped from Carmel Mental Facility." On it was a picture of Crissi who fortunately was wearing all black and black makeup; I guess this was the picture they took when she got in.
Wait, no, no...this can't be happening, Crissi's AFTER Jesse!
I read on.
"Mary Hakim of Carmel escaped from Carmel Mental Facility earlier this Thursday yesterday. Her whereabouts are unknown but all we know is that she is a dangerous individual. Her shrink, Mr. Wallace Medley was sprayed with pepper spray and he pressed the signal when she escaped. "Unfortunately, we didn't catch her," Mr. W. Medley said. If you find her (We don't know if Mary Hakim is her real name, we didn't have time to do any test on her) please call: 1(800)555-1324 or contact us immediately. She has dark brown hair, tall, green eyes, age 17, slim and wears black all the time. See page F6 for more detail.
We must find her; we believe that she is the one who murdered countless people including Katrina Hartley (17) earlier this summer with a skull encrusted knife. (Picture of Katrina Hartley) Katrina was found in Michigan in a Detroit river sewer bloodied and dead when the police finally found her ten days after she was dead. Citizens were walking past it when they finally smelled an odor and they called city officials to open it."
I flipped to page F6 for more information and I felt my heart sink.
Crissi was a criminal and she was my cousin! Was she in her house? Why didn't these idiots do test on DNA and crap? Aren't they pros? SHE KILLED PEOPLE!
I looked at Katrina. She looked strangely familiar...
Katrina! Jesse said something about a Katrina!
I looked up and saw Jesse staring at the ground.
"Mary Hakim...very clever of her to use a fake name." Jesse spat bitterly.
I nodded. Shouldn't my mother, being a reporter know about this?
"Jesse, come with me." I said and I dragged him with me to my mother's room.
"Mom?" I called. I pushed open the door. She was sitting in bed reading a novel drinking coffee next to a still sleeping Andy.
"Yes sweetie? Hi Jesse honey." She smiled at Jesse and me.
Jesse smiled. "Hi Mrs. Ackerman, we were just curious, do you know anything about a Katrina Hartley?"
Her smile vanished and turned into a dark look. "Yes, I do know something about her."
"Could you tell us?" I begged.
"Sure. She was a young British girl who moved to Michigan three years ago..."
Mom paused.
"She was seventeen when she died, dreadful death, she was very beautiful, someone stabbed her and shoved her into a sewer to rot...she was wealthy and dressed lovely, popular, just about what any girl dreams of. She died wearing a blouse and pink skirt, problem was, the police didn't find the clothes she was wearing, she was just wearing her underclothes but people saw her leave wearing a pearl necklace and pink skirt white blouse with a girl with green eyes and brown hair that was carrying a skull encrusted KNIFE eyes like yours and the same hair too...
"They were talking and then they turned down a deserted alley. Minutes later, people heard a scream but they thought someone was playing a prank and then the girl with green eyes came back out with a cello case and a white clothe sticking out of the case. NO one suspected her of murder though which I find absurd. No one's seen that greened eyed girl since."
Ooooh...spooky...Ladies...gentlemen...we have a murderer in our midst...
It all clicked.
Seventeen, (Like Crissi)
Pretty... (Unlike Crissi)
British... (Hmm, Pawn Lady?)
Stabbed (The skull encrusted knife...so like Crissi to have one)
Anyone who dies of an unjust death is bound to come back as a ghost... (Can't Crissi see dead people too?)
What every girl would want (Jealousy maybe?)
Wearing a blouse and pink skirt... (Wasn't CRISSI wearing that when I first saw her?!)
"Mom...where does Crissi live?" I asked suddenly.
She looked at me curiously. "You think it's Crissi?! Yeah right, she can't even lift a finger, why would she be a killer?"
I ignored my mom. "Where does she live?"
"Don't worry we'll be going to their house after tomorrow."
I felt Jesse grab my shoulder and steer me gently out of the parents' quarters.
"Let's go..." I heard him say.
"Good bye Mrs. Ackerman, sorry for bothering you." Jesse said as we left.
"Jesse, its Crissi! That lady that keeps trying to kill me is Katrina!" I said loudly.
"Susannah..."
"No, it really is!"
"Susannah..."
"Seriously, I've put all the clues together and..."
"Susannah..."
"They all fit! Crissi is the green eyed girl in Michigan except she moved to California this summer..."
"Susannah!"
"What?! I've just figured everything out and you're so supportive by interrupting me?"
Jesse shushed me. "I know..." he whispered. "Just be quiet for now..."
We ran into David in the hall. "Hey Jesse, hey Suze." He said.
He really likes Jesse...
"Are you the ghost that was haunting Suze's room? Are you Hector de Silva the man who was murdered in Suze's room?"
Jesse smiled and nodded. "Yes, I was, now I'm alive..."
We still aren't over the fact that Jesse is alive. NO one is, especially me.
"Oh, so can you tell me what it's like to be a spectral figure haunting the realm of life and death?"
Gosh, nerds these days.
"Uh, Doc, maybe later, not now, we're trying to solve a puzzle."
"Oh, may I help? I'm extraordinarily good with solving mysteries like Sherlock or the Hardy Boys, how can I help?" David was jumping out of his skin practically.
"Oh you can help by keeping Brad away from my room and all that, okay?"
"Sure," David seemed bummed out. "Are you going to be dealing with abnormal spirits?"
"Uh, yeah...sure."
"Can I please watch?"
I gave up. "Fine, just if you get hurt don't blame me."
"What ARE you really going to be doing?"
I groaned, counted to ten and started talking. "We're going to be trying to get Crissi out of the picture by exorcising her or sending her to jail and then we're going to try to keep Paul away from me, figure out the mystery on why Katrina Hartley is still here and THEN I'm going to make-out with Jesse. Happy?"
"Extremely."
Little brothers these days-couldn't mine be normal and like watching Spiderman and playing game boys or play station? No, mine has to be absorbed with the facts that "We are NOT alone" and crap.
**************************************************************************** ********************************************************
"SHIT!"
The computer froze. "GO, come ON!"
Why am I on the computer? Don't ask, I'm on the internet trying to look up information on Katrina Hartley.
"Finally!" I shouted. Jesse looked at me tentatively and I could see why; you see a girl staring at a monitor cursing at it and punching the screen.
Interesting, huh.
I typed in google.com and I clicked images and then I typed in Katrina Hartley. Gosh, the internet, very interesting.
Don't ask, I was thinking that if a girl was so rich maybe she would have pictures and have her own website. I was going for the images first.
One hundred twenty images for "Katrina Hartley". Damn, I don't have all that time! Paul was after my arse!
I got a screen that had all these pictures of a pretty blonde blue eyed girl in different posses, one wearing a cheerleading outfit, one dressed up as a devil and many more, all of which she was smiling happily and I noticed that in most of them was a tall blonde guy with his arm around her waist. I zoomed into one of the pictures.
"David, do you see anyone other than this girl?" I asked and jabbed my finger at the screen.
David shook his head.
I studied the guy next to her. He had a sappy look in his blue eyes and realized that he looked familiar...
SEAN!!!
HE was wearing that frilly thing that the British people wore and he looked extremely hot.
It was Sean and Katrina!
Was Katrina a mediator too?
Did Crissi know her and since she was jealous of her and Sean that she killed Katrina to get her filthy paws on Sean?
I looked at Jesse who was staring at Sean's picture then I looked back at the screen.
They looked so happy...
Katrina's smile was huge and bliss and it showed her joy and Sean was just looking at the camera in a happy calm mood.
You could tell that Katrina was laughing at something Sean said. In another picture, Sean had an innocent look and he was playing with a lock of Katrina's beautiful hair.
Frozen in time...that was a scary thought, that Katrina was dead.
Then another thought occurred, did Sean know that Katrina was a ghost?
Great, now they have to meet.
Joy...
I heard David inhale. "Wow, she's beautiful, who is she?"
Gosh, guys at such a YOUNG age start seeing women for their beauty like Jack (Paul's little brother) and now David! I thought nerds were a hundred percent devoted to their nerdyness.
"That is a dead girl." I heard Jesse say.
That was sad; a beautiful girl with a life ahead of her is dead all cause of an ingrate known as my cousin. No wonder Sean dumped Crissi like a hot potato!
"Really?" Doc said. "Wow, that's too bad..."
Yeah, too bad is the right word...such a pity...you didn't' know the emotions going through me were.
"Crissi is a biatch!!!"
All my anger for Katrina evaporated. Jeez, I didn't know! She probably thought I was Crissi and wanted to rid me off for what "I" did, like I blame her!
Poor Katrina...she just wants to avenge her death...
Wait-poor ME! She wants to KILL ME!!!!!!
"I've got to go..." and David left Jesse and I.
"Does she have a website?" he asked.
I typed in Katrina Hartley in the WEB spot of google and I got a lot...
I saw one that caught my attention: See my pictures! Read my BIO!
I clicked that one and got onto Katrina's home page that hasn't been touched since she died; www. Measkatrina.com (A/N: None of this is real except google.com)
And the first thing that popped up was a picture of her and her boyfriend Sean. I guess she never went out with an alive guy since the first thing I saw was "Alive and Single" and a charity link on the side for Ronald McDonald House, Red Cross, UNICEF, American Cancer thingy and many others. Then I saw things like, "all about me" "my schedule" "my life" and etc then her SN, where she live and other cool links like www. The doll palace. Com (REAL SITE) and www. Iconator. Com and other really cool sites. Her site was PURPLE and really cool and all the words like realize was spelled realise and color was colour! British influence.
All of a sudden, a screen popped up saying, "LilMizKikUrAz" (Little Miss Kick Your Ass) wanted to talk to me on IM. I clicked open and saw a skull icon and wallpaper and skull smileys. I looked at my settings; an animated buddy icon of a person spraying pepper spray at someone and saying, "HA! TAKE THAT!" and my wallpaper and smileys were cans. I made my butt comfy on the chair as I watched the screen.
LilMizKikUrAz: Hi Suze, wuts ^?
PePpErSpRaYeR50: Who is this?
LilMizKikUrAz: it's Crissi
I glanced at Jesse and saw a muscle twitch. Jesse never liked Crissi; I wonder why...did she hit on him?
PePpErSpRaYeR50: o
LilMizKikUrAz: yea, so listen, da party's 2morrow, rite?
PePpErSpRaYeR50: yea, r u comin?
LilMizKikUrAz: hell yea, if I don't its cuz im bizy is Sean there?
Play dumb Suze...
PePpErSpRaYeR50: No, y?
LilMizKikUrAz: o, jus wondring
PePpErSpRaYeR50: k, g2g
LilMizKikUrAz: w/e
Then I blocked her.
I felt Jesse's hand on my shoulder and I looked up. Jesse's eyes were really dark and he looked rather...I don't know...I couldn't put my finger on it but he looked, pleased.
I was about to say something but then Jesse shut me up.
By kissing me.
I kissed him back and then we started tonguing a little. His hand went to my face and started to move to my spine. I felt it tingle and I smiled. Yay! Maybe we were getting it on!
I got up from the chair and still kissing him, I brought my hand to his face and cupped his face in my hands. I felt Jesse kiss my mouth, my nose, my cheeks, my neck, all over. Gosh, Jesse's getting a little wild, why was he acting like this?
I broke apart, gasping for air. Did he love me?!
"Jesse, so Crissi really did murder Katrina didn't she?"
"Yes, Crissandra really did murder Katrina."
We went back to kissing very passionately and then I realized something, so did Jesse because we stopped.
It wasn't Jesse who responded; it was Sean.
"Sean! What are you doing here?!" he just ruined the mood. I quickly wiped my mouth.
"I'm sorry, did I ruin something?" he looked at Jesse then me.
"Yes, you did." I snapped.
Sean walked over to my computer casually. "What are you doing on this website?" he asked.
He looked at the screen and stopped talking. He noticed the picture and brought his hand over to the monitor and touched the picture.
"Katrina..." he breathed. Then his airy voice stopped and he glared at us. "HOW did you know about this?"
I opened my mouth to speak then I shut it. Sean looked at the photo again.
Katrina..." he kissed his fingertips and then placed them on the screen. I would have said EW but I didn't want Sean on my case again.
"I guess I should tell you about this..." he started.
Then he was cut short by someone screaming.
"She's here." Jesse said bluntly. "Katrina's here. Hide Susannah, you too Sean, if she sees you..."
Sean looked shocked. "SHE'S a GHOST?! I must see her!"
Jesse shoved Sean in my closet then me in the bathroom.
"Let me deal with her first, if she's mad right now than it's my fault."
I opened my mouth then stopped because Jesse kissed me again.
NO GUY THAT DOESN'T LOVE ME SHOULD KISS ME LIKE THAT!!!!
"SHE'S NOT AT THE CHURCH!!!!" Boy, it was Katrina and she sounded mad.
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A/N: Well, how was it? Press the little button please, you know the drill!!!!