Chapter Seven
A…ghost?
When I got out of the bus, I looked over my shoulder at the roof to see if the thing was still there. It was. I should have been surprised or at least a little disturbed by such a strange creature. But I wasn't. It was actually kinda cute.
It sat with its big birdlike feet before it and had huge yellow eyes with slits. There was a scull on its head as well as stitches across its face and body, which looked more or less to be the same thing. I could scarcely imagine how the hell the things digestive system worked.
It blinked its huge yellow eyes, and seemed to realize I was staring at it.
I turned away and followed the crowd. Sarah would usually accompany me to the school building and we'd separate usually somewhere in the middle of the first hall, but she brushed past me without looking back. Her expression was grim.
Now would probably be a good time to feel guilty or something. But I guess I'm not that good of a person. I did feel a bit uncomfortable. That should count for something.
My first class of the day was chemistry. I literally talked to no one this period if I could help it. I even managed to communicate nonverbally with my lab partner. I don't remember his name, and I'm not sure if we'd ever held a conversation longer than three or four sentences at a time, usually pertaining to the subject.
The morning went by pretty quickly. Before I knew it, it was lunch time. I don't usually pack my own lunch, so I buy whatever slop the cafeteria is serving. I joined Josh and Brian at our usual table. Sarah hadn't arrived yet, and Jessie wasn't there either. Jessie didn't always eat with us. If she could, she'd spend her lunch period buying snacks and whatever else the 'it' group wanted.
"Hey, Tonia, want to hear a joke?" Josh asked.
I puddled with my potatoes.
"Why did the woman cross the road?"
A sexist joke today. Sometimes Josh would try and make me laugh. Sometimes he'd succeed in making me smile, but he never saw it because I kept my hair in my face when he'd talked to me.
"Who cares? What's she doing out of the kitchen!" He smiled and tried to get a look through my bangs.
I shook my left hand in a 'meh' motion.
"Where's Sarah going?" Brian asked.
I lifted my head to see her heading for a table far from ours. She couldn't have been that mad at me. I felt somewhat reassured when she joined the anime nerds. Maybe she was feeling better. I doubted it. Ah well, back to my 'lunch.'
"Okay, how about this one?" Josh cleared his throat and leaned back casually in his chair. "What to hear the greatest joke in the world?" It was quite impressive how pompous he made his voice.
I looked at him through my bangs.
"Women's rights!"
Brian burst out laughing.
I lowered my head as my lips quirked in an involuntary smile. The delivery was quite clever, but I think today he was just trying to piss me off or get some reaction. The joke certainly would have pissed Sarah off.
Why am I still thinking about her?
Josh spent the rest of our lunch period telling me every sexist joke he knew, and sense he, Brian, and I had band together, he continued as we left for the performing arts building.
The air was still musty outside, despite it being past twelve. The sky was only partly cloudy and I guessed we had a thirty percent chance of rain, perhaps a mild sun shower and who the fuck cares about the weather?
We were one of the first to head for band, so there weren't many people on the school grounds.
"The hell is that?" Brian said.
I followed his gaze, as well as Josh. We continued walking, but our attention was caught by a, well, a ghost. It might have been a kid wearing a ghost costume; only the thing didn't have any legs. It seemed to notice that we were staring at it, and the ghost started and shot behind a thin tree that would not have successfully concealed it even if it hadn't been short and wide. The tree was only about five inches thick or so. The ghost put its hands around it, and peeped around, watching us as we watched it.
We continued to stare at each other all the way to the performing arts building entrance.
"Well, that was weird." Josh said.
I laughed.