Hm...this seems stangely short. Next one will be longer, I promise!
Jake and Chris exited the classroom together. They quietly ducked into a hallway.
"Jake…" Chris began "Do you think…do you think that he's going to come back?" She seemed very nervous.
The half-ghost nodded grimly. "He'll probably make his next move in an hour or two."
The Goth girl seemed to think about this for a minute. "Then I want to help."
Jake stopped dead. "What?!"
"It's not your problem, it's mine. If he comes back…"
She didn't get to finish her sentence.
"Hey, guys!" Tori shouted, seeming like she was purposefully interrupting their conversation.
She ran up to them, Matt trailing a few feet behind. The techno-geek gave the Goths a repentant look and smiled innocently as if to say "I tried."
"You know, you guys just sort of ditched us after class." The huntress stated.
"With good reason." Chris muttered to herself darkly. Then, she fixed her expression into a lighter one. "Sorry, Jake and I were just discussing that math homework, right Jake?" She hinted, nudging him with her elbow when he seemed lost.
"Oh, yeah, right. Math homework." He stammered in agreement.
Tori gave them a disbelieving look, but let it slide. "So, I was thinking that we could head to my place after school."
Chris had the sudden feeling that "we" didn't really include her.
"Or, we could go hang out at the Nasty Burger." Chris cut in.
The two boys seemed to sense the growing tension and decided to cut in.
"Or, we could do something else." Matt intervened, stepping in between them. "Something we all agree on."
"Yeah." Jake agreed. "Um…like…"
He was cut off by the bell. The boy sighed in relief.
Jake was in class, scribbling down notes. He looked up to glance at his friends. Tori was staring out the window…actually, it was more like glaring. He assumed that she was probably hoping for something exciting like a ghost attack.
Jake shifted his gaze to Matt. A book rested in front of him and behind it, he was messing with one of his gadgets. It looked rectangular and he was pressing buttons on it furiously. Maybe it was a game.
Lastly, although he was pretty sure that it was his original intention, he looked at Chris. Just to see if she was okay. From what the half-ghost could see, she was fine. She glanced at the window occasionally, but mostly glued her eyes to a piece of paper. The motions were long and flowing instead of the short, scratchy ones of writing. Intrigued, Jake leaned over slightly and changed his position to see what she was doodling. Unfortunately, his ghost sense went off, causing him to lose his balance and fall into the aisle.
Giggles sounded from various students as he stared at the white ceiling in surprise. He subconsciously noticed that a few near-by classmates bent over the sides of their chairs to look at him. He didn't have much time for thinking because Mr. Taylors strode over to him and looked down with a disapproving expression.
"Mr. Fenton, would you care to inform my why you are lying on the floor?" The teacher scolded.
Jake slowly got up, keeping eye contact with the teacher. "Um…I…don't know."
The teacher groaned. "Well, try spending a little more time in your chair and less on the ground. If it happens again, it's detention. Do I make myself clear?"
Jake silently nodded and slipped back into his seat. He glanced around to see what had triggered his ghost sense. Nothing. When he looked at Abby and Tori, he noticed that they were on high alert as well. After a few seconds of searching, he gave up.
"Must be a false alarm." He thought. Then, he froze when he noticed Chris' tense position and heard soft whispers.
"It's only a matter of time. You might as well come quietly. If you don't, I'll have to beat the crud out of your loser friend first." The voice muttered. It had a threatening edge to it and a tone that would send chills down even the bravest person's spine. Jake recognized it as Cade's voice.
Her navy eyes became very angry and she made a subtle stab with her elbow. A soft grunt echoed, signaling that she had hit her mark.
"Fine, I guess that we'll have to do this the hard way. Just don't say I didn't warn you." The voice rasped. Then, the presence left and the Goth girl's posture loosened slightly, but the annoyed and angry expression didn't leave her face.
Noticing this, Jake scribbled something down on a piece of paper and tossed it to his friend. She carefully opened the note.
Meet me after class.
The two Goths dashed breathlessly out into the schoolyard. They ran across the grounds before skidding behind a tree. They both hunched over to catch their breath. When Jake had a sufficient amount of oxygen in his lungs, he pulled back up and looked from behind the tree cautiously.
"No Tori?" Chris questioned, her voice clearly showing her exasperation from the mad sprint.
"No Tori." Jake confirmed, pulling his head back behind the tree.
"So…I guess you saw what happened in class?" She asked, already knowing the answer.
"Yeah." He replied simply.
"Then I'd like to tell you that I've already solved the problem." She claimed proudly.
"No." He said flat out.
But…" She interjected, hoping to be able to explain.
"I said 'no.' It's too risky for you to get involved. Besides, I can handle Cade." He interrupted.
"Just because you can do something, doesn't mean that you should." She spat. "In case you haven't noticed already; Cade's dangerous. You're going to need all the help you can get. And I'm pretty sure that Abby and Tori aren't going to be willing to fight with you."
"Just…drop it, okay?" He pleaded.
"Then let me help."
"No."
"Why?"
"You'll get hurt."
"But if I don't, you'll get hurt worse."
Jake groaned. "You're impossible."
She smirked and crossed her arms in a satisfied manner. "Being impossible is one of my specialties."
"You know what? Let's compromise. Next time Cade attacks, you stay back and I'll fight him." He began. She opened her mouth to protest to that, but he continued. "But if I really need some help, I'll ask for it and you can fight."
She seemed to think about this. "Fine." She grumbled.
"For now, let's just worry about when he'll show up again."
Chris nodded in agreement, anxiety suddenly filling her. It showed, too.
Hey, everyone, guess what? In addition to finally writing and posting this chapter, I've just about finished the next one and I'm happy to say that it WILL be up on Valentine's Day! Yay, I met my goal!