Page 90 of Waysider
Michael must’ve sensed the change in her, because he drew back instantly. His dark eyes gleamed with concern. But when he saw her expression, the concern gave way to a look Cass was beginning to recognize. It was like a door closing, or the sun retreating behind a cloud. Cass felt a searing rush of regret and panic. She wanted to tell Michael that it didn’t matter, any of it. The fact that he was a ghost, and she was a ghost-hunter-in-training. The fact that he was dead and she was alive.
But it did matter.
So Cass cleared her throat and got off him. Michael helped her immediately, and then he went over to the window, putting distance between them. It was only a few feet, but it might as well have been miles. Shifting awkwardly, Cass mussed her bangs and shoved every feeling down until all she felt was a muted, muffled ache.
“I should go. I have a meeting with Headmistress Crane.” Cass started to move toward the door, but then she hesitated, realizing there was something she needed to know. She didn’t have the right to ask Michael for favors, Cass knew that. But when it came to Cal, she’d be an asshole. She forced herself to say, “Have you sensed my brother lately? He didn’t show up last night, and he always shows up. Always. I think something might be wrong.”
Michael only paused a moment before answering. “No, I haven’t. But I can look for him.”
“I’d really appreciate that. Thank you.”
They stood there for another moment. Cass’s lips were still swollen from Michael’s kiss and his hair was mussed from her fingers. They couldn’t pretend it hadn’t happened, or go back to the way things were. But they had to. For his sake… and for hers.
“I’ll see you later?” Cass said, but it came out like a question.
This time, Michael was silent. She couldn’t read his expression. It wasn’t remote, as if he were a stranger again, but there was none of the shy warmth she saw in his eyes every time he looked at her lately.
Then he nodded. Cass felt something inside her loosen, and she swallowed a sigh. She started to say something, anything to ease the tension between them.
Before she could, Michael vanished.
Cass got dressed and walked across campus.
It was a gray morning. The silence, combined with the empty paths, set Cass’s instincts on edge. Not to mention that it had only been a few hours ago that she’d been running through this place with a killer on her heels. Cass climbed the stairs to Old Main quickly, and a gust of wind nearly made her lose her footing as she pulled the door open.
There was no one at the front desk, but Cass could hear voices on the other side of the door, which meant she wasn’t getting out of this meeting. Damn. Cass stood there for a moment, uncertain what to do. Should she knock? Sit in one of the chairs and wait?
She chose the latter.
Cass tried to ignore the sounds coming from Headmistress Crane’s office, but it was kind of impossible. The headmistress was arguing with someone. Neither of them were shouting, but Cass could hear how sharply they spoke. The threads of tension weaving through every word. Cass clasped her hands and let out a breath, looking around for something else to focus on. All she could find was a copy of Good Housekeeping resting on the coffee table in front of her, and Cass wasn’t that desperate. She directed her gaze at the ceiling and started counting the tiles. Snatches of the argument reached her, something about coming home and family.
Minutes later, the door finally opened. Cass sat straighter, but it wasn’t Headmistress Crane that came out—it was Teddy.
All at once, she was reliving the whole thing again. She remembered the last words Teddy had spoken to her, his eyes wild with pain and fear. Don’t let them take me to the hospital.
Cass had been too focused on surviving to think anything of it, but now she wondered why those had been the first words out of Teddy’s mouth after he was hurt. Maybe he just had an aversion to hospitals. Every voyant had encountered death and trauma, and Cass didn’t know Teddy Crane’s. So she didn’t ask about it.
“I never got a chance to thank you,” she said.
He instantly shook his head, his jaw tightening. “Hey, you have nothing to thank me for. Really.”
“I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be standing here if you hadn’t shown up.” Cass gave him a faint smile. “You’re a good friend.”
Teddy smiled back. Dimples appeared on either side of his mouth, and his perfect teeth flashed white in the dim light. “You would’ve done the same for me. Everything okay?” he asked.
Cass heaved a teasing sigh. “You’re never going to stop asking me that, are you?”
“I only ask because you’re waiting outside of my mom’s office,” Teddy pointed out.
Before Cass could respond, the door opened again. Headmistress Crane emerged, looking as tired as ever. “Thank you for your patience,” she said. “I’m ready for you, Miss Ryan.”
Good luck, Teddy mouthed behind his mother’s back. Cass shot him a pleading look back, as if to say, save me. He responded with a helpless, sympathetic smile.
Slow with reluctance, Cass rose and followed Headmistress Crane into her office. The headmistress closed the door and turned again, walking gracefully over to her desk chair. She spoke as she sat down. “First things first. How is your injury?”
Cass sat in the same spot she’d chosen the last time she had been in this room. “It’s fine. I mean, it hurts, but the pain is manageable,” she said.
“I’m happy to hear that.” The headmistress paused. “We need to discuss last night, Miss Ryan. Something tells me the events didn’t happen exactly as you told the police.”
