Visible Ghosts

11

I was able to slip away from the class without anyone trying to stop me. North and Luke went directly to Mr. Blackbourne as soon as he finished lecturing. I had to wait for James, Alex, and Henry to leave until I was able to get off of the row of seats but as soon as it was clear I was bolting past them on the way to meet Zane.

I was sitting in the courtyard by the gymnasium. Students were happily enjoying Friday and the impending weekend. It was early enough that the heat wasn't scorching yet and a few kids threw a football around. While waiting for Zane to arrive I decided to text Phil to plan a meeting for this afternoon.

Sang: Hey Philly Phil, got a moment? I need a favor

It normally took him a few minutes to reply to my texts if he wasn't in surgery. In the meantime, I got things prepared for the party tonight. I still didn't have an address but I still wanted to have a plan in place. First, I checked to see what safe houses were available, there was no way James was picking me up at my actual house.

Luckily, there's one available downtown. Perfect. I had just finished going through the hoops so I could grab the keys from another academy member when Zane sat down.

"Hey. 1, I need a favor, 2, guess what." I tell Zane with a little pep. It might have only been a week on the mission but it feels longer.

He squints his eyes at me. "What? Is Raven planning on doing something to me today?"

Giggling slightly, I shake my head. "I have no clue, haven't talked to him since Monday. I need you to run a background check on three people for me."

"Why can't you do it?" Zane groans, slumping down in his seat. "You don't even have class the rest of the day."

"No, but remember that thing I was planning on doing this afternoon?" I try to subtly remind him that I was going to try and break into the dean's office. Rumor has it every Friday, he leaves at lunch and teleworks from home in the afternoon. The perfect opportunity to do some snooping.

"You don't have any plans this afternoon. What are you talking about?" Zane asks confused, his eyes glued to his phone. "Wait." His eyes shoot up to mine. "You don't have a date, do you?"

"No." I chuckled. "I have that meeting with the dean, remember."

His eyes widen and the tension leaves from his shoulders. "Shit. Oh, yeah that. Sure, I'll do the checks. When do you want them by?"

"Uh, 6:00 tonight?" I say meekly, that is not a lot of time.

Both of Zane's eyebrows shoot up into his messy hairline, the dark blue of his eyes glimmering in curiosity. "Why such the quick turnaround?" He scoots his chair closer to mine and opens his laptop in front of us.

Keeping my face neutral, I go for nonchalance. "Going to a party tonight with three guys, thought it would be a good idea."

Zane's hand firmly grasp my chin and turns my head to face him. "You're going to a party with three boys buttercup? Do I know said boys?"

"I don't think so." I hedge. "It's not any of the academy boys if that's what you're worried about."

He scoffs, not letting go of my chin. With his other hand he pops me on my thigh. "As if academy boys are the only ones I have to worry about." Trying to smile around his hand, I'm sure my face resembles that of a fish. He finally lets go and types a few things on his laptop. "Alright, what are their names?"

"James, Henry, and Alex. No last names. They're in my business management class with Blackbourne." I offer a little apologetically. That's not a lot to go off of and those are pretty common names.