Anima's Ghost: The Summer Before (Song Line Echoes, book 2)

Chapter 22: Left Behind

Packing is something that the boys are used to. They do it laughing and joking, competing and sabotaging. It's more of a party than anything, enough so that even I can't help but laugh and have some fun, even while I can't seem to make myself forget for even a moment what leaving Fall River means for me.

"You are not putting that thing in the bed of my truck!" Spyro says, not for the first time. And not for the first time, Borden gives him a glare that I used to think meant he was about to kill someone. And maybe directed at strangers, it would. But he's harmless to his friends.

"It's not even allowed at school," Rune points out, like he always does.

"Every time," Gatsby sighs and shakes his head, but he seems just as amused by all this as I am. To me, he explains, "He tries to bring his motorcycle every time we leave town, no matter where we're going. Sometimes he can, to certain vacation spots. To school, he cannot. The school rules are clear and strict about motorcycles. Absolutely none on campus."

"That seems like a strange rule to have," I comment.

"Rumor has it that when a motorcycle's on the property, it comes to life," Daisy says in her spooky voice. Gatsby looks at her thoughtfully for a minute, then Daisy blinks and seems to realize what she just said. "No. Gatsby, no!"

"Bring the bike!" Gatsby declares with a huge smile. Daisy and Rune both smack him in the back of the head at the same time, and Spyro and I both laugh. "I want to see if it really happens! This would be a scientific experiment!" Gatsby protests.

"Oh is that what you're going to call your flare up of rebellion this time?" Spyro asks.

"No, bad Gatsby!" Daisy scolds, like she's scolding a dog. Leylina tilts her head to the side, watching them, her tail wagging.

Gatsby sighs with exaggerated disappointment. "You people ruin all my fun." But then he smiles, wrapping an arm around Daisy's waist and pulling her closer so that he can kiss her.

"Are you two going to be this nauseating all year?" Borden asks with a scowl, causing Daisy and Gatsby to break apart from their kiss.

"Yes," Daisy says at the same time that Gatsby grins, "Absolutely!"

"Can you blame us?" Daisy smiles. "Until now we've had to spend most of the year apart." She looks up at Gatsby, and the two of them seem to completely forget that the rest of us are here. Borden rolls his eyes and turns away to put the last boxes in the bed of Spyro's truck. Out of the corner of my eye, I think I see Spyro looking at me. But when I turn, he's closing the tailgate behind Borden. The sound of it makes me flinch, even though it's not particularly loud. It seems so big to me right now though.

"What about the driving arrangements?" Rune asks. I rub Leylina's head.

"I have to drop Anima off back in Virginia, so we're leaving first thing tomorrow," Spyro reminds them. The others aren't leaving until the next day, since their route will be more direct and therefore take less time. "Unless someone wants to leave early, I can't take anyone."

"Worry not! Now that Daisy's coming with us, we have an extra car," Gatsby smiles.

"You two are willing to separate long enough to make the drive?"

"Good point..." Daisy says thoughtfully.

"I'll take Daisy's car, Borden can drive my car," Rune says. Gatsby raises his eyebrows, but Rune just shrugs, "It's a piece of junk anyway. Nobody's going to mourn its loss if Borden crashes it."

"Good luck," Spyro laughs. "We should get going. Last dinner, you know."

"Oh, wait, wait a moment," Gatsby suddenly pulls away from Daisy and hurries back into the warehouse, leaving us all standing there confused. He comes back out with a brand new leather camera bag that he comes over and hands to me. "Take this with you." It's heavier than it looks. I unzip it, looking inside to see the camera, and lots of extra film.