Ghost Silk (Ghost Perfume, Book 2) | ✔

2 - Protect me - Part 2

On Friday, Tia passed me a note during seventh period.

Tia: John wants to ask you out

Mr. Woolly passed by my desk right then and I put my head down, shoving the note between my thighs.

The bell rang. Tia caught up to me and we left the classroom. "Did you read it?"

"Who's John?" I asked.

Her eyes bugged. "... Do you live under a rock?"

"I've been busy," I defended myself. "You know I'm moving house tomorrow."

Plus the pesky business with revenants, but I didn't mention that.

"You're moving tomorrow. We went to middle school with John."

"Okay."

"Okay, so, wanna meet him?"

With Gabriel and the Alistairs never very far from my thoughts, my instant reaction was no. Not interested. My heart was full. And since Gabriel had promised that things would change after my twenty-first birthday, I felt as if I'd as good as promised myself to him too.

Then I hesitated, remembering that over two years remained till my twenty-first birthday. Remembering how bad it felt when Alexander bid me goodnight at what he considered my bedtime before he left to go out at night. And how I'd reacted with the same instinctive no the first and last time someone asked me out, that time at the restaurant, and the way that the Alistairs made weird faces when I came back to the table, as if they were laughing at me a little. All my instincts kept me sheltered and inexperienced. Maybe going on a date with someone – but then I almost blushed at myself, thinking about doing something that was basically the same as playing games.

Tia smirked. "So yes?"

"No, I'm not really interested," I said. "Why's he interested in me?"

We shoved our way out of the classroom. My backpack was heavy on one shoulder.

"He likes your new look," Tia said, glancing down my body. "New looks," she corrected.

I looked down at my dress. It was a pale turquoise color, fitted and corset-like around my torso, the fabric slack in the long puffed sleeves, and a ruffled skirt that ended above my knees, a few inches from the top edge of my white boots. Lukas had presented it to me this morning, the dress hanging over his arm as he barged into my bedroom in Alexander's house with the energy of an oversized puppy, telling me if winter had to hang around like a bad ex then I needed more warm clothes. He'd ordered this one for me days ago and it finally arrived.

I'd already been dressed for the day in leggings and a sweatshirt I stole from Alexander's closet that came down to mid-thigh. But for Lukas, I changed, and the dress fit as if he'd taken my exact measurements. He tied the straps around the bodice and pulled my hair out of the back of the dress so it could fall loose down my back.

"It's like you've been shopping in designer stores," Tia said. "People notice, you know."

"I guess," I said, unwilling to bring up Lukas. People? "But that's kind of annoying, if he only likes me because of the way I look now."

Tia's eyes narrowed and tightened, like she was cringing with just her face.

"What?"

Eighth period would start soon, but we had come to a standstill. The hallway emptied around us.

"You're so weird." She dragged out the so.

"Why?"

"Come on, you're playing dumb. Miss Perfect Ice Queen. That's annoying." To soften her words, maybe, she nudged my shoulder with hers.