The Ghost Files

Chapter Ten

"You okay, Matts?  You seem distracted."

I smile at the worry in Jake's voice. Ever since the hospital, he's been treating me like I'm his most prized baseball card and that's saying something. Jake and his dad are huge baseball guys. To say anything against the American pastime is like sacrilege or something to them.

Distracted. I chuckle. If he only knew. My mind has been spinning for the last two days trying to find clues in everything that has happened. I'm not the kind of person that can just sit and wait for someone else to do all the work. I'd given Dan my drawings, but I have this need to be out there looking too. I'd joked with Dan maybe I'd be a cop and he'd told me that wasn't a bad idea. I had good instincts and thought of things even he didn't. So why am I sitting here in a diner sipping on Coke instead of looking for Mary?

Jake Owens.

I have this urge to tell him what's going on, but I'm afraid that if I do, I'll lose him. Jake means the world to me. He puts up with my snarkiness and I'm not sure why. He's such a good guy, sweet, never a mean word about anyone. I can get so mean sometimes. That why I can't figure out what he sees in me, really. He should be dating Amanda, the shy girl from math class. She's just as sweet as he is. I'm the freak with a warped and twisted sense of morality.

"Jake, why do you like me?" It's a question I've never asked him, but one I've thought of asking him a hundred times.

"That's easy, Matts," he laughs.  "You're hot."

I laugh as well at the teasing tone in his voice, but I really want to know. "Seriously, Jake, why me and not someone else?"

He picks up my hand and his thumb starts rubbing slow circles into the back of of it. "Mattie, you are not like any other girl I know. All my other girlfriends were boring. All they ever wanted to talk about was what was happening on Gossip Girl or who Kim Kardashian was dating. Like I even know who that is? You're different. You don't care that I'm captain of the team, you see me."

"I don't get it, though. I'm not your type."

"My type? What makes you say that?"

"You're just so... so... so nice! I'm not. I'm snarky, sarcastic, and downright mean. Some of the stuff that comes out of my mouth..."

He starts laughing. I glare at him. Here I'm trying to have a serious conversation and he's laughing at me.

"Sorry, Mattie, but I couldn't help it. You sound so confused. Yeah, you're pretty mean sometimes, but I don't think you're totally serious about it, not really. The girl I know cares about people, but she hides behind all that snarkiness. Besides, it's cute. I don't think I've ever met someone brave enough to stand up and call Mr. Clayborne a...how did you put it?"

He's referring to our history teacher. Mr. Clayborne was a college football star with a busted knee. It kept him from going pro. During my first week here, he spent all his time reminiscing about the good old days and boring the class to tears. I'd called him a sad, pathetic, washed-up wannabe who whined instead of moving on. Not my best idea as it landed me in detention for the first week of school, but so worth it.

"That's my point, Jake. You don't seem like the kind of guy who'd put up with that from his girlfriend. Why you haven't dumped me and my mouth yet, I don't know."

He slips an arm around me. "Mattie, you've just had really bad things happen to you. I get that. I know that's why you act like an ass sometimes, but I also see the person you hide. You are a good person so deal with it. Besides, feel lucky you are dating the hottest guy in school who just happens to be a football god."