The Ghost Files

Chapter Seventeen

I growl in frustration. This is supposed to be easy, but it's not. I stare down at the pans in hopelessness. Jake is coming over and I told him I'd make him breakfast. Well, it was almost eleven, but breakfast sounded easier than lunch. I figured eggs and bacon would be a piece of cake to make. Not so much. The bacon is shriveled little black things in the blackened pan and the eggs... well, the eggs don't need to be discussed.

After all, I want to do something nice for Jake since he's put up with so much from me over the last little bit. I'd buried myself in research on Mirror Boy while I was in the hospital, thanks to Mrs. O bringing me my laptop and the hospital's free wifi. There was no real information about him, though, other than what Dan had already told me. I know he's the key to this, but I just don't know how. I think I'm gonna have to be brave and try to contact him again –even though he scares the bejeezus out of me.

"Do I smell burnt bacon?"

I turn to see Jake leaning against the doorframe to the kitchen and sigh. Well, I never said that I could actually cook, only that I would. "Sorry," I say with just a hint of disgust as I start scraping food into the sink so I can put it down the disposal. 

Jake laughs and strolls over to inspect the mess. "It's the thought that counts, Matts."

"I wanted to do something nice..."

He shushes me with his lips and I melt as always. He sure does know how to kiss, I'll give the boy that.

"Let's get this cleaned up and then we'll go down to the diner for some food." He picks up the pan I'd dropped and shakes his head. "This needs to soak." He runs a sink full of hot water, cleans the egg pan and then drops the burned bacon pan into the water.

I watch him, bemused. Most guys I know would never pick up a dish and wash it. They'd think it was beneath them, but not Jake. He just jumped in and started helping with the clean-up. I take the dishrag from him and clean the counters and the stove. He amazes me really. Sometimes I wonder how long I can keep him. He deserves better than me. He deserves someone as nice as he is. I'm a lot of things, but nice is not one of them.

Then I throw the rag in the sink and grab my coat. It's gotten a lot colder this week. Usually we never drop down below thirty degrees in Charlotte in the winter, but it's barely twenty two degrees outside. The wind tastes like snow too. I absolutely love the snow. It's one of the things I miss about Jersey. We always had snow in the winter, but not so much here in the Queen City. We only get the occasional ice storm. Snow is rare.

The ride to the diner is quick and as soon as we are in the door I realize why Jake was so quick to suggest it. The Rock Band tournament is today. I'd forgotten all about it, but it's been advertised for like the last month or so. I remember Jake telling me he wanted to enter the drum solo competition. The place is packed with people. A huge fifty-inch screen TV has been placed on the far wall and the tables moved away to make room for the mock stage which is really just the drum set and three big red X's where the singer and the two guitarists are supposed to stand. It's not fancy by any means, not like the big tournaments they hold in downtown Charlotte, but everyone is having a blast it looks like. People I've never seen before are milling around and I assume they go to some of the other schools and colleges in the area.

I hear my name and turn to see Meg waving at me from a booth that's just a few feet from the stage. How early did she arrive to get that table? Jake and I weave in and out of the mass of people and slide in one side.

"Isn't it so exciting?" Meg asks right away. "Tommy is signing up for the guitar solo competition."

"I guess," I murmur. It seems like a bunch of nonsense to me. I know Jake loves the game though. "Jake, didn't you say you wanted to do the drum thing?"