RED HOOD

Nine

"Shut up!" Ella shrieked. "That is so hot."

"What?" I snapped. "Weren't you listening?"

"Yes, I was. Eric Doran, only the hottest, most mysterious guy in our school, carried you home—shirtless—from the woods, where you might have bled to death alone in the dark." Ella was pretending to fan herself while Gage cracked up on the sidelines. "So yeah, I'm going to go with hot."

"Gage, you understand where I'm coming from, right?" I asked. "I mean, the guy is a little weird."

"Um, he saved your life. That was pretty cool of him."

I dramatically tossed my head down onto my arms, burying my face. I waved my bandaged hand up in the air. "No one understands my pain." We all laughed.

"I'm glad you finally came clean about your arm being all Egyptian mummy. We were beginning to suspect you were a cutter," Ella said.

"We? I never suspected that!" Gage cried.

"How did he look wet?" Ella asked.

I ignored her, turning back to Gage. "At least tell me you're on my side?"

"Nope. You could have died, you drunk."

"Ugh," I groaned. "All I'm saying is, he tattled on me. Like we were in preschool or something."

"Maybe he was flirting," Ella grinned.

"By almost getting me grounded?"

"This is what you call being grounded?" Gage asked, gesturing. "Spending the day with your new best friends outside a coffee shop enjoying the perfect fall weather? Sheesh. I wish my dad would ground me like this. With him, it's either weeks of hard labor and yard work, or being confined to my room. I'll trade you."

As my friends drove me home, I sat in the backseat staring quietly out the window at the large Texas sky. Compared to New York City, rural Texas might as well have been Mars. I was enjoying my new life—despite the strange nightmares I'd been having nightly. Though I always woke unable to recall the dreams, I still carried around an uneasy feeling because of them. I hadn't been feeling well, but I assumed it was connected to my lack of sound sleep. That, or I was simply dreading the start of school in a few days. Wimberley High had already been in session for a month, so on top of being behind in classes I would have to readjust socially. But I had Gage and Ella, and I couldn't help but feel that was a good start.

"I have to pee," Gage whined.

"Lucky for you, I need gas," Ella grumbled. We pulled into a gas station just off the highway. Surrounding us were fields of tall grass, dotted with only a few trees. As we parked next to a pump, Gage leapt out of the car, disappearing inside. Ella got out and began pumping gas.

Hopping out of the car, I inhaled the fresh smell of gasoline. Distantly hearing Ella say something about grabbing a drink, I nodded, my mind elsewhere. I could hear something, like music, but not. It was more of a feeling really. The place where I'd been stabbed tingled.

I stared into the field. Drawn forward, I walked across the parking lot, propelled by a gripping feeling. Only a small chain looped from one concrete pillar to the next divided the gas station from the grassy expanse. I stepped over it.

Despite the sun shining and the blue sky overhead, this place felt dark—as if the whole sky was black. The quiet field looked so desolate. So alone.

Then I noticed, I wasn't alone.

A few feet from me, the astral remains of a man walked past. He was almost transparent, flickering as he went—the way dying overhead lights did. There was no doubt in my mind—he was dead. A ghost. But how could I see him? I continued to stare at him. There was a stabbing feeling in my side, but I kept my eyes locked on the man shifting in front of me.

As I looked past him, I could see movement in the sky. Shadows fluctuated here and there, as if there was another layer of reality on top of this one. And suddenly I could see it through new eyes. I was changing...

A hand grabbed my shoulder. I jumped.

"Kate? You okay?" Ella asked.

I looked back to the field. There was nothing there but weeds and sky. Even the man was gone. I turned back to Ella slowly.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

"You're standing in a field talking to nobody. Is that normal for you?"

"I was talking?" I asked.

Ella looked at me. There was no judgment in her face, but she didn't seem surprised. Ella gave me a once over as she handed me a large fountain drink. "Cherry coke?"

"Thanks," I said, sipping through the straw nervously. She stared at me for a moment, as if waiting for something. "Should we go?" I asked. We walked back to the car in silence.

"What were you two doing?" Gage asked.

"Making out," Ella answered. "You missed it."

"Really?" Gage asked. I shrugged my shoulders and got into the back seat. I kept the straw in my mouth most of the ride home so I didn't have to speak. My mind was wandering all over the place, trying to come up with an explanation for what had just happened. The only conclusion I kept coming back to was this: I was losing my mind.