Ghost Girl

Chapter 3

I woke early, feeling like I'd gotten no sleep at all despite the fact that I passed out for a solid 12 hours. I'd tossed and turned all night; my dreams laced with thoughts of Travis. Rolling out of bed, I checked my phone and poured myself a cup of coffee. Zak still hadn't called me back; he was probably just getting locked out and heading back to the hotel to sleep off his lockdown hangover.

I sighed and jumped into the shower—once again—to rid myself of Travis. It worked better this morning but I still spent the better part of my morning routine rinsing off—negating the early start I had.

Getting out of the shower, I barely had time to stop for another coffee and a muffin and still make it to class on time. I was thankful for the frenzy though; it kept my mind off Travis and the impending phone call from Zak. I don't know what I was going to say to him. He'd expect an explanation but how was I supposed to explain what had happened? Zak would be pissed, to say the least.

The day dragged by though; there wasn't much work I could give my kids seeing as school was out next week. Their attention span was like two minutes and I had no way of keeping up with that. Most of the time I just gave them busy work, little tasks to keep them in their seats. By the time lunch arrived I was exhausted and I figured that all of us could use a mind break.

"Okay guys! After lunch, we're going to hand back some assignments and if you guys behave, I'll even let you watch a movie!" I called, as my grade threes stood by the door, waiting for the lunch bell to ring.

A cheer went up from the kids as the bell rang and they ran out of the classroom; to parents or the lunchroom.

I sighed; I was really going to miss these guys this summer. I was enjoying teaching and would have to look for a full time job as soon as possible to make sure I was set up for when January came around.

I sat down at my desk, opting not to go for lunch with the other teachers. I wasn't feeling up to being around a bunch of adults who would be too perceptive. The last thing I wanted was for someone to question my mood. I was holding it together, but barely; one word and the walls I'd built around myself since last night would crumble. My students were exactly what I needed right now. They could make me smile on the worst of days, no matter what I was going through.

Once the noise in the hallways died down and the only sound I could hear was the ticking of the clock, I pulled out my lunch. I had only taken a few bites of my meal when I noticed my phone dancing around on my desk. Looking down, I saw the name, Vegas; it was Zak. My heart sped up in my chest and I took a deep breath.

Closing my eyes, I picked up on the third ring. "Hello."

Zak's sleepy voice greeted me from the other side; you'd think I'd been the one to call him. But still, he sounded worried. "Hey; how are you? Sorry I didn't call you back earlier; I just got your message."

I smiled even though he couldn't see it. It felt so good just hearing his voice. "No, it's okay. I'm okay though. I just needed to talk to someone. Did you just wake up?" I asked, my voice soft.

He laughed. "Yeah. Apparently I'm the last one up because Aaron and Nick kept calling my phone and banging on the door. I could hear them outside; Aaron was talking in slur."

I laughed but my heart wasn't in it; normally I loved hearing stories from the road and Zak could tell something was off with me. He instantly became serious. "What's wrong, Skylar? You said you needed to talk to someone—to me. What about?"

Now that he had asked, I was suddenly nervous to tell him. "Oh, it's nothing. It happened last night, but I'm over it," I lied.

"Yeah, I'm calling you on your bullshit, Sky; you're lying. Wait!" Suddenly he sounded more awake and I knew I'd slipped up. "What happened? And don't tell me nothing, Skylar," he said, his voice hard. I heard shuffling on the other end of the phone and figured he was probably sitting up in bed now.

I sighed, "Okay, okay. I... I had a run in with Travis last night."

There was silence on the other end of the phone for so long that I thought our call had been dropped. "Zak, are you still there?"

"Yeah," he said, his voice tight with what I assumed was barely contained anger. "What happened?"

"I don't want to get into it on the phone—like deep—but he attacked me." I clamped my lips shut the second the words were out of my mouth. I had meant to be a lot smoother than that; I hadn't meant to make it sound so dire.

"What?!" he cried, making me wince. I could hear rustling and swearing as he bumped into things. I knew he was pissed—I shouldn't have told him. At least, not like that. Way to go, Skylar, I chastised myself.

"Zak, it's not as bad as it sounds," I placated.

"Yes it is!" he shouted. "Skylar, you know that. And don't you dare defend that douche bag to me."

At that, the tears began to fall. "I... I... God, Zak. I was so scared," I sobbed. "I'm still scared. I don't know what to do."

"I know, sweetie. Don't cry, everything is going to be okay," Zak soothed, his voice instantly softening. "Listen, I'm going to come and see you. I'll book a flight and call you back later with the details, okay?"

"Okay," I said, wiping my tears away. I knew there was no point in arguing with him even though I wanted to; I felt guilty for making him come all this way just because I couldn't handle the situation.

Zak laughed, "Wow, that was easy. I expected you to argue a little more than that; you must really be shaken up. But I'm coming to you no matter what. I'm not going to let you go through this alone. I'm here for you. I've got to go but I'll call you back soon and let you know my flight details. I'll be there soon. I'm so sorry, Skylar."

"It's okay; I understand. You must have one hell of a lockdown hangover," I laughed. "But thank you, Zak. I mean it."

"You're welcome, Sky. I'd do anything for you; you know that. Talk soon, okay?"

"'Kay." And then we both hung up.

I sighed. I felt much better, especially now that I knew Zak would be here soon. I knew that he'd believe me when I told him exactly what happened; I'd have to tell him, Zak would give me no choice otherwise. But most importantly, he wouldn't judge me. It was crazy to say but Zak was the only person I really trusted and could talk to.

I was lost in thoughts of Zak and what I was going to tell him when he got here later, when the end of lunch bell rang. I drifted in and out of a haze all day; the only time I actually paid attention was when Zak called.

Wetalked for a few minutes about anything but Travis. He told me he'd booked aflight and he'd get in early the next morning; that I didn't need to pick himup or stay up late; he'd take a taxi and let himself in. When we hung up, Ifelt so much better; almost as if a weight had been lifted off my chest. Iwouldn't be going through this alone. I would have someone here to support me.