Awoken - chapter one

Chapter fourteen

Fourteen

I took my usual seat next to Beau. Mr Sanders was doing his usual thing and babbling on incessantly, oblivious to everyone also doing their own thing. 'WE NEED TO TALK. LUNCH?' I wrote. I folded the paper in half and slid it across to Beau. 'Sure x' was his reply. Today is the day, I will find out what makes Beau tick. However strange and extraordinary it is I want to know!

'Hey you' Beau whispered into my ear. I gave him a quick and uneasy smile, which I could tell he immediately picked up on.

'Do you want to go and sit behind the PE hall...so we can talk?' I asked, my voice stumbling towards the end. I never was one for bluffing. My poker face looked like I had learnt it from a Barney prime time special on how to play snap.

'Yeah, sure, I think it's about time we had a talk. There are a few things I've wanted to tell you.' Beau grasped my bag strap and threw it over his shoulder. 'Lunch me-lady?' Beau held out a wrapped quarter pounder. Never one to say no to free food I of course accepted.

'Thanks' I beamed. We sat down underneath the big oak tree, alone with only the distant, chaotic noise of Claynor Ray's finest football team, The Eagles, as a mood builder. I had initiated us meeting but I had absolutely no clue how to kick off the conversation. Hello awkward moment! I shoved the burger in my mouth and looked like a horse chewing on a carrot as my lips smacked unpleasantly together.

'You finish that Grace, and I'll start.' He giggled but sadly this didn't last. In a matter of moments his mood had catapulted past carefree and straight into conflicted. He searched for the words, his hand fumbling through the hair at the nape of his neck as his brain went into overtime. 'I trust you Grace, more then I think you know. I don't usually get this close to people. I know you understand what Gwen does, but do you believe it?' He rushed his words and kept his stare fixed on the floor beneath us as he tugged nervously at the fraying hem of his skinny leg Levis.

'Look at me.' I placed my thumb and forefinger on his chin and forced him to look squarely into my face. His shoulders sagged and with a deep breath his apprehension disintegrated. I smiled and edged closer to him. 'It's all very new to me. When my Dad died I wanted nothing more than to believe he was with me.'

'Well, that in a roundabout way is exactly why I don't get close to people.' His eyes were fixed on the grass beneath us again.

'Beau, what are you getting at? You can trust me so just tell me what it is.' I pulled his face up to concentrate on mine again. Our eye contact didn't last long as his eyes once again found the splintered grass beneath us. This cat and mouse game had me confused. When I touched him I could feel the connection build but as soon as he broke free of my hold, apprehension swamped his handsome face and his toned body heaved, fraught with the stress of his untold secret. 'I am here, I am listening. Talk to me Beau, please.'

'I can see sp....s' he mumbled.

'Speak up' I urged.

'I can see spirits.'

I definitely heard that one. All I could muster was a daft look of amazement and utter disbelief. 'Huh?' was the only word my perplexed brain could manage as I debated whether I had heard him correctly.

'Spirits, ghosts, you know dead people!' he shouted at me as he tore lumps of grass out of the ground.

'OK. In an odd way this probably explains a lot' I answered as cheerfully as I could. It took a few moments for me to realise just how right I was. Light bulb moment! 'So, your conversation with mid-air in the English class?' I prompted. He nodded silently with his eyes focused anywhere but on mine. 'My very painful encounter with the thing in the darkroom?' He nodded again mutely. I trailed off after that and before Beau could confirm my question with another nod, I put my hand up to stop him. 'So you're like a superhero, with some voodoo mind trick thing going on?' I laughed uneasily.