Somewhere In-Between ~ An Adventure in the Afterlife

CHAPTER 9 - DEAD MEAT

Max was fuming mad. Dave noticed.

"Who's that kid over there?" Dave motioned at Eric who sat back in his seat.

"I thought he was my best friend," Max growled.

"Yeah, he doesn't seem too shaken up about you being dead. That sucks. This is when you really find out how people feel about you. Did you have your funeral yet? That's the biggest test of all, man! Shoot, my old man didn't shed a tear at my funeral. But I got him back good for it."

As Dave spoke, Max slowly moved over to Eric's side, fists clenched. He ended up standing right behind him and swung his fist as hard as he could at Eric's head. To Max's surprise, Eric stumbled off his seat, stunned. He cradled the side of his head with his hand and shot an angry look at Dwayne behind him.

Suppressed chuckles spread like a wave through the classroom. As Eric climbed back into his chair, he glared at Dwayne and mouthed the words, "You're dead."

Max crossed his arms and smiled proudly. Dave came up and laid an approving hand on his shoulder. "Not bad, kid!" He nodded.

Several rooms away, Lizzie was enduring her daily torture, which the school labeled P.E. Class. She was glad at least it was her first class of the day, so she could just get it over with and move on to classes that really mattered to her. The worst part of P.E. was when they had to go into the changing room before and after class to change in and out of their mandatory gear. Lizzie made sure to always wear an undershirt and pants that she wouldn't have to change, to avoid as much undressing as possible. She just knew there was someone watching in the girls' changing room. Her mom insisted she was just being paranoid and modest, but Lizzie knew better. One day she actually saw the creep who lurked in the shadows of the girls' room. He looked like an eighties punk rocker, with eye shadow and spiked hair. Of course nobody else could see him. He was one of the dead people she saw almost every week. Thank goodness he never spoke to her, and when she did see him that one day, he ran away and hid – the coward.

Lizzie changed her shirt quickly while the other girls chatted and gossiped. She didn't even look around for the creep anymore. She knew he was there somewhere, and that was enough. In and out. Done. Now time for her first Honors class of the day, Language Arts.

As Lizzie marched through the hallway crowd to get to her next class, she overheard mumbling from various students mentioning Max Fletcher. She slowed down her pace to overhear. "I heard he was in a car accident... His sister's in the hospital... so terrible... can't believe it... he just made the football team."

Lizzie kept her head down, trying to avoid eye contact with anyone, more than usual. She moved on to her next classroom and settled into her desk, pencil and notebook ready. From her seat, she could see down the hall from the open classroom door. Lizzie was surprised to see Max out by the lockers accompanied by a boy she'd noticed many times before. Her heart pace quickened. This was not good. This boy tried talking to Lizzie before, but never to ask for her help. He was not a nice ghost.

She noticed Max was also with his friends Eric and Dwayne, but of course he was invisible to them. Eric and Dwayne were apparently arguing, and Max was standing between them, arms crossed, leaning against the lockers, a sly smile on his face. The dead boy with the leather jacket looked like he was clapping and laughing, in full approval of whatever was going on.

Lizzie grabbed her pencil and went to the classroom door. The pencil sharpener was right there, so it seemed an easy excuse to get close enough to the situation to overhear what was going on in the hallway. Watching from the corner of her eye, she started sharpening.

"I didn't touch you, moron!" Dwayne yelled in Eric's face.

"Stop lying to me, Dwayne, or I swear I'll knock you on your butt!"

Max was practically sandwiched between the two boys, but he didn't seem to mind. His eyes were closed and she could faintly see a green glow happening around him. It was as if the anger of the two boys was manifesting into some kind of energy and Max was absorbing it – and enjoying it.

Just when she started to notice herself staring, she realized the leather jacket kid was looking at her. She immediately stopped sharpening and turned to go back to her desk.

"Hey, you!" The boy called out to her. She cringed and ignored him.

As Lizzie slipped back into her seat, she put all her focus on preparing her desk space for class, ignoring this ghost-boy completely. She glanced over at Carl in the row next to her who had the old recorder out on his desk. She could hear the gears turning. Is he listening to music on that thing? Or is he recording something? She wondered. She tried focusing her attention on that quiet mechanical sound coming from Carl's tape recorder.

"Hey, Max!" Dave waved him over as he moved to Lizzie's side. "Max, check this out!"

Max didn't like to be taken away from his moment of triumph. Eric and Dwayne were about to punch each other out and Max did not want to miss it. But then he noticed Dave was standing right next to Lizzie in her class. Something inside him switched over and he rushed into the classroom. What did Dave want with Lizzie?

"Max, this chick refuses to talk to me. Thinks she's too good for me I guess," he grinned, and leaned his face right next to her ear. "Is that right, nerd girl? Little miss perfect, are you? Too goodie-two-shoes to talk to the big bad ghost?"

Max frowned as he watched Lizzie shift uncomfortably in her chair. "Hey, Dave, leave her alone, okay?"

Dave ignored him completely. He leaned against Lizzie's desk, practically sitting on it. Lizzie shifted her position to look away from him, remaining silent. "Did you know this one can actually see and hear us, Max? She likes to be all high and mighty. Won't even look me in the eye." He leaned over to get in her face again. "What makes you so special, girlie?!"

"Dave," Max pleaded, "come on. Let's go."

"Not until she answers my question!" Dave barked back at him, and turned back to Lizzie. "What makes you so special, huh? Huh?"

Lizzie couldn't help it. Tears started to come. "Nothing," she whispered.

"Oh!" Dave leaned closer, right up against her. "I'm sorry, what did you say, angel face?"

Lizzie spoke through clenched teeth. "Nothing. Nothing makes me special."

Dave smiled wide. "That's right, angel! And don't you forget that!"

Suddenly Dave felt a powerful shock and found himself on the floor, dazed.

Max stood over him, shouting as loud as he could. "I told you to leave her alone!"

Dave stumbled to his feet, dazed, energy gone. "What did you do to me?"

"Pick on her, and I'll be happy to show you again!" Max sneered. "Now leave this room and don't you ever come near Lizzie again, do you hear me?" Lizzie was still sitting at her desk, forgetting to pretend she couldn't see what was going on. She was shocked to see Max Fletcher standing up for her.

Dave pointed a firm finger at Max. "You're dead, kid!"

Max laughed. "Ha! Tell me something I don't know, Dave! And now I'll tell you something that you don't know! You ask what makes this girl so special? Well, she's a Lightworker, okay? I'm not sure what that means, but it's more special than being a stupid punk ghost kid who drains people all day long, all right? Now, go tell your dumb freako friends not to bother her anymore, or I've got more of the same to dish out to them!"

Dave had disappeared into the hallway. Max turned around, arms crossed, standing proudly next to Lizzie. She glanced up at him from her seat with a wide grin, and pointed to a note.

Max leaned over to read: "Thank you, Max!"