Ghost: The club’s closed. It’ll just be us and the others. Bring your sisters. 7pm.
Nat: Okay. Do I need to bring anything else?
Ghost: Just wear sweats and comfortable shoes.
Curiouser and curiouser.
We decided to skip lunch with the girls, so bringing my sisters to the club is actually perfect. That way everyone can see them and we can all catch up together.
Nat: Okay. See you then.
Ghost: Text me when you get here.
I have no idea what’s going on, but I’m already sweating.
***
My sisters and I arrive at The White Rabbit at ten to seven dressed in our gym wear. We all wear our hair in high ponytails and have matching outfits of three quarter length gym tights, black t-shirts and sneakers. My sneakers are white, Helena’s are pink and Nina’s are black with pink trim. Seriously though, we buy things in threes. Most of our clothes are exactly the same because our tastes are.
We stop when we reach the security door side entrance and I text Ghost to let him know we’re here. The door opens and I just about swallow my tongue. There he stands wearing a tighter-than-hell black muscle tank, black sweatpants and white sneakers.
Gah! Those arms.
My high deflates a little when he doesn’t even look at me. He says to my sisters, “Helena. Nina. Give us a minute will ya?” Both my sisters nod and he instructs, “Follow the hall then turn left at the end. They’re all here. ” Helena smiles at him and squeezes his arm and Nina winks at him before closing the security door to leave us in the alley alone.
His eyes search me. We stare at each other for a long moment before I ask quietly, “What am I doing here, Ash?”
He rubs the back of his neck nervously and states, “This was gonna be hard, you know? Any way you did it would’ve been hard. We should just get it out of the way with everyone here, so you don’t have to explain it over and over. I was gonna wait til you were ready, but I can see you’re putting it off. ”
I shrink into myself. I’ve been set up.
Avoiding his eyes, I focus at his shoulder. “That wasn’t your decision to make, asshole,” I say quietly.
Ghost reaches up, takes my chin in his hand and gently forces it up. I turn my pitiful gaze to his soft one. Anxiety settles in the pit of my stomach. I whisper, “I don’t want them all to know. ”
His eyes flash in anger before immediately softening. Still holding my chin in his firm fingers, he says quietly, “You need to tell them, pretty girl. If you don’t tell anyone about it, it’ll eat away at you. You’ll stop seeing your friends and you’ll stop going out. You’ll be a fraction of the person you were without their support. You’ll lose that fierce about you and just become cold. ” He exhales loudly and continues, “You’ll become me. ”
He holds my questioning stare but doesn’t say a thing. I feel weak and exposed. I know I have to do this, but I was hoping to do it in a way that would tone down the situation. I tell him, “I can’t tell them. ”
His face falls. He doesn’t mask the disappointment he wears. He drops his hand from my chin, nods once and replies on an exhale, “Okay. I’ll take you home. ”
As he moves to step away from me, I take his hand and entwine my fingers with his. He looks up at me and I explain, “Shit, Ash. I meant I can’t tell them. I was kind of hoping that you…” I don’t finish the sentence. Realization dawns on his face. He knows what I want. My expression pleads with him to take on this responsibility.
With smiling eyes, he comes forward once again, grips the back of my neck in a firm hold and states, “All you had to do was ask, Hot Lips. ”
With narrowed eyes, I ask, “Hot Lips?”
Ghost’s smiling eyes peer into mine, he nods his head and informs, “Hot Lips McGee, actually. ”
I place my hand on my hip, my face set in disbelief. “You have got to be kidding me? That’s the best you could come up with?”
He lowers his head, his body shaking as he silently chuckles. “It’ll grow on ya. ”
Leading us inside by our joined hands, I mutter under my breath, “Oh, sure. Like a freakin’ fungus. ”
We walk down the hall together and just before we enter the main hall I pull him back by his hand. He stops and turns to me. I can’t help myself, I’m dying to know. “Why are you doing this for me, Ash?”
One side of his mouth quirks up, he lowers his forehead to mine and he quotes me, “You and me. We’re the same kind. ”