Page 51 of Ghosted

As I pass him, I lean in just enough that only he can hear me.

“She’s fun.”

His eyes snap to mine.

There it is.

The ugly part.

“Stay away from her,” he says.

I grin, slow and honest. “No.”

For a second, I think he might actually hit me.

I almost want him to.

But Alice is watching, and Jagger is trying very hard not to prove me right in front of her. Noble. Boring. Deeply disappointing.

I leave before he can decide otherwise.

The stairs creak under my boots as I head up, and by the time I reach the main floor, I’m smiling again. Behind me, the basement door stays shut. No yelling. No crash. No Jagger dragging me back by the collar and making the night interesting.

Pity really.

Outside, the rain has picked up. Campus shines under the lamps, all wet stone, orange Halloween lights, and fake skeletons grinning from dorm windows like they’re in on the joke.

I light another cigarette and stand beneath the library awning.

Alice Aster.

Camera girl with smoke on her tongue and enough nerve to take a cigarette from my mouth.

Jagger’s little ghost.

My brother’s newest mistake.

She says she doesn’t want in the middle of us, which is adorable because people always think wanting matters. Like the game waits politely for permission. Like anyone here is decent enough to ask before ruining something.

Too late, Alice.

You pointed your lens at the wrong monster.

And now every monster in the room is looking back.

5

JAGGER

THE FIRST CLAIM

Ididn’t hit Johnny in the library basement.

That should probably count for something, considering he walked out wearing that smug little smile like he didn’t just stand too close to Alice on purpose. Like he didn’t lean in and murmur she’s fun in my ear because he knew exactly where to put the knife and how slowly to twist it. Like he didn’t come down here for the sole purpose of making me snap in front of her.

I didn’t.

But barely.