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I sank down on the loveseat.

So many emotions were twisting inside of me.

“Cole?” Lee asked, softly. “You okay?”

A sob escaped me, but the fight left me.

I clutched the phone tightly before putting it on speaker. “I think I am.”

“Yeah?”

I said it again, surprised at how right it felt when I said that, scared at how right it felt, “I think I’m actually going to be okay, Lee.”

“Baby,” he whispered. Hearing him choking up undid the tears that had been trying to claw their way out of me.

I let them fall.

Lee stayed on the phone with me the whole time.

30

The last bell rang and I was still in the secret room lounge. I was also still on the phone with Lee.

We didn’t even talk the whole time. Some of it, I cried. Others, we were quiet.

“Is that the bell?” he asked just as there was a beeping sound.

This was Cass's phone. I had no clue how to work it.

“Shit. That was Nimrod. Cass is looking for you, says you aren't answering your own phone and you're not answering on Cass's phone either.” He groaned. Reluctant. “You're going to have to find them since they can't see Noah.”

I lay back down on the loveseat. “I don't wanna.”

“I let him know you’re in some counselor’s crisis lounge.”

I stood, though I didn’t want to move, not even an inch. Which wasn’t like me. It wouldn’t do well for a long-term coping mechanism, but hiding for the afternoon was lovely. “I’ll go and find him.”

“Good. I’ll see you later at the house?”

I hesitated. Should I tell him about my birthday? Would it even matter, having someone wish me a happy birthday? Tomorrow, everything was officially on my shoulders. It felt important, for some reason, if I should tell them or not.

I decided to wait, just for now.

I said as I left the small room and paused outside the bathroom, “Yeah. I’ll see you later.”

We hung up and I used the bathroom.

A private bathroom? In school? Yes, please. I needed to talk to Noah, figure out how I could get a copy of the key needed for this bathroom. I mean, I could get his help or Benji’s, but Noah would return to haunting Lee at some point and it wasn’t good for me to consider keeping Benji around. Even if he didn’t realize it, he was a poltergeist. He needed to cross over and find peace. He deserved it.

I took a moment to gather myself, my hand on the doorknob, before I turned it and stepped out into the hallway. There were voices out there so I knew students were milling around the hallways.

As soon as I opened the door—bam!

Pain blinded me.

Someone hit me.

I staggered back, cupping my nose, feeling blood and other liquids seeping from me.