Free Rush by Tori Minard

with his family. It’s not
something he wants to get out.”
    “Ooh. Mysterious. Now I have to know.”
    “I’m not telling,” I said in an overly
dramatic tone. “Nothing you can do will make me betray my secrets.”
    She put her hands on her narrow hips and
gave me a menacing glare. “I have ways of making you talk.”
    “No! I’ll never talk.”
    We both laughed as we broke into a run
for the gym.

 
     
     
    Chapter 6
     
    Max
    I had only a few seconds to contemplate
Caroline’s hostile behavior before Fred showed up. He took the seat across from
me and clasped his hands on the table, smiling like I should be glad to greet
him in the middle of a very public place. Which I was not. Since I was the only
one who could see him, I’d look like a loon sitting here and talking to him. I
didn’t mind being unconventional, but carrying on a public convo with my
invisible friend was something else again.
    I bent my head and muttered at the table
top. “What are you doing here?”
    “Talking to you. What does it look like?”
    “I’d rather not look like a nutcase in
public, thank you.”
    “No-one is paying any attention to us.”
    I glanced around. The commons was nearly
empty and, at the moment, his statement was true. But who knew when someone
would walk past my table, probably at the worst possible moment?
    “You couldn’t wait until I was alone at
home?” I said in an undertone.
    “No, I couldn’t.”
    “Okay, what’s so damned important, then?”
    “There’s a spirit attempting to contact
you.”
    I raised my brows at him. “So? I thought
we’d already established that.”
    “Before, all I knew was there were
spirits gathering around you. Now, I’m aware there is one in particular who
wishes to speak with you.”
    “Who?”
    He spread his hands. “I don’t know yet.”
    I shook my head. “When you find out, let
me know. Until then, stop trying to embarrass me.”
    “You know I’d never deliberately
embarrass you, Max.”
    “Do I? Sometimes I think you spirit
types forget what it was like to be alive. You forget how freaked out people
get when they see anything the least bit unusual.”
    He gave a short nod. “Perhaps we do.”
    “Try to remember that we mortals do care
about the opinions of other mortals.”
    “Even you?” His dark-blue eyes crinkled
at the corners. “I thought you were above all that.”
    “Not me.”
    “There was a time when you claimed you
didn’t give a damn what anyone else thought of you.”
    “Yeah, and I was about fifteen at the
time. I didn’t know any better.”
    “So you’ve decided to turn over a new
leaf and become entirely conventional?”
    “Of course not.” I tapped my fingers on
the table. “Just because I care a little about how others see me doesn’t mean I’m
going to turn normal.”
    “So you care, just not very much.”
    I grinned. “That’s it in five seconds.”
    “I could materialize, and then anyone
passing by would see me as an ordinary person.”
    Yeah, except for the fact that he was
dressed in nineteenth-century clothing. What was with the sack suit, anyhow? It
was kind of ugly, if you asked me—not that he ever had. But he could change his
appearance at will, so maybe it would work out, except for the minor detail
that it could make the room as cold as the inside of an industrial fridge.
    “Wouldn’t that take an awful lot of
energy?”
    He shrugged. “Yes. But it might be worth
it. I don’t want to embarrass you, after all.”
    I decided to ignore that. “Did you hear
Caroline’s story?”
    “About the ghost?” he said, raising his
brows.
    “What do you make of it?”
    “I’m not sure who her ghost is, but I am
sure she’s connected to yours.”
    My breath left me in a rush. “That’s
what I was afraid of.”
    “Why afraid?”
    “Let’s just say it’s damned
inconvenient. How can I help her or find out how her spirit is connected with
mine with Trent hanging around? Plus, I think she’s mad at