Free Phantoms of Fall (The Haunting Ruby Series Book 2) by Joy Elbel Page A

the thought of drowning and
public speaking—but not necessarily in that order. My throat
tightened and my mouth went dry.
I looked out over the
room at all of the strange faces and my heart started to race.
Just as I was about to hyperventilate, Mr. Raspatello saved me.
“Tell us the name of your story.” He sat on the edge of
his desk and crossed his arms.
     
Deciding to focus on him and not the crowd, I started
to calm down. “Ghost Stone.”
     
“Interesting title. Explain the plot.”
    “It’s the story of a girl who loses everyone she loves
and wishes for a way to bring them back from the dead. She
finds
a stone that will allow her to see them
again
but
eventually
discovers
that
once
someone
is
gone,
they
shouldn’t come back.”
    “It sounds very thought provoking. I expect you to
bring me a copy. I’d love to read it.” When he smiled at me, I
realized he really wasn’t trying to embarrass me. He was
actually interested in
my
story.
Returning
to my
seat,
I
decided that he earned back some of the respect points I took
away from him in homeroom.
    No one in the class laughed at me and I didn’t die from
humiliation, so I considered it a success.
Until I caught sight
of Creepy Girl beside me. She was now sitting sideways in her
seat, head cocked to the side and staring at me full on.
I
bypassed frightened and went straight to annoyed.
Why
wouldn’t she stop staring at me? Surely, Mr. Raspatello would
notice and say something, right? He had to, he simply had to.
    But he didn’t. And neither did my AP Biology teacher
or my French IV teacher. That’s right—she was in every one
of my classes. By the time lunch rolled around, I was ready
for a nervous breakdown. I wanted to confront her—to ask
her why she wouldn’t leave me alone—but I was afraid to. I
already had a powerful enemy in Misty Landrum—I had to at
least find out who Creepy Girl was before I dealt with her. It
was highly unlikely that this girl was anyone with any kind of
influence in this school, but I had too much to lose to just
assume.
    I was starving by the time fifth period lunch rolled
around but I dreaded walking into that cafeteria.
I knew that
Zach and Rachel wouldn’t be there and the only other person I
would feel comfortable sitting with was Chloe. The odds were
working against me all day, so I was pretty sure she had a
different lunch time, too. Even if she didn’t, how would I find
her in this sea of unfamiliar faces?
    Scanning the tables as I passed, I got in line to get my
lunch. No Chloe as far as I could see but I did recognize one
familiar face—Ryan. I noticed his hot gaze as I passed and I
could all but feel him staring at my butt as I walked away. I
loaded my tray and paid for my food. Today was taco day and
they didn’t look half bad.
With the rumbling in my stomach,
though, I would have gladly eaten cat food if it were wrapped
in a tortilla.
    As I passed Ryan’s table, I saw that Boone was now
seated beside him. It was clearly the cool table, full of football
players and cheerleaders.
I was just thinking how much
easier my life would be if I could fit in with that crowd when
someone called my name.
“Ruby! There’s a seat over here!”
    It was Boone.
He was pointing to the empty chair
beside him and waving me over.
For a split second, I was
filled with relief.
Not only would I not have to sit alone, I
would be sitting at the cool table.
I started to weave my way
back through the maze of tables and then it hit me. Would
Zach be jealous if he found out about this?
He and Boone
were best friends but Zach even got mad at Boone for his
comments at the party. I wanted so much to just sit down and
not worry about Zach’s reaction. But I didn’t.
    I shook my head and pointed to the other side of the
cafeteria. Boone looked confused, but nodded and went back
to the massive pile of food on his tray.
So I walked to the
opposite side of the room in search of an empty table.
There
was only one left, so I