Free Devils Roses 05 - Death by Tara Brown Page A

"Looks rowdy in there."
    He looks back and puts his hands in his back pockets. "Yeah. Wanna come in?" He asks. I furrow my brow and laugh. "Yeah."
    He shakes his head at himself and looks like he doesn’t know what his next move is. He jerks and turns away from me. I walk up beside him and nudge him. "You okay?"
    He nods, "Yeah."
    "Can you say anything beyond yeah?"
    He looks down on me and grins, his face is flushed. "Yeah." He opens the door that’s been closed and holds it for me. "I can say you look nice."
    I bite my lip, trying desperately not to blush. "Thanks. Alise. You know what she's like."
    He laughs. "I do. Any guy would do anything for that girl." His face turns crimson. "Except me. Of course."
    I swallow and can't help but wonder where the conversation is going. "Of course."
    "She still dating that Luke guy from Handley?"
    I shake my head. "No. They only ever last a couple months. She is, uhm, well, fickle."
    He laughs. "Fickle. That’s not the word I would use."
    I laugh and close the door. I notice Giselle in the yard still.
    I look back. "I'll be back in a minute." I open the door again and run out to where she is.
    "You okay?" I ask.
    She looks at me and shakes her head. "I think I'm sick. Like the flu or something."
    "Want me to drive you home?"
    She laughs. "Uh no. I just need a minute Aimes." She turns and walks away and I can't help but frown. She used my nickname. She has never called me Aimes in my life. She rounds the back of the house. I turn and walk back inside.
    Shane is holding a drink for me. I take it and sniff. He rolls his eyes. "I didn’t put booze in it. I know you don’t drink."
    I frown. "You do?"
    He laughs. "I've known you for a long time Aimes." His voice turns throaty at the end of the sentence.
    I sip my lemonade and try not to shake. I cringe at the taste.
    "You don’t like lemonade?"
    I shake my head. "I do but it just tastes funny." My belly rumbles. I glance out the backdoor to the deck. Giselle is standing there leaning against the railing with a guy. His back is turned to me. Something about it is bugging me.
    "You want to go sit?" Shane asks. I look up and nod. He grabs my hand and electricity jolts up my arm.
    "Ouch." He pulls away.
    "Sorry. I think I shocked you."
    He laughs. "Quite the charge you have there." I rub my fingertips together and swear I can feel sparks.
    I follow him to the quiet room at the back of the house, the sunroom. He sits on an old couch next to the woodstove. I sit beside him and try to ignore the sparks in my fingertips and rumbling in my belly.
    "You okay?" He asks.
    I nod. "Where is Blake?"
    We both look around but he isn’t in the kitchen or the sunroom or back deck.
    "Maybe he's in the living room."
    "Maybe."
    He grins. "So you excited about the year being over?"
    I smile. "Yeah. I'm excited. I'm all ready to go."
    His face drops. "All the way to Harvard?"
    "Yeah. Far but awesome. You planning on Seattle still?"
    He shrugs. "Not sure. I don’t have a right fit yet."
    My stomach clenches. I almost double over. "Oh my god," I whisper.
    "Aimes what is it?"
    I shake my head. "I don’t know. I don’t feel so good. I think I got the flu." I stand and run for the back deck, "Just need some air. Be right back." I shout back at him. I am terrified to shit my pants at his house.
    I run down the stairs and put my hands on my hips. They are burning me through my shirt and pants. Holding them out in the fading light, I can't see anything different. My stomach drops again. I buckle and drop to the grass. It hurts more than I can take. Sweat crosses my brow.
    A screaming girl interrupts my plans of running through the woods to my house, where I can die in the privacy of my own bathroom. I struggle to my feet and stumble down the back lawn, to the woods.
    "Oh my god. Mr. Mac. Please Mr. Mac. Wake up." Giselle is pushing on the lifeless body of my favorite teacher, who is lying on his back in a bush.
    "Giselle, what happened?"
    She shakes, her hands